Scythians by the Greeks, amongst which the Tochari, identical with the Yue-chi (q.v.) of the Chinese, were the most important. In 159 B.C., according to Chinese sources, they entered Sogdiana, in 139 they conquered Bactria, and during the next generation they had made an end to the Greek rule in eastern Iran. Only in India the Greek conquerors (Menander, Apollodotus) maintained themselves some time longer. But in the middle of the 1st century B.C. the whole of eastern Iran and western India belonged to the great “Indo-Scythian” empire. The ruling dynasty had the name Kushan (Kushana), by which they are called on their coins and in the Persian sources. The most famous of these kings is Kanishka (ca. 123–153), the great protector of Buddhism. The principal seat of the Tochari and the Kushan dynasty seems to have been Bactria; but they always maintained the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan and Baluchistan, while the western regions (Areia, i.e. Herat, Seistan and part of the Helmund valley) were conquered by the Arsacids. In the 3rd century the Kushan dynasty began to decay; about A.D. 320 the Gupta empire was founded in India. Thus the Kushanas were reduced to eastern Iran, where they had to fight against the Sassanids. In the 5th century a new people came from the east, the Ephthalites (q.v.) or “white Huns,” who subjected Bactria (about 450); and they were followed by the Turks, who first appear in history about A.D. 560 and subjugated the country north of the Oxus. Most of the small principalities of the Tochari or Kushan became subject to them. But when the Sassanian empire was overthrown by the Arabs, the conquerors immediately advanced eastwards, and in a few years Bactria and the whole Iran to the banks of the Jaxartes had submitted to the rule of the caliph and of Islam.
Bibliography.—For the earlier times see Persia. For the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Scythian kingdoms see (beside articles on the separate kings):—H. H. Wilson, Ariana Antiqua (1841); Cunningham, “The Greeks of Bactriana, Ariana and India” in Numismatic Chronicle, N. Ser. viii.-xii.; A. von Sallet, Die Nachfolger Alexanders des Grossen in Baktrien und Indien (1879); P. Gardner, The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of India (1886, Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, x.); A. von Gutschmid, Geschichte Irans und seiner Nachbarländer von Alexander dem Grossen bis zum Untergang der Arsaciden (1888); A. Stein, “Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins,” Babylonian and Oriental Record, i. 1887 (cf. Cunningham, ib. ii. 1888); Vincent A. Smith, “The Kushān or Indo-Scythian Period of Indian History,” Journal of the R. Asiatic Soc., 1903 (cf. his Early History of India, 2nd ed. 1908); W. W. Tarn, “Notes on Hellenism in Bactria and India” in Journ. of Hellenic Studies, xxii. 1902. For the history and character of the Indian alphabet cf. J. Bühler, “Indische Paläographie” (in Grundriss der indo-arischen Philologie, Bd. i.). From the Greek authors only a few notices have been preserved, especially by Justin (and in the prologues of Trogus) and Strabo; for the later times we get some information from the Byzantine authors and from Persian and Armenian sources; cf. Th. Nöldeke’s translation of Tabari (Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, 1890) and J. Marquart, “Erānšahr” (Abhandlungen der königlichen Ges. d. Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 1901). The Chinese sources are given by Deguignes, “Recherches sur quelques événements qui concernent l’histoire des rois grecs de la Bactriane,” Mém. de l’acad. des inscriptions, xxv.; E. Specht, “Études sur l’Asie centrale d’après les historiens chinois” in Journal asiatique, 8 série, ii. 1883, 9 série, x. 1897; Sylvain Lévi, “Notes sur les Indo-scythiens,” Journal asiatique, 9 série ix., x. and others. (Ed. M.)
BACUP, a market town and municipal borough in the Rossendale parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, on the river Irwell, 203 m. N.N.W. from London, and 22 N. by E. from Manchester, on the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway. Pop. (1901) 22,505. It is finely situated in a narrow valley, surrounded by wild, high-lying moorland. It is wholly of modern growth, and contains several handsome churches and other buildings, while among institutions the chief is the mechanics’ institute and library. The recreation grounds presented in 1893 by Mr. J. H. Maden, M.P., are beautifully laid out. Cotton spinning and power-loom weaving are the chief of numerous manufacturing industries, and there are large collieries in the vicinity. The principle of co-operation is strongly developed, and a large and handsome store contains among other departments a free library for members. The borough was incorporated in 1882, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 17 councillors. Area, 6120 acres. In 1841 the population of the chapelry was only 1526. One of the hills in the vicinity is fortified with a great ancient earthwork and ditch.
