Barkhan, Balochistan Province, Pakistan

🇵🇰 Barkhan (بارخان; بارخان) is the capital city of the Barkhan District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is located at an altitude of 1,100 metres (3,612 feet).

History The early history of District Barkhan is obscure, but it is said that this area remained under Muslim rulers and conquerors of Kandahar and India.

Baro Khan the founder of the Barozai family of Pannis was a great fighter who came to Barkhan with his tribal people. As such, this valley was named Bar Khan, but with the passage of time it was called Barkhan. The Khetran country was one of the sub-districts of Sewistan and of the Hind Province of Tatta. In Akbar's time it was called Janjah.

Khetran is a Baloch tribe. Mir Girazo Khan Baloch was first sardar of the Khetrans. He was succeeded by his son Bakhtiar Khan, who was succeeded by Mir Haji Khan, whose rule is memorable among the Khetrans for a defeat which he inflicted on the Zhob Kakars. Mir Haji Khan was succeeded by a few nominal chiefs. Mir Haji Khan was a strong man, and the Khetrans prospered under him. He also took revenge on the defeat of the Khetrans from Marris by destroying the fort at Mawand of Karam Khan Bijrani Marri. Haji Khan died, leaving three sons: Umar Khan, Nawab Khan and Balu Khan. Yet he was succeeded by his brother Sayed Khan, who was elected by the Khetrans. He too died, leaving three sons: Dost Muhammad, Sorni Khan and Kadir Bakhsh. Syed Khan was succeeded by his brother Balul Khan. Babul Khan was however opposed by Nawab Khan and Kadir Bakhsh. Kadir Bakhsh went to the Marris and gave his stepmother in marriage to Gazan, the Marri Chief and led Marris Lashkar against the Khetrans, who lost many lives and property during the fights. Sir Rober Sandeman (then Deputy Commissioner, D.G. Khan), however, intervened and made peace between Kadir Bakhsh and Babul Khan.

British Raj Due to prolonged war among Khetrans, Lunis and Marris, in 1880, the Khetrans submitted a petition to the British authorities at D.G Khan, offering to pay revenue and to be taken under British protection. The Khetrans' country remained under the political control of the British authorities of D.G Khan from 1878 to 1883. In 1883, Sardar Baloch Khan met Mr Bruce, the Political Agent of Thaal Chotiali, with a Jirga of his tribesmen. This settled the dispute between the Khetrans, Luni and Marris.

In 1884, the Khetrans came under the authority of the Agent to the Governor General in Balochistan. The Leghari Barkhan circle, comprising two valleys, Barkhan and Vitakari, was transferred from Punjab control to Balochistan control in 1884. This district, from where the Leghari tribe migrated to Dera Ghazi Khan, was brought under the direct administration of Balochistan in 1887, when work on the construction of D.G Khan - Pishin Road was started and a Tehsildar was posted at Barkhan. In 1889, Barkhan tehsil was transferred to the Zhob Agency with headquarters at Loralai. This tehsil however was transferred again to Thal Chotaili Agency in 1892. In October 1903, the Thal Chotaili and Zhob Agencies were remodeled and three new agencies were created: Sibi, Loralai and Zhob. The Barkhan Tehsil was transferred to the Loralai Agency.

Geography Barkhan is the eighth-smallest district of Balochistan and has an area of 3,410 square kilometers. Barkhan District lies between 69°3'-70° 4' East longitude and 29°37'-30°21' North latitude, consisting of one tehsil and eight union councils. The location of Barkhan is 541 km (aerial distance) south-west (220 degrees bearing) of Pakistan's capital city Islamabad and 245 km east (97 degrees bearing) from Quetta City, the provincial capital of Balochistan.

