Gwadar is a developing port city located in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, on the south-western Arabian Sea coast. Like Ormara further East, it is situated on a natural hammerhead-shaped peninsula forming two curved semi-circle bays on either side, namely the Gwadar West Bay and the Gwadar East Bay. Along with Islamabad and Faisalabad, this picturesque town flanked by cliffs and beaches is one of the few planned cities in Pakistan which have been developed from scratch under an urban master plan.
The Makran region surrounding Gwadar was occupied by an ancient Bronze Age people which settled in a few oases. It was later integrated into the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and was apparently conquered by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire. During the homeward march of Alexander the Great, his admiral, Nearchus, led a fleet along the modern-day Makran coast and recorded that the area was dry, mountainous and inhabited by the “ichthyophagi” (“fish eaters”), an ancient Greek rendering of the Persian phrase “Mahi khoran”, which had itself become the modern name “Makran”. After the collapse of Alexander’s empire, the area was ruled by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander’s generals. The region finally came under local rule around about 303 BC.
However, it remained on the sidelines of history for a millennium until the Arab-Muslim army of Muhammad bin Qasim captured Gwadar in 711 AD and, around the same time, the area was contested by various powers, including the Safavids – a powerful dynasty of Iran – from the West and the Mughals from the East. In 1550s, Gwadar was visited by Ottoman admiral Seydi Ali Reis and Malik Jelaleddin, the then-governor of the area assured him of his unalterable devotion to Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He promised that henceforth, if at any time the Ottoman fleet should come to the Strait of Hormuz, he would undertake to send 50 or 60 boats to supply them with provisions, and in every possible way to be of service to the Ottomans. Seydi Ali Reis wrote a letter to Jelaleddin to ask for a pilot, upon which a first-class pilot was sent to him, with the assurance that he was thoroughly trustworthy and entirely devoted to the interests of the Ottomans. In 1581, the Portuguese conquered, sacked and burnt the city, and almost two centuries of local rule by various Baluchi tribes followed.
In 1783, the Khan of Kalat granted suzerainty over Gwadar to Taimur Sultan, the defeated ruler of Muscat. When the sultan subsequently retook Muscat, he was to continue his rule in Gwadar by appointing a governor. The Gwadari fort was built during the Omani rule, whilst telegraph lines were later extended into the town courtesy of the British. In 1958, Gwadar enclave was purchased by Pakistan from Oman for a handful amount of money and became a part of Pakistan by the end of that year. At the time, Gwadar was a small and underdeveloped fishing village with a population of a few thousands. The government of Pakistan integrated the city into Baluchistan province in 1977 as the newly-formed Gwadar District’s headquarters.
In 1993, a plan was formally conceived in order to develop Gwadar into a major port city with a deep-sea port and connect it with Pakistan’s highway and rail networks. In 2004, the construction of the 653 km-long Makran Coastal Highway linking Gwadar with Karachi was completed and in December 2009, Gwadar Port became operational.
Today, Gwadar is a young, vibrant and fast-developing city, strategically located between three increasingly important regions of the world: the oil-rich Middle East, heavily populated South Asia and the economically emerging and resource-rich Central Asia. Moreover, the Arabic influence upon the area is strong as a consequence of the Omani era and its close proximity to the Arabian Peninsula. The legacy of the Omanis is observed in the local Makrani population who can trace their lineage to Zanj slaves and free Afro Arabs, who have settled in the town during Omani rule. This unique blend of cultures also results in a remarkable religious diversity, with Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Parsis and other minor Islamic sects inhabiting the area.
Gwadar features mainly a dry, arid and hot weather. The oceanic influence keeps the temperature lower in summer and higher in winter as compared to the interior of the country. June is the hottest month (35°C) while January is the coolest one (18°C). The uniformity of temperature is a unique characteristic of the Makran coastal region.
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