Babu Nowroz and Prince abdul karim

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Nawab Nowroz Khan

Nawab Nauroz (Nowroz) Khan, (1874?-1964), respectfully known by Balochis as Babu Nowroz, was the head of the Zarakzai (Zehri), a Brahui people subject to the Khan of Kalat in Balochistan, Pakistan. After his failed rebellion against the Pakistani central
Early Years
Little is know about Nowroz Khan's early years. He was born some time in the 1870s or 1880s (sources disagree on the date) at a time when Kalat was a princely state within the framework of the British Raj. By 1887 the British had reached a settlement with Kalat agreeing on limited autonomy in exchange for British authority in military affairs and external relationships, but the country remained instable, with periodic fighting against the authorities or between tribal groups.
Nauroz Khan became Nawab and leader of the the Zehri tribe in the Jhalawan area of Kalat at a time before the introduction of electricity or motor vehicles, head of a largely nomadic people in a harsh mountain / desert environment, but with a rich tradition of Baluchi, Persian and Muslim culture. The First and Second World Wars were distant events in this world, but the creation of the state of Pakistan in 1947 was disruptive.
Background to Revolt
In 1955 the various states of Balochistan were dissolved and merged into the province of West Pakistan under the "One Unit" policy. In 1958 the Khan of the largest state, Kalat, Ahmad Yar Khan organized a rebellion to secede from West Pakistan. The Pakistan army took control of the Kalat palace and arrested the Khan for sedition on October 6, 1958. The next day, the president Iskandar Mirza declared martial law. This led to disturbances in parts of Balochistan that lasted for about a year. Nawab Nowroz Khan was one of the leaders.
Nowroz Khan's Rebellion & Imprisonment
Nowroz Khan's band of fighters, which may have numbered as many as 1,000 at times, was involved in several sharp skirmishes with forces led by Lt. Col. Tikka Khan. Nowroz agreed to surrender on May 15, 1959 in exchange for amnesty and settlement of the Baluchi grievances. Tikka Khan was said to have agreed to the terms of the surrender through an oath on the Holy Quran. However, when Nowroz Khan came down from the hills, he and about 150 of his followers, including his sons and nephews, were arrested for armed rebellion against the state. On July 15, 1960 five of the leaders were executed by hanging in Hyderabad Jail. Nowroz was spared execution on account of his age, but died in Kohlu Jail in 1964.

The Khan of Kalat was subsequently forgiven and freed.

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Prince Abdul Karim Khan;

The refusal to grant autonomy to Balochistan and the continued existence of the Sandeman system resulted in civil unrest. On the night of May 16, 1948, Prince Abdul Karim Khan, the younger brother of the Khan, decided to lead a rebellion. The Prince invited the leading members of nationalist political parties—the Kalat State National Party, the Baloch League, and the Baloch National Workers Party—to join him in the struggle for the creation of an independent "Greater Balochistan." Apart from his political motives, the Prince was a member of the royal family and the former governor of the Makran province; he was upset by Pakistan's recognition of Sardar Bay Khan Gichki as Makran's ruler. The Baloch Mujahedeen fled to Afghanistan and encamped at Sarlath in the province of Kandahar. During their stay, the Baloch fighters adopted national, cultural and religious ideas to further their cause. The Prince also organized the Baloch Warriors, former soldiers and officers of the Khanate's army.
Prince Karim's capture;
With Afghan aid, Abdul Karim entered Balochistan and organized a rebellion against Pakistan in the Jalawan area. He received assistance from Mir Gohar Khan Zahrri, an influential tribal leader of the Zarkzai clan. Major General Akbar Khan, who was in charge of the Pakistani army's Seventh Regiment, was ordered to attack the insurgents and force them to surrender. Prince Karim and his 142 followers were arrested and imprisoned in the Mach and Quetta jails.
Trial and sentencing;
After the arrest of the Prince and his party, the A.G.G. gave an order for an inquiry, to be conducted by Khan Sahib Abdullah Khan, the Additional District Magistrate of Quetta. He submitted his report on September 12, 1948. His report was based on the Prince's activities and upon the letters and documents published by the rebel force. After the inquiry, R. K. Saker, the District Magistrate of Quetta, appointed a special Jirga (official council of elders), this Jirga was instructed to study the circumstances and events which led to the revolt and was asked to give its recommendations to the District Magistrate. On November 10, 1948, the Jirga heard the testimony of the accused and gave its recommendations to the D.M. on November 17, 1948, suggesting the delivery of the Prince to Loralai at the pleasure of the Government of Pakistan and various other penalties. The D.M., in his order dated November 27, 1948, differed with the opinion of the Jirga and sentenced the Prince to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 5000 rupees. Other members of his party were given various sentences and fines.

