The Cultural Heritage of Meghalaya 9780367499600, 9781003048336

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THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF MEGHALAYA

The state of Meghalaya, formed on 21 January 1972, is a state of fascinating socio-cultural significance. Its heritage can be traced from the prehistoric times of Stone Age upto the present. Though comprising mainly of the matrilineal Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia tribes – the state also houses many other lesser known communities such as the Hajong, Sakachep, Biate, Koch, Dalu, Margnar and the Nepali. All these communities find voice in this volume. The Cultural Heritage of Meghalaya looks at the state of Meghalaya exhaustively from the perspective of heritage documentation and maintenance. The 38 chapters written by anthropologists and independent researchers, present the rich traditions found in the region. This volume will be of great help to academicians, researchers, students, and laymen interested in a comprehensive study of the region. Queenbala Marak is Associate Professor at Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya. She recently edited Megalithic Traditions of Northeast India (2019) and Doing Autoethnography (2016), and authored Food Politics: Studying Food, Identity and Difference among Garos (2014) and co-authored Misimagre: A Prehistoric Factory Site from Garo Hills, Meghalaya (2017). Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri is Professor of Anthropology and Director, National Museum of Mankind (IGRMS), Bhopal. He has published 16 books and 55 research papers. Currently, he is the editor of Humankind, an annual journal of IGRMS.

The Cultural Heritage of Meghalaya

Edited by QUEENBALA MARAK

SARIT K. CHAUDHURI

MANOHAR

2020

First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal; individual chapters, the contributors; and Manohar Publishers & Distributors The right of Queenbala Marak and Sarit K. Chaudhuri to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Bhutan) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-49960-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-04833-6 (ebk) Typeset in Ehrhardt MT Std 11/13 by Ravi Shanker, Delhi 110 095

Contents

Acknowledgements

ix

Introduction Queenbala Marak and Sarit K. Chaudhuri

1

PART I: ARCHAIC PEOPLE AND POSSESSIONS

1. Early Settlers of Meghalaya: An AnthropoArchaeological Perspective Abdullah Ali Ashraf

23

2. Prehistoric Tool-making in Garo Hills Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

31

3. History Etched in Stone: A Study of the Khasi-Jaintia Megalithic Tradition Cecile A. Mawlong

47

4. Socio-Cultural Analysis of Megaliths in Jaintia Hills Akoijam Milan Meitei

69

5. Peopling of Shillong Plateau: A Molecular Anthropological Insight Banrida T. Langstieh

87

PART II: PEOPLE AND SOCIETY

6. Revisiting the Oral: Controlling Mechanisms in a Non-Monetized and Non-Hierarchical Society Tiplut Nongbri

105

vi

Contents

7. Matriliny of the Garos with Special Reference to Women’s Status Caroline R. Marak

129

8. Nepalis of Meghalaya: Settlement, Social Institutions and Festivals Dhruba K. Limbu

159

9. Socio-Cultural Aspects of the Hajongs of Meghalaya Manoranjan R. Hajong and Sudhanya R. Hajong

175

10. Touching the Intangibles: Revisiting Kinship among the Sakachep Sezolu Khamu and Teresa L. Khawzawl

189

PART III: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

11. New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms Seino van Breugel

205

12. Changes in Khasi Kinship Terminology Juanita War

251

13. A Culturally Informed Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms Seino van Breugel

265

14. Word Formation in A∙chikku Language Dokatchi Ch. Marak and Dorothy R. Marak

305

PART IV: RITES, RITUALS AND CELEBRATIONS

15. Rites of Inheritance: Assessing Gifts, Mothers, and Marriages Eric de Maaker

329

16. Beyond Rituals: Looking at Traditional Customs of the Gorkhas of Shillong Utpala G. Sewa

351

17. Marriage Customs of the Biates Johnsly W. Dkhar and Kenneth Darnei

367

Contents

vii

18. Traditional Marriage Customs of the Marngars Vilhousienuo Neli

383

19. Agricultural Practices of the Hajongs Chintu S.B. Marak

397

20. Traditional Ritual Practices of the Hargaiya Koch Kanchani P. Koch

409

PART V: CULTURE AND MATERIALITY

21. Sacred Sites and Society: A Preliminary Inquiry A.K. Nongkynrih

425

22 Women and Clay: A Study on the Craft of Pot Making among Garos Queenbala Marak

443

23. Khasi Music with Special Reference to Rare Instruments Baladiang H.H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling

457

24. Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills Dachanmi Dkhar

471

25. A Note on Garo Music and Musical Instruments Pynshailang R. Dohling and Seigoumang Chongloi

483

26. Archery as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Khasis Roplyneda Lyngdoh

499

PART VI: LAND-MAN RELATIONSHIPS

27. Office of the Nokma: Studying Traditional Village Administration of the Garos Tengnang D. Sangma

519

28. Forest and Tribal Life with Special Reference to the Khasis Rekha M. Shangpliang

537

29. Traditional Political Institutions of the Khasis Charles R. Lyngdoh

555

viii

Contents

30. Traditional Healing System of the Garos Rameeza Hasan

569

31. A Case Study of Mawphlang Sacred Grove Tambor Lyngdoh

589

32. Shella: A Frontier Village in Southern Meghalaya Gautam K. Bera

605

33. Ethno-Medicinal Practices of the Bhoi Khasis Ananya Chetia and Longshibeni N. Kithan

623

PART VII: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY

34. Return to Rensanggri Robbins Burling

637

35. Ethnicity vs. Development: Dalus of West Garo Hills Tanka B. Subba

667

36. Sanskritization among the Bodo-speaking Tribes of Garo Hills Dhirendra N. Majumdar

679

37. Garo Folk Theatre with Special Reference to Gahon Barbara Sangma

689

38. Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in Garo Hills Angira Kar

709

List of Contributors

727

Index

731

Acknowledgements

From the inception to the final product – this book is indebted to many people. This would not have seen the day without the academic generosity of the contributors – many of whom have retired from active service – many others have tirelessly worked on several drafts in a timely manner – all of whom voluntarily contributed to this volume without any financial gains. Three of the contributors are no more with us – Sudhanya Ray Hajong, Dhirendra N. Majumdar and Abdullah Ali Ashraf who passed away before the book took final shape. We are grate­ ful to Hajong’s son (his co-author in this volume) and Majumdar’s daughter Mrs Giribala Momin who gave permission to publish the concerned chapters. For permissions to reproduce specific chapters we acknowledge the following publishers – Oxford University Press, New York (Chapter 15), Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (Chapter 34), Gyan Publishing House, Delhi (Chapter 35), IIAS, Shimla (Chapter 36) and IGRMS, Bhopal (Chapter 1). We specifically thank Robbins Burling and Thomas Trautmann for their help in procuring permission for reproducing Chapter 34; and Tanka B. Subba for his constant encouragement and support. Finally, we thank Manohar Publishers & Distributors, Delhi for this volume.

QUEENBALA MARAK SARIT K. CHAUDHURI

Introduction

Queenbala Marak and Sarit K. Chaudhuri

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future

And time future contained in time past

T.S. ELIOT

The concept of cultural heritage links the past, present and the future – it is an idea, an ideology and an ethos, sometimes taking a concrete shape, that is created by our ancestors, and passed on to the present. It is an expression of the ways of living developed by a group of people and passed on from generation to generation, including traditions, practices, spaces, matters, artistic expressions and concomitant values. Therefore, what the present does to such heritages will affect the past and the future. The state of Meghalaya,1 carved out from the erstwhile state of Assam on 21 January 1972, is a state of great socio-cultural sig­ nificance. That its heritage can be traced from the prehistoric times is attested by the discovery of various pre-Neolithic and Neolithic sites in Khasi and Garo Hills. Though comprising mainly of the matrilineal Khasi, Garo (who prefer to call themselves Mande or A·chik mande), and Jaintia (who call themselves Pnar) – the state also houses many other lesser known communities. Whether it is in terms of social customs, belief systems, judicial proceedings, folk beliefs, agricultural practices or even linguistic style, this area is not only rich and varied, but also of great importance in anthropologi­ cal and cultural enquiries.

2

Introduction

Conceptualizing Cultural Heritage There is no generally agreed definition for the term ‘Cultural Heritage’. The concept appears to have been imported from an­ thropology and archaeology (Blake, 2000), but widely used in other disciplines as well; and despite a disagreement over the definition, experts of different subjects have a fairly clear conception of the subject matter of their study (Prott, 1989). Some of the well-known definitions across disciplines include the following: Cultural Heritage is a legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and preserved for the benefit of future generations. (UNESCO, n.d.) Cultural Heritage is less of an objective, physical existence than the range of associations which accompany an object or monument and which provide the sense of being part of a group. (Blake, 2000) Cultural Heritage is an expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values. (ICOMOS, 2002) Heritage is a concept to which most people would assign a positive value. The preservation of material culture – objects of art and of daily use, architecture, landscape form – and intangible culture – performances of dance, music, theatre, and ritual, as well as language and human memory – are generally regarded as a shared common good by which everyone benefits. (Silverman & Ruggles, 2007)

A scrutiny of the definitions makes it clear that though the concept is vast and all encompassing, three important components can be identified. These include: 1. It is a legacy of the past and passed on from generation to generation, either as a tangible object, or through oral or/and written communication. It is a form of inheritance to be kept in safekeeping and handed down to future generations. It, thus, offers a bridge between the past, present and future.

Introduction

3

2. It comprises both tangible as well as intangible attributes of a community or place, along with natural space. Clearly defined by UNESCO, tangible culture includes buildings, monuments, landscapes, books, works of art and artifacts; intangible heri­ tage includes folklore, traditions, language and knowledge; and natural heritage includes culturally significant landscapes and biodiversity. (UNESCO, n.d.) 3. It has a strong linkage with group identity, and could be also symbolic in terms of identity construction of the group or com­ munity. Connection to and traditional activities around these objects/space/activity create a sense of community. Thus, it is a symbol of the cultural identity of a self-identified group, be it a nation or a people, and an essential element in the construction of that group’s identity. Though a part of anthropology, archaeology and museum stud­ ies for a long time, the formal emergence of this concept is a result of a long historical development in which different values were attached to monuments, buildings, works of arts, artifacts, land­ scapes, etc. The methodical demolition or losses of these objects due to man-made (development processes, war, looting, etc.) and natural (earthquakes, volcanoes, erosion, flooding, etc.) agencies led to phrases such as ‘outstanding universal value’ and to the declara­ tion that these objects belong to ‘humanity’. Certain legalizations (initially connected to tangible culture) were first made at the inter­ national, national and regional levels. These ideas were developed due to an overwhelming perception that cultural heritage and the natural environment with which it is in a symbiotic relationship, is distinctive and irreplaceable. The emergence of the concept is directly related to the ideas of protection or conservation. The World Heritage movement began with the ‘Convention concerning the protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage’ adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. Part of the mandate of the UNESCO is to protect man-made treasures that exist in our world. Three conventions were passed by the UNESCO to ensure this. These include:

4

Introduction

1. Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, of 1972 2. Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heri­ tage, of 2003, and 3. Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expression, of 2005. In UNESCO’s ‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’ of 2003 under Article 2, it notes: ‘Safeguarding means measures aimed at ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage, including the identification, documentation, research, preservation, protection, promotion, enhance­ ment, transmission, particularly through formal and non-formal education, as well as the revitalization of the various aspects of such heritage’ (UNESCO, 2003:2). Accordingly a list of world heritage sites that needed safeguard­ ing and protection through aid agencies, was prepared. As of 2011, there are 936 world heritage sites – out of which 725 are cultural sites, 183 are natural sites and 28 are mixed properties located in 153 countries. Out of 36 sites from India which appears in the list, none are from Meghalaya. While there is the acknowledgement of the need to ‘protect’ the tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the above UNESCO clause, at the same time there is a desire to make it ‘viable’ and ‘revitalize’ it. This could be seen as a way of making a site/culture come alive and not be a ‘museum’ or it could be interpreted as a way of economically exploiting the site/culture while trying to maintain its unique characteristics (Caust & Vecco, 2017). The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Headquar­ tered in Paris, ICOMOS was founded in 1965 at Warsaw as a result of the Venice Charter and offers advice to UNESCO on world heritage sites. In India, different bodies such as the Archaeologi­ cal Survey of India (ASI), Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), National and State Museums, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Indira Gandhi National Centre for

Introduction

5

the Arts (IGNCA), and Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangraha­ laya (IGRMS) among others are to some extent connected to the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritages. Much of the archaeological sites and monuments are maintained by the ASI and the different regional Circles and State Archaeology depart­ ments. In Meghalaya, the Arts and Culture Department under the state government maintains the archaeological sites. The Bhaitbari historical site in Southwest Garo Hills district, likely a seat of early kingdom formations connected to historical periods of the region, is maintained by the state government;2 while the stone bridges of Jaintia Hills are maintained by the Guwahati Circle of ASI.3 As of January 2018, a list of 13 sites appears in the Proposed Heritage Sites of Arts and Culture Department.4 The term ‘Cultural Heritage’ is today also seen as political – for who decides the list? Who/what gets to be on the list? Who holds the stewardship? Identification of cultural heritage is based on an active choice as to which elements of this broader culture are deemed worthy of preservation as an ‘inheritance’ for the future. At stake is the question of who defines cultural heritage and who should control stewardship and the benefits of cultural heritage. Thus, while heritage can unite, it can also divide. These contesta­ tions, when unresolved, can lead to resistance, violence, and war. The inherent conflict between world or national heritage and indi­ vidual or local rights emerges at this critical point (Silverman & Ruggles, 2007). Current heritage studies is complex, versatile, and often charac­ terized by contradictory significance or interpretation, as claims for heritage can appear to be simultaneously uplifting and profoundly problematic (Kuutma, 2013). Cultural preservation as a public policy is a product of Western cultural history which developed organically as part of the process of formation of nation states. But it is time to focus on a certain malaise that is often manifested in aca­ demic milieu around what is currently called ‘patrimonialization’, mainly when the cultural dynamics of heritage holder communities is at stake. Patrimonial value effects local politics and interferes with the development of traditional knowledge and cultural expression (Arantes, 2013).

6

Introduction

The role of cultural heritage as a vehicle for the expression and even construction of a nation’s or a group’s cultural identity is therefore a double-edged sword which can act both for the good and the bad. It can lead to an aggressive assertion of identity, whether national or ethnic, which may cause and certainly foster armed conflict in which the destruction of cultural monuments – the symbols of the cultural identity of one of the parties to the conflict – often become a weapon of war. However it also has great potential for creating cohesion within a group, be it self-identified ethnic minority within a state, a nation state or even a supranational body (Blake, 2000). For the state under study, The Meghalaya Heritage Act of 2012 (Act No. 9 of 2012) published on 4 April 2012 was enacted by the state government. It states that it is an Act: . . . to provide for conservation and protection of heritage sites which shall include buildings, artefacts, structures, areas, streets and precincts of historic or cultural or environmental significance (heritage buildings and heritage precincts) and natural features of environmental significance and sites of scenic beauty and also to provide for conservation and protection of areas of environmental sensitivity. The Gazette of Meghalaya, 2012: 207

Under this Act, three categories of heritage precincts were defined: (a) Grade I - comprises buildings and precincts of national or his­ toric importance, embodying excellence in architectural style, design, technology and material usage and/or aesthetics; they may have been the prime landmarks of the region, including natural sites; (b) Grade II - buildings and precincts of regional or local impor­ tance possessing special architectural or aesthetics; merit or cultural historical significance though of a lower scale than Grade I. They are local landmarks, which constitute to the image and identity of the region. They may be the work of master craftsmen or may be models of proportion and orna­ mentation or designed to suit a particular climate;

Introduction

7

(c) Grade III - buildings and precincts of importance for town­ scape; that evoke architectural aesthetic, or sociological interest through not as much as in Grade II. These contribute to deter­ mine the character of locality and can be representative of lifestyle of a particular community or region and may also be distinguished by setting, or special character of the facade and uniformity of height, width and scale. The Act defines and describes only heritage sites, and does not refer to cultural heritage. Nevertheless, the responsibility of safe­ guarding different types of tangible and intangible cultural heritage at the state level vests with the Arts and Culture Department. With a view to preserve, document, research, promote, develop and augment arts and culture, the said department was bifurcated on 1 August 1988 from the Education Department. The function of the new department was divided into three broad objectives – per­ forming arts, research and library services. Under performing arts is the Institute of Arts and Culture. Research included anthropo­ logical research, gazeteers, historical and antiquarian studies and museum, archaeology and state archives. Library services included the State Central Library and the district libraries. Under its aegis, several workshops, cultural programmes, exhibitions, etc., are held annually to not only showcase the cultural diversity of the region, but also to encourage budding craftsmen, musicians, folk artists, authors of vernacular languages, etc.

Traditions and Social Memories in Meghalaya Concepts of tangible cultures, intangible cultures and natural spaces overlap for many indigenous communities professing an ethnic identity. The three aspects not only overlap, but make no sense without the other, and the actual meaning can be gauged only when an object/tradition/social memory is understood in context. Thus, every item/idea in the region has a narrative of its own – be it the brass gong of the Biate or the Bostu puja of the Koch; the woven dress of the Hajong or the long houses of the Garos; and the bow and arrow of the Khasi or the marriage customs of the Sakachep.

8

Introduction

Diverse traditions and social memories connected to identity and ethnic formations are strongly etched in the minds of commu­ nities living within the State of Meghalaya. Predominantly a tribal state, different communities having their own language, socio-cul­ tural beliefs, traditional institutions, economic life, ethno-medical practices, arts and craft, religion, etc. are found living together. According to the Census of India (2011) besides the Khasi (34 per cent), Garo (30.5 per cent) and Jaintia (18.5 per cent), the other communities living within the common geo-political boundary include the Bengali (7.5 per cent), Nepali (3.5 per cent), Hajong (1.2 per cent), Biate (1.1 per cent), Koch (1.0 per cent), Tiwa or Lalung (0.9 per cent), Rabha (0.8 per cent), Kuki (0.5 per cent), Shaikh (0.3 per cent) and others (0.2 per cent). The ‘People of India Project’ by AnSI undertaken in 1985 listed 25 communities in Meghalaya (Singh 1994). The other communities (which are numerically less) listed in the volume (ibid.) include the Lyngam (also spelled as Lyngngam, considered to be a sub-tribe of Khasi), Banai, Man, Dalu, Boro, and Mikir. The population of Meghalaya as per the 2011 census is 2.96 million, the sex ratio being 986. Geographically it covers an area of 22,429 sq. km with a population density of 132 persons per sq. km. The Garo and Khasi Hills region was populated in prehistoric times as attested by the discovery of over 40-50 pre-Neolithic and Neolithic sites all over the state indicating prehistoric settlements. Some of the well-known sites from Garo Hills include, Rongram, Bibragre, Selbalgre, Misimagre among many others; while from Khasi Hills important sites are Barapani, Sawmer, Sohpetbneng and Myrkhan. All these sites indicate a strong Hoabinhian and Neolithic presence. The prehistoric stone tools remain as a part of the people’s memory as a myth (such as the story of goera gitchi among Garos, and the descent from the heavens at Sohpetbneng among Khasis), and as affinities to modern tools in terms of typotechnology. One other possibly prehistoric tradition which enters the historic phase and continues till date is the profusely spread megalithic structures found all over Khasi-Jaintia Hills, and spo­ radically in Garo Hills. Large megalithic clusters occur in Nartiang and Shangpung in Jaintia Hills, and Cherapunji (Sohra) and Maw­

Introduction

9

phlang in Khasi Hills among others. These structures continue to play an important role in the present socio-cultural milieu. The three largest tribes (along with their various sub-tribes) are known worldwide in anthropological circles due to their unique system of matriliny. Matriliny plays itself out in lineage, inheri­ tance, residential pattern, succession to power and even religious systems. For the Khasi and Jaintia, the ka khadduh (inheritress) is the youngest daughter of the house who inherits not only the maternal property and house, but also all responsibilities of looking after elderly parents, grandparents, uncles, unmarried siblings and numerous other relatives (if it is the apical house). For the Garo, the nokna (inheritress) is one of the daughters irrespective of birth order whom the parents favour. Therefore, the Garo nokna’s position and status in life (as an inheritress) is not fixed and can be changed in case of violations with regards to change of religion, disobedience or ill-treatment of parents. If it is the apical house, she inherits political power too, and her husband becomes the nokma (chief/ headman). Sociologically, the matriliny of this region is important since even though land, property, lineage, succession to power, etc., lies in the hands of women and passes from women to women, the main controlling power and authority lie in the hands of men – maternal uncles, husbands and brothers. As pointed out by Nakane (1967) the main structural difference between the two lies in the composition of a property group: the property group of the Khasi is formed by a descent group at a shallow generation depth, while that of the Garo is maintained by the cooperation of the two local lines, each of which represents a localized lineage group. Hence the Garo descent group tends to be weakened in its solidarity. Of great interest is also the change from matriliny to patriliny (and vestiges of matriliny) that is witnessed among tribes such as the Rabha, Hajong and Koch (Majumdar, 1972; Raha, 1989). Meghalaya is a Christian-majority state, with over 74 per cent of the people practising Christianity. The other religions followed include Hinduism (11.52 per cent), Islam (4.39 per cent), Sikhism (0.10 per cent), Buddhism (0.33 per cent), Jainism (0.02 per cent) and other tribal religions (0.35 per cent). However, all the ethnic groups traditionally followed animism – a belief in the existence

10

Introduction

of the soul in all animate and inanimate beings as well as a belief in multiple supernatural powers that organize the universe. Today Garo animists are referred to as Songsarek, Khasi animists as Niam Khasi or Seng Khasi, and Jaintia animists as Niamtre. Speakers of the Indo-Aryan language family are majorly Hindus and a few Muslims. However, tribes such as the Hajong, Koch and Rabha follow Hinduism as well as their traditional animistic beliefs and practices. Besides the major religious festivals of the Christians, Hindus and Muslims, a number of festivals are celebrated in the state along ethnic lines, and in many of them there is a permanence of the sacred space as well. The Jaintia Behdienkhlam celebrated in July is a festival conducted to drive away plague/cholera or pestilence. The origin myth tells of a prediction of a widespread plague in Ri-Pnar (land of the Pnars). Horrified by the impending doom, the people travelled to the land where the deities Mulong, Mooralong and Mushniang resided, and through a series of rituals propitiated them. On the other hand, the Garo Wangala celebrated in September-end or early October, is a thanksgiving ceremony in gratitude for a bountiful harvest to the deities Saljong and Minima Kiri Rokkime. The origin myths explain how Saljong taught the people to cultivate on the hills and gave the seeds to grow; while Minima Kiri Rokkime is seen as the paddy-soul. In both, a series of dances, music, rituals and incantations take place – many of which are narrations of oral histories – and found to be highly structured. Traditional political institutions have existed for hundreds of years. These political institutions function at various tiers, such as the village level, clan and state. Among the Khasis, each clan had its own council, the dorbar kur, presided by the clan head. The council managed the internal affairs of the clan. Every village had a local assembly, the dorbar shnong (village council), presided by the vil­ lage headman. The local political units were known as raid, under a supreme political authority known as syiem (king). The syiemship was the congregation of several raids and was headed by an elected chief known as the syiem, who presided over the dorbar hima. The Jaintias also had a similar system to the Khasis, including the raids headed by dolois, and the syiem. Among Garos, a group of Garo villages comprised one A·king. The A·king functioned under the

Introduction

11

A·king nokma, under whom would be several headmen/chieftains (nokma) belonging to several villages. The nokma performed both judicial and legislative functions. Unlike the Khasi political system which is a mix of ascription (by birth) and achievement (through election), the Garo system is purely based on hereditary succes­ sion. Today, the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills are governed by the Sixth Schedule, appended to the Constitution of India on the recommendations of a sub-committee formed under the leader­ ship of late Gopinath Bordoloi. Accordingly, Autonomous District Councils (ADC) were formed based on adult franchise in the three hill districts: Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, Garo Hills Autonomous District Council and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council. Meghalaya is also known for its bio reserves, forest covers and ‘sacred groves’. In fact, much of the bio reserves are an outcome of sacred groves and community reserve forests which number over hundreds. These are small or large areas of natural vegetation that are usually dedicated to local deities over many generations. This guardianship creates a sacred area where nature and wildlife thrive. The Mawphlang sacred forest, about 25 km from Shillong, is one such sacred forests, where more than a 600-year old tradition is being followed. It is a taboo to touch/pluck/pick leaves, fruits, flowers, shoots, insects, firewood, etc., from the grove. Balpak­ ram, from South Garo Hills, declared a National Park, is home to many species of birds, animals and plants. This place has a strong mythical connection and referred to as the land of the spirits or the abode of dead souls in Garo world-view. Another example of cultural manipulation to the landscape can be cited in the context of the living root bridges found in Meghalaya. Here, a functional living architecture is fashioned by slowly training the aerial roots of the Ficus elastica tree in order to serve as a bridge from one hillock to another, or over a deep gorge. These structures can be seen in Mawsynram, Cherrapunji, Dawki and many other places. It is rightly said that the elements of tradition will be carried forth only when it is propagated further – in this context, language or mother tongue acts as an important vehicle. The principal lan­ guages spoken in the state, besides the official language English, are

12

Introduction

Khasi and Garo along with their dialectical variations. Khasi is a branch of the Mon-Khmer family of the Austro-Asiatic stock and in the People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) (Devy & Syiem, 2014), 20 dialectical variations have been dealt with. Khasi speak­ ers (along with the Jaintia) in the state number 1,09,1087 (47 per cent) (SHM, 2008-9). This is one of the few surviving Mon-Khmer languages in India today, and includes varieties such as the Dar­ rng, Khadar, Langrin, Lasa Iapnar, Lyngngam, Mairang, Maram, Mawpen, Mawsynram, Mnar, Nongbri, Nongkrem, Nongshken, Nongtalang, Phlangwanbroi, Pnar, Umladang, Umniuh Tmar, War Shella and Warding (Devy & Syiem, 2014). Garo language, on the other hand, belongs to the larger Tibeto-Burman language fam­ ily, and therefore shows affinity to Koch, Boro, Rabha, Dalu, Biate, Hadem, Margnar, Mikir or Karbi, and Tiwa or Lalung. There are 12 dialectical variations among them, variously referred to as ‘tribal divisions’ (Playfair, 1975[1909])5 and ‘dialectical and cultural groups’ (Sangma, 1984).6 The PLSI volume lists 10 variations, and the number of speakers are approximately 7,28,424 (31 per cent) (SHM, 2008-9). The other language speakers like Bengali, Nepali or Gorkhali, Hindi, Assamese and Hajong belong to the IndoAryan language family. Three languages of the region appear in the list of vulnerable or endangered languages. In the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Dan­ ger Atong is listed as ‘severely endangered’ and Biate as ‘definitely endangered’ (Moseley, 2010). Unfortunately and of great concern to cultural scholars, activists, and laymen alike, Ruga is listed as ‘critically endangered or extinct’ (ibid.). As noted by anthropolo­ gists and linguists, there appears to be ‘no data available’ on Ruga speakers (van Driem 2007: 320), and it is doubtful ‘if anyone born after 1950 would claim to be able to speak Ruga’ (Burling, 2004: 12).

Organization of the Book This book is thematically arranged into seven parts. Part I deals with the archaeological aspects of the region, of utmost importance, since this gives a timeline in terms of occupation of the region.

Introduction

13

Chapter 1 provides an interesting insight into the question of who the earliest settlers of Meghalaya were, by taking into consideration the ‘Sawmerian culture’ in Khasi Hills. Abdullah A. Ashraf brings in an ethno-archaeological perspective into answering this question with the help of supporting data in the form of prehistoric tools (including the Southeast Asian Hoabinhian) discovered from the type site Sawmer, and other locations. Chapter 2 dwells on the aspect of stone tool making in the prehistoric times in Garo Hills. Taking examples from Misimagre, Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan conclude that indeed one factory site, if not more, existed in the Rongram-Ganol Valley where a series of pre-Neolithic and Neolithic tools were made on a large scale. Cecile A. Mawlong, in Chapter 3, gives a lucid description of the megalithic tradition in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Discussing its historicity from ancestral stones to market stones, and from clan ossuaries to memorial stones, the author suggests viewing megaliths as a functional aspect of the cultural system. In a similar vein, in Chapter 4, Akoijam M. Meitei, brings in a socio-cultural analysis of megaliths in Jaintia Hills. He delves into areas such as power relations, feasting, gender, matriliny, etc., in the context of these large stone structures. The final chapter in this part is by Banrida T. Langstieh, who discusses early settlement of the Shillong plateau by bringing in a molecular anthropological insight. In particular the author attempts a discussion on the Austro-Asiatic Khasis corroborating autosomal DNA markers, Y-chromosome and mtDNA with archaeological, anthropological and linguistic findings. Part II, titled ‘People and Society’, discusses some of the impor­ tant socio-cultural aspects of people living within the geo-political boundary. In Chapter 6, Tiplut Nongbri discusses how myths work as controlling mechanisms in non-monetized and non-hierarchical societies such as the Khasi-Jaintia. In particular she analyses the myths of u thlen and ka taro, and rues the fact that today only a fragile line divides the material from the symbolic, leading to much confusion in interpretations. In Chapter 7, Caroline R. Marak discusses the matrilineal system of the Garos from its origin to the present status, and traces the patriarchal features inherent in such a system. She concludes that bizarrely enough a system that supposedly was devised for the welfare of women, is sadly today

14

Introduction

the reason behind their ‘voicelessness’. In Chapter 8, Dhruba K. Limbu gives an overview of the Nepali settlement in Meghalaya and their social institutions and festivals. He traces their settlement as a result of British patronage, and discusses how they have added to the rich history and culture of the state, into which generations of Nepalis were subsequently born, absorbed and integrated. In Chapter 9, late Manoranjan R. Hajong and Sudhanya R. Hajong present a socio-cultural understanding of the Hajongs of Garo Hills. A society in transition is clearly felt when through a single lens remnants of matriliny (in the form of the nikni) along with pat­ riliny, and traditional belief system together with new Hindu beliefs is seen. In Chapter 10, Sezolu Khamu and Teresa L. Khawzawl discuss the kinship system of the Sakachep, an originally patrilineal and patriarchal tribal group from East Jaintia Hills, whose line of descent is now moving towards ambilineality due to marriages with the matrilineal Pnars. Part III deals with ‘Language and Culture’ of the Atong, Khasi, Lyngam and A∙chik (i.e. Garo) underlying the importance and con­ nect between the two. A linguistic description of a society first gets played out in the varied kinship terminologies existent in the society, and this aspect is reiterated in Chapters 11 to 14. While the chapters on Atong and Lyngam written by Seino van Breugel gives a lucid cultural analysis of the kinship systems of the two linguistic groups (on whom very little literature exists) along with a comprehensive kinship glossary (in Chapters 11 and 13), Chapter 12 by Juanita War discusses the changes taking place in Khasi kinship terminology, as a domino effect of societal transformations taking place. In Chapter 14, Dokatchi Ch. Marak and Dorothy R. Marak give a morphologi­ cal analysis of A∙chikku language, the standardized language spoken by the largest sub-tribe, the A∙we. In comparison to the well-known standard Khasi and Garo, the Atongs are a little known sub-tribe of the Garo, speaking a Tibeto-Burman dialect unintelligible to the majority Garos, while the Lyngams, another little-known sub-tribe belong to the Austro-Asiatic group, its closest relative being the Khasi, whose dialect also remains unintelligible to most Khasis. Part IV comprises six chapters which discuss different rites and rituals of societies living in Meghalaya. The first chapter

Introduction

15

(Chapter 15) in this section is by Eric de Maaker who discusses rites of inheritance among the Garos when a person dies. He assesses the types of gifts and the cultural value attached to each, as well as the ‘inheritance’ and ‘ranking’ of ‘mothers’ in a matrilineal soci­ ety. This brings into focus a complex web of kinship patterns that exist among them. Utpala G. Sewa, in Chapter 16, describes the Teej and Tihar rituals performed by the Gorkhas of Shillong with special reference to the cultural behaviour of women. She further discusses how in the celebration of these two rituals, societal ethos are upheld through generations. In Chapter 17, Johnsly W. Dkhar and Kenneth Darnei discuss the marriage custom of the Biates, one of the smaller communities of Jaintia Hills, who belong to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo group. Despite factors of change, traditional cus­ toms and rituals in connection to marriage are still being followed, such as bride price (man), which plays an integral role. Marriage customs of another smaller community, the Margnar of Ri Bhoi district, is next discussed by Vilhousieno Neli in Chapter 18. The Margnars belong to the Bhoi Khasi group (i.e. Khasis of low-lying areas), and therefore understandably they are in a process of change through assimilation with other neighbouring patrilineal tribes such as the Bodo or the Karbi who majorly live across the state in Assam. In Chapter 19, Chintu S.B. Marak examines the agricul­ tural practices of the Hajongs of Garo Hills, a community known for its wet rice cultivation with the help of the plough. This being the mainstay of their economy, there are innumerable rituals con­ nected to it, but unfortunately losing ground in the memory of the present generation. In the final chapter (Chapter 20) in this part, Kanchani P. Koch, narrates the traditional ritual practices of the Hargiya Koch, a tribal community undergoing change from Garo Hills. She discusses the rituals as those which bring welfare to the village (such as good harvests), and those that are related to preven­ tion and cure of diseases. Part V deals with the materiality of culture, and brings in a strong intrinsic connect between tangible and intangible culture. In Chapter 21, A.K. Nongkynrih describes the sacred site, i.e. the structure of Ka Iing Blei located in the village of Byrto in Jaintia Hills, and gives a sociological interpretation behind its sacredness.

16

Introduction

He concludes by saying that the structure assumes sacredness due to the rituals to which it is connected, and through which a rela­ tionship is made with the supernatural. In Chapter 22, Queenbala Marak discusses the craft of handmade pottery, which appears to be endangered among Garos and brings in a gendered perspective. In discussing this women’s craft, she brings in debates of ‘low versus high craft’ prevalent worldwide, and seen in various crafts of com­ munities of the region. In Chapter 23, Baladiang H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling give a description of Khasi music with spe­ cial reference to instruments that are considered ‘rare’. In doing so, they specially refer to the maryngod, ka sharati and ka mieng. In Chapter 24, Dachanmi Dkhar discusses the traditional method of pot-making in Jaintia Hills, which is also the handmade type, but unlike Garo pottery (which uses a mould), here it is freestyle. How­ ever, both Garo and Jaintia pottery was prepared and given shape to exclusively by women. In Chapter 25, Pynshailang R. Dohling and Seigoumang Chongloi write on how music is a part and parcel of life for the Garos – from agricultural to life cycle rites. While discussing the present status of music, they use the case of Ringjeng T. Sangma of Selbalgre, a well-known musician and master crafts­ man. In Chapter 26, Roplyneda Lyngdoh writes on archery as an intangible cultural heritage of the Khasis. She discusses in detail the game of archery, the various rites and rituals involved, as well as the socio-cultural aspects inherent in this traditional sport. Part VI discusses ‘Land-Man Relationships’. In Chapter 27 Tengnang D. Sangma writes on traditional ownership of land and its governance in the Garo Hills. He discusses the different types of nokma (chief/headman), and their powers and jurisdiction. In Chapter 28, Rekha M. Shangpliang discusses the importance of forests and its products in the life of the Khasis. She discusses in detail the different parameters of forest usage (such as food, dress, life cycle rituals, etc.), and the different systems of forest management. In Chapter 29, Charles Reuben Lyngdoh discusses traditional political system of the Khasis. Tracing the historicity of administrative bodies in the Khasi milieu, he concludes that it was conditioned by preservation, necessity, continuity and contact with neighbours of the plains. In Chapter 30, Rameeza Hasan analyses

Introduction

17

the traditional healing system of the Christian Garos residing in the plains area, who collect much of their medicines from their surroundings. Though the present healing system was found to be pluralistic in nature, disease etiology and treatment continued to be strongly embedded in the social context. In Chapter 31, Tambor Lyngdoh writes on the importance of sacred groves in the Khasi world view, and uses the world-famous Mawphlang grove as a case study. His chapter is interspersed with local narratives which highlight the do’s and don’ts of the sacred groves, and provides an interesting read. In Chapter 32, Gautam K. Bera vouches for study­ ing villages as ‘distinctive institutions’ and pens an ethnography of village Shella in East Khasi Hills district. He examines in detail issues of land ownership, land relationships, and customary laws regarding land. In Chapter 33, Ananya Chetia and Longshibeni N. Kithan discuss the ethno-medical practices of the Bhoi Khasis. They detail the categories of folk healers and popular personalistic etiologies seen amongst them. The last part (Part VII), deals with change and continuity and factors that lead to change. In Chapter 34, Robbins Burling pres­ ents a narrative of the first-hand changes he witnessed on his return to Rengsanggri after forty years. This revisit outlined the changes that had occurred due to new technology, modern education and Christianity. Burling also predicts that the biggest change that would happen in future would be economic. In Chapter 35, Tanka B. Subba writes on the little-known Dalus of West Garo Hills who appear to be much neglected. In a debate of ethnicity versus devel­ opment, he puts forward what he calls the ‘Dalu Path’. A tribe-caste problem exists among them – to which Subba suggests to become neither Garo nor Bengali, but to follow their traditional way of life. In Chapter 36, late Dhirendra N. Majumdar writes about the changes that came about in the tribals of the hills areas due to Hinduism. He discusses the process of Sanskritization among the tribes of Garo Hills such as the Rabha, Koch, Hajong and Hindu Garo. In Chapter 37, Barbara Sangma talks about Garo folk theatre with special reference to gahon. Even though the beginnings of folk theatre could be traced to various rituals, the organized theatre in Garo Hills appeared to owe much to culture contact across ethnic

18

Introduction

lines, and thus gahon today is an integration of what once was Garo and non-Garo as well. Angira Kar’s chapter wraps up the book with a beautiful description of traditional market systems and how markets (haat) are a point of culture contact. This contact between and among diverse ethnic groups created an avenue of ‘cultural exchange’ through which much of one culture flowed out or flowed in, bringing in modifications, changes or complete replacements in indigenous cultural traits that constitute a heritage.

NOTES 1. In known history, the region that is today recognized as Meghalaya was known for a very long time as Khasi Hills and Garo Hills. When it bifurcated from Assam in 1972, this region was christened as ‘Meghalaya’ which is of Sanskrit origin. Though not fully accepted by leaders of the separate state movement and various NGOs, the name has stuck to the state. The word ‘Meghalaya’ was coined by Professor S.P. Chatterjee of the Calcutta University. It is a combination of two Sanskrit words – megham meaning ‘clouds’ and alayam meaning ‘abode’, referring to the state as the ‘abode of clouds’. 2. There are four state protected monuments in Meghalaya under the Arts and Culture Department. These are all located in a complex in Bhaitbari, West Garo Hills. These are: (a) Excavated rectangular temple (b) Excavated octagonal temple (c) Excavated stupa (d) Excavated fortification wall. 3. There are eight monuments of national importance recognized by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Guwahati Circle. These include: (a) Megalithic bridge on the Um-Nyakaneth between Jaraem and Syndai in Jaintia Hills (b) Megalithic bridge known as Thulum-wi between Jowai and Jarain, Maput in Jaintia Hills (c) Megalithic bridge on the Um-Kumbeh in Jaintia Hills (d) Stone memorial of U. Mawthaw-dur-briew, Nartiang in Jaintia Hills (e) Tank, Syndai in Jaintia Hills (f) Stone memorial of U-Mawthoh-dur, Bhoi in East Khasi Hills (g) Scott’s memorials, Cherrapunji in East Khasi Hills (h) Manipur memorial, Shillong in East Khasi Hills.

Introduction

19

4. The following appears in the Proposed List of Heritage Sites/Monuments proposed to be protected by the state: (a) Togan Nengminza, Chisobibra, East Garo Hills (b) British Cemetery (Jingtep Phareng) at Dong Skul, Saitsohpen, Cherrapunji, East Khasi Hills (c) Sacred groves at Mawphlang, East Khasi Hills (d) Royal cremation ground at Cherrapunji, East Khasi Hills (e) Monoliths at Nartiang in Jaintia Hills (f) Buddhist stupa site at Bhaitbari, West Garo Hills (g) Octagonal temple site at Bhaitbari, West Garo Hills (h) Shiva Rectangular Temple at Bhaitbari, West Garo Hills (i) Fortress at Bhaitbari, West Garo Hills (j) Mir Jumla tomb at Monabari, West Garo Hills (k) The Old British cemetery at Tura West Garo Hills (l) U Mookyndur at Mookyndur Village, West Jaintia Hills (m) David Scott Trail from Mawphlang to Lad Mawphlang. 5. Playfair [1975 (1909)] lists the following as sub-tribes of the Garos – Akawe or Awe, Chisak, Dual, Machi, Matjangchi or Matabeng, Kochu, Atiagra, Abeng, Chibok, ganching or Gara, Atong and Megam. 6. Sangma (1984) lists the following as dialectical groups of the Garos – Akawe or Awe, Chisak, Dual, Matchi, Matjangchi or Matabeng, Abeng, Chibok, Ruga, Gara or Ganching, Atong and Megam.

REFERENCES Arantes, A.A. 2013. ‘Beyond Tradition: Cultural Mediation in the Safe­ gaurding of Intangible Cultural Heritage’, in L. Arizpe and C. Amescua (eds.), Anthropological Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage. Springer briefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace. Series editor, H.G. Brauch. London: Springer, pp. 39-56. Blake, J. 2000. ‘On Defining the Cultural Heritage’, The International and Comparative Law Quaterly, 49(1): 61-85. Burling, R. 2004. The Language of the Modhupur Mandi (Garo), vol. I: Grammar. New Delhi: Bibliophile South Asia. Caust, J. and M. Vecco. 2017. ‘Is UNESCO World Heritage Recognition a Blessing or Burden? Evidences from Developing Asian Countries’, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 27: 1-9. Census of India. 2011. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi. Devy, G. and E. Syiem (eds.). 2014. People’s Linguistic Survey of India, vol. 19,

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Introduction

pt. II: The Languages of Meghalaya. New Delhi: BHASHA & Orient BlackSwan. ICOMOS. 2002. ‘International Cultural Tourism Charter’. Principles and Guidelines for Managing Tourism at Places of Cultural and Heritage Significance. ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee. Kuutma, K. 2013. ‘Concepts and Contingencies in Heritage Politics’, in L. Arizpe and C. Amescua (eds.), Anthropological Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage. Springer briefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace. Series editor H.G. Brauch. London: Springer, pp. 1-16. Majumdar, D. N. 1972. ‘Study of Tribe-caste Continuum and the Process of Sanskritization among the Bodo-speaking Tribes of Garo Hills’, in K.S. Singh (ed.), Tribal Situation in India. Simla: IIAS, pp. 263-70. Moseley, C. (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. Paris: UNESCO. Nakane, C. 1967. Garo and Khasi: A Comparative Study of Matrilineal Systems. Paris: Cahiers de l’homme. Playfair, A. 1975 [1909]. The Garos. Gauhati: United Publishers. Prott, L.V. 1989. ‘Problems of Private International Law for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage’. Recueil des Cours, V: 224-317. Raha, M.K. 1989. Matriliny to Patriliny: A Study of the Rabha Society. Delhi: Gian Publishing House. Sangma, M. 1984. History and Culture of the Garos. New Delhi: Omsons. Silverman, H. and D.F. Ruggles. 2007. ‘Introduction: Cultural Heritage and Human Rights’, in H. Silverman and D.F. Ruggles (eds.), Cultural Heritage and Human Rights. New York: Springer, pp. 3-22. Singh, K.S. (ed.). 1994. People of India: Meghalaya, vol. XXXII. Kolkata: Seagull. Statistical Handbook Meghalaya, 2008-9. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Meghalaya. The Gazette of Meghalaya (Extraordinary), no. 35, pt. IV, Shillong, 4 April 2012. UNESCO. 2003. ‘Convention of the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001325/132540e. pdf UNESCO. n.d. ‘Protecting our Heritage and Fostering Creativity’. http:// www.unesco.org/new/en/culture. van Driem, G. (2007). ‘Endangered Languages of South Asia’, in B. Matthias (ed.), Language Diversity Endangered, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 303-41.

PA RT I

ARCHAIC PEOPLE AND

POSSESSIONS

CHAPTER 1

Early Settlers of Meghalaya

An Anthropo-Archaeological Perspective

Abdullah Ali Ashraf *

Meghalaya constitutes the territory popularly known as Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills named after the tribes of the soil. These territories were a part of the Assam Hill Division till the creation of the state under the Republic of the Indian Union in 1972. Broadly speaking, Meghalaya witnessed two distinct cultural phases dis­ tinguished by palaeo cultures and contemporary cultures. In Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Mesolithic represents the earliest palaeo-cultural phase. Till date Umiam (also known as Barapani) and Sawmer are the sole Stone Age sites representing this cultural phase. The material content of both the sites are quite homogenous indicating the existence of a common cultural bond. They were restricted mostly to the upper reaches of the East Khasi Hills. For all practical purposes, from archaeological point of view, the site Sawmer can be recognized as a Type-Site, representing the earliest phase of culture in Meghalaya, and for this reason, after the name of the site this cultural phase may be termed as ‘Sawme­ rian cultural phase’, which operated in south-easternmost part of Meghalaya during the early Holocene epoch, if not end of Pleisto­ * This chapter originally appeared under the title ‘Autochthons of Megha­ laya in Anthropo-Archaeological Perspectives’ in the journal Humankind, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 31-6. The chapter is reproduced in a modified form with due permissions from the author and publisher.

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Abdullah Ali Ashraf

cene. In Khasi Hills, the Sawmerian cultural group of people were the sole representative of this phase without having any sub-group in the population as indicated by the inseparable lithic traditions of the given assemblages. In Khasi Hills during that period there was a common subsistence strategy, and that was hunting, as indicated by the highest frequency of implements belonging to the piercing and boring category (Ashraf, 2004). Whatsoever is the culture of the past and present, the people of Khasi Hills had a great attachment for bows and arrows. The latter played a vital role in the subsistence economy of the Mesolithic people who emerged as a full-fledged hunting community. In Khasi Hills hunting was a need-based economy – a principal strategy for subsistence at least up to the late palaeo-cultural phase, i.e. till the emergence of rectilinear shouldered celts, which is one of the indi­ cators of a food-producing economy in prehistoric north-east India. In the contemporary scenario, use of bows and arrows for sub­ sistence has ceased to exist, but its cognitive attachment among the Khasis can be well perceived. The Khasis are regarded as one of the expert arrow shooters in the entire north-eastern region, which is still in practice, but in a different context. There are a few questions that arise – (a) why did the shift in subsistence economy take place? In other words, why did the hunt­ ers become producers? and (b) why did the people of Khasi Hills adopt the hoe instead of the digging stick, while all other ethnic groups who encircled the Khasis adopted the latter? To delve into the problem we have to divide the entire process of transformation into the hunting and the post-hunting stage. The post-hunting stage includes a part of palaeo-culture during its later stage and flourished in Khasi Hills from the beginning of the con­ temporary cultural stage. During that stage the impact of certain prevailing customs played a major role in changing the socioeconomic pattern of the Khasi Hills. In order to understand the ori­ gin and development of subsistence pattern of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, one has to consider at least two factors juxtaposing with the need or requirement and sentiment or psychological aspects of behaviour. The megalithic custom has sentimental attachment to the place where the family sepulcher and memorial stones stand

Early Settlers of Meghalaya

25

(Bhowmik, 1971). Therefore, it is likely that there was (i) less incli­ nation towards the shifting mode of cultivation (ibid.), which could have meant a nomadic lifestyle, and (ii) the practice of village sacred grove (Ahmed, 2005). These are perhaps some of the reasons which tied them to the land and made them less mobile in respect of habi­ tat in comparison to other ethnic groups of northeastern region. This is a vital factor in the man-land relationship in relation to the conservation of forest-based economy in a tropical country. Unlike the other north-eastern tribes, the people of Khasi Hills became more exploitative within a confined area for years together, and that perhaps negates the regeneration of certain useful plants within the limit of their exploitation. This consequence might have forced them to maintain a habit of preserving at least a plot with essential herbs with the attribution to the sacred grove. Bows and arrows, which were once the chief artefacts for pursu­ ing the principal economy, gradually became less important in the face of changing situation. The more they became biased towards the controlled mode of food acquisition, the more they became tied to a given area of exploitation. This is the background of the tradi­ tional economic pursuit of the contemporary people of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. However, the basic question that is raised about the transpositions of economic strategy has still remained unanswered. To understand the problem, or to find out the root cause of this change, there is no other option but to consider the circumstantial evidences that were prevailing during the prehistoric past. So far Garo Hills is concerned, the picture is not that hazy. Here the economic shift was a gradual process and it has a continuous sequence as revealed by the data from various sites of the Garo Hills. In a nutshell, it can be said that the prehistoric people of the Garo Hills initially experimented with the cultivation of plants on the water-soaking river basins as evident from Bibragre, Rongram and Nangalbibra. It was the initiation of incipient cultivation at Garo Hills, but that was a short drawn out process which lasted for a very short period as indicated by the emergence, distribution and evolution of par­ ticular tool types; especially the hand-adzes with broad cutting edge(s). Then the mode of cultivation shifted from river basin to

26

Abdullah Ali Ashraf

the hill slopes with the introduction of a new set of agricultural implements in the form of ground axes, adzes, wedges, etc. Thus it moved from wet to dry cultivation. But in Khasi Hills it was an abrupt process as indicated by the lack of sequential continua in the material cultures. In Khasi Hills during the hunting phase, the ardent Mesolithic hunters might have faced certain abnormal developments that arose out of a tussle between survival and extinction of a particular ethnic group of Aus­ tric origin. For the sake of survival they had to compromise with a change in both social and economic life. This inference is based on the sequences of circumstantial evi­ dences drawn out of examples attributed to the traditions, customs, or habits operating in the Khasi Hills during the past as well as in the present context. These are: 1. Significance of bows and arrows in the Khasi Hills, 2. Prevailing concept of biological father among certain Khasi population, 3. High rate of hybridization in the Khasi population, which is a socially accepted phenomenon, 4. Prevailing matrilineal society among the Khasis, 5. Lack of sequential process in shifting of economic mode, and 6. Availability of lithic artifacts of Austric origin. With this background let us interpret the prehistoric situa­ tion of Khasi Hills. Retention of Austric language in the form of Monkhmer (Bellwood, 1992) dialect with the alteration of racial characters in Mongoloid (Das, 1978) make-up among the Khasis itself dispels the notion of supremacy of one ethnic group over another. It is rather a phenomenon that could be related to a cata­ strophic imbalance in the distribution of sex ratio among the earlier population group, i.e. Austric speakers. The reason behind is not easy to explain at the moment, but the circumstantial evidence suggests for a substitution against the deficit part of the ratio. And the members of the Mongoloid population who compensated that deficit part, acted merely as biological fathers. Now, let us arrange the consequences in the following manner:

Early Settlers of Meghalaya

27

First, because of the role of the biological father, the Austric mother transmitted the language through generations and it still remained as mother tongue among the highly bio-culturally dif­ fused hybrid population now known as the Khasis. Second, the role of the biological father could be a contribut­ ing factor that led the society towards matriarchy at an early stage of the process and subsequently responsible for the development of matrilineal characters among the present-day population of the Khasi Hills. In the given context it can fairly be said that in Megha­ laya, the Khasis were the originator of the process, while the Garos and later on the deflected group, the Rabhas, were the adaptor to the process. These observations may raise some questions, because matriarchate is tied to the theory of origin of family from the pro­ miscuous stage. This axiom has it that the earliest family relations were between mother and child, since the father was not known. But here in Khasi Hills it is slightly different from the set doctrine, because the succeeding cultural phase clearly indicates that (i) The prehistoric men of Khasi Hills knew their father but his role was quite passive in all aspects of life except perhaps providing external security to the estranged members of the family; (ii) Because of the same reason, at one stage they failed to continue their hunting activities as mainstay of livelihood; (iii) For the same reason they could not adopt shifting mode of cultivation, because it involves tremendous organized manpower in clearing jungles. As a result, in the economic front, they remained as an island among the shifting cultivators who surround them. A similar situation might have occurred with the Sulungs1 who inhabit in the Arunachal Pradesh of north-eastern region of India. Their existence in the region dates back to the arrival of other Tibeto-Chinese linguistic groups. The ethno-archaeology of the region suggests that the most dominant Nishis later encircled the Sulungs during iron-using stage (Ashraf, 1990). For the sake of existence, the Sulungs entered into a kind of economic and other cultural adjustments. They admitted the overall supremacy of the Nishis, and gracefully accepted them as their masters. Thus, they became bilingual. The entire phenomenon is still observable in the region. At the domestic level, they continue to retain their

28

Abdullah Ali Ashraf

traditional dialect, quite unintelligible to their master. What is felt is that, it is a matter of cultural juxtaposition and an example of symbiotic existence over time for the sake of survival. The same may be the case with the Khasis, but the only difference is that the former is related to physical or cultural adjustment while the latter is biological. Whatsoever be the prehistoric economic status of the people of entire Meghalaya, one thing is clear that, forag­ ing is an integral part of the prehistoric subsistence economy. It acts as economic equilibrium in the varied economic practices of the groups under study. Foraging was unavoidable as uncertainty always loomed over the groups who shifted to or experimented with a relatively new mode of subsistence economy. Though segmented into independent economic and cultural groups, the prehistoric people of Garo Hills constitute distinct sub-groups under the can­ opy of broad spectrum2 Hoabinhian traditions, and subsequently these segmented groups as a whole, represent the colonization of wet sub-tropical hilly rainforest of Garo Hills. These Palaeocultural groups were more inclined towards gathering than hunt­ ing and some others even experimented with cultivation of plants. This is revealed by the data from the given sites (Ashraf, 2004). This phenomenon (Playfair, 1975 [1909]) is extended even to the contemporary cultural stage. On the other hand, in Meghalaya another distinctive hunting community persisted in the Khasi Hills within the contemporary or part contemporaneous time plane. This group is in no way related to the groups of Garo Hills, except a marginal cultural contact. Technically their culture is essentially an early Holocene one but its strong generic relationship with that of the late Pleistocene blade industries of Island Southeast Asia is also undeniable. The people of Palaeo-cultural phase in the Garo Hills heavily relied on bamboo and it played a major role in their economy.3 On the other hand, the prehistoric hunting community of the Khasi Hills was more dependent on their lithic implements. Non-availability of dateable associated material from any of the archaeological sites in Meghalaya for radiocarbon determination and also for aceramic nature of the sites for thermoluminescence dating, deter us from putting forward any time limit in absolute

Early Settlers of Meghalaya

29

terms. But the lithic traditions of post-Pleistocene cultures of Southeast Asia have a close affinity with that of Meghalaya. The indetractable geo-cultural homogeneity and close sequential con­ tinua of prehistoric cultures between the two clearly indicate an intimate relationship beyond their respective territories. If the cul­ tural process of either Southeast Asia or Meghalaya is studied as separate entities without proper reference to each other, a compre­ hensive picture of the wide cultural zone does not emerge. In fact, Southeast Asia and beyond, i.e. north-east India, form a common cultural zone. So it is reasonable to suggest for a relative chrono­ logical framework for the traditions under study. The bases for this connotation are the cultural elements, which have already attained a definite status with regard to cultural entities (Ha Van Tan, 1997; Ashraf, 2004). On that basis, it may be said that the Mesolithic hunters, who in all practical reality, were the predecessor of the present-day Khasis, lived a nomadic way of life in the higher alti­ tudes of eastern Meghalaya (i.e. Khasi Hills) at least 10,000 years before present (BP). On the other hand, around 8,000 to 7,000 years BP, the western part of Meghalaya (i.e. Garo Hills) was colonized by at least two distinct cultural bands. Two contemporary assemblages of independent cultural entities from Makbil Bisik and Bibragre sites reveal this. Both these sites deserve the status of type sites because all other early Palaeo-cultural sites of Garo Hills have a close affinity with either of the two.

NOTES 1. According to Furer-Haimendorf (1950) and Stonor (1952), Sulungs are the autocthons to the region that speak a dialect unintelligible to the tribes that encapsulated them (Deuri, 1982). 2. ‘Spectrum tradition’ refers to a tradition that spills over beyond its ethno­ cultural and geo-cultural boundaries. It spreads fast and far and wide from its homeland in fragments or in its total form. The whole process apparently acts in a more or less common ecological system at a particular period of time (Ashraf, 2004). 3. Hunting played a less important role in subsistence strategy of Garo Hills during the past (Ashraf, 2004). Playfair [1975 (1909): 47] puts forward a similar observation for the present context too. He says: ‘Although their

30

Abdullah Ali Ashraf hills are full of game, the Garos knew very little about hunting, and in tracking cannot be compared with many other hill tribes of Assam’.

REFERENCES Ahmed, A.A. 2005. Ethnobotanical Wisdom of the Khasis of Meghalaya. Dehradun: Bishen Singh Mohendra Pal Singh. _____. 1990. Prehistoric Arunachal: A Study on Prehistory and Ethnoarchaeology of Kamala Valley. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Arunachal Pradesh. _____. 2004. ‘Stone Age Tradition of Meghalaya: A Study of Variation and Continuity’. PhD thesis. Gauhati University. Bellwood, P. 1992. ‘Southeast Asia before History’, in N. Tarling (ed.), The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, I, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 55-136. Bhowmik, K.L. 1971. Tribal India: A Profile in Indian Ethnology. Calcutta: The World Press. Das, B.M. 1978. Variation in Physical Characters in the Khasi Population of North East India. Gauhati: Dutta Barua & Co. Deuri, R.K. 1982. The Sulungs. Itanagar: Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Arunachal Pradesh. Furer-Haimendorf, C. 1950. Ethnographic Notes on the Tribes of the Subansiri Region. Shillong: Assam Government Press. Ha Van Tan. 1997. ‘The Hoabinhian and Before’. The Bulletin of Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 16 (Chiang Mai papers) 3: 35-41. Playfair, A. 1975 [1909]. The Garos. Calcutta: United Publishers. Stonor, C.R. 1952. ‘The Sulung Tribe of the Assam Himalayas’. Anthropos, 47(5/6): 947-62.

CHAPTER 2

Prehistoric Tool-making in Garo Hills

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

In north-east India, the most prolific area for prehistoric archaeology has been from the region known as the Garo Hills. For more than two decades, researchers from the Department of Anthropology in Gauhati University (since its inception in 1948), have annually explored various sites and documented the finds therein. Mention may be made of Professors M.C. Goswami, A.C. Bhagabati, T.C. Sharma, H.C. Sharma, S.K. Roy and A.A. Ashraf, and their Masters and Doctoral students. In all, a total of 30 sites were reported from West Garo Hills and four from East Garo Hills. Not only for its prolificacy, but also for the wide variation in tool typology it is likely that Garo Hills could hold the key, if a systematic documentation is carried out, for prehistoric migrations and settlement processes. Despite the presence of Palaeolithic tools in Garo Hills reported by some authors (Sharma, 1974; Sharma, 1975; Sharma and Roy, 1985; Sharma, 1985; Sonowal, 1987; Sharma, 2003), this stage has been strongly contested in the north-east Indian context (Ghosh, 1978). This stage has been dubbed as ‘Neolithic debitage’ (Ghosh, 1978), and ‘Pre-Neolithic equivalent to Palaeolithic elsewhere’ (Medhi, 1988, 1990). However, some authors (Medhi, 1988; Marak et al., 2017) disagree with Ghosh and opine that these tools are not Neolithic debitage, but they were purposefully knapped. In fact, Ashraf (2006, 2010), Sharma (2003) and Sharma (2007) state that a pre-Neolithic phase exists in Garo Hills, which is the Hoabinhian phase. So far, the first author’s researches (Marak, 2013, 2014) have

32

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

also supported the Hoabinhian phase – which is a typical epi-Pal­ aeolithic Southeast Asian techno-complex – but our recent findings have suggested another cultural tradition possibly co-existing at the same time. This chapter discusses the diverse cultural traditions that were found side by side in Garo Hills, with special reference to the site of Misimagre. Additionally, this site being a tool-making site, an elaborate tool-kit is witnessed that the prehistoric people of the region not only knapped but also possibly used.

Prehistoric Misimagre Misimagre is located in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya at a distance of 30 km from the district headquarter Tura. It is one of the oldest villages in the region and is an extension of Selbalgre village. The site of Misimagre was first discovered in the year 1968, when M.C. Goswami, T.C. Sharma, H.C. Sharma and S.K. Roy from the Department of Anthropology, Gauhati University first explored the area (IAR, 1969-70), which was continued in the subsequent years. In the year 1974, a trial excavation was conducted (5.00 × 3.50 m) up to 76 cm, and revealed highly patinated tools made on dolerite (IAR, 1975-76). A geo-archaeological research carried out indicated the presence of Upper Palaeolithic and pre-Neolithic industry and factory sites in Misimagre hills (IAR, 1978-79). After a lull of almost four decades, a systematic exploration was conducted in the region by a team headed by Q. Marak from the Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shil­ long in the year 2017. The objective behind this exploration was to systematically identify archaeological sites in the region. One of the first villages explored in the region was Misimagre (the other being Bibragre). Here, a total of 13 sites were identified within a radius of approximately 1 km, indicating prolificacy in site and site occupa­ tion. These sites include the following: (i) MSG-I (25°33' 12.55" N, 90°17' 02.34" E, 650 m amsl) – Road leading to village Bibragre, (ii) MSG-IIA (25°33' 55.11" N, 90°17' 00.57" E, 564 m amsl): Near Makbil bisik (bisik = water source),

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills

33

Source: Authors. Map 2.1: The site of Misimagre

(iii) MSG-IIB (25°33' 57.77" N, 90°17' 05.59" E, 559 m amsl): Between Makbil bisik and Selbal stream, (iv) MSG-III (25°33' 44.78" N, 90°16' 40.98" E, 670 m amsl): Jhum field overlooking Angalnang stream, (v) MSG-IV (25°33' 16.84"N, 90°16' 53.39"E, 646 m amsl): Approach road to a house overlooking Waksambo stream, (vi) MSG-V (25°33' 11.70"N, 90°17' 03.25"E, 637 m amsl): Junc­ tion of Bibragre and Watregre, (vii) MSG-VI (25°33' 32.33"N, 90°16' 56.35"E, 654 m amsl): Road leading to a house adjacent to Misimagre L P School, (viii) MSG-VII (25°33' 24.91"N, 90°16' 56.83"E, 658 m amsl): Road leading to Bibragre near the village shop, (ix) MSG-VIII (25°33' 23.79"N, 90°16' 57.21"E, 648 m amsl): Near a house overlooking Misima stream, (x) MSG-IX (25°33' 07.58"N, 90°17' 27.22"E, 660 m amsl): Hill­ ock overlooking Didami stream, (xi) MSG-X (25°33' 18.54"N, 90°17' 06.69"E, 603 m amsl): Hill­ ock overlooking Masigingsep stream,

34

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

(xii) MSG-XI (25°33' 18.75"N, 90°17' 05.26"E, 603 m amsl): Near the Masigingsep bisik, and (xiii) MSG-XII (25°33' 22.05"N, 90°17' 14.66"E, 596 m amsl): Jhum field overlooking Selbal bisik.

Source: Authors. Map 2.2: The explored sites in Misimagre

A number of artifacts were collected in the exploration which is given in Table 2.1. A quick survey of tools found on the sites clearly revealed that they belonged to different tool traditions and were rather diverse. On one hand, tools like chipped axes and short axes were found; on the other hand blade tools were also seen. Of great interest was the finds of cores and debitage (i.e. waste flakes) from six sites – MSG-III, MSG-IV, MSG-VI, MSG-VIII, MSG-IX and MSG-XII – which indicated that possibly tool-making took place in these sites. The test dig conducted at MSG-IX revealed approx. 7000 arti­ facts (see Table 2.2). The finds from the 1 × 1 test pit were rather revealing since these tools were found in association with each

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills

35

TABLE 2.1: DISTRIBUTION OF ARTIFACTS FOUND IN EXPLORATION

Sl. No. Types of Artifacts Tools 1 Chipped axe 2 Short axe 3 Scraper 4 Blade tool 5 Flake 6 Borer 7 Burin 8 Point 9 Indeterminate Total   Cores 10 Core Debitage and TMT 11 Blank 12 Stone hammer 13 Waste flake Total   Grand Total 

No.

%

28 11 65 34 5 2 1 4 20 170

11.38 4.47 26.42 13.82 2.03 0.81 0.41 1.63 8.13 69.11

7

2.85

1 2 66 69 246

0.41 0.81 26.83 28.05 100.00

Source: Fieldwork, 2017.

other. The artifacts were collected from a single habitation layer composed of brown silty soil up to a level of 67 cm when the non­ implementiferous layer was breached. Table 2.2 shows the type of artifacts found from the excavation. Maximum amount of waste flakes, small chips, etc., were collected from the excavated area, which along with the cores, blanks and broken tools point towards the fact that indeed the site of MSG-IX was a factory site where mass tool manufacturing took place. A total of 5 potsherds were also recovered from the test pit as shown in Table 2.3. These sherds can be grouped into two main types – plain red ware and plain brown ware – both handmade. However, the size of the broken sherds was too small to be sent for chronometric dating.

36

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan TABLE 2.2: STONE ARTIFACTS FROM MSG-IX

Sl. No.

Types of Artifacts Tools 1 Chipped axes 2 Short axes 3 Scrapers 4 Blade 5 Borer 6 Burin 7 Pick 8 Microlith 9 Point 10 Indeterminate Total   Cores 11 Broken 12 Core 13 Fluted Total   Debitage and TMT 14 Blank 15 Waste flakes 16 Small chips Total   Grand Total

No.

%

23 23 336 409 15 16 9 207 5 346 1,389

1.66 1.66 24.19 29.45 1.08 1.14 0.65 14.90 0.36 24.91 100.00

27 60 14 101

26.73 59.41 13.86 100.00

67 683 4,710 5,460 6,950

1.26 12.50 86.24 100.00 100.00

Source: Fieldwork, 2017

Tool Traditions of Misimagre Tool Typology Following are the types of tools found in Misimagre from the exploration as well as the test excavation. 1. Chipped Axe: 51 chipped axes of varying dimensions (shape and size) were collected from the site. Over 50 per cent appear to be unfinished and broken. In terms of workmanship they are all fully chipped with no signs of grinding and polishing technique.

37

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills TABLE 2.3: TYPES OF POTSHERDS FROM MSG-IX

Type

Type of Clay

Fire clay; Type 1 coarse and Plain red ware lots of sandy grits; ill­ levigated Type 2 Plain brown ware

Fire clay; less coarse and lots of sandy grits; ill-levigated; appears more compact than Type 1

Portion of pot Neck; appears to be a pot with mediumlong neck Rim; appears to be a bowlshaped pot

Where found

Colour

40-45 cm Core is dark grey with reddish surface

Technique of manu­ facture Possibly handmade

Possibly 30-35 cm Core handmade is light grey with reddish brown surface

Source: Fieldwork 2017.

At this juncture we would like to state that even though earlier authors have mentioned edge ground or fully ground in the Garo Hills tool kit, we have not encountered any in Misimagre so far – rather due to high patination and weathering, the sharpness of the flaked edges get smudged and gives a misleading picture of rudimentary grinding which is not the case. From excavation, only 4 unbroken and fully intact ones were found, but the final product seems to be unfinished since flake scars appear to be rudimentary; the rudimentary nature could be intentional or point towards a process of tool making. The rest of the chipped axes from excavation appear to be broken and form different parts of the axe – tip, butt, broken longitudinally, tip/butt par­ tially broken. 2. Short Axe: An interesting tool type found include the short axe, which look like the broken butt or tip of a chipped axe, but is not the case. Short axes found were all chipped (or flaked) bifacially, with a strong truncation feature. The latter indicates

38

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

that the short axes were intentionally broken, and not a result of any accidental breakage. The largest short axe found was almost 1½ kg while the smallest one was just over 100 g, clearly showing a wide variation that exists within the short axe category – pos­ sibly indicating a difference in functionality. Some of these tools, rather than appearing finished, appear to be rudimentary in nature. But this in no way indicates that they were unfinished or discarded. In fact, rudimentary or minimum flaking is a feature that is successively witnessed in the Garo Hills tool kit. 3. Scraper: One of the largest categories of tools appears to be scrapers. A possible explanation could be the ease with which a detached flake can be used as a scraper by using minimum retouches. Scrapers could have been used for multiple scraping purposes, and the variety of scrapers on the basis of the cutting or scraping edge is rather interesting and indicative of the pur­ poses. Scrapers could have been conveniently carried along over long distances for use in different domestic purposes. Again, if one of the scraping edges got blunt, it is only a matter of a few minutes, when after retouching, it could be used again. 4. Point: Comparatively points are less in number. Even the 1×1 test excavation stresses the fact that scrapers were overwhelm­ ingly preferred, while points were neglected. This supports Ashraf ’s (2006, 2010) theory that hunting played a less important role in Garo Hills in the prehistoric period. Points, even though they could have been used for other purposes, more likely were used as projectile weapons in the past for a variety of subsistence economies like hunting and fishing. The less number of such projectile weapons indicates that possibly stone tools were rarely used as spear points or lance points in the Garo Hills context. This in no way indicates that prehistoric people did not hunt or fish. Rather, when we look at ethnographic parallels, we real­ ize that there is an abundance of other materials (besides stone) which could have been more conveniently used for hunting and fishing. For example, bamboo – either split or dressed – could have been used as a spear or a lance. Additionally, we see a large number of trapping devices made from bamboo and cane both

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

39

for hunting and fishing in the region even today (Marak, 2014a & 2014b). Blade: Blade flakes show characteristic parallel sides with elon­ gated flake scars. It is not clear whether all of them were finished tools, but majority of them appear to be finished with sharp cut­ ting edges on either one or both lateral borders. In some, a back or a rudimentary back is also witnessed. Understandably, there is a wide variation in the types of tools that we categorize as blade tools – blade flakes, knives, and scrapers on blade. One of the knife blades found at the test pit has a back which appear to have been intentionally retouched (for better grip). Borer and Burin: The tool kit interestingly comprises borers and burins as well, which are tools made with blade technology with retouches done at specific locations in order to procure a sharp pointed working end. These are all on blade flakes – some show­ ing larger morphological dimensions than others. Some of the burins appear to have the working end prepared by detaching two small flakes at one end from both the sides, while in some only one small flake appears to have been detached. Pick: Nine picks with tapering pointed working ends were also identified from the excavation. All of the picks appear to be heavy-duty tools with a thick, tapering and projecting tip. They appear to be bifacially worked, but with low intensity of reduc­ tion flaking. Microlith: These refer to very small flakes that have been retouched to produce a working end. The Misimagre tool kit comprised both the laminar as well as the geometric types. Some of the common laminar types include micro-scrapers (with cut­ ting edges on different parts of the periphery), micro-blades (with two longitudinal cutting edges), micro-burins and microborers; on the other hand, we have also identified triangles and trapezes in our tool kit. Core, Blank, Waste Flake and Chip: It is interesting to note, that out of the total number of artifacts collected majority comprised unfinished tools, cores, blanks, broken chunks, waste flakes and small chips. Cores collected from the excavation revealed small

40

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

to large cores with single/double/multiple flake removals as well as fluted cores. In terms of size specifics, the cores ranged from 15 to 851 gm. Cylindrical cores range from the number of flutes seen – from two grooves up to ten grooves. Cores of irregular shapes were also recovered showing single and multiple flake removal. The blanks recovered appear to be of contrasting dimensions – some are miniscule, while others are large. It is clear, just based on the size of the blanks, that the technology applied is different on different-sized blanks – in order to produce different types of tools. A large number of waste flakes and chips were also recovered. 10. Pottery: The two types of pottery found in MSG-IX showed differing characteristics. In terms of the raw material, both are made of fire clay, commonly found in the region. But in terms of typology they appear to be broken parts of two different types of pot – one with a neck, and the other without a neck. In terms of dimensions too, Type 1 is thinner (0.2-0.6 cm) than Type 2 (0.6 -1 cm). The former type has a neck with a thin lipped rim and rounded body; while the latter has a slanting lipped rim, no neck and hemispherical body. A reconstruction of Type 1 and 2 from the archaeological context are clearly comparable to ethnographic pottery (Marak et al., 2017). Thus, continuity can be seen in the type of pottery from the past to the present. Tool Technology It is clear that site MSG-IX is a factory site. What kind of tools were manufactured is somewhat clear – but what remains unclear is the method of manufacture. From the presence of a large number of blanks in the site, we know that pieces of raw material of convenient sizes were brought into the site and shaped into tools. Again from the different sizes of the blanks as well as the diversity of the tools themselves, it is clear that the techniques used were not one – but multiple in nature. Presence of chipped axes and short axes reveals that at one level, large bifacial tools were being manufactured by direct percussion method following possibly the stone/cylinder hammer technique

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills

41

Source: Authors. Figure 2.1: Tools found in Misimagre From top left: (a) Chipped axes, (b) Short axes, (c) Blade tools, (d) Scrapers, and (e) Microliths

to give the initial shape to the tool. At another level, a flake tool tradition also persisted as clear from the scrapers, blades and micro­ liths recovered. It is unclear whether chipped axes were made on cores, or on flakes removed from cores – though it would be safe to say that large chipped axes were possibly core tools, while small to medium chipped axes could have been made on large flakes. Some of the chipped axes are rather thin with refined flaking techniques that only an expert tool maker can make; and a single immature or inexperienced blow could break the tool and it possibly would

42

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

Source: Authors. Figure 2.2: Tool-Making Tools from Misimagre From top left: (a) Multi-platform core and hammerstone, (b) Different sizes of blanks, (c) Cylindrical cores

have to be discarded. What it indicates is that the tool maker using direct percussion (in the manufacture of chipped axes) was very experienced, since the flakes removed for making the chipped axes appear to be refined and shallow. The presence of blade cores along with different sized fluted cores reveal that the prehistoric people in Garo Hills knew the method of fluting and used it to the optimum. Thus, it is not sur­ prising that a large number of small-sized blade flakes have been recovered (possibly made by fluting technique). The presence of cylindrical and fluted cores also makes it possible for us to con­ jecture that the tool maker in Misimagre might have known and extensively used the punching method. This would indicate the use of a medium (punch) in order to remove a flake from a core (For

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills

43

details see Marak et al., 2017). This would help remove smaller and elongated flakes from a medium to small sized core. The technique of backing/blunting/truncation appears to be well known. A backing technique was seen in some of the blade tools – some rudimentary, others developed. This could be done by retouching along one border, and necessitated by the need to grip the tool in hand when using it. Additionally, there is evidence of intentional truncation seen at the proximal end of the short axes. The presence of this truncation clearly reveals that the tool would have been hafted onto a wooden handle and used. Retouches have been seen in most of the tools – chipped axes, short axes, scrapers as well as burins. This is required in order to make the tool sharper for use, as well as in opposition to made a border blunter for easy grip. What is intriguing is the coming together of two diverging tool traditions. First, we see a very popular blade tool technology along with fluting technique – possibly in the manufacture of the blade tools and microliths. Blade flakes can be produced by both percus­ sion and pressure, and evidence suggests that most of the tools in Misimagre were produced by percussion method. Additionally, the hardness of the rock, i.e. dolerite (5.5-6.5 on the Mohs scale) indirectly suggests the use of percussion method. The presence of hammer stones lends support to this theory as well. It is also likely that on medium to small-sized fluted cores, punching technique might have been applied in order to remove flakes. Second, a large number of short axes, characteristic of Hoabinhian culture, have been found both in the excavation and exploration (in adjacent Bibragre as well). This indicates that the finds are not accidental – but deliberate and a popular tool in the past. Here, the tools appear to have been flaked by percussion intentionally all over by bring­ ing a converging point towards one end, while at the other end, an intentional blow was given to truncate it and use it as a gripping end (the butt end). The presence of the truncation at the butt end clearly reveals that the people knew the technology to do so. This feature also leads to four possible uses – (a) for help in gripping, (b) for hafting to a wooden handle, (c) as a wedge for splitting tree trunks, and (e) judicious use of resources.

44

Queenbala Marak and Gangotri Bhuyan

The preceding paragraph reveals two early Holocene tradi­ tions, both pre-Neolithic in nature – a microlithic and Hoabinhian tradition. The microlithic tradition is a pan-Indian phenomena witnessed in the Mesolithic period in India as well as across the world (Africa, Southwest Asia, India and Europe). On the other hand, the Hoabinhian tradition is a typical Southeast Asian phe­ nomenon, and marked not by small tools (like the microliths) but by large-sized tools showing minimum flaking. Rudimentary grinding is also reported in Hoabinhian tools. Not only do the products of these two traditions differ in terms of shapes and sizes, but they also differ in terms of ecological adaptations. The findings (of tools and pottery) reveal that the sites possi­ bly belong to the early stage of Neolithic era with a popular usage of pre-Neolithic tools – microliths and Hoabins. It is likely that these two traditions (belonging to two different ecologies across the world), in Garo Hills might have adapted to the local traditions – therefore, there is one single raw material (for tools of both tradi­ tions), and occupation of contiguous sites.

Conclusion Undoubtedly, prehistoric people of present day Misimagre were tool makers – who gave shape to a variety of artifacts and possibly traded it out elsewhere. It is likely that due to the same raw material (dolerite) being used to make tools in other places of Garo Hills – which is a rather difficult material to quarry – it is possible that the tool maker in Misimagre either sent his/her products to far-off places, or belonged to the same cultural group using the same raw material. This statement finds support from the fact that other raw materials like quartz and sandstone are found plenty in the village, but were not used by Misimagre people. The dense concentration in MSG-IX of 10.45 specimens in a space of 1 cm3 is too dense for a part-time activity – possibly pointing towards a large scale production, or a place where they were passing on the tradition. The latter statement appears to be supported by the presence of six possible factory sites, making us conclude that the tool makers of

Prehistoric Tool-Making in Garo Hills

45

Misimagre were possibly passing on the technology and art within the family/clan/band. From the kinds of tools that they were making in MSG-IX, it appears that they were focussing on cutting implements – like axes, blades, and scrapers – rather than on piercing implements like points and arrowheads. This suggests an interesting socio-economic situ­ ation in the past. The presence of cutting tools indicates that they were used for domestic reasons like cutting up meat, vegetables, trees, etc. However, the absence of points (or any projectile weap­ ons) does not in any way indicate that the people did not hunt or fish. They might have hunted less than in other regions, but it could also indicate that they might have used other materials like bamboo for the purpose. When we look at the present-day occupants of the village, we realize that the prehistoric people might also have used a variety of traps for the purpose (like the present-day Garos). Placing the Misimagre finds into a particular time-frame is dif­ ficult, but from the kind of artifacts found (stone tools and pottery), it is likely that they were a people who lived years ago possibly at the early stages of the Neolithic period. But if they did live in the Neolithic period, then they were a people who were culturally disinclined to use Neolithic tools and technology (ground and pol­ ished) and preferred to use non-Neolithic or proto-Neolithic tools and technology; or were yet to discover grinding and polishing technology.

REFERENCES Ashraf, A.A. 2010. Stone Age Traditions of Meghalaya: A Study of Variation and Continuity. South Asian Archaeology Series 12. BAR International Series 2176. _____. 2006. ‘Autochthons of Meghalaya in Anthropo-Archaeological Perspectives’. Humankind, 2: 31-6. Ghosh, A.K. 1978. ‘What Happens when Cultural and Biological Adaptability of Man Fails?: A Case Study with the Palaeolithic Period in the Garo Hills’, in R.K. Kar (ed.), Cultural and Biological Adaptability of Man with Special Reference to North-east India. Dibrugarh: Department of Anthropology, Dibrugarh University.

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Indian Archaeology: A Review. 1969-70, 1975-6, 1978-9. Marak, Q. 2013. ‘Prehistoric Migrations and India’s North-East: The Garo and Khasi Hills Dilemma’. Journal of Asiatic Society, LV (3-4): 71-94. _____. 2014a. Food Politics: Studying Food, Identity and Differences Among the Garos. New Castle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. _____. 2014b. Living Traditions: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Garo Hills, India. Germany: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. Marak, Q., G. Bhuyan, A.M. Meitei and T. Sangma. 2017. Misimagre: A Prehistoric Factory Site from Garo Hills. New Delhi: RIP. Medhi, D.K. 1990. ‘Prehistory of Assam’. Asian Perspective, XXIX (1): 37­ 44. _____. 1988. ‘Palaeolithic Remains from the Garo Hills, Meghalaya’, in B. Chatterjee (ed.), History and Archaeology, 346-50. Delhi: Ramanand & Vidya Bhavan. Sharma, H.C and S.K. Roy. 1985. ‘On the Discovery of a Pebble-tool Industry in the Garo Hills, Meghalaya’, in V.N. Misra and P. Bellwood (eds.), Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Sharma, H.C. 1975. ‘Archaeological Findings in Meghalaya’. Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology, Gauhati University, IV: 20-5. _____. 2003. ‘Prehistoric Archaeology of North-East’, in T.B. Subba and G.C. Ghosh (eds.), The Anthropology of North-East India, pp. 11-30. New Delhi: Orient Longman. Sharma, S. 2007. Celts, Flakes and Bifaces: The Garo Hills Story. Oxford: Archaeopress. Sharma, T.C. 1974. ‘Recent Archaeological Discoveries in Northeastern India’. Puratattva, 7: 17-19. _____. 1985. ‘Problems of the Upper Palaeolithic in Northeast India’, in V.N. Misra and P. Bellwood (eds.), Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory, pp. 171-3. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Sonowal, M. 1987. ‘Studies on the Flake and Blade Industries of the Garo Hills, Meghalaya’. PhD thesis, Gauhati University.

CHAPTER 3

History Etched in Stone

A Study of the Khasi-Jaintia Megalithic Tradition

Cecile A. Mawlong

Located in the north-eastern corner of India, the Khasi-Jaintia Hills which forms the central and eastern parts of the state of Meghalaya comprise an imposing plateau with rolling grassland, hills and river valleys. This plateau lies approximately between latitudes 25o to 26o N and longitudes 90o and 93o E, covering an area of 14,375 sq. km. It is bounded in the north by the Kamrup and Nowgong districts of Assam, on the east by the Karbi Anglong district of Assam, on the south by the Sylhet district of Bangladesh and on the west by the Garo Hills of Meghalaya. Physio-graphically, the KhasiJaintia Hills can be divided into three units: (a) the northern low hills, (b) the central upland zone, and (c) the southern steep face of the plateau. In general, the hill ranges run from west to east with altitudes varying from 1,220 to 1,830 m above sea level. The central upland zone is the most elevated part of the plateau, with Shillong Peak (located in the vicinity of Shillong, the State capital), marking the highest point at a height of 1961 m above sea level. Of the varied ethnic groups in India’s north-east, the KhasiJaintia are considered to be one of the oldest occupying the region. Linguistically, Khasi belongs to the Mon-Khmer group of lan­ guages of the Austro-Asiatic family, a branch of the most widely diffused linguistic family in the world. Evidently Austric dialects are spoken in many parts of Southeast Asia, in the islands of the

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Indian and Pacific oceans as far as Easter islands off the coast of South America. Further, it appears that a number of Austric speak­ ers are Mongolian by race, with research indicating the coast of Indo-China as the place from where this linguistic family originated (Gait, 1926). Equally interesting, is the suggestion that the tradition of erecting megaliths (an identifying feature of the Khasi-Jaintia culture), was introduced into eastern India, by the Austro-Asiatic element of the Munda people to which group the Khasi are allied linguistically’ (ibid.). Thus based on philology, Gait (1926) believes that the ‘Khasi-Syntengs are a remnant of the first Mongolian over­ flow into India, who established themselves in their present habitat at a very remote period’ (p. 311). While the groups occupying the Khasi-Jaintia Hills are known by a common generic term ‘Khasi’, among themselves, they prefer the use of geo-specific terms of identification. Thus the groups occupying the Khasi uplands are called Khynriam, the central plateau of the Jaintia Hills, the Pnar, the northern parts of these hills, Bhoi, the southern hill slopes, War and Lyngngams occupy­ ing the western extremity of the Khasi Hills bordering the Garo Hills. Sociologists define an ethnic group as one whose members share some or all of the following features -- a common language, region, religion, race, endogamy, customs and beliefs and common descent. Based on the above, the various groups called Khynriam, Pnar, Bhoi, War, Lyngngam, etc., that inhabit the geographical territory called the Khasi-Jaintia Hills, are considered a composite group. They share among other things, race, language, customs and beliefs, a matrilineal clan organization, in which descent is traced through the woman, and a widely practised megalithic tradition associated with the commemoration of ancestral spirits underscor­ ing the rule of exogamy and the unity of their matrilineal ancestry (Mawlong, 2016). Sources on the origin and early history of the Khasi-Jaintia people are unfortunately meager and largely dependent on oral tradition. More reliable information comes from the buranjis, colonial accounts, ethnographical works, their rich megalithic tradition (which was a living one until very recent times) and linguistic evidence. Thus for any researcher working on the ‘Khasi’, the imme­

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diate identifying features include their Mon-Khmer language, a tradition involving the setting up of commemorative stone monu­ ments and their matrilineal clan organization.

I One of the most striking features of Khasi-Jaintia usage is the custom of erecting stone monuments in honour of ancestral spirits. These monuments which are widely distributed over the KhasiJaintia Hills have attracted the attention and interest of British civil and military personnel since the early decades of the nineteenth century. This interest in the monuments may be attributed to: (a) their profuse distribution over the hills, (b) the striking similarity of forms with those found in their own native Britain, Europe and the Mediterranean, and (c) the practice of erecting the monuments was a living tradition among the people until the recent past (Mawlong, 1996). Colonial accounts of the nineteenth century, refer to three basic types of stone monuments noted in these hills – the stone uprights (menhirs), the table stones (dolmens) and bone repositories/ossu­ aries (cists, cairns) (Walters, 1832; Yule, 1844; Godwin Austin, 1872; Clarke, 1874). Other important observations include the commemorative nature of Khasi megaliths, the recurrence of stone alignments with an unequal arrangement of menhirs (3, 5, 7, 9, etc.) as a common plan, and the identification of ‘male’ ‘female’ stones. However, some colonial accounts (Hooker, 1974; Fergusson, 1872) also include some fanciful observations that are factually incorrect such as references to the occurrence of ‘trilithons’ or the use of the tables- stones/dolmens as ‘altars’ for the ‘burning’ of bodies, etc. It may also be noted that some observers were also under the impression that the practice was unknown in other parts of India and was restricted to the Khasi Hills alone (Walters, 1832). This view is hardly surprising since very little information was available on the distribution pattern of Indian megaliths in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The first detailed ethnographic study on the Khasi was under­ taken by P.R.T. Gurdon and his work includes a section on the

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Khasi megaliths (Gurdon, 1990). The significance of his account is the use of indigenous terms to describe the stone monuments demonstrating a link between the megaliths and the social struc­ ture. However, the earliest most insightful work on the subject is undoubtedly that of local scholar Homiwell Lyngdoh (1990). The import of Lyngdoh’s account is the articulation of the Khasi percep­ tion of the stone monuments revealing as it were, the ideology that underlay the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic tradition. Similarly, David Roy’s account describing the megalithic ritual which at the time of his writing the article, was already rapidly falling into disuse, is invaluable for understanding the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic tradi­ tion (Roy, 1963). Subsequent accounts on Khasi megaliths by local scholars such as Kynpham Singh (1979) or general works (Bareh, 1967; Choudhury, 1977; Shadap Sen, 1981; Lyngdoh, 1991; Khara­ kor, 1988; on Khasi-Jaintia history and culture, invariably refer to the megaliths as an important aspect of their material culture but the discussions are generally brief, descriptive and largely repetitive in nature. A departure from the above is Angeline Bareh’s work (1981) on the megalithic tradition of Mawiong village in the Khasi Hills. Based on fieldwork she has furnished a fairly detailed description and classification of Khasi megaliths in her area of study. Her clas­ sification however had certain shortcomings: (a) she failed to make a distinction between megalithic structures directly associated with funerary rituals and the internment of bones of the deceased with those erected by clansmen or members of a village community to commemorate events of public interest – social, political, economic, etc., (b) Her use of the terms ‘chambered tomb’ and ‘cromlech’ to describe the stones receptacles in which the bones of the deceased were interred are inappropriate since they are strictly speaking, not tombs or burials, but bone repositories. Further, the word ‘cromlech’ is an archaeological term which had changed mean­ ing over time and is unrelated to bone repositories (Daniel, 1972), (c) Bareh’s method of listing stone types that went by different names, without any attempt at contextualizing or establishing their socio-economic or political linkages, diminishes their significance. In the absence of a precise and standardized nomenclature, there

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was not only a great deal of confusion with regards to terminology but also to the function and purpose of the structures as well. It was against this backdrop that the first detailed study of the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic tradition was undertaken by Cecile A. Mawlong (1996) who attempted to provide a broad overview of the tradition by generating and systematizing data through extensive field work and the use of written accounts (primary and secondary), employing the ethno-archaeological approach. The focal areas of the study included: (a) working out a terminological classification of the monuments, (b) plotting of the major clusters and their dis­ tribution pattern, (c) identification of sources of stone, methods of quarrying, transportation and erection of the stones, (d) examina­ tion of the oral traditions connected with their origin, function and place in the Khasi society in the pre- and post-Colonial periods, (e) comparative study of the Khasi megalithic tradition vis-à-vis those of some of the neighbouring groups in the region having a similar tradition.

II Typologically, Khasi-Jaintia megaliths can be grouped under the following categories (Mawlong, 1996):

Menhirs, Alignments and Avenues (a) Menhirs are free-standing pillars planted vertically into the ground ranging from a mere 1-2 ft to about 27½ ft (the latter is an exception and is located at a megalithic site at Nartiang village in Jaintia Hills). However the average height ranges between 2-3 and 12-13 ft. Menhirs may be dressed or undressed and they are by and large represented in combination with dolmens. Single stones or monolithic pillars, although less common, are found at a number of sites.The indigenous term for menhirs is mawpynieng (standing stones) or mawshynrang (male stones). (b) Alignments consisting of a series of menhirs placed in rows, locally termed kimawpynieng or kimawshynrang, are a recur­ rent form in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. The average numbers of

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menhirs in an alignment generally range from 3-11. An excep­ tion is an alignment at Sutnga village in the Jaintia Hills having as many as 45 menhirs. The unequal arrangement of menhirs such as 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, etc., is a widely prevalent feature in the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic plan. Menhirs composing an align­ ment may be dressed or undressed, although the latter is more common. In an alignment, the central stone is generally the tallest while those flanking it on either side gradually diminish in size. This is invariably the case when only 3 or 5 menhirs are erected. Menhirs in alignment are commonly represented in combination with dolmens, one dolmen for three menhirs and two for five or more menhirs. For particularly large alignments, separate small dolmens are placed in front of the menhirs. (c) Avenues consisting of two parallel rows of menhirs, are an uncommon type and where found, are located along the path leading to a clan ossuary. These stones are generally small in size rarely exceeding 1-2 ft in height.

