17/07/2021
KHAH LANGUAGE : AN INTRODUCTION
Khah Language is a language from the language family of Indo A***n, Indo European, Indo Iranian languages , and from the subgroup language family of Dardic Languages and Western Pahari Languages. It is primarily spoken in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir and generally all over Jammu and Kashmir, and outside like in Delhi, Mumbai, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia etc by the migrated speakers. The population speaking this language is more than 2 lakhs. It is mainly written in Perso Arabic and Roman script. Khah Language has commonalities with Kashmiri, Turkish, Sanskrit, Persian, Punjabi and Urdu. The majority of its speakers belong to the ethnic Khasha tribe. Khasha tribe has its own History, Society, Culture and Literature. Today, the majority of the Khashas or Khahs are Muslims.
Khasha is a combination of two words ‘kha’ and ‘sha’. Kha is the name of a tribe, sha means king. What
they spoke or speak is called Khah. ‘Kha’ in Sanskrit means space, empty, void, air, sky etc. In
Rigveda, Kha refers to cavity. ‘Sha’ in Sanskrit means destroyer. ‘Sa or Sha’ also means noble . Sa is
also prevalent in Prakrit. Prakrit is a part of linguistic classification consisting Vedic Sanskrit, Indo-
Iranian, Indo-A***n and Indo-European group of languages. Khasha is a combination of Sanskrit and Persian. ‘Kha’ in Sanskrit means empty space etc and ‘Sha’ in Persian means ‘King, Prince’. Hence, Khasha means King or prince of empty space.
~Grierson in his Kashmiri Dictionary page 394, which is based on Isvara Kaul's fragments, uses the word "Khah" in 1916 or before for the people belonging to the Khasha tribe.
In Khah Language itself, the word for Khasha is "Khaasa" meaning "many". Khashas stayed and stay in groups, communities and numbers,hence the name.
Moreover, ‘Khah’ in Kashmiri means field and in Khah “Khah”means furrow made by plough in the field.
Khah is also a caste of Pandit and Muslims either in Kashmir or in Ramban District.
The Land of Khashas has been the land of distant and empty valleys. In the twelfth century history of
Kashmir - Rajtarangini, the Khashas are frequently mentioned and explained, which were/are
inhabitants of hill region of south of Kashmir Valley, Khashali or around Banihal Pass. Khasas or Khas or
Kasiyas are the ancient people believed to be section of the Indo – A***n who originally belonged to
Central Asia, from where they had migrated and then penetrated in remote antiquity into the Himalayas
through Khashgar and Kashmir and dominate the whole hilly region. They are believed to have given
their names to Kashgar, Kashi (Central Asia), Kashkara, Kashmir, Khashali (South East of Kashmir),
Kishtwar, Khashdhar (Shimla Hills).
The country of Khasas comprised the Valleys lying to the west of Pir-Panchal Range between the
middle course of Vitasta (Jehlum), in the west and Kastavata in the East. The Puranic references
obviously show that they were multiple settlement of Khashas in the North and North Western Region
of South Asia. . The country of Rajouri which was ruled by Kambojas in the epic times which was ruled by
Khasha in the later times. The name of Village Khah in Rajouri District shows the influence of Khasha
Tribe. The presence of Shaan, Bohra, Khah, Katwal, Khokar etc. are some of the surnames of Khasha Tribe from
these references it becomes clear, that Khah was a tribe and it is the because of their living in these
areas that the language was called Khah or Khashali.
Rajtarangini mentions Banihal a very narrow mountain Valley as Vishalta. This region in King Uccala’s
time was an escape route from Kashmir for unwanted and disgruntled elements of the Valley. In
Jaysimha’s time (1128 – 49) a small fort is stated to have been existed just below the old Banihal Pass
called by the name of Bansalla which literally meant a Jungle or groove of trees. Ghulam Hassan in his
Book “Tarikh-e-Hassan” has also mentioned the presence of fort. This castle belonged to Khasha lord
Bhagika, ruler of the old principality of Vishalta or Vanshalla-the present Banihal region. He was the son-
in-law of Tikka, the lord of Buddhal (Rajouri). As we see that in Khah language there is a Phonetic
change in a diachronic and synchronic method and process from /V/ to /B/ and /Sh/or/s/ to /h/. So
Vishalta or Vanshalla becomes Banihal ‘Van’ becomes ‘Ban’ and ‘Shalla’ or ‘Salla’ becomes ‘Halla’ –
Banhalla.
Even today every khah Speaker say Banahalla not Banihal or Bahnall as Marghoob Banihalli has talked of
‘’Bah”- Twelve ‘Nala’ – Rivers. He has alo talked of Khah, Pogali and Paristani as distinct.
Further it is because of this that Khah language has preserved some of old Sanskritic elements. We see
this phonetic change in “Varramulla”, vikram, Vijeshwari, vikram and Vatroo which becomes Baramulla,
bikram, Bijbehara, bikram and Batroo.
