A GUIDE TO TAXILA

This book was written to provide a concise guide to the ruins of Taxila, excavation of which was led by the author. The remains of Taxila are situated immediately to the east and northeast of Saraikala, a junction Taxila and on the railway, twenty miles northwest of Rawalpindi. The Valley in which they lie is a singularly ancient times pleasant one, wellwatered by the Haro river and its tributaries, and protected by a girdle of hills? on the north and east by the snow mountains of Hazara and the Murree ridge, on the south and west by the well known Margalla spur and other lower eminences. This position on the great trade route, which used to connect Hindustan with Central and Western Asia, coupled with the strength of its natural defences, the fertility of its soil, and a constant supply of good water, readily account for the importance of the city in early times. Arrian speaks of it as being a great and flourishing city in the time of Alexander the Great, the greatest, indeed, of all the cities which lay between the Indus and the Hydaspes (Jihlam). Strabo tells us that the country round about was thickly populated, and extremely fertile, as the mountains here begin to subside into the plains, and Plutarch remarks on the richness of the soil. The introductory chapters give the topographical and historical background, and the main body of the work discusses the various groups of buildings and the material they were found to contain. Numerous illustrative figures, a glossary of technical terms and a bibliography are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Taxila and archaeology.