Parthian–Bactrian War Explained

Date:150s BC
Place:Bactria
Territory:Western Bactria annexed to the Parthian Empire
Result:Parthian victory
Combatant1:Parthian Empire
Combatant2:Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
Commander1:Mithridates I
Commander2:Eucratides I

The Parthian–Bactrian War refers to the invasion of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom by Mithridates I of Parthia in 150s BC, which ended with a Parthian victory and annexation of Western Bactria to the new emerging Iranian power, the Parthian Empire.[1] This war left the Bactrian Kingdom very weakened and open to nomadic invasions, which eventually led to rise of the Kushan Empire in Bactria.

The Roman historian Justin says "the Bactrians, involved in various wars, lost not only their rule but also their freedom, as, exhausted by their wars against the Sogdians, the Arachotes, the Dranges, the Arians and the Indians, they were finally crushed, as if drawn of all their blood, by an enemy weaker than them, the Parthians.",[2] and according to the Greco-Roman historian Strabo "The satrapy Turiva and that of Aspionus were taken away from Eucratides by the Parthians."[3]

References

  1. Web site: Greco-Bactrian_Kingdom. World History Encyclopedia. 2019-06-28.
  2. Web site: Justin: Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum, Liber 41. https://web.archive.org/web/20030828143459/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte41.html. usurped. August 28, 2003. www.forumromanum.org. 2019-06-28.
  3. Web site: Strabo, Geography, Book 11, chapter 11, section 1. www.perseus.tufts.edu. 2019-06-28.

Bibliography

Book: Daryaee, Touraj. The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press. 2012. 978-0-19-987575-7. 1–432. Touraj Daryaee. 2019-06-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20190101051501/https://books.google.dk/books?id=K-poAgAAQBAJ&pg. 2019-01-01. dead.