► Foreign Invasions
☼ Iranian / Persian Invasion— Darius’s Invasion (516 BC).
• The Achaemenian rulers of Iran (Persia), who expanded their empire at the same time as the Magadhan princes, took advantage of the political disunity on the North-West Frontier of India.
• The Achaemenian ruler Darius I (Darayabahu) penetrated into North-West India in 516 BC and annexed Punjab, West of the Indus and Sindh. This area constituted the 20th province (Kshatrapi) of Iran, the total number of provinces in the Iranian empire being 28. This province was the most fertile area of the Iranian empire. From this province the empire received 360 talent gold as revenue.
• The next Persian ruler Xerxes also maintained some control over the Indian provinces.
• But the defeat of Darius III at the hand of Alexander brought an end to the Persian empire as also the Persian control over the Indian provinces.
• The Indo-Iranian contact lasted for about 200 years.
☼ Effects of Iranian Invasion
1. It gave an impetus to Indo-Iranian trade and commerce.
2. Through the Iranian, the Greeks came to know about the great wealth of India and this eventually led to Alexander’s invasion of India.
3. The Iranian scribes brought into India a form of writing which came to be known as the Kharosthi script. It was written from right to left like the Arabic.
4. Iranian influence on the Mauryan Sculpture is clearly perceptible, especially in the bell shaped capitals. Iranian influence may also be traced in the preamble of Ashoka’s edicts as well as in certain words used in them.
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