BACTRIA FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EXTINCTION OF BACTRIO-GREEK RULE IN THE PUNJAB

The author reveals that the primary interest of Bactria must always rest upon the fact that it was the great connecting link between East and West. The time has, Iet us hope, passed, when scholars can rest content with regarding the two great civilizations, Hellenic and Hindu, which the Aryan race has produced, as things apart. Each has probably played an essential part in the development of the other. Greek Philosophy from Plato to the Gnostics shows Eastern influence, as clearly as Indian art, drama, astronomy bear traces of contact with the West. In the Bactrio-Indian civilization of the Punjab, we are enabled to study the fusion of the two races at the point of contact. The history of Bactria has besides an interest in itself; it is the story of a little-known adventurous race, who show many elements of true greatness. To the important Parsi community, who may possibly be themselves the descendants, to some degree, of the Bactrian Greeks, the story of the historic capital of Bactria, the ancient cradle of the creed of Zarathustra, and full of memories of the great Iranian race, should prove to be not without interest.