Bactria

Bactria (Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in

Central Asia

. Bactria proper was north of the Hindu Kush mountain range and south of the Amu Darya river, covering the flat region that straddles modern-day

Afghanistan

. More broadly Bactria was the area north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the

Tian Shan

, covering modern-day

Tajikistan

and

Uzbekistan

as well, with the Amu Darya flowing west through the centre.

Called "beautiful Bactria, crowned with flags" by the

Avesta

, the region is one of the sixteen perfect Iranian lands that the supreme deity

Ahura Mazda

had created. One of the early centres of Zoroastrianism and capital of the legendary Kayanian kings of Iran, Bactria is mentioned in the

Behistun Inscription

of

Darius the Great

as one of the satrapies of the

Achaemenid Empire

; it was a special satrapy and was ruled by a crown prince or an intended heir. Bactria was centre of Iranian resistance against the Macedonian invaders after fall of the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century BC, but eventually fell to

Alexander the Great

. After death of the Macedonian conqueror, Bactria was annexed by his general, Seleucus I.

Nevertheless, the Seleucids lost the region after declaration of independence by the satrap of Bactria, Diodotus I; thus started history of the Greco-Bactrian and the later Indo-Greek Kingdoms. By the 2nd century BC, Bactria was conquered by the Iranian

Parthian Empire

, and in the early 1st century, the

Kushan Empire

was formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories. Shapur I, the second Sasanian King of Kings of

Iran

, conquered western parts of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century, and the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom was formed. The Sasanians lost Bactria in the 4th century, however, it was reconquered in the 6th century. With the Muslim conquest of Iran in the 7th century, Islamization of Bactria began.

Bactria was centre of an Iranian Renaissance in the 8th and 9th centuries, and New Persian as an independent literary language first emerged in this region. The Samanid Empire was formed in Eastern Iran by the descendants of Saman Khuda, a Persian from Bactria; thus started spread of Persian language in the region and decline of Bactrian language.

Bactrian, an Eastern Iranian language, was the common language of Bactria and surroundings areas in ancient and early medieval times. Zoroastrianism and

Buddhism

were the religions of the majority of Bactrians before the rise of Islam.

Name

The English name Bactria is derived from the grc, Βακτριανή (Romanized: ''Baktriani''), a Hellenized version of the Bactrian endonym (Romanized: ). Analogous names include Avestan ''Bakhdi'', Old Persian ''Bāxtriš'' , Middle Persian ''Baxl,'' New Persian بلخ (Romanized: ''Balx''), Chinese 大夏 (

pinyin

: ''Dàxià''),

Latin

Bactriana and sa, बाह्लीक (Romanized: ''Bāhlīka'').

Geography

Bactria was located in central Asia in an area that comprises most of modern day Afghanistan and parts of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. To the south and east, it was bordered by the Hindu Kush mountain range. On its western side, the region was bordered by the great Carmanian desert and to the north it was bound by the Oxus river. The land was noted for its fertility and its ability to produce most ancient Greek agricultural products, with the exception of olives.

According to Pierre Leriche:

History

Bronze Age

The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC, also known as the "Oxus civilization") is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age archaeological culture of

Central Asia

, dated to c. 2200–1700 BC, located in present-day eastern

Turkmenistan

, northern Afghanistan, southern

Uzbekistan

and western

Tajikistan

, centred on the upper Amu Darya (known to the ancient Greeks as the Oxus River), an area covering ancient Bactria. Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for Old Persian ''Bāxtriš'' (from native *''Bāxçiš'') (named for its capital Bactra, modern

Balkh

), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and ''Margiana'' was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Margu, the capital of which was

Merv

, in today's Turkmenistan.

The early Greek historian Ctesias, c. 400 BC (followed by Diodorus Siculus), alleged that the legendary Assyrian king

Ninus

had defeated a Bactrian king named Oxyartes in c. 2140 BC, or some 1000 years before the Trojan War. Since the decipherment of

cuneiform script

in the 19th century, however, which enabled actual Assyrian records to be read, historians have ascribed little value to the Greek account.

According to some writers, Bactria was the homeland (Airyanem Vaejah) of Indo-Iranians who moved south-west into Iran and the north-west of the Indian subcontinent around 2500–2000 BC. Later, it became the northern province of the

Achaemenid Empire

in

Central Asia

. It was in these regions, where the fertile soil of the mountainous country is surrounded by the Turan Depression, that the prophet

Zoroaster

was said to have been born and gained his first adherents. Avestan, the language of the oldest portions of the Zoroastrian ''

Avesta

'', was one of the Old Iranian languages, and is the oldest attested member of the Eastern Iranian languages.

