Catch Gandava for brevity is generally called Cutchi. It is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the Murree and Bugti countries, on theW. by the Hala mountains, on the E. by Sind, but is separated from Sind in the S. by a desert strip 20 miles broad. From these bounds it will be seen to extend from the town of Dadar, near the mouth' of the Bolan pass in the N., to near Khyree Gurree in British Sind in the S., a distance of 100 miles, and from the Hala mountains on the W., 150 miles eastwards to the Panjab. The surface is nearly uniformly flat, and is mostly a waste, for although the streams of the Bolan, the Narra, the Shari, and the Teywaugh run through it,—and wherever water is obtained Cutchi can be cultivated, and bajra (Penicillaria spicata) and juari (Sorghum vulgare) grown,--the air is arid, the average annual quantity of rain being about two inches, and for two or three years at a time there may even be no rain. When it does fall, a severe form of fever follows, from which no one escapes. Except within the influence of irrigation or after successive seasons of favourable downfalls, Cutchi may be termed a desert waste. Bagh, the principal town, in lat. 28° 56' N., and long. 67° 54' E., about 38 miles from Dadar, has a population of 8000 to 10,000 ; the neighbourhood is positive desert or Pat. Gandava in the second town.
Dadar, in lat. 29° 28' N., and long. 67° 34' E., and 743 feet above the sea, is also a town of some importance. It is 5 miles from the E. entrance of the Bolan pass, and is well supplied with water from the Bolan river, but it is almost surrounded by hills, and the closeness and great heat have given rise to the Persian saying, Ai Allah ! Dozakh chira sakhti chon Dadar bead !'-0 Lord ! why did you make hell, when you have Dadar? The Bolan pass is 54 miles long reckoning from its mouth, 5 miles W. of Dadar, through the Hala mountains to the Karlaki, 2f miles to the E. of the Dasht-i-be-Daulat, 5900 feet above the sea, where the fertile, well-watered valleys of Mustung and Shal occur. From April to August, the climate of Cutchi is proverbially sultry, and the desert blast, the bad-i-simum or jaloh, sweeps across it. In winter the climate is temperate, and the Khan of Kalat, and all the wealthier Brahui, as also the Rind Baluch, resort to it. The khan takes up his residence at Gandava, but Bagh is the more . important town. The several tribes in Cutchi number in all about 100,000 souls. It is inhabited by very distinctly marked races,—the ;fat, Rind, Maghazzi, and Brahui. The Jat seem the original race, and occupy the centre of the province. The Rind, lawless sub-tribes, Jakrani, Dumki, Bugti, and Murree, are a more recent in trusive race dwelling on the skirts. The Doda, a division of thewidely dispersed great Murree tribe, for the last three centuries have occupied the hill ranges E. of the plain of Cutchi. The Murree are a
brave race, long distinguished as daring depreda tors. In 1880 they harassed the British in the advance to Kandahar.
Harand and Dajil, in Cutch Gandava,but border ing on the Indus, are inhabited by the Gurchani, and have the Mazari on their south.
The pastoral and agricultural tribes are the Jat, the Khosa, Jamali, Jettui, Machee, Oomrani, Ramdani.
The Dumki sub-tribe of Rind claim a Persian origin ; they are a hardy, brave, and martial race.
The Jat, distributed throughout Baluchistan, are all Muhammadans. Those of Cutchi have 22 sections engaged in tillage ; also 18 sections of camel-breeders.
The Jat of Cutchi dwell in villages.
The Guruwani tribe in Cutchi follow Muham madanism, but are descendants from former Hindu rulers in the highlands of Baluchistan.
The Kaihiri is a strong but peaceable tribe in Chatar and Pulaji in Cutchi, who claim to be Shaikhs from Afghanistan. They rendered gon.1 service to the British. They suffered defeats in 1828 from the combined Murree, Bugti, Dumki, and Jakrani, and were driven out of the country, but were restored by Sir Charles Napier after his hill campaign in 1845. He enrolled eighty of their number as irregular horse, and stationed them in the Cutchi side of the desert. These are still kept up, at Rs. 14,580 per annum of pay.
The Langao tribe is of Hindu origin, and retain the Hindu titular appellations. They dwell S. of Bagh in Cutchi, and in the valley of Mangachar between Kalat and Mustung. Their Maidizai off shoot reside in Gwadar.
The Magheri tribe have four subdivisions,— Hajizai Bambirani, Bhoud, and Arbani. Their chief town, Jalal-Khan, is N.W. of Bagh.
The Jatui is a small agricultural sub-tribe of Rind Baluch between Shikarpur and the Indus, also in Cutchi. They were formerly predatory, but are now peaceable. They have eleven sub divisions.
The Tarin, a Pathan tribe furnishing about 700 fighting men, inhabit the country to the north of Cutchi.
The Jakrani tribe is Baluch ; they occupy the portion of Cutch Gandava to the E. of Chutar and Shahpur. They are a section of the Maghazzi. They have nine subdivisions,—Salivani, Majani, Sujapaz, Suwanani, Sudkani, Solkani, Mulkani, Karokani, and Dirkani, and have 300 fighting men well mounted. They and the Dumki before British annexation were largely predatory, but after Sir Charles Napier's campaign in 1845, the best portion of this tribe was removed to fertile land near the Kashmir desert in the Jacobabad district. They used to unite with the Duroki, and could muster for plundering about 1500 horse men well armed, with about 500 more able-bodied armed men on foot. The Jakrani carried on their forays on horseback, and levied black-mail on all merchants. They are now peaceful cultivators of their own and Government lands.