balochracehistor00damerich

A HISTORICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL SKETCH 47
MaghassI tribe, a branch of the Lasharis, still occupy that
neighbourhood. Other Lasharls must have joined the
invaders of the Panjab, as a strong Lashari clan is still
attached to the Gurchanis (Dodais), and the Jistkanis, a
clan of the Lasharls, established a principality at Mankera,
in the Sindh-Sagar Doab. In fact, the early successes of
the Binds and Dodais seem to have led to something like
a national migration. The poems describe it in picturesque
language :
* The noble Kinds were in Bampur, in the groves of
Kech and Makran, with the Dombkis, the greatest house
among the dwellings of the Baloches. The Binds and
Lasharls made a bond together and said : " Come, let us
leave this barren land ; let us spy out the running streams
and sweet waters, and distribute them among us ; let us
take no heed of tribe or chief." They came to their homes,
the chiefs called to their slaves, " Loose the slender chestnut
mares from their stalls, saddle the young fillies—steeds
worth nine thousand—drive in the camels from the passes."
The warriors called to their wives :
" Come ye down from your
castles, bring out your beds and wrappings, carpets and red
blankets, pillows and striped rugs, cups cast in the mould,
and drinking-vessels of Makran ; for Chakur will no longer
abide here, but seeks a far land." So the generous Binds
rode forth in their overcoats and long red boots, with
helmets and armpieces, bows and quivers, silver knives
and daggers—forty thousand of them rode at the Mir's call.'
So they swarmed down into the plains, seizing the fertile
lands and grazing-grounds, and always, if possible, keeping
near to a screen of hills as a shelter. 1 Some tribes wan-
dered far afield. Among the first must have been the
Chandyas, who gave their name to the tract known as
1 The extent of the migration may be judged from the fact that a
recent census (1891) showed 985,000 Baloches in Sind and the Panjab.
Only 80,000 have been enumerated in the Kelat territory, while the
figures for Mekran and Persian Balochistan, not accurately known,
may be roughly put at 200,000.