UNESCO World Heritage Site
Home to one of the world's first universities (6th century BCE)
Visited by Alexander the Great (326 BCE)
Major centre of Gandhara Buddhist art
History Through the Ages
Ancient Takṣaśilā
Taxila (Takshashila in Sanskrit) was one of the most renowned cities of the ancient world. By the 6th century BCE, it was already a great city and home to what is considered one of the world's earliest universities, where students came from as far as Babylon, Greece, and China to study.
Achaemenid & Macedonian Period
Taxila was part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire before Alexander the Great arrived in 326 BCE. The city surrendered peacefully to Alexander, whose historians left detailed descriptions of its grandeur. It was a major Hellenistic city during the Indo-Greek period.
Mauryan & Kushan Buddhist Period
Under Chandragupta Maurya and later Emperor Ashoka, Taxila flourished as a great Buddhist centre. During the Kushan Empire, it became one of the most important centres of Buddhist culture and art, known for the distinctive Gandhara style of Buddhist sculpture.
Decline & Legacy
Taxila was sacked by the White Huns (Hephthalites) in the 5th century CE and gradually declined. The ruins spread across multiple sites near the modern city of Taxila, Punjab. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of South Asia's most important archaeological zones.