History
A Chinese pilgrim, Xuanzang, who visited the region in 629 AD mentioned about Pashtuns living in Zhob.
Until the Zhob Valley expedition of 1884 the area was practically unknown to Europeans, and in 1889 the Zhob Valley and Gomal Pass were taken under the control of the British Government. In December 1889 the town of Zhob, then known as Apozai, was occupied by the British and named Fort Sandeman after Sir Robert Sandeman.
The district of Zhob was formed in 1890, with Fort Sandeman as the capital. The population was 3552, according to the 1901 census of India. The military garrison included a Native cavalry and a Native infantry regiment. It was also the headquarters of the Zhob Levy Corps. In 1894 a supply of water from the Saliaza valley was established— which allowed irrigation and planting of fruits and trees and provided drinking water. It cost a little over a lakh of rupees.
During the colonial era the Political Agent resided in a building known as "the Castle" that lay to the north of the town and 150 feet above the surface of the plain. The military lines, bazar, dispensaries, and school lay below. During this time the railway system was built. The nearest railway station in Baluchistan is Harnai, 168 miles distant. Bhakkar, the railway station for Dera Ismail Khan, is 122 miles distant. The population numbered 3,552 in 1901. The garrison included a Native cavalry and a Native infantry regiment, and Fort Sandeman is also the headquarters of the Zhob Levy Corps. The main tribes of Zhob are Kakar, Mandokhail,Sherani,Khosti, Babar,lawoon, Harifal.
A local fund was created in 1890; the income during 1903-4 was Rs. 18,000 and the expenditure Rs. 17,000. One-third of the net receipts from octroi was paid over to the military authorities. A small sanitarium, about 8,500 ft. above sea-level, exists about 30 miles away at Shinghar on the Sulaiman range, to which resort is made in the summer months.
Zhob is also the location of a Pakistan Army cantonment.
Read more about this topic: Zhob
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,—for if men read aright, methinks they would never read anything but poems. No history nor philosophy can supply their place.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)