Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Pliny The Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

Indian people Indian people or Indians are the Indian nationality law, citizens and nationals of the India, Republic of India or people who trace their ancestry to India. While the demonym "Indian" applies to people originating from the present-day India, ...

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

Trigarta Trigarta (also known as Kangra and Jalandhara) was an ancient Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan Monarchy, kingdom based in the region of modern day Punjab. The focal point of its administration was situated in Jalandhar. However at its zenith i ...

Madra Kingdom Madra kingdom (; ) was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the Indian epic poetry, ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. Its capital was Sagala in the Madra region. The Kuru (kingdom), Kuru king Pandu's (''Pāṇḍu'') second wife w ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

Kassites The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

Jaunsar-Bawar Jaunsar-Bawar is a hilly region in Garhwal division of Uttarakhand, northern India. It is located in the north-west of Dehradun district, along the border with the state of Himachal Pradesh. Ethnically, Jaunsar-Bawar comprises two regions, inh ...

Janapada The Janapadas () () (c. 1100–600 BCE) were the realms, republics (ganapada) and kingdoms (sāmarājya) of the Vedic period in the Indian subcontinent. The Vedic period reaches from the late Bronze Age into the Iron Age: from about 1500 BCE to ...

Āryāvarta Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, ,Himalayan Āryāvarta) of the ancient Indian Iron Age. The Manusmṛiti mentions the Khaśa as Kṣatriya-s formerly, due to omission of the sacred-rites and neglect of Brāhmaṇā-s.

''But by the omission of the sacred rites, and also by their neglect of Brāhmaṇas, the following Kṣatriya castes have gradually sunk to the position of the low-born.—(43)''

''The Puṇḍrakas, the Coḍas, the Draviḍas, the Kāmbojas, the Yavanas, the Śākas, the Pāradas, the Pahlavas, the Cīnas, the Kirātas, the Daradas and the Khaśas.—(44)''

The Manusmriti describes them as descendants of outcast Kshatriyas. The ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...

'' gives a list of various outcast tribes, the Khaśas also one of them, which have recovered salvation by adopting the religion of Viṣṇu

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...

. The ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' mentions the Khasas as one of the northern tribes who fought on the side of the

Kaurava ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his ...

against

Satyaki Yuyudhana (, ), better known as Satyaki (, ), was a powerful Yadava chieftain of Narayani Sena, belonging to the Vrishni clan to which Krishna also belonged. According to the Puranas, he was the grandson of Shini of the Vrishni clan, and son of ...

. In the

Karna Parva The Karna Parva () ("Book of Karna") is the eighth of the eighteen ''parvas'' (books) of the Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. Karna Parva traditionally has 96 chapters.Ganguli, K.M. (1883-1896)Karna Parva in ''The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vy ...

of Mahabharata, Khasas are mentioned living in the Panjab region between Āraṭṭa and Vasāti: In the Sabhaparvan of the Mahabharata, they are mentioned between Meru and Mandara along with Kulindas and Tanganas, who brought presents of Piplika gold to

Yudhisthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the anc ...

. In Dronaparvan of the Mahabharata, they are mentioned with other northwestern tribes such as Daradas, Tanganas, Lampakas and Kulindas. The Vaishnava text Harivamsa describes that the Khasas were defeated by the

King Sagara Sagara () is a king of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. The son of Bahuka, he ruled the city of Ayodhya, with two wives, and 60,001 sons. Legend Birth Saagar was born to Bāhuka, and his wife, Yadavi, at the ashrama of Sage Aurva, w ...

. The

Markandeya Purana The ''Markandeya Purana'' (; IAST: ) is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism, and one of the eighteen major Puranas. The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Sanatana Dharma, who is the central character in two legends, one linked to Shiva and oth ...

states that the Khasa is a country against the mountain. The

Markandeya Purana The ''Markandeya Purana'' (; IAST: ) is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism, and one of the eighteen major Puranas. The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Sanatana Dharma, who is the central character in two legends, one linked to Shiva and oth ...

,

Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' (, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. ''Vayu Purana'' is mentioned in the manuscripts of the Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to propose that the text is among the ...

and

Kalki Purana The ''Kalki Purana'' () is a Vaishnava Hindu text about the tenth avatar of Vishnu named Kalki. The Sanskrit text was likely composed in Bengal during an era when the region was being ruled by the Bengal Sultanate or the Mughal Empire. Wendy Don ...

describe that Khasas together with

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

s and other tribes have penetrated to the northwest of India. The

Skanda Purana The ''Skanda Purana'' ( IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest '' Mukhyapurāṇa'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Shaivite literature, titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parv ...

mentions the region of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and Kumaon-

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India * Ga ...

as Kedare-Khasa-Mandale.

