Bamiyan University is located in Bamiyan Province

Bamiyan Province

Bamyan Province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the centre of the country. Its capital is also called Bamyan. The majority of the population are Hazaras, with 16% Sadat, 15% Tajiks, and Pashtuns and Tatars in smaller numbers...

, central Afghanistan, part of the Hazara-populated region known as the Hazarajat

Hazarajat

The Hazarajat is the original homeland of the Hazara people, and lies in the central highlands of Afghanistan, among the Koh-i-Baba mountains and the western extremities of the Hindu Kush. Its physical boundaries, however, are roughly marked by the Bamiyan Basin to the north, the headwaters of...

.

Pre-Taliban

Bamiyan University was initiated around 1994 (another source indicates 1997) with the support of the Hazara political party Hezb-i-Wahdat. Prior to the Taliban takeover of the area, there were 400-500 male and female students at Bamiyan University, under 40 professors. In the mid-1990s, its facilities were simple, consisting of just a few mud huts.

Taliban era

The university was closed by the Taliban after their capture of the city of Bamiyan in September 1998. Two buildings were stripped for scrap, while the third was used as a Taliban barracks and communications center. This third building was destroyed by U.S. airstrikes at the start of the War in Afghanistan

War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...

 in 2001.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Under the American and New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team

Provincial reconstruction team

A Provincial Reconstruction Team is a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in late 2001 or...

s, the university was refurbished. Construction was, at one point, delayed due to the need to clear landmines, leading to student protests. A number of Afghans who had taken refuge in Iran returned to Bamiyan, and of that group several female intellectuals became lecturers at the university.