Pishin

Pishin, a district of southern Afghanistan, N. of Quetta, and the point of junction of the roads from Candahar to the Punjab and Scinde. Its military importance made it a desirable object for Great Britain to gain, and since 1878 it has been under English management. The district contains 3,600 square miles, and is surrounded by mountain chains that in parts attain a height of 1,100 feet. Ranges of hills separate the valleys of the interior, through one of which a railway-line passes. The people, who are partly nomad, trade with India in horses, and cultivate cereals, maize, and melons.