The history of Nepal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia and East Asia.
The Rai are an ethnolinguistic group belonging to the Kirat family and primarily Tibeto-Burman linguistic ethnicity. They mainly reside in the eastern parts of Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal and in south western Bhutan.
Yakkha is an indigenous ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent, mainly in modern-day Nepal and present-day India. It is one of the descendants of Nepal's prehistoric Kirat dynasty. The Yakkha people are subsistence farmers who inhabit the lower Arun valley in eastern Nepal. They number only a few thousand and their language is nearly extinct.
The history of Sikkim begins with the indigenous Lepcha's contact with early Tibetan settlers. Historically, Sikkim was a sovereign Monarchical State in the eastern Himalayas. Later a protectorate of India followed by a merger with India and official recognition as a state of India. Lepchas were the main inhabitants as well as the Ruler of the land up to 1641. Lepchas are generally considered to be the first people, indigenous to Sikkim also includes Darjeeling.
Khasas were an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe and a late Janapada kingdom from Himalayan regions of northern Indian subcontinent mentioned in the various historical Indian inscriptions and ancient Indian Hindu and Tibetan literatures. European sources described the Khasa tribe living in the Northwest Himalayas and the Roman geographer Pliny The Elder specifically described them as "Indian people". They were reported to have lived around Gandhara, Trigarta and Madra Kingdom as per the Mahabharata.
Iman Xin Chemjong Limbu, or Iman Singh Chemjong Limbu; was a Limbu historian, writer, linguist, lexicographer, folklorist, and philosopher of Nepal. Chemjong devoted his entire life to studying and documenting various facets of Kirat Limbu tradition and culture at a time when such activities were frowned upon and even punished by the Nepalese ruling elite as being subversive and "anti-national". Chemjong's research into and publication of Kirant history and culture challenged perceptions of the Nepalese official doctrine that showcased Nepal as a Hindu cultural monolith devoid of alternative narratives.
The Kirāta is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who had territory in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas and Northeast India and who are believed to have been Sino-Tibetan in origin.
Religion in Nepal encompasses a wide diversity of groups and beliefs. Nepal is a secular nation, and secularism in Nepal under the interim constitution is defined as "religious and cultural freedom, along with the protection of religion and culture handed down from time immemorial." That is, "the state government is bound for protecting and fostering Hindu religion" while maintaining "religious" and "cultural" freedom throughout the nation as fundamental rights.
Kimpurusha Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Kimpurushas who were one among the exotic tribes of ancient India. These exotic tribes lived in inaccessible regions like the Himalaya mountains.
Kirata Kingdom in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers to any kingdom of the Kirata people, who were dwellers mostly in the Himalayas. They took part in the Kurukshetra War along with Parvatas (mountaineers) and other Himalayan tribes.
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India.
The Halesi-Maratika Caves are located next to the village of Mahadevasthan, in the Khotang District of eastern Nepal, 3,100 ft. – 4,734 ft. above sea level. The cave and temple are about 185 km south west of Mount Everest. The temple is a venerated pilgrimage site for Hindus, Buddhists and Kirat. The caves are called the Halesi Mahadev Temple by Hindus who associate them with Mahadeva, a form of Shiva; while they are known as the sacred place to Buddhists, who consider them to be the caves associated with the legend of Padmasambhava. The Kirati Rai of the region worship Halesi as an ancestral deity of the community. The Kirat mundhum, a rich oral tradition of the Kirats, manifests that their ancestor Raechhakule (Khokchilipa) also known as Hetchhakuppa used to stay inside the Halesi cave in the remote past. For that reason, the Kirat/Rais consider Halesi as their ancestral place.
Chyasal is an ancient town in the District of Lalitpur in Bagmati Zone in Nepal and a section of the city of Lalitpur. Also known as Yala in Nepal Bhasa. The 800 Kiratis are said to been slain in this Dabu by Lichhavis. Yalamber was a Kirat King who settled in Nepal mainly in Ye and surrounding region of Khopa (Bhaktapur) and Yala (Lalitpur).
