taxila,

Taxila or Takshashila (Punjabi: ٹيکسلا) is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Established during the Vedic period, Old Taxila was for a time the capital city of ancient Gandhāra. It was situated on the eastern shore of the Indus River—the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia; it was possibly founded around 1000 BCE. Takshashila and Pushkalavati remained prominent cities in Ghandhāra during the Mahajanapadas.The city was later conquered of the Achaemenid Empire's and incorporated into the Hindush satrap, between 550 – 326 BCE. In 326 BCE, the city was claimed by Alexander the Great, after overthrowing the Achaemenids, who gained control of the city without a battle since the city was immediately surrendered to the Macedonian Empire. This was followed successively by the Mauryans (~317 – ~200 BCE), the Indo-Greeks (~200 BCE – ~55 BCE), the Indo-Scythians (~80 BCE – ~30 CE), and the Kushan Empire (~ 30 CE – ~375 CE), who destroyed the existing city, in the first century CE, to build their own on a site to the north of the ruins. Owing to its strategic location, Taxila has changed hands many times over the centuries, with many polities vying for its control.