THE KIRAT KINGDOM

The Buddhist missionaries who visited Nepal were generally Bhikshus (mendicants). They practized celibacy. Buddha had laid down the rule that one could become a Bhiskhu even in youth and resume a worldly life if one so wanted. Women too could do s. usually, only female Bhikshus could visit the inaccessible areas of Nepal. the influx of Bhikshus of both sexes continued till 187 B.C. In that year, Pushyamitra Sunga overthrew the Maurya dynasty and founded a new royal dynasty. He began to persecute Bhikshus, as a result of which many of them came to Nepal from the plains. It was against the law of Nature for young Bhikshus, male or female, to practice celibacy. Accordingly, they mixed with the local Nepar population, thereby joining Mongolian blood with Arya. Mixed marriages of this type improved the physiognomy of the Nepars. But because the Bhikshu men and women came to Nepal in small groups, they began to speak in the language of the Nepars rather than their own. Consequently, unlike the Tharus, the Nepars did not forget their language. At the same time, the influence of the Arya language wiped out Mongolian traces in their language, which gradually assumed the form of a Tibeto-Burman language