Takṣaśilā Viśvavidyālaya | |
Location | Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan |
---|---|
Region | South Asia |
Coordinates | 33°44′N 72°47′E / 33.74°N 72.78°E |
Type | Centre of learning |
Part of | Ancient higher-learning institutions |
History | |
Founded | c. 5th century BCE |
Abandoned | c. 5th century CE |
Site notes | |
Condition | Ruins |
Ownership | Government of Pakistan |
Public access | Yes |
History of Pakistan |
---|
Timeline |
History of Punjab |
---|
History of Pakistan History of India |
History of South Asia |
---|
The University of ancient Taxila ( ISO: Takṣaśilā Viśvavidyālaya) was an ancient higher-learning institution in Taxila, Gandhara, in present-day Punjab, Pakistan, near the bank of the Indus River. It was established as a centre of education in religious and secular topics. [1] [2] It started as a Vedic seat of learning; [2] while in the early centuries CE it became a prominent centre of Buddhist scholarship as well. [3] [2]
The earliest archaeological remains of the site go back to 6th century BC. [4] It became the capital of the Achaemenid territories in northwestern Ancient India following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley around 540 BCE. Taxila was at the crossroad of the main trade roads of Asia, and was probably populated by Persians, Greeks, Scythians and many ethnicities coming from the various parts of the Achaemenid Empire. [2] [5] [6]
According to John Marshall, Taxila emerged as a centre of learning after the Persian conquests due to its geographical position, "at the North-Western gateway of the subcontinent," and the "cosmopolitan character of her population." [1] It started as a Brahmanical seat of learning. [2] According to Frazier and Flood, the highly systemized Vedic model of learning helped establish large institutions such as Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramashila. [7] These universities not only taught Vedic texts and the ritual but also the different theoretical disciplines associated with the limbs or the sciences of the Vedas, which included disciplines such as linguistics, law, astronomy and reasoning. [7] The university was particularly renowned for science, especially medicine, and the arts, but both religious and secular subjects were taught, and even subject such as archery or astrology in hindu world. [1]
According to John Marshall, "In early Buddhist literature, paricularly in the Jatakas, Taxila is frequently mentioned as a university centre where students could get instruction in almost any subject, religious or secular, from the Veda to mathematics and medicine, even to astrology and archery." [1] The role of Taxila as a center of knowledge grew stronger under the Maurya Empire and Greek rule ( Indo-Greeks) in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. [1] In the early centuries CE it was a prominent centre of Buddhist scholarship as well. [3]
It was not a university in the modern sense, in that the teachers living there may not have had official membership of particular colleges, [8] [9] [10] in contrast to the later Nalanda university in Bihar. [10] [11] [12]
The destruction by Toramana in the 5th century CE seem to have put an end to the activities of Taxila as a centre of learning. [13]
Influential teachers that are said to have taught at university of Taxila include:
According to Stephen Batchelor, the Buddha may have been influenced by the experiences and knowledge acquired by some of his closest followers in the foreign capital of Taxila. [16] Several contemporaries, and close followers, of the Buddha are said to have studied in Taxila, namely:
Takṣaśilā Viśvavidyālaya | |
Location | Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan |
---|---|
Region | South Asia |
Coordinates | 33°44′N 72°47′E / 33.74°N 72.78°E |
Type | Centre of learning |
Part of | Ancient higher-learning institutions |
History | |
Founded | c. 5th century BCE |
Abandoned | c. 5th century CE |
Site notes | |
Condition | Ruins |
Ownership | Government of Pakistan |
Public access | Yes |
History of Pakistan |
---|
Timeline |
History of Punjab |
---|
History of Pakistan History of India |
History of South Asia |
---|
The University of ancient Taxila ( ISO: Takṣaśilā Viśvavidyālaya) was an ancient higher-learning institution in Taxila, Gandhara, in present-day Punjab, Pakistan, near the bank of the Indus River. It was established as a centre of education in religious and secular topics. [1] [2] It started as a Vedic seat of learning; [2] while in the early centuries CE it became a prominent centre of Buddhist scholarship as well. [3] [2]
The earliest archaeological remains of the site go back to 6th century BC. [4] It became the capital of the Achaemenid territories in northwestern Ancient India following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley around 540 BCE. Taxila was at the crossroad of the main trade roads of Asia, and was probably populated by Persians, Greeks, Scythians and many ethnicities coming from the various parts of the Achaemenid Empire. [2] [5] [6]
According to John Marshall, Taxila emerged as a centre of learning after the Persian conquests due to its geographical position, "at the North-Western gateway of the subcontinent," and the "cosmopolitan character of her population." [1] It started as a Brahmanical seat of learning. [2] According to Frazier and Flood, the highly systemized Vedic model of learning helped establish large institutions such as Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramashila. [7] These universities not only taught Vedic texts and the ritual but also the different theoretical disciplines associated with the limbs or the sciences of the Vedas, which included disciplines such as linguistics, law, astronomy and reasoning. [7] The university was particularly renowned for science, especially medicine, and the arts, but both religious and secular subjects were taught, and even subject such as archery or astrology in hindu world. [1]
According to John Marshall, "In early Buddhist literature, paricularly in the Jatakas, Taxila is frequently mentioned as a university centre where students could get instruction in almost any subject, religious or secular, from the Veda to mathematics and medicine, even to astrology and archery." [1] The role of Taxila as a center of knowledge grew stronger under the Maurya Empire and Greek rule ( Indo-Greeks) in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. [1] In the early centuries CE it was a prominent centre of Buddhist scholarship as well. [3]
It was not a university in the modern sense, in that the teachers living there may not have had official membership of particular colleges, [8] [9] [10] in contrast to the later Nalanda university in Bihar. [10] [11] [12]
The destruction by Toramana in the 5th century CE seem to have put an end to the activities of Taxila as a centre of learning. [13]
Influential teachers that are said to have taught at university of Taxila include:
According to Stephen Batchelor, the Buddha may have been influenced by the experiences and knowledge acquired by some of his closest followers in the foreign capital of Taxila. [16] Several contemporaries, and close followers, of the Buddha are said to have studied in Taxila, namely: