Persian-Greek Intrusions

The Persian Greek intrusions into north west India changed the region for centuries. First the Persian Achaemenid kings took the lands along the Indus. Two centuries later Alexander of Macedon marched through the same passes. This post explains who came, what they ruled, why Alexander turned back, and what these contacts left behind in Indian life.

Our older post on this topic was short and hard to read. Some lines were unclear and one date was wrong. We have rewritten it in simple English, kept the main story, and checked each fact against standard histories.

The Setting Before the Invasions

In the sixth century BCE, north India was a map of many states. Large kingdoms and tribal republics competed for land and trade. You can read about these states in our post on the Mahajanpadas. In the far north west, beyond the main Ganga kingdoms, lay Gandhara and the lands along the Indus River.

These lands sat on old trade roads. Merchants moved between the Indus plains, the hills of present day Afghanistan and the markets of Iran. That position made the region rich, and it also made it a target for strong empires to the west.

The Persian Achaemenid Conquest

The Achaemenid Empire was the great Persian empire of that age. Around 535 BCE its founder, Cyrus the Great, began a long campaign toward the east. His army took a large area to the west of the Indus River.

After a pause that followed Cyrus’s death, the work went on under Darius I. Around 518 BCE Persian forces pushed further and took regions up to the Jhelum River in the Punjab. At their peak the Achaemenids ruled much of what is now Pakistan.

Three Indian Provinces

Persian royal inscriptions, such as the famous rock inscription at Behistun, list the eastern lands by name. Three of them matter here. Gandara was the Gandhara region. Hindush covered part of the Indus Valley. Sattagydia lay nearby. Each was ruled as a province, called a satrapy, under a governor who answered to the king.

The city of Taxila, known in Sanskrit as Takshashila, may have served as the capital of the Hindush province from about 500 to 330 BCE. Taxila was already an old city. The grammarian Panini mentions it, and it later became famous as a centre of learning.

Tribute and Soldiers

The Greek writer Herodotus left a list of the tax regions of the Persian empire. He says the Indians formed the twentieth province. He also says they paid more tribute than any other region, namely 360 talents of gold dust each year. Modern scholars treat his numbers with care, but the point is clear. The Indus lands were among the richest parts of the empire.

Indian soldiers also served in Persian armies. When King Xerxes invaded Greece in 480 BCE, Indian troops marched with his army. Herodotus describes their cotton clothes and cane bows. It is one of the earliest records of Indian fighters in a war far from home.

Persian Influence on the Region

Two centuries of Persian rule left marks on the north west. The clearest is in government. The Persians ruled through provinces and governors. Later rulers of the region, including the Greeks who came after and, much later, the Indo Scythians and Kushans, kept using a similar system of satraps.

Writing may be another legacy. Persian officials used the Aramaic language and script across their empire. Many scholars think the Kharosthi script, used in Gandhara for centuries, grew out of Aramaic during this period. Greek writers who came with Alexander noted that Indians wrote letters on finely woven cloth, which may point to this early writing.

Trade also grew. A Greek sailor named Scylax was sent by Darius to explore the Indus River and the sea route to the west. Such voyages helped link the Indus ports with the wider world.

Alexander’s Indian Campaign

Persian power in the east faded over time. Then Alexander the Great of Macedon destroyed the Achaemenid Empire. After winning the Persian heartland and the lands of Bactria, he turned toward India in 327 BCE. His Indian campaign lasted until 325 BCE.

Alexander crossed into Gandhara through the mountain passes. Some local rulers fought him and some made peace. The king of Taxila, whom the Greeks called Taxiles, accepted Alexander’s rule in 326 BCE and helped him with supplies and troops.

The Battle of the Hydaspes

East of Taxila ruled King Porus, whose land lay beyond the Hydaspes River, the modern Jhelum. In May 326 BCE the two armies met there. The river was swollen by rain. Alexander moved part of his army across at night at a point away from Porus’s camp and attacked from the side.

