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line the valley are crowned by the remains of numerous massive towers, whilst their precipitous faces are for 6 or 7 M. pierced by an infinity of See also:

ancient See also:

cave-dwellings, some of which are still occupied. The actual site of the old city is marked by mounds and remains of walls, and on an isolated See also:

rock in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the valley are consider-able ruins of what appears to have been the See also:

ACROPOLIS (Gr. aKpos, top, a6)Xts, city)

acropolis, now known to the See also:

PEOPLE

people as Ghulgulah.

But the most famous remains at Bamian are two See also:

COLOSSAL

colossal See also:

STANDING

standing idols, carved in the cliffs on the north side of the valley. They are 113 ft. and 120 ft. high respectively. These images, which have been much injured, apparently by See also:

CANNON (a word common to Romance languages, from the Lat. canna, a reed, tube, with the addition of the augmentative termination -on, -one)

cannon-shot, are cut in niches in the rock, and both images and niches have been coated with See also:

STUCCO (Ital. stucco, adapted from O.H.G. stucchi, crust, piece, patch, Ger. Stuck, piece, allied to stock)

stucco. There is an inscription, not yet interpreted, over the greater idol, and on each side of its See also:

NICHE (through Fr. niche from Ital. nicchia, nicchio, shell; possibly from Lat. mitulus, a sea-mussel; cf. " napkin " from mappa)

niche are staircases leading to a chamber near the See also:

head, which shows traces of elaborate ornamentation in See also:

AZURE (derived, through the Romance languages, from the Arabic al-lazward, for the precious stone lapis lazuli, the initial 1 having dropped)

azure and See also:

GILDING

gilding. These See also:

chambers are used by the See also:

AMIR, or AMEER (an Arabic word meaning " commander," from the root amr, " commanding ")

amir as See also:

STORE (from O. Fr. estor or estoire, Late Lat. staurum or instaurum, stock, provisions, supply, from the late use of instaurare, to provide, properly to construct, renew, restore)

store-houses for See also:

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain. The See also:

SURFACE

surface of the niches also has been painted with figures. In one of the See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch valleys is a similar See also:

COLOSSUS

colossus, some-what inferior in See also:

SIZE

size to the second of these two; and there are indications of other niches and idols. Chahilburj, 28 m. from Zari, on the road to See also:

BALKH

Balkh by the Balkhab, at the See also:

east end of the Sokhtagi valley; Shahr-i-Babar, about 45 M. above Chahilburj; and Gawargin, 6 m. above Shahr-i-Babar, are all fortified sites of about the same See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age as the See also:

RELICS (Lat, reliquiae, the equivalent of the English " remains " in the sense of a dead body)

relics at Bamian. At See also:

HAIBAK

Haibak there is a very perfect excavation called the Takht-i-Rustam (a See also:

general name for all incomprehensible constructions amongst the See also:

MODERN

modern inhabitants of Afghan Turkestan), which consists of an See also:

ANNULAR, ANNULATE

annular ditch enclosing a See also:

PLATFORM (Fr. plateforme, i.e. ground plan)

platform, with a small See also:

house about 21 ft. square above it, all cut out of the solid rock. There are hundreds of caves in this neighbourhood, all pointing to a line of Buddhist occupation connecting Balkh with Kabul. As seen from the rock of Ghulgulah, Bamian, with its ruined towers, its colossi, its innumerable grottos, and with the singular red See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of its barren See also:

SOIL

soil, presents an impressive aspect of desolation and See also:

MYSTERY (Gr. µw(Trilpcov, from tcuvrm, an initiate, µfew, to shut the mouth)

mystery. That the idols of Bamian, about which so many conjectures have been uttered, were Buddhist figures, is ascertained from the narrative of the See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese See also:

PILGRIM

pilgrim, Hsuan-Tsang, who saw them in their splendour in A.D.

630, and was verified by the See also:

OFFICERS

officers above named, who discovered other Buddhist caves and excavations in the valleys of the Balkhab and Sarikol. Still vaster than these was a recumbent figure, 2 M. east of Bamian, representing Sakya See also:

BUDDHA

Buddha entering See also:

NIRVANA

Nirvana, i.e. in See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of See also:

DEATH

death. This was " about T000 ft. in length." No traces of this are alluded to by modern travellers, but in all likelihood it was only formed of See also:

RUBBLE

rubble plastered (as is the See also:

case still with such Nirvana figures in Indo-See also:

CHINA

China) and of no durability. For a city so notable Bamian has a very obscure See also:

HISTORY

history. It does not seem possible to identify it with any city in classical See also:

GEOGRAPHY (Gr. yil, earth, and ypiickty, to write)

geography: See also:

Alexandria ad Caucasum it certainly was not. The first known mention of it seems to be that by Hsuan-Tsang, at a See also:

time when apparently it had already passed its See also:

meridian, and was the head of one of the small states into which the See also:

EMPIRE

empire of the See also:

White See also:

HUNS

Huns had broken up. At a later See also:

period Bamian was for See also:

HALF

half a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, ending A.D. 1214, the seat of a branch of the Ghori See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty, ruling over Tokharistan, or the See also:

basin of the Upper Oxus. The See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place was See also:

long besieged, and finally annihilated (1222) by Jenghiz See also:

KHAN (from the Turki, hence Persian and Arabic Khan)

Khan, whose wrath was exasperated at the death of a favourite See also:

GRANDSON (Ger. Grandsee)

grandson by an arrow from its walls. There appears to be no further See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record of Bamian as a city; but the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of ruins at Ghulgulah agrees with traditions on the spot in indicating that the city must have been rebuilt after the time of the See also:

MONGOLS

Mongols and again perished. In 184o, during the See also:

BRITISH

British occupation of Kabul, Bamian was the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of an acticn in which See also:

COLONEL (derived either from Lat. column, Fr. colonne, column, or Lat. corona, a crown)

Colonel See also:

William H. Dennie with a small force routed Dost Mahommed Khan, accompanied by a number of Uzbeg chiefs.

See Hon. M. G. Talbot, " The Rock-cut Caves and Statues of Bamian," See also:

Journal R. Austral. See also:

Soc. vol. xviii. See also:

PART

part 3; and J. A. See also:

Gray, At the See also:

Court of the Amir (1895). (T. H.

End of Article: BAMIAN

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