Editing Herat (section)

===Pearl of Khorasan===
{{Further|Tahirid dynasty|Saffarid dynasty|Ghaznavids|Ghurid dynasty|Timurid dynasty|Safavid dynasty}}
The region of Herāt was under the rule of King [[Nuh II]], the seventh of the [[Samanids|Samanid]] line&mdash;at the time of [[Sebük Tigin]] and his older son, [[Mahmud of Ghazni]].<ref name=Skrine>{{cite book
 |last1= Skrine
 |first1= Francis Henry
 |author-link1=Francis Henry Skrine
 |last2= Ross
 |first2= Edward Denison
 |author-link2=Edward Denison Ross
 |page= 117
 |year= 2004
 |isbn= 0-7007-1017-5
 |title= The heart of Asia: a history of Russian Turkestan and the Central Asian Khanates from the earliest times
 |publisher= [[Routledge]]}}</ref> The governor of Herāt was a noble by the name of ''Faik'', who was appointed by Nuh III. It is said that Faik was a powerful but insubordinate governor of Nuh III and had been punished by Nuh III. Faik made overtures to [[Bogra Khan]] and Ughar Khan of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. Bogra Khan answered Faik's call, came to Herāt, and became its ruler. The Samanids fled, betrayed at the hands of Faik to whom the defense of Herāt had been entrusted by Nuh III.<ref name="Skrine" /> In 994, Nuh III invited Alptegin to come to his aid. Alptegin, along with Mahmud of Ghazni, defeated Faik and annexed Herāt, [[Nishapur]] and [[Tous, Iran|Tous]].<ref name=Skrine/>
[[File:Seljuq Ewer.jpg|thumb|100px|High-spouted brass ewer, from Herat, [[Ghurid Empire|Ghurid]] period (AD 1180–1200).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flood |first1=Finbarr Barry |title=Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter |date=12 July 2022 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3324-5 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUZpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Herat Ewer.jpg|thumbnail|right|100 px|Another identical ewer in the [[British Museum]]]]
[[File:Behzad timur egyptian.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Battleground of Timur and Egyptian King, by [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād|Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād Herawī]], a famous painter from Herat, c. 1494–1495, [[Timurids|Timurid era]]]]
[[File:Persian calligraphy - Mir Ali Tabrizi.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Page of [[calligraphy]] in [[nasta'liq]] script by the 16th century master calligrapher [[Mir Ali Heravi]]<ref>[http://www.louvre.fr/llv/activite/detail_parcours.jsp?CURRENT_LLV_PARCOURS%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673464057&CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673465686&CURRENT_LLV_CHEMINEMENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673465686&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500830&bmLocale=en Musée du Louvre, Calligraphy in Islamic Art] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110041444/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/activite/detail_parcours.jsp?CURRENT_LLV_PARCOURS%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673464057&CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673465686&CURRENT_LLV_CHEMINEMENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673465686&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500830&bmLocale=en |date=2011-11-10 }}</ref>]]
[[File:TimuridTankard.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Brass]] cup or [[tankard]], [[Timurids|Timurid period]], 15th century A.D., from Herāt.]]

Herat was a great trading center strategically located on trade routes from the Mediterranean to India or China. The city was noted for its textiles during the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], according to many references by geographers. Herāt also had many learned sons such as [[Khwajah Abdullah Ansari|Ansārī]]. The city is described by [[Estakhri]] and [[Ibn Hawqal]] in the 10th century as a prosperous town surrounded by strong walls with plenty of water sources, extensive suburbs, an inner citadel, a congregational mosque, and four gates, each gate opening to a thriving market place. The government building was outside the city at a distance of about a mile in a place called Khorāsānābād. A church was still visible in the countryside northeast of the town on the road to [[Balkh]], and farther away on a hilltop stood a flourishing [[fire temple]], called Sereshk, or Arshak according to [[Hamdallah Mustawfi|Mustawfi]].<ref name="Mustawfi"/><ref>''[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'', Brill Publishers, Vol.3: H-Iram, 1986, Leiden, pp. 177</ref><ref>Eṣṭaḵri, pp. 263-65, tr. pp. 277-82</ref><ref>Ibn Ḥawqal, pp. 437-39, tr. pp. 424;</ref><ref>Moqaddasi (Maqdesi), Aḥsan al-taqāsim fi maʿrifat al-aqālim, ed. M. J. de Goeje, Leiden, 1906, p. 307;</ref>

