Sibi ( Sindhi: سيوي ur, ) is a city situated in the Balochistan

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

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 ...

. The city is the headquarters of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

and

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

of the same name.

Etymology

The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hindu lady of the Sewa Dynasty who ruled Balochistan before the 7th century.The tribal Baluchistan by Syed Abdul Quddus page 49

History

The history of the Sibi region dates back to the 7th century at the earliest, when it was ruled by the Sewa dynasty. In the early 13th century, Sibi was a dependency of

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the olde ...

under

Nasiruddin Qabacha Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha or Kaba-cha ( fa, ناصرالدین قباچه) was the Muslim Turkic Kipchak governor of Multan, appointed by the Ghurid ruler Muhammad Ghori in 1203. Successors of Ghori Ghori had no offspring, but he treated thous ...

of the Ghurid Empire. The area was then variously subject to Multan or

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

throughout much of its history. The Arghun dynasty of

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the ca ...

invaded in the late 15th century and seized Sibi from the Samma dynasty of Sindh, but it was returned to Sindh during the Mughal period. Sibi was governed by the Kalhora dynasty during the early 18th century, which in turn paid tribute to the Afsharids after

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian ...

's invasion in 1737. In 1747, the

Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...

assumed control of Sibi and appointed local administrators from the Barozai clan. Sibi came under the control of the

British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

in 1880, and was an important junction on the Harnai and Quetta loop railway lines. It later achieved independence as part of the new nation of

in 1947. Besides the town of Sibi, the district once included the hill station of Ziarat, the summer residence of the government, and the Victoria Memorial Hall, now known as Jirga Hall, which was built in 1903.

Demography

Balochi, Sindhi and Siraiki make majority of the population with Pashto, Brahui and others are also spoken by smaller communities. Urdu serves as lingua franca being the national language.

Festivals

Sibi Mela is celebrated every February and has been observed since the 18th century.

Climate

Sibi has globally recorded high temperatures, especially in the month of June with an average of 52 °C in the afternoon. Precipitation is light and mainly falls in two distinct periods: early spring in March and April, and during monsoon season in July and August.

Notes