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Zuhak, Bamyan
Shahr-e Zuhak or City of Zuhak (), also known as The Red City, is a historic city ruins in Bamyan, Afghanistan which was once home to 3,000 people. The fortress is believed to have been founded between 500 and 600 AD by the Hephthalites, around the same time as the Buddhas of Bamyan were carved into rock in the Bamiyan valley. The city lies at the easternmost point of the Bamyan valley, above the confluence of the Kunduz and Kalu Ganga rivers. The valley used to be a part of a route connecting Europe to India and China. Zuhak was fortified during the Islamic period (10th - 13th century), under the rule of the Ghaznavid and Ghorid dynasties. The fortress was later ransacked by Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ... and his army during the Siege of Bamy ...
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Bamyan, Afghanistan
Bamyan (), also spelled Bamian or Bamiyan, is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 100,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an altitude of about above sea level. The Bamyan Airport is located in the middle of the city. The driving distance between Bamyan and Kabul in the southeast is approximately . The Band-e-Amir National Park is to the west, about a half-hour drive from the city of Bamyan. Bamyan is referred to by some as the "Shining Light" and "Valley of Gods". There are several tourist attractions near the city, including the Buddhas of Bamyan, which were carved into cliffs on the north side of Bamyan city in the 6th and 7th centuries CE, dating them to the Hephthalites, Hephthalite rule. Other attractions close to the city include Shahr-e Gholghola and Zuhak, Bamyan, Zuhak. In 2008, in a maze of caves in the Bamiyan Valley were found the world's oldest oil paintings. At the end of the 10th centu ...
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Royal Road
The Royal Road was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt for trade by Darius the Great, the Achaemenid emperor, in the 5th century BC. Darius I built the road to facilitate rapid communication on the western part of his large empire from Susa to Sardis. Mounted couriers of the Angarium were supposed to travel from Susa to Sardis in nine days; the journey took ninety days on foot. Course The course of the road has been reconstructed from the writings of Herodotus, archeological research, and other historical records. History Because the road did not follow the shortest nor the easiest route between the most important cities of the empire, archeologists believe the westernmost sections of the road may have originally been built by the Assyrian kings, as the road plunges through the heart of their old empire. More eastern segments of the road, identifiable in present-day northern Iran, were not noted by Herodotus, whose view of Persia was that of an Ionian Greek in the ...
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Mongol Invasion Of The Khwarazmian Empire
Between 1219 and 1221, the Mongol Empire, Mongol forces under Genghis Khan invaded the lands of the Khwarazmian Empire in Central Asia. The campaign, which followed Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai, the annexation of the Qara Khitai Khanate, saw Destruction under the Mongol Empire, widespread devastation and atrocities. The invasion marked the completion of the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, and began the Mongol conquest of Persia. Both belligerents, although large, had been formed recently: the Khwarazmian dynasty had expanded from Khwarazm, their homeland to replace the Seljuk Empire in the late 1100s and early 1200s; nearly simultaneously, Genghis Khan Rise of Genghis Khan, had unified the Mongolic peoples and conquered the Mongol conquest of Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. Although relations were initially cordial, Genghis was angered by a series of diplomatic provocations. When a senior Mongol diplomat was executed by Khwarazmshah Muhammad II of Khwarazm, Muhammed I ...
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Siege Of Bamyan
The siege of Bamyan () took place in the spring of 1221 A.D. during the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire. An army under the leadership of Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, who was in pursuit of Sultan Jalal al-Din Mangburni, the last ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, Genghis Khan crossed the Hindu Kush and after that besieged the citadel of Shahr-e-Gholghola near Bamyan, northwest of Kabul, in present-day Afghanistan. The siege had led to a devastating attack that left the city in ruins. Events The siege occurred in 1221 while the Mongols were pursuing Jalal al-Din Mangburni, the last ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, where Jalal al-Din Mangburni had formed a new Muslim army in Afghanistan. The city of Bamyan refused to give itself up to the Mongol army when they had approached. During the siege the Mongol army led by Genghis Khan besieged the city of Bamyan. The city possessed significant defensive fortifications. The Mongols continued their siege despite ...
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Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and conquests, a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of Mongol conquest of China, China and Mongol invasion of Central Asia, Central Asia. Born between 1155 and 1167 and given the name Temüjin, he was the eldest child of Yesugei, a Mongol chieftain of the Borjigin, Borjigin clan, and his wife Hö'elün. When Temüjin was eight, his father died and his family was abandoned by its tribe. Reduced to near-poverty, Temüjin killed Behter, his older half-brother to secure his familial position. His charismatic personality helped to attract his first followers and to form alliances with two prominent Eurasian Steppe, steppe leaders named Jamukha and Toghrul; they worked together to retrieve Temüjin's newlywed wife Börte, who had b ...
