HYRCANIA, a province of Asia, south of the Caspian Sea, and bounded on the E. by the river Oxus. It was, however, a wide and indefinite tract, the extent of which is variously conceived. Its chief city is called Tape by Strabo, Zadracarta by Arrian. The latter is evidently the same as Carta, mentioned by Strabo as an important city. Some parts of the country were fertile, but the general idea prevalent among the classical writers is that it was a rude region of forests full of dangerous wild animals. Little is known of the history of the country, as it seldom came into connexion with the better known races. Xenophon says it was subdued by the Assyrians; Curtius says that 6000 Hyrcanians were in the army of the last Persian king Darius. Two towns named Hyrcania are mentioned, one in the country of Hyrcania, the other in Lydia. The latter is said to have derived its name from a colony of Hyrcanians, transported thither by the Persians.