Balkh

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This article is about the city in Afghanistan. For other uses, see Balkh (disambiguation).
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Balkh
بلخ
Βάχλο
Ruins of the Green Mosque (Dari: مَسجدِ سَبز‎, romanized: Masjid-i Sabz),[1] named for its green-tiled Gonbad (Dari: گُنبَد‎, dome),[2] in July 2001
Ruins of the Green Mosque (Dari: مَسجدِ سَبز‎, romanized: Masjid-i Sabz),[1] named for its green-tiled Gonbad (Dari: گُنبَد‎, dome),[2] in July 2001
Balkh is located in Afghanistan
Balkh
Balkh
Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: Coordinates: 36°46′00″N 66°54′00″E / 36.76667°N 66.90000°E / 36.76667; 66.90000
Country Afghanistan
ProvinceBalkh Province
DistrictBalkh District
Elevation
1,198 ft (365 m)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • City
138,594[4]
Time zone+ 4.30
ControlIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan Taliban

Balkh (/bælx/; Pashto/Dari: بلخ‎, Balkh; Ancient Greek: Βάκτρα, Báktra; Bactrian: Βάχλο, Bakhlo), is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan, about 20 km (12 mi) northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 mi) south of the Amu Darya river and the Uzbekistan border. Its population was recently estimated to be 138,594.[4]

Balkh was historically an ancient place of religions, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and one of the wealthiest and largest cities of Khorasan, since the latter's earliest history. The city was known to Persians as Zariaspa and to the Ancient Greeks as Bactra, giving its name to Bactria. It was mostly known as the center and capital of Bactria or Tokharistan. Marco Polo described Balkh as a "noble and great city".[5] Balkh is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated some 12 km (7.5 mi) from the right bank of the seasonally flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 m (1,198 ft).

French Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh, also offering the Persian Sham-i-Bala ("elevated candle") as an etymology of its name.[6] In a similar vein, the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple.[7]

Etymology[]

The old name of Balkh was Bami which was named after the Indo-Scythian Naga queen, Bami.[8] The Bactrian language name of the city was βαχλο. In Middle Persian texts, it was named Baxl (Middle Persian: