Afghanistan has an immense cultural legacy that has been lost due to years of war and neglect, but new technology is helping preserve some of its stunning historical places.
Ways of Seeing,” is an art installation project featuring four locations: Herat Citadel, Kandhar Mausoleum of Durrani Durrani Durrani Mausoleum Durrani Qala e Bost and Jam Minaret.
Citadel of Herat
The Citadel of Herat (Qala Ikhtiaruddin) is an impressive ancient castle located within Herat city, dating back centuries. A significant historical landmark, this structure has been damaged or destroyed numerous times due to war or natural disaster, yet has been rebuilt several times by various institutions.
Herat was once an important hub on the route connecting Europe with India or China, before being decimated by both Ghaznavids and Mongols, yet its reconstruction began under Kartid dynasty rule during Shah Rukh and Queen Gowhar Shah’s development initiatives of the fifteenth century.
This walled citadel, saved from demolition during the 1950s and excavated and restored by UNESCO between 1976 and 1979, comprises two walled enclosures connected by two gates. The older compound to the east contained debris which was partially excavated to reveal two courtyard structures; while its newer upper citadel has a roughly rectangular plan surrounded by thirteen semicircular towers including two flanking its west-facing gate.
Bagh-e-Babur (Garden of Babur)
The 11.5-hectare garden was chosen as Babur, the first Mughal Emperor, was laid to rest here after making an request in his memoirs that his grave be open to the sky; this wish was fulfilled approximately 1544. Subsequent Mughals visited and made the gardens into pilgrimage sites by embellishing his grave, creating a marble prayer platform (chabutra), and adding tombstone inscriptions.
Subsequent to the fall of Mughal empire, its significance continued posthumously; lithographs and early photographs document it even in its state of disrepair.
As Afghanistan works to restore and rebuild, Williams stresses the importance of protecting its cultural heritage. He proposes making greater efforts to survey and register historical sites throughout the country; so far only two monuments from Afghanistan have been inscribed onto Unesco World Heritage list: Herat’s Minaret of Jam and Kabul’s Bagh-e-Babur have made the cut; Williams hopes more will soon follow suit, adding that such recognition would encourage tourism while creating national pride and identity among citizens.
Qala e Bost
Identity for both nations and individuals is defined by associations with values, places and people; when these connections are severed by conflict, insecurity or restrictive narratives that deny rich cultural traditions, identities disintegrate.
Classical geographers refer to this town and citadel as Bestia Deselutia, Bestigia Deles and Bispolis while Islamic travelers refer to it as Bost, Qala-e-Bost or Kala-i-Bist; both names come from Islamic travelers who traveled during Ghaznavid rule (962-1758). Once part of this empire that stretched across Central Asia, Iran, and Pakistan.
At that time, the town flourished as the winter capital of a dynasty and blossomed as an epicenter for Islamic learning and culture. One notable landmark is an eleventh-century arch that appears on a 100 Afghani note as its primary approach to its castle complex. There also stands a magnificent decorated mausoleum called Ziarat-i-Shahzada Husain that dates back to 12th-century. UNESCO officials have called for restoration and preservation measures of this unique complex; without such programs insecurity will quickly lead to its decay.
Minaret of Jam
The Minaret of Jam stands 65 meters above a remote valley in western Afghanistan. Its octagonal base rises up two sets of double spiral stairs and onto an octagonal roof decorated with geometric and floral patterns as well as Kufic inscriptions; its construction date remains unknown although it could have been done under Ghurid ruler Ghiyath al-Din.
Archaeological excavations in this region have unearthed lavish ceramics, suggesting it was once an affluent region. Additionally, some scholars speculate that its remains may have been built on the site of Firuzkuh – destroyed in 1222 by Genghis Khan’s Mongol armies – which some scholars consider Ghurid capital destroyed during this era by Genghis Khan’s Mongol armies.
UNESCO World Heritage Site located in an unsafe part of Pakistan is rarely protected against looters; but its significance cannot be denied: as one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture and ornamentation in existence, its minaret stands as an inspiration to similar structures worldwide.
