[2] Tapa Sardar is the ruin of a large Buddhist stupa - monastery complex which is located four Kilometers southeast of the city of Ghazni .

[7] The sanctuary was first destroyed by a great fire in the 7th century, putting an end to the period of Gandharan art at the site.

[2][8][9] Soon after the destructions, the site that rebuilt on a grand scale, and reinforced by a huge fortress-like defensive structure built in unbaked clay, and incorporating the religious buildings of the previous period.

[10] The patronage of Buddhism in the area during the 7-8th century is a function of the expansion of the Tang dynasty power in Central Asia at that time, just as Arabs were pressuring Khorasan and Sistan, right until the decisive Battle of Talas in 751.

[10] Chinese monks were probably directly in charge of some of the Buddhist sanctuaries of Central Asia, such as the temple of Suiye (near Tokmak in present-day Kirghizistan).

[12] This construction period was possibly marked by the patronage of Alkhis, a contemporary ruler of the Zabul area who was probably of the same ethnicity as the nearby Turk Shahis of Kabul and a member of the Zunbils,[13] or his successors.

[12] The last phase (750-800 CE) follows more closely Indian prototype, possibly due to the loss of Chinese influence in Central Asia and the growth of Brahmanical and Hindu power in Kabul from this period.

[2] A terminal phase of destruction may have occurred with the final conquest of Afghanistan by Ya'qub ibn Layth in 869-70 CE, but a simple abandonment of the site seems more likely during the 8th-9th century.