 Quetta
(the word derives
from kwatta, fort in
Pushtu) no doubt is
a natural fort,
surrounded as it is
by imposing hills on
all sides. The
encircling hills
have the resounding
names of Chiltan,
Takatoo, Mordar and
Zarghun.
Quetta was first
mentioned in the
11th century when it
was captured by
Mahmood of Ghazni on
one of his invasions
of the subcontinent.
In 1543 the Moghul
emperor Humayun
rested here on his
retreat to Persia,
leaving his
one-year-old son
Akbar until he
returned two years
later. The Moghuls
ruled Quetta until
1556, when the
Persians took it,
only to be retaken
by Akbar in 1595.
In 1828 the first
westerner to visit
Quetta described it
as a mud-walled fort
surrounded by 300
mud houses. Although
occupied briefly by
the British during
the First Afghan War
in 1839, it was not
until 1876 that
Quetta came under
permanent British
control and Robert
Sandeman was made
political agent in
Baluchistan. Since
Partition the
Population of Quetta
has increased
dramatically.
Because of its
military base and
trading activities,
and the introduction
of commercial fruit
farming, Quetta
District can now
support about half a
million people.
Quetta, before the
devastating
earthquake of 31 May
1935, was a bright
and bustling city
with multi-storey
buildings. Those
couple minutes if
the earthquake
seemed like hours to
the people of
Quetta. It was
almost completely
destroyed in this
earthquake and was
virtually razed to
the ground in the
small hours of the
morning of that
fateful day, when
about 40,000 people
perished. Today,
houses are generally
single storey and
quake proof, built
with bricks and
reinforced concrete.
The structure is
generally of lighter
material.
Incidentally, the
bricks of Quetta
have a yellowish
tinge unlike the red
variety of Sindh and
the Punjab. |
