Herat City and its Structural Changes During the Mongol and Timurid Periods

Herat is one of the major cities in the eastern part of Greater Iran and northwestern Afghanistan. Like other cities of Khorasan, Herat was destroyed after the Mongol attack. The destruction and stagnation caused by the invasion of the Mongols had a short period and a process of reconstruction has begun after fifteen years. Studying the development process of Herat on that period, helps to clarify the urban transformations that occurred during the 13th to 16th centuries. It should also be said that the results of this research will be effective for understanding urban development models in the Timurid period and after. The main purpose of this article is to study the development process of Herat city during the Kartid and Timurid periods. The fundamental question of this research is what effect has the origin of the above governments had on the development trends in Herat city?

The method used in this research is analytical-historical. The method of collecting information has been done in two stages: first stage; Studying historical sources, archaeological reports and research projects that have been published in relation to the general contents of the subject. The second stage: documenting the developments of Herat city during the period of Kurt dynasty and Timurid which was done based on the impressions of library and field studies. At the end, the analysis and arrangement of the research findings in order to achieve the trend of the development of Herat city, which has been presented in the desired time frame.

The main city of Herat, which we know today as Old Herat, was located in the middle of the Enjil Block, between the north of the Hari River and the south of the Enjil canal, and just south of the Kohan-Diz of Herat. This area had a quadrangular defensive wall that dates back to the Timurid or possibly the Mongol era. With the destruction of the city of Herat due to the Mongol invasion (1221 A.D), the city of Herat has been uninhabited for fifteen years. Finally, with the decree of Ogedei Khan, the process of rebuilding the city started in 1236 A.D and these reconstructions have been focused mainly on the restoration of irrigation canals in the outskirts of the city (Heravi, 2006: 158). With the beginning of the rule of Malik Shams al-din Kurt, the founder of the Kurt dynasty, the square defensive wall of the city was restored and the people of Herat started building inside the city. At the same time, there was construction outside the defensive wall (Ibid: 217). During the reign of Malik Fakhr al-din, the wall of Herat was rebuilt and strengthened, and he also built several buildings inside the city (Ibid: 463). The construction of gardens in the northern suburbs of Herat became popular during the reign of Malik Ghiyas al-din, as several royal gardens were built in the northern suburbs of Herat at this time (Allen, 1983: 94). At the end of the Kurt dynasty and during the rule of Malik Mu'ez al-din Hussein, the outer defensive wall of Herat was built. This wall covers the entire old city and the surrounding countryside. Withthe capture of the city in the 14th century by Timur, much damage was caused to the city of Herat, including the destruction of the outer defensive wall (Zamchi Esfazari, 1960: 81).During the reign of Shahrokh, Herat was chosen as the capital of the Timurid state. At this time, by order of Shahrokh, Herat's defensive wall was restored and two intersecting bazaars were built in the center of the city, as well as Shahrokh's Madrasa complex and Khaniqah in the north of the city (Hafiz-i Abru, 1970: 10). The most important construction activity in the period of Shahrokh was focused on the construction in the northern outskirts of the city. As was constructed and restored several buildings, between the northern wall and Joy-i Enjil, along the path of Khiaban-i Herat, like Gouharshad and the Firouzshah complexes, and several gardens. In addition to that, several buildings and gardens were built in the lands between the Juy-i Enjil and Juy-i No, which have been indicative of the development of the city's suburbs towards the northern mountains of Herat (Allen, 1983: 46-49). During the reign of Sultan Hossein Bayqara, the last powerful ruler of the Timurid dynasty, most of the construction was concentrated in the northern suburbs of Herat. During this time, a large number of religious and non-religious complexes and buildings were built and restored along Khiaban-i Herat, between Malik Gate and Joy-i No (Khowandmir, 1993: 194-198). Apart from these buildings, as in the previous periods, a series of gardens were built and restored between the lands of Juy-i No and Juy-i Enjil. Among these gardens, the Jahanara garden is considered the most important royal garden of Hossein Bayqara. The digging of the Juy-i Sultani, which was carried out at the end of Abu Saeed's period at the bottom of Gazurgah mountain and parallel to Juy-i Nu and Juy-i Enjil, caused the extent of the northern suburbs of Herat to extend to the foot of Gazurgah, Zanjirgah, and Mukhtar mountains until the end of Hossein Bayqara's period. The construction of this canal paved the way for the construction of numerous gardens and tombs in this part of the northern suburbs of Herat (Golombek & Wilber, 1995: 58-59).

The city of Herat can be considered the highest level of urban development during the rule of the nomadic population that entered Iranian lands after the Mongol invasion. The urban developments that have occurred in this city can be considered a combination of the Timurids' urban planning in their two former capitals, Samarkand and Kash. Like the inner city of Kash, Shahrokh also built two intersecting bazaars with a Chaharsu in the center of the city in Herat. The construction of the square-shaped defensive wall of the city cannot be attributed to the Timurid period, but the lack of change in its dimensions indicates the closeness of its shape to the Timurid urban development. Like the Samarkand, the importance of construction on the outskirts of the city has increased gradually in Herat as well. After the period of Shahrokh, almost no other new buildings were built inside the walls of Herat city. The Timurids of Herat, like Timur and the rulers of Kurt, used the northern outskirts of the city as a suitable place to build settlements and future developments. In this direction, the construction of various gardens and buildings continued in the northern suburbs of Herat until the end of the Timurid government of Iran, until there was no place left for new constructions in this area of the city. In this way, the city of Herat, which was limited to the old Herat area with a square defensive wall at the beginning of the Timurid period, expanded based on the development of water resources (construction of water channels) as much as possible towards the northern suburbs. At the end of the Timurid period, unlike the Kurt period, no outer defensive wall was built to determine the extent of the city, and only the natural barrier defined by the mountains in the north of Herat determined the final extent of this development. These constructions are all indicative of the nomadic tendencies of the Timurids and their related nobles who, like the Mongols, despised life inside the city walls and wanted it to be as close as possible to live in nature.