The First Herat War (Persian: جنگ اول هرات, romanized: Jang-e Avval-e Herāt, 1837–1838) was an attack on the Principality of Herat by Qajar Iran during the Great Game. Herat was held by Kamran Shah and his vizier Yar Mohammad Khan Alakozai. The Shah of Persia was Mohammed Shah Qajar. Four Europeans were involved: the British, Sir John McNeill and Eldred Pottinger as well as the Russians, Count Simonich and Jan Prosper Witkiewicz. Sher Mohammad Khan Hazara, an ally of Kamran and chieftain of the Qala-e Naw Hazaras, helped form a Sunni confederacy of Aimaq, Turkmen, and Uzbek tribes and played a crucial role in defending Herat when the city was besieged. The siege ended when neither side gained a clear advantage, the British threatened to take military action and the Russians withdrew their support.
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Siege of Herat (1837–1838) in the context of Aziz Khan Mokri
Aziz Khan Mokri (also spelled Aziz Khan Mukri; Persian: عزیزخان مکری; 1792 – 1871) was an Iranian military officer and grandee, who occupied high offices under the Qajar shah Naser al-Din Shah (r. 1834–1896). He served as the commander-in-chief of the army from 1853 to 1857.
A native of Sardasht, Aziz Khan belonged to the Kurdish Mokri tribe. He spent his early career in the sixth regiment (fawj-e sheshom) of Azerbaijan, which he led as sarhang during the siege of Herat in 1837–1839. Dismissed for some time following his unsuccessful endeavors in the Herat operation, Aziz Khan was later appointed the consultant of Fars. There he eventually rose up to the position of sarhang of the fourth regiment of Tabriz, which was stationed in Fars. On 8 August 1853, Aziz Khan was promoted to sardar-e koll-e asaker (commander-in-chief of the army).
Siege of Herat (1837–1838) in the context of Mohammad Shah Qajar
Mohammad Shah Qajar (Persian: محمدشاه قاجار; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar shah of Iran from 1834 to 1848, inheriting the throne from his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutelage of Haji Mirza Aqasi, a local dervish from Tabriz whose teachings influenced the young prince to become a Sufi-king later in his life. After his father Abbas Mirza died in 1833, Mohammad Mirza became the crown prince of Iran and was assigned with the governorship of Azarbaijan. After the death of Fath-Ali Shah in 1834, some of his sons including Hossein Ali Mirza and Ali Mirza Zel as-Soltan rose up as claimants to the throne. Mohammad Shah soon suppressed the rebellious princes and asserted his authority.
Mohammad Shah dismissed and executed his tactful premier, Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, and appointed his favourite, Haji Mirza Aqasi, as the grand vizier. The new shah's main goal was to reestablish the rule of the Iranian government in the rebellious city of Herat. In 1837 he marched to Herat and laid a futile siege on the city, which was eventually withdrawn when the British government threatened to invade Iran. On his return, Mohammad suppressed a revolt in Isfahan led by the major clergy figure Mohammad Bagher Shafti. Through British-Russian mediation, he concluded the Second Treaty of Erzurum with the Ottoman Empire, after initially wanting retaliation for the sack of Khorramshahr by the Ottoman governor of Baghdad.