Medieval literature

The Brihat Samhita authored by Indian polymath

Varāhamihira Varāhamihira ( 20/21 March 505 – 587), also called Varāha or Mihira, was an ancient Indian astrologer-astronomer who lived in or around Ujjain in present-day Madhya Pradesh, India. Date Unlike other prominent ancient Indian astronome ...

grouped Khasas with Kulutas,

Kashmira Kasmira or Kashmira was a kingdom mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, identified as the Kashmir Valley along the Jhelum River of present-day Jammu and Kashmir, India. During the epic ages this was one among the territories of the Naga ra ...

s, Tanganas, and Kunatas. The

Mudrarakshasa The Mudrārākshasa (मुद्राराक्षस, IAST: ''Mudrārākṣasa'', ) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya ( BCE) to power in India. The play is an exampl ...

of Indian poet

Vishakhadatta Vishakhadatta ( was an Indian Sanskrit poet and playwright. Although Vishakhadatta furnishes the names of his father and grandfather as ''Maharaja'' Bhaskaradatta and ''Maharaja'' Vateshvaradatta in his political drama '' Mudrārākṣasa'', we ...

mentions that Khasas and

Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...

s were

Gana The word ( ) in Sanskrit and Pali means "flock, troop, multitude, number, tribe, category, series, or class". It can also be used to refer to a "body of attendants" and can refer to "a company, any assemblage or association of men formed for t ...

s (troops) in the army of Rakshasa and

Malayaketu The Mudrārākshasa (मुद्राराक्षस, IAST: ''Mudrārākṣasa'', ) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya ( BCE) to power in India. The play is an example ...

. According to an ancient Kashmiri text

Nilamata Purana The Nilamata Purana (), also known as the ''Kasmira Mahatmya'', is an ancient text (4th to 8th century CE) from Kashmir which contains information on its history, geography, religion, and folklore. It was used by Kalhana as one of sources of h ...

compiled by Indian scholar Ved Kumari Ghai, the Khasa tribe occupied This assertion is also corroborated by the later 12th century text ''

Rajatarangini ''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' (Sanskrit: Devanagari, राजतरङ्गिणी, IAST, romanized: ''rājataraṅgiṇī'', International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɑː.d͡ʑɐ.t̪ɐˈɾɐŋ.ɡi.ɳiː ) is a metrical legend ...

'' translated by British archaeologist Sir

Marc Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

. The Bharata Nātyaśāstra by the Indian musicologist

Bharata Muni Bharata (Devanagari: भरत) was a '' muni'' (sage) of ancient India. He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise '' Natya Shastra'', which covers ancient Indian dance, poetics, dramaturgy, and music ...

mentions that the mother tongue language of Khaśas was Bāhliki language in the phrase The Kavyamimamsa of

Rajashekhara Rajasekhara may refer to: * Rama Rajasekhara/Cheraman Perumal "Nayanar" (''fl.'' 9th century), theologian, devotional poet and ruler from south India * Rajashekhara (Sanskrit poet) (''fl.'' 10th century), Sanskrit poet, dramatist and critic * ...

mentions the Kuluta king with the title ''Khasadhipati''. The inscription of Dadda II (also known as Praśāntarāga) mentions about the Khasas in the phrase "...Yascopamiyate - sat - kataka - samunnata vidhyadharavasa taya Himachale na Khasa parivarataya."

European sources

Greek Geographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

contended that the country of Khasas (referred to as 'Khasia') was located near the Trans-Himalayan range of

Northwest India Northwest India is a loosely defined administrative divisions of India, region of India. In modern-day, it consists of north-western states of the India, Republic of India. In historical contexts, it refers to the northwestern Indian subcontin ...

.

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Geographer Pliny noted that E.T. Atkinson speculated that Pliny referred to the terms, ''Cesi'' and ''Catriboni'' in the above quotations to ''Khasa'' and ''

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

''. Irish linguist Sir

George Abraham Grierson Sir George Abraham Grierson (7 January 1851 – 9 March 1941) was an Irish administrator and linguist in British India. He worked in the Indian Civil Service but an interest in philology and linguistics led him to pursue studies in the languag ...

in his work

Linguistic Survey of India The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a lingu ...

(Volume 9 Part 4) mentions the remarks by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Geographer Pliny on the Khasa (referred as 'Casiri') tribe with the imputations of cannabalism. Pliny further stated them as "an Indian people": Indian sociologist R.N. Saksena explains that this imputation was due to the existing suspicion towards Khasas by the Vedic Aryans, though he regards them as the earlier wave of the same ' Aryan settler' group.

