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THE CHALLENGE OF SAFEGUARDING AFGHANISTAN’S URBAN HERITAGE

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Since 2003, Afghanistan’s cities have seen significant increases in population and a surge in private investments. This recovery comes after a prolonged period of conflict that resulted in destruction in some cities and a general lack of development and stagnation. At the core of some cities that are now recovering - Kabul, Qandahar, Herat, Ghazni, Balkh, Kunduz among others - stand areas of historic fabric that provide evidence of their past, both above and below ground. These ‘old cities’ generally comprise an area, once ringed with defensive walls, with distinct residential and commercial quarters, on whose bazaars many inhabitants depended for their livelihoods. The population of these quarters fluctuated, depending on their fortunes or need for protection. In the case of Kapisa, Ai Khanoum, Jam and Bost, which were of less strategic and commercial importance to succeeding generations, the settlement was eventually abandoned.

A brief overview of urban history illustrates how resilient cities have been, and the vital role they played in the political, economic and cultural development of Afghanistan. Among the earliest identified towns, dating from between 4000 and 2000 BC, are at Mundigak near Qandahar, and Dashli near Balkh. By 500BC, due perhaps to changing patterns of trade, Qandahar was the primary settlement in the south, with Balkh and other settlements developing in the north. In 329BC Alexander conquered Balkh and, during his military campaigns, strengthened the

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Darya river of Ai Khanoum, a city then developed by the Bactrians who inhabited the site until around 145BC.

It was further south at Kapisa, where the Kushan dynasty built their summer capital, and where in 1939 archaeologists excavated a range of fine objects that reflect the wealth and taste of the court of Kanishka. With direct control in an area between Balkh and Qandahar, he wielded political influence much further afield. In-fighting after Kanishka’s death disrupted trade and fragmented Kushan power, enabling the nomadic Hephthalites to invade and destroy cities and sites of worship across the region. Kapisa seems to have been abandoned, but Bamiyan soon recovered and prospered from a resumption of trade and the passage of pilgrims.

The advance of Arab armies from the west in the 7th century saw Zaranj and Bost develop as garrison-towns. During the early period of Muslim influence in the region, the urban centres fell under various principalities, with Samanids in Balkh, Hindu Shahis in Kabul and other rulers in Qandahar, Bost and Ghazni. This changed dramatically in the 10th century, when Sultan

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day of its grandeur. The massive, sumptuously-decorated palaces that members of the Ghaznavid court built along the Helmand river reflects their refined tastes and prosperity.

This was not, however, to last. In the 12th century, Alauddin – also known as ‘Jahansuz’ or burner of the world – laid waste to both Ghazni and Bost. His successor Ghyasuddin expanded the Ghorid empire, investing in Jam, Herat, Balkh and Bamiyan. Along with smaller settlements and the irrigation systems on which they depended, these cities were again destroyed in the early 13th century by Mongol armies under Genghis Khan. The case of Herat illustrates how this destruction also provided opportunities for renewal. Under the Karts, Herat was one of the first places to recover from the damage wrought by the Mongols, but this work was subsequently undone by Timur. His youngest son and successor Shah Rukh then went on to transform Herat (and Balkh) into centres of intellectual and artistic activity, of which the mausoleum of

Gawharshad and the shrine of Khwaja Parsa are testament.

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subsequent Mughal rulers, India was the main focus of their attention. Kabul remained little more than an outpost, while the inhabitants of Qandahar found themselves caught between the rival Mughal and Safavid empires, whose ruler Nadir Shah occupied the city in 1738. It was in Qandahar that the Sadozai Ahmad Khan emerged in 1747 as leader of an Afghan entity.

The centre of political power in this domain shifted when his son Timur Shah moved his capital to Kabul, to escape internecine strife. He continued to struggle with unrest across his domains through his reign, as did his successor Zaman Shah, who contended with rivals in Herat and Qandahar. Zaman was unable even to complete the brick mausoleum that he commissioned for his father, and which stands to this day in central Kabul. The ensuing power-struggles between the Barakzais and Sadozais were played out in Kabul, Ghazni, Qandahar and Herat, while Balkh and the north remained largely under the control of the Uzbeks.

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months later, the British destroyed an important landmark and source of prosperity, Char Chatta bazaar. Again in 1897, during the British occupation of Kabul, the historic citadel of Bala Hissar was leveled to avenge the murder of the Resident. As a British witness noted at the time: ‘we have left our indelible mark at Kabul’.

It was Amir Abdur Rahman who, after assuming power in 1880, left his mark on the capital by constructing the Arq palace outside of the long-established bounds of the city proper. As well as being one of several residences for the Amir, this complex represented the seat of an assertive (and paternalistic) central government. In adopting more explicitly foreign models for his palaces in Kabul and elsewhere, his son Habibullah pursued a new phase of the cultural exchanges that have long characterized Afghanistan’s built heritage.

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and public buildings that he built in the summer resort of Paghman presaged the garish modern villas that now vie for attention in the suburbs of Kabul and other Afghan cities.

From the 1930s, an altogether broader transformation of Afghan cities gathered pace. Having repaired the damage sustained to Kabul during the overthrow of Amanullah and the brief reign of Habibullah Kalakani, the new ruler Nader Shah commissioned many public buildings and

oversaw the creation of new suburbs. In 1948, as part of measures to modernize the capital, the municipality (the first to be elected) cut a swathe through the old city to create the commercial boulevard of Jade Maiwand, whose modern facades concealed the dense historic fabric behind. A similarly ambitious act of urbanism saw the historic quarter of Mazar-i-Sharif tidied during the 1960s into a new grid-plan with the shrine at its centre. By contrast, with the focus of

development primarily on their outskirts, the historic quarters of Herat and Qandahar survived largely unscathed, and their bazaars continued to be important in commercial life.

