Effects of Persian Invasion of India
In the sixth century BCE, unlike in north-east India where smaller principalities and republics merged with the Magadhan Empire, there was no political unity in the North-West India. Several small principalities, such as those of the Kambojas, Gandharav and Madras fought one another. This, together with the fact that the area of north-western India was fertile and rich in natural resources, attracted the attention of its neighbours and most probably persuaded the Persian emperors to seek territorial aggrandizement in the north-western region of India.
Persian Occupation
The Iranian ruler Darius penetrated into north-west India in 516 BCE and annexed the Punjab, west of Indus, and Sindh. Xerses, the son of Darius I, and his successors seem to have maintained some control of the Indian provinces, which furnished contingent to their army. It appears that India continued to be a part of the Iranian empire till Alexander of Macedonia defeated Darius III, the last Achaemenid emperor, and proceeded to conquer the whole of his empire.
Effects of the Persian Invasion
The Indo-Iranian contact lasted for about 200 years. The Persians brought India into contact with the western world and thus gave an impetus to her trade and commerce with the west. The cultural results, however, were more important.
D.B. Spooner has tried to prove that at Pataliputra, the Mauryan palace was modelled after the palace of Darius. But the evidence on which he has relied is scanty and unreliable. That is why his view is not accepted by the vast majority of other scholars. H.G. Rawlison has suggested that the bell Capital of Ashokan pillars shows many traces of Persian influences. This view is also untenable. As pointed out by E.B. Havell, the Capital represents inverted lotus which is characteristically a significant motif in Indian art. It is however, possible that the inspiration for building pillars might have come from the Persians, but the Ashokan pillars are in no way imitations of their Persian prototype. The Persian shaft is fluted, i.e. has semi-cylindrical vertical grooves or channels, while Ashokan pillar is plain and circular. The Persians shaft is built on separate pieces of stone, while the Ashokan shaft is monolithic (i.e. single block of stone). So even when the inspiration for erecting pillars might have been derived from Persia, indigenous and original contribution to the creation of this item of Mauryan art is undeniable.
The Persian scribes introduced into India a new form of writing called Kharoshthi, which was made use of by Ashoka in some of his inscriptions in North-Western India and beyond. This script is a derivative of the Aramaic alphabet which was extensively used in the Achaemenid Empire (558-338 BCE). This script like the Arabic script is written from right to left. The popularity of the Kharoshthi did not extend beyond third century CE. Certain words and the preamble of Ashokan edicts also show some Persian influences. The word dipi is used for a script and nipishta for ‘written’ which are clearly Indianised forms and Persian words.
Though the idea of chakravarti ruler having an empire existed in the protohistoric times as it is definitely mentioned in the Brahmanas, yet it is possible as suggested by A. L. Basham that the expansionist policy of Bimbisara and Ajatasatru, the rulers of Magadha, “was inspired by the example of the Persians”. We learn from Megasthenes that Chandragupta Maurya imitated the Persian hair style. He celebrated the hair – washing ceremony, employed women body- guards and lived in seclusion. The Persian Emperors got their administrative edicts inscribed on rocks. It is therefore probable that Ashoka borrowed this practice from the Persians. We also know that the Persians system of government by the Satraps was introduced in several provinces of North-Western India.