The Geography of Bactria

Understanding the Silk Routes and the Political Geography of Bactria is a key launching point into this area of study.  The town of Balkh/Bactra was situated at the focal point of two very important routes:  The east/west route to and from China and the north/south route into al-Sind and al-Hind (modern Pakistan and India). 

The Silk Routes around the 1st Century CE. 

This first map shows that there was no one all-encompassing "Silk Road" but, in fact, a network of land and sea routes spanning across Central Eurasia and linking the world, from Europe, to Africa, all the way to India and China.  The land routes traversed various perilous terrains, ranging from scorching desert to frigid and treacherous mountain ranges.  The following map demonstrates the physical geography of the Silk Routes.  Note the expansive size of the desert in the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang/China, the mountain ranges surrounding India, and the general high elevation of the Iranian Plateau, lending to dry conditions therein.

Balkh itself is situated on the Bactrian Plain near the Balkh River, which lent to irrigation and flourishing of agriculture in the area.  Goods produced here, as attested in the Hudud al-Alam (The Regions of the World) include "citrons and sour oranges (turunj-u-naranj), sugar-cane (nay-shakar), and water-lilies (nilufar "lotus")".  The close proximity to the Amu Darya (Oxus) River granted Balkh excellent pasture land for nomadic herders.  Because of its ideal location as a hub of trade routes, Balkh had an extensive market-based economy, trading in manufactured and imported goods.  

This map shows the location of Balkh, marked here as Bactres, near the Amu Darya and Balkh rivers on Bactrian Plain

The compounding effect of devastating invasions, gradual climate change, a shift in trade routes, and an outbreak of malaria lent to the steady decline of Balkh.  However, even in decline the city was respected as a center of learning, a characteristic it maintained since ancient times as a center of Buddhist and, later, Islamic education.  When the capital of Balkh Province was moved to Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh became a cluster of ruins.  However, many sites indicating the old splendor of the region remain, such as the site of the Green Mosque, built by Timurid conquerors in the 15th century.  As late as 1924-25, four stupas of monumental size were visible, though in a ruinous condition in Balkh.  Interestingly, one of the largest and most elaborate stupas corresponds to the location of the famous Naw Bahar, the grand Buddhist temple attested to in multiple accounts of Balkh.

This map shows the location of modern Balkh Province in Afghanistan.

 

   This map shows Balkh province with the city of Balkh in the middle of the province.

Bibliography

Anonymous. Hudud al-Alam: The Regions of the World. Trans. V. Minorsky ed. C.E. Bosworth. Gibb Memorial Trust: Cambridge. 1982.

de Planhol, X. "BALḴ: i. Geography".  Encyclopedia Iranica Online. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/balk-town-and-province

Paul, Jürgen. "Balkh." Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE . Edited by: Gudrun Krämer, ; Denis Matringe, ;John Nawas and ; Everett Rowson. Brill, 2010. Brill Online. Indiana University Bloomington. 31 December 2010. http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ei3_SIM-23449

World Architecture Map. "The Green Mosque". http://www.worldarchitecturemap.org/buildings/green-mosque-balkh

Maps 1-4 from Wikimedia Commons.  Map 5 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark website.