EḴŠĪD, Arabo-Persian form of a Sogdian royal title attested in Sogdian script as (ʾ)xšyδ (more anciently and more commonly written…

BALḴ, city and province in northern Afghanistan. i. Geography. ii. From the Arab conquest to the Mongols. iii. From the…

BAGINA, BAGINAPATI, reconstructed Old Iranian words. The first designates a temple housing a cult image (from baga- “god,” “image of…

BACTRIA i. Pre-Islamic period. ii. In the Avesta and in Zoroastrian tradition. (See also AFGHANISTAN vii and ix; and BALḴ.)…