Taxila Rawalpindi Pakistan History and Interesting Facts

Taxila Rawalpindi Quick Facts

Taxila Rawalpindi Overview

Taxila is an important Archaeological site in Rawalpindi district, Punjab Pakistan. Taxila literally means "cracked stone city" or "Takshak rock". It is considered an important archaeological site of the Ancient Indian subcontinent as it was one of the oldest universities in the world.

Taxila Rawalpindi History

According to historians and the Archaeological department, Taxila has settled almost the newcomer. Because the dating of about 3360 BCE has been received in the blocks of Taxila. And together some remains of the Harappan period have also been found. An archaeological excavation in Taxila suggests that the city would have increased significantly during the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, as the Greek historians who came with Alexander described Taxila as "Rich and Ruled".

Taxila Rawalpindi Interesting Facts

1. Taxila was first discovered by Sir Alexander Cunningham in the middle of the 19th century.
2. After the discovery of Taxila, it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. After which it was ranked as the top tourist destination of Pakistan by The Guardian newspaper in 2006.
3. A 2010 report by the Global Heritage Fund identified Takshashila as one of 12 places around the world that suffer from inadequate management, development pressures, looting, and war and conflict as primary threats, causing irreparable damage and " The Wedge".
4. The inclusion of Taxila in the Global Heritage has also led to significant conservation efforts by the Government of Pakistan resulting in the historic site being declared "well-preserved" by various international publications.
5. Taxila is a popular tourist destination, attracting one million tourists every year, due to extensive conservation efforts and maintenance.
6. Taxila was earlier known as "City of Cut Stones". But the Greeks changed the name of this city to Taxila.
7. Takshashila can also be alternatively translated as "Rock of Takshak", a reference to the Ramayana, which states that the city was named in honor of Takshaka, the son of Bharata and the first ruler.
8. Takshashila had a great influence on Hindu culture and the Sanskrit language and it was also in relation to Chanakya who was known as Kautilya in Taxila. He had the knowledge of economics only in Taxila.
9. Panini has also been part of the Takshashila community, which codified the grammatical rules and defined classical Sanskrit.
10. The first excavation in Taxila was done by John Marshall, who did the excavation work in Taxila for a period of twenty years from 1913 AD to 1933 AD, and this excavation was done on the orders of Alexander Cunningham, the founder and first Director-General of Archaeological Survey of India.
11. Present-day Taxila is also known for its collection of Buddhist religious monuments including Dharmarajika Stupa, Julian Monastery, and Mohra Muradu Monastery.
12. The main sections of Taxila consist of four major cities, each belonging to a different time period at three different places.
13. The earliest settlement in Taxila is found in the Hathiyal section, which produced pottery that existed from the 2nd century to the 6th century.
14. The Sirkap ruins found at Taxila date back to the 2nd century BCE, and the area was built by Greco-Bactrian kings who ruled the region after Alexander the Great's invasion in 326 BCE.
15. The third recent settlement found at Taxila is that of Sirsukh, which was built by the rulers of the Kushan Empire.
16. Taxila was an excellent center for the education of politics and arms, 103 princes of different states studied in an arms school there. There were special schools of Ayurveda and jurisprudence.
17. In Taxila's curriculum, Ayurveda, Archive, Hasty Vidya, Trilogy, Grammar, Philosophy, Mathematics, Astrology, Calculation, Numerology, Commerce, Sarpavidya, Tantra Shastra, Music, Dance, and Painting, etc. Its biggest feature was, that there was a lot of knowledge of the superiority and excellence of secular weapons in the scriptures taught there.
18. For Takshashila, some scholars are of the opinion that it was such a center of learning where there were different small gurukuls and personal teachers of different subjects imparted education to the visiting students. But the Gurukuls of that time were not controlled by any other authority or central institution other than the Gurus.