City of Noise, Bamiyan otherwise
known as Shahr-i-Gholghola.
When the city was inhabited, it was simply
called Shahr-i-Bamiyan or City of Bamiyan, It was only
after its destruction that it became known as Shahr-i-Gholghola
or the City of Noise. Sometimes it is referred to as
the Silent City, the Screaming City, or the Cursed
City.
In the year 1222, Mutugen, the favorite
grandson of Genghis Khan, had been sent to lay siege
to the fort and was killed there by its defenders. Tradition
says that upon hearing of this, Genghis Khan took an
oath before the boy's mother promising to put to death
every living soul in the valley.
He set out with his army
demolishing the forts of Sar Khoshak and the Shahr-i-Zohak
on the way before camping in the valley of Kakrak to
the east of the city. From there he launched the attack.
Though initially repulsed, the day was finally won by
the Mongols who then ruthlessly sacked the city - the
devastation was complete. Although men later returned
to the valley, the complex irrigation system was never
repaired and great expanses of barren desert now replace
the fertile fields.
The city has never been lived in since
that day of horror. Recorded history tells that the last
king of Bamiyan, Sultan Jalal-Din Manguberti, escaped
the final end suffered by his people. The king slipped
out of the city under the cover of night and with the
aid of his allies, recruited a new army but they too
were overcome. Pursued by the Mongols, the kind reached
the banks of the Indus where he jumped into the river
together with his horse and swam to the opposite bank
and safety.
(the information
of this legend was taken from a small pamphlet printed
in 1967 )
City
of Noise, Bamiyan
