Taxila
Some time back I had mentioned about Taxila in one of my blogs briefly. It is a small town located in Pakistan and falls between Rawalpindi & Peshawar on Grand trunk Road. Although not of much significance in the present day, Taxila was one of the most important places in the ancient time during the Mauryan empire from 324 BC to 187 BC . It is said that in those days, Nalanda in the east and Taxila in the West were the two world famous universities in India.
The remains of some of the monuments at Taxila reflects even today, the excellence of quality of work in stone cutting which was available during that period. According to various leading historians, a wide range of metals was also well known and special characteristics as regards the mining and manufacture of these metals have been recorded. The knowledge extended both to utilitarian metals such as iron, copper and lead and to precious metals such as gold and silver. The remains of copper bolt antimony rods and nail-parers from Hastinapur and other copper and bronze objects including coins have been found from the Mauryan strata at Bhir Mound in Taxila and other places.
While I was posted at Islamabad, I had the opportunity to visit Taxila on number of occasions. It was , however, disheartening to notice that not much care was given by the local Government to preserve these old monuments. Even the local official guide hardly possessed any knowledge about the Mauryan (Hindu) kings viz. Chandragupa, Maurya, his son Bindusara or his grand son Ashoka the Great and others.
