Sample of Bactrian Script

This document, executed on leather around 705 CE, represents a rare example of late Bactrian writing.
Bactrian was one of the Eastern Iranian languages of ancient Central Asia. The Bactrian script is distinctive in that it employed a modified Greek alphabet. Following the campaigns of Alexander the Great and the establishment of Hellenistic states in the region, Greek graphic traditions became established in Bactria. Over time, the script was adapted to record the local language and to serve administrative and official correspondence.
Similar documents have been discovered in archaeological contexts in northern Afghanistan and adjacent regions. They include administrative records, contracts, letters, and legal texts, demonstrating a developed bureaucratic system and a stable written tradition.
This fragment attests to Bactria’s role as a crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and early medieval cultures. In this context, writing functioned as an instrument of governance, trade, and legal regulation during a period of historical transformation.