Bostan, Pishin


Bostan is a town, 30 km by road from Quetta city in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.It is located at 30°25'57N 67°00'22E and has an altitude of 1593 metres. Bostan is Tehsil of the Pishin District. It was previously included in Tehsil Karezat and covers an area between Mount Takathu and the Red Hills.

History

This region was named after Bostan, who was great tribal leader and head of the Panezai clan of the Kakar tribe. Bostan took part in a first Anglo-Afghan war. During the British era, Bostan was a famous railway junction connecting Quetta with Zhob, Harnai and Chaman. Bostan and Zhob were connected by a narrow gauge railway track which was later dismantled around June 2008.
The total length of this railway from Bostan to Zhob was 294 km, which made it the longest Narrow gauge Railway of the subcontinent in 1920s. It had 11 stations in between including the famous Kan Mehtarzai station which was the highest station in Pakistan at an altitude of 2224 meters.
For a long part of its journey, the railway followed the Zhob River and thus it was called the Zhob Valley Railway.

Chronology of Bostan Zhob Railway