Khas people

Khas people (Nepali: खस जाति) are an ethno-linguistic group. They are indigenous native speakers of Nepali language (Khas Kura; translit.Khas speech) which is an Indo-Iranian language. Khas people have been referred as Parbatiya and Pahari or Gorkhali. Khas are most dominant faction in Nepal. They are around 31% of Nepal but nearly two thirds of government officials. The word “Khas” is little used in modern times. Khas peoples call themselves by their group names such as Bahun, Kshetri, Sanyasi/Sannesi, Kami, Damai, etc.

Khas/Parbatiya/Pahari
खस/पर्वत्या/पहाडी/गोर्खालि

Sample photo of Khas man in the scholarly work at Library of India
Total population
c. 16 million
Regions with significant populations
Nepal
Languages
Nepali language (Khas Kura) as mother tongue
Religion
Hinduism

Khas people are also called Paharis (yellow) are widely found throughout Nepal

Modern day

a Khas Jhakri (shaman)

Khas people continue Hindu religion with some ancestral deity called Masto gods.

Bahun, Chhetri & Thakuri

Acharya, Adhikari, Arya, Aryal, Bam, Badola, Saun (Saud or Samant), Bagadwal, Baral, Basnet/Basnyat, Barmola, Bhandari, Bhattarai, Bista/Bisht, Bhatta, Bhetwal, Budhathoki, Chand, Chauhan, Chaulagain, Chhetri, Dahal, Dabral, Devkota, Dhakal, Dhital, Dimri, Dhungel, Dobhal/Doval, Dobriyal, Dulal, Gautam, Gusain, Ghimire, Joshi, Kalauni, Karki, Kattel, Katuwal, Kandari, Kukreti, Khand, Khadka, Khanal, Khatri/K.C., Koirala, Kunwar , Lamsal, Lekhak, Lohani, Oli, Mainali, Negi, Nautiyal, Neupane, Nouni, Pathak, Panta, Pandey, Hamal, Malla, Mamgain Poudel/Paudyal/Poudar(hill), Pokharel, Rana, Raut, Ranabhat, Rawat, Rautela, Raturi, Rijal, Regmi, Rimal, Sitoula, Sapkota, Shah, Sen, Shahi, Silwal, Semwal, Sharma, Singh, Thakur/Thakuri, Thapa, Thapliyal, Upreti, Upadhyay, Wagle, Wasti, Air, Aidi, Kandwal, khadayat, kathayat, pela, bhat, ter, bohra, pali, budal, chaisir, danga, rawal, pujara, mahat, mahra etc.

(Dasnami)

Puri, Saraswati, Bharati: Bhaveswa Tirtha, Ashram: Adhigata Ban, Aranya: Kashyap Giri, Parvat, Sagar :Bhrigu

Khas Dalits

Badi, Bishwakarma/B.K., Damai, Dholi, Gandharbha, Kami, Nagarchi, Pariyar, Ranapaheli, Sarki, Sundas, etc.

Khas People Media

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  Photograph of Khas Women from Nepal - 1880's.

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  Stone script of Damupal near Kartikhamba in Dailekh dated 1038 (981 A.D.) is claimed to be the first stone script in Nepali Language.

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  Vishnu and Lakshmi Garuda art at the time of the Khasha Lohara dynasty, 11th century CE, Jammu and Kashmir.

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  Copper Inscription by King of Doti, Raika Mandhata Shahi at Saka Era 1612 (शाके १६१२; 1747 Bikram Samvat (c. 1690 – 1691) in old Khas language using Devanagari script

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  khas or gorkha kingdom

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  Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa, the widely accepted first Prime Minister of Nepal

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  Jang Bahadur Rana, de-facto ruler of Nepal and a patriarch of historical Rana dynasty (1846-1951)

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  Khas language of Nepal, belongs to the Northern Indo-Aryan language group as shown as Nepali, in dark brown

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  Portrait of a Khas 'Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal', who ruled the country as a Queen regent in the 19th century

Books

• John T Hitchcock (1978), Himalayan Anthropology: Indo-Tibetan interface, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 9789027977007
• Richard P 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, S2CID 154584368