Nousherwani Fort
Kharan once part of the Persian Empire, it became independent and was conquered by Azad Khan in 1789. Belonging to the Nousherwani (rakhshani) tribe, his decedents still live in the Khorasan province of Iran.
The ancient fort of Kharan holds within a fascinating chapter of historical
facts and events. In the historical context where it shares the story of its
habitant’s warfare, it also tells a captivating tale of spiritual occurrence.
Kharan is a town in Kharan district, Balochistan. According to the historian
Istakhari, the primeval name of it was Karan or Qaran meaning “barren mountains”.
In linguistic manner, Kharan is a Balochi word which means yellow color
(Yellow Mountain). The state of Kharan was established in about 1697 as a
vassal state of Kalat (a princely state back then) until 1940. On March 17, 1948
Kharan acceded to Pakistan and on October 3, 1952 it joined the Balochistan
States Union. The state was dissolved on October 14, 1955 when most regions
of the western wing of Pakistan were merged to form the province of West Pakistan.
When the province was dissolved in 1970, the territory of the former state
of Kharan was organized as Kharan District of the province of Balochistan.
Kharan was conquered in 1789 by Azad Khan Nosherwani. According
to early history, the Nowsherwani tribes migrated from
Iran to Kharan and were later bound to Sistan Balochsitan.
Azad Khan Nosherwani was the mastermind behind the Kharan fort. He built eleven
fortresses around the city to secure it politically from Afghanistan, the State of
Kalat and foreign traders of that time, but from a military point of view it was necessary
to build a central fort. The construction of the main fort was stopped while
it was underway each time due to inadequate water supply. Despite the numerous
efforts, the water crisis made the construction of the fort impossible. Wells
and Karez were excavated many times but water became impossible to obtain.
Local stories stated that a famous spiritual personality who was in close
ties to the Chief called upon to settle this problem. He took Azad Khan from
the present Kharan town to the north on the point of Dilkasha, a famous
place of that time, and marked the location of Karez and the fort with his
supernatural wand. It is reported that from that time onwards, the water
of the Karez flows in the same quantity, neither less nor more, till date.