a name given by the ancients to an extensive tract in Central Asia, whose limits were not very distinctly fixed, but which was separated on the south by the Oxus from Bactriana and Ariana, and by the Jaxartes on the north from Scythia. It thus nearly corresponded with the modern Bokhara in Turkestan, part of which is still known by the name of Sogd. The district is partly mountainous, but contains many fertile valleys and extensive wastes. In the time of Alexander, who visited the country, there were large forests abounding in game. The inhabitants resembled those of Bactriana, and were probably of Indian descent. There is no good ground for believing that Sogdiana contained many large towns. Those mentioned in the accounts of Alexander's expedition were in all likelihood merely forts erected to defend the country against the barbarians on its borders.