Balkh

This article is about the town in Afghanistan. For other uses, see Balkh (disambiguation).
"Bactra" redirects here. For the moth genus, see Bactra (moth).
Balkh
بلخ
Town
Ruins of the Green Mosque of Balkh, July 2001
Ruins of the Green Mosque of Balkh, July 2001
Balkh is located in Afghanistan
Balkh
Balkh
Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 36°45′29″N 66°53′53″E / 36.75806°N 66.89806°E / 36.75806; 66.89806
Country Afghanistan
ProvinceBalkh Province
DistrictBalkh District
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Town
138,594[1]
Time zone+ 4.30
ClimateBSk

Balkh[a] is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately 74 kilometres (46 mi) to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021–2022, the National Statistics and Information Authority reported that the town had 138,594 residents.[1] Listed as the eighth largest settlement in the country, unofficial 2024 estimates set its population at around 114,883 people.[3][4]

Historically, the site of present-day Balkh was held in considerably high regard due to its religious and political significance in Ariana. A hub of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, the ancient city was also known to the Persians as Zariaspa and to the Greeks as Bactra, giving its name to Bactria.[5] As such, it was famously known as the capital of Bactria or Tokharistan. The Italian explorer and writer Marco Polo described Balkh as "a noble city and a great seat of learning" prior to the Mongol conquests.[6] Most of the town now consists of ruined buildings, situated some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the right bank of the seasonally flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 metres (1,198 ft).

While it is one of Afghanistan's ethnically diverse settlements, Tajiks account for a substantial portion of Balkh's populace[7][8] and have continuously inhabited the site for millennia.[9] The main language of the town is Dari, which is spoken by a significant majority.[10] Balkh's surrounding region is particularly known for its archeological sites, which attest the presence of many different civilizations that influenced the town's society in various eras. The Belgian-French explorer and spiritualist Alexandra David-Néel associated Balkh with Shambhala, a mythical kingdom that features prominently in ancient Tibetan Buddhism, and also offered the Persian Sham-i-Bala (lit. 'elevated candle') as an etymology of its name.[11] In a similar vein, the British author John G. Bennett, whose academic focus was on the teachings of the Armenian-Greek mystic George Gurdjieff, speculated in his works that Shambhala may have been a Bactrian Sun temple called Shams-i-Balkh, taking note of the Afghan author and mystic Idries Shah as the source of this suggestion.[12]

  1. ^ a b "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22" (PDF). National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2020-21" (PDF). National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA). www.nsia.gov.af. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Afghanistan Population (2024) - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Population of Cities in Afghanistan 2024". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, Z294.15". Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  6. ^ "City of Balkh (antique Bactria)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Provincial Profile - Balkh" (PDF). Regional Rural Economic Regeneration Strategies (RRERS). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Balkh Province". Program for Culture & Conflict Studies. Naval Postgraduate School. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  9. ^ [1] Archived 21 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  10. ^ "Balkh — Afghanistan". 5 September 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  11. ^ David-Néel, A. Les Nouvelles littéraires;1954, p.1
  12. ^ Bennett, J. G., Gurdjieff: Making a New World Bennett notes Idries Shah as the source of the suggestion.


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