Place · city
Balkh
Balkh, known to the Greeks as Bactra, is an ancient city in northern Afghanistan, near Mazar-i-Sharif, once the capital of Bactria. It was a centre of Achaemenid, Greco-Bactrian, Kushan and early Islamic rule and a hub of Buddhist and Zoroastrian learning, later called the 'mother of cities'. The Mongols sacked it in 1220, and it never recovered its former size.
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Mentioned in 10 state histories
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Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Balkh. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/balkh
- MLA
- “Balkh.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/balkh. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Balkh.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/balkh.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Balkh’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/balkh (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