Khasas (Sanskrit: खश,IAST:Khaśa) were an ancientIndo-Aryan tribe and a lateJanapada kingdom[1] from Himalayan regions of northernIndian subcontinent mentioned in the various historical Indian inscriptions and ancient Indian Hindu and Tibetan literature. European sources described the Khasa tribe living in theNorthwest Himalayas and the Roman geographerPliny The Elder specifically described them as "Indian people".[2] They were reported to have lived aroundGandhara,Trigarta andMadra Kingdom as per theMahabharata.
TheKassites ofMesopotamia, suggesting eastward migrations throughIran and Central Asia. The Khasas became significant early settlers in the Himalayas.[3][4][5]
The original spelling for the name in Sanskrit literature is Khaśa (Sanskrit: खश) while variants of the name also used areKhasa (खस),Khaṣa (खष) andKhaśīra (खशीर).[6][7]
There are various theories on how Khasas got their name :
Irish Linguist George Abraham Grierson quoted that the Khasas that Pliny wrote about were one of the warriors "Kshatriya tribe of Aryan origin" with linguistic connections to both Sanskrit and Iranian languages, who lost claim to Vedichood due to non-observance of Vedic rules:
...in the extreme northwest of India, on theHindu Kush and mountainous tracts to the south, and in Western Punjab, there was a group of tribes, one of which was calledKhasa, which were looked upon as Kshatriyas ofAryan origin. These spoke a language closely allied withSanskrit, but with a vocabulary partly agreeing with that of theEranianAvesta. They were considered to have lost their claim to considerations asAryans and to have becomeMlechhas, or barbarians, owing to their non-observance of the rules for drinking and eating bySanskritic peoples of India. Khasas were a warlike tribe and were well known to classical writers, who noted, as their special home, theIndian Caucasus ofPliny.[8][9]
According to E.T. Atkinson, theJaunsar-Bawar is the representative Khasiya tract and it
"..forms a very important link between the almost Hinduized Khasiyas of Kumaon and theirbrethren converts to Islam on the ethnical frontier of the mountains ofHindu Kush and gives customs and practices ofKhasiya race in full force at the present day which distinguished them thousands of years ago."[10]
As per the research conducted by political scientist Sudama Misra, the KhasaJanapada was a late Janapada (around 1100–500 BCE) under the broad division of Parvata-sprayingĀryāvarta (Himalayan Āryāvarta) of the ancient Indian Iron Age.[1]
TheManusmṛiti mentions the Khaśa as Kṣatriya-s formerly, due to omission of the sacred-rites and neglect of Brāhmaṇā-s.[11]
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.[12]
TheBhagavata Purana gives a list of various outcast tribes, the Khaśas also one of them, which have recovered salvation by adopting the religion of ViṣṇuVaishnavism.[12] TheMahabharata mentions the Khasas as one of the northern tribes who fought on the side of theKaurava againstSatyaki.[13] In theKarna Parva of Mahabharata, Khasas are mentioned living in thePanjab region between Āraṭṭa and Vasāti:
prasthalāMadra-Gandhāra Āraṭṭa nāmatahKhaśāh VasātiSindhu-sauvīrā[6]
In theSabhaparvan of the Mahabharata, they are mentioned between Meru and Mandara along withKulindas and Tanganas, who brought presents ofPiplika gold toYudhisthira.[14] InDronaparvan of the Mahabharata, they are mentioned with other northwestern tribes such as Daradas, Tanganas, Lampakas and Kulindas.[12] The Vaishnava textHarivamsa describes that the Khasas were defeated by theKing Sagara.[15][12] TheMarkandeya Purana states that the Khasa is a country against the mountain. TheMarkandeya Purana,Vayu Purana andKalki Purana describe that Khasas together withSakas and other tribes have penetrated to the northwest of India.[12] TheSkanda Purana mentions the region ofHimachal Pradesh andKumaon-Garhwal as Kedare-Khasa-Mandale.[16]
TheBrihat Samhita authored by Indian polymathVarāhamihira grouped Khasas with Kulutas,Kashmiras, Tanganas, and Kunatas.[12] TheMudrarakshasa of Indian poetVishakhadatta mentions that Khasas andMagadhas wereGanas (troops) in the army of Rakshasa andMalayaketu.[12] According to an ancient Kashmiri textNilamata Purana compiled by Indian scholarVed Kumari Ghai, the Khasa tribe occupied
"the valley to the south and west of thePir Pantsal range between the middle course of theVitasta (modernJhelum River) in the west and Kastavata (modernKishtwar) in the east."[17][18]
This assertion is also corroborated by the later 12th century textRajatarangini translated by British archaeologist SirMarc Aurel Stein.[15] TheBharata Nātyaśāstra by the Indian musicologistBharata Muni mentions that the mother tongue language of Khaśas wasBāhliki language in the phrase
"BāhlikabhāśodhīchyanāṃKhaśāṇāṃ ca svadeśajā." (Translation : The Bahliki language is the native tongue of the Northerners and Khasas.)[12]
TheKavyamimamsa ofRajashekhara mentions the Kuluta king with the titleKhasadhipati.[19] The inscription ofDadda II (also known as Praśāntarāga) mentions about the Khasas in the phrase "...Yascopamiyate - sat - kataka - samunnata vidhyadharavasa taya Himachale naKhasa parivarataya."[20]
