"Balkh"@en . "\u0628\u0644\u062E"@en . "365.0"^^ . . . . . "Balkh (/b\u0251\u02D0lx/; Persian/Pashto: \u0628\u0644\u062E Balkh; Bactrian: \u03B2\u03B1\u03C7\u03BB\u03BF, Pakhlo) was an ancient city and centre of Buddhism, Sufism and Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 mi) south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan, since the latter's earliest history."@en .