Kirat Mundum, also known as Kiratism, or Kirati Mundum, is an animistic folk religion that is indigenous to the Kirati ethnic groups of Nepal, Darjeeling and Sikkim, majorly practiced by Yakkha, Limbu, Sunuwar, Rai, Thami, Jirel, Hayu and Surel peoples in the north-eastern Indo subcontinent. The practice is also known as Kirat Veda, Kirat-Ko Veda or Kirat Ko Ved. According to some scholars, such as Tom Woodhatch, it is a blend of shamanism, animism, and Shaivism. It is practiced by about 3.17% of the Nepali population as of 2021.
Chamling is one of the Kirati languages spoken by the Chamling of Nepal, India and Bhutan. Alternate renderings and names include Chamling, Chamlinge and Rodong. It is closely related to the Bantawa and Puma languages of the Kiranti language family in eastern Nepal, and it belongs to the broader Sino-Tibetan language family. Chamling has SOV word order.
Yuma Sammang is the goddess of the Limbu community of Nepal. The deity Yuma Sammang also known as Ningwaphuma is the most important and popular among Yakthungs (Limbus) and worshiped in all occasion. Yuma is regarded as the mother by Yakthungs. Yuma Samyo or Yuma religion was very popular during Yet Hang age and Thibong Yakthung age. After the Khas Aryan oppression in Yakthung laje (Limbuwan), and introduction of Hinduism from Indian mainland majority of Yakthungs had stopped following the Yuma religion for centuries. The Khas-Aryas also gave the term 'Kirata' to the tribes of the Himalayas. This has in time caused a false belief among sunuwars, yakhas, limbus and the 32 rai tribes that they are all a part of the same ethnic group. In fact, most of these groups are very different from each other, only sharing cultural and lingual similarities because of their close settlements. The Limbus being very distinct from the other so called 'Kiratas' as they do not worship Sumnima and Paruhang. They worship Yuma Sammang on most occasions with the Nembang Clan being an exception as they recognize Theba sammang as their supreme deity. A lot of confusion has occurred since the founding of the Satyahangma Kirat Religion as it states that Sumnima-Paruhang and Yuma-Theba are the same, which is false. The Satyahangma Kirat Religion was created during the reign of the Ranas and it incorporated many Hindu traditions and rituals into the traditional Mundhum of the Limbus. While sharing similar terms [Mundhum{traditional}(Limbu) Mundum(Rai)], the tales within these vocally passed down religions are very different from each other with different characters and events. The lingual difference, cultural difference and various physical traits such as the cranial height and nasal height & breadth also have showed that Limbus and the other so called kiratas are not from the same ancestral family. Studies have also shown that Limbus are more closely related to Tibetans than the rais and sunuwars.
The Kirat Region is an area of the Himalayas in eastern Nepal which is inhabited by ethnic Kirati people. Currently Province No. 1 of Nepal has been proposed to be named Kirat Pradesh or Kirat State.
The Himalayan country named Nepala with its capital in Kathmandu Valley was well-known in the Indian sub-continent by at least 2,500 years ago. Historical discussions on the etymology of Nepal incorporated elements of Hindu and Buddhist History. The origin of the term Nepal is an area of ongoing investigation. Multiple hypotheses have been put forward by modern scholars to varying level of support. It is generally accepted that Nepal and Newar—the latter refers to the ethnic group indigenous to the Kathmandu Valley—are different forms of the same word.
The earliest inhabitants of modern Nepal and adjoining areas are believed to be people from the Indus Valley civilization. By 4000 BCE, the Tibeto-Burmese people had reached Nepal either directly across the Himalayas from Tibet or via Myanmar and north-east India or both. By the late Vedic period, Nepal was being mentioned in various Hindu texts, such as the late Vedic Atharvaveda Pariśiṣṭa and in the post-Vedic Atharvashirsha Upanishad. The Gopal Bansa was the oldest dynasty to be mentioned in various texts as the earliest rulers of the central Himalayan kingdom known by the name 'Nepal'. The Gopalas were followed by Kiratas who ruled for over 16 centuries by some accounts. According to the Mahabharata, the then Kirata king went to take part in the Battle of Kurukshetra. In the south-eastern region, Janakpurdham was the capital of the prosperous kingdom of Videha or Mithila, that extended down to the Ganges, and home to King Janaka and his daughter, Sita.
