Balkh, 'mother of cities', in ruins
Editorial contextApproaching Balkh, once capital of Bactria, Moorcroft passed ruins said to be the elephant stables of the old kings of Turkestan, then entered through a broken gate into streets of rubbish, broken bricks and crumbling clay walls. On the next pages he says only one covered bazaar was still inhabited, the population was under a thousand families, and there were no relics of antiquity apart from one tiled shrine.
A short distance in advance brought us to the ruins of some buildings, said to have been the elephant stables of the kings of Turkistan: similar remains accompanied the road to the wall of the modern town, which we entered by a mean gateway, the folding-doors of which were off their hinges and lying in the mud, no insignificant type of neglect and decay.
About Uzbek-ruled Turkestan
Continue in this sourceMoorcroft and Trebeck's travels to Ladakh, Kabul and Bukhara, 1819 to 18251819 to 1825 · 10 passagesBalkh's great mosque, broken open by Genghis Khan for treasure
Editorial contextBalkh lay in ruins, never rebuilt since Genghis Khan destroyed it; only the outline of the city could be traced. Its mosque had been one of the finest in the world, and Genghis had three of its pillars torn down because he was told treasure was hidden beneath them. Ibn Battuta then tells the legend behind that rumour: a governor's wife built the mosque from the price of a jewelled robe and buried a third of the money under a pillar for repairs.
It has not been rebuilt since its destruction by the cursed Jengiz Khan. … Its mosque was one of the largest and handsomest in the world. Its pillars were incomparable : three of which were destroyed by Jengiz Khan, because it had been told him, that the wealth of the mosque lay concealed
About Mongols of Genghis Khan
Keep in mind
He saw the ruins; the story of the pillars and the treasure is local tradition.
A Turkish prince speared in a dream for raiding a monastery
Editorial contextThe New Monastery at Balkh was so rich that rulers coveted it. A son of the Turkish Yabghu khan (named on the previous page) led his whole horde to plunder it and camped nearby. That night he dreamed that the guardian god Vaisravana drove a long halberd through his chest; he woke in pain, sent for the monks to beg forgiveness, and died before the messenger returned.
[He gathered] his tribes and led his troops to fall on the monastery by surprise, meaning to seize its treasures. He camped in the open not far from here. That night he dreamed he saw the god Vaisravana, who said: 'What power have you, that you dare to destroy this monastery?' and drove a long halberd through him from chest to back. The khan woke in terror, with a pain in his heart.
Working translation
Original wording
其部落率其戎旅奄襲伽藍欲圖珍寳去此不逺屯軍野次其夜夢見毗沙門天曰汝有何力敢壊伽藍因以長㦸貫徹胷背可汗驚寤便苦心痛
About Western Turks (son of the Yabghu khan)
Keep in mind
A monastery's protective legend, told to discourage raiders.
Balkh: slaughtered by Genghis, built of frail brick
Editorial contextBurnes lists Balkh's fate: its people 'butchered in cold blood by Jenghis Khan', then ruled by the house of Timur, the Mughals, Nadir Shah, the Afghans and Bukhara. In 1832 it had under 2000 people. Looking at its crumbling remains he doubts it was ever a substantial city, since its buildings rested only on brick foundations.
Its inhabitants were butchered in cold blood by Jenghis Khan; and under the house of Timour it became a province of the Mogul empire. … and from the frail materials of which its buildings are constructed, the foundations being only brick, I doubt if Balkh ever were a substantial city.
About Inhabitants of Balkh; Mongols under Genghis Khan
Continue in this sourceAlexander Burnes's journey from India to Bukhara, 1831 to 18331831 to 1833 · 14 passagesBalkh, 'mother of cities', a mass of ruins and dust
Editorial contextMohan Lal found the ancient city of Balkh reduced to ruins and dust among orchards, with a broad bazaar roofed crudely with rafters, hay and mud, whose shops opened only on Tuesdays. An Uzbek customs officer searched their baggage. Locals called Balkh the mother of cities, founded by a son of Noah.
This was formerly a very large and populous city, but at present nothing is to be seen except a mass of ruins and dust. Orchards are scattered in every spot … The bazar of Balk, though broad, is irregularly roofed with rafters, hay, and mud.
About Uzbeks of Balkh
Continue in this sourceMohan Lal's journey from Delhi to Balkh, Bukhara and Mashhad1830 to 1849 · 8 passagesBalkh: stone and brick houses and a marble castle of the Uzbek khan
Editorial contextDescribing the Uzbek khanate of Balkh, Deguignes calls Balkh the most important town held by the 'Mahometan Tartars': large and populous, mostly built of stone or brick, with earth ramparts faced by a wall, a trading hub between Bukhara and India, and a khan's castle 'in the oriental style' built almost entirely of marble from nearby quarries. He also calls Balkh's Uzbeks the most civilised of the Muslim Tartars.
The town of Balkh, at present the most considerable of all the towns the Mahometan Tartars possess, is large and well peopled; most of its buildings are built of stone or brick … The Khan's castle is a large building in the oriental style, almost entirely built of marble, of which there are very fine quarries in the neighbouring mountains.
Working translation
Original wording
La ville de Balkh, à présent la plus considérable de toutes les villes que les Tartares Mahométans possedent, est grande & bien peuplée, la plupart de ses bâtimens sont bâtis de pierre ou de brique … Le château du Khan est un grand bâtiment à l'orientale, presque tout bâti de marbre dont on trouve des carrières fort belles dans les montagnes voisines.
About Uzbek Tartars ('Tartares Uzbeks')
Keep in mind
Deguignes never saw Balkh; the description is borrowed from earlier compilations and is not dated precisely.
Balkh: a great ruin with one corner lived in
Editorial contextBalkh, the old capital of the Uzbek-populated province south of the Oxus, is called by Asians the oldest city in the world and the 'mother of towns' (the scan is garbled here). By Elphinstone's day it had shrunk to a small inhabited corner inside a vast walled ruin, with a citadel held by the Afghan governor. The rich countryside was still watered by eighteen canals.
Its ruins still cover a great extent, and are surrounded with a wall, but only one corner is inhabited.
About Uzbeks (under Afghan rule)
Keep in mind
The page does not say who ruined Balkh; the surrounding text is badly garbled.
The scan is too rough to double-check this quote by machine. Compare it with the page.