खश

The name is of uncertain origin, partly because accounts disagree on where the tribe originated. In the Mahāmāyūrī text, they are placed somewhere between Bactria and Kapisi (modern Afghanistan), suggesting an Iranian origin; while other inner-Indian texts describe them as aborigines/barbarians from the Himalayas.[1]

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /kʰɐ.ɕɐ/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰɐ.ɕɐ/

खश • (khaśa) stem, m

1. northern tribe living in the Punjab region between Āraṭṭa and Vasāti
   • c. 400 BCE, Mahābhārata
     • प्रस्थला मद्रगन्धार आरट्ट नामतः खशाः वसाति षिन्धुसौवीरा

       prasthalā madragandhāra āraṭṭa nāmataḥ khaśāḥ vasāti ṣindhusauvīrā

2. descendants of outcast Kshatriyas who adopted Vaishnavism

• Dardic:
  • Kashmiri: khāh

    Arabic script: کھاہ

    Devanagari script: खाह

• Prakrit: 𑀔𑀲 (khasa)
  • Northern:
    • Khasa Prakrit:
      • Central Pahari:
        • Kumaoni: खस (khas), खसिया (khasiyā)
      • Eastern Pahari:
        • Nepali: खस (khas)
      • Western Pahari:
        • Bhadrawahi: खश (khaś), खाशा (khāśā)
        • Dogri: खस (khas)
          • ⇒ Dogri: खस्साली (khassālī)
  • Northwestern:
    • Paisaci Prakrit:
      • Sindhi:
        • Jadgali: [script needed] (khauś)

• Laxman S. Thakur (1990) K. K. Kusuman, editor, The Khasas An Early Indian Tribe‎, Mittal Publications, →ISBN, pages 285–293
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “khasa”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 203