page_title: Taxila
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Taxila / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: English: The word "Takhkhasila" in the Heliodorus Pillar inscription
context_page_description: Taxila in Sanskrit is a significant archaeological site in the modern city of the same name in Punjab, Pakistan. It lies about 32 km north-west of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, just off the famous Grand Trunk Road.
  Ancient Taxila was an important city of Ancient India, situated at the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. The origin of Taxila as a city goes back to c. 1000 BCE. Some ruins at Taxila date to the time of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, followed successively by Mauryan Empire, Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, and Kushan Empire periods.
  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 Hunas in the 5th century. The renowned archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham rediscovered the ruins of Taxila in the mid-19th century. In 1980, Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2006 it was ranked as the top tourist destination in Pakistan by The Guardian newspaper.
context_section_description: Taxila was known in Pali as Takkasilā, and in Sanskrit as तक्षशिला (Takshashila, IAST: Takṣaśilā; "City of Cut Stone"). The Greeks pared the city's name down to Taxila which became the name that the Europeans were familiar with ever since the time of Alexander the Great.
  Takshashila can also alternately be translated to "Rock of Taksha" in reference to the Ramayana which states that the city was named in honour of Bharata's son and first ruler, Taksha. According to another derivation, Takshashila is related to Takshaka (Sanskrit for "carpenter") and is an alternate name for the Nāga, a non-Indo-Iranian people of ancient India.
  Faxian who had visited the city had given its name's meaning as "Cut off Head". With the help of a Jataka, he had interperted it to be the place where Buddha in his previous birth as Pusa or Chandaprabha cut off his head to feed a hungry lion. This tradition still persists with the area in front of Sirkap (also meaning "cut off head") was known in the 19th century as Babur Khana ("House of Tiger"), which alludes to the place where Buddha offered his head. In addition, a hill range to south of Taxila Valley is called Margala ("cut off throat").
caption: The name for the city of Taxila (Pāli Brahmi: 𑀢𑀔𑁆𑀔𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸, Takhkhasilā), as it appears on the Heliodorus Pillar inscription, circa 100 BC.
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