Which Kabul fortress inspired the fictional Battle of Khost in Enola Holmes 3?

The Kabul fortress that inspired the fictional Battle of Khost in Enola Holmes 3 was Bala Hissar, Kabul. The film draws on the fortress and its history while presenting a fictionalized battle within the story.

Bala Hissar is a historic fortified site in Kabul, Afghanistan. Its strategic position made it important in the history of the city and in the Anglo-Afghan conflicts. The film’s historical backstory connects the fictional battle to the period when Britain fought Afghanistan during the nineteenth-century Anglo-Afghan Wars.

Khost itself is a city in eastern Afghanistan, so the fictional battle’s name can make viewers assume that the inspiration must be a fortress in Khost. It was not. The production’s historical reference was Kabul’s Bala Hissar fortress, whose fall during the British attack on Kabul helped shape the film’s fictionalized history.