Khah is spoken beyond Pogal Paristan Valleys. It is mainly spoken in the areas to the South-East and
South-West of Banihal. Khah speakers are not found in upper areas only. The main town of Banihal,
Ramsoo, Khari, Ukherhal and Ramban are permanently inhabited by Khah speaking families. Khah
language is of three types.
It’s types are as.
(i) Dashni Khah (ii) Khawri Khah (iii) Pure Khah
Dashni Khah is spoken in those areas where it is mostly influenced by Marazi type of Kashmari rather I
would like to call it Kashmirized Khah e.g. Phagow, Chanjloo, Nowkot, Trigam, Hinjhal etc. Khawri type of
Khah is spoken in those areas where it is influenced by Dogri, Bhaderwahi, Kishtwari and other
languages and it can be callled there as Dogrized Khah such as Bhusht, Chenani, Sangaldan, Batote,
Udhampur and Riasi etc.
It is true that the language
spoken in Tehsil Banihal, Ramsoo, Khari, Ramban is regarded as of standard
variety.
Prof G.M.Shad correctly writes in his book ‘Mule Aenkwan’ about Khah language. According to the
ancient local tradition, Khah was and is the name of this language.
In ‘A Linguistic Survey of Kashmiri Dialects Part II’, it is well noted that Khah is different from Poguli and
that Khah is spoken in Phagu, Khari, Chamalwas and others area like Neel etc
In his book, ‘Banihal : Gateway of Kashmir’, Manshoor Banihali talks about the Khash tribe and its
language in the hilly areas of Neel, Khari, Chamalwas etc. He recounts that they spoke Khasha or Khasali
language which later became Khah and which is attributed to Khasha tribe in Kalhana’s Rajatarangini as
well. Manshoor opinionates the name ‘Khah’ is most suitable for this language given the wide areas
where it is spoken.
In ‘A Note on Khah Morphology’ Dhar reiterates that Khah is distinct from Poguli.
SK Chatterjee has been celebrated by Pogulis but they have ignored his classification of languages and
thereby what he has to say about Khah language. In S K Chatterjee, the Linguist, Khas language is
considered as a branch of Northern Prakrit from the lineage of Primitive A***n in the following order
Primitive A***n>Non Vedic A***n > Northern Prakrit>Khas>Pahari.
Mohammad Iqbal Naik, in the introduction writes under the heading ‘A brief introduction of Poguli
Language’ in his book ‘Pogali Zaban ka Sutuyati Nizam’ asserts the fact that ‘the original and the
ancient name of this language is ‘Khah’ which is named after Khasha tribe mentioned in the Kalhana’s
Rajatarangini.’
REFERENCES
1. Agni Purana, Chapter 348, Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, W H Allen & Co. London,
1851
2. ibid.
3. Grierson, George A. Linguistic Survey of India, Vol VIII, Part IV, Indo A***n Central Group, MLBD
Delhi, 1968, p. 7
4. Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-A***n Languages. Routledge. p. 163.
ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9
5. Vyasa, The Mahabharata of Vyasa, English Translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, sacred-
texts.com,2003, Book 7 : Drona Parva : Jayadratha-Vadha Parva : Section CXX p. 254
6. Thakur, Laxman S., A panorama of India culture /The khasas: An early Indian tribe, Concept
Publishing Company, 2012,p. 287
7. Sohil, Shakeel Ahmed, The History of Khah Language and its Areas, The Creative
Launcher, An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English Vol II &
issue V (December – 2017) ISSN- 2455-6580
8. Marghoob, Banihali. Kashir Bala Apari. Kashmir: Mox Press, 1967.
9. Sohil, Shakeel Ahmed, The History of Khah Language and its Areas, The Creative
Launcher, An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English Vol II &
issue V (December – 2017) ISSN- 2455-6580
10. Grierson, G. A. Standard Manuals of Kashmiri Language. 2 Vols. Oxford, 1911.O
11. Verma Siddheshwar. “The Dialects of the Kashmiri Group”, Journal of Asiatic Society of
Bengal. 1938.
12. Census. 2011. Ramban District Report
13. Sohil, Shakeel Ahmed, The History of Khah Language and its Areas, The Creative
Launcher, An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English Vol II &
issue V (December – 2017) ISSN- 2455-6580
14. ibid.
15. ibid. .
16. Shad, G. M, Mule Aenkwan, Ashraf Book Centre, Red Cross Road, Srinagar, 2010 p. 200
17. Linguistic Survey of Kashmiri Dialects Part II,Director Central Institute of Indian Languages,
Manasagangotri, Mysore, 570006,ISBN :978-81-7343-122-7
18. Banihali, Manshoor, Banihal : Gateway of Kashmir ,Kaaf Printers Srinagar Kashmir, 2015
19. Dhar, Nazir A, A Note on Khah Morphology, p 111-124
20. Chattopadyay, 1982:3 & SK Chatterjee, the Linguist
21. A Dictionary of the Kashmiri Language by Grierson 1916
