Bela ( bal, ) is an important city of
Lasbela District
Lasbela District (Urdu and bal, , Sindhi Lasi: لسبيلو) is a coastal district of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is also called Sassi-Punnu Garh () among localites.
History
Alexander the Great passed through Lasbela on his way ...
in the
Balochistan province of
Pakistan.
It is an ancient city in a historic track surrounded by hills above the
Arabian Sea, nearly northwest of
Karachi and south of
Quetta. During the autumn of 325 BC, the settlement was part of the Asian campaign of
Alexander the Great under the name Rhambacia ( el, Ῥαμβακία). After Alexander conquered the town, he commended the place and thought that if he built a city there it would become great and prosperous and he left
Hephaestion
Hephaestion ( grc, Ἡφαιστίων ''Hephaistíon''; c. 356 BC – October 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest of all the ...
behind to built it.
Arrian, Anabasis, 6.21
/ref>
In 711 AD, it was part of Muhammad bin Qasim
Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqāfī ( ar, محمد بن القاسم الثقفي; –) was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (part of modern Pakistan), inaugurating the Umayya ...
's campaign under the name Armabil.
Name
Alexander's historians mention the river name as Arabius
Hub River ( ur, دریائے حب) is located in Hub District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It starts from the Pab Range in the south eastern Balochistan and continues along the border of Sindh and reaches Hub and then falls into the Arabian Sea.
"Ha ...
, and local people as Oreitans Oreitans/Oritans and Oreitians/Oritians ( grc, Ὠρείταις) were the ancient inhabitants of modern Lasbela District in Balochistan province of Pakistan.
Alexander the Great crossed Hub River through Lasbela on his way back to Babylon after c ...
. The Arab sources call it Armabil or Armanil. The '' Chachnama'', in addition, uses the names Armael, Armana-Bil, Armapilla. It is described as the second port city of Sind, after Debal.
Demographics
Bela's population consists of Baloch
Baloch, also spelled Baloch, Beluch and in other ways, may refer to:
* Baloch people, an ethnic group of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan
* Baluch, a small itinerant community of Afghanistan
* Balouch, Azad Kashmir, a town in Pakistan
* Baloch (s ...
and Sindhis. The population is predominantly 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 ...
with a small 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 ...
community.[
]
Significance
Bela and surrounding areas have some mineral reserves. north of Bela are the Kundi deposits where traces of chalcopyrite, Galena, and silver are also found. Manganese ore is also found in the opholitic belt of Bela.[ The tomb of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim's general, Muhammad ibn Haroon, is located in Bela.]
See also
*Shehr-e-Roghan
Gondrani ( ur, ), also known as Shehr-e-Roghan ( ur, ), is an archaeological site near the town of Bela in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Alternate names
The town is also known as the Cave City of Lasbella, the Cave Dwellings of Gondrani, the House of ...
- an ancient town near Bela
*Alexandria in Orietai
Alexandria in Orietai was one of the seventy-plus cities founded or renamed by Alexander the Great.
The town was founded by Alexander in autumn of 325 BC after his army had separated from Nearchus and the boats near the mouth of the Indus Rive ...
References
; Sources
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{{Authority control
Populated places in Lasbela District