It is very heartening to note that Parsis such as Dr Farokh Udwadia are continuing the tradition of studying our ancient history ("Learning from the Achemenians,” Books, Parsiana, September 7-20, 2019). Udwadia’s research on the Achemenians deserves plaudits as it clears many false impressions about them.
Some of the reasons ascribed to the downfall of the Achemenians have been studied in great detail in recent times, especially by Josef Wiesehoffer (Ancient Persia, I. B. Tauris) and Pierre Bryant (From Cyrus to Alexander, Eisdenbrauns, 2002) and were found to be untrue, Hellenocentric and biased. While Wiesehoffer rejects the Greeks’ allegation of a decadent......