A brief description of some of the more noted cities of Afghanistan
may be appropriate here.
Sir Henry Rawlinson gives the following details respecting the
so-called Key of India--the city of Herat:
"That which distinguishes Herat from all other Oriental cities, and
at the same time constitutes its main defence, is the stupendous
character of the earthwork upon which the city wall is built. This
earthwork averages 250 feet in width at the base and about 50 feet
in height, and as it is crowned by a wall 25 feet high and 14 feet
thick at the base, supported by about 150 semicircular towers, and
is further protected by a ditch 45 feet in width and 16 feet in
depth, it presents an appearance of imposing strength. Whether the
place is really as strong as it looks has been differently
estimated. General Ferrier, who resided for some time in Herat, in
1846, states that the city is nothing more than an immense redoubt,
and gives it as his opinion that, as the line of wall is entirely
without flanking defences, the place could not hold out for twenty
days against a European army; and M. Khanikoff, who, although not a
professional soldier, was a very acute observer, further remarks
that the whole interior of the city is dominated from the rising
ground 700 yards distant and covered with solid buildings at the
northeast angle, while the water supply both for the ditch and the
city would be at the mercy of an enemy holding the outside country;
the wells and reservoirs inside the wall, which could then alone be
available--being quite inadequate to the wants of the inhabitants:
but on the other hand, all experience testifies to the defensibility
of the position.
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