Ashoka sends Buddhism into the hills

After the third Buddhist council Ashoka sent Majjhima with a mission to the Himalayan country. A stupa in the Kullu valley is attributed to Ashoka, and his rock edict at Kalsi stands just beyond the Sirmaur border on the Yamuna.

Buddhism took lasting hold only in the trans-Himalayan valleys — Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur.