history of the PERSIAN AND GREEK INVASIONS

                                         .PERSIAN AND GREEK INVASIONS

Persian Invasions
Cyrus (558 – 530 B.C)
Cyrus the Great was the greatest conqueror of the
Achaemenian Empire. He was the first conqueror who led an
expedition and entered into India. He captured the Gandhara region.
All Indian tribes to the west of the Indus river submitted to him and
paid tribute. His son Cambyses had no time to pay attention towards
India.

                                                      Darius I (522 – 486 B.C.)

Darius I, the grandson of Cyrus, conquered the Indus valley

in 518 B.C. and annexed the Punjab and Sindh. This region became

the 20th Satrapy of his empire. It was the most fertile and populous

province of the Achaemenian Empire. Darius sent a naval expedition

under Skylas to explore the Indus.

                                                      Xerxes (465-456 B.C.)

Xerxes utilized his Indian province to strengthen his position.

He deployed Indian infantry and cavalry to Greece to fight his

opponents. But they retreated after Xerxes faced a defeat in Greece.

After this failure, the Achaemenians could not follow a forward policy

in India. However, the Indian province was still under their control.

Darius III enlisted Indian soldiers to fight against Alexander in 330

B.C. It is evident that the control of Persians slackened on the eve

of Alexander’s invasion of India.

                                                      Effects of the Persian Invasion

The Persian invasion provided an impetus to the growth of

Indo-Iranian commerce. Also, it prepared the ground for

Alexander’s invasion. The use of the Kharoshti script, a form of

Iranian writing became popular in northwestern India and some ofAsoka’s edicts were written in that script. We are able to see the

influence of Persian art on the art of the Mauryas, particularly the

monolithic pillars of Asoka and the sculptures found on them. The

very idea of issuing edicts by Asoka and the wording used in the

edicts are traced to Iranian influence. In short, the Iranian connection

with India proved more fruitful than the short-lived Indo-

Macedonian contact.