Of course, the preference for lighter skin in India isn't entirely free of foreign influence. Before the British arrived, India was colonized by Persian invaders, who were much lighter-skinned than the existing population. (And no, I'm not talking about the myth of the Aryan invasion of 100 BCE -- I'm speaking of the Mughal empire beginning roughly 1500 CE) And the persian invaders, of course, had a history of warfare both with Greeks many many centuries before and with the Crusaders.