Editing Bactria (section)

== Geography ==
The Bactrian plain lay between the [[Amu Darya]] (ancient Oxus River) to the north and the [[Hindu Kush]] mountain range to the south and east.<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles F. W. |last=Higham |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations |publisher=Facts On File, Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-8160-4640-9 |page=31 }}</ref> On its western side, the region was bordered by the great [[Carmania (region)|Carmanian]] desert and the plain of [[Margiana]].
The Amu Darya and smaller rivers such as (from west to east) the [[Shirin Tagab River]], [[Sari Pul River]], [[Balkh River]] and [[Kunduz River]] have been used for irrigation for millennia. The land was noted for its fertility and its ability to produce most ancient Greek agricultural products, with the notable exception of olives.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rawlinson |first=H. G. |title=Bactria: The History of a Forgotten Empire |year=1912 |publisher=Probstain & co. |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/bactriahistoryo00rawl }}</ref>

According to Pierre Leriche:
{{blockquote|Bactria, the territory of which Bactra was the capital, originally consisted of the area south of the Āmū Daryā with its string of agricultural oases dependent on water taken from the rivers of Balḵ (Bactra), Tashkurgan, Kondūz, Sar-e Pol, and Šīrīn Tagāō. This region played a major role in Central Asian history. At certain times the political limits of Bactria stretched far beyond the geographic frame of the Bactrian plain.<ref name=ei>P. Leriche, [https://iranicaonline.org/articles/bactria "Bactria, Pre-Islamic period"], ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', vol. 3, 1998.</ref>}}