Dolmens These consist of flat horizontal slabs of stones resting on short pillars, roughly resembling short-legged tables. Unlike dolmens in south India, the Deccan or elsewhere, where they functioned as tombs or burial chambers, those in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills are purely commemorative in nature. Therefore while the term ‘dolmen’ is used to describe the Khasi table stones, it must be emphasized that functionally, ‘Khasi dolmens’ differ from those that are purely sepulchral in nature, and maybe called ‘monumental’ dolmens. It may be mentioned that while both Hooker (1974) and Hutton (1926) opined that dolmens in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills also functioned as bone repositories, our fieldwork suggests otherwise. Bones of the deceased are always interred in completely separate structures such as cists or cairns locally called mawshyieng (bone repositories). Nevertheless the possibility that in the past dolmens may have been used occasionally as temporary repositories cannot be ruled out. However, these cases must be treated as exceptions rather than the rule.

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Like menhirs, dolmens may be dressed or undressed, and are frequently represented in combination with menhirs. They may be square, rectangular, circular or polygonal in shape and may also vary in size and numbers in keeping with the size and numbers of menhirs represented. Therefore, for a set of three menhirs, one dol­ men is erected, for five or more menhirs two dolmens and in some cases a number of small separate dolmens are erected for especially large alignments. The average size of dolmens varies from 2-10 ft in length and width. An exception is the dolmen at Laitlyngkot vil­ lage in the Khasi Hills measuring 30 × 10 × 1 ft, the largest in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Dolmens are locally termed as mawpynthiah/ mawshongthait/mawkynthei, i.e. horizontal stone, resting stone/ stone seat, and female stone, respectively.

Cists and Cairns Guy Daniel defines a cist as ‘. . . a prehistoric coffin, usually made of stone or hollowed out trees; it is also a storage place especially for sacred objects’ (cf. Cottrell, 1970:103). In the Khasi context, cists are stone receptacles that functioned as a bone repository or ossuary. Two types of cists are found in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. They include: (a) Box-like structures made from well-cut stones set on edge and surmounted by horizontal stone slabs creating box-like enclosed chambers. These structures are provided with an opening on the side by way of a stone slab that can be removed easily from time to time, during the bone internment ceremonies. Bones of the deceased wrapped in pieces of cloth or occasionally placed in small earthen pots are then interred into these structures, males to the right of the entrance and females to the left. Cists of this type may be oblong or square in shape, while the cap­ stone may be oblong, square or even circular in shape. They may be quite large, occasionally about 1½ m in height and locally called mawbah. These clan cists/ossuaries may be raised directly from the ground or on a platform. Cists of this type are generally found in the southern parts of the Khasi Hills.

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(b) Angular cists of the above type, but much smaller in size, gen­ erally less than a foot high or wide with an opening at the top, are also found in abundance, having a much wider distribu­ tion than the big angular cist and are locally called mawshyieng meaning bone repositories. The second type of cist consists of undressed stone slabs set on end in a roughly circular plan crowned by a circular or more often convex-shaped cap-stones, closely resembling a tortoise-shell. These undressed, asymmetrical cists are far more common than the angular types and have a much wider distribution in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Cists of this type vary from 1½ m in height to those less than 1 m high. The latter type is far more ubiquitous than the larger variety. (c) Another type of bone repository is the cairn defined as a mound or barrow of heaped up stone rubble. This type of bone reposi­ tory is widely distributed particularly in the Jaintia Hills where it is more common than the cist. Cairns come in varying sizes from about a metre or less to those about a foot or less in height. (d) Cairn-cists: Occasionally small cists or mawshyieng, are covered by a heap of stones or stone rubble thereby combining both structural features. Cairn-cists are known both in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. While the term mawshyieng is used for bone repositories of varying sizes linked with the lower levels of clan segmentation at the level of the lineage (kpoh), or family (iing), larger ossuar­ ies associated with the clan, are called mawbah.

Stone Circles Stone circles are the most ubiquitous of the megalithic monuments in India and generally enclose other megalithic forms. However, in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills, stone circles do not enclose any form of burial nor do they play as large a part or serve the same purpose as those of the megalithic cultures in the Deccan or southern India or megalithic traditions of central, eastern or north-eastern regions of India. In the Khasi context, these circular enclosures were an important element in the funeral ritual. Such circles were often

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made of rough unhewn stones of varying sizes and are always located near the clan cist - one stone circle for one clan cist.

Cremation Platforms The use of cremation platforms composed of earth and roughly shaped heaps of loose unhewn stones more or less circular or square in shape, has been referred to in some colonial accounts (Austen, 1876; Clarke, 1874; Hooker, 1854; Gurdon, 1914). Such artificial mounds while still traceable, are often covered by shrub and vegetation. Khasi scholars also mention the use of stone cremation platforms called kpep in former times, which were constructed by individual clans for the exclusive use of its members (Lyngdoh, 1990; Shadap-Sen, 1981). The use of stone cremation platforms appears to have been restricted to well to do families or prominent founding clans. Remnants of these platforms are now difficult to trace, except for those in the neighbourhood of Cherrapunji which appear to be the work of highly skilled craftsmen of Bengali origin constructed in the last century (ibid.). The above classification of Khasi megaliths has been made in accordance with standard European terminologies in an attempt to situate the Khasi-Jaintia megaliths in a global context, as well as to establish parallels with forms known from other parts of the country. Nevertheless outward similarity notwithstanding, an examination of the local/indigenous terms for the various stone structures and their linkage with the social structure is necessary, since it is only through such an exercise that the socio-ideological significance of the stones and the regional distinctiveness of the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic tradition can be established.

III Khasi-Jaintia megaliths are collectively called mawbynna or maw­ pynbna (literally ‘stones of proclamation’). These terms suggest that the stone monuments are primarily commemorative in nature, their main function being that of conservation of social memories. As collective referents the monuments played an important role

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in the maintenance of institutional facts. Lyngdoh (1990: 243-56) who has written extensively on the subject, divides the mawbynna into two broad categories – mawbynnaniam and mawbynnanam, advocating a distinction between sacred and secular monuments respectively. A close examination of the various types listed by Lyngdoh under the above-mentioned groups, brings out the difference between monuments raised in connection with the cult of the dead and the performance of funerary rites and rituals with those raised in commemoration of secular events. The former includes monuments that are raised in connection with rituals performed before and after cremation, bone collection and internment ceremonies, as well as cleansing and purification rituals. They include several categories that are known by specific names indicating the socio-religious context of their erection, for instance, mawkjat/mawlynti, mawklim, mawumkoi/mawtyrut, mawshyieng/ mawbah, kpep, mawniam, mawaibam, etc. On the other hand, the second category is unconnected with funerary rites and rituals and serve to commemorate and keep alive significant socio-economic­ political events such as setting up of markets, noteworthy or unfamiliar happenings or as in many cases, as memorials in honour of ancestors/ancestresses of a lineage or clan. The commemorative monuments are often a tribute to ancestral spirits for perceived blessings bestowed on descendants ensuring success in trade, or recovery from illness, etc. Commemorative monuments also include public memorials such as those set up at market complexes or as memorials of peace pacts between warring groups, or as markers/ boundary stones dividing territorial units, etc. It may be noted that aside from bone repositories of varying sizes that represent a specific category of megalithic structures, uprights and table stones set up in association with the performance of funerary rites and rituals can be distinguished from those raised for purely commemorative purposes unrelated to death, by the dif­ ference in size, appearance and setting.25 Those of the former are generally smaller in size, follow no special conditions of visibility and are generally located in secluded spots, while those of the latter type are generally much more impressive and are located at sites where visibility and monumentality are key factors. Such locations

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include trade routes, frequently used routes connecting large village settlements and markets, hill-tops, etc. It may be noted that while stone uprights or table stones set up independently are encountered in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills (particularly the former type), megalithic monuments made up of menhirs and dolmens representing an indivisible monument and are far more widespread, constituting a recurring form. The distribution of megalithic structures provides significant insights not only on settlement patterns but also into the process of social formations in Khasi society (Mawlong, 1996). Thus mega­ liths of the monument type associated with market places and the establishment of larger territorial entities such as the raid (com­ posed of a group of villages) or a hima (a territorial/political unit above a raid corresponding with chiefdom), are found mainly in the higher altitudes or upland region located at the centre of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills, representing the core area of megalithic activity in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. The core area includes large village settle­ ments such as Nongkseh, Laitlyngkot, Mylliem, Cherrapunjee, Mawsmai, Sohrarim, etc. in the Khasi Hills and Nartiang, Nong­ bah, Sutnga, Shangpung, Raliang, Jowai, etc., in the Jaintia Hills. As one proceeds westwards towards the vicinity of Nongstoin and beyond, the megaliths decrease both in size and numbers. The same pattern is repeated in the northern, southern and eastern boundaries, representing the peripheral areas of megalithic activ­ ity in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Similarly, the frequency and spatial patterning of bone repositories show a distinct pattern with small bone repositories associated with the lower levels of clan segmen­ tation especially of the extended family or iing institution, being far more widely distributed covering both the higher and lower altitudes, while large bone repositories, specifically the mawbah, linked with dominant or founding clans, are significantly fewer in numbers and located at large and key settlements associated with the control of territorial units such as the raid and hima (Mawlong, 1996, 2004). Megalithic monuments in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills are believed to have been much more numerous prior to the devastating earthquakes of 1897 and 1950, which destroyed many monuments. The availability of suitable rock types was a key factor in the

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location of megalithic complexes/clusters at the above-mentioned sites. Evidently, quarrying was not a regular or large-scale opera­ tion since in many instances stray boulders were used. However, in cases where stone slabs were quarried, the technology employed include the fire-setting method and/or the plug-feather-wedge method1 (Mawlong, 1996). The transportation of stone slabs from their source to the site where they are to be erected, was accom­ plished using wooden rollers and ropes of cane, pulled by gangs of tribesmen (ibid.). Evidently, this undertaking was a collective activity, the organization and supervision of which suggests grow­ ing social complexity.

IV The upsurge of megalith building is rooted in early farming communities manifesting a new kind of relationship between people and their environment. Khasi-Jaintia economy as far as can be traced, was primarily agricultural, with land as the principal source of subsistence, supplemented by trade. The Khasi practice of slash and burn agriculture which required the periodic abandonment of fields to avoid fertility exhaustion was an important factor in determining the spatial patterning of village settlements and accounts for the high geographical mobility of the people. In the past, village settlements were small and scattered. But with growth in population and increasing pressure on land, the jhum cycle gradually decreased giving rise to the development of larger and more compact village settlements, demonstrated by the presence of megalithic clusters (ibid.). According to tradition, these hills were first settled by related groups bound by ties of kinship. These clans, who represented the first or founding clans, established their rights over the land they occupied and lived together in clusters. Founding clans in KhasiJaintia Hills were generally known by the term jaidbakhraw, literally meaning big clans or dominant clans, numerically preponderant in settlements founded by them. This point is further validated by terms used to distinguish founding clans or the jaidbakhraw from commoners’ clans kipaidbahpaidkar denoting the general masses,

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or the term kmaikur meaning ‘big clan’ versus khiankur, a ‘small clan’ or ‘an outsider clan’ signifying newer groups that were not originally from the village (ibid.). Only members of the founding clans enjoyed political rights of choosing their leaders and access to political institutions in the tribal polity. These privileges enjoyed by dominant clans are based on ownership of land and control of resources. As one scholar observed, ‘One of the most striking features of Khasi shifting cultivation is the development of private ownership, unlike other tribal areas of the region’ (Nakane, 1967: 102-3). This point is corroborated in the Land Commission Report (1974) that shows that in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills there were two principal classes of land – community land (riraid) and private land (rikynti).The former belongs to the community over which no persons have proprietary, heritable or transferable rights except those of use and occupancy. Such rights however revert back to the community when a person/persons ceases to occupy or use the land for a period of three consecutive years. But heritable and transferable rights over community land accrue when the occupant makes permanent improvements on the land, an example of which is ridakhol (ibid.). However, these rights lapse if the occupant aban­ dons the land over a period of time decided by the tribal council having jurisdiction over the area. On the other hand, clan land or rikynti is associated with founding clans who as the first settlers of a given area, claimed proprietary, heritable and transferable rights over the best pieces of land sanctioned by customary law. Closely linked with the above developments are commemorative monu­ ments raised in honour of ancestors from who originated the clan. To begin with, the earliest megalithic monuments were probably composed of the mawbah or clan cist/ossuary that expressed the corporate identity of kin group via monuments erected in honour of ancestors of the clan (kur). The latter consists of sets of triliths or menhirs and table stones or dolmens representing the primeval ancestors – U Suidnia and KaIawbei (the first grand maternal uncle and root ancestress) key figures in the matrilineal clan structure. Belief in ancestral spirits provided a strong sense of continuity emphasizing the unity of their matrilineal ancestry and the rule of clan exogamy. Furthermore ancestors not only served to link

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the past, present and future generations, but through monuments erected in their honour, established ownership of particular tracks of land. It may be noted that rikynti or clan land are frequently marked by the presence of large megalithic monuments associated with ancestors of prominent clans or founding lineages establishing relationships between resources and social groups, thereby validat­ ing indigenous descent (Mawlong, 2004). According to David Roy (1963), at the intersection of one rikynti land with another, bound­ ary stones called mawkhang, literally ‘shutting’ or ‘closing’ stone, are erected. Such boundary stones also called mawbri-mawsam, used to demarcate agricultural holdings or rikynti owned by a fam­ ily or clan. They consist of a set of three small stone uprights rarely exceeding 1-1½ ft in height. The middle stone called mawthylliej (literally tongue stone), is the index or pointer stone, and those on either of it are bracket stones, having no individual names (Maw­ long, 2004). According to tradition, it was taboo to disturb such boundary stones since they were considered sacred and imbued with a number of superstitions. For example, it is believed that any­ one disturbing or desecrating them in any way could invite ill-luck or misfortune, or worse, disease or death of one’s family members or oneself. Indeed this is an illustration of how ideology and cus­ tomary law were used as effective tools by the ‘traditional elite’ to establish ownership and ensure the protection and prevention of encroachment on private property or rikynti land (Simon, 1966). That the Khasi megaliths are strongly integrated within the matrilineal clan organization is reflected by the large numbers of such monuments dedicated to older or younger ancestors of the clan indicated by the various terms used to demonstrate kinship relations within the group. However, the most significant mega­ lithic structures are bone repositories or ossuaries known by the general term mawshyieng. Once widely distributed in the KhasiJaintia Hills, they lie at the core of the Khasi-Jaintia belief system. According to Lyngdoh, there are three categories of mawshyieng linked to the three-tier system of Khasi social organization such as the family, lineage and clan and are called mawshyieng, mawphew­ mawkynroh and mawbah respectively (Roy, 1963; Shadap Sen,

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1981). Of the three, the mawbah is particularly significant as it sym­ bolized clan unity and solidarity. As clans grew in size, families or sometimes even whole branches of a clan (kur) moved away to start new settlements in other parts of the hills, thus cutting all ties with the original clan and mawbah. When a sizeable group of clan members settle in a new territory, they provide for another branch mawbah, thereby creating a new kur. But when migrations comprised smaller groups, such as a nuclear or extended family they do not construct a mawbah in the new settlement, but settle for smaller bone repositories called mawshyieng (Mawlong, 1996). In the case of a very large (extended) family or a minimal matrilineage called kpoh, whose descendants can trace their common ancestress, a bigger repository midway between the mawbah and the mawshyieng called mawphew mawkyn­ roh may be constructed (Gurdon, 1914). But in most cases, a small family bone repository was the only real significant funerary ritual that was performed. As observed by a scholar, ‘…among the Khasi-Jaintia, kinship bonds are stronger at the lower levels of clan segmentation’ (Nakane, 1967: 119-21), a feature linked with the predominant tendency for fissioning of the clan or lineage termed phiahkur and phiahkpoh respectively. This explains the abundance and wide distribution of the smaller bone repositories in the KhasiJaintia Hills as compared to the mawbah which have a much smaller distribution. The fact that not all clans owned a mawbah is gleaned from Khasi literature as well as field work which suggests that it is only the prominent clans associated with the founding of villages and owning joint or common property, that have mawbahs (Roy, 1919; Mawlong, 1996). Furthermore descriptions of the elaborate nature of rituals and the attendant feasting linked with mawbahs, suggests that their construction and maintenance was restricted to those families and clans that occupied a higher ritual status in soci­ ety (Mawlong, 1996, 2004; Lyngdoh, 1990; Gurdon, 1914). For the rest, the mawbah was merely a concept symbolizing the basic social institutions of matrilineal descent and the rule of clan exogamy. It may be noted that stone uprights or menhirs, are locally desig­ nated as ‘male’ indicated by the vernacular term mawshynrang (male

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stone) or mawpynieng (standing/vertical stone), while the flat table stone or monumental dolmen is termed mawkynthei (female stone) or mawpynthiah (horizontal/flat stone). A combination of the two constituting an indivisible monument, is the most recurring form in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. While some scholars (Austen, 1872) have alluded to underlying ideas of fertility represented by these monu­ ments, it must be emphasized that the combination of male and female stones are symbolic of kinship ties underscoring the bonds of matriliny. The Khasi-Jaintia view of procreation accentuates the female role brought out in the belief that a human being is formed from the flesh and blood of the mother and given form and stature by the father. As sociologist Tiplut Nongbri (1988) observed, The Khasi rarely comment directly on the role of semen in human reproduction. However, in expressing the weakness of the filial tie, they often indirectly refer to its negative role. When a man fails to fulfil his paternal responsibility towards his children they say: ‘What can you do?’ After all it is only pus. (Saiakaksuitphinlehkumno?). Semen is treated as pus which could be drained out of one’s body in contrast to the mother’s blood which is a life giving force and could never be separated from one’s body. Blood is transmitted from mother to child, and it is on this blood bond that the descent principle is based and the clans are formed…. The Khasi never fail to invoke this biological fact to emphasize the special bond between mother and child in their society. (p. 74)

Nonetheless the general underlying idea of fertility associated with megalithic monuments is undeniable and has been demon­ strated in several studies on living megalithic traditions. Similarly, the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic tradition integrated as it were within the matrilineal clan organization, served to underscore women as the source of lineage and continuity in society.

V Undoubtedly the earliest megalithic monuments were those raised in honour of ancestral spirits symbolizing the matrilineal clan structure in Khasi-Jaintia society. They are the material expressions communicating social order integrating the various groups occupying the Khasi-Jaintia Hills through rituals associated

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with the propitiation of ancestral spirits. Therefore the raising of megaliths and the accompanying megalithic ritual may be seen foremost as an integrative, identity shaping activity. Regardless of whether megaliths were linked to ideas or beliefs linked to death or life, they served to underscore the concept of the matrilineal clan organization which is the most significant cultural marker of the Khasi-Jaintia people. This fact is highlighted in the kinship terms that are used to describe the monuments such as mawkni (maternal uncle stone), mawpyrsa (maternal nephew stone), mawiawbeitynrai (root ancestress stone) or mawiawbeikhynnah (young ancestress stone), mawthawlang (co-creator stone), etc. (Sengupta & Mawlong, 1991). Reverence for the spirits of ancestors who serve as an unbroken link in their matrilineal ancestry, is embodied in the tradition. In fact, wherever living megalithic traditions have been identified, we also find a strongly developed cult of ancestors transmitting the message of order, stability and continuity with the past. Khasi cosmology emphasizes the close link that exists between the world of the living and that of the dead. The latter are believed to live a life very similar to that on earth. This notion is implicit in their funeral rites wherein the dead are given food and drink. Death is seen as a bridge between the old life and a new one and the newly dead are often asked to convey messages to ancestors and other loved ones who have gone before. Ceremonial words used at funerals and in the course of erecting megaliths in honour of ancestors when seeking their favours or in thanksgiving for the receipt of favours, clearly express a sense of dependence on ancestors (Roy, 1963). Ancestral spirits who are believed to be constantly watching over their living relatives have a more immediate bearing on life, given that they can confer or withhold blessings on their descendants. As monuments convey the idea of an uninterrupted link with the past, they serve to broadcast messages at many levels and are indispensable agents in the creation of stable communities and social identity. Nevertheless, megalithic monuments linked with the cult of the dead such as mawkjat/mawlynti, mawksing, mawbah, mawniam, kpep, jakasyangshyieng, etc., accompanied by the performance of elaborate rituals and feasting, were raised by clans and lineages that occupy a higher ritual status. As founding clans or jaidbakhraw

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they are numerically dominant in settlements founded by them, maintaining a corporate identity through the ownership of joint or common property. The ritual function of such ‘sacred’ or ‘religious’ monuments were critical for demonstrations of lineage strength, access to resources, control over labour and the appropriate social ties to maintain them, effectively conveying information on social status and influence. In this case, megaliths as ancestral monu­ ments, served as title deeds legitimating access and claim to clan land (rikynti) (Mawlong, 2004). Thus while the earliest megaliths represented by the ‘sacred’ or ‘religious’ monuments associated with the traditional ‘elite’ occupying a higher ritual status sought to underscore the ele­ ments of stability, continuity, and unequal access over resources, over time, this ideology had to modify itself to adapt to changing circumstances in society. These transformations include new socio­ political formations associated with the emergence of centralized polities such as chieftainships and new socio-political institutions such as syiemships and daloiships in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills respec­ tively. These changes are manifested in megalithic monuments dedicated to ancestral spirits of new clans, for instance the Syiem clan. Other attendant changes include the appearance of territorial units called himas, the growing importance of trade and markets and the emergence of new social forces whose influence was based on wealth generated by trade, signifying changing social dynamics in Khasi-Jaintia society (ibid.). These developments are expressed by the erection of larger and more impressive monuments located in public places such as markets, along frequently used trade routes, on hilltops, etc., where visibility and monumentality are key fac­ tors serving to define architectural and social space. The donors of monuments invariably attribute their good fortune and material well-being to ancestral spirits. Needless to say, the raising of such commemorative monuments by an individual/family/lineage is accompanied by public feasting, the cost of which is borne by the donor. In the process, individual merit is transformed into social credit and to the donor and by extension his family, accrues social power and influence within the community. Thus the erection of

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megalithic monuments along with its concomitant feasting, paved the way for acquiring prestige and status in society. The dynamic nature of the Khasi-Jaintia megalithic tradition can be gauged from the range of megalithic monuments ascribed to a wide variety of causes -- social, economic, political -- indicat­ ing the cultural contexts in which they were embedded. The most impressive are the megalithic clusters located at markets places representing centres of economic and socio-political activities. Consequently, some of the largest and most striking menhirs and dolmens in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills are those associated with the establishment of markets at large village settlements such as Lait­ lyngkot, Mylliem, Cherrapunji, Nongkseh, Iewduh (Shillong), in the Khasi Hills, and Nartiang, Nongbah, Shangpung, Raliang, Jowai in Jaintia Hills, and Shella and Nongtalang in the War Khasi and War Jaintia areas respectively (ibid.). Another related category of megaliths are those termed as mawbuh phan kyrpad, commemo­ rative stones in honour of ancestral spirits when soliciting their blessings especially in activities linked to livelihood. Then there are commemorative stones raised by affluent persons/families in honour of ancestors termed as mawkait, or kikor, located in highly visible places where they draw people’s attention. It goes without saying that such monuments bring honour not only to ‘deceased’ ancestors of a family or clan, but more importantly to the donor and his/her family and clan. Therefore commemorative monuments are an effective medium for garnering and broadcasting prestige, social status and power within a community. In traditional Khasi-Jaintia society, inequalities can be deter­ mined from the different types of rituals that are prescribed in life and death. These include rituals followed at the time of mar­ riage or cremation which may be simple or elaborate depending on the financial capacity of the person/family involved. Lyngdoh’s description of the elaborate funeral ceremonies practiced by afflu­ ent members of clans occupying a higher ritual status, spanning three to five/six days, demonstrates the inequalities that existed in Khasi-Jaintia society (Lyngdoh, 1990; Kharakor, 1988). Generally, such ‘funeral feasts’ were accompanied by the raising of megaliths

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and the performance of the megalithic ritual. Such ceremonies were critical for demonstrating lineage strength and negotiating political power within the community by reference to ancestors. However, in course of time, this religious ideology had to expand itself to identify with the interests of new social groups beyond the founding clans or jaidbakhraw who represented the ‘traditional elite’ (Mawlong, 2004). The new political elite included clans who headed emergent territorial units called hima equated with chieftainships/chiefdoms (syiemship, lyngdohship, etc.), who raised megalithic monuments of their own in honour of ancestral spirits legitimating their rank and status in society. Gradually other emerging social groups beyond the socio-religious or political elite, such as traders who generated surplus wealth from trade, became active participants in the mega­ lithic tradition. This was accomplished by way of raising megalithic monuments (and the concomitant feasting) thereby sharing and re-distributing resources with other members of the society, in exchange for rank and status in society (ibid.). Consequently, megaliths were not merely symbolic expressions of institutional facts such as the matrilineal clan organization, belief in ancestral spirits, or social identity of the Khasi-Jaintia people, encapsulated in the word mawbynna or mawpynbna (stones of proclamation). Rather, beyond the reproduction and conserva­ tion of social memories, megaliths and the megalithic ritual were expressions of emerging inequalities and territorial claims among sedentary groups. Hence megaliths should be viewed as a functional aspect of the cultural system indicated by its relationship with sub­ sistence, ideology, territoriality, resource use and the construction of social and political power in traditional Khasi-Jaintia society.

NOTE 1. Both Walters (1832) and Clarke (1874), suggest the use of the fire-setting method, while Sambhu Chakravarty (personal communication) of the Geological Survey of India is of the opinion that the plug-feather-wedge method was in vogue.

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REFERENCES Austen, H.H. Godwin. 1872. ‘On the Stone Monuments of the Khasi Hill Tribes, and on Some of the Peculiar Rites and Customs of the People’, Journal of the Anthropological Institute, I: 122-43. Bareh, A. 1981. ‘Megalithic Culture Among the Khasis With Special Reference to Mawiong Village’. M. Phil dissertation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Bareh, H. 1967. The History and Culture of the Khasi People. Shillong: H. Bareh. Choudhury, J.N. 1998 [1978]. The Khasi Canvas. Shillong: Jaya Choudhury. Clarke, C.B. 1874. ‘The Stone Monuments of the Khasi Hills’. Journal of the Anthropological Institute, III: 481-93. Cottrell, L. (ed). 1970. The Concise Encyclopaedia of Archaeology. London: Hutchinson & Co. Daniel, G. 1972. Megaliths in History. London: Thames & Hudson. Fergusson, J. 1972. Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries: Their Age and Uses. London: John Murray. Gait, E.A. 2008 [1926]. A History of Assam. Delhi: Surjeet Publications. 4th reprint. Gurdon, P.R.T. 1990[1907]. The Khasis. Delhi: Low Price Editions. Hooker, J. D. 1969[1854]. Himalayan Journals, vols. I & II. Delhi: Today & Tomorrow. 2nd Indian reprint. Hutton, J.H. 1926. ‘Some Megalithic Work in the Jaintia Hills’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 22: 333-46. Kharakor, P. 1988. Ka Kolshor Khasi katkumb aka paw ha kaLitereshor Khasi (1930-1940). Shillong: Don Bosco Press. Land Commission Report. 1974. Govt. of Meghalaya. Shillong. Lyngdoh, H. 1990. KaNiam Khasi. Shillong: H. Lyngdoh. 3rd reprint. Lyngdoh, M.P.R. 1991. The Festivals in the History and Culture of the Khasi. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. Mawlong, C.A. 1996. ‘Megalithic Monuments of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills: An Ethno-archaeological Study’. PhD thesis, North-Eastern Hill University. . 2004. ‘Megaliths and Social Formation in Khasi-Jaintia Hills’, in M. Momin and C.A. Mawlong (eds.), Society and Economy in North-East India, vol. 1. New Delhi: Regency Publications, pp. 35-56. . 2016. ‘Exploring the Issue of the Khasi Identity: Some Observations’, in H. Srikanth and R. Borgohain (eds.), Ethnicity and Political Economy in Northeast India. Guwahati: DVS Publishers, pp. 211-32. Nakane, C. 1967. Garo and Khasi: A Comparative Study in Matrilineal Systems. Paris: Mouton & Co.

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Nongbri, T. 1988. ‘Gender and the Khasi Family Structure: Some Implications of the Meghalaya Succession to Self-Acquired Property Act, 1984’. Sociological Bulletin, Journal of Indian Sociological Society, 57 (1&2): 71-81. Roy, D. 1963. ‘The Megalithic Culture of the Khasis’, Anthropos, LVIII: 520­ 56. Roy, Sib Charan. 1979 [1919]. Ka Niam Ki Khasi: Ka Niam Tip-BriewTipBlei. Shillong: Ri Khasi Press. Sengupta, G. and C. Mawlong. 1991. ‘Folklore and Archaeology: A Preliminary Note’. Inter- Disciplinary Approach to Folklore Studies, Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, IX (1): 19-26. Shadap-Sen, N. 1981. The Origin and Early History of the Khasi-Synteng People. New Delhi: Firma KLM. Simon, I.M. 1966. Khasi and Jaintia Tales and Beliefs. Gauhati: Department of Tribal Culture and Folklore Research. Singh, K. 1979. The Monoliths of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Shillong: Ri Khasi Press. Walters, H. 1832. ‘Journey Across the Pandua Hills, Near Sylhet in Bengal’, Asiatic Researches, XVII: 499-512. Yule, H. 1844. ‘Notes on the Kasia Hills and People’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, XIII: 612-31.

CHAPTER 4

Socio-Cultural Analysis of Megaliths in Jaintia Hills Akoijam Milan Meitei

Introduction Originally, the term ‘megalith’ comes from the ancient Greek, megas meaning ‘large’ or ‘huge’ and lithos meaning ‘rock’ or ‘stone’. Megaliths are traditionally large stone structures standing either alone or with other stones and made without mortar or cement, modern equipment, etc., but modified partially or fully to get some desirable shape without much refinement with the use of traditional technologies and implements by taking considerable amount of time, cost and labour (Meitei, 2017). However, the meaning of megalith is not always connected to large stones, but also smaller stones. These are one of the most durable prehistoric remains in nature found globally and continue to be practised till today in some places including north-east India. Megaliths are interpreted to be used in various purposes such as commemorative or memorial, burial, ceremonial, ritual, territo­ rial or boundary, development of kinship and social complexity, etc. There are various types of megalithic structures classified on the basis of their morphology. In Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, menhir, alignment, dolmen and dolmenoid cist, capstone, dissolith, cairn, stone circle, trilithon and round or spherical stones are found (ibid.). The variations in functions and types of these stone struc­ tures are however found differing from one place to another and

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one community to another. It is also replaced by wood as a substi­ tute, if suitable stones are not found (Jamir, 2004; Marak, 2012), and India is a classical example of this (Childe, 1948). Though the origin of this structure is uncertain, the megaliths of south India is found to be associated with iron implements as well as black and red ware (Wheeler, 1948; Krishnaswami, 1949). They are grouped under the Iron Age (Sundara, 1975), and flourished at around 1200 BC (Moorti, 1994). Thus, the megalithic culture in India has two cultural periods – first is the south Indian megalith belonging to the prehistoric past, and second is the megalithic tradition of eastern and north-eastern India, referred to as ‘living megalithism’. In north-east India, these structures are found plenty in many places; for instance, in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Mizoram, where the greatest concentration is in Khasi-Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya at present. Megalithic structures occurred in high prevalence in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. The occurrence of megaliths in its full length and breadth is incomparable with any other ancient structures or objects found in the region. These structures beautify the land­ scape of Jaintia Hills in addition to its natural beauty. Various types of megaliths have been mentioned in the above and used for various purposes. They are one of the few living peoples who continue to have a strong connection to megalithic structures as a living tradi­ tion attached culturally among a section of Jaintias, i.e. traditional religious believers and followers generally referred to as Niamtre Jaintias. The attachment of religious belief and sentiment allow the continuation of megalithic tradition and the preservation of the ageold structure, though the erection of new structures rarely takes place. Though the origin of Jaintia megalith is not known clearly, but it could be contemporary to the emergence of organized Jaintia culture. The practice of megalithic culture is continued today by the Niamtre Jaintias – traditional religious believers – whereas the converted Christian Jaintias have abandoned its practice. It can be mentioned that megaliths are found in every village and locality in Jaintia Hills, but many are broken, dilapidated and unused. The present study is mostly based from the data collected

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from Nartiang, Nangbah, Shangpung, Niawkmai, Mukroh, Non­ gtalang, etc. and put under the umbrella of ‘megaliths of Jaintia Hills’. Jaintia Hills is known as the homeland of the Jaintia people where the Mikir, Lalung, Biate, Hadem and Hmar, etc., are also found to be residing together. It is located in the eastern-most por­ tion of the Meghalaya state. Geographically, it is situated between 24o58' to 26o03' N latitude, and 91o59' to 92o51' E longitude, where the total area is 3819 km2 occupying about 17 per cent of the state. It is surrounded by Karbi Hills in the north, Barak Valley in the east, Sylhet Valley in the south and Khasi Hills in the west. The highest point is 1,627 msl at Marynksin and lowest points is 76 msl at Dawki (Central Ground Water Board, Government of India 2013). It is sloping towards the east from west and south from north which connect to Barak Valley and Sylhet Valley (of Bangladesh) respectively. It is divided into three physical divisions, namely the northern denuded hills (Pnar-Bhoi), the central upland zone (RiJaintia) and the southern slopes (War or Ri-War). Jaintias are commonly known as Pnar or Synteng. They inhabit in Jaintia Hills and other adjoining areas such as Assam and Ban­ gladesh. Jaintias are the sub-group of the matrilineal Khasi and speakers of Austro-Asiatic language. Apart from megalithic tradi­ tion, they are known for matrilineal descent. Bareh (1997) stated that Khasi is a generic name given to the people of Khasi-Jaintia Hills. It is further divided into five groups: (i) the Khynriam Khasi distributed in the Shillong Plateau of the Khasi Hills, (ii) the Pnar or Synteng (Jaintia) of the Jaintia Hills, (iii) the War Khasi inhabit­ ing in the west and south slopes of the state, and (iv) the Amwi Khasi (allied with War Synteng in south Jaintia Hills), and (v) the Bhoi Khasi settled in the northern lowland of the state.

Socio-Cultural Analysis of Megaliths Megalithic tradition among the Jaintias is an age-old tradition. Among them there was a period when the megalithic structures were erected in full scale. Megalithic complexes are found in many places of Jaintias Hills such as Nartiang, Nangbah, Shangpung, Mukroh,

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Nongtalang, etc., which were erected by their ancestors in the past and evidenced through oral history. It is believed to be started by the Jaintias since the time of settlement in Jaintia Hills. Religious belief and tradition continue to pass on through generations and even today, megaliths are connected to religious and social lives of the Jaintias. Here in the following, various features of megalithic culture from the point of view of Jaintia culture is discussed. Status, Power, and Megaliths The emergence of megaliths has long been associated with the emergence of power. A similar situation is witnessed when we look at structures (menhirs) like Moolong Syiem of Nartiang (Figure 4.1),

Source: Author. Figure 4.1: Menhirs in Jaintia Hills Moolong Syiem of Nartiang (left), Moo Thulalane of Nangbah (right)

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Moo Thulalane of Nangbah (Figure 4.1), Chyldiang U Bir Nongpoh of Nongtalang, etc. Moolong Syiem is 26 feet 11 inches in height, 6 feet 10 inches in breadth and 2 feet 11 inches in thickness. It was erected by a very powerful army general of Jaintia King in those days called Mar Phalyngki who was also believed to possess supernatural power (Meitei and Marak, 2015-16). Moo Thulalane is 17 feet 8 inches in height, 3 feet 7 inches in breadth and 1 foot 2 inches in thickness. This megalith is said to be erected by a strong and powerful man called Kat Triew (ibid.). On the other hand, Chyldiang U Bir Nongpoh is a capstone type, and it is 17 feet 4 inches in length, 5 feet 3 inches in breadth and 1 foot 9 inches in thickness. There is a strong belief that such extraordinary big stones were erected by men who had supernatural powers to communicate with local deities and souls. Stones among the Jaintias are believed to have a soul, whose permission is required, if one wants to erect them. They are erected after the consent or mutual understanding with the soul of the stone. Under this circumstance, it is widely believed that Moolong Syiem and Moo Thulalane were erected after sacrificing a human, and it was the wish of the soul of the stone. It is also said that the erection of stones like Moolong Syiem and Moo Thulalane also involved large number of villagers in con­ struction, transportation and erection. This also required enormous energy (labour), time, cost, etc. Those who have taken responsibil­ ity in erection of these stones were already a well known person (in terms of strength and power) in the village and were therefore able to afford the expenses. They were erected for commemorative or memorial purposes. Apart from this, the erection of big stone was also a proof to fellow villagers that he was a stronger man than others. Bigger and larger the stone erected meant that stronger the man in the village. Therefore, among the Jaintias, the erection of megalith appears to be associated to strength, power and fame of the individual. It thus increased the social status and prestige of the individual and also his family and clan through him.

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Feasts, Feastings, and Megaliths In return for the labour and time that is given by the people towards the erection of a megalith, a feast is given by the megalith-erector. Among the Nagas, it includes a series of feasts for social merit referred to as ‘Feast of Merit’ (Jamir, 1998; Devi, 2011). Though a feast is considered to be essential while erecting a megalith, there is no oral history of such a feast among the Jaintias. However, the size of the feast displays the economic condition of the megalitherector and enhances the socio-political power, social status and pride. Sometimes, the size of the feast is seen to be directly related to the size of the megalith. In west Sumba, the prominence of an individual or kin group or clan is achieved and negotiated by the size of the feast (Adams, 2009). Among the Jaintias, it can be suggested that the degree of a feast is probably on a smaller scale in comparison to other communities, and moreover ‘Feast of Merit’ is not known among them. Though the power, strength, and supernatural power to communicate with the soul of the stone is widely believed, it is also agreed that villag­ ers extended free help; for instance in the case of Moolong Syiem. In return, they were offered good food, rice beer, betel leaves and areca nut, other eatable items, etc., during the period of construc­ tion, transportation and erection. These big stones were erected as a part of community service though the responsibility is taken by an individual whereas stones like Moo Sajar and stones of U Bir Nongpoh were erected through personal and individual effort. According to Jaintia tradition, it is necessary to pay back labour and help even if in the form of a feast which is neither elaborate nor compulsory. In the case of clan burial stones, they are made or repaired under the guidance of the clan’s eldest male. They are repaired if required, but it happens very rarely in the present day. During one such repairing in village Mukroh all participants brought cooked food from home (in individual packets) and ate together. But it is likely that in the past, erecting, clearing, and repairing activities might have been an elaborate ceremony with feasts and feasting. However, during the transference of the bones (of the deceased

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ancestor) into the secondary or permanent clan burial stone, clan feast mandatorily took place in the past. Among the Khasis, a feast was arranged on the occasion of collection of family or clan ashes (Clarke, 1874). The bones remain in the primary or temporary burial stone until the deceased family could afford to give an elabo­ rate feast, which might take a year or two or even more. At times, instead of an individual affair, it took place for the whole village in which on an assigned day all clans (of the village) took part in the preparation of the ceremony including an elaborate feast. This was the case in Nongtalang, earlier; but today the transference of bone is no longer in practice, and so too the feast. Today, the traditional customs have been shortened due to nonpractice over a period of time. The ‘Feast of Merit’ has no role in megalithic erection among the Jaintias, though a feast exists as a communal affair and as community service rather than an elaborate feast. Sacred Megaliths Many monuments in Europe bear traces of being the centre of religious cult in early or medieval time, for instance, in Spain and France (Peet, 1912). It is also believed that these megalithic monuments are the residential place of certain spirits. The places where megaliths stand are generally ritual places in Grassfield, Cameroon (Asombang, 2004). The Garos of north-east India also have sacred stones called asong (menhir), which are erected at the village entrance, and are considered the residing place of their ‘guardian spirits’ (Playfair, 1909). The development of religious belief of the Niamtre1 Jaintias is deeply attached to megaliths. Before erection of a new megalith, a ritual is compulsorily required. Megalithic structures probably became sacred through this ritual and belief. At times, it depends on the role of the stone too. Some stones are connected to periodical rituals and hence considered sacred. Market stones, moo ryngkaw, Moomein of Mukroh (Figure 4.2) and moopud of Nongtalang, are considered sacred. In the case of moopud in Nongtalang, a ritual is conducted by a mantri (religious practitioner) by sacrificing a

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Source: Author. Figure 4.2: Sacred Stones in Jaintia Hills Moomein of Mukroh (left) and Mooduwan of Shangpung (right)

cock to seek the forgiveness of the spirit residing in it. Many sacred stones are today kept within a fence or boundary wall to protect it from harm or accidental touching. Though some burial stones are also considered sacrosanct, there is no strict prohibition on them. It is believed that megalithic rituals link the local deities or spirits with the living beings. Local deities and ancestors’ spirits are responsible agents for the well-being of the living descendants. This is the reason why rituals, offerings and sacrifices are made to them, and in return it is believed that the deities and spirits will bless the living with wealth, health, harmony, etc. Some of the important religious ceremonies related to megaliths in Jaintia Hills include Pam Iaw Moolong of Nartiang, Pam Iaw Moosiang of Nangbah, Pastieh of Shangpung, Knia Lyngdoh of Mukroh, and Shad Rongkhli of Nongtalang. These include a series of rituals and are organized by the Niamtre.

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In every Jaintia village, there is at least one sacred stone, if not more. But, the concept of sacredness of Jaintia megaliths is closely related to their religious sentiment. These megalithic structures and age-old traditions have today become part and parcel of their cultural and religious life, though with modifications. Mortuary Practices Mortuary practices of the Jaintias are one of the centers of megalithic tradition that continues strongly till today. Traditionally, Jaintias cremate the dead. Bone residues are collected after cremation and deposited in a bone repository (stone). These burial stones are located inside an assigned place of the village generally called kpep. In the following, it is discussed briefly. (i) Megaliths related to Pre-deposition: The practice from one vil­ lage to another has slight variation. In some villages, megaliths are connected to pre-cremation whereas it is not in others. For exam­ ple, Moopyllaitsyiar of Nangbah (Figure 4.3) and Chad Phur of Shangpung are related to pre-deposition. According to traditional belief, it is unfortunate is an individual dies outside his or her home or village. In Nangbah, it is believed that souls of unnatural death are not recognized by the god Duwan U Blai, who guards the clan burial stone. Therefore, a ritual called Knia Pyllaitsyiar has to be conducted by the eldest man of the deceased’s family, preferably the maternal uncle. In this ritual, a rooster is set free in the name of the deceased person, assuring it that the deceased originally belongs to the clan. Thus, the soul of the cock (as mediator) will inform Duwar U Blai about the deceased’s accident and only after that deceased’s soul is accepted to enter and stay in his/her own clan burial stone. In the past, in Shangpung, Chad Phur (stone circle) was a place where a ritual would take place after cremation but before deposi­ tion of bones. This ritual was held so the deceased would depart the living world happily. However, such type of stone circle is not seen in any other villages and even the one in Shangpung is in disarray. (ii) Megaliths related to Post-deposition: Stones related to postdeposition are of many different types, and even the nomenclature differs from village to village.

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Source: Author.

Figure 4.3: Moopyllaitshiar in Nangbah

(a) Primary Burial Stone: After cremation, pieces of bone remains are collected by a man generally referred to as kni (who cremate the deceased). It is then given to a woman (preferably mother or sister of the deceased), sitting nearby the crematorium. This woman then carries the bones upto the place where the burial stone is located. It is then handed over to the eldest maternal uncle who deposits it in the burial stone. This is the temporary or primary clan burial stone (Figure 4.4). Family members, relatives and friends offer money, eatable items, etc., to the deceased with the concept of future use in his/her afterlife journey. (b) Secondary Burial Stone: The bones from temporary or primary burial stones are taken out after one or two years and transfer­ red into a secondary clan burial stone permanently (Figure 4.5).

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Source: Author. Figure 4.4: Primary burial stone Cairn in Shangpung (left), and dolmen in Nongtalang (right)

The re-collection and deposition of bones is performed under the consent of the clan’s elders and deceased’s family when they could afford it (the ritual and feast). It is conducted by the lyngdoh (high priest) in Nongtalang but with the consent of clan elders (of all clans) of the village together. This is the last formal rite and final resting place of the bones. The living kin conducts prayers for the good fortune of the deceased soul

Source: Author. Figure 4.5: Secondary burial stone Dolmen in Shangpung (left) and dissolith in Nongtalang (right)

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in the afterlife world. It is believed that the happy departed soul turns into an ancestor who looks after the living. They give wealth, health and prosperity to the descendants. However, today the transference of bones has stopped and no records of continuation in the recent past can be found. These structures are in dilapidated condition, where some are badly broken and abandoned. (c) Memorial stone: This type of stone (mot) is found mostly in War region of Jaintia Hills and in Nartiang village. This stone structure is constructed in memory of the loving deceased. It was previously a dissolith in structure, but replaced by modern cemented structure with many indidualistic designs. However, it is not mandatory and made according to the wish of the deceased’s family. It is also a symbol of attachment of the living with the deceased. Gender and Megaliths At the outset, megaliths in Jaintia Hills can be broadly divided into two – representing the male and the female. Standing stones (menhirs) are known as moopynnieng, and represents male, so it is also called as mooshynrang (moo = stone, and shynrang = male). On the other hand, flat stones (dolmen or capstone) are known as mooknor or moosiang, and represents female, so it is also called mookynthei (kynthei = female). This dichotomy in the morphological classification of Jaintia megaliths is an interesting feature. Moreover, most of the megalithic structures are placed together (in the case of standing and flat stones), except a few. It is also said that standing stone must be always accompanied by a flat stone whereas flat stones can be placed alone with or without a standing stone. One of the most common structures is three standing stones and a flat stone at the front. Sometimes, it is 1 or 3 or 5 and so on (pref­ erably in odd numbers), and a flat stone in front of each standing stone or only a single flat stone in front of the middle standing stone (Figure 4.6). The standing stone in the middle must be the tall­ est representing the eldest maternal uncle whereas standing stones

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Source: Author. Figure 4.6: Dissolith in Nongtalang

flanking both the sides represent younger brothers or nephews and the flat stone in the front represents the maternal ancestress. Thus, it symbolizes the family staying together and the support of males will always remain with mother where she is the owner of the house. This flat stone is also used to sit and the standing stone to lean (except the sacred stone). Despite being matrilineal, the status of women in the social domain from the point of megalithic study appears to be less in Jaintia society. In many villages, there are tales of megaliths con­ nected to males, for instance Moolong Syiem, Moo Thulalane, Moo Syiem, stones of U Bir Nongpoh, etc. Moreover, it is informed that men participated directly in construction and erection of megalith, whereas women cooked food or prepared eatable items and served if required. A similar situation is seen in the process of ritual activi­ ties too. The same was witnessed in Lympung Sengkhilang, 2016

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at Narwan (the ceremonial gifting of megaliths between the Khasis and Jaintias). Again, there is no memorial or commemorative stone erected for/by women, or in her name except an alignment (with­ out a flat stone) consisting of 30 menhirs at Sutnga. According to local lore, she was married to 30 men at different points of time and as a case of serial monogamy. In memory of her, her children honoured their mother by erecting these stones. Division of gender role or workload can further be seen from the mortuary practice when the bones are gathered by a man and handed over to a woman (mother, sister or niece). She brings the deceased’s bones up to the place where the burial stone is located and hands over to a man (preferably the eldest maternal uncle). Thus, it is deposited into the burial stone following a religious hymn recited by the priest or elderly person. The social division of gender in burial stones in Nongtalang fur­ ther shows that a man can show his status and power even after his death, but not a woman. Normally, the deceased’s bone is deposited in the burial stone (dolmen). But, if the deceased is a female then it is only a dolmen whereas if the deceased is a male then there is one standing stone behind this dolmen. The size of this standing stone differs – and it represents the status and prestige of the deceased during his lifetime. Bigger the size of this standing stone means higher the respect or prestige of a man during his lifetime, but the size of the dolmen does not matter at all. Matriliny and Megaliths As mentioned above, standing stones (menhirs) cannot stone alone but must be accompanied by a flat stone (dolmen or capstone). Flat stones in this case represent the ancestress. This is the honour or respect given to their maternal ancestress. The standing stones representing brothers or nephews will always be with their ancestral mother. She will always remain the custodian of her children. Mother enjoys a high status throughout her life in the family with the continuous support of her uncle, brother and son. The solidarity and unity of brotherhood of the brothers and nephews is through their mother.

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A person once born will belong to his/her mother’s family dur­ ing lifetime, and even afterlife as integral part of Jaintia matrilineal clan system in the form of bone depositions in the clan stones. It shows the strong sense of custodian or ownership right of mother since she is the root of the family. It is also evidenced from the burial stone that all the deceased’s bones are brought back and deposited to their mother’s clan burial stone. Traditionally, mother has every right of her children’s belongingness including bones and clan burial stone of mother is the only final resting place of a deceased. In the burial stones (cists or dolmens), all matrilineal clansmen will meet and stay after death symbolizing the reunion and solidarity with their ancestors.

Summary and Conclusion Cultural tradition is transmitted from one generation to the next and so too the megalithic tradition of Jaintias with modification. This megalithic culture of Jaintia once flourished and was at peak in Jaintia Hills. These megaliths have close attachment to rituals and their traditional religious belief. Construction and repairing are rarely seen, but done through community service, if needed. Despite constructing new megalithic structures, they preserve and use the age-old structures but the sacredness and its value remains the same. Many parts of the megalithic culture however appear to be forgotten whereas in some they are already abandoned both functionally as well as structurally. It can also be affirmed that these megalithic structures of the Jaintias remain as the most ancient man-made structures found in Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. It visually symbolizes and reflects their past and present society. Each and every structure has a meaning­ ful purpose. Like many other parts of the megalithic world, the strength of an individual among the Jaintias in the past was known from the size of megalithic structure (in the case of commemora­ tive or memorial stone). It indicated the power, strength and also indirectly manpower or labour and even cost. Bigger the mega­ lithic structure, stronger was the man in the village. Socially, the clear dichotomy in megalithic structures is an interesting feature

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in Jaintia society. Moreover, megaliths probably were the centre of religious cult among the Jaintias due to various rites and rituals probably since the very beginning of their settlement. These stones became sacred after a considerable period of time, and are strongly believed to be the residing place of local deities, spirits, and ances­ tor souls who take care of the living

NOTE 1. Niamtre is the traditional religion of the Jaintias having a belief in souls or spirits, ancestors, nature worship and number of local deities without any particular figurines.

REFERENCES Adams, R.L. 2009. ‘Transforming Stone: Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives on Megalith Form in Eastern Indonesia’, in C. Scarre (ed.), Megalithic Quarrying: Sourcing, Extracting and Manipulating the Stones. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 83-92. Asombang, R.N. 2004. ‘Interpreting Standing Stones in Africa: A Case Study in North-west Cameroon’. Antiquity, 78 (300): 294-305. Bareh, H. 1997. History and Culture of the Khasi People. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications. Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). September 2013. ‘Ground Water Information Booklet Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya’. Guwahati: Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India. Childe, V.G. 1948. ‘Megaliths’. Ancient India, 4: 4-13. Clarke, C.B. 1874. ‘Stone Monuments of the Khasi Hills’. Journal of Anthropological Institute, 3 (3): 48-93. Devi, P.B. 2011. The Megalithic Culture of Manipur. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan. Jamir, T. 2004. ‘Megaliths of Nagaland: Reflections of Material Milieu and Social Values’, in M. Momin and C.A. Mawlong (eds.), Society and Economy in North-east India. New Delhi: Regency Publications, pp. 105-17. Jamir, W. 1998. ‘Megaliths in Nagaland’. Puratattva, 28: 104-10. Krishnaswami, V.D. 1949. ‘Megalithic Types of South India’. Ancient India, 5: 35-45. Marak, Q. 2012. ‘Megaliths of North-East India’, in T. B. Subba (ed.), NorthEast India: A Handbook of Anthropology. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, pp. 34-53.

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Meitei, A.M. 2017. ‘Megaliths and Jaintia Culture: A Study in Archaeological Anthropology’. PhD thesis, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Meitei, A.M. and Q. Marak. 2015-16. ‘Giant Stones: A Study of the Significance of Menhir(s) in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, India’. Nrtattv: The Anthropology, 8 (10) & 9 (11): 33-48. Moorti, U.S. 1994. Megalithic Culture of South India: Socio-Economic Perspectives. Varanasi: Ganga Kaveri Publishing House. Peet, T.E. 1912. Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders. London: Harper & Brothers. Playfair, A. 1909. The Garo. London: David Nutt. Sundara, A. 1975. The Early Chamber Tombs of South India: A Study of the Iron Age Megalithic Monuments of N. Karnataka. Delhi: University Publishers. Wheeler, R.E.M. 1948. ‘Brahmagiri and Chandravalli 1947: Megalithic and other Cultures in Mysore State’. Ancient India, 4: 180-310.

CHAPTER 5

Peopling of Shillong Plateau

A Molecular Anthropological Insight

Banrida T. Langstieh

Introduction The north-eastern part of India is the abode of multi-ethnic popu­ lation groups with an intriguing past. It is a region considered to be an important corridor for historic and prehistoric population movements. This region is characterized by complex and unique demographic settlement patterns of human populations with multi­ ple ethnic, linguistic and migration backgrounds. On a broader canvas of the Indian subcontinent, an interesting fact on the heritage of Indian populations have been examined in demographic history, population genetic studies with insights into the linguistic, anthropological and archaeological evidence on diffusion waves of technological innovations over the last recent decades. Based on the ‘People of India Project’ of the Anthropo­ logical Survey of India, a group of Indian research scientists led by M. Gadgil highlighted the fact that the biological and cultural diversity of the country can simplistically best be understood by following the probable likelihood migration of human population groups identified by broad linguistic families as summarized below (Gadgil et al., 1997): 1. Austric language speakers came soon after 65,000 years BP, prob­ ably from the north-east,

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2. Dravidian speakers around 6,000 years BP from the Mid-East with knowledge of cultivation of crops like wheat and domestica­ tion of animals like cattle, sheep and goats, 3. Indo-European speakers came in several waves after 4,000 years BP with control over horses and knowledge of iron technology, and 4. Sino-Tibetan speakers came in several waves after 6,000 years BP with knowledge of rice cultivation. Few more pertinent points to be observed is the fact that first, in India, most of the Austro-Asiatic language speakers are exclusively tribals located in probably the oldest geological plateau in Megha­ laya among the Khasi in north-east India while the broader group of Austro-Asiatic Mundari groups are dispersed in and around the Chota-Nagpur plateau which is represented today in sizeable population groups in states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam. Second, the antiquity of the Austro-Asi­ atic language group appears to be one of the oldest in the Indian homeland (van Driem, 1999) and Austric-speaking people may be the oldest inhabitants of this country or probably the earliest to arrive in India. This has been tested by both modern and classical anthropological techniques which also includes cultural, ethno­ historical and pre-historic archaeological evidences besides genetic and anthropometric variables (Kumar & Reddy 2003). Molecular genetic evidences from the paternally inherited Y chromosome supported a common paternal heritage of Austro-Asiatic popula­ tions in India with traces of migration towards Southeast Asia (Kumar et al., 2007). The Austro-Asiatic language speakers may be amongst the first group of Homo sapiens to have reached India, per­ haps some 50-65 kybp (Gadgil et al., 1997) if linked as an ‘Out of Africa’ human migration enroute to Southeast Asia via the north­ ern or southern route (Kumar et al., 2008; Thangaraj et al., 2009). Since over 98 per cent of Austric speakers today lie in Southeast Asia, another probable route of a reverse migration from Southeast Asia into India could also be examined if they may have entered India from the northeast (Reddy et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2015). In this chapter an attempt will be made to corroborate molecular

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genetic findings from the autosomal DNA markers, Y-chromosome (paternal lineage) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for the maternal lineage with anthropological, archaeological and linguistic findings from this region highlighting in particular the AustroAsiatic tribe – the Khasi vis-à-vis the neighbouring Tibeto-Burman speakers as well as other Southeast Asian populations.

Austro-Asiatic Speakers in Meghalaya Etymologically, the name ‘Austro-Asiatic’ has been derived from the language family that is predominantly spoken by people in Southeast Asia. Austro is the Latin word for ‘south’ and Asiatic is the Greek name for Asia. Ethnologue has identified that there are about 168 Austro-Asiatic languages in the world today. AustroAsiatic languages have a disjunct distribution across India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, separated by regions where other languages are spoken. It is widely believed that the Austro-Asiatic languages are the autochthonous languages of Southeast Asia and the eastern Indian subcontinent, and that the other languages of the region, including the Indo-European, Dravidian and Sino-Tibetan languages, are the result of later migrations of people. There are, for example, Austro-Asiatic words in the Tibeto-Burman languages of eastern Nepal. Some linguists have attempted to prove that Austro-Asiatic languages are related to Austronesian languages, thus forming the Austric super-family (Reid, 2005). Traditionally, linguists had recognized two primary divisions of Austro-Asiatic speakers in India. These are the Munda languages spoken by tribal groups settled in the Chota Nagpur plateau and its adjoining areas in the east and central parts of India, and the MonKhmer languages akin to those of Southeast Asia, spoken by people in north-east India (particularly among the Khasi) and the Nico­ barese of the Nicobar Islands. Gérard Diffloth’s (2005) linguistic classification tried to show the relationships between the AustroAsiatic families by comparing reconstructions of various clades. He classified them based on shared innovations as – (1) Munda, (2) Khasi-Khmuic, and (3) Mon Khmer (nuclear). The State of Meghalaya has an area of 22,429 sq. km and a popu­

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lation of 29,64,001 (2011 Census). The higher ridges of the state lie in the coniferous belt, gradually sloping down to the sub-tropical and tropical zones. Located just above the Tropic of Cancer at 25°-26°15'N and 89°45'-92°47'E, the region lies in the lower foot­ hills of the eastern Himalayan range with Assam lying towards its north and east, while Bangladesh borders the south and western fringes of the state. Geologically, the state of Meghalaya represents a relic of the ancient plateau of pre-Cambrian peninsular India as observed from the valuable contributions of tectono-stratigraphy of the Meghalaya plateau by Oldham (1859), Evans (1932), Dasgupta (1934) and others (cf. GSI, 2009). Geological records date the Shil­ long plateau of Meghalaya to 300 million years (Archaean) while the adjoining areas like the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam is relatively of recent origin dating 38 to 25 million years. Within the fold of this geologically oldest plateau dwells the only group of Mon-Khmer Austro-Asiatic speakers located as a ‘pocket’ amidst the ethnic majority of Mongoloid populations of Sino-Tibeto-Burman origin. While the Khasis represent the Mon-Khmer speakers (Grierson, 1928; Nagaraja, 1985, 1993) occupying the central and eastern regions of Meghalaya, the Garos represent the Tibeto-Burman speakers of the state, inhabiting the regions more towards the west. These are the two indigenous and predominant tribal clusters that inhabit Meghalaya, perhaps one of the very few populations in India and in the world, which follow the system of matrilineal descent with matrilocal residence. According to pre-historic archaeological evidences, the Khasis might have come to western Meghalaya dur­ ing the times of Hoabinhian culture of Southeast Asia, most likely around 6,000-10,000 years BP (Hussain, 1991; Ashraf, 2006). The Mongoloid Tibeto-Burman speakers possibly made their appear­ ance in this region during the middle of the Neolithic period. These were possibly the ‘Bodo’ or ‘Boro’ groups, which include the Garos who settled in western Meghalaya. Current research in the Trans-Himalayan language groups have implicated a broader scope and platform for research by population geneticists, archaeologist and prehistorians in understanding the Tibeto-Burman language family (van Driem, 1999, 2007, 2014a, 2014b; Hazarika, 2016).

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A brief comparison on cultural traits of the two major groups in the region is discussed below (Table 5.1). TABLE 5.1: CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF AUSTRO-ASIATIC KHASI AND TIBETO-BURMAN GARO

Cultural Traits Linguistic group

Khasi Mon-Khmer of AustroAsiatic [Mon= a place in Myanmar, Khmer=Cambodia] Kinship pattern Matrilineal and matrilocal

Megalithic culture Prehistoric traditions

Agricultural practice Hunting practice Cultural items

Garo Tibeto-Burman of Sino-

Tibetan

[Tibeto=Tibet,

Burman=Burma (Myanmar)]

Matrilineal and matrilocal

[other Tibeto-Burman

speakers majorly practice

patriliny with patriarchy]

Erection of stones is limited;

Extensive culture of Wood and memorial posts

erection of megaliths (kima) are extensive.

(a) Hoabinhian culture of (a) Hoabinhian culture of Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia, (b) Neolithic – rectilinear (b) Neolithic – curvilinear celts; plain red ware celts; cord marked ware Shifting cultivation with Horticulture with iron digging stick and iron hoe hoe and spade Extensive use of bow and Extensive use of trapping and arrow; archery continues snaring strategies to this day (a) Cowrie shells used in (a) Brass gong used as an item religious rites, barter, and for religious rites, symbolic and musical instrument as ornaments (b) Ornaments of brass and (b) Preference for silk dress, and gold ornaments semi-precious stones, and cotton dresses Long houses built on piles Egg-shaped house

Housing pattern Bachelors’ dormitory Not known Dormitory system Early traditions (a) worship of the serpent (a) Polygyny (b) human sacrifice during (b) Head hunting eradicated monolith erection

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Status of Austro-Asiatic Population From language, genes to culture, the status of the Austro-Asiatic (Khasi) population has yielded interesting insights into the genetic link that exists within Austro-Asiatic population groups in India and also putative migratory routes into Southeast Asia and vice versa. Figure 5.1 depicts the map of Meghalaya along with DNA data sample collection site of 9 population groups (8 Khasi subgroups and 1 Garo group) under study. The Khasi groups were Bhoi, Khynriam, Pnar, War Khasi, War Jaintia, Nongtrai, Maram, and Lyngngam. A total of 600 plus individuals had volunteered to participate in this study with due ethical written consent during the period 2000-2001. Molecular Genetic Results From the molecular genetics perspective, three types of markers were used to test and identify the probable descent and relationship between the Meghalaya populations. The molecular (DNA) markers used for the present study are: (a) Autosomal AmpFℓSTR from the 9 STRS with biparental inheritance, (b) Mitochondrial DNA from the HVS I & II including SNPs for maternal inheritance, and (c) Y-chromosomal DNA including 16 STRs and SNPs for paternal inheritance. The findings are discussed below: 1. Autosomal DNA markers on nine short tandem repeats (STRs): Autosomal DNA is derived from any of the 1-22 chromosomal pairs or autosomes. It is of bi-parental inheritance sometimes referred to as nuclear DNA. It may be mentioned that nine auto­ somal DNA markers used in this study are validated and widely used for forensic applications worldwide. Autosomal DNA markers are most often used to compute genetic diversity indices and provide estimates for assessing within and between popula­ tion inferences for evolutionary measures of genetic drift, gene flow and/or admixture. With reference to the genetic diversity and relationships among the Khasi tribes of Meghalaya com­ pared to other Indian and Continental populations as revealed by the autosomal AmpFℓSTR markers, the results showed clear

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differentiation and clustering pattern of the populations based on either geographic proximity, historical or current linguistic affiliations of these groups. The extent of genetic diversity and relationships were examined with other Indian, Southeast Asian, and continental populations which showed that the Meghalaya populations formed a compact cluster clearly separated from other populations, suggesting genetic identity of the Meghalaya populations to be characterized by a relatively homogeneous genetic structure that is probably sustained by continuous gene flow across the tribal boundaries, and the matrilineal system prevalent among them might have played a role in promoting this gene flow (Langstieh et al., 2004). 2. Maternally inherited Mitochondrial DNA data: The Asian and nonAsian origins of Mon-Khmer and Mundari-speaking AustroAsiatic population of India were analysed in 1,686 samples from 31 tribal populations of India for the mitochondrial DNA 9-base-pair deletion/insertion polymorphism, and characterized them based on the relevant mitochondrial DNA coding-region standard nucleotide polymorphisms and hypervariable region I motifs, to test the genetic origins of the ethnically and linguisti­ cally heterogeneous Austro-Asiatic tribes of India. A comparative analysis of our results with the existing data suggests mul­ tiple origins of Austro-Asiatic tribes in India, and particularly the Asian and non-Asian origins of the Mon-Khmer and the Mundari populations (Figure 5.1). We also identified a novel sub-clade of haplogroup B in the Mon-Khmer Khasi tribes that distinguishes them from the Nicobarese, indicating two differ­ ent waves of migration of the Mon-Khmer tribes in India. In a nutshell, from the maternal inheritance domain one may surmise that the Austro-Asiatic populations of India have come in multiple waves of migration, and the ancestors of presentday Mundari groups might have been the first to arrive in India through the western Indian corridor, subsequently migrating to Southeast Asia. This was probably followed by the migration of the Khasi and later by the Nicobarese from Southeast Asia into the Indian subcontinent (Kumar et al., 2006b; Thangaraj et al., 2005). From our findings the results suggest that the Austro­

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Source: Kumar et al., 2006b. Figure 5.1: Asian & Non-Asian origin of mitochondrial DNA (Mt DNA 9-bp del/ins polymorphism) in the present study

Asiatic Khasi tribes of north-east India represents a genetic continuity between the populations of South and Southeast Asia, thereby advocating that northeast India could have been a major corridor or land bridge for the movement of populations from India to east and/or Southeast Asia (Reddy et al., 2007). 3. Genetic findings from the paternally inherited Y-chromosomal DNA data: To trace the origin and historic expansion of Austro-Asi­ atic groups of India, we analysed Y-chromosome SNP and STR data of 1,222 individuals from 25 Indian populations, covering all the three branches of Austro-Asiatic tribes, namely, Mundari, Khasi-Khmuic and Mon-Khmer, along with the previously published data on 214 relevant populations from Asia and Ocea­ nia. Based on our findings about the distribution and diversity of Y-chromosome – single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and short tandem repeat markers (STR) – the Austro-Asiatic tribes of north-east India provide hitherto Missing Genetic

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Link between South and Southeast Asia (Figure 5.2). Out of the 26 potential Y-STR haplotypes and haplogroups defined by the markers used in this study a total of 12 haplogroups were found in these populations. O-M95, with its frequency ranging from 17 to 42 per cent in the Khasi subgroups of War-Khasi and War-Jaintia, was the most common haplogroup in all the AustroAsiatic populations followed by the undifferentiated O-M122 (ranging from 11 per cent in Nongtrai to 34 per cent in Bhoi). Whereas a unique characteristic among the Tibeto-Burman Garo was the frequency of O-M134 and the undifferentiated O-M122 haplogroups (23 and 17 per cent) respectively. Overall, Y-chromosome evidence suggests a common paternal heritage of Austro-Asiatic populations in Indian populations (Kumar et al., 2007). In another recent article on the Y-chromosome diversity, Zhang et al., 2015 suggested a southern origin and Paleolithic back-wave migration of Austro-Asiatic speakers from eastern

Source: Kumar et al., 2007. Figure 5.2: Y-chromosome evidence suggest a common paternal heritage of Austro-Asiatic populations

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Asia to the Indian subcontinent. In their analyses of an Asian-spe­ cific Y-chromosome lineage (O2a1-M95) the dominant paternal lineage in Austro-Asiatic speaking populations, who are found on both sides of the Bay of Bengal led to two competing hypoth­ esis of this group’s geographic origin and migratory routes. One hypothesis posits the origin of the Austro-Asiatic speakers in India and an eastward dispersal to Southeast Asia, while the other places an origin in Southeast Asia with westward dispersal to India. For this study, the authors had collected samples of Aus­ tro-Asiatic-speaking populations from mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) and southern China, and genotyped 16 Y-STRs of 343 males who belong to the O2a1-M95 lineage. Combining samples with previous data, they analysed both the Y-chromosome and mtDNA diversities and generated a comprehensive picture of the O2a1-M95 lineage in Asia. The present study demonstrated that the O2a1-M95 lineage originated in southern East Asia among the Daic-speaking populations ~20,000-40,000 years ago and then dispersed southward to Southeast Asia after the Last Glacial Maximum before moving westward to the Indian sub­ continent. This migration resulted in the current distribution of this Y-chromosome lineage in the Austro-Asiatic speaking popu­ lations. Further analysis of mtDNA diversity showed a different pattern, supporting a previously proposed sex-biased admixture of these populations in India.

Time to Most Recent Common Ancestors It will be interesting to note that an important inference from any DNA data which is often labelled as the most challenging is the task in providing rough time estimates for the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) dated through different statistical methods and analyses. For our findings the TMRCA was calculated for mtDNA as well as the Y-chromosomal data. The TMRCA of the haplogroups based on the full mtDNA sequence suggest a younger age of Khasi/north-east Indian hap­ logroup M (41,000 YBP) compared to what has been obtained in the other studies for Indian M haplogroup (54,000 YBP) (Kumar

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et al., 2008; Thangaraj et al., 2009). This is because of the very low age contribution from the M48 haplogroup. Reanalysing the data by removing M48 increases the age to ~50,000 YBP which is close to what has been obtained in the other studies. The TMRCA of haplogroup M31 and M33 is ~40,000 YBP and ~50,000 YBP suggest­ ing that M33 like M31 is an archaic lineage. The age of B7 suggests that this haplogroup has originated ~28,000 YBP in East Asia where all the other sub-haplogroups of B have been hypothesized to have originated. TMRCA from the Y-haplogroups suggest a strong paternal genetic link, not only among the subgroups of Indian AustroAsiatic populations but also with those of Southeast Asia. The results also indicate that the haplogroup O-M95 of the Y chro­ mosome had originated in the Indian Austro-Asiatic populations approximately 65,000 yrs BP (95 per cent C.I. 25,442 – 132,230) and their ancestors carried it further to Southeast Asia via the north-east Indian corridor. Subsequently, in the process of expan­ sion, the Mon-Khmer populations from Southeast Asia seem to have migrated and colonized Andaman and Nicobar Islands at a much later point of time. The median estimate of TMRCA for the Y-haplogroups with 106 MCMC cycles for the whole of Austro-Asiatic groups turns out to be ~68,000 YBP (95 per cent C.I. 25,442 – 1,32,230). The TMRCA for the Mundari (~66,000) and Khasi (~57,000) is similar, whereas for Nicobarese it is considerably lower (~17,000). Further, the aver­ age of TMRCA estimated for individual Mundari and transitional populations turns out to be large (~48,000), ranging from ~70,000 YBP to ~30,000 YBP suggesting that the haplogroup OM95 might have originated early, possibly in the Paleolithic period (Kumar et al., 2007).

Conclusion To sum up from molecular anthropological perspective we con­ clude that, because of its very high frequency and diversity, the Y-chromosomal haplogroup O-M95 had an in-situ origin among the Indian Austro-Asiatic, particularly among the Mundari, not

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in Southeast Asia as envisaged earlier. Given the large estimate of TMRCA, our study suggests that the Mundari populations are one of the earliest settlers in the Indian subcontinent. It is most likely that these populations have come from Central Asia through the western Indian corridor and subsequently colonized Southeast Asia, although more data on Y-chromosome and mtDNA are needed from other relevant populations to draw firmer conclusions. Our findings are consistent with the linguistic evidence, which suggests that the linguistic ancestors of the Austro-Asiatic populations have originated in India and then migrated to Southeast Asia. However, the genetic evidences of multiple waves of migration from Southeast Asia to the Indian subcontinent and vice versa as indicative from the maternal (Mt DNA) data cannot be ruled out. Northeast India being a land corridor or passage and not a barrier for population movements is a story well relating to cultural geography, genes and language. Thus the composition of both the mtDNA and Y-haplogroups in the Austro-Asiatic Khasi as a whole suggests their distinct origin and a separate migration vis-à-vis the Tibeto-Burman groups of this region (Kumar et al., 2006a). On the other hand, the analysis of autosomal DNA data suggests bi-directional gene flow across the Bay of Bengal restricted to Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman speaking populations. A population genetic structure model sug­ gested by Chaubey et al. (2011) showed significant Southeast Asian genetic component among the Indian Munda speakers implying a recent dispersal from Southeast Asia followed by extensive admix­ ture with local Indian populations. From the most convincing paternal genetic signatures, it is implied that the strongest signal of Southeast Asian genetic ancestry among the Indian Austro-Asiatic speakers is maintained in their Y-chromosome. Until date new technologies and recent fossil findings are still evolving in the genomic era with updates from global, national and regional population studies calibrating and re-calibrating the estimated dates of probable migration routes of pre-historic and anatomically modern humans around the world. The HUGO Pan Asian Consortium (Normile, 2009) is one such example which marks the coming of age of Asia’s genome science research cor­

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relating genetic with linguistic and geographic groupings in the continent.

Acknowledgments This research work is a project of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, which was carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad in August 2000-3. Special thanks to my Ph.D. supervisor Battini Mohan Reddy of Indian Statistical Institute, Hyderabad; Vikrant Kumar of the Genome Institute of Singapore who collected and analysed the DNA samples from Munda group of AustroAsiatic; scientists (late) Lalji Singh and K. Thangaraj, and technical staff Alla G. Reddy of CCMB, Hyderabad who facilitated and supported the molecular genetic laboratory work.

REFERENCES Ashraf, A.A. 2006. ‘Autochthons of Meghalaya in Anthropo-Archaeological Perspectives’. Humankind, 2: 31-36. Chaubey, G. et al. 2011. ‘Population Genetic Structure in Indian Austroasiatic Speakers: The Role of Landscape Barriers and Sex-specific Admixture’. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28: 1013-24. Diffloth, G. 2005. ‘The Contribution of Linguistic Palaeontology to the Homeland of Austro-Asiatic’, in L. Sagart, R. Blench and A. SanchezMazas (eds.), The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics, London: Routledge, pp. 77-81. Gadgil, M., N. Joshi, S. Manoharan, S. Patil and U.V.S. Prasad. 1997. ‘Peopling of India’, in D. Balasubramanian and N.A. Rao (eds.), The Human Heritage, Hyderabad: Hyderabad University Press, pp. 100-29. Geological Survey of India. 2009. ‘Geology and Mineral Resources of Meghalaya’, in Miscellaneous publication no. 30, pt. IV, vol. 2 (ii) Meghalaya. Grierson, G.A. 1987 [1928]. ‘The Mon-Khmer Family’, in G.A. Grierson (Ed.), Languages of North Eastern India - A Survey, vol. I, New Delhi: Gian Publishing House, pp. 1-57. Hazarika, M. 2016. ‘Tracing Post-Pleistocene Human Movements and Cultural Connections of the Eastern Himalayan Region with the Tibetan Plateau’. Archaeological Research in Asia. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ara.2016.03.003. Hussain, Z. 1991. ‘Who are the Pre-historic Dwellers of the Meghalaya Plateau?’, in J.P. Singh and G. Sengupta (eds.), Archaeology of North

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East India, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, pp. 74-85. Kumar, S. et al. 2008. ‘The Earliest Settlers’ Antiquity and Evolutionary History of Indian Populations: Evidence from M2 mtDNA Lineage’. BMC Evol. Biol., 8:230. DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-8-230. Kumar, V. and B. Mohan Reddy. 2003. ‘Status of Austro-Asiatic Groups in the Peopling of India: A Exploratory Study Based on the Available Prehistoric, Linguistic and Biological Evidences’. Journal of Bioscience, 28(4): 507-22. Kumar, V., et al. 2007. ‘Y-chromosome Evidence Suggest a Common Paternal Heritage of Austro-Asiatic Populations’. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 7: 47. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-7-47. _____ et al. 2006a. ‘Global Patterns in Human Mitochondrial DNA and Y Chromosome Variation Caused by Spatial Instability of the Local Cultural Processes’. Public Library of Sciences Genetics, 2(4): e53. DOI: 10.1371/journals pgen. 0020053. _____ et al. 2006b. ‘Asian and non-Asian origins of Mon-Khmer and Mundari speaking Austro-Asiatic populations of India’. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 18: 461-69. _____ et al. 2006c. ‘Asian and Non-Asian Origins of Mon-Khmer and Mundari Speaking Austro-Asiatic Populations of India’. American Journal of Human Biology, 18(4):461-9. Langstieh, B.T., B.M. Reddy, K. Thangaraj and L. Singh. 2004. ‘Genetic Diversity and Relationships among the Tribes of Meghalaya Compared to other Indian and Continental Populations’. Hum Biology, 76(4): 569­ 90. Nagaraja, K.S. 1985. Khasi: A Descriptive Analysis. Pune: Deccan College. _____. 1993. ‘Khasi Dialects: A Typological Consideration’. Mon Khmer Studies, XXIII: 1-10. Normile, D. 2009. ‘SNP Study Supports Southern Migration Route to Asia’. Science, 326:1470. Reddy, B.M. et al. 2007. ‘Austro-Asiatic Tribes of Northeast India Provide Hitherto Missing Genetic Link between South and Southeast Asia’. PloS One, 2: e1141. 11. Reid, L.A. 2005. ‘The Current Status of Austric: A Review and Evaluation of the Lexical and Morphosyntactic Evidence’, in L. Sagart, R. Blench and A. Sanchez-Mazas (eds.), The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics, London/NY: Routledge & Curzon, pp. 132-60. Thangaraj, K. et al. 2006. ‘In Situ Origin of Deep Rooting Lineages of Mitochondrial Macrohaplogroup ‘M’ in India’. BMC Genomics, 7: 151. _____. et al. 2005. ‘Different Population Histories of the Mundari-and Mon­ Khmer-speaking Austro-Asiatic Tribes Inferred from the mtDNA 9-bp

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Deletion/Insertion Polymorphism in Indian Populations’. Human Genetics, 116: 507-17. _____. et al. 2009. ‘Deep Rooting In-Situ Expansion of mtDNA Haplogroup R8 in South Asia’. PLoS ONE, 4(8): e6545. DOI:10.1371/journal. pone.0006545. van Driem, G. 1999. ‘On the Austroasiatic Indus Theory’. Mother Tongue (special issue October 1999): 75-83. _____. 2007. ‘Austroasiatic Phylogeny and the Austroasiatic Homeland in Light of Recent Population Genetic Studies’. Mon-Khmer Stud., 37: 1-14. _____. 2014a. ‘Trans-Himalayan’, in N. Hill and T. Owen-Smith (eds.), Trans-Himalayan Linguistics, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 11-40. _____. 2014b. ‘A Prehistoric Thoroughfare Between the Ganges and the Himalayas’, in T. Jamir and M. Hazarika (eds.), 50 Years After DaojaliHading: Emerging Perspectives in the Archaeology of Northeast India: Essays in Honour of Tarun Chandra Sharma, New Delhi: Research India Press, pp. 60-98. Zhang, X. et al. 2015.‘Y-chromosome Diversity Suggests Southern Origin and Paleolithic Backwave Migration of Austro-Asiatic Speakers from Eastern Asia to the Indian Subcontinent’. Nature Scientific Reports. | 5:15486 | DOI: 10.1038/srep15486 1.

PA RT I I

People and Society

CHAPTER 6

Revisiting the Oral

Controlling Mechanisms in a Non-Monetized and

Non-Hierarchical Society

Tiplut Nongbri

There is increasing recognition that the oral provides important glimpses into the life and culture of small-scale pre-literate societies where documentary evidence in the written form is lacking. Though the incursion of colonialism and its civilizing mission had all but snuffed out the oral, remnants of it continue to pervade the life world of indigenous communities in several aspects. This paper focuses on some of the cultural beliefs and practices prevalent among the Khasis that defied historical analysis. Premised on the oral tradition, these practices have often been dismissed as mere superstitions with little historical value. The paper proceeds on the assumption that the oral is a window to the past, which mirrors the existential condition and world view of the people and the time within which it occurs. Viewed thus, the paper emphasizes the need to go beyond the externally observable to the symbolic meanings and ideas encoded in myths. As Lévi-Strauss (1968 [1958]) notes, what is externally projected tell us little about the reality of the situation which is hidden to the observer. Hence, the analyst needs to shift his/her attention away from the manifest level, which masks the reality, to the latent or unconscious level to uncover the underlying logic of the story. Three distinct cultural elements rooted in myth that pervade the everyday life of the Khasi have been taken for discussion in this paper: One, the exchange of betel or u kwai that

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constitutes an integral part of Khasi etiquette; two, the belief in u thlen a demonic creature that is believed to increase the wealth of its keeper/s; and three, belief in ka taro, a malevolent spirit that is supposed to attack people or their families who fail to honour or pay back their debts to the creditor/s. Though each of the stories had its own origin and could be read independently of the other, together they constitute part of a system that is directed to foster values of mutual love, respect, prudence and personal integrity that are critical for harmonious and peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic milieu. Tightly knitting the stories into the cultural fabric of the society lent resilience to the belief against the ravages of time. This paper argues that myths are not empty stories but are important controlling mechanisms to maintain social order and the norms and values upheld by the society. To put the paper in its proper perspective, I begin the discussion with a brief look at the origin of the Khasis and what historians and the people say about it.

The Khasi and their Origin The people defined as Khasi inhabit the eastern half of the northeastern state of Meghalaya. The word is a generic term that encompasses a variety of groups and subgroups who inhabit the contiguous Khasi and Jaintia Hills, with a sizeable segment of the population falling in present-day Bangladesh. Though slight variation in customs and dialect exists between the different groups, the division is more ecological than cultural in nature. This fact finds lucid expression in the strong association between the nomenclature they carry and the region they inhabit. To begin with, the people who occupy the central upland plateau are traditionally known as khynriam, a term, which their neighbour in the Jaintia Hills uses whenever they refer to the highlanders. As the word khynriam bears close resemblance to Khyrim, a state on the west of Jaintia Hills, it is generally assumed that the name is used by the Jaintias to refer to the people located on the western part of their region. The people inhabiting the Jaintia Hills are called Pnar or Syn­ teng. While no explanation is available on the origin of the word pnar, the term synteng is believed to be a derivative of Sutnga, the

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ancient Jaintia kingdom. The word jaintia, on the other hand, is believed to have its origin in the Hindu kingdom of the Jaintia Par­ ganas, which was overran by Parvat Ray of the house of Sutnga sometime in the sixteenth century (Gait, 1967: 312-13). In the present times, the term jaintia is more widely used than either pnar or Synteng especially in written documents. The inhabitants on the northern part of the Khasi Hills that gently tapers down towards Assam are known by the name Bhoi. Shortly after the formation of the State of Meghalaya, this region had been upgraded into a district and today serves as a gateway into the Khasi land. The people in the south bordering Bangladesh are called War. This region straddles the Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the people residing therein are accordingly differentiated into War Khasi and War Jaintia depending on the location of their settle­ ment. The inhabitants of the western part of the hills are designated as Lyngngam. By virtue of their proximity to the Garos, located as they are on the border of the Garo Hills, the Lyngngam have absorbed some of the cultural traits of the Garos. In so far as the Bhoi, War and Lyngngam are concerned, there is little information on how these names came into existence. Unlike Khasi and Jaintia, which are associated with political dynasties these three appear to have derived their identity primarily from the name of their settle­ ment. Politically, the Jaintia has had greater exposure to other cultures than the Khasi highlanders. Their close contact with the Hindu kingdom of Jaintiapur has not only made them more advanced than their neighbours in the west but also saw the incorporation of certain Hindu traits in their religion. The Khasi, on the other hand, have remained outside the history of both Assam and Bengal. Indeed, except for fragmentary accounts of Khasi raids on the Syl­ het plains, the history of the Khasi hills have remained shrouded in relative ambiguity till the beginning of the nineteenth century. This however does not imply that the Khasis were primitive isolates cut-off from the rest of the world around them. The oral tradition is rife with stories of the people’s close association with their neighbours in the plains with whom they engaged in trade and other social relations. The Story of the Lost Script, which accounts

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for the absence of writing among the Khasi (more on this later), points to the existence of close relations between the Khasi and the Bengali. The large presence of loan words from the Indo-Aryan stock in the Khasi vocabulary, which belongs to the Austro-Asiatic fold, also points to close and intense interaction between the two communities. Evidence such as these defies the isolation theory. The arrival of the British accelerated the pace of change in the Khasi society. The British along with their administrative machin­ ery and missionary enterprise opened up new vistas for the Khasi highlanders. They were the first to adopt Christianity and to avail of the educational benefits that colonial rule ushered in, which gave them a head start over the other groups.1 But while the process of modernization and Christianization brought significant changes in the upland, there remain pockets in the southern and northern parts of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills that continue to be almost untouched by these processes. The Lyngngam area in particular has remained to this day socially and economically isolated and backward. This social and ecological diversity imparts some variation to the local economy, customs and practices, which serve to mark off the people from one region to another. But though internally differen­ tiated, the different Khasi groups consider themselves to be one people, bound together by a common language and ethnic origin.

Diverse Interpretations Several views have been expressed about the origin of the Khasi. Edward Gait, the British historian, opines that the Khasis are the ‘remnants’ of the ancient Mongolian overflow into the country (1967: 311). In line with this theory, many scholars hold the view that the Khasis had come into their present settlement from the east. According to Gurdon, the first ethnographer on the Khasi, the people are an offshoot of the Mon-Anam family (1975 [1907]). Though he admitted the impossibility of tracing the actual cradle of the Mon-Anam ‘race’ he believes that given the westward direction of foreign migrations into Assam it is most likely that the Khasi too came from the east. Bareh (1967) is more categorical in this regard and asserts that the Khasi had their origin in Cambodia

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along the banks of the Mekong River. In support of the claim, he draws attention to the similarity between many Khasi and Amwi words and the presence of matrilineal traits in Laos (p. 15). Hutton too subscribed to the theory of the eastern origin of the Khasi by pointing to a group of stone ossuaries in North Cachar Hills, which he believe have been left behind by the Khasi in the course of their journey to the present abode. Similarity, vital aspects of culture seen between the Khasis and the Ho Mundas of central India has baffled many historians. Though spatially far removed from each other the two people not only share linguistic affinity (both speak languages of AustroAsiatic family) but also exhibit common cultural symbols. The Khasi megalithic culture bears distinct resemblance to the Mundas. So do their mortuary rituals. The eastern origin theory propounded by many scholars fails to account for this similarity. Mulling over this puzzle, J.N. Choudhury rejects the theory of the eastern origin of the Khasis and the related idea that they are of Mongolian racial stock in favour of a theory that traces their roots to the Austric fold. Sifting through historical and anthropological materials he con­ cludes that the Khasis are an Austroloid population who entered India from the westerly direction. He cites a number of cultural and historical evidence to support his argument. Addressing the issue of the Khasi’s linguistic affinity with the Mon-Anam fam­ ily of races in north-west Burma, he attributes it to the eastward movement of the Proto-Australoid humanity under the pressure of Aryan expansion in an earlier period of history. Working on this hypothesis, he maintains that the popular belief that the Khasis migrated from east to west is in fact a process of reverse migration, a reversal of the earlier eastward movement which took place in much later times (1996: 63, italics in original). To lend credence to the contention, he cites Prof. B.M. Das of the Department of Anthropology, Gauhati University. One (possibility) is that the Khasis are an Australoid population speaking Austric language. They have retained their language but have undergone remarkable changes in physical feature because of strong intrusive Mongoloid strains. In that case perhaps they came from the west, because there are evidence to show that Austro-Asiatic speaking people were largely

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of Australoid race from India who lived in Burma and Indo-China. A mixture of these two strains, that is, Australoid and Mongoloid, in very early times gave rise to various Austro-Asiatic speaking people of certain parts of Southeast Asia. A more or less similar phenomenon perhaps occurred in the case of the Khasi. (Das, 1984 cf. Choudhury, 1996: 67, italics in original)

While ethnographers and scholars look for historical evidence to trace the origin of the Khasis, the people themselves have no records of the past and could provide little account of their wander­ ings. Since tradition was passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next, memory of the distant past tends to be fuzzy and varied. One tradition states that the Khasis reached their pres­ ent abode from the plains of Sylhet as they tried to escape from the ravages of a flood. The Khasis blame the absence of a script in their language on this flood, as the survivor swallowed the book when he swam for his life. Interestingly, the story goes, the Bengali who was also fleeing for his life along with the Khasi managed to save his script as he tied the book over his head while the Khasi carried it between his teeth.2 A popular tradition that is widely subscribed by all the Khasi ethnos is that they came to their present settlement from heaven. Embodied in a myth, Ki Khanatang U Hynniew Trep (Tales of the Seven Huts), the story goes that the Khasis originally had their abode in heaven and the earth was just a field where they cultivate their crops. Joining heaven and earth was a huge tree through which the people could come down daily to work on the land. Till one day an evil one instigated them to cut-off the tree, and lo and behold, severed the only line of communication they had with heaven. Unable to return to their heavenly abode, the seven families (nine families were left in heaven) which had come down to cultivate the land had no option but to remain below and set up their home on earth. A similar story holds that in the days of yore when humankind lived in child-like innocence and purity, heaven and earth was connected by a ladder which enabled the people to freely travel between the two spheres and have direct interaction with God. The Khasi credits u Lum Sohpetbneng a hillock adjacent to the Shillong-

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Guwahati trunk road in Ri Bhoi district, as the site where the lad­ der was supposed to have existed. The presence of a crater at the top of the hillock is taken as proof of the story. These stories aver that the Khasis not only had divine origin but were also the original settlers of the territory they presently occupy. Several scholars have, however, scoffed at these ideas as being historically and practically untenable. Choudhury, for instance, observes: a myth unsupported by strong material and cultural evidence cannot be accepted as a final answer to the difficult questions of the origin and migration of a people. In the present instance, the difficulty is accentuated by the fact that the tradition or the myth of the golden ladder shows almost a universal pattern, and is repeated in the mythological traditions of many races. (ibid., 28, italics in original)

The author’s concern at the use of mythologies as proof of origin is not altogether misplaced. It would, however, be hasty to dismiss them outright as of little relevance. Myths not only provide glimpses into the past but are also the repositories of indigenous wisdom and values. Although myths may have gone through several layers of social filters, as they are handed down the generations, they remain one of the most authentic sources that could shed light on the people’s hoary past and their social and cultural philosophy. A close analysis of the stories noted above shows that each of the narratives has rich sociological and ecological significance and points to the deep ideological moorings of Khasi beliefs and val­ ues. On the one hand, the myths reflect the close link that existed between humans and God. On the other, they point to the harmony that characterized the relations between human beings and nature (ka ramew). However, man’s violation of God’s laws not only dis­ rupted the direct line of communication he had with the Creator, but also his interference with nature (symbolized by the felling of the tree) disturbed the delicate balance between society and the natural world. Read together, the myths reflect two basic features salient to Khasi tradition: (a) their deep faith in God and aversion to sin and evil and, (b) their respect for nature and the importance attached to ecological prudence. These two features constitute the

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bedrock of Khasi culture and tradition. To preserve these values and maintain their link with the past the myths are passed down orally through successive generations in the form of the story of origin. Translated into practice, the Khasi ecological ethos finds concrete expression in the large number of sacred groves that clothed the rural landscape across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Believed to be the abode of their tutelary deities and spirits, hunting, foraging or felling of trees in these forests are strictly prohibited. The continued relevance of myths in the life of the Khasi is manifest in its ability to provide the different ethnos with a single identity. In the contemporary era where identity crisis centering on ethnicity is a universal phenomenon, shared origin provides the people with a common rallying point. In recognition of their common ancestry, the various groups not only collectively define themselves as ki khun u Hynniew Trep (children of the Seven Huts) to emphasize their oneness as a people but also to consolidate their political position vis-à-vis other ethnic groups and the Indian nation state. A perusal of process in the last hundred years reveal frequent attempts made by political organizations to sink their regional and ideological differences to come together under a single umbrella to strengthen their position in the midst of external aggression and threat to their culture and tradition. The process, which began in the first quarter of the twentieth century with the formation of the Khasi National Durbar (1923) and Ka Synjuklang ki Hima Khasi (Federation of Khasi States) shortly before Independence, culmi­ nated in the achievement of the state of Meghalaya in 1972. The process, however, is far from over. The need to protect their dis­ tinctive identity has given rise to diverse movements that demand penal action against those who indulge in activities that tarnish the identity of the community.

Social and Cultural Practices Traditionally, the Khasis are a cheerful people fond of simple and peaceful living. Their villages are governed by well-defined social codes and approved rules of behaviour and conduct. While hard working, they are fond of games and sports. Fishing and hunting

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are a favourite pastime of the Khasis. The people are also adept at using bow and arrows, with villages regularly competing with each other in a game of archery in a healthy show of camaraderie and skills. Though spartan in habit, the Khasis are fond of drinking homebrewed rice beer (iad um). Rice beer formed part of the Khasi way of life. Rice beer was not only exchanged between friends and acquaintances but also constituted an integral item in their rituals. No ceremony was complete without rice beer. At naming ceremonies, marriages and funerals, rice beer was indispensable. Rice beer was also used in libations and for sealing of civil contract. In recent times, however, the use of rice beer is viewed with serious misgivings. The advent of Christianity and exposure to the art of distillation and addition of hard spirits (alcohol) into the brew has made the drinking of rice beer into a social evil. The Khasis are also extremely fond of betel leaves and betel nuts (kwai). Eating betel is considered a sign of adulthood. Exchange of betel is an integral part of the Khasi etiquette. Visitors to the house are offered betel leaves and betel nuts as a sign of welcome. Distance is spoken of in terms of betel leaves and betel nuts. Shi Kyntien Kwai denotes the distance to be as far as one piece of betel would last. Important matters are discussed over the exchange of betel leaves and betel nuts. Betel also finds its entry into rituals. A Khasi sacrifice is incom­ plete without it. In death, the family offers its last respect to the departed member by placing an offering of betel to its spirit. In marriage, the vows are recited over the exchange of betel between the party of the bride and that of the groom. Chewing of betel sug­ gests a happy state. That is why whenever a Khasi speaks of the dead s/he adds the phrase bam kwai ha ing U Blei (eating betel in the house of God), a rough equivalent of the English saying ‘rest in peace’. The phrase is used both by the non-Christians and Chris­ tians alike when they talk of the departed. The Khasis believe the use of betel had divine sanction so that human beings can find a viable means to maintain parity in their daily interactions with one another. The spirit of equality salient to the habit is beautifully woven round a story that illustrates the bond

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of friendship between two men of variable means: a rich man and a pauper. The tale goes: One fine day the rich friend visited the poor friend’s home. To grace the occasion, the latter asked his wife to prepare food. But there was no rice in the house. So the wife filled the rice pot with water, kept it over the fire to heat and went off to the shop to buy some rice. As she had no ready money to pay for the item the owner of the shop refused to give her the grain. Unable to get the rice from the shop the woman went to her neighbours for help, but they too being equally poor themselves had nothing to help her with. Failing to obtain the rice, the poor man’s wife returned home empty handed and in a dejected state. On reaching the house, she called her husband from the outer room where he was chatting with his friend and narrated her experience to him. Overwhelmed with sadness at his wife’s account the poor friend ruefully said, ‘[W]hat is the point of living in this world when I cannot even extend the basic hospitality to a friend who visits my home. When I visit him he entertains me generously but I have nothing to offer him when he visits me. I would rather die than live in this wretched condition.’ So saying, he took a sword hanging on the wall and stabbed himself in the abdomen, killing him instantly. When the wife saw her husband dead she removed the sword from his body and stabbed herself with it, which also killed her instantly. Meanwhile the rich friend, who was sitting in the outer room, began to wonder what kept his host inside for so long decided to go and look for him. As he walked into the inner room he stumbled upon the dead bodies lying on the floor. When he saw the rice pot on the fire boiling with water but no rice in it he realized the reason behind his friend’s death. Struck with remorse at the tragedy that befell his friend on his behalf he decided to end his life too. He pul­ led out the sword from the body of his friend’s wife and stabbed himself with it. Late in the night, when the people in the village had all gone to bed, unaware of the sad event that took place in the poor man’s house, a petty thief who was chased by the inhabitants of the neighbouring village saw the door ajar ran inside the house to escape from his pursuers. He crouched behind the door to hide and gradually dozed off to sleep. In the morning, when the sun rose and its rays crept into the room through the open door, the thief woke up from his slumber to see the three dead bodies lying on the ground. He was flabbergasted at the turn of events and struck with fear, that if he leaves the house now in broad day light he would be seen by people and accused of murder. Unable to face the prospect of being called

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a murderer, the thief decided to kill himself. He pulled out the sword from the rich man’s body and killed himself with it. From his home in the beyond, God the Almighty stood witness to the gruesome event that took place on earth. Concerned that so many lives were lost for the sake of maintaining human honour and dignity, he took the vital decision that from thence onwards human beings would no longer find themselves in hard-pressed condition to entertain one another. So decided, he brought out the betel from the four dead bodies: From the rich man he brought out the areca nut, from the poor man he brought out the leaf, from his wife the lime, and from the thief the tobacco. The nut, which stands for the rich friend is eaten first. The lime and the leaf are eaten together symbolizing the unity of husband and wife. The tobacco is eaten last and is not chewed with the rest of the ingredients but kept in the outer part of the mouth between the teeth and the lips, just as the thief who was only an outsider was not in the room but hid behind the door.

The story documented above beautifully illustrates the judicious manner in which the Khasis makes use of mythology to articulate and reinforce the normative principles valued in the society. The legend of the betel not only brings out the high value attached to friendship and hospitality, but also the importance of reciprocity in human relationships. The importance of reciprocity as an integrative mechanism in simple and un-stratified societies has been brought out by Marcel Mauss in his theory of the gift (1954). According to Mauss, in archaic society gift exchange plays a major integrative role that goes beyond the mere economic function of relieving scarcity, but serves to establish enduring relationship between the gift-giver and the gift-receiver. Central to this relation is the element of obliga­ tion that underlines the transaction, which commands that a gift received must be repaid by a counter gift. It is Mauss’s thesis, that salient to the gift are three fundamental obligations – (a) the obliga­ tion to give, (b) the obligation to receive, and (c) the obligation to return (reciprocate). These three obligations transform gift giving from a unilateral to a bilateral transaction hence making it an effec­ tive instrument of social solidarity. If we apply Mauss’s thesis to the story of the betel, we can visu­ alize the sense of obligation that bore on the heart of the poor friend

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when he discovered that he could not return the hospitality he enjoyed at his friend’s house when the latter visited his home. The deep disappointment and loss of honour, he experienced, robbed him of all desire to live and drove him to take away his own life (suicide). The tale of the betel is directed not only to avert such an eventuality from ever repeating itself, but also to help the people maintain the system of ‘food’ exchange (gift in the Maussian sense) between members of the community without exerting much pres­ sure on their limited resources. Relatively cheap to purchase and simple to prepare, the betel is within easy reach of both the rich and the poor to become a universal article of hospitality. On the wider plane, the innocuous betel plays a fundamental role in maintaining the egalitarian ethos on which the society operates. The free and mutual exchange of betel among the Khasi signifies social equal­ ity and the absence of commensal barriers between the different classes of society.

The U thlen Myth U thlen is one of the most enigmatic concepts in Khasi thought. U thlen is believed to be a demonic creature, which if propitiated with human blood will increase the wealth of its keeper. One popular version of the myth traces the origin of u thlen to a cave in the village of Rangjyrteh near Sohra (Cherra/Cherrapunjee).The legend goes: Once upon a time, in a gorge situated outside the village of Ranjyrteh lived a huge snake-like monster. Whenever the people passed by the gorge on their way to the market or the field, the demon would attack and devour half of the men and women in the group. The only way anyone could escape the attack was to walk alone, as it was the habit of the thlen to leave half of his victims untouched. However, so many did the thlen devour that the people fearing for their survival approached U Suidnoh, a brave and devout keeper of the grove, to get rid of the monster. U Suidnoh carefully worked out a plan to exterminate the demonic creature. He befriended the thlen by satiating his rapacious appetite with a daily feed of goat flesh. After gaining his trust and confidence, he heated a bar of iron, and from the mouth of the cave asked him to open his mouth for his daily feed.

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When the latter responded, u Suidnoh shoved the red-hot iron down his throat. Taken unaware, the thlen choked on the bar of iron and died on the spot from burns and shock. When the people heard about the thlen’s death they summoned a meeting of the entire human race, in which the carcass of the monster was cut up and distributed to all present for a public feast, with strict instruction that the meat should be fully consumed at the site and not a scrap of it should be left uneaten. All the races of men present ate up their share as instructed, but for an old Khasi woman who saved a piece of it to take home for her grandchild. The woman, however, forgot to give the piece of meat to the child and left it in the bag in which it was kept till alas one day it breathed back into life. In exchange for sparing her life, the regenerated thlen demanded of the woman shelter in her house and a regular feed of blood, and promised her with an abundant increase in wealth and property, if she agreed to the demand. From here, it is said, the thlen spread and multiplied.

From the story, it became clear why the thlen is found only among the Khasi and not among other human race, since all others had eaten their share. Notwithstanding the prospects of wealth, keeping of u thlen (rithlen) is shunned in the society and is regarded with awe and horror. A thlen keeper is considered nothing short of a mur­ derer (nongshohnoh) because appeasement of the demon requires the keeper to regularly supply it with human blood. It is believed that the thlen can change its form and size at will making it difficult for people to detect its presence. However, should the keepers fail to meet its demand of blood it could punish them by appearing in public, exposing their wicked deed to the people. The thlen attaches itself to the property of the keeper and gets transferred along with it to his/her heir. A keeper can rid him/herself of the demon only by renouncing all his/her possessions. But only the Syiem (chief) and the Lyngdoh (priest) can receive the property of thlen keepers without the possibility of inheriting the demon. Belief in the existence of u thlen continues to be widespread among the Khasis especially in the upland region. Even the arrival of Christianity has failed to erase the belief, with many families con­ tinuing to frequent the house of the Syiem Sad (Queen Mother), the sacerdotal custodian of Khasi religion, to get the hair of the supposed victim singed or to collect the water sanctified by the royal

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fire to be cured of the malady inflicted by the thlen. The belief is so rampant that the Church is contemplating evolving mechanisms to tackle the problem within the framework of Christianity so as to discourage people to look for solutions to the problem in the tradi­ tional belief system. Though the belief remains intense with many families under public suspicion of rearing the demon, no concrete evidence is available to confirm that such a creature really exists. It would however be erroneous to dismiss the belief or regard it as a mere superstition based on fictive thinking. As thlen keeping is usually associated with the rich and the wealthy, the belief serves as a moral sanction against economic exploitation and accumulation of wealth and property. The significance of the myth comes out sharply when we relate it to the Khasi economy and the pattern of land ownership prevalent in the society. In the conception of the Khasi, land belongs to the people and not to the state or its rulers who are primarily administrative heads with no economic powers. In ideal terms, land is believed to belong to the community with families enjoying only occupancy rights over these. However, long years of occupation of a particular piece of land could convert the occupancy right into ownership right. Thus, in terms of ownership, two classes of land can be identified – Ri Kynti (private land) and Ri Raid (common or community land). Ri Kynti refers to land that is under the effective control of the holder, who enjoys proprietary, heritable and transferable rights over it. This includes any part of community land that was acquired by the original settler through jungle clearing, fencing or other forms of improvement on it, or that which was bestowed upon the family or clan in lieu of service rendered to the community. Ri Raid, on the other hand, refers to that class of land, which is under the control of the community over which members have only right of use and occupancy but no proprietary right. Ideally speaking, Ri Raid cannot be transferred to an heir or leased or sold off as property. And, if the land is left unoccupied/unused for three consecutive years it goes back to the community. This, however, rarely happen in practice. On the contrary, where the occupant has made permanent improvement on the land, in course of time, his/ her family usually becomes the de facto owner of it.

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The land tenure system prevailing in the society exhibits strong tendency towards privatization. Families with capital and labour power at their disposal can acquire any amount of unclaimed land and convert the same into their personal property. The long-term implication of such a system is plainly apparent. Failure to check the element of privatization salient to the system could result not only in sharp imbalance between the resourceful and the resourceless but also pose serious danger to the natural environment. In the absence of a centralized agency to regulate the distribution of resources some institutional mechanisms had to be evolved to maintain the economic balance in the society. It is against this back­ ground that the concept of U thlen gains significance. In his classic book The Khasis, Gurdon, noted British adminis­ trator-cum-ethnographer, tries to link the belief, which he describes as ‘the thlen superstition’ (italics added) to the primeval serpent wor­ ship that characterized the Cambodians (1975 [1907]: 98-102). He illustrates in vivid detail how the cult operates and cites the story of a Mohammedan, narrated to one of his fellow servants, that he actually saw the ‘snake’ [sic] in his (Khasi) wife’s house as proof that the superstitious belief is far from dying out. Gurdon, how­ ever, seems to have missed the finer points of the belief by labelling it as ‘superstition’. Close reading suggests thlen is a metaphor for greed. The myth not only seeks to explain the accumulation of unaccounted wealth among its members but also acts as a moral injunction against profit accumulation and activities that thrive at the expense of others. It is not unusual to find families engaged in activities that yield quick profit had aspersions cast upon them as having gotten their wealth through propitiation of the thlen. This is not to be wondered at. In a non-monetized subsistence-based economy, where mutual exchange of labour and materials was the established practice, the emergence of a class of persons who monopolize land and labour or engaged in self-seeking activities is perceived as a threat to the social order. It could not be a coincidence that the belief in u thlen is more widespread in the Khasi hills, particularly in regions where the availability of arable land is not only limited but have also witnessed severe environmental degradation. The Cherra region where the

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thlen myth is believed to have originated is located in an ecological zone, which not only has little arable land to offer its inhabitants but also had a large presence of iron, coal and limestones, indis­ criminate extraction of which has seriously threatened its fragile eco-system. In the pre-colonial period, the region was widely known for its iron smelting industry. According to the Syiem of Sohra (personal communication), the iron from the elaka was one of the finest in quality and was very popular in the markets of Sylhet and the Surma Valley. The smelting houses were, however, forced to close down following the entry of British iron, which enjoyed price protection from the imperial government, pushed the Khasi ore out of the market. Iron smelting was also widely practised around the villages of Nongkrem, Mylliem, Laitlyngkot and Nongkynrih. Piles of boulders that lay scattered across the countryside not only bear mute testimony to the extensive excavation of iron-ore that took place in the region, but also point to the ecological havoc that accompanied the process. Incidentally, these are also the areas where belief in the thlen myth is deep seated. An interesting point that strikes the observer is the strong over­ lap in the intensity of the thlen myth and the presence of sacred groves in the region. Cherrapunjee, for instance, houses some of the best sacred groves in the country. Operating under highly stressed environmental conditions with bald hills, rapid slopes, torren­ tial rainfall, and extensive underground tunnels of stalactites and stalagmites caused by limestone formations, the sacred groves in Cherrapunjee form a dense canopy protecting the soil from the ravages of the extreme climate (see in particular Ramakrishnan, 1992 and 1985). Higher up in the midlands, the sacred groves at Nongkrem, Shillong Peak and Mawphlang, which house the deities of the Lyngdoh and the Syiem clans and U Ryngkew and U Basa that guard the villages in the vicinity, stand out like green islands in a sea of degraded landscape. The critical question that arises at this juncture is ‘is there any connection between sacred groves and the cult of u thlen’? Lack of research on the problem does not provide us with definite answer on this score. A cursory examination of the matter, however, reveals that each is dictated by the same objective. Sacred groves are not

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only an important aspect of the Khasi religious tradition, but also a clear expression of social and ecological prudence of the people amidst the countervailing pressure of human wants.

Ka taro Unlike the thlen myth, which has been well documented in the literature perhaps because of the terror it evokes, ka taro (pronounce as ta-raw) has yet to receive the attention of social analysts. Although the belief is said to be indigenous to the Jaintia Hills, the fear of its power is pervasive throughout the population. Like u thlen, ka taro is an evil spirit, which if regularly invoked enhances the wealth of its keeper. The spirit is believed to attack those who owe a debt to its keepers. When a person fails or refuses to honour his/her debt the spirit could attack any member of his/her family with violent fits and fever. Unless the family pays up the debt incurred, the victim slowly wastes away and dies. According to Gurdon, ka taro lodges itself in the person of the keeper (ibid., 107). This account, however, is at variance with the version provided by my informants in the field, which holds that the spirit resides in the family of its keeper and when invoked goes and lodges itself in the body of the victim causing him/her to suffer from fever and delirium. The Khasis use the words buh taro (keep the taro) to describe the harbouring of the spirit and ioh taro (pos­ sessed or afflicted by the taro) to account for the afflictions suffered by the victim. These words clearly suggest that ka taro does not possess the person of its keeper but that of the victim. The latter (victim/patient) can be released from the power of the spirit only by clearing the debt incurred to the keeper’s family. The keepers, on the other hand, can rid themselves of the evil spirit only by giv­ ing up all their possessions since ka taro, like u thlen, attaches itself to the property of its owner and travels along with it to the heirs. At the time of my fieldwork at Nongkrem for my doctoral thesis conducted under the University of Delhi, a girl of about sixteen who worked as a baby sitter for one of the families in the village, returned from a community feast with bouts of vomiting and fever. Racked by intense fever the girl became delirious and started mut­

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tering words unintelligible to those around her. A messenger was sent to summon her family members who on receiving the news came right away. On reaching the house where the girl stayed, the maternal uncle who accompanied her mother gave one look at the girl and declared that she was under the affliction of ka taro. After sending everyone out of the room, he admonished the spirit demanding it to explain why it had come to attack the girl, while holding a shoe under the girl’s nose in a bid to scare the spirit and chase it away. What actually transpired between the spirit (personi­ fied by its victim, the sick girl) and the exorcist (the uncle) was not immediately clear to those outside the room. Later, after the girl had calmed down and stopped muttering, the uncle claimed that the spirit confessed that it had possessed the girl to come and remind the family to pay up the debt they owed to its keeper. It came to pass that a couple of years back the girl’s family had borrowed a basket of seed potatoes (shi khoh u phan thung) from the keeper’s family but failed to return the tubers even after they had reaped a good harvest, of course, thinking all the while that they would do so but the opportune time never came. Incidentally, the family from whom the girl’s mother had borrowed the tubers is the only family in the village suspected of harbouring ka taro. The next day, when the girl’s mother went to the lender’s house to return the potatoes the latter refused to take back on the ground that she had given them as a gift (ai sngewbha) and was not expect­ ing any return for the same. The giver also strongly denied the charge that her family harbours ka taro. Faced with the denial and the refusal to take back the potatoes, the girl’s family, fearing that the spirit would return and possess their daughter again, worked out the cost of the potatoes, which came to about twenty rupees. Late in the night, they took the money to the lender’s house and buried the amount in her compound, hoping that this will wipe out the debt. Although the case cited above took place in the Khasi Hills, interviews of informants in the Jaintia Hills corroborated the above. While it is usual for a family accused of harbouring ka taro to reject the claim, belief in the spirit continues to exist in many parts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills.

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What explains the belief in ka taro? A careful analysis of the belief reveals that ka taro serves two interrelated functions. One, the belief carries a strong warning against opportunism and laxity towards dues owed to others. Two, it condemns avarice and selfish­ ness in social relationship. The first finds expression in the effects ka taro supposedly brings on the victim, the second in the stigma attached to the keeper’s family. To understand how this operates we need to look at the belief both on the material and symbolic planes. On the material plane, the belief serves to exert pressure on bor­ rowers to honour their debts. On the symbolic plane, it seeks to infuse the interrelated spirit of reciprocity and generosity among the members. In small-scale societies, characterized by what Dur­ kheim calls mechanical solidarity based on mutual dependence and cooperation, integration lies not only in reciprocating/returning favours received, but also in giving them generously. It is only by giving something first to another that tangible relationship with the latter can be established. A close look at the belief shows that the principle underlying ka taro goes beyond the ‘triple obligations’ that underlined Mauss’s gift, elaborated earlier. While ka taro myth commands that the receiver dutifully reciprocate good deeds and favours obtained, it simultaneously indicts the giver who demands repayment of the same for his/her implicit lack of generosity. It is in its ability to strike a balance between the two (namely, reciproc­ ity and generosity) that the true value of the myth lies. In human society, reciprocity is important to maintain the continuity of social relationships, however, merit lies in giving without expecting any­ thing in return, as return negates the worth of the act. The joint accomplishment of the two can lead to an ideal society.

Conclusion The account presented above suggests that the stories of the betel, u thlen and ka taro belong to the same symbolic order and become intelligible only if we look at them as systems of representation and meaning. Read together, the narratives not only reflect the high value attached to equality, cooperation and mutual respect between members of the society but also represent the early Khasi’s concern

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for nature. There is reason to believe that the stories may have been instituted in a context where resources were not only limited but also where the existential conditions were surrounded by unforeseen dangers. This accounts for the strong under-currents of terror, especially in the thlen and taro myths, which serves as a powerful medium to ensure compliance to the norms of the society in an environment where people are accustomed to the price of danger. Though the underlying objective is the same, in temporal terms, the myths seem to have been created at different periods of time with the myth of the betel and taro predating the thlen. In the story of the betel there is no reference to any human agency to enforce social order. The only authority alluded to is God the creator (U Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw), divine law giver (U Nong ai Hukum), and dispenser of justice (U Nong Bishar) – the Supreme Being – who comes to the people’s rescue and to whom humans turn to in any eventuality. This fact points to a society where the political institution and other law-enforcing agencies had yet to evolve. It is possible that the story was created in a period where the process of state formation and the institutions of Syiems and Dalois we find in the Khasi-Jaintia society today had yet to emerge. The same could be said about ka taro. Though no concrete evidence is available to accurately determine its point of origin, the content of the belief and the very ambiguity of its origin suggest that it could have been created at an earlier phase of history when human institutions were in a more rudimentary stage. In the absence of any political agency to enforce social order and regulate human behaviour, myths came in as handy tools to carry out these functions. In the case of the thlen myth, the presence of iron in the nar­ rative suggests that it may have been instituted at a later stage in history, after the Khasi discovered the art of iron smelting and its dual power to protect and destroy. Whereas, iron is an important element that aided humans to alter the natural landscape and ren­ der it more conducive to their needs it is also a powerful tool of social and ecological destruction. The discovery of iron provided early man with a variety of agricultural tools and implements such as hoes, spades, sickles, knives, daos, ploughshares, etc., that enabled the clearance of large tracts of land and jungle for purpose

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of cultivation and human habitation. However, its overuse has led to disastrous effects both on humans and nature. By analogy, the myth points to the danger of over-exploitation of resources and technol­ ogy. Although the level of technological advancement achieved in the society precludes a direct link between technology (iron) and environmental degradation, the picture assumes significance when we discover that iron smelting was a lucrative business among the Khasi in the not so distant past (cf. Nongbri, 2006). The reference to the Syiem, as the agent who could inherit the property derived from the thlen without the risk of inheriting the demon, also points to its late origin. Whereas, there is no refer­ ence to the Syiem in the original story, in fact, it was U Suidnoh a courageous loner who killed the monster and released the people of Rangjyrteh from the terror that gripped their life. In subsequent narratives reference is made to the power of the Syiem and Lyn­ gdoh (state priest) to liberate people from the scourge of the thlen. While the Syiem could take possession of the tainted property of the thlen keepers, the Syiem Sad is endowed with healing powers over the victims. Two explanations can be thought of for this development: the first points to the strong possibility that the myth has been appro­ priated by the ruling family to assert their authority over the people; the second suggests that reference to the Syiem became necessary to lend legitimacy to the story thereby ensuring people’s compli­ ance to ecological prudence. Whatever the reasons for the inclusion of the Syiem in the re-telling of the thlen myth, what is significant is the message it conveys against greed and resource exploitation and overuse. What this suggests is that, while myths are essentially social devices used by societies to regulate human behaviour and to ensure social and ecological stability at a particular point of time, they also mirror the structure and existential conditions of the society within which they originate. Hence it would be histori­ cally naive to discard them as mere superstitions or the product of immature minds. Though myths were designed to meet the needs of a society in a particular spatial and temporal context, the lessons contain in them are timeless, transcending time and space. Having said that, there is also evidence which suggests that with

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the passage of time many people seem to be losing touch with the true intent and meaning of myths. Today many tend to take myths at their face value ignoring the distinction between the material and the symbolic, which has resulted in two conflicting views, par­ ticularly on the thlen and taro myths: one, reducing them to mere superstition, the other, elevating them into a factual reality - that thlen and taro are entities that exist in the real. This understanding reflects the predicament of a society in the process of transition, caught in the cross currents of tradition and modernity. While the people continue to be firmly wedded to their traditional past (on this see, for instance, Syiem, 2011), exposure to modernization with its deep allegiance to utilitarian and mate­ rialistic values and scientific rationality, has served to erode their sensitivity to the symbolic value of the oral tradition, leading many to take myths literally at their face value. Needless to say, such perspective not only grossly undermines the sociological but also historical significance of the oral tradition.

NOTES 1. In 1874, when Assam was bifurcated from the Bengal Province and given the status of a province, Shillong was made its capital. 2. Though the script was lost, the Khasi believe that, they were by no means the loser, as the knowledge it represents lodges itself deep in the psyche and mental faculties of the people. The oral tradition which comprises a complex range of beliefs, values, cultural practices, networks and insti­ tutions is a manifestation of this knowledge and continues to exert its influence in the everyday life of the people.

REFERENCES Lévi-Strauss, C. 1968 [1958]. Structural Anthropology. Trans. C. Jakobson and B.G. Schoepf. London: The Penguin Press. Mauss, M. 1966 [1923]. The Gift. London: Cohen & West. Durkheim, E. 1997 [1893]. The Division of Labor in Society. New York: Free Press. Ramakrishnan, P.S. 1996. ‘Conserving the Sacred: From Species to Land­ scape’. Nature and Resources, 32 (1): 11-18.

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Choudhury, J.N. 1996. Ki Khun Khasi-Khara (The Khasi People). Shillong: The Author. Gurdon, P.R.T. 1975 [1907]. The Khasis. Delhi: Cosmo Publication. Bareh, H. 1967. History and Culture of the Khasi People. Calcutta: The Author. Gait, E. 1967 [1905)]. A History of Assam. Calcutta: Thacker Spink & Company. Nongbri, T. 2006. ‘Culture and Bio-diversity: Legends, Myths and the Conservation of Nature in the Hills of North East India’, in J. Bara (ed.), Ordeals and Voices of the Indigenous Tribal People of India. Guwahati: ICITP North-East Zone, pp. 203-22. Syiem, E. 2011. The Oral Discourse in Khasi Folk Narrative. Guwahati: EBH.

CHAPTER 7

Matriliny of the Garos with Special

Reference to Women’s Status

Caroline R. Marak

The Garos (exonym), who call themselves A∙chik Mande (autonym), form a majority population in the five districts of Garo Hills, the westernmost districts of Meghalaya, lying between 25°9' and 26°1'N and between 89°49' and 91°2' E. With the Khasis and Jaintias they are among the major tribal communities recognized as Scheduled Tribe in the state of Meghalaya, which was carved out of Assam in 1972. A large Garo population also resides in the geographically contiguous areas of Assam (in Goalpara, Kamrup, and Karbi Anglong districts), North Bengal, Tripura, and Bangladesh. The Garos came under the British rule in 1867, when Lieut­ enant Williamson set up the administrative headquarters at Tura, at the foot of the Dura and Nokrek range. The villages of the interior areas which did not recognize the British government were put down in the cold season of 1872. Capt. Davis from the north (i.e. Goalpara), Capt. Williamson from the west (Tura), and Capt. Daly from the south (Susung Durgapur), proceeded and converged upon Rongrenggre in the east of Garo Hills; it was here, at a place called Chisobibra that the resistance group led by Togan N. Sangma fell to the bullets of the British in December 1872. Linguistically and ethnically they are a part of the Bodo group, which in the ancient past occupied a large part of the Brahmaputra Valley. The A∙chik language (known as A∙chikku) is a branch of the Bodo group of languages, which in turn belongs to the Tibeto­

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Burman branch of the Tibeto-Chinese linguistic family. The origin of the Tibeto-Chinese speech family has been traced to the area between the headwaters of Yangtse Kiang and Hwang Ho in west­ ern China. Tibeto-Burman consists of a large number of linguistic groups; it is spoken from Baluchistan in the west to the Chinese provinces of Szechuan and Yunnan in the east, and Tibet in the north and Myanmar in the south. Some of the cognate languages of A∙chikku are Boro, Rabha, Mech, Koch, Dimasa, Tiwa, and Deori in Assam, and Kokborok in Tripura. The Bodo group, like the North Assam group, some languages of Arunachal Pradesh, Naga group, and Kuki Chin group including Manipuri and Mizo, belong to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Tibeto-Chinese family of languages. None of the tribes speaking these languages follow matriliny, although it is of great interest that among the Dimasas, girls take the surname of the mother, the sons that of the father. Similar practice is found among the Lepchas, where girls have a set of surnames and boys another set. Mizo women, in the traditional society, that is, in the pre-colonial period, had no rights whatsoever to parental property.

Why the Garos Became Matrilineal The Garos practice matriliny, whose prominent characteristic features are inheritance of property by a daughter, ownership of moveable and immoveable properties by the heiress, naming of children by the mother’s surname, matrilocal residence, bringing the father’s nephew as the nokkrom (son-in-law) to marry the heiress, provision of successors called on∙rika/on∙songa, to a widow or a widower, in order to maintain kring, the lineage of both the father and the mother; exogamy, and in a few cases, polygamy. There is no polyandry at any time in their history. Matriliny differs from matriarchy. The following definition and description from the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2013: 1212) will make it clear: Matriarchy is a social system in which familial and political authority is wielded by women. Under the influence of Charles Darwin’s theories of

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evolution and particularly, the work of the Swiss anthropologist Johann Jacob Bachofen, some 19th century scholars believed that matriarchy followed a stage of general promiscuity and preceded male ascendancy (patriarchy) in human society’s evolutionary sequence. Like other elements of the evolutionist view of culture, the notion of matriarchy as a universal stage of development is now generally discredited, and the modern consensus is that a strictly matriarchal society has never existed. Nevertheless, in those societies in which matrilineal descent occurs, access to socially powerful positions is mediated through the maternal line of kin.

The momentous decision to adopt matriliny, as mentioned by Jobang D. Marak in his book A∙chik Kata (1930), took place ages ago while the Garos were settled in the Songdu (Brahmaputra) Valley, at the young men’s dormitory of the house of a prominent leader called Bonepa. Many groups of Garos and Dikil (the name that Garos call the Khasis) were represented in this conference. When Raji Do∙pa, one who was skilled in judging and arguments, urged someone to address and ask the people regarding their opinion on the question who they would like to retain in the house, the children of Siram first raised the question, ‘Sako noko donna?’ (Who to retain in the house?), the children of Noman replied ‘Demechikna on∙na’ (Let us give the house to the daughter). Ruga and Kotchu groups answered, ‘Nokni demechikna’ (To the daughter of the house). The man Doli said, ‘Gritangko rimna’ (Let us bring the own nephew), that is, to bring the own nephew of the father as the son-in-law. On hearing this, the legendary leader Muga Dingsepa expressed his approval, and Raja Sirampa, another chief, said, ‘Namgen’ (It will be right). All groups agreed to this proposal. No reasons behind the decision are given. However, obviously there was a great deal of dis­ cussion and introspection before the question was asked formally to elicit the considered answer. From interviews conducted by the author the following reasons appear to be behind the decision of matriliny: 1. To lessen the wretchedness in the life of a widow and her chil­ dren after the death of the husband. Another reason offered was that on account of frequent conflicts with other groups of people the number of men had dwindled.

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2. A man, by virtue of his physical strength, would be able to estab­ lish a new home with his wife whatever the distance be between his homeland and that of the adopted village. 3. The decision had been taken as a measure to prevent the widows from going to other families to serve and getting exploited in the process. Jobang Marak (1930) offers another perspective: that the ances­ tresses – who migrated from A∙song Tibotgre (Tibet) – Hima, Dolma, Bilma, Bisoma, Sikme, Donse and others, were the chil­ dren of the nokma Sane. Sane, the great ancestress bears the title nokma, a title whose significance cannot be ignored. Nokma is the chief of a ma∙chong, the landowner, the head of a settlement, a vil­ lage. Nokma Sane occupied the pride of place with the male leaders Jappa, Jalingpa, right behind the vanguards led by Raji in their exodus from Tibet. The following poetic narrative about the status of the nokma Sane, as much as about their culture as they migrated from Tibet to India: A∙ba cha∙na a∙namja Mina dongo minamja Kilgron puo kilgojana Songdongna a∙song gitalko am∙na Chiringna chiga dingtangko nina… Rajiko skang chilate Do∙pako ja∙manchakate Jappako, Jalingpako Nokmako Saneko Mikkango done Janggil meroriko ra∙bite Ki∙me matjangchikko jakkipe Kakwa doke Silja chime, Gaanti morokroke Susuak mojokjoke Gitchi bajing ole, konkona ra∙e. A∙song patariona Chiga suunchiona (Cooch Behar) Sokbachenge, nabachenge… (Source: Marak, 1930: 3)

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English translation by the author: The land is unsuitable for farming When they grow paddy, the harvest is poor When they plant cottonseeds, cotton does not flower So in search of new lands To look for other sources of water to drink… Placing Raji as the vanguard Do∙pa as the rearguard Placing Jappa, Jalingpa And Sane, the nokma At the front Carrying the shield with the black and white markings Clasping the yak’s tail with their hands Playing the cymbal Striking the tambourine Ringing the big bells Shaking strings of small bells Carrying the small and the big spades Carrying the farming tools To the plains To the fertile country (Cooch Behar) They arrived for the first time.

The above passage also gives important information on the rea­ son why they left their homelands in Tibet. With this decision, the right to inheritance is given to the daughter, the family name of the mother is given to her descendants, and the society is organized with the mother as the pivot, the central figure. The importance of the man is in no way ignored; the man in the family, the son-in-law to succeed the father in the house, must be of the same blood as the latter.

Features of Garo Matriliny Majority of the Tibeto-Burman speaking tribes of north-east India are patriarchal. There is much in Garo social organization that is strongly patriarchal; the most obvious of these patriarchal features is the practice of vesting power in the hands of the males. The husband is the head of the family; a woman is supposed to be

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under the control of the chras, who make decisions on her behalf and execute them. In this regard Jangsan Sangma, advocate and judge, codifying the Garo customary laws in his book Principles of Garo Law (1973:1), writes in Article 1 in Chapter 1 that: The Garos are matrilineal people. Their society is organized into matrilineal groups which are known as machongs. A machong means motherhood. All members of one machong have the innate belief that they have branched from the common ancestress or mother, and this belief gives a sense of attachment and feeling of oneness to the members of one machong.

In the article on family he writes: ‘In a family the children belong to the mother’s clan’ (ibid.: 1). In article 3 of the same chapter he writes on ownership and inheritance of property thus: ‘Family property descends through mother and not through father. A mother of the house is the legal owner of the entire property of the family, and, on her death, the right of ownership would pass through the daughter by inheritance’ (ibid.: 1). Daughter as Heiress One of the daughters, chosen by the parents, inherits the family property – she is called nokna, and her husband is called nokkrom who should preferably be a gri-sokchi (son of one of the father’s sisters or a nephew from a close family). In this way continuity of the relation between the lineage of the mother and the father is maintained for generations, this maintenance of the lines of the mother and the father is known as kring. Through this system, the nokkrom, referred to with the unusual term as ‘the resident son-in­ law’ in English, virtually manages and enjoys the ancestral property that is added by his uncle, if any, although all the property is in the name of his wife. Among the speakers of Chisak, Dual, Atong and Matchi subtribes, and the A∙chik of Kamrup district in Assam, the right to inheritance goes to the eldest daughter. In case she, for some

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reason, does not marry the father’s nephew, the right goes to the second elder daughter. Among the rest, it is usually understood that the right goes to the youngest daughter, but the decision rests with the parents. It is usually taken that children belong to the mother’s group of relatives as they take the mother’s surname, yet the father’s relatives are in close contact with them. Spatial distance, difficulty in travel­ ling in the past, might have come in the way of the father’s relatives being close to the family. At present this distance is overcome by easier means of communications. After marriage, the groom (chawari) comes to live with his wife’s family; the nokkrom chawari stays with the wife’s family for good, while the chawari a∙gate moves away after a few years. All the cha­ wari become respected members of the family; they participate in all its activities, look after or work in the farms and plantations, while pursuing their own careers and business. Rules of Exogamy In pre-colonial period, a man and a woman from the same chatchi were not eligible to marry, which was strictly followed and imposed. All Sangmas were considered brothers and sisters, as they sprung from the same ancestors. The same applied to all the Maraks, Momins, Shiras and Arenghs. With the large-scale changes brought in by British contact, conversion, modern education, and socio­ economic changes, gradually this law was relaxed. For instance, a Sangma, if he is from Manda ma∙chong, can marry a woman from Nengminja ma∙chong, though both the ma∙chongs belong to the Sangma clan. The same applies to other clans and ma∙chongs. However, marriage within the same ma∙chong is not accepted by the society; and if such a marriage takes place, the couple is referred as bakdong. Even worse is the marriage within close relatives, which is not tolerated by the society, and the couple carries the stigma of ma∙dong. It will be noticed that the following terms (in the next section) of social organization carry the prefix ma∙ - or ma- (ma refers to mother).

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KIN GROUPS

Some of the important aspects related to lineage and clan are given here: Ma∙chong: The lineage of the mother, children taking the family name or surname of the mother which continues for generations who are all brothers and sisters, though with the passage of time and divided by space the children’s children might not know each other personally, constitute a ma∙chong. The term sub-clan could be used for them for the sake of convenience. For instance, the children of a Nengminja mother will all bear that ma∙chong name, while those of Chambugong all bear the ancestress’ surname. There are many ma∙chongs within a chatchi (clan) – For example, Raksam, Re∙ma, Rangsa, Koknal, Nokrek, etc. belong to the Marak chatchi, while Koksi, Okske, Nengminja, Mangsang, Chisim, etc. belong to the Sangma clan. Bakdong and Ma∙dong: Those who marry within one’s own chatchi are derisively called bakdong, and it was looked upon as a taboo. The term chatchi-angbak meaning ‘my chatchi, my relative’ was frequently used in the past, and still holds good today. With the recent changes, marriage within a chatchi came to be accepted; but marriage within one’s ma∙chong is derided as bakdong, that is, marrying one’s own relative. It is a taboo that the society does not tolerate. The incest involving marriage within one’s own closest family members is denounced as ma∙dong, that is, marrying one’s own female relative. Ma∙kring: This term is applied to all those sons and daughters who are born out of the same mother, their children, grandchildren and all succeeding generations. Ma∙dipil usually consists of three gener­ ations of parents, children, both boys and girls, and grandchildren. Ma∙drang: The meaning of ma∙drang has been given as ‘A maternal kindred; a maternal near kinsfolk’ (Holbrook, 1998: 207). The ma∙drang includes the sons and daughters of the same mother and their families.

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Mahari: Mahari is slightly different from ma∙drang and ma∙chong. It includes men who married into the family, who enjoy the status and title of gachi. Since the last fifty years or so all the maharis specially living in the urban areas have formed mahari associations, and the All Mahari Association exists as a common platform for all these associations. The gachis play an important role in the mahari meetings. Ma∙bipek: The term ma∙bipek is applied to some people or groups who choose to leave their ma∙chong and adopt a different family name. This process is called de∙reta (to change the surname). Some clans and sub-clans are believed to have originated through this process. For instance, from the Daju ma∙chong of Daranggre area that falls in Goalpara District of Assam emerged Do∙sik ma∙chong, from Do∙sik emerged Darang Dura and Darang Boldak (Sangma 2017). Nokchong/Nokmong: When a family for several generations main­ tains the law of kring by bringing the nephew of the father as the nokkrom son-in-law, that family is known as nokmong or nokchong. Kring: The continuation of the lineage of the parents for generations is kring. This maintenance is important because the property, moveable and immoveable will for generations belong to this family. The property as far as possible should not pass out from their hands to another ma∙kring or lineage, or another motherhood or clan. Ma∙bitchi: At times in the traditional oral narrative one comes across this term, which obviously means the family and descendants which originated from the same mother.

Ownership and Power Over A·King An important aspect of the right to property by the woman is the ownership of an a∙king. The a·king or territory is owned by different clans, ma·chong and mahari since the occupation of the area. An a∙king is a territory of land belonging to the leading family or motherhood (ma∙chong), which took the initiative to occupy that territory in the course of migration from the surrounding plains

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to the virgin hills named Garo Hills by the British government when they occupied it in 1867 with Lt. Williamson as the first Deputy Commissioner. The consolidation was achieved by means of the march through the interior villages of Garo Hills which did not surrender to the British, in the cold season of 1872. The march was characterized by arson – burning of villages and loot. It was on this occasion that the matgrik (men who were physically powerful and skilled in the art of attacking and defence), attacked the three British contingents camped at Chiso Bibra, a confluence of the stream Chiso and the river Simsang having its source from Nokrek, the highest peak in Garo Hills. At the time of the attack the third contingent had probably not arrived. Jangsan Sangma (1973: 24) writes: A nokma is a person who holds title to the akhing land of the village community as the head of the clan. He is the first man in his village and as the head of the community he has the instinct to preserve the customs. The real owner of the akhing is his wife whose name also finds place in the Genealogical record of the Government. The husband becomes nokma by virtue of his marriage with her. Under Act 1 of 1959, the District Council now defined the nokma as the ‘head of a clan or machong who holds any land as custodian on behalf of then clan or machong’.

At present a·king nokma is understood generally as the husband of the woman, because it is he who exercises the powers and func­ tions of the nokma. It is the man who performs the official work, giving and signing documents, deciding which plots to give or sell and to whom. However, he enjoys the status only by virtue of his marriage to the nokma. By a strange reversal of terminology, the real nokma, that is, the woman, is referred to as nokma me·chik or woman nokma. In the register prepared by the British government in the 1920s and post-Independence maintained by the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council, it is the woman’s name which comes first, second comes her husband’s name. The successors’ names are entered in the same way. When the Garos migrated into the hills in groups, the leading family owned the a∙king, this territory is therefore a community land belonging to the family of the ma∙chong. Examples are Danak­

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gre a∙king belonging to Chambugong ma∙chong, Amindagre a∙king of West Garo Hills belong to the Rangsa ma∙chong. Stories of migration from Tibet, their movement in the IndoGangetic plains of Bihar, and the Brahmaputra Valley, thence to the hills live in the oral narratives, some of which have been recorded and published by Jobang D. Marak (1930) and D. Rongmuthu (1963). These authors described the routes the migrants took to the interior hills – one of the first like Abong Noga and his wife Silme Do∙ka migrated with their group from the kingdom of Abra or Habrasen near the present Krishnai and came to occupy the Nokrek and Duramong range; while other groups migrated from the south, some followed the rivers up into the hills, such as Ildek in the north-east, Bugai, Dareng and Simsang in the south. Lieutenant G.D. Walker, ICS, as the Deputy Commissioner of Garo Hills from 1923-7, and again from 1927-9, got the entire Garo Hills surveyed and mapped, and the genealogy of the nokmas recorded. He took the initiative to identify, survey, and map the a∙kings or territories with boundary markers, rivers and streams, and the genealogy of the nokmas. The genealogies of the nokmas bear witness to the fact that as far as possible, the ma∙chong of the husband is maintained, i.e. the nephew of the father was brought as the son-in-law. The nokma is the woman, who inherits the a∙king, but it is her husband who is commonly known as the nokma, and inversely, his wife, the real one is commonly called nokma me∙chik (the woman nokma). However, in the records of the government the name of the woman comes first. This is because the nokma her­ self due to various reasons is not able to come to the government offices, look after the territory and its boundaries, and various issues involved in the administration. All of these duties are carried out by her husband and her chras. The nokma woman has to be present at the government offices at the first instance, in the subsequent dates her husband and chras can represent her. At present there seems to be confusion and debate on the ques­ tion – who is the real nokma, the woman or her husband? However, there should be no confusion or any question on this issue, because the woman of the leading ma∙chong is the nokma; the land, the terri­ tory belongs to that ma∙chong; the woman nokma is the owner of the

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land; her daughter who inherits the a∙king land bears the chatchi/ mahari name of the ancestresses who handed over their a∙king to the succeeding generations. The man/husband can never be, because he belongs to another ma∙chong. It is true of course that kring is maintained as far as possible.

Marriage Arrangements There are three traditional ways of proposing and arranging a marriage – (a) Chawari sing∙a, (b) Cha∙senga, and (c) Chawari sika. In chawari sing∙a, the chras carry the marriage proposal to the boy’s family, ask the parent’s permission to take their son as a son-in-law; and they take the boy aside and press him by various arguments to accept the girl. This usually takes place at night, at the girls’ house, the chras play the role of pressurizing the boy on the plea that it is his duty to help/assist his uncle and enjoy the benefits by marrying the girl. The custom is to hold out as long as possible on the part of the boy and decline to agree to the proposal. This is a question of self-respect and honour for the boy, the saying goes that in future, if the wife and children (who bear the surname of the mother and belong to her ma∙chong) are ‘bad’ towards the man, he can hold his head high and return to his mother’s house, to his sisters. If this happens, it is the duty of the wife and her chras to persuade him to return. The sub-groups A∙we, Chisak, Matchi-Dual and Atong practice the custom known as cha∙senga or a∙kim gaa. Here, chras, relatives and parents of the girl arrive at a decision and travel to the father’s village to approach his sisters for a particular nephew. They take the parents’ leave to ask for the hand of the boy, and then proceed to press their object, and to get the boy to accept the girl. In case the boy declines, as it often happens, the relatives and parents leave the girl behind with his family, and return home. The boy, as required by custom and tradition, withholds his consent as long as possible. The girl must stay with the family of her prospective groom, and slave, doing all the work, outside and inside the house, which a girl is expected to do, until she wins her man. She wins her object in two ways – (i) by snatching and eating some food from his plate,

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and (ii) by managing to sleep with him. Both of these conditions are difficult to achieve because the man is extremely wary, and may not eat and sleep at home. It may take months and even years for a girl to succeed. When she does, do∙sia (marriage ceremony) is per­ formed to seal the union. The man goes with his wife to live with her family. During the whole duration of cha∙senga beginning from the proposal to the moment she succeeds, the girl is subjected to rejection and humiliation by the boy, total indifference and lack of sympathy from him. It is said that every meal she eats is mixed with tears. However, it is not unusual for the mother and sisters of the boy to support her and extend their sympathy. With their help, she ultimately wins her man. The author feels that in addition to their support, the youthfulness, ebullience and optimism of the girl car­ ries her through the trials. The A∙beng and Matabeng sub-groups practice the custom of chawari sika or bridegroom capture. For the nokkrom, who is to marry the daughter designated as nokna or heiress, the chras iden­ tify one of the nephews of the girl’s father, and capture him. The capture may take place when he is out in the fields, or in the market, or whenever and wherever he might be outside his home. Panteni Mal This refers to the property of the young man (bachelor). A young man is perceived as strong – physically and emotionally. From childhood this perception is emphasized; the mother singing dingdinga (lullaby) of her son likens him to a buffalo, and to big birds like the eagle, and that when he grows up he will fly away and establish a new home with his wife in another village. He is seen as capable of constructing his own home with additions like granary sheds for domestic animals, etc. Before he gets married, he might have his own private farm; he might own a vehicle, other properties and establish a business. These that are acquired before marriage are termed as panteni mal. When he gets married, some parents or mahari might choose to give all or a part to it to him, other families might decide otherwise. The parents, in some cases, gift a plot of paddy field to him, to manage and take the produce, as long as he

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lives. On his death, the family might decide to take it back. Customs differ in this regard. Nowadays in the urban areas, the trend is to give and share the family wealth with the son on marriage. For instance, he might be given the vehicle that he bought and used, some families might establish a business undertaking and gift it to him. This trend is being followed in the rural areas too by well-to­ do families. The Law of A∙kim This law is a traditional customary law. The two families and lineages of the mother and the father of a family are bound by the law of a·kim. It is the law of obligation, an unwritten agreement between the two families. The father has the obligation to bring one of his closest nephews, the son of one of his sisters, as his nokkrom (resident son-in-law). His daughter, by this law, is obliged to marry her father’s nephew. In this situation girls might be exploited; whether she likes the proposed nephew of her father or not, she is bound by law to accept the man. Threats, force and beating are the weapons unleashed by the chras on the unwilling girl. The law of a∙kim also involves the provision of replacement in case a wife or husband dies. The family of the deceased is obliged to provide a suitable substitute to the survivor, a widow or a widower. A∙kim Wata or Sota If a widower does not accept the girl offered to him, or if he voluntarily chooses to fall in love or marry someone from outside the mahari of his wife, this act will involve a∙kim wata or sota, that is, cutting off or release from the law of a∙kim. In this case, the widower will lose any claim from the family of his deceased wife; he is bound to leave the house without his children and anything that he might have earned or purchased. The mahari of his deceased wife might decide not to provide a replacement to him; in this case, the mahari has decided to release him from the law of a∙kim: he cannot claim anything from the family he has established, including his children. In the recent period, in the urban areas at least, a man

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might choose not to demand a replacement, but maintaining his self-respect to the full, might declare to the mahari of his deceased wife that he decides to live with his children. In this way he keeps the family intact. The customary laws and the law of a∙kim require that the family line of the mother and the father, the kring, referred to above, be continued even after the death of a spouse. The law of a·kim involves the provision of a replacement in case the wife or husband dies. The mahari and the family of the deceased, are obliged to provide a suitable substitute to the survivor, a widow or a widower, from its own mahari or family. The chras play an important role here; it is they who have the responsibility of finding a suitable replacement. Failing to find such a one from its own, a mahari might request and ‘borrow’ a bride or a groom from another mahari; if this hap­ pens, there is an understanding, relationship and obligation of the borrower to the other mahari for all time to come. This custom of replacement is known as on∙songa or on∙rika, meaning to ‘give’ as successor. Exploitation of Girls In the practice of on∙songa or on∙rika girls appear to be most exploited, and the inequality between men and women most obvious. The mahari of the deceased woman, even before the funeral, starts examining the available options of giving a replacement. The first girl that the chras has in mind is the younger sister of the dead woman. A girl, however young she might be, might be coerced into marrying an elderly widower, without her consent; it is not unusual to use force, threats and beating to compel the frightened, innocent girl into submission, and to shoulder the responsibility of an adult woman, to cook, serve, look after the man who has suddenly and unexpectedly become her husband, and care for the children of her elder sister. Even a very young girl, who is not aware of her fate, let alone attain the age of consent, might be promised by her chras as the future wife of a young man, ‘given’ as replacement for the deceased woman. In all of these relationships between the family of the wife and

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of her husband a number of rituals are involved, in connection with funeral and post-funeral ceremonies, which must be maintained as a part of the law of a∙kim.

Patriarchal Features Some of the patriarchal features in the Garo society that can be pointed out are – man as the head of the family, custom of polygyny, power vested in men, customary laws in favour of men, general positive attitude towards men, decision-making power resting with men, laws of the nokpante, power to dominate over women, and women taking the secondary position in the society. The head of the family is the father, who has the power to make decisions in consultation with his wife, at least in theory, but this tradition does not seem to apply in many cases. There are a few cases of polygyny in some villages; however, there is complete absence of polyandry. A man may have extramarital relations, which of course is done without the knowledge of his wife. He might even sell some of the property belonging to his wife. In the traditional society, a man may take a second wife, theoretically with the permission of his wife and her chras; in this case, the first wife is called jikma­ mong, the chief wife; the second as jikgite, an addition to the chief wife. He may take more women as his wives, all of whom belong to a certain category. There is a term known as jiknokkol (meaning slave/servant wife), who has no rights whatsoever to claim anything from the man or from his family. Her sole function is to carry out anything that might be asked of her. There are cases where a woman owner of the plot of land with her house built by her own effort has been driven off by a man using sheer physical strength, the power to dominate and by tormenting her by various means. In these cases the tormentor is usually her own kin from the husband’s side. Nokpante Nokpante is the compound word of nok (house) and pante (a young unmarried male) meaning the dormitory of young unmarried men; boys, by the age of eight or nine, when they are able to look after

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themselves, come to reside in the nokpante. The nokpante, usually built in the middle of a village, is the place where boys are trained to be men; they are trained in various arts like games involving trials of strength and skill, the art of listening to the traditional oral poetry like the epic of Dikki-Bandi, singing doro (a traditional poetry using elevated language and style on a serious subject), and memorizing and passing them on to the next generation, the art of wood carving, making cultural objects from bamboo, the art of playing and making musical instruments, the art of working with bamboo, and the martial arts of attack and defence with mil∙am (double­ edged sword), sel∙u (spear) and spi (shield). The architecture of the nokpante differs from the nokachik (the residential house). It is built of the same locally available materials – timber for posts and beams, bamboo for walls, floor and structure for the roof for which thatching grass is used. The posts and beams bear wood carvings of human male and female figurines, animals that live in this environment, figures of those beings which appear in folklore. The laws of nokpante state that women are never to step into the house; only on the special occasion before the Wangala festival and ceremony of thanksgiving to the gods are they allowed to get into house. It is a taboo for women to enter the house; if they do, they have to pay a fine. Ordinarily no cooking is done in the nokpante; rice and curry packed in plantain leaves are brought by the sisters or mother and left outside the house for the boys in their respective baskets. Boys once took pride in the institution and there was a time when there were more than one nokpante in a village. Each clan or mahari had one for its boys, and there was a competition among them to build the best nokpante. Older boys trained and tutored the younger ones; and they were trained to be alert at all times and quick in taking action. The institution of nokpante plays an important role in the Garo society; the young men are trained to wield weapons for attack as well as for defence. Before the colonial period the young men thus trained were looked upon as the defenders of a settlement when intra-tribe and inter-tribal conflicts were frequent. The whole com­ munity needed defence from wild animals, too, as the region with virgin forest and thick undergrowth was the abode of many species

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of the cat family, like the royal Bengal tigers, varieties of leopards, monkeys, hoolocks, elephants, varieties of the reptile family, even mande buring (wild man of enormous proportions and strength), which posed danger to human life. Status of Men While the property and the family name go along the female line and daughters inherit the property, power is vested in men. The father is the head of the family, and he makes decisions with or without the consent and knowledge of his wife. Theoretically he has to consult and discuss any issue with his wife in any decisionmaking; however, in reality it is often ignored. The laws are in favour of men; the odds are staked against women. The Garos are matrilineal, but women are more disadvan­ taged, opportunities are more denied to them than to men, they are more harshly judged in the family and by the society. At the time of marriage proposals, or when a girl shows her interest in a boy, however, blameless and virtuous the girl might be, other people are quick to find and point out her shortcomings. Women are liable to be blamed for any ills in family or in the society. They are subjected to prejudice; for instance, the presence of a man whose wife is preg­ nant is believed to bring ill luck in the community fishing in the dry season, such as removing water from a village pond in order to catch fish. When a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, she carries all the blame; the man escapes scot-free. This does not mean that the society forgets the misdeed of the man; but the woman bears the brunt of denunciation, expressed or unexpressed. In the early years of introduction of schools and education in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, when primary schools were established at various far flung areas of Garo Hills, it was the boys who were given priority over girls to advance in education. When a girl passed the Lower Primary School, par­ ents would say that for a woman this level is enough, and would not consider sending her for higher classes; instead they would plan and look for a ‘suitable boy’ to marry her and come as a chawari. The same attitude applied to girls who passed matriculation, or

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Intermediate of Arts. For this reason, the first ones to clear the matriculation, IA, BA, and MA are all men; the women coming as a far second. It was also commonly said derisively that girls studied with no aim to achieve academic success, but only to ‘catch’ some­ what more educated grooms. In the remarks made by men, it is seen that they doubted a woman’s capacity to have reasoning power, the ability to make distinctions, in short, to possess any intellect at all. The girls who came out of their villages to study outside became objects of suspicion, and remarks that they were ‘immoral’. Women had to fight against this negative attitude and prejudices. In the name of devising maxims and phrases, women were derided as me∙chik suri (useless woman) and do∙nok wagam gri me∙chik gisik gri (the domestic fowl lacks teeth, women lack wisdom). There had been some isolated cases of on the part of some men who were educated and exposed to the societies in the plains to change the system, to bring daughters-in-law instead of sending their sons away to another family. Their attempts proved futile, because the majority of Garos saw that overturning of the tradition and social institutions would cause more confusion and instability to the society. It must, however be pointed out that Garos migrating from Tripura and Bangladesh take after the social institutions of the non-Garos of the plains. Some of the children take the surname of the father, others of the mother, within the same family. Some of the sons take the bride from the traditionally matrilineal families to their home in contravention of the established tradition. Power of the Chras Male relatives of the woman, called chras, wield immense power; they serve as checks and balances. Maternal uncles and brothers, both elder and younger, constitute the chras of a woman as well as that of a man. The younger brother of a girl has the power of a chra to control, if need be, even beat up his elder sister. They have the power to control as well help a woman and her husband, and their children. They play an important role in the mahari associations, in decision makings, on the demise of a spouse, the funeral and finding

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a replacement for the widow or widower. If the mahari of a woman disapproves of a couple marrying or cohabiting, they have the power to separate the man and the woman. This separation of a man and a woman is called saleka, that is, to pull apart. The presence of the chras is so important that a meeting meant for negotiations between the two families of the bride and the groom may be called off if the latter’s family feels that there is insufficient number of chras. While according to the laws of matriliny, property inherited or obtained by the heiress or her husband belong to the woman, and the property goes through the female line, the power is vested in man. The laws of the society have checks and balances; but it will be seen on examination that the stakes are extremely high against the women. It is the men who wield power in the family over property, over female members of the society, in the mahari and ma∙chong, and political and social organizations, and most importantly, in decision-making. The father is the head of the household; he makes decisions of any consequence with or without consulting or tak­ ing her opinion. The husband may sell the property belonging to his wife, even ancestral property, with or without her knowledge and consent. Theoretically he should take his wife’s and her chras’ consent, but it rarely happens. Some of the chras too take advantage of their power, may sell the property of their sisters/nieces. There are instances where the landed property, i.e. the a∙king land in the name of the nokma me∙chik, is sold piece by piece by her husband or brothers until there is no more land to sell. The family is reduced to poverty and the name of the nokma exists only on paper, and on records. The same happens in some non-nokma families. The opinion of the woman is often ignored or swept aside as of no consequence.

Process of Socialization The traditional songs of the mother called dingding for the male and female babies envisage their roles in the future as they grow up to be adults. The songs are highly metaphorical and condensed. The dingding for the male child as she dandles him goes:

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Dingding do∙ma Dingding dingding Dingding matma Dingding dingding Koka rarinade mo do∙ma Dingding dingding…. Dingding do∙ma Janggil ino me∙rori sala Koka ino bidosi rapa Dingding dingding. . . . (Source: Marak, 2013: 197) English translation (by author): Dingding big bird Dingding dingding Dingding buffalo Dingding dingding To wear the headband my big bird Dingding dingding… Dingding my big bird You are the one who will hold up the shield marked with black and white stripes Your headband will be secured and tied up with cords Dingding dingding. . . .

Duties of Women A woman since childhood is expected to be gentle, virtuous, and obedient to authority of the parents, chras, husband and rules of the society. Her character (kam-cholon) should be impeccable – In dress, speech and behaviour she should be beyond reproach. She should be loyal and faithful to her husband at all costs; this aspect of her character is often taken advantage of. Even if the husband is found and proved to be unfaithful, she is supposed to bear the shame and the humiliation of so∙mal dona (faithlessness, having extramarital affairs). Her husband might have an affair with her younger sister, with other women, bring another wife as jikgite, and a series of wives without the formality of marriage; and she is

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expected to bear all these with no thoughts of separation or divorce. Separations and divorces do take place; the one by mutual con­ sent is called galgrika (to leave each other). Gala (to leave) does happen frequently; unscrupulous men with or without the sanction of marriage might just live together with a girl, then leave her with or without paying a fine, often when the girl is pregnant, or when a child is born out of cohabitation, and the real challenges of married life begin, when the man realizes the difficulty of maintaining a fam­ ily. This is the occasion where the chras should take action against the guilty man; according to the traditional laws valid throughout the community in the entire Garo Hills he is liable to pay a fine. However, the fines for misbehaving or leaving a girl in the lurch had been done during the British period, which at that time counted for much. During the colonial rule, when money was scarce and hard to earn, the relatives of the man collected the money from among themselves and paid the fine. Now with the passage of a hundred years and more, the fines have become so reduced in terms of the value of money, that a man, if the village nokma takes up the issue, owes the claimants only a little money, which he can easily afford. He might just give the girl a basketful of ginger and leave her, and go scot-free. The ease with which a man can take advantage of a girl is because the rules and the fines concerning the misbehaviour have never been revised. According to the Jangsan Sangma, in 1973 (when he published his book), the fine was a negligible amount of Rs. 60. However, it is not unusual for women, too, to decide to part from their husbands. A girl since childhood should learn, in addition to domestic chores, as the society is basically agrarian, how to cut forests and jungle, clear for jhum cultivation, cut and carry firewood, etc. They needed to know what seeds to sow and tend in the farm at various stages – such as paddy, millet, maize, leafy vegetables such as gal∙da (sorrel), me∙jak, ladies’ fingers, pumpkin, cucumber, cotton, sesame, ginger, turmeric, and types of melon, gourds, beans and legumes, to nurture lac and so on. In the plot for plantation, a woman should nurture varieties of citrus fruits, plantains and other locally avail­ able fruit trees. It is also her duty to collect, boil the food and feed the pigs, chickens and other domestic animals, such as cows and

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bullocks. These duties are in addition to the universal responsibility of bearing and rearing children. Women used to carry baskets of cotton and ginger on their backs like the men, walking miles to the markets, until markets were introduced at certain strategic places in the interiors of Garo Hills. Additionally, the art of spinning, dyeing the yarn with vegetable dyes, weaving, sewing the pieces together and sewing on the deco­ rative objects used to be the women’s domain. Diamond patterns on the border, floral patterns all over are the distinctive features of dakmanda (skirt). Weaving with the improved handloom, though largely neglected, continues with the much loved dakmanda and daksari, made and worn by women. The industry lives on, with powerlooms in some cases, making dakmanda with cotton, synthetic yarns and pat known as Assam silk. Another women’s cottage industry that was widespread before the colonial rule, was the art of making cooking vessels and jars to hold liquids and use as storage bins out of a special type of clay known as a∙chi, which is available at some locations only. Another raw material for the purpose is the anthill, which is used in regions with no a∙chi. At times menfolk help in carrying the materials to the village, the digging is done by women. Like coal mining, digging involves risks, because the deeper they go the more danger there is. The industry lives on in some remote areas. In the traditional life, women get up at the first cock crow, cook rice and curry for breakfast and for lunch, pack them in plantain leaves. At daybreak, or earlier even while it is still dark, carrying the lunch packets, water in the gourd bottle and the tools in her basket she makes her way with her husband with a torch of firewood or bamboo pieces to the jhum farm. It is her duty to husk the paddy, which she does usually early in the morning or at nightfall. This drudgery was her lot for innumerable centuries until the husking machines came to her rescue recently. She works side by side with her husband, sometimes carrying her baby on her back, nursing it, with little children as well, when there are no older children to look after the younger siblings. Often she might be alone weeding the farm. From clearing the forest for jhum, through burning, clearing the debris, sowing, weeding, looking after the crops, driving away

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the wild animals and birds from devouring the crops, harvesting and carrying the produce, especially paddy, millet and maize, are all her duties as well as that of the man. After the harvest of the grains, the multicrop farm is not empty; there are still cash crops to look after and harvest, such as cotton and sesame, various types of yams, flat and long beans, tapioca, legumes and so on. The women participate in the various ceremonies performed for the well-being of the villagers, for the healthy growth of the crops performed in the farm, for the rain when there is drought, for respite from rain when there is too much of it, in the ceremonies for the dead – the funeral and the post-funeral ceremonies. The religious ceremonies are never complete without the women’s participation. The nokma herself, though not performing the rituals like her husband and the priests, in the main ritual, the cha∙chat so∙a (the burning of incense in the Wangala thanksgiving ceremony to the gods Misi Saljong, the god of blessings and distri­ bution, and to the goddess of paddy and fish Minima Kiri Rokkime), leads in the dance at her house, where the villagers congregate, with a number of other women, holding rice in their hands. Women dance side by side with men in a row; while the male dancers carry and play the drum, their women partners wave their right hand imitating the movement of leaves, and make symbolic movements. Women play all the traditional musical instruments, except the kram, the sacred drum that can be played by the nokma man only, or someone who has been entrusted with playing it. Other drums like dama dalsang and dama, flutes like dakok, olongma, otekra, stringed instruments such as sarenda, dotdrong, kimjim, chigring, jew’s harp and others may all be played by them, and there is no restriction. Duties of Men The duties of men and women overlap in many cases, and no clear defining line can be drawn. While it is the duty of men to cut timber, bamboos to build houses, sheds, granary, bo∙rang (a tree house constructed on a tall and sturdy tree at the farm that commands a view of the whole area, to guard the crops from wild animals), jamadal (a house built at the farm for temporary residence during

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the farming and rainy season till the paddy is harvested), etc., women usually cut thatching grass and some bamboo and carry them to the village. Sometimes they are found carrying huge bundles of thatching grass on their backs to the market. Men (also women) make bamboo strings in order to tie up the building materials at all the joints, because in the traditional house constructions no nails are used. Bamboos are cut and flattened, left to dry, then woven into mats to make walls; similarly the flattened bamboo strips are woven to make the raised floor (gan∙sang) for the house. Posts and beams are usually cut out of hardwood trees such as bolsal/ banchan (sal). The residential houses so constructed are called nokachik (A∙chik house), while the dormitory for young unmarried boys are called nokpante (the house of the young unmarried men). Men make household items and furniture with cane and bamboo, such as winnowing fan (ruan), varieties of baskets for different needs, sieves, chekke (fishing nets used by women), koksi (fishing basket), don (basket for measuring paddy), mora (type of stool), etc. According to changes in taste and demand, they make modern sofa sets out of bamboo and cane, even beds. Mats for drying paddy, etc., are made by men as well as women. In the pre-colonial period when the markets were located only at a few places in the foothills of Garo Hills and in the plains, men as well as women walked a long-distance spending several nights in camps, with an agility that defied gravity, carrying heavy loads to sell and bringing back some essential household items.

Discussion Despite matriliny which might give an outsider the impression that women enjoy at least some privileges on par with men, on closer look it will be found that they suffer prejudices expressed through acts, customs and words. It is taboo in the traditional society for a man to touch women’s clothes, or other garments and jewellery; men are forbidden to walk behind women, if they get close to them in a trail or path, they should overtake them and proceed ahead, harshness in judgement of their work, whether domestic or in the field, suspicions cast on their moral character at all times, negative

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attitude towards them in all respects, belief that they are unclean, power of the chras even a younger brother to beat her, humiliating her through obscene and negative remarks, and forcing the girls to accept the imposition of the chras in the case of on∙songa. Voiceless Women Traditionally women have been denied of their voice and opinion, they cannot sit and participate in the meetings concerning issues of the village, or if visitors such as officials and political candidates come and address the villagers. They are driven aside to the space for me∙chik-disa, i.e. women and children. They are not supposed to speak, implying that they are not to think, reason, and form any opinion. In any meeting, family or otherwise, they are told by men, ‘Silence, you stupid woman!’ She cannot utter anything in defence of herself or on her own behalf, or object to anything that chras wish to impose on her. This practice has led to fear psychosis in some women; she can escape the fear partly through education, being self-supporting, self-confidence, and being able to lead an independent life, being exposed to life outside her community and such other means. Some classic examples of the oppression of women, taking unfair advantage of the low position and helplessness of women, are the imposition of men’s decisions unilaterally on young women, teenage girls, minor girls as young as toddlers to give/offer them as replacements to widowers, to take the place of the deceased sister, on the plea that her brother-in-law has to have a wife from the same family, he has to be retained in the family, the sister’s children need to be cared for, that she has to serve food and drinks to her gume (elder sister’s husband). All the above excuse is to keep the a∙kim law. Many girls are caught unawares, nobody is there to stand by her, even were she to disagree, not even her mother to object to the unfair treatment. The fate of the woman is reflected in poetry, prose fiction and drama. The unenviable, typical life of women is summed up power­ fully by the poet Jonmoni D. Shira in her poem, Anga Me∙chik (I, The Woman) written during the early 1940s. The novel Khalsin and

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Sonatchi, one of the best in the genre by any standards, tells the harrowing tale of being a girl in the Garo society. The Soft Target The woman, despite some advantages given by matriliny, on account of her low status in the society and being physically weaker in general than men, is the soft target. A girl is much more vulnerable than an adult woman. Insults are hurled at her, demeaning remarks fill her life, even little boys learn to make remarks to belittle her at every opportunity. In the name of maxims, oft repeated remarks like me∙chik suri (useless woman), do∙nok wagam gri, me∙chik gisik gri (domestic fowls lack teeth, women lack wisdom) are common weapons to attack her at the roots. The number of single mothers, on account of the demise of their spouses, at least in the urban areas, has risen. Her contribution to the survival of the society is yet to be recognized. In this position, women are at some advantage, because the land which she might have bought or inherited without any dispute belongs to her, the patta is in her name. Nowhere is the inequality more evident than in the traditional law of the right of a man to beat his wife. Women have internalized this customary law, and accept it as something that they are bound to bear, as something normal. According to this law, if a woman fights back or beats up her husband, the relatives of the man have the right to come, kill and consume the domestic animals of the family. This is in retaliation, sending the message that a woman has no right to do what has been done to her by her husband. Domestic violence is not uncommon; it can assume different shades and vary­ ing scales. Changes Witnessed Are Garo women aware of their rights and privileges? Are they able to take advantage of their rights to property, maintenance of lineage? Are they aware that they are equally entitled to all that is guaranteed by the Constitution of India? Do they try to voice their opinions? Do they protest and assert when and where occasions

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call for? On account of illiteracy and lack of education they lack knowledge about the official processes and national laws. For this reason they lack confidence. The rate literacy for women all over Garo Hills is lower than that of men. The majority of the nokma women are not able to carry out their responsibilities because they are illiterate. It seems that the answers for the above questions are not easy. The more educated the women are, the more they rise in their pro­ fession, the greater is their awareness. The liberation of women lies in education; the higher they go in that direction, the more they are exposed to other communities and the global scenario, the sharper will they be in understanding and taking all possible steps to attain their potential. While there are no women IAS officers through direct recruit­ ment, women MCS officers who have been promoted to IAS outnumber men. The number of women with PhD degrees is almost double that of men. There are substantial number of women engi­ neers, doctors, MCS officers, lawyers, magistrates, bank employees and officers; they are not far behind men in number. Women in the teaching profession especially in the Lower and Upper Primary sections outnumber men. Some women have served as Chairper­ son and members in the Meghalaya Public Service Commission. At present a Garo lady occupies the position of Vice-Chairperson in the Meghalaya State Women’s Commission, others as members. There are women architects, engineers, doctors with specializa­ tions. Women’s NGOs play a significant role in addressing social issues, such as the Mothers’ Union at Tura, to fight and speak on behalf of women and girls, against social evils; at other urban areas women have established similar unions with similar objectives of addressing social issues. Many village women sell their farm products at weekly mar­ kets; many make their living as vegetable vendors. There are many women who are daily wage earners; they certainly contribute to the survival of their family members. Women head organizations, reli­ gious as well as secular. They are a part of decision-making bodies, though, it may be pointed out, the number of women representa­ tives in the State Assembly and Garo Hills Autonomous District

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Council is miniscule. This does not mean that women are not in political circles; many women work at the grassroots level, though they might not be visible. One of the reasons why there are less number of women contestants in elections is that they prioritize their own families above political activities. At present, with the improvement of communications, facili­ ties, establishment of schools that perform satisfactorily, especially in Tura, the headquarters of the entire Garo Hills till 1972, more girls opting for higher studies on general as well as specialization in various subjects, going outside and abroad for studies, the situation is vastly different from the early twentieth century. Secondary and some Higher Secondary Schools being established in rural areas helped make the difference.

Conclusion Martriliny among the Garos is alive and thriving. Conversions have brought some cultural changes, but it left the social system intact. It was the converted and the educated who started mahari associations in the urban areas to begin with. The importance of mahari associations that embrace those who belong to a ma∙chong and those men and women who are married into it, cannot be overstated. It is in such mahari meetings that its members, coming from different parts of Garo Hills and beyond, old and young, get to meet and know each other, which in turn promotes the strength of the organization. Mahari associations play crucial supportive roles in funerals, even in cases of serious, life-threatening illnesses, negotiations for marriage, managing the marriage ceremony and the reception. With education, the custom of inheritance is changing; as much as possible parents try to do justice to all the children. While the nokna and the nokkrom get the largest share of the property, patterns of distributing movable and immovable properties are following new directions. The groom carries along with him his degrees and job in addition to what his parents can afford. Some responsible indi­ viduals are trying to direct their respective organizations into new, constructive ways of thinking. Hence a few maharis have opened

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schools in remote areas. Some leaders suggest ideas to mahari orga­ nizations, such as taking up a project in order to improve and uplift the society, instead of confining their activities to the traditional roles. The methods adopted in making marriage negotiations have evolved along with the times. Attitudes of the society are changing, though gradual, to make room for fresh thoughts and ideas. The concept of women as bread earners is innate to the culture and to a woman’s personality.

REFERENCES Britannica Reference Encyclopedia. 2013. Chicago/London/New Delhi/ Paris/Seoul/Sidney: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. Holbrook, L.M. 2010 [1998]. Ku∙rongdik (A∙chikku into English Dictionary). 2nd edn. Tura: A∙chik Literature Society. Marak, C.R. 2002. Garo Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. Marak, C.R. (ed.). 2013. Dakokni Sul (The Music of Dakok). Tura: A∙chik Literature Society. Marak , J.D. 1982 [1930]. A∙chik Kata Bak I & II. 2nd edn. Tura: Lawrence K. Marak. Sangma, J. 1973. Principles of Garo Law. Tura: J. Sangma. Sangma, K.D. 2017. Chisak, Atong, Dual aro Matchi A∙ja Manderangni Songo Noko Aganani, Chanani, Mingani, Niam aro Dakbewalrang. Williamnagar: Kroshnil D. Sangma.

CHAPTER 8

Nepalis of Meghalaya

Settlement, Social Institutions and Festivals

Dhruba K. Limbu

Introduction A group of social scientists claim that Nepalis who have settled in north-east India since 1920s came either in search of economic opportunities or grazing land for cattle crucial for their business of milk production (Nath, 2005). Recruitment of Gorkha soldiers to the British Indian Army after the Treaty of Sagauli (1816) between British India and Nepal was one of the important causes of Nepali settlement in north-east India. According to Devi (2007), the growth of the Nepalis in north-east India is deeply embedded in the history of the region but showed a marked growth in the twentieth century, actively encouraged by the British who sought an increased revenue collection through the settlement of the region. Now these people have an important impact on the population dynamics, socio-cultural and economic foundation of the state as Nepali is the one of the largest language groups in the region with relatively assimilating nature with custom and culture of the nation. It should be mentioned that though technically Nepal is a foreign country, the Nepalis were never treated as foreign nationals in India. So was the status of the Indians in Nepal. The Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty in 1950, the Tripartite Delhi Agreement of 1951 and Revised IndoNepal treaty of 1956 cleared the way for free interchange and flow

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of nationals of both countries with the right to own property and accord citizenship (Nag, 2007). Nepali population of Meghalaya comprises several ethnic ele­ ments such as Aryan, Mongoloid and even Dravidian stock, most with their own dialects and languages. ‘Gorkha’ is the synonym for the Nepali which is the name of an ethnic group of this population but rather the name yielded those who follow the traditions. Gor­ khas are drawn from a number of Nepali ethnic groups including the Gurung, Mangar, Tamang, Sunwar, Limbu and Rai. Gorkhas claim their descent from the warlike Rajputs of Chittaur in Rajast­ han who were driven by the Muslim invasions to the present Nepal. The Nepali caste system is the traditional system of social stratifi­ cation. This system broadly borrows the classical chaturvarnashram model consisting of four broad social classes or varna: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra. The caste system defines social classes by a number of hierarchical endogamous groups often termed jaat. The higher caste is the Bahun (Kumai and Jaishi) followed by the Kshatriyas (Thakuri and Chhettri). These peoples are called as twice-born people and are also known as Tagadhari, i.e. who wears the sacred thread. The Dasnami Sanyasis are the renounced caste. The ‘Namasinya Matwalis are the Newar, Gurung, Mangar, Sunuwar, Rai and Limbu. Others belong to the Masinga Matwalis represented by the Tamang, Sherpa, Thakali, Gharti , Kumal, etc. The service castes, formerly known as untouchables, are the Kami, Damai, Sarki, Badi, etc. Nepali is written in Devanagari script. In terms of linguistic roots, it belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family.

Settlement In different periods of history many people migrated from Nepal, established themselves permanently in Meghalaya and integrated with the Khasi and Garo society and culture by process of accultu­ ration and in certain pockets assimilation in respect of language and culture. Assimilation is also found in food habits and social, religious and matrimonial relations. The initial settlement of the Nepalis in Meghalaya, once called the Khasi-Jaintia Hills, can

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be dated to the establishment of their social organizations – the Gorkha Thakurbari (1824), Gorkha Durga Puja Committee (1872) and Gorkha Union (1886). The Thakurbari, certainly from records, appears to be the oldest organization of Gorkhas in the whole state. It still runs two temples and one middle school for girls. The Gorkha Durga Puja Committee was started by the Gorkhas of the 1st and 2nd battalions of 8 GR. In 1940, when the platoon was shifted to Quetta, now in Pakistan, the Puja Committee was handed over to the civilians and ex-servicemen residing in and around Shillong. Another old organisation is the Gorkha Union, later known as the Gorkha Association. The history of 8th Gorkha Rifles reveals a lot about the Nepalis in Meghalaya. Major Alban Wilson (cf. Rana, 2008: 31) writes, In 1845, an outpost of the regiment was established at Umbai in the Khasi Hills, under the command of Subedar Deoraj Alay, who was given the civil powers of a third class magistrate. He died after he had been two years at Umbai, Cherrapunji, but in that short time, he had endeared himself so much to the inhabitants that they erected a large tomb over his grave by the roadside, and to the present day, every inhabitant of the place worships at his grave, and when passing by, places a chew of supari on it.

In 1866, Lieutenant W.J. Williamson was appointed the commis­ sioner of Garo Hills. He set up a police force in Tura comprising two inspectors, two sub-inspectors, six head constables and 100 constables. Most of the constables and coolies brought to Tura were Nepalis from Goalpara in Assam. They were employed in tree fel­ ling and road construction also. When the American missionaries reached Garo Hills, they had taken twelve Nepalis with them from Dhubri in Assam. Along with the servicemen, they were invited to rear cattle in the north-east. Lyndrid Shira (cf. Sinha, 2006), a writer based in Tura, discloses this in the following words: When Tura was first occupied by the American Baptist Mission in 1876, there was hardly anything out here. The present site of the school was a thick jungle, infested with wild and dreaded elephants that roamed at large breaking the silence of the atmosphere with their vocal trumpets. Goshai, a Nepali fellow, must have occupied this plot of land sometimes towards the beginning of the 20th century. He must have been invited by

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the British Government to start a cattle farm here, purposely for supply of milk to the residents of the locality.

Goshai’s grazing farm was known, till late, as Nippal adding, or ‘Nepal hill’. In 1872, Shillong had 1,363 inhabitants out of which 935 were in the active services. Of those in the services, 772 were Gork­ has. By now, Nepalis have made homes in almost all the places of Meghalaya. The history of Gorkha settlement in Shillong is basi­ cally linked with the British penetration and inroad into the Khasi and Jaintia Hills and establishment of Shillong as their administra­ tive centre. As the Gorkha troops were in the constant movement while in service, it gave rise to the necessity of a permanent station where the Gorkha pensioners, families of the serving personnel and reserves could settle down. The ultimate result was establishment of a Gorkha village in Shillong for which assistance was provided by the British. Once the settlement started, various socio-cultural institutions of the Gorkhas began to grow which helped them in preserving their cultural and ethnic identity (Rana, 2008). The entry of the Gorkhas in Shillong however started with the transfer of military in 1867. On 2 April 1891 a plot of land was leased out from the Syiem of Milliem for the establishment of Gorkha village in Shillong. The Gorkha settlement in the initial stage started in the present-day localities, viz., Jhalupara, Paltan Bazar, Barapathar and Mawprem of Shillong, as is evident from its location, but in course of time the Gorkha settlement in Shillong spread and extended to other areas besides that of initial settlement. Evidences such as the presence of Nepali herdsmen rearing buffa­ loes in the neighbourhood of Shillong since the nineteenth century as stated in the Assam District Gazetter of 1906 (Allen, 1906) signi­ fies the expansion of the Gorkha settlement to other areas of Khasi and Jaintia Hills. However, the Nepali settlement in Shillong had increased significantly after the First World War when many of the retired Gorkha army personnel were allotted land for settlement in Jhalupara area by the cantonment authority. Besides, many of them served as peons, watchmen, servants, labourers, porters, buffalo graziers and serving soldiers.

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The Nepali immigrants to this district fall roughly into three classes as far as occupation is concerned. They were the Khutiwala or Gopalak (graziers), daily labourers, and men who were recruited for the two battalions in Shillong. The Khutiwalas were mainly Brahmins by caste; there were also a few Chhetris among them. The coolies were for most part Damai and Kami but a few were Rai, Mangar and Gurung by caste. Men recruited for the army mostly belonged to the martial castes such as the Mangar, Gurung, Tamang, Rai and the Limbu. The coolie population mostly stayed here from March to October and then returned to Nepal. They didn’t take settlement of land and not as a rule bring their wives and families. The Khutiwalas (graziers) have very often brought their wives and families. Later the Gorkha population scattered all over the town and its suburbs. Since the initial settlement of the Nepalis into the state, there had been constant efforts on their part to develop their literature. In the literary history of this region we find significant contribution in the field of poetry, fiction, plays, reviews, criticism, essays, etc. In this region the literary journey is believed to begin with the poetry of Tula Chand Ale, who composed Manipur ko Sawai, a poem writ­ ten in 1893. This was followed by, Dhanvir Bhandari, a resident of Shillong, who composed the Abbar Pahad ko Sawai and Bhuichalo Sawai in 1895. Dadhiram Upadhyaya (b. 1905) wrote Dadhi Drapan, an epic based on astrology. Ramji Gewali wrote a number of essays, articles and poems. Hari Prasad Sharma Bastola, wrote an epic of 202 stanza, which was published by the Shillong Nepali Press in 1936. Padam Prasad Dhungana (b. 1903), had made Shillong his workplace. He composed Padam Prakash, Sapta Kandan, Dha­ nush Bhang, Laxman Parsuram Sambad, etc. Gopal Prasad Joshi, a resident of Shillong, who served for more than two decades in the field of literary, published Banchra Banchana Deo. Krishna Prasad Gewali of Shillong dedicated his entire life to the development of language and literature. Gopi Narayan Pradhan has a collection of poems among which include Pheri Pani Sailak Airahechha and Yesto Bhul po Garechhu (Rana, 2008). Most of these poets have composed poems on their daily life

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apart from mythological, cultural, religious, and historical themes which reflect the character of the Nepali community of Meghalaya. In this way, the regional Nepali literature has really become mirror of existential Nepali society.

