> [!quote] [[What was the ancient Persian relationship with other Iranian peoples]] > We know so incredibly little about Achaemenid-Indian relations. For unknown reasons, no ancient Indian history of this period acknowledges the existence of the Persian Empire. They address regions well within Persian territory, like Taxila and Gandara, but show no awareness of the wider empire. Texts like the _Mahabarata_ and other early Sanskrit refer to a series of peoples who appear to be Iranian _Aryans_ rather than Indo-Aryans and locates them in the Hindu Kush, which would be about where Indian and Iranian traditions started to meat, but treats these groups as uncivilized tribes. Achaemenid records from the region are practically non-existent. One theory about inscription XPh is that it refers to a conflict in India on account of several Vedic _deva_ gods being considered evil _daivas_ in Zoroastrian tradition, but nothing supports that theory any more than similar theories about Sogdia and Bactria.