Achaemenid Empire

Ernst Herzfeld

suggested that Bactria belonged to the Medesbefore its annexation to the

Achaemenid Empire

by

Cyrus the Great

in sixth century BC, after which it and Margiana formed the twelfth satrapy of Persia. After

Darius III

had been defeated by

Alexander the Great

, the satrap of Bactria, Bessus, attempted to organise a national resistance but was captured by other warlords and delivered to Alexander. He was then tortured and killed.

Under Persian rule, many Greeks were deported to Bactria, so that their communities and language became common in the area. During the reign of Darius I, the inhabitants of the Greek city of Barca, in

Cyrenaica

, were deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender assassins. In addition, Xerxes also settled the "Branchidae" in Bactria; they were the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near

Didyma

(western Asia Minor) and betrayed the temple to him. Herodotus also records a Persian commander threatening to enslave daughters of the revolting Ionians and send them to Bactria. Persia subsequently conscripted Greek men from these settlements in Bactria into their military, as did Alexander later.

Alexander

Alexander

conquered Sogdiana. In the south, beyond the Oxus, he met strong resistance, but ultimately conquered the region through both military force and diplomacy, marrying

Roxana

, daughter of the defeated Satrap of Bactria, Oxyartes. He founded two Greek cities in Bactria, including his easternmost, Alexandria Eschate (Alexandria the Furthest).

After Alexander's death, Diodorus Siculus tells us that Philip received dominion over Bactria, but Justin names Amyntas to that role. At the Treaty of Triparadisus, both Diodorus Siculus and Arrian agree that the satrap Stasanor gained control over Bactria. Eventually, Alexander's empire was divided up among the generals in Alexander's army. Bactria became a part of the Seleucid Empire, named after its founder, Seleucus I Nicator, Seleucus I.

Seleucid Empire

The Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonians, especially Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I Soter, Antiochus I, established the Seleucid Empire and founded a great many Greek towns. The Greek language became dominant for some time there.

The paradox that Greek presence was more prominent in Bactria than in areas far closer to Greece can possibly be explained by past deportations of Greeks to Bactria.

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

Considerable difficulties faced by the Seleucid kings and the attacks of Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus gave the satrap of Bactria, Diodotus I, the opportunity to declare independence about 245 BC and conquer Sogdia. 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 from Antiochus III the Great, who was ultimately defeated by the Roman Republic, Romans (190 BC).

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

The Greco-Bactrians used the Greek language for administrative purposes, and the local Bactrian language was also Hellenized, as suggested by its adoption of the Greek alphabet and Greek loanwords. In turn, some of these words were also borrowed by modern Pashto.

Indo-Greek Kingdom

The Bactrian king Euthydemus I and his son Demetrius I of Bactria, Demetrius I crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and began the conquest of 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 dissension and continual usurpations. When Demetrius advanced far east of the Indus River, 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 against each other.

Most of them we know only by their coins, a great many of which are found in

Afghanistan

. 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 the Indus valley, this went even further. The Indo-Greek king Menander I (known as Milinda in India), recognized as a great conqueror, Greco-Buddhism, converted to Buddhism. His successors managed to cling to power until the last known Indo-Greek ruler, a king named Strato II, who ruled in the Punjab region until around 55 BC. Other sources, however, place the end of Strato II's reign as late as 10 AD.

Daxia, Tukhara and Tokharistan

''Daxia'', ''Ta-Hsia'', or ''Ta-Hia'' () was the name given in antiquity by the Han Chinese to Tukhara or Tokhara: the central part of Bactria. The name "Daxia" appears in Chinese from the 3rd century BC to designate a little-known kingdom located somewhere west of China. This was possibly a consequence of the first contacts between China and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

