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Taxila or Takshashila ( meaning "City of Cut Stone" or " Rock") is a town and an important archaeological site in Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan. Taxila is situated about north-west of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, just off the famous Grand Trunk Road. The town lies above sea level. It is the headquarters of the Taxila Tehsil in Rawalpindi district. Ancient Taxila was situated at the pivotal junction of South Asia and Central Asia. Some of the earliest ruins in this area date to the time of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE. Owing to its strategic location, Taxila has changed hands many times over the centuries, with many empires vying for its control. When the great ancient trade routes connecting these regions ceased to be important, the city sank into insignificance and was finally destroyed by the nomadic Huns in the 5th century. The renowned archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham rediscovered the ruins of Takṣaśilā in the mid-19th century. In 1980, Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.〔UNESCO World Heritage Site, 1980. (Taxila: Multiple Locations ). Retrieved 13 January 2007.〕 In 2006 it was ranked as the top tourist destination in Pakistan by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. By some accounts, Taxila was considered to be amongst the earliest universities in the world.〔〔Balakrishnan Muniapan, Junaid M. Shaikh (2007), "Lessons in corporate governance from Kautilya's Arthashastra in ancient India", ''World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development'' 3 (1): 〕〔Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989), ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist'' (p. 478), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 81-208-0423-6: 〕〔Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989), ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist'' (p. 479), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 81-208-0423-6: 〕 Others do not consider it a university in the modern sense, in that the teachers living there may not have had official membership of particular colleges, and there did not seem to have existed purpose-built lecture halls and residential quarters in Takshashila,〔Anant Sadashiv Altekar (1934; reprint 1965), ''Education in Ancient India'', Sixth Edition, Revised & Enlarged, Nand Kishore & Bros, Varanasi: 〕〔F. W. Thomas (1944), in John Marshall (1951; 1975 reprint), ''Taxila'', Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi: 〕〔(Taxila ) (2007), Encyclopædia Britannica: 〕 in contrast to the later Nalanda university in eastern India.〔〔"Nalanda" (2007). ''Encarta''.〕〔"Nalanda" (2001). ''Columbia Encyclopedia''.〕 In a 2010 report, Global Heritage Fund identified Taxila as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and damage, citing insufficient management, development pressure, looting, and war and conflict as primary threats.〔(Global Heritage Fund | GHF )〕 ==References in ancient texts== Scattered references in later works indicated that Taxila may have dated back to at least the 8th century BCE.〔(UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Taxila )〕〔"History of Education", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007.〕 Archaeological excavations later showed that the city may have grown significantly during the Achaemenid Empire of the 6th century BCE. Owing to its strategic location, Taxila has changed hands many times over the centuries from Iranian, to Indo-Greek and as last Indian rule, with many empires vying for its control. It had an Indo-Iranian society encompassing different religions. Historically, Takṣaśilā lay at the crossroads of three major ancient trade routes. In 516 BC, Darius embarked on a campaign to Central Asia, Ariana and Bactria and then marched into Afghanistan to Hindush in modern Pakistan. Darius I spent the winter of 516-515 BCE in Gandhara, preparing to conquer the Indus Valley. Darius I conquered the Indus in 515 BCE.〔(Darius the Great )〕 Darius I controlled the Indus Valley from Gandhara to modern Karachi and appointed the Greek Scylax of Caryanda to explore the Indian Ocean from the mouth of the Indus to the Suez. Darius then marched through the Bolan Pass and returned through Arachosia and Drangiana back to Persia. Legend has it that Takṣaśilā derived its name from Takṣa, who was the son of Bharata, the brother of the Hindu deity Rama. Takṣa's kingdom was called Takṣa Khanda and its capital that he founded was named Takṣaśilā.〔Invasion of the Genes Genetic Heritage of India, By B. S. Ahloowalia. p81〕 According to another theory propounded by Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi, ''Takṣaśilā'' is related to Takṣaka, Sanskrit for "carpenter", and is an alternative name for the Nāga, a non-Indo-Iranian people of ancient India.〔Kosambi 1975:129〕 In the great Hindu epic, the ''Mahābhārata'', the Kuru Kingdom's heir, (grandson of the Arjuna) was enthroned at Takṣaśilā. Traditionally, it is believed that the ''Mahabharata'' was first recited at Takṣaśilā by Vaisampayana, student of Vyasa at the behest of the seer Vyasa himself, at the Snake Sacrifice.〔Britannica Online Encyclopedia, article:Taxila. "The great Indian epic Mahabharata was, according to tradition, first recited at Taxila at the great snake sacrifice of King Janamejaya, one of the heroes of the story."〕 Taxila is also described in some detail in the Buddhist Jataka tales.〔Marshall 1975:81〕 The Jataka literature mentions it as the capital of the kingdom of Gandhara and as a great centre of learning. The Chinese monk Faxian, writing of his visit to Taxila in 405, mentions the kingdom of Takshasila, meaning "the Severed Head". He says that this name was derived from an event in the life of Buddha because this is the place "where he gave his head to a man".〔''A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline'', Chapter 11〕 Xuanzang, another Chinese monk, visited Taxila in 630 and in 643. It appears to have already been overrun by the Huns and been in ruins by his time. Taxila is called ''Taxiala '' in Ptolemy’s ''Geography''.〔J. W. McCrindle, ''The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as Described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch and Justin,'' Westminster, Constable, 1893, pp.343-344.〕 In the ''Historia Trium Regum'' (''History of the Three Kings'') composed by John of Hildesheim around 1375, the city is called ''Egrisilla''.〔Frank Schaer, ''The Three Kings of Cologne,'' Heidelberg, Winter, 2000, Middle English Texts no.31, p.196.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taxila」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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