- After conquering parts of northwestern India, Alexander the Great appointed military governors, known as 'strategos', to administer the territories he annexed. - This system of appointing military officers to govern provinces or regions became a precedent. - Later dynasties and invaders in the post-Mauryan period, such as the Indo-Greeks, Shakas, and Parthians, also adopted similar administrative structures, sometimes appointing officials like 'meridarchs' (district governors, often military).