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{{Short description|Archaeological site in Taxila, Pakistan}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Bhir Mound <br /> {{nq|بھڑ ماونڈ}}
| native_name =
| alternate_name =
| image = Bhir Mound, excavation (2).jpg
| alt =
| caption = The ruins of Bhir Mound, Taxila, Pakistan
| map_type = Pakistan#Gandhara
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| map_dot_label=Bhir Mound
| relief = 1
| coordinates = {{coord|33.7433894|N|72.819614|E|display=inline,title}}
| location =
| region =
| type = Settlement
| part_of =
| length =
| width =
| area =
| height =
| builder =
| material =
| built = c. 800–525 BC
| abandoned = c. 1st century BC
| epochs = [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]], [[Indo-Greeks]]
| cultures = [[Gandhara]]
| dependency_of =
| occupants =
| event =
| excavations =
| archaeologists = [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]]<br/>[[Mortimer Wheeler]]<br/>Mohammad Sharif
| condition =
| ownership =
| management =
| public_access =
| website = 
| notes =
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_offname = '''Taxila'''
| designation1_type =
| designation1_criteria = iii, iv
| designation1_date = 1980
| delisted1_date =
| designation1_number =139
| designation1_free1name =
| designation1_free1value =
}}
{{OSM Location map
| coord = {{coord|33.7561|N|72.8292|E}} 
| float = right
| zoom = 13
| width = 260 
| height = 260
| caption = {{center|Taxila archaeological sites}}

| mark-coord1 = {{coord|33.75|N|72.825|E}}
| mark1 = Unesco Cultural Heritage logo.svg
| mark-size1 = 20
| label1 = Hathial
| label-size1 = 10
| label-color1 = red
| label-pos1 = right
| mark-title1 = [[Hathial]]
| mark-image1 =
| mark-description1 = Taxila, 1000–400 BC

| mark-coord2 = {{coord|33.7433894|N|72.819614|E}}
| mark2 = Unesco Cultural Heritage logo.svg
| mark-size2 = 20
| label2 = Bhir Mound
| label-size2 = 10
| label-color2 = red
| label-pos2 = left
| mark-title2 = Bhir Mound
| mark-image2 =
| mark-description2 = Taxila, 400–0 BC

| mark-coord3 = {{coord|33.757669|N|72.829332|E}}
| mark3 = Unesco Cultural Heritage logo.svg
| mark-size3 = 20
| label3 = Sirkap
| label-size3 = 10
| label-color3 = red
| label-pos3 = right
| mark-title3 = [[Sirkap]]
| mark-image3 =
| mark-description3 = Taxila, 180 BCE–

| mark-coord4 = {{coord|33.772600|N|72.847922|E}}
| mark4 = Unesco Cultural Heritage logo.svg
| mark-size4 = 20
| label4 = Sirsukh
| label-size4 = 10
| label-color4 = red
| label-pos4 = left
| mark-title4 = [[Sirsukh]]
| mark-image4 =
| mark-description4 = Taxila, 80 CE–
}}

The '''Bhir Mound''' ({{lang-ur|{{nq|بھڑ ماونڈ}}}}) is an archaeological site in [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]] in the [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]] province of [[Pakistan]]. It contains some of the oldest ruins of [[Taxila (ancient)|Ancient Taxila]], dated to sometime around the period 800–525 BC as its earliest layers bear "grooved" Red Burnished Ware,<ref>Petrie, Cameron, (2013). [https://www.academia.edu/6784964/Petrie_C.A._2013_._Taxila "Taxila"], in D. K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), ''History of Ancient India III: The Texts, and Political History and Administration till c. 200 BC'', Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books International, Delhi, p. 656.</ref> the Bhir Mound, along with several other nearby excavations, form part of the [[Ruins of Taxila]] – inscribed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1980. Ashoka of Mauryan dynasty renovated this site and thus the monks of Ashoka's missionaries started propagating his dhamma from Taxila.

==Context==
The Bhir Mound archaeological remains represent one stage of the historic city of [[Taxila]]. The first town in Taxila was situated in the Hathial mound in the southwest corner of the Sirkap site. It lasted from the late second millennium BC until the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid period]], with the Achaemenid period remains located in its Mound B.{{sfn|Karttunen, Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism|1990|pp=88–89}} The Bhir Mound site represents the second city of Taxila, beginning in the pre-Achaemenid period and lasting till the early [[Indo-Greeks|Hellenistic period]]. The earliest occupation on the Bhir mound began around 800-525 BC, and what now appears to be the second phase might date to the late 6th and 5th centuries BC, as originally suggested by Marshall.<ref>Petrie, Cameron, (2013). [https://www.academia.edu/6784964/Petrie_C.A._2013_._Taxila "Taxila"], in D. K. Chakrabarti and M. Lal (eds.), ''History of Ancient India III: The Texts, and Political History and Administration till c. 200 BC'', Vivekananda International Foundation, Aryan Books International, Delhi, p. 656 - 657.</ref>

