Parsi Balkh

Balkh, in the north of current Afghanistan, formerly the capital of ancient Bactria. The town was captured by Alexander the Great about 330 BC. Thereafter it was the capital of the Greek satrapy of Bactria. In succeeding centuries, the city fell to various nomadic invaders, including the Turks and Kushāns, until it was decisively taken by the Arabs in the 8th century. Balkh then became the capital of Khorāsān; it enlarged greatly in size until under the ʿAbbāsids (750 – 1258 CE) and Sāmānids (819 – 999 CE) its fame as a capital and centre of learning earned it the title of “mother of cities.”
Balkh was completely destroyed by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220. Thereafter it lay in ruins until, after its capture by Timur, it was rebuilt early in the 15th century. Balkh is also the birthplace of Zarathustra (Nietzsche’s champion in Thus Spoke Zarathustra), Avicenna, Rumi and many other great poets, philosophers and mystics. Balkh is also the birthplace of Naurūz, one of the oldest festivals by which the arrival of the Persian new year is widely celebrated.