Origins & Early History It is surprising to note that no one is clear about the origin of the fort and many believe that the fort was built by the Mughals. This wrong concept about the origin of this fort has adopted because of the fact that only the Moghuls maintained diaries and mentioned about it. Babar, who was very meticulous, never said that he built Bala Hisar. In actual fact the fort is as old as the city itself. It will be seen that the main entrance of the fort directly faces the ancient Route to India [Peshawar­ Charsadda (Pushkalavati) route]. The same route is further extended to the historic city of Shahbaz Garhi (Po-lo-Sha or Varshapura) and onwards to Hund (Udabhandpura). This shows that fort must be at least about 2000 to 2500 years old and must have been the residence of the city chief of those days. Renowned historian Dr. Ahmad Hasan Dani in his book "Peshawar - Historic City of Frontier" writes that when Hiuen Tsang visited Peshawar (630 AD), he speaks of a �royal residence�. He says that the Chinese words �Kung Shing� used for it is significant and is explained as fortified or walled portion of the town in which the royal palace stood. Hiuen Tsang then makes a separate mention of the city which was not fortified. This shows that the royal residence formed the nucleus of a Citadel, which must have been further protected by a moat. Dr. Dani further says that channel of old Bara river surrounded a high spot which includes the Bala Hisar and Andar Shahr. The higher area could have been Citadel which is the present Bala Hisar. Under the Ghaznavids Peshawar has always remained a strategic city and its capture was of great importance for the invaders. When Subuktagin captured Peshawar in 988 AD he garrisoned 10,000 horses there. Due to the concept of having a citadel dominating the city nearby, it is easy to infer that Subuktagin's garrison must have been in the Bala Hisar Fort, by whichever name it existed then. Mahmud of Ghazni had defeated Hindu Rajas Jaipal and Anandpal in 100 AD and 1006 AD respectively near Peshawar. The Raja's forces must have sought strength and protection from the citadel of Peshawar, which was also protected by the surrounding channel of Bara River. Seeing the importance of the city, Mohammad Ghauri also took Peshawar in 1179 AD. Under the Moghuls Babar's Visits to Bagram: The great founder Mughal Emperor, Zahir ud Din Babar has frequently mentioned about the fort of Bala Hisar in his memories. He talks of this dismounting near Bigrarn (or Begrarn, old Peshawar) and then going out for hunting. He had also visited the great �tree� the Pipal Mandi area, which Hiuen Tsang had seen, having four sitting figures of Budha underneath. Babar left the fort in the charge of Shah Mir Hussain before his onward march into India. Under Emperor Humayun: When Mughal Emperor Humayun was overthrown by the great Afghan King Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan destroyed Fort Bala Hisar also. While going to Kabul, Humayun however stayed at Peshawar and rebuilt Bala Hisar. Record of this event by Abul Fazal is quoted by Major Naimat in his article on Bala Hisar. "After the overthrow of Emperor Humayun, by Sher Shah Suri, Afghans destroyed the fort of Begram (Peshawar). When Humayun was staying in the fort, he decided to rebuild it and garrison it and then proceed to Kabul. He wanted to use the fort for his conquest of India at a later stage. After returning from Persia he made use of the fort". Under the Durranis The Royal Residence: Ahmad Shah Durrani captured the fort from Moghuls and made it a residential palace. Taimur Shah Durrani, the son of Ahmad Shah Durrani had made Peshawar his winter capital. While at Peshawar, his royal residence used to be in Bala Hisar Fort. However no buildings or structures of his days exist in the present fort. Taimur Shah kept a bodyguard of "Gholami Shahis" consisting of Persians and Tajiks for protection. In 1779, when a Khalil Chief Faizullah Khan forced his entry into Bala Hisar, the King was saved by the same bodyguards.
Visited on
Weekday
Wait time
No wait
Reservation recommended
No

The Bala Hisar is a Fort on GT Road. The fort has a museum inside. This museum is established in an old time prison. The museum still has the feeling of Barrack-Room and prisoners cell. It has different rooms where the history and the items of different units of FC are on the display. It also had the room where prisoners would be hanged. Old weapons, clothes and items of daily use of the people of KPK and tribal areas are kept. Few galleries house the items recently captured from terrorists. Over all a good place to visit.

Great historic site. Good to visit at early evenings with family. Well maintained and decently organized place.

It's not open now for public as it is now under army control.

Historical Place, Everyone should go there.

Public not allow to enter this place

Great place