GeorgiannaMoberg: Creating new article

2026-05-04T05:24:06Z

Creating new article

New page

{{short description|Early medieval kingdom in the Punjab}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name =
| conventional_long_name = Taank Kingdom
| common_name = Taank Kingdom
| status =
| year_start = {{circa|7th century}}
| year_end = {{circa|10th century}}
| date_start =
| date_end =
| event_start =
| event_end =
| p1 =
| p2 =
| s1 =
| s2 =
| image_flag =
| image_map = Taank kingdom, 700 AD.jpg
| map_width = 270
| image_map_caption = Taank Kingdom shown in violet in the north of the [[Indian subcontinent]] circa 700 AD.
| image_map2 =
| image_map2_caption =
| national_anthem =
| capital =
| common_languages =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| government_type = Monarchy
| title_leader =
| leader1 =
| year_leader1 =
| leader2 =
| year_leader2 =
| footnotes =
| demonym =
| area_km2 =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
| today = [[Pakistan]] <br> [[India]]
}}
'''Taank Kingdom''' (also known as '''Takka'''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Handa |first1=Om Chanda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KmaKomlI-UC&q=takka&pg=PA27 |title=Temple Architecture of the Western Himalaya: Wooden Temples |last2=Hāṇḍā |first2=Omacanda |date=2001 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=978-81-7387-115-3 |page=27 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&dq=takka+punjab+kingdom&pg=PA4 |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |date=8 October 1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-63764-0 |page=4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bakker |first=Hans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6p2XCgAAQBAJ&dq=tseh+kia+xuanzang&pg=PA113 |title=The World of the Skandapurāṇa |date=29 June 2015 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-27714-4 |pages=113 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sargana |first=Turab ul Hassan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERW4zQEACAAJ |title=Punjab and the War of Independence 1857-1858 from Collaboration to Resistance |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-070184-0 |pages=34 |language=en |quote=The kings of Kashmir established their influence over upper portions of the remaining ''doabs'', while lower parts were ruled by the powerful '''Kingdom of Taka'''.}}</ref> or '''Taki'''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmad |first=Aijazuddin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2QmPHeIowoC&dq=taki+punjab&pg=PA81 |title=Geography of the South Asian Subcontinent: A Critical Approach |date=2009 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-8069-568-1 |pages=81 |language=en}}</ref>) was a kingdom based in the [[Punjab]] from 6th to 10th century CE. The kingdom was located south of [[Kashmir]] and north of [[Sindh]], extending from the [[Indus River|Indus]] in the west to the [[Beas River|Beas river]] in the east. Its capital was the city of [[Sagala]] (modern day [[Sialkot]]).

==History==
Takka kingdom was called as ''Tseh-kia'' or ''Zhejia'' (磔迦) by the Chinese pilgrim [[Xuanzang]], who visited it in 629–645 CE. According to him, the kingdom stretched from river [[Beas]] in its east to the [[Indus]] in the west, and the states of Mülasthanapura ([[Multan]]) and ''Bofadou'' or ''Parvata'' (near modern Sialkot) were its vassals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Balogh |first=Dániel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&dq=tseh+kia+xuanzang&pg=PA307 |title=Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History |date=12 March 2020 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-93194-01-4 |pages=307 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{sfnp|Rongxi|1996|pp=97, 306}}<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&dq=tseh+kia+xuanzang&pg=PA307 |title=Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History |date=2020 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-93194-01-4 |editor-last=Balogh |editor-first=Dániel |pages=93, 279, 307 |language=en}}</ref> According to Hermann Goetz the Gurjara Takkadeśa was a "buffer vassal state" of the [[Pratihara dynasty]] and Gurjara princes of Takkadeśa used titles of [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] origin, for example, Ālakhāna, originating from ''[[Il khan|Il-Khān]]''.{{sfn|Goetz|1955|p=13, 30}} He further considers [[Gujars]] as descendants of Gurjaras.{{Sfn|Goetz|1955|p=12-13}}

