Right at the very end of the battered and bruised road, cutting across the country from east to west, is the Persian historical city of Herat. Not many travellers come this far. It is way too out, perched near Afghanistan’s western border with Iran. Yet, it has always been of great importance, as is revealed by its architectural and cultural treasures to those who take the trouble to reach it.

Herat’s been around for a long time; 6th Century BC records describe it as a Persian city which went by the name Aria. Yes, the same pronunciation as my surname. 🙂

Its strategic location on the Great Silk Road and the banks of the Hari River made it particularly appealing to conquerors and rulers. Alexander the Great defeated Herat’s Persian Achaemenids in 330 BC and put up a majestic citadel to celebrate his victory. He was followed by the Abbasid Caliphs in the 8th Century, Ghurids in 1175, the Mongol Genghis Khan who destroyed everything in 1221, the Kartids who then rebuilt it, and the Timurid Tamerlane who destroyed it once again in 1380.

When Tamerlane’s favourite son Shahrukh Mirza decided to move his capital from Samarkand to Herat, he was determined to make Herat the grandest city in the region. A vision shared by his wife Gawhar Shad and later descendent Husayn Bayqara.

The result was a city of much beauty and grace whose praise was extolled far and wide. Of its many buildings, 830 ‘cultural sites’ are still believed to survive today, warranting it a place in UNESCO’s tentative list in 2004.

It is a difficult combination. War and conservation. However, despite all the odds, both UNESCO and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture have consistently worked on Herat, ensuring its treasures, hidden from the world at large, manage to survive.

Come along with me on a virtual tour of Timurid Herat, the city on the Hari River, to see why it was called the ‘Pearl of the Khorasan’ for the longest time!

1. Great Blue Mosque, the jewel in Herat’s crown

Jami Masjid, popularly known as the Great Blue Mosque, deserves its moniker fully—it is a resplendent concoction of blue tile-work. Built on the site of an ancient 7th Century Zoroastrian temple, subsequent centuries saw it morphed into a mosque by Ghiyassuddin Ghori in the 12th Century [his tomb lies abutted in one of the walls], and then covered with exquisite tiles by the Timurids in the 14th and 15th Centuries. Vestiges of its Ghurid ancestry can still be seen in a stunning portal, south of the main entrance, where Ghurid fired mud-brick embellishments peek through the blue Timurid glazed tiles.

Do not miss the centuries-old tile-making factory within the complex. Tiles for the mosque have been handmade here using techniques and materials unchanged from the day the mosque was first draped in its blue finery.

2. Colourful markets replete with caravanserais

Herat’s markets seem to be frozen in time. The tiny outlets brim with local merchandise steeped in some distant past. From shops selling neat rows of cloned blue chadors, to workshops stacked with black rubber water carriers and miles of tubes, they buzz with crowds and bling-covered tuk-tuks whirling past. Hidden behind all these are cavernous double-storeyed caravanserais which housed travelling merchants and their wares in the late-19th/ early 20th Century; the European detailing a fascinating insight into the city’s eclectic past.

3. Pul-i Malan, a Seljuk-era 22-arched bridge

South of Herat, straddled across the now often dry riverbed of Hari River is a poetic 22-arched bridge. If you have been to neighbouring Iran, you might well be reminded of Esfahan’s Si-o-Seh bridge on the Zayandeh River. According to popular legend, two beautiful Zoroastrian princess sisters, Bibi Nur and Bibi Hur, made Pul-i Malan with their bare hands, mixing egg shells with clay, way back in the year 900. Historical records are more pragmatic. Its construction is credited to the Seljuk great, Sultan Ahmed Sanjar from Merv in 1110.

4. Alexander the Great’s 330 BC Citadel

Ikhtyaruddin Citadel is Herat’s oldest surviving structure—2,354 years to be exact. Since the time it was built by Alexander the Great in 330 BC when he captured the city, it has been used by many an empire in Afghanistan. The Abbasid Caliphs, Ghurids, Kartids, and Timurids have all ruled from within its heavily fortified walls and added to the edifice. It has also been destroyed just as many times by these very same people, and particularly the Mongols, in their quest for power. Much of what you see today is a 2011-restored version by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, with the National Museum of Herat within the premises. Make sure you walk around to the back of the citadel to see the restored Timurid Tower in its full glory.

