Editing Nepal (section)

=== Ancient Nepal ===
[[File:Birth of Buddha at Lumbini.jpg|thumb|This painting in a [[Laos|Laotian]] temple depicts a legend surrounding the birth of [[The Buddha|Gautama Buddha]] {{circa|563}} BC in [[Lumbini]], Western Nepal.]]

By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from [[Africa]], where they had earlier evolved.<ref name="Dyson2018">{{cite book |last=Dyson|first=Tim |title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|year=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8|page=1}} Quote: "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, intermittently, sometime between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, tiny groups of them began to enter the north-west of the Indian subcontinent. It seems likely that initially, they came by way of the coast. ... it is virtually certain that there were ''Homo sapiens'' in the subcontinent 55,000 years ago, even though the earliest fossils that have been found of them date to only about 30,000 years before the present. (page 1)"</ref><ref name="PetragliaAllchin">{{cite book |author1=Michael D. Petraglia |author2=Bridget Allchin |author-link2=Bridget Allchin |title=The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia: Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC&pg=PA10 |publisher=[[Springer Science + Business Media]] |page=6 |isbn=978-1-4020-5562-1|date=22 May 2007 }} Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka."</ref><ref name="Fisher2018">{{cite book |last=Fisher|first=Michael H.|title=An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|year=2018|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-107-11162-2|page=23}} Quote: "Scholars estimate that the first successful expansion of the ''Homo sapiens'' range beyond Africa and across the Arabian Peninsula occurred from as early as 80,000 years ago to as late as 40,000 years ago, although there may have been prior unsuccessful emigrations. Some of their descendants extended the human range ever further in each generation, spreading into each habitable land they encountered. One human channel was along with the warm and productive coastal lands of the Persian Gulf and the northern Indian Ocean. Eventually, various bands entered India between 75,000 years ago and 35,000 years ago (page 23)"</ref> The earliest known modern human remains in [[South Asia]] date to about 30,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Petraglia|first1=Michael D.|last2=Allchin|first2=Bridget|author-link2=Bridget Allchin|editor=Michael Petraglia|editor2=Bridget Allchin|title=The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia: Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC&pg=PA6|year=2007|publisher=[[Springer Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-4020-5562-1|chapter=Human evolution and culture change in the Indian subcontinent|page=6|access-date=7 October 2020|archive-date=29 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329124221/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC&pg=PA6#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The oldest discovered archaeological evidence of human settlements in Nepal dates to around the same time.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Corvinus |first=Gudrun |author-link=Gudrun Corvinus |title=The Prehistory of Nepal (A summary of the results of 10 years research) |publisher=[[Department of Archaeology (Nepal)|Department of Archaeology]] |journal=Ancient Nepal |location=Kathmandu |number=154 |date=March 2004 |via=[[University of Cambridge]] |url=https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_154_02.pdf |access-date=3 March 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603155105/https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_154_02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

After 6500 BC, evidence for the domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in [[Mehrgarh]] and other sites in what is now [[Balochistan]].<ref name=coni>{{cite book|last1=Coningham|first1=Robin|last2=Young|first2=Ruth|title=The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c. 6500 BC – 200 AD|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-84697-4|pages=104–5|access-date=6 March 2020|archive-date=29 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329124236/https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> These gradually developed into the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kulke|first1=H.|last2=Rothermund|first2=D.|author1-link=Hermann Kulke|date=1 August 2004|title=A History of India|series=4th|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-415-32920-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V73N8js5ZgAC|pages=21–3|access-date=6 March 2020|archive-date=29 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329124238/https://books.google.com/books?id=V73N8js5ZgAC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=coni/> the first urban culture in South Asia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=U.|author-link=Upinder Singh|title=A History of Ancient and Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|year=2009|publisher=[[Longman]]|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-317-1677-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|page=181|access-date=6 March 2020|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328162240/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|url-status=live}}</ref> 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/c...tnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_154_02.pdf|title=The Prehistory of Nepal}}{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The earliest inhabitants of modern Nepal and adjoining areas are believed to be people from the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]]. It is possible that the [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] people whose history predates the onset of the [[Bronze Age]] in the Indian subcontinent (around 6300 BC) inhabited the area before the arrival of other ethnic groups like the Tibeto-Burmans and [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]] from across the border.<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> By 4000 BC, the Tibeto-Burmese people had reached Nepal either directly across the Himalayas from Tibet or via [[Myanmar]] and [[Northeast India|north-east India]] or both.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang|first1=Hua-Wei|last2=Li|first2=Yu-Chun|last3=Sun|first3=Fei|last4=Zhao|first4=Mian|last5=Mitra|first5=Bikash|last6=Chaudhuri|first6=Tapas Kumar|last7=Regmi|first7=Pasupati|last8=Wu|first8=Shi-Fang|last9=Kong|first9=Qing-Peng|last10=Zhang|first10=Ya-Ping|date=April 2012|title=Revisiting the role of the Himalayas in peopling Nepal: insights from mitochondrial genomes|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|language=en|volume=57|issue=4|pages=228–234|doi=10.1038/jhg.2012.8|pmid=22437208|issn=1435-232X|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Stella Kramrisch]] (1964) mentions a substratum of a race of pre-Dravidians and Dravidians, who were in Nepal even before the Newars, who formed the majority of the ancient inhabitants of the valley of Kathmandu.<ref>Susi Dunsmore
British Museum Press, 1993 – Crafts & Hobbies – 204 pages</ref>
[[File:Changunarayan photowalk-WLV-3897.jpg| thumb| In the premises of the [[Changu Narayan Temple]] is a stone inscription dated 464 AD, the first in Nepal since the Ashoka inscription of Lumbini ({{circa|250}} BC).]]
By the late [[Vedic period]], Nepal was being mentioned in various Hindu texts, such as the late Vedic ''[[Pariśiṣṭa#Atharvaveda|Atharvaveda Pariśiṣṭa]]'' and in the post-Vedic ''Atharvashirsha'' [[Upanishads|Upanishad]].<ref name="autogenerated4">P. 17 ''Looking to the Future: Indo-Nepal Relations in Perspective'' By Lok Raj Baral</ref> 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'.<ref name="Tiwari2001">{{cite book |author=Sudarshan Raj Tiwari|title=The Ancient Settlements of the Kathmandu Valley|year=2001|publisher=Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University|isbn=978-99933-52-07-5|page=17}}</ref> The Gopalas were followed by [[Kirata Kingdom|Kiratas]] who ruled for over 16 centuries by some accounts.<ref>{{cite book |title=Nepal Antiquary|year=1978|publisher=Office of the Nepal Antiquary.|page=7}}</ref> 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 Janak]]a and his daughter, [[Sita]].

