Shahr-i-Gholghola, The City of Screams

Not far from the Bamyan Buddhas is the legendary Shahr-i-Gholghola. Roughly translated as the 'City of Screams', our local colleague shared the story behind its name. Like all good stories, it starts with...

Once upon a time, there was a king named Jalal-ud-Din who ruled the kingdom in what is modern-day Bamyan. He lived in the citadel pictured above and had several daughters. One of these daughters, Lala, lived in a palace outside of the citadel and had a somewhat fractured relationship with the King. This was all during the time of Genghis Khan's conquest and movement throughout central Asia. Jalal-ud-Din's army had killed one of Khan's favored grandsons in an earlier battle and Genghis Khan himself vowed revenge. When he arrived at the citadel, he discovered that it was basically impenetrable and the people inside were well-protected. However, the king's daughter soon sent him a note. If Genghis Khan promised to spare her home and marry her, she would give him the secret to invade the citadel. He agreed and she told him how to stop/poison (depending on the version of the story) the water supply and dry out the inhabitants. Her betrayal worked and Genghis Khan's army massacred 150,000 people - their screams and wails earned the site its name. In the end, Lala was not rewarded. Genghis Khan was disgusted by her disloyalty to her father and put her to death as well.

During my 2010 visit, I found the silence in the so-called "City of Screams" to be haunting. We tried to hike to the top but the man with the gun had a confusing wave. We couldn't tell whether he was beckoning us up or telling us to get lost. We went with the safe open and stayed near the base. There weren't too many places to wander. If you see the red rocks in the photographs, they're placed to indicate an area that hasn't been de-mined. However, a 360 view from the base still provided us with glorious views of the farm lands surrounding us.