India
faces a long western border with Pakistan, which was created by
bifurcating the sub-continent in 1947. However, even from earlier
times, the southern part of this border did exist, though not between
two sovereign states but either between two vassal states under
British suzerainty or between lands directly controlled by British
and a vassal state. In the western corner of India, bordering the
Arabian Sea, the kingdom of Kutch, became a "vassal" State
under British Paramountcy by virtue of the Treaty executed on 13
October 1819, between the East India Company and the rulers of Kutch,
which was ratified and became operative on 4 December 1819. To the
north of this vassal state, lay the Emirate of Sindh (presently in
Pakistan) ruled by Mir Ghulam Ali Khan Talpur. Emirs of Sindh and
British were at loggerheads, but at that time, Sindh remained an
independent country.
Amirs of Sind
So,
how were the borderlands between Sindh and vassal kingdom of Kutch
were defined at that time? This entire area was then known as delta
of the Indus river with this mighty river emptying into the Arabian
sea through a huge network of small rivers and rivulets branching off
from the main river body, which also emptied the waters directly. Two
southernmost outlets of the Indus, are of particular interest to us.
A river branched off from the main river body near the town of
“Banna” and was called as “Pinyaree” or “Goongra” river
and its mouth through which it emptied itself into Arbian sea was
known as Seer or Sir. South of Seer mouth was another river mouth
known as “Koree” or “Eastern mouth of Indus.” This “Koree”
or “Kori or Puram” river branched off from main Indus water body
near Hyderabad and flowed southwards and then westwards to meet the
Arabian Sea. South of Kori river lay the fortress of “Lakhpat”
with a garrison of Kutch soldiers posted there.
The
land between these two river mouths was historically known as “
Sayra”
and was a fertile, rice-growing, inhabited area belonging to Kutch.
Around year 1762, the water supplies to this region dried up and
Sayra was deserted and gradually disappeared and became
indistinguishable from the Rann of Kutch. A question naturally arises
as who was controlling this region? The state of Kutch or Emirate of
Sindh? From the old maps and records it appears that the state of
Kutch maintained garrisons at number of places and had build forts
along the river banks. There were also number of customs posts.
Sindri
was a place on the eastern bank of the Kori River in the “Sayra”,
about 30 miles upstream from Lakhpat and 20 miles downstream from Ali
Bandar in Pakistan at approximately 24° 5' North latitude; it was a
port for river boats, a village and a frontier post with a customs
house of Kutch State. The Kutch garrison was stationed in a fort
which consisted of a single tower 50—60 feet high and of a elevated
tract of 150 square yards, the whole surrounded by a 20 feet high
wall. About 5 miles north of this place was a small border post known
as “Kaeera” located on a rivulet known as Kaeera Nulla. Cutch
Government also collected taxes from this post. In the south, there
were number of small forts and customs posts at places known as
“Kothadi,” “Bastar Bandar,” and two posts in north called
“Veyre” and “Lak.” I have given these details so that the
reader can imagine the state of things before year 1819. Bastar
Bandar is mentioned in a book “Memoir
to accompany the Survey of the Delta of the Indus, in 1837, by Lieut.
T. G. CARLES, Indian Navy. as “ on the opposite side
of the river there is a ruined fort, called Bastah Bander, which
formerly belonged to the Raos' of Kach'h, and was destroyed by the
Sindians during their wars with those princes.”
The
first disaster struck on 16th
June 1819, when a massive earthquake hit this region. It had an
estimated magnitude ranging from 7.7 to 8.2. It triggered a tsunami
and caused at least 1,543 deaths. The earthquake created a depression
in ground near Sindree fort, which was quickly filled with sea water.
Later water of Koree river also flowed in. This body of water is
known as Sindree lake, now a salt marsh. Perhaps the most
interesting effect of the earthquake was the uplift of an area to the
north of Sindree lake forming a bund, that was about 80 km long, 6 km
wide and 6 m high. This bund dammed the Kori or Puram river. This
natural dam became known as the ("Dam of God").
The
Sindree fort and Kaeera post were totally destroyed in the severe
earthquake and were abandoned. It remained known as a ruin of an old
fort, under the name of Juna Kotri till late in the nineteenth
century. Finally all traces of it disappeared.
Readers
can imagine the profound effect this quake must have had on the
topography of the region with a natural bund formed in east west
direction. The Allah Bund formed a natural border between State of
Kutch and Emirate of Sindh. For this reason, 1819 earthquake is many
times called as Allah Bund earthquake.
1819
earthquake did not affect the flow of waters of Seer or Pinyaree
river but completely affected the fate of Kori river. Henceforth the
Kori river bed had water only when Indus waters inundated the areas
around Allah Bund. The low water levels in Kori decreased the river
traffic substantially.
Then
on June 19, 1845, another major earthquake hit the area followed by a
Tsunami wave. An eyewitness account was published in Quarterly
Journal of Geological Society in December 1946 and I quote:
"One
of Capt. McMurdo's guides was travelling on foot to him from Bhooj.
The day he reached Luckput there were shocks of an earthquake, which
shook down part of the walls of the fort and some lives were lost. At
the same time as the shock the sea rolled up the Koree (the eastern)
mouth of the Indus, overflowing the country as far westward as the
Goongra river (a distance of twenty English miles), northward as far
as a little north of Veyre (forty miles from the mouth of the Koree),
and eastward to the Sindree Lake. The guide was detained six days
(from June 19th to 25th during which time sixty-six shocks were
counted. He then got across to Kotree, of which only a few small
buildings on a bit of ground remain. Most of the habitations
throughout the district must have been swept away, the best houses in
Scinde being built of sun-dried bricks, and whole villages consisting
only of huts made of a few crooked poles and reed mats. The guide
travelled twenty miles through water on a camel, the water up to the
beasts body. Of Lak nothing was above water but a Fakeer's pole (the
flagstaff always erected by the tomb of some holy man); and of Veyre
and other villages only the remains of a few houses were to be seen.
There
are said to be generally two earthquakes every year at Luckput. The
Sindree Lake has of late years become a salt marsh."
This
narrative would make it amply clear to the readers the total
devastation caused by this quake and total destruction it brought to
all the areas between mouths of Kori and Seer rivers.
The
borderlands between state of Kutch and Emirate of Sind, which became
international borderlands between India and Pakistan later, were thus
naturally marked by Allah's Bund in the east and By Seer or Sir creek
in the west, through which Seer or Goongra river flowed once. The
lands between Sir and Kori river mouths, became vast low laying
wastelands, with numerous water channels, where fishermen venture out
to catch fish now.
What
happened to the Garrison or Customs posts like Kothadi and Bastar
Bandar mentioned in books and maps published before 1845? Was any
trace ever found? In February 2010, Mr. P.S.Thakkar, a retired
scientist from Indian space research organization, discovered from
Google Earth, images of a old fort half submerged on west bank of
Kori creek. Accompanied by Border Security Force, Crocodile Commandos
on speedboats, Thakker and three others managed to reach the fort of
Bastar Bandar and took photographs and other measurements.
They came
out with another surprise finding. According to him, “The
7.9-magnitude quake of 1819 not only created the Allah Bund, and
Sindree lake, but also buckled the landmass that lies to the bund’s
southwest.” This really means that this entire area between two
former river mouths, was converted into a wasteland leaving the Sir
creek as the only defining border feature.
12
September 2013
Very informative
ReplyDeleteinteresting and informative
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