Takht-e Rostam, Buddhist stupa and archaeological site in Samangan, Afghanistan

Takht-e Rostam is a Buddhist monastery complex carved from pale tan bedrock 2 km south of Haibak. It has five chambers, two of them sanctuaries; one sanctuary has a domed ceiling with lotus-leaf carving. On an adjacent hill stands a stupa topped by a harmika, with rough caves around its base.

Takht-e Rostam was built in the 3rd–4th century AD, when the area belonged to the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom. Its five chambers and two sanctuaries were cut entirely from the bedrock, one sanctuary carrying a domed ceiling with lotus-leaf carving. After the Muslim conquests the monastery's purpose was forgotten, and the site was later drawn into the Shahnameh story of Rostam and Sohrab. In 2021 the Afghan government renovated it and added a hall for tourists.

After the Muslim conquests the monastery's Buddhist purpose was forgotten, and the site was absorbed into the story of Rostam and Sohrab in Ferdowsi's 10th-century Shahnameh: Rostam is said to have travelled to the Kingdom of Samangan and stayed at Takht-e Rostam. Visitors today find the name tied to that epic rather than to its Buddhist past.

The site is 2 km south of Haibak (Aybak), the capital of Samangan Province, reached by road from the town. The monastery chambers are cut into the bedrock, so surfaces are uneven and the caves are unlit; a hall for visitors was added in 2021. The stupa stands on an adjacent hill above the cave complex.

A hoard of Ghaznavid coins was found by chance in one of the rough caves around the base of the hilltop stupa. The site was renovated in 2021, when a hall for visitors was added. The stupa itself is topped by a harmika and stands on a hill beside the carved monastery.