Takshashila was a center for higher learning and from historical accounts can be roughly dated to be operational from around the 4th or 5th century BC to the 5th century AD, a span of several centuries.
It became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries before Christ, and continued to attract students until the destruction of the city in the 5th century AD. Students paid up to1000 coins in advance to receive education at Takshashila –and there were thousands of such students.
Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science. There were even curious subjects like the art of discovering hidden treasure, decrypting encrypted messages, etc.
The students could choose any subject and were not debarred from sacred subjects on the score of caste. Princes were treated in the same way as poorest student and kings made it a principle to send the princes away from their own country, to learn like an ordinary student.
Takshashila University
