Nepali interpretation generally includes Pahari as constituting the dominant Khas, indicating a contrast to that of these Indo-Aryan ethnicities with that of the Tibetan or Janjati origins like Magar, Tamang, Gurung, Kirat, among others.

The Khas people, indigenous Indo-Aryan mountain dwellers, spread to dominate the hills of Central Himalaya and played important role in the history of the region, establishing many independent dynasties in early medieval times.

The Khas people had an empire, the Kaśa Kingdom, whose territory extended to Kashmir, part of Tibet, and Western Nepal (Karnali Zone).

Under the pre-democratic constitution and institutions of the state, Chhetri culture and language also dominated multiethnic Nepal to the disadvantage and exclusion of many Nepalese minorities and Tibetan peoples.

The desire for increased self-determination among these minorities and Tibetan Janajati peoples was one of the central issues in the Nepalese Civil War and subsequent democratic movement.

Politically, socially, and economically dominant over the Tharu under the conservative system of the monarchy, the Pahari community in the Terai purchased, or otherwise got hold of large landholdings.

Together with traditional Tharu landlords, they constitute the upper level of the economic hierarchy, which in the rural parts of the Terai is determined to a large extent by the distribution and the value of agriculturally productive land.

However, as a result of extensive historical contact with non-Hindu Nepalese, the Pahari caste structure is less orthodox and less complex than the traditional four-fold system in the plains to the south.

[14][23] The most prominent features of Nepalese Pahari society have been the Chhetri Shah dynasty (1768–2008), the Rana Prime Ministers that marginalized the monarchy (1846–1953), and its upper-caste presence in the armed forces, police, and government of Nepal.

[3][14][15][23][24][25][26] Historically, Hindu Paharis have practiced a spectrum of marital customs including monogamy, polygamy (both polyandry and polygyny), and group marriage.

Among all Paharis, remarriage by widows is formally prohibited by social norms; however an institution called "Jari" ( Sanskrit "Jarah" debauchery, paramour) exists.