Socio-Cultural Institutions The Nepali settlements in Shillong led to the establishment of their socio-cultural institutions which has helped them to preserve their cultural and ethnic identity. Some of them are summarized below. Gorkha Public Panchayat, United Khasi and Jaintia Hills District The Gorkha Panchayat, established in 1930, was the first social institution of the Gorkhas/Nepalis in Shillong. In the formative period, Panchayat functioned under the sole guidance of religious and cultural norms and conventions of the Gorkhas/Nepali. Their main function then was the settlement of minor social disputes with the help of the council consisting of the elders, wherein the eldest member presided the proceedings of such trials. The council imposed rules and regulation through fines and excommunications. The caste system was also followed rigidly. In 1950, a new committee was formed named the Gorkha Public Panchayat, United Khasi and Jaintia Hills district which vested power to deal with cases beyond minor social disputes. It began to deal with all-round development of the Gorkha society such as construction of roads and bridges, financial assistance for Nepali primary schools in the erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts, etc. The Gorkha Public Panchayat later covered the socio­ cultural life of the Gorkhas also. Gorkha Association Another notable institution that was held in high esteem by the Gorkhas of Shillong was the Gorkha Association formed in 1886. The association dealt with activities of the Gorkhas covering diverse range such as academic, social service, cultural as well as

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games and sports. In course of time formation of other associations such as Nepali Sangeet Kala Samity, Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Nepali Srijan Parishad, Nepali Mahila Samity, All Shillong Nepali Students Union, Gorkha-Ex-Servicemen’s Association curtailed the activities of the Gorkha Association to games and sports only. This association, in order to develop the talent of the Gorkhas settled in Shillong organizes from time to time games and sports tournaments. The Gorkha Association has played a prominent role in developing talented sports personnel and bringing them to the forefront with its efforts to produce talented sports persons for the service of the state. This association continues to serve the Nepali people of Shillong till date. Nepali Sangeet Kala Samity Nepali Sangeet Kala Samity was formed in 1955, as there was dormancy and indifferent attitude among the Nepalis in the field of music and dance. This Samity started a dance school at Shillong to train the children in traditional Nepali folk dance to perform during Holi celebration. It had a humble beginning as a dance school to teach traditional dance to the children which soon became the pioneer of Gorkha cultural activities. The Nepali Sangeet Kala Samity which was formed to uphold Nepali folk music and dance also started to perform plays and drama of high profile characters. Various cultural programmes were also organized by this Samity, like, for instance, plays and dramas of Harish Bagdas were staged in the Opera Hall, Shillong. The Nepali Sangeet Kala Samity, Shillong in a way revived the Nepali cultural activities in Shillong. The service of the Samity resulted in the emergence of talents, such as radio singers, prominent among them being K.C. Rasaily, Maya Thakuri, Sudhir Thapa, Jaya Sunar, Gopal Bagdas, etc. Nepali Mahila Samity, Shillong The Nepali Mahila Samity, Shillong was formed in 1964, which dealt with the welfare of the womenfolk of the Nepali community and looked after the needs of the Nepali women. The organization

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caters to the needs of the women by organizing training programmes such as knitting, weaving, cooking and also counselling them to settle minor domestic problems. Religious Organizations The Gorkha Thakurbari was established in 1905. Ever since the establishment of the Mandir, the Gorkha Thakurbari Organization celebrates the Krishna Janmastami and organizes bhajans besides Sanatan Dharm Sabha. In addition, this organization has been running Nepali Kanya Pathshala ME School for girls since 1937 with the sole purpose to uplift the status of Nepali women. Gorkha Durga Puja Committee A common Durga Puja/Dashami celebration was started by the Gorkha Battalion in Shillong. The transfer of the training centre of the Gorkha army from Shillong to Quetta in 1942 (now in Pakistan), the responsibility of organizing of the Puja was endorsed upon the retired personnels of the Gorkha Regiment. The Durga Puja Committee was formed in course of time and duly registered in 1969 under the Secretaryship of Sri Bir Bahadur Chhetri. The Durga Puja Committee was thus formed with the sole aim to preserve the cultural heritage of the Gorkhas in Shillong. After approaching the concerned authority, the Cantonment Board allotted a small plot of land to construct a permanent structure for annual celebration of the Durga Puja and how every year the Gorkhas/Nepalis perform Durga Puja there. Nepali Sahitya Srijan Samity and Nepali Sahitya Parishad Literary activities of the Gorkhas of Shillong started with the publication of Fillingo, a handwritten magazine published by the Gorkha Association. Later a printed version of the magazine was published. The trend of literary activities continued on individual capacity with Babu Mani Singh Gurung, the first Gorkha graduate from Shillong who published the first Gorkhali weekly -- Gorkha

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Sevak -- in 1935. Further a short novel by Badur Bahadur Rana titled Sapana Yeh Bipana was published in 1948 and a short drama and play were dramatized by Harish Bagdas in 1955-6. The Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi approved the Nepali Sahitya Srijan Parishad registered in 1965. The Nepali Sahitya Srijan Samity under the presidentship of Krishna Prasad Gewali publishes a quarterly magazine named Suman and the Nepali Sahitya Parishad under the presidentship of Gopi Narayan Pradhan publish the Madal. Both these literary organizations aimed at development of Nepali literature and have been a boon to various budding writers and poets. Later in 1968, a new magazine named Tarun was launched by the inspired young Gorkhali/Nepali writers which still continue. Festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspects of that community and its religion or traditions. Celebrations offer a sense of belonging for religious, social, or geographical groups, contributing to group cohesiveness. They may also provide entertainment, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. Nepali community celebrate a number of festivals, viz., the Chhat, Baisak Jatra, Bajra Jogini Jatra, Gathma Mangal, Gai Jatra, Indra Jatra, Mohani, etc., but these are not celebrated in Megha­ laya. Some of the important festivals celebrated by the Nepalis of Meghalaya and its neighbouring states are briefly summarized below. JANAI PURNIMA

Janai Purnima is the common name of the festival Rishi Tarpani or Raksha Bandhan. This festival falls on Shrawan shukla purnima (the full moon day of Shrawan month). People take bath early in the morning and the male members of Bahun and Chetri change their janai for the year. Janai is a sacred thread, which they start to wear after the bratabandha ceremony. On the same day all the people receive another sacred thread (molly) on their wrist from

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priest (bahun). It is believed that this thread protects them from every kind of misfortunes. On this day sisters also tie rakhi on the brothers’ wrists, secure their brothers from any kind of mishaps. TEEJ

Teej is a celebration of fasting in which women pray for marital bliss, well-being of their spouse and children and purification of their own body and soul. It takes place on August and September a few days after Krishna Janmashtami. The festival is a three-day long celebration that combines grand feasts as well as fasting. The first day of Teej is known as the Dar Khane Din. On this day, women both married and unmarried, gather at one place; sing and dance in their traditional attires. Amidst this, the grand feast takes place. The significant part of the second day puja is the oil lamp which ought to be aflame all over the night for it is bad omen if it dies away. The third day of the festival is the Rishi Panchami. After the culmination of the previous day’s puja, women pay homage to several deities and bathe with red mud found on the roots of the sacred datiwan (kadam) plant, along with its leaves. This act of refinement is the final ritual of Teej, after which women are believed to be exonerated from all sins. DASHAIN

Dashain is the most auspicious festival of the Nepalis. Goddess Durga in all her manifestations are revered with pujas, offerings and animal sacrifices. Dashain commemorates a big victory of gods over the demons. It glorifies the triumph of good over evil and is symbolized by Goddess Durga killing the dreadful demon Mahishasur, who terrorized the earth in the guise of a brutal water buffalo. The first nine days means the nine days of ferocious battle between Goddess Durga and the demon Mahishasur. The ninth day is the day when Mahishasur was slained and the last five days symbolize the jubilation of the victory with the benediction of the goddess. Dashain is celebrated with great joy, and Goddess Durga is worshipped. The first nine days of Dashain is known as Nawa Ratri when tantric rites are carried on. Throughout the nine days people pay their homage to the goddess. It is believed that if she is

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properly worshipped and pleased, good luck is on the way and if angered through neglect then misfortunes are around the corner. Dashain is celebrated in full swing from the seventh day, i.e. Fulpati. On this day the holy water, banana stalks, jamara (corn seedlings) and sugarcane tied with red cloth is transported to the Dasain ghar. Thereafter, the idol of the goddess is installed in the Dasain ghar. The eighth day is known as the Maha Ashtami when the fervour of worship and sacrifice to Kali increases. The night of the eighth day is known as Kal Ratri or the dark night and a black goat is sacrificed. The ninth day is known as Nawami. On this day many orthodox Hindus will be fasting. Buffaloes are slaughtered, a large number of goats, sheep and ducks are sacrificed and pigeons are released in honour of Goddess Durga. Durga with weapons in her ten hands, riding on a lion, who assisted her in the fight, takes on Mahishasur.  The battle raged for nine days and nights. Finally on the tenth day of Ashwin shukla pak­ sha, the evil demon Mahishasur was defeated and killed by Durga.   The tenth day is the Dashami. On this day, people take tika and jamara from their elders and receive blessing. During Dashain fam­ ily members from far off places and distant relatives come for visit as well as to receive tika from the elder members of the family. This occasion continues for four days from Dashami. After four days, i.e. on the full moon day, the rushing around and meeting their relatives on account of Dashain ends. The full moon day is also known as kojagrata meaning ‘who is awake’? On this day, Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, is given a request to visit each and every house. After Dashain, the society settles back to normalcy. Dashain is not only the longest festival but also the most awaited one among all the festivals of the Nepali community. TIHAR

Dasain is soon followed by Tihar, which is popularly known as the Festival of Lights. The most striking feature of this festival is the lighting up of houses with oil-wick lamps. Modernization has replaced the oil-wick lamps with electric bulbs. Tihar is celebrated for five days commencing from the thirteenth day of the declining

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moon in the month of October/November. It is also referred as Panchak Yama in various forms in these five days. In other words, this festival is meant for long life and prosperity. Goddess Laxmi is the wife of Lord Vishnu. She took shape from the ocean and she has all the wealth of the seas. Laxmi sits on a full grown lotus and her warhorse is the owl. On the third day of the festival at the stroke of midnight she makes a world tour on her owl looking how she is revered. The first day of the Tihar is known as Kag Tihar, i.e. the crows’ day. Crow is considered as an underworld collaborator. On this day crows are offered food on a plate made out of leaves and kept on the tree branches in the morning before anyone in the house takes food. Crow, the messenger of death, is venerated on the first day of Tihar. The second day is known as Kukur Tihar, i.e. the dog’s day. A legend says that there is a dog at Yama’s gate guarding the gate to the underworld. The dog is the warhorse of Bhairab, the god of devastation. In this day a big red tika is put on a dog’s forehead and a garland around the neck and delicious food is given to it. On this day even a stray dog is looked upon with respect. We pray to the dog to guard around our houses as he guards the gate of Yamaraj, the god of death, and to divert destruction away from our homes. The third day, i.e. the Gai Tihar is the most significant day of the festival. It is known as Laxmi Puja, the day when people revere the goddess of wealth Laxmi. On this day, early in the morning, the cow is worshipped. Tika is put on its forehead and a garland around her neck and then she is fed with the best grass. In the evening, God­ dess Laxmi is worshipped. Days before, the house is cleaned and decorated as the goddess likes clean and tidy places. A small portion of the house outside the primary door is painted red with soil and a lit lamp on it. A pathway is made to the puja room. The whole house is decorated with lit lamps. On this day all through the evening groups of girls visit houses singing songs of praise of the goddess and they are taken as guests and given money and special food is prepared for Tihar. On the fourth day, i.e. Goru Tihar, the ox is revered with tika, garland and fed with best grain. It is also called as Gobardhan Puja. People build a small hillock made out of cowdung

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and put some grasses on it and then perform the puja. This puja stands for the act of Lord Krishna when he saved many people and cows from the flood water by bringing them to the Gobardhan Hill. The fifth day of Tihar is the Bhai Tika (Bhai Dooj). On this day, first of all sisters break the walnut outside house, then put tika or mark on brother’s forehead and a garland around his neck. Brothers then touch the feet of their sisters and then delicious food is served by his sisters to them. In return she receives a gift or money. The main theme behind tika is that the sisters will be begging for their brother’s life from Yamaraj, the god of death. LHOSAR

Lhosar is the Buddhist New Year festival. Lho means year and sar means new. It is celebrated mainly by the people who have migrated from the Himalayan region such as the Gurung, Tamang and the Sherpa. Some celebrate Lhosar on 15th of Poush (December), some on Magh Shukla Pratipada (January) and others on Falgun Shukla Pratipada (March). Tamu Lhosar, Sonam Lhosar, Gyalpo Lhosar are celebrated by the Gurungs, Manangays, Tamangs and the Sherpas respectively. Lhosar is a festival of feast, joy and dance. People draw swastiks, symbol of peace and good fortune, in their homes. They also decorate their homes with paintings of natural elements like the Himalayas, the sun, and the moon. They wear new clothes and eat sumptuous meals. They visit their elders and seek their blessings for a healthy and prosperous New Year. MAGHE SANGKRANTI

Most of the Nepalese festivals are based the on lunar calendar. However, the Saune Sangkranti and the Maghe Sangkranti are based on solar calendar. Sangkranti means the first day of the month. Therefore, Maghe Sangkranti is observed on the first day of the month Magh (14 January). It is observed to mark the end of winter season. In Maghe Sangkranti people take bath early in the morning without speaking to anybody. Thereafter, put tika on the forehead and greet their elders by touching feet and get blessing. On this day, they eat til laddu (a kind of sweetmeat made of sesame

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and jaggery), boiled yam, sweet potato, etc. It is believed that all the food that we eat on this day shall have been cooked on the previous day (end of the Poush month). SHREE PANCHAMI

Shree Panchami is celebrated on the fifth day of Magh shukla panchami (the fifth day of the full moon day of Magh) which is also called as Basanta Panchami, as spring season begins from this day. Saraswati, the goddess of learning and wisdom, is worshipped on this day. Most of the people specially the students, visit to the nearby pandal where the idol of the goddess is kept and worship her. People believe that this day is the best day for their children to start formal learning as the Goddess Saraswati gives them a divine blessing on this day UDHAULI-UBHAULI

According to the Holy book of Kirat  Mundhum, a year of 365 days is divided into two phases: ubhauli (going up) and udhauli (going down). Every year Ubhouli is celebrated on Baisakh shukla purnima. It is on same day of Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti. The literal definition of ubhauli is the migration of animals and birds towards higher and cooler northern region during the onset of summer (March/April) and udhauli is migrating down to lower altitudes in the beginning of winter (November). Festival shows the inter­ relation between human and nature and practice of transhumance. The Maaraapaache Sunuwar, Khumbu, Yakthumba, Yakkha and Dewan are generally called kirati who celebrate this festival. This festival is celebrated  on two days in a year. This is celebrated in various ways; some celebrate it with chandi nach, some with sakela or some other with baishake or badanmet. At this festival the nakchhong (the priest) recites mundhum (chanting of mantra) at different religious places like Chandithan, Margathan or Mangkhim. At every household people celebrate this festival by worshipping ancestors and dance by playing with dholjhyamta. Phedumgma and naso recite the mundhums for the Yakthumbas and the Sunuwars. They eat different types of delicious foods and enjoy together. There are some more festivals which are celebrated by the

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Nepalis of this state such as the Mahashivaratri, Ganesh Chatur­ thi, Fagun Purnima, Chaite Dashain, Shree Krishna Janmashtami, Buddha Jayanti, etc.

Conclusion In conclusion, it may be referred that absorption and integration of the people is the main characteristic of the history of Meghalaya. Under the patronage of the British government, Nepalis/Gorkhas were permanently settled here. As a result, they became bonafide citizens and showed their contribution for the promotion of polit­ ical, economic and cultural life of state. Nepalis in Meghalaya make the indigenous society and culture more extensive. In the different periods of history many people migrated from Nepal, established themselves permanently in this state and integrated with the indigenous society and culture by process of acculturation and in some pockets assimilation of language, and culture. Assimilation also found in food habits, social, religious and matrimonial relations. The Nepalis who came to these parts of the land since long back and in the early rush of the colonial conquest assimilated into the host society and contributed much to the social, economic, and political development of the state. However, they are able to preserve their cultural and ethnic identity by establishing the socio­ cultural institutions. The East Khasi Hills district and Jaintia Hills district are Nepali belts. A large number of retired Indian Army personnel (Gorkhas) live in Shillong. Agriculture and cattle rearing are their main occu­ pations. However, the Nepalese of Shillong and Tura are generally inclined towards business. The majority of Nepalis settled here are Hindus though some are Christians. Before 1987, more than 2,00,000 people of Nepali origin were spread throughout different districts of Meghalaya. Recent census (2011) shows that there are not more than 45,000 Nepali popula­ tion that remains in the state. It is well known that Nepali people have been living here for more than a century. On the one hand Indo-Nepal treaty of 1950, 1951, and 1952 grants to the Nepalis, a reciprocal right to settle India, on the other hand the abrupt change

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in the demographic size by missing two-third, i.e. 75 per cent of the total Nepali-speaking people from the state after 1987 makes the political status of the Nepalis confusing. However, by now the Nepali community comprises 5.26 per cent (2011 Census) of the total population of Meghalaya and they are found in almost all parts of the state. Nepali language is also spoken in almost all parts of Meghalaya.

REFERENCES Allen, B.C. (ed.), 1906. Assam District Gazetteers. Allahabad: Pioneer Press. Devi, M. 2007. ‘Economic History of Nepali Migration and Settlement in Assam’. Economic and Political Weekly. 42(29): 3005-7. Nag, S. 2007. ‘Fei-isation of the Nepalis of Northeast India’, in A.C. Sinha and T.B. Subba (eds.), The Nepalese of Northeast India: A Community in Search of Indian Identity. New Delhi: Indus Publication, pp. 184-93. Nath, L. 2005. ‘Migrants in Flight: Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement of Nepalese in Northeast India’. Peace and Democracy in South Asia, (1): 57-72. Rana, S. 2008. The Gurkhas: Settlement and Society. New Delhi: Mittal Publication. Sinha, G. 2006. The Role of Gorkhas in the Making of Modern India, Delhi: Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh.

CHAPTER 9

Socio-Cultural Aspects of the

Hajongs of Meghalaya

Manoranjan R. Hajong and Sudhanya R. Hajong

Introduction The Hajongs are an ethnic group inhabiting areas of the north­ eastern Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and also parts of the Mymensingh area of present-day Bangladesh. Their population numbers about 1,50,000 in India. The Hajongs have no recorded history as such and whatever historical references available are in the form of legends, folktales and traditional beliefs. Therefore, in terms of their origin and migration very little is known, although some mention is made to this effect in both the district gazetteers of Garo Hills and Mymensingh. In the section on Garo Hills in Assam District Gazetteer by B.C. Allen (1906) it is mentioned that the Hajongs belong to the Indo-Tibetan group of the main Mongoloid race. They had come from Tibet to north-eastern India and Assam along the Brahmaputra and its tributaries and spread out in this area. Similarly, a brief mention in the Bengal District Gazetteer (Sachse, 1917) on Mymensingh states that that the Hajongs were a section of the Indo-Burman group of the main Mongoloid race. From far Southeast Asia they had penetrated into Assam through Burma and had settled firstly in the Kamrup area of Assam. It is believed that the original habitation of the Hajongs in Garo Hills was in the area lying mostly along the north-east and south­ west foothills of Garo Hills and part of the southern foothills of

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Khasi and Jaintia Hills. This wide and plain stretch of land in the foothill area, half encircling these two hills, falls partly in pres­ ent-day Goalpara district of Assam, partly in Garo Hills district of Meghalaya and partly in Mymensingh and Syhlet districts of Bangladesh. According to folklore, the Hajong habitation was said to have started from a small Hajong village called Howarkona situated in the north-east corner of the foothills of Garo Hills and it was said to have ended at another small Hajong village called Joomakona situated in the south-east corner of the foothills of Jaintia Hills. The Hajong habitation was said to have extended only this far and no further beyond these two villages in either direction. These two terminals of Hajong villages were known in earlier days as Hajong Mathas, and were looked at as places of pilgrimage. Both the vil­ lages were not easily accessible in those days, and any Hajong who could once visit these two villages at least once in their lifetime would feel proud and accomplished. In width, the Hajong inhabitation neither penetrated much into the hilly interiors of Garo Hills nor spread much towards the vast plains of Goalpara and Kamrup districts of Assam and Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet districts of Bangladesh. Perhaps the fact is that the Hajong had advanced and settled into the interiors of Garo Hills only up to that extent where they had found themselves strong enough to withstand the onslaught of the Garos indulging even then in head hunting which was effectively stopped by the British as late as 1876 only. The Garos in fact never practised head hunting as a matter of course without some real provocation or grave reasons. It was their idea of retaliation for some outrage or revenge. On the other side, the mighty Brahmaputra flowing along the eastern boundary of Rangpur district in Bangladesh might have stood as a barrier which prevented the Hajongs from extending further into the plains of Rangpur district. The vast plains of Goalpara, Kamrup, Sylhet and Mymensingh districts were of course, open for expanding their inhabitation unopposed as much as they liked to do. But perhaps they did not bother to do so because of their scanty population. Or it might be that they could hardly find it congenial to live together with the so­

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called ‘sophisticated’ peoples of the plains. The other reason might be the fancies of the local zamindars, almost independent and ruthless lots, in those days, who might have tacitly and deliberately had the Hajongs settled only along the foothills as a line of defence against the aggression of the Garos. Be that as it may, the Hajong inhabitation remained confined to the area as described above. The whole foothills were under five parganas as originally divided during the Mughal rule. The north-western portion was known as Koraibari Pargana. Its northern part was called Uzan (upper) Koraibari and the western part was called Namdani (Lower) Korai­ bari. The big southern portion which fell in Mymensingh district was divided into two parganas known as Shusong Pargana and Doshkahonia Pargana. The rest south-eastern portion which fell in Sylhet district had two parganas, namely Bongashikunda and Lour parganas.

Social Structure of the Hajongs Originally the Hajongs were divided into six divisions, which can be looked at as sub-tribes. These divisions include the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Harang pariya Bhajalu pariya Manik pariya Teper pariya Satadal pariya and Manji pariya

The origin of these spatial divisions of the Hajongs was rooted in the past history of Hajo Pargana from where the Hajongs had migrated. It may be mentioned that in the middle of the fifteenth century when Kamrup or Kamata kingdom was losing its hold over its vast north-western portion, twelve Koch chiefs, otherwise known as Bhuyans came into power. The most powerful among those twelve chiefs, was the Hajgaya Bhuyan or the chief of Haj­ goan. The word hajgoan was the short form of ‘Hajagoan’, which was named after Haju, the great hero of the Hajongs.

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Towards the waning period of the powerful command of the Hajgoan chiefs their descendants were divided into six groups under the leadership of six heads, namely, (1) Harang, (2) Bhajalu, (3) Manik, (4) Teper, (5) Satadal, and (6) Manji. These six village heads or heads of the groups started to reside separately in six inde­ pendent small units. These six units were named after them and came to be known as Harang para, Bhajalu para, Manik para, Teper para, Satadakl para and Manji para. This grouping of the six village heads that had taken place in the past continued amongst the next generations of these six groups and when their population had largely increased, these groups had been termed as divisions. Since the Hajongs were the off-spring of these six groups they continued to follow this group or division system even when they had migrated to this new place and adapted it as the base or nucleus of their social structure. Here it is also necessary to mention that when the descendants of the chiefs of Hajgaya had been split down into six separate groups under six village heads, deep feelings of rivalry breeding hatred and ill will against one another, both in vie and virtue had crept up amongst them This had kept them separated and secluded one from the other, and by the time the Hajongs belonging to these six groups or divisions, had migrated to this place, they were already adhesive to this division system, which ultimately had become their social structure as mentioned above. On migration to their new abode the Hajongs, however had forgotten their feelings of enmity and hatred. With the passage of time, the population increased with rapid expansion of new settlements and the outlook of the society changed, and the Hajongs had started gradually to discourage this division system. By the time they had stepped up towards more social upliftment they had long back abolished this system. Today the present generation is hardly aware that such a system as men­ tioned above (social structure) had ever existed in the past. The Hajongs in Meghalaya including Garo Hills are today patri­ lineal. But matrilineal system known as nikni based on the maternal clan was prevalent in the past. In total there were sixteen niknis, i.e. clans. But as the matrilineal system had long back been discarded

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no one can recollect all names of the niknis now. So far only thirteen niknis have come to our knowledge. They are: (1) Poa Chungwa, (2) Chandi, (3) Porakati, (4) Dinjar, (5) Balihata, (6) Kendeygaon, (7) Akshigaon, (8) Kashigaon, (9) Taklaygaon, (10) Bagigaon, (11) Katgaon, (12) Simulgaon, and (13) Difragaon. In spite of utmost attempts names of the remaining other niknis could not be col­ lected, and remain unknown. The Poa Chungwa nikni was regarded as the leading one and the members belonging to this nikni used to enjoy most respectable position in the society in those days. However, it is interesting to note here that the members of some niknis had developed a feel­ ing of collateral relation with that of plants, creepers, insects, etc., having their names corresponding to that niknis of these members. The members of Kendeygaon nikni were prohibited from hunt­ ing or killing an insect called kendeyliua (millipedes). Similarly, the members of the members of Akshigaon and Taklaygaon niknis were strictly restricted not to cut or damage or use otherwise a creeper called akshi and a plant called takley respectively. The members of Katgaon nikni were never to use or damage any plant, creepers or vegetable that have thorns on their body while the members of Simulgaon nikni were prohibited not only to cut or damage simul or himul gash, a cotton-silk tree; even of pillows made of cotton silk was restricted to be used. They believed that violation of these restrictions resulted in sufferings from ill-luck, incurable illness or diseases. The reason for having such emotional attachment to these insects, creepers and plants could not be traced out. Only it can be said that this taboos and the totemic clans had helped the Hajongs to bear in mind a close attitude towards the nature around them. It is pertinent to mention late Prof. D.N. Majumdar of Gauhati University at this juncture. He had recorded four niknis among the Hajongs – which included a nikni called Ghughu nikni. But in fact, there was no such nikni known as Ghugu nikni. This term ‘Ghugu nikni’ was, however, used only for casting a joke. If a Hajong when asked for, could not tell his own nikni, he was left at his wit’s end and the rest of the people would cajole him to be a member of Ghugu nikni. The word ghugu in Hajong means a dove, a kind of wild pigeon. Doves bred only two dovelets in a season. In their

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young-hood though the dovelets are brothers and sisters in rela­ tion they become a pair like husband and wife when they grown up – therefore, two sibling doves later become a pair. Similarly, a Hajong who could not tell his own nikni was assailed wittingly (and jokingly) to be a member of the dove-clan hinting indirectly that he had married his own sister, which is seen as beastly and sinful. The inner intention or significance of this joke was to direct or make each Hajong to be particularly familiar with his own clan, so that he might not happen to get married with a girl belonging to his own nikni due to his ignorance. Marriage within one’s own nikni amongst the Hajongs were strictly prohibited on the ground that genealogically such girl was considered as his own sister. The origin of the nikni system among Hajongs, took shape in the primary stage of the society in the distant past. The names of the nikni, if examined carefully, found that they are, in fact, the names of some units of villages, either small or big. For instance, the names of some places like Bayahata, Bayahati, Dinhata, Din­ jior, etc., possibly were named after some places still in existence in Cooch Behar, Goalpara district and around Hajo area in Nalbari district of Assam. As mentioned, the Hajongs are patrilineal today. The daidi system possibly began during the time when they were following the matrilineal system. Daidi actually means kinship or descent through male or father’s line. A person having a distant relation with any member of the kinship of his father’s line is called daidi bhagi or daidi gosti. Thus, daidi bhagi means a person who holds a share of alliance to his patrilineal kinship while daidi gosti means a person who has a distant relation with another person of his patri­ lineal kinship. In the past a daidi bhagi or a daidi gosti was liable to observe chowa or ashouch for a day or three when news about death of any of his daidi bhagi or daidi gosti was heard and he was to be purified by performing certain religious rites. Unlike nikni system, the daidi system had no division and it had not become a cause for develop­ ment of any clan, class or group in the society of the Hajongs. It was only to see, similar to the nikni system, that there should be no daidi relationship between the proposed bride and bride-groom. If it was

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found that both of them or their families were daidi bhagi or daidi gosti to each other, the proposal was to be immediately be dropped.

Life Cycle Rites and Ceremonies Birth is a happy occasion and most welcome, but it does not cause much excitement for the Hajongs. A birth is expected, but nobody in the family seems to care much about exactly when. To the very last moment the mother goes on with as much of the normal work as her conditions permits. Only when the moment of delivery approaches she retires to the segregation hut. She is helped at this moment by one or two elderly women of the village. There is of course, anxious expectation regarding the sex of the baby on the part of the father, but it does not aggravate his attitude if a male or female child is born. The afterbirth is then buried in a secret place of the house. The mother with the child stays in the segregation hut for five or six days, by which time the navel cord falls off. On the fifth or sixth day after the navel cord falls off, a puja is performed. A sacred lamp in an earthen pot is lit and before it the hair of the child is shaved by the napit (barber). After one month the final puja or purification is held. A priest or a thakur (Brahmin priest) is called to conduct the puja. Only after this puja the mother is allowed to do her normal work as before. Before completion of one month the mother is not allowed to move about or enter any other house especially the main house or the kitchen. The child is fed mother’s milk till the time of weaning and gradually acclimatized to other food. The mother usually goes on with her daily work with the baby tied on her back. Marriage is arranged through negotiations. Parents who can afford to get their sons or daughters married, do so in their own house. In the case where the daughter is married at her parent’s home the groom is sought from the same or another village. It is called jangoy ana. After marriage the couple may stay in her par­ ent’s home for as long as they like or they can arrange separate establishment either in her parent’s compound or village or can go to her husband’s home or village where they can live separately or stay with the parents of her husband. In case where the groom is

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brought to reside permanently in his wife’s parental home, i.e. the parents-in-law’s home, he is called a ghor-jangoy. The system is also called ghor jangoy. When sons and daughters attain marriageable age, it is the obliga­ tion of the parents to see that they are properly and timely married off. Parents normally initiate the proposal engaging one or two per­ sons, generally village elders called jahu belonging to the village of the prospective bride or groom. If the parents of the prospective bride or groom express willingness then only proper negotiation is processed through the help of the jahu and other influential village elders. In the recent past the jahus and the village elders engaged for negotiation were primarily responsible to examine first the niknis of the prospective bride and the groom’s mother. If the niknis of the bride and the groom’s mother were found same, the proposal was to be dropped forthwith. Only when the niknis were found not same, the negotiation was to be continued. The way the niknis were examined was called nikni-hata. Nowadays, gotra, instead of nikni, is examined. Marriage within the same gotra of the fathers (but not of the mothers) of the proposed bride and the groom is prohibited. When both the parties mutually arrive at agreeable terms and con­ ditions, date of hapon-chawa (hapon = dream, chawa = to see) and mongal-chawa (mongal = omen, chawa = to see) is fixed. On that day it is to confirm that the parents of both the party dreamt nothing un-natural in the preceding night nor have seen any sign of bad omens till fathers of both the party and their representatives meet in the place of the bride or the groom. If all appears to have gone well, pucca (final) settlement of the marriage is finalized. But if a bad dream is dreamt and if any evil sign is seen the proposal must be put to an end immediately expressing deep regrets to one and the other by both the party. Before the final ceremony of the mar­ riage, a customary performance known as gua khawa or pan khawa (gua = areca nut, khawa = to eat) is done in the house of the bride or the groom who is to be married in the house of his or her would-be parents-in-law. Gua khawa or pan khawa is in fact a ceremony of engagement. Solemnly observing some ritual acts specific quan­ tity of areca nut, betel leaves, etc., is offered and then distributed amongst the members of both the parties present.

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Marriage normally takes place in the month of Magh, Falgun or Baisakh. The date of marriage is fixed by the priest (adhikari) or by the thakur (Brahmin priest) after consulting the panji (horoscope) and observing other good signs. Due intimation to the parents of the bride or the groom is communicated in time. The relatives of both the parties are invited by the seniormost member of the family at whose home the marriage is to be solemnized. Village elders or influential persons of the nearby village are also invited. Request for help distributing pan-topla (a small packet containing some pieces of areca nuts and one or two betel leaves) to each family of the village to which the parents of the bride or the groom belongs, is made. On the basis of community service one member from each family comes forward to help in purchases, constructing temporary sheds, collecting firewood, banana leaves and all other works. On the appointed day the bride and the groom is brought in time. In case of the bride, her elder brother accompanies her and in the case of the groom his younger brother accompanies him to perform the sampradan ceremony during the wedding. Along with them a group of villagers of both sexes also come to witness the marriage ceremony. They are called darli. The word darli has a dis­ tinct similarity with the Assamese word dora-gharia which means a group of persons who accompany the dora (groom). Marriage is conducted by the priest (adhikari) or by a thakur (Brahmin priest). To assist them five or six married women are engaged. These women are called ayorak. Apart from assisting the adhikari or thakur, the ayoraks also manage and conduct the performances of all female customary rites. The ayoraks are fully responsible to see that the marriage is properly solemnized observ­ ing all norms. One couple, preferably older in age and respectable in the village, lastly blesses the bride and the groom according to old customs. This couple is called dhoni bap and dhoni mao. In fact, the dhoni bap and dhoni mao represent the sun and the moon drawn by the ayoraks on the walls of the house in which the female cus­ toms are observed. Since these two heavenly bodies cannot descend so the living forms of these bodies in the form of dhoni bap and dhoni mao witness the wedding and bless the couple. For this sacred act, they are tied in a bond of close relationship and the dhoni bap

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and the dhoni mao are regarded as their own parents by the blessed couple. On the preceding day of the main marriage ceremony a custom­ ary performance called bahi bia is held in the morning. On this day a grand feast is also held in honour of the community and the bride serves the food to all invitees, guests, village elders, etc., starting from her husband first. This function is known as hata-chhowa (hata = serving spoon, chhowa = touching; meaning serving of food first to the husband then to others by the new bride during the community feast). From about a month or two onwards the newly married couple live together in the house constructed particularly for their use. This house is known as jora ghor, i.e. the house where the couple starts to understand each other and lead their conjugal life. Within a month after marriage, the newly-married couple visits normally for a day their parents’ home accompanied by a group of villagers of same age of both sexes. This is known as ghor-pheni (ghor = home, pheni = return; meaning, home return ceremony after a couple of days of marriage which is usuallu followed by a feast given to near relatives). Ghor-pheni is held on an auspicious day accompanied by a grand feast for the villagers and relatives who were invited for this occasion. During the departure the parents offer gifts to the married couple and bless them wishing them a long and happy life. The Hajongs believe that death is the dissolution of the bond that ties the substance called jiu (soul) to the body. Soon after the jiu leaves the body, each finger of both hands and legs of the dead body is wrapped and tied with raw yarn and then the body is covered with a piece of white cloth. The dead is then cremated. Villagers are called and in most cases a kirtan is arranged. A bamboo stretcher is made and then the dead body is carried on it to the cremation ground. To perform the last rites for the deceased, normally the eldest son is made responsible to observe the hobis (ceremonial act of restrain in food habit and other aspects after the death of parents followed by the sons till the final post-funeral ceremony is com­ pleted). The other sons, if any, including all members of the family

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of the deceased take a restricted food consisting of only vegetables and fruits and observe all other restrictions meant for such an occa­ sion. On the thirteenth day or on the twenty-ninth day in the case of those who are still following the old customs, a napit (profes­ sional barber) is called and the hair of the sons of the deceased are completely shaven generally on the bank of a river or stream. It is called ghat-kama. Next day, sarat or sradha ceremony is held. It is conducted by a thakur or by an adhikari in the case of those who fol­ low the old customs. The asthi (ashes) of the deceased is preserved normally under a tulsi plant (sacred basil) and generally within one year it is immersed in the holy water of the Ganges.

Religious Practices The Hajongs are now thoroughly Hinduized. All Hindu religious customs are adhered to right from the time of birth. No information is available as to how the Hajongs came under the influence of Hinduism in the long past as no written records exist to this effect. Only an attempt can be made with reference to their religious traditions, customs, conventions, etc., some of which are still being followed by the Hajongs and also in the context of the religious atmosphere found to have prevailed in those days in the place where their forefathers were living and from where they are said to have migrated. The Hajongs are devout worshippers of Goddess Kamakhya and they call her ‘Ka-Mai-Kha’. They consider her as the Supreme Mother. In each Hajong village there is a place called Ka-Mai-Kha than or thaiban, meaning a place where the Goddess Kamakhya is established and worshipped regularly; but mainly during the Ambubachi festival. The person who conducts this puja is called nongtang. The word nongtang is a Bodo word referring to a priest. It is not hereditary nor can it be for lifetime of the priest. After three to five or seven years when a nongtang expresses his desire to discontinue the nongtangship a new nongtang is selected. Selection is made in a very interesting manner. A couple of days earlier a meeting of

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the village elders is held. In the meeting when it is agreed that the present nongtang should be relieved as desired by him, a date for selection of a new nongtang is fixed. In the preceding evening the present nongtang takes a round-shaped stone weighing approxi­ mately 5 kg (a panch-seri-pathor in earlier days) to the Ka-Mai-Kha thaiban and after having it washed with tulsi-water it is invoked in the name of Mother Kamakhya and placed on a banana leaf called chok-pat (end portion of lamella) inside the thaiban. Some tulsi leaves and raw cotton with seeds are offered and then it is again covered by another chok-pat. This invocation of a stone is called hill-jaga (hill = stone, jaga = to make the stone awake or alive with power). Next day, i.e. on the appointed date, all the villagers gather in the premises of the Ka-Mai-Kha thaiban, normally in the morn­ ing. Few unmarried youths are selected and they are purified with tulsi water scattered on their head by the nongtang. After being puri­ fied they are asked one by one to touch and press the invoked stone with their right hand palm. It is really a strange thing to note that the moment a youth who is believed to be born in tula rashi (Libra star sign) puts his palm on the stone, it starts to move. It comes out from the thaiban and continues to move around. Lastly, it goes to a person and stops near his feet. The youth who also moves around having touched the stone all along, becomes unconscious and col­ lapses there. He regains consciousness when the nongtang scatters tulsi water on his head. However, the person at whose feet the stone stopped is selected as the new nongtang. The newly-selected nong­ tang bows down before Mother Kamakhya and takes an oath that he would try his best to conduct her pujas devoutly. Only a married person is selected as nongtang for Mother Kamakhya. Besides Ka-Mai-Kha than, there is another place of worship in each village of the Hajongs. This place is called Bastu Hali. The Bastu Thakur, the omnipotent God of the village is established and worshipped in the Bastu Hali. The word bastu has been derived from the word basti or village. Hali means place, while thakur refers to God. The Bastu Thakur is also considered as the protector or tutelary God of the village. In those days when outbreak of cholera, smallpox, dysentery, etc., in virulent or epidemic form was very

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common, each village used to arrange special puja to the Bastu Thakur praying to him to keep their village safe and unaffected. Bastu Puja or Bastu Parab is one of the most important festivals of the Hajongs. It is celebrated during the month of Magh and Falgun immediately after harvesting is over. Normally goats are offered. But in earlier days some villages, after an interval of seven years, used to offer even buffaloes. This puja is also conducted by a nongtang. Worshipping of Lord Krishna as Gopala is also very common among the Hajongs. In each Hajong village there is a place called Gopal Hali or Gopal Bari where during Dol Jatra or Holi festival, a big puja is held. Apart from normal prasada, doui-chira-khoi (curd­ beaten rice mixed with rice corn) is the main item of nourishment. Kirtan and kabi-gan are sung by several groups of different villages. Abir or fagu of different colours is used abundantly and it is the main item to make the festival more sportive, gay and colourful.

Conclusion Many of the sociocultural and traditional practices including legends, folk tales and beliefs that the Hajongs practised have undergone considerable changes as has been mentioned in the forgoing sections and some are being gradually lost and forgotten among the younger generations due to a number of reasons including influence of other neighbouring cultures. These changes have come in due to forces of modernization, proselytization, market economy, etc. One of the most important changes witnessed is the slow change from a matrilineal to a patrilineal society. However, despite this, some aspects of their culture and religion have endured and continue to be practised strongly by the Hajongs.

NOTE This chapter is an excerpt from an unpublished book titled, ‘The History and Culture of the Hajongs’ by late Manoranjan Ray Hajong, EAC retired, Arunachal Pradesh Civil Services. This is based on late Hajong’s freelance research works, and compiled by his son, Sudhanya Ray Hajong, the co-author.

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REFERENCES Allen, B.C. 1906. Assam District Gazetteers. Allahabad: Pioneer Press. Sachse, F.A. 1917. Bengal District Gazetteers: Mymensingh. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot.

CHAPTER 10

Touching the Intangibles

Revisiting Kinship among the Sakachep

Sezolu Khamu and Teresa L Khawzawl

Introduction The study of kinship is so central to anthropology that Fox (1967: 10) has likened it to logic in philosophy, as ‘the basic discipline of the subject’. However, kinship lacks a definite definition and is steeped in ambiguity. The views of scholars on this matter is as varied, contested and multidimensional as human life itself, and Needham’s (1971: 5) iconoclastic statement that there is ‘no such thing as kinship’ was not meant to deny the significance of the topic, but rather to emphasize that like all such notions in comparative anthropology, kinship is not a clearly delimited ‘thing’ but an amorphous, polythetic concept (Barnard & Good, 1984). This lack of precise definition may even be liberating rather than restrictive, since it helps undermine the persistent delusion that the task of kinship studies is to isolate and analyse semi-algebraic kinship ‘systems’. For any individual, kinship does not constitute a closed system, but an open-ended set of opportunities and constraints (Good, 2002). Kinship is the web of social relationships that form an impor­ tant part of the lives of most humans in most societies. Fox (1967) states that the study of kinship is the study of what man does with these basic facts of life – mating, gestation, parenthood, socializa­ tion, siblingship, etc. Over its history, anthropology has developed a

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number of related concepts and terms in the study of kinship such as descent, marriage and family. Kinship pattern may be considered to include people related by both descent, i.e. social relations dur­ ing development – and by marriage. The study of kinship is, thus, closely intertwined with other institutions like family, descent, marriage and such others. This chapter is based on the kinship system of the Sakachep, a small ethnic community residing in East Jaintia Hills district of the state of Meghalaya and few other adjoining states in north-east India. The kinship system among the Sakachep of Meghalaya in particular, evokes special interest because they follow the patrilineal line of descent unlike the major tribes of Meghalaya (Khasis, Garos and Jaintias) who are well known for their institution of matriliny. Saitsama and Mynngor are the only two villages in Jaintia Hills where members of the Sakachep community reside. Altogether, 109 households (73 in Saitsama and 36 in Mynngor) were Sakachep households in 2009. This chapter will attempt to shed some light on the kinship system, basically the relationship between different members of a family based on marriage and on descent and the social changes that is beginning to alter the kinship system among the Sakachep of Meghalaya.

Origin and Migration of the Sakacheps With regard to the term sakachep, there are two speculations. According to Marak and Khawzawl (2010: 153), sakachep literally means ‘to trap animal’ and is derived from the word sa and chep, while the ka is a pronoun, perhaps referring to them being expert hunters in the past. As per the other speculation, the term sakachep is an amalgamation of two words, namely saka and chep. Saka means ‘pig’s leg’ and chep means ‘grill, made of bamboo’. The nomenclature is basically derived from their marriage system which will find an elaborate explanation in the later part of this chapter. Prior to the arrival of the Sakacheps, Saitsama was a forested region. Land was subsequently acquired by reclamation and only later it became an immovable private property. The Sakacheps have recounted their first settlement in Saitsama back to the year

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1904 (approx.) while the Pnars arrived later around 1960. Jhum cultivation was practised where large tracts of land was cleared and burned. Later on, vast acres of settled agricultural land came under the possession of the Pnars who were economically established even when they came to settle in the village. According to the fieldwork census conducted in 2009, nearly 70 per cent of the Sakacheps were engaged in the primary sector, i.e. agriculture, while the remain­ ing 30 per cent were reportedly engaged in the secondary and the tertiary sector (private and government sectors). Even though the Sakacheps are the first settlers, due to their smaller and dwindling population size, the village headman at the time of fieldwork (in 2009) was represented by a Pnar. The official meetings in the Dor­ bar Shnong (village council) are mostly conducted through the Pnar dialect which further points to the prevailing influence of Pnar over the Sakachep in Saitsama. The Sakachep and Pnar have maintained a positive stance and have been dwelling in peaceful coexistence. Believed to be migrants from various parts of the region, their traditional cultural life-world is unlike the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos of Meghalaya, who constitute the major tribes. The Sakacheps reached Saitsama village around 1904 and became the first settlers of the village. The migratory route(s) of the Sakacheps cannot be ascertained. However, like most of the tribal populations in north-east India, the migratory route of the Sakachep people may be traced along the Indo-Myanmar border, an area common in origin to the Mizo-Lushai, Biate, Hmar, Hrangkhol, Thadou and other Kuki-Chin groups (Longkumer, 2009: 35). In the NorthCachar Hills or present Dima Hasao district, the Sakacheps are also known as Khelmas. Racially, the Sakacheps have close resemblances to the Hrangkhols and the Biates. In fact these three tribes are believed to have arrived in Dima Hasao district following the same wave from the same place in the distant past. Like the Hrangkhols and the Biates, the Sakacheps also have a popular legend among their tribe that their ancestors emerged from Khurpui Tabum, a large hole in the earth, which is somewhere supposedly believed to be located in Western China (Lalsim, 2005: 106). There are reportedly two reasons behind the initial migration of the Sakacheps. They were believed to have lived in Vairengte

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(Mizoram). From there, they moved to Agartala (Tripura) some 300 years ago. Later on, the Sakachep migrated from Tripura and came to Meghalaya in the early nineteenth century. According to Sakachep folklore, there once lived a king (vaireng) in Tripura who subdued the Sakachep into suzerainty. He subsequently illtreated, punished and loathed them. This was to the extent that the Sakacheps felt compelled to turn their backs on him and their native land and to search for greener pastures, which they found in Meghalaya. The second narrative which accounts their migra­ tion to Meghalaya points to the British colonization of India. It is narrated that during those days the Sakachep fiercely defended their land but were eventually overpowered by British forces. They were left with no other option but to flee (Khamu & Langstieh, 2012:594). While there are two reasons for their migration, there are two theories which further narrate the sequence of events that occurred along their route of migration. Migration Theory I The Sakacheps were believed to have lived in Vairengte in the state of Mizoram, bordering Assam. From there they moved to Agartala in the state of Tripura some 300 years ago. They lived there for a while before moving to North Cachar hills in the state of Assam. They continued their onward migration to Lale Block I (an area previously under the jurisdiction of Meghalaya but currently under the state of Assam). In Lale Block I, they practiced jhum cultivation before migrating to Chamjay. From Chamjay, they moved farther to Mynchru where an epidemic claimed several lives, so they moved to Mootari. In Mootari too, another epidemic occurred and the people suffered much. The people feared that an evil spirit might be the cause of the epidemics and fled from there before finally arriving in Saitsama. Mynchru had witnessed much dissemination as one wave of the Sakacheps moved to a neighboring village, Kalong, while still others moved to Mynngor where they have permanently settled. The causation for the constant movements of the Sakachep has been due to jhum cultivation which requires constant lookout for arable land. There is a narrative which relates the migration of the Sakachep while they were onward bound to Lale Block I from North Cachar Hills. During

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their onward journey, the Sakacheps came upon a river called Kupli situated at the Assam-Meghalaya border. In order to cross the river, the Sakacheps fixed a temporary bamboo bridge. Before all the clans could make it safely to the other side, the makeshift bridge collapsed, unable to withstand the high water current gushing through the river. The Neibom clan, consisting of a father, mother and children were left behind. All hopes of reconnecting with the fellow Sakacheps seem to disappear when the father chanced upon a tiger on the river bank. The tiger waved its tail and seemed harmless, so the father approached it and shook hands with the tiger. The tiger then helped the Neibom family to cross the river who were finally reunited with the other clans of the Sakacheps. Therefore, the Neibom clan especially considers the tiger as their God, savior and friend. Although the practice is not followed anymore, in earlier times, a piece of cloth was used to cover a dead tiger. Migration Theory II The second theory propounds that the Sakacheps came from the eastern part of Agartala. The Sakacheps used to live amongst the Kuchung tribe as they were not the aborigines of the area. However, an argument broke out between the two tribes over a river, called Tuirong, where they both practiced fishing. The Sakacheps occupied one half of the river but because of the fact that they were not the original settlers, they were banished, chased and ultimately slaughtered by the Kuchungs. The Sakacheps fled to the forests of North Cachar Hills and remained in hiding but the Kuchungs, aware of their presence attempted to set the forest on fire. However, the king of North Cachar Hills prohibited the Kuchungs from burning down the forest stating that the area falls under his jurisdiction. Though the king was unaware of the Sakachep’s presence, his timely prohibition salvaged the Sakacheps from being eliminated. From North Cachar Hills, the Sakacheps reached Lale Block I where they met the Neibom clan. Another narrative about the Neibom clan and the tiger is also been accounted. The tiger, after helping the Neibom clan to cross the river, developed a good relationship with the humans; they agreed to help each other in times of need. They also arrived at a deal whereby the tiger shall not eat humans while the Neibom would feed him well. Every day, the tiger would bring meat and place it at the doorstep of the Neibom but one day the tiger brought a human leg. This act of betrayal by the tiger compelled the humans to cut off their relationship, which in turn infuriated the tiger

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as it threatened to eat all the humans one by one. The tiger kept true to its words and started devouring the humans. The Neiboms fled the area and moved to Chamchari village from where they continued to migrate to Mynchru before finally making it to Saitsama.

Family, Marriage and Kinship The Sakachep terms the family as inkua-khat and it also implies a house or a residential unit. The Sakachep family maintains both traditional joint family and nuclear family. As such, some Sakachep family may consist of the married couple and their children, while other families may also include some other members related to the couple such as old parents and unmarried siblings. The Sakacheps follow patriarchy. The father is called pa and he is the head of the family, and the decisions made by him are marked as final and binding; he exercises absolute control over the fam­ ily’s property, controls family members, rules the house and at the same time he is responsible for providing all the needs and require­ ments for the family. As such, the father is the dominant figure in the family and all the authority, prestige and responsibilities rests on him. The mother is called nu and she takes equal responsibility in agricultural works; additionally, she takes responsibility overall household chores and tends to the children, yet she is ignored in matters of taking decision relating to family affairs. As such, gen­ der disparity is witnessed within the Sakachep society and that the status of Sakachep women is much unlike those of the neighbouring communities. Thus, the women control only the domestic activities while the men exercise control over all other aspects of the family. Monogamy is the accepted rule. Clan members identify them­ selves as brothers and sisters and believe in descent from a common ancestor. Therefore, sexual relations within the clan are prohib­ ited and regarded as laisnem (incestuous). Thus, clan exogamy is strictly enforced. The most commonly identified clan among the Sakachep are the Vaichei, Motsun, Saithwai, Sumthinkha, Thel­ ensing, Neibom, Kelphung, Kothang and Thirsu. Marital ties are allowed between any of the above-mentioned clans. Prohibition was imposed among the members from marrying within the same clan

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or sub-clan and in case the members breach the rule, the concerned individuals are penalized by the clan elders and ostracized from the clan as well as from the village. The term yatkhat inluo is referred to marriage between the same clan. If the man in question happens to be the eldest son of the family and marries a woman from his clan or sub-clan, the couple along with their posterity is ostracized. Among the Sakacheps, cross-cousin marriages from the mother’s side also exists. Among the Sakacheps, traditionally, the marriage system required a man to offer 4-5 years of service to his would-be father­ in-law before being allowed to take his bride home. This tradition of marriage by service was called maksa during which the man had to work like a good son. On completion of maksa, the father-in-law then organizes a marriage feast wherein all the people of the vil­ lage would be invited. The wedding day was celebrated with much feasting, singing and dancing. During the occasion, the groom’s family would gift a pig to the bride’s family. The hind legs of the pig were then given to the bride’s grandfather. As evening approaches, the bride’s father would bid farewell to his daughter as she pro­ ceeds for the groom’s house. A welcome feast would be organized by the groom’s family called moi ruai, which was also accompanied by much feasting, singing, dancing and merry-making. Bride price was existent among the Sakacheps. An amount of twelve rupees was given to the groom whereby the amount was fractioned into two rupees each for purchasing land, buying clothes for the woman, buying tools and utensils, etc. Thus, the Sakachep marriage was an elaborate affair and the very term sakachep is believed to have been derived from the nature of the marriage system.

Marriage Patterns Marriage among the Sakacheps is known as aninlua and the marriage system as inlua-roi. For the Sakacheps, marriage system is a network of several rituals and practices thus becoming a net­ work of interrelated practices, rituals and customs (Amung, 2015). The first step to getting married begins with the kutchoi or sending of proposal from the boy’s family. This is followed by moibiak that

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socially declares the betrothal. Moiroi is the actual wedding day where the bride price called loloiman is given to the bride’s father. It has been reported that the rituals and customary practices following the marriage system in the Sakachep society are specifically followed only when marriage alliances take place between two Sakachep families. Marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, and as such, it was quite a rare phenomena to come across divorces. It is, however, apparently on the rise today as reported by the people in the village with the increase in mixed-marriages between the Sakacheps and the Pnars. Table 10.1 presents the marriage admixture between tribes in Saitsama village. From the table, it can be inferred that inter­ marriage between Sakacheps and Pnars (24.3 per cent) is more prevalent than the marriages among the Sakacheps (22.0 per cent). Thus, the rate of admixture surpasses that of intra-marriage among the Sakacheps. The Sakacheps were found to be adopting patrilocal, matrilo­ cal and neolocal rules of residence. However, among 45 Sakachep marriages, patrilocal residence (17.8 per cent) seems to be more prevalent than matrilocal (11.1 per cent) as well as neolocal (6.7 per cent) type of residence. Majority of the Sakachep marriages (64.4 per cent) were between members from the same village. A woman after marriage comes and lives with her husband and then follows the traditional joint family set-up but in some cases the newly-wed TABLE 10.1: MARRIAGE PATTERNS IN SAITSAMA VILLAGE

Total no. of marriages (N)

Percentage

65

37.6

Sakachep × Pnar

42

24.3

Sakachep × Sakachep

38

22.0

4

2.3

24

13.9

173

100

Marriage Patterns Pnar × Pnar

Sakachep × Others Others (Khasi, Karbi, Nepali) Total Source: Fieldwork 2009.

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couple is allowed to live in their new house built by the husband’s father.

The Lineage System The tribe has great interest in recounting genealogies. This enables them to connect to their lineage some five or six generations. How­ ever, this form of lineage group is neither functionally important nor does it emerge as a corporate unit in their society. The frame­ work of the Sakachep society cannot be conceived without a full understanding of their descent groups and the principles on which they are organized. Descent groups provide the stability and continuity as well as determine the norms, rules and principles that define the social relationship in their society (Changmi, 2009: 13). Sakachep follows the patrilineal line of descent, i.e. descent is traced through the male line and the children take after the clan names of the father. The Sakachep term for descent is rui and clan is called jat. A clan in the Sakachep society constitutes the largest category of men and women who have descended patrilineally from a common male ancestor. As discussed earlier, tribe intermarriages are rampant between Sakachep and other tribes such as Pnars, Khasis and Karbis. Like the Khasis, the Pnars also follow the matrilineal system wherein the youngest daughter inherits all the property of the family. In several cases of intermarriages between the Pnars and any other patrilineal tribe such as Sakacheps or others, it was observed that the surname or clan name is taken either from the mother’s side (maternal) or the father’s side (paternal) after mutual understanding between both the families. As such, the descent system among the Sakacheps is showing signs of deviation. For instance, children born out of an admixed marriage between a Sakachep husband and a Pnar wife is more likely to adopt patriliny, i.e. taking after the father’s lineage in the clan title. However, there are some families who adopt both the father as well as the mother’s lineage resulting in some sort of double descent. Thus, certain mixed marriages between a Sakachep and a Pnar are beginning to change the rules of descent.

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Following are five case studies with a focus on the rules of descent in the Sakachep society. CASE 1: VAICHEI CLAN

As in the case of the Vaichei clan, the genealogy revealed that there are about 67 males and 47 females who descended from four brothers. Their children follow patrilineality and patrilocality. However, there was a report of one case in the descent group where a Sakachep female married a Pnar male. This couple resided near the father’s house after marriage but the descent was traced through the mother, i.e. the children were given their mother’s clan name. CASE 2: KELPHUNG CLAN

The descendants of three brothers were 40 males and 29 females. In the third generation, each of the four brothers married Pnar women. At present, the children of these four brothers follow their mother’s descent by using their mother’s clan name, i.e. Pnar. In this case, like the previous case, their children have taken the descent after their mother. The interesting phenomena highlighted in the above two cases is that, in both the cases the descent is traced through the female line. In the first case, the patrilineal descent system was not followed even though the woman or the mother belonged to the patrilineal system. And in the second case, even though the men or the fathers belonged to the patrilineal system of descent, the matrilineal sys­ tem was chosen over it. CASE 3: THELENGSING CLAN

The genealogical data recorded 13 males and 8 females in the Thelengsing descent. Here the ego (Sakachep) married a Pnar female and bore five children (four sons and one daughter). The four sons followed the patrilineal line of descent and retained their father’s clan name Thelengsing, whereas the daughter retained her mother’s clan name, Dkhar. Even after the daughter’s marriage to another Pnar, her children continued to retain her surname, which in turn has formed a kind of double or dual descent group.

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CASE 4: SUMTINGKHA CLAN

The genealogical data recorded revealed four siblings of whom two were males and two females. One of the brothers married a Pnar female. All of their seven children follow the mother’s clan name. On the other hand, his brother married a Sakachep woman where all of his eight children follow the father’s clan name. Meanwhile, one of the sisters got married to another Sakachep man (belonging to the Kelphung clan) and their children follow the father’s clan name while, the other sister got married to a Pnar and her children follow their father’s clan name. CASE 5: NEIBOM CLAN

The recorded genealogical data showed 21 male and 12 female members from Neibom clan. From amongst a family of six siblings (five brothers and one sister), three of the brothers got married to the Pnar female. The children of these three brothers follow their mother’s clan name. The sister got married to another Sakachep and in her case, the rules of decent did not show any deviation since her children continue to trace their line of descent from their father. So, if we look closely at these cases and many others in the Sakachep society, what is prevalent is the deviation in the descent system. The traditional patrilineal and patrilocal system of the tribe is faced with a situation where ‘convenience’ of the couples has come to the forefront. The question that is raised here is the state the ‘traditions’ are in especially of descent. This also brings to context what Bourdieu (1987) calls the transition from rule to strategies (cf. Deliege 2006). Marriage strategies also result from a sense of play directed toward choosing the best possible partner. The Sakacheps follow the patrilineal rule of inheritance. The rule of inheritance ascribe the eldest son to inherit the family’s property and at the same time he is charged with numerous familial and kinship obligations such as looking after his aged parents, his unmarried or divorced sisters or brothers, and other members that need help and assistance. Succession pattern is patri-potestalia, i.e. after the death of the father, the eldest son becomes the head of the family; he becomes the custodian and trustee of the family’s

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property and he exercises complete authority. At the present time, the mother also takes responsibilities along with the eldest son in looking after the family’s welfare. In case the eldest son passes away, the younger brother inherits the position from the deceased senior brother, and in case he too passes away, he is succeeded by a still younger brother. Generally, the youngest and middle son(s) and daughter(s) have no right to claim the property of the family. But if necessity arises, land and property are divided among the brothers. Even then, it is the eldest son who gets a slightly bigger share than his younger brothers. Unlike the matrilineal societies, the father’s brothers have no rights over the property as long as there are sons in the family. The daughters have no right to inherit immovable ancestral property even if she is the only child in the family. In such cases, the property is taken away by her close kins or father’s brother. However, for those wealthy families owning large property, the daughter could be given both immovable and movable proper­ ties at the behest of the head of the family.

Discussion The Sakachep community is witnessing changes in all spheres of life. One obvious change is the departure from the traditional joint family system. The younger generation Sakacheps are increasingly preferring the nuclear family type of living arrangement. Some of the factors leading to the emergence of nuclear family system are spread of Christianity, education, economic conditions and culture contact with other communities (Daimai, 2009: 20). It was observed that the educated Christians were found to set up their own individual families immediately after marriage, thus opting for neolocal type of residence. Moreover, oppressed economic con­ ditions have compelled new couples to settle elsewhere in search of agricultural fortunes. Another major change is observed in the marriage pattern. Cross-community marriage between the Sakachep and the Pnar is already very high and is only increasing. This has led to the devia­ tion in the marriage system, the norms of descent and residence in the Sakachep society. It has also been observed that under the

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influence of the matrilineal society, the traditional marriage rituals and practices are disappearing slowly from the cultural horizon of the Sakachep. The dominant scenario being the reluctance or the avoidance of these rituals to be conducted during inter-tribe mar­ riage ceremonies. Since the Sakachep dwell among and with the Pnars (who are matrilineal), there is an obvious culture influence between the two communities. The five case studies presented earlier, viz., Vaichei, Kelphung, Thelengsing, Sumthinkha, and Neibom has shown that majority of the male members are getting married to Pnar women while adopting their wife’s culture. It is evident that the majority group has a higher influence on the Sakachep. Cultural assimilation and acculturation is rapidly occurring with the Pnar culture hav­ ing a higher intensity of integration among the Sakachep culture. Sakachep men are increasingly losing their descent. Their kinds of descents have further added to the obscurity in defining kinship among the Sakacheps. Furthermore, the Pnar dialect is widely spo­ ken and used as the medium of communication within the family. The younger generation is thus, unlearning their mother tongue. Despite all the social changes taking place, some social values continue to be upheld by the Sakacheps. Mutual love and respect between parents-children still continues. Monogamy continues to be the norm and clan exogamy is still preferred. They still follow a rule known as omdan which is a desired code of conduct. This code is analogous to the avoidance relationship where members in the family are expected to follow certain demeanour while interact­ ing with each other. This code of conduct is especially enforced between in-laws, as in, how a daughter-in-law should behave with her parents-in-laws and others.

Conclusion The high rate of inter-tribe marriage between the two communities is on the verge of giving rise to a new culture. If this trend con­ tinues, the Sakachep population in Saitsama village will largely decrease or it may altogether cease to exist. Alternatively, there is also a possibility of metamorphosing patrilineality into another

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descent group known as ambilineal descent, where an individual affiliate himself or herself to either mother’s or father’s descent group by personal choice rather than by custom, as has already been reported from the case studies. With the change in marriage patterns and rules of descent, there is also a threat of losing the Sakachep language. Overall, there is a concern over losing identity of Sakachep as a tribe and the disintegration or extinction of the Sakachep language in Saitsama village.

REFERENCES Among, R. 2015. ‘Understanding Marriage System among Sakacheps of the Saitsama Village’. Oriental Anthropologist, 15 (1): 145-50. Barnard, A.J. and A. Good. 1984. Research Practices in the Study of Kinship. London: Academic. Changmi, S. 2009. ‘Rules of Descent among the Sakachep of Saitsama Village’. MA dissertation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Daimai, C. 2009. ‘Family among the Sakachep of Saitsama Village, Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya’. MA dissertation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Deliege, R. 2006.  Anthropology of the Family and Kinship. New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited.  Fox, R. 1967. Kinship and Marriage. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Good, A. 2002. ‘Kinship’, in A. Barnard and J. Spencer (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Routledge, pp. 469-80. Khamu, S and B.T. Langstieh. 2012. ‘“Tradition” and “Adaptation”: The Case of the Sakachep in Meghalaya, India’. Man in India, 92 (3-4): 593-9. Lalsim, R. 2005. Tribes of N.C. Hills, Assam. Haflong: North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council Publication Series. Longkumer, S. 2009. ‘Demographic Study on Migration and Marriage Patterns in Saitsama, Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya’. MA dissert­ ation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Marak, Q. and T. Khawzawl. 2010. ‘Role and Status of Sakachep Women and their Self-Help Groups’. South Asian Anthropologist, 10(2): 153-8. Needham, R. 1971. ‘Remarks on the Analysis of Kinship and Marriage’, in R. Needham (ed.), Rethinking Kinship and Marriage. London: Tavistock Press, pp. 1-34.

PA RT I I I

Language and Culture

CHAPTER 11

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

Seino van Breugel

Introduction Since the publication of A Grammar of Atong (van Breugel 2014), new information about the Atong kinship system and the terms used to express family relations have come to light; an accomplishment which merits a new publication. How is the information presented in this publication different from that of the previous one? First, new kinship terms are presented in this chapter, which were previously unknown to the author. Second, in van Breugel (2014), the referents attributed to several terms appeared to be either wrong or inaccurate. These errors were corrected through additional research, and the correct referents are presented in this chapter. Third, whereas A Grammar of Atong focuses more on the morphological aspects of kinship terms, this work focuses more on the criteria governing the use of the terms in much the same way as the chapter on Lyngam kinship terms in this volume does (Chapter 13), making it possible to draw comparisons between the systems of these two neighbouring peoples. However, despite all the painstaking research, due to its enormous complexity, the Atong kinship lexicon continues to harbour some secrets. Points where more fieldwork research is desired are indicated in the text. Language should always be studied in the context in which it is used. Therefore, this chapter includes an introduction to Atong and its speakers, followed by some more specific cultural background information relevant to kinship lexicon, types and subtypes of

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kinship terms based on pragmatic and semantic criteria. After the conclusion, the glossary provides an alphabetical list of all kinship terms and kinship-related terms – all nouns – treated in this chap­ ter. Each entry is accompanied by information about the semantic category of the noun, and for kinship terms, information about the pragmatic, semantic and morphological subtypes it belongs to. As a final note, throughout the chapter, the Atong pronoun ang, or its translations ‘I, me’ are used for what anthropologists call ego, i.e. the deictic centre of the relationship.

An Introduction to Atong and Its Speakers The Atong people officially belong to the Garo Scheduled Tribe, and are unofficially considered a sub-tribe of the Garos. The speech variety they use for daily interactions amongst one another is also called Atong. Atong is spoken in Meghalaya state, north­ east India, and adjacent areas in Bangladesh. According to Burling (2003: 175-6), the language belongs to the Bodo-Garo branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family, while von Driem (2001, 2007, 2014) places Atong in the Brahmaputra group within the TransHimalayan family. The highest concentration of Atong speakers in India can be found in the South Garo Hills district, in the area of the Simsang1 River, as well as in adjacent areas in the Western Khasi Hills. The grey oval on Map 11.1 gives a rough indication of

Source: Map is designed by the author and in part digitally created by Weerachai Sriwai. The boundaries on this map are not authoritative. Map 11.1: Rough indication of the Atong-speaking area

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

207

the area where Atong is spoken. As will be discussed below, Atong is not the only speech variety spoken in this area. In India, Atong is considered a dialect according to the politi­ cal definition of the term ‘dialect’. According to this definition, a dialect is any non-official speech variety. Although the matter is complicated, only the prestige speech varieties spoken by officially recognized people groups are called languages. Most Atongs are bilingual in Standard Garo to varying degrees, but speakers of stan­ dard and non-standard varieties of Garo cannot understand Atong without having to learn it first. Atong has a different grammar and vocabulary from the speech varieties spoken around it, giving it the character of a linguistically unique entity, and thus deserving of the title of language in the linguistic sense of the word. Within Atong, there is some dialectal variety (in the linguistic sense of the word). For example, people in the areas of Badri and Rongsu speak differently from people in Siju and Baghmara (see also van Breugel 2014: 20-1). All varieties of Atong within India seem to be completely mutually intelligible. As mentioned above, Atong is also spoken in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, the author has never been able to study the speech varieties spoken there, but the author was told by Atong speakers from India, that the Atong in Bangladesh is intelligible to them but different. More fieldwork certainly needs to be done to find out the extent of the dialectal diversity and to record, analyse and describe Atong as spoken in Bangladesh. Both Siju and Badri people think of themselves as speaking what they call ‘pure Atong’. Speakers in both areas demonstrate the ‘purity’ of their own speech variety with the word for ‘shirt’: Badri people consider jama to be the ‘real’ word, while Atongs in Siju are adamant that it is chola. Of course, both chola and jama are not Atong at all, but loan words from some Indic language.2 Given the huge number of loan words in the language, there is no such thing as ‘pure Atong’; there are just different varieties of it. The Atong language area is permeated by and on all sides sur­ rounded by different speech varieties. On the north-east and eastern sides, there are the Khasian languages (Sidwell, 2009) like Lyngam (also known as Lyngngam or Megam), and all around there are

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different varieties of Garo. In the south, Atong is in contact with Bengali. All of these tongues have been in contact for a long time and have left their marks on one another. All Atong words in this chapter are written in the Atong alpha­ bet as presented in van Breugel (2009a, 2009b, 2015a, 2015b and 2015c). Table 11.1 gives an overview of how the phonemes in Atong are written in the spelling system. An extensive analysis of Atong phonology can be found in van Breugel (2014: 37-64). Note that names of clans and lineages are written in Atong spelling as well, to reflect Atong pronunciation.

Relevant Aspects of Social Organization Atong society is matrilineal and of unilateral descent. This means that children belong to the same clan and lineage as their mother. The Garo tribe is made up of five clans, viz. Sangma, Marak, Sira, Momyn (spelled Momin in Standard Garo) and Areng. Each clan comprises of several lineages, of which there are too many to list them all. Examples of lineage names amongst the Atongs are Mongsrang, Synthang, Dicham, Nokrek, and Raichyl. The founder TABLE 11.1: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATONG PHONEMES AND THE

LETTERS USED IN THE SPELLING SYSTEM

Phonemes

Letters

Phonemes

Letters

p

h

Phonemes

Letters

ph

m

m

i

i

th

th

n

n

e

e

kh

kh

ƾ

ng

a

a

p

p

r

r

o

o

t

t

l

l

u

u

k

k

s

s

ԥ

y

b

b

W‫ܨ‬

ch

Ư

ii

d

d

G‫ݣ‬

j

Ɲ

ee

g

g

h

w

w

j

h i

ǀ Ɨ

oo aa

HMPUUBMJ[BUJPO


r


BGUFS
UIF
HMPUUBMJ[FE
TZMMBCMF

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

209

of a lineage, who is a woman, is called the machong.3 Possessions of a household also inherit via the female line. One of the daughters of the household of a married couple is appointed nokrom, nokchina or nokna (heiress),4 and she will take over the household once her mother gets old. The husband of the heiress moves in with his wife and in-laws. The parents of the heiress stay in the house and are taken care of by their daughter and her husband. The heiress’s siblings will have to find their own place to live and start a new household once they get married. Thus, as Burling (1963) pointed out for the Garos, the Atongs are not completely matrilocal in the sense that all grooms move into the bride’s family’s house. However, once a new household is established by a newly-wedded couple, it will be inherited by one of their daughters. Atongs are patriarchal, because all important decisions in a family are made by men, i.e. the chara (the elder brothers of a married woman), the eldest of whom is called charamong (the eldest brother of a married woman). Clans are exogamous, which means that no one can marry within the same clan. Clans traditionally form bonds called phratries.5 In Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume), a phratry can consist of sev­ eral clans. In the case of the Atongs, phratries are usually a bond between two clans who intermarry, and this type of bond is called a moiety. The most ubiquitous moiety among the Atongs is the bond between the Sangma and Marak clans. These moieties can last for many generations and are kept through cross-cousin mar­ riage. Cross cousins are the children of mother’s brother or father’s sister, or their classificatory equivalents. Cross-cousins belong to a different clan, preferably the one in the moiety. Parallel cousins are the children of mother’s sister or father’s brother, or their classifi­ catory equivalents. They belong to the same clan. Cross cousins are considered real cousins, and marriages between such cousins are allowed, while parallel cousins are considered brothers and sisters and are not marriageable. Although still practised among all Garos, not only the Atongs, the tradition of cross-cousin marriage does not seem to be as strictly adhered to nowadays as it was in the past. Furthermore, Atong society is layered according to age, genera­ tion and marital status. The younger ones must show respect for the elder members of society and married couples are higher on the

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Seino van Breugel

social hierarchy than unmarried boys and girls. The groups of which the society consists are the children (sa∙gyrai ‘child’), the marriage­ able but yet unmarried men and women (banthai ‘bachelor’ and nawmyl ‘marriageable girl’), the married men and women (me∙apha ‘married man’ and me∙ama ‘married woman’) and the elderly men and women (achu ‘grandfather’ and awyi or abu ‘grandmother’). All these aspects of the social organization, viz., matriliny, patriarchy, clan membership, the continuation of moiety (which is accomplished by cross-cousin marriage), relative age, generation and marital status have helped shape the Atong kinship lexicon. Kinship terms are of enormous importance in Atong, indeed in all of Garo culture and language. Generally, everybody in society is referred to or addressed by the proper kinship term. It is generally inappropriate to refer to or address someone from an elder genera­ tion than oneself by their name. Names are usually only used for siblings, children, grandchildren and friends. However, more often than not, these people are also referred to and addressed by their appropriate kinship term.

Kinship Terms Based on Pragmatic and Semantic Criteria Apart from the distinction between kinship terms denoting consan­ guineal and affinal kinsmen referents, discussed in the relevant sections below, three types of opposition can be distinguished in the Atong kinship lexicon, the first one pragmatic, and the other two semantic: (1) referential terms versus address terms, (2) non­ reciprocal vs. reciprocal, and (3) classificatory vs. descriptive. Referential vs. Address Terms Reference terms are used to talk about someone, whereas address terms are used to get someone’s attention. All address terms can also be used referentially in Atong, although not always with the same referent as the purely referential terms, as we shall see below. On the other hand, reference terms cannot be used to address people. Thus, it is possible to talk about your own mother using the term jyw∙, as in Example 1, but it is impossible to get your mother’s

211

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

attention by calling out *jyw! In that situation, the word ama has to be used, as in Example 2. EXAMPLE 1 Wa∙mi jyw∙mi balgabaaw katha ra∙chagabae anga ytykgachina dong∙ok. = mi

katha

ra∙

= cha = gaba

=e

father = GEN mother = GEN

wa∙

= mi

jyw∙

word

get

= NEG = ATTR

= CT

anga

ytykga

= chi

= na

dong∙

= ok

1SG

such

= LOC

= GOAL

be

= COS

‘[Because I] did no obey [my] father and mother, I have come to this.’ EXAMPLE 2 Ama! Ah! Tai∙nido ja∙bek thawokte. ama

ah

tai∙ni

= do

ja∙bek

thaw

= ok

= te

mother

INTERJ

today

= TOP

curry

tasty

= COS

= DECL

‘Mother! Wow! Today the curry is very tasty!’ There are four kinship terms which can only be used referentially to indicate non-reciprocal relationships, but are used reciprocally when used as terms of address. These are the words abu, achu, ama and baba, whose different usages are presented in Table 11.2. A few kinship terms, all denoting consanguineal relations, occur in pairs of referential and address terms. These pairs are given in Table 11.3. It seems that the address terms are inflected by a non­ productive or fossilized vocative prefix a-. In his Lahu6 grammar, Matisoff (1982: 65), describes a prefix a-, which is used on kinship terms to form vocatives, which can be used to address someone. Matisoff mentions that ‘[t]his kin-prefix is extremely widespread in Tibeto-Burman’.7 Furthermore, the pairs wyi∙ ~ awyi ‘grand­ mother’ and wa∙ ~ awa ‘biological father’ are noteworthy, because the referential terms are glottalized (see van Breugel 2014: 56-60), whereas the address terms are not. This is significant because it

212

Seino van Breugel TABLE 11.2: REFERENTIAL USE AND TERM OF ADDRESS OF FOUR KINSHIP TERMS

Kinship Term

Referential Use

Use as Address Term

abu

grandmother

used by a grandparent to address her/ his granddaughter and vice versa

achu

grandfather

used by a grandparent to address her/ his grandson and vice versa

ama

mother

used by a parent to address her/his daughter and vice versa

baba

father

used by a parent to address her/his son and vice versa

TABLE 11.3: PAIRS OF REFERENTIAL AND ADDRESS TERMS

Referential Term

Term of Address

Gloss

nai

anai

‘aunt: father’s sister’

nyng

anyng

‘aunt: father’s sister’

syi

asyi ~ asi

‘aunt: mother’s younger sister’

wang

awang

‘uncle: father’s younger brother’

wa∙

awa

‘biological father’

wyi∙

awyi

‘grandmother’

suggests that using a kinship term as a vocative causes the disap­ pearance of glottalization. When we look at Table 11.4, we can see that there are some other consanguineal kinship terms starting with the phoneme /a/, which may or may not be the fossilized vocative prefix. The term achu (grandfather) is one of these, but it does not occur in a pair; the free form *chu does not exist. However, the reduplicated form chuchu does exist as a word, which is an endearing address term grandpar­ ents use to address their grandson. It is thus likely that the initial /a/ in achu is indeed the fossilized vocative prefix a-. The terms abu ‘grandmother’, akai ‘aunt: mother’s elder sister’ and abi ‘elder sister’ really do not have a partner without initial /a/, which makes it hard to determine if the initial /a/ is a fossilized prefix or not.8

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

213

Non-reciprocal vs. Reciprocal Terms Non-reciprocal kinship terms denote the unidirectional relation of one person to another, whereas reciprocal kinship terms are used to indicate the relationship between two or more persons in both directions. The term gumi (brother-in-law: elder sister’s husband), for example, indicates the relation of a man to his elder sister’s husband, but not the relation in the opposite direction, and is thus a non-reciprocal kinship term. The term used to indicate the inverse relation, i.e. of man to his wife’s younger brother, is jongsyri (brother-in-law: wife’s younger brother), also a non-reciprocal term. The relationship between men whose wives are sisters is called sadu, which is a reciprocal kinship term, because these men call each other sadu. Two types of reciprocal kinship terms can be distinguished. Type 1 terms denote reciprocal relationships and can all be used both referentially and as terms of address. Type 2 terms denote non­ reciprocal relationships and can only be used as terms of address with a reciprocal meaning. When Type 2 terms are used referen­ tially, they are not reciprocal and only denote a one-way relation between two persons. Reciprocal kinship terms of Type 1 are: sadu (brother-in-law: the reciprocal relation between men whose wives are sisters), bonyng (brother-in-law: the reciprocal relation between a man and his younger sister’s husband or a man and his wife’s elder brother), mawsa ~ mosa (male cross cousin or the relation between male cousins from intermarriageable families) and chamai ~ chame (female cross-cousin or the relation between female cousins from intermarriageable families). The kinship terms we find in Type 2 are achu (grandfather), abu (grandmother), ama (mother) and baba (father). A grandparent can address his or her granddaughter as abu and his or her grandson as achu. Grandchildren can also address their grandparents with these terms. Parents can use the terms baba (father) to address their son, and ama (mother) to address their daughter, and children can address their parents with these terms too. However, a grandpar­ ent cannot refer to his or her grandson or granddaughter with the terms abu or achu, but have to use syw∙ (grandchild),9 which can

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Seino van Breugel

in turn not be used as an address term. Likewise, parents cannot refer to their children with the words ama or baba, but have to do so using the words sa∙mynchyk (daughter) or sa∙banthai (son), which cannot be used as address terms. In Example 3, Kempai A. Sangma of Siju reports about the reciprocal use of baba when telling the story Paranggaba Sa∙banthai (The Prodigal Son) (van Breugel, 2015c: 72 and 2009a: 60). EXAMPLE 3 Wa∙gabaawba baba noariate dakangmi chasongdo. Angmi wa∙aw baba nochiba angawba baba noaria. = aw

= ba

baba

no

father = DREL = ACC

wa∙

= gaba

= CT

father

say

dakang

= mi

chasong

= do

before

= GEN

generation/era

= TOP

wa∙

= aw

= ba

= ari

=a

= te

= SIMP = CUST = DECL

ang

= mi

baba

no

= chi

1SG

= GEN father

ang

= aw

= ba

baba

no

= ari

=a

1SG

= ACC

= ADD

father

say

= SIMP

= CUST

= ba

= ACC = ADD father

say

= LOC = INDF

‘[We] just said baba to [our] father, I’m telling you, (in) the past generation/era. Whenever [I] would say baba to my father, [he] would just say baba to me too.’ Classificatory vs. Descriptive Terms ‘Classificatory kinship terms are those which refer to more than one type of relationship’ (Piddington, 1950: 122). For example, nono (younger sister) is a classificatory kinship term, because it can denote the relationship between me and my younger female siblings, as well as between me and my younger female parallel cousins, who are not siblings, because they have different parents from me, but are considered sisters. As another example, the term ama is classificatory, because it refers to my own mother as well

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

215

as her sisters and her parallel cousins, which are my mother’s classificatory sisters, because she will call them nono or abi (elder sister). As a final example, the term awang10 (father’s younger brother) is classificatory, because it refers to my father’s younger brother as well as everyone who is considered father’s brother, even though they are not siblings. A descriptive kinship term only describes one specific relation­ ship between two people. Most of the descriptive kinship terms are found in the affinal relationships. The term nai∙nokhol (mother­ in-law), for example, is descriptive, because it describes only the relationship between a married person and his or her mother-in­ law and nobody else. All consanguineal kinship terms in Atong are classificatory, except for jyw∙ (biological mother) and wa∙ or awa (biological father). This will be discussed in greater detail below.

Consanguineal Family from the Perspective of Ang (I, Me) The word for blood relative in Atong is bai∙, which can be used both referentially and as a term of address. Another word with the same meaning, but which can only be used as a term of address is bai∙siga ~ bai∙sega, and can also be used to address a friend. Distant relatives can be referred to as bai∙maran, or bai∙maranchinmaran, which are kinship term referring to a pair of relatives. Two kinsmen belonging to the same mahari (lineage) can be referred to as bai∙sakthangmaran.11 There is one occurrence of the collocation bai∙tyng in the author’s recorded corpus of Atong texts and notes, and another single occurrence of the collocation nawbai∙, both of which occur in the same sentence. This sentence is presented here as Example 4. Both members of the collocations refer together to the same refer­ ent, but are marked separately for semantic role (see van Breugel 2014: 269 ff.), in this case the goal enclitic =na (idem 293-5).Thus bai∙natyngna refers to ‘blood relatives’, and nawnabai∙na refers to ‘younger sister’. In the collocation bai∙tyng, the element tyng might be purely decorative, or it might be the verbal root tyng ‘to know’, which in this case could be interpreted as ‘those known’. These are the only two attested collocations in Atong for which a

216

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clausal construction is repeated. They are, however, very frequent in neighbouring Lyngam, e.g. kajkurkajkha (visit family visit affinal relatives) ‘visit family’, where kur (family) and kha (affinal relatives) form a collocation. EXAMPLE 4 Waiphinwami gesepchi baratdugaaimu, wa∙na jyw∙na baratai, bai∙na tyngna baratai, nawna bai∙na baratai, de∙thengdo dang∙anaan chaithylaisa mu∙arongno, gopjyrujyrutykyi. Wai

-phin

= wa = mi gesep

= chi

barat

-duga = ai = mu,

return -BACK = FACT = GEN space = LOC be.ashamed -XS = ADV = SEQ wa∙

= na

jyw∙

= na

barat

= ai,

father

= GOAL

mother

= GOAL

be.ashamed

= ADV

bai∙

= na

tyng

= na

barat

= ai,

blood. relative

= GOAL

DECO/know

= GOAL

be.ashamed

= ADV

blood.relative naw

= na

bai∙

younger.sister = GOAL

= na

blood.relative

=

GOAL

barat

= ai,

be.ashamed

= ADV

younger sister

de∙theng

= do

dang∙

-a

= na

= an

3SG

= TOP

enter

-TOWARDS

= GOAL

= FOC

chai

-thyl

= ai

look

-INTO.THE.DISTANCE

= sa

= ADV = DLIM

gop

-jyru

~jyru

= tykyi.

bend.your.head

-?

~RED

= LIKE

mu∙

= arong = no,

stay

= DUR = QUOT

‘Upon his return, he felt very much ashamed, [he] shied away from [his] father and mother, [he] shied away from [his] blood relatives; upon entering, he sat only looking away into the distance, it is said, [his] head bent.’

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

217

Table 11.4 presents the consanguineal kinship terms from the perspective of ang (I, me). The table is organized by generation and TABLE 11.4: MY BLOOD RELATIONS

Note: The underlined forms can be used as address terms. The non-underlined forms can only be used as reference terms. Adapted from van Breugel (2014: 124)

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Seino van Breugel

spans five generations. The parameters that determine the use of kinship terms when talking about consanguineal or blood relatives are: the sex (male ƃ, female Ƃ) of the referent or the speaker, gen­ eration, relative age within the generation, cross-cousinhood, and whether the relationship exists through father (a paternal relative) or mother (a maternal relative). Note that it is important in Atong culture to make a distinction between reference terms and address terms within the consanguineal kinship terms. All generations and the relationships between them is described starting at the top: the great-grandparents. My Great-grandparents and Grandparents’ Generations My great-grandmother is referred to as abumuri and addressed as abu. My great-grandfather is referred to as achumuri and addressed as achu. If a speaker wants to be specific, paternal and maternal great-grandparents can be distinguished by adding jagyra or jagysi. Normally, jagyra means ‘right’ and jagysi means ‘left’, but in co­ location with abumuri and achumuri, these words can be interpreted to mean ‘maternal’ and ‘paternal’ respectively. My maternal greatgrandparents are thus abumurijagyra and achumurijagyra, while my paternal great-grandparents are abumurijagysi and achumurijagysi. A maternal/paternal division in the generation of the grandparents is not attested. More fieldwork is needed to find out if this division exists or not. According to LaPolla (personal communication) there is an expression in Chinese nánzu΅ n΍ yòu (male left, female right) which ‘was mainly about where they sat in a formal setting, and the perspective was that of the people sitting’. The author remembers that Caroline Marak, at the time head of the Garo Department of the North-Eastern Hill University in Tura, told him that people in traditional Garo culture also had particular places to sit in trad­ itional houses. It may very well be that the Atong designations jagyra (right/maternal) and jagysi (left/paternal) stem from the traditional seating arrangement in the Garo and Atong households. In the generation of my grandparents, we find four kinship terms, three for ‘grandmother’, viz., abu, wyi∙ and awyi, and one

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

219

for grandfather, viz., achu. These can be used for all grandparents, regardless of their clan membership. The terms wyi∙ and awyi are considered archaic in the villages of Badri Maidugythym and Siju, where the data for this chapter were collected. Unlike in Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume), there is no distinction between mater­ nal and paternal grandparents in Atong. The brothers and sisters of my grandparents are also referred to and addressed as abu ~ awyi (grandmother) and achu (grandfather); they are classificatory grandparents. However, the compounded term mama achu can be used to refer to or address my maternal grandmother’s brother. The kinship terms abu and achu are also used as a respectful ref­ erence term for old people who are not kin. As mentioned above, the terms achu (grandfather) and abu (grandmother) can be used as a reciprocal address term to mean ‘grandson/grandfather’ and ‘granddaughter/grandmother’ respectively, when a grandparent is addressing their grandson or granddaughter and vice versa. The terms can also be used in a conversation between unrelated people with an age difference big enough to be grandfather and grandson. My Generation: Siblings and Cousins In Atong, I refer to my siblings and those of the generation of my parents according to both sex and relative age. The terms naw, nono, ja∙naw, abi, jong, jojong (younger brother) and phaw∙jong ~ phawjong, dada (elder brother) are not only used to refer to siblings, but also to parallel cousins. Parallel cousins are not marriageable and considered brothers and sisters. We can thus say that parallel cousins are classificatory brothers and sisters. Of these terms, nono, ja∙naw, abi, jojong, jong, phaw∙jong ~ phawjong and dada can be used as both reference terms as well as address terms, while naw can only be used as reference terms.12 When used as a reference term, the word abi is more respectful than ja∙naw. Cross-cousins, the offspring of my mother’s male siblings or classificatory brothers or father’s female siblings or classificatory sisters, are marriageable, and hence have special terms to distin­ guish them from siblings, viz. chame ~ chamai (female cross-cousin)

220

Seino van Breugel

and mosa ~ mawsa (male cross-cousin). These are also the words for ‘lover, sweetheart’, or ‘girlfriend/boyfriend’ in Atong. My Parents’ Generation: Parents, Aunts and Uncles Blood relatives of my parents’ generation are referred to according to sex, age relative to my parents, and the person through whom the relationship exists, viz., my mother (matrilineal kin) or my father (patrilineal kin). The latter criterion has to do with clan membership, since my mother’s siblings belong to the same clan as me, while my father’s siblings belong to a different clan, preferably the other one within the moiety. Since father’s brothers marry a woman from my clan, and clan membership is inherited through the mother, my father’s brother’s children belong to the same clan as me, and are non-marriageable parallel cousins. Father’s sister’s children belong to the other clan within the moiety, and are my marriageable cross-cousins. My parents themselves are jyw∙ or ama (mother) and wa∙, baba or awa (father). The word awa is considered archaic in the villages where the data were collected. Jyw∙ and wa∙ are purely referential terms, whereas ama, baba, and awa can also be used as terms of address. The terms jyw∙, wa∙ and awa are non-classificatory, i.e. descriptive, consanguineal kinship terms. They are used exclu­ sively to refer to my biological mother and father, whereas ama can be used to refer to my biological as well as classificatory mothers, i.e. aunts and uncles. However, ama can only be used to refer to or address my mother’s sisters, i.e. aunts from the same clan as ang (me), but not my father’s sisters, who belong to a different clan. The term baba can be used to address my biological father as well as my father’s brothers, but not my mother’s brothers. On the maternal side, relative age is only important for my mother’s sisters. Mother’s elder sister is called akai, while mother’s younger sister can be referred to as syi, asyi or asi. Of these four terms, only syi cannot be used as a term of address. Her children are my parallel cousins, whom I cannot marry because they belong to the same clan as me. Mother’s brothers, regardless of their age relative to my parents, are referred to as haw∙13 or mama.14 Their

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

221

offspring are my cross-cousins. The address term is mama, while haw∙ can only be used referentially. The word mama can also be used to respectfully address a non-related man old enough to be one’s uncle. Mother’s brothers look out for the interests of their married sisters, and are therefore authorities to be reckoned with.15 Relative age is also not of interest when referring to father’s sis­ ters, i.e. nai∙, nyng, anai, anyng, mani. Offspring of these sisters, regardless of relative age, are my cross-cousins chamai ~ chame (female cross-cousin) and mawsa ~ mosa (male cross-cousin). These cross-cousins belong to the same clan as my father, i.e. not my clan, but a marriageable one; preferably the other one within the moiety. Father’s brothers, on the other hand, have to be referred to as either dytyi (father’s older sibling) or wang ~ awang (father’s younger sibling). Awang can be used both referentially and as term of address; wang can only be used referentially. Since my father’s brothers are supposed to marry women within the moiety, their wives and children will belong to my mother’s, and therefore my clan: The children of my paternal uncles are thus my paral­ lel cousins, who belong to the same clan as me, and are therefore unmarriageable, and thus classificatory brothers and sister. When my parent’s siblings marry, I use the following kinship terms for the resultant couples: − ‘mother’s older sister, father’s elder brother’s wife’ (akai) is married to dytyi (father’s elder brother, mother’s elder sister’s husband) − ‘mother’s younger sister, father’s younger brother’s wife’ (syi ~ asyi ~ asi) is married to wang ~ awang (father’s younger brother, mother’s younger sister’s husband) − ‘mother’s brother, father’s sister’s husband’ (mama) is married to nai∙ ~ anai (father’s sister, mother’s brother’s wife) Children, Nieces, Nephews, Cousins, Uncles and Aunts The Atong word for offspring is sa∙.16 The reference term for son, sa∙banthai, is a compound of the word sa∙ (offspring) and the word banthai (marriageable boy, bachelor). The reference

222

Seino van Breugel

term for daughter, sa∙mynchyk, is an opaque compound, because the morpheme mynchyk is a so-called ‘cranberry morpheme’, a morpheme which is not used anywhere else in the language, like cran- in cranberry.17 As was mentioned above, offspring can be addressed according to their sex. Parents can address their son as baba and a daughter as ama. Children can also be addressed by their names. For the use of the kinship terms for the children of my siblings or classificatory brothers and sisters, the sex of ang (me), is important. When I am a female, the offspring of my sisters are my clas­ sificatory offspring and I refer to them as sa∙banthai (son) and sa∙mynchyk (daughter). These children are indicated with the dot­ ted arrows in Fig. 11.1. These children belong to the same clan as me. The children of my brothers are not my classificatory offspring, so I refer to them as namchyk or namgaba (niece) and khyryithang ~ khyrythang (nephew). These children are indicated with the solid arrows in Fig. 11.1. They will marry someone who belongs to the same clan as me (female).

Source: Author. Figure 11.1: Offspring

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

223

When I am a male, the offspring of my brothers are my clas­ sificatory offspring, and I refer to them as sa∙banthai (son) and sa∙mynchyk (daughter), indicated with the dotted arrows in Fig. 11.1. These children belong to the clan of my wife, i.e. the other clan within the moiety. The children of my sisters are not my clas­ sificatory offspring, but I refer to them as namchyk or namgaba (niece) and khyryithang ~ khyrythang (nephew), indicated with the solid arrows in Fig. 11.1. They belong to the same clan as me, and they will marry someone from the clan of my wife, who are consid­ ered classificatory offsprings. A male’s brother’s offspring belong to a different clan than himself, yet the term to refer to these children is the same as for a female’s sister’s children, who belong to the same clan as her. How­ ever, clan membership of the offspring does play a role here, which becomes apparent by the time the offspring get married. A female’s brother’s children and a male’s sister’s children are cross-cousins, and can thus marry and maintain the moiety. From the perspective of the offspring, cross-cousinhood and cross-cousin marriage are also the reason that the same address terms are used for ‘mother’s brother’ and ‘father-in-law’ (mama), and for ‘father’s sister’ and ‘mother-in-law’ (mani) (see below). The terms mama (maternal uncle) and mani (paternal aunt) refer to the inverse relationships of the solid arrows in Fig. 11.1. The inverse relationships of the dotted arrows are ama and baba, which can be more specifically referred to or addressed according to their age relative to their siblings, as mentioned above: akai (mother’s elder sister), syi or asyi ~ asi (mother’s younger sister), dytyi (father’s elder brother) or wang or awang (father’s younger brother). Thus, when we look at Fig. 11.1, we see a moiety-determined kinship diagram. Regardless of whether the grandparents of families A, B and C are closely related, they are all married to clas­ sificatory cross-cousins, i.e. a partner from the same generation of the opposite clan within the Sangma-Marak moiety, as have their children and grandchildren. All the children and grandchildren of opposite clans are classificatory cross-cousins. Marriage between these classificatory cross-cousins is how the moiety is maintained. As we can also see in Fig. 11.1, a female refers to her biological

224

Seino van Breugel

offspring in the same way she does to the offspring of her female sibling, and a male refers to his biological offspring in the same way he does to the offspring of his male sibling. The same kinship terminology applies to the offspring of classificatory brothers and sisters and cross-cousins. Thus, a female refers to her classificatory sister’s offspring as sa∙banthai (son) or sa∙mynchyk (daughter), as does a male to his classificatory brother’s offspring; and she refers to her classificatory brother’s offspring as namchyk or namgaba (niece) or khyryithang ~ khyrythang (nephew), as does a male to his classificatory sister’s offspring. Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren My own grandchildren and those who belong to my own clan are referred to as syw∙, regardless of their sex. However, I address them, and the grandchildren of another clan, according to their sex as abu (granddaughter) or achu (grandson). Grandchildren can also be addressed by their names. There are special referential kinship terms for grandchildren from another clan. These are namchyksyw∙ (grand/great-niece: the daughter of my husband’s sister’s daughter or the daughter of my brother’s wife’s daughter) and khyryithangsyw∙ (great/grand-nephew: the son of my husband’s sister’s daughter or the son of my brother’s wife’s’ daughter) (see Fig. 11.2). Namchyksyw∙ and khyryithangsyw∙ refer to any of their grandparents as would any other grandchildren, as described above, i.e. abu/awyi (grandmother) or achu (grandfather), regardless of clan membership, or mama achu (grandmother’s brother). Thus, throughout the generations, kinsmen belonging to the same clan as me can be indicated by the use of different kinship terms than kinsmen belonging to a different clan. Finally, great-grandchildren are referred to as syw∙muri. The author suspects that greatgrandchildren are addressed as abu and chuchu. However, the author has never witnessed anyone addressing their great-grandchildren. Thus more fieldwork needs to be done to find out if the author’s suspicion is true.

