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.