History

Indians have kept dogs and cats as pets for thousands of years. This is more common in the rural Indian than in urban. The historic evidence of keeping dogs as pets and for hunting is found from the cave painting.

A few of such paintings are shown below. These photos have been taken from Rajshree Khalap's blog Are you a Pariah Dog Fan? Her blog is really informative, please do visit to know more about the archaeological evidence of pet dogs in Indian society.

Hunting with Dogs

Barhut Stupa-Dogs and cats as companion - a woman with cat and dogs

Pet dog on leash

You can read more about archaeological records of Indians keeping dogs at the INDog website.

However the history of Indian Mastiff is shrouded in mystery. There are historic proof of the existence of large sized dogs in Indian. Here is what Encyclopaedia Iranica has to say about Indian Mastiff:

Indian dogs were highly prized among the Persian aristocracy;
Xerxes I (489-65 B.C.E.) reportedly took a large number of them with his army when he marched against Greece. One of the Persian satraps of Babylon assigned the revenues derived from four large villages in that province to the care of his Indian hounds. A dog belonging to Darius III (336-30 B.C.E.) supposedly refused to leave his corpse after he had been struck down by Bessus.
Dogfights must have been common in ancient Persia. The Persian phrase sag-e karzari (war dog) may refer either to canine warriors or merely to dogs trained for dogfights.

Historians like Pliny and Aristotle have also mentioned Indian Mastiffs. Here is an excerpt taken from the history of Boerboel:

A barbaric tribe in southern Ethiopia, known as the "Cynomones", has dogs which were described as Indian Dogs". Pliny's Natural history also refer to these dogs but mix them up with the Cynocephali. These Cynomones had dogs which originated from the Babylonian dogs. They are described as big, strong dogs; as big as Hyrcanians and ideal for fighting lions.
Aristotle writes many interesting things about the "Indian Dog". He claims that the Indian Dog is a cross between dog and tiger. Only the third generation can be used as the first two are too aggressive. The bitches were tied up in an isolated spot when on heat, many were eaten by the tigers. It is interesting to see that Pliny repeats this story. Nowadays it is naturally impossible for a dog and a tiger to cross; at least not today. Needless the say the Indian Dogs are brindle dogs. Brindles in the Boerboel breed today tend to be more shy and more aggressive than the other Boerboels. Makes one think!!
These Cynomones moved around extensively and also traded with their dogs. Other references to the Indian Dog are also made in the time of Darius Hystaspes, king of Persia. He set two towns under his rule aside to do no other work other than look after his dogs.

What Aristotle must have encountered was a brindle Indian Mastiff which are not rare. It also proves that Indian Mastiff has played an important role in the development of the Boerboel Breed. May be it's because of Indian Mastiff blood that Boerboels are predominantly fawn/red in color.

A few things become clear from these historic evidences.

1. The Indian Mastiff were ferocious dogs.
2. The Indian Mastiff was a large dog.
3. The Indian Mastiff was prized among the nobles and aristocrats.
4. The Indian Mastiff was predominantly - red and brindle in color.

However, if we look at the dogs which are nowadays called Indian Mastiff we find predominantly black & white and rarely the original red and brindle. This make it dubious whether today's "Indian Mastiff" have any original "Indian Mastiff" blood or they are just a mixed breed created by the infusion of European breeds with the local dogs during colonial times. Read More at  Bully Kutta vs Indian Mastiff.