Ghazni

Ghazni غزنی‬
City
The Old City of Ghazni
Ghazni Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 33°32′57″N 68°25′24″E / 33.54917°N 68.42333°E / 33.54917; 68.42333Coordinates: 33°32′57″N 68°25′24″E / 33.54917°N 68.42333°E / 33.54917; 68.42333
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Ghazni Province
District	Ghazni District
Elevation	2,219 m (7,280 ft)
Population (2018)[1]
• City	270,000
• Urban	270,000[2]
Time zone	UTC+4:30 (AST)

Ghazni (Pashto/Persian: غزنی‬‬) or Ghaznai (غزنی‬), also historically known as Ghaznin (غزنين‬) or Ghazna (غزنه‬), is a city in central Afghanistan with a population of around 270,000 people. The city is strategically located along Highway 1, which has served as the main road between Kabul and southern Afghanistan for thousands of years. Situated on a plateau at 2,219 metres (7,280 ft) above sea level, the city is 150 km south of Kabul and serves as the capital of Ghazni Province.

Ghazni (the name meaning jewel) is an ancient city with a rich history. Ghazni Citadel, the Minarets of Ghazni, the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III and several other cultural heritage sites have brought travellers and archeologists to the city for centuries, and in 2013, ISESCO declared Ghazni the year's Islamic Capital of Culture. During the pre-Islamic period, the area was inhabited by various tribes who practiced different religions including Buddhism and Hinduism.^[3] Arab Muslims introduced Islam to Ghazni in the 7th century and were followed in the 9th century by the Saffarids. Sabuktigin made Ghazni the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century. The city was destroyed by one of the Ghurid rulers, but later rebuilt. It fell to a number of regional powers, including the Timurids and the Delhi Sultanate, until it became part of the Hotaki dynasty, which was followed by the Durrani Empire or modern Afghanistan.

During the First Anglo-Afghan War in the 19th century, Ghazni was partially destroyed by British-Indian forces.

The city is currently being rebuilt by the Government of Afghanistan in remembrance of the Ghaznavid and Timurid era when it served as a major center of Islamic civilisation.^[4] The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have established bases and check-points to deal with the Taliban insurgency.

Ghazni is a trading and transit hub in central Afghanistan. Agriculture is the dominant land use at 28%.^[5] In terms of built-up land area, vacant plots (33%) slightly outweigh residential area (31%).^[5] Districts 3 and 4 also have large institutional areas. The city of Ghazni's population surged from 143,379 in 2015^[1] to 270,000 in 2018 as refugees from violent areas fled to the city.^[2] The city has four police districts (nahia) and covers a total land area of 3,330 hectares.^[5] The total number of dwellings in Ghazni city is 15,931.^[5]

In 2013, ISESCO declared Ghazni the year's Islamic Capital of Culture.^[6] In August 2018, the city became of the site of the Battle of Ghazni.

History

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A 19th-century artwork by James Atkinson showing Ghazni's citadel and two minars, which were built by Bahram Shah during the Ghaznavid era (963–1187)

The city was founded some time in antiquity as a small market town. It may be the Gazaca (Gázaca or Gāzaca) mentioned by Ptolemy,^[7] although he may have conflated it and the town of Ganzak (or Gazaka) in Iran.

In the 6th century BC, it was conquered by the Achaemenid king Cyrus II and incorporated into the Persian empire. The city was subsequently incorporated into the empire of Alexander the Great in 329 BC, and called Alexandria in Opiana.

By the 7th century AD, the area was a major centre of Buddhism. In 644, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited a city named Jaguda—which was almost certainly the contemporary name of the later Ghazni – while returning from Varnu (modern Bannu, Pakistan)—and as he crossed the land of a people he called O-po-kien (Afghans/Pashtuns).^[8][9]

In 683, Arab armies brought Islam to the region. Yaqub Saffari from Zaranj conquered the city in the late 9th century. For nearly two hundred years (977–1163) the city was the dazzling capital of the Ghaznavid Empire, which encompassed much of what is today Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Eastern Iran and Rajasthan. The Ghaznavids took Islam to India and returned with fabulous riches taken from Indian princes and temples. Although the city was sacked in 1151 by the Ghorid Ala'uddin, it became their secondary capital in 1173, and subsequently flourished once again. Between 1215 and 1221, Ghazni was ruled by the Khwarezmid Empire, during which time it was destroyed by the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan's son Ögedei Khan.^[10]

Timurid conqueror Babur at Ghazni

In the first decades of the 11th century, Ghazni was the most important centre of Persian literature. This was the result of the cultural policy of the Sultan Mahmud (reigned 998–1030), who assembled a circle of scholars, philosophers, and poets around his throne in support of his claim to royal status in Iran.^[11]

The noted Moroccan travelling scholar, Ibn Battuta, visiting Ghazni in 1333, wrote:

View of Ghazni Citadel, 1939

Artwork by James Rattray showing the Citadel of Ghazni and other historical sites, during the First Anglo-Afghan War

