The frontier town of Quetta lies only miles from both the Afghan and Iranian borders with the Bolan Pass running straight to Kandahar in one direction and the heartland of Pakistan in the other; it is tucked in the south west corner of Pakistan giving it a strategic military position.

Today Quetta is the provincial capital of the Pakistani state of Baluchistan. It is a fertile oasis 5,500 feet above sea level, surrounded by barren mountains and arid countryside. It has a population of around 670,000. The continued threat of terrorism from nearby Afghanistan means that the Foreign Office strongly advises against visiting the area. The population is made up of the most colourful mix of people to be found in Pakistan, the majority are Pashtuns (the original inhabitants of the area) as well as ethnic Baluch and Brahuis. Over the past few years this community has been supplemented by Mohajirs, Punjabis and Afghan refugees.

2 Quetta Fruit Market

The name Quetta comes from the ancient natural fort (or Kwatta) which protected the roads to Afghanistan, India and Persia. It was not until the late 19th century when the British decided to build a garrison here, against the threat of a possible Russian invasion that ‘Quetta’ came into its own.

Although occupied briefly by the British during the First Afghan War in 1839, it was not until 1876 that Quetta came under permanent British control thanks to negotiations by Robert Sandeman the newly appointed political agent in Baluchistan.
Originally serving in the Bengal Infantry, Robert Sandeman moved to the Bengal Lancers during the 1857 uprising and took part in the final capture of Lucknow. Sir John Lawrence then appointed him to the Punjab Commission and in 1876 he was made agent to the governor-general in Baluchistan, an office which he held till his death.

3 Sibi Railway Station

The murder of two British officers at the garrison in 1877 led to the establishing of a permanent settlement with the original fort being converted into an arsenal.

By the time of the Second Afghan War in 1879 Sandeman had established friendly relations with the local tribes and secured routes for the British army into Afghanistan.

4 Quetta Bazaar

During the next ten years Sandeman made great efforts to further develop and settle the whole of Baluchistan converting it from a state of complete anarchy into a province as orderly as any in British India. He achieved this by introducing a revenue service, irrigation schemes medical services and better communication systems, including a rail link with the rest of India. His understanding of local power structures between the different tribes earned him their respect and also consolidated British authority. He decided not to impose British forms of administration but to use instead existing frameworks and using the support of the powerful Baluch, Pashtun and Brahui chiefs as well as recruiting tribespeople as scouts. The feudal chiefs retained considerable control over the administration of tribal justice, collection of revenue and levying of tribal armies with the British controlling the courts of appeal and the authority to arbitrate intertribal disputes – Sandeman often intervened personally using his authority to reconcile the two sides.

He died and was buried at Bela in Baluchistan on the 29th of January 1892.

5 The Khojak Tunnel and Train

In 1876 one of the greatest engineering feats of British rule in India was begun with the formation of the Kandahar State Railways. Its aim was to build a railway line to connect Sukkur with Kandahar in Afghanistan via Quetta through the famous Bolan Pass. Work actually began in 1880 but by 1888, the idea of building the railway line up to Kandahar was dropped and the project was renamed Chaman Extension Railway. The railway line would now terminate at Chaman. This railway line carried substantial traffic to and from the North-West Frontier Province, the important military centre of Quetta, and Chaman, on, the borders of Afghanistan. At the time the line was built fruit from Afghanistan was imported into India in large amounts. Before 1947 there was a daily fruit train from Chaman equipped with ice-packed refrigerated vans which took fruit to places as far away as Calcutta and Madras.

The line to the south of Quetta involved laying a rail track in the bed of river Bolan with seventeen tunnels and the track having to criss-cross River Bolan numerous times. It was eventually completed in August 1886 when a steam locomotive arrived at Quetta station.(The present day railway running through the Bolan Pass is the third attempt at laying track along this inhospitable route, floods having washed the previous attempts ones away.)

6 Quetta Khojak Tunnel

The line begins at Sibi, lying at an altitude of 435 feet, and over its 86 mile length the railway line quickly gains altitude ending up at 5500 feet at Quetta. The gradient is up to 1 in 25 and the journey involves two locomotives in push-pull configuration to bring a train up the Pass. Coming down also requires extra braking power - freight trains often have to be coupled with 5 to 10 empty wagons just to have extra brakes available!

The journey onwards from Quetta to Chaman, means the line had to pass through Khojak pass 113 kilometres north of Quetta, which was an unsurmountable obstacle at that time. Hence it was decided to tunnel through the pass, creating the Khojak Tunnel.

Without any local skilled labour the workforce had to be recruited from further afield – from both India and surrounding countries including Tibet and the Persian Gulf. Sixty-five Welsh miners were especially recruited who had experience in building the River Severn Tunnel.

7 Sports at Quetta

The tunnel eventually took three years to build (completed in September 1891) using equipment and iron works imported from the UK as well as 19 million (19,724,426 to be exact) bricks that were used to line the inside of the tunnel that had to be burned on the site kiln. 6549 candles were also used inside the tunnel during construction to keep it lit. Since 1891, without access to electricity, huge convex mirrors mounted on a trolley are still used to light the tunnel. These mirrors are placed at the tunnel entrance and sunlight is reflected in to the tunnel while maintenance work is carried out. It is interesting to note that 115 years have passed but same old method is still being used today to light up the tunnel!

