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32-684: Bala Hissar , Bala Hisar or Balahisar may refer to: Bala Hissar, Kabul , a fortress in Kabul, Afghanistan Bala Hissar, Peshawar , a fortress in Peshawar, Pakistan Bala Hissar, Mussoorie , a place in Mussoorie, India Bala Hisar, Iran , a village in Iran Balahesar , a village in Samangan Province, Afghanistan [REDACTED] Topics referred to by

64-547: A means of defending against an invasion of Afghanistan and the Punjab Region by France. In 1809, a British diplomatic mission was sent to Afghanistan, which at the time was to the British a remote and mysterious part of Asia. According to Mountstuart Elphinstone , "The King of Kabul [Shah Shujah] was a handsome man". He also wrote "of an olive complexion with a thick black beard ... his voice clear, his address princely." Shujah wore

96-569: Is called the Crown of the Air. I pray for the possession of those pleasures which my native country alone can afford". When Harlan pressed him on whether he wanted to accept his offer or not, Shujah agreed. Harlan had a tailor sew up an American flag, which Harlan hoisted up in Ludhiana, and started to recruit mercenaries for the invasion of Afghanistan, suggesting that he was working for the U.S. government (which he

128-487: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bala Hissar, Kabul Bala Hissar was originally divided into two parts: The lower fortress, containing the stables, barracks and three royal palaces, and the upper fortress (the actual fort with the name Bala Hissar) housing the armory and the dungeon of Kabul, known as the "Black Pit" (the Siyah Chal). The origins of

160-478: The Koh-i-Noor ("Mountain of Light") diamond in one of his bracelets when Elphinstone visited him, but rather undiplomatically described Shujah as having a "vulgar nose". William Fraser , who accompanied Elphinstone to meet Shah Shujah was "struck with the dignity of his appearance and the romantic Oriental awe." Fraser also judged him to be "about five feet six inches (168 cm) tall" and his skin colour

192-578: 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 of the fortress were strengthened and the area of the site expanded. Emperor Jahangir demolished several structures within

224-830: The Afghan Acting Minister of Information and Culture, Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network ) on the reconstructing and consolidation of the walls and the structure, as well as to establish an archeological park at the site. India has pledged approximately $ 1 million to the project. 34°30′20″N 69°11′30″E  /  34.50556°N 69.19167°E  / 34.50556; 69.19167 Shah Shuja Durrani Shah Shujah Durrani ( Pashto / Persian : شاه شجاع درانی  ; November 1785 – 5 April 1842)

256-419: The Bala Hissar fortress are obscure. Pre- Kushan pottery as well as Indo-Greek and Achaemenid coins have been recovered in its vicinity, indicating settlements in the area from at least the 6th century CE. Usage of the site as a citadel has been dated to a period as early as the 5th century; however, minimal evidence exists regarding its precise history. Evidence of notable activity at the site begins with

288-550: The British and Sikhs left. Upon being restored, Shujah announced that he considered his own people "dogs" who needed to be taught how to be obedient to their master. He generally shut himself away in Bala Hissar , the citadel of Kabul, and spent his time exacting bloody vengeance on those Afghans whom he felt had betrayed him, making him extremely unpopular with his people. Obliged by religious pressure, he mustered an army near Kabul on April 4, 1842, notionally to launch an attack on

320-484: The Spring of 1880, a few months before the British left Afghanistan. Roberts ordered the levelling of several Mughal and Durrani-era structures in the fortress, and consequently very little of their architectural contributions remain. The fortress ceased to serve any imperial functions when it was completely abandoned in the 1890s. On August 5, 1979, the Bala Hissar uprising was organized by anti-government groups, but it

352-509: The fortress and built new palaces, audience halls, and a charbagh . His son and successor Shah Jahan , prior to his accession, 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 , Shah Jahan's successor, built a mosque within the fortress. Under the Mughals,

