Bactria and the Cultural Legacy of Alexander the Great in the East Público

Abstract

Encompassing modern-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Greek and Macedonian-ruled Bactria was an ancient Central Asian region that emerged as an independent kingdom in the aftermath of the wars of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great and the reigns of his Seleucid successors, Seleucus I and Antiochus I. Located thousands of miles away from the communities along the Mediterranean Sea, blocked by the Pamir Mountains and Taklimakan Desert from China, and fenced off by the Hindu Kush from India, Bactria lay at what was once the northeastern border of Alexander’s massive empire. Far from being an isolated, colonial outpost of the Hellenistic world, however, Bactria reinterpreted Alexander’s legacy of conquest, mixing Greek influences from its Greek and Macedonian settlers with the culture of the indigenous population, as well as interacting with and influencing the Buddhist tradition of India and the horse culture of China. My examination of Alexander’s actions in Central Asia and India aims to reveal that prior scholarship has overlooked the Macedonian conqueror’s role in cultivating his unique place in the Central Asian imagination as well as to shed light on the far-reaching repercussions of his cultural memory in the post-Alexander Central Asia.

Table of Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................... 1

He too is Alexander: Creation of the Bactrian King Alexander............................................. 4

1. Defining the Hellenistic World................................................................................................. 6

2. Cultural Integration: Greek and Non-Greek Influences in Bactria......................................... 10

3. Hellenistic Cultural Unity: The Barbarian Other in the Hellenistic World............................ 20

4. Rejecting Hellenistic Cultural Unity: The Barbarian Other in Bactria................................... 25

5. Alexander and Roxana: Diplomatic Conquest of Bactria....................................................... 34

6. Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 39

Nirvana for the Yonaka: The Transmission of Buddhism to Central Asia......................... 41

1. Royal Patronage and Religious Toleration............................................................................. 43

2. Alexander and the Multicultural Environment of Bactria...................................................... 45

3. Alexander and the Gymnosophists........................................................................................ 54

4. Bactrian King Menander and Buddhist Monk Nagasena....................................................... 60

5. Greek and Native Bactrian Influences on Buddhism............................................................. 65

6. Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 70

Heavenly Horses: Arrival of Han Wudi’s Divine Horse in Chinese Culture...................... 72

1. The Horse as a Foreign Influence........................................................................................... 73

2. Horse Culture of Bactria: Before Alexander and Bucephalus................................................ 77

3. Horse Culture of Bactria: Alexander and Bucephalus............................................................ 81

4. Horse Culture of Bactria: After Alexander and Bucephalus.................................................. 85

5. Zhang Qian: First Report to China of the Bactrian Heavenly Horses................................... 90

6. Han Wudi: Popularizing the Heavenly Horses of Central Asia............................................. 94

7. Legacy of the Horse in Chinese Culture after the Han Dynasty......................................... 103

8. Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 108

Final Thoughts and Conclusion.............................................................................................. 110

Figures and Maps...................................................................................................................... 112

Work Cited................................................................................................................................. 129

 

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, Ancient History, World History History, General
Palabra Clave	Roxana Central Asia Bucephalus Zhang Qian Milinda Panha Han Wudi Tian Ma Buddhism Hellenistic World Alexander the Great Bactria
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Patterson, Cynthia, Emory University
Committee Members	Gilders, William, Emory University Andrade, Tonio, Emory University

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