Taank Kingdom | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
c. 550–c. 950 | |||||||||||
Capital | Shekilo (modern day Sialkot) Ṭakin or Ṭakkáwar [2] (possibly) | ||||||||||
Common languages | Old Punjabi | ||||||||||
Religion | Hinduism Buddhism (minority) [3] | ||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
• Established | c. 550 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 950 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Today part of | Pakistan India |
Taank Kingdom (also known as Takka [4] [5] [6] or Taki [7] ) was a kingdom based in Punjab, during 6th and 7th centuries ruled by Takkas who are identified as ancient inhabitants of Punjab. [8] The main source regarding the kingdom are the chronicles of Xuanzang as well as other sources. [3] The kingdom was located south of Kashmir, north of Sindh and east of Zunbil dynasty, extending from the Indus River in the west to the Beas river in the east, centered around modern day Sialkot. [3]
A "Tseh-kia" kingdom is mentioned by Hiuen-Tsang (631-643 A.D.). [6] [9] It is mentioned by him as situated towards east of Gandhara. The Chach Nama (history of Sindh) mentions it as Tak. [10] The earliest Muslim author who mentions the kingdom is a merchant named Sulaiman. He visited the area before 851 AD, when his account was written. In his account, the kingdom is mentioned as Táfak (طافك). [11] In 915 AD, the Arab historian Al-Masudi mentions it as at-Tákin, referring to the hills of the Punjab region. The name is read Tákin (طاقين) by Sir Henry Elliott, and Táfan (طافن) by Gildemeister, in his extracts from Masudi. [11] Takin, Tafan, Tafak, Taffa, Takas, and Takishar, are various readings of the original form which is Taki or Takin. M. Reinaud gives another spelling, Tában (طابن).
The account of Sulaimān the merchant calls its king malik at-taqa and further notes that he was in good terms with the Arabs and the Rashtrakuta Empire of Deccan. [12] Ibn Khordadbeh, who died in 912 AD, mentions the king of the confederacy as next in eminence to the Balhara, whereas Kazwini mentions a fort named Taifand, the location of the fort agrees with the account of the hill of Sangala (near modern Sialkot). [11] Several scholars have identified Takka kingdom with the kingdom of al-Usaifan, whose king is reported by al-Biladhuri to have converted to Islam during the reign of Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). [13] The Lawik dynasty of Ghazni is also believed to have belonged to the Takka people. [14]
They are included among 36 royal dynasties mentioned by James Tod. According to him the names of some of the rulers were Ratapat, Bahurpal, Sahajpal and Madanpal. [15] Sialkot was the capital of the kingdom. Monarchs of Sialkot in the Punjabi folklore such as Raja Sálbán and Raja Rasalu may have belonged to the Takka kingdom. [16]
During Xuanzang's visit, the neighboring state of Bofadou was a vassal (or province) of Taank. [17] [3] He also noted Mihirakula's capital to have been at Sagala within Taank. [3] Despite having an illustrious Buddhist heritage as evident from three colossal stupas, Buddhism had declined in the region (Punjab) after the Gupta period due to preference give to the propagation of Hinduism, [18] [19] and later collapsed [20] after the Alchon Hun persecution, [21] resulting in it being sparsely practiced in only about ten monasteries. On the contrary, Brahminical Hinduism rose as the primary religion in the region and there were several hundreds of Hindu Deva shrines. [3] He visited Lahore in 630 AD during Taank rule. [15] According to him: "The country of Takka is south of Kashmira, extending from the Indus river to its west and Vipasha river to its east. They produce abundant quantities of non-sticky rice and wheat, also gold, brass, iron and other metals. They do not believe in Buddhism, and pray in several hundred deva temples. This country has ten Buddhist monasteries left." There were many more before, states Xuanzang. [3] [22] [23] [21]
Punjab, also known as the Land of the Five Rivers, is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is specifically located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern-Pakistan and northwestern-India. Punjab's major cities are Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sialkot, Chandigarh, Shimla, Jalandhar, Patiala, Gurugram, and Bahawalpur.
Menander I Soter was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek King who administered a large territory in the Northwestern regions of the Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia. Menander is noted for having become a patron and convert to Greco-Buddhism and he is widely regarded as the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings.
Xuanzang, born Chen Hui / Chen Yi, also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645 CE, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures.
Taxila or Takshashila 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.
Sialkot is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined by Jammu in the north east, the districts of Narowal in the southeast, Gujranwala in the southwest and Gujrat in the northwest.