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384-423: The fortress remains overlooking Kabul. When looking at the outer wall of the main fortress, it is possible to see layers of building materials from years of destruction and re-fortification. The tanks and other war wreckage from the last 30 years are strewn about the top of the hillside. Much of the hillside is built up on tunnels and underground storage. Evidence of trenches from previous trench warfare encircles

416-453: The line — and yet they were all slavishly devoted to him — as Harlan noted that there was an "earless assemblage of mutes and eunuchs in the ex-king's service". When Shujah went out for a picnic with his four wives and the wind blew down his tent, Shujah flew into a rage and, much to Harlan's horror, he had the man responsible for putting up his tent, Khwajah Mika—a slave from East Africa who had already had his ears chopped off—to be castrated on

448-404: The main British camp was attacked by a force of Ghazis , of whom 50 were captured. When the prisoners were brought before Shujah, one of them used a knife, hidden in his robes, to stab one of Shujah's ministers to death, causing Shujah to fly into one of his rages and order all 50 prisoners to be beheaded on the spot. The British historian, Sir John William Kaye wrote the "wanton barbarity" of

480-453: The mass execution as all 50 prisoners were beheaded strained the campaign, stating the "shrill cry" of the prisoners as they waited to be executed, was the "funeral wail" of the "unholy policy" of attempting to restore Shujah. Shujah was restored to the throne by the British with the help of the Sikhs, on August 7, 1839, 30 years after his deposition. He did not, however, remain long in power when

512-429: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bala_Hissar&oldid=1033101238 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

544-477: The sense of power he projected, but also that "years of disappointment had created in the countenance of the ex-King an appearance of melancholy and resignation." Harlan, a man without much military experience and knowledge of Pashto , offered to lead an invasion of Afghanistan to restore Shujah, an offer that led the former monarch to break "into a poetical effusion in praise of Kabul" and its gardens, its trees laden with fruits, and its music, culminating with "Kabul

576-588: The sister diamond Dray-i-Nur to Ranjit Singh . He escaped from Ranjit's detention at the Mubarek Haveli Lahore for Ludhiana and the East India Company. From 1818 onward, Shujah who liked to live in a lavish style with his wives and concubines had collected a pension from the East India Company, which thought Shujah might prove useful one day. Shujah stayed first in Ludhiana where he was joined by Zeman Shah in 1821. The place where he stayed in Ludhiana

608-555: The site developed into a notable palace-fortress, comparable in size to those at the Mughal capitals of Agra and Lahore . After the Mughals lost Kabul, the fortress went into neglect, passing into the hands of Persians and the Durranis , until Timur Shah Durrani came to power in 1773. Upon shifting the Durrani capital to Kabul, Timur occupied the fortress and rebuilt a palace within, and used

640-524: The spot. Shujah's grand vizier, Mullah Shakur, had grown his hair long to cover up that both his ears had been chopped off, and he spoke in the distinctive high-pitched voice of a eunuch; Harlan noted he was lucky as the rest of his body was still intact. Despite or perhaps because he was mutilated, Shujah's grand vizier took a great deal of pleasure in mutilating others and was always inciting his master to have somebody mutilated. Harlan commented on "the grace and dignity of His Highness's demeanor", observing

672-456: The support of the British and Ranjit Singh for wresting power from Dost Mohammad Khan. George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland , believed that most Afghans would welcome the return of Shujah as their rightful ruler, but in fact, by 1838, most people in Afghanistan could not remember him, and those that did, remembered him as a cruel, tyrannical ruler and absolutely hated him. During the march on Kabul,

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704-421: The throne on July 13, 1803. In Afghanistan, a blind man by tradition cannot be Emir, and so Shujah's step-brother Mahmud Shah had Zaman blinded, however not killed. After coming to power in 1803, Shujah ended the blood feud with the powerful Barakzai family and also forgave them. To create an alliance with them, he married their "sister" Wafa Begum. In 1809, Shujah allied Afghanistan with British India , as

