After a century and a half, the repair and decoration of Bala Hisar Fort was completed

Officials say that experts were called from different parts of the country to decorate and repair the ancient fort Bala Hisar in Peshawar, which has been completed recently after nearly a century and a half.

Earlier, the last renovation of the Bala Hisar Fort was done by the British in the 19th century, when the Sikhs built the fort brick by brick.

Mian Imran, the current administrator of Bala Hisar Fort, told Independent Urdu that over a period of one and a half centuries, the inner and outer walls of the fort had fallen into disrepair, and to restore them to their former glory, especially in the Cholistan region of southern Punjab. Teachers were called from who were skilled in repairing forts.

According to the administrator: ‘Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC North) Noor Wali Khan took special interest in Bala Hisar Fort on assuming charge and decided to repair it, considering it as the most important national asset. Historian Brigadier (retd) Ayaz Khan was hired to fulfill this objective.

Ayaz Khan told Independent Urdu that not only he has given written form to the rulers who set foot on the Pashtun land but also to the ‘two and a half thousand years’ civilization of the region.

“It was necessary to preserve the fort to its old glory, which was neglected by the former Frontier Corps officers.”

He said that ‘in ancient times, this brick was used again in the British period in the fort made of Waziri brick in the fort, and it has been used in the present era as well.’

Fort Bala Hisar: A Story of Construction, Destruction and Rebuilding

Historians say about Bala Hisar Fort in Peshawar that it is so ancient that there is no mention of its first builders in any authentic history book.

Historian Ayaz Khan says that ‘coins, antiquities, statues and tools found so far in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa date back to the ‘Achaemenian’ (Achaemenid) period.’

According to historical references and historian Ayaz Khan, the Achaemenid family belonged to Iran and were Zoroastrian in religion.

The Achaemenian dynasty dates back almost two and a half thousand years and the fort is equally old. This claim is clear from the example that the Chinese monks who came to Gandhara after Achaemenid in 630 BC mentioned in their writings the area of ​​present day Peshawar and Bala Hisar fort.

‘The Achaemenians extended to the west bank of the Indus in Gandhara and their famous king was Darius (Dara) the Great. Their main territory in Iran was Persepolis, also known as Takht Jamshed.

Ayaz Khan says that ‘Darius’ Jagir extended to the current Bunir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is mentioned in the historical books of Iran.

Achaemenid monuments have been found in Peshawar, Swabi, Buner, Chakdara, Malakand and Bajaur. The tools and coins discovered during this period can be seen in the Chakdra Museum.’

Ayaz Khan says that there was also a ruler of Achaemenians, Qaimur. A mountain peak situated between Bajaur and Buner is still known by that name after him. All these evidences point to the first invaders setting foot on Gandhara.’

In ancient times, a fort was built on a high place to protect against the enemy. This is the reason why the name Qila Balahisar was also kept in this context.

As many rulers have passed over Gandhara in this writing, Peshawar was also under their control, while the fort Bala Hisar was not only their residence, but from there the enemy was easily dominated.

In short, all the nations that conquered Gandhara have made the fort Bala Hisar their throne, yet no trace of its first builders has been found in authentic historical records.

Second round

According to historians and historical books, the second period after Achaemenid was that of the Greeks. These Greeks rose from Afghanistan Balkh and entered Gandhara and established their rule.

This period is also called ‘Grecobacterian’. These Greeks assimilated religiously and culturally with the natives of Gandhara. Their famous king was Maninder.

Third period

After the death of Alexander the Great, the eastern part of his empire fell to his general Seleucus, who was defeated by the great Maurya king Chandragupta Maurya in 305 BC.

‘The Maurya family came from Central Asia. Gupta was the grandfather of the famous king Ashoka. Maurya dynasty ruled Peshawar Valley, Laghman and Kabul for 100 years and later became followers of Buddhism.

Fourth period

According to historians and historical books, in the year 75 (AD) of the birth of Jesus, a tribe called ‘Kushan’ came from across the river Oxus, who established their rule over the present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Afghanistan, and the Ganges Valley of India. Established an empire. Among their notable kings were Ashoka, Kanishka and Hoishka.

Kanishka ruled from Gandhara to the Ganges in India. Their eastern capital was Paraspora (present-day Peshawar).

He also adopted Buddhism following the footsteps of Emperor Ashoka. Thus, Peshawar became a great center of Buddhism and the arrival of Chinese pilgrims began.

Fifth and sixth periods

According to historians and historical books, the era of Hindu Shahi came after the fall of the Kushan dynasty. During the Middle Ages, the Hindu Shahi established an empire over Kabul, Gandhara and parts of western Punjab that lasted from the 3rd century to the 9th century. It spread from Hindu Shahi Kabul to ‘Hind’ area of ​​Swabi district.

Hindu Shahi was defeated by Muhammad Ghaznavi of Afghanistan, when he first stormed Peshawar.

He defeated the then famous king Jayapala and later his son Anandapala.

Gandhara was under the rule of Mahmud Ghaznavi for a long time and it was during this period that the Pakhtuns accepted Islam as their religion.

Seventh round

According to historians and historical books, the Mughal dynasty moved to Gandhara after Mahmud Ghaznavi, whose founder was Zahiruddin Babur. His rule extended from Delhi to Afghanistan. Later his son Humayun came.

Although the Bala Hisar fort was still in place at that time, they strengthened it militarily to defeat the Pakhtun tribes.

His successors also adopted the same approach and built more forts, posts and pickets to control the Pakhtuns.

After the Mughals came Nadir Shah Afshar of Iran, who stayed in this land for a short time.

Eighth and ninth periods

Nadir Shah’s commander was Ahmad Shah Abdali, who liberated present-day Afghanistan from Iran and renamed Khorasan as ‘Afghanistan’.

His sons Timur Shah and Shah Zaman also occupied Afghanistan and Gandhara.

Later the government came to the hands of Dost Muhammad Khan, the emir of the Barakzai tribe of Afghanistan, and he got the opportunity to rule over Afghanistan and Gandhara. During his rule, Amir Dost Muhammad Khan used to spend the winter in Balahisar and the summer in Afghanistan.

Tenth round

According to historians and historical books, Sikhs moved to Peshawar after winning the Battle of Nowshera in 1837 i.e. in the 19th century. Amir Dost Muhammad Khan’s successors weakened and were defeated by the Sikhs. On the orders of Hari Singh Nalwa and Ranjit Singh, the Sikhs set fire to the palaces and sanctuaries of Fort Bala Hisar, and completely destroyed it.

Historian Ayaz Khan and Balahisar administrator Mian Imran told Independent Urdu that before the disaster, there were miles of beautiful royal gardens in front of Balahisar and a clear water canal (Bara River) passed through them.

According to Ayaz Khan: ‘The Sikhs destroyed these gardens and trees along with the fort of Balahisar. But some time after doing all this, due to internal strategy, they built the walls of Balahisar fort with mud and named it Samirgarh.

11th century

The Sikhs occupied Gandhara for some time. In 1849, the British defeated the Sikhs.

During the British period, the Farangis rebuilt the Bala Hisar fort to its former glory and brought it back to its original state using Waziri bricks. And built barracks for the soldiers. The present shape was given by the British.

Now in 2023, the Bala Hisar fort is in need of renovation and has been restored to the British style so that the fort can be historically preserved as a national asset for future generations.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1948, the Frontier Corps (FC) settled in Fort Bala Hisar, which is still their headquarters.