Porus fought with cavalry, foot soldiers and war elephants. The elephants caused heavy losses, and the battle was possibly the most costly of Alexander’s career. In the end the Macedonians won and Porus was captured. Alexander was impressed by him. He spared Porus and let him keep his kingdom as a ruler under Macedonian authority.

For a full account of the fighting, read our post on the Battle of the Hydaspes.

Why Alexander Turned Back

Alexander wanted to keep going east toward the Ganga. But beyond the Punjab lay the Nanda Empire of Magadha, the strongest power in north India. Greek writers also mention a people called the Gangaridai in the Bengal region. Reports said the Nanda army was many times larger than the Macedonian force.

Alexander’s soldiers had been away from home for about eight years. Their weapons and armour were wearing out. At the Hyphasis River, now the Beas, they refused to march further. Alexander met his general Coenus, who spoke for the tired men. In the end Alexander agreed that it was better to return.

You can learn more about this eastern power in our post on the conquest of the Nanda Empire, which tells how the Nandas themselves fell a few years later.

The Road Home

Alexander did not go back the way he came. He sailed and marched south along the Indus, fighting several tribes on the way. Then he split his forces. His admiral Nearchus took a fleet along the coast toward the Persian Gulf. Alexander led the rest of the army through the Gedrosian desert in present day Balochistan, where many soldiers died from heat and thirst.

After Alexander

Alexander died in 323 BCE. His generals divided his empire. The eastern part went to Seleucus. Within a few years, however, Chandragupta Maurya rose in India, took the Nanda throne and built a huge state. Seleucus lost his easternmost lands to Chandragupta after a war. Read more in our post on the Mauryan Empire.

Greek rule did not vanish at once from the wider region. Greek kingdoms survived in Bactria, and later Indo Greek kings ruled parts of the north west. One of them, Menander, may have supported Buddhism, and his coins carry Buddhist symbols.

The Lasting Impact of the Persian Greek Intrusions

The Persian and Greek contacts had real and lasting effects. Gandhara became a meeting point of Indian, Persian, Central Asian and Greek cultures. Over the next centuries a style of Buddhist art grew there. It showed the Buddha in a lifelike human form with flowing robes, a style that clearly shows Greek artistic ideas.

Scholars mostly agree that the Greek influence was strongest in art. They are more careful about saying that Greek ideas changed Buddhist teachings themselves. The art style lasted from about the fourth century BCE to the fifth century CE.

Greek writers also gave the world some of the earliest outside accounts of India. Their descriptions of rivers, kings, elephants and cities helped later historians build a timeline for this period.

Key Dates at a Glance

• About 535 BCE: Cyrus the Great begins Persian campaigns toward the Indus.
• About 518 BCE: Darius I extends Persian rule to the Jhelum.
• 480 BCE: Indian troops march with Xerxes into Greece.
• 327 BCE: Alexander begins his Indian campaign.
• May 326 BCE: Battle of the Hydaspes against Porus.
• 326 BCE: Mutiny at the Hyphasis River.
• 325 BCE: Alexander leaves India through the south.

What We Changed From the Old Post

The old post used strange word swaps that made sentences hard to follow. We rewrote every section in plain English.

We removed a wrong date for Alexander’s defeat of Persia. We added the three Persian provinces, the Herodotus tribute record, Indian troops in Xerxes’s army, the Kharosthi script link and the route Alexander took home.

We softened claims that went beyond the evidence. For example, we now say Greek influence on Gandhara was mainly in art, which is the view most scholars hold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was the first foreign ruler to invade north west India?

Among recorded invasions, the Persian Achaemenid kings came first. Cyrus the Great began campaigns around 535 BCE, and Darius I extended Persian rule around 518 BCE.

Which Indian king fought Alexander at the Hydaspes?

King Porus fought Alexander in May 326 BCE near the modern Jhelum River. He lost but was allowed to keep his kingdom.

Why did Alexander not reach the Ganga?

His tired army refused to cross the Beas River. The men feared the large armies of the Nanda Empire and wanted to go home.

What did the Persians leave behind in India?

They left a model of rule through provinces and governors, and the Aramaic script that probably helped shape Kharosthi writing in Gandhara.