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Taxila:''For the genus of Riodinidae|metalmark butterflies, see ''Taxila (butterfly).
Taxila ( , , Pali:''Takkasilā'') is an important archaeological site of Ancient India, now within Pakistan. It contains the ruins of the Gandhara|Gandhāran city of '''Takshashila''' (also '''Takkasila''' or '''Taxila''') an important Vedanta|Vedic/Hinduism|Hindu[UNESCO World Heritage List. 1980. Taxila: Brief Description. Retrieved 13 January 2007] centre of learning from the 6th century BCE["History of Education", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007.]
to the 5th century Common Era|CE.["Nalanda" (2007). ''Encarta''.]
[Joseph Needham (2004), ''Within the Four Seas: The Dialogue of East and West'', Routledge, ISBN 0415361664:]
In 1980, Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with multiple locations.[UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1980. Taxila: Multiple Locations. Retrieved 13 January 2007.]
Historically, Taxila lay at the crossroads of three major trade routes: the royal highway from Pāṭaliputra|Pāaliputra; the north-western route through Bactria, Kāpiśa, and Puṣkalāvatī|Pukalāvatī (Peshawar); and the route from Kashmir and Central Asia, via Śrinigar, Mansehra, and the Haripur, Pakistan|Haripur valleyHistory
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 (Ramayana)|Bharata and Mandavi, from Indian epic Ramayana.
In the epic ''Mahābhārata'', the Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru heir Parikṣit|Parikit was enthroned at Taxila.[Kosambi 1975:129]
- ''c''. 518 BCE[Marshall 1975:83]
- 326 BCE[Marshall 1975:83] – Alexander the Great receives submission of Āmbhi,[Named "Taxiles" by Greek sources after his capital city.] king of Taxila, and afterwards surrender to Porus at the Jhelum River.[Marshall 1975:83]
- ''c''. 317 BCE – In quick succession, Alexander's general Eudemus (general)|Eudemus and then the satrap Peithon, son of Agenor|Peithon withdraw from the Indus.[Peithon was named by Alexander satrap of Sindh, and was again confirmed to the Gandhara region by the Treaty of Triparadisus in 320 BCE: "The country of the Paropamisadae|Parapamisians was bestowed upon Oxyartes, the father of Roxane; and the skirts of India adjacent to Mount Paropamisadae|Parapamisus, on Peithon the son of Agenor. As to the countries beyond that, those on the river Indus, with the city Patala (the capital of that part of India) were assigned to Porus. Those upon the Hydaspes, to Taxiles the Indian." Arrian "Anabasis, the Events after Alexander". He ultimately left in 316 BCE, to become satrap of Babylon in 315 BCE, before dying at the Battle of Gaza (312 BC)|Battle of Gaza in 312 BCE]
- 321 BCE-317 BCE Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan empire in eastern India, makes himself master of the northern and northwestern India, including Punjab region|Punjab. Chandragupta 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.[Thapar 1997]
- 185 BCE[Kulke and Rothermund 1998:68]
- 183 BCE[Kulke and Rothermund 1998:70] – Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrios conquers Gandhāra, the Punjab and the Indus valley.[Marshall 1975:83] He builds his new capital, Sirkap, on the opposite bank of the river from Taxila.[Kulke and Rothermund 1998:70] 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 mint (coin)|minted most of the city's autonomous coinage.
- ''c''. 90 BCE[Marshall 1975:84] – The Indo-Scythian chief Maues overthrows the last Greek king of Taxila.[Marshall 1975:84]
- ''c''. 25 CE[Marshall 1975:85] – Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, conquers Taxila and makes it his capital.[Marshall 1975:85].
- 76[Kulke and Rothermund 1998:75] – The date of and inscription found at Taxila of 'Great King, King of Kings, Son of God, the Kushana' (''maharaja rajatiraja devaputra Kushana'').[Kulke and Rothermund 1998:75]
- ''c''. 460–470[Marshall 1975:86] – The Ephthalites sweep over Gandhāra and the Punjab; wholesale destruction of Buddhist monasteries and stupas at Taxila, which never again recovers.[Marshall 1975:86]
Before the fall of these invader-kings, Taxila had been variously a capital for many dynasties, and a centre of Vedic and Buddhist learning, with a population of Buddhists, Classical Hindus, and possibly Greeks that may have endured for centuries.[The ''Life of Apollonius Tyana'' demonstrates that the rulers of Taxila spoke Greek several centuries after Greek political dominance had faded.]
