CHAPTER I

EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER

THE history of Central Asia is that of the cradle of mankind. He who seeks to evolve it from the mass of nebulous tradition is brought into contact with the traces of widely diverse nationalities and religions, and must consult in turn the annals of the Iranians, Greeks, Scythians, Chinese, Turks, and Russians. We propose in the following chapters to review the principal events enacted in that portion of Central Asia which is vaguely styled Turkestan, and is bounded on the north and east by the Sir Darya and the Hindu Kush, and on the west by the Caspian Sea.

The earliest references to Turkestan that have reached us are contained in the Indian and Iranian epics, and give some colour to the theory that the Pamirs were the birthplace of the Aryan race.1

The ancients gave the name of Bactria to the tract lying between the Oxus and the mountains of the Paropamisus.2

The earliest mention of Bactria is preserved in the

1 The Iranian branch of the Aryans is represented in our times by the Tājiks of Turkestān. Cf. Les Aryens au nord et au sud de l'Hindou-Kouch, par Ch. de Ujfalvy, passim.

* More correctly Paropanisus.

Drouin, in the Grande Encyclopédie.

See an article on "Bactria," by E.

3 The mention of Bākhdi (= Balkh) in Fargard 1. of the Avesta, is perhaps still older.

inscription of Behistūn, dating back to the sixth century B.C., in which it is included in the list of the satrapies belonging to the Persian Empire of Darius II. Cyrus I. subdued this country, and, according to Ctesias,1 Bactria was the first of his conquests in Eastern Asia. The founder of the Persian Empire carried his arms as far as the Jaxartes (or Sihun), on the other side of which roamed the Massagetæ (B.C. 550), and near it he built a city called Cyropolis.2 The annexation of Bactria involved that of Margiana, Khorazmia,3 and Soghdiana. From Greek sources we learn that under the rule of Darius Hystaspes (B.C. 521-492) these districts were reckoned among the Persian satrapies; although the authority of the Achæmenians was probably but slight there. It is not unlikely that all the eastern countries mentioned in the oldest Darius inscriptions as "subdued," or "rebellious," had already belonged to Cyrus, and that he ruled over Khorazmia and Soghdiana.*

The Persian monarchy finally fell before the overwhelming might and genius of Alexander of Macedon. In the space of four years (B.C. 334-331) he carried his victorious arms from the eastern shores of the Medi

1 The Greek historians, following a tradition which made the conquests of Sesostris (Rameses II.) even more extensive than they really were, maintain that this conqueror penetrated into Bactria and Scythia. Rameses II. flourished in the thirteenth century before our era. Cf. Maspero, Hist. Anc. des Peuples de l'Orient, p. 225. Equally fabulous is the account given by Diodorus Siculus of the conquest of Bactria by Ninus and Semiramis in B.C. 2180. Cf. E. Drouin, loc. cit.

This was the most easterly town of the Persian Empire. Authorities differ as to the site, some identifying it with Ura Tepe.

3 The oases at the embouchure of the Oxus were anciently styled Khwārazm, from a Persian word signifying eastwards. They constitute the modern Khiva. Soghdiana comprises Bokhārā and Samarkand, and the nomenclature is derived from Soghd, the old name for the source of its wealth, the river known to the Greeks as the Polytimetus and to moderns as the Zarafshan.

4 Cf. Nöldeke, Aufsätze zur Persischen Geschichte, p. 23.

terranean to Persepolis, overthrowing Darius II. at Issus in B.C. 333, and again at Gaugamela1 in B.C. 331. The latter defeat was the deathblow of the Persian monarchy. Darius fled in an easterly direction, accompanied by a still considerable army, determined if possible to enter Bactria. Alexander took and plundered Persepolis and Pasargadæ, the cradle of the Persian dynasty, and then set out in pursuit of Darius, who had reached Ecbatana, the capital of Media. But at this crisis Bessus, the governor of Bactria and commander of the contingent of that province, in conjunction with other Persian nobles, seized on the person of the king and laid him in chains. Their design was to conciliate Alexander, should he overtake them, by giving up Darius alive; while in the event of their escaping, they proposed to murder the prisoner, usurp his crown, and begin a new war.

Bessus won over the whole army by intimidation and promises, placed the fallen monarch in a covered chariot, and set out again from Ecbatana, where Alexander arrived five days later. The conqueror followed them with all possible despatch. On reaching the Caspian Straits he halted to rest his troops; but when news was brought him of the treachery of Bessus, he at once continued his march. The latter, on hearing that Alexander was rapidly overtaking him, was filled with terror, and entreated Darius to mount his horse and flee with him. The fallen emperor refused to follow a band of traitors; whereupon the conspirators, roused to fury, transfixed him with javelins, and left him weltering in his blood.

Alexander came up only a few moments after he had expired. It is on record that he lamented the "too severe a fate" of his illustrious foe, and caused his body

1 Called the battle of Arbela, from a neighbouring city, just as the “crowning mercy" of Waterloo was in reality bestowed at a considerable distance from the town indelibly associated with it.

to be embalmed and buried with every demonstration of respect. He then set out on a fresh career of conquest, overrunning the whole country now occupied by Khorāsān, Sīstān, Beluchistān, Kandahār, and Kābulistan.

Meanwhile Bessus hastened back to his satrapy of Bactria, and assumed sovereignty under the name of Artaxerxes IV. That he was able for a brief period to hold his own was due only to the fact that Alexander wished to secure possession of other districts in Eastern Persia before advancing against Bactria and Soghdiana.

In B.C. 329 the conqueror recrossed the Hindu Kush. The first town in the Bactrian valley which he came upon was Drapsaca (corresponding with modern Andarab), where he made a halt of a few days. Thence with an army of 25,000 men he took Aornos (Gori or Khulum) and Bactria (Balkh). Bessus, at the head of a small body of men who remained faithful,-for on hearing of the approach of Alexander many thousands of his Bactrians abandoned him,-crossed the Oxus, burning all the boats which he had made use of, and withdrew to Nautaca.1

Alexander did not wait to replace the boats, but crossed the river with his whole army on skins and sacks stuffed with straw.

The timidity of Bessus had probably disgusted his few remaining followers, who now turned against him. His chief confidant Spitamenes seized and led him bound before Alexander, who sent him to Ecbatana to be judged and executed as a traitor by the Persians.

Alexander next turned towards Marcanda (Samarkand), the capital of Soghdiana, which he took. Placing therein a considerable garrison, he laid waste the surrounding country. Thence he advanced to the banks of

1

1 According to Grigorieff, this means the district lying between the Oxus and Shahrisabz.