Bagh-e Bala Palace: A Former Royal Summer Residence in Kabul
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Palace
On this page4 sections
History
Bagh-e Bala Palace is a former royal palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, built in 1893 by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan as a summer residence. Abdur Rahman Khan, who ruled Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901, died at the palace in 1901.
Royal and Institutional Uses
During the reign of Habibullah Khan, Abdur Rahman Khan’s successor, the building was used first as a castle and later as a guesthouse. In 1919, it housed the National Museum of Afghanistan, the country’s principal institution for preserving and displaying archaeological and historical collections, until the museum’s holdings were moved elsewhere.
Under King Amanullah Khan, who ruled from 1919 to 1929, the palace became a military barracks. It had been abandoned by 1930. King Zahir Shah, Afghanistan’s monarch from 1933 to 1973, later ordered its renovation and conversion into a restaurant during the 1960s.
Renovation and Later History
Bagh-e Bala Palace survived the Afghan civil war of the 1990s. Further renovations took place during the 2000s and 2010s, preserving the interior in an appearance based on its original nineteenth-century design. The palace is not currently in official use, while the surrounding Bagh-e Bala area has become a large public park. American historians Nancy Dupree and Louis Dupree, known for their work on Afghanistan, were married at the palace in 1966.
Remains
Bagh-e Bala Palace stands on a hilltop within Bagh-e Bala, meaning “High Garden,” near Kabul’s Karte Parwan neighborhood. Pine trees surround the building, and the palace grounds contain a large pool added during the 1970s. The setting forms part of the wider Bagh-e Bala public park.
Renovated interiors preserve an appearance based on the palace’s original nineteenth-century design. This surviving interior treatment reflects the building’s early role as a royal summer residence while also incorporating the results of its later restoration.
