Editing Architecture of India (section)

==== Achaemenid influence ====
{{See also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley}}{{multiple image
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| image1 = Colonne persepolis muze iran bastan teheran.jpg
| caption1 = Achaemenid capital in Persepolis
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| image2 = Achaemenid_capital_Persepolis.jpg
| caption2 = Highly polished [[Persian columns|Achaemenid load-bearing column]], [[Persepolis]]
| header = Achaemenid Derivatives
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| footer = [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] influence like stone polishing and dual-headed capital from conquest by Persians and Greeks
| image3 = Sculptures near Teli Mandir, Gwalior Fort.jpg
| caption3 = Lion capital in Vardhana
| image4 = Sarnath capital.jpg
| caption4 = [[Lion Capital of Ashoka]] from [[Sarnath]]
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[[Lion Capital of Ashoka]] from [[Sarnath]].The [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] conquered and governed the territories of the North-western regions of the [[Indian subcontinent]], from the 6th to 4th centuries BCE. The conquest occurred in two phases. The first invasion was conducted around 535 BCE by [[Cyrus the Great]], who founded the Achaemenid Empire.{{sfn|Sen|1999|pages=116–117}} Cyrus annexed the regions west of the [[Indus River]], which formed the eastern border of his empire. Following the death of Cyrus, [[Darius the Great]] established his dynasty and began to reconquer former provinces and further expand the extent of the empire. Around 518 BCE Darius crossed the Himalayas into India to initiate a second period of conquest by annexing regions up to the [[Jhelum River]] in [[Punjab]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=André-Salvini|first=Béatrice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC|title=Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia|date=2005|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24731-4|language=en}}</ref> Each invasion brought in new style and soon started to influence the art and architectural styles in India.

Various Indian artefacts tend to suggest some Perso-Hellenistic artistic influence in India, mainly felt during the time of the [[Mauryan Empire]].{{sfn|Sen|1999|pages=116–117}}

The [[Pataliputra]] palace with its pillared hall shows decorative influences of the Achaemenid palaces and Persepolis and may have used the help of foreign craftsmen.<ref>[http://jsr.usb.ac.ir/article_1659_265.html The Analysis of Indian Muria Empire affected from Achaemenid's architecture art] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144452/http://jsr.usb.ac.ir/article_1659_265.html|date=2 April 2015}}. In: Journal of Subcontinent Researches. Article 8, Volume 6, Issue 19, Summer 2014, Page 149-174.</ref>{{sfn|Sen|1999|pages=116–117}} Mauryan rulers may have even imported craftsmen from abroad to build royal monuments.<ref>{{cite book|title=Monuments, Power and Poverty in India: From Ashoka to the Raj|author1=A. S. Bhalla|author2=I.B. Tauris|date=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=emATBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |page= 18|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781784530877}}</ref> This may be the result of the formative influence of craftsmen employed from Persia following the disintegration of the Achaemenid Empire after the conquests of Alexander the Great.<ref name="auto1">"The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c.6500 BCE-200 CE" Robin Coningham, Ruth Young Cambridge University Press, 31 aout 2015, p.414 [https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA414]</ref><ref>[[iarchive:reportonexcavat01waddgoog|Report on the excavations at Pātaliputra (Patna); the Palibothra of the Greeks by Waddell, L. A. (Laurence Austine)]]</ref>

The renowned [[Mauryan polish]], especially used in the [[Pillars of Ashoka]], may also have been a technique imported from the Achaemenid Empire.{{sfn|Sen|1999|pages=116–117}}