1834.] A Brief Description of Herat. 9 



II. — A Brief Description of Herat. By Munshi Mohun Lai. 



To the Editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society. 

 Sir, 



The arrival here lately of a package from India, bringing Journals of the Asiatic 

 Society, of which you are the source, containing many curious novelties, has excited 

 my desire to contribute some little information to so great a public object. 



I was two years in the Dehli College, under the tuition of Mr. Taylor, and en- 

 couraged to gain the eternal advantage of learning by C. E. Trevelyan, Esq. who 

 is my kind patron. 



At my friend Mr. B. Fitzgerald's house, I met Lieut. A. Burnes, whom I 

 accompanied at his wish, and of my own free will, to Bokhara and Persia, in the 

 capacity of a Persian Munshi. I am now in company with Dr. Gerard. We have 

 only native articles of writing, and are also not in a place of solitude, or even of quiet 

 repose, an account of the preparations for encountering Shah Shuja. I therefore 

 hope you will be kind enough to forgive the feebleness of my observations, and the 

 badness of my pen and paper, but I trust my endeavours in the accompanying 

 will not be the less acceptable in describing a brief account of Herat. 



I remain, &c. 



Kandahar, Mtth October, 1833. Mohun Lal. 



The City of Herat. 

 Tradition and the following Persian verse say, that the foundation 

 of the city of Herat, or Hari, was by an ancient king called Lahrasp, who 

 was succeded by Gushtasp. Alexander, the successor of Behman, 

 built and finished the structure of Herat very beautifully, and after him 

 it was never repaired. 



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 a) &> j)j **Jt ^j£l ^^^uxJ &J> j&d ^ J*c Jij) ^o, ^yj 



[Lahrasp laid the foundations of Hare ; Gushtasp erected many buildings thereon ; 

 Bahman after him added greatly to the town, and Alexander put the finishing 

 stroke to it. — ] 



The city is environed by a strong wall, and also by a small, weak, and 

 thirsty ditch. The circumference is nearly four miles. The houses in the 

 city are generally made of two stories high, and have very small doors 

 to enter at. 



Great part of the population of the city, and even of the western 

 district, is ParsiBaban, the follower of Panj-tan, or five persons, name- 

 ly, Muhammed, Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, andHosAiN. — They are all fond 

 of the Persian government — not with regard to religion, but through the 

 ill treatment, which they daily receive from Kamran and his ministers. 



He is a decrepit and gloomy prince. He excites the pity of mankind. 

 He has neither state nor good palace, which is like a prison. He i$ 



