site of a fortified town in northern Afghanistan, near the modern city of Balkh (Wazirabad); also, the ruins of the ancient city of Bactra (capital of Bactria) and the medieval city of Balkh.
The settlement originated in the sixth to fourth centuries B. C. During the third and second centuries B. C., Balkh was the capital of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom and then of the Kushan kingdom. In the seventh century A. D. it was destroyed by the Arabs; its restoration was begun in 725. In the tenth century Balkh consisted of the city proper (shahristan) and a suburb (rabad). In the 11th and 12th centuries it was part of the possessions of the Ghaznavids, the Seljuks, and the Ghurids. In 1221 it was destroyed by Genghis Khan; it was restored in the 14th century. A number of architectural monuments of the 15th and 16th centuries remain. They include the remnants of the Bala Hissar fortress, city walls, mosques, madrasas, and baths. The mausoleum and mosque of Khwaja Abu Nasr Pars (from the end of the 15th century) is well preserved. It has a glazed turquoise ribbed dome anda portal of twisted columns. No major excavations have been conducted in Balkh.
V. M. MASSON and V. L. VORONINA