Around Herat, western Afghanistan

The countryside around Herat contrasts with a relatively green city. It is quite barren and dusty, but here are the fields where farmers till the soil with their wooden ploughs. And the markets in the city testify to their success. But the drought is, of course, an always present threat. There used to be an elaborate network of irrigation channels in Herat’s heyday, but these had largely fallen into disrepair during the city’s violent episodes. Just outside the city is the Musallah Complex, founded by Empress Gawhar Shad, the wife of Timurid ruler Shah Rukh (1405-1447) in 1417. In 1863, the tops of the minarets were destroyed by artillery fire. In 1885, Amir ’Abd ar-Rahman (1880-1901), the British supported Amir of Afghanistan, razed the ruins in an attempt to prevent its use as a base by the Russian army. The four huge broken minarets are all that remains of the madrasa. In the shadow of those minarets were the black tents of a family of Kuchi nomads. Expert carpet weavers, the women do not wear the all-enveloping “chaderi” or “burqa”.

A grandmother of one of the nomadic tribes of Afghanistan is looking after her grandchildren on the outskirts of Herat.

Women and girls of the Kuchi people, one of the nomadic peoples of Afghanistan, near a mosque on the outskirts of Herat. Kuchi women don't wear the all-covering “burqa”.

Traditional mudbrick houses just outside the city of Herat.

An old mosque and graveyard just outside the city of Herat.

The boy with the key at the sarcophagus in the tomb of Gawhar Shad, the empress who built the “madrassa” or religious school of which now only four minarets remain.

Tents of Kuchi nomads are perched near four broken minarets, all that remains of a “madrassa”, an Islamic religious school near Herat, destroyed by the British in 1834.

Outside Herat is a camp with the black tents of the nomadic Kuchi. The women are usually not veiled.

Women of the nomadic Kuchi people are expert carpet weavers and, while looking after their children, are at work in their black tent on the outskirts of Herat.

Tents of Kuchi nomads are perched near the four broken minarets, all that remains of a “madrassa”, an Islamic religious school near Herat, destroyed by the British in 1834.

In a field outside Herat are four broken minarets, all that remains of a “madrassa”, an Islamic religious school near Herat, destroyed by the British in 1834. Tents of Kuchi nomads are perched nearby.

Bus travel Afghani style near Herat, western Afghanistan.

An old crumbling fortress near Herat. The building is, like the wall around it, made of mud brick.

Ploughing his fields with a wooden plough and oxen, farming is hard work on the dry soil near Herat and drought is an always present danger.

Men with their sheep relaxing near Herat.

Adraskan, a typical village between Herat and Kandahar.

Adraskan, a typical village between Herat and Kandahar. The houses have vents in the roof and courtyards, hidden from view from the streets.

Trucks in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the village of Adraskan, between Herat and Kandahar.