After the accession of Abdur Rahman in 1880 the city underwent great changes. The Bala Hissar was destroyed and has never since been entirely rebuilt, and a fortified cantonment at Sherpur (one side of which was represented by the historic Bemaru ridge) had taken the place of the old earthworks of the British occupation of 1842 which were constructed on nearly the same site. The city streets were as narrow and evil-smelling, the surrounding gardens as picturesque and attractive, and the wealth of fruit was as great, as they had been fifty years previously. The amir, however, effected many improvements. Kabul is now connected by well-planned and metalled roads with Afghan Turkestan on the west, with the Oxus and Bokhara on the north, and with India on the east. The road to India was first made by British and is now maintained by Afghan engineers. The road southwards to Ghazni and Kandahar was always naturally excellent and has probably needed little engineering, but the general principle of road-making in support of a military advance has always been consistently maintained, and the expeditions of Kabul troops to Kafiristan have been supported by a very well graded and substantially constructed road up the Kunar valley from Jalalabad to Asmar, and onwards to the Bashgol valley of Kafiristan. The city ways have been improved until it has become possible for wheeled vehicles to pass, and the various roads connecting the suburbs and the city are efficiently maintained. A purely local railway has also been introduced, to assist in transporting building material. The buildings erected by Abdur Rahman were pretentious, but unmarked by any originality in design and hardly worthy representation of the beauty and dignity of Mahommedan architecture. They included a new palace and a durbar hall, a bridge across the river and embankment, a pavilion and garden laid out around the site of Baber's tomb overlooking the Chardeh valley; and many other buildings of public utility connected with stud arrangements, the manufacture of small arms and ammunition, and the requirements of what may be termed a wholesale shop under European direction, besides hospitals, dispensaries, bazaars, &c. The new palace is within an entrenchment just outside the city. It is enclosed in a fine garden, well planted with trees, where the harem serai (or ladies' apartments) occupies a considerable space. The public portion of the buildings comprise an ornamental and lofty pavilion with entrances on each side, and a high-domed octagonal room in the centre, beautifully fitted and appointed, where public receptions take place. The durbar hall, which is a separate building, is 60 yards long by 20 broad, with a painted roof supported by two rows of pillars. But the arrangement of terraced gardens and the lightly constructed pavilion which graces the western slopes of the hills overlooking Chardeh are the most attractive of these innovations.