Tibetan sources

The Mongolian-Tibetan historian Sumpa Yeshe Peljor (writing in the 18th century) lists the Khasas alongside other peoples found in Central Asia since antiquity, including the

Yavanas The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (), who were probably the first Gre ...

(Greeks),

Kambojas The Kambojas were a southeastern Iranian peoples, Iranian people who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian subcontinent, Indian lands. They only appear in Indo-Aryan langua ...

,

Tukharas The kingdom of Tushara, according to ancient Indian literature, such as the epic ''Mahabharata'', was a land located beyond north-west India. In the ''Mahabharata'', its inhabitants, known as the Tusharas, are depicted as '' mlechchas'' ("barba ...

,

Hunas Hunas or Huna (Middle Brahmi script: ''Hūṇā'') was the name given by the ancient Indians to a group of Central Asian tribes who, via the Khyber Pass, entered the Indian subcontinent at the end of the 5th or early 6th century. The Hunas occu ...

and

Daradas Daradas were an ancient people who lived north and north-west to the Kashmir Valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region (part of ancient Baloristan) along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are of ...

.

Descendants

Irish linguist Sir G.A. Grierson asserted that "..the great mass of the Aryan speaking population of the lower

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

from

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

to

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

is inhabited by tribes descended from the ancient Khasas of Mahabharata." The Khasa peoples are the

Khakha The Khakha is a Muslim Rajput tribe native to the Muzaffarabad district of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Sikh Empire During the Sikh conquest of Kashmir, the Khakha and also the Bhamba tribe, occasionally ventured into the valley on looting expediti ...

s of

Jhelum Valley Jhelum Valley () is located along the course of the Jhelum River, in the Jhelum Valley District of Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan. Spanning approximately , the valley is known for its proximity to the disputed Line of Control (LoC) between ...

, the

Kanet Kanet is a caste found in India natively residing in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Historically, Kanets have been engaged in agriculture and allied activities. They also generally use as a Thakur title.There is a major subcaste of kanets whi ...

s of Kangra and

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India * Ga ...

, Khŏś/Khośyā of

Jaunsar-Bawar Jaunsar-Bawar is a hilly region in Garhwal division of Uttarakhand, northern India. It is located in the north-west of Dehradun district, along the border with the state of Himachal Pradesh. Ethnically, Jaunsar-Bawar comprises two regions, inh ...

and regions adjacent to it in

Uttarkashi Uttarkashi is a town and the headquarters of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand, India. Geography Uttarkashi is located at . It has an average elevation of . Demographics India census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is t ...

and

Tehri New Tehri is where Vidushi lives a city and a municipal board in Tehri Garhwal District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of Tehri Garhwal District. This urban municipality area has 11 wards, from Vidh ...

districts of Uttarakhand and

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

,

Sirmaur Sirmaur may refer to the following in India: * Sirmaur district, a district in Himachal Pradesh ** Sirmauri language, a Western Pahari (Indo-Aryan) language spoken in the district * Sirmur State Sirmur (also spelled as Sirmor, Sirmaur, Sir ...

districts of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, the bulk population of

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India * Ga ...

and Kumaon referred as "Khasia" and the Nepali speaking

Khas people Khas peoples or Khas Tribes, (; ) popularly known as Khashiya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now the South Asian country of Nepal, as well as the Indian stat ...

of Nepal.

Khasas under Katyuris

The Katyuris were of the Khasha origin as agreed by most scholars. They belonged to the Khasha people that entirely dominated the inner Himalayan belt up to Nepal and they extensively populated the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand. Previously, Khashas had strongly established themselves from Afghanistan to Nepal in the ancient period and as per internal evidence, they managed the village-level theocratic republics like Gram-Rajya and Mandals under various local clans and identities. Katyuri was one of the ruling houses of

Joshimath Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a town and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6,150 feet (1,875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, tre ...

that claimed sovereignty over other Gram Rajyas of the entire territory. The Katyuris ruled from

Joshimath Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a town and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6,150 feet (1,875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, tre ...

in the

Alaknanda The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and a river considered holy in Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the headstr ...

Valley and later they shifted their capital to Baijnath.

