The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s5.63

c10.s5.63

⁵ Hirth p. 97 §34, An-si is ‘close to the Oxus’ (‘extends to the Oxus’, Wylie p. 39; ‘lies on the Oxus’, de Groot p. 93); this can only mean that Merv was already Parthian. Whether the name An-si itself be Antioch (Merv), or (spelling it An-sik) Arsak, has been much discussed. All the countries in the Report are names of peoples, and there is therefore no reason for supposing that in one case a king’s name was used, especially as the Report knows nothing of the Parthians proper, the aristocracy; but it has not been noticed that the *Ch’ien-han-shu* is conclusive in favour of Antioch. It says that to reach An-si from O-ik-san-li (Seistan, see p. 347) you go north and then somewhat east (de Groot p. 92), which exactly describes the great road from Seistan by Herat to Merv; to Pan-ku therefore An-si was originally Antioch-Merv, Parthia being a derivative meaning. This is confirmed by Merv (Mou-lou) being called Little An-si in the *Hou-han-shu* (Chavannes, *T’oung Pao* VIII p. 177).