1846, states that the city is nothing more than an immense redoubt,
and gives it as his opinion that, as the line of wall is entirely
without flanking defences, the place could not hold out for twenty
days against a European army; and M. Khanikoff, who, although not a
professional soldier, was a very acute observer, further remarks
that the whole interior of the city is dominated from the rising
ground 700 yards distant and covered with solid buildings at the
northeast angle, while the water supply both for the ditch and the
city would be at the mercy of an enemy holding the outside country;
the wells and reservoirs inside the wall, which could then alone be
available--being quite inadequate to the wants of the inhabitants:
but on the other hand, all experience testifies to the defensibility
of the position.

"Not to speak of the siege which Herat sustained at the hands of
Genghiz Khan, of Timur, and of Ahmed Shah, we have only to remember
that in 1837 the Afghans of Herat, under Major Eldred Pottinger,
beat off the continuous attacks, for nearly ten months, of a Persian
army of 35,000 regular troops supported by fifty pieces of
artillery, and in many cases directed and even commanded by Russian
officers. The truth seems to be that Herat, although in its present
state quite unfit to resist a European army, possesses great
capabilities of defence, and might by a skilful adaptation of the
resources of modern science be made almost impregnable. Major
Saunders, a British engineer officer, calculated in 1840 that, at an
outlay of L60,000, which would include the expenses of deepening the
ditch, clearing the glacis and esplanade, providing flanking
defences, and repairing the walls throughout, Herat might be
rendered secure against any possible renewal of the attack by
Persia."