Bactria (Bactriana, also Bhalika in Indian languages) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Caucasus Indicus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra (now Balkh), was located in what is now northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The Hindu Kush or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Caucasus Indicus is the Greek name for the Hindu Kush mountain range. ... The Amu Darya (Darya means river) rises in the Pamirs and flows mainly north-west through the Hindu Kush, Uzbekistan to join the Aral Sea in a large delta. ... The Amu Darya (in Persian آمودریا; Darya means river in Persian) rises in the Pamirs and flows mainly north-west through the Hindu Kush, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to join the Aral Sea in a large river delta. ... Today Balkh is a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. ...

Bactria was bounded on the east by the ancient region of Gandhara in the Indian subcontinent. The Bactrian language is an Iranian language of the Indo-Iranian sub-familly of the Indo-European family. Gandhāra (also Ghandara, Ghandahra, Chandahara, and Persian Gandara) is the name of an ancient kingdom in eastern Afghanistan and north-west province of Pakistan. ... Composite satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Bactrian language is an extinct language which was spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria, also called Tocharistan, in northern Afghanistan. ... The Iranian languages are a part of the Indo European language family. ... Indo-Iranian languages (also called Aryan languages) are the eastern-most group of the living Indo-European languages. ... The Indo-European languages are a group of several hundred languages and dialects (specifically 443 according to the SIL estimate), including most of the major language families of Europe, as well as many languages of Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ...

The Bactrians are one of the ancestral lines of the modern-day Tajiks of Central Asia as well as possibly the Pashtuns. Some historians believe that the modern name Tajik originated from Ta-Hsia, the ancient Chinese name for the region ^{[citation needed]}. The Tajiks are one of the principal ethnic groups of Central Asia, and are primarily found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang province of China. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, or ethnic Afghan; in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan) are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India who follow Pashtunwali, their indigenous religion. ... Characters for Ta-Hsia. ...

Geography

It is a mountainous country with a moderate climate. Water is abundant and the land is very fertile. Bactria was the home of one of the Iranian tribes. Modern authors have often used the name in a wider sense, as the designation of the whole North of Afghanistan. The Iranian peoples are the ethno-linguistic descendants of the ancient Iranians, themselves an early branch of the Indo-European Aryans. ...

History

Bactria was originally a province of the Persian Empire in Central Asia.(Cotterell, 59) It was in these regions, where the fertile soil of the mountainous country is surrounded by the Turanian desert, that the prophet Zoroaster preached and gained his first adherents. The sacred language in which the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism, is written, was once called "old Bactrian". The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A prophet is a person who is believed to communicate with God, or with a deity. ... Zoroaster, in a popular Parsi Zoroastrian depiction. ... See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ... Faravahar (or Ferohar), the depiction of the human soul before birth and after death. ...

Cyrus and Alexander

It is not known whether Bactria formed part of the Median Empire, but it was subjugated by Cyrus the Great, and from then formed one of the satrapies of the Persian empire. After Darius III of Persia had been defeated by Alexander the Great and killed in the ensuing chaos, his murderer Bessus, the satrap of Bactria, tried to organize a national resistance based on his satrapy. This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. ... Common misspelling of Cyprus. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Darius III (near middle) battling Alexander the Great (far left) Darius III or Codomannus (c. ... Alexander the Great fighting Persian king Darius (not in frame) (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Bessus (died summer 329 BC) was a Persian nobleman and satrap of Bactria and Sogdiana, and later self-proclaimed king of Persia. ...

Alexander conquered Bactria without much difficulty; it was only in Sogdiana to the north, beyond the Oxus, that he met strong resistance. Bactria became a province of the Macedonian empire, and soon came under the rule of Seleucus, king of Asia. Alexander the Great fighting Persian king Darius (not in frame) (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Sogdiana (Sug`ud,Sug`diyona -Uzbek, Sughd - Tajik, Sugdiane, Old Persian Sughuda, Persian:سغد, Chinese: Kang-Kü) ancient civilization of Iranian peoples, then was a province of the Achaemenian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (i. ... The Amu Darya (in Persian آمودریا; Darya means river in Persian) rises in the Pamirs and flows mainly north-west through the Hindu Kush, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to join the Aral Sea in a large river delta. ... This article is about political regions. ...

