ARCHAEOLOGICAL PLACE

Taxila covers an area of about 25 km2 and includes a Mesolithic cave, the remains of four former residential sites, Buddhist and Muslim monuments. Among the eighteen sites listed by UNESCO, dharmarājika stūpa (a stupa is a dome-shaped funeral mountain) is probably the most important. It is the largest and most impressive monument of its kind in Pakistan, which may have been erected on the true ashes of the historic Buddha. He is said to have been built by Ashoka, a king of the Maurya Indian dynasty, after his conversion to Buddhism. About 2 km away is the Bhir Mound site. Founded in the 6th century BC by the Achaemenids, the oldest of the cities of Taxila bears witness to the first forms of urbanisation in the sub-continent. The rock shelters and cellars of Khanpur date back to 3500 BC!