The Persians were not the only people with Vedic links in the Middle East. A military elite called the Mitanni migrated from the east into northern Iraq in the middle of the second millennium BC and came to dominate the region. In 1380 BC they entered into a treaty with the Hittites. The agreement was solemnized in the name of Vedic gods Indra, Varuna, Mitra and Nasatya. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the arrival of the Mitanni in the region also witnessed the introduction of a technology of Indian origin—iron. It is noteworthy that this is five centuries after the earliest mass production
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