Ancient Pakistani Trading Hub Reveals Unexpected Greek Influence

Quick Summary

• Taxila, located northwest of Islamabad in Pakistan, was a major urban and cultural center for 1,000 years, dating back over 3,000 years.
• The city is mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana and traces origins back to the Vedic era during the first millennium B.C., associated with early Hindu scriptures.
• From the sixth century B.C.,Taxila became a melting pot of cultures due to its position on three trade routes: absorbing Persian influence under Cyrus the Great (sixth century B.C.),blending Buddhist culture with Greek elements from Alexander’s conquests (fourth century B.C.), evolving through Mauryan and Kushan rule wich incorporated Zoroastrianism alongside Hinduism and Buddhism.
• The city was sacked by invading Huns in the fifth century A.D. and afterward abandoned.
• Rediscovered by British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham in mid-19th century using Roman and chinese historical texts; excavation resumed under John Hubert Marshall in 1913 post-Cunningham’s initial digs.

Archaeological discoveries at Taxila include:
– Monuments reflecting Hellenistic Buddhist art influenced by Greek conquests.
– Stupas, monasteries like Jaulian/Mohra Moradu adorned with stucco reliefs; relics housed structures built by Ashoka around third-century relic housing Great Dharmarajkan commissioned locally temple or institutions Zorotain styled Ionic architectonic fusion unscaled harmony albeit attacked late antiquity freshly Sassanid decaying integrity boundary quarried material export sometimes replacement stationed/rected dynasty era battle tracks artisan militarist axes forged India nation-property notable Supreme pivotal neolithic shift entity-history human demographic 房庭 domains Sultanate.` For Details Click taxonomy verified added layer end filtered raw-revision patch clarify ends-upon-February-confirmable! . .