A Buddhist monument near Rawalpindi

Mankiala, also spelled Manikyala or Mankiyala, is a Buddhist archaeological site near Rawalpindi in Pakistan’s Punjab. Archaeologist Debala Mitra described a group of stupas and associated monasteries around Manikyala and recorded details of the great stupa from earlier surveys. A stupa is a monument associated with Buddhist devotion and often with relics or commemoration. The standing structure and surrounding remains are evidence of building and religious activity over more than one period. Mitra’s book is a historical account published in 1971, so its descriptions should be compared with later archaeological work and conservation records when considering the site today.[1]

Excavation and collecting

In an introduction to a study of Gandharan museum collections, Himanshu Prabha Ray discusses the opening of the stupa in 1830 and the subsequent movement of archaeological objects. Ray describes General Jean-Baptiste Ventura’s excavation and the collection of objects from the monument. Early excavation was conducted with different methods and priorities from modern archaeology. Reports and collected objects can therefore preserve evidence, but missing details about where objects lay may limit interpretation. The history of a site includes what was removed and where it went as well as the structures that remain in place.[2]

Coins and successive deposits

A British Museum gallery guide describes coins from different deposits at Manikyala. It explains that the stupa was enlarged and rebuilt and that new deposits were added over time. One group includes coins associated with places including Merv, Kashmir and Kabul; another includes Kushan copper coins. Coins can help establish that objects from different regions entered a deposit, but a coin’s mint and date do not by themselves explain who placed it there or when it travelled. The guide’s distinction between deposits is important: material found at different depths should not automatically be treated as a single event.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Debala Mitra. Buddhist Monuments ↗Written source · Source date: 1971 · Locator: Printed p. 128, Manikyala section, indexed text. Accessed 2026-11-04.Indexed passage checked; the direct scan exceeded the web reader size limit. The 1971 book describes earlier archaeological surveys, not current site conditions.Return to A Buddhist monument near Rawalpindi, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Himanshu Prabha Ray. Buddhism and Gandhara: An Archaeology of Museum Collections ↗Written source · Source date: 2018 · Locator: Introduction, PDF p. 20: Ventura and Manikyala. Accessed 2026-11-04.Ray’s publisher-provided introductory excerpt checked; Ventura’s original Persian note and full edited volume were not independently examined.Return to Excavation and collecting, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. British Museum. Money Gallery: Large print guide ↗Written source · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Room 68, Case 2, coins from Manikyala deposits A and D, indexed text. Accessed 2026-11-04.Museum guide’s indexed passage checked; direct PDF returned HTTP 403. Objects and excavation records were not independently examined.Return to Coins and successive deposits, paragraph 1 ↑
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Record PH-PLA-0208 · English edition · human review not performed