476 Brief History of Kalat. [No. 1 38. 



existence, and the inhabitants believed it, their country might have 

 been known as Mekrine (Maharayan, the abode of sea-monsters.) 

 There is something of this tradition still preserved. The island of Sata- 

 dweep is said to have been depopulated by the presiding goddess, on 

 account of the commission of incest there. 



Kech may have been the same with Bramhpoor, if we regard it 



„ , as reducible from Kanj, a name of Bramha. Or it 



Kech. J 



may be drawn from Kesh, a name of Vishnoo, when 

 no doubt the town was called Keshapoor. 



Of great antiquity also are the caves near Belav, called after Saiful 



„ ■„ . , Malook, and more than one account has been given 



Saiful Malook. & 



of them. 



The whole country of Balochisthan abounds with the remains of what 



the natives at the present time believe to have been 

 Gabers. 



the works of the Gabers, or fire- worshippers ; indeed 

 the remains of any kind of solid masonry suggest to them the Gabers 

 as the founders. The following are some of the sites of such remains; 

 viz. in the defile of Jurgee ; between Neecharah and Kapoto, at a 

 place called Gat near Zahree ; at Zeedee ; at Dashtee Goran near 

 Kalat ; at Keel in the Moora Pass ; at Kuchakanee in the Taka- 

 ree Pass ; near Bapow in the Moora Pass ; at Mishk between Zahree 

 and the Moora Pass. 



The chief antiquity of Kalat itself is a Hindoo temple, dedicated to 

 Kalat Antiquities, the Devee, or goddess Kalee or Durga, the consort 

 of Shiwa, which is believed to have been in existence even long before 

 the time of Sewa. Again, some say, that the latter was ordered in 

 a dream by Kalee to people the neighbourhood of the temple. Mehrab 

 Khan had a respect for the fakeer of the temple, so much so, that 

 when he died, the Khan gave him a piece of gold cloth for a shroud. 



Another antiquity, but of more recent date, is the grave of a 

 faqueer near the Kalat spring, who is said to have considerably 

 enlarged it from what the original inhabitants or Dehwars made use of. 

 The faqueer is respected both by Mahommedans and Hindoos. 



" While living, Oorfee ! so behave thee, 

 That when thy life time doth expire. 

 Mahommadans with " Zamzara" lave thee, 

 And Hindoos burn thee on a pyre." From the Persian. 



