nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47the Afghans back from the walls. The failed assault cost Ahmad Shah
dearly, for some 12,000 troops were killed and thousands more wounded.
As his army was seriously depleted, Ahmad Shah set out to return to
Herat only for the icy weather to take a terrible toll on his troops, who
lacked any winter clothing, and thousands perished from exposure. With
Muhammad Husain Khan Qajar in hot pursuit, Ahmad Shah abandoned
his artillery, baggage and most of his stores of food and fodder. When the
survivors attempted to cross the frozen Hari Rud, the ice broke and many
men and pack animals were drowned. Those who finally reached the safety
of Herat looked more like skeletons than soldiers. Ahmad Shah’s problems,
though, were not over. Darwish ‘Ali Khan, hearing of Shah Pasand Khan
and Ahmad Shah’s defeats, planned to assassinate the king once he returned
to Herat. Fortunately for Ahmad Shah the conspiracy was exposed before
it could be implemented. Darwish ‘Ali Khan was imprisoned and in his
place Ahmad Shah appointed his infant son and heir, Timur Mirza, as
governor of Herat.
A year later Ahmad Shah tried a second time to subdue Nishapur.
Since he lacked heavy siege guns, he ordered every mounted soldier to
carry several kilograms of gunmetal. Once the siege was underway, the
Armenian cannon makers melted down the metal and cast a monstrous
gun. 14 Its first shot not only breached the city walls but wreaked havoc
as it tore through houses and bazaars. Such was the terror this ‘weapon
of mass destruction’ created that the city elders came and tendered their
The Hari Rud river in spate as it flows under the arches of the ancient Pul-i Malan bridge
on the old road between Herat and Mashhad.