Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name Ghazni derives from the Persian word ganj, meaning "treasure." The city sits on a plateau at approximately 2,219 meters above sea level in southeastern Afghanistan and serves as the capital of Ghazni Province.
Ghazni served as the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire for nearly two hundred years, from 977 to 1163. Sultan Mahmud, who reigned from 998 to 1030, made it the foremost center of Persian literature in the early 11th century by gathering scholars, philosophers, and poets at his court.
Xuanzang described the city, which he called Jaguda, as strongly fortified and set in land rich with winter wheat, turmeric, and the herb Ferula asafoetida. He noted the climate was "severely cold with much frost and snow" and that the capital city of Hexina was over thirty li in circuit.
An 18-meter-long reclining Buddha, believed to date from the 8th century CE, was excavated at the Tapa-e Sardar site in Ghazni between the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Taliban destroyed it in 2001, declaring it idolatrous.
The Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta visited Ghazni in 1333 and found that the greater part of the town was in ruins. He visited the grave of Sultan Mahmud, which was surmounted by a hospice, and described Mahmud as "one of the greatest of rulers."
Taliban forces captured Ghazni on the 12th of August 2021 as part of their national offensive. It was the tenth provincial capital to fall to the Taliban during that campaign.