The name of an ancient country in Central Asia, Bactria was the home of Iranian-speaking people from about the eighth century BCE and is thought to have been the birthplace of Zoroaster, the prophet of Persian religion. Bactria lay between the Hindu...

Bactria (Bactriana, Bākhtar in Persian, also Bhalika in Arabic and Indian languages, and Ta-Hia in Chinese) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra or Balhika or Bokhdi...