The first section of the present volume is a report of the Italian involvement in Southern Makr n and Khar n, its aims and objects, modus operandi. It is essentially restricted to the Islamic era and represents a discourse preliminary to the second section. The methodological approach of combining historical sources (written and manuscript, Persian and Arabic) with archaeological evidence and geo-morphological study has allowed for a re-reading of the traditional literature and the role played by Makr n and, in particular, the K j-u-Makr n region during the 10th-13th Centuries AD. Many questions put by this mystifying region still stand only partly answered, if not completely un-answered. After three seasons of archaeological field-work and research complemented with accurate geo-morphological surveys and studying we are still confronted with an elusive region and some crucial queries. Part Two of this study is the follow up of the archaeological and geo-morphological research-work: a historical study, which focuses on the 10th-13th Centuries AD."

The region of Baluchistan in southern Pakistan was known as terra incognita for much of its history. Described by various geographers and historians since the Greco-Roman period as a truly inhospitable and harsh place, it was only in the mid-19th century that its borders were truly defined and its people and history recorded. This volume presents the first detailed study of the archaeology, history, anthropology and architecture of Baluchistan, part of an Italian programme of research launched in 1987. The mission aimed to verify the literary descriptions of the area in-situ adopting a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach.