rtant tributary of the Upper Oxus. The
prominences of the cliffs which 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 ancient 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 rock in the middle of the valley are
considerable ruins of what appears to have been the acropolis, now known to
the people as Ghulgulah. But the most famous remains at Bamian are two
colossal standing idols, carved in the cliffs on the north side of the
valley. They are 173 ft. and 120 ft. high respectively. These images, which
have been much injured, apparently by cannon-shot, are cut in niches in the
rock, and both images and niches have been coated with stucco. There is an
inscription, not yet interpreted, over the greater idol, and on each side
of its niche are staircases leading to a chamber near the head, which shows
traces of elaborate ornamentation in azure and gilding. These chambers are
used by the amir as store-houses for grain. The surface of the niches also
has been painted with figures. In one of the branch valleys is a similar
colossus, somewhat inferior in 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 Balkh by the Balkhab, at the 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 age as the relics
at Bamian. At Haibak there is a very perfect excavation called the
Takht-i-Rustam (a general name for all incomprehensible constructions
amongst the modern inhabitants of Afghan Turkestan), which consists of an
annular ditch enclosing a platform, with a small 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 colour of its barren soil, presents an impressive aspect of
desolation and mystery.

That the idols of Bamian, about which so many conjectures have been
uttered, were Buddhist figures, is ascertained from the narrative of the
Chinese pilgrim, Hsuan-Tsang, who saw them in their splendour i