In Nepal, Hinduism and Buddhism are mingled into a complex blend which is often impossible to separate. The Buddha was actually born in Nepal but the Buddhist religion first arrived in the country around 250 BC, introduced, so it is said, by the great Indian Buddhist emperor Ashoka himself. Later Buddhism gave way to Hinduism, but from around the 8th century AD the Tantric form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet also began to make its way across the Himalaya into Nepal. Today Buddhism is mainly practiced by the people of the high Himalaya, like the Sherpas, and also by Tibetans who have settled in Nepal. Several ethnic groups, like the Tamangs and Gurungs in the middle hills and the Newars in the Kathmandu Valley, practiced both Buddhism and Hinduism.