Amu Darya

The Amu Darya (Persian: آمودریا‎‎, Āmūdaryā; Turkmen: Amyderýa; Turkish: Ceyhun; Uzbek: Amudaryo; Tajik: Амударё; Pashto: د آمو سيند‎, da Āmú Sínd; Ancient Greek: Ὦξος, Oxos; Sanskrit: वक्षु, Vakṣu), also called the Amu River and historically known by its Latin name, Oxus, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, at Qal`eh-ye Panjeh in Afghanistan, and flows from there north-westwards into what remains of the Aral Sea. In ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Greater Iran and Turan.

Names

In classical antiquity, the river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος Oxos in Greek—a clear derivative of Vakhsh — the name of the largest tributary of the river. In Vedic Sanskrit, the river is also referred to as Vakṣu (वक्षु). The Avestan texts too refer to the River as Yakhsha/Vakhsha (and Yakhsha Arta ("upper Yakhsha") referring to the Jaxartes/Syr Darya twin river to Amu Darya).

In Middle Persian sources of the Sassanid period the river is known as Wehrōd (lit. "good river").