Sistan and Baluchestan Province - History

History

In the epigraphs of Bistoon and Persepolis, Sistan is mentioned as one of the eastern territories of Darius the Great. The name Sistan, as mentioned above, is derived from Saka (also sometimes Saga, or Sagastan), one of the Aryan tribes that had taken control over this area in the year 128 BCE. During the Arsacid Dynasty (248 BC to 224 CE), the province became the seat of Suren-Pahlav Clan. From the Sassanid period till the early Islamic period, Sistan flourished considerably.

During the reign of Ardashir I of Persia, Sistan came under the jurisdiction of the Sassanids, and in 644CE, the Arab Muslims gained control as the Persian empire was in its final moments of collapsing.

During the reign of the second caliph of Islam, this territory was conquered by the Arabs and an Arab commander was assigned as governor. The famous Persian ruler Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari, whose descendants dominated this area for many centuries, later became governor of this province. In 916 CE, Baluchestan was ruled by the Daylamids and thereafter the Seljuqids, when it became a part of Kerman. Dynasties such as the Saffarids, Samanids, Qaznavids, and Seljuqids, also ruled over this territory.

In 1508 CE, Shah Ismail I of the Safavid dynasty conquered Sistan, and during the reign of Nader Shah there was further turmoil.

Baluchestan has always gone by two ancient names, the Maga/Maka (which through the passage of time it changed to Mokran / Makran), and Godar (from the Bactrian language (Pashto) from which the Greeks derived Gedrosia and which, through the passage of time, changed to Gwadar). Both names still survive inside the Pakistan administered part of Baluchestan today.