Kingdom of Bactria Βασιλεία τῆς Βακτριανῆς Basileía tēs Baktrianēs | |||||||||||||
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256 BC–c. 120 BC | |||||||||||||
Eucratides the Great 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 | Ancient Greek religion Greco-Buddhism Zoroastrianism | ||||||||||||
Government | Hellenistic 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]
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