Bactria: The Ancient Greek State in Afghanistan

Gold stater of the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides. Credit: Public Domain, illustration by Greek Reporter

Bactria, a immense country successful what is contiguous Afghanistan, was the eastbound borderline of the ancient Greek empire, established by Alexander the Great. After Alexander’s death, amid the changeless wars and squabbling of his generals, Bactria yet roseate to go an autarkic Hellenistic successor state.

Alexander and his service began a monolithic subject run successful 334 B.C. which resulted successful Macedonians establishing galore Greek cities crossed a wide swath of Asia. His rule, and that of his successors, would yet scope each the mode to the Indian subcontinent.

Alexander and his service conquered large tracts of onshore betwixt Greece and India. However, successful the past authorities of Bactria, the Greek beingness became overmuch much salient than successful areas that were acold person to Greece.

The Kingdom of Bactria was located northbound of the Hindu Kush upland scope and southbound of the Amu Darya stream connected the plateau wherever Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are today.

After the decease of Alexander, his empire was divided up among the generals successful his army. Bactria became a portion of the Seleucid Empire, named aft its founder, General Seleucus.

Seleucus I and his lad Antiochus I went connected to found a large galore Greek towns. The Greek beingness was truthful overpowering that the Greek language remained salient successful the portion for immoderate time.

Bactria the eastbound borderline of the Greek empire

However, 1 of the lesser-known reasons for the overwhelming Greek taste power successful the portion was the wide deportations of Greeks to Bactria. During the reign of Darius I, each azygous 1 of the inhabitants of the Greek metropolis of Barca successful Cyrenaica was deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender suspected assassins to authorities.

The Persian King Xerxes besides sent prisoners to the area. The “Branchidae” were the descendants of Greek priests who had erstwhile lived adjacent Didyma and had surrendered the temple to him. The Greek historiographer Herodotus besides records a Persian commandant threatening to enslave the daughters of the revolting Ionians and nonstop them to Bactria.

Diodotus I, the satrap, oregon ruler, of Bactria, declared independency from the Seleucid kings successful the twelvemonth 245 B.C., conquering Sogdia and becoming the laminitis of the large Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Diodotus and his successors resisted continued attacks from the Seleucids, peculiarly from Antiochus III the Great, who was yet defeated by the Romans successful 190 BC.

Map of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Credit: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

The Greco-Bactrians became precise almighty militarily and succeeded successful expanding their territory arsenic acold arsenic present-day India.

The Greeks who had instigated the Bactrian revolt had go highly wealthy, partially owed to the large fertility of their country. Their large wealthiness enabled them to go masters not lone of Bactria but besides of India.

Greek connection for administrative purposes

The Greco-Bactrians utilized the Greek connection for administrative purposes, and the section languages were besides influenced by Hellenism, arsenic suggested by their adoption of the Greek alphabet and Greek words.

Bactrian King Euthydemus I and his lad Demetrius I crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and began their conquest of the Indus Valley. Within a abbreviated time, they were truthful almighty that a Greek empire seemed to beryllium connected the emergence successful the East.

However, corruption and interior feuds tore the nascent empire apart. When Demetrius precocious acold eastbound of the Indus River, 1 of his generals, Eucratides, pronounced himself king of Bactria.

Usurpers abruptly arose successful each province. All of them desired to beryllium kings, and they fought bitterly against each other.

Many of them did go kings, arsenic evidenced by the galore golden coins recovered centuries aboriginal successful Afghanistan, but they were kings lone wrong their ain provinces. The internecine wars betwixt them had taken a large and irreversible toll, destroying overmuch of what had made their societies progressive and diminishing the Hellenic element.

After Demetrius and Eucratides, the kings abandoned the Attic modular of coinage and introduced a autochthonal 1 to pull enactment from non-Greeks.

In the Indus Valley, the Indo-Greek king Menander I converted to Buddhism. The past known Indo-Greek ruler, King Strato II, ruled successful the Punjab portion until astir 55 B.C., according to immoderate sources. Others spot the extremity of Strato II’s reign arsenic precocious arsenic 10 A.D.