Ghazni And Its Region - An Archaeological Overview

GHAZNI AND ITS REGION ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

This presentation has been prepared for the exhibition “ Ghazni, Capital of Islamic Civilization: 3000 Years of History ” running at the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul from 15 September 2010, in preparation of the 2013 Ghazni-event. ,[object Object]

In Ghazni itself, there is no proof of human presence before the Iron Age. If we however consider the region around it, things change radically. In Dasht-i Nawar , about 55 km NW of Ghazni, the first Lower Palaeolithic tools to be identified in Afghanistan were found, dated maybe 100,000 years ago. ,[object Object]

DASHT-I NAWAR (see red circle )

Dashte-Nawar is an important archaeological site, exhibiting intact stratigraphic sequences. Several mounds representing early dwellings have been discovered with accompanying artefacts, which suggest occupation from Palaeolithic to Buddhist times. ( Shank and Rodenburg, 1977 ) ,[object Object]

Arachosians , living in the region that included modern Ghazni, located at the eastern border of the Iranian plateau, are known to have been visiting Persepolis – the capital of the Achaemenids – at least from the time of Darius I. The reliefs on the eastern stairs of the great Audience Hall (Apadana) are their first known portraits . ,[object Object]

ARACHOSIANS (Persepolis, Audience Hall – 6 th century BCE)

ARIANS (Persepolis, Audience Hall – 6 th century BCE)

PARTHIANS (Persepolis, Audience Hall – 6 th century BCE)

Located on the main route connecting East and West , the region of Ghazni was used to mobility and dialogue between civilizations even before Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) brought Greek-Macedonian culture to that area. ,[object Object]

ALEXANDER AND DARIUS III AT THE BATTLE OF ISSUS , TURKEY - (Naples National Archaeological Museum, from Pompeii)

“ Under Greek rule Central Asia experienced such unprecedented urban growth that its fame as the land of a thousand cities spread to the West... Some of the new towns were built ... with Greek ramparts superimposed on those dating from earlier periods such as Alexandria in Arachosia (Ghazni)”. [ Paul Bernard , 1996 ] ,[object Object]

With the region of Ghazni coming into the influence of the Mauryan dynasty (321-185 BCE), Buddhism and Hinduism came into the area. They were to stay well after the Sakas and Kushans had come and gone, until the 7 th century and the dawn of Islam (61 H, 683 AD). ,[object Object]

ASHOKA’S BILINGUAL BUDDHIST INSCRIPTION (Greek and Aramaic) – KANDAHAR

GHAZNI – TEPE SARDAR (photo by A. Bruno, 1999)

Starting from 1957, Giuseppe Tucci’s IsMEO (named IsIAO after 1995) has been active on archaeological areas in Ghazni. The mission’s present head, Anna Filigenzi, strongly advocates both excavation and restoration projects, in cooperation with other partners, among which DAFA and the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul. ,[object Object]

Ghazni’s layout shows a certain continuity through the ages. Both the pre-Islamic and the Islamic urban focus was built on a hill, located E of the river, and not far away from it. The old one was south, the new one north of the route still leading from Kabul to Kandahar. ,[object Object]

From 61 H. (683 AD) the region of Ghazni was a key stronghold towards the Indian Subcontinent. Al-Biruni writes: “no Muslim conqueror passed beyond the frontier of Kabul… until the days of the Turks, when they seized the power in Ghazna under the Samani dynasty, and the supreme power fell to Sabuktagin”. ,[object Object]

“… in the year 367 H. (989 AD) – writes Khondamir – [Sabuktigin] took Bust ... Historians reckon the sovereignty of the Ghaznivides as beginning with the conquest of Bust, and they calculate that they flourished for 188 years”. Bost (now: Lashkari Bazar ) became the winter capital of the Ghaznevids. ,[object Object]

BOST – THE ARCH (11 th century)

Sacked by the Ghurids in 529 H. (1151 AD), Ghazni was hit again by Genghis Khan’s armies in 1221. Ibn Battuta , who visited it about 110 years later, writes: “...we left for Ghaznah, capital of the famous Mahmud, the fighting Sultan who was a son of Sabuktigin… The vast majority of [it] is destroyed and only a small part still exists; it used nevertheless to be a noticeable city”. ,[object Object]

Even in the 16 th century, Ghazni – still of high strategic value in the region – had not returned to the old splendour, as we can read in Babur’s Memories . Some of its most beautiful monuments however, still survive – though some are severely damaged. ,[object Object]

GHAZNI – MINARS (11 th century) ,[object Object],[object Object]

GHAZNI – BALA HISSAR (photo Roberttsf, 2005)

GHAZNI – SULTAN MASSUD PALACE (Afghan Film, detail )

GHAZNI – SULTAN ABDUL RAZAQ MAUSOLEUM (photo Josephine Powell, ca. 1960)

The Timurid Mausoleum of Sultan Abdul Razaq (15 th century) was restored by IsMEO in 1966 and has been adapted to host a small museum. Now still closed to visitors, it was “highly recommended – to use Nancy Hatch Dupree’s words – to all visitors to Ghazni”, for looking at animal ornamentation , under influence of Central Asian and Sassanid art styles. ,[object Object]

GHAZNI – THE ISLAMIC LEGACY (1/3, ph. A.Califano 2010)

Al ways a strategic stronghold, sometimes a kingmaker, located between the Persian plateau and the Indus river valley at an elevation of 2200 metres above sea level, Ghazni has witnessed civilizations and cultures coexist and intermingle over a time span of 30 centuries. It truly deserves its title of Capital of Islamic Civilization, granted for the year 2013 . ,[object Object]

Bernard, P. (1996). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, vol. II – The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250, UNESCO, Paris 1996 (2 nd edition) – The Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia Dani, A.H. and Masson, V.M. (ed.), History of civilizations of Central Asia – vol. I: The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700 B.C. . UNESCO, Paris 1996 (2 nd edition) Elliot H.M. and Dowson J., The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians – The Muhammadan Period , vol. IV Hatch Dupree, N., An Historical Guide to Afghanistan (revised and enlarged edition). Afghan Air Authority – Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul 1977 Memoirs of Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Babur, Emperor of Hindustan, Written by Himself… by John Leyden, William Erskine and Sir Lucas King, Oxford 1921, vol. I Sachau E. (ed.), Alberuni’s India , vol. I – Lahore, n.d. (reprint) Shank, C.C. and Rodenburg, W.F. (1977). Management plan for Ab-i-Estada and Dashte-Nawar flamingo and waterfowl sanctuaries . UNDP/FAO/Department of Forests and Range, Kabul. Taddei M. and Verardi G., Tapa Sardar: Second Preliminar Report - East and West 28, 1-4, 1978 ,[object Object]

Pictures used in this presentation have been mainly taken from public domain repositories and other open sources. Where known, also dates and names of photographers have been given. © Alessandro Califano, 2010 ,[object Object]

Ghazni And Its Region - An Archaeological Overview

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Ghazni And Its Region - An Archaeological Overview