Type: Archaeological Site - Settlement
Province: Punjab
District: Rawalpindi
Period: Historic
Relative Chronology: 6th - 4th Century BCE
Description: The first city of Taxila known as Bhir Mound is located on the south of Taxila Museum across the road leading to Dharmarajika. The mound itself measures 1220 m from north to south and 610 m 3291 m from east to west. The settlement flourished from 6th century B.C. to 2nd century B.C. it was a prosperous town when Alexander visited Taxila in 326 B.C. The exposed remains cover residential buildings divided by streets and lanes. The layout is irregular unlike the symmetrical layout of Sirkap. Most of the structural remains are built of lime and kanjur stones, while others were built simply in limestone. Like streets, the buildings are also irregular in plan and sometimes it is difficult to determine where one house ends and the other begins. The objects recovered from Bhir Mound include house hold potshards, large storage jars, terracotta toys, toilet trays, beads of semi-precious stones, metal objects and multitudinous articles of daily use.
Latitude: 33.743834694
Longitude: 72.819084306
Ownership: Federal Government
Legal Status: Protected by The Antiquity Act 1975 (As amended in 1992)
Title of Publication: Archaeological Sites and Historical Monuments Protected Under the Antiquities Act, 1975
Published In: Federal Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad
Year of Publication: 1987
Bibliography/Reference: Khan, Ahmad Nabi
