प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

V] EDUCATIONAL CENTRES AND INSTITUTIONS 105
Unfortunately we know very little about its
educational activities from non-Jātaka sources.
**Political Vicissitudes :—**Taxila was conquered
and occupied by the Persians in the 6th century B. C.,
by the Indo-Baktrians in the 2nd century B. C. by
the Scythians in the 1st century B. C., by the Kushāṇas
in the 1st century A. D. and by the Hūṇas in the
5th century A. D. We do not know what effects
these political vicissitudes had over educational activity
of the place. The ruins give traces of three different
city sites occupied at the beginning of the Baktrian,
Scythian and Kushāṇa periods. It is quite possible
that these political vicissitudes may have told upon
the city's prosperity, which may in turn have affected
the cause of education. Every successive power,
however, continued to maintain its provincial head-
quarters at Taxila ; this circumstance must have soon
obliterated the ravages of war.
Their Effects on Education : The Persian and
Greek occupation must have affected the curricula of
schools and colleges ; we have, however, only circum-
stantial evidence on the point. Epigraphical testimony
shows conclusively that the Persian occupation resulted
in the replacement of the national Brāhmī script by
the foreign Kharoshṭrī alphabet. The Scythian and
Kushāṇa conquerors had no culture or civilisation of
their own, but the Indo-Baktrian rulers were the
inheritors of the rich Greek civilisation. Their rule in
Taxila extended over a century and a quarter, and
must have made some impression on the educational
system of the place. It is quite possible that a few of
the ‘world renowned’ teachers of Taxila may have learnt
and opened classes in Greek language and literature in
order to facilitate the appointment of their students in
government services under the Greek administration.