A Sanskrit term for people inhabiting areas in the Himalayas and the north-eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent. The term is particularly associated with people of Sino-Tibetan origins and was used to refer to the Limbu, Tani, Rai, Yakkha, Magar, Sunuwar, Dhimal and Lepcha peoples of present-day Eastern Nepal and the Indian regions of Sikkim and Darjeeling. The earliest mentions of kiratas are found in the Yajurveda and and the Atharvaveda.