Herat

Herāt ( ) is the caipital o Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third lairgest ceety o Afghanistan, wi a population o aboot 397,456. It is situatit in the valley o the Hari River, whilk flows frae the muntains o central Afghanistan tae the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. The ceety is linked wi Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif an Kabul via a circular heichwey that stretches athort the kintra.

Situatit in a fertile aurie, Herāt is aboot 2,700 year auld an wis tradeetionally kent for its wine. The ceety haes mony historic biggins, awtho thir hae suffered damage in various military conflicts durin the last few decades. Durin the Middle Ages Herāt became ane o the important ceeties o Khorasan, as it wis kent as the Pearl o Khorasan.For example, Rumi uses the following words to describe Herat:گر کسی پرسد ز تو کز شهر ها خوشتر کدامگر جواب راست خواهی گفتن او را گو: هریاين جهان را همچو دريا دان، خراسان را صدفدر ميان اين صدف، شهر هری چون گوهریInglis translate:If someone asks you which city is the most beautiful;Say it is "Harī," if you want to give him the correct answer;Think of this world as a river, and Khorasan a shell;Inside the shell, Hari is the pearl.

Herāt lies on the auncient trade routes o the Middle East, Central an Sooth Asie. The roads frae Herāt tae Iran, Turkmenistan, an ither pairts o the kintra are still strategically important. The ceety is the gateway tae Iran, collectin the heichest amoont o customs revenue for Afghanistan. Persian-speakin Tajiks are the main indwallers o the ceety, an are roughly the same as the Persians o Eastren Iran.H. F. Schurmann, The Mongols of Afghanistan: an Ethnography of the Moghols and Related Peoples of Afghanistan. The Hague: Mouton, 1962: Jstor.org; p. 75: "... the Tajiks of Western Afghanistan [are] roughly the same as the Khûrâsânî Persians on the other side of the line ..."Afghanistan's Provinces– Herat at NPS.edu

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Category:Populatit places alang the Silk Road
Category:Populatit places in Herat Province
Category:Ceeties in Central Asie