🚩 Foreign Invasions Before Mauryan Empire 🛡️ Iranian (Persian) Invasion (550 - 330 BCE) • Cyrus the Great (558 - 530 BCE): First foreign invader, captured Gandhara. • Darius I (522 - 486 BCE): Annexed Sind, Punjab, NWFP (516 BCE), making Gandhara a Persian satrapy. • Xerxes (486 - 465 BCE): Recruited Indian troops but failed to expand further. • Decline (330 BCE): Darius III lost control of Indian territories after Alexander’s invasion. 🌐 Impact of Persian Invasion • Political: Exposed India’s military weakness, influenced administrative structures. • Trade & Economy: Opened Indus-Arabian Sea trade routes and introduced Persian coinage techniques. • Culture: Kharoshthi script evolved from Persian Aramaic; Persian masonry influenced Mauryan art.