Generally, ancient cities are described as a Indigenous urban center with sound population, administration, system and law. However, definition may varies on the basis of archaeological finding.
Moreover, Nepal’s inclusion on (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites along with some of it’s oldest city since 1978. Therefore we present you the some of the oldest and ancient cities of Nepal.
Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal and probably one of the beautiful city in the world. It consist of at least 130 monuments, including several pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhists. Research shows that Kathmandu Valley was inhabited as early as 300 BCE. However the earliest known inscription is dated back to 185 BCE.
Interestingly, the Licchavis rule in Kathmandu valley has earliest inscriptions dated back to 464 BCE. According to Historians, Kathmandu was once a lake as Paleo Kathmandu Lake but legends suggested that Manjusri cut a gorge at a valley called Kashapaal (later called Chobhar) with a sword called Chandrahrasha and drained away the waters in order to establish a habitable land.
Lumbini is situated in Rupandehi District in Nepal, and it is the birth place of Lord Gautam Buddha. On the basis of archaeologist findings, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama(Gautam Buddha)in 563 BCE. For instance, Lumbini is the one of the oldest cities of Nepal which carries great history for the Buddhist and Hindu religion.
One of the oldest temples in Lumbini includes the Mayadevi Temple, Puskarini which is a a Pond,where the Buddha’s mother took ritual dip at time of her son birth. There is also a pillar which was built by Samrat Ashoka from Maurya Empire.
Mustang is an ancient kingdom ringed by a plateau of Tibet. It got some of the highest peaks of the world, such as Annapurna and Dhaulagiri and both of them are around 8000 meters high.
Mustang has a special characteristics including Mustang Caves or Sky Caves of Nepal which are a collection of some 10,000 man-made caves and researchers have explored these stacked caves are at least 2,000–3,000 years old. For instance, it also have some ancient temples and places like Thak Khola, Tsampa gompa, Jomsom, Muktinath temple, Tangbe village etc.
Gorkha and Gurkhalis are the pride of Nepal and establishment of Gorkha kingdom was to done by Prince Dravya Shah, second son of King Yasho Brahma Shah of Lamjung Kingdom, Nepal on 1559 BCE. However, Before Shah Dynasty, Khadka dynasty wee ruling over Gorkha.