Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c22.4

v1.c22.4

Being one of the towns near the border, Taxila must have been an important site during the *mahājanapada* era. Pradyota of Ujjain and Darius of Persia sent their armies to Taxila. The vanquished inhabitants helped Darius by providing gold and Indian soldiers equipped with arrow and iron arrowheads. The Indian soldiers fought under the Persian banner against the Greeks. Wheeler and Piggott (1947-48) suggested that the Maurya traditions of throne (*siṃhāsana*) with griffins (Waddell's discovery from Kumrahar at Patna) or lions, polished sandstone pillars, pillared diwān (persian) or apadāna or audience hall, originated from the achaemenid traditions of Persepolis. The Kharosthī script of the northwestern India evolved from the official Aramaic script of Persia. After the fall of Persepolis, the Persian craftsmen passed through Taxila and helped the Mauryas. The older haphazard Bhir Mound city of the Persian era was later replaced by the well-planned Sirkap founded by the Greeks.