Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was a Hellenistic state in Central Asia and Afghanistan, founded in the mid-third century BC when the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I made Bactria independent. It was ruled by the Euthydemid and Eucratid dynasties and lasted until nomadic invasions ended Greek rule around 125 BC. At its height the kingdom covered modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with brief control of parts of Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Iran; campaigns may have reached the frontiers of Qin China. Alexander the Great had conquered Bactria in the late fourth century BC, and Greek settlement there predated the kingdom. Bactra, the chief city, and Ai-Khanoum, a Greek colonial city with a theatre, gymnasium and colonnaded houses, are among the few excavated centres. The kingdom prospered from agriculture, trade and the circulation of Greek coinage. Under Demetrius, Greek power expanded into northwestern India around 190–180 BC, leading to the separate Indo-Greek Kingdom. Eucratides the Great seized power around 171 BC, fought the Indo-Greek kings and ruled a vast realm, but Parthian and nomadic pressure, including the Sakas and Yuezhi, undermined the state. After Eucratides was killed by his son around 145 BC, Heliocles was the last Greek king in Bactria. The kingdom's Hellenistic legacy influenced later Central Asian art and statecraft.