Originally, bactria consisted of the plain between the hindu kush and the amu darya, with its string of agricultural oases dependent on water taken from the rivers of balkh bactra, tashkurgan, konduz, sare pol, and sirin. Bactrian plain article about bactrian plain by the free. The interference of prakrit is mainly felt on a semantic and syntactic level. The bactrian camel can live up to 40 years of age and come in to sexual maturity around the age of 5 producing its first offspring as early as 5 or 6 years old and then approximately every 2 years. Monophyletic origin of domestic bactrian camel camelus bactrianus and its evolutionary relationship with the extant wild camel camelus bactrianus ferus. This force grew as the greco bactrian kingdom expanded into india and was widely depicted in greco bactrian coinage. Bactrian definition of bactrian by the free dictionary. Bactrian was the pri ncipal language of administration in what is now afghanistan from the time of the kushan empire 1st to 3rd centuries c. After the defeat of darius iii of persia, bactria continued to offer resistance against alexander the great, led by bessus, who had proclaimed himself successor to darius.
Bactria was the greek name for old persian baxtris from native baxcis named for its capital bactra, modern balkh, in what is now northern afghanistan, and margiana was the greek name for the persian satrapy of margu, the capital of which was merv, in todays turkmenistan. Greek personal names and their bearers in hellenistic bactria, in mariko n. Bactria zariaspa was an ancient country lying between the mountains of the hindu kush and the amu darya present day afghanistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan. The hephthalites inscribed their coins in the bactrian script, held iranian titles, the names of hephthalite rulers given in ferdowsis shahnameh are iranian, and gem inscriptions and other evidence shows that the official language of the hephthalite elite was east iranian. Apart from a few unidentifiable fragments and texts of uncertain type, the new bactrian documents may be.
Greco bactrian, kushan, kushano bactrian classification. It has also been known by names such as grecobactrian, kushan or kushanobactrian. More broadly bactria was the area north of the hindu kush, west of the pamirs and south of the. As well as revealing an important new language of the indoeuropean family, these documents shed light on the history and culture of afghanistan. Bactria, the territory of which bactra was the capital, originally consisted of the plain between the hindu kush and the amu darya with its string of agricultural oases dependent on water taken from the rivers of bal. Bactrian personal names, iranisches personennamenbuch ii7, vienna 2010.
Alexander married a bactrian noblewoman named roxana, despite opposition from his advisers. The bactriamargiana archaeological complex bmac, also known as the oxus civilization is the modern archaeological designation for a bronze age culture of central asia, dated to ca. The fine, shorter fibre of the insulating undercoat, 1. Under darius i, old persian administration and chancellery practice had probably been introduced into the eastern achaemenid satrapies.
Bactrian camel s are active during the daytime and feed mostly on grass and shrubbery however because food can be very rare they have also adapted to eat most dry shrubs and even thorny plants. The indogreek kings and kingdoms are absent in the greek imagination, because of the estrangement from the greek world and the cut of political links due to parthian and sakas presence between india and greece. It originally embraced bactria, sogdiana, margiana. I am happy to express my thanks to the research council. The bactrian plain is about 400 km long and up to 140 km wide. Not all of the grecobactrian kingdoms cultural legacy is entirely agreed upon. Bactrian definition, an ancient country in w asia, between the oxus river and the hindu kush mountains. Cyrus the great in the 6th century bce conquered bactria and it remained under persian rule for the next 200 years as a bactrian satrapy. The interference with aramaic of old bactrian, that is, the language of ancient bactria, was obviously very important and is therefore given a detailed separate analysis in a subsequent part of this chapter. This is the british english pronunciation of bactrian camel.
Bactrian personal names iranisches personennamenbuch. The region was probably subdued by cyrus ii the great in the 6th century bc and remained an achaemenian province for the next 200 years. Studies in the chronology of the bactrian documents from northern. Camelus bactrianus, otherwise known as the bactrian camel, and camelus ferus, the critically endangered wild bactrian camel. Bactrian, which was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the greek script, was known natively as arja. Shaked has subsequently revised his opinion, and following an oral suggestion by j. Militarily important during 450 to 560, they were based in bactria and expanded east to the tarim basin, west to sogdia and south through afghanistan to northern india.
