Pakistan has its fair share of ancient historical treasures, with the ancient city-state of Taxila standing out among them. It is a Gandharan city, sometimes referred to as one of its capitals, whose history dates back to the early microlithic communities at the Khanpur caves and lasted up until almost 1000 CE. The Achaemenids, Greeks, Mauryans, Scythians, Parthians, Kushans, Huns, and eventually Muslims all came together in Taxila, which was also a centre of Buddhism, a place of learning, an urban metropolis, and a place of contact between various cultures.
The metropolis and its numerous treasures were discovered in the late 1800s CE under Alexander Cunningham, an antiquarian for the British Raj, and more prominently under John Marshall, the first director of the Archaeological Survey of India in the early 1900s CE. At this time, archaeology had become a much more disciplined field throughout the world, and new discoveries were appearing from all over. Marshall made significant contributions to the study of Taxila, which helped to shed light on this ancient and enigmatic culture, in addition to uncovering the Indus Valley civilization.
About 30 km north of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city, is where you can find the Taxila archaeological site. It is located off of the renowned and storied Grand Trunk Road. 18 significant culturally significant sites that make up the modern archaeological region of Taxila were collectively added to the UNESCO list of world heritage sites in 1980 CE. The region is of particular interest because of its antiquated role as a waypoint for caravan movement, which it still serves today as it did in the 6th century BCE. This ongoing function of the site as a waypoint teaches us about the ancient Taxila urban pattern (which has remained relatively unchanged since antiquity) and how it influences development and the spread of crafts, settlements, and markets, as well as an institutional framework that emerges as a result of the need to manage the surrounding population.
Even though the area lost popularity as sea trade increased in later centuries, the preceding centuries of occupation left behind a vast amount of archaeological information that has been slowly and gradually uncovered from the British era up until the present.
The mythical city of Taxila, which was built on a hill overlooking the Tamra Nala River, an Indus tributary, is said to have been established by the brother's son of the legendary hero Rama. Since its inception, it is believed to have been a significant cultural hub, and it is said that the Mahabharata was first recited here. The Bhir Mound now stands where Taxila's first city once stood.
Taxila, also known as Takhshasila in ancient times, was a well-known Buddhist Gandhara site, particularly after Ashoka's rule and during the Kushan era in the first century CE. The Greek equivalent of the original name is Taxila. The name Naggaruda, which means "City of Cut Stones" in Aramaic, is also the name given to the city by the Buddhists, at least if the word "taks," which means to cut or fashion something, is used to mean it literally. However, in the same vein, sila is also connected to "sira," which in Buddhist traditions means "head," and it refers to the tale of the Boddhisattva who willingly offered his own beheading as a form of sacrifice to a local Brahman in the city of Bhadrasila, which the Buddha is said to have connected to Taxila while telling the tale. The name Sirkap derives from the words sir, which means head, and kap, which means to cut, although this hasn't been proven conclusively yet.
The area is referred to in the accounts of the Chinese pilgrims as Chu-cha-shi-lo in Chinese. It is referred to as Takshasila, Takkasila, or Takhashila in Sanskrit, and it was once thought to be the home of the Takhshas, a race of serpents with the ability to transform into humans at will. According to a different Brahmanical tradition, Taksha, the capital city and the son of Bharata, was crowned king here.
The ancient city, which flourished from the first to the fifth centuries CE as a component of the Gandhara civilization under various kings, was renowned for having one of the first universities in the world. It was not an institutionalised centre of learning, but rather a combination of religious plus secular studies centred around monasteries, and a wide range of subjects were taught there, including mathematics, sciences, philosophy, astronomy, medicine, politics, literature, and military sciences.
It was located on "The Royal Highway," which connected Pataliputra (modern-day Patna) in the Mauryan Empire's northwestern reaches, western Asia (via Bactria), across the Indus River at Hund, and through Kashmir with Central Asia via Srinagar, leading down to Haripur. This allowed a steady influx of people into the area from all over Asia in the form of traders, settlers, merchants, preachers, and invaders.
Near the well-known Taxila Museum, the Taxila Ceramics & Pottery Products Cluster is situated across the Taxila Mountains. Dibyan is the name of the town, and the primary sources of income for the populace are the production and sale of black stone and ceramic handicrafts. The use of glaze on pottery made from Matti or Fuller's earth primarily dates back to the work of Mongol artisans who combined Persian decorative arts with Chinese glazing technology. Early Muslim potentates carried this method south to India in the 14th century. At first, it was used to create tiles for Central Asian mosques, tombs, and palaces. Later, the Mughals started employing them in India to imitate the Samarkand structures they had built beyond the mountains.
The Taxila cluster is renowned for its kashi work, glazing, and hand painting of ceramic products, which is an important art. Currently, the Taxila ceramics and pottery products cluster consists of about 1501 small, micro, and cottage-sized manufacturing facilities. It is primarily an artisan-based cluster. Indirectly or directly, the cluster employs about 3,000 people as workers, apprentices, or students of crafts or trades. The cluster primarily serves the needs of the local market, particularly in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and surrounding areas. However, only a small number of manufacturers have been successful in building national sales networks and in exporting as well.
