As Kabul's principal fortress, Bala Hissar was the stage for several pivotal events in both the First (1838–1842) and Second Anglo-Afghan Wars (1878–1880). The British envoy to Kabul, Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari was murdered inside the fort in September 1879 triggering a general uprising and the second phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It was damaged during the Second Anglo-Afghan War when the British Residency was burned down, then later when the armoury exploded. British Army officer Frederick Roberts had wanted to demolish the fortress completely, but in the end it was strengthened and fortified in the Spring of 1880, a few months before the British left Afghanistan. Roberts ordered the levelling of several Mughal and Durrani-era structures in the fortress, and consequently very little of their architectural contributions remain.