Khasas

The Khas People or Khas (Nepali: खस) or Khɒsiyas are ancient people of Indo-Iranic and Turkic origin, who originated from Central Asia, from where they penetrated in remote antiquity into the Himalayas through Kashgar and Kashmir and dominated the whole mountainous region of the Himalayan range. It is proposed that the Khas people of Nepal have their roots in Tarim Basin, and are descendants of present day Tajikistani people.

It is widely believed that the name 'Khas' is derived from the Persian words 'Koh' meaning mountain and 'Shah' meaning lords, thus combining to form 'Koh-shah' giving its ultimate meaning as 'Lord of the mountains', since 'Khasas', the name which ultimately seemed to have caught on in the regular local dialect, are primarily mountain dwellers for most of their history. They are believed to have given their names to Kashgar, Kashi (Central Asia), Kashkara, Kashmir, Khashali (south-east of Kashmir) Kashatwar, Khashdhar (Shimla Hills) and other recognizable colonies at the present day in the hills from Kashmir down to Nepal as also in various plains.