3-057-153 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Shah Shoja's old palace, Bala Hissar, Kabul, Afghanistan, c1879. This was the residence of the Kabul ruler and his court. It was destroyed on order of the British General Roberts in 1878-1879, during the second Afghan war, and was eventually reconstructed at a later date. Lieutenant Walter Hamilton made his last stand here, as commander of a military detachment of the Corps of Guides, for the British Resident at Kabul, Sir Louis Cavagnari. On 3rd September 1879 the members of the Residency were attacked by thousands of Afghans. Hamilton and the vast majority of the defenders were killed. The word Bala Hissar refers to a citadel or fortress within a walled town on top of a ridge or hill. Most old Afghan cities had one, serving as residences for Afghan rulers.