Pakistan · 7th century
Bala Hissar (Pashto/Urdu /Hindko: قلعه بالاحصار), also spelt Bala Hisar, is a historic fortress located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The existence of a fort at the location was first mentioned by 7th-century explorer Xuanzang; the fort was used as a royal residence for the Durrani Empire since 1772, when Timur Shah Durrani made Peshawar his capital. The Sikh Empire destroyed and reconstructed the fort after conquering Peshawar in March 1823. In 1849, the British East India Company reconstructed the fort's outer walls.
The fort now serves as headquarters for Pakistan's Frontier Corps.
Text adapted from “Bala Hissar, Peshawar” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Bala Hisar Fort ranks #1,830 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #6 of the 31 mapped in Pakistan. Founded c. 650, it is older than 96% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 39 atlas entries founded in the 7th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,264 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Pakistan compares in the castle statistics.
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