principality · Central Asia and the Steppe

Principality of Herat

1818 CE – 1863 CE (approx.) · capital Herat

The last outpost of Sadozai rule, a frontier city-state whose sieges by Persia drew Britain and Russia into the Great Game.

Origins

When the Barakzai brothers took over most of the Durrani Empire around 1818, the Sadozai prince Mahmud Shah and his son Kamran Shah held on to Herat, ruling it as an independent principality.

Rule and society

Kamran Shah's vizier Yar Muhammad Khan Alakozai became the real power and in 1842 killed Kamran, ruling himself until 1851. Herat was a walled city on the route between Persia, Central Asia and India, and its strategic value made it central to the Great Game. Persia besieged it in 1837 to 1838, with a young British officer, Eldred Pottinger, helping the defence, and again in 1856, when Britain went to war with Persia to force its withdrawal.

Decline and legacy

By the Treaty of Paris in 1857 Persia renounced its claims. Dost Mohammad Khan took Herat in 1863 after a ten-month siege, dying there days later, and Herat joined the Emirate of Afghanistan.

Lineage

Durrani Empire 1747 CE – 1823 CEPrincipality of Herat

Connections (1)

More states of Central Asia and the Steppe →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Principality of Herat. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-herat
MLA
“Principality of Herat.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-herat. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Principality of Herat.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-herat.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Principality of Herat’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-herat (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