Strain Library

Afghanistan · Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush

Mazar-i-Sharif

Also called Mazar, Mazar I Sharif, Mazar Sharif, Mazar-e-Sharif, Mazari

Mazar-i-Sharif, the Balkh Province city built around the Blue Mosque, sits in a farming plain better known for cotton and grain, yet its cannabis earned a name across Afghanistan. A 2009 UN survey recalled Balkh's long-standing reputation for Mazari cannabis, found 'Mazari (Balkhi)' the variety name farmers most often reported, and noted it was often grown among cotton. A governor-led crackdown from 2007 pushed local supply down and prices up, though journalists reported a partial revival by 2010. Seed-bank accounts link Mazar-named lines to Afghan seed Europeans collected in the 1970s-80s, without naming collectors; the best-known Mazar cultivars are described as Afghan-and-Skunk crosses.

Region
Balkh Province, northern Afghanistan (plain around Mazar-i-Sharif, including Chimtal district)
How sure we are
Mixed. Balkh's Mazari cannabis is documented by a UN survey and press reports, but how it reached Western seed banks is unrecorded lore.
Keep in mind
Seeds sold as Mazar are commonly modern seed-company selections or crosses named for the city, not plants collected from Balkh's fields.

Timeline

  1. 2007 A governor-led crackdown on drug crops began in Balkh, and local cannabis prices rose steeply afterwards. Source
  2. 2009 UNODC's survey recorded 'Mazari (Balkhi)' as the most commonly reported variety name and noted Balkh cannabis was often grown with cotton; it also recorded a shift of cultivation from the north to the south. Source
  3. December 2010 IWPR reported that Balkh cannabis grown around Mazar-e Sharif had long been prized across Afghanistan and that cultivation was rising again at lower levels than three years earlier. Source
  4. 2018 A visiting journalist described cannabis among cotton fields and homes around Mazar-i-Sharif and reported that farmers saved seed from the previous year's plants (first-person account). Source
  5. 1990s Seed-bank descriptions say Dutch Passion popularised a Mazar line, usually described as an Afghan-and-Skunk #1 cross named for the region (industry lore, unsourced). Source

Sources

  1. UNODC Afghanistan Cannabis Survey 2009 (hosted by UNAMA)
  2. IWPR: Hashish Trade Resurgent in Afghan North (December 2010)
  3. UNODC / UNIS press release: Afghanistan leads in hashish production (31 March 2010)
  4. VICE: I went on a weed tour of Afghanistan (2018 visit, first-person)
  5. Wikipedia: Mazar-i-Sharif (location)
  6. Joint Commerce strain guide: Pure Mazar (seed-bank lore, unsourced)
  7. Joint Commerce strain guide: Mazar by Dutch Passion (seed-bank lore, unsourced)

From the same region

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All landrace strainsThe cannabis timeline

Written from the sources above. Informational only, not medical advice.