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Herat is the third largest city in Afghanistan and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is a large and lively city with vivid architectural remains dating back to its time as the capital of the medieval Timurid Empire.
Herat is located in western Afghanistan, and historians say that it was founded in the fourth century BC by Alexander the Great. Iranian geographer Hamdallah Mustafi said in the fourteenth century AD, “Herat is the name of one of the leaders of the followers of the hero Nariman, and he was the first to establish the city, and after It collapsed, Alexander the Great rebuilt it, and its walls were 9,000 paces in circumference.”
It was one of the 12 most important capitals of the Sassanian Empire in the 650s AD, and it was conquered by Muslims in the ninth century AD, during the reign of the Caliph Omar bin al-khattab In the year 22 AH, led by Al-Ahnaf bin Qais Al-Tamimi.
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Herat was also a crossroads for trade: routes extended north along the Harirud Road to Samarkand and Bukhara, south to Iran, east to Balkh and China, and west to Nishapur. Herat lost its pivotal position in the 1980s; Due to the construction of the Trans-Caspian Railway, which passes to the north. But it remained a place where the peoples of Central Asia mixed.
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Herat was a great commercial center with a strategic location on the trade route from the Mediterranean to India or to China. The city was famous for its textile industry during the Abbasid Caliphate, according to numerous references by geographers.
Al-Istakhri and Ibn Hawqal described it in the 10th century as “a prosperous city surrounded by strong walls, with abundant water sources, wide suburbs, an inner citadel, a grand mosque, and 4 gates, each gate opening to a thriving market.”
Conquered Mongols Herat in 1221, and the city surrendered after a short siege, but after several months its people revolted against the Mongols, and the chaos inside the city led to the destruction of the irrigation canal network, and devastation prevailed for many decades along the historic Harrod Road in the region.
The Mongol commander made it Tamerlane change Samarkand As the capital of his state in 1381 AD, it later turned into one of the most important scientific and cultural centers. During the rule of Shah Rukh Khan bin Taimur, the city was the focal point of the Timurid Renaissance, whose glory is believed to be comparable to Florence in the Italian Renaissance as a center for the cultural renaissance. Herodotus described the city of Herat as a basket. Food in Central Asia.
After the collapse of the Timurid Empire, Herat – which was called the “Pearl of Afghanistan” – was ruled by a number of Afghan rulers since the early 18th century. In 1716, the Afghan Emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani seized it and it became one of the important Afghan cities, and he formed his own state of Sadozai in it.
Diplomatic missions
Due to the importance of Herat Province, several European and regional countries took the initiative during the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan to open their consulates there. The United States, Turkey, India, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Germany were among the countries that opened their diplomatic offices there, and the largest military base is located there, and Italian and Spanish forces were stationed there. Before the Taliban comes to power in 2021.
The Jews of Herat
In the 1960s, engineers from the United States built Herat Airport, which was used by Soviet forces after their invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. There was a large presence of Soviet advisors in the city, and after the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989, Italian and Spanish forces entered the city 13 years later and settled there. .
280 Jewish families have lived in the city of Herat since 1948, and most of them disappeared and took refuge in Israel after the outbreak of civil war in the early 1990s between the Afghan factions that expelled the Soviet Union from the country.
The city had 4 synagogues in the old quarter that had been neglected for decades and had fallen into disrepair. In the late 2000s, the buildings of these synagogues were renovated by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and 3 of them were converted into schools and nurseries, after the community had disappeared. Judaism.
The economy in the country of saffron
Afghans turned to saffron cultivation in 2006, and it gradually spread in Herat and other Afghan states as an alternative to poppy and drug cultivation. According to official statistics in 2023, Afghanistan – with its market share of 15.6% of global exports – ranks third after Iran and India.
Afghanistan exports saffron to 27 countries. The most important of them are: Qatar, China, India and the United Arab Emirates. According to official figures from the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, more than 25,000 families work in growing, harvesting and packing saffron, and its annual production volume reaches 27 tons.
Landmarks
In 2021, UNESCO announced the inclusion of the city of Herat among the World Heritage Sites. Because of its rich history, its minarets and the Ikhtiyar al-Din Fort, most of these historical monuments were built in the 15th century AD under the patronage of Kohar Shad, wife of King Shah Rukh Khan.
All its buildings are famous for the tile decoration of their buildings, as archaeological research conducted in 1922 revealed many works of art from the Islamic eras and before them, especially the miniatures of the Herat School, whose arts flourished in the 15th century during the reign of Shah Rukh Khan, who founded the school of painting, and brought to… His court was artists and painters.
The fortress of the choice of religion
Herat Castle is located in the center of the city. It is one of the archaeological sites in Afghanistan. It dates back to 330 years BC. It was built by Alexander when he arrived with his army in Herat. It was used by many empires as their headquarters over the past 2,000 years.
Destroyed several times over the centuries, it is known as Alexander’s Castle, but is known locally as Ikhtiyar al-Din Fort. It is a monument in Afghanistan, and is used by the Afghan government as a national museum.
The Great Mosque of Herat
The Great Mosque in Herat is a historical landmark in Afghanistan and is also known as the Mosque. It was built by Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Ghuri in 1200 AD, and the Safavids, Mongols, and Uzbeks left their traces in it. It is distinguished by its traditional Islamic design, and has 8 minarets. It is the first mosque in the city of Herat in western Afghanistan.
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Kamal al-Din Behzad is one of the most successful miniaturists in Afghanistan, and this tradition, known in Herat since the 15th century, has continued to inspire painters and architects.
From Herat, many writers and philosophers emerged. Among them: Abu al-Fadl al-Mundhiri, who has many books, including “Mafakhir al-Maqalāl,” “Al-Ziyadāt,” “Nazm al-Juman,” and others.
He was also a professor and teacher of Mansour Al-Azhari (895 AD – 981 AD), one of the great scholars of the Arabic language hailing from the city of Herat. Among his most famous works are the dictionary “Tahdhib al-Lughah” and “Explanation of the Diwan of Abu Tammam.”
The famous grammarian and writer Abu Al-Muzaffar Al-Harawi, and Abu Al-Hasan Al-Harawi, one of the most famous linguists and grammarians, also came from Herat, and he was also famous for his skill in writing Arabic calligraphy.
