The ancient land of India, which enjoys a uniquely vast geographical and ethnic diversity, is the cradle of one of oldest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization has several tight relationships and ties with Iranian culture and history. Undoubtedly, a cultural and historical study of each of these two apparently independent geographical units would be
incomplete without considering the conditions of the other one. The patterns employed in the construction of the columned halls of India during the Mauryan Era were completely modeled on the Iranian Achaemenid art and culture. In the same vein, Indians adopted their traditions of writing inscriptions on rocks and columns from Iranians. In the reports of Greek historians, such as Herodotus and Xenophon, several references have been made to the unity of these two nations, and history has frequently witnessed instances of the kings and princes of one of the two countries seeking shelter in the other, and one country’s asking for help from the other in its fights against the enemy. The frequent references to the name of India in the inscriptions remaining from the Akaemenid era and the presence of the pictograph of the Indian missionary bearing gifts in Takht-e Jamshid are undeniable documents demonstrating this historical fact. In later periods and during the Parthian and Sassanid eras, Iranians conquered the northern regions of India, and the finding of coins bearing Pahlavi writings in this land testifies to the rule of the Sassanid princes in Kushan lands in north India. This is the case while, alongside such political and military relationships between the two countries in the course of history, wehave also witnessed very close relationships between them in different artistic, scientific and religious areas.