Gandhara was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization centred in present-day north-west Pakistan and north-east Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, though the cultural influence of Greater Gandhara extended westwards into the Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range. The region was a central location for the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia with many Chinese Buddhist pilgrims visiting the region.
The History of Punjab refers to the past history of Punjab region which is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in the northwest of South Asia, comprising eastern Punjab province in Pakistan and western Punjab state in India. It is believed that the earliest evidence of human habitation in Punjab traces to the Soan valley of the Pothohar, between the Indus and the Jhelum rivers, where Soanian culture developed between 774,000 BC and 11,700 BC. This period goes back to the first interglacial period in the second Ice Age, from which remnants of stone and flint tools have been found.
Apollodotus I Prakrit in the Kharoshti script: Maharajasa Apaladatasa Tratarasa) was an Indo-Greek king between 180 BC and 160 BC or between 174 and 165 BC who ruled the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, from Taxila in Punjab to the areas of Sindh and possibly Gujarat.
Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly created position of archaeological surveyor to the government of India; and he founded and organised what later became the Archaeological Survey of India.
The history of Sindh refers to the history of the Pakistani province of Sindh, as well as neighboring regions that periodically came under its sway.
Mihirakula, sometimes referred to as Mihiragula or Mahiragula, was the second and last Alchon Hun king of northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent between 502 and 530 CE. He was a son of and successor to Toramana of Huna heritage. His father ruled the Indian part of the Hephthalite Empire. Mihirakula ruled from his capital of Sagala.
The Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architectural heritage of Pakistan is part of a long history of settlement and civilization in Pakistan. The Indus Valley civilization collapsed in the middle of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Vedic Civilisation, which extended over much of northern India and Pakistan.
Buddhism in Pakistan took root some 2,300 years ago under the Mauryan king Ashoka who sent missionaries to the Kashmira-Gandhara region of North West Pakistan extending into Afghanistan, following the Third Buddhist council in Pataliputra.
Bhabra or Bhabhra is an ethno-linguistic and religious group who are from Punjab region which follow Jainism.
History of Sialkot, the capital of Sialkot District, is a city situated in the north-east of the Punjab province in Pakistan at the feet of the snow-covered peaks of Kashmir near the Chenab river. The city is about 125 km (78 mi) north-west of Lahore and only a few kilometres from Jammu in India.
The Parinirvana Stupa or Mahaparinirvana Temple is a Buddhist temple in Kushinagar, India which is said to be the place of death of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Alexander Cunningham gains the most attention for his work in the area, because he conclusively proved that Gautama Buddha had died in the area. The present temple was built by the Indian Government in 1956 as part of the commemoration of the 2,500th year of the Mahaparinivana or 2500 BE. Inside this temple, there is a Reclining Buddha image lying on its right side with the head to the north. The statue is 6.1 m long and rests on a stone couch.
The Alchon Huns, also known as the Alkhan, Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alakhana, and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. They were first mentioned as being located in Paropamisus, and later expanded south-east, into the Punjab and Central India, as far as Eran and Kausambi. The Alchon invasion of the Indian subcontinent eradicated the Kidarite Huns who had preceded them by about a century, and contributed to the fall of the Gupta Empire, in a sense bringing an end to Classical India.
The Indian subcontinent has a long history of education and learning from the era of Indus Valley civilization. Important ancient institutions of learning in ancient India are Takshashila, Kashmir Smast, Nalanda, Valabhi University, Sharada Peeth, Pushpagiri Vihara, Odantapuri University, Vikramashila, Somapura Mahavihara, Bikrampur Vihara, Jagaddala Mahavihara.
Moriya was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of northeastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The Moriyas were organised into a gaṇasaṅgha, presently referred to as the Moriya Republic.
Aurel Stein and Cunningham both agree in identifying Takkas with Madras or Bahikas of Mahabharata - both being the ancient inhabitants of the Punjab. In the lexicon of Hemacandra also, the Bahikas are said to be the same as Takkas.
But after the Gupta period, Buddhism began to decline
the emergence and spread of Hinduism through Indian society helped lead to Buddhism's gradual decline in India.
... and the destruction of Buddhist establishment in Northwest India by the Hephthalite invader, Mihirakula (502-542) in the early sixth century.
Cunningham, Alexander (1871). The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang. Munshiram Manoharlal. pp. 150–154. ISBN 9788121510646.