History of Baktria
Baktria is the eastern most Greek Kingdom located in what is now the
province of Balkh in Afghanistan. The kingdom broke away from the Seleukid
empire during the reign of Antiochos II about 256 BC when the santrap Diodotos
replaced Antiochos II portrait with his own. Orignally he left the name
Antiochus on the coins but later took the royal title himself. He formed
an alliance with the emerging kingdom of Parthia in Iran. This was all
going on without much reaction from the Seleukids, but in 208 BC Antiochos
III tried to regain control of the eastern provinces. By then, they were
strong enough to withstand the advance. The Kingdom was extended in the
second century BC into northern India defeating the Mauryan Empire, and
eventually crossing the Hindu Kush into Hindu India proper. This resulted
in a unique series of dual language coins in Greek and Indian. In 130 BC,
the kingdom came under pressure from the Scythians and by the end of the
first century BC Greek rule ended. Most of what is known of this eastern
Greek kingdom is from the coins as there remains no written history and
very little archeological evidence has been uncovered.
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