The princes of Bamiyan were converted to Islam probably during the time of Abbasid dynasty, either in the ron of al-Mansur (755-775 A.D.) or in that of al-Mahdi (775-785A.D.).* The conversion of the Bamiyan princes to Islam must have created dismay and a dreadful impact on the fate of the monks and monasteries of this locality. Whether it was on account of the vehment Islamic zeal that led to the persecusion of Buddhists resulting in indiscriminate massacre of the monks and wanton destruction of the monasteries, and presumably some being converted to Islam by persuasion or under pressure, it is remarkable to note that the prince of Bamiyan, after his conversion from Buddhism to Islam, and so also the members of his dynasty enjoyed an influencial position in the court of Baghdad; and the prince of Bamiyan was appointed as the Sher(Ruler) of Bamiyan. In 844 he was also appointed as the Governor of Yaman. The Buddhist community had been left forlorn with no choice but to adopt Islam. In 256 Hizri i.e. 869-870 A.D. Bamiyan was again stormed by Yakub-bin- Laith resulting in the destruction of the images and other embellishments of this great monastic establishment. In the following years he removed some of the beautiful and precious images to Baghdad.! It seems that those images of the Buddha which once adorned many of the niches and which are not now traceable, were then removed from there and despatched to the capital. It also seems possible that the gems and jewels which were studded on the colossal images were also removed. The images suffered much damage, their hands were mutilated and, in particular their noses were battered.2 The dismembering of the colossal images must have continued for a long time on account of the Islamic abhorrence for idols of all kinds. In 970 A.D. Bamiyan witnessed another invasion by Alaptagin, the Turkish Governor of Balkh along with his slave Subaktgin. No doubt, the remaining glamour of Bamiyan was further obliterated, and many embellishments and images which escaped earlier rampages also suffered a lot. The prince of Bamiyan was taken captive. It is well known that Subaktgin, who later founded the Ghaznavi dynasty, was fanatically zealous to propagate Islam. He probably caused more havoc than others; and during his reign Islam was permanently established throughout Afghanistan. In 1222 the armies of Changiz Khan again invaded Bamiyan and caused widespread devastations, leaving nothing untouched except the inaccessible images of the Buddha. The damage to colossi did not stop then, rather they suffered destruction in the middle ages too. Aurangzeb, the Indian Mughal emperor (1658-1707 A.D.) who is noted for his religious fanaticism, ordered cannon-shots to be fired at the colossal images of the Buddha, signs of which can still be seen on them.
C.S. Upasak, in his History of Buddhism in Afghanistan, [1]