During the 2nd century BC, the Greco-Bactrians were conquered by nomadic Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European tribes from the north, beginning with the Sakas (160 BC). The Sakas were overthrown in turn by the Da Yuezhi ("Greater Yuezhi") during subsequent decades. The Yuezhi had conquered Bactria by the time of the visit of the Chinese envoy Zhang Qian (circa 127 BC), who had been sent by the Han Dynasty, Han emperor to investigate lands to the west of China. The first mention of these events in European literature appeared in the 1st century BC, when Strabo described how "the Asii, Pasiani, Tokhari, and Sakarauli" had taken part in the "destruction of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom". Ptolemy subsequently mentioned the central role of the Tokhari among other tribes in Bactria. As ''Tukhara'' or ''Tokhara'' it included areas that were later part of Surxondaryo Province in Uzbekistan, southern

Tajikistan

and northern Afghanistan. The Tokhari spoke a language known later as Bactrian – an Iranian language. (The Tokhari and their language should not be confused with the Tocharians, Tocharian people who lived in the Tarim Basin between the 3rd and 9th centuries AD, or the Tocharian languages that form another branch of Indo-European languages.)

The name Daxia was used in the ''Shiji'' ("Records of the Grand Historian") by Sima Qian. Based on the reports of Zhang Qian, the ''Shiji'' describe Daxia as an important urban civilization of about one million people, living in walled cities under small city kings or magistrates. Daxia was an affluent country with rich markets, trading in an incredible variety of objects, coming from as far as Southern China. By the time Zhang Qian visited, there was no longer a major king, and the Bactrians were under the suzerainty of the Yuezhi. Zhang Qian depicted a rather sophisticated but demoralised people who were afraid of war. Following these reports, the Chinese emperor Emperor Wu of Han China, Wu Di was informed of the level of sophistication of the urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria and Parthia, and became interested in developing commercial relationship with them: These contacts immediately led to the dispatch of multiple embassies from the Chinese, which helped to develop trade along the Silk Roads.

Kujula Kadphises, the ''xihou'' (prince) of the Yuezhi, united the region in the early 1st century and laid the foundations for the powerful, but short-lived,

Kushan Empire

.

In the 3rd century AD, Tukhara was under the rule of the ''Indo-Sasanians, Kushanshas'' (Indo-Sasanians).

Tokharistan

The form Tokharistan – the suffix ''-stan'' means "place of" in Persian – appeared for the first time in the 4th century, in Buddhist texts, such as the ''Vibhasa-sastra''. Tokhara was known in Chinese sources as ''Tuhuluo'' (吐呼羅) which is first mentioned during the Northern Wei era. In the Tang dynasty, the name is transcribed as Tuhuoluo (土豁羅). Other Chinese names are Doushaluo 兜沙羅, Douquluo 兜佉羅 or Duhuoluo 覩貨羅.

During the 5th century, Bactria was controlled by the Xionites and the Hephthalites, but was subsequently reconquered by the Sassanid Empire.

Introduction of Islam

By the mid-7th century, Islam under the Rashidun Caliphate had come to rule much of the Middle East and western areas of Central Asia.History of Buddhism in Afghanistan
by Dr. Alexander Berzin, ''Study Buddhism''

In 663, the Umayyad Caliphate attacked the Buddhist Kabul Shahi, Shahi dynasty ruling in Tokharistan. The Umayyad forces captured the area around

Balkh

, including the Buddhist monastery at Nava Vihara, causing the Shahis to retreat to the Kabul Valley.

In the 8th century, a Persian from Balkh known as Saman Khuda left Zoroastrianism for Islam while living under the Umayyads. His children founded the Samanid Empire (875–999). Persian became the official language and had a higher status than Bactrian, because it was the language of Muslim rulers. It eventually replaced the latter as the common language due to the preferential treatment as well as colonization.

Bactrian people

Bactrians were the inhabitants of Bactria. Several important trade routes from India and China (including the Silk Road) passed through Bactria and, as early as the Bronze Age, this had allowed the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth by the mostly nomadic population. The first proto-urban civilization in the area arose during the 2nd millennium BC.

Control of these lucrative trade routes, however, attracted foreign interest, and in the 6th century BC the Bactrians were conquered by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, and in the 4th century BC by

Alexander the Great

. These conquests marked the end of Bactrian independence. From around 304 BC the area formed part of the Seleucid Empire, and from around 250 BC it was the centre of a Greco-Bactrian kingdom, ruled by the descendants of Greeks who had settled there following the conquest of

Alexander the Great

.

The Greco-Bactrians, also known in Sanskrit as Yavanas, worked in cooperation with the native Bactrian aristocracy. By the early 2nd century BC the Greco-Bactrians had created an impressive empire that stretched southwards to include north-west India. By about 135 BC, however, this kingdom had been overrun by invading Yuezhi tribes, an invasion that later brought about the rise of the powerful

Kushan Empire

.

