page_title: Kirati people
section_title: Modern ethnic groups
hierarchical_section_title: Kirati people / Modern ethnic groups
caption_attribution_description: Selected Ethnic Groups in Nepal
context_page_description: The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They believe they are indigenous aboriginals of the Himalayas, mostly Eastern Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, extending eastward from Nepal to Assam and other parts of eastern India.
context_section_description: In academic literature, the earliest recorded groups of the Kirati are today divided into two groups — the Rai and Limbu. When the Shah kings conquered, they established the headman and jindars as local rulers and give title the Khambu as Rai, Limbu as Subba, the Sunuwar as Mukhiya   Yakkha as Dewan and The Dhimal.
  The Kirat groups that today identify themselves using the nomenclature 'Kirat' include the 
  Rai, Limbu, Sunuwar, Yakkha and few segments of the Rai people like Bahing, Kulung and speakers of Khaling, Bantawa, Chamling, Thulung, Jerung, and other related ethnic groups. The tripartition of the Kirat region in Eastern Nepal documented by Hodgson, divided into three region are Wallo Kirat (Near Kirat), Majh Kirat (Middle Kirat) and Pallo Kirat (Far Kirat). The region Wallo Kirat, Majh Kirat were predominant by Rai Kirat and Pallo Kirat were preponderance by Limbu Kirat as known as Limbuwan. The Rai, Limbu and Yakha are different from one another and yet they all sit under one umbrella in many respects.
  The Kirati people and Kiranti languages between the rivers Likhu and Arun, including some small groups east of the Arun, are usually referred to as the Rai people, which is a geographic grouping rather than a genetic grouping. The Sunuwars inhabit the region westward of River Sun Koshi.
caption: Nepal ethnic groups (note that Kulu Rodu (Kulung) territories are mistakenly marked as Tamu/Gurung territories in this map)
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