Back مملكة إغريقية بخترية Arabic Yunan-Baktriya padşahlığı Azerbaijani باکتریا یونانی دؤولتی AZB Грэка-Бактрыйскае царства Byelorussian Гръко-бактрийско царство Bulgarian গ্রিক-ব্যাক্ট্রিয় রাজ্য Bengali/Bangla Regne grec de Bactriana Catalan Řecko-baktrijské království Czech Griechisch-Baktrisches Königreich German Ελληνικό βασίλειο της Βακτριανής Greek
Kingdom of Bactria Βασιλεία τῆς Βακτριανῆς Basileía tēs Baktrianēs | |||||||||||||
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| 256 BC–c. 120 BC | |||||||||||||
 Eucratides I wearing the Bactrian version of the Boeotian helmet, shown on his gold 20-stater, the largest gold coin ever minted in the ancient world, c. 2nd century BC.
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| Capital | Bactra Ai-Khanoum | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Greek (official) Bactrian Sanskrit Aramaic Sogdian Parthian | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Hellenism Greco-Buddhism Zoroastrianism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Basileus | |||||||||||||
• 256–239 BC | Diodotus I (first) | ||||||||||||
• 117–100 BC | Heliocles I (last) | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||||
• Established | 256 BC | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 120 BC | ||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
| 184 BC[1] | 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
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The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (Greek: Βασιλεία τῆς Βακτριανῆς, romanized: Basileía tēs Baktrianēs, lit. 'Kingdom of Bactria') was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period[2][3][4] located in Central Asia. Along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom in the Indian subcontinent, it was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world. The kingdom was founded c. 256 BC by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter and lasted until its fall c. 120 BC.[a] It was ruled by the Diodotid dynasty, Euthydemid dynasty, and the Eucratid dynasty.
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom covered much of present-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and some parts of Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Iran. An extension further east, with military campaigns and settlements, may have reached the borders of the Qin State in 230 BC.[5][6] Its cities were among the largest and richest of antiquity; indeed, Bactria was known as the "land of a thousand cities."[7][8][9]
- ^ Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3–4): 132. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
- ^ The Ancient Greco-Bactrian kingdom and Hellenistic Afghanistan Brewminate, Archived 2021-09-24 at the Wayback Machine - Matthew A. McIntosh
- ^ Cribb, Joe (2005). "The Greek Kingdom of Bactria, its coinage and its collapse". Afghanistan Ancien Carrefour Entre Lʼest et Lʼouest: 1 – via Academia.
- ^ Mairs, Rachel (2016). "Bactrian or Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom". The Encyclopedia of Empire: 1–4.
- ^ Lucas, Christopoulos. Dionysian Rituals and the Golden Zeus of China. Sino-Platonic Papers 326.
- ^ Strabo, Geography 11.11.1
- ^ Doumanis, Nicholas. (16 Dec 2009) A History of Greece[permanent dead link] Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-1137013675 p 64
- ^ Baumer, Christoph. (11 Dec 2012) The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors Archived 2022-11-19 at the Wayback Machine Vol. 1 I.B. Tauris, ISBN 978-1780760605 p 289
- ^ Kaushik Roy. ( 28 July 2015) Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia Archived 2022-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. Routledge, ISBN 978-1317321279
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