736-531: The upper most level of the hilltop, which is adorned with an Afghan flag. Wild dogs roam all over the hillside and a company from the Afghan Army is posted at the site. U.S. military and civilians occupied a site below the fortress during Operation Enduring Freedom. The occupants were warned when going up to the castle, to stay on the heavily used paths to avoid mines laid during the Soviet occupation. On 2 February 2021,

768-538: The upper part of the fortress as a state prison and arsenal. His successor Shah Shuja Durrani further developed the fortress. The structures erected by the Durranis replaced many earlier Mughal constructions. As Kabul's principal fortress, Bala Hissar was the stage for several pivotal events in both the First (1838–1842) and Second Anglo-Afghan Wars (1878–1880). The British envoy to Kabul, Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari

800-478: Was "very fair, but dead...his beard was thick jet black and shortened a little by the obliquely upwards, but turned again at the corners ... The eyelashes and the edges of his eyelids were blackened with antimony ." He also described Shujah's voice as "loud and sonorous". In June 1809, he was overthrown by his predecessor Mahmud Shah in the battle of Nimla , and went into exile in The Punjab , where he

832-545: Was allowed to march his troops through Punjab, and in return, he would cede Peshawar to the Sikhs if they could manage to take it. In a concerted campaign, the following year, Shujah marched on Kandahar, while the Sikhs commanded by General Hari Singh Nalwa , attacked Peshawar. In July, Shujah was defeated at Kandahar by an alliance between the Qandahar Sardars and Dost Mohammad Khan . Shujah fled. The Sikhs for their part reclaimed Peshawar. In 1838, Shujah had gained

864-611: Was captured by Jahandad Khan Bamizai and imprisoned at Attock (1811–1812) and then taken to Kashmir (1812–1813) by Atta Muhammad Khan. When Mahmud Shah 's vizier Fateh Khan invaded Kashmir alongside Ranjit Singh 's army, Shujah chose to leave with the Sikh army. He stayed in Lahore from 1813 to 1814. During his time in India, Shujah was imprisoned and forced to give up the Timur Ruby, Koh-i-Noor, and

896-582: Was murdered inside the fort in September 1879 triggering a general uprising and the second phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It was damaged during the Second Anglo-Afghan War when the British Residency was burned down, then later when the armoury exploded. British Army officer Frederick Roberts had wanted to demolish the fortress completely, but in the end it was strengthened and fortified in

928-422: Was not). Harlan ultimately grew disillusioned with Shujah, writing that he did not view him as the "legitimate monarch, the victim of treasonable practices", but rather as "a wayward tyrant, inflexible in moods, vindictive in his enmities, faithless in his attachments, unnatural in his affections. He remembered his misfortunes only to avenge them". In 1833, Shujah struck a deal with Ranjit Singh of Punjab where he

960-678: Was occupied by the Main Post Office near Mata Rani Chowk and inside it there used to be a white marble stone commemorating his stay there. During his time in exile, Shujah indulged his cruelty by removing the noses, ears, tongues, penises, and testicles of his courtiers and slaves when they displeased him in the slightest. When the American adventurer Dr. Josiah Harlan visited Shujah's court in exile, he noted that all of Shujah's courtiers and slaves were missing some part of their bodies as all had in some way displeased their master at some point along

992-731: Was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1803 to 1809. He then ruled from 1839 until his death in 1842. Son of Timur Shah Durrani , Shujah was of the Sadduzai line of the Abdali group of ethnic Pashtuns . He became the fifth King of the Durrani Empire . Shujah was the governor of Herat and Peshawar from 1798 to 1801. He proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan in October 1801 (after the deposition of his brother Zaman Shah ), but only properly ascended to

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1024-606: Was suppressed and tens of people were arrested and executed by the regime. Bala Hissar once again became the focal point of conflict between factions during the Afghan civil war in 1994, between Massoud's and Hekmatyar's forces. Much of the fortress was damaged as a result. Before the Taliban takeover it was manned by the 55th Division of the Afghan National Army and one can see the remnants of tanks and heavy weapons positioned on

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