Definition: Bactria was located in the northwestern portion of what is now Afghanistan and Tajikistan, bounded by the Hindu Kush mountain range, in the south, and by the Oxus River (Amu Darya), in the north. Its ancient capital was known as Balkh. Bactria, a satrap or province of the Persian Empire, bounded by Parthia, Aria, Drangiana and Arachosia, and part of the Silk Road, was partly conquered by Alexander the Great, who married a Bactrian noblewoman, Roxane. After Alexander, Bactria fell to Seleucus. Ancient Bactria was conquered again, two centuries after Alexander the Great, by the Tokharians.
Bactria is thought to have been the home of Zoroaster, acccording to (www.bookrags.com/history/worldhistory/bactria-ema-01/) Bactria History Summary.
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The Taliban destroyed the
pre-Islamic Buddha sculptures in the Bamiyan Valley, in Bactria.
