Darul Aman Palace

The ruined Darul Aman Palace, located on the periphery of Kabul.

Darul Aman Palace ("abode of peace") is a European-style palace located about ten miles outside of the center of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Darul Aman was built during the 1920s as a part of the reformist King Amanullah Khan's modernization drive. It is an imposing neoclassical building on a hilltop overlooking a flat, dusty valley in the western part of the Afghan capital. Intended as the seat for a future parliament outside of Kabul, the building was unused for many years after religious conservatives forced Amanullah from power and halted his reforms.

Darulaman Palace was first gutted by fire in 1969. It was restored to house the Kabul Museum and later the Defense Ministry during the 1970s and 1980s. During the Communist coup of 1978, The Darul Aman Palace, which housed the government's defense ministry, was set on fire. The destruction of Darul Aman marked the end of the Saur Revolution, which lasted two days. But it was destroyed again as rival mujahideen factions fought for control of Kabul during the early 1990s. Heavy shelling by the mujahideen after the end of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan left the building a shell.

In 2005, a plan was unveiled to refurbish Darul Aman Palace for use as the seat of Afghanistan's future parliament. It would be funded primarily by private donations from foreigners and wealthy Afghans.

On a hill behind the Darul Aman Palace stands the Tajbeg Palace, built for Amanullah's wife, Queen Soraya. During the Soviet war, housed the headquarters of the Soviet 40th Army.

Gallery

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  Darul Aman Palace northern elevation showing shelling damage inflicted during mujahideen fighting for Kabul after Soviet withdrawal
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  Heavy snowfall at the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul
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  Darul Aman Palace western elevation
• 
  2 US Special Forces soldiers view Kabul looking north.
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  US Commandos patrolling a heavily bombed out room in the palace in 2002.

External links

• Darul-Aman Project for Kabul