Takshashila (Taxila)
- Mauryan Kalinga
Takshashila was Ashoka's capital in the far northwest of his empire, near modern Pakistan. His own rock-carved orders say officers travelled from there to Kalinga too, to check his laws were followed.
Takshashila was Ashoka’s capital in the far northwest. It sat near modern Pakistan. A prince governed there too. Other governors sat at Ujjain, in the west, and Tosali, in Kalinga. [Kulke, 1998, 3rd edn (Routledge, 1998), p. 67]
Ashoka’s own rock-carved orders name Takshashila as well. An officer was sent out from there too. This checked that his laws were followed, just as at Ujjayini. [Hultzsch, 1925, Hultzsch, CII I (1925), First Separate Rock Edict, clause BB, p. 97; identification pp. xxxvii-xxxviii]
For scholars
Takshashila is not a Kalinga site. It appears here for one reason. Ashoka’s own edicts name it as the northwestern capital. They link it to Kalinga through this touring-officer rule. A scholar named Cunningham matched it to Shahdheri, near modern Taxila. That is the guess used here. A later city dug up by John Marshall was not read in this session. Neither source prints a coordinate. The position given is the modern Taxila site, read from a map. [Hultzsch, 1925, Hultzsch, CII I (1925), First Separate Rock Edict, clause BB, p. 97; identification pp. xxxvii-xxxviii]
Facts
- Site type
- Mauryan provincial capital (viceroyalty of the northwest)
- Coordinates
- 33.75°, 72.79°
Sources: [Natural Earth, 1, n.d.]
- *Natural Earth, 1:50m Physical and Cultural Vectors*. n.d. public domain
- Modern name
- Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan
Scholar notes
Included as the northwestern administrative anchor named in the Dhauli/Jaugada Separate Rock Edict I, not as a Kalinga site. Cunningham's identification with Shahdheri, near modern Taxila, Rawalpindi district, is the standard one; the Bhir Mound and later city excavated by John Marshall were not read directly in this session. No coordinate is printed in either source; position is the modern archaeological site of Taxila, read from a map.
- *Separate Rock Edicts of Ashoka at Dhauli and Jaugada*. ed. Eugen Hultzsch. 1925. public domain , Hultzsch, CII I (1925), First Separate Rock Edict, clause BB, p. 97; identification pp. xxxvii-xxxviii ('In the same way (an officer will be deputed) from Takshasila also.' p. xxxviii: Takshasila 'was identified by Cunningham with Shahdheri in the Rawalpindi district, Panjab.')
- Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund. *A History of India*. Routledge. 1998 , 3rd edn (Routledge, 1998), p. 67 ('The viceroy of the northwest resided at Taxila', one of the four Mauryan provincial capitals alongside Ujjain (west) and Tosali in Kalinga (east).)