Greek Bactria: Does anyone have info?

[brandnew70x7]

All I can find is that it was in Afghanistan, and left over from Alexanders reign. From the looks of it theres little to no history on them, but im not sure, any help?

 

[stnylan]

Unfortunately very, very little is known about Bactria.

Here is a kinglist.

This article summarises the main points of what we know of Bactrian history, which is hardly anything. Also has a nice map.

Hope that little helps.

 

[brandnew70x7]

It makes me wonder, did the locals actually support the greek government, or were they more keen to the Hindu/Steppe invaders..

 

[saskganesh]

hey burris. you got me intrigued on this shadowy part of history, edge of the map stuff, so i spent a bit of time surfing for "greek bactria" via google...

i found an online review of this book:

H. Sidsky, The Greek Kingdom of Bactria. Lanham, New York, & Oxford:
University Press of America, 2000. Pp. xvi, 284. ISBN 0-7618-1695-x.
$47.50.

http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu:8080/hyper-lists/bmcr-l/2001/0088.html

review hammers sidsky as to being too narrow in focus: but the bibliography would be worth checking out, i'd imagine

on another site, i found this colourful short account of menander

http://users2.ev1.net/~legionary/mainevent/coins/IndoGreek.html

BACTRIA, Menander the Great

Before Bactria was Bactria it was part of Persia. Stretching form the Hindu Kush Mountains to the Oxus (Amu Darya) River. After Alexander the Great's death his empire was divided into three kingdoms, one of them being the Seleucid kingdom. The Greek rulers of Bactria seceded from the Seleucid king in the 256 B.C. and creating their own kingdom. Internal political struggles in the Mauryan Empire resulted in the assassinated of the king. The Bactrians took this opportunity to expand their borders. In 185 B.C., the king of Bactria, Demetrius, extended his borders into northwest India. The Greeks brought astronomy, art, and better coinage in to India. The latter improving trade and commerce.

Between the years 155 and 130, a Greek named Menander ruled in India's northwest. Menander tried to extend his rule eastward. He captured Mathurak, and he threatened Magadha's capital, Pataliputra. Menander converted to Buddhism. This conversion lead to the building of a road between India and Bactria. With this road came the exchange of ideas, goods, and religion. Bactria fell under the control of the Sakas around 130 B.C. "

greek buddhists! who knew?

here's a good link fest:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/bactria/

 

[gweinel]

I don't know if Bactria included modern Pakistan but there is a tribe that has (ancient) greek origins. The name of the tribe is Kalas.

Here is some links that I just found

http://tftb.com/deify/kalaspics.htm

http://www.geocities.com/antibaltak/kallash.html

http://www.hri.org/news/greek/mpab/1997/97-01-21.mpab.html

 

[PMLF]

I am curious. Are the Kalas people muslim or are they Nestorians or any other religion?

 

[gweinel]

About the Kalas religion.

As you can see in the second link they believe to the Olympian Pantheon. Their main God is Zeus and have Gods like Aphrodite, Pan etc. The pantheon is almost identical with the ancient greek.