Bactria

An ancient country (satrapy) lying in a fertile region between the mountains of the Hindu Kush (Paropamisus) and the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) in what is now part of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Bactria was especially important between c 600 BC-600 AD, as a center for meeting and trading between the East (China) and West (Mediterranean). It was a satrapy of the Achaemenid empire and was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC. Many Greeks settled in Bactria in the Seleucid period which followed. . Consequently, Greek influence on the culture of central Asia and northwestern India was considerable, especially in art, architecture, coins, and writing. Bactria's capital was Bactra (also called Bactra-Zariaspa; probably modern Balkh, ancient Vahlika).

The fertile region of Afghan Turkestan, south of the River Oxus. Its earliest significance was as one of the 20 satrapies of the Achaemenid empire. Bactria remained important after its conquest by Alexander in 329 bc and subsequently as part of the Parthian empire. Its wealth and importance depended on the east-west trade routes that passed through it, linking China in the east with the Mediterranean world in the west. Many Greeks settled in Bactria in the Seleucid period and through this province and its neighbour to the south, Gandhara, Greek ideas reached the civilizations of India.