The importance of the vase lies in the long Kharoshthi inscription which dates the objects to around 178 AD and claims that the stupa contained the sacred relics of the Buddha.

The vase was unearthed in one of the Buddhist relic deposits (stupas) in the district of Wardak about 80 km (50 mi) south-west of Kabul in Afghanistan.

[11] The text mentions Kanishka's successor Huvishka who ruled c. AD 151 to 190; it thus provides useful evidence for reconstructing the chronological reigns of the Kushan royalty.

[15] The Kharoshthi inscription records that the relics were consecrated on the same day in Kanishka year 51 (c. AD 178) by the daughter of "Vagamarega", the donor of the Wardak Vase.

The contents of the vase included a relic container made of silver, a folded sheet of birch bark and 21 coins.