Herat was a part of the [[Tahirid dynasty|Taherid]] dominion in Khorāsān until the rise of the [[Saffarid dynasty|Saffarids]] in [[Sistan|Sistān]] under [[Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari|Ya'qub-i Laith]] in 861, who, in 862, started launching raids on Herat before besieging and capturing it on 16 August 867, and again in 872. The Saffarids succeeded in expelling the Taherids from Khorasan in 873.

The [[Samanids|Sāmānid dynasty]] was established in [[Transoxiana]] by three brothers, [[Nuh I|Nuh]], [[Yahya ibn Asad|Yahyā]], and [[Ahmad Samani|Ahmad]]. Ahmad Sāmāni opened the way for the Samanid dynasty to the conquest of Khorāsān, including Herāt, which they were to rule for one century. The centralized Samanid administration served as a model for later dynasties. The Samanid power was destroyed in 999 by the [[Qarakhanids]], who were advancing on [[Transoxiana]] from the northeast, and by the [[Ghaznavids]], former Samanid retainers, attacking from the southeast.

'''Ghaznavid Era'''

[[Mahmud of Ghazni|Sultan Maḥmud of Ghazni]] officially took control of Khorāsān in 998. Herat was one of the six Ghaznavid mints in the region. In 1040, Herat was captured by the [[Seljuk Empire]]. During this change of power in Herat, there was supposedly a power vacuum which was filled by [[Qutb Shah|Abdullah Awn]], who established a city-state and made an alliance with Mahmud of Ghazni.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Bahri|first=Hardev|title=Lahndi Phonetics, with Special Reference to Awáṇkárí|publisher=Bharati Press Prakashan|year=1963|pages=10 and 11}}</ref> Yet, in 1175, it was captured by the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] of [[Ghor]] and then came under the [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khawarazm Empire]] in 1214. According to the account of Mustawfi, Herat flourished especially under the [[Ghurid dynasty]] in the 12th century. Mustawfi reported that there were "359 colleges in Herat, 12,000 shops all fully occupied, 6,000 bath-houses; besides caravanserais and mills, also a [[darwish]] [[convent]] and a fire temple". There were about 444,000 houses occupied by a settled population. The men were described as "warlike and carry arms", and they were [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Muslim]]s.<ref name="Mustawfi">{{cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=16301012&ct=16 |title=The Geographical Part of the NUZHAT-AL-QULŪB |author=Ḥamd-Allāh Mustawfī of Qazwīn |work=Translated by Guy Le Strange |publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]] |year=1340 |access-date=2011-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726144951/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=16301012&ct=16 |archive-date=2013-07-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Friday Mosque of Herat|great mosque of Herāt]] was built by [[Ghiyasuddin Ghori]] in 1201. In this period Herāt became an important center for producing metal goods, especially in [[bronze]], often decorated with elaborate inlays in precious metals.

'''Mongols'''

The [[Mongol Empire]] laid siege to Herat twice. The first siege resulted in the surrender of the city, the slaughter of the local sultan's army of 12,000, and the appointment of two governors, one Mongol and one Muslim. The second, prompted by a rebellion against Mongol rule, lasted seven months and ended in June 1222 with, according to one account, the beheading of the entire population of 1,600,000 people by the victorious Mongols, such that "no head was left on a body, nor body with a head."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/Boyle1968IlKhansCHIran05/page/n12/mode/1up?view=theater ''Cambridge History of Iran'', Vol.V, Ch.4, "Dynastic and Political History of the Il-Khans" (John Andrew Boyle), pp.315-6 (1968).]</ref>

The city remained in ruins from 1222 to about 1236. In 1244, a local prince [[Shams-uddin Muhammad Kurt I|Shams al-Din Kart]] was named ruler of Herāt by the Mongol governor of Khorāsān and in 1255 he was confirmed in his rule by the founder of the [[Ilkhanate|Il-Khan dynasty]] [[Hulagu Khan|Hulagu]]. Shamsuddin Kart founded a new dynasty and his successors, especially Fakhruddin Kart and Ghiyasuddin Kart, built many mosques and other buildings. The members of this dynasty were great patrons of literature and the arts. By this time Herāt became known as the ''pearl of Khorasan''.{{blockquote|If anyone asks thee which is the pleasantest of cities, Thou mayest answer him aright that it is Herāt. For the world is like the sea, and the province of Khurāsān like a pearl-oyster therein, The city of Herāt being as the pearl in the middle of the oyster.<ref name="Mustawfi"/>|[[Rumi]]|1207–1273 A.D.}}

[[Timur]] took Herat in 1380 and he brought the [[Kartids|Kartid dynasty]] to an end a few years later. The city reached its greatest glory under the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid princes]], especially [[Husayn Bayqarah|Sultan Husayn Bayqara]] who ruled Herat from 1469 until 4 May 1506. His chief minister, the poet and author in Persian and Turkish, [[Ali-Shir Nava'i|Mir Ali-Shir Nava'i]] was a great builder and patron of the arts. Under the Timurids, Herat assumed the role of the main capital of an empire that extended in the West as far as central [[Iran|Persia]]. As the capital of the Timurid empire, it boasted many fine religious buildings and was famous for its sumptuous court life and musical performance and its tradition of miniature paintings. On the whole, the period was one of relative stability, prosperity, and development of economy and cultural activities. It began with the nomination of [[Shah Rukh (Timurid dynasty)|Shahrokh]], the youngest son of Timur, as governor of Herat in 1397. The reign of Shahrokh in Herat was marked by intense royal patronage, building activities, and the promotion of manufacturing and trade, especially through the restoration and enlargement of the Herat's bāzār. The present Musallah Complex, and many buildings such as the madrasa of [[Gawhar Shad]], Ali Shir mahāl, many gardens, and others, date from this time. The village of [[Gazar Gah]], over two km northeast of Herat, contained a shrine that was enlarged and embellished under the Timurids. The tomb of the poet and mystic [[Khwajah Abdullah Ansari|Khwājah Abdullāh Ansārī]] (d. 1088), was first rebuilt by Shahrokh about 1425, and other famous men were buried in the shrine area.

In the summer of 1458, the [[Qara Qoyunlu]] under [[Jahan Shah]] advanced as far as Herat, but had to turn back soon because of a revolt by his son [[Hasan Ali (Qara Qoyunlu)|Hasan Ali]] and also because [[Abu Sa'id Mirza|Abu Said]]'s march on Tabriz.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Central Asia|volume=4|author=Christoph Baum|page=297|year=2018}}</ref>

In 1507, Herat was occupied by the [[Shaybanid Dynasty|Uzbeks]] but after much fighting the city was taken by [[Ismail I|Shah Isma'il]], the founder of the [[Safavid dynasty]], in 1510 and the Shamlu [[Qizilbash]] assumed the governorship of the area. Under the Safavids, Herat was again relegated to the position of a provincial capital, albeit one of particular importance. At the death of Shah Isma'il the Uzbeks again took Herat and held it until [[Tahmasp I|Shah Tahmasp]] retook it in 1528. The Persian king, [[Abbas I of Persia|Shah Abbas the Great]] was born in Herat, and in Safavid texts, Herat is referred to as ''a'zam-i bilād-i īrān'', meaning "the greatest of the cities of Iran".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Savory|first1=Roger|title=The Safavid state and polity|journal=Iranian Studies|date=2 January 2007|volume=7|issue=1–2|page=206|doi=10.1080/00210867408701463|quote=Herat is referred to as a'zam-i bilād-i īrān (the greatest of the cities of Iran) and Isfahan as khulāsa-yi mulk-i īrān (the choicest part of the realm of Iran).}}</ref> In the 16th century, all future Safavid Persian rulers, from Tahmasp I to Abbas I, were governors of Herat in their youth.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Szuppe|first1=Maria|title=HERAT iii. HISTORY, MEDIEVAL PERIOD|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/herat-iii|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=13 March 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314062827/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/herat-iii|archive-date=14 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>