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

225

Source: Author. Figure 11.2: Grandchildren

Tabooed Consanguineal Relatives Despite the choice of marital partner being quite rigorously regu­ lated by the moiety system, which in principle ensures exogamous marriages (marriages outside one’s own clan), endogamous mar­ riages do occur from time to time. Although tabooed and frowned upon by society, specific vocabulary does exist to talk about these marriages, the persons involved, and their offspring. Someone who is married to a person from the same clan is called madong. Their endogamous marriage is called bakdong, and the children resulting from such a marriage are called bakdongmisa∙ ~ bakdongmyng sa∙, the former being Siju dialect and the latter Badri dialect. Perhaps the first part of the word bakdong, i.e. bak, is etymologically related to the verb bak (to make barren). Another type of taboo offspring is the child born out of an incestuous relationship. Such a child is called sa∙daiburung. This is only one of two recorded Atong words which seemingly contain the bound morpheme -burung (group), but do not refer to a group of individuals; the other being matburung (wild animal). Perhaps the morpheme burung is etymologically related to the word palyng (jungle). The word matpalyng (wild animal) is recorded in Atong in

226

Seino van Breugel

addition to matburung. It may thus be that a sa∙daiburung is a ‘wild child’. The meaning and etymology of the morpheme dai remains obscure.18

Affinal Relatives Affinal relatives are those that are acquired by marriage of either oneself or one’s kin. It is in the area of affinal relations where the Atong kinship terminology is at its most complicated. An affinal relation can exist in two ways: through a married relative from your own clan, or through one’s spouse, who belongs to another clan, preferably one within the moiety. Within the moiety, an unmarried person has consanguineal kinship relations with everybody else before any marriage takes place, and for each of these relations, specific kinship terms are used, as we have seen above. Through marriage, some relationships between kinsmen change, because of the new roles these people have come to play in the lives of the married person. With the role changes comes new kinship terminology. For example, my mama (mother’s brother) can change into haw∙nokhol (father-in-law) through marriage, and his role is now to look out for the interests of his clan members within your new core family. When I am a female, this means he will look after the interests of me and my children, who all belong to the same clan, since Atongs are matrilineal. At the same time, my husband’s brothers, especially the elder ones, will assume the same vigilant role. It is also these elder brothers, together called the chara, who will decide on important issues concerning members of their clan which, when I am male, this means my wife and children. Kinship nomenclature for an in-law is determined by three fac­ tors: (1) the spouse or member of the same clan through whom the affinal relation exists, (2) the relative age difference, within the same generation, between both the speaker and the member of the same clan through whom the relationship with the in-law referent exists, as well as (3) the relative age of the speaker vis-à-vis the in-law ref­ erent. The terms pertaining to the married couple themselves as well as their parents-in-law will be presented first, followed by a description of the other affinal kinship terms.

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

227

Figures 11.3 and 11.4 present graphic representations of the use of the affinal nomenclature. To make things easier to understand, the figures show the Sangma-Marak moiety. In these figures, we

Source: Author.

Figure 11.3: Affinal kinship terms from the perspective of a married woman

Source: Author.

Figure 11.4: Affinal kinship terms from the perspective of a married man

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Seino van Breugel

see the parents-in-law at the top. Their offspring and the offspring of their son- or daughter-in-law are arranged diagonally, which has to be interpreted as an indication of the relative ages of the siblings: the eldest siblings are at the top, and the youngest at the bottom. Thick double lines between persons indicate a marital relationship between them. The arrows indicate the direction of the relation­ ship between two persons indicated by the accompanying kinship terms. For example, in Fig. 11.1, ang (me) calls her husband’s elder brother gumi, and this gumi calls angnawsyri. Spouses, Parents- and Children-in-law The word for wife is gawigaba ~ gawiga. The term for husband is biphagaba ~ biphaga.19 They can address each other colloquially as bydyi (which could be translated as ‘darling’ in this case)20 and formally by the name of their youngest child or heiress. To address the father, the name of the child in compounded with wa∙ (biological father). To address the mother, the name of the child is compounded with jyw∙ (biological mother). For example, a wife can address her husband as Amukawa∙ (father of Amuka), and her husband can address his wife as Amukajyw∙ (mother of Amuka). 21 As we can see in Figs. 11.3 and 11.4, the terms for parents-in­ law are the same for both the husband’s and the wife’s parents, and both are reference terms only. Mother-in-law is nai∙nokhol, who is addressed and can also be referred to as anai or mani, because she is also my father’s classificatory sister (paternal aunt) within the moiety. Father-in-law is haw∙nokhol, who is addressed and can also be referred to as mama, because he is also my mother’s classificatory brother (maternal uncle) within the moiety. There is an additional address term for a wife’s father, which is sadu (which we saw above also denotes the relationship between men whose wives are sisters). My parents and the parents of my spouse address each other as chamai ~ chame (the relation of the parents of a married couple) which is also the term for ‘female cross-cousin’. The referential term of this relation is nokchama (the relation of parents of a mar­ ried couple). My anai (mother-in-law) and my ama (mother) can also address each other as abi (elder sister).

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

229

The referential terms that the parents-in-law use to indicate me and my siblings are given in Table 11.5. According to some Atong speakers, the terms kynokhol (son-in-law) and namnokhol (daughter-in-law) are used to refer to and address both the son/ daughter-in-law and his/her siblings. Other Atong speakers say that the siblings are referred to and addressed by different terms, viz., khyryithang (nephew) and namgaba/namchyk (niece). Relationships through Husbands, Wives, Brothers and Sisters Presented in this section is a list of affinal kinship terms. These terms contain information about the person through whom the referent is related, which can be the spouse or a sibling (or classificatory TABLE 11.5: ADDRESS TERMS THAT MY IN-LAWS USE FOR ME

AND MY SIBLINGS

use

nai∙nokhol ‘mother-in-law’, haw∙nokhol ‘father-in-law’

Account 2

Account 1

These persons

this referential/ address term

for these referents. angƃ ‘me’, dada ‘[my] elder brother’, jojong ‘[my] younger brother’

ĺ

kynokhol ‘son-in-law’

ĺ

angƂ ‘me’, abi ‘[my] namnokhol elder sister’, nono ‘daughter-in-law’ ‘[my] younger sister’

ĺ

kynokhol ‘son-in-law’

ĺ

namnokhol angƂ ‘daughter-in-law’

ĺ

khyryithang

ĺ

abi ‘[my] elder sister’ namgaba, namchyk nono ‘[my] younger sister’

angƃ

dada ‘[my] elder brother’, jojong ‘[my] younger brother’

Note: The underlined terms can be used as address terms; the non-underlined terms are only referential. Adapted from van Breugel (2014: 129).

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brother or sister). Where the relationship exists through the spouse, the relative age of the referent to the spouse is a factor determining which kinship term is used. Where the relationship exists through a sibling, the sex of the sibling, as well as the age of ang (me) relative to the sibling and to the in-law referent are the determining factors. Table 11.6 presents the terms used for my husband’s siblings and parents with glosses, and Table 11.7 presents the kinship terms used for my wife’s siblings and parents with glosses. The sex of the refer­ ent is indicated with ƃ ‘masculine’ or Ƃ ‘feminine’ or both. Except for nai∙nokhol (mother-in-law) and haw∙nokhol (father-in-law), treated above, and nyng (husband’s elder sister), all affinal kinship terms can be used both referentially and as terms of address. The younger sister and brother of either spouse are jongsyri (spouse’s younger brother) and nawsyri (spouse’s younger sister). The term jongsyri is also used for a female’s younger sister’s husband. Husband’s elder brother is gumi, which is also the term used for elder sister’s husband. Husband’s elder sister is nyng or anyng. In the Badri dialect of Atong, the term ja∙chung is used to refer to or address both (1) ‘wife’s elder sister’ as well as (2) ‘elder brother’s wife’. In the Siju dialect, ja∙chung is only used for (1) ‘wife’s elder TABLE 11.6: MY HUSBAND’S SIBLINGS AND PARENTS

husband’s parents

Ƃ
OBJrOPLIPM
OBJ
anai, mani ‘mother-in-law’

husband’s older siblings

Ƃanyng ~ nyng ‘sister-in-law: husband’s elder sister’

=

ƃ
IBXrOPLIPM mama ‘father-in-law’ ƃgumi ‘brother-in-law’

ƃ biphagaba ‘husband’ husband’s younger siblings

Ƃnawsyri ‘spouse’s younger sister’

=

ang Ƃ ‘me’

ƃjongsyri ‘spouse’s younger brother’

Note: The underlined forms can be used as address terms or reference terms, whereas the non-underlined forms can only be used as reference terms. Adapted from van Breugel (2014: 128).

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New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms TABLE 11.7: MY WIFE’S SIBLINGS AND PARENTS

Ƃ
OBJrOPLIPM
anai, mani ‘mother-in-law’ ƂKBrDIVOH ~ bochi ‘sister-in-law: wife’s elder sister’ ƃang ‘me’

=

ƃ
IBXrOPLIPM mama ~ sadu ‘father-in-law’

=

ƃmawsa ~ mosa, wang, awang ‘brother-in-law: wife’s elder brother’

wife’s parents wife’s older siblings

Ƃgawigaba ‘wife’ Ƃnawsyri ‘spouse’s younger sister’

ƃjongsyri ‘spouse’s younger brother’

wife’s younger siblings

Note: The underlined forms can be used as address terms or reference terms, whereas the non-underlined forms can only be used as reference terms. Adapted from van Breugel (2014: 128).

sister’.22 For (2) ‘elder brother’s wife’, the term bochi is used. The term bochi is not used in the Badri dialect. The term bonyng describes the reciprocal relationship between (1) a man and his younger sister’s husband, or (2) a man and his wife’s elder brother. The fact that this kinship term is reciprocal means that I call my younger sister’s husband and my wife’s elder brother bonyng, and they also call me bonyng. This is the only reciprocal in-law kinship term. There is one affinal kinship term that denotes a relationship which exists through two people. This term is biawthang, and it denotes the relationship between a male and the husband of his sister’s daughter (namgaba). The term can be used both referen­ tially and as a term of address. Both males in this relationship are married men who belong to different clans, preferably within the moiety. My biawthang calls me (wife’s mother’s brother) wanggaba ~ wang (referential terms), awang (address term) or mawsa ~ mosa (address/referential term). It seems that these two possibilities are in free variation, but more fieldwork might reveal some criteria that determine the use of one or the other. In addition, my biawthang

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Source: Author. Figure 11.5: Biawthang with its inverse in relation to namgaba or namchyk

calls my younger sister chamai ~ chame (address/referential term), and my elder sister mani (address/referential term). Figure 11.5 shows biawthang (with a solid arrow) and its inverse wanggaba or mawsa (with a dotted arrow) both in relation to namgaba or namchyk (with a dashed arrow).

Relative-Age Indication As has been mentioned above, and can be seen in Table 11.4, Atong makes lexical distinctions between elder and younger siblings, as well as between maternal aunts and paternal uncles older or younger relative to the speaker’s or referent’s parents. In addition, among the affinal relatives, there are different words for siblings older or younger than one’s spouse. However, of all these consanguineal and affinal relations, there are usually several persons in either the older or younger relative age category; and for those relatives for whom there are no separate lexical means of distinguishing relative age, greater precision is sometimes desired when it comes to identifying a referent, especially because the use of names is not considered an appropriate option in most situations. Whereas Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume), uses special suf­ fixes to indicate the exact position of a person in the male or female

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

233

sibling birth-hierarchy (i.e. whether someone is the first, second, etc., male or female child), Atong has different means of pinpoint­ ing the exact position of a person among relatives, viz., the words chunga(ba) (eldest) and mylga(ba) (youngest). These are complex forms consisting of the roots chung ‘be big’ and myl ‘be small’ fol­ lowed by the enclitic = gaba ~ = ga with its attributive interpretation (van Breugel 2010).23 Thus, when we want to refer to the eldest maternal uncle, we can use the phrase mama chunggaba (eldest maternal uncle) or mama mylgaba (youngest maternal uncle). The same applies to other relatives as well, e.g. dada chunggaba (eldest brother) and nonomylgaba (youngest sister). Burling (2004: 222) lists several other ‘kinship statuses’ in Garo indicating the position within the birth hierarchy, such as ja∙sin ‘one’s next younger sibling’ and majila ‘middle child’, the equiva­ lents of which are not attested in Atong. This does not mean that these terms do not exist in Atong. More fieldwork needs to be con­ ducted to find this out.

Sets of Family Members Atong, like Garo (Burling 2004: 219-20), has many terms for sets of kinsmen. There are two types of these terms in Atong: those referring to pairs and those referring to groups of family members. Both types of terms are presented in Table 11.8. Terms for sets of kinsmen can only be used referentially. For a morphological analysis, the reader is referred to van Breugel (2014: 128-31). It is noteworthy that, the word jyw∙burung means ‘a group of mothers and daughters’, while the word jyw∙mong ~ jyw∙morong means ‘the eldest of a group of sisters’, just as charamong, mentioned above, means ‘the eldest brother of a married woman’.

Family Loss and Replacement A person who has lost his/her spouse is referred to as jykri ~ jykyri (widow, widower). When a widower marries again, his children will call his new wife ade (stepmother). When a widow marries again, her new husband is addressed as awang (father’s younger brother) by

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TABLE 11.8: WORDS REFERRING TO SETS OF FAMILY MEMBERS

Pairs

Glosses and Explanations

achu ambi

‘grandparents, ancestors’

achuthangmaran

‘a grandfather and his grandchild’

akaithangmaran

‘my akai (mother’s elder sister) and her younger

sister’s child’

ambithangmaran

‘a grandmother and her grandchild

bai∙maran

‘two distant relatives’

bai∙maran chingmaran

‘two distant relatives’

bai∙sakthangmaran

‘two people who belong to the same mahari (lineage)’

biawthangmaran

‘my wife’s elder brother and me together’

buchithangmaran ~ bochithangmaran

‘my wife and her sister or brother together’

chamethangmaran

‘a couple of marriageable cross-cousins, a boy and girl who can marry’

dytyithangmaran

‘my dytyi (father’s elder brother) and his younger brother’s child’

gumithangmaran

‘my husband and my younger sister or younger brother together’

haw∙maran

‘my haw∙ (mother’s elder or younger brother) and his (elder or younger) sister’s unmarried child’

ja∙chungthanmaran

‘my husband and my elder sister together’

ja∙nawmaran

‘two sisters’

jyksai

‘a married couple, husband and wife’

mawsathangmaran ~ mosathangmaran

‘two boys of different clans’, for example Marak and Sangma, in two possible relationships depending on the gender of the speaker. Male speaker: my elder sister’s son and my son. Female speaker: my elder brother’s son and my son.

nai∙maran

‘my nai∙ (father’s elder or younger sister) and her (elder or younger) brother’s unmarried child’

nai∙nokholthangmaran

‘my nai∙ (father’s elder or younger sister) and her (elder or younger) brother’s married child’

phaw∙jongmaran

‘two elder brothers’

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

235

saduthangmaran

‘two or more men whose wives are sisters’

syimaran

‘my syi (mother’s younger sister) and her elder sister’s child’

wa∙maran

‘a father and his child (son or daughter)’

wangmaran

‘my wang (father’s younger brother) and his elder brother’s child’

Groups haw∙nokholburung

‘a group of fathers-in-law (haw∙nokhol) and sons­ in-law (kynokhol)’

nai∙nokholburung

‘a group of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law’

namnokholburung

‘group of daughters-in-law’

jyw∙burung

‘a group of mothers and daughters’

ja∙nawburung

‘a group of sisters’

sa∙burung jyw∙burung

‘a mother and her children’

chara

‘mother’s brothers’

Source: van Breugel (2014).

her children. Father’s actual younger brother is also the first choice to replace a deceased husband in Atong culture, as it is among the other Garos. The procedure in choosing a replacement for a lost spouse is described in detail in Burling (1963). A stepmother or stepfather refers to her/his stepchildren as sa∙mynchyk (daughter) and sa∙banthai (son) or just sa∙ (offspring). The word used to refer to someone else’s stepchildren is sa∙thyra. A child who lost his mother is referred to as jyw∙ri. A child who has lost his father is referred to as wa∙ri. When a child lost both his parents, i.e., an orphan, it is referred to as wa∙rijyw∙ri. The morpheme = ri in jykri, jyw∙ri and wa∙ri is the privative enclitic (see van Breugel, 2014: 265).

De-Relationalization A speaker can use kinship terms to refer to or address their own kinsmen (in which case the speaker talks about kin in relation to herself/himself), or those of others (not in relation to the speaker). When talking about or addressing other people’s kinsmen, kinship

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terms in Atong can optionally be marked with the derelational enclitic = gaba ~ = ga (allomorphs in free variation).24 When talking about or addressing one’s own kinsmen, the derelational enclitic cannot be used. Not all kinship terms, however, are directly derelationable. This means that only some can be used with this derelational enclitic directly attached to the root. The ones that can be used this way are all terms denoting blood relations, and the word jyk (spouse), as listed in Table 11.9. The Atong kinship lexicon can thus be divided into two morphological categories, based on the possibility or impossibility of direct derelationalization. To illustrate the existence of the two morphological categories, we shall look at some examples of actual language use. Thus, I can­ not address my own younger brother like this: *o jonggaba!. The grammatically correct way would be like this: o jong! ‘Hey, younger brother!’ But I can address someone else’s younger brother this way, e.g. o Samratmijonggaba! ‘Hey, Samrat’s younger brother!’ In the same vein, when referring to someone else’s kin, the derela­ tional enclitic = gaba ~ = ga can optionally be used, as in Example 5, which comes from a story, where the story teller does not refer to his own son, but rather the son of the man in the story. Because the TABLE 11.9: DIRECTLY DERELATIONABLE KINSHIP TERMS

Root

Gloss

Derelationalized Form

haw∙

‘uncle: mother’s elder brother’

haw∙ga(ba)

wyi∙

‘grandmother’

wyi∙ga(ba)

nai∙

‘aunt: father’s sister’

nai∙ga(ba)

syi

‘aunt: mother’s younger sister’

syiga(ba)

wang

‘uncle: father’s younger brother’

wangga(ba)

jong

‘younger brother’

jongga(ba)

naw

‘younger sister’

nawga(ba)

phaw∙jong

‘elder brother’

phaw∙jongga(ba)

sa∙mynchyk

‘daughter’

sa∙mynchykga(ba)

sa∙banthai

‘son’

sa∙banthaiga(ba)

syw∙

‘grandchild’

syw∙ga(ba)

Source: Author.

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kinship term sa∙banthai ‘son’ is not used in a way that relates to the speaker, the de-relational enclitic is used. EXAMPLE 5 Morot sa∙banthaigabaaw kynchi baaimu daw∙reng kawwano. morot sa∙banthai = gaba = aw kyn man

= chi

ba

= ai = mu

= DREL = ACC back = LOC carry.a.child = ADV = SEQ

son

daw∙reng

kaw

= wa

= no

eagle

shoot

= FACT

= QUOT

‘A man carrying [his] son on [his] back shot the eagle, it is said.’ As mentioned above, the use of the derelational enclitic is optional, as is illustrated by Example 6, where the speaker refers not to his own, but someone else’s younger sister, while not using the enclitic =gaba ~ =ga. EXAMPLE 6 Ge∙thengmi nawaw angdo khymthirini. ge∙theng = mi 3SG

= aw

ang

= do

= GEN younger.sister = ACC

naw

1SG

= TOP marry -AGAIN = UNC

khym -thiri

= ni

‘I will again marry his younger sister.’ The derelational enclitic can always be used in combination with the propriative enclitic = thang (OWN), in which case the derelational enclitic follows the propriative one. The kinship term abi (elder sis­ ter), for example, cannot be directly derelationalized. However, it is possible to derelationalize it after attaching the enclitic = thang, viz. abi = thang = gaba (elder sister = OWN = DREL) (someone else’s elder sister). Example 7 illustrates the derelational use of the affinal kinship term kynokhol (son-in-law). The speaker uses the derela­ tional enclitic because the son-in-law in the story is not his own. As we can see, because the word kynokhol is not directly derelationable, the derelational enclitic is preceded by the propriative enclitic = thang (OWN).

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Seino van Breugel

EXAMPLE 7 Kynokholthanggabado sansanan Dabatwarisang dinggarai sana re∙engronganoro. kynokhol = thang = gaba = do san son-in-law = OWN = DREL = TOP day dinggarai

sa

= na

re∙eƾ

~san

= an

Dabatwari = sang

~day = FOC Dabatwari = MOB -rong

=a

= no

= ro

fish.trap set.as.a.trap = GOAL go.away -USUALLY = CUST = QUOT = DECL

‘The son-in-law usually went to Dabatwari every day to set fish traps, it is said.’

Conclusion This chapter provides a description of Atong kinship lexicon in light of the social organization of the Atong speakers. This lexicon is shaped primarily by the sex of the referent, matriliny and the importance of the continuation of the moiety, the bond between two clans, which continue for many generations, and which is effectuated by cross-cousin marriage. Continuation of the moiety is one of the pillars of Atong society. Thus, different kinship terms are used to refer to relatives from the same or from a different clan. Within the kinship lexicon, additional parameters influence the use of subsets of kinship terms. For consanguineal kin, generation, relative age within a generation, and maternal/paternal descent are additional factors that determine the nomenclature, as well as the sex of ang ‘me’ (which anthropologists call ego, i.e. the deictic cen­ tre in the relationship) and whether or not a person is a biological parent. Additional factors that determine the use of affinal kinship terms are the person through whom the relationship exists, which can be the spouse or a sibling, and their age relative to ang as well as to the referent. Clan membership is an important factor in the terminology of taboo relations and their offspring. On the other hand, words used to talk about those who have lost relatives or for the ones who replace lost relatives seem not to be determined by this factor.

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

239

All kinship terms used as terms of address, except chuchu (grand­ son), can also be used referentially, while the inverse is not the case. There are only few reciprocal kinship terms in Atong, which are among both the consanguineal and the affinal terms. Some of these terms are only reciprocal when used as terms of address in specific situations. The Atong kinship system is partly classificatory and partly descriptive. Some terms can only be used for siblings (i.e. brothers and sisters from the same biological mother) or for biological par­ ents. Other terms can be used for other kinsmen who belong to the same clan but who are not siblings, biological parents or offspring from the biological parents. Moreover, in addition to terms for indi­ vidual kinsmen, Atong has more than two score words for sets of family members, most referring to pairs, and some to groups. Whether a kinship term is used to refer to one’s own kin or someone else’s can have morphological consequences. Part of the kin­ ship lexicon can be directly morphologically derelationalized, while the other part cannot. All these parameters governing the choice of kinship nomencla­ ture are also important factors in the organization of Atong society, a society where only siblings, children and grandchildren are some­ times called by their names, but where otherwise every member of society is referred to or addressed by the appropriate kinship term.

Glossary This glossary presents an overview of all the kinship terms and kinship-related terms presented in this chapter (see also van Breugel, 2015b).The list below contains only nouns, which fall into three semantic categories, viz., kinghip terms (KIN), persons (PERS) and abstract (ABSTR). For each kinship term (except those denoting pairs or groups family members, and are labelled set, and can only be used referentially), it is indicated whether it can be directly derelationalised (drel), whether it is classificatory (c) or descriptive (d) whether it can be used referentailly (ref) or as a term of address (a), and whether it can be used reciprocally (rec). Note that all address terms can also be used referentially, but not vice versa. abi KINc,ref, a.(1) elder sister (2) mothers-in-law can address each other as abi too.

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Seino van Breugel

abu KINc,ref, a, rec*. (1) grandmother. (2) Also used to address a grand­ daughter. (3) Also used to address an unrelated elderly woman. *This word is only reciprocal when used as a term of address between grandparent and granddaughter abumuri KIN c, ref. great-grandmother (addressed as abu). Can be followed by the terms jagyra ‘maternal’ or jagysi ‘paternal’ achu KINc,ref, a, rec*. (1) grandfather. (2) Also used to address a grandson. (3) Also used to address an unrelated elderly man. achu ambi grandparents, ancestors. (4) Also used to talk about or address an elephant when you are in the jungle. *This word is only reciprocal when used as a term of address between grandparent and grandson achu ambi KIN set. (1) grandparents (2) ancestors achumuri KINc, ref. great-grandfather (addressed as achu). Can be followed by the terms jagyra ‘maternal’ or jagysi ‘paternal’ achuthangmaran KINset.a grandfather and his grandchild ade KIN ref, a. stepmother akai KINc, ref, a. (1) aunt: mother’s elder sister (2) mother’s elder sister’s husband (3) Also used to address an unrelated married woman older than the speaker akaithangmaran KINset. myakai (mother’s elder sister) and her younger sister’s child ama KINc,ref, a, rec*. (1) mother (biological or classificatory) (2) Also used to talk about or address a maternal aunt. (3) Also used to address a daughter. *This word is only reciprocal when used as a term of address between parent and daughter ambithangmaran KINset. a grandmother and her grandchild anai KINc,ref, a. (1) aunt: father’s sister (2) mother’s brother’s wife anyng KINc(1), ref, a. (1) aunt: father’s sister (2) sister-in-law: husband’s elder sister asyi ~ asi KINc, ref, a. (1) aunt: mother’s younger sister (2) father’s younger brother’s wife awa KINc,ref, a. biological father awang KINc(1),ref,a. (1) uncle: father’s younger brother (2) mother’s younger sister’s husband (3) what children call their stepfather awyi KINc, ref, a.grandmother (archaic in Badri and Siju) baba KINc, ref, a, rec*. (1) father (biological or classificatory) (2) Also used to talk about or address a paternal uncle. (3) Also used to address a son. *This word is only reciprocal when used as a term of address between parent and son bai∙ KIN ref, a. blood relative bai∙siga ~ bai∙sega KIN a. blood relative bai∙maran KIN set. two distant relatives

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

241

bai∙maran chingmaran KIN set. two distant relatives bai∙sakthangmaran KIN set. two people who belong to the same mahari ‘lineage’ bakdong ABSTR the forbidden marriage between a man and a woman from the same clan bakdongmi sa∙ PERS a child born out of a forbidden marriage between a man and a woman from the same clan biawthang KIN ref, a.the relationship between a male and the husband of his sister’s daughter (namgaba) biawthangmaran KIN set. my wife’s elder brother and me together biphagaba ~ biphaga KIN ref. husband bochi KIN ref, a. only used in the Siju dialect (in the Badri dialect:KBrDIVOH) sister-in-law: elder brother’s wife bonyng KIN ref, a, rec. (1) brother-in-law: the reciprocal relation between a man and his younger sister’s husband or a man and his wife’s elder brother (2) any man of another clan from the same generation as a male speaker bochithangmaran ~ buchithangmaran KIN set. my wife and her sister or brother together chamai ~ chame KIN ref, a. (1) female cross-cousin: mother’s brother’s daughter or father’s sister’s daughter (2) the relation of female cousins from intermarriageable families, (3) the relation of the parents of a married couple chamaithangmaran ~ chamethangmaran KIN set. a couple of marri­ ageable cross-cousins, a boy and girl who can marry chara KIN set. (1) wife’s elder brothers (2) mother’s brothers charamong KIN (1) wife’s eldest brother (2) the eldest brother of a married woman chuchu KIN a. the address term a grandparent uses to their grandson dada KINc, ref, a. (1) elder brother. (2) Also used to speak about or address a related older male relative of your own generation: cousin. (3) Also used to address an unrelated man older than the speaker. dytyi KINc, ref, a. (1) uncle: father’s elder brother (2) mother’s elder sister’s husband dytyithangmaran KIN set. mydytyi (father’s elder brother) and his younger brother’s child gawigaba ~ gawiga KIN ref. wife gumi KINd, ref, a. brother-in-law: (1) elder sister’s husband (2) husband’s elder brother gumithangmaran KIN set. my husband and my younger sister or younger brother together haw∙ KIN drel, c, ref. uncle: mother’s brother (addressed as mama)

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haw∙maran KIN set. my haw∙ (mother’s elder or younger brother) and his (elder or younger) sister’s unmarried child haw∙nokhol KIN ref. father-in-law, deceased father-in-law’s heir (addressed as mama) haw∙nokholburung KIN set. a group of fathers-in-law (haw∙nokhol) and sons-in-law (kynokhol) ja∙chung KINd, ref, a. Badri dialect: sister-in-law: (1) wife’s elder sister (2) elder brother’s wife. Siju dialect: wife’s elder sister ja∙chungthanmaran KIN set. my husband and my elder sister together ja∙naw KIN ref, a. (1) elder sister. (2) Also used to address an older female cousin or a woman older than the speaker. The term abi is the more respectful as a term of address for both referents. ja∙nawburung KIN set. a group of sisters ja∙nawmaran KIN set. two sisters jojong KINc, ref, a. (1) younger brother. (2) Also used to talk about or address a related younger male of your own generation: cousin, (3) Also used to address a young male unrelated person younger than the speaker jong KIN drel, d, ref, a. (1) younger brother. (2) Also used to address a younger male cousin or (3) an unrelated man younger than the speaker jongsyri KINd, ref, a. (1) brother-in-law: spouse’s younger brother (2) female’s younger sister’s husband (a male’s younger sister’s husband is bonyng.) jykKIN ref. spouse jyksai KIN set. a married couple, husband and wife jyw∙KINc, ref. biological mother jyw∙burung KIN set. a group of mothers and daughters jyw∙mong ~ jyw∙morong KINref. eldest of a group of sisters khyryithang ~ khyrythang KINc, ref, a. nephew: male’s sister’s son or female’s brother’s son khyryithangsyw∙ KINd, ref. great-nephew: the son of my husband’s sister’s daughter or the son of my brother’s wife’s daughter kynokhol KINd, ref, a. son-in-law: deceased testator’s son-in-law/husband of a household’s heiress machong KIN ref. woman-founder of a clan madongPERS someone who has married somebody from the same clan mahari ABSTR lineage mama KINc, ref, a. (1) uncle: mother’s brother (2) Also used to address my father-in-law. (3) father’s sister’s husband (4) Also used to address an unrelated man older than the speaker in a respectful way mani KINc, ref, a. (1) aunt: father’s sister. (2) Also used to address one’s mother-in-law mawsa ~ mosa KINc, ref, a,rec. (1)male cross-cousin: father’s sister’s

New Perspectives on Atong Kinship Terms

243

son or mother’s brother’s son (2) the relation of male cousins from intermarriageable families (3) a male friend belonging to an intermarriageable family mawsathangmaran ~ mosathangmaran KIN set. two boys of different maharis (lineages), for example Marak and Sangma, in two possible relationships depending on the gender of the speaker. Male speaker: my elder sister’s son and my son. Female speaker: my elder brother’s son and my son. nai∙ KINdrel, c, ref. (1) aunt: father’s sister. (addressed as anyng, anai, or mani) (2) mother’s brother’s wife nai∙maran KIN set. my nai∙ (father’s elder or younger sister) and her (elder or younger) brother’s unmarried child nai∙nokhol KINd, ref. mother-in-law (addressed as mani or anai) nai∙nokholburung KIN set. a group of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law nai∙nokholthangmaran KIN set. my nai∙ (father’s elder or younger sister) and her (elder or younger) brother’s married child namchyk KINd, ref, a. niece: (1) female’s brother’s daughter (2) male’s sister’s daughter (Denotes the same relation as namgaba) namchyksyw∙KINd, ref. grand-niece/great-niece: (1) the daughter of my husband’s sister’s daughter (2) the daughter of my brother’s wife’s daughter namgaba KINd, ref. niece: (1) male’s sister’s daughter (2) female’s brother’s daughter (addressed as namchyk) namnokhol KINd, ref,a. daughter-in-law namnokholburung KIN set. group of daughters-in-law naw KINdrel, d, ref,a. (1) younger sister. (2) Also used to address a younger female cousin or (3) an unrelated woman younger than the speaker. nawsyri KINd, ref, a. sister-in-law: (1) spouse’s younger sister (2) younger brother’s wife (Elder brother’s wife is ja∙chung or bochi) nokchama KINd, ref. the relationship of the parents of a married couple nokchina ~ nokna KIN ref. (Siju dialect) the heiress of a household or her husband nokrom KIN ref. (Badri dialect) the heiress of a household or her husband. nono KINc, ref, a. (1) younger sister. (2) Also used to talk about or address a related younger female of your generation: cousin or (3) to address a young unrelated female person younger than the speaker nyng KINd, ref. (1) aunt: father’s sister(2) sister-in-law: husband’s elder sister (addressed as anyng) phaw∙jong ~ phawjong KINdrel, c, ref,a.(1) elder brother. (2) Also used to address an older male cousin or (3) a man older than the speaker phaw∙jongmaran ~phawjongmaran KIN set. two elder brothers sa∙ KIN ref. offspring, child

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sa∙banthai KINdrel, c,ref. (1) son. (2) nephew: male’s brother’s son or female’s sister’s son sa∙burung jyw∙burung ~ sa∙byrung jyw∙byrungKIN set. a mother and her children sa∙daiburung PERS child from an incestuous relationship sa∙mynchyk KINdrel, c, ref. (1) daughter (2) niece: male’s brother’s daughter or female’s sister’s daughter sa∙thyra PERS someone else’s stepchild sadu KINd, ref,a.brother-in-law: the relation of men whose wives are sisters saduthangmaran KIN set. two or more men whose wives are sisters syi KINdrel,ref. aunt: mother’s younger sister syimaran KIN set. my syi (mother’s younger sister) and her elder sister’s child syw∙ KINdrel, d, ref. grandchild syw∙muri KIN c, ref. great-grandchild wa∙KINdrel, d, ref. biological father wa∙maran KIN set. a father and his child (son or daughter) wang KINdrel, d, ref. (1) uncle: father’s younger brother (2) mother’s younger sister’s husband (3) stepfather (4) the inverse relation of biawthang: wife’s mother’s brother wanggaba KIN ref. (1) the inverse relation of biawthang: wife’s mother’s brother (2) the derelationalised form of wang. wangmaran KIN set. my wang (father’s younger brother) and his elder brother’s child wyi∙KINdrel, c, ref. grandmother (archaic)

Abbreviations and Symbols 1SG 3SG ACC ADD ADV ATTR COS CT CUST DECL DLIM

first person singular third person singular accusative additional adverbial attributive change of state contrastive topic customary aspect declarative delimitative

FOC GEN INDEF INTERJ LOC NEG QUOT RED SEQ SIMP TOP

focus genitive indefinite interjection locative negative quotative reduplication sequential simplicitive topic

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UNC XS

uncertainty excessive

FACT

derelational similative factitive

= ~

clitic boundary affix boundary allomorph separator

ƃ Ƃ […]

male female inferred information

DREL LIKE

Acknowledgements I thank Queenbala Marak for inviting me to contribute to this volume. I thank Samrat N. Marak, Inden R. Sangma, Grik Grikcheng Sangma, Pijaslar M. Sangma, Pymo Sangma, Sengbirth Marak, Bilgang D. Sangma, Reetash Sangma, H.M.N. Marak and Charseng D. Sangma for their help via Facebook in solving some of the mysteries of the Atong kinship system. I also thank all other Atong speakers who have helped me understand their language and culture over the years. Mythelbiok! Learning the intricacies of the Atong kinship system would have been extremely difficult if I was not adopted into the Sangma family (Mongsrang mahari), for which I am very grateful. Finally, I thank Professor Randy La Polla very much for his valuable comments on the draft version of this chapter. All mistakes and omissions that still remain are entirely my own.

NOTES 1. This river is called Symsang tyikhal in Atong. 2. The Atong word chola and jama could be borrowed from Bengali, Assamese or Hindi: Bengali ‫׶׼נ؃‬/cǀla/ ‘bodice, corset, modesty vest, skirt’, pronounced as t‫ݜܨ‬la, related to Assamese ‫[ ׼׶׼נ؃‬s‫ݜ‬la] ‘jacket, tunic, coat’ and Hindi ռ֫֔֞/cǀlƗ/ ‘gown, cloak, bride’s garment. As for the origin of Atong jama: Bengali or Assamese ‫׼׳׼ע‬/jƗmƗ/ ‘coat, shirt, blouse jacket’, related to Hindi վ֞֐֞/jƗmƗ/‘gown, wedding robe’. I thank Stephen Morey at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, for helping me here with his knowledge of Assamese and Bengali. 3. A machong can also be the woman-founder of a village. The founding of a new village can give rise to a new lineage, and lineage names are often related to place names. 4. The words nokna and nokchina were recorded in Siju, and nokrom was recorded in Badri. The terms are used to refer to both the heiress and her husband. 5. The function of phratries among the Atongs and other Garos as well

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is to keep money, land and other possessions in the same families. This function seems to be the same for phratries in Lyngam society (van Breugel, this volume). 6. Lahu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in China, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. 7. For historical reconstruction and discussion on the use of this prefix, see Matisoff (2003: 104-17) and LaPolla (in press). 8. In his Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman, Matisoff (2003) reconstructs the Proto-Tibeto-Burman root *bwa-n (p. 585) or *bwa (p. 653) for ‘grandmother’. Etymologically, it could be speculated that abu consists of the vocative prefix a- followed by the root bu, which is derived from *bwa. The proto form *bwa-n could have given rise to the now archaic word for grandmother in Atong, viz. wyi∙. The glottalization can be explained by the disappearance of the -n in the proto form, as in the case of ProtoTibeto-Burman *syu(w)n (grandchild) mentioned below. More recent evidence for the transformation of final nasality into glottalization comes from the modern Atong root ni∙ ‘not.exist’, which is derived from Hindi ֊֛֠ե /nԥhƭ/ ‘no, not’. We can see that the final nasalized vowel [ƭ] in Hindi gave rise to glottalization in Atong. Finally, the word akai ‘mother’s elder sister’ could be etymologically related to the Proto-Tibeto-Burman root *krwԥy ‘son-in-law/daughter-in-law’ (Matisoff 2003: 597). If this is the case, the initial /a/ of the modern Atong word akai could be the vocative prefix. 9. The word syw∙ is most probably etymologically related to Proto-Tibeto Burman *syu(w)-n ‘grandchild’. The glottalization in Atong word can be explained by the disappearance of the -n in the proto form, as in the case of Proto-Tibeto-Burman *bwa-n ‘grandmother’ > Atong XZJr mentioned above. Interestingly, Lyngam, Standard Khasi and Pnar all have very similar words for grandchild: Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume) ksё, Standard Khasi ksiew (Singh, 1906: 49), Pnar (Ring 2015: 163) ksu. The Standard Khasi word loses its initial /k/ in compounds, e.g. ’siew+tun (grandchild+?) ‘great-grandchild’, which makes it look remarkably like the Atong. Matisoff (2003) presents two very different Proto-Tibeto-Burman roots for grandchild, viz. *(b/m)-lԥy (pp. 599, 653) and syu(w) (p. 614). Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman have been in close contact for a long time (see Jacquesson, 2006a and b). Maybe looking at a greater sample of Austroasiatic languages and languages that are or have been in close contact with them can shed light on the origin of the root *syu(w) and its descendants. 10. The word waƾ ‘father’s younger brother’ is most probably etymologically descended from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *bwaƾ or *pwaƾ ‘uncle/elder brother/senior male relative’ (Matisoff 2003: 585).

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11. The word CBJrTJHB
_
CBJrTFHB consists of the root CBJr ‘blood relative’ followed by the alternative enclitic = siga ~ = sega (allomorphs in free variation, see van Breugel 2014: 267-8). The word CBJrNBSBO consists of the root CBJr and the reciprocal enclitic = maran (see van Breugel 2014: 260-1). #BJrNBSBODIJONBSBO is a decorative elaborate expression consisting of two phonological words, the second of which serves only a decorative purpose, because there is no root chin in Atong. Finally, the element sak in the word CBJrTBLUIBOHNBSBO does not occur anywhere else in Atong, and thus has to be considered a cranberry morpheme. It might be etymologically related to the Garo classifier for persons sak, which in turn might be traced back to the Proto-Tibeto-Burman root *tsaƾ ‘person/human being’ (see Matisoff 2003: 616). The other morphemes in this word are the propriative enclitic = thang and the reciprocal enclitic = maran. Interestingly, Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume) has a reciprocal prefix mar-, which might have been borrowed into Atong. The Atong enclitic can then then be analysed etymologically as a fossilized fusion of the Lyngam reciprocal prefix and the Atong focus enclitic = an (see van Breugel, 2014: 324-36). 12. The term naw ‘younger sister’ might be etymologically related to the Proto-Tibeto-Burman root *na:w ‘younger sibling’ (Matisoff, 2003: 604), and the word nono ‘younger sister’ is probably its reduplicated form, where the vowel-glide combination /aw/ has changed to /o/. 13. The word IBXr might be etymologically related to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *gwԥn or *kwԥn ‘elder brother/senior male relative’ (Matisoff, 2003: 595). 14. Note that the word mama ‘mother’s brother, father-in-law’ is also used in Lyngam with the same meaning. It is also used in the Garo group of speech varieties, and Burling (2004: 217) marks this word as a loan from Bengali. It is remarkable that Atong, the Garo group of speech varieties and Lyngam all borrowed this particular kinship term from Bengali. 15. According to LaPolla (personal communication) ‘[i]n many T[ibeto-] B[urman] groups, it is the mother’s brother *ku, who is the most important person […] the one to be reckoned with. Some think this is a hold-over from an earlier period when they were all matrilineal’. 16. Just like in Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume), Atong distinguishes different stages in a child’s development, viz. odek ‘baby’, TBrHZSBJ ‘child’, banthai ‘marriageable boy, bachelor’ and nawmyl ‘marriageable girl’. Etymologically, the word TBr is most probably related to Proto-TibetoBurma *tsa or *za ‘child/son/relatives’ (Matisoff, 2003: 616). 17. The morpheme mynchyk is probably etymologically related to the Standard Garo morpheme NFrDIJL ‘marriageable girl’. 18. One could speculate that morpheme dai is etymologically related to

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Proto-Tibeto-Burman *dzԥy ‘seed’ (Matisoff, 2003). Thus, the word TBJrEBJCVSVOH could mean ‘child from wild seed’. 19. The terms biphaga ~ biphagaba ‘husband’ and gawiga ~ gawigaba ‘wife’ are formed from the words gawi ‘woman, female’, bipha ‘man, male’ and the phrasal enclitic = gaba ~ = ga in its relational function (see van Breugel, 2014: 117). 20. The same word can also be used to mean old person, as a noun, or ‘old (of people)’, as an adjective. 21. LaPolla (personal communication) remarks that ‘[t]he Chinese used to do this in the past a lot in the countryside, but just with “child”, not the child’s name, e.g. háizi de diƝ(child NOM father)’. The abbreviation NOM stands for nominaliser. Another way to say this is háizi tƗdiƝ (child 3SG father). 22. According to some consultants, in the dialect of Siju, my wife’s elder sister and me call each other KBrDIVOH ‘the relation of man and his wife’s elder sister or of a woman and her younger sister’s husband’ (van Breugel, 2014: 127) . This information needs to be confirmed through more fieldwork, but if this is indeed the case, it is in a similar type of relation of what is termed in Lyngam kynsaw ‘younger brother’s wife or brother in law of a female’ (van Breugel, this volume). 23. One of the functions of the attributive enclitic = gaba ~ = ga is to allow clauses to be adnominal modifiers (see van Breugel 2010 and 2014: 298­ 303). 24. In contrast to Lyngam (van Breugel, this volume), where the derelational suffix -baҌ seems to be compulsory when talking about someone else’s kin, although more research is needed to confirm this. Moreover, the Atong enclitic =gaba ~ =ga has several other functions, discussed in van Breugel 2010 and 2014: 297-306.

REFERENCES van Breugel, S. 2009a. Atongmorot balgaba golpho. Tura: Tura Book Room. _____. 2009b. Atong-English Dictionary. Tura: Tura Book Room. _____. 2010. ‘No common argument, no extraction, no gap: Attributive clauses in Atong and beyond’. Studies in Language, 34 (3): 493-531. _____. 2014. A Grammar of Atong. Leiden, Boston: Brill. _____. 2015a. Atong Spelling Guide. Published online: https://www.academia. edu/15882391/Atong_Spelling_Guide. _____. 2015b. Atong-English dictionary, 2nd edn. Published online: https:// www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

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_____. 2015c Atongmorot balgaba golpho, 2nd edn. Published online: https://www.academia.edu/487053/Atongmorot_Balgaba_Golpho. Breugel, Seino van. 2016. A presentation and description of Lyngam kinship terms. Humanities Journal 23(1): 179-211. Bangkok: Kasetsart University. Burling, Robbins. 1963. Rengsanggri. Tura: Tura Book Room. _____. 2003. ‘The Tibeto-Burman Languages of Northeastern India’, in: Graham Thurgood and Randy J. LaPolla (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan Languages. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 169-91. _____. 2004. The Language of the Modhupur Mandi. Vol. II: The Lexicon. University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Online.Accessed September 2017. URL: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rburling/Vol-II.pdf. _____. 2001. Languages of the Himalayas. Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill. _____. 2007. ‘The Diversity of the Tibeto-Burman Language Family and the Linguistic Ancestry of Chinese’. Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics, 1 (2): 211-70. _____. 2014. ‘Trans-Himalayan’, in N. Hill and T. Owen (eds.). TransHimalayan Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 11-40. Jacquesson, François. 2006a. ‘La réconstruction du passé: le cas des languesboro-garo’. Bulletin de la SociétéLinguistique de Paris 101(1): 273-303. _____. 2006b. ‘The Linguistic Reconstruction of the Past: The Case of the Boro-Garo Languages’. (Translator: Seino van Breugel).LTBA 40(1). LaPolla, R.J. In press. ‘Overview of Sino-Tibetan morphosyntax’, in Graham Thurgood and Randy J. LaPolla (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan Languages, second edition. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 40-69. Matisoff, J.A. 1982. The Grammar of Lahu. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. _____. 2003. Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman. Berkley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. Piddington, R. 1950. Introduction to Social Anthropology, vol. 1. Edinbugh, London: Oliver and Boyd. Ring, Hiram. 2015. ‘A Grammar of Pnar’. PhD thesis. Singapore: Nanyang Technological University. Sidwell, P. 2009. Classifying the Austronesian Languages: History and State of the Art. Muenchen: Lincom. Singh, U. Nissor. 1906. Khasi-English Dictionary. Shillong: Eastern Bengal and Assam Secretariat Press.

CHAPTER 12

Changes in Khasi Kinship Terminology Juanita War

Introduction The Khasi tribe follows a matrilineal line of descent, a distinctive feature of ancient people. One of the three core creeds of the indigenous religion (ka niam khasi or Khasi religion) is tip kur tip kha, literally meaning ‘to know one’s relative from the maternal side (kur) and from the paternal side (kha)’, the others being ban kamai ia ka hok (to earn righteousness), and tip briew tip blei (to know others and to know God). Therefore the Khasi clan system is one of the foundation stones of religion, rooted in religious philosophy and belief system of the Khasi tribe. This chapter tries to examine the impact of socio-cultural changes on the clan system, specifically, on kinship terms. The meaning of this Khasi tenet or command tip kur tip kha, is much deeper than what has been seen in most of the literature, translated as ‘to know the maternal and paternal kin’. The author understands it as a summing up of the complex philosophy and understanding of clan systems which is the very fabric of Khasi society. First, it means that one should know that everyone who bears a clan name (jait) has descended from one common mother – pro­ genitress, the same ancestress or ka iaw-bei tymmen. Therefore, the whole clan is an extended family spread across the land, near and far. Ka iaw-bei tynrai/tymmen (iaw = old, mature, ripe; bei, synonym of

252

Juanita War

mei = mother; literally, the old mother foundation/root), who was the first or founder ‘mother’ of a new clan. Many clans bear the per­ sonal name of ka iaw-bei tynrai. According to Rabon Singh (n.d.), the Khasis in the past had an elaborate ceremony performed by the clan members, presided over by the eldest maternal uncle (kni rang­ bah), where a request was made to God, the One who instituted the kur and jait (clan and clan name), to make the iaw-bei tynrai, who is supported by her husband u thawlang, and the first and oldest maternal uncle u suidnia, to be the keeper (nongri nongsumar) of the clan. God too is involved in the establishing of a family or a clan as one who lends support. In the Khasi concept ‘God’ is neither male nor female, hence God in the role of one who instituted the family, is referred by the feminine gender ka blei ka nongthaw bynriew buh bynriew ka nongthung ka nongsei ia i kur i jaid… (God, she who is) the founder and keeper of humanity, the planter and nurturer, of the clan (kur) and the clan name (jait) (Singh, n.d.). Ka iaw-bei tynrai was not only the progenitress, but also the keeper of the clan and its name, in this earthly life, through her children and grandchildren who continue the matrilineal bloodline. Since this life continues in the after-life, the role of this ancient primitive ancestress of a clan continues, as the keeper of the souls of all her descendants through subsequent generations, i.e. all living and deceased members of a clan who bear the clan name. The pre-Christian Khasis gathered the bones of the dead clan members to be kept together in the ossuary/cairn (mawbah) of the clan. There is clan exogamy even in the after-life, since the remains of a dead person from any other clan could not be kept in the clan ossuary. The after-life was considered as a re-gathering and re­ establishing of kur-kha relationship, embedded in the phrase bam kwai ha duwar/ing u blei, i.e. a kind of socializing by sharing areca nut (eating together) in God’s ‘house’. Since the clan system is so intricately woven with the Khasi religion, a person without a clan or a clan name (khlem kur khlem jait) is the most miserable of all crea­ tures, because he has no identity and no foundation. Where would his soul go to in the after-life? Ka iaw-bei khynraw, usually one of the daughters of ka iaw­

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253

bei tynrai/tymmen, was the founding ancestress of the branch of a clan, or a sub-clan, which may have a different clan name, but still practices clan exogamy with the other sub-clans with regards to marriage. Many stories about the ancestress abound, passed on through oral tradition, but no one can ascertain the facts of such stories about different clans. Second, tip kur tip kha means a strict observance of clan exogamy with regards to marriage – no one is permitted to marry within a clan, or even with other non-bloodline clans that had been adopted or accepted as kur (mother’s clan) in the distant past. This adoption is known as teh kur (literally, tying up of clans), because of help rendered by one clan to another, or other reasons. Anyone marrying within a clan, considered as ka sang (loosely translated as ‘incest taboo’) is considered to have broken the forbidden rule, or commit­ ting a sacrilegious act. It is a sin against the society, especially the clan, hence the expression ka pap ka sang (the sin of incest), which is a dangerous ka sang ka ma. The Khasi belief is that such a sacrilege, the breaking of a sacred and forbidden rule, will bring misfortunes and tragedies to the family, even to the clan itself. Hence a couple guilty of such a heinous act were usually ex-communicated from the clan and exiled from the village. To prevent any such incestu­ ous marriages, within the Khasi culture it is customary to enquire the clan to which a person belongs at the very first meetings of strangers. Young people are cautioned to know the clan of a person before getting into a friendship or relationship. Before a couple can be officially engaged, there used to be intricate rituals and verbal interactions between the maternal uncles of the would-be bride and groom, in case there is a clan relationship somewhere along the line, even in the distant past. Marriages in the Khasi society is therefore inter-clan or across clans, for fear of committing ka sang ka ma or in-breeding, because the clan is a greater and larger extended family. Third, Tip kur tip kha is an injunction to each and everyone to know, and relate to, the members of one’s maternal clan (kur) and paternal kha. Like most tribal societies, the Khasi people do not have any concept of individualistic existence, that is, to exist as an

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individual apart from family and clan. Each Khasi is rooted in the family (nuclear and extended) and clan, conceptualized as a larger extended family because of a common ancestress. These are the foundations of the Khasi social structure. Fourth, the tenet sums up the duties and responsibilities to one’s relatives from the kur and kha sides. The father’s side is the one which enables birth kha, because the father is the seed-giver to the clan. As such, he, and his family are highly respected. His mother is called mei-kha1 (literally, mother who gives/enables birth); the paternal aunts are kha- because it is their clan, through their brother, who caused procreation (pynkha) in one’s kur. It was customary to give the honour of naming to the father’s female relatives. Also, it was believed that naming a baby girl after the mei-kha would bring good fortune. The responsibilities to the father’s mother (mei-kha) were many – one being a custom called ka nguh mei-kha (to bow down in respect to mei-kha), which included an offering of a pig or some other animal to her and her family. Another custom that has disappeared is ka iam mei-kha (cry for mei-kha) which all children and grandchildren of her sons and grandsons (if any) were expected to perform at her demise. These are just a few examples of the Khasi concept of clan and the duties/responsibilities involved regarding the paternal kin. Similarly, an example of such responsibilities to the maternal kin (which are numerous), is the ‘adoption’ or bringing up (as their own) of a deceased sister’s children by one or all of her sur­ viving sisters. This practice ensured that there were no ‘orphans’ since one or some or all of the mothers mei- had taken the children under her/their wings. The adoption of a son’s or brother’s chil­ dren by the paternal kin mei-kha or one of the kha- (paternal aunt) is not forbidden, but it is not usual, because they belong to differ­ ent clans. Tip kur tip kha also involves mutual support (financial, physical, mental, and emotional) among the members of a clan. This is true on the demise of a clan member, especially the closer clan kins who gather together and perform many religious rituals before, during, and after the ‘cleansing’ (pynkhuid) of the dead body through its consumption by fire. Lastly, the tip kur tip kha creed includes knowing the kinship terms to be used as terms of address and of reference.

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Khasi Kinship Terminology The Maternal Kin The oldest surviving grandmother is termed as mei-dot or mei-kulong (oldest or most ancient mother, the great-great grandmother). The maternal grandmother is the mei-ieit (love-mother) or mei-rad (the meaning is not clear; if rad is an abbreviated form of kynrad (lord/ owner) then it could mean ‘mother who is the owner’. But kynrad is also a term of love and endearment; therefore, the second meaning is more probable. Mei means mother, a root word from which all the other mei- have been derived as compound words by suffixing an adjective, as in the above and following examples. In this sense, Khasis have many ‘mothers’ from both the maternal and the paternal sides. The older sisters of the mother have adjectives denoting ranks as per their birth or positions among the female siblings. mei­ heh (big mother) and Mei-san (mature/grown up mother) are terms of address as well as reference terms to the oldest or older sisters of mei. The middle sisters could be mei-rit (small mother), mei-deng (middle mother), mei-khynnah (young mother), while the youngest sister is mei-duh (last mother) or nah-duh (probably derived from the full form mei khynnah duh (youngest and last mother) by two processes – deletion of mei and syllable deletion of khyn-). Both processes are common in compound word formation among Khasis. The Paternal Kin The root word is pa (father), which is common in most languages.2 Adjectives are suffixed to the root pa- to derive many other kin terms. Mei-kha is the paternal grandmother. Kha- (giving birth) are the aunts or father’s sisters, to which relevant adjectives are added. Similarly, father’s brothers or uncles are pa-, with different adjectives suffixed to indicate elder or younger. Thus, there is regularity and symmetry by following the same pattern as the words for different ‘mothers’, by adding the same adjectives to the root pa. The exception, understandably, is that there are no correspondences to the terms ka iaw-bei tynrai/tymmen, and ka iaw-bei khynraw, because males (fathers) do not start a clan; there

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are no clan progenitor in a matrilineal society. The husband of ka iaw-bei tynrai/tymmen is called u thaw-lang, i.e. the first father-in­ law of the clan. As such, he was revered as a father who started the kur (clan) together with ka iaw-bei tynrai/tymmen. He had a role in the traditional household religion, as one of the trio – ka iaw-bei tynrai/tymmen of the Khasi clan, her husband u thaw-lang, and the first maternal uncle of the clan who also acted as the family mediator-priest, called u suid-nia (one who performs rites and rituals along with verbal utterances as intercessions for the family and the clan). Contrary to many modern misconceptions about the status and role of the father, there are numerous traditional practices which show that the father was regarded with utmost respect since he was seen as a co-founder of a clan or a family, lending support to his wife in her duties to increase the family through child-bearing and nurturing. The Khasis used to say ban iar u tnum u tyndai or to extend/increase the family, the sacred duty of every husband and wife. Without his ‘seed’ to enable the births of children, there would be no family or clan. The practice of divorce because of childlessness has to be seen in the context of the importance of family and clan multiplication through the fertility of both male and female. Affinal Kin Kiaw is a term for the mother-in-law from both maternal and paternal sides, and kthaw for the father-in-law, applicable even to their siblings. Pyrsa is kin term for the son/daughter-in-law. The siblings of the husband or of the wife are elder (hynmen) or younger (para) brothers/sisters through marriage (kynsi), thus we have hynmen kynsi (older brother/sister through marriage) or para kynsi (younger brother/sister through marriage). The terms used for maternal aunts and uncles have corresponding patterns by substituting mei- or pa-, for example, the eldest maternal aunt’s (mei-san) husband is pa-san. Thus there are many overlaps in kinship terms – mei-san is also the term for the wife of the eldest paternal uncle who is called pa-san. So there is a lot of extension of kinship terms that are applied even to the spouses of uncles

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and aunts, brothers and sisters, from both sides. Such extensions to in-laws, and even to spouses, brothers and sisters of a direct or close kin, create complex networks of relations, either directly, or through marriages. This is one of the most important aspects of social coherence and unity in the traditional Khasi society. This is reflected culturally in social interactions – what is your kur? What is your father’s kur? Who is married to whom, and from which kur or kha? Built on all the information, then one can say, ‘Oh, I am related to you because…’. Many in the present generation are perplexed by this intricate network of relationships, and many are at a loss about the proper kinship terms of address and reference. This practice of using kinship terms and forms of address extends beyond the family/clan/relationship by marriages, etc., or non-consanguinous relationships. It is usual that elderly persons are addressed or referred to as pa/mei-rad or pa/mei-ieit (grandfather or grandmother) out of respect for age. The terms for elder brother bah, elder sister kong have been used nowadays to mean ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’ as in bah sanbor lyngdoh (Mr. Sanbor Lyngdoh). As terms of address, they are applicable almost to everyone who is a speaker of Khasi. Similarly, the kinship terms for younger siblings such as hep or para have been extended to address younger people and children. The most common example of universal or extensive use of kinship terms is the word ‘mama’ which means maternal uncle, now extended in meaning to mean any grown-up male, including non-Khasis. Such extensions of kin terms suggest two possibilities. First, it could be a mark of respect and politeness by using kin terms instead of names or any term of address. Second, did the close knit, village based societies in the past, where everybody is either kur or kha, influence the Khasi perception of society in general, even in the urban, multicultural and multi-racial societies of today? These questions beg an answer through more in-depth studies. Table 12.1 shows the compounding of two lexical items to derive different terms. The first lexical item changes according to the male-female distinction, while the adjectival item remains the same. Additionally, the symmetry of kin terms used for aunts, uncles, husband and wife, etc., is seen except for the in-laws.

TABLE 12.1: KUR AND KHA KINSHIP TERMS

Sl. No. 1 2 3 4

5

6 7 8 9

10

11

Kin Mother

Terms of Reference Kin from kur/kha Spouse of kin mei pa

Grandmother mei-dot/kulong Great grandmother mei-rad/ieit

pa-dot/kulong pa-rad/ieit

Mother’s sisters mei-san (eldest) [Reference term kmei] mei-deng/rit/khynnah (middle) mei-duh/nah-duh (youngest) Mother’s brothers ma-heh/rangbah [Reference term kni] (eldest) ma-deng/rit/khynnah (middle) ma-duh (youngest) Children (daughters/ khun sons) Grandchildren khun-khnai Great grandchildren khun-khnai/ksew Sister’s children khun-ruit (referred by maternal aunt) pyrsa (referred by maternal uncle) Mother’s sister’s shi-para-arkmie children (siblings from two mothers) Mother’s brother’s (shi)-bakha children

pa-san pa-deng/rit/ khynnah pa-duh nia-heh/rangbah nia-deng/rit/ khynnah nia-duh

12

Father’s mother

mei-kha

pa-rad

13

Father’s sisters

kha-(rang)bah/heh (eldest) kha-deng/rit (middle) kha-duh (youngest)

ma/ni (rang)bah/ heh ma-deng/rit ma-duh

Changes in Khasi Kinship Terminology

259

14

Father’s brothers

pa-san (eldest) pa-deng/rit/khynnah (middle) pa-khynnah (duh) (youngest)

mei-san mei-deng/rit/ khynnah mei-khynnah

15 16 17 18 19

Husband’s mother Wife’s mother Son’s wife Daughter’s husband Father’s sister’s children Father’s brother’s children

kiaw (kurim) kiaw (kurim) pyrsa kurim pyrsa kurim (shi) bakha

kthaw (kurim) kthaw (kurim) pyrsa kurim pyrsa kurim (shi) bakha

(shi) para-kha

(shi) para-kha

21

Brother’s children

22

khun-kha (referred by paternal

aunt)

khun-??

(referred by paternal

uncle)

kynum

Wife’s brothers [irrespective of order/ age] Wife’s sisters kong kynsi (elder sister-in-law) hep kynsi (younger sister-in­ law)

20

23

Note: Only a few terms are shown here as examples. The terms used here are commonly used standard Khasi, although there are many dialectical variations.

Impact of Social Changes on Kinship Social changes include urbanization, education, modernization, inter-marriages, changes in vocations/professions, religion, influ­ ences of other communities through direct interactions or mass media, etc. These changes have struck at the very heart of the intricate family and clan systems. The traditional concept of ka ing (family) as one consisting of many sub-families, i.e. a mother

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Juanita War

and all her daughters, including the families of married daughters has undergone a big change. Today, ka (long)-ing (family) means a nuclear family of a husband, wife and children. Every nuclear family is independent, especially those of the elder sisters. Even if some semblance of close relationships is maintained, the fact is that the joint/extended family is breaking up, and the nuclear family is established as an independent, emerging institution especially in urban areas. This means that grandparents, elderly uncles and aunts, etc., are no longer spatially near the younger generations to instruct them about the proper terms of address and reference. Education (especially English medium schools) and modernization have made drastic changes in Khasi society. These changes have affected the kinship systems and terms. These include: 1. Loss of kinship terms such as pyrsa kha, a term used by mater­ nal uncles to refer or address to the husbands of nieces, and wives of nephews. This kin term is hardly used at all nowadays. Shi myngkew is another term that is lost. Kharakor (1981) states that it refers to the relationship between a man’s wife and his sisters irrespective of whether they are older or younger (ki hynmmen bad hep kynsi); however Kharkongor (2013) limits the definition only to the younger sisters-in-law. This shows that the lost words/terms have also lost their true meaning. 2. The modern practice, at least in urban areas, is the use of the proper name of a kin to refer to or address siblings, cousins (for which there are many Khasi kin terms), sons and daughters­ in-law, and so on. Instead of using the descriptive adjective for specificity, nowadays it is common to use the proper name (once considered disrespectful, almost a taboo, especially when addressing or referring to an older kin) of an uncle or aunt after the first lexical item designating kinship, e.g. Ma Phrang, Ma Khraw, Nah Bel, Nah Bi, Pakhynnah Jur, Pakhynnah Romu, etc. The aunts and uncles also use proper names instead of kin terms denoting nieces and nephews. 3. The combination and use of a lexical item denoting speakeraddressee relationship, with kin terms used within the nuclear

Changes in Khasi Kinship Terminology

261

family, such as hep (younger brother or sister), bih (younger sister) [For example, Khun-hep/bih]. 4. The trend of substituting kin terms from other languages. For example, the word mei which is a basic and fundamental kin term, is being substituted (for whatever reasons) by borrowed words like ‘mummy’, ‘mom’, ‘ma’, ‘mi’, etc. In many cases, mei now refers to the maternal grandmother. In such cases, the words mei-ieit or mei-rad are being eradicated from the basic vocabulary. That is, there are now gaps in the symmetrical Khasi kinship patterns. Sometimes, pa and mei now refer to the grandparents or parental in-laws [For example, pa/mei-ieit, pa/mei-rad, ktaw, kiaw, etc.], which again might lead to the loss of such terms. 5. The inter-marriages with men/women from patrilineal and patriarchal societies have created complexity in Khasi kinship terms. Different families have different practices. Similarly, close social interactions with other communities, and mutual adoption of names, have made it difficult to ascertain true Khasi clan names. In Appendix (v) of his dictionary, Khar­ kongor (2013) observed that it has become difficult to identify Khasi clan names, and that he has omitted some such names if he understands that they are non-Khasi surnames. Certainly, some of the clan names listed in his dictionary is rare or never heard of by this author. This is also true of the 3,361 clan sur­ names collected by Kharakor (1981). 6. Some clan names are rather ambiguous, especially the ‘Syiem’ and ‘Lyngdoh’ because these are not really clan names, but offices of chieftain and priest which were given to some clans. If the titles are used with the clan name, such as Lyngdoh Mawphlang/Marbaniang/Buam/Mawlong, etc., the clan of a person becomes obvious. Therefore, all Khasis with the sur­ names ‘Lyngdoh’ or ‘Syiem’ are not related, but may belong to different clans. 7. The recent trend of creating new clan names or surnames com­ bining both maternal and paternal names, such as ‘Warlyn’, ‘Mawpdah’, etc., have also impacted kinship terminologies. These may have been done to compromise between both par­

262

Juanita War

ents, or for some other reasons. Modern-day couples appear to be unconcerned about the sanctity of the clan system among the Khasis. 8. Today each kur (clan) has increased numerically and spread over a greater geographical area. Hence, the ka tip kur tip kha creed as well as using the right kin terms have become diffi­ cult to observe. Many kurs have started forming associations to promote social interactions, mutual help and welfare, and so on. One of the problems faced is ‘identity theft’ or adoption of a Khasi surname for benefits, especially by illegal immigrants and vagabonds. Kur associations ensure that this practice of strangers claiming kur relationship without any shared blood­ line is prevented. 9. The loss of these kin terms and their use means the loss of understanding of family relationships – many youngsters do not know the difference between cousins from the maternal side (para ar-kmie or siblings from two mothers) and cous­ ins from the paternal side (ba-kha or para-kha), let alone the deeper meanings behind the usage of these kin terms which reflect the Khasi concept of kur and kha.

Conclusion Does this mean that for most modern-day Khasis, irrespective of religion, the social structures built on the three core concepts, including the tenet of tip-kur tip-kha, have become only words and phrases with no meanings? Can we talk of cultural heritage when so much of it has been eroded in the present day? This chapter has raised some issues which are problematic. It has also shown that language (here, the basic vocabulary of kinship terms), culture, religion, social changes affect each other. There is a domino effect – if one changes, the others also change and cre­ ate more changes. It is hoped that sociologists, anthropologists, linguists and others will draw from these issues to study the rela­ tionship between the different aspects of the socio-cultural life of tribal communities, especially the Khasis.

Changes in Khasi Kinship Terminology

263

NOTES 1. Hyphens between words have been used to indicate compound words. 2. Studies in child language acquisition show that bilabials like p, m, b are acquired very early by babies, hence many kin terms have bilabials as the initial consonant. Many have reduplications, another feature of baby talk mama, papa, baba, etc.

REFERENCES Kharkongor, I. 2013. Ka Dienshonhi 2013: The Khasi Encyclopaedic Dictionary. Shillong: Shandora Press. Kharakor, S. 1981. Ki Khun Ki Ksiew U Hynniew Trep. Shillong: Rita Printers. Singh, R. n.d. Kitab Niam Khein Ki Khasi: Ki Ain ki Adong bad ka Rukom Hiar Pateng. Shillong: NEICS Printing.

CHAPTER 13

A Culturally Informed Description of

Lyngam Kinship Terms

Seino van Breugel

Introduction This chapter provides a succinct description of the kinship terms found among Lyngams and the relevant aspects of the culture in which they are used.1 The descriptions are by no means as thorough as that of the Atong kinship terms (van Breugel, this volume), because the author’s time spent with the Lyngams was much more limited than that spent with the Atongs. Moreover, the author’s fieldwork among the Atongs was truly immersive, but not so among the Lyngams (see van Breugel 2015a). The data for this paper were collected during the author’s fieldwork in the village of Shallang and Umdang (or Nongumdang),2 for a total time of six months: the first between July and OctobeU 2013 and the second between March and June 2014. The author hopes that future field research will permit the collection of more data, so as to provide a more elaborate description. The Lyngams live mainly in the western part of the west and south-west Khasi Hills districts and in a few villages in the north­ east Garo Hills district of Meghalaya state in north-east India, and the adjacent area in Bangladesh. This area where Lyngam is spo­ ken in India is indicated in grey on Map 13.1. The language of the Lyngams, called Lyngam,3 belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family, and within that family, its closest relatives are the languages

266

Seino van Breugel

Source: van Breugel (2015a: 262).

Note: National Highway numbers are indicated in rhombuses.

Map designed by author and digitally created by Weerachai Sriwai. The

boundaries on this map are not authoritative.

Map 13.1: The area where Lyngam is spoken in the west and south-west Khasi Hills

of a group that some linguists call the Khasian or Khasic group (Sidwell, 2009). The number of speakers cannot be established with certainty. Official numbers from the Government of India are not available. Moreover, according to Baker (2013: 3), count­ ing Lyngam speakers might be a complicated task because: ‘speaker number may vary dramatically depending on the parameters used to identity [sic] an individual as a Lyngngam speaker. These para­ meters can be difficult to define as a result of the classification of neighbouring language varieties, intergroup marriage, local trade centres and social stigmas.’ Simons and Fennig (2017) put the total number of Lyngam speakers at 6000, of which 5,000 are in India and 1,000 in Bangla­ desh. In India, Lyngam is a non-official speech variety, and is there­ fore considered a dialect according to the political definition of the term. Politically defined, only official speech varieties are con­ sidered languages, while non-official ones are considered dialects.

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

267

The Lyngams are often, and unofficially, considered a sub-tribe or part of a larger Khasi tribe (Karotemprel, 1986) or nation (Gurdon, 1907). The Lyngams are, however, both culturally and linguistically different from their Khasian relatives. Many Lyngams are to vary­ ing degrees bilingual in Standard Khasi, which is an official speech variety, but speakers of Standard Khasi and other Khasian speech varieties cannot understand Lyngam because it has a different grammar and vocabulary from the speech varieties spoken around it, giving it the character of a linguistically unique entity, and thus deserving of the title of ‘language’ in the linguistic sense of the word. There are multiple varieties of Lyngam, which are all mutu­ ally intelligible. Speech variety within Lyngam depends mostly on geographical location and to a lesser extent on clan membership. Some recorded differences between speech varieties are presented in van Breugel (2015a). Because language should always be studied in the context in which it is spoken, the next section will describe the relevant aspects of Lyngam society that are necessary to understand the cultural environment in which the kinship terms are used. This description will also allow us to draw comparisons between the use of kinship terms Lyngam and its Tibeto-Burman neighbour Atong, the kin­ ship terms of which are described in detail by van Breugel (this volume and 2014a). This paper will next dwell on the morphologi­ cal marking of age difference within one generation, and a detailed description of the kinship lexicon and its usage. The terminology will be treated per generation from grandparents to grandchildren, relationships acquired by marriage, concerning family loss, and a brief discussion on derelationalization, a trait which Lyngam has in common with its Tibeto-Burman linguistic neighbours Atong (van Breugel, this volume) and Standard Garo. Finally, after the con­ clusion, the glossary lists all the kinship terms and kinship-related terms that appear in this chapter. All Lyngam data in this chapter are presented in the Lyngam spelling system proposed by van Breugel (2014b). The glossary presents an alphabetical list of all kinship terms and kinship-related terms in Lyngam orthography, where each entry is accompanied by its phonological transcription in International Phonetic Alphabet

268

Seino van Breugel

(IPA), according to the phonology also presented in van Breugel 2014b.4 Table 13.1 gives an overview of how the phonemes in Lyn­ gam are written in the spelling system. As we can see, the glottal stop phoneme /‫ݦ‬/ has three realizations in the spelling. To repre­ sent the glottal stop in the orthography, the letter ‘y’ is used initially before a consonant, as in yѪiaw ‘father-in-law’, the apostrophe is used medially, as in ba’kha ‘male cross-cousin’, and the letter ‘h’ is used finally, as in bah ‘brother’. When a word starts with a glottal stop followed by a vowel, the initial glottal stop is not represented in the orthography. All words that start with a vowel in the Lyn­ gam spelling have an initial glottal stop phonologically, except for TABLE 13.1: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PHONEMES

OF LYNGAM AND THE WAY THEY ARE WRITTEN IN THE

SPELLING SYSTEM

phoneme

spelling

phoneme

spelling

phoneme

spelling

i

i

p

ph

s

s

e

e

p

p

h

h

a

a

b

b

l

l

ye

t

th

r

r

‫ܫ‬

h

h

ԥ

y

t

t

m

m

u

u

d

d

n

n

o

k

kh

݄

Vowel+i+n

o

h

k

k

(e.g. moin/mo݄/ mo ‘tooth’) or

g

g

n+i+Vowel

‫ݦ‬

y/’/h

(e.g. niaw/݄aw/ ‘father-in-law’)

‫ݺ‬

ch

ƾ

ng

‫ݷ‬

j

w

w

j

i+Vowel or Vowel+i (as in iawrei/ jawrej/ ‘the sun’)

Source: van Breugel, 2014a.

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

269

the orthographic combination i+vowel, because in those cases, the initial letter ‘i’ represents the on-glide /j/, which is a consonant. Finally, the sonorant phonemes /l, r. m, n, ݄, ƾ/ can function as vowels, i.e. in the nuclei of minor syllables (see Lindell et al. 1981: 49), as in, for example, chyrryk /‫ݺ‬r.rԥk/ ‘buffalo’, hymbu /hm.bu/ ‘younger sibling’ and syngkin /sƾ.kin/ ‘mother-in-law of a female’. As we can see in these examples, in the Lyngam spelling system, the letter ‘y’ is written between the initial consonant and the letter representing the sonorant in the nucleus of the minor syllable. All Lyngam kinship terms can be used referentially or as address terms. Therefore, instead of writing that a certain kinship term can be used to refer to or address a certain kinsperson, the verb call is often used in this chapter to fulfil both functions at once. For exam­ ple, instead of writing ‘my kong “elder brother’s wife” refers to or addresses me as hymbu “younger sibling”’, I write ‘my kong […] calls me hymbu […]’. Finally, throughout the chapter, the Lyngam pronoun ny, or its translations ‘I, me’ are used for what anthropolo­ gists call ego, i.e. the deictic centre of the relationship.

Relevant Aspects of Lyngam Society The Lyngams are matrilineal societies of unilineal descent. Clan membership and the inheritance follow the woman’s line (see Karotemprel, 1986: 6-9). The Lyngams are organized in clans, called jait. A village consists mainly of the women of one clan and their husbands, who belong to different clans. All these properties of Lyngam society are similar to those of the other members of the Khasi Tribe (Gurdon, 1907) and their Tibeto-Burman-speaking neighbours of the Garo Tribe, including those speaking Atong (Burling, 1963; van Breugel, this volume and 2014a), all of whom together form an island of matrilineal societies within a vast area of patrilineal ones (see Jacquesson, 2006 or 2017 for an historical explanation). A clan can have different divisions, which can be useful in times of disputes, when members of one lineage can support each other in their battle against the other lineages within the same clan. Unlike with the Atongs (and the other Garos, see van Breugel, this volume), these lineages are not indicated in the

270

Seino van Breugel

names of their members. Lineages are based on the geographical origin of the lineage, and people know which family originates from where. When a woman founds a new village, a new lineage can be discerned. This founding woman is called kpoh, which is also the word for ‘blood relatives’. When a woman from one village goes to live in another village founded by someone from her own clan, everybody will remember that she and her offspring belong to a different lineage, and so they cannot simply claim land in their new village. Two or more clans can be linked together in a bond or phratry, called kur in Lyngam.5 A phratry comes about when one clan helps the other financially or by giving the other clan land to live on. For example, the Langrin, Rongrin, Puweiñ,6 Hashah7 and Nongrim clans form one phratry. The members of different clans within the phratry are considered relatives, and marriage between them is not allowed, except, for cross-cousin marriage, which effectuates the continued existence of the bond between clans. Despite reports from consultants that cross-cousin marriage is no longer practised, the author was told that when a phratry consists of more than two clans, a boy can marry his mother’s brother’s daughter, but prefer­ ably not one that belongs to the same clan as the boy’s father, thus ensuring that all clans stay within the phratry, and that one of them is not excluded in favour of a bond between only two clans, i.e. a moiety, as is the dominant type of phratry among the Atongs (see van Breugel, this volume).8 Marrying their father’s sister’s daughter is never a preferable option for either a boy or a girl, and is totally taboo when father’s sister’s husband belongs to the same clan as the marriageable boy or girl’s father. Lyngams are in close contact with the Garos (see van Breugel, 2015a), and even intermarry with them. Continuation of phratry among the Garos (including the Atongs, see van Breugel, this volume) is accomplished by cross-cousin marriage. The offspring of father’s sister and mother’s brother are mutual cross-cousins, because they belong to different clans, and can thus marry to con­ tinue the bond. During his stay with the Lyngams, the author was told by several different consultants that cross-cousin marriage was not or no longer practised by the Lyngams, as mentioned above,

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

271

with the occasional exception also mentioned. More fieldwork is necessary to find out if this is true only in Nongumdang and Shal­ lang, where the data for this chapter were collected, or whether it is true only for first-degree cross-cousins, and, if it is true for all cross-cousins, what mechanism ensures the continuation of phra­ tries instead of cross-cousin marriage. Gurdon (1907: 78) writes about the Khasis, not the Lyngams, that they could not marry their maternal uncle’s daughter during the lifetime of the maternal uncle. After his death, the ban was lifted, although such marriages were frowned upon at the time of his writing. Gurdon (idem) also mentioned that such marriages were totally prohibited by the Wars. The author has not heard of such restrictions for cross-cousin mar­ riage among the Lyngams. Rabel-Heymann (1989: 45) mentions about the Khasis that ‘marriage between cross-cousins is permitted though not common’.9 Notwithstanding the practice of cross-cousin marriages, whether or not a relative belongs to the same jait (clan) or kur (phratry) is so important in Lyngam culture that it is reflected in the lexicon of kinship terms. Terms of relatives that are not from the same clan are marked through compounding with the morpheme kha, which, in those constructions, means ‘relative from another clan’. The morpheme kha only occurs as a free form with the meaning ‘father’s sister’; in all other occurrences (see Figure 13.1) it is com­ pounded or bound. Compounded in terms like thawkha ‘paternal grandfather’ and bound with the reciprocal prefix mar- in markha ‘cousin whose father belongs to the same clan as me’. Moreover, there are four classificatory kinship terms,10 whose main purpose is to indicate whether the referent or set of referents belong to the same or a different clan or phratry as ny ‘I, me’, the deictic centre of the relationship. These terms are listed in Table 13.2. Notice that three of these four terms can also be used to refer to specific relationships, which will be treated later. Together, the burang and niaw ~ yniaw form the lumkur (male relatives of the clan or phratry who have married sisters). The lum­ kur has the function of a disciplinary and judicial body within the clan. In the words of one of the author’s Lyngam consultants: ‘The lumkur judge if botthaw or her husband or the khmon make mis­

272

Seino van Breugel

TABLE 13.2: KINSHIP TERMS WHOSE MAIN PURPOSE IS TO INDICATE

WHETHER THE REFERENT OR SET OF REFERENTS BELONG TO THE

SAME OR A DIFFERENT CLAN OR PHRATRY AS NY (I, ME)

burang

(1) the set of all male relatives of my clan with a married sister (2) wife’s brother

niaw ~ yniaw

(1) any male relative of my clan or phratry who are of the generation of my mother or older and who is older than his married sister (2) father-in-law

botthaw

(1) the set of married female relatives of my clan or phratry

gachi

(1) husband or husbands of botthaw, i.e. a male relative or set of male relatives from a different clan acquired by the marriage of any of my female relative from my clan or phratry (2) sister’s husband

takes’. Since husbands belong to a different clan than their wives and offspring, the authority they have in their wife’s household is limited. It is the lumkur of his wife, who have to take any decisions that are deemed very important, as for example in divorce cases, or whether or not somebody from their clan has to be taken to the hospital when there is a risk that he or she will die. All the married female relatives of the same clan or phratry are called the botthaw. The husband of a botthaw is called gachi (male relative acquired by marriage from a different clan). One of the eldest or most influential persons within the lumkur is the ejyn (agent) of the clan. The author’s consultants mentioned that the term and its function are comparable to the Khasi rangbah kur/ raƾbaҌ kur/ (head of the clan) (see also Rabel-Heymann, 1989: 44). When he dies, his successor is chosen by the botthaw and burang. It is therefore important for an election candidate to be on good terms with both the married men and married women of the clan and phratry. A boy can cause marital restrictions on his siblings, whereas girls cannot. If a boy marries, his siblings cannot marry anyone of the

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

273

siblings from their brother’s wife. When a girl marries first, her brother can marry his sister’s sister-in-law, but then the restriction takes effect, and no other siblings can marry within the same in-law family. Cross-cousin marriages have shaped the kinship lexicon in two important ways. First, there are specific descriptive terms for cross-cousins but not for parallel cousins (see Figure 13.1). Sec­ ond, cross-cousin marriage practice is the reason why the words for ‘mother’s brother’ and ‘father-in-law’, mama,11 and for ‘mother brother’s wife’ and ‘mother-in-law’, khin ~ bei ~ beikhin, are the same. If a Lyngam marries within the same jait (clan) or to an un­ marriageable relative within the kur (phratry), they are called syrri. According to Lyngams, these people and everyone who live in their house are cursed and prone to being killed by lightning or wild animals. More fieldwork is necessary in the domain of taboo rela­ tionships and the terminology associated with it.

Types of Kinship Terms Based on Pragmatic and Semantic Criteria Apart from the distinction between kinship terms denoting con­ sanguineal and affinal kinsmen referents, discussed in the relevant sections below, three types of opposition can be distinguished in the Lyngam kinship lexicon, the first one pragmatic, and the other two semantic: 1. referential terms vs. address terms 2. non-reciprocal vs. reciprocal 3. classificatory vs. descriptive Referential vs. Address Terms Reference terms are used to talk about someone, whereas address terms are used to get someone’s attention. The only purely referential kinship terms in Lyngam are the two referring to sets of female relatives. These terms are: botthaw – the set of all married

274

Seino van Breugel

female relatives of my clan or phratry [addressed as kong (sister), hymbu (younger sibling) or hmin (elder sibling)]; and mangku – set of all sister-in-law from the same phratry [used only by female speakers and addressed as kong (sister)]. Two more terms referring to sets of kinsmen have been recorded, which are not purely referential. These terms are gachi [husband or husbands of botthaw (a male relative or set of male relatives from a different clan acquired by the marriage of any female relative from my clan or phratry)] [addressed as bah (brother), hymbu (younger sibling) or hmin (elder sibling); and niaw ~ yniaw – set of all male members of my clan or phratry from the generation of my mother or older who are older than their married sisters. The term gachi can also be used to refer to or address a male sister’s husband. The term niaw ~ yniaw can also be used to refer to or address a male’s father-in-law. All other kinship terms in Lyngam can be used as address terms as well as referentially. Non-reciprocal vs. Reciprocal Terms The only real reciprocal kinship term recorded in Lyngam is kyn’um (brother-in-law of a male: the reciprocal relationship between a male and his sister’s husband or a male and his wife’s brother). These kinsmen call each other kyn’um. This term denotes almost the same relationship as the term bonyng [bonԥƾ] in Atong (van Breugel, this volume), which is ‘the reciprocal relation between a man and his younger sister’s husband or a man and his wife’s elder brother’. However, relative age within the same generation does not play a role in the Lyngam denotation of kyn’um, whereas it does so in Atong bonyng. The term kynsaw (brother-in-law of a female or a male/female’s younger brother’s wife) is not inherently reciprocal. The word refers to two different types of relationships. A male will call his wife’s sister and his elder brother’s sister kong (sister). However, as we can see in Figure 13.3, a male and his younger brother’s wife can call each other kynsaw. Usually, a male’s kynsaw will address her husband’s elder brother as hmin (elder sibling) and he will

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

275

address her as hymbu (younger sibling), since most affinal kindreds are addressed as if they were blood relatives, as we shall see below. Classificatory vs. Descriptive Terms We will use the definition of Piddington (1950: 122) for classificatory kinship terms, which are ‘those which refer to more than one type of relationship’. A descriptive kinship term, on the other hand, describes only one specific relationship between two people. Till date, only two descriptive kinship terms have been recorded by the author, viz., papa (biological father) and iawkha (a female’s mother­ in-law). The latter term was recorded in the village of Shallang and is not used in the village of Umdang. All other kinship terms are classificatory.

Morphological Marking of the Difference in Age within One Generation For many relationships and throughout all generations, it is possible to indicate the difference in age of the relatives within the same generation. For siblings and relatives considered siblings, this can be done lexically with the words hymbu (younger sibling) and hmin (older sibling). These words indicate relative age to a deictic centre in the discourse. Example 1 illustrates the use of these kinship terms. The sen­ tences come from the story about a giant rock called Mawlyng, as told by Robort Sohbar (see van Breugel, 2014b and 2015a: 284-5). Mawlyng is said to have formed when a young lady was turned into stone by a man in the form of a rock, who wanted to marry her. In the context in which the sentences presented occur, the storyteller is talking about two sisters, who are collecting water snails in a river. In sentence 1, the term hmbu (younger sibling) is used as a reference term. The referent is younger in relation to her sister. In sentence 2, hmin (older sibling) is used as a term of address, and the deictic centre is the speaker, i.e. the eldest of the two sisters.

276

Seino van Breugel

EXAMPLE 1 First excerpt from the story Mawlyng 1.

kap

+ slak

= lyh

by =

ty

maw

= tyh,

bite

+ IDEO

= ASP1

A

=

D3

stone

= D3

‘A stone bit the younger sibling on the leg.’ sy = AA

=

2. ‘ty, INTERJ

hmbu

= bah

am=

kjat

younger.sibling

=DREL

GEN=

foot/leg

hmin,

am = o =

maw

older.sibling

GEN= ART=

stone what

kap

= lyh

sy =

bite

= ASP1

AA

ny

= 1SG

myt

by =

ni

= ry

A=

D1

=DECL

am=

kjat?’

nang = dy

GEN=

leg/foot

SIM

=

D3

ong say

‘“Hey! Older sibling, what [kind of] stone is this [that] bites me on the leg?’’ [she] said like that.’ For other relationships, there is a set of suffixes that I call the sibling hierarchy suffixes;12 they are listed in Table 13.3 in Lyngam spelling and phonologically in IPA. The suffixes are used to indi­ cate the number in the sibling birth hierarchy for both males and females, except for -thei, which can only be used for females. This means that every suffix indicates whether a child is the first, second, third, etc., within the line of male or female siblings. These suffixes TABLE 13.3: SIBLING HIERARCHY SUFFIXES

Birth number

Suffix orthographically

Suffix phonologically

1

-thei Ƃ~-heh ~ -san

/-thej ~ he‫ ~ ݦ‬-san/

2

-deng

/-deƾ/

3/‘middle’

-rit

/-rit/

4

-nah

/-na‫ݦ‬/

5/‘last’

-duh

/-du‫ݦ‬/

6

-du’ritheh

/-du‫ݦ‬rithe‫ݦ‬/

7

-du’ritdeng

/-du‫ݦ‬ritdeƾ/

etc.

277

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

are not the same as the Lyngam numerals,13 but most probably find their origin in lexical items that no longer exist in the language.14 Speculating about a historical source for these suffixes is beyond the scope of this chapter. Kinship terms which can take the sibling hierarchy suffixes are underlined in all tables in this chapter as well as in Figure 13.1; terms that are not underlined cannot take these suffixes. All the suf­ fixes in Table 13.3 can be used for both males and females except for -thei, which only has female reference. Below, we shall see that the suffix -san has to be interpreted as meaning ‘eldest of all sib­ lings’ with some specific kinship terms, otherwise it appears to be synonymous with -heh and -thei.15 The suffix -rit can either be used to refer to the middle sibling or, more specifically, the third one, depending on the context. As we can see in Table 13.3, after child number 5, compounded suffixes have to be used. Recorded were only the suffixes -heh and -deng, the meanings and or historical ori­ gins of which are unknown. Table 13.4 presents an example of how the suffixes work with the words kong (sister) and bah (brother). TABLE 13.4: SIBLINGS COUNTED IN THE BIRTH HIERARCHY OF A FAMILY WITH SEVEN CHILDREN

Child’s birth number

Child’s sex

1

male

2

female

3

female

Kinship term with Phonological sibling hierarchy transcription suffix ba’-heh ~ ba’-san /ba‫ݦ‬-he‫~ ݦ‬ ba‫ݦ‬-san/ kong-heh~ kong­ /koƾ-he‫~ ݦ‬ thei koƾ-thej/ kong-deng /koƾ-deƾ/

4

male

ba’-deng

/ba‫ݦ‬-deƾ/

5

male

ba’-rit

/ba‫ݦ‬-rit/

6

female

kong-rit

/koƾ-rit/

7

female

kong-du

/koƾ-du/

Gloss

first male sibling first female sibling second female sibling second male sibling third male sibling third female sibling last female sibling

278

Seino van Breugel

Example 2 illustrates the use of the sibling hierarchy suffixes -du, -rit and -san. The sentence in the example comes from the story of Mawlyng mentioned above. The woman who has turned to stone got a child, which she takes to her birth village. Her husband has ordered her not to let anyone but herself touch the baby. EXAMPLE 2 (1) Second excerpt from the story Mawlyng im

by = rye

exist

A

=

myn

person be.related.to child

myn

maw

be.related.to mother

by =

khondeѪ chnoƾ village

A

=

person

+hmin

maw

+older.sibling

mother + younger.sibling = D2

older.niece/nephew. of.same.clan

= du,

younger.niece/nephew.of.same. clan

-duh

mother’s.sister

-youngest =DECL be.related.to maternal. grandmother

myn

o= ART

= ry

+hmbu

mei

be.related.to

rye

myn

giawbah

mei

-san,

=

mother’s.sister

-eldest

mei

-rit

= du

proksop,

mother’s.sister

-middle

= D2

everyone

kwah

pynnai

sye =

want

hold.in.arms

AA

=

= ry

khon

+saw

=ty

offspring

+baby

= D3

= DECL

‘There are all these children and clan relatives in the village, elder nephews and nieces of the same clan, mother’s younger sister, the maternal grandmother, mother’s elder sisters, mother’s middle sister, [who] all want to hold the baby.’ There are a few other kinship terms that indicate relative age within the same generation. The word paknna can be used to mean either ‘father’s younger brother’ or ‘father’s eldest male sibling’.

