Ruined buildings of the town of Bamiyan and irrigated fields stretch below dry hills in the Bamiyan valley
Ruined buildings of the town of Bamiyan and irrigated fields stretch below dry hills in the Bamiyan valley, August 30, 2002. It is estimated that 10-20,000 people may have been killed when the Taliban forcibly took the valley in 2001. The Taliban blew up the famous Bamiyan buddhas and destroyed the bazaar and many homes. Bamiyan Valley is located in the Hazarajat at the edge of the Koh-i-Baba range , the end of the Hindu Kush. Bamiyan was a prosperous Buddhist kingdom on the ancient Silk Road until the 10th century, when the region was converted to Islam; in the 12th century, it was destroyed by Ghengis Khan. Most of the people of this region are of the Hazara tribe, and are Shi'a Moslems who have been persecuted for centuries by many of the Pashtun rulers of Afghanistan, who are from the Sunni sect. They most recently suffered at the hand of the Taliban, who tried for years to ethnically cleanse the region of its Shi'a people.
Size: 3120px × 4731px
Location: Bamiyan,Bamiyan,Afghanistan
Photo credit: © Beth Wald / Aurora Photos / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: agriculture, asia, baba, bamiya, bamiyan, central, desert, hazara, hazarajat, highlands, koh-, mountains, ruins, rural, war
