The Bactrian language name of the city was βαχλο.

The old name of Balkh was Bami which was named after the Indo-Scythian Naga queen, Bami. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was Shams-i-Balkh, a Bactrian sun temple. Balkh is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated some 12 km (7.5 mi) from the right bank of the seasonally flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 m (1,198 ft).įrench Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh, also offering the Persian Sham-i-Bala ('elevated candle') as an etymology of its name. Marco Polo described Balkh as a 'noble and great city'. It was mostly known as the center and capital of Bactria or Tokharistan. The city was known to Persians as Zariaspa and to the Ancient Greeks as Bactra, giving its name to Bactria (Greeks called the city also Zariaspa). īalkh was historically an ancient place of religions, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and one of the wealthiest and largest cities of Khorasan, since the latter's earliest history. Its population was recently estimated to be 138,594. Balkh ( / b æ l x/ Pashto/ Dari: بلخ‎, Balkh Ancient Greek: Βάκτρα, Báktra Bactrian: Βάχλο, Bakhlo), is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan, about 20 km (12 mi) northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 mi) south of the Amu Darya river and the Uzbekistan border.

Jewel in the palace sub indo