Balkh

Balkh is now a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 46 miles (74 km) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. The ancient city, the oldest in Afghanistan, is associated with the Vedic name Bhakri, which as Bactra gave its name to Bactria, and was known as Zainaspa. 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 1,200 ft (366 m).

Balkh today

A project of modernization was undertaken in 1934, in which eight streets were laid out, housing and bazaars built. Modern Balkh is a center of the cotton industry, of the skins known commonly as "Persian" lamb, and for agricultural produce like almonds and melons.

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Numerous places of interest are to be seen today aside from the ancient ruins and fortifications:

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• The madrasa of Sayed Subhan Quli Khan.
• Bala-Hesar, the shrine and mosque of Khaja Nasrat Parsa.
• The tomb of the poetess Rabia Balkhi.
• The Nine Domes Mosque (Masjid Now Gumbad). This exquisitely ornamented mosque, also referred to as Haji Piyada, is the earliest Islamic monument yet identified in Afghanistan.
• The traditional bazaar.