Bost was established as a winter capital by King Mahmud Ghaznavi, founder of the Turkish Ghaznavid kingdom (977-1186), who moved his court here from Ghazni for six months of every year. The ruins are spread over a wide area; remains of the Great Palace of Masoud lie on a mound south of the modern provincial capital of Lashkhar Gah. The great arch which stands at the foot of the citadel mound attests to the imposing proportions and lavish decoration expended on the buildings of Bost. North of the fort area the plains are strewn with mounds marking the soldiers' quarters, and to the north of Lashkhar Gah lies the mile-long Lashkhari Bazaar, where the traders who supplied the troops had their shops and nobles built their pleasure villas. The monumental walls of these villas stretch for miles along the river bank. Bost was burned and looted by the Ghorids in 1151 and then razed to the ground by Ghengis Khan in 1220. Uncovered by the Délégation archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA) in 1949, the ruins attest to the magnificence of medieval Islamic architecture. They are reputed to have been damaged during the fighting against the Soviets, but there is still a lot to see.