Takshashila or Taxila is situated in present day Pakistan.  

• Between the fifth century and fourth century BCE, it was part of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.  

• Because of its strategic location on the trade route between the East and the West, it emerged as an important centre of learning and culture.  
• Students came from far and wide to Taxila in search of knowledge.  
• The city was brought to light by the excavation carried out in the 1940s by Sir John Marshall.  
• Taxila is considered “one of the greatest intellectual achievements of any ancient civilization”.  
• Panini seems to have compiled his well-known work, Ashtadhyayi, here. 

Source: Poonam Dahiya