Barkhan District
Barkhan (Balochi: بارکھئوں, , ) is a district in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It shares its borders with the province of Punjab to the east and the Balochistan districts of Dera Bugti to the south, Kohlu to the west, Loralai to the northwest and Musakhel to the north. The district's headquarters is the town of Barkhan. It was granted the status of a separate district on 31 December 1991, prior to which it was a tehsils within Loralai District. History. The early history of District Barkhan is obscure, but it is said that this area remained under Muslim  rulers and conquerors of Kandahar and India. Baro Khan the founder of Barozai family of Pannis was a great fighter who came to Barkhan with his tribal people. As such, this valley was named as Bar Khan, but with the passage of time it was called Barkhan. The Khetran country was one of the sub-districts of Sewistan and of the Hind Province of Tatta. In Akbar's time it was called Janjah. Khetran is a Baloch tribe. Mir Girazo Khan Mazarani Baloch was first sardar of the Khetrans. He was succeeded by his son Bakhtiar Khan, who was succeeded  by Mir Haji Khan, whose rule is memorable among the Khetrans for a defeat which he inflicted on the Zhob Kakars. Mir Haji Khan was succeeded by a few nominal chiefs. Mir Haji Khan was a strong man, and the Khetrans prospered under him. He also took revenge on the defeat of the Khetrans from Marris by destroying the fort at Mawand of Karam Khan Bijrani Marri. Haji Khan died, leaving three sons: Umar Khan, Nawab Khan and Balu Khan. Yet he was succeeded by his brother Sayed Khan, who was elected by the Khetrans. He too died, leaving three  sons: Dost Muhammad, Sorni Khan and Kadir Bakhsh. Syed Khan was succeeded by his brother Balul Khan. Babul Khan was however opposed by Nawab Khan and Kadir Bakhsh. Kadir Bakhsh went to the Marris and gave his stepmother in marriage to Gazan, the Marri Chief and led Marris Lashkar against the Khetrans, who lost many lives and property during the fights. Sir Rober Sandeman (then Deputy Commissioner, D.G. Khan), however, intervened and made peace between Kadir Bakhsh and Babul Khan. British Raj. Due to prolonged war among Khetrans, Lunis and Marris, in 1880, the Khetrans submitted a petition to the  British authorities at D.G Khan, offering to pay revenue and to be taken under British protection. The Khetrans' country remained under the political control of the British authorities of D.G Khan from 1878 to 1883. In 1883, Sardar Baloch Khan met Mr Bruce, the Political Agent of Thaal Chotiali, with a Jirga of his tribesmen. This settled the dispute between the Khetrans, Luni and Marris. In 1884, the Khetrans came under the authority of the Agent to the Governor General in Balochistan. The Leghari Barkhan circle, comprising two valleys, Barkhan and Vitakari, was transferred from Punjab control to Balochistan control  in 1884. This district, from where the Leghari tribe migrated to Dera Ghazi Khan, was brought under the direct administration of Balochistan in 1887, when work on the construction of D.G Khan - Pishin Road was started and a Tehsildar was posted at Barkhan. In 1889, Barkhan tehsil was transferred to the Zhob Agency with headquarters at Loralai. This tehsil however was transferred again to Thal Chotaili Agency in 1892. In October 1903, the Thal Chotaili and Zhob Agencies were remodeled and three new agencies were created: Sibi, Loralai and Zhob. The Barkhan Tehsil was transferred to the Loralai Agency. Geography . Barkhan is the eighth-smallest district of Balochistan and has an area of 3,410 square kilometers. Barkhan District lies between 69°3'-70° 4' East longitude and 29°37'-30°21' North latitude, consisting of one tehsil and eight union councils. The location of Barkhan is 541 km (aerial distance) south-west (220 degrees bearing) of Pakistan's capital city Islamabad and 245 km east (97 degrees bearing) from Quetta City, the provincial capital of Balochistan. Topography. The landscape of Barkhan consists of plains, valleys and mountains varying in ground elevation ranging from 841 to 2,031 meters above  Mean Sea Level (MSL). The district consists of one main valley, called Barkhan, and several smaller valleys, which are separated from the main valley by low ranges of hills running in a southwest direction. The Barkhan valley is enclosed on the north side by scattered low hills, which divide the drainage water of the valley from the waters flowing into the Rakhni stream in the southwest, and on the west and northwest side by the great Jandran range. The valley ends in the Vitakari valley. To the east of the Sukha range is the Kharcha valley, which is bounded by  the Phulai range on the east. The hills in the district belong to the Suleman range; the principal hills are known as Kala Pahar in the north, Karwada, Bibar, Jandra and Mar or Mukhmar in the west, Andari and Sukha in the south, Phulai and Khawaj in the east, and Mazara, Tagha, Dig and Deka in the centre and Rakhni areas. The ranges mostly consist of earth sand and stones; some portions are rocky and not easily accessible. The Jandran range is mostly rocky. In the south runs the Han stream with its tributaries. The Han stream runs in a  southwest direction and carries the drainage of the Han pass and the southeastern slopes of the Jandran range. At Dhamani (Barkhan Tehsil) the stream becomes perennial up to its junction with the Kah River in Dera Ghazi Khan district. Dhaula stream, its tributary, brings water from the hills situated to the south of the Bagha valley and irrigates a number of villages in the Barkhan valley and joins Han in Vitakari. Rakhni and Han join Kah Stream which then passes into the district of Dera Ghazi Khan. A third important stream is Bala Dhaka. This stream lies in Berg-Sham  Mauza of the Barkhan Tehsil. The stream is a tributary of the Narechi River (Duki Tehsil). Water in this stream comes down from the southwestern slopes of hills located north of the Han pass. The stream irrigates a very small area of Mauza Berg-Sham, and then its water passes in the Duki Tehsil. Archaeological sites. During geological mapping and bio-stratigraphic research activity in Barkhan District, the geologists of