Persian and Greek invasion of India

India has a varied culture and traditions, many of them have been influenced by the foreign culture. India being a prosperous and rich country with great civilisation, it attracted the empires from long and many civilisations like Persian and Macedonian have invaded India for riches and few settled back while others left country with gold and diamonds. In all the great invasions of Ancient India Persian and Greek are the major ones.

The Persian invasion and its effect on culture

• In the first half of sixth century BC, there were a number of small tribal states in North West India. There was no sovereign power to unite these warring tribes.
• The Achaemenid rulers of Persia or Iran took advantage of the political disunity of this region. Cyrus, the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, and his successor Darius I annexed parts of Punjab and Sindh.
• It was believed to be the most fertile and populous part of the Achaemenid empire. Indian subjects were also enrolled in the Achaemenid army.
• The Persian rule in north western India lasted for nearly two centuries. During this period there must have been regular contact between the two regions.
• The naval expedition of Skylax probably encouraged trade and commerce between Persia and India.
• Some ancient Persian gold and silver coins have been found in Punjab. Though the mountainous passes in the north western border were being used from very early times, it seems that Darius entered India through these passes for the first time. Later on, a section of Alexander’s army traversed the same route, when he invaded Punjab.
• The administrative structure of the Mauryan empire was influenced in some measure by that of the Achaemenid rulers of Persia.
• It may be mentioned here that the Persian title of satrapa (governor) continued to be used by the Indian provincial governors as kshtrapa for quite a long time.
• The cultural effects of the contacts with the Persians were also significant. The Persian scribes brought into India a new style of writing. It is called kharoshthi. It was derived from the Aramaic script, which was written from right to left.
• Many of Asoka’s inscriptions found in north western India are witten in kharoshthi. This script continued to be used in north western India till about third century AD. The Persian influence may also be traced in the preamble of Asokan edicts.
• The Mauryan art and architecture were also greatly influenced by the Persian art.
• The monolithic pillar edicts of Asoka with their bell-shaped capitals are somewhat like the victory pillars of the Achaemenid emperors which have been found in Persepolis.
• The Persian influence found in Chandragupta Maurya’s court was in the form of the ceremonial hair bath taken by the emperor on his birthday. It was in typical Persian style. It is mentioned in the Arthashastra that whenever the king consults the physician or the ascetic, he should sit in a room where the sacred fire was kept. This indicates the influence of Zorastrianism, the religion of ancient Iranians

Greek invasion and its effect on culture

• During the fourth century BC, the Greeks and the Persians fought for supremacy over West Asia.
• The Achaemenid Empire was finally destroyed by the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander of Macedon. He conquered Asia Minor, Iraq and Iran and then marched towards India.
• According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Alexander was greatly attracted towards India because of her fabulous wealth. On the eve of Alexander’s invasion, north western India was divided into a number of small principalities.
• Lack of unity among them helped the Greeks to conquer these principalities one after another. However, Alexander’s army refused to march ahead when they heard about the vast army and the strength of the Nandas of Magadha.
• Alexander had to return. He died at Babylon at the young age of 32 on his way back to Macedon. He hardly had any time to reorganise his conquests. Most of the conquered states were restored to their rulers, who had submitted to his authority. He divided his territorial possessions covering parts of eastern Europe and a large area in western Asia into three parts and placed them under three Greek governors.
• The eastern part of his empire was given to Seleucus Nikator, who declared himself a king after the death of his master, Alexander though the contact between the Macedonians and ancient Indians was for a brief period, its impact was fairly wide in range.
• Alexander’s invasion brought Europe, for the first time, in close contact with India, as routes, by sea and by land, were opened between India and the West. A close commercial relation was also established.
• The traders and craftsmen used to follow these routes. Alexander asked his friend Nearchus to explore the sea coast from the mouth of the Indus to the Euphrates in search of harbours.
• The Greek writers have left many valuable geographical accounts of this region for us.
• Alexander’s invasion paved the way for political unification of north western India by conquering the warring tribes of this region. It seems that by his campaigns Alexander made Chandragupta Maurya’s work of annexing this area easier. Soon after Alexander’s departure, Chandragupta defeated one of his generals, Seleucus Nikator and brought the whole of north western India upto Afghanistan under his control.
• The influence of Greek art is found in the development of Indian sculpture as well. The combination of the Greek and the Indian style formed the Gandhara School of art.
• Indians also learnt the art of making well-shaped and beautifully designed gold and silver coins from the Greeks. The Greeks had some influence on Indian astrology as well.
• Many valuable information about the social and economic condition of northern and north western India of that time are known from the Greek accounts left by Arrian, admiral Nearchus, and Megasthenes. They tell us about the developed condition of many crafts, existence of a brisk trade with the outside world, and about the general prosperous condition of the country.
• Much has also been said in these accounts of carpentary as a flourishing trade in India. It seems the fleet which Alexander sent along the western coast of India under Nearchus was built in India.
• Alexander’s adventure also helped the West to know something about the Indian life and thinking. It has been said that the ideas and notions of Indian philosophy and religion which filtered into the Roman empire flowed through the channel opened by Alexander.
• As the Greek writers left dated records of Alexander’s campaign, it helped us a great deal to frame the chronology of ancient Indian history. The date of Alexander’s invasion - 326 BC provides a definite ‘marker’ for arranging the sequence of historical events in India.