The stupa was built during the Kushan era to house Buddhist relics, and was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world.

[7] The plinth was likely decorated with sculpted reliefs,[7] while niches built into the dome's four cardinal points was inlayed with precious stone.

[7] The tall wooden superstructure was built atop a decorated stone base,[7] and crowned with a 13-layer copper-gilded chatra.

[7] Sung Yun noted in the early 6th century that the tower had been struck by lightning at least three times, having been rebuilt after each strike.

[9] The stupa was discovered and excavated in 1908–1909 by a British archaeological mission under David Brainard Spooner, and led to the discovery in its base of the Kanishka casket, a six-sided rock crystal reliquary containing three small fragments of bone,[10] relics of the Buddha (which were transferred to Mandalay, Burma) and a dedication in Kharoshthi involving Kanishka.