Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- 10 Western and Central Eurasia
- 11 Regional study: Baktria – the crossroads of ancient Eurasia
- 12 The Mediterranean
- 13 Regional study: Athens in the fifth century bce
- 14 Late antiquity in Europe c. 300–900 ce
- 15 East Asia
- 16 Regional study: Confucianism and the state
- 17 Regional study: exchanges within the Silk Roads world system
- 18 South Asia
- 19 Regional study: Pataliputra
- 20 The Americas
- 21 Regional study: Chaco Canyon and the US Southwest
- 22 Australasia and the Pacific
- 23 Africa: states, empires, and connections
- 24 Regional study: trans-Saharan trade
- Index
- References
11 - Regional study: Baktria – the crossroads of ancient Eurasia
from Part II - Trans-regional and regional perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- 10 Western and Central Eurasia
- 11 Regional study: Baktria – the crossroads of ancient Eurasia
- 12 The Mediterranean
- 13 Regional study: Athens in the fifth century bce
- 14 Late antiquity in Europe c. 300–900 ce
- 15 East Asia
- 16 Regional study: Confucianism and the state
- 17 Regional study: exchanges within the Silk Roads world system
- 18 South Asia
- 19 Regional study: Pataliputra
- 20 The Americas
- 21 Regional study: Chaco Canyon and the US Southwest
- 22 Australasia and the Pacific
- 23 Africa: states, empires, and connections
- 24 Regional study: trans-Saharan trade
- Index
- References
Summary
The country that the Greeks called Baktria with its double-named capital of Baktra-Zariaspa was located on the plain that comprises northern Afghanistan from the Hindu-Kush mountains in the south to the Amudaria River in the north and west, and the Badakhshan mountains in the east. During the Bronze Age, hundreds of desert oasis settlements arose on both sides of the Amudaria. The first written references to Baktria occur after its inclusion in the Achaemenid kingdom. During Alexander the Great's campaign in Persia, a relative of the Persian king, Darius III Commodanus, and satrap of Baktria-Sogdia, Bessos, commanded the Baktrian cavalry at the Battle of Gaugamela. The history of this period is generally viewed as an interlude marking the transition from the end of Greek rule to the beginning of the Kushan Empire. It is generally agreed that the Kushans were one of the several tribes of the Yuezhi, among whom some probably spoke Tokharian, mentioned by the Chinese sources.
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- The Cambridge World History , pp. 300 - 324Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
References
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