Taxila, Pakistan

Eastern border of the Achaemenid Empire.

The region around Taxila was settled by the neolithic era, with some ruins at Taxila dating to 3360 BCE.[16] Ruins dating from the Early Harappan period around 2900 BCE have also been discovered in the Taxila area,[16] though the area was eventually abandoned after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The first major settlement at Taxila was established around 1000 BCE.[2][17][18][19] By 900 BCE, the city was already involved in regional commerce, as discovered pottery shards reveal trading ties between the city and Puṣkalāvatī.[20]

Taxila was founded in a strategic location along the ancient "Royal Highway" that connected the capital at Pataliputra in Bihar, with ancient Peshawar, Puṣkalāvatī, and onwards towards Central Asia via Kashmir, Bactria, and Kāpiśa.[21] Taxila thus changed hands many times over the centuries, with many empires vying for its control.

Archaeological excavations show that the city may have grown significantly during the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE. In 516 BCE, Darius I embarked on a campaign to conquer Central Asia, Ariana and Bactria, before marching onto what is now Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Emperor Darius spent the winter of 516–515 BCE in the Gandhara region surrounding Taxila, and prepared to conquer the Indus Valley, which he did in 515 BCE,[22] after which he appointed Scylax of Caryanda to explore the Indian Ocean from the mouth of the Indus to the Suez. Darius then returned to Persia via the Bolan Pass. The region continued under Achaemenid suzerainty under the reign of Xerxes I, and continued under Achaemenid rule for over a century.[23]

Jaulian monastery.

Alexander the Great invaded Taxila in 326 BCE, after the city was surrendered by its ruler, king Omphis.[23] Greek historians accompanying Alexander described Taxila as “wealthy, prosperous, and well governed.”[23] His troops were said to have found a university in Taxila, the like of which had not been seen in Greece.

After Alexander's departure, Taxila came under the influence of Chandragupta Maurya, who turned Taxila into a regional capital. His advisor, Chanakya, was said to have taught at Taxila's university.[24] Under the reign of Ashoka, the city was made a great seat of Buddhist learning, though the city was home to a minor rebellion during this time.[25]

In the 2nd century BCE, Taxila was annexed by the Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria. Indo-Greeks build new capital, Sirkap, on the opposite bank of the river from Taxila.[26] 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, to independently control several local trade guilds, who also minted most of the city's autonomous coinage. In about the 1st century BCE or 1st century CE, an Indo-Scythian king named Azilises had three mints, one of which was at Taxila, and struck coins with obverse legends in Greek and Kharoṣṭhī. The last Greek king of Taxila was overthrown by the Indo-Scythian chief Maues around 90 BCE.[27] Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, conquered Taxila around 20 BCE, and made Taxila his capital.[28] According to early Christian legend, Thomas the Apostle visits king Gondophares IV around 46 CE,[29][30] possibly at Taxila given that that city was Gondophares' capital city.

In the first century CE, the Greek Neopythagorean philosopher Apollonius of Tyana visited Taxila, which his team described as a fortified city laid out on a symmetrical plan, similar in size to Nineveh. Inscriptions dating to 76 CE demonstrate that the city had come under Kushan rule by this time, after the city was captured from the Parthians by Kujula Kadphises, founder of the Kushan Empire.[31] The great Kushan ruler Kanishka later founded Sirsukh, the most recent of the ancient settlement at Taxila.

The walls of Taxila in 1879, camels in the forefront.

By the 300s CE, the Sasanian king Shapur II seems to have conquered Taxila, as evidenced by the numerous Sasanian copper coins found there. Taxila's ancient university remained in existence during the travels of Chinese pilgrim Faxian, who visited Taxila around 400 CE.[32] He wrote that ancient Taxila's name translated as "the Severed Head", and was the site of a story in the life of Buddha "where he gave his head to a man".[33]

The White Huns swept over Gandhāra and Punjab around 470 CE, causing widespread devastation and destruction of Taxila's famous Buddhist monasteries and stupas, a blow from which the city would never recover.[34] Xuanzang visited Taxila in 630 and 643 CE, and wrote that the city had already fallen into ruin by the time of his arrival.

