With whom did the political visits to Troy start?

It is not known for sure when the identification between Troy, also known as Ilion, and the Trojan War in Antiquity started; but we deduce from the visit Xerkes paid to Troy during his expedi- tion to the West in 480 B. C. E. that this view was in circulation at least until the fifth century B. C. E. The Persian king, who started out to rule the entire world, visited Troy before he went from the land of the East to the land of the West, i.e Greece and sacrificed a thousand cows in that "holy place". Herodotus wrote the following of this visit:

"The army had arrived at the Skamandros river; it was the first time that water was scarce since we left Sardes, and we could not find enough water for the soldiers and the animals. When they reached this river, Xerkes climbed up the hill where Priamos Pergamon is located, he wanted to watch the view. He watched, heard the momentous events that took place there, and sacrificed a thousand unborn calves to the Athena of Ilion, during which time the priests were watering this land of the heroes."

Because Troy is located on the most convenient passage between Europe and Asia, it can be accepted to belong to both the West and the East. From what has been written about the interest that Xerkes had shown this place, we can infer that he took the Trojans to be Asian, meaning Eastern, and himself to be a Trojan.