Ali Masjid Fort

Pakistan, Pakistan

---

Ali Masjid Fort is a historic military fortification located at the narrowest and most strategic point of the Khyber Pass in Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, sitting about 10 miles east of Landi Kotal and around 3,174 feet (967 m) above sea level.

It was first built in 1837 by the Afghan Amir Dost Mohammad Khan after the Afghan–Sikh battle at Jamrud to assert control over the Khyber region and establish a permanent garrison there. The fort became a key site during the Anglo-Afghan Wars: it was captured by British forces in 1839 during the First Anglo-Afghan War and again in November 1878 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War after the Battle of Ali Masjid, when General Sir Samuel Browne’s Peshawar Valley Field Force defeated Afghan troops under Faiz Muhammad.

In 1879, the Khyber Pass was formally ceded to the British under the Treaty of Gandamak, so the fort became part of the British Raj, and after independence in 1947 it became part of Pakistan.