Balkh

Balkh wani gari ne a Lardin Balkh na Afghanistan, kimanin 20 (12 arewa maso yammacin babban birnin lardin, Mazar-e Sharif, da kuma kimanin kilomita 74 (46 kudu da kogin Amu Darya da iyakar Uzbekistan David-Néel, A. Les Nouvelles littéraires;1954, p.1. An kiyasta yawan jama'arta zuwa 138,594 a cikin 2021-22 ta Hukumar Kididdiga da Bayanai ta Afghanistan.Nancy Hatch Dupree, An Historical Guide to Afghanistan, 1977, Kabul, Afghanistan  An lissafa shi a matsayin birni na 8 mafi yawan jama'a a yanzu a kasar, ƙididdigar 2024 ta sanya yawan mutanen Balkh a 114,883.

Balkh a tarihi wuri ne na addinai, Zoroastrianism da Buddha, kuma ɗayan biranen Aryana mafi arziki da girma, tun farkon tarihin Aryana. An san birnin ga Farisa da sunan Zariaspa kuma ga Tsohon Helenawa da sunan Bactra, suna ba da sunansa ga Bactria (Girkanci suna kiran birnin kuma Zariaspa).  An fi saninsa da cibiyar da babban birnin Bactria ko Tokharistan . Marco Polo ya bayyana Balkh a matsayin "birni mai daraja da girma". Balkh yanzu ya zama mafi yawan rushewa, wanda ke da nisan kilomita 12 (7.5 daga gefen dama na Kogin Balkh mai gudana, a tsawo na kimanin 365 .

Buddha ta Faransa Alexandra David-Néel ta haɗa Shambhala da Balkh, kuma tana ba da Farisa Sham-i-Bala ("kyakkyawan kyandir") a matsayin asalin sunanta. A cikin irin wannan hanyar, Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett ya buga hasashe cewa Shambalha Shams-i-Balkh ne, haikalin rana na Bactrian.

Asali
Tsohon sunan Balkh shine Bami wanda aka rada masa suna bayan Indo-Scythian Naga sarauniya, Bami. Sunan harshen Bactrian na birnin shine βαχλο. A cikin rubutun Farisa ta Tsakiya, an sanya masa suna Baxl (Farshiya ta Tsakiya: 𐭡𐭠𐭧𐭫). Sunan lardin ko ƙasa kuma ya bayyana a cikin rubutun Tsohuwar Farisa (B.h.i 16; Dar Pers e.16; Nr. a.23) a matsayin Bāxtri, watau Bakhtri (tsohuwar Farisa: 𐎲𐎠𐎧𐎫𐎼𐎡𐏁). An rubuta a cikin Avesta kamar yadda Bāxδi (Avestan: 𐬠𐬁𐬑𐬜𐬌‎) . Daga wannan siffa ta tsakiya ta fito ta Bāxli, Sanskrit Bahlika (kuma Balhika) don "Bactrian", da kuma ta hanyar fassara Balx na Farisa na zamani, watau Balkh, da Armenian Bahl.

Sunan farko na Balkh ko kalmar wani ɓangare na birnin shine Ζαρίασπα, wanda zai iya samo asali daga muhimmin haikalin wuta na Zoroastrian Azar-i-Asp ko kuma daga sunan Median * Ζaryāspa- ma'ana "suna da dawakai masu launin zinari". 

Lakabin Balkh shine "Uwar Dukan garuruwa"..

Tarihi
A baya an dauki Balkh a matsayin birni na farko da kabilun Iran suka kaura daga arewacin Amu Darya, tsakanin 2000 zuwa 1500 BC. Sai dai a baya-bayan nan ne aka gano gawarwakin kayan tarihi kafin shekara ta 500 kafin haihuwar Annabi Isa (AS) ta hannun masu binciken kayan tarihi na Faransa karkashin jagorancin Johanna Lhullier da Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento a sashin da ake kira Bala Hissar, wanda shi ne katangar wurin.Young, Rodney S., (1955). "The South Wall of Balkh-Bactra", in American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 59, No. 4, (Oct., 1955), The University of Chicago Press, p. 267. Sun yi kwanan watan wannan zama na farko zuwa farkon zamanin ƙarfe (lokacin Yaz I, c.  1500-1000 BC) yana ci gaba har zuwa zamanin Achaemenid (lokacin Yaz II, c. 1000-540 BC). Bala Hissar yana arewacin wurin kuma yana da siffar oval, yana da fadin kusan 1,500 da 1,000 m2 (c. 150 hectares) kuma a kudu shi ne babban gari.. Wani tudun wurin, wanda aka fi sani da Tepe Zargaran, da bangon katangar Arewa na Balkh, an mamaye shi a wani babban tsawo a zamanin Achaemenid (lokacin Yaz III, c. 540-330 BC).The Greeks in Bactria and India. William Woodthorpe Tarn. 1st Edition, 1938; 2nd Updated Edition, 1951. 3rd Edition, updated with a Preface and a new bibliography by Frank Lee Holt. Ares Publishers, Inc., Chicago. 1984. (1984), pp. 114–115 and n. 1.

Tunda Iraniyawa suka gina daularsu ta farko a Balkh (Bactria, Daxia, Bukhdi) wasu malamai[wane?] sun yi imanin cewa daga wannan yanki ne tafsirin Iraniyawa daban-daban suka bazu zuwa arewa maso gabas Iran da yankin Seistan, inda suke; A wani bangare, ya zama Persians, Tajik, Pashtuns da Baluch na yankin a yau. Sarkin farko na duniya a almara na Farisa; kuma yana da aƙalla tabbacin cewa, tun da wuri, ita ce kishiyar Ecbatana, Nineba da Babila.

Larabawa suna kiranta Umm Al-Bilad ko Uwar Garuruwa, saboda dadewarta.Buddhism in Central Asia by Baij Nath Puri, Motilal Banarsi Dass Publishers, Page 130
 A al'adance birnin ya kasance cibiyar Zoroastrianism.
Na dogon lokaci birni da ƙasa sune tsakiyar wurin zama na addinin Zoroastrian biyu, wanda ya kafa, Zoroaster, ya mutu a cikin bango a cewar mawaƙin Farisa Firdowsi.Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Hārūn al-Rashīd and the narrative of the ʻAbbāsid caliphate by Tayeb El-Hibri published by Cambridge University Press, 1999 Page 8 ,  Majiyoyi daga Armeniya sun bayyana cewa Daular Arsacid na Daular Parthia ta kafa babban birninta a Balkh. Akwai al’adar da ta daɗe tana cewa za a sami wani tsohon wurin ibada na Anahita a nan, haikali mai wadata sosai yana gayyatar ganima. Alexander the Great ya auri Roxana Bactria bayan ya kashe sarkin Balkh. Birnin shine babban birnin Masarautar Greco-Bactrian kuma Daular Seleucid ta yi wa kawanya tsawon shekaru uku (208-206 BC). Bayan rushewar daular Greco-Bactrian, Indo-Scythians, Parthians, Indo-Parthians, Kushan Empire, Indo-Sassanids, Kidarites, Hephthalite Empire da Farisa Sassanid ne suka yi mulkinta kafin zuwan Larabawa.

Manazarta