A Review of Architectural Evidences on the Impacts of Persian Architecture on Mauryan Architecture of India

The Indian subcontinent was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, located at the far eastern end of Achaemenid territories. It was the last part of Achaemenid lands taken over by Alexander of Macedon after his invasion. In the meantime, Chandragupta, whether after a battle or by treaty with the successor of Alexander in Asia (Seleucus I Nicator) established some degree of autonomy and founded the Mauryan dynasty. The Capital of this empire was Pataliputra. Following the archaeological excavations in this area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were some evidence indicating the influence of Persian architecture on Mauryan buildings. Dr. David Brainard Spooner who was exploring different parts of Pataliputra, suggested the Persian imprint beyond the impact of Persian architecture. By providing some etymological and field evidence, he presented the theory of “The Zoroastrian Period of Indian History”. He strongly believed that Mauryan kings were originally Persians who brought the Achaemenid legacy to India and subsequently attempted to make a copy of Persepolis in Pataliputra. However, by the evidence offered by Spooner and later excavations, the suggestion of such a broad impact seems inadequate. They only demostrate a typical influence of Persian architecture in Maurian edifices. Data was collected using library research and data analysis was done with an inductive approach.