Editing History of Nepal (section)

===Prehistory===
Prehistoric sites of [[Paleolithic|palaeolithic]], [[mesolithic]] and [[neolithic]] origins have been discovered in the [[Sivalik Hills|Siwalik hills]] of [[Dang District, Nepal|Dang district]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_154_02.pdf|title=The Prehistory of Nepal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603155105/https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_154_02.pdf |archive-date=2022-06-03 }}</ref> It is possible that the [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] people whose history predates the onset of the [[Bronze Age]] in the Indian subcontinent (around 3300 BC) inhabited the area before the arrival of other ethnic groups like the [[Tibeto-Burman]]s and long before [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]] from across the border.The Tibeto-Burman peoples were likely the earliest significant settlers in Nepal, especially in the highlands and hilly regions.The Indo-Aryans arrived later, contributing significantly to the cultural and linguistic framework of Nepal, especially in the Kathmandu Valley and lowlands.The Dravidian presence in Nepal is minimal, as they primarily settled in the southern parts of India after Indo-Aryan expansion pushed them southward.<ref>{{cite book|title=Nepal|author=Krishna P. Bhattarai|publisher=Infobase publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-aArqOqBGBQC&pg=PA32|isbn=9781438105239|year=2009}}</ref> [[Tharu people|Tharus]] who were Tibeto-Burmans mixed heavily with Indigenous tibes in the southern regions, are natives of the central [[Madhesh Province]] and Terai region of Nepal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brega|first1=A|last2=Gardella|first2=R|last3=Semino|first3=O|last4=Morpurgo|first4=G|last5=Astaldi Ricotti|first5=G B|last6=Wallace|first6=D C|last7=Santachiara Benerecetti|first7=A S|date=October 1986|title=Genetic studies on the Tharu population of Nepal: restriction endonuclease polymorphisms of mitochondrial DNA.|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=39|issue=4|pages=502–512|issn=0002-9297|pmc=1683983|pmid=2876631}}</ref> The first documented tribes in Nepal are the [[Kirat people]] is the record of Kirat Kings from [[Kirata Kingdom]] from 800 BC, which shows Kirats were recorded in Nepal last 2000 to 2500 years, with an extensive dominion, possibly reaching at one time to the delta of the [[Ganges]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/miscellaneousess01hodguoft|title=Miscellaneous essays relating to Indian subjects|last=Hodgson|first=B. H. (Brian Houghton)|date=1880|publisher=London, Trübner|others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref> Other ethnic groups of Indo-Aryan origin later migrated to southern part of Nepal from Indo-Gangetic Plain of [[North India|northern India]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Social Inclusion of Ethnic Communities in Contemporary Nepal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0y6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT199|date=15 August 2013|publisher=KW Publishers Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-93-85714-70-2|pages=199–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywY_dN6ad8gC&q=Nepalese+proto-australoid&pg=PA41|title=Populations of the SAARC Countries: Bio-cultural Perspectives|last1=Sarkar|first1=Jayanta|last2=Ghosh|first2=G. C.|date=2003|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn=9788120725621|language=en}}</ref>

[[Emperor Ashoka]] was responsible for the construction of several significant structures in Nepal. These include the [[Ramagrama stupa|Ramagrama Stupa]], [[Gotihawa|Gotihawa Pillar of Ashoka]], [[Nigali Sagar|Nigali-Sagar Ashoka Pillar inscription]], and the [[Lumbini pillar inscription]] of Ashoka.The Chinese pilgrims [[Fa-Hien]] (337 CE – c. 422 CE) and [[Xuanzang]] (602–664 CE) describe the Kanakamuni Stupa and the Asoka Pillar of currently Nepal region in their travel accounts. Xuanzang speaks of a lion capital atop the pillar, now lost. A base of a [[Pillar of Ashoka]] has been discovered at [[Gotihawa]], a few miles from Nigali Sagar, and it has been suggested that it is the original base of the Nigalar Sagar pillar fragments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=A. |date=1967 |title=The Pillars of Aśoka - Their Purpose |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29755169 |journal=East and West |volume=17 |issue=3/4 |pages=273–275 |jstor=29755169 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> In 249 BCE, Emperor Asoka founded Lalitapatan city of Nepal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vincent A. Smith |url=http://archive.org/details/earlyhistoryofin0000vinc |title=Early History of India |date=1958-12-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-821513-4 |pages=207 |quote=249 BCE, Pilgrimage of Asoka to Buddhist holy places; erection of pillars at Lumbini Garden and near a stupa of Konakamana; his visit to Nepal, and foundation of Lalita Patan his daughter Charumati becomes a nun.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Gercrude Emerson |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.529188 |title=Pageant Of India's History Vol.1 |date=1948 |publisher=Longmans, Green And Co. New York |pages=131 |quote=Asoka is also credited with having founded two important cities, Srinagar in Kashmir and Lalita Patan in Nepal.}}</ref>