Makran
Makran (Persian: مكران), also mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the southern coastal region of Balochistan.
It extends westwards, from the Sonmiani Bay to the northwest of Karachi in the east, to the fringes of the region of Bashkardia/Bāšgerd in the southern part of the Sistan and Baluchestan province of modern Iran.
In January 2025, a government spokesperson informed that Iran is investigating the possibility of moving its capital to the Makran region.
[10] The border between the Seleucid and Mauryan Empires remained stable in subsequent generations, and friendly diplomatic relations are reflected by the ambassador Megasthenes, and by the envoys sent westward by Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka.
[10] Shapur I's trilingual inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Naqsh-i-Rustam, dated to 262 CE, had noted "Makuran"/"Makran" to be one of the many provinces of the Sasanian Empire: And I (Shapur I) possess the lands: Fars [Persis], Pahlav [Parthia] ... and all of Abarshahr (all the upper (eastern, Parthian) provinces), Kerman, Sakastan, Turgistan, Makuran, Pardan [Paradene], Hind [Sind] and Kushanshahr all the way to Pashkibur [Peshawar?]
[14] According to historian Andre Wink: Further evidence in the Chachnama makes perfectly clear that many areas of Makran as of Sindh had a largely Buddhist population.
There is thus very wide extension of Indian cultural forms in Makran in the seventh century, even in the period when it fell under Persian sovereignty.
By comparison in more recent times the last place of Hindu pilgrimage in Makran was Hinglaj, 256 km west of present-day Karachi in Las Bela.
[20][full citation needed] In late 644 CE Caliph Umar dispatched an army under the command of Hakam ibn Amr for the wholesale invasion of Makkuran.
The Raja's army had included war elephants, but these had posed little problem for the Muslim invaders, who had dealt with them during the conquest of Persia.
In accordance with the orders of Caliph Umar, the captured war elephants were sold in Islamic Persia, with the proceeds distributed among the soldiers as share in booty.
[21] In response to Caliph Umar's questions about the Makran region, the messenger from Makkuran who brought the news of the victory told him: O Commander of the faithful!
It's a land where the plains are stony; Where water is scanty; Where the fruits are unsavory; Where men are known for treachery; Where plenty is unknown; Where virtue is held of little account; And where evil is dominant.
Thereupon Caliph Umar instructed Hakim bin Amr al Taghlabi that for the time being Makkuran should be the easternmost frontier of the Islamic empire, and that no further attempt should be made to extend the conquests.
[22] The Brahmin King of Sindh, Maharaja Chacha met the invaders outside Broach and defeated them with heavy slaughter also killing their very Commander-in-Chief Abdul Aziz in the process.
On the independence of Pakistan, Makran became a district within the province of Balochistan, with the exception of an area of 800 km2 (310 sq mi) around Gwadar.
It was located in the extreme southwest of present-day Pakistan, an area now parts of the districts of Gwadar, Kech and Panjgur.
