Makrān

Makrān, also spelled Mekrān, division of Balochistān province, Pakistan. Administratively it comprises Turbat, Gwādar, and Panjgūr districts and has an area of 23,460 sq mi (60,761 sq km). It is bounded by the Siāhān range (north), which separates it from Khārān district, by Kalāt and Las Bela districts (east), the Arabian Sea (south), and Iran (west). Makrān has a seacoast about 200 mi (320 km) long. The interior of the division is mountainous, with the southernmost portion of the Makrān Range lying on the coast; another of its ranges occupies the central area, while in the north the highest portion of the Makrān range is separated from Khārān district by the Siāhān range. These ranges consist of a sequence of ridges, scoured and cut by torrential watercourses that are dry except after heavy floods. The Dasht River in the west is the major river. Temperatures vary, with the dry central area having the greatest extremes; the north has cool summers and cold winters.

With the arrival of the British in 1872 a commission was sent to demarcate the Persia–Makrān boundary. In 1903 Lord Curzon landed at Pasni and appointed assistants at Panjgūr and Gwādar. With the British maintaining political control, Makrān continued as an administrative division of Kalāt until Pakistan’s creation in 1947. Makrān became a part of the Baluchistan States Union in 1949.

Barley, wheat, rice, and dates are the chief agricultural products and the main sources of income. Fishing (sardines and sharks) and leatherwork are also important. Turbat, a district headquarters, has an airstrip and is located on a fair-weather road 250 mi from Kalāt. Pasni, which is about 25 mi from Turbat, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1945 and has since been rebuilt. Panjgūr is a district headquarters, to which most of the division offices of Makrān move during the summer. Jīwani is a seaport 300 mi from Karāchi; its population comprises the majority of the Baluchi Med who live in their traditional mud huts. Gwādar is an important fishing and trading centre with many commercial functions.