Fortified Landscape of Herat and its Environs

Fakhr al-Dīn Kart constructed or re-constructed the fortifications of Herat, including walls, bastions, gates, and citadel. Chapter 10 is on (a) Herat’s fortifications; and (b) defensive postures. The Kartid’s kingdom’s network of strongholds is given in Table 10.1, “The fortified landscape of the Kartid realm.” Fortifications and network of strongholds to protect highways and byways were indispensable to economic and social development in Herat and its environs. Absent physical security, brigandage on roads, attacks on cities and towns by roving bands of bandits, will have disrupted economic activites and driven away the populace. Islamic activities thrived. Benefactors sponsored Sufi hospices (khānaqāh) and seminaries (madrasa). Promotion of Sufism and Islamic scholarship; the establishment or re-introduction of ranks and offices like Shaykh al-Islam, qāḍī al-quḍāt, Ṣadr/Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa, and muḥtasib, contributed to Herat’s rejuvenation.