Around 600 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the southern regions of Nepal. From one of these, the [[Shakya]] polity, arose a prince who later renounced his status to lead an ascetic life, founded [[Buddhism]], and came to be known as [[Gautama Buddha]] (traditionally dated 563–483 BC).<ref name="Klostermaier">{{cite book |author=Klaus K. Klostermaier|title=A Survey of Hinduism: Second Edition|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=df1SUJMdC9sC&pg=PA482|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-0933-7|page=482}}</ref> Nepal came to be established as a land of spirituality and refuge in the intervening centuries, played an important role in transmitting Buddhism to [[East Asia]] via Tibet,<ref name=leo/> and helped preserve Hindu and Buddhist manuscripts.

By 250 BC, the southern regions had come under the influence of the [[Maurya Empire]]. [[Emperor Ashoka]] made a pilgrimage to [[Lumbini]] and [[Pillars of Ashoka|erected a pillar]] at Buddha's birthplace, the [[Lumbini pillar inscription|inscriptions]] on which mark the starting point for properly recorded history of Nepal.{{sfn|Landon|1928|p=11}} Ashoka also visited the Kathmandu valley and built monuments commemorating Gautama Buddha's visit there. By the 4th century AD, much of Nepal was under the influence of the [[Gupta Empire]].{{efn|On [[Samudragupta]]'s [[Allahabad Pillar]], Nepal is mentioned as a border country.}}<ref name="ChakrabartiChakrabarti2013">{{cite book |author1=Kunal Chakrabarti|author2=Shubhra Chakrabarti|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVOFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|date= 2013|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=978-0-8108-8024-5|page=9}}</ref>

In the Kathmandu valley, the Kiratas were pushed eastward by the [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavis]], and the [[Licchavi (kingdom)|Licchavi dynasty]] came into power {{circa}} 400 AD. The Lichchhavis built monuments and left a series of inscriptions; Nepal's history of the period is pieced together almost entirely from them.{{sfn|Landon|1928|p=19}}<ref name=leo>{{cite book |last1=Rose|first1=Leo E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTduAAAAMAAJ|title=Nepal: profile of a Himalayan kingdom|last2=Scholz|first2=John T.|date=1980|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=978-0-89158-651-7|language=en}}</ref> In 641, [[Songtsen Gampo]] of the [[Tibetan Empire]] sends [[Narendradeva]] back to [[Licchavi (kingdom)|Licchavi]] with an army and subjugates Nepal. Parts of Nepal and Licchavi was later under the direct influences of the Tibetan empire.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher I|title=The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages|year=1987|publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the late 8th century and was followed by a [[Thakuri]] rule. Thakuri kings ruled over the country up to the middle of the 11th century AD; not much is known of this period that is often called the dark period.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://royalnepal.synthasite.com/the-thakuri-dynasty.php|title=Nepal Monarchy: Thakuri Dynasty|website=royalnepal.synthasite.com|access-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230042020/https://royalnepal.synthasite.com/the-thakuri-dynasty.php|archive-date=30 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>