Nepal is known as a land steeped with religion. In the 6th century BC, small kingdoms started to emerge in southern Nepal. One of these was the Shakya kingdom. A prince of the Shakya kingdom named Siddharta Gautama rose to power, but later renounced his status as prince. He went to lead a religious and life of self-denial. He became known as the Buddha, which means enlightened one, and started the Buddhist religion.
Later, Nepal would become part of the Mauryan Empire of India followed by the Gupta Empire.
In the 18th century, Prithvi Narayan united the country from his land of Gorkha. For some time the land was called the Gorkha Kingdom. In 1846 the Rana regime gained power. They isolated Nepal from the outside world for some years.
In 1996, Maoist extremists started a revolution against the monarchy. There was a 10 year long civil war. In 2008 the monarchy was abolished, but the country was left in a state of flux as different parties in the government have not been able to come to an agreement on how to govern.