Ghazni City is famous for its Ghazni Minarets built on a stellar plan. They date from the middle of the twelfth century and are the surviving elements of the mosque of Bahramshah. Their sides are decorated with intricate geometric patterns. Some of the upper sections of the minarets have been damaged or destroyed. The most important mausoleum located in Ghazni City is that of Sultan Mahmud. Others include the Tombs of poets and scientists, such as the Tomb of Al Biruni. The only ruins in Old Ghazni retaining a semblance of architectural form are two towers, about 43 m (140 ft) high and 365 m (1,200 ft) apart. According to inscriptions, the towers were constructed by Mahmud of Ghazni and his son. For more than eight centuries the “Towers of Victory” monuments to Afghanistan’s greatest empire have survived wars and invasions, the two toffee-colored minarets, adorned with terra-cotta tiles were raised in the early 12th century as monuments to the victories of the Afghan armies that built the empire. By the time the Ghurids had finalized the Ghaznavid removal from Ghazni, the city was a cultural center of the eastern Islamic world.^[13]

The Buddhist site at Ghazni is known as Tapar Sardar and consists of a stupa on a hilltop, surrounded by a row of smaller stupas.^[14] Nearby, an 18-metre (59 ft) long Parinirvana (reclining) Buddha was excavated between the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is believed to have been built in the 8th Century AD as part of a monastery complex.^[15] In the 1980s, a mud brick shelter was created to protect the sculpture, but the wood supports were stolen for firewood and the shelter partially collapsed. In 2001, the Taliban blew the Buddha up, believing it to be idolatrous.^[16]

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan Anthony Wayne and Ghazni's Governor Musa Khan Ahmadzai are talking to students who use Afghanistan's newest Lincoln Learning Center

During the First Anglo-Afghan War, the city was stormed and taken over by the British forces on July 23, 1839 in the Battle of Ghazni. The Civil war in Afghanistan and the continued conflict between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance during the 1990s put the relics of Ghazni in jeopardy. Ghazni's strategic position, both economically and militarily, assured its revival, albeit without its dazzling former grandeur. Through the centuries the city has figured prominently as the all-important key to the possession of Kabul.

After the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the United States armed forces built a base in Ghazni. They have been involved in rebuilding projects and protecting the local population against Taliban insurgents. In the meantime, they are also training the Afghan Local Police (ALP) Afghan National Police (ANP) and Afghan National Army (ANA). In 2010, the United States established the Lincoln Learning Center in Ghazni.^[17] The Lincoln learning centers in Afghanistan serve as programming platforms offering English language classes, library facilities, programming venues, Internet connectivity, educational and other counseling services. A goal of the program is to reach at least 4,000 Afghan citizens per month per location.^[18]

On 10 August 2018, the city was attacked by the Taliban during the Battle of Ghazni. Dozens of airstrikes were carried out in support of Afghan police and government forces and hundreds of Afghan soldiers, police, and Taliban insurgents were killed as well as dozens of civilians. In addition to the destruction and human suffering caused by the fighting, the Taliban also set fire to many buildings in the city.

Climate

Ghazni's climate is transitional between cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk) and warm-summer humid continental climate (Dsa). It has cold, snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Precipitation is low and mostly falls in winter (when it mostly falls as snow) and spring.

Demography

A young boy and his friends play outside the Danish Centre educational facility in Ghazni City as members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Ghazni unload computers to be donated to the facility.

The city of Ghazni's population surged from 143,379 in 2015^[1] to 270,000 in 2018 as refugees from violent areas fled to the city.^[2] In 2015, there were 15,931 dwellings in Ghazni city.^[5]

The population is multi-ethnic, with approximately 50% being Tajik, 25% Hazara, and 25% Pashtun. There may also be small number of Sikhs and Hindus.^[20][21]

Infrastructure

Jahan Maleeka School is an all-girls school which has over 5,000 students and 150 teachers.

Newly constructed gates in Ghazni

Notable people

• Hajweri Ghaznawi
• Hassan Ghaznavi
• Mahmud of Ghazni
• Faiz Mohammad Katib Hazara
• Aziz Royesh
• Farhad Darya
• Farrukhi Sistani, Manuchehri Damaghani, Abul-fazl Bayhaqi (royal poets and writers who lived during the Ghaznavids period)
• Hakim Sanai, poet, theologian and Sufi mystic
• Muhammad Shah

Points of interest

• Citadel of Ghazni
• Minarets of Ghazni
• Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III
• Tomb of Sebuktigin
• Mausoleum of Sultan Mahmud.
• Mausoleum of Sanai
• Museum of Islamic Art
• Tapa Sardar Excavations

Twin towns – sister cities

• Hayward, California^[27]
• Giżycko, Poland^[28]

See also

• Ghazni Province
• Mahmud of Ghazni
• Iconoclasm
• Ghaznavids
• List of cities founded by Alexander the Great

References and footnotes

Further reading

Published in the 19th century

• G. T. Vigne (1843). "Ghuzni". A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghuzni, Kabul and Afghanistan (2nd ed.). London: G. Routledge. OCLC 6388460.
• Edward Balfour (1885). "Ghazni". Cyclopaedia of India (3rd ed.). London: B. Quaritch.

Published in the 20th century

•  "Ghazni". Encyclopædia Britannica. 11 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 917–918.

Published in the 21st century

• C. Edmund Bosworth, ed. (2007). "Ghazna". Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill.
• "Ghazna". Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture. Oxford University Press. 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghazni.

• Map of Ghazni district
• Ghazni.info
• Ghazni.org
• 1911 encyclopedia entry
• The City Of Ghazni at the Wayback Machine (archived March 13, 2008)
• "Ghazni". Islamic Cultural Heritage Database. Istanbul: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15.
• ArchNet.org. "Ghazni". Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05.