BALIZII, a district of Afghan Turkestan, the most northerly province of Afghanistan. It was for some time subject to the Khan of I3okhara. It corresponds to ancient Bac tria, and lies between hit. 33' and 37' n., and long. GI' and 69 c. It is bounded on the u. by the river Oxus, on the e. by Budukslmn, on the s. by the Hindu-Kush, and on the w. by the desert. Offsets of the Hindu-Kush traverse it in a n.w. direction, and slope down to the low steppes of Bokhara. Its length is 230 m.; its breadth, 120. Its situa tion was once important during the overland commerce between India and eastern Europe before the sea-route by the cape of Good Hope was followed. The soil has the general characteristics of a desert land; only a few parts are made fertile by artificial irrigation; and such are the vicissitudes of climate, that where grapes and apricots ripen in summer, and the mulberry-tree permits the cultivation of silk, in winter the frost is intense, and the snow lies deep on the ground. The natives are Usbek Tartars; and their
character seeing to depend very much on that of the country. In the barren regions. they arc simply plunderers of caravans; in the more favorable ones, they are peaceful nomads; and in the most prosperous districts they are tillers of the soil, and artisans in towns and villages. Pop. estimated at about 1,000,000.
Bumf, the chief t., 23 m. from the Amu, is situated where the Hudi Haaj is dis tributed in numerous canals. It is surrounded by a mud wall; but though bearing the imposing title of Amu al Bulud (Mother of Cities), it has little of the grandeur of ancient Beetra, on the site of which it is built. It was twice destroyed by Genghis Khan and Timor; and as late as 1823, it was plundered by the powerful ruler of Kunduz, Mir Murad-I3ei. The neighborhood is famous for its corn and fruits. As a boundary town between Afghanistan and Bokhara, B. assumed a prominent position in the British Afghan war. Pop., 2000.