This is a history of Herat, a storied city of the medieval Islamic east. Herat has since fallen on hard times, a consequence of Iran’s loss of Herat in 1857 pursuant to a treaty imposed on its hapless Qajar shahs (r. 1796–1925) by British imperialists. Herat—the Pearl of Khurasan—an Iranian (Tajik) metropolis and epicenter of Islamic learning and ethos, has been trapped inside an alien body.

This Persian city was savaged by Chingiz Khan in 1222, but revitalized by his progeny and an autochthonous Tajik dynasty, the Kartids (1245–1381), which originated in the Ghūr mountains of eastern Persia. Chingiz Khan’s grandson and heir, Grand Qaʾan Möngke (r. 1251–58), fostered the Kartid dynasty through his appointment in 649/1251 of Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad Kart as the ruler of Herat, its dependencies, and territories. Kartid domains stretched from Jām, Bākharz, and Khwāf in the west, to the Oxus, Sīstān, Balūchistān, Indus (shaṭṭ-i Sind), and border with India (ḥadd-i Hind).

Why Herat? Why not Balkh? Why care about Mongol rejuvenation endeavors at Herat? Why study the history of a medieval Tajik dynasty?

Firstly, it was the Mongols and their Persian advisors that selected Herat for rejuvenation instead of Khurasan’s other major cities: Balkh, Marw, or Nishapur. The Kartids were funded and installed by the Mongols to advance imperial agendas. Herat and the Kartids were, in effect, pre-selected for historians.

Secondly, as Charles Tilly observed, “the wielders of coercion find themselves obliged to administer the lands, goods, and people they acquire; they become involved in extraction of resources, distribution of goods, services, and income, and adjudication of disputes.” The Mongol Empire’s administration of conquered lands and extraction of resources have been analyzed from the perspectives of the Empire, most notably, by the late Thomas Allsen, in Mongol Imperialism. An objective here is to analyze the roles of the city of Herat, its agricultural environs, and eastern Khurasan within the Mongol Empire. This is principally a local history of a significant Muslim-majority Persian metropolis.