Formed in 1666 due to the threat of Mughal expansion in the region,[4][5] it controlled the wider Balochistan at its greatest extent in the mid-18th century,[2] extending from Kerman in the west to Sindh in the east and from Helmand River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

During the reign of Shah Jahan, Mughal expansion reached its high point, and caused the emergence for the first time a strong, unified "Baloch and Brahui Confederacy" or the Khanate of Kalat.

[14] During the reign of his successor, Mir Samandar Khan (r.1697–1714), a Safavid army under Tahmasb Beg invaded western Balochistan.

[14][15] Under Mir Abdullah Khan I (r.1714–34), the state expanded from Upper Sindh and Kandahar to Persia till the port of Bandar Abbas.

His son and successor, Mir Mehrab Khan (r.1734–1749), was given the region of Kacchi, then under Kalhoras, by Nader Shah as blood compensation of his father.

[14] The Khanate reached its peak during the reign of Mir Nasir Khan I (r.1749–94), who had unified the Kalat region and conquered cities of Khash, Bampur, Qasr-e Qand and Zahedan in the Iranian Balochistan.

[16][17][18] According to some other accounts, Mir Nasir Khan had recognized suzerainty of Ahmad Shah, who guaranteed non-interference in the matters of Kalat.

[14] Following the collapse of the Durranis, any trace of Afghan influence over Kalat ended after the death of Sher Dil Khan, the ruler of the Principality of Qandahar, in 1826.

[23][24][25] Mir Nasir Khan, known to the Baloch "The Great",[26][27][28][29][30][5] undertook 25 military campaigns during his reign, and forced the Talpur dynasty of Sindh to pay tribute.

[34] The political centralization of the Khanate of Kalat failed to survive through the colonial era and did not lead to the standardization of the Baloch language.

"[37] The Instruments of Accession made available for the rulers to sign transferred only limited powers, namely external relations, defence, and communications.

[43] The next morning, Yar Khan put out a public broadcast rejecting its veracity and declaring an immediate accession to Pakistan — all remaining differences were to be placed before Jinnah, whose decision would be binding.

[43] Dushka H. Saiyid emphasizes that Yar Khan lost all of his bargaining chips with the accession of Kharan, Las Bela, and Makran, leaving Kalat as an island.

Significantly reduced in the late 19th century, the princely state of Kalat occupied the central part of the territory of modern-day Balochistan province in Pakistan.

The last Khan of Kalat (Balochi: خان قلات) had the privilege of being the President of the Council of Rulers for the Baluchistan States Union.