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Firozkoh (Persian language: فیروزکوه, Fīrōzkōh), or Turquoise Mountain, was the summer capital of the Ghorid dynasty, in the Ghor Province of central Afghanistan. It was reputedly one of the greatest cities of its age, but was destroyed in 1223 after a siege by Tolui, son of Genghis Khan. The location of the city was lost to history. It has been proposed that the Minaret of Jam, in Shahrak District, Ghor Province, is the only standing remains of the city.
Throughout the reign of subsequent Ghurid sultans, Firozkoh continued to prosper as the dynasty expanded. Firozkoh was used as a summer capital, as the leadership of the Ghurid sultanate were semi-nomadic. The city competed with Herat as a center of Ghurid art, literature, and theology. In 1199, the Ghurid sultan, Ghiyath al-Din, ordered the empire to abandon the Karramiyya sect of Islam in favor of Shafi'i law. This decision was unpopular with the city's residents and led to riots.
The Ghurid empire began to collapse after the successive deaths of Ghiyath al-Din in 1203 and his successor Muizz al-Din in 1206. Firozkoh remained rich for a time—Juzjani wrote that the treasury contained "400 camel loads of gold in 800 chests"—although this claim may be unreliable. In 1215, Firozkoh was attacked and defeated by Muhammad II of Khwarazm. However, the city rebelled against his rule when the Khwarazmenian Empire was attacked by the Mongols. Nevertheless, the Mongols laid siege to the city in 1220 before retreating at the start of winter. In 1223, the Mongols returned and forced the city's ruler, Malik Mubariz al-Din, to evacuate to Herat. The Mongols then razed the city, according to Juzjani.
It is also believed that the ancient city was the home of a Jews trading community, documented by inscriptions on tombstones found in the 1950s. The scholar Walter Fischel published an article reviewing the finds and establishing the connections of the Firozkoh community with other Jewish communities in early Medieval Afghanistan.
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