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Khas people
 Picture of Khas Women from Nepal in the 1880s | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 16 million[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar | |
| Languages | |
| Nepali (Khas kura), Raute, Kusunda | |
| Religion | |
| Shamanism/ Masto | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kumaoni people, Garhwali people, Pahari people, Magar people. |
Khas & Arya (English: /khɑːs/; Nepali: खस र आर्य) also called Khas and Arya[nb 1] are an Indo-Aryan[12] & Turanian native to South Asia, what is now present-day Nepal and Indian states of Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Sikkim & North east india.[citation needed]The Khas people speak the Khas language. They are also known as Parbatiyas/Parbates and Paharis/Pahadis or Gorkhali. The term Khas has now become obsolete, as the Khas Tribes have adopted communal identities such as Thakuri and Chhetri because of the negative stereotypes associated with the term Khas.[13][14][15]
According to the Constitution of Nepal, western Pahadis or Hill Bahuns,(Brahmins), & Pahadi or Hill Dasnami/Sanyasis, Aboriginee Khasas or Matwali pawei Chhetris & Thakuris, who are citizens of Nepal should be considered as Khasas & Arya for electoral purposes.[16]
Origin[edit]
They have been connected to the Khasas mentioned in the ancient Hindu literature.[17] Historian Bal Krishna Sharma and Dor Bahadur Bista speculates that the Khas or Kus people were Nomadic branch of Yuezhi Tribes from Cental Asia, Historian Baburam Acharya speculates that Khas are a sub-clan of Turanid tribes, a himalayan Asian clan that originated at Idavritt (modern day Kashmir) to Sikkim whole himalayan belt. They lived together with Pahadis who migrated to the hilly regions of West Nepal to kashmir where they were called Khashya Paharis/Pahadis literally translating to hill-dwellers.[18][nb 2] Khasas were living in the Idavaritt to nepal in the 3rd millennium BCE. and the original meaning of the term Khas was Barbarian.[18] also He further speculates that Kashmir has been named from its local residents Khas as Khasmir.[18] Historian Balkrishna Pokhrel contends that Khas & aryas were not the Vedic Aryans but Turanid of the latter periods like the Gurjara, Darada, Shaka, and Pallava.[19] He further asserts that post-Vedic Aryans were akin to Vedic Aryans in terms of Indo-Aryan languages and Indian culture.[19]
History[edit]
Khasas are believed that they are aboriginee tribes of wholly himalayan belt. They have been connected to the medieval Khasa Malla kingdom.[17]
In the Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand in India, the Pahadi Brahmins and Khasas or hill Rajputs had a lower social status than the other Vedic Brahmins and Rajputs. However, in present-day western Nepal, they had the same status as the other Brahmins, possibly as a result of their political power in the Khasa Malla kingdom.[20]
Until the 19th century, the Gorkhali (another powerfull khasa sect who ruled in central nepal) referred to their country as Khasa Desh (Khas country).[21] As they annexed the various neighboring countries (such as Nepal of the Newar people) to the Gorkha kingdom, the terms such as Khas and Newar ceased to be used as the names of countries. The 1854 legal code (Muluki Ain), promulgated by the Nepali Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, himself a Khas,[22] no longer referred to Khas as a country, rather as a jāt (species or community) within the Gorkha kingdom.[23]
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The Shah dynasty of the Gorkha Kingdom, as well as the succeeding Rana dynasty, spoke the Khas language (now intermix with newari & called the modern Nepali language). However, they claimed to be Hill Rajputs of Gorkha origin, rather than the native aboriginee Khasas.[24] Since outside Nepal, the Khas social status was seen as inferior to that of the Rajputs, the rulers started describing themselves as natives of the Hill country, rather than that of the Khas country. Most people, however, considered the terms Khas and Parbatiya (Pahari/Pahadi or Hill people) as synonymous.[21]
Jung Bahadur also re-labeled in 1850 AD. the Khas jāt as Chhetri in present-day Nepal.[24] Originally, the Brahmin migrants from the plains considered the Khas as low-caste because of the latter's neglect of high-caste taboos (such as alcohol abstinence). Eating langurs, forest boar. & Very aggressive mentality. [25] The Royal Khasas commissioned the Bahun (Brahmin) priests to initiate them into the high-caste Hindu Post kshatriya or in nepali Chhetri order and adopted high-caste manners. Other Khas families who could not afford to (or did not care to) pay the Bahun priests & worship pagan khasa culture suce as Shamanistic Masto. also attempted to assume the Chhetri status but were not recognized as such by others. They are now called Matwali (alcohol-drinker Khasas) Chhetris.[15]
