Balochistan was created in 1887 by the British.

Balochistan was the part of the Harappan cultural orbit and marked the westernmost extent of the Indus Valley civilization. The Baloch people, the largest ethnic group in the region are a Kurdish group that has dominated the local people in Makran, Southern Sistan, and the Brahvi country.

The Baloch population is divided between the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Balochistan and the Afghan region of Balochistan. The invasions of Genghis Khan into Bampoor caused the bulk of Baloch migrations and the Baloch were given refuge in the westernmost region of Indus Valley civilization.

Later infighting between Baloch resulted in clans led by Sardars, which claimed regions within the southwestern region of Indus Valley civilization. In an effort to gain total control of the regions, the British named the areas of Makran, Kharan, Las Bela, and Kalat as the Kalat States Union and got the support of the Baloch Sardars who then were titled, Nawabs. These Nawabs were to keep Brahvi, Pathan and other factions in check.

During the period of the British Raj, there were four Princely States in Balochistan: Makran, Kharan, Las Bela, and Kalat. In 1876, Sir Robert Sandeman negotiated the Treaty of Kalat, which brought the Khan's territories, including Kharan, Makran, and Las Bela, under British suzerainty.

After the Second Afghan War was ended by the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879, the Afghan Emir ceded the districts of Quetta, Pishin, Harnai, Sibi and Thal Chotiali to the British. On 1 April 1883, the British took control of the Bolan Pass, southeast of Quetta from the Khan of Kalat. In 1886 the Bori valley, which is now the cantonment of Loralai, was occupied. In 1887 the Khetran country, now known as the Barkhan tahsil, was brought under British control and in November 1887 a province with the name of British Balochistan was created. The cantonment of Quetta became the head-quarter of the Administration of The Chief Commissioner's Province of British Balochistan, located in the northern parts of the modern Balochistan province.

Sir Robert Sandeman, a Scotsman, is considered to be the founder of British Balochistan. Sandeman was singularly successful in his dealings with the Baloch and Brahvis. He understood the tribes better than his peers, possibly because he himself was a Highlander. He found it easier and cheaper to control a handful of tribal chiefs rather than try to control the tribes directly.

He found that the Sardars needed authority and the means --- guns, money, horses to hold that authority. The British had this means. He bartered guns, money, and horses for the Sardars' allegiance. In the bargain, the Sardars guaranteed local law and order. Sandeman encouraged the Sardars to raise own Lashkars or Levies. These armed men were paid from British treasury and were controlled by the District officers. The Levies were tribal paramilitary troops organized on tribal authority to maintain law and order in their own territories. Those who opposed British authority were labeled ruffians and scoundrels. Sandeman never hesitated from using brute physical force where-ever he thought it was required.

A Political Agent was permanently reappointed to Kalat in 1884 to keep touch with the Khan and to exercise the right of arbitration. The Khan had a powerful constituency among the Brahui section of the population and many Baluch Sardar owed allegiance to him. He called the Nawabs of Makran and Kharan and the Jam of Las Bela as his feudatories. The Khan was entitled to a salute of nineteen guns.

In 1890 and 1891 series of politico-military expeditions were carried out which resulted in the occupation of the Zhob valley and Kakar Khurasan. The foundation of the central cantonment of Fort Sandeman and the extension of a line of outposts which commencing at Quetta may be said to rest on Wana north of the Gomal. The effect of these expeditions and of this extension of military occupation was to reduce the independent Pathan tribes of the Suliman mountains to effective order and to put a stop to border raiding on the Indus plains south of the Gomal. Regular British troops were cantoned at Quetta, Chaman, Fort Sandeman, anil Loralai, and detachments were stationed at different places principally in the Zhob and Loralai Districts for the preservation of law and order. There was also a police force supplemented by levees and the Zhob, Makrau and Chagai Levy Corps. The latter were recruited from the local tribes and have their own leading men as officers.

In 1896 Chagai and Western Sinjrani were included in the administered territory. In 1899 the Nuskhi Niabat was made over by the Khan of Kalat on an annual quit-rent of 9,000 rupees and in 1903 the Nasirabad tahsil was acquired from the Khan of Kalat on an annual quit-rent of 117,500 rupees.

