The region around Mazza-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanates, Timurids, and Khanate of Bukhara. According to tradition, the city of Mazari Sharif owes its existence to a dream. At the beginning of the 12th century, a local mullah had a dream in which the 7th century Ali bin Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Islam's prophet Muhammad, appeared to reveal that he had been secretly buried near the city of Balkh.
The famous poet and mystic, Jalal al-Din Rumi, was born on September 30, 1207 in Balkh. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first caliph Abu Bakr and was influenced by the ideas of Ahmad Ghazali, brother of the famous philosopher. Baha' Walad's sermons were published and still exist as Divine Sciences (Ma'arif). Rumi completed six books of mystical poetry and tales called Masnavi before he died on December 17, 1273.
After conducting researches in the 12th century, the Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar ordered a city and shrine to be built on the location, where it stood until its destruction by Genghis Khan and his Mongol army in the 13th century. Although later rebuilt, Mazar stood in the shadow of its neighbor Balkh. 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. Thus the ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to shift the capital of the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The Mazar-e-Sharif means the grave of Sharif. This name represents the Blue Mosque which is widely known to be the grave of Hazrat Ali (prophet Mohammad's son-in-law .
The city and region became part of the Afghan Durrani Empire in around 1750 when after an agreement was signed between Mir Muhammad Murad Beg and Ahmad Shah Durrani Poplezai, the
