Alexandria Eschate
Alexandria Eschate (
Greek , "Alexandria the Furthest") was founded by
Alexander the Great in
329 BCE as his most advanced base in
Central Asia. It was established in the southwestern part of the
Fergana Valley, on the southern bank of the river
Jaxartes (modern name
Syr Darya), at the location of the modern city of
Khujand (also called Khodzhent, formerly Leninabad), in the state of
Tajikistan.
Alexander built a 6 kilometer brick wall around the city and, as for the other cities he founded, had a group of his retired veterans and wounded settle there.
Alexandria Eschate was located around 300km north of
Alexandria on the Oxus in
Bactria, and being in
Sogdian territory had to sustain numerous conflicts with the local population. After
250 BCE, the city probably remained in contact with the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom centered on Bactria, especially when the Greco-Bactrian king
Euthydemus I extended his control to Sogdiana.
The city was also located around 400km west of the
Tarim Basin, today's region of
Xinjiang in
China, where the
Yueh-Chih, an
Indo-European people were established. There are indications that Greek expeditions were led as far as
Kashgar in Xinjiang. According to the Greek historian
Strabo, the Greeks "extended their empire even as far as the
Seres and the Phryni" (Strabo XI.II.I), possibly leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around
200 BCE.
The descendants of the Greeks in Ferghana may be the
Ta-Yuan (lit. "Great Ionians") identified in the Chinese historical record of the
Han Dynasty, starting with the embassies of
Zhang Qian around
130 BCE. If so, they were the actors of the first major interaction between an urbanized Indo-European culture and the Chinese civilization, which led to the opening up the
Silk Road from the
1st century BCE.
According to the Roman writer
Curtius, the descendants of these soldiers still retained their Hellenistic culture at the time of his writing, around
30 BCE.
See the notes on "Northern Wuyi" = Alexndria Eschate in the draft annotated translation of the 3rd century Chinese history, the
Weilue, by John Hill at: [
1] and [
2]