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

279

There is also another word with the meaning ‘father’s eldest male sibling’, viz., pasan. More fieldwork needs to be done to find out when paknna or pasan is used, if they are not in free variation. The term meisan, which is used to indicate ‘mother’s eldest female sib­ ling’ and also ‘father’s elder brother’s wife’. Finally, there are the compounded terms mawhmin (older niece or nephew of the same clan as me) and mawhymby (younger niece or nephew of the same clan as me), which both occur in Example 2.

My Blood Relatives Figure 13.1 gives an overview of my blood relations and some of their spouses. The deictic centre, ny (I, me) can either be male or female. The glosses in the figure are often underspecified, due to lack of space, but all kinship terms will be treated and precisely glossed in the text and can be found in the glossary in the appendix. The single lines in the figure indicate descent, while the double lines indicate a spousal relationship between two persons. The terms occurring in the figure and the relationships that they refer to will be commented upon below. We will see that, whether a relative is related through my mother or father is a factor which governs the choice of kinship terms used for my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. However there are no separate terms for matrilineal or patrilineal great-aunts or great-uncles. The sex of the referent is an important factor in all generations except the grandchildren. We will also see that clan membership of the referent’s father in relation to that of my own father is important to decide what to call a paternal cousin. Relative age within the same generation as me plays a decisive role in how I address my siblings. Grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles The terms iaw (great aunt) and mathaw (great uncle) are used to refer to the siblings of thawkha (paternal grandfather), iawkha (paternal grandmother), pathaw (maternal grandfather) and giaw ~ beiiaw (maternal grandmother). When my iaw (great aunt) and

Figure 13.1: My blood relatives and some of their spouses

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

281

mathaw (great uncle) marry, I will call their spouse also iaw and mathaw as well. Great grandparents and great-great-uncles and aunts are referred to with the same terms as those of the generation of my grandparents. In the case of mother’s mother’s mother, the compounded term iawtymmin can be used. The word tymmin means ‘old person’ and iaw is the compound form16 of giaw (maternal grandmother).17 The root thaw (grandfather) occurs as a synonym for ‘maternal grandfather’ and in the compound18 giaw+thaw, which means either ‘grandparents’ or ‘ancestors’. Normally, this collocation will refer to the matrilineal ancestors. Parents, Aunts and Uncles The term bei (mother) is used to refer to my biological mother or her female siblings and to father’s brother’s wife. Paternal aunts are referred to with the terms meikha19 or kha. This shows that aunts from the same clan, or in the case of father’s brother’s wife potentially from the same clan, are considered mothers, while aunts from another clan are not. In the past, when cross-cousin marriages were supposedly more common, and villages consisted mainly of two clans, paternal aunts might have been, more often than not, from the same clan as me. There is another word for mother, viz., gmaw, which is used to refer to someone else’s mother, in which case it usually occurs with the derelational enclitic = bah. In addition, the word gmaw is also the general word for ‘mother’. The classificatory term mei (moth­ er’s sister/father’s brother’s wife) is considered a Khasi loan word by some consultants. The same consultants also acknowledged that the word is used frequently in Lyngam. Father can be referred to or addressed as pa or papa. His broth­ ers are also called pa, but not papa. Thus, papa is a specific kinship term meaning ‘biological father’, while pa (father/father’s brother) is a classificatory term. An uncle by marriage, i.e. pakha (father’s sister’s husband), is marked for membership to another clan with the morpheme kha (birth, to be born), while mother’s sister’s hus­ band is regarded as a blood relative, because he is supposed to be from a family within the phratry.

282

Seino van Breugel

The word ma (mother’s brother) has a reduplicated form mama when it is not used with a sibling hierarchy suffix. Throughout the text, a person who can be referred to as mama can always also be referred to as ma followed by a sibling hierarchy suffix. After marriage, mama’s wife doubles, or has doubled for many, as a mother-in-law. Therefore, she can be referred to or addressed with the specific kinship term khin (mother-in-law, mother’s brother’s wife), with the classificatory term bei (mother), or with the specific, compound term beikhin (mother-in-law). There are four more kinship terms, not represented in Figure 13.1, to refer to or address blood relatives, two through my father and two though my mother. Two of these terms can also be used to refer to specific spouses of paternal uncles, based on the criterion of dif­ ferent age within the same generation. To start with the latter, the terms are meikhynnah (father’s younger sister or father’s younger brother’s wife), and meisan (mother’s eldest sister or father’s elder brother’s wife).20 These terms indicates that father’s younger broth­ er’s wife is considered a blood relative, which is possible because she can be from the same clan as ny (me). The other two terms not mentioned in Figure 13.1 are pakhynnah (father’s younger brother) and pasan (father’s eldest brother). Siblings and Cousins The following criteria are operative in the distinction of different types of cousins: (1) my clan membership, (2) cross-cousinhood, (3) the clan membership of my father in relation to that of my cousin’s father. These criteria do not apply equally to all cousins and it is therefore necessary to describe every relationship separately. The children of mother’s sister are parallel cousins belonging my own clan. They are thus considered my siblings and can thus be called kong (sister) or bah (brother), but I will usually address them as hmin (older sibling) or hymbu (younger sibling). Siblings are the only relationship in which difference of age within one gen­ eration is expressed lexically rather than derivationally by means of the sibling hierarchy suffixes. When referring to siblings or to indi­ cate that people are siblings, Lyngams do not use the terms kong

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

283

(sister) and bah (brother), but rather the collective term chyhymbu (siblings) regardless of whether the sex of the siblings is the same or different.21 A term such as *chyhmin does not exist. Cross-cousins can both be referred to and addressed with the same kinship terms, i.e. kongkha (female cross-cousin) and ba’kha (male cross-cousin). However, as we can see in Figure 13.1, pater­ nal cross-cousins (the children of my father’s sister) can also be called markha (paternal cousin whose father belongs to the same clan as me), which is the same term used for my paternal paral­ lel cousins (father’s brother’s children). As was mentioned earlier, when a phratry consists of more than two clans, a boy can marry his mother’s brother’s daughter, but preferably not one that belongs to the same clan as the boy’s father, thus ensuring that all clans stay within the phratry, and that none of them gets excluded in favour of a bond between only two clans. The word preferably in the previous statement indicates that it is not totally taboo, and that a moiety marriage is allowed to occur on the maternal side of the family. The fact that paternal crosscousins can be referred to or addressed with the same kinship terms as maternal cross-cousins means that, at least in the past, cross-cousin marriage between me and my paternal cross-cousins occurred frequently enough to lexically distinguish them from sib­ lings. However, within phratries of more than two clans, marriage between me (male/female) and my paternal cross-cousin is totally taboo if my cross-cousin’s father belongs to the same clan as me, thus prohibiting complete moiety formation within the family. It is therefore culturally important to have a kinship term that distin­ guishes paternal cousins whose fathers belong to the same clan as me from other types of cousins. The term markha (paternal cousin whose father belongs to the same clan as me) serves this purpose. This term consists of the reciprocal prefix mar- and the root kha (birth, to be born), thus literally meaning ‘of the same birth’. Unlike for marriageable cross-cousins, the sex of the referent does not matter for unmarriageable ones. My paternal parallel cousins (mother’s brother’s children), are unlikely to have a mother who belongs to the same clan as me, if the phratry consists of more than two families. Since villages are

284

Seino van Breugel

usually small, and the women of a village usually belong to the same clan, once a male marries into this clan, his brothers cannot marry their sisters-in-law, as was explained earlier. Hence, my paternal parallel cousins preferably and most probably do not belong to the same clan as me, but do belong to the same clan as my father and are therefore called markha, regardless of their sex, just like my unmar­ riageable paternal cross-cousins. There is even a kinship term that refers to the mutual relationship between cousins whose fathers are members of the same clan, viz., chymarkha (cousins whose fathers belong to the same clan).22 There are no fixed terms to refer to the spouses of cousins who are not considered my siblings, i.e. kongkha (female cross-cousin), ba’kha (male cross-cousin) or markha (cross-cousin whose father belongs to the same clan as me). Their spouses may be my siblings or related to me in another way; therefore I will use the kinship term applicable to the relevant relationship. If my cross-cousins’ spouses are unrelated to me, I can just call them kongkha, ba’kha or markha. Their offspring are called khonkha (child of a cousin who is not considered my sibling), and they can be addressed with their names. However, some of these children may be related to me through a clan member, in which case I can refer to them or address them with some another kinship term. This may happen, for example, when my maternal parallel cousin (who is considered my sibling) marries my paternal cross-cousin, in which case their children are my khmon (nephew, niece). Children and Grandchildren The word for offspring is khon.23 This word can be compounded with the words rakmaw ~ rawkmaw (female, woman) or korang (male, husband) to indicate the sex of the child: khonkorang (son) and khonra(w)kmaw (daughter). The compound khonkorang also means ‘male’ or ‘man’ and can be compounded to other words to indicate the sex of their referent. Compounding for sex distinction can be useful in the case of khmon (nephew/niece) or ksye (grandchild), for instance, since these terms do not provide any information about the sex of their referents. By compounding the sex-specific lexemes

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

285

mentioned above, we get ksye+khonkorang (grandchild+male), i.e. ‘grandson’ and ksye+ra(w)kmaw (grandchild+female), i.e. ‘granddaughter’. Great-grandchildren are also called ksye. My consultants told me that hardly anyone lives to the age of having grand-children. This explains the lack of a specific kinship term for them.

Affinal Relatives Affinal relatives are those acquired by marriage, either of myself or member of my family. In Lyngam society, after the bride price has been paid by the family of the groom to the family of the bride in the ceremony called singgΩdok (see van Breugel 2015a: 281-2), when a man and woman get married and become korang (husband) and khontaw (wife), it is as if they get adopted into each other’s families. Most kinship terms used to address or refer to my in-laws are the same classificatory terms used for my blood relatives, as we can see in Table 13.5. Only in Shallang are there a special terms for mother­ in-law and father-in-law. Other affinal relatives for whom special reference terms (which can also be used as address terms, as was mentioned above) exist will be treated below. There are much fewer referential kinship terms for in-laws than in Atong (van Breugel, this volume). A notable blank in the referential kinship terminology of Lyngam is ‘sister-in-law’, except for kynsaw (younger brother’s wife). The factors that determine the choices between specific refer­ ence terms for affinal kinsmen are the person through whom the relationship exists, relative age within the same generation and between referents, as well as the sex of ny (I, me), the deictic cen­ tre of the relationship. Moreover, when there is a choice between the terms kong (sister) and hymbu (younger sibling) or hmin (elder sibling), it seems that the term kong is more respectful. More field­ work is needed to substantiate this theory. Figures 13.2 and 13.3 show graphic representations of the use of the affinal kinship terms. In these diagrams, we see the parents­ in-law at the top. Their offspring and the offspring of their son- or daughter-in-law are arranged diagonally, which has to be inter­

286

Seino van Breugel TABLE 13.5: HOW I USUALLY ADDRESS MY IN-LAWS

IƂ call my husband’s bei ‘mother’

IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ IƂ

call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s

IƂ IƂ IƂ Iƃ

call my husband’s call my husband’s call my husband’s call my wife’s

Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ Iƃ

call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s call my wife’s

Iƃ call my wife’s Iƃ call my wife’s

In Nongumdang: bei ~ khin ~ beikhin. In Shallang: iawkha papa ‘father’ pa or mama kong ‘sister’ kong bah ‘brother’ bah mama ‘mother’s brother’ mama bei ‘mother’s sister’ meikha kha kha pa ‘father’s brother’ pa or mama giaw ‘maternal grandmother’ giaw ~ iawkha pathaw ‘maternal grandfather’ pathaw iawkha ‘paternal iawkha grandmother’ thawkha ‘paternal grandfather’ thawkha iaw ‘great aunt’ iawkha mathaw ‘great uncle’ mathaw bei ‘mother’ In Nongumdang: khin ~ bei ~ eikhin. In Shallang:iawsyngkin ~ syngkin papa ‘father’ mama or niaw kong ‘sister’ kong bah ‘brother’ bah or mama mama ‘mother’s brother’ mama bei ‘mother’s sister’ bei kha kha pa ‘father’s brother’ pa giaw ‘maternal grandmother’ giaw pathaw ‘maternal grandfather’ pathaw iawkha ‘paternal grandmother’ iawkha thawkha ‘paternal thawkha grandfather’ iaw ‘great aunt’ iawkha mathaw ‘great uncle’ mathaw

Note: Ƃ ‘female’ ƃ‘male’.

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

287

Source: Author.

Figure 13.2: Affinal kinship terms from the perspective of a married woman

Source: Author.

Figure 13.3: Affinal kinship terms from the perspective of a married man

preted as an indication of the relative ages of the siblings: the eldest siblings are at the top, and the youngest at the bottom. Thick double lines between persons indicate a marital relationship between them. The arrows indicate the direction of the relationship between two

288

Seino van Breugel

persons indicated by the accompanying kinship terms. For example, in Figure 13.1, ny (me) calls her younger brother’s wife kynsaw, and this kynsaw calls nyhmin. Moreover, in these tables, to prevent clut­ ter, whenever a specific referential term exists for a certain relation, it is understood that the person indicated by this term can also be referred to or addressed as kong (sister) or bah (brother), depend­ ing on their sex, as mentioned above and presented in Table 13.5. Where specific referential terms do not exist, the usual address terms are written between brackets. Where my consultants specifi­ cally mentioned that a relative can be addressed with their name, the indication ‘NAME’ is added. Parents- and Children-in-law The parents-in-law of a man and a woman are treated differently in Lyngam culture, and therefore there are different kinship terms for both relations. The father-in-law of a woman is called mama or pa, which are also the terms used for ‘maternal uncle’ and paternal uncle respectively. If my father-in-law belongs to the same clan as me, I will call him mama (father-in-law, mother’s brother). If he belongs to a different clan, I will call him pa (father, paternal uncle). Since a phratry in Lyngam culture often consists of more than two clans, it is necessary to distinguish terminologically between the different possible relations between a woman and her father-in-law. The father-in-law of a man is called mama or niaw. The term niaw is also used to refer to the set of all male members of my clan or phratry from the generation of my mother or older who are older than their married sisters. Their function is to look out for the interests of their married sisters, whose husbands belong to a different clan than they do. They carry out this task with the burang (all male relatives of the same clan with a married sister) within the greater vigilant body of blood relatives called the lumkur (male rela­ tives of the clan or phratry who have married sisters). The lumkur among the Lyngams are similar in meaning and cultural function to the chara (mother’s brothers, wife’s elder brothers) amongst the Atongs (van Breugel, this volume).

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

289

Among the two villages (Nongumdang and Shallang) only in Shallang do people use non-blood-relation terms for ‘mother­ in-law’. Thus, the mother-in-law of a male is called iawsyngkin ~ syngkin, and the mother-in-law of a female is called iawkha. In the village of Umdang, a man or woman’s mother-in-law is referred to or addressed as an aunt, specifically mother’s brother’s wife, i.e. bei, beikhin or khin. The fathers of a married couple call each other Ҍniaw~niaw. Together they are chy’niaw (the relationship of fathers of a married couple). The mothers of a married couple call each other iawsyn­ gkin. Men whose wives are sisters call each other or are referred to as marchong.24 This term consists of the reciprocal prefix marand the root choƾ (stay, sit, live), because these marchong either live in the same household or in the same village,25 a village that was founded and is dominated by members of their wife’s clan. There is a specific kinship term for ‘father’s elder brother’s wife’, viz., meisan. The same term can also be used to refer to or address mother’s eldest female sibling. More fieldwork needs to be conducted to find out what the cultural significance of these refer­ ents is. My parents-in-law can call me pyrsa (child-in-law) regardless of my sex. There is, however, a specific, compounded term for ‘son­ in-law’, viz., pyrsakurim. The morpheme kurim means ‘family’. The author’s consultants said that the two terms pyrsa and pyrsakurim are in free variation, but of course, the more specific term is used when possible confusion about the referent needs to be avoided. According to the author’s consultants from Shallang, the chil­ dren or grandchildren of both my male and female siblings or those relatives of my generation considered my siblings, are my khmon (nephew/niece), a term which is not specified for the sex of the referent. Great nephews and great nieces are also called khmon.26 According to my consultants in the village of Umdang, the children and grandchildren of my brothers are called khonkha and those of my sisters’ khmon. Since my sister’s siblings are certainly members of my clan, whereas my brother’s siblings are potentially but not necessarily from the same clan as me. Maybe these siblings are only

290

Seino van Breugel

called khonkha when they belong to a different clan, hence the com­ pound with the word kha (member of a different clan). More field research is needed to solve this riddle. Relationships through Brothers, Sisters, Husbands and Wives As mentioned above, most affinal kin is referred to or addressed as if they were blood relations (Table 13.5). This suggests that the Lyngam phratries are tightly knit societies. Moreover, there are no specific referential terms for ‘sister-in-law’ in Lyngam, except for kynsaw (younger brother’s wife); but this term is not unequivocal, because it can also refer to the brother-in-law of a female.27 As mentioned, in Figures 13.2 and 13.3, specific referential terms are indicated where they exist, otherwise, the usual address terms are written between brackets. Where my consultants specifically mentioned that a relative can be addressed with their name, the indication ‘NAME’ is added. In this section, just as in the tables, whenever a specific referential term exists for a certain relation, it is understood that the person indicated by this term can also be referred to or addressed as kong (sister) or bah (brother). When I am a female, I call my husband’s elder sister kong (sis­ ter), and my husband’s younger sister hymbu (younger sibling). My husband’s elder sister and elder brother call me kynsaw (younger brother’s wife). I call all my husband’s brothers, elder and younger, kynsaw (brother-in-law of a female). As for relations through my siblings, I call my younger brother’s wife kynsaw (younger brother’s wife) and she calls me hmin (elder sibling). I call my elder brother’s wife kong, and she calls me hymbu (younger sibling), or she will address me by my name. I call my elder and younger sister’s hus­ bands kynsaw (brother-in-law of a female). My younger sister’s husband calls me kong (sister) or hmin (elder sibling), while my elder sister’s husband either calls me kynsaw (younger brother’s wife), if he belongs to my husband’s clan, or, regardless of clan membership, hymbu (younger sibling), or address me with my name if he is older than me, or if he is younger than me, he calls me kong (sister). In addition, the husband of any married woman of my clan or phratry

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

291

can also be referred to as gachi (a male relative from a different clan acquired by the marriage of any of my female relative from my clan or phratry). When I am a male, I call my wife’s sisters and my elder broth­ er’s wife kong (sister), and my younger brother’s wife kynsaw. My younger brother’s wife can call me kynsaw too; however, she will usually address me as hmin (elder sibling) or with my name. Moreover, my elder brother’s wife will usually address me as hymbu (younger sibling) or with my name. Whereas there is no referential kinship term denoting the relationship between a married woman and an unmarried sister-in-law, there is a term for the reciprocal relationship between a married man and his married or unmarried brother-in-law, viz., kyn’um (brother-in-law of a male: the recipro­ cal relationship between a male and his sister’s husband or a male and his wife’s brother). Finally, I can call my sister’s husband gachi (male’s sister’s husband). All in all, the most important information to convey about affinal kin in Lyngam society is (1) whether someone is the brother-in-law of a female or a male, (2) a person’s marital status and (3) their clan membership, i.e. whether the referent belongs to the same or a different clan than ny (I, me). The first criterion explains the exis­ tence of the terms kynsaw (brother-in-law of a female) and kyn’um (brother-in-law of a male). The second and third criteria explain the existence of the terms gachi (male’s sister’s husband or husband of botthaw) and botthaw (the set of all married female relatives of my clan or phratry). Ultimately, these distinctions are significant in the light of the phratry, in which married men and women look out for the interests of their clan members amongst families of their brothers and sisters.

Family Loss Parents and children cannot only be gained, they can also be lost. Only four words have been recorded that deal with family loss, they are: mawrei (stepmother), panah (stepfather), khonrympha (orphan) and ryemaw (widow/widower).28 More fieldwork needs to

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Seino van Breugel

be conducted to gather more information on family loss, the people who take vacant positions, and the kinship terms involved in these processes.

Derelationalization Kinship terms can be used to refer to or address the speaker’s own kinsmen (in which case the speaker talks about kin in relation to herself or himself), or those of others (not in relation to the speaker). When talking about other people’s kinsmen, kinship terms in Lyngam usually have to be marked with the derelational enclitic = bah. As was mentioned above, Lyngam’s Tibeto-Burman linguistic neighbours Atong (van Breugel, this volume) and Standard Garo also possess this trait. The author could not find a single source mentioning derelationalization in any other Khasian or Tibeto-Burman language spoken in or around Meghalaya, and more research is needed to find out the extent of this phenomenon within these two language families. Derelational marking seems to be compulsory in colloquial speech when talking about someone else’s kin, and less so in sto­ ries, where it can be omitted when referring repeatedly to the same derelational referent, or because of certain morphological or stressrelated conditions, not yet fully understood by the author.29 The author did not observe or record the derelational enclitic in situa­ tions where kinsmen were addressed in Lyngam. More fieldwork needs to be done to find out if the derelational enclitic can be used when addressing someone who is not related to the speaker. When talking about or addressing one’s own kinsmen, the derelational enclitic cannot be used. More fieldwork also needs to be conducted to find out if the derelational enclitic = bah can be used with all kinship terms or not (see the situation in Atong, van Breugel, this volume). To illustrate the use of the derelational enclitic, we shall look at some examples of actual language use. Example 3 presents the first five sentences of the story hur, as told by Louis Rongrin in the village of Umdang. It is a story about a boy who can change into a bird called hur.

293

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

EXAMPLE 3 (2) Exerpt of the story Hur 1.

Hur

kyrtyng

+ sim.

BIRD.SPECIES

name

+ bird

‘Hur is the name of a bird.’

2.

Gmaw

= bah

niap = lyh chong nam = mawrei

mother

= DREL

die

= ASP1 stay

= bah.

with = stepmother = DREL

‘[His] mother has died and [he] is staying with [his] stepmother.’ 3.

Pa

= bah

dye

o =

father

= DREL

is

ART

rye =

khei

person

mynsye.

trade

cow

‘[His] father is a cow tradesman.’

4.

Mawrei

= by dye o =

stepmother = ADD is

ART

rye

so’san kyrtyng am = g- ju.

= person So’san name

GEN

= F- 3SG

‘[His] stepmother’s name is mother So’‫ݦ‬san.’ 5.

Mawrei

So’san bai

kyncha = by mawrei

= bah ju

hir

stepmother So’san because bad

= 0 stepmother

= DREL 3SG run. away

am =

bry.

GEN

=

niin

kylla

sim

am =

house

change.into

bird

GEN

=

person

‘Because stepmother So’san is a bad stepmother, he runs away from home and changes from a human into a bird.’ In Example 3, we can see that the kinship terms gmaw (mother) and mawrei (stepmother) in sentence 2, as well as the term pa (father) in sentence 3 and the second occurrence of mawrei (stepmother) in sentence 5 are marked with the derelational enclitic = bah, because the storyteller is referring to the kinsmen of the boy in the story, and not to his own relatives. However, the kinship term mawrei (stepmother) in sentence 4 and its first occurrence in sentence 5 are not derelationally marked. This may be because the speaker thinks

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the listener should know that the referent is not the speaker’s own kin, or because the rhythm of the story would be negatively affected if the derelational enclitic is added. Sentence 4 consists entirely of Iambic feet (groups of syllables), as does sentence 5, except for the word rhythm-breaking word bai, and adding the derelational enclitic would disturb this pattern.30 Maintaining the iambic pat­ tern is so important, that the speaker adds an extra syllable = by on the word kyncha (bad). An additional factor to leave out the dere­ lational enclitic on the first occurrence or mawrei (stepmother) in sentence 5 would be the occurrence of the name so’san. In this case, the term mawrei (stepmother) functions as a modifier to the name within the noun phrase. Example 4 illustrates both the relational and derelational uses of kinship terms. The sentences in this example come from the story Longkoina, as told by Robort Sohbar in the village of Sallang, in which a girl almost dies from her desire to pick an exception­ ally beautiful flower. In sentence 1 in this example, we see that the kinship term hmin (older sibling) is marked with the derelational enclitic = ba, because the storyteller refers not to his own older sibling, but that of the younger sibling in the story. In sentence 2, the elder sibling addresses his own younger sibling with the kin­ ship term hymbu (younger sibling), which is not marked with the derelational enclitic. EXAMPLE 4 (3) Exerpt from the story Longkoina 1.

Ty

raw

by = ni

so

do.something

REL

=

D1

hmin

= bah

= ni ong nanyt.

older.sibling = DREL = D1 say how

‘So the older sibling does something, what does [he] say? 2.

‘O

hymbu

ma

phe

INTERJ

younger.sibling

IMP

2SG.F hold

ny

hner

= di.’

1SG

go.down

= ASP2

sdoh

hy = phat LOC

= back

am = ny GEN

= 1SG

‘‘Oh younger sibling! You hold on to my back, I will go down.’’

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

295

Conclusion In this chapter, I have given a culturally informed description of the kinship terms in Lyngam. The kinship lexicon is almost entirely classificatory and is shaped primarily by the need of the continuation of the phratry, which is effectuated by cross-cousin marriage, with the restriction that a person is not supposed to marry within the same clan as their father. The restriction is less severe for boys when the phratry consists of only two clans, i.e. when this bond is a moiety. The restriction is most severe for both boys and girls when a phratry consists of more than two clans. Not marrying into the clan of one’s father prevents the formation of a moiety by preventing the exclusion of clans from the phratry. Hence, particularly in the domain of consanguineal kin (blood relatives), there are different kinship terms based on the parameters of maternal/paternal des­ cent and belonging to the same or to a different clan. The restriction of marrying within the paternal clan has led to the use of different kinship terms for the different kinds of cousins that are culturally distinguished, since it is important to indicate whether a cousin is marriageable or not. The criteria operating in the nomenclature of the domain of the cousins are maternal or paternal descent, cross-cousinhood or parallel cousinhood, and the clan membership of my father in relation to that of my cousin’s father. When a paternal cross-cousin’s father (i.e. the husband of my father’s sister) belongs to my clan, my cross-cousin is unmar­ riageable and referred to and addressed like a paternal parallel cousin (i.e. father’s brother’s child). In addition, the marriage of a boy causes a marital restriction on his siblings. After the boy’s mar­ riage, his siblings are forbidden to marry into the family of his wife. Affinal relatives, with the exception of the parents-in-law in the dialect of Shallang, can all be treated like blood relatives in the nomenclature. There are, however, a few kinship terms that can only be used for certain affinal relations, but not for blood rela­ tives. The most important factors in choosing which specific affinal kinship term to use are whether someone is the brother-in-law of a female or a male, a person’s marital status and their clan member­ ship, i.e. whether the referent belongs to the same or a different clan

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than ny (I, me). Less important is the relative age between ny (the deictic centre of the relationship) and the affinal referent. Further­ more, there are terms for sets of married men and women who play important roles in the affairs of the clan or phratry. Finally, when used to talk about someone else’s kin, Lyngam speakers can mark kinship terms as derelational. More fieldwork research is needed to find out the conditions that determine the occurrence or omission of the derelational enclitic in Lyngam.

Glossary This glossary presents a list of the kinship terms and kinship-related terms presented in this chapter (see also van Breugel, 2015b). All the words in this list are nouns. The underlined words can be used with the sibling hierarchy suffixes presented in Table 13.3. All words are presented in the Lyngam spelling proposed in van Breugel (2014b), followed by a phonological transcription according to the phonology of Lyngam also presented in van Breugel (2014b). ba’kha /ba‫ݦ‬kha/ male cross-cousin bah/ba‫ݦ‬/ (1) brother (2) also used to refer to or address a male maternal parallel cousin bei/bej/ biological mother bei ~ mei/bej ~ mej/ (1) mother’s sister (2) father’s brother’s wife (3) mother­ in-law beiiaw ~ giaw/bejjaw ~ gjaw/ maternal grandmother beikhin/bejkhin/ mother-in-law botthaw/botthaw/ the set of all married female relatives of my clan or phratry burang/buraƾ/ (1) the set of all male relatives of my clan with a married sister (2) wife’s brother chong/‫ݺ‬oƾ/ groom chy’niaw/‫ݺ‬ԥ‫݄ݦ‬aw/ the relationship of fathers of a married couple chyba’kha/‫ݺ‬ԥba‫ݦ‬kha/ cousins chyhymbu/‫ݺ‬ԥhmbu/ siblings chymarkha/‫ݺ‬ԥmarkha/ cousins whose fathers are members of the same clan ejyn/‫ݦ‬e‫ݷ‬ԥn/ agent (person who looks after the interests of the clan or phratry) gachi/ga‫ݺ‬i/ (1) husband or husbands of botthaw: a male relative or set of male relatives from a different clan acquired by the marriage of any female relative from my clan or phratry (2) male’s sister’s husband gachi pa/ga‫ݺ‬i pa/ elaborate expression with the same meaning as gachi giaw ~ beiiaw/gjaw~ bejjaw/ maternal grandmother giaw thaw/gjaw thaw/ (1) grandparents (2) ancestors

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

297

gmaw/gmaw/ mother hmin/hmin/ elder sibling hymbu/hmbu/ younger sibling iaw/jaw/ great aunt iawkha/jawkha/ (1) paternal grandmother (2) spouse’s grandmother (3) spouse’s great aunt (4) (Shallang dialect) mother-in-law of a female iawsyngkin ~ syngkin/jawsƾkin ~ sƾkin/ (1) (Shallang Dialect) mother-in­ law of a female (2) husband’s brother’s wife (3) the relationship of the mothers of a married couple iawtymmin/jawtmmin/ maternal great grandmother jait/‫ݷ‬ac/ clan kha ~ meikha/kha ~ mejkha/ (1) father’s sister (2) husband’s mother’s sister khin/khin/ (1) mother’s brother’s wife (2) mother-in-law khmon/khmon/ nephew/niece khon/khon/ offspring khonkha/khonkha/ child of a cousin not considered a sibling khonkorang/khonkoraƾ/ son khonra(w)kmaw/khonra(w)kmaw/ daughter khonrympha/khonrmpha/ orphan khontaw/khontaw/ wife kong/koƾ/ (1) sister (2) also use to refer to or address a female maternal parallel cousin kongkha/koƾkha/ female cross-cousin konthaw/konthaw/ wife korang/koraƾ/ male, husband kpoh/kpo‫ݦ‬/ (1) woman who is the founder of a village and thus of a lineage within a clan (2) blood relative ksye/ks‫ܫ‬/ grandchild kur/kur/ phratry, bond of clans kurim/kurim/ family kyn’um/kn‫ݦ‬um/ brother-in-law of a male: the reciprocal relationship between a male and his sister’s husband or a male and his wife’s brother kynsaw/knsaw/ (1) younger brother’s wife (2) brother in law of a female lumkur/lumkur/ male relatives of the clan or phratry who have married sisters makha/makha/ (1) cousin with a father of the same clan as me (2) father’s sister’s husband mama ~ ma/mama ~ ma/ mother’s brother mangku/maƾku/ set of all sister-in-law of a female from the same kur (phratry) mangku kyrna/maƾku krna/ decorative elaborate expression with the same meaning as mangku

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marchong/mar‫ݺ‬oƾ/ (1) husband’s wife’s sister (2) the relationship of men whose wives are sisters markha/markha/ paternal cousin whose father belongs to the same clan as me mathaw/mathaw/ great uncle mawhmin/mawhmin/ older niece or nephew of the same clan as me mawhymby /mawhmbu/ younger niece or nephew of the same clan as me mawrei/mawrej/ stepmother mei ~ bei/mej ~ bej/ (1) mother’s sister (2) father’s brother’s wife (3) mother­ in-law meikha ~ kha/mejkha ~ kha/ (1) father’s sister (2) husband’s mother’s sister meikhynna/mejkhnna/ (1) father’s younger sister (2) father’s younger brother’s wife meisan/mejsan/ (1) mother’s eldest female sibling (2) father’s elder brother’s wife niaw ~ yniaw/݄aw ~ ‫݄ݦ‬aw/ (1) set of all male members of my clan or phratry from the generation of my mother or older who are older than their married sisters (2) father-in-law pa/pa/ (1) father (2) uncle: father’s brother (3) mother’s sister’s husband pakha/pakha/ father’s sister’s husband pakhynnah/paknna‫ݦ‬/ (1) father’s younger brother (2) father’s eldest male sibling panah/pana‫ݦ‬/ stepfather papa/papa/ biological father pasan/pasan/ father’s eldest brother pathaw/pathaw/ maternal grandfather pyrsa/prsa/ child-in-law pyrsakurim/prsakurim/ son-in-law ra(w)kmaw/ra(w)kmaw/ female, woman ryemaw/r‫ܫ‬maw/ widow/widower sa’nan/sa‫ݦ‬nan/ bride syngkin~ iawsyngkin /sƾkin ~ jawsƾkin/ (1) (Shallang Dialect) mother-in­ law of a female (2) husband’s brother’s wife (3) the relationship of the mothers of a married couple syrri/srri/ someone with a spouse of the same clan or phratry as themselves thawkha/thawkha/ paternal (great)grandfather tymmin/tmmin/ old person yniaw ~ niaw/‫݄ݦ‬aw ~ ݄aw/ (1) set of all male members of my clan or phratry from the generation of my mother or older who are older than their married sisters (2) father-in-law

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

299

Abbreviations and Symbols

1SG

first person singular

DECL

declarative

2SG

second person singular

DREL

derelational

3SG

third person singular

F

feminine

A

agentive

GEN

genitive

AA

anti-agentive

IDEO

ideophone

ADD

additive

IMP

imperative

ART

article

INERJ

interjection

ASP1

aspect: change of state or perfective

LOC

locative

ASP2

aspect: immediacy

REL

relative

D1

first deictive degree

SIM

similative

=

clitic boundary

~

allomorph separator

-

affix boundary

[…]

inferred information

D3

Acknowledgements I thank Queenbala Marak for inviting me to contribute to this volume. I am very grateful to the following people for providing the data on which this publication was based: Amelia Sohbar, Robort Sohbar, Mathew Sohbar, Albinus Mawsor, Louis Rongrin, Etilda Rongrin and Joplang Puweiñ. All mistakes and omissions are entirely my own. The field research to gather the primary data on which the information in this chapter is based was made possible by a grant from the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research and the heart-warming hospitality of Fathers Marzo, Bartholomew and Jeremias from the Sacred Heart Parish in Shallang, and Father Simeon of the Catholic Mission in Nongumdang. Finally, I thank Professor George van Driem for his valuable comments on the draft version of this chapter. All mistakes and omissions are entirely my own.

NOTES 1. This chapter is based mostly on the same primary data as van Breugel 2016, with some new additions. However, the structure of this chapter is entirely different from van Breugel, 2016, but more similar to the

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chapter on Atong kinship terms in this volume, which makes it easier to compare the contents of these two chapters. Moreover, some information presented in van Breugel, 2016 has been updated, some explanations have been made more precise, the affinal-kinship diagrams have been changed to be more complete in the presentation of the nomenclature, and comparisons with Atong and Garo have been added. Finally, all Lyngam words in this chapter are written in Lyngam orthography to make this chapter more accessible for native Lyngam speakers. 2. The village name Nongumdang is a compound word consisting of three elements, viz. dang, the name of a river, um /‫ݦ‬um/ ‘water, river’ the compound form of gum, and nong [noƾ] ‘village’, the compound form of chnong /‫ݺ‬noƾ/. Lyngam words tend to lose the first consonant of initial clusters when they enter into a compound, or change the simple syllable onset /g/ to /‫ݦ‬/. 3. Alternative spellings of the autonym of this language in the literature are Lyngngam (Baker, 2013; Lewis et al., 2016); Lyng-ngam (Grierson, 1904: 17-21), Lyngym (Lewis et al., 2016), Lynngam (Gurdon, 1907) and Lyngám (Karotemprel, 1986). The exonym for this language used by the neighbouring Garo speakers in Meghalaya is Megam. 4. Baker (2013) presents an alternative analysis of the sounds of Lyngam. Her analysis is not a segmental phonology but rather a description of the sounds that occur in the language phonetically. Moreover, according to four native-speaker consultants in the villages of Umdang and Shallang, with whom I checked her lexicon in appendix 3 (pp. 87-90), some words were not Lyngam. This observation suggests that Baker may have collected some data from speech varieties different than those presented in this chapter. 5. Note that in Standard Khasi the word kur means ‘clan’. 6. The name of the clan written Puweiñ is pronounced as [pu‫ݦ‬i݄] in Lyngam. 7. The clan name written Hashah is pronounced [haça‫]ݦ‬. 8. It seems that the function of the kur ‘phratry’ is the same as that of the moiety among the Garos (including the Atongs), viz., to keep money, land and other possessions in the same families. 9. Lyngams frequently marry Garos (including Atongs) among whom cross-cousin marriage is still practised (see van Breugel, 2014: 9). 10. Classificatory kinship terms are defined as ‘those which refer to more than one type of relationship’ (Piddington, 1950: 122). 11. Note that the word mama ‘mother’s brother, father-in-law’ also occurs in the Garo group of speech varieties and Atong with the same meaning. Burling (2004: 217) marks this word as a loan from Bengali. It is

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

301

remarkable that Lyngam, the Garo group of speech varieties and Atong all borrowed this particular kinship term from Bengali. 12. Rabel-Heymann (1989: 44) calls the corresponding morphemes in Khasi ‘modifiers for age ranking’. 13. The Lyngam numerals are, starting from one: ywye ~ wye, ar, lai, saw, san, hrye, hniu, phra, khyndai, chphu; phonologically /‫ݦ‬w‫ ~ ܫ‬w‫ܫ‬, ar, laj, saw, san, hr‫ܫ‬, h݄u, phra, khndaj, ‫ݺ‬phu/. 14. According to Rabel-Heymann (1989: 45) expressions irit and iduҌ mean ‘the little one’ and ‘the last one’ respectively in Khasi. 15. More fieldwork is necessary to find out if this synonymy is the case for speakers throughout the Lyngam area. 16. Words in Lyngam that have a free form with an initial cluster usually have a compound form without the initial consonant. 17. When I asked my consultants about great grandparents, they said that hardly anybody lives to be that old. This might be the reason for the lack of separate terms for that generation. 18. Haiman (2011: 85ff) calls this kind of construction, where two lexical roots are involved, ‘symmetrical compounds’ for Khmer. In Lyngam, however, the roots do not necessarily form a single phonological word and often occur split up in syntactic constructions. 19. The form mei /mej/ is not recorded used to refer to one’s biological mother, only the for bei /bej/ is. 20. The term meisan /mejsan/ in with the meaning ‘eldest maternal aunt’ is compositional, since its meaning can be derived from the meaning of the root and the sibling hierarchy suffix (Table 13.3). The other meaning of meisan /mejsan/ cannot be derived this way. 21. The term chyhymbu /‫ݺ‬ԥhmbu/ ‘siblings’ consists of the prefix chy/‫ݺ‬ԥ-/, with its collective interpretation, and the kinship term hymbu / hmbu/ ‘younger sibling’. The collective interpretation of the prefix arises when it is prefixed to words referring to human relationships, e.g. chy­ marlok /‫ݺ‬ԥ-marlok/friends’ and chy-ba’kha /‫ݺ‬ԥ-ba‫ݦ‬kha/ ‘cross-cousins’. The same prefix can also be interpreted as the mensural numeral ‘one’, when it appears on measure words in constructions where quantities are being counted, e.g. khawdar chy-kyntap /khawdar ‫ݺ‬ԥ-kntap/ (flat.rice one-packet) ‘one packet of flat rice’ or khon chy-pitor /khon ‫ݺ‬ԥ-pitor/ (sweet.rice.wine one-bottle) ‘one bottle of sweet rice wine’. There are two words for ‘one’ in Lyngam, viz., the cardinal numeral ywye ~ wye /‫ݦ‬w‫ܫ‬ ~ w‫ܫ‬/ and the mensural numeral chy- /‫ݺ‬ԥ-/. In collective constructions, it would not make sense for the phrases chymarkha /‫ݺ‬ԥmarkha/and chyhymbu /‫ݺ‬ԥhmbu/ to mean ‘one male cousin’ or ‘one younger sibling’ because when individuals (not quantities) are counted with the number

302

Seino van Breugel

one, the construction INDIVIDUAL ywye /‫ݦ‬w‫ܫ‬/ is used, e.g. hymby ywye / hmbu‫ݦ‬w‫ܫ‬/ (younger.sibling one) ‘one younger sibling’ or marlok ywye / marlok ‫ݦ‬w‫ܫ‬/ ‘one friend’. 22. The reciprocal prefix mar- in the word chymarkha /‫ݺ‬ԥmarkha/ can be found on lexemes denoting animates, e.g. humans like markhyllot /markhllot/ ‘unmarried girls’, markhondein /markhonde݄/ ‘children, kids’ (not offspring), martymmin /martmmin/ ‘old people’ and marhmin hymbu /marhmin hmbu/ ‘siblings’. The prefix can also occur on other lexemes denoting animals, e.g. in the clause niada marchyrryk /݄ada mar‫ݺ‬rrԥk/ (fight RECIPROCAL-buffalo) ‘there are some buffalos fighting’. 23. When a child grows up, Lyngams culture distinguishes several different stages in its development, for which the lexemes are as follows: khonsaw /khonsaw/ ‘baby younger than 1 year’, khondein /khonde݄/ ‘child’, khyllot /khllot/ ‘marriageable girl’ (older than 14) and khoraw /khoraw/ marriageable boy’ (older than 14). 24. This relationship appears to be worthy of its own kinship term among the Lyngams, the Atongs, where it is called sadu (van Breugel, this volume), as well as other Garos, where the term is sadusa or noksagri (Burling, 2004: 2018). 25. The word for ‘groom’ is chong /‫ݺ‬oƾ/ (see van Breugel, 2015a: 282), just like the verb chong /‫ݺ‬oƾ/ ‘to stay, to live somewhere, to marry’ (see van Breugel, 2015b). Gurdon (1907: 63) writes about the Khasis: ‘It is almost invariably the case that the grandmother, her daughters and the daughter’s children, live together under one roof […]’ On page 76, he writes: ‘[…] after one or two children are born, and if the married couple get on well together, the husband frequently removes his wife and family to a house of his own […].’ This seems to be the case with the Lyngams as well. As a side note, the word for ‘bride’ in Lyngam is sa’nan /sa‫ݦ‬nan/, of which the etymological origin is unknown to the author. 26. My consultants mentioned again here, that people hardly get so old as to have great grandchildren. This might explain the lack of a specific term for them. 27. Lyngam’s Tibeto-Burman neighbours Atong (van Breugel, this volume) and Stand Garo (Burling, 2004), have several kinship terms for ‘sister-in­ law’. Despite the languages’ close proximity and frequent intermarriage between Lyngams and members of the Garo Tribe, Lyngam has not felt the need to borrow any of these terms or create its own. 28. The first syllables of the words mawrei /mawrej/and ryemaw /r‫ܫ‬maw/ are compound forms of the words gmaw ‘mother’ and brye /br‫ܫ‬/ ‘person’ respectively. The author does not know the origin or meaning of the second syllable of mawrei. The second syllable of ryemaw could be the compound form of gmaw ‘mother’.

Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

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29. In contrast to Atong (this volume), where the appearance of the derelational enclitic = gaba ~ = ga (allomorphs in free variation) is not regulated by stress or morphological conditions, and is always optional when referring to someone else’s kin. Moreover, except for derelationalization, the Atong enclitic = gaba ~ = ga has several other functions, which are discussed in van Breugel 2010 and 2014 (pp. 297-306). 30. An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

REFERENCES Baker, K.J. 2013. ‘The Phonology of Lyngngam: A Meghalayan AustroAsiatic Language of North-East India’. PhD thesis. Australian National University, Canberra. van Breugel, S. 2010. ‘No Common Argument, No Extraction, No Gap: Attributive Clauses in Atong and Beyond’. Studies in Language, 34 (3): 493-531. _____. 2014a. A Grammar of Atong. Leiden/Boston: Brill. _____. 2014b. Jongpyrtyk Lyngam, Lyngam Stories: The Lyngam Alphabet and Spelling Explained and Applied. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press. van Breugel, S. 2015a. ‘Journey to the Lyngams: A People of Meghalaya, Northeast India’. Humanities Journal, 22 (1). Bangkok: Kasetsart University. _____. 2015b. Lyngam-English Dictionary. Published online. https://www. academia.edu/15101289/Lyngam-English_Dictionary. Burling, R. 1963. Rengsanggri. Tura: Tura Book Room. _____. 2004. The Language of the Modhupur Mandi. Vol. II: The Lexicon. University of Michigan: Ann Arbor. Online Accessed September 2017. URL: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rburling/Vol-II.pdf. Grierson, G.A. (ed.). 1904. Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. 2: Mǀn-KhmƝr and Siamese-Chinese Families (including Khassi and Thai). Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing. Gurdon, P.R.T. 1907. The Khasis. London: David Nutt. Haiman, J. 2011. A Grammar of Combodian Khmer. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Co. Jacquesson, F. 2006. ‘La réconstruction du passé: le cas des langues boro­ garo’. Bulletin de la Société Linguistique de Paris,101(1): 273-303. _____. 2017. ‘The Linguistic Reconstruction of the Past: The Case of the Boro-Garo Languages’. Trans. S. van Breugel. Linguistic of the TibetoBurman Area, 40 (1). Karotemprel, S. 1986. Albizuri among the Lyngáms: A Brief History of the Catholic Mission Among the Lyngáms of Northeast India. Shillong: Vendrame Missiological Institute.

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Lindell, K., J. Svantesson and T. Damrong. 1981. ‘Phonology of Kammu Dialects’. Cahiers de liguistique Asie orientale, 9: 45-71. Lewis, M.P., G.F. Simons and C.D. Fennig (eds.). 2016. 'Lyngam', in Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 17th edn. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com. DOA: 11/8/2014. Piddington, R. 1950. Introduction to Social Anthropology. Vol. 1. Edinburgh, London: Oliver & Boyd. Rabel-Heymann, L. 1989. ‘Khasi Kinship Terminology’ and in Jeremy H.C.S. Davidson & R.H. Robins (eds.), South-East Asian linguistics: Essays in honour of Eugénie J.A. Henderson. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 43-57. Sidwell, P. 2009. Classifying the Austronesian Languages: History and State of the Art. Muenchen: Lincom. Simons, G.F. and C.D. Fennig (eds.). 2017. E thnologue: Languages of the World, Twentieth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.

CHAPTER 14

Word Formation in A·chikku Language Dokatchi Ch. Marak and Dorothy R. Marak

Introduction The Garos, who prefer to call themselves A·chik, inhabit the five districts of Garo Hills of the State of Meghalaya. Their habitation can also be found in Khasi Hills districts and in some parts of north-east India such as Assam, Tripura and Nagaland and in neighbouring Bangladesh. History speaks of their migration from Tibet and once they had their own script. In the course of their journey, they faced difficulties and there was shortage of food; under such circumstances, they boiled and ate the scripts written on the skins of animals. So, they lost their script forever. Since ancient times, the A·chiks had their own traditional sayings, folklores, proverbs, riddles, etc. The different oral narrations can still be found in incantations, rituals, ceremonies and festivals. The forefathers preserved these narrations orally for generations. A·chik language is one of the branches of the Tibeto-Burman language stock. The A·chiks call their language A∙chik Ku∙sik or A∙chikku or Mande Ku∙sik or ‘the language of the hill men’ (Gri­ erson, 1903: 1). The term garo is said to have originated from the Bodo word gar, which actually means ‘to leave off ’ or ‘divorce’ or ‘to abandon’ and garhor or garhorbai means, left ‘alone or divorce’ (Sangma, 2010: 23). A·chik language is included in the Bodo group by Grierson (1903: 68-9) in his Linguistic Survey of India, along with its cognate languages like Boro, Dimasa, Rabha, Koch,

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Sonowal, Kachari, Tiwa, Deori, Kokborok, and Mech. The differ­ ent varieties of the A·chik language are as follows: A∙we, Am·beng or A·beng, Atong, Chisak, Matchi, Dual, Gara-Ganching, Chibok, Matabeng, Ruga and Me·gam (ibid.). However, Grierson has clearly mentioned that Me·gam variety is linguistically closer to the Kha­ sis than the A∙chiks. Out of these eleven varieties, the A·we variety spoken in the northern part of Garo Hills has been standardized and used for educational, administrative, and religious purposes since 1902 (Sangma, 1983: 31). After the standardization of A·we, the Bible was translated into the A·chik language. Thereafter, many religious and secular writings were published in this speech variety. Like other languages of the world, A·chikku has its own phono­ logical, morphological and grammatical features. This chapter is an attempt to analyse the rich morphological features of the A·chikku (or Garo) language.

Linguistic Morphology Like the other Tibeto-Burman languages, the word order in A∙chikku is subject-object-verb (SOV). However it is not rigid and the order may be reversed as can be seen in the sentences below: (i) aƾa kam mat-chot-jok S O V ISG work finish-PST I have finished my work (ii) Mat-chot-jok kam V O Finish-PST work I have finished my work. In Example (ii), the sentence is clear even without a subject and the verb comes before the object. Look at the interrogative sentence below: Question: maidakeƾa Simre? What are you doing Simre? Answer: (anga) mi chaenga (I am) having food.

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The answer to the question is clear even without a subject. The subject is not obligatory in this type of sentences and in many cases the word order is unmarked. The subject can also be preceded by direct and indirect objects in ordinary speech. The study of the internal structure of words and how words are built up from smaller parts is known as morphology in Linguis­ tics. Morphology has been generally divided into two subfields: (i) Inflectional, and (ii) Derivational morphology. A·chikku is an affix­ ing or agglutinating language. It has a large number of affixes like prefixes and suffixes, but suffixation is more in A·chikku. There are inflectional suffixes that express grammatical relationships such as number, tense, case, etc. Nouns in A·chikku can inflect for number, gender, person and case. Singular number is changed to plural by suffixing morphemes to the root or base. For example, -rang, -mang and -drang is suffixed to the noun base to indicate plurality, for instance, matchu + rang (cow + plural = cows); ua-mang (he/she + plural = they); de + drang (child + plural = children). However, plurality is deduced from the context in case of collective nouns as in the following sentence: Mande sakbonga (Five men)

Mande jinma (man + crowd = a crowd)

A·chikku does not have a grammatical gender; it has a natural gender system of only nouns, i.e. the distinction between male and female is based on the basis of natural sex. Adjectives, verbs and other word classes do not have gender. For instance, me·a refers to man and me·chik to woman as in the following examples: Masculine

Feminine

Me·a bi·sa (a boy)

me·chik bi·sa (a girl)

me·apa (a married man)

me·chikma (a married woman)

pante (a young boy)

me·tra (a young woman)

apa (father)

ama (mother)

ano/nono (younger sister)

jong/jojong (younger brother)

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For other animals bima and bipa is used to indicate male and female as matchu-bima = cow + female, menggo-bipa = cat + male. Case marker is one of the important characteristic features of nouns. The noun suffixes are essentially the case endings defining the way in which the nouns to which they are attached are related in meaning to the verb. Case suffixes also show the relation of the noun or noun phrase to the rest of the word or to the other words in the sentences, as they provide a way for organizing noun phrases, clauses or sentences. Except the nominative which is not overtly marked, other nouns can be identified easily with the help of case markers as for instance: -ko accusative marker as in ua ching-ko okamenga (He/she is calling us [we

exclusive])

-ni possessive marker as in silse-ni pagipa re·baenga (Silse’s father is coming

[In this sentence the marker -ni is not obligatory, but when we say silse-ni

ki·tap [Silse’s book], the marker is obligatory).

-na dative marker as in anga noko-na sokbajok (I have reached home).

-o/chi locative marker as in ua Shillong-o dongenga (He/she is living in

Shillong) or ua Shillong-chi re·angenga (He/she is going to Shillong).

-chi instrumental as in lebuko churi-chi ratbo (Cut the lemon with a knife).

-oni/ona ablative or augmenting locative as in ua song-oni da·al re·bapilenga

(He is coming back from the village today), or ua song-ona da·al re·angenga

(He is going to the village today).

Pronouns in A·chikku can inflect for number and case. Personal pronouns can be analysed based on number as can be seen in the following: Singular st

1 person

anga – I

Plural chinga (exclusive) – we an·ching (inclusive) – we

nd

2 person

na·a – you

3rd person

ua – (formal) he/she/it uamang – they

na·simang (formal) – you na·song (informal) – you

bia – (informal)

bismang/bisong – (informal) uarang ( formal – for animals, things)

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The above classification shows that the second and third person plural is followed by plural suffixes like -mang, -song, and -rang. Like nouns, verbs in A·chikku includes not only a verb base, but a principal verb suffix as well like tense and aspect suffixes. One of the commonest principal verb suffixes is -a in words like re·-a (to walk), se-a (to write), where the morpheme -a comes in the final position when cited in isolation. Robbins Burling (2004) calls this -a neutral tense or unmarked tense suffix. When another mor­ pheme is suffixed to the verb base, the -a neutral marker is deleted as in cha·jok or it comes in the syllable final position after other morphemes as in cha· + eng + a (eat + PROG + NEUT). The neutral suffix -a denotes the present tense; -eng suffix denotes the progressive, that the action is in progress; -ha and -jok indicates the perfective, that the action has taken place in the past; -chim is another past imperfect marker which denotes that the action is incomplete. The suffixes -gen and -gnok shows the future action, and in the immediate future respectively. As indicated above, there are three main tenses – (a) Da·o ong·gipa tense (Simple present tense), (b) Ong·gimin tense (Simple past tense), and (c) Ong·gni tense (Future tense). Tense and aspect cannot be separated in the A·chik language which expresses the time and manner of the event, giving a temporal dimension to the verb and to the sentences. For example, the marker -eng is used as a progressive tense aspect marker in A·chikku. This marker conveys the sense of continuing action. For example, achak sing·enga (the dog is barking). In the sentence the suffix morpheme -eng, followed by the neutral marker -a indicates the action that is going on at the present time. -chim is another tense-aspect marker which shows the incomplete action that is going on as in anga chitti seengachim (I am writing a letter). The past perfective aspect is formed by combining the definite past tense -ha with either -chim or -man as in cha·ahachim (have eaten), and poraimanaha (have studied). The former -achim conveys the sense of incomplete action and the later -manaha conveys com­ pleted action. Past perfective progressive is indicated by combining the progressive morpheme -eng, with the past tense morpheme -ha and -chim to the verb base and it conveys the sense of con­

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tinuing action in the past and which may or may not have been completed for some reason, as in songengahachim (had been cook­ ing) cha·engahachim (had been eating). Other verb suffixes are the imperative suffix -bo as in words like ra·bo (take it), ka·bo (do it); negative imperative suffix -nabe as in dak-nabe (don’t do); negative suffix -wa as in cha·-jawa ([I] will not eat). It may be noted that -bo is a positive second person imperative which is suffixed to the principal verb to tell or invite someone to do something. This imperative suffix can also be used for an abrupt command, but imperatives are often used when making an offer and also when ordering something. They can be very polite or courteous as in asong-bo ([please] sit down), cha∙kubo ([please] eat some more), especially when said in a courteous tone of voice and with appropriate gestures. On the other hand, bakbak katang-bo!/ re∙angbo! (run/go away [ordering to go or run instantly])’ can be very abrupt and rude if spoken harshly. Imperatives suffix -bo can be made stronger by suffixing -da and ne as in asongboda (sit down). The imperative suffix -bo can be more encouraging and courteous by adding suffix -ne to the imperative suffix -bo as in asongbone (please sit), rebabodane (please come over). The above examples show the agglutinating features of the lan­ guage where words can be formed by suffixing to the root or base morpheme as in cha·-ku-en-a-chim-naba (they are still eating they say), and kal·-ja-na-am-en-a-ha-chim-na-kon-de-mo (they do not want to play anymore they say). In these examples, cha· and kal· are root or base morphemes to which different morphemes are attached or suffixed. Prefix or prefixes is less when compared to suffixation in A∙chik language. Some forms of prefixation are negative prefixes, and some prefixes are for kinship terms and verb forms. There is only one negative prefix morpheme that is, da- which means ‘do not’ in words like: da∙a (do not) + doka (to beat) = da·-dok (don’t beat) da·a (do not) + daka (to do) = da·-dak (don’t do) da·a (do not) + kena (afraid) = da·ken (do not be afraid)

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Different prefixes used for kinship terms are ang-, ching-, nang-, etc., as in the following words below: ang-jik (my wife), ang-se (my husband), ang-jong (my brother) nang·-ma- (your mother), nang·­ pa (your father), ang-su (my grandchild). Numerals Numerals can be generally divided into basic and derived. Basic numerals include terms one to ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety and hundred as can be seen in Table 14.1: From eleven to nineteen basic numerals are suffixed to chi- (king is deleted) as chi·-sa, chi·-gni, chi·-gittam, etc. Likewise numbers are counted by suffixing the basic numerals as kolgrik-sa (twenty­ one), kolatchi-gni (thirty-two) and from forty to ninety sot is used for counting forty to ninety as sotbri (forty), sotbonga (fifty), sotdok (sixty), sotsni (seventy), etc. From hundred till nine hundred ninety nine the word ritchasa occurs freely without any suffixation, i.e. while counting the numbers follow it as ritchasa-sa (one hundred and one), ritchasa-kolgrik-gni (one hundred twenty-two), ritchasa­ sotbonga-dok (one hundred fifty-six) and so on. Derived numerals refers to counting done in multiples of twenty TABLE 14.1: GARO NUMERALS

Term

Gloss

Sa

One

Gni

Two

Gittam

Three

Bri

Four

Bonga

Five

Dok

Six

Sni

Seven

Chet

Eight

Sku

Nine

Chiking

Ten

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based on basic numerals which exhibits a root + root compound structure. For example, kolchanggni (two times twenty), kolchang­ dok (six times twenty). The above description represents a pure numeral system. For higher numbers like thousand, lakh, million, etc., they use bor­ rowed terms. Classifiers A∙chik has a rich set of numeral classifier system. Nouns which can be counted must have a classifier and thereby give implicit classification to all that can be counted. Classifiers in A∙chikku are bound morphemes, i.e. they are always followed by a quantifier as kok-sa (one basket), teng∙-sa (one piece). One or two classifiers can occur in a NP structure either as a constituent that precede or follows the nominal head as in the fol­ lowing example: (i) Mande sak-sa Noun CLF-numeral (One man) Or Sak-sa mande CLF-numeral Noun (One Man) Classifiers and quantifiers define each other unless the numbers are counted individually. In many cases, classifiers precede quanti­ fiers but in yes-no questions quantifiers precede the classifiers and in this case classifiers can occur as free morpheme. Few examples are cited below: (i) Badita sak antichi re·angenga? Quantifier CLF market loc go pre pro. Neutral How many (people) are going to the market? (ii) Baditamangmatchu-rang bakra-o chaam-eng-a? Quantifier CLF cow-PL field-Loc graze-Pre.prog-Neut. How many cows are grazing in the field? Classifiers can occur along with other morphemes other than the

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numerals such as -prak (each), gimik (whole, entire), -gipin (another person or animal), -san (alone), etc. Few examples are cited below: (i) Sak-prak-na te·gatchu rong-prak sual-at-bo Cls each- Dat. mango Cls. -each distribute Caus.-Imp. Distribute one mango each to everyone. (ii) Matchumang-gimik-ko breo- de nambata. Cow Cls-whole/entire- Acc. buy Sub.better (iii) Sak-gipin-o agre pangchak-na-be. Cls-other-Aug.Loc. Too much depend-Neg.-Imp. Do not depend too much on the other (person) Semantic Functions The selection of a classifier is semantically based and lexically conditioned. Based on their referents, classifiers can be classified into animate and inanimate terms. Animate nouns are further classified into human and non-human with some specific classifiers associated with each category. Classifiers in A∙chikku can be primarily of two types – (a) sortal and (b) mensural. Sortal classifiers typically individuate referents in terms of the kind of entity it is, particularly with respect to inherent properties such as shape and animacy (Lyons, 1977: 463). Sortal classifiers presented in Table 14.2 are organized in accordance with a set of broad semantic fields, namely objects, animacy, etc. A∙chikku has its own way of expressing quantities of a referent, and as Lyons has stated, mensural classifiers define a temporary state (Lyons, 1977: 464). The examples below show the temporary arrangement, i.e. the rice or vegetable is not permanently packed, and thereby refers to a particular quantity, set or amount. (i) midep/tep, chu∙-sa Rice Cls- one One packet of rice (ii) me∙su ka-sa Vegetable Cls.-one One bundle of vegetables

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Dokatchi Ch. Marak and Dorothy R. Marak TABLE 14.2: SORTAL CLASSIFIERS

Term

Gloss

Classifies

pat-, king-

CLF: piece

Flat, one-dimensional or spread out objects

jol-, pong-, pang-

CLF: long

Long and sticklike as lengths of ropes, needles, trees, etc.

sri-

CLF: slice

Pieces of chunks of a substance, such as betel-nut, guava, apple, etc.

rong-

CLF: round

Round objects like orange, stone, apple, pomegranate, etc.

jakam-

CLF: handful

Handful of rice, sand

dep-, tep-, chu-

CLF: packet

Packet of rice

cham-

CLF:

Bundle or bulk

sak-

CLF: human

Sak classifier is always used when referring to people.

mang-

CLF: animal

This is used for animals

Tables 14.3 and 14.4 show the expressions of time and space measurements. TABLE 14.3: MEASUREMENT OF TIME

Term

Classifies

Wal-gni

Two nights

Sal-bri

Four days

Anti-gittam

Three weeks

Ja-sa

One month

Bilsi-sku

Nine years

TABLE 14.4: MEASUREMENT OF SPACE

Term

Classifies

Jakpa-sa

The distance measured by the breadth of the palm, excluding the thumb

Jaksi-bri

Four finger width

Kru-sa

The space between the tip of the thumb to the tip of the middle finger with the fingers stretched as widely as possible

Mik-jaktom

The length from the elbow to the end of the clenched fist.

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There is no specific term for measuring weight in A∙chikku; they used containers to measure the rice like poa (a small container), ko∙ma (a medium size bamboo container) and kok (a large size bamboo container). The name of any container can be used as a classifier for the amount of material that it can hold. Cham- is used in measuring a bundle of vegetables and fruits; ol- for whole bundles of banana and so on. Inanimate referents include countable and mass nouns and this will be described below. In many cases classifiers are followed by the number: MASS COUNTABLE CLASSIFIER (i) Kilding ding-sa Thread Cls-one One string of thread (ii) Guerong-sa Arecanut Cls-one One arecanut MASS UNCOUNTABLE CLASSIFIER (i) Jak-ni jak matchurangko mobabo. Herd-poss. herd cow-pl. Acc. Bring the herd and herds of cows. (ii) Mande jinma tom·tokenga. Man many gather pre-progressive neutral Many people are gathering. (iii) An·cheng dandak-sa Sand pile-one One pile of sand. If someone wants to buy something in a bulk as in the following examples: (iv) Na·kamsing·sa Dried fish Cls-one One (bamboo tube of) dried fish.

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(v) Merongkok-sa Paddy Cls.-one One basket of paddy. SORTAL AND MENSURAL CLASSIFIERS

(vi) An·chengjakam-sa A handful of sand. Other terms used in measurements are (a) Kru-sa: Kru refers to the space between the tip of the thumb and the middle finger with the finger stretched as widely as possible; while sa refers to one. (b) Mik-sa: This refers to one cubit and it taken to be the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. CLASSIFIERS WITH CASE MARKERS

(vii) Tenang-ni pal sak-gipin-ko watatbo. Send somebody in place of Tenang CLASSIFIERS OCCURRING ALONE

(viii) Sakprakna te∙gatchu rongprak sualatbo. Distribute (one) mango to each person CLASSIFIERS WITH PLURAL MARKERS

(ix) Nang.na narang baditarong-rang onatbo? How many oranges should I give you?

Word Formation Process in A·chikku Word formation process is a process of coining new lexemes or words. It is the study of how new words are formed. Generally, the term ‘word-formation’ refers to the whole process of morphologi­ cal variation in the constitution of words, i.e. including the two main divisions of inflection (word variations signalling lexical relationship). In a more restricted sense word-formation refers to the latter processes only, these being sub-classified into such types as compositional or compound (e.g., blackbird from the free elements black + bird) and derivational (e.g., national, nationalize,

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etc., from the addition of bound elements -al, -ize, etc. Following are the word formation processes which can be found in the Garo language. Clipping Clipping is one of the word formation processes where new words are formed. There are many words in A·chik where some part of the word, syllable or syllables are deleted or clipped, but the meaning remains the same. The clipping of words in A·chik can occur in three different positions that is syllable initial, medial and final. The clipping of initial head nouns related to different words, for instance, when another morpheme is added to the head noun bol (tree) as in words like bolcheksi (twig of a tree) or bolkambe (the top of a tree), the meaning is clear even if the noun bol is clipped. Kolkumaƾ>ku·maƾ the mouth of a hole Wa·biskim>biskim the outer rim of a bamboo Blending Blending is a process when two words merge into one. For example, brunch (breakfast + lunch). Blending occurs when two words are fused into one (Radford et al., 1999). balwa + ka∙sin = balkasin balwa + a∙kol = balkol ro∙ong + a∙kol = rong∙kol mikron + gisep = mikgisep

A cool breeze A hole from where the wind blows A cave; a den; a cavern The corner of the eyelid

Echo Word A compound whose sound member repeats the first sound with an initial consonant or syllable altered (Mathews, 1991). Echo word is widespread in languages of the Indian subcontinent, with the general meanings, and the like. Echo word formation is very rich in the A·chik language. Echo words are formed in the A∙chikku by repeating some of the sounds.

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Daka rika Doka dam∙a

To do; to work and the like To strike; to beat and the like

Some of the echo words are formed by repeating the second syl­ lable of a word as in, Gila kem·a

To collect money; to collect subscription and the like, etc. Ill-tempered; ferocious and the like Quarrelsome and the like

ka∙ting rang∙ting ku∙keng wakeng

Some of the echo words are formed by repeating the initial syl­ lables like gal- and rang- as in galram galsam rang∙ki rang∙dang

to reject; to throw away and the like harshly rebuking; shouting and the like

Orthography Orthography is the art and rules of spelling according to the accepted standards, that is, the use of the written character of the language for forming words and sentences in conformity with the rules conventionally recognized as correct. Orthography is formed when new words are formed by writ­ ing orthographically. Examples in English: orthography is used as addressing terms for male and female separately, such as; Mister>Mr, Mistress>Mrs, orthography in English is used for professional or occupational terms such as: Professor>Prof., Reverend>Rev., Retired>Rtd., Doctor>Dr., Father>Fr., Sister> Sis., Assistant>Asst. In English, orthography words are also used for different institutions such as, department>dept., etc. The used of orthographic words in the A∙chik language is shown below: pagipa>pa ma∙gipa >ma metra>tra pante>te

father mother young lady young man

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Other addressing terms is used as in English like Rev., Prof., Mr, Mrs etc. Onomatopoeia Kneener (2011) states that onomatopoeia is one of the word formation processes which creates a new word by imitating the natural sounds. According to Mathews (1997), onomatopoeia is a word or process of forming words whose phonetic form is perceived as imitating sound, or sound associated with something, that they denote. Onomatopoeic is a word which imitates, reproduces or represents a natural sound. In English some of the onomatopoeia words are bow-wow, cock-a-doodle-do, cuckoo, oink-oink, etc. Every human language has a natural sound produced by animals, things and objects. Like many other languages of the world, A·chik language has different onomatopoeic sounds which is accepted and used in the society and is shown below: Meong meong gokarekgok grao krem krem

mewing of cat cock a doodle doo the sound of the falling of a tree sound produced while chewing some eatable things if there is sand

Coinage/Coining Kneener (2011) states that coinage refers to the process of inventing a totally new term in a language. It is also called word-manufacture. For example: aspirin and nylon are originally trade names. This is a process when a new word is formed by coining or by taking some words together. As civilization grows, vocabulary has to grow. As new things are discovered or invented new words are coined. Often new words are created as if from nowhere. Frequently we also find new words replacing the old and unsatisfactory words. Thus the earliest flying machine has been replaced by the present aeroplane likewise, aviator was replaced by airman. For most of the scientific terms, classical languages have proved a fertile source for the word coiner.

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Coinage is one of the word formation processes which create new words or which coin new word into the language. In order to under­ stand a new term or concept, new words are coined by taking into consideration the shape and size, or function of the thing or article under reference. Many new words are formed in this manner, some of the coined words in the A·chik language is shown below: miksilchi/mikwal rengrengsil wal·imkol sundare a·bim adasurang chapdilmong

spectacle cycle volcano rainbow the globe helicopter chapter

There are certain words in A·chikku where coined words are formed by joining two different words with different meaning and form into one word. ku∙sik + bimik = ku·bimik (grammar) ku∙sik + bidik = ku·bidik (dictionary) sea + nokgipa = senokgipa (author) ku·sik + pe·a = ku·pea (to translate) Hybrid Mathews (1997) pointed out that ‘hybrid’ is a word formed from element that derived historically from different languages. A lexical item which is constructed from elements originating from different languages like the English word ‘television’ which is derived from the Greek tele (far) plus Latin visio (seeing) is a hybrid word. The A·chik language is enriching its vocabulary by taking words taken from other languages like Indic as well as from English sources. In this present generation they have adopted certain words that lead to form different types of hybrid words. Some words used by them are hybrid because they do not have equivalent terms for scientific, technical and official words. Some examples of hybrid words are given below:

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Hybrid words formed by combining English + Garo run + kata run + run = to run meeting + tom·a meeting + to gather = to have a meeting vice + pa∙dot vice-president Hybrid words formed by combining A∙beng + Indic agan-chalai-gipa speak + to drive + person = speaker/chairperson Hybrid words formed by combining Indic + A∙chikku cha + gitchak

tea + red = red tea

Hybrid words formed by combining Indic + English gari + tyre gate + pul

vehicle + tyre = car tyre gate + flower = bougainvillea

Calque or Loan Translation Mathews (1997) says that, ‘calque’ is a word or expression which has been formed by translation of a corresponding word or expression in other languages. Crystal (1985) defines loan translation where the morphemes in the borrowed words are translated item by item. For example: Superman from Ubermensch. Calque or loan translation is one of the word formation processes which are translated from the English language. A list of words or expression for the names of different things which has been translated from English language is given below: pringnam (morning + good) wal + nam sal + nama>salnam saljatchi salantini janera katta-ku·-jikse> ku·jikse agan me·apa kan·dikgipa golporang

Good morning night + good = good night day + good = good day sun + middle = mid-day/noon daily + mirror = daily newspaper word + language + husband and wife = word pair to say or speak + married man = proverb short stories

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Some of the calque words used for official terms are written with a space between the first and second word in the same way as in English: ma∙a + dot>ma∙dot paa + dot> padot

female + head = female president male + head = male president

Some of the calque words are written without a space whereas in English there is a space in between the words, are given below: dakrikram

battle + field = battle field

Some calque words are formed without deleting a sound or syl­ lable of the words as in: bilsi gital

new + year = new year

Compounding Lieber (2009) says that a compound word is composed of two (or more) bases, roots, or stems. In English free bases are usually used to compose compounds, as the following examples show: compounds of two nouns: windmill, dog bed, book store; compounds of two adjectives: blue-green, red hot; compounds of an adjective and a noun: greenhouse, blackboard, hard hat, compounds of a noun and an adjective: sky blue, cherry red, rock hard. Compounding is one of the most productive morphological processes in the A·chik language. In a simple way the term com­ pounding means combining of two or more words together. A compound word will have more than one root, whereas ordinary words have just one root. Both root and synthetic compounds are there in the A·chik language. Root compound is a compound whose head is not deverbal or a non-head does not function as a verbal argument. The root com­ pounds in the A·chik language are: bol + cheksi = bolcheksi (tree + bough = twig/branch); bol + rike = bolrike (tree + top = top of a tree). Synthetic compounds on the other hand have a deverbal head or non-head and functions as verbal argument. Examples:

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sala + dawila = saldawila (draw + round = to draw in circle) tinga + doa = tingdoa (to kick + to go/to climb/to walk upward = to kick off). There are three types of compounds, namely endocentric, exo­ centric and copulative. Out of these three, copulative compounds constitute the bulk but endocentric and exocentric compounds are very few in the A·chik language. According to Spencer and Zwicky (1998) endocentric compound is a compound which has a head. In this type of compound one element functions as a head and other as a modifier. For example, sal-jatchi (noon). Exocentric compounds on the other hand, lack a head, i.e. the semantic head is external to the compound itself. Predominantly, it refers to the pejorative properties of human beings. One proverb from the A·chik language will clearly describe this type of com­ pound. kusiko bija-bitchi katongo matcha-bisi Honey in the mouth (i.e. a hypocrite) tiger poison inside the stomach. Here, bija-bitchi (honey) and matcha-bisi (tiger poison) are com­ pound words and the literal meaning of this proverb refers to a person who speaks well in front of others but inwardly he/she is a hypocrite with a dark mind and soul. Copulative compound means ‘two and two’ meaning ‘pair’. This means simple conjunction of two elements, without any further dependency holding between them. It has two semantic heads as in the examples shown below: maa-paa mama-ada atchu-ambi

mother-father = parents uncle-brother = elders grandfather-grandmother

The examples above are known as katta-jikse or kujikse in the A·chik language. The word katta-jikse or ku·jikse itself is a com­ pound word which literally means language + wife and husband, where word elements ku·sik (language) and jikse (wife and husband)

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complement each other semantically. Each word element can also be used separately and independently which has its own meaning. a·bri-a·kong hill and valley mikkim-rasong pride and glory Reduplication Crystal (1985) opines that reduplication is a term used in morphology for the process of repetition. Reduplication stands for repetition of whole or some parts of an element or lexical item. There are many words in A·chikku where entire syllable or syllables are repeated and thereby convey the meaning intended. As in other languages, reduplication in the A∙chik language are of two types: (i) Lexical reduplication, and (ii) Morphological reduplication. Lexical reduplication can be further divided into (a) partial, (b) complete, and (c) discontinuous reduplication. (a) Partial reduplication There are many words where some syllables are repeated as in: ding-dang, ga-dang rang·ki-rang·dang

doing things in different ways speaking roughly in a loud voice

(b) Complete reduplication Here, entire syllable or syllables are repeated as in the following: chrap-chrap jrip-jrip

flower/fruits in a bunch silently/quietly

(c) Discontinuous reduplication Discontinuous reduplication means discontinuation of reduplicated words as when other morphemes comes between the repeated words as in the following words: cha∙bo de cha∙bo requesting someone to eat re∙a kon re∙a he/she kept on walking or kept going Morphological reduplication in A·chik languge can be seen in

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the onomatopoeia words, i.e. while imitating the natural sounds as in the examples below: bau bau po po

barking of a dog hoot of an owl

No language can remain static as long as it is regularly used by the people. Likewise, the A·chik language has been preserved, enriched and developed by the speakers either through in group communica­ tion, as well as through borrowing from other languages. There are no historical records since when and how several words have cropped into this language but the speakers as a whole have borrowed words from different languages in different periods or phases of migration from Tibet. The A·chiks as a whole first came in contact with the Indo-Aryans, secondly with the Muslims and thirdly with the British officials and American Baptist missionaries.

Conclusion It is interesting to note that the A·chik language with its rich vocabulary has been preserved, modified and developed by the speakers for generations. There are other varieties of A·chikku which are still in their oral form. At the present stage, the speakers of the other varieties should come out and on their own varieties. This chapter, we hope, will help the young researchers to investigate further the different linguistic features of the other varieties of the A·chik language which remain untouched still.

REFERENCES Burling, R. 2004. The Language of the Modhupur Mandi (Garo), vol. 1. Ann Abror: Michigan University Press. Crystal, D. 1985. A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. New Delhi: Select Book Service Syndicate. Grierson, G.A. 1903. Tibeto Burman Family: Specimens of the Bodo, Naga and Kachin Groups. (Linguistic Survey of India, III (II). Culcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing. Kneener, S.E. 2011. Encyclopaedia of Language, Linguistics and Phonetics. New Delhi: Alfa Publications.

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Leiber, R. 2009. The Handbook of Morphology. London: Oxford University Press. Lyons, J. 1977. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Matthews, P.H. 1991. Morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. _____. 1997. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. New York & London: Oxford University Press Inc. Radford, A., M. Atkinson, D. Britain, H. Clahsen and A. Spencer. 1999. Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rongmuthu, D.S. 1997 [1970]. Apasong Agana. Baghmara: Misorsingh A Sangma. Reprint. Sangma, M.P. 2010. Glimpses of the Garo Heritage and Philosophy. Tura: D.J. Publications. Sangma, M.S. 1983. History of Garo Literature. Shillong: NEHU Publications. Spencer, A. and A.M. Zwicky. 2001. The Handbook of Morphology. London: Blackwell Publishing.

PA RT I V

Rites, Rituals and Celebrations

CHAPTER 15

Rites of Inheritance

Assessing Gifts, Mothers, and Marriages

Erik de Maaker*

One early morning, not very long after I had become a temporary resident of the village of Sadolpara, Meghalaya, someone informed me that Gujak had died.1 Gujak was an elderly woman, who was an important kinsperson for many of the people living there. Her death led no fewer than fifty men and women from Sadolpara to change their routines that day. They did not work their fields as they usually would have. Instead, they attended Gujak’s funeral, which was held in the neighbouring village of Chibonggre. In the hours following Gujak’s death, more than a hundred peo­ ple gathered near and inside the house in which she had lived. They came from villages in the vicinity of Chibonggre (such as Sadol­ para) and from Chibonggre itself. About half of these people were women, and each of them carried a heavy basket on a thumpline, filled with gifts for the deceased Gujak and her close relatives. Some of these baskets contained a vessel of rice beer, others had uncooked rice, as well as food items such as tea, sugar, and biscuits. People * Previously published as ‘Negotiations at Death: Assessing Gifts, Mothers and Marriages’ in Negotiating Rites, ed. U. Husken and F. Neubert, New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press, New York. The current version has been slightly revised in terms of structure and language. I thank Pip Hare for her insightful comments and suggestions.

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arrived in groups, each of which included at least one person who considered himself or herself a close relative of Gujak. Some of the parties drove one or two cows, which, like the other gifts, were a gift both for the deceased Gujak and for the people with whom she had lived. Once most of the guests had arrived, close relatives of Gujak offered certain persons small sums of money, and, in a few cases, also heirlooms such as a gong or a sword. The gongs and swords were usually accepted, but this did not necessarily hold for the monetary gifts. Some people who initially refused the money that was offered to them accepted it once the amount had been increased. Other people persisted in their refusal, as if acceptance of a gift would have had undesirable consequences. Why were some people reluc­ tant to accept the gifts offered to them? And, conversely, why did the representatives of the deceased Gujak make such great efforts to have the gifts accepted? It has long been recognized that rituals of death serve multiple purposes. Death rituals organize the disposal of the corpse. But as well as removing the dead body, the bereaved are provided with a way to come to terms with the loss they are facing (Huntington & Metcalf, 1999). Conducting a death ritual confirms the end of a life, but at the same time most death rituals include references to a new presence for the deceased, for instance in an afterlife. Such a continued presence can enable the dead to offer a source of vitality, essential to the continued existence and rejuvenation of the larger social and cosmological units that people identify with (Bloch & Parry, 1982). As noted by Hertz, death then marks a transformation from one state to another, rather than being perceived as simply the end of life. Hertz analysed secondary burials among the Ngaju Dayak of Kalimantan and the Berawan of Madagascar (Hertz, 1960 [1907]). He noted that both first and secondary burials marked transitions in the state of the deceased. This led him to distinguish between the biological death of a person and his or her ‘social’ death. Biological death occurs straight away; a person is either dead or alive. By contrast, social death is a process that extends over a longer stretch of time, enabling the bereaved to adjust to the gap in the social network which the death has left (Davies, 2000; Walter,

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2008). Processes like these also operate in South Asia, as has been shown for instance, by Randeria (1999). The impact of a death on the social relationships that people maintain depends on several factors, such as the roles that the deceased previously fulfilled, the assets that he or she controlled, and what people expected of them. Obviously, then, the death of an elderly person will have quite a different impact than the death of someone who has just been born. In Sadolpara and the surround­ ing area at the time of Gujak’s death, most property and land titles were vested with specific kinship titles, whereas property privately ‘owned’ by individuals played a relatively unimportant role. Swid­ den cultivation continued to be the dominant mode of agriculture. Fields were created in the jungle, worked for one or two years, and then abandoned. A person’s right to claim a patch of forest to make a swidden derived from their membership in a specific kin group and was not defined in terms of an individually held title. Although there was certainly a tendency to move towards sedentary planta­ tion agriculture, this was a fairly recent development, and most social arrangements continued to proceed from the idea that people held claims that defined rights within a larger body of communal property. Kinship, then, was the key terminology that people used to frame the social relationships that they maintained among one another. Given the significance attributed to membership of lineages and clans, any one Garo could explain their relationship to any other Garo in kin terms. Yet this omnipresence of kin ties made it neces­ sary to emphasize certain kin ties over others, particularly those that were in one way or the other deemed strategically important. This made participation in death rituals socially significant, since these were prime occasions at which people could express kin relation­ ships. Relationships became visible in terms of presence at a funeral, the nature and value of gifts bestowed, and one’s own willingness to accept gifts offered by the bereaved. These gifts were significant in the way they referred to preceding gifts and the commitments they implied for the future. The transfer of gifts was therefore seldom straightforward, but rather subject to extensive negotiations. Thus, Garo death rituals did not merely reveal social relationships, but

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actually produced a ‘social order’, as Bloch and Parry have argued (Bloch & Parry, 1982: 218). After all, participation in death rituals made visible the relationships that people maintain and acknowl­ edge towards the deceased and his or her close relatives. In this sense Garo death rituals allowed, and at the same time demanded, that people ‘shared a world’ with each other. In this chapter, I analyse the choices that participants in Garo death rituals made with respect to gifts transferred, or that were expected to be transferred.2 Accepting a gift is never ‘free’ (Gregory, 1982; Laidlaw, 2000). Acceptance acknowledges or traces a relation­ ship and creates an obligation for the future. This is in line with Mauss’ argument that gifts are embedded in networks of reciproca­ tion (Mauss, 1990). This reciprocation is by no means limited to physical objects, but also encompasses immaterial returns such as obligations, honour, and respect. So how were the various gifts that were offered at Garo mortuary rituals perceived by participants in those rituals? What obligations did they create? To what extent does the transfer of gifts reflect an ‘intentionality’ on the part of the giver, and does it allow people to negotiate between distinct inter­ ests? (Rio, 2007). Garo death rituals included many elements that were considered ‘traditional’. People claimed that such elements had always been a part of rituals. Garos talk about the past as ‘the time of the grand­ fathers and grandmothers’ (atchu-ambini somai), linking it explicitly to the ideas and practices of earlier generations. People interpret and subsume past practices as ‘custom’ (niam), a notion that they frequently invoke to legitimize their decisions. Custom is not pre­ sented as a set of rigid rules—although older ethnographies have notably tended to portray it as such—but rather as a series of prin­ ciples (Chattopadhyay & Sangma, 1989; Costa, 1954; Marak, 2000 [1986]; Marak 1964). This means that interpretations of custom can vary, for example, according to the role that someone assumes at a funeral, and certain acts or interpretations that are appreciated from one perspective may be understood rather differently when considered from another. What authority is attributed to custom? Do death rites merely guide negotiations between participants, or do rituals themselves become subject to negotiation as well?

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Garo Death Rituals In the hilly area where Sadolpara and Chibonggre are located, the majority of residents are Garos. The Garo have been classified as a ‘tribal’ community3 by the Indian state since colonial times. This classification is based upon linguistic, social, and cultural criteria. For example, Garos speak a language that belongs to the TibetoBurman family of languages, trace matrilineal kinship, and also distinguish themselves from neighbouring communities in religious terms. Their ‘tribal’ status has contributed to the creation of the Garo Hills District Council (GHDC), a body that administers the western part of Meghalaya state. The GHDC administers Garo personal law as well as the ownership and use of communally held lands. In India, people from certain ‘tribal’ communities in specific states can benefit from preferential discrimination. In the case of the Garos in Meghalaya, this results in benefits such as exemption from income-tax, the allocation of a fixed share of state-level government jobs, and reserved seats in educational institutions and political bodies. Before the Garo Hills were incorporated into the colonial state, all Garos followed the Garo community religion (they were Song­ sareks). With the colonial administrators, Australian and North American missionaries arrived. Although Christianity had reached the Garo Hills by the middle of the nineteenth century, it took a long time for it to gain popularity there. Only in the 1970s and 1980s, with the gradual spread of elementary education as well as proselytizing drives initiated by the urban middle class, did the majority of Garos convert to Christianity (Burling, 1997 [1963]). Consequently, many people from the older generations have grown up in contact with the community religion, and that religion’s fundamental concepts continue to be an important element of cos­ mology, even for young Garos. At the time of my main fieldwork phase, Songsarek Garo had become marginalized across much of the Garo Hills area. Only in some rural parts (including Sadolpara and Chibonggre) had people resisted conversion. Even such places had sizeable Chris­ tian minorities, so death rites performed for deceased Songsareks

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always involved at least a couple of Christian participants as well. Christians participated in such death rituals, but refrained from elements of the rituals that in one way or the other referred to the Garo community religion (de Maaker, 2007). Perceptions of death are intricately linked to ideas about the con­ stitution of the person. This constitution defines his or her life and consequently the nature of death. According to Songsarek Garo, when a person dies, their janggi, or soul (often equated with wind or breath), is believed to become detached from their body. With this separation the janggi transforms into a mi∙mang. The living are expected to guide such a soul to the afterworld. This guidance shows respect for the deceased person. It is also important for the living that the souls of the dead find their location in the afterworld, since a soul that does not detach itself from its earlier existence can become a hazard. Such a soul is likely to roam around, desperately, and may harm people who are alive. A dead body represents marang, a kind of death pollution that poses a threat to life (in other contexts distinct meanings can be attributed to marang). To contain this marang the corpse should be disposed of rapidly, preferably on the very day that the death occurred. Until a couple of decades ago, all corpses were cremated. Nowadays burial has become the norm. People say that they prefer to bury than to cremate because a burial takes much less time and is easier to arrange. The increasing popularity of burial is probably due to Christian influence. Although eschatology plays an important role in death rites, I will focus primarily on the social consequences of Garo death ritu­ als. I start by addressing the manner in which social relationships are perceived and organized in Garo villages. From there I proceed to discuss the transformations that the mortuary rituals effectuate.

The Inheritance of Kinship Ties People who participate in Garo death rituals act in many ways as representatives of ‘Houses’. A Garo house is a unit of belonging as well as a unit of property (Lévi-Strauss, 1991; Carsten & HughJones, 1995). A house comprises a woman and her husband, as

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well as unmarried children and (at times) unmarried brothers and sisters of the wife. Among the assets of a house are the house building, a granary, implements, food stocks, seed grains, and the crops growing in the fields. A House also includes cattle, heirlooms (jewellery, gongs, weapons, and drums that have supposedly existed since time immemorial), as well as titles to land. A House, with all its possessions, rights, and obligations, is part of the ‘localized matrilineage’ (ba∙saa) of the wife.4 The husband, usually belongs by birth to a distinct localized matrilineage and clan, is considered the ‘head’ (skutong) of the House.5 Upon mar­ riage the husband becomes an affine to the localized matrilineage of his wife. As such he can act, and is at times expected to act, on behalf of her kin group. At the same time a married man continues to relate to the localized matrilineage into which he was born; he is regarded as a custodian of the Houses of all his female matrilineal relatives. A marriage arranged on the authority of the larger kin groups of the groom and the bride draws both these kin groups into a mar­ riage alliance. Such an a∙kim alliance demands that upon death of either the husband or wife, his or her respective localized matrilin­ eage is obliged to arrange a new spouse for the widower or widow. This principle of replacement was explained to me with reference to a woman who had recently lost her husband: They were married by du∙sia [the term used to indicate a proper marriage]. Because the man died before the woman, the kin group of the man incurred a debt. This required them to send a person… Had the woman died first, the a∙kim debt would have been with the kin group of the woman.… To provide an heir in place of the deceased person is said to be fulfillment of a∙kim.

Such replacement of a deceased person is described as ‘to put back’ (datanga) or ‘to give instead’ (on∙songa). An a∙kim debt (gru) implies an exclusive relationship between the localized matrilineage of the deceased person and the House that he or she lived in. It is therefore obligatory for this localized matrilineage to redeem the debt, and it has an exclusive right to do so. The person replacing the one who died should belong to

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the same localized matrilineage as the latter, unless the localized matrilineage of the dead person explicitly accepts replacement by someone who does not belong to it. How a∙kim replacement can be effectuated differs, depending on whether the wife or the husband has died. A couple can anticipate a∙kim replacement by designating a daughter as the heiress (nok­ krom) of her mother. She is then ‘the one kept for the House’ (nok donggipa). Often, but not necessarily, this is the youngest daughter. If there is no daughter in the House, or none of the daughters want to become the heiress, a younger sister of the wife who is willing to assume this role can be adopted. In any case, the heiress should marry by du∙sia a matrilineal nephew of her father, a cross-cousin. This is ideally a biological nephew, but a son of any classificatory sister of the father is acceptable, as long as she belongs to his local­ ized matrilineage. The father of this sister is then a biological or classificatory matrilineal uncle of the groom. Once married to the heiress, the nephew becomes the heir to his uncle and father-in­ law. Consequently, Houses are perceived as a continuation from mother to daughter, as well as from uncle to nephew. However, the heirs can only replace the elderly couple at the death of the senior man. Following his death, when the ‘nephew’ takes his place, the latter also becomes (at least in a formal sense) the husband of his wife’s mother. If, however, the senior wife dies before her husband, the heir couple cannot enter the house. A father cannot marry his (classificatory) daughter because that would be incestuous. In such a case, providing a∙kim replacement means that a new wife is arranged for the widower, who is a close relative of the wife of the deceased, but does not qualify as his daughter. This continuity is essential: only if deceased spouses are replaced, can Houses continue to exist. Ideally a deceased person should be replaced at the death ritual itself. If this is not feasible because there is no heir or heiress and no other candidate can be arranged at that time, the two localized matrilineages involved in the marriage alli­ ance should at least express their commitment to upholding the alliance and their intent to realize the replacement in the weeks or months to follow.

