Bactria

Bactria (from Βακτριανή, the Hellenized version of Bactrian βαχλο, Bakhlo; Persian/Pashto: باختر Bākhtar; Uzbek: Балх; Tajik: Бохтар; Chinese: 大夏 Dàxià; Sanskrit बाह्लीक Bāhlika) is the ancient name of a historical region, one of the ancient civilizations of Iranian peoples. Ancient Bactria was located between the Hindu Kush mountain range and the Amu Darya river, covering the flat region that straddles modern-day Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Bactria was the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, and later also hosted Buddhism before becoming Muslim after the arrival of the Rashidun and the Umayyad Caliphates in the 7th century. Bactria was also sometimes referred to by the Greeks as Bactriana.

Geography

According to P. Leriche:

History

Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC)

The Bactria–Margiana 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. 2200–1700 BC, located in present day eastern Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus), an area covering ancient Bactria. Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for Old Persian Bāxtriš (from native *Bāxçiš) (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 today's Turkmenistan.

Bahlika (Mahabharata)

Bahlika (Sanskrit: बाह्लिक), also spelled as Vahlika, was the king of Bahlika kingdom in the Mahabharata, the elder brother of Shantanu, who was a king of Hastinapura and the uncle of Bhishma. He was the oldest warrior to fight in the Mahabharata war, who lived up to seven generations. He had a son Somadatta and grandson Bhurishravas who along with him fought on the side of the Kaurava army in the Kurukshetra War. He was slain by Bhima in the 15th day of the war. Yudhishthira had once remarked that the only wish he ever had that there should be peace among the Bhāratas.

Kuru Prince & Accession To The Throne

Bahlika was the second of the three sons of Pratipa and his wife Sunanda, the king and queen of Hastinapura. Due to an incident, Pratipa's eldest son Devapi refused to ascend the throne and retired into the woods to perform penance. Bahlika was next in line to ascend the throne. However, he refused the throne, abandoning his paternal kingdom for his new kingdom, which he believed was wealthier than Hastinapura. He became the monarch of the kingdom and his kingdom was called Bahlika because of him. Shantanu then became the crown prince and upon Pratipa's death became the king of Hastinapura with Bahlika's blessing.