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| Username | Post |
| nepali_angel | Posted
on 11-Apr-04 01:52 PM
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/KashmiriBrahmins.pdf Relevant passages copied-pasted from the article: "Strangely, Kaúmîra or Kaúmîra are not found in Manu, who singles out the Khaúa, along with other half-Hindu tribes, for their lack of orthopraxy. The Khaúas still inhabited the Southern and South-Eastern rims of Kashmir even in Kalhana's time (1149 A.D.) when they also moved eastwards to Nepal.45 These and other half-orthoprax peoples among Manu's "mixed castes"46 are neighbors of Kashmir." " 44 Manu 10.44: pundrakaú co: da-dravidah kamboja yavanah úakah | parada-pahlavaú cînah kirata daradah khaúah ||" "See Stein ad 1.317; II 365,430 etc. Note that he identifies the modern Odil area in the SE of the Valley with Khaúalî (see 7.399). The Khaúa, or parts of this group of mountain tribes who speak a separate, non-Dardic Indo-Aryan language (Pahadî), later on moved further East, that is to Western Nepal, by the 13th century, and via Gorkha, to the Kathmandu Valley (1769), the whole of present Nepal and even areas further east, such as Sikkim, Bhutan, and Assam. Until fairly recently, their language, Nepali, was called Khas kura by the speakers of the language itself." Also, looks like priests also settled in Nepal from South India: "...the obvious immigration from the South into Nepal, as priests of the Paúupati temple of Kathmandu, attested from c. 750 A.D. onwards..." "There also is a close connection of Nepal with Gujarat...." (Kashmir and Gujarat also connected) |
| Biswo | Posted
on 11-Apr-04 01:59 PM
angel, Most of the people, among them historian Babu Ram Acharya, argued that Khas people came from Kashgir, which is near Kashmir but in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. I always wanted to go there, but haven't been there yet. I think the city is also known for mausoleum of one of Kublai Khan's sons. |
| nepali_angel | Posted
on 11-Apr-04 02:05 PM
Interesting Biswo. Is the Chinese province of Xinjiang where the Chinese occupied region of Kashmir is? If so, this particular area is very diverse, with people ranging in phenotype from Chinese looking to even European looking. I wouldn't doubt it. What language do they speak in this region? Is it related to Pahadi dialects by any chance? I would love to travel to these regions too...but, I haven't even been to various regions in Nepal, except Kathmandu. I would like to do that first, before venturing to Kashmir or other volatile regions. Ah well, even Nepal is dangerous these days. |
| Biswo | Posted
on 11-Apr-04 05:32 PM
I don't think Kashgar (kashgir, or khasi) is a part of Chinese-occupied Kashmir,but I am not so sure. Interestingly enough, Kashgar is occupied by Uighur people, whose language is probably more similar to Turk (as is that of several newly independent fromer USSR-states ending in stan). So, it was a surprise to me when I read about Kashgar being place of origin of Khash. Uighurs are very religious Moslems. They have staged some violent protests in Xian and Beijing in the past. My former roommate, a Pakistani, had been to all over Xinjiang province and he told me Pakistani extremists are foisting religious separatism in that part. I wish you goodluck in your tour of the region whenever that takes place:-) Xinjiang is also famous for a lot of Buddhist shrines. The movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is also partly based on Xinjiang, if I remember correctly. |