Bactrians were recorded in Strabo's Geography'

"Now in early times the Sogdians and Bactrians did not differ much from the nomads in their modes of life and customs, although the Bactrians were a little more civilised; however, of these, as of the others, Onesicritus does not report their best traits, saying, for instance, that those who have become helpless because of old age or sickness are thrown out alive as prey to dogs kept expressly for this purpose, which in their native tongue are called "undertakers," and that while the land outside the walls of the metropolis of the Bactrians looks clean, yet most of the land inside the walls is full of human bones; but that Alexander broke up the custom."

The Bactrians spoke Bactrian, a East Iranian, north-eastern Iranian language. Bactrian became extinct, replaced by north-eastern Iranian languages such as Pashto language, Pashto, Yidgha language, Yidgha, Munji language, Munji, and Ishkashimi language, Ishkashmi. The ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'' states: The principal religions of the area before Islam were Zoroastrianism and

Buddhism

. Contemporary Tajiks are the descendants of ancient Eastern Iranian inhabitants of Central Asia, in particular, the Sogdians and the Bactrians, and possibly other groups, with an admixture of Western Iranian Persians and non-Iranian peoples. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states:

In popular culture

* The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom during the age of Demetrius I of Bactria, Demetrius I is the setting for the historical fiction novel ''Anabasis: A Novel of Hellenistic Afghanistan and India'' by Geoffrey Storey.
* The six-part documentary ''Alexander's Lost World'' explores the possible sites of Bactrian cities that historians believe were founded by

Alexander the Great

, including Alexandria on the Oxus. The series also explores the pre-existing Oxus civilization.David Adams Films
''Alexander's Lost World''
* The site was portrayed in the 2004 film Alexander (2004 film), ''Alexander'' where

Darius III

was found dying.

See also

* History of Afghanistan
* History of Uzbekistan
* Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex
* Tillya Tepe
* Bactrian camel
* Bahlikas
* Greater Khorasan
* Dalverzin Tepe
*

Balkh

Notes

Sources

* Bernard, Paul (1994). "The Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia." In:'' History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250,'' pp. 99–129. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.
* Beal, Samuel (Translation, 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.
* Cotterell, Arthur. ''From Aristotle to Zoroaster'', 1998; pages 57–59. .
* Hill, John E. 2003
"Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the ''Hou Hanshu''."
Second Draft Edition.
* Hill, John E. 2004

Draft annotated English translation.
* Holt, Frank Lee. (1999). ''Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria''. Berkeley: University of California Press.(hardcover, ).
* Holt, Frank Lee. (2005). ''Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan''. University of California Press. .
*Waghmar, Burzine. (2020)
"Between Hind and Hellas: the Bactrian Bridgehead (with an appendix on Indo-Hellenic interactions)"
In: ''Indo-Hellenic Cultural Transactions''. (2020). Edited by Radhika Seshan. Mumbai: K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, 2020 [2021], pp. 187-228.
* Tremblay, Xavier (2007) "The Spread of Buddhism in Serindia ― Buddhism among Iranians, Tocharians and Turks before the 13th century." Xavier Tremblay. In: ''The Spread of Buddhism''. (2007). Edited by Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter Bumbacher. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section Eight, Central Asia. Edited by Denis Sinor and Nicola Di Cosmo. Brill, Lieden; Boston. pp. 75–129.
* Watson, Burton (trans.). "Chapter 123: The Account of Dayuan." Translated from the Shiji by Sima Qian. ''Records of the Grand Historian of China II'' (Revised Edition). Columbia University Press, 1993, pages 231–252. (hardback), (paperback).
* Watters, Thomas. ''On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India (Anno Domini, A.D. 629–645)''. Reprint: New Delhi: Mushiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1973.
*

External links

Bactrian Coins

Bactrian Gold




��about the Termez region, an archeological site

Art of the Bronze Age: Southeastern Iran, Western Central Asia, and the Indus Valley
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Bactria

{{Central Asian history
Bactria,
States and territories established in the 3rd millennium BC
States and territories disestablished in the 10th century
Buddhism in Afghanistan
Buddhism in Iran
Historical regions
Historical regions of Afghanistan
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History of Central Asia
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