==Excavation==
The ruins of Bhir Mound were excavated from 1913-1925 by Sir [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]]. The work was continued by Sir [[Mortimer Wheeler]] in 1944-1945 and by Dr. Mohammad Sharif in 1966-1967. Further excavations were performed in 1998-2000 by Bahadur Khan and in 2002 by Dr. Ashraf and Mahmud-al-Hassan.

Marshall came to the Bhir Mound project from earlier work in [[Athens]], expecting very much to find a Greek city in Taxila. Klaus Karttunen says that he became more objective later on, but scholars mention various problems with his results.{{sfn|Karttunen, Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism|1990|pp=86–87}} In his report, Marshall proposed that the Bhir Mound city of Taxila was founded by [[Darius I]] as the capital of the Achaemenid province of [[Hindush]]. Scholar David Fleming says that the identification was based on 'classical sources and a frankly pro-western bias'.{{sfn|Fleming, Where was Achaemenid India?|1993|pp=68–69}} The excavations were conducted without much regard to stratigraphic recording, and the pottery finds were published in such a manner as to preclude a detailed analysis.{{sfn|Fleming, Where was Achaemenid India?|1993|pp=68–69}}

The results of Mortimer Wheeler's excavations were never published.{{sfn|Karttunen, Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism|1990|pp=86–87}} Later excavations by Mohammad Sharif were done more carefully with regard to chronological considerations,{{sfn|Fleming, Where was Achaemenid India?|1993|p=69}} and they form the basis for the modern assessments.{{sfn|Allchin, The Urban Position of Taxila|1993}}{{sfn|Karttunen, Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism|1990}}

<gallery>
File:Bhir Mound excavations (looking east).jpg|Bhir Mound excavations in 1924-1925
File:Bhir Mound coin hoard sample. Persian, Greek and Indian coinage.jpg|Bhir Mound coin hoard sample, with Achaemenid, Greek and Indian coinage
</gallery>

==Ruins==
The ruins of the town form an irregular shape measuring around 1 km from north to south and about 600 meters from east to west.<ref>{{cite book |first= Muhammad Ilyas |last= Bhatti |title= Taxila an ancient metropolis of Gandhara |page= 72 |year= 2006}}</ref>

The streets of the city show that they were narrow and the house plans were very irregular. There is little evidence of planning - most of the streets are very haphazard. The houses had no windows to the outside. They opened towards inner courtyards.<ref name="Kausch 2001 300">{{cite book |first= Anke |last= Kausch |title= Seidenstrasse |page= 300 |year= 2001}}</ref> The courtyard was open and 15 to 20 rooms were arranged around it.<ref>{{cite book |first= Muhammad Ilyas |last= Bhatti |title= Taxila an ancient metropolis of Gandhara |page= 73 |year= 2006}}</ref>

==History==
[[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] stated, based on his excavations during 1913–1934, that heavy masonry of the [[Achaemenid]] buildings formed the earliest stratum of the Bhir Mound site. He believed that Taxila formed part of the 20th satrapy of [[Darius I]] (called ''Hinduš'' by the Persians or ''Indos'' by the Greeks).<ref>{{citation |last=Marshall |first=Sir John Hubert |title=Taxila: An Illustrated Account of Archaeological Excavations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9s8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA12 |year=1951 |publisher=CUP Archive |id=GGKEY:JWYSC7DGQ07 |pages=12–15}}</ref> This claim was considered dubious by several scholars.<ref>Pierfrancesco Callieri, [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/india-iii-relations-achaemenid-period India iii. Relations: Achaemenid Period], Encyclopedia Iranica, 15 December 2004.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fleming, Where was Achaemenid India?|1993|pp=68–69}}: "There was little in his discussion of archaeological material that would support such an identification, and the Elamite evidence was not available to him."</ref> and it is invalidated by the current dating of the Bhir Mound site as beginning before 525 BC as Cameron Petrie suggests. Other scholars doubt if Taxila ever belonged to the Achaemenid Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Karttunen, Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism|1990}}: "With a certain geographical recklessness many have supposed, that as an important early centre Taxila must have been the capital of the Indian dominions of the empire. Taxila, however, did not belong to Gandhara proper, which had a more westerly location, and elsewhere I have tried to show how it is well possible that Taxila never belonged to the empire."</ref>

