Astola Island ( ur, ) also known as ''Jezira Haft Talar'' (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i island in the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

approximately south of the nearest part of the coast and southeast of the fishing port of Pasni. Astola is Pakistan's largest offshore island at approximately long with a maximum width of and an area of approximately . The highest point is above sea level. Administratively, the island is part of the Pasni subdistrict of

Gwadar District Gwadar District ( bal, گوادر, ur, ) is a district in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The name Gwadar originates from Gwat and Dar ( bal, )، which means the door of air. Gwadar was notified as a separate district on 1 July 1977. The ...

in Balochistan province. The island can be accessed by motorized boats from Pasni, with a journey time of about 5 hours to reach the island. On August 4, 2020, Pakistan has released a new political map that for the first time shows the Islands of Churna and Astola.

Marine Protected Area

Pakistan declared Astola as its first Marine Protected Area in June 2017 as part an international obligation of the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

under the

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

History

The earliest mention of Astola is in

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

's account of Admiral Nearchos, who was dispatched by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

to explore the coast of the

and the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

in 325 BC. The sailors in Nearchos's fleet were "frightened at the weird tales told about an uninhabited island, which Arrian calls Nosala". It was also called Carmina, Karmine, by Arrian.

Geography

The island consists of a large tilted plateau and a series of seven small hillocks (hence the local name "Haft Talar" or "Seven Hills"), with deep chasms and crevices, which are several feet wide. There are several natural caves and coves on the island. The south face of the island slopes off gradually whereas the north face is cliff-like with a sharp vertical drop.

Ecology

Isolation has helped maintain several endemic life forms on Astola. The endangered

green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

(''Chelonia mydas'') and the

hawksbill turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is la ...

(''Eretmochelys imbracata'') nest on the beach at the foot of the cliffs. The island is also an important area for endemic reptiles such as the Astola viper ('' Echis carinatus astolae''). The island is reported to support a large number of breeding water birds including

coursers The coursers are a group of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that ...

curlews The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been i ...

, godwit, gulls, plovers and sanderling.

Feral cats A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

originally introduced by fishermen to control the endemic rodent population, pose an increasing threat to wildlife breeding sites. E.g. the sooty gull (''Larus hemprichii'') had a major breeding colony on the island, now extirpated because of introduced rats. Vegetation on the island is sparse and largely consists of scrubs and large bushes. There are no trees on the island. The largest shrub on the island is '' Prosopis juliflora'', which was introduced into

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

in 1877 from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

. There is no source of fresh water on the island and the vegetation depends on occasional rainfall and soil moisture for survival. Astola is also home to

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

Man-made features

In 1982, the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

installed a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

on the island for the safety of passing vessels, which was replaced by a solar-powered one in 1987. Between October and May of each year, Astola becomes a temporary base for mainland fishermen for catching lobsters and oysters. From June to August, the island remains uninhabited due to the fishing off-season, the rough seas and high tides. There is a small

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

dedicated to the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

saint Pir Khawaja Khizr, which is used by the mainland fishermen during the fishing season. Ruins of an ancient

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple of the Hindu goddess,

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

are located on the island. The island was also known to the Hindus as ''Satadip''. In Arrian's '' Indica'', which describes the westward journey of Alexander's fleet after the Indian Campaign (325 BC), Admiral

Nearchus Nearchus or Nearchos ( el, Νέαρχος; – 300 BC) was one of the Greek officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He is known for his celebrated expeditionary voyage starting from the Indus River, through the Persian Gulf and ...

is quoted as having anchored by an island named 'Carnine'. It was said to be inhabited by the Ichthyophagoi ('fish eaters' in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

) and where, "even

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

had a fishy taste". The Persian phrase ''mahi khoran'' (fish eaters) has become the modern name of the coastal region of

Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, f ...

. Some scholars have assumed Carnine to be Astola, without considering the extreme aridity and lack of fresh water, which renders the place inhospitable for human habitation, as well as animal husbandry. In all likelihood, Carnine was the name of an island in the inland sea, presently known as Khor Kalmat. This latter conjecture supports Nearchus' coast-hugging voyage (which would have kept him well away from Astola), a compulsion meant to provision Alexander's army that was supposed to have marched along a coastal route.

Gallery

File:Astola Island 2.jpg File:Astola Island 4.jpg File:Astola Island 1.jpg File:Astola Island 17.jpg File:Astola Island from 5 km away.JPG File:Sunset at Astola Island.JPG

References

External links

Astola Island – A Spellbinding Site

Astola Island
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q105675052 Islands of the Arabian Sea Uninhabited islands of Pakistan Gulf of Oman Islands of Gwadar Natural history of Balochistan, Pakistan Ramsar sites in Pakistan Lighthouses in Pakistan