The renowned archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham rediscovered the ruins of Taxila in the mid-19th century by identifying a local site known as Sarai kala (or Sarai Khola) with ancient Taxila. Prior to that, the location of the ancient city of Taxila, known from literary texts, was uncertain.

Taxila features a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa)[35]

Taxila's ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, date from as early as 1000 BCE, and are a major tourist draw.

Taxila is one of northern Pakistan's most important tourist destinations, and is home to the Taxila Museum which holds a large number of artifacts from Taxila's excavations. Though the number of foreign visitors to the site drastically declined following the start of an Islamist insurgency in Pakistan in 2007, visitor numbers began to noticeably improve by 2017,[36] after the law and order situation in the region had greatly improved following the start of the 2014 Zarb-e-Azb campaign launched by the Pakistani Army against radical Islamist militants.

In 2017, the Pakistani government announced its intention to develop Taxila into a site for Buddhist religious pilgrimage.[37] As part of the efforts, it announced that an exhibition on the Buddhist heritage of the region would be held in Thailand, and that the Thai government would assist in conservation efforts at the site.[38] Relics from Taxila were also sent to Sri Lanka for the 2017 Vesak holiday as part of an effort to showcase the region's Buddhist heritage.[39] The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation also announced in 2017 that a tour bus service would be launched between the Taxila Museum and Islamabad.[40]

In addition to the ruins of ancient Taxila, relics of Mughal gardens and vestiges of historical Grand Trunk Road are also found in Taxila. Nicholson's Obelisk, named in honour of Brigadier John Nicholson who died in during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, is a monument from the British era that welcomes travelers arriving from Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Taxila is home to Heavy Industries Taxila, a major Pakistani defence, military contractor, engineering conglomerate. The city's economy is also closely linked to the large Pakistan Ordnance Factories at nearby Wah Cantt, which employs 27,000 people. Cottage and household industries include stoneware, pottery and footwear.

Taxila is served by the Taxila Cantonment Junction railway station. Taxila Junction is served by the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line, and is the southern terminus of the Khunjerab Railway, which connects Taxila to the Havelian railway station. A planned extension of the railway will eventually connect Taxila to China's Southern Xinjiang Railway in Kashgar, as part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The M-1 Motorway, pictured near Taxila, links the city to Islamabad and Peshawar.

The ancient Grand Trunk Road is designated as N-5 National Highway, and connects the city to the Afghan border, and northern Punjab. The Karakoram Highway's southern terminus is in nearby Hasan Abdal, and connects Taxila to the Chinese border near theHunza Valley.

The city is linked to Peshawar and Islamabad by the M-1 Motorway, which in turn offers wider motorway access to Lahore via the M-2 Motorway, and Faisalabad via the M-4 Motorway.

The nearest airport to Taxila is Islamabad International Airport located 36.5 kilometres away. Peshawar's Bacha Khan International Airport is 155 kilometres away.

Taxila Museum has one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of stone Buddhist sculpture from the first to the seventh centuries in Pakistan (known as Gandharan art. The core of the collection comes from excavated sites in the Taxila Valley, particularly the excavations of Sir John Marshall. Other objects come from excavated sites elsewhere in Gandhara, from donations such as the Ram Das Collection, or from material confiscated by the police and custom authorities.

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  A coin from 2nd century BCE Taxila.
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  The Indo-Greek king Antialcidas ruled in Taxila around 100 BCE, according to the Heliodorus pillar inscription.
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  Jaulian, a World Heritage Site at Taxila.
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  Jaulian silver Buddhist reliquary, with content. British Museum.
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  Stupa base at Sirkap, decorated with Hindu, Buddhist and Greek temple fronts.
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  Stupa in Taxila.
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  A Taxila coin, 200–100 BCE. British Museum.

Archaeological artifacts from the Indo-Greek strata at Taxila (John Marshall "Taxila, Archeological excavations"). From top, left: * Fluted cup (Bhir Mound, stratum 1) * Cup with rosace and decorative scroll (Bhir Mound, stratum 1) * Stone palette with individual on a couch being crowned by standing woman, and served (Sirkap, stratum 5) * Handle with double depiction of a philosopher (Sirkap, stratum 5) * Woman with smile (Sirkap, stratum 5) * Man with moustache (Sirkap, stratum 5)