Bactrian language
The old name of Balkh was "Bami" which was named after the Indo-Scythian Naga queen "Bami". The Bactrian language name of the city was . In Middle Persian texts was named "Baxl" "("). The name of the province or country also appears in the Old Persian inscriptions (B.h.i 16; Dar Pers e.16; Nr. a.23) as "Bāxtri", i.e. "Bakhtri ("). It is written in the Avesta as "Bāxδi" () . From this came the intermediate form "Bāxli", Sanskrit "Bahlīka" (also "Balhika") for "Bactrian", and by transposition the modern Persian "Balx", i.e. "Balkh", and Armenian "Bahl".