Seleucid Empire

Silver coin of Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Dynasty in 323 BC

The Macedonians (and especially Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I) established the Seleucid Empire, and founded a great many Greek towns in eastern Iran, and the Greek language became for some time dominant there. The paradox that Greek presence was more prominent in Bactria than in areas far more adjacent to Greece could possibly be explained by the supposed policy of Persian kings to deport unreliable Greek colonists to this the most remote province of their huge empire. Coin of Seleucus I Nicator. ... Coin of Seleucus I Nicator. ... Silver coin of Seleucus. ... After the death of Alexander the Great in the afternoon of 11 June 323 BC, his empire was divided by his generals, the Diadochi(successors). ... Silver coin of Seleucus. ... Silver coin of Antiochus I. The reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town In American English, a town is usually a municipal corporation that is smaller than a city but larger than a village. ... Greek (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of 3,500 years. ... This article refers to a colony in politics and history. ...

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

Main article: Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Approximate extent of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom circa 220 BCE. The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising todays northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion...

The many difficulties against which the Seleucid kings had to fight and the attacks of Ptolemy II of Egypt, gave to Diodotus, satrap of Bactria, the opportunity of making himself independent (about 255 BC) and of conquering Sogdiana. He was the founder of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Diodotus and his successors were able to maintain themselves against the attacks of the Seleucids particularly Antiochus III the Great, who was ultimately defeated by the Romans (190 BC). The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ... Head of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309-246 BC), with Arsinoë II. Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309-246 BC), was of a delicate constitution, no Macedonian warrior-chief of the old style. ... The founder of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, Diodotus ca. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC - 250s BC - 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC Years: 260 BC 259 BC 258 BC 257 BC 256 BC - 255 BC - 254 BC 253 BC... Sogdiana (Sug`ud,Sug`diyona -Uzbek, Sughd - Tajik, Sugdiane, Old Persian Sughuda, Persian:سغد, Chinese: Kang-Kü) ancient civilization of Iranian peoples, then was a province of the Achaemenian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great (i. ... Approximate extent of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom circa 220 BCE. The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising todays northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion... Antiochus III the Great, (c. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC - 190s BC - 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC Years: 195 BC 194 BC 193 BC 192 BC 191 BC - 190 BC - 189 BC 188 BC...

The Greco-Bactrians were so powerful that they were able to expand their territory as far as India:

"As for Bactria, a part of it lies alongside Aria towards the north, though most of it lies above Aria and to the east of it. And much of it produces everything except oil. The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander...." (Strabo, 11.11.1)

Apollodorus of Artemita was a Greek writer of the 1st century BCE. Apollodorus is quoted by Strabo as a source for his descriptions of Asia. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ...

Indo-Greek Kingdom

Main article: Indo-Greek Kingdom
    The Indo-Greek Kingdom (or sometimes Greco-Indian Kingdom) covered various parts of northwest and northern India from 180 BCE to around 10 CE, and was ruled by a succession of more than thirty Greek kings, often in conflict with each other. ...

The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom Demetrius I (205-171 BC), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquest of India.

The Bactrian king Euthydemus and his son Demetrius crossed the Hindu Kush and began the conquest of Northern Afghanistan and the Indus valley. For a short time they wielded great power; a great Greek empire seemed to have arisen far in the East. But this empire was torn by internal dissensions and continual usurpations. When Demetrius advanced far into India one of his generals, Eucratides, made himself king of Bactria, and soon in every province there arose new usurpers, who proclaimed themselves kings and fought one against the other. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...     The Indo-Greek Kingdom (or sometimes Greco-Indian Kingdom) covered various parts of northwest and northern India from 180 BCE to around 10 CE, and was ruled by a succession of more than thirty Greek kings, often in conflict with each other. ... Silver coin depicting the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius (r. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 210 BC 209 BC 208 BC 207 BC 206 BC - 205 BC - 204 BC 203 BC... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC - 170s BC - 150s BC140s BC 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC Years: 176 BC 175 BC 174 BC 173 BC 172 BC - 171 BC - 170 BC 169 BC 168... Coin depicting the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus (230-200 B.C.) Euthydemus was allegedly a native of Magnesia and possible Satrap of Sogdiana, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became a Greco-Bactrian king in about 230 BC according to Polybius. ... Silver coin depicting the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius (r. ... King Eucratides (171-145 BC) Obv: Bust of Eucratides. ...

