Malan Bridge is one of the historical sites of Herat and it is among the beautiful and historical bridges of Afganestan. It has been built on the Harirud River in the Malan region.
This bridge is located in the old path of Herat-Ghandehar and in the old times, caravans that travelled from Heart to the destination of Sistan, Ghandehar and India, passed through this bridge.
Malaan Bridge has had an important role in the economic booming and incomes of Heart people and hence it has been remade so many times throughout the history.
In the year of 505 Hegira and in the ear of Sultan Sanjar Saljuki, the bridge was made in its current form with a little difference.
But due to the stories told about the Malaan Bridge and ofcourse due to its economical importance and geographical position of Heart, it is supposed that the construction date of the bridge is so much near to the construction date of Heart city. In some of these stories, the construction date of Malan Bridge is mentioned before the advent of Islam.
Some tales about the construction of Malan Historical Bridge are interesting. Based on one of these fables, before the advent of Islam, there were two zoarastian and pious sisters named Bibi Hour and Bibi Nour. They had aviculture and they got use of eggs for the construction of Malan Bridge. The fable says that in the costruction of Malan Bridge, two sisters got use of the egg added to the materials so the bridge will be resistant by the end of its construction.
Malan is a small village located near the Harirud. According to some historians, before Islam there was a fire temple in this village that people of Herat city worshiped in it. At the time there was no bridge over Harirud River, in order to get to the fire temple people crossed the water hardly. This story says a … of Malan fire temple named Borzu who had no child and he was sorry and sad of it, one day he got help of Ahura Mazda and said if I have a child, I will build a bridge over Harirud so people can cross the water easily and get to the fire temple, God granted him a child and he named him Fereidun and then he acted according to his promise and built the bridge.
Malan Bridge has 22 enterances in the curren time. But Alexander Hamilton, the English tourist who was visiting Herat at the end of 19th. century wrote about Malan Bridge and mentioned the number of the enterances nineteen. This tourist has also written that at that time water of Harirud river changed its path and it crossed from inside the … near the bridge and it had blocked the way. The report by Alexander Hamilton about Heart has been piblished in 1904 in England.
In the years of war in Afghanestan, the historical bridge of Malan had been destroyed but in the years of 1994 and 1995 it was rebuilt by Dakar institution.

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