Explanation: The 200 years of Indo-Persian contact resulted in not only political influence, but also socioeconomic acculturation.

• Along with providing impetus to Indo-Persian trade and commerce, it resulted in forging cultural ties.
• The introduction of the Kharoshthi script, which was derived from Aramaic (the official script of the Persian empire, written right to left like Arabic) in north-western India is a fine example highlighting the Persian impact.
• Some of the Ashokan inscriptions in north-western India are written in this script. Persian sigloi-type coins were copied in India.
• It is possible that the rock inscriptions used by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE was inspired by the Persian King Darius.
• The monuments of Ashoka’s time, especially the bell-shaped capitals and the preamble of Ashoka’s edicts, have a lot of Iranian influence.

Source: Poonam Dahiya