Most of them we know only by their coins, a great many of which are found in Afghanistan and India. By these wars the dominant position of the Greeks was undermined even more quickly than would otherwise have been the case. After Demetrius and Eucratides, the kings abandoned the Attic standard of coinage and introduced a native standard, no doubt to gain support from outside the Greek minority. In India, the syncretism went even further. King Milinda (Menander of India), known as a great conqueror, even converted to Buddhism. His successors managed to cling to power somewhat longer, but around AD 10 all of the Greek kings were gone. A number of notables in classical antiquity are named Demetrius: Demetrius, a writer of Old Comedy ca. ... Menander I ( also known as Milinda in Sanskrit, Pali), was one of the Greek kings of the Indo-Greek Kingdom in northern India from 160 to 135 BC. A renowned Indo-Greek king His territories covered the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria(from the areas of... Events Differentiation of localized Teutonic tribes of the Irminones. ...

The weakness of the Greco-Bactrian empire was shown by its sudden and complete overthrow, first by the Sakas, and then by the Yuezhi (who later became known as Kushans), who had conquered Daxia (= Bactria) by the time of the visit of the Chinese envoy Zhang Qian, c. 126 BC. Approximate extent of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom circa 220 BCE. The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising todays northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion... The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176 to 30 BCE. Yuezhi (Chinese:月氏, also 月支, Wade-Giles: Yüeh-Chih) or Da Yuezhi (Chinese:大月氏, also 大月支, Great Yuezhi) is the Chinese name for an ancient Central Asian people. ... Boundary of the Kushan empire, c. ... Zhang Qian leaving emperor Han Wudi, for his expedition to Central Asia from 138 to 126 BCE, Mogao Caves mural, 618-712 CE. Zhang Qian (Chinese:張騫; died 113 BCE) was a Chinese explorer and imperial envoy in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Han Dynasty. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC - 120s BC - 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC Years: 131 BC 130 BC 129 BC 128 BC 127 BC - 126 BC - 125 BC 124 BC...

But then its emergence, isolated thousands of miles from Greece, could only be described as a paradox. However, its cultural influences were not completely undone; an artistic style mixing western and eastern elements known as the Gandhara culture survived the empire for hundreds of years. Gandhāra (also Ghandara, Ghandahra, Chandahara, and Persian Gandara) is the name of an ancient kingdom in eastern Afghanistan and north-west province of Pakistan. ...

Contacts with China

Ideograms for Ta-Hsia, the ancient Chinese name for Bactria.

Bactria (known as Ta-Hsia to the Chinese) was visited by the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian in 126 BC. Download high resolution version (427x720, 20 KB)Ideograms for Ta-Hia. ... Download high resolution version (427x720, 20 KB)Ideograms for Ta-Hia. ... Characters for Ta-Hsia. ... Zhang Qian leaving emperor Han Wudi, for his expedition to Central Asia from 138 to 126 BCE, Mogao Caves mural, 618-712 CE. Zhang Qian (Chinese:張騫; died 113 BCE) was a Chinese explorer and imperial envoy in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Han Dynasty. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC - 120s BC - 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC Years: 131 BC 130 BC 129 BC 128 BC 127 BC - 126 BC - 125 BC 124 BC...

The reports of Zhang Qian were put into writing in the Shiji ("Records of the Great Historian") by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. They describe an important urban civilization of about one million people, living in walled cities under small city kings or magistrates. Ta-Hsia was an afluent country with rich markets, trading in an incredible variety of objects, coming as far as Southern China. The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor until his own time. ... Sima Qian (circa 145—90 BC) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (太史令) of the Han Dynasty. ... (2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century - other centuries) The 1st century BC starts on January 1, 100 BC and ends on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC. (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) // Events The Roman Republic...

