Ghazni
Ghazni
غزنی | |
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AST ) |
Ghazni (
In August 2018, the city became the site of the
In 2013,
History
History of Afghanistan | |
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Timeline | |
410–557 | |
Nezak Huns | 484–711 |
The city was founded some time in antiquity as a small market town. It may be the Gazaca (Gázaca or Gāzaca) mentioned by Ptolemy,[11] although he may have conflated it and the town of Ganzak (or Gazaka) in Iran.
In the 6th century BCE, it was conquered by the
In 683,
In the first decades of the 11th century, Ghazni was the most important center of Persian literature. This was the result of the cultural policy of 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.[16]
The noted Moroccan travelling scholar, Ibn Battuta, visiting Ghazni in 1333, wrote:
"We travelled thence to
Parwan, where I met the amir Buruntayh. He treated me well and wrote to his representatives at Ghazna enjoining them to show me honour. We went on to the village of Charkh [Charikar], it being now summer, and from there to the town of Ghazna. This is the town of the famous warrior-sultan Mahmud ibn Sabuktagin, one of the greatest of rulers, who made frequent raids into India and captured cities and fortresses there. His grave is in this city and is surmounted by a hospice. The greater part of the town is in ruins and nothing but a fraction of it remains, though it was once a large city. It has an exceedingly cold climate, and the inhabitants move from it in the cold season to Qandahar, a large and prosperous town three nights journey from Ghazna, but I did not visit it."[17]
Tamerlanes's grandson, Pir Muhammad bin Djinhangir, became the governor of Ghazni (along with Kabul and Kandahar) in 1401. Babur conquered the region in 1504 and personally thought that Ghazni was "a mean place" and pondered why any of the princes of the region would make it their seat of government. Ghazni stayed under Mughal control until 1738 when Iranian ruler Nader Shah invaded the area. After Nader Shah's death, Ghazni became part of the Durrani empire.[18]
Ghazni City is famous for its
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.
During the
After the 2001
On 10 August 2018, the city was attacked by the Taliban during the
On 18 May 2020, a suicide Humvee bomber affiliated with the Taliban killed nine Afghan intelligence personnel and injured 40 others at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) unit in Ghazni, also damaging the nearby Islamic Cultural Centre.[24][25][26]
Ghazni was the tenth provincial capital of Afghanistan to be captured by the Taliban as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive.[7][8][9]
Geography
Land Use
Ghazni is a trading and transit hub in central Afghanistan. Agriculture is the dominant land use at 28%.[27] In terms of built-up land area, vacant plots (33%) slightly outweigh residential area (31%).[27] Districts 3 and 4 also have large institutional areas. The city has four police districts (nahia) and covers a total land area of 3,330 hectares.[27] The total number of dwellings in Ghazni city is 15,931.[27]
Climate
Ghazni's climate is transitional between a
Climate data for Ghazni | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 16.0 (60.8) |
17.8 (64.0) |
24.8 (76.6) |
28.0 (82.4) |
33.0 (91.4) |
36.3 (97.3) |
36.7 (98.1) |
35.6 (96.1) |
32.5 (90.5) |
29.9 (85.8) |
21.2 (70.2) |
16.6 (61.9) |
36.7 (98.1) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 0.6 (33.1) |
2.3 (36.1) |
10.0 (50.0) |
18.0 (64.4) |
23.7 (74.7) |
29.2 (84.6) |
30.8 (87.4) |
30.5 (86.9) |
26.5 (79.7) |
19.0 (66.2) |
12.6 (54.7) |
5.4 (41.7) |
17.4 (63.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.9 (21.4) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
3.8 (38.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
16.3 (61.3) |
21.4 (70.5) |
23.3 (73.9) |
22.2 (72.0) |
16.9 (62.4) |
10.3 (50.5) |
4.0 (39.2) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
9.8 (49.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −10.6 (12.9) |
−9.0 (15.8) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