BADAGAS (literally “a Telugu man”), a tribe inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills, in India, by some authorities declared not to be an aboriginal or jungle race. They are probably Dravidian by descent, though they are in religion Hindus of the Saiva sect. They are supposed to have migrated to the Nilgiris from Mysore about A.D. 1600, after the breaking up of the kingdom of Vijayanagar. They are an agricultural people and far the most numerous and wealthy of the hill tribes. They pay a tribute in grain, &c., to the Todas. Their language is a corrupt form of Kanarese. At the census of 1901 they numbered 34,178.
See J. W. Breeks, An Account of the Primitive Tribes of the Nilgiris (1873); Nilgiri Manual, vol. i. pp. 218-228; Madras Journ. of Sci. and Lit. vol. viii. pp. 103-105; Madras Museum Bulletin, vol. ii., no. 1, pp. 1-7.
BADAJOZ (formerly sometimes written Badajos), a frontier province of western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from the province of Estremadura (q.v.), and bounded on the N. by Cáceres, E. by Cordova and Ciudad Real, S. by Seville and Huelva, and W. by Portugal. Pop. (1900) 520,246; area, 8451 sq. m. Badajoz is thus the largest province of the whole kingdom. Although in many districts there are low ranges of hills, the surface is more often a desolate and monotonous plain, flat or slightly undulating. Its one large river is the Guadiana, which traverses the north of the province from east to west, fed by many tributaries; but it is only at certain seasons that the river-beds fill with any considerable volume of water, and the Guadiana may frequently be forded without difficulty. The climate shows great extremes of heat in summer and of cold in winter, when fierce north and north-west winds blow across the plains. In the hot months intermittent fevers are prevalent in the Guadiana valley. The rainfall is scanty in average years, and only an insignificant proportion of the land is irrigated, while the rest is devoted to pasture, or covered with thin bush and forest. Agriculture, and the cultivation of fruit, including the vine and olive, are thus in a very backward condition; but Badajoz possesses more livestock than any other Spanish province. Its acorn-fed swine are celebrated throughout Spain for their hams and bacon, and large herds of sheep and goats thrive where the pasture is too meagre for cattle. The exploitation of the mineral resources of Badajoz is greatly hindered by lack of water and means of communication; in 1903, out of nearly 600 mines registered only 26 were at work. Their output consisted of lead, with very small quantities of copper. The local industries are not of much importance: they comprise manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs of a coarse description, soaps, oils, cork and leather. The purely commercial interests are more important than the industrial, because of the transit trade to and from Portugal through no less than seven custom-houses. Many parts of the province are inaccessible except by road, and the roads are ill-made, ill-kept and wholly insufficient. The main line of the Madrid-Lisbon railway passes through Villanueva de la Serena, Mérida and Badajoz; at Mérida it is joined by the railways going north to Cáceres and south to Zafra, where the lines from Huelva and Seville unite. After Badajoz, the capital (pop. (1900) 30,899), the principal towns are Almendralejo (12,587), Azuaga (14,192), Don Benito (16,565), Jerez de los Caballeros (10,271), Mérida (11,168) and Villanueva de la Serena (13,489); these, and also the historically interesting village of Albuera, are described in separate articles. Other small towns, chiefly important as markets for agricultural produce, are Albuquerque (9030), Cabeza del Buey (7566), Campanario (7450), Fregenal de la Sierra (9615), Fuente de Cantos (8483), Fuente del Maestre (6934), Llerena (7049), Montijo (7644), Oliva de Jerez (8348), Olivenza (9066), San Vicente de Alcántara (7722), and Villafranca de los Barros (9954). Very few inhabitants emigrate from this province, where the birth-rate considerably exceeds the death-rate. Education, even primary, is in a very backward condition.
BADAJOZ, the capital of the Spanish province described above; situated close to the Portuguese frontier, on the left
