Khas Rajput: Difference between revisions

'''Khas Rajput''' ([[Devanagari]]: खस राजपूत) is a [[Rajput]] (warrior-ruler) community among [[Khas people]]. The term is popularly denoted to [[Khas people]] who follow [[Hindu]] [[Kshatriya]] tradition in the Indian state of [[Uttarakhand]]. It is used very less in Nepal and is replaced by the term  [[Kshetri]].

They have been connected to the  Khasas mentioned in the ancient Hindu literature. Historian Bal Krishna Sharma and Dor Bahadur Bista speculates that the Khas people were of Indo-European origin. Historian Baburam Acharya speculates that Khas are a sub-clan of Aiḍa, an Arya clan originated at Idavritt (modern day Kashmir).  Khas were living in the Idavaritt in the 3rd millennium B.C.E. and the original meaning of the term Khas was Raja or Kshatriya (Yoddha). He further speculates that Kashmir has been named from its local residents Khas as Khasmir. In the 2nd millennium B.C.E., one group of Khas migrated towards Iran while the other group migrated east of Sutlej river settling only in the hill regions up to Bheri River. Historian Balkrishna Pokhrel contends that Khas were not the Vedic Aryans but Aryans of latter period like the Gurjara, Darada, Shaka, Pallava and Pisacha. He further asserts that post-Vedic Aryans were akin to Vedic Aryans in terms of language and culture.

Traditionally, the [[Khas people]] were divided into "Khas [[Brahmin]]s" (also called [[Bahun]]s in Nepal) and "Khas Rajputs" (also called [[Chhetri]]s in Nepal). In the [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] and [[Garhwal division|Garhwal]] regions of Uttarakhand in India, the Khas Brahmins and Khas Rajputs had a lower social status than the other Brahmins and Rajputs. However, in present-day western Nepal, they had the same status as the other Brahmins and Rajputs, possibly as a result of their political power in the Khasa Malla kingdom.{{sfn|John T Hitchcock|1978|pp=116-119}}

Khas Rajputs in Kumaon region of [[Uttarakhand]] are historically accepted as army recruits for the hill [[Raja]]s.<ref name="DhoniRajput">http://wap.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/a-village-in-kumaon-111043000027_1.html</ref> In [[Uttarakhand]], there are two general divisions of Rajputs -  Asal [[Rajput]] and Khas Rajput. Asal Rajput are the immigrants of the lowlands of India while [[Khas]] Rajput are children of the local Khas population.<ref>Negi, Sharad Singh. Kumaun: The Land and the People. Indus Publishing. ISBN 9788185182896.</ref><ref>Garhwal Himalayas: A Study in Historical Perspective, by Ajay S. Rawat. Published by Indus Publishing, 2002. ISBN 81-7387-136-1. Page 43-44.</ref>