Within the Middle Hills, there are two very distinct kinds of people. One of these is the Parbatiya, “the hill people,” originating in India and eventually finding their way into Nepal over centuries or more. Their racial roots are probably in the ancient Indus- Saraswati culture of Pakistan and western India.
The second group of hill peoples came from the north over millennia, originating in different places and times, eventually settling in separate areas of Nepal, speaking varieties of Tibeto-Burman dialects. Both Parbatiya and Tibeto-Burman people are vigorous and robust, capable of living in steep terrain and severe climate. These hill people are primarily farmers, cultivating crops of maize, rice, wheat, mustard and millet. Herds of water buffalo and cows, sheep and goats, are grazed up in the highlands during the summer, down around the villages in the winter, producing manure for fields, supplying milk, butter and yogurt for the kitchen, as well as providing wool and hair for simple cape-jackets and blankets.
