Bactria
Bactria(see map: The Hellenistic world), enormous region lying (roughly) between the Oxus river (Amu-Darya) to the north and the Hindu Kush to the south; the term occasionally also includes Sogdiana to the north (Tadjikistan/ Uzbekistan). The Achaemenid Persian satrapy (Baāxtriŝs) is cited several times in the Persepolis tablets. Because of the silence of the classical sources, Bactrian history only becomes more fully recoverable with Alexander the Great, who had to fight tough battles here. Recent excavations have profoundly enhanced our knowledge, especially excavation of the site of Ai Khanoum, a Hellenistic city, (possibly) founded by Alexander himself, on the upper Oxus (Alexandria Oxiana?). Surveys in eastern Bactria, on both banks of the Oxus, have revealed that the agricultural prosperity, for which the...
[The entire page is 346 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