8 Murree Brewery Quetta

With the completion of the new rail links Quetta grew rapidly in importance becoming a prosperous market town with wide streets lined with multi-storied buildings and markets selling fruit locally grown in one of the many irrigated valleys nearby (the whole area is known locally as the fruit basket of Pakistan). It was also the site of the Imperial Staff College and the largest garrison in British India, making it the focus of British attempts to control the area.

9 Bruce Road Quetta Summer

The garrison grew steadily and by the late 1920’s comprised every branch of the British and Indian Armies and a large RAF detachment. As well as barracks for the troops there were numerous football and hockey grounds as well as a polo club.

However its location on a major seismic fault in an earthquake zone spelt disaster and at 3.03am on 31st May 1935 a huge tremor measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck, lasting about thirty seconds, followed by many smaller aftershocks. This resulted in a large part of the city being almost completely destroyed as well as a large area of the surrounding countryside and killing around 20,000 people, including British soldiers, their families and locals alike.

10 Quetta Earthquake

Luckily the British troops on hand were able to help with relief work and a camp for survivors was soon set up on the nearby racecourse. About a quarter of the cantonment area was destroyed with most of the damage to barracks in the RAF area. All the houses in the civil area were razed to the ground except for Government House, the Church Murree Brewery and Club which were all still standing but in ruins. Amazingly Hanna Road and the Staff College were left undamaged. Martial law was soon declared and by the 3rd June the town was sealed. This enabled the dead to be removed for burial and any looters to be shot on sight!

11 Bruce Road after the Quake

By the autumn rebuilding was well underway with wide avenues replacing the narrow streets, and low roofed sturdy earthquake proof homes to replace the original two storey buildings - which have survived many subsequent quakes.

Sadly the town today has no ancient bazaars, mosques or monumental structures from the days of the Raj to show off, unlike most Pakistani towns and it is only resources such as picture postcards that are able to give a glimpse of how this town, so important in maintaining peace in a very troubled region once looked.

The Cards

1/ Sandeman Hall
Robrt Sandaman had both this Hall and the Sandamen Library in Quetta named after him. It was destroyed in the 1935 earthquake. The statue in front of the building shows ‘Sir Hugh Shakespear Barnes the Chief Commissioner and agent to the Governor General in Baluchistan 1896-1900’ (inscription under the statue). He was preceded by Sir Robert Groves Sandeman.

2/ Quetta – fruit market
This card, published by R W Rai & Sons of Quetta shows a stall in the local fruit market laden with many different types of fruit, the mainstay of the local economy.

3/ Sibi Railway station
Sibi railway station marks the beginning of the railway line built through the Bolan Pass to Quetta. It was originally captured by the British in 1878 and renamed Sandemanabad after Sir Robert Sandaman. It is one of the hottest places in Pakistan experiencing very dry weather and temperatures often exceeding 50 degrees centigrade in summer.

4/ Quetta Bazaar
This lovely image by Bremner a Lahore publisher Shows the main bazaar in Quetta and shows many of the local tribespeople in the road. Pathan traders can be seen wearing huge turbans and Baluchi hawkers with red embroidered caps, It is a crowded and colourful scene. A sign on a building to the right is advertising a Military Tailor. The mountains can be seen as a backdrop.

5/ The Khojak Tunnel and Train
This card, published by D Macropolo of Calcutta, shows a train at the eastern entrance to the Khojak Tunnel after it was completed in 1892 with Shelebagh station to the left. An interesting account, published by Pakistan Railways is worth mentioning: ‘A popular legend has it that Shela Bagh was named after Shela, an Indian dancer who used to divert the attention of tired workers. Like many other legends, this one about the origin of the name may be purely fictional but the tunnel itself, which stands as a living monument of the Britishers’ engineering skill, industry and commitment, is a fact undoubted enchanting and inspiring’.

6/ Quetta Khojak Tunnel
This card dating from around 1910 shows a ceremony taking place in the tunnel entrance. The men are posing with what appears to be an Indian Class L4-6-0 locomotive.

7/ Sports at Quetta
This photographic postcard shows (according to message on reverse) ‘Sports at Quetta 4th RB. Your humble marked with a dot in white trousers. August 25th 1921. This is the course I laid out it is the new soldiers Club in rear’. The soldier in question is at the far left end of the line of soldiers in foreground.

8/ Murree Brewery Quetta
This card shows the Murree Brewery in Quetta, one of the few buildings to remain standing after the 1935 earthquake. It was built by the British in the 1880’s to meet the needs of the British troops producing the popular Murree beer.

9/ Bruce Road Quetta Summer
Bruce Road was the main road running through Quetta, known today as Jinnah Road. It was known as the ‘Regent Street’ of Quetta. Many postcards of Quetta show the same view taken both in summer and winter to show the dramatic changes in temperature experienced often with snow in winter.

10/ Untitled image from Quetta earthquake
This card shows a few of the 20,000 victims from the 1935 earthquake laid out on makeshift stretchers with British soldiers and Indian rescuers to one side. The photograph was taken by the photographer ‘Butani Photo Bruce Road White Barracks and Roberts Barracks, Quetta (India)’.

11/ Photograph showing Bruce Road after the quake
This last image, despite not being a postcard, shows the devastation caused to Bruce Road after the 1935 earthquake. It comes from a set of 20 small-sized photographs showing scenes of the earthquake in Quetta. They were taken by the photographer Butani of Jubbulpore and include scenes of Quetta Jail –where a great number of prisoners were buried in their cells’ and ‘the ruined town being sealed.’