balochracehistor00damerich

20 THE BALOCtl RACE
in a tract of country called Lashar in Persian Balochistan. 1
MagassI is sometimes used as a term interchangeable with
Lasharl ; Ferrier (' Caravan Journeys,' p. 431) divides the
Baloches of Slstan into Nervuis (Naruis), Rinds, and Mekses
(i.e., Magassis).
KulachI is probably from the Kolanch Valley in Mekran.
This tribe, once powerful, but now of small importance, has
left its name on the map. The town of KulachI, in Dera
Ismail Khan, though now belonging to the Gandapur
Afghans, bears it, and the great seaport of Karachi has
the same name, with the usual SindhI change of I to r.
The name of the Kahlrls, who are in the present day
a Levitical tribe with certain peculiar attributes, is probably
derived from one of the Kahiri torrents. The legend given
in the Tarlkh-i-M'asumI (1600 a.d.) 2 derives the name
direct from the Kahlr-tree, asserting that one of the
ancestors of the tribe rode on a tree of this sort, making
it move like a horse when he struck it with a whip.
Perhaps the KalmatI should be added to this list. Sir
T. Holdich supposes them to derive their name from
Kalmat, and this is, prima facie, probable. They are stated
to be a peculiar tribe with certain religious superstitions
attached to them, and it seems possible that their name
may be derived from the KarmatI or Karmatian heretics,
who were driven into Mekran by Mahmud of Ghaznl and
Muhammed bin Sam. 3
Neither Kahiri nor KalmatI are
probably Baloches by origin, though long associated
them and mentioned in old ballads.
with
It is not necessary to go further into Dr. Bellew's lists of
subdivisions or of what he calls Jat Baloches. Only two
Baloch tribes, the Jatoi and Jakrani, are included in the
latter list. The rest are the names of miscellaneous Indian
tribes with no claim to be called Baloch.
I may here allude to the derivation of the word ' Baloch '
1 I owe this information to the kindness of Major P. Molesworth
Sykes.
2 E. D. i. 238. 3 E> d #j ^ pp> 459^ 492.