the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) discovered the first dinosaur fossils in Pakistan. Khetranisaurus. District Barkhan made headlines when million years old fossils of a dinosaurs was found in the  area of Vatakari. Etymology; Khetrani, honoring the Khetran tribe of Barkhan district; saurus means reptiles. The species specific epithet barkhani, honoring the Barkhan which is the host District of dinosaurs. Khetranisaurus barkhani based on long, mid-transversely greater width than mid-ventrodorsal height and no chevron ridges (may be eroded) of anterior caudals; perpendicular ventral and lateral surfaces, a ventral groove of elongated oval/hexagonal shape bounded by wall between the chevron facets depressions, a transverse ventral median ridge formed due to chevron facets depressions and disconnected by oval groove, and a small resistant tubera is found on the ventral  margin of anterior articular rim of anterior/midcaudals just on the front of oval groove; no chevron ridges, a faint ventral groove of elongated oval shape of posterior caudals; the ratio of mid-dorsal width to midventral width of mid and posterior caudals is slightly less than 1; and lateral surfaces on ventral view are not observed in mid and posterior caudals due to midventral greater width than mid-dorsal width. Climate. Barkhan has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification "BSh") with very hot summers and mild winters. Precipitation mainly falls in two distinct periods: light to moderate  rain in the late winter and early spring from February to April, and heavier rain in the monsoon from June to September. Demographics. At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population of 171,025, of which 89,911 were males and 81,100 females. Rural population was 158,824 (92.87%) while the urban population was 12,201 (7.13%). The literacy rate was 26.99% - the male literacy rate was 36.35% while the female literacy rate was 16.61%. 82 people in the district were from religious minorities. At the time of the 2017 census, 94.79% of the population spoke Balochi and 1.48% Pashto  as their first language. There are also 2,973 speakers of a language recorded as 'Other' on the census, possibly Khetrani. The predominant language is Balochi, which accounts for % of the population. There is also a sizeable community of speakers of the Indo-Aryan language Khetrani. There are four main tribes in Barkhan District: the Khetran, Marri tribe, Hasni tribe and Buzdar tribe. The Khetrans have a chief (called "Tumandar") of the tribe, while, each sub-clan/section is represented by a headman (called "Wadera"). Government and politics. Barkhan started functioning as a district on 31 December 1991. Previously, it was  a tehsil of district Loralai. The main motivation for granting Barkhan the status of a district was to provide basic facilities at a grassroots level and to give people easy access to public offices. District Barkhan comprises only one Tehsil, Barkhan itself. The Balochistan Local Government Ordinance (BLGO) of 1980 was intended to involve local populations in the development of their areas; it was replaced by BLGO 2001, which introduced the concept of district government. Under BLGO 2001, Barkhan District had one tehsil and eight union councils. The district was administered by a single line of administration that covered both  the rural as well as the urban areas. The system continued for two tenures and was again modified through the approval of BLGA 2010. The present system, under the Local Government Act 2010, is similar to BLGO 1980 in that it emphasizes a rural-urban division, but no elections were held under the latest system. District Council. There are eight union councils' representatives in the District Council of Barkhan, one from each union council. Special seats are allocated to the representatives of workers/peasants, women and minorities as discussed above. All the elected chairmen of the Municipal Committees are also  members of the District Council. The District Council is concerned with rural development activities and functions pertaining to, public health, education, agricultural development and economic welfare, articles of food and drink, drainage, livestock and dairy development, culture and public safety. The District Council can generate revenue by levying fees and various taxes as given in part II of second schedule of BLGA 2010. Federal and government offices and services. A number of Federal and Provincial Government departments provide services at the district level. Except for FBS, Civil Defense and Passport and immigration, all other major departments are functional at the  district level, and some departments have offices even at the tehsil level. (DC office, Election Commission of Pakistan, 2010) Education and educational institutions. According to Pakistan District Education Ranking, a report by Alif Ailaan, district Barkhan is ranked at number 100 nationally with a score of 50.24. The learning score of Barakhan is 54.58 and gender parity of 62.75. The national rank according to readiness is 100, with a readiness score of 22.66 and primary ratio of 9.7. The school infrastructure score is 20.53, ranking Barkhan district nationally at 153. Functional toilets are a major issues in schools of Barkhan  with a score of 2.65. Issues reported in TaleemDo! App usually relate to poor building walls, putting students lives at risk or in some places no building walls at all. Basic facilities are missing and there are also many complaints about lack of quality teachers. There are 572 primary schools (407 male and 165 female), 17 middle schools (12 male and 5 female), 14 high schools (12 male and 2 female), 1 girls' inter college and 1 boys' degree 4 college. Natural resources. District Barkhan has deposits of coal and gypsum. The coal deposits are not large. In some places , very minute quantities of coal were found, but the work was abandoned as there was no prospect of commercial benefits. As recently as 2001, a British oil exploration company conducted a survey and found oil reserves in Vitakari, Gadobra and some other areas. The Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd. discovered gas and condensate at Barkhan in 2021.