The Persian Empire falls to Alexander the Great in 330 BCE, and he continues his march eastward through Afghanistan and into India.

Alexander defeats Porus, the Gandharan ruler of Taxila, in 326 BCE and marches on to the Ravi River before turning back.

The return march through Sindh and Balochistan ends with Alexander's death at Babylon in 323 BCE.

Greek rule does not survive in northwestern India, although a school of art known as Indo-Greek develops and influences art as far as Central Asia.

The region of Gandhara is conquered by Chandragupta (r. ca. 321-ca. 297 BCE), the founder of the Mauryan Empire, the first universal state of northern India, with its capital at present-day Patna in Bihar.

His grandson, Ashoka (r. ca. 274-ca. 236 BCE), becomes a Buddhist.

Taxila becomes a leading center of Buddhist learning.

Successors to Alexander at times control the northwestern region of present-day Pakistan and even the Punjab after Mauryan power wanes in the region.