The splendour that was Ghaznavid art, (the most striking and flourishing period of artistic development in
Ghazni) was made possible by the Empire's founder, Sultan Sebuktagin and his son Mahmud Ghaznavi. Both actively encouraged the arts, bringing artists and craftsmen of all trades from all over the expanding Empire during its short 200 year reign. Many were brought from the east of the Empire, (willingly or otherwise) to the courts at Ghazna to create objects and design buildings in what was a thriving city. Whilst not so many items are made today in modern Ghazni, the objects that have survived from the past highlight the artistic skills and craftsmanship that became common in Ghazna and throughout the Empire. Today we can look in history books, the National Museum in Kabul and some museums overseas and we can see the vast variety of skills and talents that were employed to make beautiful objects (as well as design inspiring buildings), in many different materials. We can see this through artefacts designed in bronze and silver - from highly decorated bowls, plates, and jugs to more ornate or luxury items such as stirrups, intricately carved incense burners, candle stands, oil lamps and many beautifully minted coins, often with both Arabic and Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language) stamped on them. Ceramics were also of a high quality with different coloured glazes (a strong shiny coating) and patterns used to decorate both household and luxury items. Many artistic items were probably also crafted from or carved in wood (bowls and furniture for example)
but rarely survive. The most famous example in wood being the intricately carved 'doors of Somnaths, taken from Mahmud's tomb in Ghazni and now in the Red fort in Agra, India. It is also important to remember that although the artists of the Ghaznavid Empire are what Ghazni is remembered for today, the pre-Islamic Buddhist period in the region also offers many earlier examples of skilled art.
The Buddhist art dating from the 2nd - 5th century CE is often called the art of Gandhara (a mixture of art styles from Buddhist India, Graeco-Bactria and Late Roman Empire)
and was famous for its sculptures made in stucco (a type of heavy plaster), clay or schist (a type of shiny rock). Ghaznavid architecture also shows us how art and decoration employed many different materials to make a building, tomb or a monument more beautiful or noticeable. Marble was extensively used and magnificent examples of the variety of designs and motifs employed can be seen from the palace of Massud Ill. Over 512 carved marble panels were discovered, displaying all manner of designs from 'Turkish dancing girls' and men on horseback to lions, elephants and floral scrolls. Stucco work (a type of thick plaster) was also used extensively to embellish the walls of monuments along with sun-baked brick to create geometric patterns on buildings such as the minaret of Bahram Shah. Also at the palace of fvlastud Ill stucco and moulded terra-cotta tiles were inserted in the walls as reliefs above marble panels showing images of wild beasts, birds, and flowers.
These were glazed over in green, brown and yellow enamel (these specialist glazed bricks were mostly manufactured in the west of the Empire at that time, in what is now Iran). Ghaznavid artists also produced some of the most exciting examples of calligraphy in early Islamic art to commemorate great leaders, holy men or in extracts from the Qur'an. The Kufic script (an angular and simple form of writing) was very popular (as on Mahmud Ghaznavi's tomb and on the two famous minarets). Islamic scripts with decorative borders remained popular for several hundred years throughout the Empire. A script called nashki (more flowing than Kufic) was commonly used for writing on parchment (an early form of thin paper). Islamic script was also carved into marble, etched onto bronze, ceramic plates and even clothes.
