Sibi district was established in October 1903 then covering the present districts of Sibi, Ziarat, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, and Nasirabad.
The district is named after its headquarters, the town of Sibi, which in its turn derives its name from Siwi, a Hindu lady of Sewa race who is said to have ruled over this part of the country in former times
Boundaries
The district borders on Ziarat district in the north and in the northeast on Loralai district. In the east and southeast it borders on Kohlu district. To the south and southwest lies Bolan district and in the northwest, it borders Mastung district and Quetta district.
History Of Colonial Administration
The British colonial influence started extending to the Sibi region in the late forties of the 19th century, when in 1839, Misri Khan, the head of the Panri tribe, tendered his services to Shah Shuja and was taken into British service with a number of his followers, who were styled the “Baloch Levy. Subsequent events are a story of long and intense tribal wars that paved the way for the ultimate annexation of the Sibi region to the British colonial empire. An entertaining account of the political events after Misri Khan’s induction into British service is given in an old (undated) Gazetteer of Sibi; of which relevant excerpts are presented below: “In March 1841, Mr. Ross Bell, the Political Agent in upper Sind, deputed one of his assistants with a detachment of troops, under the command of Colonel Wilson of the Bombay Cavalry, to collect the arrears of revenue due from Khajaks of Sibi on behalf of Shah Shuja. The detachment was accompanied by Misri Khan, and on the Khajaks refusing to comply with the demands, attacked the town, but were repulsed with heavy loss……. Reinforcements from Bagh were sent up under General Brooks. But before they could arrive the Khajaks abandoned their town, the defense of which was then demolished.
The Khajaks were permitted to return during the following year and the town was rebuilt. From November 1841 to September 1842 an Assistant Political officer resided at Sibi. When the British troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan on the termination of the war, the district was handed over by the British to the Khan of Kalat, but it does not appear to have been occupied by him, and in 1843 again came under the Baruzai rule up to the second Afghan war Sibi continued to be held by the Baruzai chiefs as governors of the Afghan rulers; but owing to the constant raids and encroachments of the Marris, the country was, at the request of the Sardars and people, occupied at the commencement of the war by a detachment of troops from Jacobabad…… In November 1887 the Kach-Kowas and Harnai valleys, Sibi, Duki, and Thal-Chotiali were declared parts of British India…… Owing to the disputes between the Zarkuns and the Marris, Kohlu was brought under British protection and added to the Thal-Chotiali district in 1892.
In February 1891 Sanjawi was again transferred to Thal-Chotiali, and Barkhan was added in April 1892. On the reconstruction of the district in October 1903, the Barkhan, Duki, and Sajawi tehsils were transferred to the new Loralai district, and the name of the Thal-Chotiali district was changed into that of Sibi district.”
Post-Independence Period
The district underwent reorganization in the post-independence period to create Nasirabad Division, Dera Bugti District, Kohlu District, and Ziarat District. Following the post-1947 administrative re-organization, the district’s territorial jurisdiction has shrunk from 11,390 sq. miles as it was in 1903, to 7.796 sq. miles. The old description of it being a district covering vast and varied climatological zones, as it once was, is no longer true.