Coordinates: 33°46′45″N, 72°53′15″E

Taxila is an important archaelogical site in Pakistan containing the ruins of the Gandhāran city and university of Takshashila (also Takkasila or Taxila) an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist centre of learning from the 5th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. In 1980, Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with multiple locations. The name "Taxila" is spelled ٹیکسلا in Urdu/Persian. In ancient times, the name was written as त�*्षशिला (Takṣaśilā) in Sanskrit; its ancient Pali name is transliterated as Takkasilā.

Historically, Taxila lay at the crossroads of three major trade routes: the royal highway from Pāṭaliputra; the north-western route through Bactria, Kāpiśa, and Puṣkalāvatī (Peshawar); and the route from Kashmir and Central Asia, via Śrinigar, Mānsehrā, and the Haripur valley across the Khunjerab pass to the Silk Road.

Today, Taxila is located in the western region of the Islamabad Capital Territory—to the northwest of Rawalpindi and on the border of the Punjab and North West Frontier Provinces—about 30 kilometres west-northwest of Islamabad, just off the Grand Trunk Road.

History

Legend has it that Taksha an ancient Indian king who ruled in a kingdom called Taksha Khanda (Tashkent) founded the city of Takshashila. The word Takshashila, in Sanskrit means "belonging to the King Taksha". Taksha was the son of Bharata and Mandavi, historical characters who appear in the Indian epic Ramayana.

In the Mahābhārata, the Kuru heir Parikṣit was enthroned at Taxila.

Ahmad Hasan Dani and Saifur Rahman Dar trace the etymology of Taxila to a tribe called the Takka. According to Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, "Taxila" is related to "Takṣaka," which means "carpenter" and is an alternative name for the Nāga.

• c. 518 BCE �" Darius the Great annexes the North-West of the Indian-Subcontinent (modern day Pakistan), including Taxila, to the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
• ~450 BC, Herodotus makes reference to Greek influences in this area. The language used in the area is bilingual for the better part of a 1000 years, with Greek being the second language. See coins that reflect this bilingual function.
• 326 BCE �" Alexander the Great receives submission of Āmbhi, king of Taxila, and afterwards defeats Porus at the Jhelum River.
• c. 317 BCE �" In quick succession, Alexander's general Eudemus and then the satrap Peithon withdraw from India. Candragupta, founder of the Mauryan empire, then makes himself master of the Punjab. Candragupta Maurya's advisor Kautilya (also known as Chanakya) was a teacher at Taxila.
• During the reign of Chandragupta's grandson Aśoka, Taxila became a great Buddhist centre of learning. Nonetheless, Taxila was briefly the center of a minor local rebellion, subdued only a few years after its onset.
• 185 BCE �" The last Maurya emperor, Bṛhadratha, is assassinated by his general, Puṣyamitra Śunga, during a parade of his troops.
• 183 BCE �" Demetrios conquers Gandhāra, the Punjab and the Indus valley. He builds his new capital, Sirkap, on the opposite bank of the river from Taxila. During this new period of Bactrian Greek rule, several dynasties (like Antialcidas) likely ruled from the city as their capital. During lulls in Greek rule, the city managed profitably on its own, managed independently and controlled by several local trade guilds, who also minted most of the city's autonomous coinage.
• c. 90 BCE �" The Indo-Scythian chief Maues overthrows the last Greek king of Taxila.
• c. 25 CE �" Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, conquers Taxila and makes it his capital. (This date conflicts with the year 46 AD stated by Prof. M. M. Ninan).
• c. 33-52 CE Thomas_the_Apostle is contracted as a carpenter for a construction project for Gondophares.
• 76 �" The date of and inscription found at Taxila of 'Great King, King of Kings, Son of God, the Kushana' (maharaja rajatiraja devaputra Kushana).
• c. 460�"470 �" The Ephthalites sweep over Gandhāra and the Punjab; wholesale destruction of Buddhist monasteries and stūpas at Taxila, which never again recovers.

Before the fall of these ancient invader-kings in India, Taxila had been variously a regional and national capital for many dynasties, and a true center of learning for Vedic learning, Buddhists,Classical Hindus, and a possible population of Greeks that may have endured for centuries.

The British archaeologist Sir John Marshall conducted excavations over a period of twenty years in Taxila.

Taxila today

Present day Taxila is one of the six Tehsils (sub-district) of Rawalpindi District. It is spread over an undulating land in the periphery of the Pothohar Plateau of the Punjab. Situated just out side the capital Islamabad's territory and communicating with it through Tarnol pass of Margalla hills, Taxila is a mix of posh urban and rustic rural environs. Urban residential areas are in the form of small neat and clean colonies populated by the workers of heavy industries, educational institutes and hospitals that are located in the area.

The industries include heavy machine factories and industrial complex, ordnance factories of Wah Cantt and cement factory. Heavy Industries Taxila is also based here. Small, cottage and house hold industries include stone ware, pottery and foot wear. People try to relate the present day stone ware craft to the tradition of sculpture making that existed here before the advent of Islam.

In addition to the ruins of Gandhara civilization and ancient Buddhist/Hindu culture, relics of Mughal gardens and vestiges of historical Grand Trunk Road, which was built by Emperor Sher Shah Suri in 15th-16th centuries AD, are also found in Taxila region.

Taxila museum, dedicated mainly to the remains of Gandhara civilization, is also worth visiting.

A hotel of the tourism deparment offers reasonably good services and hospitality to the tourists.

Taxila has many educational intitutes including University of Engineering and Technology (UET). Thomas is still honored in Taxila in an annual festival in early July, attended by thousands, celebrating the passage of his bones through Taxila on their way to Edessa.

Ancient centre of learning

Takshashila's was an early center of learning going back to the 5th century BCE. Takkasila is also mentioned in several Jātaka stories, written in Sri Lanka around 500 CE.

Taxila is significant in Buddhist tradition because it is believed that the Mahāyāna sect of Buddhism was founded there. The Sanskrit grammarian Pānini, the political theorist Kautilya and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila at various points in time. Kautilya, who later became adviser to the founder of the Mauryan empire, is said to have composed his treatise on statecraft the Arthaśāstra in Taxila.[verification needed]

Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The four Vedas (Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Atharva-Veda) and the Eighteen Arts were taught, in addition to law, medicine and warfare.[verification needed] Skills such as archery, hunting and elephant-lore were also taught.[verification needed]

References

See also

• Sirkap
• Ancient Universities of India
• http:www.pindiplus.com/content/view/290/358/

External links

• "Taxila", by Jona Lendering
• Some photos by Umayr Sahlan Masud
• Taxila page from punjab-info
• Travel With Young - Taxila �*�글
• Map of Gandhara archeological sites, from the Huntington Collection, Ohio State University (large file)
• "Taxila Museum and Jaulian Monastery", by Saadullah Bashir

Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro | Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol | Fort and Shalamar Gardens, Lahore | Monuments of Thatta | Rohtas Fort | Taxila