Balkh Province
Balch (also written Balkh, Persian بلخ ) is a province in the north of Afghanistan, with 1,239,626 inhabitants. This is a significant population growth in the region recorded. Capital is Mazar -e Sharif. The largest of these are the Tajiks, followed by the Pashtuns. These live Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmens, Arabs, Baluchis and nomadic Pashtun Kuchi in the province. Dari is spoken by about 50 % of the population, followed by Pashto ( 27%), Turkmen (11.9%) and Uzbek ( 10.7 %). Governor since 2004, Mohammed Atta.
History
The region is one of the oldest settlements in Central Asia and is a cradle of Iran's civilization. In ancient times, under the name Zariaspa ( Old Persian: Golden Horse), (Greek: Ζαρίασπα ), Bactria later (Greek: Βακτρα ) known, it was part of the legendary Bactria.
In the region of the Silk Road met another trade route that led towards following the course of the Amu Darya to the Caspian Sea in the north-west and south-east direction over the Khyber Pass to the foreground India.
Around the year 500 BC Bactria was conquered by the Persians and the Persian Empire. Until the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great Bactria remained one of the most important satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire.
Under the rule of the Seleucids Balch was almost exclusively a Greek colony. Later Bactra was under the Sassanids again part of a united Persian Empire, before the region was conquered and Islamized by the Arabs.
In the Middle Ages Balch was part of the Samanid Empire. After the fall of the Samanids, the region was alternately ruled by the Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Seljuks, the Khorezm Shah, the Mongols and Timur -e Lang
End of the 18th century, the region was built by the Afghans conquered under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Durranis, and the newly formed Afghanistan incorporated.
After Balch came under the rule of the expanding Russia before the mid-19th century - finally Afghanistan was awarded - in the course of the Great Game and the estimates based on agreements between the European colonial powers Russia and Britain.
In the provincial capital Mazar- e-Sharif, the Nouruzfest is celebrated in the spring after around 1070 by Omar Khayyam corrected solar calendar for 40 days as Mela e Gul e Sorch.
News
Against the background of the quarrel between Governor Atta and President Karzai in the presidential election as well as the spread of Taliban influence in the north, 2009, the ethnic tensions in Balkh have increased. The Pashtun minority in the province criticized the inactivity of ISAF against the ongoing human rights violations of local militias.