Ancient Nepal
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Ancient Nepal
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.P. 17 ''Looking to the Future: Indo-Nepal Relations in Perspective'' By Lok Raj Baral 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. Around 600 BCE, small kingdoms and confederatio ...
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Vedic Period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the end of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation and a second urbanisation, which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain BCE. The Vedas are liturgical texts which formed the basis of the influential Brahmanical ideology, which developed in the Kuru Kingdom, a tribal union of several Indo-Aryan tribes. The Vedas contain details of life during this period that have been interpreted to be historical and constitute the primary sources for understanding the period. These documents, alongside the corresponding archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Indo-Aryan and Vedic culture to be traced and inferred. The Vedas were composed and orally transmitted with precision by speakers of an Old Indo-Aryan language who had migrated into ...
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Nigali Sagar
Nigali Sagar (also called Nigliva, Nigali Sagar pillar, Nighihawa pillar, Nigliva pillar, or Araurakot pillar) is an archaeological site in Nepal containing the remains of a pillar of Ashoka. The site is located in Nigalihawa, about 20 kilometers northwest of Lumbini and 7 kilometers northeast of Taulihawa. Another famous inscription discovered nearby in a similar context is the Lumbini pillar inscription. Discovery The pillar was discovered in 1893 by a Nepalese officer on a hunting expedition. The pillar and its inscriptions (there are several inscriptions on it, from Brahmi to Medieval) were researched in March 1895 by Alois Anton Führer. Führer published his discovery in the ''Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey Circle, North-West Province'', for the year ending on June 30, 1895. The pillar was not erected in-situ, as no foundation has been discovered under it. It is thought that it was moved about 8 to 13 miles, from an uncertain location (possibly from Tauli ...
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Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for the corresponding period in Epipaleolithic Near East, the Levant and Epipaleolithic Caucasus, Caucasus. The Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia. It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and the Middle East, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. In Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000 Before Present, BP; in the Middle East (the Epipalaeolithic Near East) roughly 20,000 to 10,000 Before Present, BP. The term is less used of areas farther east, and not at all beyond Eurasia and North Africa. The type of culture associated with the Mesolithic varies between areas, b ...
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Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by Hominini, hominins,  3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene,  11,650 Before Present#Radiocarbon calibration, cal Before Present, BP. The Paleolithic Age in Europe preceded the Mesolithic Age, although the date of the transition varies geographically by several thousand years. During the Paleolithic Age, hominins grouped together in small societies such as band society, bands and subsisted by gathering plants, fishing, and hunting or scavenging wild animals. The Paleolithic Age is characterized by the use of Knapping, knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for ...
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Thakuri Dynasty
Thakuri dynasty (; ) was a Hindu dynasty that mostly ruled the present-day region of Nuwakot, near central Nepal. The Thakuri dynasty's existence is disputed by some historians.Available inscriptions and copperplates indicate that Classial Newari Language was the state language during the Thakuri dynasty. When the Lichchavi rule ended and the rule of Thakuris began, the native Newars, who were descendents of the Lichchavis and Kirats were mostly following Shaiva tantric sect and Buddhist Tantric sect during Thakuri dynasty. From the beginning of the 8th century to about 12th century, the history of Nepal is mostly unknown. In the meantime, there are no special tools available to account for what happened in the political events in Nepal and what happened in the rise or fall of Newar civilization and culture. In Thakuri dynasty the earliest known document in Newari is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates from 1114 during the Thakuri period. The earliest dated s ...
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Licchavi (kingdom)
The Licchavis of Nepal (, also ''Lichchhavi'', ''Lichavi'') ruled over a kingdom in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal from approximately 450 to 750 CE. The Licchavi clan originated from a branch of the Licchavis of Vaishali who ruled in the territory of modern-day Bihar and who later conquered the Kathmandu Valley. The Licchavis were ruled by a ''maharaja'', aided by a prime minister and other royal officials, but in practice local communities were controlled by caste councils. The ruling period of this dynasty was called the Golden Period of Nepal. A table of the evolution of certain Gupta characters used in Licchavi inscriptions prepared by Gautamavajra Vajrācārya can be found online. Records It is believed that a branch of the Licchavi clan, having lost their political fortune and military power in Vaishali (Bihar), came to Kathmandu and intermarried with the family of the ruling Queen, Mandeva Shree Vogini of the Nagvanshi clan, thus beginning their rule in NepalSourc ...
