Nushki is a town in Balochistan

Balochistan (Pakistan)

Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. The town lies southwest of Quetta

Quetta

is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...

, and is situated in a plain at the base of the Quetta plateau, 2900 ft above sea level. From Nushki, the flat Balochistan desert stretches away northward and westward to the Helmand River

Helmand River

The Helmand River is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primarily watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin....

.

Posted By Rashid Badini 20th, July 2007

History

Nushki was a starting off point for the British exploration of Central Asia. The British, concerned that their colonies in India would be attacked overland by either Napoleon or the Russians, sent two British officers, Captain Charles Christie and Lieutenant Henry Pottinger, to explore the regions between Balochistan and Persia, which was then allied with the British. Christie and Pottinger traveled from the coast to Kelat (now Kalat) and separated at Nushki on March 22, 1810, with Christie going northwest to Herat and Pottinger traveling west across the deserts. It was unlikely that either of the two men would be accepted by the locals, and they concealed their identities by posing as horse-traders or holy men during their respective journeys. They were reunited in Isfahan on June 30, 1810, with Christie haven ridden 2,250 miles and Pottinger having ridden 2,412 miles.

Posted By Rashid Badini 20th, July 2007