Balkh Province

بلخ Balch
Basic data
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Mazar-e Sharif
surface	17,248 km²
Residents	1,325,700 (2015)
density	77 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	AF-BAL
Districts of the Province

Coordinates: 36 ° 42 '  N , 67 ° 0'  E

Balch (also written Balkh , Persian بلخ, DMG Balḫ ) is a province in the north of Afghanistan with 1,325,700 inhabitants. The capital is Mazar-e Sharif . The largest group of the population are the Persians , followed by the Pashtuns . To live Uzbeks , Hazaras , Turkmen , Arabs , Baluchis and nomadic Pashtun Kutschi in the province. Persian is spoken by around 50% of the population, followed by Pashto (27%), Turkmen (11.9%) and Uzbek (10.7%). Governor was Mohammed Atta from 2004 to December 2017 , successor is Haji Mohammed Ishak Ragusar.

history

The region is one of the oldest settlement areas in Central Asia and is a cradle of Iranian civilization. In antiquity under the name Zariaspa (Old Persian: golden horse), later known as Baktra (Greek: Βακτρα), it was part of Baktria .

In the region who met Silk Road to another trade route to the northwest reaches of the Amu Darya , following the Caspian Sea led, and to the southeast through the Khyber Pass to the Indian subcontinent.

Around the year 500 BC Chr. Was Bactria conquered by the Persians and the Persian Empire incorporated. Until the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great , Bactria remained one of the most important satrapies of the Achaemenids .

Under the rule of the Seleucids , Balch was almost exclusively a Greek colony. Later, under the Sassanids , Bactra was again part of a unified Persian Empire before the region was conquered and Islamized by the Arabs.

In the Middle Ages, Balkh was part of the Samanid Empire. After the fall of the Samanids, the region was alternately under the rule of the Ghaznavids , Ghurids , Seljuks , the Khorezm Shahs , the Mongols and Timur-e Lang .

At the end of the 18th century , the region was conquered by the Afghans, under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Durrani , and incorporated into the newly founded Afghanistan.

Thereafter, Balch came under the rule of expanding Russia , before it was  finally awarded to Afghanistan in the middle of the 19th century - in the course of the Great Game and the treaties based on it between the European colonial powers Russia and Great Britain .

In the capital of the province of Mazar-e Sharif , the Nouruz Festival is celebrated in spring as Mela e Gul e Sorch for 40 days according to the solar calendar corrected by Omar Chajjam from 1070 .

Current

Against the background of the rift between Governor Atta and President Karzai in the presidential election and the further spread of Taliban's influence in the north, ethnic tensions in Balkh increased in 2009. The Pashtun minority in the province criticizes ISAF's inaction against the ongoing human rights abuses by local militias.

Administrative division

The province is divided into the following districts:

• Balch
• Charbolak
• Charkint
• Chim Valley
• Cholm
• Dawlatabad
• Dihdadi
• Kaldar
• Kishindih
• Marmul
• Mazar-e Sharif
• Nahri Shahi
• Sholgara
• Shortepa
• Zari

Web links

Commons : Balch  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

1. ^ Afghanistan. In: citypopulation.de. Retrieved January 8, 2016 . 
2. ↑ http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/dam/data/migration/laenderinformationen/herkunftslaenderinformationen/asien/sicherheitslage-AFG-d.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was created automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 29, 2011, p. 7, on the website of the Federal Department of Justice and Police  
3. ↑ http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/dam/data/migration/laenderinformationen/herkunftslaenderinformationen/asien/sicherheitslage-AFG-d.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was created automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 29, 2011, p. 10, on the website of the Federal Department of Justice and Police  
4. ↑ http://www.gfbv.de/inhaltsDok.php?id=2057&PHPSESSID=2e368e568e7b1a4b28c958ec5cdb1677  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 29, 2011, on the Society for Threatened Peoples website