You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
A HISTORICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL SKETCH 43<br />
power. A mystical poem in Balochi on the origin of<br />
Multan is attributed to him, as well as one on the sack of<br />
Dehli. It is remarkable that Shahdad is said by Firishta<br />
to have been the first to introduce the ShI'a creed into<br />
Multan. The rivalry between the Kinds (Cbakur's tribe)<br />
and the Dodals is also the subject of many poems.<br />
Other poems, forming the bulk of the legendary ballads,<br />
deal with the war which took place between the Einds and<br />
Lasharis and also between both of them and the Turks,<br />
and assert that it was the loss of Sibi and Kachhi which<br />
forced Mir Chakur and his Einds to migrate to the<br />
Panjab. To understand the true meaning of these legends<br />
it is necessary to go back to the invasion of Sindh by the<br />
Arghuns—the Turks of the Baloch story. The Arghuns<br />
were a Mughal family who claimed descent from Changiz<br />
Khan. Zu'n-nun Beg Arghun rose to power as Minister<br />
under Sultan Husain Baikara of Herat, one of the<br />
descendants of Taimur. He obtained the Government of<br />
Qandahar, where he made himself practically independent.<br />
The first invasion of Kachhi, by way of the Bolan Pass,<br />
took place in a.h. 890 (ad. 1485). Shah-Beg commanded<br />
on behalf of his father, and penetrated as far as the<br />
Indus; Jam Nanda, the Summa Chief, opposed him and<br />
defeated and drove him back at Jaluglr in a.d. I486. 1<br />
After Zu'n-nun Beg's death in war against the Uzbegs, Shah<br />
Beg, who succeeded him, was driven oat of Qandahar by<br />
Babar in a.d. 1507, and took refuge in Shal and Mustang<br />
at the head of the Bolan Pass, where he must have come<br />
into contact with the Baloches. Shah Beg ultimately lost<br />
Qandahar, and determined to build up a new throne for<br />
himself in India. He invaded Sindh in a.h. 917 (a.d. 1511)<br />
and a.h. 927 (a.d. 1520), overthrew the Sammas, and<br />
established his power. 2 He enlisted the services of some<br />
of the hill-tribes, probably Baloches, and we also read of<br />
1 For a good sketch of the history of this period, see General<br />
Haig's ' The Indus Delta Country,' 1894, p. 84.<br />
2 See also Erskine's ' Lives of Babar and Humayiin,' 1854, i. 352,<br />
etc. ; and the Tarikli-I-M'asumi in E. D., i. 236.
Change language