Herat, Western Afghanistan

Herat has had a very troubled history and the recent events only add to that. The son of the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane, Shah Rukh, made it the capital of his empire in the early fifteenth century, but the empire weakened and in 1506 the city fell to the Turkic Uzbeks, who came from central Asia. But after four years the Uzbeks were defeated by the Persian forces of Shah Ismail Safavi, the founder of the Savavid Empire to the west. The western region of present-day Afghanistan, together with the Iranian cities of Mashhad (Meshed) and Merv became part of the Safavid Empire.

Safavid Persia prospered under Shah Abbas, who ruled from 1586-1628 and after that decline set in. The eighteenth century saw revolts, anarchy and war and as a result the region had deteriorated into a very unstable group of tribal states, not unlike the recent situation in Afghanistan. Herat's prosperity had gone, parts of the city was ruined and the once very efficient irrigation works had fallen into neglect. The city had a population of around 100 000 at the beginning of the nineteenth century, mostly Persian speakers, although there were also Turkic (mainly Uzbek, but also Turkmen and Kirghiz) and Afghan nomadic tribes, with leaders who only owed allegiance to their own customs, not to a state.

Foreign interference became apparent when the Persians besieged Herat and the British, who suspected the Russians behind it, sent in their first expedition in 1839. They took Kandahar in 1839 and marched on Kabul but eventually Herat was taken by the Persians in 1842 and the leader of the Pathan Durrani tribal confederation, Dost Muhammad, reconquered Kabul after the British retreated and he recovered Herat in 1863, making the city permanently part of Afghanistan.

	Vegetable market	Masjid-e-Jami	Donkey transport	Brass casting
	Herat street	Making biscuits	l Shopkeeper	Vegetable market
	Herat street scene	Camels on the street	Bread making	Camel in treadmill

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