On 24th September 2016 a Federal Assistance Award was signed by the US State Department to enable ACHCO to begin documentation and conservation at Topdara in Parwan province and Situated close to the provincial capital of Charikar, the complex at Topdara is one of the best-preserved of the Buddhist complexes in the region. Possibly commissioned by the Kushan ruler Kanishka in around 400AD, the principal structure is a stone stupa whose drum has a diameter of 23 metres and stands almost 30 metres above the surrounding fields. The drum retains a decorative band formed from small pieces of schist, with on the east side a tripartite niche that housed a seated figure of Buddha (or boddhisatva) flanked by donors, aligned with a ceremonial stair aligned with Begram, the Kushan capital in the valley below. The site was identified in the 1830s by Charles Masson and included in Wilson’s 1841 publication ‘Ariana Antiqua’ but not surveyed until 1965 by a team of Japanese archaeologists.