Sagala
Ancient city · Pakistan
- Abandoned
- unknown
- Founded
- —
- Population
- —
- Coordinates
- 32.505, 74.534
Why it was abandoned
🏛️ Ancient ruins
Detected automatically from the text: ancient city in the Indian subcontinent where Sialkot, Pakistan, is today
History
Sagala, Śākala or Sangala was a city in the northwestern Indian subcontinent, generally identified as the predecessor of the present-day Sialkot in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The city was the capital of the Madra kingdom, and was razed in 326 BC during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great. In the 2nd century BC, Sagala was made capital of the Indo-Greek kingdom by Menander I. Menander embraced Buddhism after extensive debating with a Buddhist monk, as recorded in the Buddhist text Milinda Panha. Sagala became a major centre for Buddhism under his reign, and prospered as a major trading centre. It was the capital of Mihirakula, as mentioned by Xuanzang in his 7th-century account.