Tope Mankiala dates from the Gandharan era, around 2000 years ago. The village had been previously described as the former grand capital of the mythological Rakshasas, though no archaeological evidence supports the theory of Tope Mankiala serving as an ancient Hindu capital, and instead suggests that the area's ruins date from the Buddhist period. The settlement during the Buddhist era may have consisted of approximately 2,000 homes, interspersed with monasteries and 15 stupas. The archaeological site is believed to be on the same hillock where the modern village now stands.

Tope Mankiala stupa was built in the reign of Kanishka (128-151 CE). The ancient settlement is believed to have been destroyed by fire, though there is no indication that it was purposely destroyed.

Mountstuart Elphinstone, the first British emissary to Afghanistan chanced upon this stupa in 1808 AD and penned a detailed account in his memoir 'Kingdom of Caubul' (1815). According to an inscription on a stone the stupa was restored in 1891 by a regiment of the British Indian Army. Raja Usman was architect.