Because of the adoption of the Chhetri identity, the term Khas is rapidly becoming obsolete.[13] According to Dor Bahadur Bista (1991), "the Khas have vanished from the ethnographic map of Nepal".[15]
Communities[edit]
In the greater khas term communities or caste & tribals in Khas group were Brahman, Chhetri, Thakuri, Sannyasi, Gharti, Damai, Kami, Sarki, Gaine, Gandarbha, Badi, Kusunda, Raute, Kumal, etc.[19] The tribal designation Khas refers to in some contexts only to the Pawai/Matwali Khas group, Chhetri-Thakuri, & Raute & Kusunda but in other contexts may also include the low status (generally untouchable) occupational Khas groups such as Kāmi (blacksmiths), Damāi (tailors), and Sārki (shoemakers and leather workers).[26] Khas people are addressed with the term Khayan or Parbatiya[19] or Partyā, Parbaté meaning hill-dweller by Newars.[26] The hill Khas tribe are in large part associated with the Gorkhali warriors.[26]
Language[edit]
The Khas people originally referred to their language as Khas kurā (Khas speech), which was also known as Parbatiya (the language of the hill country). The Newar people used the term Khayan Bhaya, Parbatiya[19] and Gorkhali as a name for this language, as they identified it with the Gorkhali conquerors. The Gorkhalis themselves started using this term to refer to their language at a later stage.[27] In an attempt to disassociate himself with his Khas past, the Rana monarch Jung Bahadur decreed that the term Gorkhali be used instead of Khas kurā to describe the language. Meanwhile, the British Indian administrators had started using the term Nepal (after Newar) to refer to the Gorkha kingdom. In the 1930s, the Gorkha government also adopted this term to describe their country. Subsequently, the Khas language also came to be known as Nepali language.[28] It has become a national language of Nepal and lingua franca among the majority of population of North Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan.[19]
Classification[edit]
Historian Balkrishna Pokhrel contends that the Khas language belonged to neither the Iranian language family, nor the Indian languages, but to the mid Indo-Iranian languages.[19]
Modern[edit]
Nepal[edit]
Modern-day Khas & Arya people are referred to as Pahadi Brahmin (commonly called as Bahun), Matwali-Tribal/Pawai-Khas (commonly called as Khas Chhetri-Thakuri), and Pahadi Dalit.[20] Khas & Arya people are popularly referred to in modern times as Khas- Arya in nepal means Khasas (Tribal Aboriginees such as Chhetri, Thakuri, Raute, Kusunda. & Pahadi aryas (Bahun, Jaisi, Khatri, Sanyasi/Dasnami, Jogi, Kami, Damai, Sarki, Gaine, Badi, Kumal)
India[edit]
In Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand in India, too, the term Khas has become obsolete. The Khas people of Kumaon termed as Kumaoni Jiagahari Rajput, after being elevated to the Rajput status by the Chand kings. The term Khas is almost obsolete, and people resent being addressed as Khas because of the negative stereotypes associated with this term.[14]
Notable people[edit]
Khas Malla rulers[edit]
Other Khas[edit]
- Bir Bhadra Thapa[29]
- Sanukaji Amar Singh Thapa[29]
- Bhimsen Thapa[29]
- Jung Bahadur Rana[22]
- Kalu Pande (Kaji) [29]
- Prithvi Narayan Shah
- Shivaram Singh Basnyat (Badabir senapanti) [30]
- Kehar Singh Basnyat
- Damodar Pandey
- Abhiman Singh Basnyat
- Kirtiman Singh Basnyat
- Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat
- Dhokal Singh Basnyat
- Rana Jang Pande
See Also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ See[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
- ↑ Historian Baburam Acharya speculates that in the 3rd millennium BCE., there were two clans of Arya in the northern Indian subcontinent; Aiḍa and Mānava. Aiḍa who were named after their homeland Iḍavritt (modern day Kashmir), settled over Panjab and Ganga-Jamuna plain while Mānava settled over Awadh region. Chandravanshi kings like Bharata and Yudhisthir belonged to Aiḍa while Suryavanshi kings like Ramachandra belonged to Mānava. Later, Aiḍa built dominion over Magadh while Mānava had dominion over Videha.[18]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Nepali (npi)". Ethnologue. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ↑ Khadka, Suman (25 Feb 2015). "Drawing caste lines". The Kathmandu Post.