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Khans of Kalat;

Authentic history begins with the reign of the Khans of Kalat, the rulers of Kalat were never fully independent, there was always a paramount power to whom they were subject. In the earliest times they were merely petty chiefs: later they bowed to the orders of the Mughal emperors of Delhi and to the rulers of Kandahar, and supplied men-at-arms on demand. Most peremptory orders from the Afghan rulers to their vassals of Kalat are still extant, and the predominance of the Sadozais and Barakzais was acknowledged so late as 1838. It was not until the time of Nasir Khan I that the titles of Beglar Begi (Chief of Chiefs) and Wali-i-Kalat (Governor of Kalat) were conferred on the Kalat ruler by the Afghan kings.
 For the first 150 years, up to the death of Mir Mahmud Khan I, a gradual extension of power took place and the building up of a constitution which, looking at the condition of the country, is a marvel of political sagacity and practical statesmanship. A period of social ferment, anarchy, and rebellion succeeded, in which sanguinary revolts rapidly alternated with the restoration of a power ruthless in retaliation, lasting into the period of British Government.
As the Mughal power decayed, the Ahmadzai chiefs found themselves freed in some degree from external interference. The first problem that presented itself was to secure mutual cohesion and co-operation in the loose tribal organization of the state, and this was effected by adopting a policy of parcelling out a portion of all conquests among the poverty-stricken highlanders. Thus all gained a vested interest in the welfare of the community, while receiving provision for their maintenance. A period of expansion then commenced. Mir Ahmad made successive descents on the plains of Sibi. Mir Samandar extended his raids to Zhob, Bori, and Thal-Chotiali, and levied an annual sum of Rs. 40,000 from the Kalhoras of Sindh.
Mir Abdullah, the greatest conqueror of the dynasty, turned his attention westward to Makran, while in the north-east he captured Pishin and Shorawak from the Ghilzai rulers of Kandahar. He was eventually slain in a fight with the Kalhoras at Jandrihar near Sanni in Kachhi. During the reign of Mir Abdullah's successor, Mir Muhabbat, Nadir Shah rose to power; and the Ahmadzai ruler obtained through him in 1740 the cession of Kachhi, in compensation for the blood of Mir Abdullah and the men who had fallen with him. The Brahuis had now gained what highlanders must always covet, good cultivable lands; and, by the wisdom of Muhabbat Khan and of his brother Nasir Khan, certain tracts were distributed among the tribesmen on the condition of finding so many men-at-arms for the Khan's body of irregular troops. At the same time much of the revenue-paying land was retained by the Khan for himself.
The forty-four years of the rule of Nasir Khan I, known to the Brahuis as 'The Great,' and the hero of their history, were years of strenuous administration and organization interspersed with military expeditions. He accompanied Ahmad Shah in his expeditions to Persia and India, while at home he was continuously engaged in the reduction of Makran, and, after nine expeditions to that country, he obtained from the Gichkis the right to the collection of half the revenues. A wise and able administrator, Nasir Khan was distinguished for his prudence, activity, and enterprise. He was essentially a warrior and a conqueror, and his spare time was spent in hunting. At the same time he was most attentive to religion, and enjoined on his people strict attention to the precepts of Islamic law. His reign was free from those internecine conflicts of which the subsequent story of Kalat offers so sad a record.
The reign of Nasir Khan's successor, Mir Mahmud Khan, was distinguished bv little except revolts. In I810 Pottinger visited his capital and has left a full record of his experience. The reign of Mir Mehrab Khan was one long struggle with his chiefs, many of whom he murdered. He became dependent on men of the stamp of Mulla Muhammad Hasan and Saiyid Muhammad Sharif, by whose treachery, at the beginning of the first Afghan War, Sir William Macnaghten and Sir Alexander Burnes were deceived into thinking that Mehrab Khan was a traitor to the British; that he had induced the tribes to oppose the advance of the British army through the Bolan Pass; and that finally, when Sir Alexander Burnes was returning from a mission to Kalat, he had caused a robbery to be committed on the party, in the course of which an agreement, which had been executed between the envoy and the Khan, was carried off. This view determined the diversion of Sir Thomas Willshire's brigade from Quetta to attack Kalat in 1839, an act which has been described by Malleson as 'more than a grave error, a crime.' The place was taken by assault and Mehrab Khan was slain.
 British conquest;
The British gradually became involved in Balochistan during the reign of Mir Mehrab Khan whose reign was characterised by the power struggle he had with the chief, many of whom he had murdered. Mehrab Khan had become dependent on Mulla Muhammad Hasan and Saiyid Muhammad Sharif. And it was these men who had convinced the British that he had encouraged the tribes to oppose the British advance through the Bolan pass. The British justified their 1839 attack of Kalat on this, and had had Mehrab Khan killed, his successor — Shah Nawaz Khan was then appointed with Lieutenant Loveday as political officer. However a rebellion of the Sarawan tribes the following year force Shah Nawaz to abdicate, his successor Mir Muhammad Hasan then took power and afterwards being known as Mir Nazir Khan II.
Under pressure from Colonel Stacey Mir Nasir Khan II submitted to the British, and Major Outram had him installed at Kalat in 1840.[20]
Accession issues of 1948;
Balochi nationalists support the claim that the ruler of the Khanate of Balochistan, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, was coerced by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the first governor-general of Pakistan, to sign the document of accession. Critics dispute such claims as unrealistic and contrary to popular support for Jinnah, as the Khan of Kalat ruled even after Jinnah's death with the support of the government. However, the Khan was not an absolute monarch; he was required to act under the provisions of the Rawaj (the Baloch constitution).
The incorporation of the Khanate resulted in a few anti-Pakistani rallies and meetings in certain areas of the Khanate. To subdue anti-Pakistani sentiment, the Army of Pakistan was placed on alert. The Government of Pakistan decided to take complete control of the administration of the Khanate of Balochistan on April 15, 1948. The Agent to the Governor General (A.G.G.) in Balochistan conveyed Jinnah's orders that the Khanate would revert to its previous status as it had existed under British rule. Jinnah also refused to give autonomy to Balochistan.
In April 1948, several political leaders from Balochistan, including Mohammad Amin Khosa and Abdul Samad Achakzai, were arrested. The pro-Congress Anjuman-i-Watan Party, headed by Samad Achakzai, was declared unlawful.