AKCHA, a town and khanate of Afghan Turkistan, 42m. W. of Balkh on the road to Andkhui. It is protected by a mud wall and a citadel. Estimated population 8,000, chiefly Uzbegs. The khanate is small, but well watered and populous. The rivers which rise in the southern mountains no longer reach the Oxus, but end near Akcha in vast swamps filled in flood time with debris of hill side plants.