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The biographical dictionary is perhaps the best known and commonest type of local history at least for the pre-Mongol period of Iranian history. It is well known that for quite a few Iranian cities, just as for cities, towns, and regions in other parts of the Islamic world, dictionaries of this type were written from the third/ninth to the seventh/thirteenth century. Until the seventh/thirteenth century, the standard language for this literary genre was Arabic even in non-Arabic-speaking countries. Later, starting with the seventh/thirteenth century, some of the works were translated into Persian. But the translators did not limit themselves to a more or less truthful rendering of the original text, but took many liberties with it. Thus, because of the often important changes introduced by the translators, it seems more appropriate to speak of Persian versions or adaptations rather than translations.In the first part of this article the books belonging to this genre known to be extant are presented, with a brief look at their translations.

A condition of economic exhaustion and political anarchy prevailed in Iran by 1800. The great empires of the 1600' s had collapsed and in the wars that followed the prosperity of the area was destroyed. The city of Herat was a microcosm of the general conditions. After 1797 the Kajar dynasty tried to restore the Persian empire to its fonner limits but their efforts met with only limited success and Herat remained their goal in the east. Afghanistan was torn apart by tribal tensions in 1818 and Herat became more vulnerable. The Russian empire achieved a position of dominance in Western Asia after 1828. The British felt that this was a threat to their own empire in India and tried to erect a buffer to guard against Russian infiuence. They saw Persian efforts to take Herat in the 1830's as an extension of Russian influence and a threat to India. After 1835 Russia encouraged Persia to take Herat. The Russians perhaps hoped to provoke a break between Britain and Persia thus displacing British infiuence which had been growing. The Persian army laid siege to Herat in 1837 but its efforts to take the city were ineffective. The Russian ambassador to Persia sent agents into Afghanistan to arrange a coalition of states against Herat. The British saw this as a direct intrusion into their buffer area and when Kabul sided with Persia the British decided to send an anny into Afghanistan. The Persians failed to take Herat but the British still considered it necessary to occupy Afghanistan. Their occupying army was destroyed in 1842 but since the Persian and Russian threat had abated no further action was necessary. Each of the parties involved failed in their immediate objectives but as a result the relations in this area were defined until 1906. Persia and Afghanistan lost the freedom to act independently. Russia's dominant position in Persia was maintained but the British could not be excluded. Afghanistan was firmly made part of the Indian imperial system and the city of Herat became its outermost limit.

Background: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is one of the major concerns in the roll out of vaccines in many countries. The aim of the study was to assess the level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptability among the population in Herat, Afghanistan, the third largest city in the country. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between 15 April 2021 and 20 April 2021 among the general population of Herat City to examine the acceptability rate of COVID-19 vaccine. Sample size was calculated at 555. Different variables were collected using a questionnaire developed. Data were evaluated in IBM SPSS program. Results: Only 10.63% of the participants were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccine without having any concern and reservation. 45% were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 66.5% were concerned about the vaccine and its side effects and 29% were afraid of being infected by transmission of COVID-19 through the administration of vaccine on them. Conclusion: This research demonstrates that, concerns about the vaccine, myths and misinformation are widespread which will undermine the vaccination process. This study recommends the initiation of more health-related campaigns and awareness programs by the government for general population to enhance and expedite the roll out of COVID-19 vaccine.