An institution providing higher education and
specially research which
awards academic degrees in
various subjects fields and departments is basically known as
University. Universities provides higher
education i.e. undergraduate and postgraduate education. University is meant to be a place of
community of scholars and teachers.
The process of
discovering and inventing different things, gaining of knowledge, and research
on various aspects of world and life has an history from the creation of
mankind and this world. This process is continued and advancement is increasing
with passage of time and this will continue.
The process of
gaining knowledge, inventing and research need great work and facilities.
An education institute
typically provides all the facilities and academia related to a specific field
of research.
History tells us a
long list of educational institutes which served quality education and research
and these institutions are base of every knowledge, invention and research
which are we studying and watching in this world nowadays.
But many people are
unaware of the first and oldest university which was the base of this concept.
The university was “Takshila university”.
Takshila university
It was known as a center of learning at
least several centuries before Christ, and continued to attract students from
around the ancient world until its destruction in the 5th century CE.
Taxila was at that
time known as Takshashila, flourished from 600 BC to 500 AD, in the kingdom of
Gandhar. At this university, 68 subjects were taught and the minimum entry age
was 16. It was a internationally recognized institute. It had maximum of 10,500
students including those from Babylon, Greece, Syria, and China. Experienced masters taught the vedas,
languages, grammar, philosophy, medicine, surgery, archery, politics, warfare,
astronomy, accounts, commerce, documentation, music, dance and other performing
arts, futurology, the occult and mystical sciences, complex mathematical
calculations. The community of teachers and scholars at the university included
Kautilya, Panini, Jivak and Vishnu Sharma.
This institute was specialized in the field of medicine. It had about 300 lecture halls, labs, 3 buildings, huge library, observatory for astronomical research.
Currently, Taxila is among the most educationally advanced city of Pakistan. There are many internationally recognized universities like University of Engineering and Technology, COMSATS wah campus, HITEC University.
Taxilla was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