In 326 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] conquered the area. [[Raja]] [[Ambhi]] entertained the Greek king here; he surrendered to Alexander and offered him a force of soldiers mounted on [[elephant]]s. In 316 BC, [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] of [[Magadha]], the founder of the [[Mauryan]] dynasty, conquered [[Punjab region|Panjab]]. Taxila lost its independence and became a mere provincial capital. Still, the city remained extremely important as a centre of administration, education and trade. During the reign of Chandragupta's grandson [[Ashoka]], [[Buddhism]] became important and the first monks settled in Taxila. Ashoka is said to have resided here as the vice-king of his father. In 184 BC, the Greeks, who had maintained a kingdom in [[Bactria]], invaded [[Gandhara]] and Panjab again. From then on, a Greek king resided in Taxila, [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius]].<ref name="Kausch 2001 300"/><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.livius.org/ta-td/taxila/bhir.html |title= Livius.org |access-date=26 December 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081120021208/https://www.livius.org/ta-td/taxila/bhir.html| archive-date= 20 November 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Bhir Mound with trees.jpg|Bhir Mound with trees
Image:BhirMound.JPG|Bhir Mound, ruins
File:Bhir Mound excavations.jpg|Bhir Mound excavations
File:Bhir Mound, general view (1).jpg|Bhir Mound, general view
File:Bhir Mound, houses (center) and main street (left).jpg|Bhir Mound, houses (center) and main street (left)
File:Bhir Mound, water conduit.jpg|Bhir Mound, water conduits
</gallery>

==Achaemenid period coin hoard==
{{multiple image|total_width=300
| title=Bhir Mound Achaemenid coin hoard
| align = right
| caption_align = center
| image1 = Bhir Mound Achaemenid coin (running King type).jpg
| caption1 = [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] siglos found in the Bhird Mound hoard, [[:File:Tetradrachm, Halikarnassos protectorate, Persian empire, 350-333 BC.jpg|Archer king type]], circa 5th century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=56–57}}: "Coins of this type found in [[Chaman Hazouri]] (deposited c.350 BC) and Bhir Mound hoards (deposited c.300 BC)."</ref><ref name="Marshall 234">{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=John |title=Taxila, Vol.III |date=1951 |at=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.27261/page/n259 Bhir Mound coins Plate 234] }}</ref>
| image2 = Bhir Mound short bent bar.jpg
| caption2 = Short "bent bar" from the Bhir Mound hoard. Such coins were minted under Achaemenid administration, and were found in large quantities in the [[Chaman Hazouri hoard]] and the Bhir Mound hoard.<ref>[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=309206 CNG Coins]</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=57–59}}: "Silver bent-bar punch-marked coin of Kabul region under the Achaemenid Empire, c.350 BC: Coins of this type found in quantity in Chaman Hazouri and Bhir Mound hoards"</ref><ref name="Marshall 234"/>
}}
{{see also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley}}
The Bhir Mound coin hoard has revealed numerous [[Achaemenid]] coins as well as several [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BC which circulated in the area, at least as far as the [[Indus]] during the reign of the [[Achaemenids]], who were in control of the areas as far as [[Gandhara (Achaemenid province)|Gandhara]]. Many of these coins are similar to the local coins struck in [[Kabul]], and found in the [[Chaman Hazouri hoard]].<ref name="OB300">{{harvnb|Bopearachchi, Coin Production and Circulation|2000|pp=300–301}}</ref><ref name="JC">{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=57–59}}</ref> This is the case in particular for the Achaeminid [[siglos]] type of coins of the 5th century,<ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=56–57}}: Picture of Achaemenid siglos coin ([[:File:Achaemenid siglos Kabul.jpg|this type of coin]]) with caption "Coins of this type found in [[Chaman Hazouri]] (deposited c.350 BC) and Bhir Mound hoards (deposited c.300 BC)."</ref><ref name="Marshall coins">{{harvnb|Marshall, Taxila, Volume II|1951|p=854}}: "The silver coins were a Persian siglos, tetradrachms of Alexander the Great and of Philip III Aridaeus, thirty-three silver bars with wheel symbols."</ref> as well as the Gandharan bent-bar punch-marked coins, found in large quantities at Bhir Mound.<ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=56–57}}: Picture of Gandharan bent-bar punch-marked coin([[:File:Gandhara bent bar.jpg|this type of coin]]), with caption "Silver bent-bar punch-marked coin of Kabul region under the Achaemenid Empire, c.350 BC: Coins of this type found in quantity in Chaman Hazouri and Bhir Mound hoards"</ref>

