Image 70 of 94
Bamiyan_UNESCO_79.JPG
Mina, 35, (Right) is standing in front of her makeshift house built around one of the caves with her eldest son, 11,(Left) during a cold winter morning in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras.
A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
After the Taliban were driven from the region by American troops, many Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) returned to their homes to find them destroyed.
Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries.
It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003.
A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
After the Taliban were driven from the region by American troops, many Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) returned to their homes to find them destroyed.
Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries.
It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003.
- Copyright
- Alex Masi
- Image Size
- 3744x5616 / 13.1MB
- Contained in galleries
- Bamiyan UNESCO World Heritage