- ↑ "Khas Arya quota provision in civil services opposed". thehimalayantimes.com. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Nepal's election may at last bring stability". The Economist. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "The Kathmandu Post -PM briefs international community". kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ↑ Times, Nepali. "Quotable quota". www.nepalitimes.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Next Door Nepal: Another chink in the wall". indianexpress.com. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Oli in balancing avatar". myrepublica.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Nepal seeks unity from its first local elections in 20 years". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Lessons for India From Nepal's History of Banning Cow Slaughter - The Wire". The Wire. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "What does high caste chauvinism look like?". ekantipur.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ Hagen & Thapa 1998, p. 114.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 William Brook Northey & C. J. Morris 1928, p. 123.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 K. S. Singh 2005, p. 851.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Dor Bahadur Bista 1991, p. 48.
- ↑ "Part-8 Federal Legislature – Nepal Law Commission". Retrieved 2019-08-05.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 John T Hitchcock 1978, pp. 112-119.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Acharya 1975, p. 199.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 Pokhrel 1973, p. 229.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 John T Hitchcock 1978, pp. 116-119.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Richard Burghart 1984, p. 107.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Dor Bahadur Bista 1991, p. 37.
- ↑ Richard Burghart 1984, p. 117.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Richard Burghart 1984, p. 119.
- ↑ Susan Thieme 2006, p. 83.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Whelpton 2005, p. 31.
- ↑ Richard Burghart 1984, p. 118.
- ↑ Richard Burghart 1984, pp. 118-119.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Pradhan 2012, p. 22.
- ↑ "BBBBB", Improvement of Buildings' Structural Quality by New Technologies, CRC Press, pp. 520–522, 2005-01-20, doi:10.1201/9780203970843-60, ISBN 978-0-429-22460-7, retrieved 2021-07-02
Bibliography[edit]
- Acharya, Baburam (1975), Bhandari, Devi Prasad (ed.), "Itihas Kaalbhanda Pahile" (PDF), Purnima, Kathmandu, 8 (1)
- Dor Bahadur Bista (1991). Fatalism and Development: Nepal's Struggle for Modernization. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-81-250-0188-1.
- John T Hitchcock (1978). "An Additional Perspective on the Nepali Caste System". In James F. Fisher (ed.). Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-90-279-7700-7.
- Toni Hagen; Deepak Thapa (1998). Toni Hagen's Nepal: The Kingdom in the Himalaya. Himal Books.
- K. S. Singh (2005). People of India: Uttar Pradesh. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 978-81-7304-114-3.
- Pokharel, Balkrishna (December 1, 1973) [1962], "Ancient Khas Culture" (PDF), Regmi Research Series, 5 (12): 229–236
- Pradhan, Kumar L. (2012), Thapa Politics in Nepal: With Special Reference to Bhim Sen Thapa, 1806–1839, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, p. 278, ISBN 9788180698132
- Richard Burghart (1984). "The Formation of the Concept of Nation-State in Nepal". The Journal of Asian Studies. 44 (1): 101–125. doi:10.2307/2056748. JSTOR 2056748.
- Susan Thieme (2006). Social Networks and Migration: Far West Nepalese Labour Migrants in Delhi. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-8258-9246-3.
- William Brook Northey; C. J. Morris (1928). The Gurkhas: Their Manners, Customs, and Country. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-1577-9.
- Whelpton, John (2005). A History of Nepal. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521804707.
- Sharma, Bal Krishna (1999). The origin of caste system in Hinduism and its relevance in the present context. Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Samdan Publishers. ISBN 9788172144968.
- Adhikary, Surya Mani (1997). The Khaśa kingdom: a trans-Himalayan empire of the middle age. Nirala. ISBN 978-81-85693-50-7.
- D.R. Regmi (1965), Medieval Nepal, vol. 1, Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay
- Thakur, Laxman S. (1990). K. K. Kusuman (ed.). The Khasas An Early Indian Tribe. pp. 285–293. ISBN 978-81-7099-214-1.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Tucci, Giuseppe (1956), Preliminary Report on Two Scientific Expeditions in Nepal, David Brown Book Company, ISBN 9788857526843
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