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Bactria in the Achaemenid Period

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Bactria in the Achaemenid Period 258 Wu Chapter 10 Land of the Unrule-ables: Bactria in the Achaemenid Period Xin Wu Introduction Bactria and Questions on Its Timeless History Located in modern-day northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, and southern Tajikistan, the land of ancient Bactria is situated strategically on the crossroads between the Middle East and China, the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian steppe. This crossroads location put Bactria in the heartland of the trade routes that have linked the entirety of Asia and the Mediterranean World for millennia. Its strategic position, along with the enviable wealth often generated through lucrative commerce and control over the trade routes, has made Bactria the subject of political aggressions and military conflicts by dis- parate entities in both antiquity and modern times. Some of the entities have been located at a distance and have attempted to assert far-reaching control over Bactria through both political and military means (e.g. the Achaemenid and the British empires). Others have been inside or in close proximity to Bactria – including both the southern Central Asian oases dwellers and various groups of steppe nomads who strove to share or control the wealth accumu- lated in the oases and the trade routes. The endless strife and upheavals throughout history make Bactria “the world’s inexhaustible wellspring of warlords and terrorists” and thus extremely challenging for anyone who endeavors to impose his power over the region.1 This seems to be particularly true for those external powers attempting to exercise control over the land from afar. Frank Holt has noted that political superpowers that attempt to impose a new world order over Bactria – from Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States in the past three hun- dred years, to the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 bc) in antiquity – usually “begin with confidence and end with catastrophe.”2 Holt’s 1 Holt 2005:1. 2 Holt 2005:1. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004325470_012 Land of the Unrule-ables 259 observation captures the essence of encounters between Bactria and external political powers. The question, however, is whether we can assume that all foreign powers that attempt to exercise control over Bactria, including those foreign entities before Alexander such as the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 bc), were (and are) bound to fail. The problem with the seemingly timeless pattern of Bactria’s history that Holt proposes, is that it is derived mainly from observations of the region’s history beginning from the era of Alexander the Great, who invaded Central Asia in late 4th century bc. In order to gain a broader perspective, we must also look at the history of Bactria and its relationship with various socio-political groups both contemporaneous with and before the advent of Alexander. For the region was subject to the foreign power of another ex tensive empire – the Achaemenid Persian Empire, arguably the first and theretofore largest world-empire, whose boundaries extended from the Indus to the Me­­ diterranean, and from Libya to Central Asia. Problems, Assumptions, and Goals In 329 bc the young Macedonian king Alexander went to Bactria to pursue Bessus, the satrap (governor) of Bactria who had assassinated Darius III (r. 336–330 bc), the last Great King of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, as part of a conspiracy. His dream of ruling all of Asia soon turned into a series of night- mares. During 329–327 bc, Alexander spent about two miserable years in Central Asia, trapped in fights against Bactrians, Sogdians, and their nomadic allies, the Sakas. It was in Bactria that the Macedonian king lost more troops and suffered more personal injuries than anywhere else3. Alexander’s cam- paign to Central Asia was thoroughly recorded by his biographers, whose accounts offer valuable and surprisingly detailed information about the region. The documentation forms the earliest extensive historical narrative on Bactria. As for what the region was like before Alexander’s invasion, the answer remains startling elusive, except that the region constituted part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Despite our scant knowledge about Central Asia prior to Alexander’s arrival, it can be assumed that the sovereignty of the Achaemenid Empire over Bactria must have represented a crucial moment in the region’s history. During the Achaemenid period Central Asia was for the first time under the reign of the same political power that controlled Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world. This political unity presumably led to the resumption of Bactria’s age- old trade connection with the west, which had reached its previous peak 3 Holt 2005..
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