By the time Zhang Xian visited Ta-Hsia, there was no longer a major king, and the Bactrians were suzerains to the nomadic Yuezhi, who were settled to the north of their territory beyond the Oxus. Overall, Zhang Qian depicted a rather sophisticated but demoralized people who were afraid of war. The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176 to 30 BCE. Yuezhi (Chinese:月氏, also 月支, Wade-Giles: Yüeh-Chih) or Da Yuezhi (Chinese:大月氏, also 大月支, Great Yuezhi) is the Chinese name for an ancient Central Asian people. ... The Amu Darya (in Persian آمودریا; Darya means river in Persian) rises in the Pamirs and flows mainly north-west through the Hindu Kush, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to join the Aral Sea in a large river delta. ...

These contacts immediately led to the dispatch of multiple embassies from the Chinese, which helped to develop the Silk Road. The Silk Road (Traditional Chinese: 絲綢之路; Simplified Chinese: 丝绸之路; pinyin: sī chóu zhī lù, Persian راه ابریشم Râh-e Abrisham, Turkish: İpekyolu, Kyrgyz: Jibek Jolu,) was an interconnected series of routes through Southern Asia traversed by caravan and ocean vessel, and connecting Changan (todays Xian), China, with Antioch, Asia...

Tokharistan

Following the settlement of the Yuezhi (described in the West as "Tocharians"), the general area of Bactria came to be called Tokharistan. From the 1st century CE to the 3rd century CE, Tokharistan was under the rule of the Kushans. They were followed by Sassanides (Indo-Sassanians). Later, in the 5th century, it was controlled by the Khionits and the Hephthalites. In the 7th century, after a brief rule under the Turkish Khaganats, it was conquered by the Arabs. The Tocharians were the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity, inhabiting the Tarim basin in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern Peoples Republic of China. ... Tokharistan is a name which was given to Bactria, following its settlement by various Central Asian people in the 2nd century BCE. The first literary mentions of Thokaristan appear at the end of the 4th century CE in Chinese Buddhist sources (the Vibhasa-sastra). ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Coin of the Indo-Sassanian king Varahran I (early 4th century). ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Khagan, alternatively spelled Chagan, Qaqan etc. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain. The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) is the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

References

• Beal, Samuel (trans.). Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang. Two volumes. London. 1884.
• Reprint: Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 1969.
• Beal, Samuel (trans.). The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang by the Shaman Hwui Li, with an Introduction containing an account of the Works of I-Tsing. London. 1911.
• Reprint: New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1973.
• Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu." 2nd Draft Edition. [1]
• Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. [2]
• Watson, Burton (trans.). "Chapter 123: The Account of Ta-yüan." Records of the Grand Historian of China: Translated from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Columbia University Press, 1961: 265
• Watters, Thomas. On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India (A.D. 629-645).
• Reprint: New Delhi: Mushiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1973.
• Arthur Cotterell, From Aristotle to Zoroaster. 1998. p57-59. ISBN 0-684-85596-8

Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language — the source text — and the production, in another language, of a new, equivalent text — the target text, or translation. ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... The Humayuns Tomb, situated in New Delhi, has an architectural design similar to the Taj Mahal. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: If you disagree with its speedy deletion, please explain why on its talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi (In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ), commonly shortened to Anno Domini (In the Year of the Lord), abbreviated as AD or A.D., is the designation used to number years in the Christian Era, conventionally used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... Events Jerusalem reconquered by Byzantine Empire from the Persian Empire (September). ... Events End of the reign of Empress Kogyoku of Japan Emperor Kotoku ascends to the throne of Japan Byzantines recapture Alexandria from the Arabs Births Empress Jito of Japan Categories: 645 ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

See also

• Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex
• Bactrian Gold
• Bactrian Camel

The extent of the BMAC (after EIEC). ... The Tillya Tepe (Golden Hill) Bactrian Gold hoard is a collection of about 20,600 gold ornaments that was found in six burial mounds near Shibarghan, in the northern Afghanistan province of Jozjan, and was excavated in 1978 by a team led by the Greek-Russian archaeologist Victor Sariyannidis, a... Binomial name Camelus bactrianus Linnaeus, 1758 The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of eastern Asia. ...

Archaeological sites

• Termez region [3]

External links

• Bactrian Gold