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Ghorid
The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; ; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the 8th-century in the region of Ghor, and became an Empire from 1175 to 1215. The Ghurids were centered in the hills of the Ghor region in the present-day central Afghanistan, where they initially started out as local chiefs. They gradually converted to Sunni Islam after the conquest of Ghor by the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. The Ghurids eventually overran the Ghaznavids when Muhammad of Ghor seized Lahore and expelled the Ghaznavids from their last stronghold. The Ghurids initially ruled as vassals of the Ghaznavids and later of the Seljuks. However, during the early twelfth century the long-standing rivalry between the Seljuks and Ghaznavids created a power vacuum in eastern Afghanistan and Panjab which the Ghurids took advantage of and began their territorial expansion. Ala al-Din Husayn ended the ...
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Ghaznavid
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Valley. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to the rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was an ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh. Sabuktigin's son, Mahmud of Ghazni, expanded the Ghaznavid Empire to the Amu Darya, the Indus River and the Indian Ocean in the east and to Rey and Hamadan in the west. Under the reign of Mas'ud I, the Ghaznavid dynasty began losing control over its western territories to the Seljuk Empire after the Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to the Ghurid sultan Ala al-Din Husayn. The Ghaznavids retook Ghazni, but lost ...
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Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern world, Eastern and Western worlds. The name "Silk Road" was coined in the late 19th century, but some 20th- and 21st-century historians instead prefer the term Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, South Asia, South, Southeast Asia, Southeast, and West Asia as well as East Africa and Southern Europe. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were History of Silk, primarily produced in China. The network began with the expansion of the Han dynasty (202 BCE220 CE) into Central Asia around 114 BCE, through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial env ...
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Kalu Ganga
Kalu Ganga (; literally: Black River) is a river in Sri Lanka. The river originates from Sri Pada Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, reaching the sea at Kalutara after a journey. The Black River flows through the Ratnapura and the Kalutara District and passes the city Ratnapura. The mountainous forests in the Central Province and the Sinharaja Forest Reserve are the main sources of water for the river. The Edwardian manor, Richmond Castle is on the banks of the river near Kalutara Kalutara (, ) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south of the capital Colombo. The city holds a unique posit .... See also * List of rivers in Sri Lanka References Rivers of Sri Lanka Bodies of water of Kalutara District {{SriLanka-river-stub ...
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Hazarajat
Hazarajat (), also known as Hazaristan () is a mostly mountainous region in the central Afghan highlands, central highlands of Afghanistan, among the Kuh-e Baba mountains in the western extremities of the Hindu Kush. It is the homeland of the Hazara people, who make up the majority of its population. Hazarajat denotes an ethnic and religious zone. Hazarajat is primarily made up of the provinces of Bamyan Province, Bamyan, Daikundi Province, Daikundi and large parts of Ghor Province, Ghor, Ghazni Province, Ghazni, Uruzgan Province, Uruzgan, Parwan Province, Parwan, Maidan Wardak Province, Maidan Wardak, and more. The most populous towns in Hazarajat are Bamyan, Yakawlang (Bamyan), Nili, Daikundi, Nili (Daikundi), Lal wa Sarjangal (Ghor), Sang-e-Masha (Ghazni), Gizab (Daikundi) and Behsud, Maidan Wardak, Behsud (Maidan Wardak). The Kabul River, Kabul, Arghandab River, Arghandab, Helmand River, Helmand, Farah River, Farah, Hari (Afghanistan), Hari, Murghab River, Murghab, Balkh Riv ...
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Kunduz River
The Kunduz River () is a tributary of the Amu Darya in northern Afghanistan. It rises in Bamyan Province in the Hindu Kush, and in its upper reaches is also known as the Bamyan River or the Surkhab River. After passing through Baghlan and Kunduz provinces, the Kunduz River merges into the Amu Darya. Course The Kunduz rises in the glacier region on the north side of the Koh-i-Baba range in Bamyan Province, some 20 km southwest of the town of Bamyan, where the river is known as the Bamyan River. It flows east in a deep valley separating the western part of the Hindu Kush on the north from the Koh-i-Baba on the south. After about 50 km, it sharply bends north, crossing the Hindu Kush range. It then turns northeast and enters Baghlan Province. There the river is known as the Surkhab. It then parallels a northern spur of the Hindu Kush for more than 80 km, receiving many small tributaries on its right bank. At the town of Doshi it receives the Andarab, a large tribu ...
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Buddhas Of Bamiyan
The Buddhas of Bamiyan (, ) were two monumental Buddhist statues in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan, built possibly around the 6th-century. Located to the northwest of Kabul, at an elevation of , carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE, and the larger "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE, which would date both to the time when the Hephthalites ruled the region.Eastern Buddha: 549–579 CE (1 σ range, 68.2% probability) 544–595 CE (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). Western Buddha: 605–633 CE (1 σ range, 68.2%) 591–644 CE (2 σ range, 95.4% probability). In Blänsdorf et al. (2009). As a UNESCO World Heritage Site of historical Afghan Buddhism, it was a holy site for Buddhists on the Silk Road. However, in March 2001, both statues were destroyed by the Taliban following an order given on February 26, 2001, by Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, to destroy all the statues i ...
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