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One consequence of the replacement of deceased spouses and the continuation of Houses is that everyone continues to have classifica­ tory fathers, mothers, and grandparents. A daughter who replaces her deceased mother becomes the mother and stepmother (ama­ ma∙de) of the children of her House and a grandmother (ambi) to its grandchildren. The heir of a deceased man (ideally, his matrilineal nephew) becomes father and stepfather (apa-awang) to the children of his House and a grandfather (atchu) to its grandchildren. Each successive couple that lives in a House represents a genera­ tion (chasong or wa∙pak). A House that has many generations (nok bibol or ‘trunk House’) tends to have many ‘branch Houses’ (bipek), each of which may in turn have other branch Houses. The hierar­ chy that is perceived among Houses belonging to a single localized matrilineage is modelled on mother-daughter ties. Between found­ resses of a single generation the ranking is based on birth order. The hierarchy among Houses is absolute as long as it refers to those at the top and bottom of the hierarchy. But in relation to Houses that are ranked somewhere in the middle, the hierarchy is relatively open to interpretation, and there are many instances when people maintain conflicting interpretations of the relative seniority attrib­ uted to certain Houses. Since kinship is classificatory, designations do not refer to single persons, but rather to categories of people. For example, one’s matrilineal aunts are classified as one’s ‘mothers’. This implies that each person has many mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Peo­ ple do not impose absolute (genealogical) criteria when assessing kin ties. Rather, the extent to which kin support one another and facilitate economic cooperation is a significant factor. Kin relations are attributed value in terms of nearness, and it is this nearness that can be expressed, but also negotiated and thus transformed during a funeral ritual. Funerals call upon people to publicly state how they see themselves in relation to their kin and their in-laws, and are occasions at which people can earn ‘good honor’ (rasong nama); by making valuable customary offerings and by paying respect to the deceased person and her or his House, for instance.

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Assessing the Importance of a Deceased Person People can participate in a Garo death ritual in different ways. How they do is determined in accordance with three distinct categories of relatedness to the deceased and to the House to which he or she belonged. The first category consists of people considered representatives of the House of the deceased; they identify with the localized matrilineage of the female side of the House (the deceased wife, or the widow) and are normally close relatives of the deceased. A second category comprises representatives of Houses that relate matrilineally to the deceased (if a married woman has died, this second category can merge with the first category). The third category is made up of the deceased’s in-laws. It often happens that people at a single funeral act on behalf of more than one category. This may apply to married men in particular. Such a man can act on behalf of the localized matrilineage into which he was born, but he can also act on behalf of the localized matrilineage of his wife. People’s responsibilities at a funeral vary according to the category they belong to or identify with. People positioned as rep­ resentatives of a House in which a death has occurred have to make many decisions that influence the scale of the funeral. How valuable will the cloth be that is used to cover the corpse as it is laid out? Will heirlooms such as jewellery, gongs, and swords be offered as gifts to the people attending? If so, how many? Will the corpse be buried or cremated? If it is to be buried, as is normally the case, should the coffin be made from split bamboo or from much more expensive wooden planks? Of great consequence to the scale of a funeral are the decisions regarding whom to inform about the death. Depending on the importance attributed to the deceased, people will either limit such an announcement to people from the village in which the death has occurred, or spread the news to relatives and in-laws living in neighbouring and distant villages as well. This decision is crucial: if the circle of invitees is too small, those who have been omitted may be offended; if the circle is too large, people may feel obliged to attend the funeral of a person who is insignificant to them. People who are notified about a death also have to decide

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whether or not to attend the particular mortuary ritual. Here again, the assessment of their relationship to the deceased person is criti­ cal: the closer the relationship, the more difficult it is to opt out of attending a funeral; the more distant the relationship is perceived to be, the more doubt as to whether attendance is desirable. Hav­ ing decided to attend a mortuary ritual, guests then have to decide about the kind and value of the gifts to be taken to the House of the deceased. Some gifts are not expensive, but their presentation is compulsory. Most significant among these inexpensive gifts are a handful of rice on the ear and unginned cotton wool, both of which are said to be seed grains for use by the deceased person in the afterworld. Other gifts, such as banknotes and animals such as cows or pigs, can have much greater value. Gifts such as money and a cow or a pig are given to the deceased as well as to his or her relatives. In the latter sense they are gifts to help (abisi) the living. All animals that are given to the deceased have to be slaughtered at the time of the funeral. Their killing, it is said, allows these animals to accompany the deceased to the afterworld. At the same time their meat becomes available as food. Most of it is cooked into a meat curry and served with rice. This allows the representatives of the House of the deceased to provide a meal to the people attending the funeral. The deceased receives the smoked spleen of each of the cows, which is placed in a repository in the courtyard close to the house in which she or he lived, and also contains other provisions for the deceased person. The money that is brought for the deceased can be redistributed as gifts by the representatives of his or her House. The extent to which people provide money and animals to help is an indicator of the significance they attribute to the deceased and the House to which he or she belonged. The closer a relationship is perceived to be, the greater the value of the help offered. In this way, offering gifts allows people to make a statement about the rela­ tionship between their House and that of the deceased. Offering an inexpensive gift or failing to give a cow when one was expected can be taken as an indicator that someone values a relationship less than the other side had anticipated.

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Defining and Ranking the Mothers Once most of the people have arrived at a funeral, the representatives of the House of the deceased are expected to offer counter-gifts to the people attending. One such counter-gift is ma∙gual, a gift for the Houses of the mothers of the deceased person. Ma∙gual first and foremost refers to heirlooms such as brass gongs, jewellery, or swords. However, since heirlooms are valuable and rare, they are often substituted by money.6 The heirlooms are said to have existed since time immemorial; according to oral history, the founders of villages such as Sadolpara brought the first heirloom objects with them from their villages of origin. Some people even claim that the heirlooms were brought from Tibet, the place from which the Garo ancestors are believed to originate.7 In any case, heirlooms are typically acquired by Houses as ma∙gual. When a member of a House dies, that House can offer the heirlooms it has obtained as ma∙gual to other Houses.8 An heirloom that is offered as ma∙gual is said to represent the bones (greng) of the deceased person at whose mortuary ritual the object is offered. ‘It is like [the] bone of my younger brother’ (angni angjongni greng), a woman said about a gong. She had received the gong as ma∙gual at the mortuary ritual of a man who had been like a younger brother to her. The gong, she said, would help her ‘to remember him.’ A gong offered at a mortuary ritual is associated with the person who died. This exchange overrules the association of the gong with the previ­ ous deceased person. People do not remember the history of an heirloom, but by transferring an heirloom at successive mortuary rituals, it becomes associated with a cumulative number of dead. Except for the most recent, all these dead are anonymous.9 The representatives of the House of a dead man or woman are obliged to offer ma∙gual to all the Houses of his or her mothers who are represented at the mortuary ritual. The Houses of close mothers of the dead person should be offered the most substantial ma∙gual. Distant mothers can be satisfied with ma∙gual that has a lower value.10 A House that accepts ma∙gual formally acknowledges a filial relationship with the person who died. Conversely, the refusal of

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ma∙gual implies that a House rejects this kind of a relationship. For instance, when someone refused to accept ma∙gual at the mortu­ ary ritual of a woman, the person who offered the gift said, ‘If you act like this [refusing ma∙gual], she won’t have mother and father’. Moreover, the refusal of ma∙gual by the House of the proposed recipient can be taken as a rejection of its relationship with the larger localized matrilineage of the House that offers it. When a representative of a House in which a death had occurred was con­ fronted by many people who refused to take ma∙gual, he asked, ‘Why are none of you respecting us? . . . Aren’t you considering us your grandchildren?’ The man positioned himself as a representa­ tive of the localized matrilineage of the House in which the death had occurred, and approached those to whom he offered ma∙gual as matrilineal kin of the deceased person. The representatives of the House in which death has occurred offer ma∙gual to all the Houses eligible to receive it. People say that the order of offering should reflect the ranking of the Houses’ rela­ tionships to the person who has died. The House of the ‘biggest grandmother’ (ambi dal∙gipa) of the deceased should be offered first, and then, in order of decreasing importance, the Houses of grandmothers, mother’s elder sisters, mothers, mother’s younger sisters, own elder sisters, younger sisters, and nieces. Following this ranking is compulsory, at least with respect to the Houses that are attributed the greatest seniority in relation to the deceased person. Given that the most valuable gifts are negotiated first by the most senior Houses, manipulating this ranking provides people with an opportunity to formulate claims to a specific degree of relatedness. During my fieldwork, I tried to get a detailed understanding of the transfer of ma∙gual. At the funeral of Sisi, the representatives of her House could not offer ma∙gual until a man named Reng­ teng had arrived. He was considered Sisi’s ‘biggest grandfather’ (atchu dal∙gipa), as he was the head of the House that was most apical to that of Sisi.11 Soon after his arrival, Rengteng was offered a narikki sil gong. This kind of gong has relatively little value. He politely refused it saying, ‘It is not necessary to give anything to me’. Rengteng knew that no one else would be offered ma∙gual until he had accepted it. The representatives of the House of Sisi rightly

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understood his refusal as a request for a more valuable gift. They offered him a more precious kasamati gong, which Rengteng readily accepted. If a House of a close mother of the dead man or woman is represented at his or her mortuary ritual, it has to accept ma∙gual. A refusal of ma∙gual by the representatives of such a House, as in the case of Rengteng, is a concealed demand that the House of the dead person should offer a more valuable gift. While some people may demand more substantial ma∙gual, others may be reluctant, if not unwilling, to accept it at all. They belong primarily to the Houses of more distant mothers. The rep­ resentatives of the House of the deceased person will always offer money, never an heirloom, as ma∙gual to such Houses. A monetary gift usually consists of several bills of small denominations. By add­ ing or removing bills from the bundle, the value of such a gift can be adjusted easily. The representatives of the House of the deceased person should try to convince people representing Houses of distant mothers to accept a gift that is offered. Often they try to enforce acceptance by slipping the rolled up paper money into a pocket or under the collar of the proposed recipient. Such a person usually tries to avoid this kind of gesture, and tussling and scuffling results. The outcome of such an engagement cannot be predicted. Only gradually, in the course of the encounter, does it become clear whether the proposed recipient will continue to refuse the offered ma∙gual or can be convinced to accept it. Rengji was an elderly woman. At the funeral of her granddaugh­ ter Nagal, she gave twenty rupees to help the close relatives of the latter. This was a modest amount, considering that four Houses had offered cows, and many others large sums of money. A couple of hours after she had arrived, Rengji sat at the side of the gazebo, in front of Nagal’s house. One of Nagal’s brothers approached her and showed her some folded notes. He said, ‘Take this grandma, take this. . . . How can you refuse it, that would not be in accordance with custom.’ Rengji did not react. The brother slipped the folded notes under her dress. Wiljeng (an in-law of Nagal) [said], ‘Even if you take this, we are not free. If you refuse it, we are also not free’. Rengji unfolded the notes and counted them. The brother [said], ‘To you, a gong should have been given. If we had one, if we had

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been able to give . . . a narikki sil [a certain type of gong] would have been given.’ He stepped backwards, which made it more dif­ ficult for Rengji to return the money, and said, ‘This is just a little bit’. The brother said to Rengji, ‘She [Nagal] is your grandchild’. Wiljeng added, ‘Are we asking you to take from a stranger? She [Nagal] is like someone of your own House’. At this mortuary ritual, the men offering ma∙gual maintained that the deceased Nagal was a ‘grandchild’ of the proposed recipi­ ent Rengji, even ‘like someone of [her] own House’. The men made statements that stressed Rengji’s importance. Nagal’s brother claimed that Rengji should actually have been given a gong (‘if we had been able to give’). Saying, ‘Even if you take this, we are not free’, one of the men claimed that the ma∙gual offered was not sub­ stantial enough for a person as important as Rengji. But, he added, if she rejected it they ‘are also not free’. He suggested that the representatives of Nagal’s House were obliged to make her accept ma∙gual. Because they could not offer her more (or so he claimed), he argued that she should accept whatever was being offered, and in the end Rengji agreed to accept the ma∙gual. The representatives of the House of the deceased person are obliged to make extensive efforts to convince people like Rengji to accept ma∙gual, in order to ensure that as many Houses as possible acknowledge the deceased person as one of them. The greatest efforts need to be made toward Houses of which it is not certain, at least beforehand, whether they will be willing to accept or not. The men in charge of offering ma∙gual humble the House of the deceased, arguing that it lacks the means to provide gifts that are substantial enough for the status of the persons being offered ma∙gual. These men, it is important to understand, are expected to make such efforts; if they fail to be persuasive toward such Houses, their failure is likely to be understood as an unwillingness to offer ma∙gual. And unwillingness to share with one’s relatives would be shameful, damaging not only the reputation of the House of the deceased person but also the reputation of the larger localized matrilineage to which that House belongs. If people like Rengji refuse the ma∙gual that is offered to them, they are likely to justify doing so by underplaying the gifts to help

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that they themselves have made to the House of the deceased per­ son. It is shameful to accept ma∙gual if one has provided insufficient help. One woman who was offered ma∙gual replied, ‘If I am not able to help you, but accept a gift, how can that be in compliance with custom?’ A man refused ma∙gual with the words: ‘I couldn’t give anything, so how can I accept it? I won’t take it. It would be shameful.’ However, refusing ma∙gual also implies rejecting one’s relationship with the person who has died. People can resolve this dilemma by accepting a smaller amount of money than that which the House of the deceased offers. That way, people acknowledge their relationship to the deceased while avoiding giving the impres­ sion that they regard their own gifts to help as sufficient. Representatives of Houses that are only very distantly related to the person who died can still qualify for ma∙gual. Such Houses are not expected to accept the ma∙gual that is offered to them, and the representatives of the House in which the death has occurred do not press them to do so. Although offering ma∙gual to such a House categorizes the House as that of a mother to the deceased, the expected refusal of the gift emphasizes that this relationship is very distant indeed. Whenever the representatives of the House of the deceased make an attempt to offer ma∙gual, they have to assess the closeness of the relationship between the deceased and the person to which they are offering the gift. Depending on this assessment, they decide whether it is compulsory for a House to accept ma∙gual, whether it is acceptable if the person refuses, or whether a refusal is even to be expected. The assessment of the relationship depends on many factors, and for the men who distribute ma∙gual it is not always clear to which category a House belongs. At one mortuary ritual, one of the men responsible for the distribution of ma∙gual asked about a woman, ‘The one who refused, will she come back and remind us of our duty?’ Similarly, people who qualify for ma∙gual are also obliged to assess their relationship to the person who died. Apart from deciding what gift to give to help, these people must choose between demanding more valuable ma∙gual than that which is offered, accepting less than what is presented to them, or refusing to take any of it at all.

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Furthermore, a House that qualifies as that of a ‘mother’ of a deceased person who was married assumes responsibility for the replacement of that deceased person. The need for replacement derives from the existence of an a∙kim alliance relationship, but the replacement is unlikely to actually occur unless the House of the deceased person offers ma∙gual. Talking about a House that had provided a person to replace a deceased woman, someone said, ‘They [her matrilineal relatives] have chosen to get her married, they have kept the gongs’. If Houses accept ma∙gual but fail to provide someone to replace the deceased person, people say that ‘ma∙gual is forgotten’ (ma∙gual guala). Ma∙gual is perceived as a gift to the source from which the deceased person originated. Given that ma∙gual represents the bones of the deceased person, it stands for the symbolic return of a non-putrefying part of his or her corpse to the Houses of origin. At the same time, ma∙gual is a gift in exchange for the person who replaces the deceased person. So there is a relationship between the gifts to help that are offered to the House of the deceased and the ma∙gual gifts that the representatives of the deceased offer to Houses that qualify as mothers of the deceased. The value and kind of gifts exchanged are thus determined by assessments, expressions, and negotiations of the relationship between the Houses concerned. Likewise, the kind of effort that is made to find a suitable replacement for the deceased person is an indicator of the closeness of that relationship.

Conclusion What can an analysis of Garo funerals teach us about the capacity of these rituals to allow the negotiation of relationships among people and Houses as well as with the dead? The funeral of Gujak described earlier was attended by a large number of people because considerable apicality was attributed to her House. The House had existed for several generations and was embedded in an extensive network of kin ties. With their decision to attend the funeral, and in the kind of gifts that they brought with them, people acknowledged their relationships to the deceased Gujak. At the same time, they showed their support for Gujak’s relatives and their commitment

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to the continuation of her House. In their acceptance or refusal of the counter-gifts that were offered by Gujak’s close relatives, the recipients expressed the relative importance of the deceased for their own Houses. For those who represented the House of Gujak, the order in which Houses were approached for the acceptance of counter-gifts, and the kind of efforts made to have these accepted, indicated the status of these Houses relative to hers. Expressing relationships vis-à-vis the deceased Gujak thus conjoined with the assessment of the hierarchical relationships that Houses traced among themselves. Garo mortuary rituals thus allow, and under certain circum­ stances demand, that people assess and negotiate the importance of their relationship to a person who has died, to his or her rela­ tives and in-laws, and to the Houses these people belong to. This assessment is then articulated primarily through the offering, refusal, and acceptance of gifts. All these gifts relate in one way or another to the deceased person. The gifts provided by people who attend a funeral boost the prestige of the soul of the deceased person in the afterworld. The counter-gifts that are offered by the representatives of the House of the deceased person are associated with non-putrefying parts of the corpse, as well as with the corpses of innumerable ancestors. Among the Garos, kinship serves as an idiom for interpreting and shaping social ties between people and the Houses they belong to. Garos can trace matrilineal or affinal kin ties (often both) to vir­ tually any other Garo. Within this broad field of kin relationships, kin ties tend to gain weight when they are substantiated. One way to achieve this is the transfer of gifts at mortuary rituals. As I have shown, such gifts imply an acknowledgement of a relationship to the deceased, as well as to the House that he or she belonged to. Accepting gifts obliges the recipient to reciprocate in some way. In addition, when a gift is accepted, the giver is obliged to accept future gifts from the recipient. The offering and acceptance of gifts at Garo mortuary rituals thus creates a context in which people try to tempt each other to engage in obligations or to reciprocate these. Relationships that are acknowledged should yield in the future, in the sense that the Houses involved are expected to honour the

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recipients in the context of a future death ritual. Acknowledging relationships that are deemed important enables Houses to sustain and build prestige. Offering and receiving gifts at funerals thus plays an important part in sorting out the relationships that Houses maintain among themselves. Negotiation plays a role as people deem certain relationships more important and others less relevant. This informs the kind of effort that people make in offering gifts, and their willingness to accept them. There is also scope for negotiation beyond the confines of the rit­ uals. People accept ‘custom’ as the general organizing principle. Yet interpretations of custom are situational, and the distinct interpre­ tations of what is appropriate action in the context of a ritual make mortuary rituals subject to negotiation as well. After all, people can challenge the importance that custom attributes to the death rituals. They may refrain from attending (even when the general opinion is that they should), arguing that according to their interpretation of custom their absence would not harm the relationships at stake. Such denial of the importance of the mortuary rituals is relatively rare, however. Most people consider such a position inappropriate and disrespectful. This negotiation of custom contributes to the significance of the death ritual as an arena in which the assessment and substantiation of social relationships becomes visible.

NOTES 1. I conducted my PhD fieldwork in Meghalaya, India from July 1999 to June 2001. For most of that time I lived with my wife and field assistants in Sadolpara, a village comprising about 1,600 inhabitants. This allowed for casual, everyday (and night time) interaction with the residents. The fieldwork was made possible thanks to the financial support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO/WOTRO) and the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICCR). It was conducted under the auspices of the North-Eastern Hill University (Shillong and Tura) as well as the Research School CNWS (Leiden). The republication of this article has been facilitated by the NWO-ICSSR sponsored research project ‘Markets, Ethics and Agency: Changing Land Utilization and Social Transformation in the Uplands of Northeast India’ as well as the Leiden University sponsored project ‘Postcolonial Displacements: Migration, Narratives and Place-Making in South Asia’.

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2. Garos categorize funerary practices as ‘ritual’ in the sense that they acknowledge that a funeral creates a time and space set apart from daily life. A Garo mortuary ritual (mangona) lasts up to two days. It is conducted from the house of the deceased person and confined to the village in which that person lived. Ritual activities do not exceed these temporal and spatial boundaries. 3. In South Asia, the term ‘tribe’ has acquired great political weight (Béteille, 1998). Being ‘tribal’ brings important significant benefits as a result of the Indian government’s policy of preferential discrimination (Bayly, 1999). In view of the politicized use of ‘tribe’ in South Asia, I use quotation marks to indicate that it is not being used in a general academic sense. 4. Garo kinship traces descent along the female line. Relationships between mothers and daughters and mothers and sons are attributed far more importance than those between fathers and sons or fathers and daughters. People who claim a common female predecessor are said to originate from a single womb. They belong to a single ba∙saa (localized matrilineage); these can vary in size from a few dozen to a few hundred people, and often most female members will be concentrated in a single village. Localized matrilineages that are believed to share a joint origin constitute a ma∙chong (mother core). Related ma∙chongs belong to a single chatchi, or ‘matriclan’, the most comprehensive unit of descent. 5. This does not imply that a House cannot exist without a husband. If a House is without a husband, the most senior female spouse acts as the head of that House. 6. Perhaps equally important is the fact that the value of a monetary gift can be adjusted easily – a great advantage when it comes to negotiating acceptance or refusal. 7. I was told that, until recently, gongs, heirloom jewellery, and weapons used to be made by Bengalis from the nearby plains. Nowadays this production has all but ceased, largely because of the sharp increase in the number of Christian converts. Compared to Songsareks, Christians attach little value to heirlooms. 8. The only restriction is that an heirloom should never be offered as ma∙gual to the House from which it has been received as ma∙gual. As was explained to me, this is reflected in the etymology of the term ma∙gual, which means ‘valuables that are forgotten’ (ma, ‘valuables’; guala, ‘to forget’). 9. Apart from the most recently deceased persons, all these dead are anony­ mous; the dead that these heirlooms were previously associated with are not known by name. Hence, the longer an heirloom object has been circulating, the more funerals at which it has been transferred, and the greater the number of dead it has been related to. Because the names of these preceding dead are not remembered when an heirloom is transferred,

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the transfer of an heirloom results in the anonymization of the preceding deceased person that that particular heirloom had been associated with. 10. The closeness or distance of kin ties depends on the extent to which the ties are regarded as biological relationships (involving blood ties or an extensive period of cohabitation), or are merely considered broad, classificatory categories. In the latter sense, all children of women who consider each other sisters, however distant, are siblings. However, experiencing kin ties as close or distant depends to a considerable degree on the way people approach them. If people behave as if a certain person is close kin, the relationship involved is likely to be perceived (and talked about) as such, and the other way around. Perceptions of closeness and distance of kin relationships thus depend on the intensity and form of interaction between the people involved. 11. A House is apical to the Houses that have emerged from it; to Houses that have been founded by women who were born or raised in the apical House. Apicality thus indicates the relative seniority of Houses. The most apical House is the most senior House to which a House traces its origin.

REFERENCES Bayly, S. 1999. Caste Society and Politics in India: From the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Béteille, A. 1998. ‘The Idea of Indigenous People’. Current Anthropology, 39 (2): 187-92. Bloch, M. and J. Parry. 1982. Death and the Regeneration of Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Burling, R. 1997 [1963]. Rengsanggri: Family and Kinship in a Garo Village. Tura: Tura Book Room. Reprint. Carsten, J. and S. Hugh-Jones. 1995. ‘Introduction’, in J. Carsten and S. HughJones (eds.), About the House: Lévi-Strauss and Beyond. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1-46. Chattopadhyay, S.K. and M.S. Sangma. 1989. The Garo Customary Laws. Shillong: Directorate of Arts and Culture. Costa, G. 1954. ‘The Garo Code of Law’. Anthropos, 49 (28): 1041-66. Davies, D. J. 2000. ‘Robert Hertz: The Social Triumph Over Death’. Mortality, 5 (1): 97. de Maaker, E. 2007. ‘From the Songsarek Faith to Christianity: Conversion, Religious Identity and Ritual Efficacy’. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 30 (3): 517-30. Gregory, C.A. 1982. Gifts and Commodities, Studies in Political Economy. London: Academic Press.

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Hertz, R. 1960 [1907]. Death and the Right Hand. Translated by Rodney and Claudia Needham. London: Cohen & West. Huntington, R. and P. Metcalf. 1999. Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2nd edn. Laidlaw, J. 2000. ‘A Free Gift Makes No Friends’. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 6 (4): 617-34. Lévi-Strauss, C. 1991. ‘Maison’, in P. Bonte and M. Izard (eds.), Dictionaire de l’ethnologie et de l’anthropologie. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, pp. 434-6. Marak, J. 2000 [1986]. Garo Customary Laws and Practices: A Sociological Study. Delhi: Akansha. Marak, K.R. 1964. The Garos and Their Customary Laws and Usages. Tura: Brucellis Sangma. Mauss, M. 1990. The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. London: Routledge Classics. Randeria, S. 1999. ‘Mourning, Mortuary Exchange and Memorialization: The Creation of Local Communities among Dalits in Gujarat’, in E. Schömbucher and C.P. Zoller (eds.), Ways of Dying: Death and Its Meaning in South Asia. New Delhi: Manohar, pp. 88-111. Rio, K. 2007. ‘Denying the Gift: Aspects of Ceremonial Exchange and Sacrifice on Ambrym Island, Vanuatu’. Anthropological Theory, 7 (4): 449-70. doi: 10.1177/1463499607083429. Walter, T. 2008. ‘The Sociology of Death’. Sociology Compass, 2 (1): 317.

CHAPTER 16

Beyond Rituals

Looking at Traditional Customs of the

Gorkhas of Shillong

Utpala G. Sewa

Introduction Migrations are a basic human tendency. Throughout human his­ tory our ancestors have migrated great distances from their land of origin in search of prospects that they considered better or safer, and sometimes, both. Gorkhas are today found in most parts of the globe where, except in the home nation of Nepal itself and in the Darjeeling Hills of India, they live as migrants or as diaspora. Forced by the push factors of economic hardships and political circumstances in their motherland they today live in countries as diverse as America, the UK, Australia, the Middle-East, many Southeast Asian countries, and after the acceptance by Sweden of the Lhotshampas (the people of Gorkha origin evicted from Bhutan in the 1990s), they are found now in the Scandinavian peninsula too. After Indian Independence, a part of the Gorkha Regiment was taken by the British and subsequently deployed in other countries under British rule. Hence, this became one of the major reasons, besides voluntary migrations today, behind the Gorkhas being scattered across many continents. In India it was the Treaty of Sagauli in 1815 followed by the Indo-Nepal Friendship treaty much later in 1950 that opened the doors of migration of Gorkhas into India mainly as cheap labour,

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graziers and army soldiers. The 1,900 km long international ‘open’ border and the British induction of the Gorkhas into the Indian Army, post-1815-16 Treaty of Sagauli were the major reasons although certainly the additional push factors were the economic hardship, illiteracy, a large economically vulnerable population of a backward Nepal, one of the least developed countries in Asia. The physical contiguity of the two countries of Nepal and India was an important factor in this phenomenon of large scale Gorkha migra­ tion. In unison with this was the commonality of socio-religious aspects of majority of the people of these two countries which further enhanced the magnetic pull of India as a natural choice of destination. After retirement from the Indian Army, many soldiers stayed back in the land they had served, especially in the north-east of India, thus providing a fillip to the already swelling numbers of the Gorkha migrants in these regions. Though the youngsters of such families today living outside the two locations of Nepal and Darjeeling Hills exhibit unstable and varied levels and grades of language knowledge and expertise in the spoken/written form of their mother tongue, their sense of identity has never become an issue nor been problematized with them. There could be many other minor reasons behind this but the most important one has to be that at the basic level of the family itself traditions and rituals are rigorously followed, more so outside the above-mentioned two locations of Nepal and the Darjeeling Hills. No exceptions or compromises are admitted or allowed in this aspect of personal and communal life. This is most explicit in more important rituals like marriage, naming of the newborn and the shradh or death rites and in celebration of major festivals like Dashain, Teej and Tihar. Most Gorkhas are practising Hindus with a small number of Buddhists, while the conversion to Christianity is a recent phe­ nomenon and accounts for a negligible percentage of the Gorkha population. Thus the majority population are strict adherents of Brahmanical Hinduism and the religious beliefs and cultural prac­ tices have been enmeshed therein and become the basis for the practise of rituals. This coalescing of religion and culture may have been contrived early by the proponents of Hinduism lest the people

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with indigenous religious practices that were animistic in character (like that of the Gurungs, the Magars and the Rais) lapse back to their old beliefs and practices. Hence, into the cultural practices were interwoven sufficient religious stories and beliefs of the new faith to make sure that they were followed rigorously and without any alteration. So Hinduism, or more accurately Brahmanism, has today become a way of life with Gorkhas, irrespective of where they live. However, when examined closely the rituals reveal meaning and function that go beyond mere adherence to tradition. Apart from binding together a scattered people, they are the markers that speak of the people, their belief systems, providing at the same time the basic paradigm and parameters of social behaviour for the next gen­ eration by communicating values and ideals through the practise of these rituals. Many of the qualities, in terms of virtues, are rooted one can see in many such religio-cultural practices. These prac­ tices, followed almost mindlessly for generations have yet created their emotional and attitudinal perspectives to life and its many challenges. These are the perspectives that have shaped the overall general features of the race’s characteristics.

Teej in Shillong One typically Gorkha ritual is the celebration of Teej. Shillong has been a hub of Gorkha settlement from the pre-Independence days mainly due to its being the governmental seat of power as also a large military base from the period of British rule and continued to be so thereafter in the state of undivided Assam in Independent India. Many Gorkha Army service holders as well as manual labourers and graziers stayed back here along with their families and this led to the creation of a vibrant Gorkha community, a few generations old, in this city. The community has created landmarks like the Gorkha Durga Mandir, the Gorkha schools variously located in the city, a college named after the first Gorkha poet, the revered adikavi Bhanubhakta Acharya, the presence of a ‘Paltan Bazar’ here in Shillong too as also in a number of other northeast towns like Guwahati (paltan is a Gorkha corruption of the English

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military term ‘Platoon’ and is a clear marker of the significant Gorkha presence in the region), localities named ‘Lama Villa’ and ‘Naspatighari’ ( literally ‘pear garden’) as well as the existence also of a prime expanse of land earmarked specially for celebration of Gorkha Durga Puja rituals like Maar when animal sacrifice takes on the ninth day (navami) of Durga Puja in a ritualistic and communal celebration. The other communally celebrated festival in that venue is Teej. These are all pointers to the presence of a vibrant and thriving Gorkha community in Shillong. The enthusiastically celebrated annual festival of Teej is observed with intensity and wide participation of the whole Gorkha society of Shillong. This scale of celebration and community participation of the festival of Teej is something not witnessed in the Darjeel­ ing hills or Nagaland, Manipur or Assam, i.e. the other places of Gorkha settlement in the north-east India. This important festival is celebrated during the three days between Bhadra Shukla and Panchami, roughly corresponding to the third day after full moon of Bhadra (August-September) and the fifth day. It involves the worship of Lord Shiva by females, young and old, married and unmarried, through prayers, fasting, songs and dancing. From the sociological perspective too this is an important festival because it gives the girls’ parents cultural and social right in this rigidly patriarchal society to bring their mar­ ried daughters to their maternal home (maita) for the days of this festival. The religious inspiration behind this festival is the first fast kept by Goddess Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva. Gorkhas are mostly worshippers of Lord Shiva and so Goddess Parvati’s rigorous fast­ ing has thus become the archetype for females, specially married, of the community to emulate in order to procure prosperity and well­ being of their husbands and to pray for happiness in their married lives. Unmarried girls also participate with a desire to attain these goals in their own futures too. It is believed that Goddess Parvati had to undergo penance and 108 births on earth before Lord Siva accepted her as his wife. They were united on this day which is celebrated as an auspicious day by women. They fast, pray, sing and dance commemorating the suc­

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cess of Parvati’s penance and desire a similar fate of success in their married life too. The festival lasts for three days, each day having a distinct ritual that is followed. The women wear red and green, both considered symbols of their married state. Red is the colour of the bridal gunew (fariya or sari) and green the colour of the potay or the necklace of green beads the husband ties around her neck during the marriage ceremony, and hence stands associated with auspiciousness and is her marital symbols. She wears traditional bridal jewellery, viz. siri­ bandi, naogeri, choora, bulaki, lurka, etc. The first day of Teej is called dhar khane din. After waking at dawn, bathing and praying by offering fruits and flowers at the Shiva-Parvati altar, the women, dressed in red, like brides, con­ gregate at the Durga Mandir field to sing and dance before eating food cooked by the men in her maternal home, viz., by her father, brothers, and uncles. This is the one day in the whole year when she can rightfully and legitimately keep away from her daily chore of cooking and feeding her family and in-laws. Thus released from her daily drudgery, she dances and sings, often using this freedom and religious sanction to vent her sorrow in songs that reflect the sad­ ness and relentlessness of the daily grind of duty in her life in her husband’s home and family. That is the reason behind the presence of heart-rending sadness in almost every folk song of Teej. A few verses from old folk songs of Teej reveal this. A few exam­ ples of excerpts from some traditional Teej songs are as follows: SONG 1

Barsa din ko Teeja ma/Baba linu aono bhayo/Barkha masa dukha paonu bhayo/ Baba lina aye bhane hami lagao ramaonu/Sasura ra sasu le lagaay koora barraonu/Dui tin din ma ao chin chori/Bhanu bhayye baba le/ Pataonu bhaye na sami raja le… TRANSLATION

In this annual festival of Teej/Father has arrived to take me home/he has suffered being drenched in the monsoon rain/But as father has come I am rejoicing/my parents-in-law are giving him complaints about me/my husband too does not believe I will return too soon after Teej.…

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SONG 2

Barsa din ko teeja ma/Bheeto hune bela ma/Doko boki gaye, ama, phata mela ma/Ghasa kati laye, ama, chauatri ma bisaune/Sanu bhari bhane ra sasu risaaone /Aile saala Teeja ma aonu, ama, payina /Sasu le pakayeko khana khayi na/Arko saala Teeja ma patai dinu lina lai/Basne gari aochu, ama, dui- char dina lai/Mela phata janchu, ama, sarsurako majhama/Malai samjhe ra narau, ama, sanjha ma… TRANSLATION

This annual festival of Teej/the time of meeting my family/mother, I am carrying the basket on my head/to go to the field for grass/I have cut the grass, mother, and am briefly resting on my return/worrying lest my mother-in-law scold me for the meagre amount/This Teej then I cannot come home/I couldn’t eat food cooked by her/Next year mother send my father for me/but now don’t grieve and cry for me/don’t grieve as the sun goes down at dusk. . . . SONG 3

Barsa din ko Teeja ma/Baba lina aonu bhayo/Janchu bajai ma ta maita bhari loi/ Maita ma jada bajai koona gunew laone ho/Bhaka dinu meri bajai kaile aonu ho/bharay choro aye ra malai gali gar cha ki/Panchami ko bholi palta hi aonu parcha ki… TRANSLATION

After a year this Teej has come/father too has come to fetch me home/ Mother-in law, which sari should I wear for my journey to my mother?/ also order when I should return /Lest I be scolded for returning late/ I fear I may even be ordered to return soon/just after panchami. . . .

Another cultural practice revealed by the above folk songs is that the woman’s father or brother has to personally go to her mari­ tal home and invite the married daughter/sister to her maternal home for the days of the Teej. They have to seek her parents’-laws and her husband’s permission to let her visit home for the days, although ironically, it is for the welfare of her husband’s family that she would be fasting in her maternal home. The next day of Teej, following the feasting is the day of fast­ ing. The women wake up at the crack of dawn and bathe and as in

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the day before, they offer prayers. The whole day of total fasting, without any food, fruits or even water is spent in singing together the innumerable Teej songs and narrating the Teej katha, i.e. listen­ ing to the retelling of the mythological story of Parvati’s fasting and her subsequent successful union with lord Shiva. The day ends with prayers offered to the goddess for the welfare of the husband, husband-to-be, and for strengthening the bond with him. The third day, Rishi Panchami, is the day for spiritual cleansing. It is the time to do penance for acts of omission and commission during the past 12 months. Bhadra shukal paksha (full moon in Bhadra month) is considered most auspicious for purification and so the women symbolically bathe 365 times, for each day of the last year. Cowdung or red mud found at the base of the datun bush is nominally smeared on the body and then washed off with water that has been sieved through a handful of rice, sesame seeds and wheat grass for complete purification and salvation. They also have to chew datum again 365 times. The chewed bits of stalks are then thrown in the river. All things red are worn: pothay, sari, bangles and tika. This day’s rituals conclude this festival of Teej which is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Gorkhas in Shillong. Today however due to social media as also the ubiquitous tele­ vision coverage, where national and international programmes are beamed globally via satellite the ritual of Teej has of late been communally celebrated even in Darjeeling where earlier even ten years ago, it had been practised as a low key, religious ritual pri­ vately observed in the family circle or amongst close friends. Their acquaintance through the media of yet another Gorkha set of rituals that had survived and thrived displacement and is celebrated with gusto has generated sufficient interest to also celebrate the festival if Teej likewise communally with gay abandon in Darjeeling and other places of Gorkha habitation.

Tihar The festivals and rituals that mark the passage of the year are often determined by the phases of the moon. Yet another Gorkha festival

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that is interesting and group of five days called Tihar/Tiwar that occur from Kartik krishna trayodashi to shukla dvitiya, i.e. from the thirteenth lunar day in the dark fortnight in the month of Kartik (October-November) to the second day of the bright lunar phase of the month. This group of five days are called Yama Panchaka or the five days of worship of the Lord of Death, Yama. The universal fear of death and man’s helplessness in face of it is clearly behind this devotion of five whole days of celebrations to this inescapable reality of human life. The first day of Tihar is called the Kak or Kag Tihar (literally, the worship of the crow). The Tihar festival starts with a celebra­ tion of a humble scavenger bird, the crow. This bird is associated with the Lord of Death, Yama, as the Gorkhas regard it as Yama’s messenger. It is for this reason of its Brahmanical association with death that pinda or ritualistic offerings of little rice cakes after bereavement are made to this species of bird and in so doing the community acknowledges this birds’ association with death. In Kag Tihar, ‘pure’ food (cooked specially as offering and not throwaways) is placed on roof tops and other elevated platforms and garlands of marigold placed near the offerings for these birds the whole day. The humble crow carries this other religion-influenced identity that is highlighted once a year. The entire village celebrates this link of the crow to a particular religious belief as messenger of death and hence no child or adult can remain unaware of it if he is a Nepali. Symbolically this species of bird represents the universal character of death as they are ubiquitous, found in the highest and lowest of places and in all terrains, in all seasons and most impor­ tantly, it is despised by all. Through celebration of this association between death and the common, often despised birds, the fear of Death is turned into a more acceptable reality. Death’s messenger, the crow, becomes the centre of ceremony at the start of the celebra­ tions so that a note of festivity begins to impinge on the emotions of fear and grief generally associated with impending death. The psychological truth behind such a ritual can today be understood easily. This perspective is reminiscent of the technique used by the English Elizabethan poet, John Donne, to show that death is not

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a formidable and undefeatable foe in his poignant sonnet ‘Death be Not Proud’ written at the untimely demise of his beloved wife. Donne builds his arguments proving death’s actual powerlessness not by repeating this fact but by showing how despicable death’s bosom companions like war, suicide, poison really are and then he moves on to the final triumphant declaration in the ultimate line that the fear of death has been defeated, saying, ‘Death Thou art no more’. This may explain the high status given to the value of valour in the community: Death becomes a less formidable foe if every year through Kag Tihar the community has been able to discover its close associate in the lowly crows, and gradually over the years have developed a very factual and simple attitude to it. This helps to mitigate, if not totally dispel, man’s fear of Death. The second day of Yama Panchaka is one devoted to the celebra­ tion of man’s faithful companion, the dog. In its traditional role as Yama’s doorkeeper the dog is next placated on this day called Kukur Tihar (literally, worship of the dog). The household dog is bathed, and in accompaniment to chanting of prayers, and a decoration of the holy puja thal or plate with a vase of flowers, incense and diya or lamp, it is garlanded with a velvety, maroon flecked marigold (called bhale phool) or yellow marigold and red tilak placed on his forehead. He is respectfully given specially cooked food, as are all other dogs in the vicinity. There may be no other, or possibly very few, examples in any other community of the special place given to this humble domestic animal. Kukur Tihar is celebrated with joyousness not just at home but at the community level too by the Gorkhas. Symbolically, the inevitability of death is emphasized. Death follows man at his heels like his trusty companion, the dog. By associating the faithful animal with death, man begins to view death more positively. His fear ebbs when he realizes that death’s companion is this same animal so well-regarded by him that guards him, his house and his property with an unwavering sense of duty. Man will be accompanied in his final journey by his dear compan­ ion, the dog, and hopes to be guarded by him against punishment

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in Hell. This time it is the positive association between death and this companion that goes towards conquering man’s irrational fear of the inevitable, death. The third day of Yama Panchaka is Gai Tihar (literally, worship of the cow). This day falls on Kartik Amavaysa or the new moon. Nepalis worship cows and heifers on this day. The animals are bathed and washed, holy water from a kalash, or brass/bronze con­ tainer, is specially used on their legs. Mustard oil is rubbed on their hooves and horns, flower garlands of marigold are put on them. Last of all a red tilak is placed on their foreheads. They are lov­ ingly fed aksata, a mixture of husked rice and milk or curd. Sweets (molasses) and salt are specially included in their meal this day. As Yama’s vehicle is the bull, possibly this association lies behind this celebration. The cow is revered by Gorkhas and often is called ‘mother’ since its milk is fed to children. Consequently, the Gorkha community is basically a non-beef eating one. An interesting aspect of this day’s festivity is that it coincides with Deepanvita or Diwali. The goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, is also celebrated the same day. Houses are cleaned, cowdung is smeared on the mud floors and walls (since cow is considered a holy ani­ mal), marigold garlands are placed on the doorway, and lamps are lit at the door and around the compound, in the paddy fields, and cowsheds, awaiting the annual visit of the goddess of wealth and prosperity. A huge copper vessel called karkudo is garlanded with marigolds and filled with uncooked rice on top of which signs of material prosperity like jewellery and money are placed. It becomes a symbol of the Goddess Lakshmi and is worshipped by the entire family and their friends. Interestingly, this coinciding of the Gai Tihar with Diwali’s rit­ ual worship of the Goddess Lakshmi creates a strong single impact on the Gorkha psyche leading to the association as symbols of each other, the cow and the Goddess. Hence, the Gorkha considers the cow a holy animal and will not eat its flesh or mistreat it in any way. But in the midst of celebrating life and all its materialistic attrac­ tions, death is not forgotten. Death is also concurrently worshipped

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along with the cow and the Goddess Lakshmi. Hence, at the water tap outside, a mud lamp to Yama is lit and attempt is made to keep it lit through the night. As water is the source and means of the sus­ tenance of life, life and death are thus remembered and worshipped together. By this stage of the Tihar celebrations, there is a realistic acceptance of the presence of death in life. And this is imbibed by all as they simultaneously worship all these three realities of the holy cow, wealth and death. This evening religion overlaps yet again as stories from Hindu mythology gets entwined with the Tihar festival as it also encom­ passes a celebration of the return of Sri Ram to Ayodhya from his exile which itself symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. The various strands of religious beliefs begin to run parallel, sometimes overlapping and sometimes strengthening each other through interweaving into each other. On this day, thus simultaneously with the worship of cows, Gorkhas also light up the houses, cowsheds and altars. The total darkness of the new moon is vanquished by these lights symbolizing the triumph of the forces of good over those of evil. Thus Diwali is celebrated with the lighting of lamps, accompanied in contemporary times with the bursting of crack­ ers. Hence, on this one day of joyous celebrations a very important feat is achieved in that triumph over the universal fear of death is achieved through these powerful positive associations. The festivities now take on a really joyous and celebratory char­ acter. Openly now songs and dances make entry into the festivities. The night of Diwali is also the time of the bhailo. Groups of girls called bhailinis go from door to door singing songs specific to the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi and the return of Shri Ram. These visiting singers are offered a nanglo (winnowing tray) of raw rice, money and sweet and savoury offerings by the host. They sing a long and interesting blessing on the house, the owner of the house and those that have gathered to offer them the money and sweets, where impromptu witticism also finds scope to be included so that laughter and merriment ensues, and then they move on to the next house. The fourth day of Tihar is Hali Tihar when it is the turn of bulls

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and male calves to be worshipped in the same way as were the cows earlier. This day’s celebration symbolizes the desire of the farmer for greater number of cattle in the future as bulls represent seeds for the next generation. This day it is the boys and young men who go door to door singing Deusi and blessing the houses. The prime singer starts narrating episodes from the epics, often breaking off to make witty comments in melody and rhythm, a characteristic called bhattiano. The rest of the group keeps up the chorus sing­ ing ‘Deva Sri Ram’ or ‘Deu Sri Ram’ after every line sung by the leader. Reference to ‘Bali Raja’ appears repeatedly in these lyrics as these visiting groups of singers pose as messengers of the mythical king, Bali, and bringing good news of Shri Ram’s return. They too go from door to door, singing traditional deusi songs late into the night. The household gathers inside at the threshold and places a similar array of raw rice, money and sweet and savoury offerings by the host; amidst much jollity and witticism, a final, interesting and much personalized blessing on the family and the house is sung by them. The fifth day is Bhai Tika, the day when brothers are worshipped. Married sisters send out invitations to brothers by sending flowers and betel nut, and fast and pray the entire day for their brothers’ long life and prosperity. She marks three mandaps or boundaries at a designated place. The mandaps are one each for Lord Ganesh, Janmaraj (the God of birth) and Yamaraj or Yama. The brother/ brothers are then seated on a mat facing east for the tika ceremony. Each brother’s head is oiled and combed, and paanch rangi tika con­ sisting of five colours (red, green, blue, yellow and white) is applied on the brother’s forehead. She then prays for her brothers’ long life and draws a boundary (mandap) around her brothers with oil using doob grass. This symbolizes the belief that not even death or Yama can cross this line of protection guarded by a loving sister. She feeds him sel roti, a food customarily cooked only for this occasion, sweets and milk. A walnut is then placed on the threshold or outside and crushed with one strong hit. The fragments are then collected and thrown entirely across the house’s roof. The walnut symbolizes the ills that plan to overtake the brother. The sister crushes it in a single

Figure 16.1: A garlanded dog on the occasion of Kukur Tihar in Mawprem, Shillong. Source: Devyani Chettri

Figure 16.2: Women gathered together for Teej rituals. Source: Smriti Adhikary

Figure 16.3: A woman dressed up for the festival of Teej. Source: Smriti Adhikary

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blow and throws it away from his life. Brothers bless and thank their sisters with gifts and money.

Conclusion It is the contention of this paper that like all human beings, the Gorkhas too fear death. However, the practice of certain rituals and beliefs has oriented their mind towards an acceptance of death as a reality of life in the most literal sense. Their acceptance is almost spiritual as they define it as an inseparable facet of life and accept the inevitability of this reality. By coinciding happy occasions with the worship of death, a triumph over death is achieved. Lt Colonel Pollok (1879: 40) speaks thus of the bravery that makes Gorkhas fine soldiers: ‘(T) these Ghourkhas are certainly a fine race; there are no better soldiers in the world . . .’ But the reason behind their famed bravery which prompted this description of the Gorkha soldier from their commanding officer as amongst the bravest in the world must lie in the evolution of a perspective and a world view that regards life and death as two facets of the same reality. The fear of death is conquered by accepting death as a part of life thus making space in the community’s mindset for the bravery it is famed for. Family relationships also find space for nurturing and strength­ ening through rituals. The bond between brothers and sisters is developed and strengthened in the emotional and uplifting rituals of Bhai Tika, which is celebrated through specific typical rituals like no other celebration of the sibling bond in mainstream India. Family is the core of the society that lends identity and shape to the community’s perspective of itself. Family group is strengthened and familial cohesion kept alive through the Bhai Tika and death defeated for the brother through the sisters’ fasts and celebration of the bond. At the societal level, the values taught indirectly are obvious. The community strengthens its animal loving feature by associat­ ing domestic and familiar animals with festivals. People only see and remember the worship of the animals, hence children and youngsters accommodate them in their lives with affection. The

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community is known the world over not only for bravery, which these rituals help foster, but also for their animal-loving nature.

REFERENCE Pollok, F.W.T. 1879. Sport in British Burma, Assam, and the Cassyah and Jyntiah Hills. London: Chapman and Hall.

CHAPTER 17

Marriage Customs of the Biates Johnsly W. Dkhar and Kenneth Darnei

Introduction Marriage is universal in all societies. G.P. Murdock (1949) also stated that marriage is a universal institution that involves residential cohabitation, economic cooperation and formation of a nuclear family. However, the universality of marriage does not mean that marriage customs are the same in all societies. Much variations exist in the marriage system of different societies, i.e. each society has its own rules and regulations. Marriage determines the relationship between a man and a woman according to the prescribed laws of the society. It is not only confined to the man and woman joined by their relationship but also involves the offspring born out of this union and the network of kins of both husband and wife. Marriage therefore is a social institution; it is not merely a sanction to satisfy sexual needs rather it stems out of the desire to establish and to bring continuity to society. Very often marriage determines the place that a newly born individual is to take in the social structure of the community to which he or she belongs. This appears to be regarded the chief and primary function of marriage, considering how frequently illegiti­ mate children are treated legitimately (in tribal societies) and with regards to descent, inheritance and succession. It is finally neces­ sary that the union is to be socially recognized as a marriage, and therefore should be conducted in accordance with the rules laid

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down by customs or laws, whatever these rules may be, they may require the consent of the parties themselves or their parents, or of both parties and their parents. This chapter will discuss the marriage customs of the Biates liv­ ing in East Jaintia Hills. It may be mentioned that the Biates are a patrilineal and patriarchal tribe living amidst the majorly matrilin­ eal tribes in Meghalaya. Since they are a little known tribe, a brief account of the Biates is first given herein, with special reference to their marriage customs.

The Biate The Biates are a hill people inhabiting the south-eastern portion of Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya and spreading into the other side of the Kopili River in North Cachar Hills district of Assam (now Dima Hasao). The Biate are one of the oldest hill tribes living in north-east India especially among the Chin-Kuki-Mizo family of the Tibeto-Burman language group. The term biate comes from two words bia and te. Bia refers to ‘worship or ask’ (Lalsim, 1998), and te means ‘people’. However, according to Biate legend, the word biate comes from the term rul-biak-te meaning ‘snake worshippers’. There was once a large snake/python at a Biate village which demanded human sacrifice. The local people used to appease the python called Rulpui by offer­ ing one human annually. They generally offered a human by turn from each family. At a particular time, the turn of a widow with her only daughter came. She wept so bitterly that it moved the heart of a young Biate man who had fallen for the girl and he determined to put an end to such type of sacrifice. He arranged a piece of iron which was heated until it became red hot and the young man then invited the snake to open its mouth for a supposed sumptuous din­ ner of fresh meat. The snake as usual opened its mouth whereupon the young man thrust the red hot iron into it. The result was that the snake died and the people were free from such worship and sacrifice (Pakem, 1984). The Biates have their own identity through their language, custom, traditional religious beliefs, traditional dresses, dances,

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songs, musical instruments, folk tales and so on. Like the majority of the hill people of north east India, the Biates belong to the IndoMongoloid group and their language belongs to Tibeto-Burman language group (Pakem, 1984). The Biate language belongs to Tibeto-Burman sub-family of Tibeto-Chinese group of languages. With the coming of Christianity to the Biate tribe, the missionaries helped put the Biate language into a written form by adopting the Roman script with some modifications. The origin of the Biates can be traced through their traditional songs, countless poems and legends, though it is difficult to specify the exact location of their origin. According to Biate traditions, the ancient home of the Biates is Singlung or Khurpui Thlabung. Singlung refers to a covering stone or rock. Khurpui Thlabung is a big cave or a great hole. The Biates believed that they originated from that great hole. The Biate forefathers claimed that they are Manmasi. The descendants of Manmasi came out from Khurpui Thlabung or Singlung. The Khurpui Thlabung/Singlung tradi­ tions and civilization had been handed down from generation to generation. Till today the song of Khurpui Thlabung is sung with contemplation and honour of the past and reminiscence (Lalsim, 1995). In another version, the Biate forefathers claimed and sug­ gested that the ancestral home of the Biates is somewhere in Central Asia or China. The theory that the Kuki-Chin-Mizo groups of tribes had originally come from Central China has gained currency among historians and the educated people in particular. The Biate forefathers conjectured that their subsequent nomadic life come out of their inability to repel their enemies while they were in Sin­ glung (Lalsim, 1995). Traditionally, the Biate religion, like many other tribal religions, appears to be a blend of naturalism, animism and animalism (Pakem, 1984). They have had many gods and spirits who were responsible for the welfare of the people. Besides these lesser gods, there is the high god called Chung Pathian meaning ‘Heavenly Father’ (Lalsim, 1995). The Biate people do not worship the malevolent spirits in a true sense of adoration. They worship the malevolent spirits to coax and appease them and they make sacrifice only to get away from their wrath. They believed in and fear the malevolent spir­

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its who are supposed to dwell in the hills, mountains, rivers and forests. Lalsim (1998) stated that the Biates worshipped many gods and goddesses in olden times. Apart from the common indigenous gods each clan and sub-clans of the Biate tribe have their own gods in olden times. They are shown in the Table 17.1. The Biates have several types of festivals which are observed throughout the year. Most of them are connected to their agri­ cultural life; related to seasons, crops and stages of their jhum cultivation. In relation to the plantation of crops there are four types of festivals: (1) Pamchar Kut or Chapchar Kut, (2) Chichoi Kut, (3) Lebang Kut and (4) Favang Kut or Nulding Kut. Among these four, the first and the last are regarded as the most important TABLE 17.1: LIST OF GODS AND GODDESSES FOR DIFFERENT CLANS

Sl. No

Name of Clan Sub-Clan

God/Goddess

1

Nampui

Chungngol

Ithing (Ginger)

2

Nampui

Thianglai

Theisi nakara (flute)

3

Nampui

Kungte

Dangdo (Tall Figured Witch)

4

Darnei

Lungoi

Fasom thling fasomlal, Fapite (Rice Queen)

5

Darnei

Thangbei

Vanlaiding, Vanlai khup, Korpa Bukturam (a man who is believed to be sent by God Chung Pathian)

6

Lalsim

Ngirsim

Kungpui sing, Kungpui den, Kungpui ram korpa (a man who is believed to be sent by God Chung Pathian)

7

Lalsim

Ngaite

Parthei singa (a man who is believed to be sent by God Chung Pathian)

8

Thiaite

-

Thingbul_tong (Dead tree stump)

9

Thiaite

Subuma

Nikai, Sor, Nikai Reng korpa (sunset)

10

Ngamlai

Ranglem

Ikei (Tiger)

11

Ngamlai

Durpui

Putona lei (a small animal of squirrel family)

12

Ngamlai

Darngon

Sorzing Sorla (moon).

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spring festivals, which are usually celebrated between December and March (Thiaite, 2005). 1. Pamchar Kut: Pam refers to trees or bamboos which have been cut down and are exposed to sun to make it dry and awaiting for burning for jhum. Char is felling of trees and kut means festival. Therefore, this is the festival relating to clearing of forests and before the burning of dried trees and bamboo in jhum cultivation. The Biates believed that this festival will ensure a good burning and good harvest in their field. 2. Chichoi Kut: This refers to sowing festival after burning the dried stumps and forests for jhum. They used to celebrate by invoking God to bless their seeds which they grow in the jhum fields. 3. Lebang Kut: This is the festival of completion of sowing. As soon as they complete sowing seeds they celebrate this festival in order to ask God’s blessings that whatever they sowed may grow in bounty and abundance. 4. Favang Kut or Nulding Kut: Favang Kut means harvest festival, and Nulding Kut means festival of renewal of life. There is very little difference between the two, and the way of celebrations are the same and have no different objectives. The festival of Favang or Nulding is usually celebrated during December or January. Presently, the Biates mostly inhabit the Saipung Elaka of East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya and Upper and Lower Khar­ thong Constituencies of Dima Hasao district in Assam. They have been geographically and politically separated mainly between East Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya and Dima Hasao in Assam. The area is fairly wide though sparsely populated. Together both the Assam and Meghalaya sector covers approximately 200 sq. km each.

Marriage Customs The Biates like other communities in the north-east India, also have maintained their age-old customary practices which they have been observing from time immemorial. In the Biate society, marriage is considered as an important institution in an individual’s life for

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procreation and the continuance of social unit. They performed marriage not only for fulfilling their biological needs but also for social, cultural, and economic necessities. Before the advent of Christianity, the Biate generally observed one general standard so far as marriage was concerned. Practices of polygamy were very rare, and not preferred. Generally the Biates practice monogamy. Child marriage is not permitted and was not found in Biate society. Clan Exogamy The Biates strictly follow clan exogamy since they believe that clan members are related to each other. There are mainly five clans. Clans are known as nam. Each nam has a story of its origin. These are Darnei, Nampui, Ngamlai, Ngirsim and Thieite. These clans are again sub-divided into several sub-clans. Sub-clans are known as rui. The list of clans and sub-clans among the Biates are given in Table 17.2. Traditionally, the Biates follow the marriage rule of clan exog­ amy. It is prohibited to marry a person from the same nam. The Biate people refer to such a marriage (within the same clan) as mani arbom a ek, which loosely translates as ‘a chicken defecating in its hen’s cage’. It is believed that such a marriage is disgraceful for the family and clan as a whole. A man who marries within the nam has a low social status in the society and he is not allowed to speak in the public meetings of the village council. TABLE 17.2: CLANS AMONG BIATES

Sl. No

Clan

Sub-Clan

1

Darnei

Thangbei, Khoreng, Lungoi

2

Nampui

Chungngol, Fathlei, Kungte, Thianglai, Ngenrang, Pungte, Khongul, Lungtau, Roichen, Thoisir

3

Ngamlai

Durpui, Sonlen, Jamate, Darngon and Ranglem

4

Thiaite

Ralvonga, Khampuia, Subuma and Failing

5

Ngirsim or Lalsim

Ngaite, Zate and Riamate

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Overall, there appears to be two types of marriages – marriage by negotiation, and marriage by elopement. In the following the different aspects of Biate marriage customs are discussed. Marriage by Negotiation This is referred to as nu-pa Thingthur’foma rinei marriage. This pattern of marriage is usually followed and culturally approved. This type of marriage has several stages discussed below: PROPOSAL AND ENGAGEMENT

In Biate society when a boy attains a marriageable age, both the boy and the parents start looking for a marriageable partner. Whenever the parents of the boy find a suitable girl, they will ask their son if he wants to marry that girl. If the boy agrees, the parents will sent a go-between or palai to the girl’s family. As per Biate tradition the mak-ulian or son-in-law who is married to the eldest daughter is designated as a palai. In some cases the other son-in-law or any other close male kin can also take his place as the palai. In the first visit the palai will go to the girl’s house and meet her parents and asks the girl’s hand for marriage. On this day they will not take anything with them nor do they accept an answer from the girl’s parents. The palai then returns and leaves the matter to be decided by the girl’s parents and fixes a particular date again for their next visit. In this society even though the proposal is accepted by the girl’s parents, but still they have to take the consent of the girl’s maternal grandfather. The maternal grandfather has the full authority to even stop the marriage if he disapproves of the relationship. It is only after the decision of the girl’s maternal grandfather, that the boy’s parents are informed through the palai of the date of engagement and eventual marriage. After the girl’s family agrees to the proposal which is literally known as um-oh the girl’s parent will inform the boy’s parents on their second visit, that they are willing to give their daughter for marriage to their son. Thus, an engagement will take place on this day and a particular date is fixed for the marriage. On the second visit the palai along with the boy parents will

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visit the girl’s parents and take along with them a pot of zu (rice beer). If the girl’s parents accept the proposal, the boy’s parents or anyone from the groom’s party will start distributing the zu. After consumption of the zu by both the parties, it is accepted that engagement has taken place. This ceremony is called Lenkham zu which means that that she is already engaged and no other man can count her or propose to her. But if the proposal is rejected by the girl’s parent’s the boy’s family will return with their untouched pot of zu. In case of acceptance, the marriage day is fixed on this day by both the parties. MARRIAGE RITUAL AND FEAST

In Biate society, makhei (sons-in-law) referring to those men who are married to women from the bride’s clan, play an important role especially during a marriage. Since the marriage takes place in the bride’s place, the makhei men take the responsibility for preparation of the feast during the marriage and will be assisted by the villagers. The marriage feast takes place only on the marriage day but the preparation for the feast begins two or three days before since the bride’s family has to feed all the invitees, and since it is not easy for one or two person to prepare the feast. Therefore, the village women come and help them in cleaning the rice or arranging the pots and utensils that will be needed for the marriage feast. On the marriage day, the village folks both men and women who are related to the bride and even the groom help in cooking the food and serving the guests. Traditionally, the marriage ritual is conducted at the bride’s place. The marriage ritual is presided over by the thiampu or ‘priest’. The thiampu performs the rituals according to the traditional beliefs by chanting the prayers and blessing known as thratvurna for the couple, and zu buak will take place. After that the thiampu pronounces them as man and wife then both the couple will drink the zu from a single pot or pitcher (bel or kola) which is consumed with the help of straws known as thlong thli, and after that family of both the parties will drink the zu from the pot. After the ritual, the people who gathered for the marriage start drinking the zu and

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partake in the feast. They drink the zu and eat the food prepared by both the bride and bridegroom’s family. It is interesting to note that in Biate society it is not necessary for the couple to sit together; and it is only after the rituals or zu buak by the priest and pro­ nouncement of husband and wife that the groom is sent or dropped at the bride’s place accompanied by close relatives. They sing and dance till nightfall. When night falls, they take the bridegroom to the bride’s place and leave him behind to stay back for a period of time known as maksin which can range from three to seven years. POST-MARITAL CUSTOMS

Bride price (man) plays a central role in Biate custom of marriage. Without bride price, a marriage is not socially and legally acceptable Bride price (man) is an essential constituent of the marriage, which is also given to validate the marriage. The bride price is given in the evening before or after the marriage and traditionally it is the responsibility of the siarkalim or chors (traditional chief) to hand over the bride price to the girl’s parent without being accompanied by the boy’s parents which comprises the following: (a) luntu (either Rs. 3 or mairang), (b) ser-sut (Rs. 1.25), (c) man-nai (Rs. 3) and (d) sin-mak-sik (Rs. 2). Luntu is a price that stands for the bride and it can be paid either in the form of mairang (round brass plate) or cash. Ser-sut is a payment made to unknot the prohibition to enter the bedroom or kunpui. Man-nai is a payment for ownership right over the children though they are not born. Sin-mak-sik is a payment made for the bride’s household loss of her labour. If the groom does not belong to the Biate society, the groom has to make an additional payment of Rs. 40 as a form of varal-rika. After the marriage, the couple resides in the wife’s father’s house­ hold (uxorical residence) for a period of about three to seven years which is known as maksin. During this period the man is required to work for his father-in-law whether in the field or in the house. When the maksin period is over the husband seeks permission from the father-in-law to take his wife to his house or dong. This change of residence usually is the husband’s father’s house (i.e. patrilocal), however, unless he is the youngest son (who will inherit the house

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and property), the stay in his father’s house is temporary. In such a situation, he will try and build a house of his own as soon as he is able to. If the father-in-law (wife’s father) grants permission, then a ceremony or feast for imoi-ithui (sending off the daughter with her children) takes place. In the ceremony, the wife will be gifted with maternal properties such as house, land, utensils, shawls, etc., which also include irel (traditional basket which has a lid) and puanpui (form of mattress woven with cotton) according to their capacity. After imoi-ithui the married woman will settle in her hus­ band’s household and she will receive a token from her father called zuar bu which may be in terms of paddy or sa mal (leg of an animal that is slaughtered for feast) as a symbol of love from her father’s and father’s clan. In cases when marriage takes place within the clan (which is looked down upon in society), women are not given zuar bu. It is given only if one is married outside the clan as a form of ties with that particular clan. Marriage by Elopement This type of marriage is known as zuar rûkka rinei and can be considered as an alternative to nu-pa thingthur’foma rinei (marriage by negotiation) mainly when the marriage fails to produce an agreement between the parents; or though approved, if the girl becomes pregnant due to pre-marital sex. This type of marriage also takes place when the economic condition of the family involved is not good; the expenses involved in this type of marriage is much less than the negotiated marriage. In case of marriage by elopement, the parents of the boy or rela­ tives (palai) immediately inform the girl’s parents that their son is the one who eloped with their daughter. Only after this, if the girl’s parents agree, then another day is fixed for further negotiations about the bride price as well as other formalities. Then only they can get married. In case if the girl’s parents disagree or the girls does not want to go back to her house then the boy’s parents have to pay a fine of Rs. 2 to every clan, and also a fine known as zuar ruk (Rs. 2), to the girl’s parents. Zuar-ruk is a fine for cutting all ties between the girl and her parents.

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Divorce Divorce is possible among the Biate society, and is locally called rima. A man or woman can divorce his wife or her husband on grounds of infidelity, impotence, madness or insanity and adultery. Though both men and women are permitted to divorce, because of the social circumstances, men divorcing women is more common. If the woman runs away to her natal home for some reason, like quarrelling with her husband or his parents, it is the duty of the husband and parents to recall her. If she refuses, they then, along with their palai and elders go to the girl’s parents in the presence of the girl’s relatives. If the situation is not settled at this time, then depending on whose fault it is, the couple can be divorced by paying a fine of Rs. 29 known as mak tha. Since the earliest time, there have been cases of extramarital rela­ tionships and adultery, but it is severely disapproved by the society. Adultery from any side of the couple is considered as a crime in the Biate society. It is not only against the customary law but also against the sanctity of marriage relationship. Thus adultery by any of the spouses invites serious concern that often leads to divorce. In this case whoever committed this crime will be penalized and will have to pay a fine known as mak-tha of Rs. 29 which comprises chângper (Rs. 10), par’za (Rs. 7), pu-fâk (Rs. 3), vâi-fâk (Re. 1), khor’cho (Re. 1), palai-fâk (Re. 1), sa-tha (Rs. 5), and zuput-same (Rs. 1) and will not be entitled to take any of their children. In the case of a woman, who has been impregnated by a man who refuses to marry her and accept her child as his own – then the boy and his parents have to pay a fine to the woman referred to as Tlangte Zâi-Lei which amounts to Rs. 11.50 along with sa-tha which is normally given in the form of a pig not below five fuun which is approximately 25 cm. This measurement of the pig is done by measuring the neck of the pig, and in such as case the circumfer­ ence of the pig has to be larger than five fuun. In such a case, the baby after birth is treated as one of the members of the mother’s family. But in case if the woman is not willing to marry the man then no fine will be imposed against the man.

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Change in Marriage Customs Like many other societies, Biate society has also undergone several changes; there have been external forces such as western education and Christianity which influenced the customs of the people. At present, though a certain form of customary practices of marriage remains, there are external forces which influence the system of marriage. According to the Biate Nam Dan or Biate Customary Law, a legally and socially sanctioned marriage is ‘between a man and a woman’ that is regulated by Biate customary laws, rules and beliefs. The custom involves meeting from both the parties through mediators called palai (negotiator) including payment of the bride price (man) which have been increase 20 times. At present, the church plays a major role since the marriage register of the church seems to be the only place where marriages are registered. After the coming of Christianity, Biate society has undergone several changes. One of them is the offer of zu during marriage ceremony which has been replaced by tea (chatui). There is a com­ promise between the indigenous process and Christian method. According to Christian views, marriage is considered a religious sacrament in which man and woman are bound in a permanent relationship for physical, social and spiritual proposes. Marriage is considered as a sacred unity of two people, to pursue their interests, and of course, to reproduce human race. The Church has certain rules and regulations concerning marriage, including restrictions on those who can and cannot get married. In present Biate society, we find two common forms of mar­ riage, even though the traditional form of marriage by negotiation still continues to some extent. These forms include dan rithiang (marriage conducted by the church), and iru or itlan (marriage by elopement). In the first type of marriage it can either be love marriage or engagement by parents. In both the cases just like pre-Christianity the parents will send a go-between or palai to the girl’s family. Only after the acceptance of the proposal then only the date of engage­ ment will be fixed. Thus, even in the modern marriages conducted

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in church, the important components continue to be proposal (ibiak), engagement (chatuilum), marriage ceremony (rineina), and payment of bride price (man). Normally the engagement used to be held in the girl’s residence and on this day, the boy’s family members will prepare and offer tea (chatui ilum) as a mark of engagement. The date of marriage will be fixed on this day in the presence of both the parents and the church elders. A notification will be put up to inform the villagers about the marriage one week before the date of marriage and within this period any person who has objection to this marriage could show their objection by tearing (lekha-san) away the notification paper. In such case the marriage will be postponed until the matter is solved. Christianity came along with the introduction of Western wed­ ding gown (bridal gown) which was not known in the past as a way of marriage practice in the modern Biate society. Marriages are per­ formed in the church with the bride in full Western gown and the bridegroom in a Western suit. In the traditional system the priest conducted the marriage by chanting spells and pouring zu. But the present system of marriage is performed by a Christian pastor or priest. The marriage ceremony or community feasting does not have charm of the past. Cakes, biscuits, bread, tea, soft drinks have replaced some of the traditional dishes of feasting and drinking, which are expensive and burdensome for the community economy. The second type of marriage is marriage by elopement. In many cases elopement may be due to economically poor household who are unable to afford the expenses of the marriage ceremony and holding a feast or their parents are against the marriage or when they had sexual relation and the girls got pregnant. In the Biate society marriage by elopement is considered an offence and a breach of conduct of the rules of the church and therefore the membership to the church is suspended for a period of six months as a disciplinary action. Both the couple will be debarred from all church activities except attending services. For such couples, mar­ riage ceremony is conducted by the church after suspension and is called as dan anikna rinei. As seen above, the influence of Christianity in Biate society is

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enormous. Though Biate customary law is used for marriage, the roles and responsibilities attributed to marriage are based on Chris­ tian ideology. There is a distinction made between legal marriage and an illegal union. In legal marriage, the children born are given definite ‘legitimate’ status in the society. However, in Biate society, the case of illegitimate child is more complicated as an illegitimate child is never a man’s problem. A woman with zai (a woman who is pregnant with an illegitimate child) has a low social status in the society and suffers severe image damage which destroys her future prospects. Men are never blamed nor made to suffer and they hardly take any responsibility besides paying the fine lei. The children of such women often subjected to different treatment which can sometimes be considered discriminating. There is also a tendency to assume that children born out of ‘proper’ Christian family or marriage has more values than compared with Zai.

Conclusion The Biates are a patrilineal tribe. They have their own distinctive culture and dialect and thus having a distinctive ethnic identity. The important components of Biate marriage are ibiak (proposal), lenkham zu or zu buak (engagement), rineina (marriage ceremony), and man (payment of bride price). The clans among the Biates are bound together by a strong bond of kinship. Presently the traditional rules of monogamy, clan exogamy and village endogamy are still followed by the majority of people in the society. The marriage ceremony and function still continues with minor modifications. After conversion to Christianity, the church, however, does not approve of certain practices such as the marriage rituals presided over by the traditional priest (thiampu) or priest and drinking of zu (rice beer), etc., and it also does not approve of pre-marital sex, divorce or extramarital relationship. Such cases however can be observed among few individuals. Most of the Biates follow clan exogamy but some practice clan endogamy too. Marriage within the sub-clan is considered incestuous.

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REFERENCES Biate Dan (Halam) Biate Customary Law (2012). Lalsim, J. 1998. ‘A Study of the Traditional Religious Beliefs and Practices of the Biates Before the Advent of Christian Religion in the 19th Century’. Bachelor of Divinity thesis, Senate of Serampore College. Lalsim, R. 1995. Biate Pipu Toisong (Culture and Historical Backgrounds of the Biate). Guwahati: Directorate of Cultural Affairs. Murdock, G.P. 1949. Social Structure. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. Ngamlai, R. 2014. ‘The Status of the Biate Tribe in North East India: A Study on Ethnic Minority Rights’. MA dissertation, IGNOU. Pakem, B. 1984. ‘The Biate’, in Sebastian Karotemprel (ed.), The Tribes of Northeast India. Calcutta: Firma KLM. Thiaite, L. 2005. ‘An Evaluation of Christian Mission Impact on the Biate of Assam and Meghalaya’. Master of Theology thesis, Asia Theological Association.

CHAPTER 18

Traditional Marriage Customs of the Marngars Vilhousienuo Neli

Introduction Marriage is defined by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in Notes and Queries on Anthropology (1951: 110) as ‘a union between a man and a woman such that children born to the woman are the recognized legitimate offspring of both parents’. However, Kathleen Gough (1959) while studying the marriage system of the Nayars of Kerala found a form of group marriage which does not fit into this definition of marriage. She thus proposes the definition as ‘. . . a relationship established between a woman and one or more other persons, which provides that a child born to the woman under circumstances not prohibited by the rules of the relationship, is accorded full birth-status rights common to normal members of his society or social stratum’ (p. 110). Therefore, across the world, marriages are found in different forms, i.e. monogamy (where one person marries another) and polygamy (where a person has two or more spouses). The institution of marriage is universal; however marriage customs vary greatly from society to society. Each society has their own set of rules, beliefs and traditional practices with regard to marriage system. This chapter presents a descriptive analysis of the traditional marriage customs of the Marngars of Meghalaya.

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Who are the Marngars? One of the predominant groups in the state of Meghalaya is the Khasis. Under the umbrella term ‘Khasi’ there are many subtribes such as the Jaintias, Khynriam, War, Bhoi, etc., who are collectively referred to as the Hynniewtrep group. The Marngars belong to the Bhoi group of the Khasi tribe. They occupy a village in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya also called the Marngar village. It is located 7 km away from the main town of Ri-Bhoi area, i.e. Nongpoh, bound by Umden on the north, on the south by Sohliat, east by Umsawnongbri and on the west by Mawtnum. The village derives its name from a stone in the village known as Morange. The whole village is divided into nine hamlets, namely, Sarikusi, Borkusi, Borkhatsari, Lalumpum, Nalapara, Nogagang, Borgang, Purangang and Adgang. It is believed that the people of Marngar migrated from the neighbouring parts of Meghalaya as well as Assam belonging to various communities such as the Bodos, the Garos, the Khasis, the Mikir, etc., and came to settle in the present village forming different clans of the village. There are also different stories as to how they came to settle and called themselves as the Marngars of Marngar village. The Marngars consist of several clans, each having their own stories of how they came to settle in the village. It is said that the Binong clan was the first to settle in the village. Binong clan, also known as the Ket, is the largest clan in the village. According to their folk legend, this clan originated from the eldest sister of Ket, who set up her clan after migrating to the Marngar village. Since they lacked a village chief for village administration this clan went out in search of a man and found a man called U Syiem who they decreed would serve as the village chief and settle village matters. Thus, from this clan the syiem (chief) is elected. The younger sister of Ket formed another clan and called themselves as the Damlong clan. Another clan of Marngar is the Lyngdoh clan who came and settled in the village from a place called Keling in Assam and likewise all the other clans of Marngar have different stories. These clans also have a specific role to play in the village administration and in performing various rituals (Bliss, 2002; Saji, 2002).

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What is interesting about the Marngars is that they practice matrilineal/matrilocal and patrilineal/patrilocal form of descent and marriage. As the village is formed by migrant populations from the neighbouring areas those clans which migrated from Megha­ laya itself practice matrilineal and matrilocal form of descent and marriage, and those clans who migrated from Assam practice the patrilineal and patrilocal form of descent and marriage. Property is inherited by the daughter in case of matrilineal clans, and for those patrilineal clans property is inherited by the son. Traditional Marngar society consisted of joint families which comprises the mother, father, children and their wives or husbands and their chil­ dren’s children with the eldest son being the head of the family and taking all decisions as well as performing rites and rituals of the family (Lyngwa, 1993). The major occupation of the people is agriculture, although there are some who work as government ser­ vants or run business, etc. Rice is the staple food and its cultivation occupies a major portion of the agricultural sector. Besides rice, pineapple is grown extensively in the village. The major Marngar population still practices traditional religion which is a polytheistic religion in which they worship many gods and goddesses such as Jomai Pyrthat (the lightning god), Goran Gohai (family goddess), Bijli Gohai (clan deity), etc. They also offer prayers and sacrifices to their ancestors. Each clan in the village has priests who are called locally called dantha and kutwal who performs the rites and rituals of each clan. Festivals also play a major role in the Marngar soci­ ety and some of the important festivals includes Domahi/Bihu, Hangrinia (the harvesting festival observed only by the Syiem clan), Lukhmi festival (celebrated to propitiate the rice goddess) and sev­ eral more. Christians and Hindus form a minority religious group and education is one of the most important contribution which the Christian and non-Christian missionaries have contributed to the Marngars. Schools were established by these missionaries who not only helped the villagers to read and write but also affected the tra­ ditional beliefs and practices of the village to a large extent. The Marngars speak the Marngari language which is a mixture of Khasi and Assamese language. However most of them can also speak common Khasi language. The village administration is run

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by the u syiem (chief) of the village along with his mintri (minis­ ters). Thus, here in the village, law and order is enforced by these ministers with the approval of the syiem. In Marngar village, mono­ liths are also a very common sight. These monoliths are erected for commemorative purposes by wealthy people in the village in remembrance of a dead relative while some are erected for the pur­ pose of holding the dorbar shnong (local assembly) or as a resting place when ceremonies and rituals are performed. Although each family has a private land of their own, most of the village land is owned collectively by different clans of the village.

Marriage Customs and Practices In every society, irrespective of their social formation, there are certain rules and regulations which are socially sanctioned to systematize the selection of mates for marriage. Selection of mates is restricted in two ways, such as among tribal groups there is a preferential mode towards some relation as more desirable or at times even obligatory. On the other hand, there are certain restrictions prohibiting marriage with certain relations as they are considered incestuous or undesirable. In earlier times marriage by capture (ringkongor) was prevalent in the Marngar society where a girl was captured and brought to the village and a marriage ceremony was performed. However this cus­ tom of marriage is no longer prevalent (Lyngwa, 1993). At present marriage in the Marngar community happens after the attainment of puberty. The age as to when a person should get married is not fixed, though certain age groups have been taken as the right age group. The Marngars consider that the right age for a girl to get married is between 21-5 years, and for a boy between 26-30 years. For girls, marriage at the age of 16-20 years is considered early and 26-30 years late. As for boys, 20-5 years is considered early while 31-5 years is considered late (Bliss, 2002).

Selection of Spouses The selection of spouses is usually undertaken by an individual’s parents or guardians; however, marriage by mutual consent of the

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individuals concerned is not uncommon in the present scenario. When selecting a suitable mate, the parents tend to be realistic about their child’s traits and their socioeconomic standing and it is common for them to select someone who falls in the same category. Preferably, both the prospective groom and bride should be hard­ working and must be able to fulfil the roles expected of them, i.e. a man is judged by his ability to provide for the family, while the woman is judged by her capability of being a good housewife and a mother. Looks are also taken into consideration in relation to the other. Though these are still the qualities that are looked for in a spouse, additional qualities like educational qualification, job status and the financial condition of a person are also considered at present. At present marriage by mutual consent is very common. In this case, a boy and a girl decide to get married after some months or years of courtship. They themselves decide to get married and inform their parents of their decision. If both the families agree, the boy then makes a formal proposal to the girl’s parents. This may be done by the boy himself or by his parents or guardians or relatives. In a few cases, where the families disapproved, the couples went against their families’ wishes (ibid.); however, this situation is rare.

Forms of Marriage Monogamy is the approved form of marriage among the Khasis in general and the Marngars are no exception. It has been observed that the people practice strict clan exogamy. For instance, a Lyngdoh cannot marry another Lyngdoh. The village has fourteen clans or khuria and these clans cannot intermarry within themselves. These clans are – (a) Lyngdoh, (b) Majhong, (c) Damlong, (d) Sokkhwai, (e) Syiem, (f) Marwet, (g) Shilliang, (h) Makdoh, (i) Pator, (j) Bomba, (k) Baro, (l) Giri/ Diri, (m) Binong, and (n) Barka (ibid.). One other interesting feature is that there are some clans that are associated and believed to have descended from the same ancestor. These are larger groupings similar to phratries. These groups share a common cremation ground. These groups are (a) Lyngdoh and Syiem, (b) Lyngdoh and Pator, (c) Binong, Majhong, Damlong and Giri, and (d) Shilliang, Marwet and Makdoh. They cannot marry

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within themselves even though the two individuals might belong to different clans. Therefore, among Margnars, a Lyngdoh and Syiem cannot marry. Parallel cousin marriage is prohibited. Cross-cousin marriage is permissible only in the second generation between the second cross-cousins. This is a taboo which is strictly followed and viola­ tion of this law, it is believed will bring misfortune to the family. It is believed that if a person violates this law, he will be eaten by tigers while working in the fields or will be struck by lightning, and will never prosper in the future. Violation of this law among Christians risk cancellation of their membership from the church. They also risk their status in the community as they are normally looked down upon to the point of being excommunicated by their clan(s) and village. A woman marrying more than one man (polyandry) at the same time is also strictly prohibited, whereas a man marrying more than one woman (polygyny) at the same time is permissible, provided he is be able to support them. However, this is not a common practice and whoever practices this type of marriage is today looked down upon by his community (Bliss, 2002; Saji, 2002). In a study conducted by the Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, in the year 2002 it was observed that most people practice village endogamy, though an individual marrying a person outside the village is not prohibited (ibid.). Preference existed towards marrying a Bhoi Marngar rather than marrying someone from another tribe or community.

Marriage Ceremonies and Rituals The Marngar society practices two types of traditional marriage rituals. They are (a) traditional matrilineal ritual or kurimjawa, and (b) traditional patrilineal ritual or mikir sona ana. As per tradition, each clan or khuria has two days in a week which they consider as holy on which the weddings of couples are fixed. It is to be fixed by the prospective bride’s clan, and therefore the date will be chosen in accordance to their holy days. The days in which the different clans observe as holy are as follows (see Table 18.1).

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TABLE 18.1: CLANS AND HOLIDAYS

Sl. No

Name of Clan

Days Considered Holy

1

Syiem

Saturday and Sunday

2

Lyngdoh, Binong, Bombah, Giri/ Wednesday and Thursday Diri

3

Shilliang, Marwet, Makdoh, Pador

Monday and Tuesday

4

Damlong

Monday and Sunday

5

Sohkhwai

Monday and Saturday

6

Barka

Friday and Saturday

7

Majhong, Baro

Tuesday and Wednesday

Marriage rituals are performed only on the above holy days of each clan. Thus a marriage ritual may stretch for a month or two for the whole ritual to be complete. These rituals involve a long process and have no time limit to accomplish the different phases of rituals. Those who followed the matrilineal system in the Marngar com­ munity are free to choose their own spouse. If a boy wants to marry a girl and if she agrees they can marry anytime they want without much restriction. If both are in agreement, the boy goes to the girl’s house, cohabits with her and the following morning the couple go to the boy’s parents and informs them they are married. When this is done the boy is free to choose to stay with his new wife or to remain at his parent’s house. It, is, however mandatory for the boy to serve his parents physically or financially for two years. In most cases, once they are married the boy usually stays with his wife and goes back to his parent’s house early in the morning to work for them and returns back late in the evening. During this period of two years the boy is not allowed to eat anything in his wife’s house. He leaves early in the morning before any meal and comes back in the evening with packed food from his parent’s house and shares it with his wife. When the two years is complete, the boy’s parents visits the girl’s house bearing gifts. The gifts specifically include a khangor (dao), kor (spade), cooked rice wrapped in banana leaves and 2 kg of uncooked rice. No ritual is performed nor do they invite any relatives except for the wife’s maternal uncle who serves as a

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witness to their union and officially accepts the boy as a member of the family. In the case of those who followed the patrilineal system, when an agreement of marriage is done from both sides, the groom’s family formally approaches the prospective bride’s parents and fixes a date according to the girl’s clan norms. The marriage ritual then begins. The traditional marriage ritual involves six stages (after Lyngwa, 1993; Bliss, 2002 & Saji, 2002). They are (a) Bata pahon, (b) Kharu­ muni pindawa, (c) Mikir sona ana, (d) Kaka mamala bata, (e) Hihar khadahwa, and (f) Titah kahah khawa. (a) Bata Pahon - This is the first stage of the marriage ritual. This ritual is performed so as to make sure the authenticity of their love. This takes place in the girl’s place usually in the evening or night. When the date is fixed the boy with his parents, maternal uncle and paternal uncle with all the materials required for the ritual goes to the girl’s house. The materials required are nine pairs of areca nuts and betel leaves, bidi/cigarette, two gourds of rice beer, two matchboxes. These are all wrapped together in a white cloth (gathani) and brought to the girl’s house which is carried by a man from the groom’s family (including uncles) referred to as adamsarpo, who is good in performing various rituals. Every house according to the Marngar tradition has two rooms. They are fitor and mushia. As soon as they reach the bride’s house they enter the mushia (first room in the house) and place the things. The priest, i.e. the dantha and kutwal, his helper, from the bride’s clan puts a series of questions to the groom’s family such as ‘Who has given you permission to enter the house?’, etc.; accordingly a person from the groom’s side responds. When they are satisfied with the responses, the groom’s party is invited inside the house and the ritual begins, which is performed by the dantha, who places the areca nuts and leaves on the ground, and sprinkles them with rice beer. One arecanut and one betel leaf are for sacrifice and the rest of them are cut and distributed among the people who attend the ritual. Rice beer is also served.

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The dantha and kutwal are each given bidi/cigarette and a matchbox as gift. The family members, relatives and friends from both sides are informed/invited to attend the ceremony. After the completion of the first ritual, the boy and the girl are allowed to live together. But they have the freedom to either stay together or separately. Bata pahon ritual is repeated in every stage of the marriage ritual. (b) Kharumuni Pindawa (kharu = bangle, muni = necklace) – As the name suggest, on this occasion the boy has to bring neck­ lace, bangles, earrings and finger ring for the girl. This is a gift giving ceremony to the bride. It is put on her by the adamsarpo from the groom’s side in the presence of both families and the rest of the process is the same as that of the first ritual. This is also done in the evening or at night. Relatives, friends, family members are invited for the same. (c) Kaka Mamala Bata – This is a pre-wedding ceremony which is held in the bride’s house with her parents, and other kith and kin. It is held in the evening before the day of their actual marriage ceremony where her parents and clan members come together and have dinner. The purpose of this ceremony is to bid farewell to their beloved daughter. (d) Mikir Sona Ana – This ritual marks the arrival of the bride to the groom’s house and is considered to be the most impor­ tant and the real wedding day. In the other rituals the family members and relatives may only be invited but on this day they invite their friends, neighbours, etc. This is the biggest way of performing rituals. It starts early in the morning. On this day the priest from the groom’s side, i.e. dantha and his aide, kutwal and two other elder members from both the clans, i.e. two elders from the girl’s side and two elders from the groom’s side along with the bride and the groom go to the groom’s clan house, the raja khor (inshad). This is also the house where the high priest of the clan, i.e. the dantha resides. They perform the bata pahon ritual here. The dantha while performing the ritual announces that from today onwards they have become husband and wife. The elders serve as witnesses to this union. Again the four elders

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along with the bride and the groom then proceed to the bride’s clan house, which is also the house of her clan priest, i.e. dan­ tha. Here also the dantha from the girl’s side perform sacrifices with the help of the kutwal and the dantha announces she will leave her house and follow her husband from today onward. At the same time the bride also says, ‘From today onwards I am leaving this house (clan house)’. They receive blessing from the bride’s clan dantha and kutwal. Bata pahon is again performed by the adamsarpo. When this ritual is being done, simultane­ ously the groom’s family makes preparation at his house. They then come back to the groom’s house where a wel­ come post is erected and a basin filled with water is placed near it along with a wooden stool (pera). Both of them wash their feet and place their feet on the wooden stool before entering the house. This is to signify that she has become a part of the family from this day forward. The groom stamps on the stool first with his wet feet and his bride follows. They then enter the house. A marriage feast is followed which is usually rice with varieties of traditional food items, accompanied by local rice beer. The next day, the boy and the girl along with the dantha and kutwal from both sides proceed again to the groom’s clan house and a ritual is performed and the dantha from the groom’s side will say from today on she has become our clan member. But her surname/clan name is not changed, it remains the same. As they come out of the house with their head bowed they pro­ claim that from this day onward she is accepted as a member of the family and can participate in all the clan activities. When this is done they go back to the boy’s house. Until this fourth ritual, i.e. till they visit the groom’s clan house, the newlywedded couple are to wear their wedding attire. Only after the completion of this ritual only they can change into ordinary clothing. (e) Hihar Khadawa – The next ritual is the hihar khadawa, which is performed in the evening by the male members of both the families along with the groom. In order to perform this ritual they go to the jungle. They carry one healthy pig, one chicken,

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if the pig is male then the chicken is to be a hen, if the pig is a female then the chicken should be male, one egg, rice beer mixed with, bamboo stick, bamboo cup and bamboo leaves. First, the ritual is performed by an ojha (sacrificer). He cuts the chicken’s neck, breaks the egg, and with the bamboo leaves things required are place on the ground sprinkled with rice beer. The ojha utters a chant and rebukes all evil spirits and prays to protect the couple from sickness as they start a new life. Then the pig is killed and cooked for a meal and everybody present share the meal together. They have to finish everything that is cooked before they set home. (f) Titah Kaha Khawa – After all the marriage ceremonies are over a gathering of both the sides of the family is arranged in the boy’s house. This feast is called titah kaha kawa. In this feast only a few close relatives and family members come together and feast and wish the newly-wedded couple a prosperous future. A special kind of curry, bitter in taste is prepared on this occasion. The bitter curry is locally called tutru guddi. With this the entire marriage ritual is completed. (g) Theksa Phanga – This is done after one month of hihar khadawa in both the husband and the wife’s houses. It is not mandatory for all couples to do this ritual, it is done only when he or she has a younger brother or sister below 12 years of age inorder to present them with a small gift. Parents of the couple are also given gifts such as clothing or anything which are bought by the couple themselves. On this occasion they kill one white and one red either hen or cock, two gourd full of rice beer, a handful of rice and a leaf called mallong jhop is used. The sacrifices are done by the dantha and later on cooked and the families feast together.

