Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/693

 HERAT yards long and roofed with arched brickwork. The staple articles of commerce are saffron and asafoetida, and the manufactures include carpets, cloaks, caps, shoes, saddlery, harness, sables, and dressed sheep skins. Herat is a place of great military and commercial impor- tance, being the N. W. "gate of India," and the point where the shawls, chintzes, mus- lins, indigo, &c., of India and Afghanistan are exchanged for the products of China, Russia, Turkey, and Persia. At the close of the 18th century Herat belonged to the dominions of Zemaun Shah, the sovereign of Afghanistan. But there were two rival families in the state that of the king, of the Suddosi tribe, and that of Futteh Khan and his 20 brothers, of whom Dost Mohammed was one of the young- est. The family of Futteh Khan eventually triumphed over their rivals, and divided Af- ghanistan among themselves, except Herat, which remained in the hands of the brother The Citadel, Herat. of Zemaun Shah. In 1837, under the vizier- ship of Yar Mohammed, the Persians appeared before Herat and subjected it to one of the most memorable sieges in modern times, last- ing from Nov. 22, 1837, to Sept. 9, 1838, which the town was able to resist in consequence of the exertions of Lieut. Pottinger of the Bombay artillery. In May, 1843, when Kam- ran, the chieftain of Herat, died, Yar Moham- med made himself master of the town, to the exclusion of Kamran's son. At his death in 1851 he transmitted his power to his son Mo- hammed Said, whose conduct became so un- satisfactory that, with the consent of the peo- ple and the military assistance of the shah of Persia, he was supplanted by Yusuf, a prince of the Suddosi family, who in 1855 captured Herat and proclaimed himself chief as the vassal of Persia. He acted under Russian and was opposed to English influence. The pro- posed expulsion of an agent of the English HERAULT DE SECHELLES 675 government and the dictatorial attitude of the Persian shah fomented discord, in consequence of which Yusuf was driven from power by Esa Khan, who usurped it. The Persians then besieged the town, and captured it, Oct. 26, 1856. This led to war between Persia and England, since the latter government looked upon the capture of Herat as a breach of the treaty of 1853. The Persians were de- feated on several occasions, and compelled to sign a treaty at Teheran, April 14, 1857, by which the shah renounced all claims on Herat ; but he installed Ahmed Khan as its ruler, who was recognized by the British government. Soon afterward this ruler captured Furrah, which the amir of Cabool quickly recaptured, and then laid siege to Herat. After holding out 10 months, the city was taken by storm, May 26, 1863. It has since been reannexed to the Afghan dominions. The struggle of Russia and Great Britain for the ascendancy in central Asia has given to Herat an even great- er political importance than it had before. HERAULT, a S. de- partment of France, in Languedoc, bordering on the Mediterranean, and on the departments of Gard, Aveyron, Tarn, and Aude; area, 2,393 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 429,878. The surface is mountainous in the north, but in the south are plains, which slope to the sea. Between the mountains and the plains there runs from E. to W., through the entire length of the de- partment, a band of stony earth which al- lows of no cultivation but that of the olive and the vine. The princi- pal river is the H6rault, which flows nearly S. through the department to the Mediterranean at Agde. There are several canals. The cli- mate is dry and very warm, and, except near the marshes on the S. coast, healthy. Olives and grapes are the chief agricultural products. Excellent white and red wines are made. Brandies, cloths, woollens, silks, liqueurs, per- fumes, paper, pottery, and candles are manu- factured ; there are mines of iron, copper, and coal, and marble quarries. It is divided into the arrondissements of Be"ziers, Lodeve, Mont- pellier, and St. Pons. Capital, Montpellier. HERAULT DE SECHELLES, Marie Jean, a French revolutionist, born in Paris in 1760, guillotined there, April 5, 1794. He was a lawyer, and was advocate general at the Chatelet. When the revolution broke out he embraced its principles with ardor, and distinguished himself by per- sonal bravery at the siege of the Bastile. In