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Balkh

Afghanistan / Balh /
 city, place with historical importance
Balkh (Persian: بلخ - Balḫ), also known as Bactra, was once a major world city but was destroyed entirely by the Mongols. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, northern Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan. The majority of people in this city speak Persian.
The ancient city of Balkh, in today's Afghanistan was under the Greeks renamed Bactra, giving its name to Bactria. It was mostly known as the centre and capital of Bactria or Takharistan. Balkh is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated some 12 km from the right bank of the seasonally-flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 m (1,200 ft).
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkh
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   36°45'27"N   66°53'41"E

Comments

  • Mevlevi (guest)
    Birthplace of Maulana Jelaluddin Rumi
  • Lashan6
    This place is history. pure history. I badly want to visit it.
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