THE INFLUENCE OF GRECO-BACTRIAN KINGDOMS ON CHINA

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BCE. It was centered on the north of present-day Afghanistan. The expansion of the Greco-Bactrians into present-day eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan from 180 BCE established the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which lasted until around 10 CE. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria (and probably the surrounding provinces) founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BCE and became King Diodotus I of Bactria. 

"Diodotus, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria, defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians." (Justin)

 The new kingdom was highly urbanized and considered as one of the richest of the Orient. 'The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but also of India', as Apollodorus of Artemita says. 'and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander... '

Their cities were Bactra (also called Zariaspa, through which flows a river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus), and Darapsa, and several others. Among these was Eucratidia, which was named after its ruler." (Strabo) 

Euthydemus, a Magnesian Greek according to Polybius and possibly satrap of Sogdiana, overthrew the dynasty of Diodotus I around 230-220 BCE and started his own dynasty. Euthydemus's control extended to Sogdiana, going beyond the city of Alexandria Eschate founded by Alexander the Great in Ferghana:

"And they also held Sogdiana, situated above Bactriana towards the east between the Oxus River, which forms the boundary between the Bactrians and the Sogdians, and the Iaxartes River. And the Iaxartes forms also the boundary between the Sogdians and the nomads." (Strabo) 

Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing the original rebel Diodotus, and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts:"...for if he did not yield to this demand, neither of them would be safe: seeing that great hordes of Nomads were close at hand, who were a danger to both; and that if they admitted them into the country, it would certainly be utterly barbarised." (Polybius).

 Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian Kingdom seems to have expanded. In the West, areas in north-eastern Iran have been absorbed, as far as into Parthia, whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus the Great. These territories are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria and Traxiane. To the north, Euthydemus also ruled Sogdiana and Ferghana, and there are indications that from Alexandria Eschate the Greco-Bactrians have led expeditions as far as Kashgar and Ürümqi in Xinjiang, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BCE. 

Issued by Emperor Wu Di of the Western Han dynasty, presumably to strengthen trade with the Greco-Bactrian state since the script is in Greek characters. 

The Greek historian Strabo too writes that: "they extended their empire even as far as the Seres(Chinese) and the Phryni".  Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in the Xinjiang museum at Urumqi (Boardman). Middle Eastern or Greek influences on Chinese art have also been suggested (Hirth, Rostovtzeff). Designs with rosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays, suggestive of Egyptian, Persian, and/or Hellenistic influences, can be found on some early Han dynasty bronze mirrors.

 Some speculate that Greek influence is found in the artworks of the burial site of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, dating back to the 3rd century BCE, including in the manufacture of the famous Terracotta Army. This idea suggested that Greek artists may have come to China at that time to train local artisans in making sculptures.

 Numismatics suggest that some technology exchanges have occurred on these occasions: the Greco-Bactrians were the first in the world to issue cupro-nickel coins, an alloy technology only known by the Chinese at the time under the name "White copper". The practice of exporting Chinese metals- in particular iron-for trade is attested around that period. Kings Euthydemus, Euthydemus II, Agathocles and Pantaleon made these coin issues around 170 BCE and a nickeliferous copper ore was the source from mines at Anarak. Copper-nickel would not be used again in coinage until the 19th century.

The Sampul Tapestry

The Sampul tapestry is an ancient woolen wall-hanging found at the Tarim Basin settlement of Shanpula also known as Sampul, in Lop County, Xinjiang, China, close to ancient city of Khotan. The object has many Hellenistic features, linking it to the Greek settlements of Central Asia, which existed from 180 BCE until the 1st century CE. The full tapestry is 48 cm wide and 230 cm long. The centaur fragment is 45 cm by 55 cm, and the warrior's face fragment is 48 cm by 52 cm.

The Sampul Τapestry is a woolen wall-hanging that was found in Sampul,Xinjiang, near Khotan, in the Tarim Basin inside a  mass grave.

 The recovered tapestry only constitutes the left decorative border of what would have been a much bigger wall hanging. Made of wool, it comprises 24 threads of various colours. The tapestry depicts a man with Caucasoid features, including blue eyes, and a centaur. If lost fabric is accounted for, the soldier would be about six times as tall as the centaur. The subject is identified as a warrior by the spear he is holding in his hand as well as a dagger tucked on his waist. He wears a tunic with rosette motifs. His headband could be a diadem, a symbol of kingship in the Hellenistic world and represented on Macedonian and other Greek coins. The centaur is playing a horn while wearing a cape and a hood. Surrounding him is a diamond-shaped floral ornament. Due to heavy looting at the location, the dating of the material is uncertain. It has been assigned dates from the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE.

Serica

Serica was one of the easternmost countries of Asia known to the Ancient Greek and Roman geographers. It is generally taken as referring to North China during its Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, as it was reached via the overland Silk Road in contrast to the Sinae, who were reached via the maritime routes. A similar distinction was later observed during the Middle Agesbetween "Cathay" (north) and "Mangi" or "China" (south). The people of Serica were the Seres, whose name was also used for their region. Access to Serica was eased following the Han conquest of the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang) but largely blocked when the Parthian Empire fell to the Sassanids. Yule summarized the classical geographers: " If we fuse into one the ancient notices of the Seres and their country, omitting anomalous statements and manifest fables, the result will be something like the following: “The region of the Seres is a vast and populous country, touching on the east the Ocean (Pacific) and the limits of the habitable world, and extending west to Imaus (Himalayas) and the confines of Bactria. The people are civilized, mild, just, and frugal, eschewing collisions with their neighbours, and even shy of close intercourse, but not averse to dispose of their own products, of which raw silk is the staple, but which include also silk-stuffs, fine furs, and iron of remarkable quality.” That is manifestly a definition of the Chinese."

Statuette of a Greek soldier, wearing a version of the Greek Phrygian helmet, from a 3rd-century BCE burial site north of the Tian Shan .Photo by Goldsmelter, Xinjiang Region Museum, Urumqi.

The Phryni

The Phryni were an ancient people of eastern Central Asia, probably located in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin, in an area connected to that of the Seres and the Tocharians. They are mentioned several times in Classical sources. Strabo, speaking of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom explains that: "they extended their empire even as far as the Seres and the Phryni". Later, Pliny the Elder includes the Phryni (which he names "Phruri"- Φρουροι in Greek means Guardians) in his description of the people of the Far East: "...After leaving these, we again come to a nation of the Scythians, and then again to desert tracts tenanted by wild beasts, until we reach a chain of mountains which runs up to the sea, and bears the name of Tabis (ie. Tibet). It is not, however, before we have traversed very nearly one half of the coast that looks towards the north-east, that we find it occupied by inhabitants. The first people that are known of here are the Seres, so famous for the wool that is found in their forests (...) and the nation of the Attacori on the gulf of that name, a people protected by their sunny hills from all noxious blasts (...)After the Attacori, we find the nations of the Phruri and the Tochari, and, in the interior, the Casiri, a people of India, who look toward the Scythians, and feed on human flesh."

   Edited from: Greek History and Prehistory