This world has given many historical structures which are not just structures, but represent country’s past glories. But there are some stupid, arrogant and ignorant humans who destroyed those great monuments. In all the situations, I could see one reason. Its there jealous and selfishness that made them to act brutally.
And it is the need of the hour to protect our precious historic monuments as they are eye openers to future generations that describes one’s country glorious past. Here are eight magnificent historical structures that have been destroyed by some stupid and arrogant people.
1. Nimrud, a monument which is 5,500 years old
The Assyrian city of Nimrud which is located 30 kilometers south of the present day Mosul in Iraq was both historically and culturally significant. It was the city mentioned in the first book of the Bible (Genesis 10, Calah). In the year 2014, ISIS captured Mosul and in 2015, they hammered and dynamited the ruins of the cultural heritage, destroying the artifacts, manuscripts and everything else because they were blasphemous under Islam. Artifacts that were moved previously to museums around the world are the only remains of Nimrud.
Video of ISIS destroying Nimrud:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGiY7ZDKZSE[/embedyt]
2. The Library of Alexandria
The Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, established in the 3rd century BC by Ptolemy I Soter, the successor of Alexander the Great is today a symbol of loss of cultural knowledge. Its believed that the library has 40,000 to 4, 00,000 ancient scrolls at its peak on enormous subjects collected from all over the known world of that time.
However, it was destroyed eventually, stage-by-stage, by the acts of Julius Caesar, Roman emperor Aurelian, Pope Theophilus of Alexandria and Muslim conquest of Egypt. If the library had survived, we would have so much more information about the ancient world.
3. The Bamiyan statues
During 4th and 5th century AD, the statues were carved into the sides of a cliff in Bamiyan in Afghanistan and these were the classic examples of Gandhara art. The grand statues that survived for 1500 years through several conquests, battles and world wars, were finally destroyed in the year 2001 by Taliban because they were considered blasphemous under Islam.
4. Blowing up the Parthenon
The magnificent building was originally a temple of Greek goddess Athena but by the end of 6th century, it was converted into a church after the populace embraced Christianity. The Ottoman Turkish forces captured Athens and the Parthenon was converted into a mosque in the 15th century. The Ottoman Turks decided to use the Parthenon as a gun powder magazine despite the risks during the Great Turkish war fought between 1683 and 1699. Venetian ignited the magazine, partially blowing up the monument on September 26, 1687. For a century-and-half after that, people looted the surviving objects of value from the temple.
5. The massive destruction of the House of Wisdom
During the golden age of Islam, The House of Wisdom of Baghdad also known as Bayt al-Hikma, was the intellectual center. In the 9th century AD , it was founded by Caliph Harun al-Rashid and the library at its time had the largest collection of books in the world, and scholars from different religions were allowed to study there. When Baghdad was seized in the year 1258 by the Mongols, this priceless library of unparalleled knowledge was destroyed. It is said that the Mongols threw so many books into the Tigris river that the water ran black for several days because of the dissolved ink.
6. They converted Qorikancha to a Church
Spanish aggressors captured the Inca empire Qorikancha and killed the last Inca leader, Atahualpa. The temple walls were covered in sheets of gold and looked mesmerizing in the light of the sun. They melted the gold and sent to Spain. In the 16th century AD, the invaders eventually destroyed the temple and spent the next century building the Church of Santo Domingo on the foundation of the very temple, destroying and burying the very traces of the grand monument.
7. The Ransacking of Nalanda
Nalanda university which was established in 5th century AD attracted students from various parts of the world including China, Tibet, Korea, etc. It is located 95 kilometers away from present day Patna, Nalanda. The notable scholars who studied in Nalanda university included Harshavardhana, Dharmapal, Suvishnu, Dharmakirti, Nagarjuna, Xuanzang and Hwui Li, Aryabhatta and many more.
Nalanda University was destroyed three times by invaders, but rebuilt only twice. The third and most destructive attack came when the ancient Nalanda University was destroyed by the Muslim army led by the Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. It is said that Bakhtiyar Khilji had fallen sick and doctors in his court failed to cure him. Then, someone advised him to get himself cured by Rahul Sri Bhadra, the principal of Nalanda University.
As a remedy to his illness, Bhadra asked Khilji to read some pages from the Quran and to everyone’s surprise Khilji was cured. Disturbed by the fact that an Indian scholar and teacher knew more than the doctors of his court, Khilji decided to destroy the roots of knowledge, Buddhism and Ayurveda, from the country. Do you know what he did?
He just set fire to the great library of Nalanda and burned down nearly 9 million manuscripts! The library was so vast and strong that it took three months to completely destroy it. The Turkish invaders also murdered monks and scholars in the university.
8. Demolishing the ruins of Palmyra
It was a multi-cultured wealthy city which had trade connections with China and India, besides other countries. As the city changed hands, Christianity and Islam invaded the culture, the temple was subsequently converted into a church and then into a mosque over the years. The ruin of the 2,000-year-old structure was finally destroyed by ISIS in August 2015. United Nations confirmed its destruction on August 31, 2015,
Jealous and anger can make the person to go to any extent that spoils not only them but also things like this sometimes. Isn’t it? 10 Beautiful Hindu Temples around the world that you should visit at-least once in your life.
Do you know any other great historic monuments that were destroyed? Share us in the comments.