Khasas under Malla rule

Khasas are thought to be connected to the medieval

Khasa Malla kingdom Khasa-Malla kingdom (), popularly known as Khasa Kingdom () and Yatse () in Tibetan, was a medieval kingdom established around the 11th century in regions that are presently in far-western Nepal and parts of Uttarakhand state in India. The ...

and the modern

Khas people Khas peoples or Khas Tribes, (; ) popularly known as Khashiya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now the South Asian country of Nepal, as well as the Indian stat ...

of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. The modern

Khas people Khas peoples or Khas Tribes, (; ) popularly known as Khashiya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now the South Asian country of Nepal, as well as the Indian stat ...

of Nepal have also been connected with the ancient Khasas, although their period of migration in Nepal remains ambiguous. In Nepal the Khas people first settled around present-day Humla and Jumla. The Khasa kings of Nepal formed the famous Malla Kingdom, which ruled Humla from the eleventh century before collapsing and splintering into local chiefdoms during the fourteenth century. The Khasas (identified with Khasa Mallas) are also mentioned in several Indian inscriptions dated between 8th and 13th centuries CE. The 954 AD Khajuraho Inscription of Dhaṇga states

Khasa kingdom Khasa-Malla kingdom (), popularly known as Khasa Kingdom () and Yatse () in Tibetan, was a medieval kingdom established around the 11th century in regions that are presently in far-western Nepal and parts of Uttarakhand state in India. The ...

equivalent to Gauda of Bengal and

Gurjara-Pratihara The Pratihara dynasty, also called the Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Pratiharas of Kannauj or the Imperial Pratiharas, was a prominent medieval Indian dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Kannauj. It initially ruled the Gurjaradesa until its vi ...

dynasty. The

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

inscription of Devapala and Bhagalpur; a copper plate of

Narayanapala Narayanapala (871–925 CE) was the seventh emperor of the Pala Empire of the Eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, mainly the Bengal and Bihar regions. Reign The Gaya temple inscription dated in his 7th regnal year, the Indian Museum ( ...

also mentions Khasas. The three copper plates from Pandukeshavara explain the territories of Khasas.

Khasas of Jammu

The 12th-century text ''

Rajatarangini ''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' (Sanskrit: Devanagari, राजतरङ्गिणी, IAST, romanized: ''rājataraṅgiṇī'', International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɑː.d͡ʑɐ.t̪ɐˈɾɐŋ.ɡi.ɳiː ) is a metrical legend ...

'' translated by British archaeologist Sir

Marc Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

links the Khasas with northwestern affiliations. It describes at Rajatarangini describes the rulers of Rajapuri (modern

Rajauri Rajouri or Rajauri (; ; ) is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu city on the Poonch Highway. History The first ruler ...

) as the "lord of the Khasas". It also describes the chiefs of the Lohara as Khasas. The Khasa chiefs of Rajapuri freely intermarried with

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

rulers of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

while the Khasa chief of Lohara, Simharaja, married a daughter of Shahi Kings of Kabul. The descendants of the royal family of Rajauri later became

Muslim Rajput Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who generally are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various ...

chiefs and they retained the rulership of the territory till the 19th century. Stein also identified the modern

Khakha The Khakha is a Muslim Rajput tribe native to the Muzaffarabad district of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Sikh Empire During the Sikh conquest of Kashmir, the Khakha and also the Bhamba tribe, occasionally ventured into the valley on looting expediti ...

s as descendants of Khasas mentioned in the ''

Rajatarangini ''Rājataraṅgiṇī'' (Sanskrit: Devanagari, राजतरङ्गिणी, IAST, romanized: ''rājataraṅgiṇī'', International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɑː.d͡ʑɐ.t̪ɐˈɾɐŋ.ɡi.ɳiː ) is a metrical legend ...

''. The Bomba clan are descended from the medieval

Khas people Khas peoples or Khas Tribes, (; ) popularly known as Khashiya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now the South Asian country of Nepal, as well as the Indian stat ...

of Kashmir that inhabited the entire

Karnah Karnah is an administrative tehsil in the Kupwara district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is from the town of Kupwara, the district headquarter, and is the largest tehsil of the distri ...

region of Kashmir. The region of khaśāli which M.A. stein identifies as Khaśalaya is situated in the left bank of the chenab river was identified and studied by

Siddheshwar Varma Siddheshwar Varma (1887–1985) was an Indian linguist, phonetician, grammarian and scholar, known for his knowledge of over 30 languages. He was the secretary of the International Moral Education Congress for India (1923) and the author of such ...

in 1938 in his linguistic survey.

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Historical regions of North India Himalayan peoples Ancient peoples of India Ancient peoples of Pakistan Ancient peoples of Nepal Ancient India Ancient Nepal Ethnic groups in India Ethnic groups in Nepal Iron Age countries in Asia Iron Age cultures of South Asia Indo-Aryan peoples Mahabharata Places in Hindu mythology History of Kashmir History of Himachal Pradesh History of Uttarakhand Dynasties of India Dynasties of Nepal

Origin

Names and variants

Modern sources

Indian sources

Ancient literature

Medieval literature

European sources

Tibetan sources

Descendants

Khasas under Katyuris

Khasas under Malla rule

Khasas of Jammu

See also

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