In October 1896 a Marri Baloch by name of Haji Kala Khan declared Jihad against British. He was popularly known as ‘Mast Faqir’. On October 14, 1896, Kala Khan and five of his followers attacked Nari Bhag Railway station in Bolan and hacked to pieces all the fifteen men working there with their swords. One of the murdered men was an Englishman by name of Canning who was working as sub-inspector there. They also burnt shop of a Hindu baniya near Railway station. Next day they killed four Hindu laborers at Kharapani.
General Gatacre of British-Indian army received information that Kala Khan and his men might be at peak of a hill where a mosque or a shrine is located. General Gatacre and his sepoys ascended the peak and found Kala and two of his companions sleeping on the ground. They easily captured them. Three other men who had gone to fetch the water and were returning, saw British from distance and fled. General Gatacte took Kala Khan and his two followers (Jalamb and Raheem Ali) to Dalujal where they were loaded with iron chains and photographed.
Kala Khan, Jalamb and Raheem were hanged at Sibi on November 2, 1896, and their bodies were cremated. The remaining three men were captured by the Marris themselves. Two of them were hanged at Sibi on 10th of November 1896, and the third, who had assisted in the capture of his comrades, was released on certain conditions. Tribal responsibility was imposed, and a fine of Rs.6000 was imposed on the Marri chief and his tribe.
References
1- Sibi Gazetteer, 1907, p-282
2- ‘General Gatacre’ by Beatrix Gatacre, published in 1910, pp.155-159
