greece, the final frontier? 145
inhabitants of Khorsn. Bahrs are Buddhist vihras or monasteries,
but what is meant by farkhr is unclear to me. Possibly it is derived from
Sanskrit parikra “ornament, decoration”, Pli parikkhra “apparatus”,
indicating an Indian, but not necessarily Buddhist origin.
Probably as early as the Kua period the navavihra or “new mon-
astery” was founded in Balkh at the location still known as Naw Bahr,
and it became a centre of Buddhist study and pilgrimage.^64 When it
was visited by Xuanzang, around 630 AD, the impressive monastery
had about one hundred monks who, he says, were very unstable in
their religion. Apart from the navavihra, the city of Balkh had at
that moment about one hundred other monasteries with about 3,000
monks.^65 After the fall of Balkh to the Arabs and the partial destruc-
tion of the navavihra around 663–664 AD, the Barmacids, Islamisised
descendants of the lay keeper of the monastery, held important posi-
tions under the Umayyads and ‘Abbsids during the eighth century,
till they fell into disfavour.^66 Their name is derivable through Bactrian
from Sanskrit pramukha “chief ”.^67
As to Buddhism in other areas of Iranian speech, Xuanzang notices
that Persia has two or three monasteries with several hundreds of monks,
mainly of the Sarvstivdin school of the Little Vehicle, while in Makrn
there were some 100 monasteries and some 6,000 priests of both the
Little and Great Vehicles.^68 A systematic study of Iranian place-names
containing elements like but (< Buddha) and bahr (< vihra “monastery”)
is a desideratum that may provide important clues on the westernmost
expansion of Buddhism.^69 The initiative was already taken by R. W.
Bulliet, who has shown that the toponym Naw Bahr has spread from
Afghanistan and Eastern Iran north-westward along the great land
routes leading to Samarkand and Bukhara (the name of which, is itself
(^64) Cf. Bailey 1943, p. 2; The Encyclopaedia of Islam (New edition), vol. 1 (1960),
p. 1033a–b s.v. al-Barmika [W. Barthold – D. Sourdel]; vol. 7 (1993), p. 1039b s.v. Naw
Bah 65 r; vol. 9 (1997), p. 869b s.v. sumaniyya [G. Monot].
Beal 1881, vol. 1, pp. 108–112 (Book 1).
(^66) The Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 1 (1960), pp. 1033a–1036a s.v. al-Barmika
[ W. Barthold – D. Sourdel].
(^67) The Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 1 (1960), p. 1033a–b s.v. al-Barmika [ W. Barthold –
D. Sourdel]; vol. 9 (1997), p. 869b, s.v. sumaniyya [G. Monot]; Bailey 1943, p. 2. Grenet
2002, p. 213. 68
Beal 1881, vol. 4, pp. 464–465 (Book 11).
(^69) Cf., e.g., the Bihristn in the Valley of Jam, mentioned by Warwick & Ball 1976,
p. 150, or also Bahr near Hamadan.