Behistun Inscription
The conquest is often thought to have started circa 535 BCE, during the time of Cyrus the Great (600-530 BCE). Cyrus probably went as far as the banks of the Indus river and organized the conquered territories under the Satrapy of "Gandara" (Old Persian cuneiform: , "Gadāra", also transliterated as "Gandāra" since the nasal "n" before consonants was omitted in the Old Persian script, and simplified as "Gandara") according to the Behistun Inscription. The Province was also referred to as "Paruparaesanna" (Greek: Parapamisadae) in the Babylonian and Elamite versions of the Behistun inscription. The geographical extent of this province was wider than the Indian Gandhara. Various accounts, such as those of Xenophon or Ctesias, who wrote "Indica", also suggest that Cyrus conquered parts of India. Another Indian Province was conquered named Sattagydia (, "Thataguš") in the Behistun inscription. It was probably contiguous to Gandhara, but its actual location is uncertain. Fleming locates it between Arachosia and the middle Indus. Fleming also mentions Maka, in the area of Gedrosia, as one of the Indian satrapies.