BAMIAN

also spelled Bamyan town, central Afghanistan. It lies northwest of Kabul, the nation's capital, in the Bamian valley at an elevation of 8,495 feet (2,590 m). Bamian is first mentioned in 5th-century-AD Chinese sources and was visited by the Chinese travelers Fa-hsien around AD 400 and Hsan-tsang in AD 630; it was by that time a centre of commerce and of the Buddhist religion. Two great figures of Buddha there date from this period; the larger is 175 feet (53 m) high and the smaller is 120 feet. These statues are carved from the living rock and are finished with fine plaster. When Hsan-tsang saw the figures, they were decorated with gold and fine jewels. The two Buddha figures, together with numerous ancient man-made caves in the cliffs north of the town, have made B amian a major Afghan archaeological site. The caves are of various forms, and the interiors of many bear traces of fine fresco painting that links them with contemporary caves in Sinkiang, China. The modern town lies below the caves. The town was ruled in the 7th century by princes, probably Hephthalite, but was subject to the Western Turks. The rulers first accepted Islam in the 8th century. The Saffarid ruler Ya'qub ebn Leys captured Bamian in 871; after changing hands several times, it was destroyed and its inhabitants exterminated in 1221 by the Mongol invader Genghis Khan. Since that time it has never regained its former glory. In 1840 Bamian was the scene of fighting in the First Anglo-Afghan War. The tourist traffic has prompted the building of a tourist centre and a government hotel in the town. Pop. (1988 est.) 8,700.