Geography: Topography The landscape of Barkhan consists of plains, valleys and mountains varying in ground elevation ranging from 841 to 2,031 meters above Mean Sea Level (MSL). The district consists of one main valley, called Barkhan, and several smaller valleys, which are separated from the main valley by low ranges of hills running in a south-west direction. The Barkhan valley is enclosed on the north side by scattered low hills, which divide the drainage water of the valley from the waters flowing into the Rakhni stream in the south-west, and on the west and north-west side by the great Jandran range. The valley ends in the Vitakari valley. To the east of the Sukha range is the Kharcha valley, which is bounded by the Phulai range on the east. The hills in the district belong to the Suleman range; the principal hills are known as Kala Pahar in the north, Karwada, Bibar, Jandra and Mar or Mukhmar in the west, Andari and Sukha in the south, Phulai and Khawaj in the east, and Mazara, Tagha, Dig and Deka in the centre and Rakhni areas. The ranges mostly consist of earth sand and stones; some portions are rocky and not easily accessible. The Jandran range is mostly rocky. In the south runs the Han stream with its tributaries. The Han stream runs in a south-west direction and carries the drainage of the Han pass and the south-eastern slopes of the Jandran range. At Dhamani (Barkhan Tehsil) the stream becomes perennial up to its junction with the Kah River in Dera Ghazi Khan district. Dhaula stream, its tributary, brings water from the hills situated to the south of the Bagha valley and irrigates a number of villages in the Barkhan valley and joins Han in Vitakari. Rakhni and Han join Kah Stream which then passes into the district of Dera Ghazi Khan.

A third important stream is Bala Dhaka. This stream lies in Berg-Sham Mauza of the Barkhan Tehsil. The stream is a tributary of the Narechi River (Duki Tehsil). Water in this stream comes down from the south-western slopes of hills located north of the Han pass. The stream irrigates a very small area of Mauza Berg-Sham, and then its water passes in the Duki Tehsil.

Archaeological sites During geological mapping and bio-stratigraphic research activity in Barkhan District, the geologists of the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) discovered the first dinosaur fossils in Pakistan.

Khetranisaurus District Barkhan made headlines when million years old fossils of a dinosaurs was found in the area of Vatakari.

Etymology; Khetrani, honoring the Khetran tribe of Barkhan district; saurus means reptiles. The species specific epithet barkhani, honoring the Barkhan which is the host District of dinosaurs.

Education According to Pakistan District Education Ranking, a report by Alif Ailaan, district Barkhan is ranked at number 100 nationally with a score of 50.24. The learning score of Barakhan is 54.58 and gender parity of 62.75.

The national rank according to readiness is 100, with a readiness score of 22.66 and primary ratio of 9.7. The school infrastructure score is 20.53, ranking Barkhan district nationally at 153. Functional toilets are a major issues in schools of Barkhan with a score of 2.65.

Issues reported in TaleemDo! App usually relate to poor building walls, putting students lives at risk or in some places no building walls at all. Basic facilities are missing and there are also many complaints about lack of quality teachers.

In the case of rural females, only 6% had ever-attended any school and only 3% graduated from primary or higher levels. The primary net attendance ratio of school-going age children was 39%, with girls lower than boys (36% versus 41%). This indicates that 61% children were still out of school and will either join late, or probably will never enroll. The total enrollment for middle classes up to December 2009 was 1,085, and total enrollment in secondary classes was only 595. One of the major reasons for low enrollment in secondary levels is non-availability of schools. Against 572 primary schools in the district, there are only 17 middle and 14 high schools. Primary school completion is relatively better (65%).

There are 572 primary schools (407 male and 165 female), 17 middle schools (12 male and 5 female), 14 high schools (12 male and 2 female), 1 girls' inter college and 1 boys' degree 4 college.

Flora and fauna • Mammals: wolf, hill fox, Asiatic jackal, striped hyaena, cape hare, porcupine, Afghan hedgehog, and stone marten • Birds: chukar (Alectoris Chukar), see-see partridge (Ammoperdix Griseogularis), kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus), golden eagle (Aquila Chrysaetos Daphanea), a number of finches, buntings, seasonal/migratory waterfowls, hawks, bustards and sand grouse • Reptiles: Afghan tortoise (Agrionemys Horsfieldii), Afghan agama (Trapelus Megalonyx), Indian cobra (Naja naja), saw-scale viper (Echis Carinatus), dwarf dark-headed racer (Eirenis Persica Walteri) Levantine viper (Macrovipera Lebetina) • Major crops: ◦ Rabi crops: wheat, barley, vegetable and Fodder ◦ Kharif crops: sorghum (jowar), millet (bajra), maize, mung bean, mash bean, fruits, onion, potato, vegetable, melon, chili, fodder, garlic and cotton • Major fruits: apricot, peach, grapes, almond, pomegranate, apple, plum

Natural resources District Barkhan has deposits of coal and gypsum. The coal deposits are not large. In some places, very minute quantities of coal were found, but the work was abandoned as there was no prospect of commercial benefits. As recently as 2001, a British oil exploration company conducted a survey and found oil reserves in Vitakari, Gadobra and some other areas. The Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd. discovered gas and condensate at Barkhan in 2021.