The Archaeology of Taxila in as Written for Local People

Abstract

Archaeological writings in local South Asian languages are rarely available. A search in this respect enables us to trace some works back into the latter nineteenth century. The twentieth century, however, saw a sheer realization of communicating archaeological contents to the native peoples. The results, though not encouraging, should still be brought to the fore. This study focuses on vernacular literature concerning the archaeology of Taxila valley in Pakistan.
A number of books, both in translation and in original, have been explored by this author. These include, amongst others, Gandhara (Urdu) by Muhammad Waliullah Khan, Taxila (Punjabi) by Saifur Rahman Dar, Taxila in verse by Pandit Devi Dayal, Taxila ka tehzibi safar naama (Urdu) by Agha Abdul Ghafoor, Urus-ul-Bilad Taxila (Urdu) by Jaleel Quraishi, Punjab ke aasar-i-qadeemah (Urdu) by Muhmmad Iqbal Bhutta and so on.
In order to set a scholarly background, this paper first gives an outline summary of the various published works in Urdu and Punjabi. Next, summaries of works about Taxilan archaeology are given. It is followed by a discussion being made around some important points.