Balkh

Balkh is a historic city in northern Afghanistan, situated in Balkh Province near the site of the ancient city of Balkh, historically known as Bactria. The provincial capital of Balkh Province is Mazar-i-Sharif, and the modern city lies in the surrounding region along the Balkh plain.

The city’s history reaches back to antiquity. It was one of the oldest inhabited centers in the region and a major node on the Silk Road. Over the centuries it was part of the Achaemenid Empire, came under Macedonian and Greco-Bactrian rule, and later played a significant role under Kushan and Sassanian authorities. With the spread of Islam in the 7th century, Balkh developed as a religious and intellectual hub and remained influential through successive dynasties in the broader Iranian and Central Asian milieu. It endured various conquests and suffered substantial destruction during the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, after which its political prominence declined.

In the modern era, Balkh is part of Afghanistan’s northern region within Balkh Province. The local economy is primarily agricultural, supported by irrigation from regional waterways, in an arid to semi-arid climate with hot summers and cold winters. The city and surrounding area continue to be of interest to archaeologists and historians for their multi-layered urban past and their connections to the broader history of Bactria and northern Afghanistan.