Editing Mazar-i-Sharif (section)

===9th century until 1919===
The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of [[Greater Khorasan]] and was controlled by the [[Tahirid dynasty|Tahirids]] followed by the [[Saffarid dynasty|Saffarids]], [[Samanids]], [[Ghaznavids]], [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]], [[Ilkhanids]], [[Timurid dynasty|Timurids]], and [[Khanate of Bukhara]].

[[File:Mazar-i-Sharif & Band-e-Amir Fan.jpg|thumb|Mazar-i-Sharif & surroundings from [[ISS]], 2016]]
The poet [[Rumi|Jalal al-Din Rumi]] was born somewhere in this area. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first caliph [[Abu Bakr]].

The [[Great Seljuq Empire|Seljuk]] sultan [[Ahmed Sanjar]] ordered a city and shrine to be built on the location, which was later destroyed by [[Genghis Khan]] and his Mongol army in the 13th century, and then rebuilt. During the nineteenth century, due to the absence of drainage systems and the weak economy of the region, the excess water of this area flooded many acres of the land in the vicinity of residential areas causing a malaria epidemic in the region. The ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to move the capital to Mazar-i-Sharif.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afghanmagazine.com/april98/journey/balkh.html|title=Balkh: The Land of Hopes|author=Daud Saba|year=1998|website=www.afghanmagazine.com|access-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010415205227/http://www.afghanmagazine.com/april98/journey/balkh.html|archive-date=15 April 2001|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The city along with the region south of the [[Amu Darya]] became part of the [[Durrani Empire]] in around 1751. For the most part the region was controlled by autonomous Uzbek rulers). After the Bukharan-Durrani war of 1788–1790, Qilich Ali Beg of [[Kholm, Afghanistan|Khulm]] formed a mini-empire stretching from Balkh to [[Aybak, Samangan|Aybak]], [[Sayghan District|Saighan]], [[Kahmard]], [[Darah Sof District|Darra-i Suf]], and [[Kunduz Province|Qunduz]].<ref name=":34">{{Cite book|last=Noelle|first=Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylTi-e2C_0IC|title=State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826–1863)|date=2012-06-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-60317-4|language=en}}</ref> When he died in 1817, the [[Balkh]] and Mazar-i Sharif region became an independent city state with Aqcha as its dependency. In November 1837 the Bukharans conquered the city but Balkh was still able to retain autonomy.<ref name=":342">{{Cite book|last=Noelle|first=Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylTi-e2C_0IC|title=State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826–1863)|date=2012-06-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-60317-4|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":62">{{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Jonathan L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYaamE_3kD4C|title=The "Ancient Supremacy": Bukhara, Afghanistan and the Battle for Balkh, 1731-1901|date=1996-01-01|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10399-3|language=en}}</ref> In 1849 the city was conquered and annexed into Afghanistan.