Characteristics of a camel gone outdoors your adventure. The first indogreek kingdom appeared circa 190 bce may when the grecobactrian king or general for his father demetrios was busy in india, when his indian possessions were divided between several kings, probably firstly in order to better govern them but then due to civil war. It can not be camelus bactrianus ferus, as has erroneously been stated in mammal species of the world v3, 2005 link. Camelus bactrianus ferus in error and in itis link. Camels can weigh from 230 to 680 kilograms 500 to 1,500 pounds and can grow to be about 2 meters 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Tibetan inscriptions on ancient silver and gold vessels and artefacts. The name of wakhsh is used in the following personal names. A language native of northern afghanistan employed by the kushan dynasty as the official means of communication in their empire during the first three centuries ce. The third arm of the greco bactrian army was the indian war elephants, which are depicted in some coins with a tower thorakion or howdah housing men armed with bows and javelins. View hurrian personal names research papers on academia. During the first half of the 20th century, the bactrian. When alexander the great defeated darius iii, the bactrian satrap, bessus, tried unsuccessfully to organize resistance in the east.
According to the iucn red list, fewer than 1,000 wild bactrian camels occupy the rocky deserts of china and mongolia. Bactrians synonyms, bactrians pronunciation, bactrians translation, english dictionary definition of bactrians. The grecobactrian kingdom was, along with the indogreek kingdom, the easternmost part of the hellenistic world, covering bactria and sogdiana in central asia from 256 to 125 bc. Indo bactrian empire of india bactria zariaspa was an ancient country lying between the mountains of the hindu kush and the amu darya present day afghanistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan.
Information and translations of bactrian in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on. Of or relating to bactria or its people, language, or culture. Bactrian has no descendants or varieties listed in wiktionarys language data modules. The first written records of bactria are achaemenian. There are no personal names attested in the brahmi sogdian fragments, where a. At immigration, the officer asked my father, mister elbures, if he had anything to declare. Camelus dromedarius, commonly known as the dromedary. Bactrian historical inscriptions of the kushan period silk road.
The grecobactrian kingdom has been referred to as that. Apr 19, 2019 the kushan empire itself lasted only from the 1st to 3rd centuries ce, but under the kushan emperors, its power spread from bactria into the whole of northern india. During the last ten years the corpus of bactrian texts has increased dramatically. The hephthalites or ephthalites, sometimes called the white huns, were a people who lived in central asia during the 5th to 8th centuries. Bactrian, the ancient language of afghanistan, was virtually unknown before the recent discovery of more than a hundred leather documents written in bactrian in a local variant of the greek alphabet. The region is a crossroads and many ethnic groups are represented. Indobactrian empire of india bactria zariaspa was an ancient country lying between the mountains of the hindu kush and the amu darya present day afghanistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan. Camels are large mammals covered in light brown or beige fur. But first for what is solid the existence of the grecobactrian kingdom, and the indogreek kingdoms, seem to have permanently altered how coins were made in india. Bactrian greek article about bactrian greek by the free. The inscriptions issued by the kushan rulers or in areas under their rule include texts in bactrian, written in greek script, and in prakrit written in brahmi or kharohi script. They can indicate gender, marital status, birthplace, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and position within a family or even within a society. Camels, members of the camelidae family that also includes llamas and alpacas, are legendary mammals synonymous with desert climes. The dates of the bactrian documents range from 342 to 781 a.
Bactrian terms organized by topic, such as family or chemistry. Bactria was a fertile country, and a profusion of mounds and abandoned water channels testifies to its ancient prosperity. Kushan bactrian inscriptions is surkh kotal, the site of another dynastic. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. An extinct eastern iranian language which was spoken in the central asian region of bactria, also called tocharistan, in northern afghanistan. In my teaching, i personally tend to refocus central asia within the narrower limits. It was long thought that avestan represented old bactrian, but this notion had rightly fallen into discredit by the end of the 19th century bactrian, which was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the greek script, was known natively as arja.
Bactria was a province of the persian empire located in modern afghanistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan. New documents in ancient bactrian reveal afghanistans past. The expansion of the grecobactrians into presentday eastern afghanistan and pakistan from 180 bc established the indogreek kingdom, which was to last until. Grecobactrian kingdom a slaveowning state located mainly in middle asia.