With their sights set firmly on ‘modern’ urban development, Afghan planners and bureaucrats came to regard these quarters as fit only for wholesale transformation. The principal tool for this was the ‘master plan’ which, in Kabul in 1976 envisaged the densely-packed traditional

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public parks. Fortunately, there was neither the political will nor the resources to realize this vision of modernity and the surviving historic quarters were left to further decay. With many homes subdivided and only very limited investments in public services, living conditions deteriorated to the extent that these areas were routinely dismissed by municipal officials as ‘slums’. In Kabul in 1978, anti-government agitation in the old city provided a useful pretext for further roads to be driven through, destroying yet more traditional property. Even where there was no direct threat, Afghan planners who worked with Soviet advisers seemed to be at a loss as to how to deal with historic neighbourhoods which, on the master-plans for Herat and Qandahar from the late 1970s appear as a blank space.

The reality, however, is that these neighbourhoods remain vibrant. It is here that migrants seek affordable quarters in decaying traditional homes, where craftsmen continue their trades and where trade is conducted in chaotic bazaars. It is here too that an urban narrative is kept alive in the beliefs and legends associated with historic shrines and sites. The layers of history extend underground; the simple process of digging a trench to repair a water-main in the old city of Herat is likely to turn up fragments of pottery, marble, or sections of clay water pipes.

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Despite the efforts at transformation by planners and their foreign advisers, Afghanistan was unique in how much of its urban heritage survived - albeit in a degraded state - until the early 1990s. Several old cities, including Herat and Qandahar, suffered direct damage during the 1980s, but the conflict largely deterred public or private investment, which spared the historic quarters from the kind of ‘redevelopment’ which might have taken place in more peaceful circumstances. The transformation of the historic quarters of Lahore (Pakistan) and Meshed (Iran) are examples of the impact of ‘normal’ urban development during the 1990s when, by contrast, most Afghan cities experienced a form of conflict-induced stagnation.

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during the mujahideen era, there were few public investments and, with many property owners in exile, the historic quarters continued to decay.

Following the flight in late 2001 of the Taliban from major cities, a gradual process of recovery began. Over time, with the return of refugees and in-migration from rural areas, urban

populations grew significantly, creating an intense demand for land and housing, whose value soared. Almost without exception, Afghan cities have witnessed a dramatic urban sprawl, with much of the new development on the outskirts. Given the commercial potential of central districts, where the historic quarters are situated, developers have turned their attention to these areas. It is indeed ironic that, having in part survived a protracted conflict, these quarters have in recent years faced the very real threat of being destroyed by money.

In Kabul in 2003, a presidential decree prohibiting all new construction in the old city -

ostensibly to safeguard the area - had little impact on the ground and developers continued to act with impunity, acquiring and demolishing historic property for ‘redevelopment’, often in

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turf-war between municipal and ministerial officials - a situation that has proved very useful and lucrative for property speculators.

A similar situation has played out in Herat, whose old city was until recently one of the best-preserved examples of historic urban fabric in the region. It was for this reason that in 2006 UNESCO agreed with Herat municipality and others on measures to safeguard the character of the historic fabric by restricting the height and volume of new structures and specifying external finishes. These guidelines have however rarely been enforced, and demolitions and inappropriate construction continue largely unchecked in the old city. As in Kabul, property adjoining

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The challenges in addressing this situation are multiple. The relevant legal provisions in the 2004 Afghan Cultural Property Law are vague and only state that ‘modification of the structure of a registered monument of historic and artistic value is prohibited, without the authorization of the

Ministry of Information and Culture (which)...makes proper arrangements for the protection of

such monuments (Article 12). As long as the law only applies to ‘registered monuments’ – it has

proved difficult to get areas of historic fabric designated as such – it is clearly not an effective deterrent to the kind of destruction that is taking place in Herat, Kabul and other cities.

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effective legal and administrative framework in which to operate. And any laws and regulations will only be useful if they are enforced; presently government officials show very little

willingness to stand up to powerful interests engaged in property speculation in these or other urban areas. Municipal officials can be forgiven for turning a blind eye to illegal demolition or construction in historic neighbourhoods when the ‘permissions’ obtained by developers bear the signature of senior civil servants in Kabul who publicly lament the loss of Afghanistan’s built heritage.

Even before the senseless damage inflicted by the Taliban on the Bamiyan Buddhas, there was a good deal of hand-wringing among Afghans about the loss of their cultural heritage. Most accounts of the fate of the National Museum in Kabul tend to dwell on the damage inflicted in 2001 on objects considered by the Taliban as idolatrous, but gloss over the fact that the

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What are these choices? Perhaps the most important is for Afghans to acknowledge that the ongoing process of urban transformation will, unless checked, irrevocably destroy an important part of their history. Despite the fact that the inhabitants of historic quarters are often marginal and poor, and therefore have few choices, many have a strong attachment and are protective of the environment in which they live. Their voice needs to be heard by the officials who presently make decisions on their behalf, and who in many cases seem set on a path of wholesale

transformation. If they choose to adopt development approaches that are compatible with safeguarding, Afghan planners and urban managers can draw on the experience of cities elsewhere in the region that have grown and prospered while retaining their unique historic character in certain quarters. The choice facing Afghan political and professionals leaders is between acting soon to protect their old cities or standing by as they disappear under

characterless concrete. If the next generation of Afghans is to inherit a nation that is alive, todays citizens need to rise to the challenge and ensure that their culture, of which historic mosques and shrines, bazaars and merchant homes are an important component, remains alive.

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