Dorm groundbreaking at Bamiyan University

Bamyan University ( fa, دانشگاه بامیان, ps, دبامیان پوهنتون, established approximately 1994 or 1997) is a public university in

Bamyan Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an alti ...

, central

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

History

Pre-Taliban

Bamyan University was initiated around 1994 (another source indicates 1997) with the support of the Hazara political party

Hezb-i-Wahdat Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan ( prs, حزب وحدت اسلامی افغانستان, "the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan"), shortened to Hezbe Wahdat (, "the Unity Party"), is an Afghan political party founded in 1989. Like most contemp ...

. Before the Taliban takeover of the area, there were 400-500 male and female students at Bamyan University, under 40 professors. In the mid-1990s, its facilities were simple, consisting of a few mud huts.

Taliban era

The university was closed by the Taliban after their capture of the city of Bamyan in September 1998. Two buildings were stripped for scrap, while the third was used as a Taliban barracks and communications center. This third building was destroyed by U.S. airstrikes at the start of the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

in 2001.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Under the American and New Zealand

Provincial Reconstruction Team A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRT ...

s, the university was refurbished and reopened in 2004 with admission of 97 male and female students; the academic staff was 40 with a majority holding a master's degree. Construction was, at one point, delayed due to the need to clear landmines, leading to student protests. A number of Afghans who had taken refuge in Iran returned to Bamyan; of that group several female intellectuals became lecturers at the university.

References

External links