Surab district: upper Jhalawan valley and source of the Hingol

Introduction and location

Surab is a new district in the central highlands of Balochistan. It lies south of Kalat and north of Khuzdar, in the valley which the colonial-era gazetteer describes as part of “Upper Jhalawan”. The Hingol, the longest river in Balochistan, begins at the northern end of this valley.

According to the 2023 census of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Surab district has a population of 279,038: 141,648 men, 137,372 women and 18 transgender persons. Some 13.07 per cent of the people live in urban areas and the average household has 5.4 members. In 2017 the population, within the present boundaries, was 208,493, which means an annual growth rate of 4.99 per cent. The table gives the district’s area as only 762 square kilometres, which puts the density at 366 persons per square kilometre. On this basis the provincial report calls Surab the second most densely populated district in the province after Quetta. This area seems very small for the extent of the valley and needs to be verified.

According to the census, the district has four parts: Surab sub-division (population 95,469), Gidar sub-division (89,631), Shaheed Mehrabad Zehri sub-division (66,435) and Dasht-e-Goran sub-division (27,503). The only urban area is Surab Municipal Committee, with a population of 36,468.

According to the Bureau of Statistics’ provincial report, Surab district was created after the 2017 census by separating Surab tehsil, Bainchah Patwar Circle and most of Dasht-e-Goran from Kalat district. According to an analysis published in The News, the district was created in 2017. According to Daily Times (17 August 2017), the district was named “Shaheed Sikandarabad” when it was set up in July 2017; the name later reverted to Surab. In September 2025 The News reported, citing a Revenue Department notification, that the district had again been renamed “Shaheed Sikandarabad”. Reports of the July 2026 restructuring mention the name being changed back to Surab and the district being placed, with Kalat, Khuzdar and Wadh, in a new Khuzdar division. The text of these notifications is not available to us, so this page follows the 2023 boundaries.

History

According to the 1907 gazetteer (Volume VI, Jhalawan), the Surab valley was bounded on the north by the Pango hills and the Bodinjo watershed, on the east by the Daraj hills and on the west by the Gar or Ziri range. It was about 60 miles long from Bodinjo to Shah Dadzai. The gazetteer divides it into three parts: the rain-fed areas of Mal and Khaisondan in the north, Surab proper in the middle, where there were springs and permanent villages, and Gidar in the south. Their elevations are given as roughly 6,250, 5,800 and 5,160 feet respectively.

In the time of the Khans of Kalat, Surab was land held directly by the Khan. According to the gazetteer, the fine irrigated lands of Surab, Baghbana, Khuzdar and Mashkay were held by the Khan’s “ulus”, who paid revenue in the form of produce instead of supplying fighting men. In 1907 Surab village was the headquarters of the Khan’s deputy and was partly fortified.

People and languages

Surab is a Brahui-speaking district. According to the 2023 census, 269,979 people, or 96.75 per cent of the population, have Brahui as their mother tongue, while 8,102 (about 2.9 per cent) speak Balochi. The religion table records 278,216 Muslims, 748 Christians and 16 Hindus.

According to the 1907 gazetteer, the permanent cultivators of Surab proper were the Nighari, along with the Harooni, Muhammad Hasni, Raiki Zai and some Rodini. The gazetteer writes that about sixteen permanent villages in Surab were often deserted in winter and inhabited in summer. According to the provincial report, the share of in-migrants to Surab who came from within the province (91.24 per cent) is the highest in the whole of Balochistan.

The literacy rate among those aged over 10 is 37.44 per cent: 45.16 per cent among men and 29.58 per cent among women. According to the provincial report, the share of pucca houses in Surab is only 3 per cent, the lowest in the province. Between 40 and 60 per cent of households have electricity, 30 to 40 per cent have drinking water inside the home, and between 60 and 70 per cent of children are out of school.

Economy

The economy of Surab is based on agriculture and livestock rearing. According to the 1907 gazetteer, permanently irrigated land was scarce in Jhalawan and lay mostly in the foothills of Surab and Baghbana, where water came from streams flowing off the hills. The water of the Hingol, called Beji in its upper reaches and Gidar Dhor further down, was also used for irrigation in Surab and Gidar. The irrigated lands of Surab grew the varieties of wheat whose bread was considered the best, and carrots and onions were also cultivated.

The gazetteer describes Surab village as the most important trading centre of Upper Jhalawan, where a few Hindu trading families lent money and dealt in wool and ghee. Among the main routes recorded in the gazetteer, the one from Kalat to Bela via Khuzdar and the one from Kalat to Panjgur both passed through Surab. Official figures for the district’s present agricultural output were not available while this page was being prepared.

Places of interest

Bibi Sarthap: According to the gazetteer, there is a shrine here of a Muslim virgin, Bibi Sarthap, which is a place of pilgrimage. There is also a cave.

Gurgut and Hajika: The gazetteer describes Gurgut as the headquarters of the Harooni chief, with fine orchards, and Hajika as a pleasant spot with plentiful water.

Source of the Hingol: According to the gazetteer, the longest river in Balochistan rises at the northern end of the Surab valley, flows south-west and finally reaches the sea.