Greek GeographerPtolemy contended that the country of Khasas (referred to as 'Khasia') was located near the Trans-Himalayan range ofNorthwest India.[21]Roman GeographerPliny noted that
The mountain races between theIndus and theJomanes are theCesi, the Catriboni who dwell in the forest.[21]
E.T. Atkinson speculated that Pliny referred to the terms,Cesi andCatriboni in the above quotations toKhasa andKshatriya.[21] Irish linguist SirGeorge Abraham Grierson in his workLinguistic Survey of India (Volume 9 Part 4) mentions the remarks by theRoman GeographerPliny on the Khasa (referred as 'Casiri') tribe with the imputations of cannabalism. Pliny further stated them as "an Indian people":
Latin Source (Gabriel Brotier edition):
Ab Attacoris gentes Phruri, et Tochari: et jam Indorum Casiri, introrsus ad Scythas versi, humanis corporibus vescuntur.[22]
English Translation:"Next to the Attacori [Uttarakuru ] are the nations of the Thuni and the Forcari; then come theCasiri [Khasiras], anIndian people who look towards theScythians and feed on human flesh."[2][7]
Indian sociologist R.N. Saksena explains that this imputation was due to the existing suspicion towards Khasas by theVedic Aryans,[7] though he regards them as the earlier wave of the same 'Aryan settler' group.[23]
The Mongolian-Tibetan historianSumpa Yeshe Peljor (writing in the 18th century) lists the Khasas alongside other peoples found in Central Asia since antiquity, including theYavanas (Greeks),Kambojas,Tukharas,Hunas andDaradas.[24][25]
Irish linguist SirG.A. Grierson asserted that "..the great mass of the Aryan speaking population of the lowerHimalaya fromKashmir toDarjeeling is inhabited by tribes descended from the ancientKhasas of Mahabharata."[15] The Khasa peoples are theKhakhas ofJhelum Valley, theKanets ofKangra andGarhwal, Khŏś/Khośyā ofJaunsar-Bawar and regions adjacent to it inUttarkashi andTehri districts of Uttarakhand andShimla andSirmaur districts ofHimachal Pradesh, the bulk population ofGarhwal andKumaon referred as "Khasia"[10] and theNepali speakingKhas people of Nepal.
The Katyuris were of the Khasha origin as agreed by most scholars.[26] They belonged to theKhasha people that entirely dominated the inner Himalayan belt up to Nepal[27] and they extensively populated the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand.[26] 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.[26] Katyuri was one of the ruling houses ofJoshimath that claimed sovereignty over other Gram Rajyas of the entire territory.[28] The Katyuris ruled fromJoshimath in theAlaknanda Valley and later they shifted their capital toBaijnath.[29]
Khasas are thought to be connected to the medievalKhasa Malla kingdom and the modernKhas people ofNepal.[31] The modernKhas people of Nepal have also been connected with the ancient Khasas, although their period of migration in Nepal remains ambiguous.[32] In Nepal the Khas people first settled around present-dayHumla andJumla. The Khasa kings of Nepal formed the famousMalla Kingdom, which ruled Humla from the eleventh century before collapsing and splintering into local chiefdoms during the fourteenth century.[33] The Khasas (identified withKhasa Mallas) are also mentioned in several Indian inscriptions dated between 8th and 13th centuries CE.[20] The 954 AD Khajuraho Inscription of Dhaṇga statesKhasa kingdom equivalent toGauda of Bengal andGurjara-Pratihara dynasty. TheNalanda inscription ofDevapala and Bhagalpur; a copper plate ofNarayanapala also mentions Khasas. The three copper plates from Pandukeshavara explain the territories of Khasas.[20]
The 12th-century textRajatarangini translated by British archaeologist SirMarc Aurel Stein links the Khasas with northwestern affiliations. It describes at
No such difficulity arises as regards the Khaśas so frequently mentioned in the Kashmir Chronicles. It can be shown from a careful examination of all the passages that their seat was to comparatively limited region, which may be roughly described as comprising the valleys lying immediately to the S. and W. ofPir Panjal range, between the middle course of Vitastā in the W. and Kāṣṭavāṭa in the E.Finally we have evidence of the latter’s settlements in the valley of Khaśālaya, it is certainly the valley of khaiśāl, which leads from Marbal Pass in S.E. corner of Kaśmir down to Kishtwar[34]
Rajatarangini describes the rulers of Rajapuri (modernRajauri) as the "lord of the Khasas".[20][17] It also describes thechiefs of the Lohara as Khasas.[35][20][36] The Khasa chiefs of Rajapuri freely intermarried withKshatriya rulers ofKashmir while the Khasa chief of Lohara, Simharaja, married a daughter ofShahi Kings of Kabul.[20] The descendants of the royal family of Rajauri later becameMuslim Rajput chiefs and they retained the rulership of the territory till the 19th century.[35] Stein also identified the modernKhakhas as descendants of Khasas mentioned in theRajatarangini.[20][35] TheBomba clan are descended from the medievalKhas people of Kashmir that inhabited the entireKarnah region of Kashmir.[37] 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 bySiddheshwar Varma in 1938 in his linguistic survey.[38]
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