The Medieval Urbanism of Ghazni (Afghanistan, 10th-12th Centuries). A Cross-Reading of Textual and Material Evidence

Attempts to reconstruct the historical geography of medieval Ghazni are complicated by the scarceness and discontinuity of both textual and material sources. This calls for a cross-check of archaeological and epigraphic data with the testimony of medieval geographers, chroniclers and poets who were conversant with the former capital city of the Ghaznavid sultanate. Such an investigation provides new insights into the growth principles of the town. The close interrelation between secular and religious spaces emerges as one of the main features of Ghaznavid state-sponsored monuments, and may have had an influence on the further developments of the urban fabric.