Bala Hissar of Kabul

Bala Hissar (lit. "the High Fort") was an ancient fortress located in the south of the old city of Kabul, Afghanistan. Perched on an outcrop of the Sher Darwaza ridge that borders the historic city on its south, the site was high enough to dominate the adjoining town and low enough to sink wells for water. Its position at the crossroads of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ensured that, even when not the primary seat of power, its fortress always had military and political significance.^[1]^[2]

Origins and Mughal period

The estimated date of construction is around the 5th century AD, though archaeological observations by the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA) from 2007 confirmed that major defensive works were carried out on the western end of the rocky ridge as early as the 2nd century BCE.^[2]^[3] Pre-Kushan pottery, Indo-Greek and Achaemenid coins have been recovered in the vicinity, indicating settlements in the area from at least the 6th century CE.^[4]

Evidence of notable activity at the site begins with the Mughals. The fortress was besieged and conquered by Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, in 1504. After Akbar succeeded his father and consolidated his rule over Kabul, the Bala Hissar became the primary residence of the subahdar (governor) of Kabul Subah. The outer walls were strengthened and the area of the site expanded. Emperor Jahangir demolished several structures within the fortress and built new palaces, audience halls, and a charbagh garden. His son and successor Shah Jahan built himself quarters within the fortress that earned the admiration of Jahangir; as emperor, Shah Jahan later resided in the Bala Hissar during his campaigns in Central Asia. Aurangzeb built a mosque within the fortress. Under the Mughals, the site developed into a notable palace-fortress, comparable in size to those at the Mughal capitals of Agra and Lahore.^[4]^[5]

Durrani occupation

After the Mughals lost Kabul, the fortress went into neglect, passing into the hands of Persians and the Durranis. In 1775, Timur Shah Durrani came to power and, upon shifting the Durrani capital from Kandahar to Kabul, occupied the fortress and rebuilt a palace within it. He used the upper part of the fortress as a state prison — the "Black Pit" (the Siyah Chal) — and arsenal. His successor Shah Shuja Durrani further developed the fortress.^[4]

The Bala Hissar was originally divided into two parts: the lower fortress, containing stables, barracks and three royal palaces, and the upper fortress housing the armory and the dungeon of Kabul.^[4]

First Anglo-Afghan War

During the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842), British-Indian forces that came to Kabul with Shah Shuja did not occupy the Bala Hissar but built a new cantonment north of the Kabul river. This cantonment was badly sited, overlooked by nearby hills, and when fighting broke out in late 1841 it became difficult to hold, leading to the disastrous withdrawal in early 1842.^[2]

Following the retreat and massacre of British Indian and Sikh forces in 1842, a punitive expedition under General Frederick Roberts was mounted. Roberts razed much of the settlement in the lower enclosure of the Bala Hissar, and part of the upper citadel was destroyed by a munitions explosion before the British withdrew to India.^[2]^[6]

Second Anglo-Afghan War

Almost forty years later, the fortress was the stage for events that triggered the second phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880). In 1879, the Afghan ruler Sher Ali Khan had been suspected by British politicians of seeking an alliance with Russia, prompting an invasion. A residential compound was allocated to the British envoy, Sir Louis Cavagnari, in Kabul.^[2]

Five weeks after Cavagnari had arrived, the residency was attacked by mutinying soldiers from Afghan regiments who had been moved to Kabul but were in arrears of pay. Cavagnari and his entire escort were killed on 3 September 1879, and the residency was sacked.^[2]^[7]

This sparked another phase of the war. A British force advanced on Kabul in October 1879, initially occupying the Bala Hissar after clearing its inhabitants. Shortly after, there was an explosion — most probably accidental — in one of the gunpowder magazines in the upper part of the fortress. This caused casualties and damage, and the British temporarily withdrew from the Bala Hissar and occupied the partly-constructed Sherpur cantonment. Some buildings within the lower part of the Bala Hissar were demolished to salvage their timbers for building accommodation in Sherpur and strengthening its defences.^[2]

In early 1880, British forces re-occupied the Bala Hissar. They strengthened its outer walls but demolished even more of its buildings to create clear defensive areas within the more vulnerable parts of the fortress. The state of the Bala Hissar — outer walls intact but many buildings demolished — was the condition when, later in 1880, the British handed over control of northern Afghanistan to the incoming Amir, Abdur Rahman Khan. He decided the fortress was not fit for his occupation and built a new fortress-palace, the Arg, on the plain north of the Kabul river.^[2]

Frederick Roberts had wanted to demolish the fortress completely, but in the end it was strengthened and fortified in the spring of 1880, a few months before the British left Afghanistan.^[4]

Modern history

The fortress ceased to serve any imperial functions when it was completely abandoned in the 1890s.^[4] On 5 August 1979, the Bala Hissar uprising was organised by anti-government groups against the communist regime but was suppressed within hours, with tens of people arrested and executed.^[4]

The Bala Hissar once again became the focal point of conflict during the Afghan civil war in 1994, between the forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Much of the fortress was damaged as a result.^[4]

After 2001, the site was manned by the 55th Division of the Afghan National Army, and remnants of tanks and heavy weapons from the preceding decades were positioned on the fortress remains overlooking Kabul.^[4]

Archaeology and conservation

The Bala Hissar is one of the largest and most prominent monuments and archaeological sites in Kabul, of international historic significance. The site has largely avoided being looted, making it a primary archaeological deposit. Archaeological observations from 2007 confirmed that the defensive works were organised around a system of terraces covering the slope of a rocky spur, with what may have been a stupa at its highest point.^[2]^[3]

During the Second Anglo-Afghan War, General Roberts ordered the levelling of several Mughal and Durrani-era structures in the fortress, and consequently very little of their architectural contributions remain.^[4] In 2018 and 2019, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture conducted emergency stabilization activities on the dominant northeast tower and the interconnecting east and north elevations, which were on the verge of imminent collapse.^[2]

Long-term plans envisage the whole Bala Hissar complex being rehabilitated as Kabul's largest public-managed open space and the city's first designated "Heritage" or "Archaeological Park".^[2]