Stupa and monastery

Dharmarajika, also known locally as Chir Tope, is a Buddhist archaeological complex near Taxila. Taxila Museum describes a main circular stupa surrounded by smaller structures and a monastic area to the north. A stupa is a monument used in Buddhist devotional settings, often associated with relics or commemoration. The museum’s history attributes the site’s beginnings to the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and describes later rebuilding; those early origins are an interpretation to consider alongside the archaeological evidence. The complex developed over a long period, so its surviving structures should not all be assigned to one construction event.[1]

A reliquary and an inscription

Scholar Stefan Baums includes a Dharmarajika reliquary inscription in a catalogue of Gandharan reliquary texts. His translation identifies an act of enshrinement and names the Dharmarajika at Taxila. Inscriptions are evidence for what their makers recorded about dedication and religious merit; their claims about relics are matters of historical and religious interpretation. A translation also depends on reading a particular script and surviving text. Studying a reliquary together with its inscription and archaeological context provides more information than treating an object as an isolated treasure.[2]

Excavation and movement of objects

The Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka describes a gold relic casket and a silver scroll in Kharoshthi script recovered at Dharmarajika during British rule. Taxila Museum’s account also discusses excavation of the site and the later movement of a casket to Sri Lanka. These accounts connect the site to histories of collection, religious devotion and the movement of objects across borders. A reliquary, its written dedication and any remains it contains are separate kinds of evidence and should be described with care. The site itself remains part of the archaeological landscape of Taxila. The casket and the scroll are recorded as separate components of the find.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Taxila Museum. Dharmarajika Stupa ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Site layout, history and casket paragraphs. Accessed 2026-11-04.Museum’s account checked; Ashokan foundation is attributed to the museum and should not be treated as independently established here.Return to Stupa and monastery, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Stefan Baums. Catalog and Revised Texts and Translations of Gandharan Reliquary Inscriptions ↗Written source · Source date: 2012 · Locator: Printed p. 237 (PDF p. 38), inscription no. 30, Urasaka. Accessed 2026-11-04.Baums’s transliteration and translation checked; the original silver sheet was not independently examined.Return to A reliquary and an inscription, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. High Commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka. Dharmarajika Stupa, Taxila ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Dharmarajika Stupa, Taxila section. Accessed 2026-11-04.High Commission description checked for the casket and silver scroll; the objects were not independently examined.Return to Excavation and movement of objects, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-PLA-0206 · English edition · human review not performed