In ancient times, the country was known to have been home to the oldest formal universities in the world. The world’s first University was established in Takshila or Taxila or Takshashila (now in Pakistan) in 700BC. This centre of learning was situated about 50 km west of Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
Takshashila and Pushkalavati remained prominent cities in Gandhāra during the Mahajanapadas. The city is believed to have become part of the Achaemenid Empire during 550 – 326 BCE. In 326 BCE, it was claimed by Alexander the Great, after overthrowing the Achaemenids.
Literally meaning “City of Cut Stone” or “Rock of Taksha,” Takshashila (rendered by Greek writers as Taxila) was founded, according to the Indian epic Ramayana, by Bharata, younger brother of Rama, an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. The city was named for Bharata’s son Taksha, its first ruler.
Takshashila is considered a place of religious and historical sanctity by Hindus and Buddhists. The former do so not only because, in its time, Takshashila was the seat of Vedic learning, but also because the strategist, Chanakya, who later helped consolidate the empire of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, was a senior teacher there.
The ancient city of Takshashila was the site of perhaps the world’s oldest public policy school. It was the intellectual fountainhead not only of Indian statecraft but indeed of all walks of human endeavour.
Taxila or Takshashila ("City of Cut Stone" or "Takṣa Rock") is one of the subcontinent’s treasures, and was once an important city of the kingdom of Gandhara. The ruins of Taxila are located about 30 km north of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, just off the famous Grand Trunk Road. Taxila was an important Buddhist Centre from 5th century BC to 6th Century AD.