Tharu (Nepali: थारू, Thārū) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai -- the southern foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal and India. They are considered to be the direct discendents of the Gautama Buddha.^{[citation needed]} Anthropologist Prof Dor Bahadur Bista, Balaram Gharti Magar and many scholars support the logic Suddhodhana being Tharu king of Kapilvastu, Lumbini-the birth place of Buddha, Nepal. Archealogical findings have also been supporting that Tharu people were living in that area for quite long time. The Tharus are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal.