Size of Persian Empires

>>1779522
>what is the Iranian Plateau

>>1779522
Persian light infantry and bowmen as well as the parthian horsemen and sassanian cataphracts were some of the strongest units of the ancient world.

>>1779564
Horse archers, not horsemen.

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Why is it that after getting past the Hindu Kush, Indus, and sometimes Punjab, Persian empires rarely expanded any further into India? Geography-wise all of those areas are pretty hard to get through especially the Hindu Kush, but after that there should be mostly flat land and maybe a bit of jungle all the way up to the Deccan. You'd think that the ability to trade with eastern nations by sea more easily would encourage Persians to conquer Indian lands. India was usually a mix-up of smaller states too which would be rather easy to play against one another. The only problem I could see occurring is large resistance in Magadha/Pataliputra.

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>>1779541
yes, what is the iranian plateau?

>>1779654
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Plateau
basically anatolia, iran, and parts of afghanistan and pakistan are all part of a large plateau and it made it easier to administer

>>1779671
I can somewhat see it in the eastern-iran - afghanistan area, but the rest seems a mountanous clusterfuck, nevermind the Zagor mountains

>>1779683
those mountains insulated them from attacks from the south for the most part

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>>1779683
Actually the mountanous clusterfuck and it's feet is where people lives. Comfy valleys and piedmonts are better than deserts.

>>1779701
But comfey valleys and piedmonts aren't good for big empires centralisation bureaucracy etc

>>1779709
I know, I know. Dunno what the dude was talking about the iranian plateau making it easy to be honest.

>>1779736
maybe although rugged the land was lightly forested and open and dry enough that overland travel was at least somewhat easier than with forests and rivers everywhere?

>>1779634
Because many of those various Indian city-states and kingdoms became willing vassals and the Persians had little need to further expand the boundaries of their empire.