Bhir Mound

Bhir Mound is the oldest urban layer of Taxila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Pakistan's Punjab province and one of the most significant archaeological complexes in South Asia. The settlement dates to the 6th–2nd centuries BCE, founded under Achaemenid rule and later taken without resistance by Alexander the Great in 326 BCE. Its excavated street plan is notably irregular compared to the later Greek-influenced grid layout of Sirkap, the next city built on the Taxila plain, revealing the organic growth patterns of an early South Asian city. Today the site presents as a broad, partly overgrown field of exposed stone foundations, street traces, and drainage channels. It rewards visitors with an interest in pre-Hellenistic urbanism and pairs naturally with the Taxila Museum nearby.