and the British embassy was closed. Mohammad took personal command of Iran's 80,000 troops whereas Kamran Shah had gathered a few thousand poorly equipped soldiers. The ruler of Herat had little hope of resisting Mohammad Shah because the city's population, who had been terrorized by their overlord and dispirited by economic decline, were unlikely to put up any fight; also, the crumbling fortification of the city's walls were in poor repair and would not withstand an assault. Kamran Shah's only source of hope was the support of Sher Mohammad Khan Hazara, the Amir of Qala e Naw, who vowed a fight to death for Kamran Shah, and brought about 4,000 foot soldiers and numerous horsemen to Herat's army. Sher Mohammad Khan Hazara also organized an alliance between Aimaq, Uzbek and Turkman tribes under the banner of Sunni Islam. Thus, with the leadership of Sher Mohammad and Kamran Shah's son Nader Mirza, ten-to-twelve-thousand horsemen assembled around Qala e Naw and threatened to attack Iran's borders. On 28 October, Mohammad Shah camped at Torbat-e Jam, where to counteract, he ordered 12,000 of his best soldiers under the command of Mohammad Khan Asef al-Dowleh, the governor of Khorasan, to march to Qala e Naw. By the middle of November, he had seized the city and its surrounds, dividing Sher Mohammad's army in two; one part was camped in Kushk under the command of Mohammad Zaman Jamshidi and the other was already retreating to Herat. The Jamshidi army faced Asef al-Dowleh's men and were scattered in a desperate fight; two-or-three-hundred men were killed and as many taken prisoner. Despite their victory, the Iranian army faced a difficult time, suffering the winter cold that reached the mountains much earlier than it reached Herat and a shortage of supplies that could only be purchased at high prices. Eventually, Asaf al-Dowleh and his men marched through the mountains to Bala Murghab and from there to Maymana, where he defeated another host of the Afghan army under the command of Sher Mohammad Khan. After this victory, Asaf al-Dowleh sent an ambassador to his opponent's camp, and promised them freedom and wealth if they surrendered to Mohammad Shah. His offer was received positively and Sher Mohammad agreed to send two of his sons to Herat to proffer their submission to Mohammad Shah. On 23 November, Mohammad Shah with a part of his army reached the outskirts of Herat, where