Sirkap means severed head, and is the name of the mythological demon that feasted on human flesh and killed the hero Rasalu, who was said to have lived on the site. The ancient city of Sirkap was once a thriving ancient metropolis, complete with streets, houses, shops and places of worship.
Sirkap flourished under various regimes, from the Greeks to the Scythians, Parthians and finally the Kashanas.
Sirkap was founded by the Bactarian King Demetrius, who conquered the region in the 180s BCE, and was the second city of Taxila. The city was rebuilt by King Menander, and after the Bhir Mound site was abandoned Sirkap became the main city of Taxila, in the 2nd century BC.
The city was influenced heavily by Grecian city planning principles introduced after Alexander the Greatâs conquest in the 3rd century BC. Demetrius, who thought of himself as a Greek, built the city on the Hippodamian plan: like a gridiron. The city was expanded by Gondophares, who also built the famous Double-Headed Eagle Stupa and the Temple of the Sun.
The cityâs symmetrical pattern was born of the Greek Hellenistic period. Apollonius â 44 AD â drew a parallel between the planning of Sirkap and that of Athens during his travels, and said it was the size of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. The walls of the city are made from coursed rubble masonry, characteristic of the Greek and Saca periods.
Along the North-South main street of the city once stood temples, houses, shrines and stupas and on the east side of the street stood the shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle, the Apsidal Temple, and a palace on the South end.