From the Mongols to the Taliban: Afghanistan and the Recurring Tragedy of Book Burning and the Erasure of Cultural Memory
From the Mongols to the Taliban: Afghanistan and the Recurring Tragedy of Book Burning and the Erasure of Cultural Memory
Afghanistan is one of the countries that has suffered the most from systematic cultural destruction throughout the ages, with book burning being a prominent manifestation of this ongoing attack on its intellectual and cultural heritage, beginning with the Mongol invasion in the 13th century and continuing to the current era under the Taliban.
During every phase of political turmoil, occupation, or extremism, the libraries and educational centers in the country have faced acts of burning and looting, resulting in the destruction of vast repositories of knowledge, whether due to ideological hatred or attempts to erase the diverse identities that constitute the Afghan cultural fabric.
During the Mongol invasion, one of the greatest crimes against culture was recorded when the famous Ghazni Library was burned. This policy did not stop with the changing rule between successive dynasties, some of which targeted the books of certain sects or ethnicities. During the British occupation, knowledge centers were subjected to systematic attacks, leading to the loss of a vast number of resources.
Despite modernization efforts witnessed in the early 20th century, the scenario of cultural destruction repeated itself amid coups and foreign interventions, especially during the Soviet invasion, which saw thousands of books gathered and destroyed on the grounds that they opposed the ruling ideology of the time.
The situation deteriorated catastrophically in the 1990s during the civil war when Kabul was turned into ruins, and the libraries of Kabul University and others were destroyed. Books containing intellectual and philosophical content, especially those written or authored by women, were criminalized.
The first Taliban regime (1996–2001) represented the peak of hostility toward culture and knowledge. The Taliban did not just close libraries; they actively burned books deemed “illegitimate” according to their narrow interpretations. The prohibition included books on history, philosophy, modern literature, and even some religious texts, in an alarming precedent rarely seen in the Islamic world.
With the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, the cultural crackdown has been renewed, revisiting scenes of burning, confiscation, and tight censorship on libraries and educational institutions, echoing dark chapters in Afghan history. Cultural centers have been shut down, electronic libraries blocked, and books related to women’s rights, arts, and the humanities are pursued and destroyed.
Despite this regression, activists, writers, and educators inside and outside Afghanistan continue to resist this decline through individual and collective initiatives, including secret libraries, teams distributing books in villages and deprived areas, and launching digital projects to preserve Afghan heritage from being lost.
Book burning in Afghanistan is not merely an assault on paper but an attempt to assassinate collective awareness and marginalize the intellect. Nevertheless, the Afghan experience has proven that knowledge can endure despite oppression and that the flame of culture does not extinguish, no matter how fierce the fires.
