Ariana

Ariana was an ancient Greco-Roman geographical term describing a vast region between Central Asia and the Indus River, largely encompassing modern-day Afghanistan, eastern Iran, and western Pakistan. The name is Latinized from the Greek "Ar(e)ianē," which itself derived from the Avestan "Airyanem," meaning 'Land of the Aryans,' directly linking to the origins of the names "Iran" and "Afghanistan."

Throughout history, Ariana was governed by a diverse array of powers, including the Persians (Achaemenids, Sasanians), Greeks (Macedonians, Seleucids), and Indians (Mauryas), alongside various Central Asian nomadic peoples. Greek geographer Eratosthenes (c. 276–c. 195 BC) first defined its extensive borders, which were later detailed by Strabo (64/63 BC–ca. AD 24).

Its boundaries stretched from the Indus River in the east to a line near the Caspian Gates in the west, and from the sea in the south to the Taurus Mountains in the north. This expansive and strategically important territory included significant ancient provinces such as Carmania, Gedrosia, Arachosia, and Bactria, the latter being called "the ornament of Ariana as a whole" by Apollodorus of Artemita.