World · South & Central Asia · 12 hrs ago
Kabul's Bala Hissar fortress reveals more than 2,000 years of history
Archaeologists are uncovering more than 2,000 years of history at Bala Hissar, a fortress above Kabul’s old city in Afghanistan.
The finds include ancient coins, Buddhist statue fragments, Islamic ceramics and the remains of homes, palaces and a monastery.
One excavation revealed parts of a Mughal palace, including murals, a throne-like structure and a star-shaped pool carved into rock.
Bala Hissar was a strategic stronghold and center of power on a trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with Central Asia.
It served over the centuries as a fortress, palace, arsenal, prison and military garrison, and was repeatedly damaged and rebuilt.
War and neglect have left much of the site in ruins, including crumbling defensive walls and abandoned military equipment.
A long-running conservation project aims to create a public archaeological park with gardens, restaurants and a museum; part of the site is still used by the Afghan military.
A yearslong conservation project is uncovering more than two millennia of history at Kabul’s Bala Hissar fortress.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture aims to turn the site into a public archaeological park with gardens, restaurants and a museum.
Excavations have found ancient coins, Buddhist statue fragments, Islamic ceramics, pottery and remains of palaces, monasteries and dwellings.
The fortress served as a defensive stronghold, religious settlement and political center on a trade route linking the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia.
British troops destroyed much of the complex in 1879, and the site still bears damage from conflict and neglect.
- Who
- The Aga Khan Trust for Culture is carrying out the conservation project. Archaeologist Babak Rafiei-Alavi and Aga Khan Cultural Services Project Manager Mustafa Nouri describe the discoveries and the site.
- What
- Excavations and conservation work are revealing archaeological remains at Bala Hissar. The project aims to create a public archaeological park.
- When
- The fortress’s history spans more than two millennia. The conservation project is described as yearslong.
- Where
- Bala Hissar fortress, above the southern edge of Kabul’s old city in Afghanistan.
- Why
- The project aims to conserve the fortress and turn it into a public archaeological park. The site’s strategic location also made it an important defensive, religious and political center.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Bala Hissar was used as a strategic defensive location.
British troops destroyed much of the complex after the killing of British envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari and his entourage inside the fortress.
The U.S. withdrawal took place, after which large-caliber weapons were left at the site.
A yearslong conservation project is under way, while excavations uncover archaeological remains.
- Location
- Bala Hissar fortress, Kabul, Afghanistan
- History
- More than two millennia
- Project organization
- Aga Khan Trust for Culture
- Excavation sites
- Five separate trenches
- Destruction
- British troops destroyed much of the complex in 1879
- Future plan
- Public archaeological park with landscaped gardens, restaurants and a museum
What people are saying
We never thought we would find so much
It’s like a submarine coming out of the ocean.
part of a string of pearls of these types of cultural and human settlements
Effectively, whoever controlled Bala Hissar controlled Kabul, and controlled the region