Christian Defacement of the Bamiyan Buddhas A Hidden History Revealed

By Robert Korczynski with the assistance of Grok by xAI

Step into the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan in the seventh century just 400 miles off the ancient Silk Road that pulsed with travelers, and behold the Bamiyan Buddhas—colossal guardians standing at 174 feet and 115 feet or 53 meters and 35 meters, the grandest depictions of the Buddha or any religious figure ever carved into existence (Morgan, 2012). Chiseled into a towering limestone cliff in the 6th and 7th centuries, Salsal and Shahmama stood with their hands forming sacred mudras, their tranquil faces watching over the monasteries within their forms—caves where monks meditated, letting pilgrims gaze upon them from all angles, even from within the statues’ hallowed cores (Petzet, 2009). The Taliban shattered these wonders in 2001 obliterating them with explosives, but long before the Taliban destroyed their bodies someone else had removed their eyes, noses, and hands, and the larger one’s feet, and based on that unique pattern of destruction they were not defaced by Muslims like the Reclining Buddha, they were defaced by Iconoclastic Byzantine Christians who scratched or chiseled out the eyes and noses of all statues, while sometimes ignoring the mouths, but they also removed the hands and feet of statues.

Yazid II’s Edict: Just The Faces

In 723 CE, Umayyad Caliph Yazid II, swayed by his Jewish advisor Beser (who may have been from a section of Syria called "Christian Syria"), issued an edict banning images of living beings—humans, animals, angels—in sacred and public spaces, as recorded by Theophanes the Confessor (Chronographia, 810–814 CE, as cited in Brubaker & Haldon, 2011). Beser’s Jewish aniconism, drawn from Exodus 20:4, targeted Christian icons, while Yazid II extended it to Islamic realms and all public images aligning with Hadith aniconism (Sahih Bukhari 72:835, as cited in Flood, 2002). The faces of Jesus, saints and angels were either removed from Christian churches or covered over, and everywhere throughout the Muslim world the faces of all living beings were removed from both images and statues.

Leo III’s Decree and the Second Christian Iconoclastic Period: A Storm of Destruction

Five years later, in 728 CE, Emperor Leo III the Isaurian of the Byzantine Christian Empire unleashed iconoclasm with a decree banning religious imagery (Herrin, 2007) which resulted in the First Christian Iconoclast Period generally dated to about 726–787 CE, and then the Second Christian Iconoclastic Period from 814–842 CE, a relentless storm under emperors like Leo V and Theophilus, demolishing sacred art across Christian domains (Brubaker & Haldon, 2011). The Bamiyan Buddhas, just 400 miles from the Silk Road—leading to the Byzantine Christian Empire, or 1,400 miles across modern-day Iran (Morgan, 2012)—were caught in this tempest. Christians struck with brutal precision: noses and eyes erased, mouths and lips eerily spared, while hands were smashed, the feet of the larger Buddha were also broken off, while the smaller Buddha used to have a monastery built around the feet that protected them from destruction (Petzet, 2009). This mirrors Christian iconoclasm elsewhere—like the Venus de Milo stripped of features, hands, and limbs (Herrin, 2007; Kousser, 2008). Hands in mudras, emblems of Buddhist wisdom, were annihilated, as Christians believed that gods resided within statues, demanding obliteration (Stewart, 2003).

Regional Echoes: The Reclining Buddha’s Tale

In the Bamiyan region, other statues murmur of contrasting fates. The Reclining Buddha in Kakrak Valley had its face completely removed, yet its hands remained—consistent with Muslim destruction elsewhere that just removed faces (Morgan, 2012). Nearby Buddhas shared this pattern: faces erased, hands untouched, in keeping with Yazid II's Edict (Petzet, 2009).

Why Christians, Not Muslims, Bear the Blame: A Pattern of Destruction

• Christian Fury Unleashed: During the First and Second Christian Iconoclastic Periods Christians obliterated noses, eyes, hands and feet, while sparing the mouths (Brubaker & Haldon, 2011). This rampage swept the Byzantine Christian Empire and former Roman lands, leaving almost all Greek and Roman statues—like the Venus de Milo or Discobolus—noseless, eyeless, and handless in museums worldwide (Kousser, 2008; Stewart, 2003).

