Khas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally the Khas are the mountain dwellers living in south shadow of Himalayan range from Kashmir to Bhutan mostly Himanchal Paredsh, Utrakhand Nepal, North Bengal Sikkim and Bhutan, (specially the parts of then Greater Nepal) this Indo-Iranian Aryans tribes is believed to be are product of the union between the khas males and indigenous ethnic females(Prof Dor Bahadur Bista).According to Prof Surya Mani Adhikari(Ref KHAS KINGDOM), who settled a vast expanse of the western, central, and eastern Himalayas as early as the 2nd millennium B.C.

In Nepal, the Khas were rice-growing settlers in the Karnali-Bheri basin of far western Nepal since prehistoric or early historic times.Then perhaps 2500 years ago, Khas peoples migrated eastward, bypassing the inhospitable Kham highlands to settle in the lower valleys of the Gandaki basin suited to rice cultivation. One notable extended family settled in Gorkha, a petty principality about halfway between Pokhara and Kathmandu. Then in the late 1700s a king named Prithvi Narayan Saha raised an army of Chetri. Gurungs, Magars and possibly other hill tribesmen and set out to conquer and consolidate dozens of petty principalities in the himalayan foothills. Since Gorkha had replaced the original Khas homeland as the center of political and military initiative, Khaskura was redubbed Gorkhali, i.e. language of the Gorkhas. Now it is as called Nepali the national language of Nepal.

present Chhetris are descendents of Khasas or Khas, the Chetri means "Kshatriya" of sanskirt but nepali Chetris are not pure Kshatriya as the Indian Chetriyas in the plane of Gangus and Sindhu but it is a cross of Aryan and Mongol mountain tribes living together on the mountains valleys, hills and basins,. On the south of Himalyan range from Kashmir to Bhutan. Mostly there are four branches of Khas they are Chetri, Bahun, Thakuri and Aryan sourced Newars (mainly Srestha,Joshi, Prdhan etc.).


Main sub casts of the Khas.

  • Chetri
  • Thakuri
  • Gharti
  • Bahun (Brhamn)

Main Title of Khash

Similar titles between Chetris and Brhamn (Bahun) and other casts.

  • Baral (Bahun,Chetri and Magar)
  • Lamichane (Bahun, Chetri and Gurung)
  • Budha (Magar and Chetri)
  • Adhikari (Chetri and Bahun)
  • Paudel (Chetri and Bahun)
  • Gautam (Chetri and Bahun)