Upon the death of alexander 323 bc bactria passed under the rule of. The name eteotocharian, despite its eloquent defense by a. Bactrian synonyms, bactrian pronunciation, bactrian translation, english dictionary definition of bactrian. Excess fat is stored in the humps of the camels which is the main reason camels can survive so long without food or water. Bactria lies on one of the main trade routes between central asia and south asia. Its elevation ranges from 500 m in the south to 250 m in the northwest. The plain is located in a tectonic depression whose surface is composed primarily of sand and clay deposits and loess. Bactrian camel this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title bactrian. Categories with terms derived from bactrian in various specific languages. Groups of dromedaries, known as flocks or caravans, live throughout arid middle eastern regions and the sahara desert in africa. Naturally enough, the bactrian inscriptions are mostly found in bactria and the indian inscriptions in the kushan territories to the south and east of the hindu. Bactrian language and greek script, is of great historical. It was centered on the north of presentday afghanistan.
Such camels have protective outer coats of coarse fibre that may grow as long as 15 inches 40 cm. The term indogreek is generally used because these kingdoms were almost always separated from bactria. Instead of bactrian some scholars have preferred terms such as grecobactrian emphasizing the use of a modified greek script to write the language, kushan, or kushanobactrian. At this time, buddhist beliefs mingled with the earlier amalgam of zoroastrian and hellenistic religious practices common in the area. The austrian academy of sciences has just published part 2, fascicle 7 of the iranisches personennamenbuch. Script and writing appeared in eastern iran long before the yuehchih conquest of bactria. Bactria has been part of various empires and has been conquered many times notably by cyrus the great and several later persian rulers, by alexander the great, by genghis khan, and most of it by the russian empire. We are service provider according to msc40296 authorised by liberia and another flag authority and. My father shook his head no, and we were waved through. Bactria simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Original report produced by the cia on december 23, 1964. Apr 28, 2011 bactria was a province of the persian empire located in modern afghanistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan.
Definition and synonyms of bactrian camel from the online english dictionary from macmillan education. This is a fairly bog standard alexanderissue coinage from his reign. Bactrians definition of bactrians by the free dictionary. Namesnombres by julia alvarez when we arrived in new york city, our names changed almost immediately. Our service organisation offers complete singlesource aftersales services and support, including 1 and 5year inspections in full compliance with the most recent imosolas regulations msccirc. Bactrian terms organized by topic, such as family or chemistry category. Information and translations of bactrian in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web.
Under kushan rule, bactria became known as tukhara or tokhara, and later as. Bactria proper was north of the hindu kush mountain range and south of the amu darya river, covering the flat region that straddles modernday afghanistan, tajikistan and uzbekistan. Under kushan rule, bactria became known as tukhara or tokhara, and later as tokharistan. I ndoeuropean, indoiranian, middle iranian, eastern overview. Pdf monophyletic origin of domestic bactrian camel. Natural trypanosomosis in a bactrian camel camelus bactrianus in iran article pdf available in journal of camel practice and research 162. As ruled by opinion 2027 the scientific name of the wild bactrian camel can either be camelus ferus as a species or camelus ferus ferus as a subspecies.
Even more important for our knowledge of the bactrian language are over a hundred documents in bactrian cursive script that appeared in the bazaar of peshawar and on the. Bactrian plain a piedmont plain in northern afghanistan on the left bank of the amudarya river. Bactrian definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Bactrian camels are active during the daytime and feed mostly on grass and shrubbery however because food can be very rare they have also adapted to eat most dry shrubs and even thorny plants. In place of the grecobactrian kingdom arose the kushan kingdom. It was an eastern province of the persian empire before its conquest by the greeks in 328 bc. They were a tribal confederation and included both nomadic and settled urban communities.
It is north of the hindu kush, and south of the river amu darya. Iranisches personennamenbuch, band ii, faszikel 7 bactrian personal names iranische onomastik nr. Apr 28, 2011 the last indogreek king strato ii ended his rule circa 10 bce, vanquished by the indosaka king rajuvula. The grecobactrian kingdom came to an end during his reign between 140 and b. It is centered around the city of balkh, in northern afghanistan. Alexander conquered it with great difficulty between 329327 bce, largely with the help of local auxiliary forces. Until very recently, bactrian, the ancient language of northern afghanistan, had been one of the least known of the middleiranian languages. Grecobactrian, kushan, kushanobactrian classification. Bactrian language and greek script, is of great historical value, as it mentions the predecessors of kanishka and describes some of the events of his first regnal year. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead. Bactrian camels live in central and east asian rocky desert environments. Pdf natural trypanosomosis in a bactrian camel camelus.
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