• Muslim Restraint: Yazid II’s 723 CE edict only demanded removing the faces of all beings, animal, human, or angelic, including the Buddhas’ faces, but left all hands and feet intact (Petzet, 2009).

• A Peaceful Coexistence: Muslims in Bamiyan coexisted with Buddhists into the 800s, their harmony evident (Flood, 2002). It was Christian oppression during the Second Christian Iconoclastic Period that likely drove Buddhists to Tibet, as with Padmasambhava, a Bamiyan master in the 8th century, who fled after losing his kingdom, bringing Buddhism to Tibet (Powers, 2007).

Focusing On Muslim Taliban Destruction: Hiding Christian Iconoclast Destruction

Mainstream narratives, like UNESCO’s focus on the Taliban’s 2001 destruction, paint Muslims as the lone destroyers, erasing Christian culpability (UNESCO, 2021; Kakissis, 2021). The New York Times (March 2001) labeled the Taliban’s act “Islamic extremism,” ignoring the Christian extremism and defacement 1,200 years earlier (Kakissis, 2021). This skewed lens brands Muslims as cultural vandals, absolving Christians of the far worse destruction done 1,200 years ago (Flood, 2002). Built in the 600s (circa 520–650 CE), the Buddhas stood through Muslim rule, with Buddhists flourishing into the 800s (Morgan, 2012). Only Christian oppression during the Second Christian Iconoclastic Period (814–842 CE) likely expelled them, as seen with Padmasambhava’s exodus (Powers, 2007). The Christian defacement—carving faces to the chin, sparing mouths, shattering hands—reveals a fervor Muslims lacked (Petzet, 2009). This truth rewrites history and challenges the narrative scapegoating Muslims.

Rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas: A Restoration Dilemma

Today, the Bamiyan Buddhas rise from ruin, rebuilt from rubble born of the Taliban’s 2001 destruction—a month-long assault with RPGs, dynamite, and rockets, leaving only an outline against the back wall (UNESCO, 2023). Yet, the scars of Christian defacement from 1,200 years ago during the Second Christian Iconoclastic Period persist: hands in mudras, the larger Salsal’s feet, and faces from the mouth up all remain lost (Petzet, 2009). A haunting question looms—will restorers resurrect the Buddhas’ 6th-century majesty, with hands, feet, and faces whole before the Iconoclast Byzantine Christians removed their eyes, noses and hands, or will they rebuild them to the state they were in before the Taliban destruction, just bodies with mouths, but no eyes, noses, or hands (Morgan, 2012)? This choice will echo through time, shaping the Bamiyan Buddhas’ legacy and the truths we dare to tell about religious intolerance.

References

• Baumer, C. (2016). The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity. I.B. Tauris.

• Brubaker, L., & Haldon, J. (2011). Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era (ca 680–850): A History. Cambridge University Press.

• Flood, F. B. (2002). “Between Cult and Culture: Bamiyan, Islamic Iconoclasm, and the Museum.” The Art Bulletin, 84(4), 641–659.

• Herrin, J. (2007). Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. Princeton University Press.

• Kakissis, J. (2021, March 9). “20 Years After The Taliban Destroyed The Bamiyan Buddhas, Afghans Keep Their Memory Alive.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/09/975194789/20-years-after-the-taliban-destroyed-the-bamiyan-buddhas-afghans-keep-their-memory

• Kousser, R. (2008). Hellenistic and Roman Ideal Sculpture: The Allure of the Classical. Cambridge University Press.

• Morgan, L. (2012). The Buddhas of Bamiyan. Harvard University Press.

• Petzet, M. (Ed.). (2009). The Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan: Safeguarding the Remains. ICOMOS.

• Powers, J. (2007). Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Snow Lion Publications.

• Stewart, P. (2003). Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response. Oxford University Press.

• UNESCO. (2021). “20th Anniversary of the Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.” UNESCO. https://en.unesco.org/news/20th-anniversary-destruction-buddhas-bamiyan

• UNESCO. (2023). “Bamiyan Cultural Landscape: Ongoing Restoration Efforts.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/208/