Shotorak
Shotorak Monastery · Shotorak Kapisa · Begram Shotorak · Kapisa Shotorak
Kushan 2nd–7th c CE (Kapisa Buddhist)·Kushan Gandhara Kapisa Buddhist·🇦🇫 Kapisa Province, Bagram District, Shotorak hill 1.5 km SE of Begram citadel (ancient Kapisa) 60 km north of Kabul, Panjshir valley mouth, Afghanistan
About
About Shotorak
Shotorak — Kushan Buddhist monastery (2nd c CE–7th c CE) 1.5 km SE Begram (Kapisa) at Panjshir mouth, excavated 1936–39 Hackin and 2020s DAA. Shotorak is Begram's Buddhist suburb: Monastery with main stupa 15 m, chapel with 3rd c CE Schist sculpture (Sakyamuni and Maitreya), votive stupas, and later Turk period additions. Art Gandhara schist with Kapisa local stone, stucco. Located 60 km north Kabul, linking Begram citadel to Buddhist Panjshir. Plundered 1990s–2001 but sculptures now Guimet and Kabul Museum.
Why it mattersOnly Kapisa Buddhist monastery with Begram Treasure context — Panjshir lapis route type-site
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Begram Treasure storeroom link to Shotorak donor?
Theories
- 01Shotorak as Kapisa Buddhist–royal atelier per Hackin
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2nd c CE Kushan Kanishka; apogee 3rd–5th c
- Period
- Kushan 2nd–7th c CE (Kapisa Buddhist)
- Culture
- Kushan Gandhara Kapisa Buddhist
- Builders
- Kushan Buddhist artisans (Kapisa school)
- Purpose
- Begram Kapisa Buddhist monastery suburb controlling Panjshir lapis trade and Kabul valley
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
2nd c CE
Kushan monastery founded under Kanishka
3rd–5th c
Gandhara schist chapel and votive stupas
1936–39
Hackin excavations; sculptures to Guimet
On the ground
Structures & features
34.9800° N · 69.2800° E · 1500 m · 2 mapped features
Main Stupa and Courtyard with Votive Stupas
stupa15-m main stupa with votive stupa courtyard at hilltop
34.9810° N · 69.2792° EChapel with Sakyamuni Schist Sculpture
chapel8×8 m chapel with 3rd c Sakyamuni and Maitreya schist sculptures west
34.9785° N · 69.2811° E