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BALKH
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BALKH , a See also:city of See also:Afghanistan, about Too m. E. of See also:Andkhui and some 46 m. S. of the See also:Oxus. The city. which is identical with the See also:ancient Bactra or Zainaspa, is now for the most See also:part a See also:mass of ruins, situated on the right See also:bank of the Balkh See also:river, 1200 ft. above the See also:sea. It comprises about 500 houses of Afghan settlers, a See also:colony of See also:Jews and a small See also:bazaar, set in the midst of a See also:waste of ruins and many acres of debris. Entering by the See also:west (or See also:Akcha) See also:gate, one passes under three See also:arches, which are probably the remnants of a former Jama Masjid. The See also:outer walls (mostly in utter disrepair) are about 62 to 7 M. in perimeter, and on the See also:south-eastern See also:borders are set high on a See also:mound or rampart, indicating a Mongol origin. The fort and citadel to the See also:north-See also:east are built well above the See also:town on a barren mound and are walled and moated. There is, however, little See also:left but the remains of a few pillars. The Masjid Sabz, with its See also:green-tiled See also:dome, is said to be the See also:tomb of a Khwaja, Abul Narsi Parsar. Nothing but the arched entrance remains of the Madrasa, which is traditionally not very old. The earlier Buddhist constructions have proved more durable than the See also:Mahommedan buildings. The See also:Top-i-Rustam is 5o yds. in See also:diameter at the See also:base and 30 yds. at the top, circular and about 50 ft. high. Four circular vaults are sunk in the interior and four passages have been pierced below from the outside, which probably See also:lead to them. The base of the See also:building is constructed of See also:sun-dried bricks about 2 ft. square and 4 or 5 in. thick. The Takht-i-Rustam is See also:wedge-shaped in See also:plan, with uneven sides. It is apparently built of pise mud (i.e. mud mixed with See also:straw and puddled). It is possible that in these ruins we may recognize the Nan Vihara of the See also:Chinese traveller Hsiian Tsang. There are the remains of many other topes (or stupas) in the neigh-. bourhood. The mounds of ruins on the road to 1\/Iazar-i-Sharif probably represent the site of a city yet older than those on which stands the See also:modern Balkh. The town is garrisoned by a few See also:hundred kasidars, the See also:regular troops of Afghan See also:Turkestan being cantoned at Takhtapul, near Mazari-Sharif. The gardens to the north-east contain a See also:caravanserai, which is fairly well kept and comfortable. It forms one See also:side of a courtyard, which is shaded by a See also:group of magnificent chenar trees. The antiquity and greatness of the See also:place are recognized by the native populations, who speak of it as the See also:Mother of Cities. Its See also:foundation is mythically ascribed to Kaiomurs, the See also:Persian See also:Romulus; and it is at least certain that, at a very See also:early date, it was the See also:rival of See also:Ecbatana, See also:Nineveh and See also:Babylon. For a See also:long See also:time the city and See also:country was the central seat of the Zoroastrian See also:religion, the founder of which is said to have died within the walls. From the See also:Memoirs of Hsuan Tsang, we learn that, at the time of his visit in the 7th See also:century, there were in the city, or its vicinity, about a hundred Buddhist convents, with 3000 devotees, and that there was a large number of stupas, and other religious monuments. The most remarkable was the Nau See also:Behar, Nava Bihara or New See also:Convent, which possessed a very costly statue of See also:Buddha. A curious See also:notice of this building is found in the Arabian geographer Yaqut. See also:Ibn-Haukal, an Arabian traveller of the loth century, describes Balkh as built of See also:clay, with ramparts and six See also:gates, and extending See also:half a parasang. He also mentions a See also:castle and a See also:mosque. See also:Idrisi, in the 12th century, speaks of its possessing a variety of educational establishments, and carrying on an active See also:trade. There were several important commercial routes from the city, stretching as far east as See also:India and See also:China. In 1220 Jenghiz See also:Khan sacked Balkh, butchered its inhabitants and levelled all the buildings capable of See also:defence,—treatment to which it was again subjected in the 14th century by Timur. Notwithstanding this, however, Marco See also:Polo can still, in the following century, describe it as " a See also:noble city and a See also:great. Balkh formed the See also:government of See also:Aurangzeb in his youth. In 1736 it was conquered by See also:Nadir Shah. Under the See also:Durani See also:monarchy it See also:fell into the hands of the Afghans; it was conquered by Shah See also:Murad of See also:Kunduz in 1820, and for some time was subject to the khan of See also:Bokhara. In 185o Mahommed Akram Khan, Barakzai, captured Balkh, and from that time it remained under Afghan See also:rule. See Hsuan Tsang, tr. by See also:Julien, vol. i. pp. 29-32; See also:Burnes's Travels in Bokhara (1831—1833); See also:Ferrier's Travels; See also:Vambery's Bokhara (1873) ; See also:Report of the Russo-Afghan Boundary See also:Commission of 1884-1885. (T. H. ,H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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