4.2 (39.6) |
8.1 (46.6) |
12.4 (54.3) |
15.1 (59.2) |
14.1 (57.4) |
8.3 (46.9) |
2.2 (36.0) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
2.8 (37.1) |
Record low °C (°F) | −33.5 (−28.3) |
−29.2 (−20.6) |
−17.5 (0.5) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
0.0 (32.0) |
5.0 (41.0) |
7.7 (45.9) |
2.0 (35.6) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−13.8 (7.2) |
−33.2 (−27.8) |
−33.5 (−28.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 40.2 (1.58) |
53.9 (2.12) |
70.9 (2.79) |
49.9 (1.96) |
19.7 (0.78) |
1.9 (0.07) |
14.1 (0.56) |
4.7 (0.19) |
0.5 (0.02) |
4.1 (0.16) |
11.3 (0.44) |
25.8 (1.02) |
297 (11.69) |
Average rainy days | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 35 |
Average snowy days | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 24 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
68 | 72 | 64 | 55 | 43 | 36 | 43 | 39 | 35 | 42 | 52 | 60 | 51 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 175.3 | 174.8 | 227.6 | 258.6 | 314.3 | 346.2 | 353.2 | 341.8 | 324.5 | 293.9 | 256.4 | 194.6 | 3,261.2 |
Source: NOAA (1958–1983)[28] |
Demography
The city of Ghazni's population surged from 143,379 in 2015[29] to 270,000 in 2018 as refugees from violent areas fled to the city.[30] In 2015, there were 15,931 dwellings in Ghazni city.[27]
The population is
Infrastructure
Transportation
In April 2012, Ghazni Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada laid the foundation stone of the Ghazni Airport. The work began later that year and was supervised by the managing director of the Ghazni province Engineer Ahmad Wali Tawakuli.[33]
The city is next to Afghanistan's main
Education
The city has a number of public schools. Jahan Maleeka School is an all-girls school with over 5,000 students and 150 teachers. Naswan Shaher Kohna School, another all-girls school, has over 3000 students. The Adult Literacy Rate as of 2012 accounted for 41.2% (2012).[1]
Resources
Ghazni City is in an area of low rainfall. In 2007, one of the gates on a 50-year-old dam on the Jikhai River broke, bringing up concerns among the inhabitants of Ghazni city about the water supply. The dam serves as a good source of irrigation water to Ghazni City and the surrounding agricultural areas.[34][35] Nearby rivers have a history of flooding and causing severe damage and death,[36] though efforts have begun to remedy this.[37]
Sports
- Professional sports teams from Ghazni
Club | League | Sport | Venue | Established |
---|---|---|---|---|
Band-e-Amir Dragons | Shpageeza Cricket League | Cricket | Ghazni Cricket Ground | 2013 |
Oqaban Hindukush F.C.
|
Afghan Premier League | Football | Ghazni Ground | 2012 |
- Stadiums
- Ghazni Cricket Ground
- Ghazni Ground
Notable people
Rulers and emperors
- Abu Bakr Lawik, ruler of Ghazni from the Lawik dynasty
- Abu Ali Lawik, son of Abu Bakr Lawik and ruler of the Lawik dynasty
- Ghaznavid dynasty
- Mahmud of Ghazni, son of Sabuktigin, first independent ruler of the dynasty of Ghaznavids in the 11th-century
- Muhammad of Ghazni, son of Mahmud of Ghazni and Sultan of the Ghaznavid empire
- Masʽud I of Ghazni, twin brother of Muhammad of Ghazni and Sultan of the Ghaznavid empire
- Mawdud of Ghazni, nephew of Muhammad of Ghazni and Sultan of the Ghaznavid empire
- Ibrahim of Ghazna, Sultan of the Ghaznavid empire
- Khusrau Malik, Sultan of the Ghaznavid empire
- Bahram-Shah of Ghazna, Sultan of the Ghaznavids empire
- Mughal emperorin the 18th-century
Politicians and military leaders
- Turkic slave commander of the Samanid Empire, became later the semi-independent governor of Ghazni til his death in Ghazni
- Turkic officer and the Samanidgovernor of Ghazni
- Turkic officer and the Samanidgovernor of Ghazni
- Ghazna
- Ali ibn Ishak, financial minister of the Ghaznavids
- Mawdud Ghaznaviand Abd al-Rashid
- Toghrul of Ghazna, Turkish slave general and usurper of the Ghaznavid throne
- Pashtunmilitary commander from the 18th-century
- Nur Muhammad Taraki, former president of Afghanistan
- Abdul Hakim Dalili, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Doha Qatar.
