Turkestan Province
The Province of Turkestan (Persian: ولایت ترکستان, romanized: Wilāyat-i Turkistān), historically also known as Balkh, Afghan Turkestan or Lesser Turkestan and since the 1940s as the Province of Mazar-i-Sharif, was a province of the Emirate of Afghanistan and later the Kingdom of Afghanistan, situated in the north of the country in the region historically known as Afghan Turkestan. == History == With the Afghan conquest of the Khanate of Balkh in 1849, the region came under Kabul's direct control, and the province of Turkestan was established the following year, with Balkh serving as its capital.