Tak / Takshak

Nagavanshi people of the north-western plains — the Takka country

The Tak (Takshak / Takka) are a Nagavanshi-associated people of the north-western plains. Their country — the Takka-deśa of Kalhaṇa’s Rājataraṅgiṇī and the Tākēshar of al-Biruni — lay across the central Punjab around the Chenab and Ravi, in the same frontier world the Varaha moved through, and the Lawik rulers of Ghazni are held to have belonged to the same stock. They are noted here as one of the north-western peoples whose history runs beside the Varaha’s, not as a demonstrated branch or ally of the clan.

A correction (18 October 2026): earlier revisions of this entry named a “Wajihu-l Mulk Tak” said to be mentioned beside the Varahas in the Persian chronicles, and cited a “Bhatia (1973)” on Shahi coinage. Neither could be verified in the sources, and both have been removed pending a citation.

Sources

• Kalhaṇa, Rājataraṅgiṇī (trans. Stein) — Takka-deśa
• Al-Biruni, Kitāb al-Hind (trans. Sachau) — Tākēshar / the Takka country

This repository is a living record: entries are revised and expanded as new evidence comes to light, and readings offered as hypothesis or tradition are marked as such and may change. Last edited 18 October 2026.