5. Musalla Complex, Afghanistan’s largest Timurid ensemble

If the Great Blue Mosque is the jewel in Herat’s crown, Musalla Complex is what establishes Herat’s status as a Timurid showpiece. When Shahrukh moved his capital from Samarkand to Herat, there was a dramatic revival in the city’s fortunes and architecture. One of the most magnificent was an Islamic religious complex started by his wife Gawhar Shad in 1417. Comprising of mosques, madrasas, and mausoleums, it originally had 20 tile-encrusted minarets piercing the sky. Most of these structures were destroyed by the British in 1885 during the Great Game against the Russians. Five minarets are all that remain, a bit wobbly and bent over the centuries, along with Gauhar Shad’s exquisitely painted, ribbed double-domed mausoleum in which she lies buried with her family members.

6. Tombs of the two Shahzade [Princes]

Next to the Musalla Complex are the graves of two 8th Century princes: Abdullah and Qasim. In keeping with the Timurid vision of beautifying their capital Herat, Sultan Husayn Bayqara built grand mausoleums over the two graves in the late-15th Century in the typical Timurid style of colourful tile-work and intricate frescoes. The UNESCO-restored tombs, deeply venerated by the local populace for centuries, are surrounded with a sea of grave-markers in a walled enclosure. Whilst the Tomb of Abdullah near the road is a riot of Koranic inscriptions inside floral motifs and still has some Medieval-era tiling on its front porch, the Tomb of Qasim is engulfed in white walls and [much renovated] decorations on the inside and a splendid tiled ivan on the outside.

7. Khwaja Galtan Shrine where a rollover defines fortunes

On the outskirts of Herat is the Khwaja Galtan Shrine where some serious prophesying has taken place for centuries. It all starts off with the pilgrim making his way to a courtyard hemmed in by a simple mosque and pistachio tree with the tomb of the saint at one end. Once seated on the ground with his legs outstretched, he covers his eyes with his palms, makes a wish, lies down, and tries to roll. If he can roll in one straight line and touch the adjacent wall, his wish will come true. If he is not able to turn [and it does happen] or rolls at an angle, God has other plans for him. This entire exercise is carried out under the supervision of a 10-year-old boy with one cheeky grin!

8. Jihad Museum, a celebration of the Jihadi

Although Herat’s main claim to fame is its Timurid legacy, could its recent tumultuous past be incognito? Definitely not, as there is an entire museum dedicated to Afghanistan’s Jihad [holy war] against the Soviets and, after August 2021, the US and NATO forces. So, why is it in Herat? The reason is that its founder, Ismail Khan, a mujahideen-turned-politician, was a Herati. Lined with portraits of martyrs, life-sized dioramas of key mujahideen conflicts, and cabinets filled with weapons of all kinds, it is an unusual museum. The ticket is steep—10 USD entry plus an additional 10 USD for photography. I decided against the photography fee, hence the only photo I have of this Herati attraction is the entrance and little boy-guard before I entered the museum.

9. Mausoleum complex of Herat’s patron saint

Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, also known as Pir-i Herati, was a Sufi poet-saint who lived in 11th Century Herat. The ornate, tile-covered mausoleum complex you see today was built by Timurid ruler Shahrukh as part of his construction drive in the early-15th Century. Considered one of Herat’s most sacred sites, there are grave markers spanning a millennium laid out throughout the serene complex. These belong to the saint’s rich and powerful followers who wished to be buried near him—no commoners here—and include the tombs of Sultan Husayn Bayqara (r. 1469 – 1506), under whose reign Herat enjoyed its ‘golden age’ and Dost Mohammad Khan, a 19th Century Emir of Afghanistan.

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With this I reach the end of my post. Next time you hear the city’s name, I hope you will be reminded of its incredible, and some quirky, hidden treasures. ❤

Travel tips:

• Staying there: Amiri Hotel has comfortable en-suite rooms inclusive of a basic room-service breakfast.
• Getting around: I had a local Persian Herati, Ehsan Rahmatian, as my city guide. He was fabulous, showing me not just the main sights, but also hidden treasures and where the locals hung out, ate, and had pretty awesome coffee. We used colourful tuk-tuks to travel around the city. He can be contacted by Whatsapp on +93 79 662 6164.
• WhatsApp contact details of my Afghanistan local tour operator: Obaid [+93 77 842 6816] and Tamim [+93 70 804 5886].

[Note: This blog post is part of a series from my solo travel to Afghanistan for 18 days in October 2023. To read more posts in my Afghanistan series, click here.]

Ehsan Rahmatian, my fabulous city guide in Herat. This picture was taken at Afghan Coffee, a coffee shop serving fantastic coffee.