Xuanzang further noted that it produced abundant quantities of non-sticky rice and wheat, also gold, brass, iron and other metals.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6A4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA241 |title=Political Violence in Ancient India |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-97527-9 |page=241 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Sagar2">Foreign Influence on Ancient India by Krishna Chandra Sagar [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA216 p.216]</ref><ref name="AG2">{{cite book |last1=Ghosh |first1=Amalananda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NA3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA791 |title=Taxila |date=1965 |publisher=CUP Archive |page=791 |language=en |access-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118183407/https://books.google.com/books?id=0NA3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA791 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite having an illustrious Buddhist heritage as evident from three colossal stupas, Buddhism had declined in the region,<ref>{{cite web |last=Gopal |first=Navjeevan |date=3 May 2019 |title=In ancient Punjab, religion was fluid, not watertight, says Romila Thapar |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/in-ancient-punjab-religion-was-fluid-not-watertight-says-romila-thapar-5709145/ |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503143856/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/in-ancient-punjab-religion-was-fluid-not-watertight-says-romila-thapar-5709145/ |archive-date=3 May 2019 |access-date=9 March 2023 |publisher=[[The Indian Express]] |language=en-IN |quote=But after the Gupta period, Buddhism began to decline}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fogelin |first=Lars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yPZzBgAAQBAJ&q=Decline+buddhism+gupta |title=An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=9780199948239 |page=149 |language=en |quote=the emergence and spread of Hinduism through Indian society helped lead to Buddhism's gradual decline in India.}}</ref> and later collapsed after the [[Alchon Hun]] persecution, resulting in it being sparsely practised in only about ten monasteries. On the contrary, [[Brahminism|Brahminical Hinduism]] rose as the primary religion in the region and there were several hundreds of Hindu ''Deva'' shrines.<ref>{{cite book |last=McNair |first=Amy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsEGIdhcgMoC&dq=mihirakula+persecution&pg=PA89 |title=Donors of Longmen |publisher=[[University of Hawaiʻi Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=9780824829940 |page=89 |language=en-US |quote=... and the '''destruction''' of Buddhist establishment in Northwest India by the Hephthalite invader, Mihirakula (502-542) in the early sixth century. |access-date=9 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="AG">{{cite book |last1=Ghosh |first1=Amalananda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NA3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA791 |title=Taxila |date=1965 |publisher=CUP Archive |page=791 |language=en |access-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118183407/https://books.google.com/books?id=0NA3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA791 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Hyecho]], a Korean Buddhist monk from [[Silla]], also visited the kingdom in the early 8th century. He recorded its name as ''Takshar'' or ''Zhashe'' (吒社), and located it to the west of ''[[Jalandhar|Jālandhara]]''. However he found many Buddhist monasteries, with king and commoners alike believing in the [[Three Jewels and Three Roots|three jewels]].{{sfnp|Whitfield|2012|p=107}}

The earliest [[Muslims|Muslim]] source to mention the kingdom is ''Akhbār al-Ṣīn wa’l-Hind'', written in 851–52, and traditionally attributed to a [[Sulaiman al-Tajir|merchant named Sulaiman]]. He calls the kingdom ''al-Ṭāqā''. According to his account the ruler of the kingdom lived peacefully with its neighbours and was in good terms with the Arabs and the [[Rashtrakuta Empire]] of [[Deccan]]. He described the women of the kingdom as most beautiful of all [[Hindustan|Hind]].{{sfnp|Mackintosh-Smith|2017|p=14}} Several scholars have identified Takka kingdom with the kingdom of ''al-Usaifan'', located between Kashmir, Multan and [[Kabul]]. Its king is reported by [[al-Biladhuri]] to have converted to Islam during the reign of Caliph [[al-Mu'tasim]] ({{reign|833|842}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ḍār |first=Saifurraḥmān |url= |title=Taxila and the Western World |date=1984 |publisher=al-Waqar Publishers |location=Lahore |pages=20 |language=en |oclc=1172089120}}</ref>

