Bamiyan

Buddhist period and Bamiyan Buddhas

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Bamiyan was part of the Kushan dynasty (1st–3rd century ce), which helped spread Buddhism in the region. Situated on the ancient Silk Road, which connected India with Central Asia and China, Bamiyan became an early center of commerce and of Buddhism. It was first mentioned in Chinese sources about the 5th-century ce and was visited by the Chinese Buddhist monks and travelers Faxian (c. 400 ce) and Xuanzang (630 ce).

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Two enormous figures of the Buddha were created roughly about the 6th century ce; the larger was about 180 feet (55 meters) high, and the smaller was about 125 feet (38 meters). The statues were carved from the living rock and were once finished with fine plaster and painted. When Xuanzang saw the figures, they were also decorated with gold and fine jewels. The two Buddha figures, together with numerous ancient man-made caves in the cliffs north of the town, made Bamiyan a major Afghan archaeological site.

The caves at Bamiyan are of various forms, and the interiors of many bear traces of fine murals that link them with contemporary caves in Xinjiang, China; some of these paintings were destroyed during the civil war in Afghanistan (1992–96). Analysis of the murals revealed the use of oil-based paints, making the 7th-century murals some of the earliest examples of oil painting in the world. The modern town lies below the caves, many of which are inhabited by people who lost their homes when the Taliban captured Bamiyan in the 1990s.

Islamic and modern period

Bamiyan was ruled in the 6th–7th century by princes, probably Hephthalite, but was subject to the Western Turks. Following raids by Islamic armies in Afghanistan beginning in the 7th century, the region, including Bamiyan, gradually came under the influence of Muslim dynasties and Islam during the 9th and 10th centuries. The Ṣaffārid ruler Yaʿqūb ibn Layth captured Bamiyan in 871; after it had changed hands several times. It came under the control of the Ghaznavid and Ghūrid dynasties between the 10th and 13th centuries, before it was destroyed and its inhabitants exterminated in 1221 by the Mongol invader Genghis Khan. Following the destruction, Bamiyan remained a small settlement under successive Central Asian empires, including the Timurids and Mughals, and came under the control of the Durrānī empire in the 18th century. In 1840 Bamiyan was the scene of fighting in the First Anglo-Afghan War between Afghan and British forces.

In the years that followed, Bamiyan remained a small town known for its Buddhist architecture. During the early and mid-20th century, the town became an integral part of several international archaeological efforts to study the region’s cultural heritage. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the war that followed disrupted these efforts. A few years after the conflict ended in 1989, the Taliban took control of the town during the ensuing civil war.

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In 1997 the country’s then-ruling Taliban regime ordered the destruction of the two Buddha statues, denouncing them as idolatrous and contrary to Islamic teachings. Despite worldwide pleas to save them, including from the United Nations and several Muslim-majority countries, the regime demolished the statues using explosives and artillery over several weeks in March 2001. The act was condemned by world leaders and international organizations alike. Later that year the Taliban was removed from power by a United States-led military coalition.

In 2003 UNESCO designated the “cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley” a World Heritage site and simultaneously placed it on the list of World Heritage in Danger. Following years of restoration work under Pres. Hamid Karzai’s government and with international partners, a UNESCO-led meeting in 2011 reported that Bamiyan could potentially be removed from the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, international agencies and countries have once again voiced concern for Bamiyan’s heritage. While UNESCO and other organizations have urged continued monitoring, the Taliban has vowed to protect historic sites.