Mastung

Mastung lies in a high valley south of Quetta, on the route towards Kalat. Its fields occupy a break in the ranges of central Baluchistan, where routes from Kandahar and the northern highlands meet the country of the Brahui chiefs. Together with Shal, or Quetta, Mastung was contested by rulers of Kandahar and Kalat as power shifted across the region.

In the eighteenth century Nasir Khan of Kalat came into conflict with Ahmad Shah Durrani. An older account places a defeat of the khan near Mastung around 1758, followed by his retreat to Kalat and negotiations with the Afghan ruler. The resulting settlement required military service from the khan rather than tribute. Mastung and Shal remained valuable northern districts in the relationship between Kalat and the Durrani court.