Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

part ii | states
almost two hundred years, until the fall of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom at the
beginning of the second half of the 2nd century BC.
We can distinguish two periods of diplomatic relations at this time: the first
concerns Alexander the Great’s relations with the peoples of Central Asia, and the
second relates to the time when the southern regions of Central Asia became part of
the Hellenistic Seleucid and Graeco-Bactrian states.
First period. According to Arrian, in 329 BC, when Alexander arrived in Maracanda
(Samarkand) he received envoys from the Abian Scythians (Abii) and also from the
European Scythians. Under the pretext of a treaty of friendship, Alexander sent them
his own envoy; his real purpose, however, was to learn about the nature of the Scythian
land, and discover details about the size of its population and their weaponry (Arrian.
IV, 1, 1–2; Curtius. VII, 6, 12).
The following year, Alexander marched to Ustrushana, where he built the city of
Eschate Alexandria, on the banks of the river Tanais (Syr Darya), apparently the site
of present-day Khodjent. A battle with the Scythians followed on the right bank of the
river, ending in their defeat. Following this, ambassadors from the Scythian king came
to Alexander with an offer of a peace treaty and an apology for the actions of certain
groups of Scythians – but not the king himself, who was willing to submit to Alexander.
Alexander graciously replied that he trusted the king, but that he would not cease
hostilities until he had achieved a complete victory. In 328 BC a new envoy from the
European Scythians arrived in Maracanda, accompanied by Alexander’s earlier envoy.
The Scythian envoys conveyed their king’s proposal for a peace treaty and presented
him with gifts. The Scythian king offered his daughter in marriage to Alexander, and the
daughters of Scythian nobles to Alexander’s ‘loyal friends’. In a cordial reply, Alexander
nonetheless declined the Scythian proposals (Arrian. IV, 15, 1–4). In the same year,
an envoy from King Pharasmanes came to Maracanda, accompanied by a cavalry of
1,500 from Khorezm, the first sovereign state in Central Asia, apparently established
after liberation from the Achaemenid kingdom in the 4th century BC.
Pharasmanes told Alexander about his kingdom, which bordered the territories
of the Colchians and the Amazon women, and offered him a military alliance and
assistance in a campaign against these peoples and other tribes living near the Euxine
(Black) Sea. Some details in this account are questionable, in particular the suggestion
that the Khorezmians lived in territories neighbouring the Colchians, who inhabited
Western Georgia. This implies that the borders of the Khorezm kingdom extended all
the way to the Caucasian mountain range.
Alexander thanked Pharasmanes, but in his response indicated that such a
campaign would be ill-timed and better postponed until he had conquered India and
had returned to Hellas, from where he planned to undertake a campaign to the Black
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