Note on a Newly‑Discovered Taxila Inscription

Summary

In this brief report, the author presents a newly discovered inscription from Taxila, one of the major urban centres of ancient Gandhara. The stone fragment bears a few lines of Kharoshthi script and is tentatively dated to the first century CE. The inscription appears to be a donation record, mentioning the dedication of a stupa or monastery by a donor whose name is partially preserved. The author compares the language of the text with other Gandharan inscriptions and notes orthographic features characteristic of the period. Although the fragmentary nature of the inscription limits definitive conclusions, it nonetheless adds to our corpus of early Buddhist epigraphy and attests to the continued patronage of religious institutions in Taxila during the Kushan era.