The city and the fortress of Ghazni – a breath of rich history and the modest reality

Authors

  • Jakub Gustaw Gajda Uniwersytet Łódzki, Wydział Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politologicznych

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6050.100.14

Keywords:

Ghazni, Afghanistan, conquests, cultural transfer, heritage

Abstract

Nowadays the Afghan city of Ghazni (Ghazna, Gazni, Ghaznin), is a relatively small center situated in Afghanistan on the strategic road between Kabul and Kandahar. Noteworthy is that Ghazni has a very rich history. As a powerful political and cultural center played an important role in the history of Islam and its transfer from Middle East to South Asia. Furthermore, Ghazni as a fortress is also significant place in the context of Afghan identity building and the political independence of Afghanistan. It was recognized as a symbol of victory and collapse of Imperial forces during the First and the Second Anglo-Afghan War with Great Britain. Currently in Poland Ghazni is known only since the ISAF (International Security Assistance) operation in Afghanistan completed in 2014, but definitely deserves closer attention both in the historical and the cultural context. This paper is intended to bring the history of Ghazni to the attention and to draw attention to the historical role of this city in the cultural transfer and formation of numerous historical state organisms in Central and South Asia.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adamec L.W., Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan, London 1997.
Google Scholar

Afghan F.A., Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan: 1700–2014, Bloomington 2015.
Google Scholar

Bajhaki A., Historia sułtana Masuda, Warszawa 1996.
Google Scholar

Binfield Havell E., A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, New Delhi 2003.
Google Scholar

The Cambridge History of Islam, eds P.M. Holt, A.K.S. Lambton, B. Lewis, Cambridge 1977.
Google Scholar

Dowlatabadi B.A., Shenasname Afghanistan, Tehran 1381 (2002).
Google Scholar

Dulęba W., Drugi Dywan Perski, Kraków 1980.
Google Scholar

Frazik J.T., Architektura muzułmańska na terenie Iranu, Afganistanu i Azji Centralnej, Kraków 1999.
Google Scholar

Gafurow B., Dzieje i kultura ludów Azji Centralnej, Warszawa 1978.
Google Scholar

Ghazni City to be soon Introdouced as the Islamic Countries Cultural Center, „The Kabul Times”, 10 IV 2013, vol. L, No. 15, s. 3.
Google Scholar

Giunta R., Islamic Ghazni, Excavations, Surveys and New Research Objectives, [w:] Fifty years of Research in the Heart of Eurasia. The IsIAO Italian Archeological Mission in Afghanistan 1957–2007, eds A. Filigenzi, R. Giunta, Roma 2009, s. 90–106.
Google Scholar

Ikram S.M., Muslim Civilization in India, New York 1964.
Google Scholar

Krasnowolska A., Historia Iranu, Wrocław 2010.
Google Scholar

Lockhart L., Nadir Shah – a Critical Study Based Mainly Upon Contemporary Sources, London 1938.
Google Scholar

Machalski F., Od Cyrusa do Mosaddeka, Warszawa 1960.
Google Scholar

Marshman J.C., The History of India, from the Earliest Period to the Close of Lord Dalhousie’s Administration, London 1867.
Google Scholar

Olbrycht J.M., Prehistoria i wczesne dzieje Iranu, [w:] Historia Iranu, red. A. Krasnowolska, Wrocław 2010, s. 27–73.
Google Scholar

Pstrusińska J., Terminological Problems within Contemporary Studies on Afghanistan, [w:] Iranica Cracoviensia. Cracow Iranian Studies in memory of Władysław Dulęba, red. A. Krasnowolska, Kraków 1996, s. 117–185.
Google Scholar

Tanner S., Afghanistan – a military history from Alexander the Great to the fall of the Taliban, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2002.
Google Scholar

Vigne G.T., A Personal Narrative, Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan, London 1840.
Google Scholar

Wahab Sh., Youngerman, A Brief History of Afghanistan, New York 2007.
Google Scholar

Wakili A., Ghazni dar do gharn-e akhir (Ghazni w dwóch ostatnich stuleciach), Kabul 1356 (1977).
Google Scholar

Ghazni, [w:] E. Green Balfour, The cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, commercial, industrial, and scientific; products of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, usefularts and manufactures, London 1885, s. 1119, https://archive.org/details/cyclopaediaofind01balfuoft (dostęp: 28 IV 2018).
Google Scholar

ISESCO Programme of Islamic Culture Capitals 2005–2025, ISESCO, https://www.isesco.org.ma/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IslamicCapitals.pdf (dostęp: 29 IV 2018).
Google Scholar

Planhol X. de, ḠAZNĪ, Encykcopaedia Iranica, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gazni- (dostęp: 5 V 2018).
Google Scholar

The State of Afghan Cities Report 2015, UN-Habitat, 20 October 2015, https://unhabitat.org/books/soac2015/ (dostęp: 28 IV 2018).
Google Scholar

Published

2018-04-30

How to Cite

Gajda, J. G. (2018). The city and the fortress of Ghazni – a breath of rich history and the modest reality. Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica, (100), 185–200. https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6050.100.14