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Licchavi (tribe)
The Licchavis of Vaishali ( Māgadhī Prakrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ऋक्षवी ''Ṛkṣavī''; English: "Bear Clan") were an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe and dynasty of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested from the Iron Age to the Classical Age. The population of Licchavi, the Licchavikas, were organised into a (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), presently referred to as the Licchavi Republic, which was the leading state of the larger Vajjika League. Following their eventual subjugation in the Magadha-Vajji war, the Licchavis continued to reside in the region of Vaishali. The fourth century A.D. Gupta Emperor, Samudragupta was the son of a Licchavi princess and referred to himself as a ''Licchavi-Dauhitra''. Location The Licchavikas lived in the southwest part of the Vajjika League, which was itself bounded to the north, east, south, and west, respectively, by the Himālaya mountains, and the Mahānadī, Gaṅgā, and Sadānirā rive ...
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Scarecrow Press
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing company National Book Network based in Lanham, Maryland. History The current company took shape when the University Press of America acquired Rowman & Littlefield in 1988 and took the Rowman & Littlefield name for the parent company. Since 2013, there has also been an affiliated company based in London called Rowman & Littlefield International. It is editorially independent and publishes only academic books in Philosophy, Politics & International Relations and Cultural Studies. The company sponsors the Rowman & Littlefield Award in Innovative Teaching, the only national teaching award in political science given in the United States. It is awarded annually by the American Political Science Association for people w ...
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Allahabad Pillar
The Allahabad Pillar is a ''stambha'', containing one of the pillar edicts of Ashoka, erected by Ashoka, emperor of the Maurya dynasty, who reigned in the 3rd century BCE. While it is one of the few extant pillars that carry Ashokan edicts, it is particularly notable for containing later inscriptions attributed to the Gupta emperor Samudragupta (4th century CE). Also engraved on the stone are inscriptions by the Mughal emperor Jahangir, from the 17th century. According to some scholars, the pillar was moved from its original location and installed within Akbar's Allahabad Fort in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh by Emperor Akbar himself, but this theory is disputed by other scholars who point out the absence of any confirmatory evidence that the pillar was moved, and pre-Mughal inscriptions that indicate that it was already present in its current location. As the fort is now occupied by the Indian Army, the public are only allowed limited access to the premises ...
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Samudragupta
Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', ( 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India. A military genius and a patron of arts, he is regarded among the greatest rulers in Indian history. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, he inherited a kingdom and transformed it into a vast empire through his military campaigns. His reign was marked by political expansion, administrative efficiency, and cultural patronage, particularly of Sanskrit literature and Hindu rituals. Samudragupta’s legacy as a warrior, administrator, and benefactor of scholars contributed to the golden age of the Gupta Empire. The Allahabad Pillar inscription, a ''prashasti'' (eulogy) composed by his courtier Harisena, credits him with extensive military conquests. It suggests that he defeated several kings of northern India, and annexed their territories into his empire. He also marched along the south-eastern coast of In ...
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Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by some historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by others. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta (king), Gupta. The high points of this period are the great cultural developments which took place primarily during the reigns of Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I. Many Hinduism, Hindu Hindu epics, epics and Hindu literature, literary sources, such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, were canonised during this period. The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira and Vatsyayana, who made significant advancements in many academic fields. History of science and technology in the Indian subcontin ...
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Pillar Of Ashoka
The pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected—or at least inscribed with edicts—by the 3rd Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great, who reigned from to 232 BC. Ashoka used the expression ''Dhaṃma thaṃbhā'' (Dharma stambha), i.e. "pillars of the Dharma" to describe his own pillars. These pillars constitute important monuments of the architecture of India, most of them exhibiting the characteristic Mauryan polish. Twenty of the pillars erected by Ashoka still survive, including those with inscriptions of his edicts. Only a few with animal capitals survive of which seven complete specimens are known. Two pillars were relocated by Firuz Shah Tughlaq to Delhi. Several pillars were relocated later by Mughal Empire rulers, the animal capitals being removed.Krishnaswamy, 697-698 Averaging between in height, and weighing up to 50 tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erecte ...
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