In 915, the Arab historian [[al-Masudi]] mentions it as ''at-Tákin'', referring to the hills of the Punjab. In ''[[Hudud al-Alam]]'', an anonymous geographical treatise written in 982, the kingdom is called ''Tāqi'' and is described as "a country with populous towns".{{sfnp|Minorsky|Bosworth|1970|p=91}} In the ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' of [[Kalhana]] (12th century CE), the kingdom is called ''Takka-désa'' while [[al-Biruni]] in his ''[[India (Al-Biruni)|Kitab al-Hind]]'' calls it ''Tākēshar'', located in the vicinity of [[Kashmir]].{{sfnp|Minorsky|Bosworth|1970|p=249}} The [[Chach Nama]] (history of Sindh) mentions it as ''Tak''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal, Vol XVI |publisher=Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute |location=Hoshiarpur |page=92 |language=English, Hindi, Sanskrit}}</ref> The [[Lawik dynasty]] of [[Ghazni]] is also believed to have belonged to the Takka people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Devra |first1=G.S.L. |last2=Arora |first2=Shashi |date=2012 |title=Hindu Commanders in the Army of Sultans of Ghazna: A Case Study of Vijaypal of Bayana |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156207 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=73 |pages=205–211 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44156207}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[History of Punjab]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* {{Cite book |last= |url=https://archive.org/details/hudud-al-alam-minorsky-1970/mode/1up? |title=Hudud al-'Alam: The Regions of the World |date=1970 |publisher=Luzac & Co. |editor=Bosworth, C.E. |editor-link=C.E. Bosworth |edition=second |location=London |translator-last=Minorsky |translator-first=V. |trans-title= |oclc=615158224 |ref={{harvid|Minorsky|Bosworth|1970}} |translator-link=V. Minorsky}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sīrāfī |first=Abū Zayd Ḥasan ibn Yazīd |author-link=Abu Zayd al-Sirafi |title=Accounts of China and India |date=2017 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-1-4798-3059-6 |editor-last=F. Kennedy |editor-first=Philip |series=Library of Arabic literature |location=New York |translator-last=Mackintosh-Smith |translator-first=Tim |ref={{harvid|Mackintosh-Smith|2017}}}}
* {{Cite book |last=[[Xuanzang]] |url=https://archive.org/details/dBET_T2087_GreatTangRecordofWesternRegions_1996_0/mode/1up?q=Takka |title=The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions |date=1996 |publisher=Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research |isbn=978-1-886439-02-3 |edition=1. print |series=BDK English Tripiṭaka |location=Berkeley, California |translator-last=Rongxi |translator-first=Li |ref={{harvid|Rongxi|1996}}}}
* {{Cite book |title=Korean Buddhist Culture: Accounts of a Pilgrimage, Monuments, and Eminent Monks |date=2012 |publisher=Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism |isbn=978-89-94117-17-1 |editor-last=Whitfield |editor-first=Roderick |series=Collected Works of Korean Buddhism |volume=10 |location=Seoul, Korea}}
*{{cite book |last=Cunningham |first=Alexander |title=The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang |publisher= Munshiram Manoharlal|year=1871 |isbn=9788121510646 |location= |pages=150–154}}
*{{cite book |last1=Goetz |first1=Hermann |title=The Early wooden temples of Chamba |date=1955 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004643963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssBCEQAAQBAJ&q=takka+gurjara}}

[[Category:History of Sialkot]]
[[Category:Medieval Indian monarchies]]
[[Category:Dynasties of India]]
[[Category:Former monarchies in Pakistani history]]
[[Category:Dynasties of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Hindu dynasties]]

Taank Kingdom - Revision history

GeorgiannaMoberg: Creating new article