Takshashila: Ancient university of Takshashila was located at Rawalpindi. It was the capital city of ancient Gandhar region. It is believed that Takshashila University got its name after the name of ‘Taksha’, the son of Bharata, brother of Lord Rama. Takshashila was a renowned center of learning during the 7th century. The university imparted education in 64 subjects. The subjects included teachings of Vedas, military science, Gajvidhya, archery, grammar, philosophy, warlord, astronomy, astrology, etc. Students were free to study the subjects of their interest.
The teacher-student ratio was 1:20. Most of the students stayed at the ashram to study and practice with guru. ‘Jivak’, the disciple of Lord Buddha, studied Ayurveda at Takshashila. Chanakya, the writer of ‘Arthashastra’ and the mentor of Chandragupta Mauiya also studied here. Moreover, students from distant places like Varanasi, Rajgriha, Mithila and Ujjain used to visit Takshashila in large numbers to study. Princess of Varanasi, Prasenjit, the king of Kaushal, the great grammarian Panini, etc. studied here. Chinese scholar Fa-Hien visited Takshashila in the beginning of 5th century.
