Bactria | Britannica

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data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span> </button> <button disabled class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Next"> <span class="material-icons md-24" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <main> <div class="md-page-wrapper"> <div id="content" class="md-content"> <div class="container"> <div> <h1>Bactria</h1> <span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><firstImage><asm id="9978" filename="/75/24475-004-0A87A4FA/Diodotus-I-coin.jpg" alttext="Diodotus I"><title>Diodotus I</title><caption><span>Diodotus I, king of Bactria, coin, 3rd century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>.</span></caption></asm></firstImage></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref86044"></span>Bactria</strong>, ancient country lying between the mountains of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hindu Kush</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Amu Darya</a> (ancient Oxus River) in what is now part of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Uzbekistan</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Tajikistan</a>. Bactria was especially important between about 600 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> and about 600 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>, serving for much of that time as a meeting place not only for overland trade between East and West but also for the crosscurrents of religious and artistic ideas. Bactria鈥檚 capital was Bactra, also called Bactra-Zariaspa (now <span id="ref86045"></span>Balkh, Afghanistan). Bactria was a fertile country, and a profusion of mounds and abandoned water channels testifies to its ancient prosperity.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-true" data-assembly-id="286047" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/244472-050-DDD18F15/Locator-map-Bactria.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="*286047"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/244472-050-DDD18F15/Locator-map-Bactria.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/244472-050-DDD18F15/Locator-map-Bactria.jpg?w=300" alt="Bactria" data-width="2000" data-height="2000" loading="eager"></img></source></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/244472-050-DDD18F15/Locator-map-Bactria.jpg" data-href="*286047">Bactria</a><span>Bactria, ancient country in Central Asia, c. 600 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The first written records of Bactria are <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Achaemenian</a>. The region was probably subdued by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cyrus II</a> (the Great) in the 6th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> and remained an Achaemenian province for the next 200 years. When <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Alexander the Great</a> defeated <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Darius III</a>, the Bactrian satrap, <span id="ref86046"></span>Bessus, tried unsuccessfully to organize resistance in the East. Upon the death of Alexander (323 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) Bactria passed under the rule of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Seleucus I Nicator</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">About 250 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> either <span id="ref86047"></span>Diodotus, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Seleucid</a> satrap of Bactria, or his son of the same name founded an independent kingdom. The Seleucid king <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Antiochus III</a> (the Great) defeated their successor, the usurper <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Euthydemus</a>, but continued to recognize his independence. Euthydemus鈥檚 successors advanced into the Hindu Kush and northwestern India, where they established the <span id="ref86048"></span>Indo-Greek branch of the kingdom. At the height of their power they ruled almost all of what is now <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Afghanistan</a>, parts of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Central Asia</a>, and a large area in what is now <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pakistan</a>. Consequently, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hellenistic</a> influence on the culture of Central Asia and northwestern India has been considerable. Hellenistic traditions are especially evident in art, architecture, coinage, and script.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Sometime before 128 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, Greek rule north of the Hindu Kush was challenged by a people known to the Chinese as the <span id="ref86049"></span>Yuezhi. By 128 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> the Greeks had become Yuezhi tributaries, and soon afterward the Yuezhi occupied Bactria. They probably were an Iranian people and included the <span id="ref86050"></span>Tocharoi, whose name was subsequently applied to the whole area (Tocharian kingdom). In the 1st century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span> the new rulers of Bactria extended their rule into northwestern India. That movement is associated with a group known as the <span id="ref86051"></span>Kushans, under whom the country became a centre of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Buddhism</a>. In the latter half of the 4th century the Hephthalites (originally a tribe of the Yuezhi) settled in Bactria, and for almost two centuries they engaged in wars with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sasanians</a>. In 565 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span> the western Turks overthrew the <span id="ref86052"></span>Hephthalites and ruled the area until the invasion of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rashidun</a> caliphate in the middle of the 7th century.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span> <span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Adam-Zeidan/12409087">Adam Zeidan</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div style="clear:both"></div> <div class="print-citations"> <div class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Citation Information</div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Article Title:</span> Bactria</div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Website Name:</span> Encyclopaedia Britannica </div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Publisher:</span> Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. </div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Date Published:</span> 01 February 2025</div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">URL:</span> <a href="https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/place/Bactria">https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/place/Bactria</a> </div> <div> <span class="text-uppercase font-weight-bold">Access Date:</span> February 27, 2025</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> null </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> null </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.36"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/.js?v=3.133.36' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> null </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Bactria | Britannica