Kiratas of Nepal: Shambhasura and Banasura

January 3, 2009

Nepali Asuras moved from Sindhu to Himachal Pradesh to Nepal and to Assam as per the article in the link quoted below. They were mixed with Mongols and were called Kiratas. In Indian literature, the word Kirata is often used to mean cruel. The Mahabharata does have an incident in which Arjuna fights with Mahadeva disguised as a Kirata. The article in the link says that he was not Shiva but an actual Kirata. It also states that Narakasura and Ekalavya are Kiratas., which is not our perception. It states how the Yadavas (Krishna’s clan) defeated the Kiratas and ruled Nepal.

Notes from : http://www.limbulibrary.com.np/pdf/HISTORY%20&%20CULTURE-Iman.pdfkiratahistory

As per the article in the link above., (the data has not been verified by me, only quoted)

1. Shambhasura was a Kirata who was defeated on the banks of the Sindhu  and moved to the Kinnara Land of Himachal Pradesh. The Mongols mixed with the Kiratas and moved East to Nepal eventually.
2. At the time of the Mahabharata, the first Kirat king who ruled central Nepal was Banasura. His kingdom was conquered by a king whose name was Bhuktaman of Krishna’s dynasty (Yadavas). The Kirat folk-lore mentions that when Krishna came to know about the establishment of a Kirat rule in central Nepal, he sent a strong force of the Yadava tribe under the command of Bhuktaman to conquer the kingdom of Banasura.
3. Yadava dynasty ruled central Nepal for eight generations. Their capital was at Tistung situated to the west of the Kathmandu Valley.
4. During the time of king Bhuvansingh of the same dynasty, a Kirat king of eastern Nepal whose name was Yalamba, attacked him and slew him in the battle. The jurisdiction of Central Nepal in those days was from river Trisuli in the west to river Tamba Koshi in the east and from Chitlang in the south to the snow line mountain ranges in the north. When Yalamba, the Kirat king conquered Central Nepal, his kingdom extended from river Tista of Bhutan to river Trisuli in the west. The capital town of the Kirat king Yalamba was Yalung in the east; but when he conquered Central Nepal he shifted his capital from Yalung to Thankot.
5.  After a successful reign of ninety years, King Yalamba died and his son Palamba succeeded him. He built a town near Thankot and called it Suprabha and gave himself the title of Kiratashur  (Kiratishur).