The United Kingdom|British archaeologist John Marshall (archaeologist)|Sir John Marshall conducted
excavations over a period of twenty years in Taxila.Ancient centre of learning
Takshashila was an early center of learning dating back to at least the 5th century BCE.[Hartmut Scharfe (2002). ''Education in Ancient India''. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-12556-6.]
There is some disagreement about whether Takshashila can be considered a university. While some consider Taxila to be an early university
[Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989), ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist'' (p. 478), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 8120804236:]
[
][Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund (2004), ''A History of India'', Routledge, ISBN 0415329191:]
[Balakrishnan Muniapan, Junaid M. Shaikh (2007), "Lessons in corporate governance from Kautilya's Arthashastra in ancient India", ''World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development'' '''3''' (1):]
or centre of higher education,[Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989), ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist'' (p. 479), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 8120804236:]
others do not consider it a university in the modern sense,
[Anant Sadashiv Altekar (1934; reprint 1965), ''Education in Ancient India'', Sixth Edition, Revised & Enlarged, Nand Kishore & Bros, Varanasi:]
[F. W. Thomas (1944), in John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall (1951; 1975 reprint), ''Taxila'', Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi:]
[Taxila (2007), Encyclopædia Britannica:]
in contrast to the later Nalanda University.["Nalanda" (2001). ''Columbia Encyclopedia''.]
Takshashila is described in some detail in later Tales, Jataka|Jātaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the 5th century CE.[Marshall 1975:81]
Takshashila is considered a place of religious and historical sanctity by Hindus and Buddhists. The former do so not only because, in its time, Takshashila was the seat of Vedic learning, but also because the strategist, Chanakya, who later helped consolidate the empire of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, was a senior teacher there. The institution is very significant in Buddhist tradition since it is believed that the Mahāyāna sect of Buddhism took shape there.
Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BCE["Taxila", ''Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2001.] It became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries before Christ, and continued to attract students from around the old world until the destruction of the city in the 5th century CE. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya),[Kautilya. Encyclopaedia Britannica.] the Maurya Empire|Maurya Emperor Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta[Radhakumud Mookerji (1941; 1960; reprint 1989). ''Chandragupta Maurya and His Times'' (p. 17). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 8120804058.] and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila.[Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989). ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist'' (p. 478-489). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 8120804236.]
Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science.[
] Taxila today
Present day Taxila is one of the seven Tehsils (sub-district) of Rawalpindi District. It is spread over an undulating land in the periphery of the Pothohar Plateau of the Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab. Situated just outside 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 household industries include stoneware, pottery and footwear. People try to relate the present day stoneware 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, 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 department offers reasonably good services and hospitality to the tourists.
Taxila has many educational institutes including University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila|University of Engineering and Technology (UET).
References
See also
- Heavy Industries Taxila
- Sirkap
- Ancient Universities of Pakistan
- Taxila (Achaemenid)|Taxila under the Achaemenids
- Taxila Tehsil
External links
-
- ''Guide to Historic Taxila'' by Professor Dr. Ahmad Hasan Dani in 10 chapters
- "Taxila", by Jona Lendering
- Some photos by Umayr Sahlan Masud
- Taxila page from punjab-info
- Travel With Young - Taxila 한글
- Map of Gandhara archeological sites, from the Huntington Collection, Ohio State University (large file)
- "Taxila Museum and Jaulian Monastery", by Saadullah Bashir
Category:History of Pakistan
Category:Ancient India
Category:Cities, towns and villages in Rawalpindi District
Category:Archaeological sites in Pakistan
Category:World Heritage Sites in Pakistan
Category:Ancient Greek sites in Pakistan
Category:Buddhism in Pakistan
Category:Ancient Greeks in Asia
Category:Cities along the Silk Road
Category:Gandhara
Category:Pre-Islamic heritage of Pakistan
Category:Lost cities and towns
Related Images- A coin from 2nd century BCE Taxila.
- Stupa base at Sirkap, decorated with Hindu, Buddhist, and Greek temple fronts.
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