Modern numismatists tend to consider that these Gandharan bent-bar punch-marked coins are the precursors of the Indian [[punch-marked coins]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi, Coin Production and Circulation|2000|p=311}}: "the local coins of the Achaemenid era (...) were the precursors of the bent and punch-marked bars"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=57–59}}: About the hoard in Kabul: "In the same hoard there were also discovered two series of local silver coins which appear to be the product of local Achaemenid administration. One series (...) was made in a new way, which relates it to the punch-marked silver coins of India. It appears that it was these local coins, using technology adapted from Greek coins, which provided the prototypes for punch-marked coins made in India."; "In the territories to the south of the Hindu Kush the punch-marked coins, descendants of the local coins of the Achaemenid administration in the same area, were issued by the Mauryan kings of India for local circulation."</ref>

Coins of [[Philip III of Macedon|Philip III]] and [[Alexander the Great]] were also found in Bhir Mound.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carradice |first1=Ian |title=Coinage and administration in the Athenian and Persian empires: the Ninth Oxford Symposium on Coinage and Monetary History |date=1987 |publisher=B.A.R. |page=88 |isbn=9780860544425 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-n4aAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}: "The hoards from Babylonia, Susa, and the Bhir Mound (40-2) included coins of Alexander and of Philip III (Bhir Mound only), and their few sigloi are all of type jy"</ref><ref name="Marshall coins"/>

Many Indian [[punch-marked coins]] were also found.{{sfn|Marshall, Taxila, Volume II|1951|p=854}}

==Other sites in the area==
There are important ancient Buddhist sites in this area, such as [[Dharmarajika]], [[Mohra Muradu]], and [[Jaulian]].

Also, there are the remains of other ancient cities that were founded after Bhir Mound, such as [[Sirkap]] and [[Sirsukh]].

==See also==
* [[Achaemenid invasion of the Indus Valley]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |first=F. Raymond |last=Allchin |title=The Urban Position of Taxila and Its Place in Northwest India-Pakistan|journal=Studies in the History of Art |year=1993 |volume=31 |pages=69–81 |jstor=42620473 |ref={{sfnref|Allchin, The Urban Position of Taxila|1993}}}}
* {{citation |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |author-link=Osmund Bopearachchi|last2=Cribb |first2=Joe |article=Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia |editor1-last=Errington |editor1-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Cribb |editor2-first=Joe |editor3-last=Claringbull |editor3-first=Maggie |title=The Crossroads of Asia: transformation in image and symbol in the art of ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfLpAAAAMAAJ |pages=57–59|year=1992 |publisher=Ancient India and Iran Trust |isbn=978-0-9518399-1-1 |ref={{sfnref|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992}}}}
* {{citation |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |author-link=Osmund Bopearachchi |title=Coin Production and Circulation in Central Asia and North-West India (Before and after Alexander's Conquest) |journal=Indologica Taurinensia |publisher=International Association of Sanskrit Studies |volume=25 |year=2000 |url=https://www.academia.edu/15798938 |ref={{sfnref|Bopearachchi, Coin Production and Circulation|2000}}}}
* {{citation |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |chapter=Achaemenids and Mauryans: Emergence of Coins and Plastic Arts in India |title=India and Iran in the Longue Durée |editor1=Alka Patel |editor2=Touraj Daryaee |publisher=UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies |year=2017 |pages=15–48 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/32663753 |ref={{sfnref|Bopearachchi, Achaemenids and Mauryans|2017}}}}
* {{citation |first=David |last=Fleming |title=Where was Achaemenid India? |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute |series=New Series |volume=7 |year=1993 |pages=67–72 |jstor=24048427 |ref={{sfnref|Fleming, Where was Achaemenid India?|1993}}}}
* {{citation |first=Klaus |last=Karttunen |title=Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism (concerning two recent books) |journal=Acta Philologica Fennica |date=1 January 1990 |volume=24 |pages=85–96 |ref={{sfnref|Karttunen, Taxila: Indian City and a Stronghold of Hellenism|1990}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=John |title=Taxila, Volume II: Minor Antiquities |date=1951 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.234409/page/n5 |ref={{sfnref|Marshall, Taxila, Volume II|1951}}}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bhir Mound, Taxila}}
* [https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.27261/page/n29 Images of the excavations at Bhir Mound (1913-1934)] ([[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]], Taxila vol.III, 1951)

{{Archaeological sites in Taxila |state=expanded}}
{{Gandhara}}

[[Category:Taxila Tehsil]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Punjab, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Buddhist sites in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Maurya Empire]]

Bhir Mound - Revision history

Bharatwiki Socrates at 01:33, 14 January 2024