Ancient Balkh or Bactria was an integral part of Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex, and was occupied by Indo-Iranians.

Goddesses, Bactria, Afghanistan, 2000 – 1800 BC.

2200 – 1700 BC, located in present day Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amu Darya ( Oxus ), in area covering ancient Bactria.

According to some writers, Bactria was the homeland of Indo-European tribes who moved south-west into Iran and into North-Western India around 2500 – 2000 BC.

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

* July 17 – King Darius III is deposed and killed by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria.

Turkic speakers have probably settled in the Amu-Darya, Syr-Darya and Zeravshan river basins since at least AD 600 – 700, gradually ousting or assimilating the speakers of Eastern Iranian languages who previously inhabited Soghdiana, Bactria and Chorasmia.

138 – 126 BC: Zhang Qian travels west to Bactria and returns with first information on the Western Regions.

* Laodice, mother of Eucratides I ( reigned 170 – 145 BC ) of Bactria, wife of Heliocles

According to Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus, in Bactria, his satrap Diodotus also revolted in 255 BC, and founded the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, which further expanded in India in 180 BC to form the Greco-Indian kingdom ( 180 BC – 1 BC ).

Euthydemus I ( Greek: Εὐθύδημος Α ΄) ( c. 260 BC – 200 / 195 BC ), Greco-Bactrian king in about 230 or 223 BCE according to Polybius., he is thought to have originally been a Satrap of Sogdiana, who overturned the dynasty of Diodotus of Bactria and became a Greco-Bactrian king.

Diodotus I Soter () ( c. 285 BC – c. 239 BC ) was Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Seleucid rule soon after the death of Antiochus II in c. 255 or 246 BC, and wrested independence for his territory.

Its area of composition comprised – at least – Arachosia / Sīstān, Herat, Merv and Bactria.

The Kushan Empire ( c. 1st – 3rd centuries ) originally formed in Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan ; during the 1st century CE, they expanded their territory to include the Punjab and much of the Ganges basin, conquering a number of kingdoms across the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the process.

– Bactria

Asko Parpola proposed that the original Dasas were fellow Indo-Iranians of the Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex, who initially rejected Aryan religious practices, but were later merged with them.

Goddesses, Bactria, Afghanistan, 2000 – 1800 BCE.

2200 – 1700 BCE, located in present day Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amou Darya ( Oxus ), in area covering ancient Bactria.

According to some writers, Bactria was the homeland of Indo-European tribes who moved south-west into Iran and into North-Western India around 2500 – 2000 BCE.

# REDIRECT Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex

# REDIRECT Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex

In the east, Perdiccas largely left Alexander's arrangements intact – Taxiles and Porus ruled over their kingdoms in India ; Alexander's father-in-law Oxyartes ruled Gandara ; Sibyrtius ruled Arachosia and Gedrosia ; Stasanor ruled Aria and Drangiana ; Philip ruled Bactria and Sogdiana ; Phrataphernes ruled Parthia and Hyrcania ; Peucestas governed Persis ; Tlepolemus had charge over Carmania ; Atropates governed northern Media ; Archon got Babylonia ; and Arcesilas ruled northern Mesopotamia.

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.

It is suggested by E. Herzfeld that, prior to its annexation to the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great in 6th century B. C., Bactria belonged to the Median empire and together with Margiana formed the twelfth satrapy of Persia.

His kingdom seems to have been substantial, including probably Sogdiana to the north, and Margiana and Ariana to the south or east of Bactria.

Bactria was the Greek name for the area of 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.

Bactria was the Greek name for the area of 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 modern-day southeastern Turkmenistan.

Khorasan was originally inhabited by the ancient Indo-Iranians in the Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex in around 2000 BC.

Therefore he prefers to derive the Indo-Aryans from the intermediate stage of the Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex ( BMAC ) culture, in terms of a " Kulturkugel " model of expansion.

# REDIRECT Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex

* Bactria – Margiana Archaeological Complex

Asko Parpola ( 1993: 54 ), argues that the Gandhara grave culture is " by no means identical with the Bronze Age Culture of Bactria and Margiana ".

Archaeological finds can be traced back to the Greek empire of Bactria and Buddhist civilization.

Archaeological digs in Sri Lanka have turned up coins, beads and intaglios from Bactria and Afghanistan.

The " Avesta "— the holy book of Zoroastrianism — was written in the old-Bactrian dialect ; it is also thought that Zoroaster was most likely born in Bactria.

Zhang encountered Dayuan ( Fergana ), Kangju ( Sogdiana ), and Daxia ( Bactria, formerly the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom ); he also gathered information on Shendu ( Indus River valley of North India ) and Anxi ( the Parthian Empire ).

Bactria was also sometimes referred to by the Greeks as Bactriana.

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.

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 Bactria and beyond, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander ...."

Ptolemy also mentions a large Tokharian tribe in Bactria, describing the central role of the Tokharians among other tribes in Bactria.

There were headquarters of imperial administration at Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon while Bactria, Ecbatana, Sardis, Dascyclium and Memphis also had branches of imperial administration.

Artaxerxes V, also known as Bessus ( died summer 329 BC ) was a prominent Persian ( Iranian ) satrap of Bactria in Persia, and later self-proclaimed king of the Persian Empire.

:" 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 ... Their cities were Bactra ( also called Zariaspa, through which flows a river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus ), and Darapsa, and several others.

:" 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 — by Menander in particular ( at least if he actually crossed the Hypanis towards the east and advanced as far as the Imaüs ), for some were subdued by him personally and others by Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus the king of the Bactrians.

Ta-hia ( Daxia ) is then taken to mean the Tushara Kingdom which also included Badakshan, Chitral, Kafirstan and Wakhan According to other scholars, it were the Saka hordes alone who had put an end to the Greek kingdom of Bactria.

:" 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 -- by Menander in particular ( at least if he actually crossed the Hypanis towards the east and advanced as far as the Imaüs ), for some were subdued by him personally and others by Demetrius, the son of Euthydemus the king of the Bactrians ; and they took possession, not only of Patalena, but also, on the rest of the coast, of what is called the kingdom of Saraostus and Sigerdis.

* Menander also struck very rare Attic standard coinage with monolingual inscriptions ( coin 5 ), which were probably intended for use in Bactria ( where they have been found ), perhaps thought to demonstrate his victories against the Bactrian kings, as well as Menander's own claim to that the kingdom.

Zhang Qian also reports about the existence of India southeast of Bactria.

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 Bactria and beyond, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander ...."

Alexander had also established several colonies in neighbouring Bactria, such as Alexandria on the Oxus ( modern Ai-Khanoum ) and Alexandria of the Caucasus ( medieval Kapisa, modern Bagram ).

:" 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 ... Their cities were Bactra ( also called Zariaspa, through which flows a river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus ), and Darapsa, and several others.