It might come as a surprise to many that the now missing ‘Taxali’ gateway was almost two thousand years ago merely the path towards the ‘taxal’ … for a ‘taxal’ is where coins were minted. Physically it was outside the Walled City then.

In the initial eastward trek of the Aryans, we see the emergence of Gujjars – the cattle herders – and the Jaats, the farmers of, initially, rice the ‘Chawlas’ as they acquired the name, and then the wheat growers. Trade then was by barter, and the use of monetary exchanges did not exist. Rice, wheat, vegetables, fruits and spices were bartered. Even apes and peacocks were exported to faraway places like Europe. (Marshall, p68).

As trade got complex and export to faraway places, by river and land, started the need for a monetary system was felt. Gold was the first medium of exchange by weight. As Chandragupta Maurya outlined the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road), he touched the river ports along the way from Peshawar right up to Patna. (Belloc p35-7).

Along the way as the highway touched cities, all invariably built on important rivers, at Lahore, it touched Khizri port, renamed relatively recently by Ranjit Singh as Sheranwala Gate after his Multan victory. As the Ravi River curled around the city, at one side was a path leading to the ancient city. This is where Chandragupta Maurya’s ‘taxal’ was situated.

Mind you, as it was not part of the main ancient city, it led to a ‘taxal’ – a mint – which existed at the entrance towards the fort. Today that point is the Taxali Chowk. There is mention of coinage existing in the pre-Mauryan period, but in the Mauryan period gold coins were acceptable as far away as Rome. The gold ‘Nishka’ (Majumdar, p137, ‘Medium of Exchange’) was the acceptable currency in foreign trade, as well as all along the GT Road.

The silver coin had a standard 32 ‘ratis’ (58.56 grams) and was known as ‘dharana’. The copper coin was eighty ratis’ (146.4 grams). According to Buddhist sources (Lyall, history series p274), the coins minted in Lahore were considered among the finest because of the superior craftsmen that lived and worked there. To understand the history of Lahore, it is important to study ancient history, for it provides relevance to the modern situation.

In Lahore’s ‘taxal,’ a major reform came about when Sher Shah Suri came to power. Besides planting thousands of trees around Lahore – he set up Badami Bagh—his coinage reform is known in history as “the finest in the known world” (Hugh K. Trevaskis, ‘Land of Five Rivers, pp110). In Lahore, the very finest silver coins were produced in abundance “excellent in fineness and execution” (HKT, p110). When Suri died and Humayun, the son of Babur, took over, ‘taxal’ fell in quality production.

According to H.K. Trevaskis (pp137), in this era with news coming in that the Chinese were using paper money of a very high quality, there was a massive spread of illegal coinage minted in the Taxali area by Hindu traders. The “Royal treasury was overflowing with unauthorized mixed silver-copper coins of a value ‘equal to pebbles’”.

Come Akbar and he put a halt to these ‘mixed home-made coins’. They were all collected from all over India and piled like ‘mountain heaps’ at Tughlakabad. The Mughal order was that only those people who manufactured copper utensils were to take them away free, and that ‘coin makers’, if caught, would be flogged.

The first mint outside the Walled City of Lahore was located on the GT Road beyond the Shalimar Gardens in a huge walled complex. One source says it was built before the gardens came about. An article on the subject in this newspaper by Iftikhar Hanif dwells on the subject.

Once the Mughals had consolidated, they also set up mints at Noida and Delhi. Come the British and the first British mint was set up in Calcutta (Kolkata) in the fort area called the ‘Black Hole’. But as new machinery arrived from England, a nearby mint was set up. The East India Company set up three mints in Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta (Kolkata) and Madras (Chennai). Once the Japanese, in World War Two, bombed Calcutta, the British shifted their Calcutta Mint to Lahore in 1942 to avoid the Japanese bombing.

But back to Chandragupta Maurya and the road to the ‘taxal’. The main river port of Khizri was the first stop, and just beyond was the stop towards the ‘taxal’. It was a well-guarded path even in those days, and the gold, silver and copper from other parts of the sub-continent came up this road. One description says it was a ‘mud road’.

As Akbar consolidated his courtiers started building posh houses along the road. Then Akbar expanded, and one source (H.K. Trevaskis, Punjab IG Registration and Land Records) claims that the reason the Walled City of Lahore was expanded in the Great Famine era was also because the elite had built impressive houses there.

With the expansion of the Walled City and the use of the GT Road Mint, the initial mint was at the Taxali Chowk. Later, it moved up next to the Shalimar Gardens. One source claims that for some time, there was a mint operating inside the Lahore Fort.

But the Taxali Bazaar lost its Beautiful Akbar-era gateway after the 1857 Freedom Uprising against the British. The colonialists felt that it was a major entrance for the ‘rebels’ and they destroyed it. It was never rebuilt. A British bureaucrat then claimed that this entrance allowed the colonial rulers to enter the Walled City with ease. Over a hundred freedom fighters were blown up by cannon outside this gateway. But a ‘free’ Pakistan is not bothered about those pre-Partition freedom fighters.

The use of the Taxali Gate Bazaar over time has housed the Mughal posh, the Sikh generals, the Mughal-era classical musicians, the young ladies ‘pleasing the posh and rich’, graduating on to prostitution, and musical instrument manufacturers. With them came the leather good makers.

Come the military dictator Gen Zia and he ordered all music and dancing ladies out of the area. It was a mistake for today they are spread all over the city. Now in Taxali food shops abound and traditional shoe shops are plentiful. The entire literary and cultural aspect of Lahore life has shifted to faraway locations.

But we must appreciate that Taxali over time has meant different things at different times. It has contributed to the culture and happiness of the city. In a way, it still does. Hope the ‘pious’ keep their hands off the place.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2025