Herat

Herat is a city in Western Afghanistan, the capital of Herat Province. It has a long cultural history as a gateway between Persian and Turkic culture, bordering on Iran and Turkmenistan. In 2008, its Old City was recognized by UNESCO as It has suffered much damage in the wars of Afghanistan.

Ancient history

First settled approximately 5,000 years ago, it was an established city when Alexander the Great came in the 3rd century BCE. Herodotus called it the "breadbasket of Asia." Later, it was the main city of the Persian kingdom of Khorasan; it is the only one of the four cities of the kingdom that is largely intact.

Its central mosque was first built in the seventh century, and rebuilt by the Ghorid Dynasty in 1200. It was associated with Sufism, especially with the poet Khawaja Abdullah Ansari, who died in 1088.

Flowering

In Herat if you stretch out your feet you are sure to kick a poet — Ali Sher Nawa

In the 14th and 15th centuries, under the Timurid dynasty, it became known as the "Florence of Asia".

Still a major cultural attractions, the Blue Mosque complex, built in 1417 by Gohar Shad, daughter of a Chugtai noble, one of the Mongol hordes. Called the "most incomparable woman". she restored many buildings in Herat. Her grave reads "The Bilkis of All Time"; Bilkis is the Islamic name for the Queen of Sheba. While Herat is conservative for women's rights, she has been called Afghanistan's first feminist.

Contemporary

It suddenly revolted against Soviet rule in 1979, and was heavily bombed.

In the wars of Afghanistan, it is geographically important, in that it controls a highway to Kandahar.

In Afghan politics, it is still strongly associated with Ismail Khan, who was removed as governor, by President Karzai, in 2004. It was one of the centers of the Northern Alliance in the war against the Taliban.