Historical relations between India and Iran

New Delhi: The age-long historical relations between the Iranians and the people of the Indian subcontinent date back to a very remote past. In the splendid civilization of Mohenjodaro and the Sindh Valley which flourished between 2500 and 1500 BC, there are visible signs of relationship with the Iranian civilization. The ancient relics, earthenware and the marked resemblance in their designs and patterns are strong evidence in favor of this assertion.
This civilization is followed by the arrival of the Aryans in this land. Although the factors which lead to this mass migration are yet not fully known the various similarities found in the legends and religious texts of the two peoples allude to such connection. Some of the scholars are of the opinion that Sanskrit, Old Persian, and Avestan languages are the sisters born of the same mother. Inauthentic books of history some references have been made to the continuous relations of the two people during the days of the Medes, Pishdadiyan, and Kiwanian. In the holy book of Zoroastrians i.e. Avesta, too, mention has been made of North India.
Fortunately, since the Achaemenid period, we have authentic sources like the historical monuments of Persepolis. During the Achaemenid rule in the kingdom of Darius the Great the artisans, craftsmen, and traders traveled from Iran to India and from India to Iran and even in some battles between Iran and Greece the Indian soldiers fought as a part of the army of Achaemenid. The relics of Persepolis to confirm this view.
After the invasion of Alexander and the subsequent establishment of the Seleucid reign the relations between Iran and India weakened but following the fall of the Seleucids and foundation of the Parthian rule (228 CE), the relations between the two people were further enhanced, while the Sasanian period (224 – 651 CE) provides an excellent example of cultural affinity between them.
This reciprocal enrichment continued and there was an exchange of visits and even inter-marriage came in vogue between the two peoples. As the great poet of Iran Ferdowsi has related in Shahnameh, (The Book of Kings) the Sassanid king Bahram-e Gur who was a man of festivity, hunting and music, requested the Indian king Shangol to select ten thousand expert singers and musicians and send them to Iran so that they teach the art of Indian music and Iranians may learn Indian musical tunes and the Indian king did so.
Some of the historical works have claimed that Bahram-e Gur (d. 438 CE) even came on a visit to India and the Iranian kings also chose some of the Indian women as their queens. Similarly there are several other examples of very close cultural relations in the pre-Islamic era such as the well-known translation of Panchatantra – the ancient Indian book of fables in Sanskrit into Pahlavi during the reign of Anushiravan, better known as Nowsherwan the Just, and the arrival of chess in Iran from India and sending of backgammon to India by Nowsherwan which was an invention of Bozorgmehr, Nowsherwan’s wise minister. There was also the presence of several Indian translators in the royal courts of the Sassanid and ever-growing commercial and trade relations between the two countries, followed by the constant trail of traders’ caravans.