The area of Kalat State was 73,278 square miles and the population 354,095 (1911 census.) and the area of British and administered territory was 46,960 sq. miles and the population (1911) 414,000. The province was administered by a Chief Commissioner appointed by the Federal Government. Although there was no elected legislature the Chief Commissioner could consult the Shahi Jirga, an assembly of tribal leaders.

The area under the direct administration of the Chief Commissioner and Agent to the Governor-General was divided into 6 districts, each in charge of a Political Agent as follows: Quetta-Pishin, Sibi, Zhob, Loralai, Rolan Pass, Chagai. The Political Agents were also the Collectors, District Magistrates, and Sessions Judges, and were assisted by European Assistant-Political Agents and either native or European Extra-Assistant Commissioners and staff of subordinate revenue and judicial officials. The Political Agent in charge of the Bolan Pass was also Political Agent for Kalat and Las Bela.

The province comprised three groups of areas – the settled districts, the political agencies, and the tribal area. The settled areas were mainly the district around Quetta and Jaffarabad. The agencies were the Zhob agency to the north of Quetta and the Chagai agency in the west, which had a tenuous land link with the rest of the province. The tribal areas were the Bugti and Marri tribal agencies which would later become Provincially Administered Tribal Areas in the new Balochistan province.

The population of the province was split between Baloch tribes in the southwest, Brahvi tribes in the center, and Pashtun tribes in the north and northwest.

The province became part of Pakistan in 1947 and continued to be administered by a Chief Commissioner. It was dissolved in 1955 when most parts of the western wing of Pakistan became the new province of West Pakistan. West Pakistan was dissolved in 1970.

The former Chief Commissioner's province was combined with the former Kalat States Union and the enclave of Gwadar to form a new, larger Balochistan Province, with a Governor, a Chief Minister, and a Provincial Assembly.

The Balochistan States Union was formed after the accession of four individual princely states to the new Dominion of Pakistan in 1948.

The first head of the Union was the Khan of Kalat, who held the title Khan-e-Azam.

The main governing body was the Council of Rulers which comprised the Khan-e-Azam, the Jam of Las Bela and the Nawabs of Kharan and Makran. Decisions on major issues could be taken by a jirga or council of all the nobles or Sardars of the Union.

The area of the Union was roughly the western half of the modern province of Balochistan.

The Union was separate from the Chief Commissioners Province of Balochistan, which comprised areas to the northeast of the Union.

The Union did not include the enclave of Gwadar, which was part of the Sultanate of Oman.

The four state rulers continued in office, but some matters became the responsibility of the Council of Rulers.

The area became the Kalat Division when the Union was dissolved.

The Balochistan States Union became an administrative division of Pakistan that existed between 3 October 1952 and 14 October 1955 in southwest Pakistan. It was formed by the four princely states of Kalat, Kharan, Las Bela and Makran with the capital in the town of Kalat.

In August 1947 the Chief Commissioner's Province of Balochistan immediately became part of Pakistan, followed by the princely states of Makran, Kharan, Las Bela, and the Khanate of Kalat, who decided to accede to Pakistan in March 1948. The Khan of Kalat agreed to join Pakistan under the condition that defense, currency, foreign relations, and finance would be controlled by the federal government, but that the province would remain otherwise autonomous. The four princely states together formed the Balochistan States Union in October 1952. The enclave of Gwadar was excluded from this as it was still part of the Sultanate of Oman.

In October 1955, the formation of one unit resulted in the Balochistan States Union and the Chief Commissioner's Province of Balochistan being merged with all the remaining provinces and princely states in other parts of Pakistan to form the province of West Pakistan. The enclave of Gwadar was purchased from Oman in October 1958 and was merged with West Pakistan. The West Pakistan province was officially dissolved in 1970 and the former Balochistan States Union, former Chief Commissioner's Province of Balochistan was combined to form the new province of Balochistan. The government of Pakistan later decided to incorporate Gwadar in Balochistan in 1977, thus expanding Balochistan province in its current form.