Poets and scientists
- Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni, famous 10/11th-century Iranian scholar and polymath, worked and died in Ghazni
- Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi, 10/11th-century Persian secretary, historian and author at the court of the Ghazanvids, also died in Ghazni
- Asjadi, Persian royal poet at the court of the Ghaznavids in Ghazni
- Farrukhi Sistani, Persian royal poet at the court of the Ghaznavids, spent most of his life in Ghazni and also died there
- Manuchehri Dāmghānī, Persian royal poet at the court of the Ghaznavidsin Ghazni, most probably died in Ghazni, too
- Unsuri Balkhi, Persian royal poet at the court of the Ghaznavids in Ghazni
- Hakim Sanai Ghaznavi, 11/12th-century PersianSufi poet and mystic
- Hassan Ghaznavi, 12th-century Persian poet
- Faiz Mohammad Katib Hazara, 19/20th-century historian, writer and intellectual
- Abdul Rahman Pazhwak Afghan poet and diplomat
- Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh
Religious leaders
- theologian, and preacher
- Maturidischool
- Pir Ghulam Mohiudin Ghaznavi (1902-1975), was an Islamic Sufi scholar. He was born in Ghazni and later went to Pakistan for business. He became a disciple of Pir Qasim Sadiq Mohrvi from Mohra Sharif and converted to Sufism and settled at Nerian Sharif Azad Kashmir Pakistan.
- Gholam Mohammad Niazi, Political Islamic movement thinker, Dean of the faculty of theology at Kabul University
Others
- Muslimto journey to outer space
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
- Tomb of Al Biruni
Twin towns – sister cities
See also
- Ghazni Province
- Mahmud of Ghazni
- Iconoclasm
- Ghaznavids
- List of cities founded by Alexander the Great
References
- ^ a b "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22" (PDF). National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, ALEXANDRIAN FOUNDATIONS Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Soviet Central Asia, India
- ^ "ḠAZNĪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
- ISBN 978-0-19-188291-3.
- .
- ^ Gnoli, Zoroaster’s Time and Homeland, pp. 26–39
- ^ a b "Taliban take strategic Ghazni city as Afghan army chief is replaced". The Guardian. 12 August 2021.
- ^ a b Varshalomidze, Tamila (12 August 2021). "Taliban captures Ghazni city, all government officials flee: Live". Al Jazeera English.
- ^ a b "Taliban move closer to capital after taking Ghazni city". France24. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "Ghazni To Be Islamic Capital Of Culture". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- ^ Guinta, Roberta. "GAZNÈ (or GÚazna, GÚazn^n)". Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). United States: Columbia University. Retrieved January 2, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ BA Litvinsky, Zhang Guang-Da, R. Shabani Samghabadi, History of civilizations of Central Asia, pg. 385
- ^ Hui-li, 1959, p. 188
- ISBN 9780521069366.
- ^ "Ghazni". The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Persian literature, retrieved
- ISBN 9780415344739. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
- ^ ISBN 1-884964-04-4
- ^ C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, (Columbia University Press, 1977), 115.
- ISBN 90-04-04189-3
- ^ Afghan Buddha destruction revealed 15/03/01 BBC News Site
- ^ "Ghazni governor signs memorandum for Lincoln Learning Center - War On Terror News". waronterrornews.typepad.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2017-06-24.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Taliban suicide bomber kills 9 troops in eastern Afghanistan". May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020 – via www.washingtonpost.com/.
- ^ "At least 7 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan's Ghazni". May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on May 20, 2020 – via www.xinhuanet.com/.
- ^ "Official: Suicide Bomber in Eastern Afghanistan Kills 5". May 18, 2020 – via www.nytimes.com/.
- ^ a b c d e The State of Afghan Cities Report 2015. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Ghazni Climate Normals 1958-1983". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- ^ The State of Afghan Cities Report 2015. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ^ Afghan City Gauges Toll After Taliban Siege . Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "UNHCR Sub-Office Central Region, District Profile" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- University of Nebraska at Omaha; Matthew S. Baker, Stratfor. National Geographic Society. 2003. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
- ^ Mirwais Himmat, ed. (April 11, 2012). "Ghazni to have first-ever international airport". Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN). Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "Ghazni's Zanakhan Dam damaged". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- ^ Heavy water flow damages Ghazni's Zanakhan Dam Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine Mar 15 2007, Pajhwok Afghan News
- ^ "Dam burst swamps Ghazni city of Afghanistan". Pakistan Times. Retrieved 2007-07-15. [dead link]
- ^ "Ghazni". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
- ^ Sister Cities International Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Co Giżycko łączy z Ghazni? Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Published in the 19th century
- OCLC 6388460.
- Edward Balfour (1885). "Ghazni". Cyclopaedia of India (3rd ed.). London: B. Quaritch.
- Published in the 20th century
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 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.
- Col James Tod's "Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan" Vol. II, Annals of Jaisalmer, page 200,
External links
- 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.