Balkh. I. A country of central Asia, the main part of ancient Bactria, situated between lat. 35° and 37° N, and lon. 63° and 69° E., bounded N. by the Oxus, E. by Badakhshan, W. by the desert, and S. by the Hindoo Koosh and its western continuation; area, nearly 30,000 sq. m.; pop. about 1,000,000, chiefly Uzbecks. The southern part is rocky, but has many tine valleys; the eastern is mountainous, but less barren than the western and northern parts. Its inhabitants comprise both peaceful and warlike tribes. Many are engaged in the caravan trade between Russia, China, and India; others are mechanics and agriculturists. Balkh formerly included Koondooz, Khooloom, and other districts which have now become separate governments. It formed part of Ca-bool, and after the fall of the Durrani dynasty came into the hands of the ruler of Bokhara. In 1850 it was conquered by Dost Mohammed, and the widow of Feis Mohammed of Balkh furnished in 1867 funds to Shere Ali for gathering a considerable army. In 1871 a treaty was concluded which fixed the upper Oxus as a boundary line between Afghanistan and Bokhara, Balkh belonging again to the latter government, though in an unsettled condition and virtually ruled by Russian influence.

II. A city (anc. Bactra), capital of the preceding country, in lat. 36° 48' N, lon. 67° 18' E., on the Balkh or Dehaz river, a tributary of the Oxus, 250 m. S. E. of Bokhara and 180 m. N". W. of Cabool; pop. about 2,000. Its origin is associated with Kaimurs, the mythical founder of a Persian dynasty, and it flourished as the capital of a Greek kingdom under the successors of Alexander the Great. (See Bactria.) Devastated by Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Nadir Shah, and others, and deprived of most of its former commerce since the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, it has lost its splendor, traces of which, however, linger in ruins extending over 20 m., and it is still called by the natives the mother of cities.