Marriage Gifts In a Marngar marriage, besides the ritualistic giving of ornaments and jewellery to the bride, gifts are not expected from both the sides, however, if the groom’s parents are wealthy and can afford then in this case the groom gives gifts to the bride’s family which may be in

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cash or kind and most commonly paddy as gift to the girl’s family. In the matrilineal system the groom is presented with a local dao (khangor) and a spade (kor) by his parents after the completion of two years when he goes to live with his wives family permanently. Usually brass cups and plates and also cash money of Rs. 2-5 were considered valuable gifts in the past; however at present it does not hold much value. Besides this it is very common for relatives and well wishers to give gifts such as traditional shawls, household articles and even cash money to the bride and the groom.

Conclusion Originally the Marngars are a matrilineal society. The necessity of practising the patrilineal system emerged as a consequence of coming in contact with the migrant tribes of Assam who migrated to the village and set up their clan in the village. As such, in the 1960s, a meeting/dorbar was held with all the clan heads, people of the village along with the syiem and decided to adopt the patrilineal system as well. From then onwards people were free to follow either patrilineal or matrilineal system. For those who did not have a female heir they were free to pass down their inheritance to their sons. This is one distinct feature of Marngars in case of marriage. One of the most significant changes in the recent times is the role of the maternal uncle. Among many of the clan although the mater­ nal uncle takes a major decision of the family, he had no say as far as marriage was concerned. But that has changed and the maternal uncle now plays a very vital role in the decision-making process of his sister’s children’s marriage. Also a recent trend among Marngar is consensual marriage where the couple decides to settle together with the blessings of their parents without any formal marriage rituals. This kind of marriage arose as a result of not being able to afford the formal traditional marriage. Although Hindu and Christians have come to the village around the same time, it is Christianity which has made a major impact upon the traditional life of Marngars. Those who have converted to Christianity, their marriage ceremonies are conducted in the church according to the Christian norms.

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REFERENCES Bliss, R.A. 2002. ‘Marriage among the Margnar of Ri-Bhoi District’. MA dissertation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Gough, K. 1959. ‘The Nayars and the Definition of Marriage’. Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 89 (1): 23­ 34. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2844434 Lyngwa, C. 1993. ‘The Marngar of the Bhoi Area: An Anthropological Study’. M Phil dissertation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Saji, T.J. 2002. ‘Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Margnar of Ri-Bhoi District, Meghalaya’. MA dissertation. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 1951. Notes and Queries on Anthropology (6th edn.). London: Routledge and Keagan Paul.

CHAPTER 19

Agricultural Practices of the Hajongs Chintu S.B. Marak

Introduction Hajongs, one of the lesser known tribes of Meghalaya state, are largely concentrated in the plains belt of West Garo Hills district. They also reside in the state of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bangladesh. Hajongs constitute the fourth largest tribe in the state after Khasi, Garo and Jaintia and followed by other lesser known tribes such as Rabha, Koch and Dalu. Even though the origin of the tribe is still cloaked in mystery, yet they are believed to be one of the offshoots of the Bodo tribe and belong to the Indo-Mongoloid stock. According to Col. Dalton (1872), this ethnic group bears a close resemblance to the Hojai Kachari of North Cachar Hills of Assam. From an anthropological perspective the tribe constitutes important elements of study due to their numerical, political and economically marginal status (Chaudhuri, 2012). Although Hajongs are found scattered in different parts of the north-east India, yet their numbers, formal recognition and participation in the public domain is more pronounced in Garo Hills district. Opinion varies with regard to their origin and migration to this part of the land. According to legends, it is believed that Hajongs are descendants of Surya meaning ‘Sun’, and belonged to the Kshatriya group. They are believed to have migrated to present-day Garo Hills from Hajo town of Kamrup district of Assam. Accord­

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ing to Hajong folk tales it is believed that on their first arrival in Garo Hills they were referred to as A∙jong by the Garos (a∙a mean­ ing ‘land’ and jong meaning insect) due to their livelihood pattern which was different from the Garos. This tribe, on their arrival to the Garo Hills region, started cultivating the land like an ‘insect’. It is said that when Hajongs first arrived in the hill tracts of Garo Hills, the native people practised only shifting cultivation (a∙ba cha∙a), and the idea of extensive farming with bullocks and buf­ falos was not known to the Garos. So, therefore Garos found them ploughing the field with more advanced tools and technology just as the jo∙ong or insects do their drilling in the soil. Some scholars (Kim et al., 2011) believed that the tribe origi­ nated in the hill tracts of Chittagong in Bangladesh and later migrated into India; whereas others (Hajong, 2002) hold the view that Hajongs might have migrated from Tibet where they settled first in the Kamrup district of Assam and later travelled down to the present Garo Hills. The place in Garo Hills where they settled first is called Hajari or Baro Hajari. However, it is also presumed that the word ‘Hajong’ is derived form Kachari for ‘Hajo’ which literally means the ‘people who live in the high hills’. The lack of literature and scientific investigation among this tribal group makes it diffi­ cult to have a clear understanding of its origin and migration which still remain a mystery. This further necessitates both intensive and extensive researches among this community to throw light on the accounts of this community and their ethnicity. Hinduism is the main religion of the Hajongs, and their language and custom is inclined to those of the neighbouring Bengalees and Assamese. Though there is a belief in the existence of traditional belief system, but very little is known about its pre-Hindu or ani­ mist beliefs. However, in their religious practices today both Hindu and pre-Hindu beliefs and rituals are seen. Hajongs are known for their skilled handicrafts and their skilful activities are still preserved and passed on through the ages from generation to generation, though there might be minuscule changes in the lifestyle with the influence of the western way of life. They are known for their weaving and handicrafts. Weaving constitutes an important internal household work of the women and most of

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the time one can see Hajong women weaving and wearing their traditional attire. This is one of the important features which are observed among this ethnic group and it reveals their affection for their traditional values. The indigenous weaving loom is called bana or tatbana and they make pathin or pathini, which is a traditional striped red dress worn by womenfolk and it is used as mekhala, and bhija gamocha worn by the men. Gamocha among the men is worn as lengty (i.e. a loin cloth). According to their tradition, knowledge of weaving by young women is considered a prime requisite prior to marriage. But however, nowadays due to western influence this tradition is not strictly adhered to by the unmarried women. Hajong houses are mostly built in clusters and on slight elevated land to the paddy fields. Unlike the neighbouring Garos (who build horizontally long bamboo and thatch structures on piles), their huts are made of mud plastered bamboo and thatch and built on the ground. They have different clans, which are basically five in number – Doksina, Meshparia, Sosongia, Barohazari, and Korebari. They follow exogamous marriage rules and marriage within one’s own clan is strictly prohibited. A patrilineal system of inheritance and descent is traced through the male line. Marriage through mutual consent of both parents is practised but sometimes marriage by elopement also takes place but it is not a preferred custom.

Agriculture among the Hajongs Agriculture is the oldest practice which men have learned since Neolithic period for sustaining the livelihood. Even though there is general transition in the form of agriculture practice, yet the age-old practice of cultivating with traditional method is still largely followed, especially in a developing country like ours, where approximately 70 per cent of the population still rely on agricultural produce to sustain their livelihood. However, out of total agriculture land, the net cropped area available is only about 9.76 per cent, which makes the state still deficient in food grain production. The main reason for this can be projected to the topography of the state, means of transportation, communication, and inability to use its

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available resources (Meghalaya Agriculture Profile, 2006). As per the data provided by Hajong (2002), it is estimated that approximately 70 per cent of the population is engaged in agricul­ ture and only 4 per cent of them is absorbed in the government sector service. In the state of Meghalaya about 83 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture where approx. 48 per cent of the total land area comes under agricultural land. Even among Hajongs, agriculture is the mainstay, which divulges their transi­ tion from hunting to gathering stage. Cultivating the land among the Hajong tribe mainly comprises traditional method, which involve application of indigenously built crude agricultural tools. The application of this traditional method maintains the ecological balance as well as it envisages the sustain­ able use of agricultural land. Paddy cultivation in wetlands is the most prevalent form of farming. It is also popularly known as wet cultivation. Agricul­ tural activity among the Hajongs usually involves gender division of labour – the men undertakes most of the laborious work like ploughing, cutting, making boundary for the cultivation whereas women are usually engaged in works like sowing, seedling and weeding activities. The cultivated land is used both for kharif and rabi crop, and the main principal crop grown in the paddy field is rice. In order to store their harvested crop, they construct a granary which is known as chang ghor (Figure 19.1) and the rice is kept on the macha made of bamboo split. The chang ghor is constructed in such way as to keep away insects and rats. Hajongs mostly employ traditional tools and implements to cultivate their agricultural land. Some of the important indigenous agricultural implements which are widely used are the nangol jungol (ploughshare), mes (made of bamboo shaped like ladder used for levelling the cultivated land), nangoli (shaped like comb which is used for removing the waste in the paddy), kudal (spade), bharti (split bamboo used for carrying the harvested crop), kachi (sickle), winnowing fans, and sieves. Hajongs are generally believed to be diligent and industrious and they usually go to the paddy field early in the morning carrying

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Source: Author. Figure 19.1: The granary of the Hajongs

packed food along with them and return in the evening after work. This practice continues until they complete their whole seasonal cultivation period. Even though Meghalaya state in general displays the prevalence of shifting cultivation or swidden method of cultiva­ tion, among Hajong of Garo Hills this is not practised. Rich and resourceful Hajong peasants are referred to as giri. It is believed that in the pre-Independent period most of the individual household had adequate acres of land, but the scenario in the pres­ ent day has changed due to increase in the population and they have to be content with the limited available resource of cultivable land. Although with the passage of time most of the families are los­ ing their individual ownership of cultivable land due to consistent increase of population, yet most of the Hajong families are known to possess at least minimal plot of land for sustenance. Those who do not own land usually earn their livelihood as wage labourers. As mentioned earlier, the principal crop grown is mainly rice and their livelihood is sustained mainly on annual production of it.

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There is however no proper irrigation facility. They rely on annual rainfall for irrigating their field. Therefore, good yield of agricul­ ture produce relies on the blessings of nature. The most commonly used method of irrigating the paddy field is to trap the runoff water from streams, which is widely practised. In this method runoff water from small stream is diverted towards the paddy field and stored by blocking the margins with small outlets to redistribute it to another lower paddy ground. This method is mainly applied for growing rice crop which requires constant sup­ ply of water. Hajong farmers usually cultivate their land with the help of cows and buffaloes, although some rich farmers or giri employ power tillers. But the traditional method of soil cultivation is mostly prac­ tised among the Hajongs. The most prevalent method practised by the Hajongs is the transplantation method. In this method rice seeds are first sown in the nursery for about 5 weeks which are then transplanted into the main paddy field. Practice of this method

Source: Author. Figure 19.2: Bundles of harvested paddy.

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requires substantial labour but the annual yield is more, especially when the rainfall is optimum (Figure 19.2). After every harvesting season the rice grains are kept to be dried and preserved for the next sowing season. The preserved dried seeds are called bisundhan which are kept in the dhanpura wrapped in the sack and it is usually kept in the traditional grain house called chang ghor, the house for storing the grains, which is made of thatch house. Clearing of cultivable land begins in the month of June or July sometimes, depending on the onset of monsoon. If the onset of monsoon is delayed, then sowing of nursery seeds also gets delayed. Both women and menfolk come together for clearing the plot of land for cultivation, although most of the laborious work is done by men. Women also give assistance in the agricultural work. Their main means of agriculture production depends on the paddy field and the use of other farming method is done superficially. In order to increase soil fertility they mostly use organic manure like cowdung in the agricultural field and they also add inorganic manure like urea in the paddy field.

Crops Grown As mentioned, rice (b. Oryzasativa) is the staple food crop of the Hajong community. This crop is grown annually in the paddy fields with the invocation of various traditional prayers and offerings. Hajongs are known for cultivating a variety of rice as it is also the only means of sustaining their livelihood. The main varieties of rice crop grown among the Hajongs are tangabisi, hatibanda, gotabawa, bondhan also known as bishibhat, and goriadhan (reddish coloured rice). Among all these varieties goriadhan is not used anymore. Besides rice they also cultivate maize, potato, sweet potato, gourd, chilli, cauliflower, pumpkin, okra and other seasonal crops. Besides the common rice, they prefer to grow bishibhat commonly known as ‘sticky rice’. This crop is grown in enormous amount next to the rice crop and it is used mainly as ceremonial food. Annually produced crops including rice, are only used for domestic purpose and question of commercializing it, or exporting it does not arise. Cultivation is done twice a year in the same plot of land. Amon or

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Chalikheti is practised during summer season in the month of June and July; bishibhat is the main crop grown during this season. Asu cultivation is done during the month of April. Besides rice, they also grow some other miscellaneous crops such as ginger, chilli, brinjal, potato, pumpkin, bottlegourd, and sweet potato, which are available seasonally. Besides food crops, Hajongs are also known to grow other items such as areca nuts and betel leaf, etc., but these products are just enough to meet their domestic needs. Growing of commercial crops or cash crops among Hajongs is not very popular. The only cash crops which are cultivated are jute and mustard (sursa), and these are produced only in season.

Agricultural Rituals Just like other tribes of north-east India, practice of agriculture and cultivation is always associated with traditional rituals and beliefs. Some of the important festivals associated with the months and agriculture cycle are given in Table 19.1. Among all the festivals, bastu puja is oldest and most important of all. Traditional worship among Hajongs is performed with two basic objectives. One is to get the blessings of deities and for safeguarding the people and village; and other is to cast away the disease-causing elements. These ceremonies are performed for appeasing the dei­ ties, good yield and for protecting their crop against pests. Bastu puja is performed in relation to agriculture farming. It is performed in the kati month or seventh month of the Assamese and Bengali calendar. The ceremony involves invoking deities to give protection and fostering of the crops. Cluster of paddy plants (dhanmao) are brought to the altar and worshipped along with deities for their blessing and it is taken back to the paddy field after the rituals are over. The ritual ceremony is done in a sacred place called bastu than. Idol worship is not involved in this puja. Bastu deity and Lakshmi Thakur are kept on a constructed altar and worshipped. In the ear­ lier days animal sacrifices were made for these deities, but at present it has been abandoned. After completing all the rituals and prayers, they gather in the house of the deosi (priest) and the whole night is spent in drinking and merry making. However, this too is not in

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TABLE 19.1: FESTIVALS CONNECTED TO AGRICULTURE

Month Baisakha Jaisha Ashada

Transplantation of seedlings

Shravana Bhadra Ashwina

Last ploughing of field Illumination of paddy field

Kartika Agrahayana

Harvesting of paddy

Pausha

Post-harvest ceremonies

Magha Falguna Chaitra

Agriculture Stage

Traditional Rituals Bastu puja Amati (Ambubachi), Poila roa ceremony Hal duka Ashwina sankranti, Afaigurakhawa Nabanna or Nayakhawa Bhogalibihu, Poshna hangorani, Dhanduka kachidhowa Bastu puja Hangarani, Bohagbihu, Bisua

practice anymore. In some places idols of ‘horse and elephant’ are used for worshipping Bastu. According to their traditional custom tortoise and pigeon are sacrificed for the deities. Worships, sacri­ fices and any form of prayers which are done, are all in references to their crops, for protecting them from diseases. Poila roa is a traditional ceremony which is performed on the first day of transplanting the seedling to the paddy field. The ceremonial day is accompanied by numerous feasts and singing, dancing, and merry making and locally made rice beer or liquor is served. On this day bishibhat rice is offered to those who have assisted in the labour and it also means a sign of thanking the workers. Dhanduka or Kachidhowa also constitutes one of the very impor­ tant traditional occasion for the Hajongs. Among the Hajongs, tools or implements of agriculture are considered sacred and the value of its importance is manifested on the last day of the harvesting season. Kachi in Hajong means ‘sickle’ and dhowa meaning ‘wash’

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which means the day signifies the cleaning or washing of the sickle and keeping it in a safe place with reverence to the agriculture tools or implements. On this occasion giri or rich and affluent farmers organize a grand feast to mark the special day. Some of the other important traditional festivals of Hajongs are Thuba Maga, Mosamao Kheda (driving away of mosquitoes), Moiladeo worship, Hoiladeo worship, Gongsodeo, Chokdhapadeo, Daini, Pretni, Kalpisach, Bondeo, Hudum and Haka, Deshpura, Phul Deo, Nikni Deo, Bansh Puja (worship of bamboo), and Pub­ nideo Puja. Apart from these festivals, Poila Roa, Dhanduka and Bastupuja are of worth mentioning as these are related to their agricultural activities.

Conclusion Hajong tribe constitutes the fourth largest tribal population of Meghalaya. Just like other tribes of north-east India, agriculture is the mainstay of the tribe where 70 per cent of them still depends on it for survival. One of the main reasons of its bleak history of origin and migration lies in the inadequate available literature, which further needs scientific enquiry and more extensive and intensive scholarly works. Though in physical appearance the Hajongs have more of mongoloid features, yet in linguistics, the style and phonetic used are closer to the Indo-Aryan style, with special reference to the Assamese and Bengali group. This again throws a very significant question in the anthropological domain. Hajongs can be referred to as nature loving people as they have always used traditional method of farming technology which further substantiates their sustainability for the economic practice.

REFERENCES Chaudhuri, S.K. 2012. ‘The Anthropology of Lesser-known Tribes’, in T. B. Subba (ed.), North-East India: A Handbook of Anthropology. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, pp. 339-58. Dalton. E.T. 1872. Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing.

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Hajong, B. 2002. The Hajongs and their Struggle. Mirza: Janata Press. Kim, A., S. Ahmad, S. Kim and M. Sangma. 2011. The Hajongs of Bangladesh: A Sociolinguistic Survey. Economic Survey Report. SIL International. Meghalaya Agriculture profile. 2006. Department of Agriculture Meghalaya. 3rd edn. http://megagriculture.gov.in/public/download/MegAgri Profile2006.pdf

CHAPTER 20

Traditional Ritual Practices of the Hargaiya Koch Kanchani P. Koch

Introduction Meghalaya, the north-eastern part of India, consisting of eleven districts, comprises of diverse tribal inhabitants and various colourful cultures. This state is mainly dominated by tribes such as the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo. There are also a number of other minor communities who are permanent settlers of Meghalaya. These are the Bhoi, Biate, Koch, Rabha, Hajong, Bodo, Banai, Dalu, etc. These lesser known communities also have their own culture, social customs and belief systems. The community of Koch is a scheduled tribe in Meghalaya. This tribe is mainly an inhabitant of western part of Garo Hills districts in Meghalaya. A few populations of this tribe are also inhabitants of West Khasi Hills district in the state. Koches are also found in Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Bihar and Bangladesh. However, the Koch from Meghalaya is different from other states in their dialect, culture, and customs. Various scholars have given different views and opinions about the origin of Koch and their migration. One opinion is based on their physical complexion and features and says that this commu­ nity originated from the Dravidian race. E.T. Dalton (1872, 1973 [1972]) opined that Koches belong to the Dravidian race because they are all very dark and having thick maxillaries and protuberant

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lips. Another scholar H.H. Risley (1891) held a similar view. While admitting an intermixture with the Mongoloid tribe, he stated that Koch are primarily non-Aryan and non-Hindu and, there­ fore, belongs to the Dravidian race. According to W. W. Hunter (1876) and Beverly (1872) too, Koches are Dravidian in origin. Another group of scholars who postulate Mongoloid descent are Waddel (1901), E.A. Gait (1905), A.C. Haddon (1924) and B.M. Das (1962). This is the most widely accepted view, and that they have migrated from north-west China and they are Mongoloid in nature. The Koch dialect is of Tibeto-Burman in origin. Its myth says that these people are descendants of two sisters known as Hira and Jira. It is believed that they were daughters of the sun. There is another myth about their physical appearance, particularly for their flat nose. The story goes that the Koch women were very beautiful. God Shiva was attracted to a Koch lady, and his consort Goddess Parvati became angry and thrashed the Koch lady on a jackfruit tree. From that time onwards Koches have flat nose. The Koch tribe is counted as a minor tribe in Meghalaya. However, this community has uniqueness in their culture, social customs, dialects and belief system. The tribe consists of various sub-tribes such as Hargaiya or Songo, Wanang, Tintekiya, Chapra, Satpariy, Margan and Sanka. In this chapter, a brief discussion will be given on the Koches of Garo Hills, with special reference to the ritual practices of the Hargaiya Koch. Very few academic works have been done on this tribe. Therefore, information gathered for this chapter is mainly based on first hand personal interviews of elderly persons.

Brief Note on the Koch The seven sub-tribes of the Koch can be differentiated by their different dialects and traditional attire. For example, water is called tika by the Hargaiya and chika by the Wanang; curry is referred to as nicham by the Hargaiya, muchum by the Wanang, and jaba by the Tintekiya. These sub-tribes are further categorized into a number of clans called nikini. Clan exogamy is strictly followed and marriages can­

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not take place between the same nikini. For instance, a Somcham cannot marry another Somcham. Another clan whom Somcham cannot marry is Pakrek clan of Hargaiya. It is believed that they are sisters and belong to the same family. Again each of the sub-tribe prefer to marry within themselves (i.e. a Hargaiya prefers marry­ ing another Hargaiya of different clan). Compared to present days, there were rare cases of inter sub-tribe marriages among the Koch in the past. The Koch in Meghalaya is a matrilineal society. Children fol­ low the mother’s lineage and clan. The youngest daughter inherits the family property and she has to look after the parents. In earlier days, the husband had to go to the wife’s house after marriage. But nowadays this is not strictly followed – and depending upon the family conditions, some men become gharjamai (resident son-in­ law), while others do not follow this system. The father is the head of the family. His decision is final in all matters. However, women are not neglected. They live with respect in the family and in the society. They work in the household and also in the fields. They can also take part in political, social, and religious activities. In pres­ ent day, if we compare the status of education among males and females, the rate is higher in the latter. Koch villages are controlled by the village panchayat. Head man or gaobura is the main authority of the village panchayat. One other person who is appointed to help the gaobura is the dakora whose duty is to call or inform the villagers regarding any kind of meetings or programmes. They are selected by the village people. The major source of economy of this community is agriculture. They are farmers who own individual land and mainly cultivate paddy. Their mode of cultivation is through plough which is done with the help of cattle or buffalo. They rear cattle, sheep, goat, pig, chicken and duck. Some people who can afford also raise buffalo. The food habits of the Koch people are not different from other tribes in Meghalaya. The main staple food is rice. They are nonvegetarian. They consume rice, vegetables, pulses, fish, chicken, mutton and also pork. However, they prefer khar (alkali) which is called hari or sotakhar, to oil. One important item is rice flour and chicken cooked with hari. In case there is no vegetable at home,

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they simply cook curry with rice. In Koch society, areca nut and betel leaf is very important. In Hargaiya dialect it is called ghoi panchak. To guests or visitors, the first thing that is offered is areca nut. It is offered even before tea as offering areca nut is considered as a sign of respect. For any kind of ceremonies and marriage, it is always ghoi panchak that is used as an invitation within the village and to close relatives even today. Koches are followers of Hinduism. They worship Hindu gods and goddesses like Durga, Kali, Shiva, Lakshmi, and Parda, etc. However, traditionally, they were animists with beliefs in a num­ ber of spirits. Today, in addition to Hindu beliefs, they continue to believe in their own indigenous rituals. Some of the traditional faith of the Koch is supernatural with a strong belief in spirits. The main reasons for the traditional beliefs are related to the welfare of the people, good harvests and to prevent and cure from sickness or diseases. Deities are known as wai in all the Koch dialects. All the sub-tribes of Koch tribe worship and believe in the same deities, and there is similarity in performances. Generally, for traditional worship, this tribe does not depend on other Brahmin classes. They have their own priest known as deosi. The Koch believes that not everyone can be deosi; and it is only the one chosen by the deity who can become a deosi. There are different deosi for different deities within the same village. His duty is to worship only the particular deity he is associated with. He has to strictly follow some rules and regulations. He is not free to eat everywhere. He can eat only the first spoonful of food which known as agmai. Though the present-day educated and young generations of Koch do not believe or practice these traditional beliefs, it still continues in different villages.

Traditional Ritual Practices of the Hargaiya Koch Hargaiya are a sub-tribe of the Koch tribe. They are mainly domiciled in West Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills districts. The Hargaiya villages are Harigaon or Harsong, Dumni, Komuli, Ghasura, Bashbari, Kasra, Betasing, Manjuri (located in the border of Meghalaya and Assam), Taktaki and Joiphar. This group of Koch has so many clans which include Hari, Dongsang, Chomcham,

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Pakrek, Turni, Mandap, Banai, Langcha, Langkam, Harchung, Varma, Waibara, Hakra, Ditala, Kangkala, Dengdur and Katrak. They speak Hargaiya Koch dialect which is different from the other divisions. Each of these clans has their own clan deities. These deities are called nikini wai. However, it is rare to see clans practicing nikini wai today, and most clans have stopped the worship of nikini wai. The traditional ritual practices of the Hargaiya can be discussed from two aspects – (i) Traditional ritual practices meant for wel­ fare of the village and for good harvests, and (ii) Traditional ritual practices meant to prevent and cure sickness or diseases. These are discussed in the following. Traditional Ritual Practices for Welfare of Village and Good Harvests The main occupation of the Hargaiya Koch is cultivation. Therefore they worship various deities for good harvest every year. (a) Anderi Puja – The worship of Shiva, Katli and Sitoli on the road side of the village is performed twice in a year. This ritual is known as Anderi. In this ritual, no sacrifice of any animal or bird takes place. However, one pair of pigeon is let to fly in the name of these god and goddess. Bhog or prasad are made with rice, milk and sweet. It is believed that one should not turn or look behind while going back home after taking the bhog. (b) Bhasaini Puja – Bhasaini Puja is performed in the month of April. Before the puja, women (five to ten in numbers) visit every household in the village and shower the houses (they visit) with flowers taking all the gods’ and goddess’ names, and then the house owner offer uncooked rice to them as an offering. Those who take part in this are known as boroti. Any woman whether she is married or unmarried can become a boroti. There is no age bar for this. However, at present day, only unmarried women take part in this due to household or fieldwork duties of married women and also due to existence of some strict rules. These boroti women are not supposed to

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put on a blouse (i.e. the upper garment) and only wear liphan, traditional dress of Hargaiya, which covers them from chest to below the knee and carry gamcha to cover the upper body till the end of the puja. This process is called as deomaga. The main reason behind the deomanga is collection of bhog (offering) for the ritual. On the main devotion day, the ritual of Gital Chai has to be performed which means singing and dancing. This singing and dancing is performed by young boys and led by one elderly per­ son. The Gital Chai is first conducted before the sacrifices of animals take place. According to their belief, the goddess Bha­ saini also likes entertainment. Therefore Gital Chai has to be performed during the ritual. The main items for this worship are gaacha (earthen lamp), dhupsi (incense), cotton, and dinga (plate made of banana plant). Black or any coloured (except white) young he-goat and one pair of pigeon are sacrificed. In this ritual, one deosi (priest) performs the ritual and thengdora holds the legs of animal while sacrifice is done by the priest. After completion of the ritual at than, everybody goes to a nearby river and some rituals are also performed there. Egg, flower and cotton are kept on a plate made up of banana plant and this plate is then floated in the river. Also, side by side, a pair of pigeon is let off to fly. (c) Baus Puja – One of the most important rituals by the Hargaiya is Baus or Bastu Puja which is performed for cultivation and welfare of the village as a whole. The deities who are propiti­ ated here are called Song wai which means village deities (song = village, wai = deity). Almost all Hargaiya villages perform Baus Puja. There is a permanent place for this puja as well as where the deity resides – this place is called bausthan. Generally these rituals take place in the month of October and November. On the occasion of Baus Puja, the people worship various deities of the Hindu pantheon and their traditional deities on the same day. These are Bauswai, Sitoli, Hangsraj, Katli, Mai­ lidhara, Lakkhi or Lakshmi, Sona-Rai, Bangalwai and Wakwai. Therefore, more than one deosi, are required during the wor­ ship. With the deosi, there is also the thengdhora to assist him.

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All these deities are worshipped one by one which is discussed below. Baus Wai Puja – For the Bauswai ritual, at first, the deosi has to break one egg at bausthan which is done after cleaning the bausthan which is called as thandubaini. Some clay models of an elephant and a horse are placed during this ritual. In all rituals main items are gaccha (earthen lamp) and dhupsi to worship. Other necessary materials are sindoor (vermilion), mustard oil, and cotton. During the rituals, an earthen lamp is lighted along with the use of dhupsi. Sometimes, coconut cover or charcoal is burnt with incense. One white he-goat and one pair of pigeon are sacrificed for the Bauswai. Sitoli Puja – The same deosi who performs rituals for Bauswai can worship the deity Sitoli. For this goddess, a black or other coloured he-goat and one pair of pigeon are sacrificed. But, at the same time, goat of white colour cannot be sacrificed. The other materials which are used here include an earthen lamp and dhupsi for the ritual. Hansraj Puja – After Sitoli, the same deosi worship the deity Hansraj. While no animal is sacrificed in this ritual, a pair of pigeons is sacrificed to please the deity. As earthen lamp, agarbati and incense are important during the worship in Hinduism, the Hargaiya Koch people also use these in rituals. Katli Puja – The Katli is a female deity whom the Hargaiyas worship for good production in the field. For Katli also, the same deosi perform ritual and sacrifice a pair of pigeon. Mailidhara Puja– The same priest can worship Mailidharawai in a similar way as we have seen in case of Baus, Sitoli and others. Here also a pair of pigeon is sacrificed. Lakkhi/Lakshmi Puja – Like Hindu beliefs, Hargaiya people also believe that the Goddess Lakkhi is goddess of wealth and property. According to their belief, it is said that those who do not keep their house and themselves clean, the Goddess Lakkhi will never stay with them. The deosi of Bauswai sacrifice a pair of pigeon during the worship of Lakkhi also. Sona-Rai Puja – One important traditional deity worshipped by the Hargaiya is Sona-Rai. These deities are believed to be

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two brothers Sona and Rai. Items which are needed during this puja are mainly earthen lamps (diya) and incense (dhupsi). In this, the deosi of Baus cannot perform the ritual. Therefore, a separate deosi has to do the rituals. A black he-goat for Sona, and a pair of pigeon for Rai, are required as sacrifice for this worship as offering or bhog. Bangalwai Puja – Since the Koch are agriculturists (wet cultivation), they have a strong belief in cattle and their welfare. They believe that they need to take care of their cattle. In this respect, they also have indigenous deity whom they call Bangalwai. The materials required for this worship are one diya, one stand which is made of bamboo to place the diya, cotton and few baelpatra (z. Aeglemarbelos) leaves. A cock is also sacrificed, though the manner of sacrifice is different. While sacrificing the cock, one should not separate the head and the bodies in one go, but little parts should be separated from the throat one by one. Wakwai Puja – The Hargaiya used to often go for hunting for fun and meat. According to their faith, if they are devotees of Wakwai (a spirit who resides in the jungle), or appease Wakwai, then they would not come empty handed from hunting. Another name of Wakwai is Chora Buri. The deosi and dhengdhora of Baus and Sona-Rai cannot worship this Wakwai. They (deosi and dhengdhora of Wakwai) even cannot touch or go near the other rituals though it is performed on the same day. The reason behind this restriction is that Koches believe that the pig is the dirtiest animal. Kaniwai Puja – Kaniwai is the household deity. It is a belief that household deities do not stay in each and every household. Only a few select families have this deity. As their faith say that it is only whom the deity like they stay with them and ask to worship. This ritual is mainly for the welfare of the individual and family members. Kaniwai is a combination of two deities – Parda (daughter) and Chandi (mother). These deities are worshipped on Dussera, the last day of Durga Puja. On that particular day, the people clean their houses before taking any food. The ritual is performed after taking bath without changing

Source: Author. Figure 20.1: Bhasainiwai Puja

Source: Author. Figure 20.2: Offerings for Bhasainiwai

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Source: Author. Figure 20.3: Kaniwai Puja

the wet clothes. To perform this, two diyas are required – one is placed inside the house, and the other outside the house but within the compound, and one dhupsi. The offerings are uncooked rice, banana, sugar and tulsi. Traditional Ritual Practices for Prevention and Curation of Sickness or Diseases Generally, when someone gets sick in the village, the Hargaiya people first approach a local medicine man referred as kabiraj. The kabiraj reads the portends and tries to see which supernatural power or spirit has made the person sick. The kabiraj then informs which spirit is not happy, and what he/she wants. Accordingly, parents or relatives of the sick person promises and prays taking the name of the deities, and offering whatever he/she asks for. During pregnancy and difficulties connected to it, the people have a set of beliefs. They believe that if they please the spirits, it

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will ease the problems. One such spirit is Thapingwai. To appease this spirit, an idol is made of straw and then worshipped, with the offering of an egg. Another deity related to pregnancy is Moila­ wai. This deity is worshipped particularly for premature birth and death of baby in the mother’s womb. Here, generally seven dolls are prepared with jute sticks giving human form and worshipped near the river. The main offerings are uncooked rice, banana and sweets. One other deity is Halepawai or Daini for problems con­ nected to new born babies who lose sense or are pale and deadly in appearance. In order to appease this spirit, an old half broken bamboo basket is offered within which is one bamboo dust pan, banana leaves, on top of which are a sprinkle of ashes, red chillies, and head or intestine of chicken/mutton/pork (from the sacrificial animal). In case of pork, it is not necessary to sacrifice a pig. Meat of pork is generally bought from the market and is offered. As believed by the Hargaiya, when a person gets very sick, with giddiness and continuous vomiting, the deity named Namangniwai is supposedly angry at the individual. To appease this deity, two boats and plates are created out of the banana plant. Other neces­ sary items are gacha (earthen lamp) and agarbati. A pair of pigeons is also sacrificed. Another deity that causes sickness is Talaiwai. As a part of propitiation of the deity, two dolls of straw as male and female are made. These are then placed under the sewra tree in the outskirts of the village. The necessary items for the worship are diya, bamboo stand to place the diya, uncooked rice flour, and sacri­ fice of a chicken. The Baga-Baginiwai is related to the sickness and cure of small children. Two idols are made with straw as Baga and Bagini. In an old bamboo sieve five diya (gacha), cheura, rice husk, rice flour and banana leaves are placed, then the deity is worshipped. After completion of the worship the two idols are thrown on the road side. It is believed that when a baby cries nonstop the spirit called Jokha-Jokhniwai scare and tickles them continuously. These spirits are two brothers. To worship them, a jute stick is made into human shape. As offering, two roosters are sacrificed in the name these two brothers (spirits) and the deities are worshipped near the river side. The offerings cannot be carried home. Therefore, the sacrificed

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chicken is cooked wherever the worship is conducted and eaten there itself. Another deity which is believed to be half human and half snake are called Nag-Naginiwai. This deity also causes sickness. They are worshipped near the river side or near the ring well. Items required are three or five jackfruit leaves to make a plate and two bamboo sticks. The only offering is cooked rice. Kalpechaswai is also known as Pagri Matawai. It is believed that this deity also causes sickness. The deity of Kalpechas is made out of straw and dressed with old cloths. This cannot be worshipped in the house. Generally worship for this is carried out in the road side of village. Items needed for the performance include diya on bamboo stand, rice and chicken/ duck for sacrifice.

Conclusion The Koch community has a rich cultural heritage. The homeland of this community includes West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, and various other north-eastern parts of the country. Like other tribes, the Koch also follows their own indigenous belief besides their main religion, Hinduism. In the twenty-first century, with development of technology and sciences, changes can be seen in the Koch society. However, the traditional belief system among the Koches is still prevalent. The motive of most of the performances described above deals with the welfare of village, good harvests and to get rid of sickness. Almost all of the rituals described are celebrated with lots of fervour as this is a way for these people to express their deep faith on their gods and goddesses. All the sub-tribes of the Koch have a similar belief system. Despite various influences from various regions, the Hargaiya are still continuing to practice their traditional belief system. However, these practices pass from generation to generation orally. Interest­ ingly they have strong belief on these deities – spirits who heal their sickness, solve problems, and bring prosperity in all aspects till today. These belief systems bring a sense of comfort and belonging to the Koch community. Most importantly, they represent a critical piece of their culture. These help them in forming the structure

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and foundation of their families and their society. It is their strong belief that ignoring these systems could result in damaging their own identity. In fact, these belief systems reinforced in faith, integ­ rity, personal responsibility, a strong work ethic and the value of being selfless. These rituals give them an opportunity to express themselves both in joy and sorrow, and thus creating and sustaining their identity. There are no proper or systematic writings and records on the Koch tribe from Garo Hills district about their culture, customs, and traditional belief. While most of the traditional beliefs are still followed in the community, some are on the verge of extinction. Modernization of the society is definitely showing its influence on the Koch community too. Therefore, there is an urgent need to document and record these before they perish.

Acknowledgements First and foremost my sincere gratitude goes to Queenbala Marak for her encouragements, motivation, trust and giving such opportunity for contribution. I am in debt to Sukanta Koch and Surat Koch for the information particularly about the village worship of the Hargaiya. I am thankful and grateful to my grandfather Hamdash Koch for the information on traditional beliefs of the Koches in general. My special thanks to my aunt Jubati Koch, my parents Late Jayanta Nr. Koch and Mahi Rani Koch, and my husband Pankaj Goyal.

REFERENCES Beverly, H. 1872. Census Report of Bengal, vol. I. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press. Dalton, E.T. 1872. Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government. _____. 1973 [1872]. Tribal History of Eastern India. Delhi: Cosmo Publications. Das, B.M. 1962. ‘Physical Affinity of the Rajbansi’. Bulletin of the Department of Tribal Culture and Folklore Research, 1: 23-45. Gait, E. 1905. History of Assam. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co.

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Haddon, A.C. 1924. Races of Man and Their Distribution. New York: F A Stokes Co. Hunter, W.W. 1876. Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. X. London: Turner & Co. Risley, H.H. 1891. Tribes and Castes of Bengal: Ethnographic Glossary, vol. 2. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press. Waddel, L.A. 1901. ‘The Tribes of Brahmaputra Valley: A Contribution on their Physical Types and Affinities’. Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, 69 (3): 1-127.

PA RT V

Culture and Materiality

CHAPTER 21

Sacred Sites and Society

A Preliminary Inquiry

A.K. Nongkynrih

Introduction This paper deals with the discussions on sacred ‘things’ and sacred sites. Any discussion on ‘sacred’ has to be within the domain of religion. The foundation of religion is related to the concept of the supernatural. In the introduction to the book The Sociology of Religion by Max Weber, Parsons stated that, ‘Every society possesses some conceptions of a supernatural order, gods or impersonal forces which are different from and in some sense superior to those forces conceived as governing ordinary “natural” events…’ (1922: xxxviii). The variety of conceptions of the supernatural has also led to the existence of different kinds of religion in the social world; and this has also resulted in the existence of many kinds of ‘sacred things’. Both the supernatural and ‘sacred things’ are symbiotically connected and serves specific religious purposes. Such ideas and conception of religion are similar in the social world of indigenous societies in general and in the context of indigenous societies of north-east India in particular. It must be noted that the indigenous societies of north-east India are socially and culturally very different from those societies found in the mainland India. In the north-east India there are more than two hundred indigenous societies and with a very complex social anthropological world. There are many socialcultural aspects in the

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north-east India which are yet to be studied and understood. These sociocultural aspects can be observed at the level of symbolic repre­ sentations, social institutions, language and other cultural forms. In this paper one of the symbolic representations locally known as Ka Ïung Blai or Ka Ïing Blei is discussed. Ka Ïung or Ka Ïing denotes a house or home or domestic groups;1 and Blai or Blei denotes God. In literal translation it seems to carry the meaning of House of God, however, in the social sense the prefix and the suffix together connotes the meaning of a sacred site for conducting rituals. These customary beliefs and practices have been handed down over gen­ erations and continue till the present day. The background to write on this particular subject came from my frequent visits (i.e. between the years 1998 and 2005) to Jowai town, the district headquarters of Jaintia Hills, approximately 60 km away from Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya. I have been visiting Jowai without any foreknowledge of the existence of Ka Ïing Blei. It was once on our way back to Shillong from one of the remote and economically backward villages name Byrto, located along the border with the state of Assam, one of our team members representing the Marchaphrang Development Society of Jowai, took us to see to some of the historical and religious sites. One such site was the visit to Ïing Blei. We were dumbfounded by what we saw in the midst of an urban dwelling. The Ïing Blei in its pristine form and shape stood before our eyes (Figure 21.1). It was this rare sight that catalysed my mind to write and to share with others about it. The objective of the paper is to find out the meaning and significance of the sacred site. The information was gathered by interviewing the elders of the lineage and in particular the eldest mother’s brother of the lineage of Paswet clan. However, it must be noted that the paper is limited and more research and understanding is required. According to census 2011, Jowai has a population of 28,430 of which 13,675 are males while 14,755 are females. The literacy rate of Jowai is 91.10 per cent higher than the state average of 74.43 per cent. Jowai is an urban township. All the major departments of the government are located there. It is also the centre of political administration. Thus all the villages of the district depend on it

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Source: Author. Figure 21.1: Ka Ïung Blai Kur Paswet

for trade and commerce, higher education, health care, etc. Like all townships in the state of Meghalaya, Jowai township is made up of many localities. Each locality is unique and each has its own history. The Ïing Blei in discussion is located at Panaliar in Wahsynji, one of the constituent localities of Jowai. It is walking distance from the main market locally called Ka Ïaw Musiang or one can take the local taxi to reach there. It must be noted that the local residents call it ka Ïung Blai, the same version of Ïing Blei. The beliefs and practices of ka Ïung Blai is found in those households which continue to uphold and follow Ka Niam Tre, meaning, the indigenous faith. Another aspect worth mentioning is the term pnar. A proper understanding of this term has to be placed in the social context of the HyÃniewtrep society. The Hyniewtrep à society (i.e., KhasiJaintia tribe) is one of the oldest indigenous societies of north-east India and the term includes the HyÃniewtrep people inhabiting the regions such as Khynriam, Pnar, War, Maram, Lyngam, Bhoi, Nonglang and Jyrngam. The society has a legend of its origin and consider themselves as descendants of Ki HyÃniewtrep Ki Hyniews­ Ã

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kum. In short, it is a way of referring and identifying with reverence and respect to the ancestors whom the people are believed to have descended from the house of God and have now come to live and settle on earth around the sacred peak called U Sohpet Bneng (the umbilical cord connecting the earth and the house of God). The sacred peak is located opposite Umïam Lake in Ri Bhoi region. It seems that the HyÃniewtrep people have been living in this part of the world since centuries back. According to a study by Prokop and Suliga (2013: 761) ‘the Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and the results of chemical, microstructure and phase composition of ironore and slags, indicate that the smelting of iron in the Khasi Hills was initiated at least 2000 years ago’. The study seems to provide a fair idea of the period and it seems that the people have lived in these hills for the last two millennia or more. With regard to habitation, villages are the settlement and polit­ ical units of HyÃniewtrep society; and over generations many villages were founded, formed and spread out in many parts of present-day Khasi and Jaintia Hills. It may be mentioned that the ancestors of HyÃniewtrep people had evolved and developed a method of clustering villages on the basis of their geographical location and landscape, and locally they use a term ka thaiÃn meaning a region or an area. Those villages and their residents residing on the upland plateau and running east to west are referred as ki khynriam; those in the eastern part of the Khynriam plateau are referred to as Ki Pnar; those residing in the southern slopes bordering Bangladesh are referred to as Ki War; those in the western part of the Khynriam plateau are known as Ki Maram,; the area between the Maram and Garo Hills are called Ki Lyngam and Ki Nonglang; Ki Bhoi are those who settled in the northern slopes bordering the plains of the state of Assam (Nongkynrih, 2001). The clustering of villages regionwise was an indigenous method of placing villages and their residents according to their geography and landscape. It should be taken into cognizance that the HyÃniewtrep people inhabiting different regions belonged to matrilineal clans; and clan members can be found to be distributed in such regions. Thus, a member of HyÃniewtrep society has to belong to a matrilineal clan and it is through the clan mem­ bership that his or her social identity is established; and without

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being a member of the matrilineal clan the social identity is persona non-grata. In a sociological sense, HyÃniewtrep society is a matri­ lineal society on the basis of matrilineal descent, including the sum total of matrilineal kur (equivalent to clan).

The Social World of the Sacred and the Profane The social world is a world of human beings including the various items or material objects used by them in their daily lives. The living elements or the non-living objects or items exist in both the physical world and social world without any distinctive status given to them and can be called profane, meaning ‘having to do with ordinary, material life on earth’ (Smelser, 1993: 298). However, there also exists another category called ‘sacred’ meaning ‘having to do with the holy or supernatural’. It seems the social world is a composition of both the sacred and the profane; and both exist as two binary opposites. The concern of this section is focused on the ‘sacred’ and ‘sacred things’, therefore, for a proper understanding on the subject matter the works of Emile Durkheim is important. According to him in his work The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, ‘A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them’ (1915: 62). Morrison explained that in the definition of religion by Durkheim there are two cardinal ele­ ments: ‘system of beliefs and rites. Beliefs refer to set of ideas and attitudes held in relation to sacred things, whereas rites are defined as a system of action which is developed toward religious things or objects’; and the separation of the social world into ‘sacred and profane’ (1995: 191). Durkheim (1915) further elaborated that, ‘all known religious beliefs, whether simple or complex, present one common charac­ teristic: they presuppose a classification of all the things, real and ideal, of which men think, into two classes or opposed groups, generally designated by the words profane and sacred’. The author further explained that ‘sacred and profane is the distinc­

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tive religious thought; the beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are either representations or systems of representations which express the nature of sacred things (ibid.: 52). The ‘sacred things’ could include anything, however, what ‘things’ become sacred varies from one religion to another. Second, ‘things’ become sacred on the basis of the beliefs and the rite conducted by persons whom the society considered ‘consecrated’. Thus, it can be said that ‘sacred things’ are ‘protected by interdictions which have the force of prohibitions or taboos acting to isolate and protect the sacred’… and ‘sacred things are thought to be superior in dignity’ (Morrison, 1995: 192). According to Mircca Eliade (1956: 11) the concept of sacred can be properly understood by applying ‘hierophony’. In the author’s opinion, ‘It is a fitting term, because it does not imply further; it expresses no more than is implicit in its etymological content, i.e. that something sacred shows itself to us.’ It could be said that the history of religions from the most primitive to the most highly developed is constituted by a great number of hierophanies, by manifestations of sacred realities. The author further elaborated by citing examples of hierophony such as the ‘manifestation of the sacred in some ordinary object, a stone or a tree to the supreme hierophony (which, for a Christian, is the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ) there is no solution of continuity’ (ibid.). It was further elaborated by Johnson that the sacred usually refers to the supernatural, ‘invisible and intangible’. However, he further elaborated that, ‘there are also sacred objects that are quite tangible and visible. … Some of these objects are sacred because they are symbols of the invisible supernatural beings’ (1960: 406-7). He also provided various examples with regard to sacred objects such as the river Ganges for Hindus or in the case of Catholics bowing before the altar as the altar is considered a sacred symbol, or the offering to the statue of Buddha by Buddhists. There are many such cases that can be found in other religions too. Johnson also highlighted that, ‘The key to an understanding of tangible sacred objects is the realization that they are tangible, visible symbols of the intangible, invisible supernatural order’ (p. 407). Coming to the social world of indigenous societies, it has been observed that in the customary beliefs and practices of indigenous

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societies there are many kinds of ‘sacred things’. The Navajo people as First Nation people in the United States of America have many places which they considered as sacred sites such as sacred moun­ tains, sacred rivers, etc. These sites may look insignificant to an outsider but not so to an indigenous person. Example of sacred objects or sites similarly, can be observed in HyÃniewtrep society. Forest lands have been separated into sacred and profane. Some forest lands have been set aside as sacred forests -- they have a distinct identity and meanings to the people. They are seen as the habitat of the supernatural. Another example that can be cited is Ki Mawniam and they could be in the shape of cists, dolmens and monoliths which have been erected for the purpose of religious cer­ emonies. According to Nongkynrih Cists or dolmens or monoliths are rocks collected from the natural world and carved into distinct shapes and sizes (2012: 58). On their own they have no social sig­ nificance except for the purpose of decoration. However, the same carved stones or rocks assumed the status of ‘sacred things’ on the basis of the social meanings that have been given to them by the social world and in accordance with the customary beliefs and practices of the society. Another example is Ka Ïing Sad, mean­ ing the ancestral residence of Ka Syiem Sad of Hima Khyrim (one of the Khasi States). Ka Syiem Sad ‘refers to the religious office occupied by a female related to the Syiem (representative of Hima) through his matrilineage’ (Khyriemmujat, 2013). In the Ïing Sad there is a wooden pole known as U Rishot Blei and it is consid­ ered a sacred object. Similarly, Ka Ïung Blai or Ka Ïing Blei (sacred site) is another category of visible and tangible object which can be described in the framework of ‘sacred things’.

The Architectural Design of the Sacred Site To understand the sacred site, the physical aspects including the architectural design has to be taken into consideration. First, the items used in the building: the building is constructed by using four major materials such as thatched leaf and bamboo, wooden planks and poles, and stones. The roof is covered with thatched leaves and it is circular in shape, sloping towards the ground. The walls, pillars,

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and floor are wooden structures. The verandah and the bathroom floors are covered with a thick slab of polished stones. The house is rectangular and elongated in shape; and it is divided into five parts: Dhari (verandah), Tre Thlong (sitting/meeting/ritual room), Shlur (bedroom/room to keep the body of the deceased, Rakut (The hearth), and the Kyndur (bathroom). The entrance to each room is through a door semi-circular at the top. All the doors are simple panelled, double leaf and rectangular. Leading to the verandah is through a narrow path made of stones slabs and few steps to climb leading to the main entrance of the house (Figure 21.2). Another interesting aspect is the prescribed rules in matters relating to repairs or replacing any items of the structure. It is interesting to note that only the same materials have to be used and the thatched leaf was to be the only type of variety called Langmet (i.e. good and grown leaf). The other important rule is with regard to the people both from the lineage of the Paswet clan and those from outside who will be involved in the construction or repair activity. Such persons have to be individuals of the highest moral integrity because they are dealing with the construction of ‘sacred

Source: Figure drawn by the author.

Figure 21.2: A plan of ka lung Blai

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things’. The lineage and individuals themselves are aware of this fact and according to the eldest mother’s, ‘no one will break this rule because it is forbidden. To go against it is to invite retribution on one’s own life.’ On the basis of the description it shows that the house is not an ordinary place of dwelling. It is a sanctum because it is con­ secrated; and because it is a sanctum, visitors or any members of the lineage who are keepers of the sacred site do not enter inside the house wearing shoes, sandals or any other items on the body made of leather or metal. It is considered an act of sacrilege to do so and members of lineage said that if one violates the norm one may invite the retribution from the supernatural and it can be in different forms of punishment. Coming back to the architectural design, there are two rooms that are very important from the religious point of view. The sacred site is constructed without using any kind of metal in any part of the structural frame. According to my mother’s brother, metal is belief to have some kind of negative attachment to it and it seems to be against the spirit of ‘sacred things’. The two rooms are TreThlong and Shlur. In Tre-Thlong, there is a sacred wooden pillar named Shrot skit and it is standing in perpendicular and is the place to perform the rites and rituals. This is the first pillar erected at the time of constructing the house. It is only after completing this important part that the rest of the house will be constructed. By the side of the sacred pillar are two swords covered with cloth. The first sword is used at the time of performing the rituals, and the second sword is used in the rituals when preparing for engaging in wars with the enemy. In the beliefs and practices of HyÃniewtrep society, going for hunting or going to war is considered an act of taking away the life of an animal or a human being. There has to be sufficient reason that can justify the action to be undertaken by the collective. The reason and justification has to be followed from the cardinal principle called Ka Hok, meaning righteousness, truth, honesty, morally justified, fair, acceptable, and ethical. Rituals are conducted to find out if it legitimises to undertake wars or hunting. In the second room called ka Shlur stands another sacred wooden pillar and a woven mat wrapped around and on the pillar a

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bunch of leaves called Sla-Sning (the leaves from an oak tree) is tied around. On the ceiling is a woven basket known as Dong-sniriang and where the remains of the first Doloi (representative head of traditional authority) of Jowai are kept. He is the son of one of the great ancestress called Ka Wet. It is a rule that no one should touch the sacred pillar or the Dong-sniriang. The only ones who can do so are the real kin members of the lineage. However, there here are restrictions for such members of the lineage too. The condi­ tion is, those who can touch should be unmarried persons (both male and female) and should be of good moral character. The other significant aspect of the Shlur is related to the deceased members of the lineage. Deceased members of the lineage are brought from their natal residence for the performance of the final rituals before cremation. This is carried out only in the case of those deceased members of the lineage who uphold and practice the indigenous faith in their lifetime. In the case of those members of the lineage who have changed their faith to another religion their bodies are not brought to Ka Ïing Blei. Their final ritual or religious ceremony will be conducted in accordance with the religion they have followed.

Matrilineal Clans and the ‘Sacred Things’ On the aspect of preserving, protecting and continuing of the sacred site it is the responsibility of the matrilineal clans. It was observed that in Jowai there are more than one Ïing Blei in the Chnong (village or localities) and they belonged to some of the matrilineal clans; and one of the Ïing Blei is belongs to the Paswet clan. This chapter focuses on the sacred site of the Paswet clan. According to oral narratives the Paswet clan descended from four founding ancestresses. These founding ancestresses were four sisters by the name Ka Bon, Ka TeiÃn, Ka Wet, and Ka Doh; and the four sisters are referred to as Ki soo-kpoh, meaning four lineages. Over generations the four lineages formed into four clans; and out of the four clans and through the process of fusion and fission of domestic groups and lineages formed a number of sister clans (Table 21.1). The descendants of Ki soo-kpoh have a distinct position and role in the religious festival of Ka Beh DeiÃnkhlam, the word Beh denotes

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TABLE 21.1: DISTRIBUTION OF FOUR CLANS AND SISTER CLANS

Four Clans

Sister Clans

Ka Bon

Pasubon, Lipon and Ryngad

Ka TeiÃn

PakyntieÃn, Nikhla and War

Ka Wet

Paswet, Lakiang, Seinphoh, Ã LeiÃnphoh, Niangphoh, Lanong, Mutyen, Kma, Kynjin, Katphoh, Liwait and Litan

Ka Doh

Langdoh, Syngkon, Siangbood and Nangbah

Sources: Laloo, 2010: 59; Lyngdoh, 1991.

‘to drive away’ or ‘to chase away’; DeiÃn denotes a stick and khlam denotes plague. Combining the three words connotes a religious festival related with the driving away of pestilence, and invoking the supernatural for good health and prosperity. The Paswet clan traces its origin through these common ances­ tresses. Over generations the continuity of customary beliefs and practices including rites descended on the lineage of Ka Wet. According to the eldest mother’s brother of the lineage, ‘It was our ancestors who came and settled in this patch of land and formed the village of Jowai’. The great grandchildren of the lineage of Ka Wet has continued to uphold, protect and preserve the sacred site till today. The sacred site is kept in accordance with the customary beliefs and practices of the clan and the religious norms of the indigenous faith. With regard to the performance or conducting of rituals, it is the eldest mother’s brothers from the lineage who is the legitimate head to conduct or to perform rituals concerning any matters of the lineage. It is a kind of ritual authority that is given to the mother’s brother. In local conversations, the sacred site is commonly referred to as Ka Ïing Blei of the Paswet clan, however, it does not mean that the whole clan is in anyway involved in the affairs of the sacred site or con­ trolling it. The ownership and continuity of the customary beliefs and practices related with the sacred site is with one of the lineages within the Paswet clan. Another important aspect that should be noted is the position and status of the Paswet clan in the Doloiship of Jowai. The clan has a distinct politico-ritual status because it is

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one of the founding clans of the Doloiship of Jowai. Doloiship in physical sense is a territory of a cluster of villages and socially it is a traditional political unit. It is also a political unit intertwined with religion and in particular with the annual religious festival Ka Beh DeiÃnkhlam. During the course of the discussion, members of the lineage informed that the first Doloi (representative head) of Jowai Doloiship was from the Paswet clan, and his remains are kept in the sacred site. Coming back to the discussion, the sacred site and Ka Beh DeiÃnkhlam are connected with the process of rituals. After the completion of four days and three nights of the Ka Beh DeiÃnkhlam, another ritual is followed and is called Bam Tyngkong. According to Lyngdoh (1991: 114), the ceremony takes place on the fourth day or Muchai is the last day of the religious festival. On this day, elders related with the performance of the religious ceremony including other elders will congregate in the morning to perform the Bam Tyngkong at the sacred site. After the completion of the ceremony and in accordance with the customary beliefs and practices, the youth of the locality of Ïongpiah will come dancing and joyfully shouting to the sacred site for the ceremony of Kynting Khnong, meaning ‘to throw the wooden pole’ as a mark of respect for the founding domestic groups of Jowai. In accordance with the practice, the elders of Jowai Doloiship who attended the ceremony in the sacred site are served pynnah (i.e. rice beer made especially for this particular ceremony) and betelnut. The offering of these two kinds of food items is consid­ ered very important because it is a symbol of giving thanks to the supernatural, it is an act of propitiation, it is praying for blessings from the supernatural for bountiful prosperity and good health throughout the coming seasons. When Bam Tyngkong ceremony is completed it is followed by Ka Sympat Ïing meaning the beating by a stick on the roof of the house. This is done to chase away any evil spirits that may causes harm to the dwellers of the house, to thank the supernatural and to seek his blessings for the coming seasons. It can be argued that both at the level of the clan and society the sacred site has a distinct importance in the sacred world of Niam Tre. It is in this house and through this house sanctified by custom­

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ary beliefs and practices including some of the important religious rituals or ceremonies are conducted. Over generations the rituals have been conducted to worship and to propitiate the supernatural. It is in this house that the eldest living mother’s brother performs the rituals of the rite-of-passage for the living and deceased mem­ bers of the lineage; and it is in this house that the ritual related with the completion of the indigenous religious festival Ka Beh DeiÃnkhlam of Jowai Doloiship is legitimized or the completion of ritual legitimization is performed. It is a very elaborate religious festival because there are a number of religious rituals to be per­ formed on different days. According to Lyngdoh (1991: 71), Pnar people who continue to uphold and follow the Niam Tre ‘observe this festival to free themselves from various diseases and other evils that plagued the human life, and to invoke God’s blessings for bountiful harvest, and well-being of the people on the whole, so that they could live happily throughout the year.’

Social Meanings and Significance It can be argued that all known religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, indigenous faith, etc., have different kinds of expressions to ‘sacred things’ or the supernatural. ‘Sacred things’ can be categorized into two broad sets: the first set is invisible and intangible; and the second set is visible and tangible existing in various forms, shapes and sizes such as temple, mosque, monolith, statue, etc. First, the latter is the overt presence and expression of the supernatural in the physical form; and also carrying the invisible and intangible religious ideas, beliefs, values and practices. Second, the physical presence of sacred objects serves the purpose of conducting rituals or religious ceremonies to the supernatural. Together they constitute and can be called the ‘ritual-frame’. The ritual-frame serves the religious purposes of the followers. Followers can show their reverence in different ways such as bowing of head, kneeling down, removing slippers or shoes or singing, etc. Lastly, the ritual-frame is another way of providing followers as a collective the common religious connection with the supernatural; and to the individual followers the personal connection with the

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supernatural. In this sense, the sacred site is a ritual-frame because it is an embodiment of both the invisible and intangible, and the visible and the tangible. It should be pointed out that ‘sacred things’ that are visible and tangible in any particular form, shape and size may be products or materials of everyday life but ceases to be normal objects or items through the process of religious consecration and get converted into the sacred. Thus, such consecrated material objects or items of the everyday life are no longer profane. With regard to the shape of the physical object like for example the architectural design and items to be used for the construction of the sacred site, it is guided by the religious doctrine of the particular religion. In the case of indigenous faith the customary beliefs and practices dictates and the sacred site is one such example. It showed that the ritualframe of ‘sacred things’ is taken into account. On the basis of the description one can elaborate that in the social world the distinction between houses is maintained, that is, normal house for residential purposes representing the profane versus the sacred site which is part of ‘sacred things’. Thus, members of the lineage would sepa­ rate such houses into two broad types: the mother’s house vis-à-vis the sacred site of the mother’s lineage. In general, this separation is observed among the followers of various religions such as temples for Hindus, mosques for Muslims, churches for Christians, etc. Coming to another aspect, ‘sacred things’ in the form of ritualframe have also different kinds of ritual status. Ritual status here means the ritual ranking among ‘sacred things’. Some ‘sacred things’ may stand above or below ‘other sacred things’. The example of the sacred site of the Paswet clan stands at the top among other sacred sites of other matrilineal clans in the context of the religious festival. Another example, the sacred site is a place to conduct vari­ ous kinds of rituals such as for the deceased members of the lineage in the final journey to join their ancestors. Without the ritual con­ ducted in the sacred site the deceased member may not be able to move to the ‘other world’ of the ancestor and the supernatural. The ritual conducted in the sacred site transfigures the deceased member without any kind of obstruction to the ‘other world’. The ritual also serves as the continuous connection between the living

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members of the lineage, the deceased member and all deceased ancestors. It can be added that the ritual status of the sacred site is because it intertwines with the lineage rituals and rituals of the religious fes­ tival. The sacred site is one of the important ‘sacred things’ in the religious festival. Without completing the ritual in the sacred site, the festival is incomplete. Incompletion of the ritual at the sacred site is not an option but a necessity. It is also linked to the series of religious rituals related with the chains of religious events. In this ritual sense, the ritual status of the sacred site is functionally significant both at the lineage level and societal level. Thus, ‘sacred things’ like the sacred site has a distinct ritual status in society. Lastly, material objects or items of the natural world get con­ verted and transformed into ‘sacred things’ or something formed in the physical form or shape may assume the identity of sacred objects on the basis of religious attachment, meanings and signifi­ cance given to them by society. However, ‘sacred things’ do not exist in a state of perpetual permanence. They continue to be ‘sacred things’ as long as they have the ritual-frame and the ritual status. Thus, continual existence of ‘sacred things’ is directly related with the continuity of religious beliefs or with the continuity of custom­ ary beliefs and practices.

Conclusion ‘Sacred things’ is connected with religious beliefs or with customary beliefs and practice; and have a ritual-frame and ritual status. The religious connection between the followers and ‘sacred things’ are rituals; and through ‘sacred things’ the followers are connected to the supernatural. At the societal level, the distinction between ‘sacred things’ and profane is maintained by followers. ‘Sacred things’ are never in a state of permanence and may continue to exist and act as the ritual-frame on the basis of continued religious consecration. Lastly, it seems that ‘sacred things’ do have meaning and significance to human societies.

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Acknowledgements I am grateful and acknowledge that the information in this paper is the contribution of U Ma. S.R. Paswet, the eldest uncle of the lineage and other members of the clan. Without his assistance and permission it will not be possible to share with others. The effort in being able to account this short and brief write-up is also the contribution of the following individuals and members of the Marchaphrang Development Society of Jowai: SeiÃnmiki Laloo, Terence Sawian, Baldestar Kharkamni, Riang Lanong, Welson Dkhar, Orilan Shylla and Sonny Pariat.

NOTE 1. A group of people who habitually share a common dwelling and common supply of food (Goody, 1958); and it ‘provides material and cultural resources needed to maintain and bring up its members’ (Yanagisako, 1979).

REFERENCES Durkheim, E. 1965 [1915]. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. New York: The Free Press. Eliade, M. 1956. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. New York: Harvesy Book. Goody, J. 1958. The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Johnson, H.M. 1960. Sociology: A Systematic Introduction. New Delhi: Allied Publishers. Khyriemmujat, S. 2013. ‘A Sociological Study of Ka Niam Khasi’. PhD thesis, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Laloo, B. 2010. ‘Sacred Persons: Tribal Priests of North-East India’. Shillong: DBCIC Publications. Lyngdoh, M.P.R. 1991. The Festivals in the History and Culture of the Khasi. New Delhi: Har Anand. Morrison, K. 1995. Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought. Sage: London. Nongkynrih, A.K. 2001. ‘Ka Shnong: The Microcosm of Hynniewtrep Society’. Indian Horizons, 48 (3): 120-52.

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____ 2012. Tribes and Their Environment: A Sociological Interpretation. Oriens Journal, 3: 42-60. Parsons, T. 1922. ‘Introduction’, in M. Weber, Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, xxix-lxxvii. Prokop, P. and I. Suliga. 2013. ‘Two Thousand Years of Iron smelting in the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, North East India’. Current Science, 6: 761-8. Smelser, N.J. 1993. Sociology. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. 4th edn. Yanagisako, S.J. 1979. ‘Family and Household: The Analysis of Domestic Group’. Annual Review of Anthropology, 8: 161-205.

CHAPTER 22

Women and Clay

A Study of the Craft of Pot Making

among the Garos

Queenbala Marak

Traditional societies, rather than being egalitarian, have clearcut distinctions in terms of roles and duties assigned to men and women. The manufacture and perpetuation of folk and traditional crafts are also seen to be highly gendered. These are items that are used in everyday life (or had been used once in the past), manufactured mainly by hand, by using a traditional technique or skill, made from traditional or locally available materials and manufactured in a certain specific region. Many of these objects are only intended to be used for a short time, such as those created for rituals and festivals, while others may become heirlooms that are passed from generation to generation. The skills involved in creating craft objects vary as the items themselves. This chapter discusses one such traditional craft, i.e. the dying art of pottery of the Garos – which is found to be predominantly a woman’s craft. Pottery is the art or craft of a potter or the manufacture of pot­ tery (Rado, 1988). It is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures, which removes all the water from the clay, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape. Pottery first appeared just before 6000 BC at early agricultural settlements in southwestern Asia such as Catalhoyuk, Jarmo and Jericho (Moore, 1985). In Japan it

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was first made by hunter-gatherers of the Jomon culture around 8000 BC (Akazawa & Aikens, 1986). The invention of pottery coin­ cided with the beginnings of more lasting settlement. The first clay vessels were probably used for domestic purposes: for cooking, car­ rying water, and storing food. They soon assumed more specialized roles in salt making, in ceremonial activities, and as oil lamps, and burial urns (Fagan, 2001). In the context of Garo Hills, presumably, pottery must have been used in the prehistoric past – as witnessed from the archaeological finds from different localities. Anthropologist Roy attest it to the Neolithic times from sherds found in Selbalgre (Roy, 2004), while my own work in Misimagre reveals an early stage of Neolithic cul­ ture (Marak et al., 2017). A recent OSL dating procured by Sharma and Singh (2017) gives a date of 2.3±0.2ka from sherds collected from Gawak abri. This date conveniently pushes the date of pottery usage in Garo Hills to 2,000 years BP. This gives an indication of the usage of pottery (in abundance) in the past. This past-present continuum is clearly revealed in my earlier work (Marak, 2018), and in the comparative analysis that has been done between pots of prehistory and the present (Marak et al., 2017). It is unfortunate that the once-oft used craft is rarely to be seen in the present day, and can be considered endangered. What the Deputy Commis­ sioner of Garo Hills during colonial times, Major Playfair, said in 1909 therefore appears to be foreboding in this context. He noted: ‘The cooking-pots [of the Garos] are always earthenware, and are purchased from traders in the plains. A few of the Garo women can make them for themselves, but they rarely take the trouble to do so’ (Playfair 1975 [1909]: 41). This lethargy in the face of competition and market economy seemed to have dealt a death knell to this once flourishing women’s craft.

The Art of Pot Making Today, there are only a handful of villages where an even lesser number of women make pots. Mention may be made of the villages in Siju area in South Garo Hills, as well as adjoining villages such as

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Nengkong, Asakgre and Gongjagre. Siju appears to be the ‘nuclear area’1 from whence the art and craft possibly spread to other parts of the hill region in the past. One interesting Atong folk tale gives credence to Siju being an ancient pot-making centre as well (Marak, 2018). In the long past, a group of women went to collect clay for making pots. As they were deep inside the ground from where they were digging for raw material, a huge rock rolled down the hill and blocked the entrance to the hole. The women panicked, cried and called out to their husbands and family for help. The villagers, hearing the panicked shouts and calls for help came to investigate the matter and found that the women were stuck under the stone. Instead of trying to remove the stone, the husbands called out to their wives, saying: ‘we are fine, do not worry about us’. So saying, they left the poor women to their fate.

Hand-made Mould Method

There are usually three methods of pot making – (a) Coil method,

(b) Mould method, and (c) Potter’s wheel method. The traditional method of making pots in Garo Hills is the mould method, in which the vessel is made from a lump of clay that is either pressed into a concave mould or placed over the top of a convex shape. Moulding techniques are used to make large numbers of vessels of the same size and shape. Raw Material: Clay (or sticky soil) is the only raw material required in the making of a pot. The preferred clay is a∙dikka or dikka and is not found at all places. The knowledge of the locations where it is found is passed on generation to generation orally. At the clay quarry, the topsoil is not used. The soil from about 2 feet below the surface is considered to be of good quality. Since the soil is collected from deep inside the earth, the clay quarry looks like a rat-hole mining. The clay that is dug out is left to dry in the sun for days till it dries up completely. This clay is then broken up into small pieces to allow its preparation for pot making. Required Tools: Tools used are comparatively simple, and com­ prise of commonly used domestic items.

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1. Mortar and pestle – This is used for pounding dry clay into fine pounder. 2. Bamboo sieves – These are required to sieve the powdered clay into finer grains. 3. Different sizes of diplak (beater), turs (small ladle), ro∙ong (peb­ ble, used as anvil), sui seeds (used as polisher), old mats and old pieces of cloths. 4. Old pots as moulds – Since the method of making pots is the mould method, old pots to be used as a base. Stages in Pot Making: In the following, the steps in the making of a pot are given briefly (Figure 22.1) (For details see Marak, 2018). 1. Preparation of Clay: The dried clay is freed from impurities, and pounded to get fine powder. This is passed through a bamboo sieve to get a finer powder. This powder is mixed with water and kneaded to an elasticity that the potter wants. 2. Fabrication I: A lump of clay is patted flat. It is then placed on a flat surface (mat or a bamboo sieve), and using fingers the edges are spread out. Care is taken so that the layer of clay being spread out is as even as possible. The spread-out clay is then placed over the mould, patted and edges smoothed out. This is then left to dry for approximately 6 hours. 3. Fabrication II: When the clay (on the mould) is semi-dry, a beater is used to lightly beat all over the outer surface till a smooth surface is procured. After a few hours, the clay is taken out of the mould, and with a beater and polisher, the walls are smooth, thinner and consistent. If the pot requires a neck or a rim, this is the stage when it is added. The smoothened pot is left to dry to a leather hard condition overnight. 4. Polishing: Once the pots are in a leather-hard condition, they are polished with a sui seed till it gets a sheen on the surface. This job can be relegated to new potters, even to children. Once the pots have been polished, they are kept aside for some more time. 5. Pre-firing Stage: The polished pots are next pre-fired or smoked in order to remove all moisture. Usually, the pots are kept in the kitchen over or near the fireplace for days altogether so that it slowly gets dried and smoked.

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Source: Author. Figure 22.1: Stages in Pot Making From top left: (a) Clay is manually spread out, (b) Flattened clay is placed over a mould, (c) A semi-dry pot is smoothened with a beater, (d) Adding a neck to the pot, (e) Polishing a pot with sui seed, and (f) Pots fired in the open.

6. Open Firing: This is the final stage in the pot-making process. Firing brings in a chemical change in the clay so that it becomes durable. Firing takes place in an open area. Once cool, they are cleaned with dry grass stalks. After firing, the pots acquire a

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reddish tint even though no slip or colour is applied. The pot is now ready to be used.

Types of Pots Pottery can be of different shapes and sizes – from huge storage jars to tiny miniature cups – and of varied functions. A brief outline is given below on the different types of pottery (Figure 22.2) (for details see Marak, 2018). Morphological Types: These include the following basic types: 1. Open-mouthed pot: These pots look like bowls. Some of the small sized pots in this category range from 5-7 cm in diameter, while the largest ones can be over 1m. These pots have an open mouth and possess a rim, but do not have a neck. These pots usually

Source: Author Figure 22.2: Types of pottery From top left: (a) Open-mouthed pot (samdik), (b) Rice beer pots (chu dikka) and (c) Pots with neck (medik).

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have a rounded base; such that they do not stand firm, and remain tilted when kept standing. Again, depending on the rim, these pots can be divided into three types: (a) Pots with a splayed rim, (b) Pots with a pronounced rim, and (iii) Pots with a thin rim. A generic term samdik (sam = curry, dikka = pot; i.e. a curry pot) is used for these pots, even though specific names exist for different sizes. 2. Pots with neck: These pots are of various sizes – however all of them have a neck. Again, depending on the neck, these can be divided into two groups – (i) Pot with splayed out rim and long neck, and (ii) Pot with less moderate neck with body bulging out. These pots are referred to as medik (mi = rice, dikka = pot; i.e. rice cooking pots). Just like the samdik, these pots also have specific names based on size. 3. Amphorae: These are thick and heavy pots with constricted neck and short flared out thickened rim. The body is slightly rounded and supported by a ring made of bamboo. The pot is also enclosed by a bamboo net to retain weight. These pots are usu­ ally called chu dikka (chu = rice beer, dikka = pot), or just dikka. The amphora-type pots can also range in sizes from around 50 cm in height to up to 2 m in height. 4. Miscellaneous types: These are usually new types of pots meant as decorative items or for other uses. These usually do not conform to a specific type of shape, and depends on the potters’ creativity and the consumers’ demand. Functional Type: The types of pots on the basis of function can be discussed as given. 1. Utilitarian Pots: These pots are all used for domestic purposes. Depending on the purpose, these can be grouped as under: (a) Cooking Pots – These can be classified as (i) Medik – As the name suggests, this pot with the neck, is the rice pot, (ii) Samdik – This open-mouthed pot is the curry pot, (iii) Minil medik – This is a steamer where not only minil (a variety of sticky rice, considered a delicacy) is steamed, but also other delicacies like rice cakes, root crops, tubers, fish etc.

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(b) Storing Pots – These can be – (i) Water storing pots, (ii) Grains storing pots (such as the rongdik), and (iii) Seeds storing pots. 2. Ceremonial Pots: Extremely large-sized pots are used during ceremonial occasions. These pots are used on special occasions like birth, marriage, or death ceremonies for communal cooking since the size of these pots are large and can accommodate more food. Large open-mouthed pots like matchamdik and sangkho are used for cooking curry for a large gathering. On the other hand, larger pots with neck (medik) are used to cook rice in the same large gatherings. 3. Sacred Pots: The amphora-type pots called dikka are used as rice-beer pots. Originally, rice-beer was prepared for different rituals. This is considered sacred since it is offered to the gods and spirits in each and every ritual, before it is consumed by men and women. In bygone days, the sacred drum called dimdima also used a pot-base (Marak, 2017). This was a drum that was used only for ritual purposes, and only a select few could touch and play it. It was believed that powerful spirits resided in these drums, and therefore, only the nokma (the chieftain) could own one and keep it in his house. 4. Miscellaneous Functions – Items for decorative purposes are modern innovations. These items are prepared on the basis of demand or personal orders. Some of the commonly made items include models of dikka, ash trays, cups, bowls, plates, mugs, piggy banks, candle stands, kerosene lamps, etc.

Women and Clay Garos are traditionally subsistence agriculturists practicing jhum cultivation with simple tools. Division of labour is strongly seen to follow gender lines. There are specific roles meant for men and women both in the domestic front as well as in public. In the fields, men do the heavy-duty work of clearing forests and setting fire to them, while women sow seeds, weed, and harvest. Men hunt, wherever possible, for big game, and lay traps; while women fish and keep chickens and pigs. Besides these, Garo women primarily keep

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house, care for children, cook and serve food, and collect firewood and water. Men are in charge of decision-making, ritual activities, kinship organization as well as village administration. Traditional crafts are in the hands of men – house building, basketry, wood carving, tools and weapons, ritual crafts and musical instruments; while the only crafts in the hands of women are pottery and weaving. Judith Brown’s (1970) ‘feminine advantage’ theory to some extent explains this structure in work in a traditionally subsistence people. She says: Women are more likely to make a substantial contribution where subsistence activities have the following characteristics: the participant is not obliged to be far from home, the tasks are relatively monotonous and do not require rapt concentration, and the work is not dangerous, can be performed in spite of interruptions and is easily resumed once interrupted (p. 1074).

However, the andocentric gendering of roles in a matrilineal society like the Garos is highly revealing of the social situation. Potters are women. From a socio-cultural point of view, it is clear that gender roles being highly structured, only women made pots, and the art was passed from mother to daughter.2 It is likely that in the process of socialization over centuries, it might have become a taboo for men to not only make pots, but to even dig or come into contact with clay. This statement might give a clue as to why in the tragic tale of the Siju women, the men did not rescue them. Not only could it have been due to a socio-religious sanction on men (in the form of a taboo), but also the belief in malevolent spirits who devour the overbearing and irreverent. In this context, when the tale was first narrated to me, I was intrigued as to why the men did not help the trapped women, and when I enquired (as a reac­ tion), one of the men-listeners commented: ‘Oh, the mite (spirit) took them. They became proud because of their fame, and so the mite took them’. From an economic point of view, this craft was important to the women. With the money received (in kind), they could sustain their families. Most importantly they had readily available pots in which to cook for their families. At this point of time, it is difficult to conjecture whether the Siju women became

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expert potters and achieved regional fame in the past – even though archaeological pottery found in different parts of Garo Hills appear to be similar to the ones manufactured by Siju women (Marak et al., 2017; Marak, 2018). The craft of pottery being relegated to women might have been considered a ‘low craft’ as opposed to men’s ‘high craft’. In this situation, the case of Achiksong, a Garo village, undergoing change, from Assam can be looked at (Marak, 2014). A century ago, all inhabitants followed jhum cultivation, with a few slowly taking up wet paddy cultivation with the plough. As difference in produce became apparent, many families started putting in their labour for wet paddy cultivation, leaving behind a small token of land for jhum. In the 1970s, with the introduction of cash crops much of the fallow jhum land now became permanent farms for areca nut, pep­ per, cashew nut, orange, etc. In this changed situation the gender roles were highly revealing. Earlier in jhum fields, men slashed the forests and burned them, while women sowed the seeds and weeded them. In Achiksong, women today undertake jhum in their token fields (with men occasionally and rarely helping them), while in wet paddy cultivation it is men who take the major role (with women helping in transplantation and weeding). The permanent cash crop farms are solely in the hands of men. This change in the socio­ economic life can be seen in the following manner: ‘… when the invention of a new artifact or process supplants an older and simpler one, such activity tends to be assigned to men’ (p. 173). Therefore, in Achiksong, the prestigious wet paddy is in the hands of men, as well as the high yielding cash crops; while the low-yielding old system of jhum is relegated to women. This ‘low’ versus ‘high’ craft can be explained through the ‘private-public dichotomy’ that exist in Achiksong – where women matter in the private domain, i.e. domestic front, while men matter in the public arena. Similarly, pottery is a domestic craft (in that it is made at home and used at home), in comparison to men’s craft which are considered beyond the domestic realm, and thus acquires power and prestige. While discussing pottery traditions in the Sardis region of Africa, Crane (1988) talks about two traditions – one employing the kick wheel and vertical (two chambered, updraft) kiln, and

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the other turn-table and open firing. The former (considered an advanced tradition) is passed down from fathers to sons, and the latter passed from mother to daughter. This dichotomy in male and female pottery in connection to technology is clearly visible in many other works (Kopytaff, 2005; Berns, 1993). A simple com­ parison (without looking into the ethno-history) between Hira and Kumar potters of Assam also reveals the same – that with a higher technology the work gets relegated to men. Thus, the Hira women potters are seen to make hand-made pottery, while the Kumar are male potters who mass produce on the wheel. Unlike the Hira and Kumar who are pot-making caste groups, the Garos do have any clans or sub-groups specializing in pot-making. Additionally, the tradition is only one – hand-made mould pottery. Nevertheless, it is clear that with advancement in new technology or process, change in the socio-cultural aspects of pottery traditions of the Garos might have occurred. We conducted a workshop for potters in 2014 in collaboration with District Museum, Tura, which can be looked at as a case in point. Potters from three villages/localities participated in the workshop – Dobagre (a village in Siju, South Garo Hills), Dobetkol­ gre Terresgittim (a locality in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills), and Matchakolgre (a locality in Tura, West Garo Hills). Two interesting observations were witnessed. First, the status of Siju as a ‘nuclear area’ of pottery, finds credence when we analyse the life histories of the potters. The first group of potters were from Dobagre (which is located in Siju), and though born in the same village were related not by blood but through affinal ties. Those from Dobetkolgre were a part of a Self-Help Group in which they learnt the art of pot-making from a lady who was originally from Siju. She not only taught the Dobetkolgre women how to make pots, but also experi­ mented with different types of clay in the vicinity. Having failed in creating desirable pots (from the local clay), she has gone back to her birthplace, i.e. Siju for raw material procurement. The potter from Matchakolgre spent her childhood in Siju, and learnt it from her grandmother. Interestingly all their pot-making techniques were the same. Second, the women stuck to the tried, tested, and commonly used pottery types – variations of the medik and samdik;

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while the male potters (who were novices) did not follow the stages of pot-making, and preferred to make pots that were not traditional in nature, i.e. decorative items. In terms of public popularity at the workshop, the domestic pots were sold out; however, there was a high demand for decorative items like ash trays, bowls, piggy banks, etc. It is therefore likely that with commercialization, the dying craft can be revived to some extent. However, commercialization might also bring a change in the socio-cultural parameters, where the women’s craft might no longer be theirs.

Conclusion Traditional craftsmanship, with traditional wisdom and know-how, around the world, is a dying art. Among Garos, the art of pottery is rarely seen today, and the craft is known only to a few. Women conduct the whole process from digging and transporting clay (to their villages), to kneading, fabricating and firing. Raw material procurement is extremely strenuous taking much time and energy, and virtually negating Brown’s ‘feminine advantage’, possibly being the sole reason for the endangerment of this craft. Traditionally, it was a utilitarian craft, used for cooking and storing, reflecting its close connect to women and their expected roles. Today it continues to be utilitarian in the few pockets where it is made, but commercialization (on a moderate level) seemed to have had an impact to some extent. The uniqueness of Garo pottery, i.e. the specific technique applied – such as the use of adikka soil, absence of tempering mate­ rial, method of using mould, beating and polishing techniques, and absence of decorations – appear to be defining characteristics. Thus, for a pot to work, Garo women take extreme care in the procure­ ment of the ‘correct’ clay, the ratio of water to clay, its kneading, the various stages of drying, as well as the known methods of smok­ ing before the final firing. This traditional knowledge system, as a cultural repository, likely continued through generations of women potters.

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NOTES 1. In another publication, I refer to Siju as the ‘nuclear area’ of pottery in Garo Hills (Marak, 2019). By this, I refer to the importance of Siju, not only for the propitiation of the craft of pots, but also to the lore surrounding it. It is believed by potters from other areas that only a∙dikka from Siju can be used to make ‘perfect’ pots. This belief appears to be the reason why potters from places as far as Williamnagar in East Garo Hills, approx. 70 km away, collect a∙dikka clay from Siju for the craft. 2. Since Garos are matrilineal, it is likely that the art of making pots will pass on from women to women within the matrilineage – from mothers, aunts, and grandmothers. However, from interviews it was revealed that the knowledge of making pots by the present women potters was learnt from elderly women of different matrilineages – and not necessarily their own – but from the same village. Women from other villages were reluctant to teach the art, unless they were related through kinship. This indicates that Garos did not have any specific clans or village that has or had monopoly over the craft. Some potters might have been experts, but it is unlikely that there would be specialised class of potters among them (Marak, 2018).

REFERENCES Akazawa, T. and C.M. Aikens. 1986. Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers in Japan. Tokyo: University Museum, Bulletin 27. Berns, M.C. 1993. ‘Art, History and Gender: Women and Clay in West Africa’. The African Archaeological Review, 11: 129-48. Brown, J.K. 1970. ‘A Note on the division of Labor by Sex’. American Anthropologist, 72 (5): 1073-8. Crane, H. 1988. ‘Traditional Pottery making in the Sardis region of Wetsren Turkey’. Muqarnas, 5: 9-20. Fagan, B.M. 2001. In the Beginning. NJ: Prentice-Hall. Kopytoff, I. 2005. ‘Women’s Roles and Existential Identities’, in O. Oyewumi (ed.), African Gender Studies: A Reader, New York: Palgrave, pp. 127­ 440. Marak, Q. 2014. Food Politics: Studying Food, Identity and Difference among the Garos. Newcastle: CSP. _____. 2017. ‘The Garo Drums: Types, Functions and Traditional Craftsmanship’, in S.K. Chaudhuri (ed.), Peoples Art of Northeast India. New Delhi: Aryan Books, 11-25. _____. 2019. ‘Pottery Technology in Garo Hills: An Ethnoarchaeological Interpretation’, in N.Y. Modwel & S. Sarkar (eds.), Oral Traditions,

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Continuities and Cultures in Northeast India and Beyond. New Delhi: INTACH. Marak, Q., G. Bhuyan, A.M. Meitei & T. Sangma. 2017. Misimagre: A Prehistoric Factory Site from Garo Hills. New Delhi: RIP. Moore, A.M.T. 1985. ‘Neolithic Societies in the Near East’. Advances in World Prehistory, 4: 1-69. Playfair, A. 1975 [1909]. The Garos. Guwahati: Spectrum. Rado, P. 1988. An Introduction to the Technology of Pottery. Oxford: Institute of Ceramics & Pergamon Press. Roy, S.K. 2004. Ceramics of Northeast India: Ethnoarchaeological Perspective. Delhi/Itanagar: Himalayan Publication. Sharma, S. and P. Singh. 2017. ‘Luminescence Dating of Neolithic Pottery in North East India’. Current Science, 113 (3): 492-6.

CHAPTER 23

Khasi Music with Special Reference to

Rare Instruments

Baladiang H.H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling

Introduction Music lives and breathes inside each and every one of us. It is heard in nature and conveyed to us through the various sounds by which it creates. Since times immemorial, humans have found a way to express their joys and sorrows by making different sounds through various instruments and portraying it to the masses. It plays a major role in the lives of the people and served as an outbreak of their thoughts and feelings. Music expresses deep emotions and strikes a chord with everyone. It has been an important part of human evolution since time immemorial. The best thing about music is that it not only evokes emotions in the performer of the music but it equally affects the listener too. The Khasis have always loved dances, music and songs. The hills, deep valleys and fields of rice are filled by songs sung by the men and women and whistling tunes of young men working in the fields. Boys tending cattle and sheep sing and blow on their pipes and flutes filling the air with music. The sweet and melodious voices of the people can be heard in different places throughout town, in social and cultural functions. The Khasis, just like any other tribal groups have been using music as a form of expression to convey feelings of festivity, joy, thanksgiving, hope, togetherness, despair, loss, etc. They use music

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during thanksgiving rituals and other traditional festivities, as a leisure activity or hobby where the songs are mostly in praise of the beauty of nature like lakes, waterfalls, hills, etc., and also expressing love for their land and also to celebrate the stages of a human life. The Khasis express their music through tunes, beats and the use of various traditional musical instruments like the male drum (ksing shynrang), female drum (ksing kynthei), the traditional wind­ pipe (tangmuri) and many other instruments. The growth of Khasi music is considered to be as old and antique as the race itself. M.P.R. Lyngdoh (1991) observes that for the Khasi music is an art. Unlike other arts, music can easily be understood and appreci­ ated by all people. The young and the old, the educated and the uneducated, the white and the colored people can freely understand the language of music. Music is the best international language through which all people of the world can communicate their ideas or get those ideas communicated to all parts of the world. According to Lapynshai Syiem (2005, 2010), Khasi traditional music is highly systematic, disciplined and conventional. It is that type of music which is handed down from generation to generation through learning, repetitive practices and constant involvement of the performer with the art as well as the music. It is part and parcel of the tradition of the society. What is most important is that Khasi traditional music is unwritten, yet it is an organized form of music. Musical instruments are a form of material culture that played a key role in identifying the culture of an ethnic group. Studying these musical instruments, their use, their significance and classi­ fication gives us an insight on the culture of the group of people and their identity as a whole. Musical instruments are the concrete symbols of the society’s philosophy and tradition. An important facet of Khasi traditional music is the musical instruments that are employed for the production of tunes, sounds and the melodious rhythmic and harmonic patterns. As in most tribal communities, most of the Khasi musical instruments are made from bamboo products and other wood products, animal skins and leather, reeds and brass. In this chapter, the Khasi musi­ cal instruments are discussed, with a special focus on endangered instruments.

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Musical Instruments of the Khasis From ancient times, the Khasis have their own indigenous musical instruments and it can be said that they have always portrayed the sociocultural aspect, the polity as well as the religious beliefs and practices. From them we learn how a society has undergone a process of formation and transformation, how the society functions and the roles the men and women play in that society. A musical instrument fills the void and creates an atmosphere of sounds and harmonies that transmits the emotion of humans from the abstract to the concrete and from the spiritual to the material. The instrument maker then plays a role which is essential in bridging the gap between the emotions of the musician and the musical instrument used. He expresses tradition, the people and their way of life through the instruments he makes. The Khasi musical instruments have had a continuous connection with the legends or myths and also to the religious beliefs of the people. The Instruments The various musical instruments of the Khasis consist of different kinds of drums, pipes, harps and cymbals. They have their own styles of folk songs which include thanksgiving, ballads, chants, laments, dance, music and others. The musical instruments are used as accompaniments in songs, traditional dances and religious performances and other festivals as well. The different types of instruments can be classified as under: (1) Membrane instruments or Membranophones A. Ka Bom B. Ka Ksing Shynrang C. Ka Ksing Kynthei D. Ka Ksing Padiah (2) String instruments or Chordophones A. Ka Duitara Ka B. Maryngod C. Ka Marynthing

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(3) Reed instruments A. Ka Dymphong B. Ka Sing Phong (4) Brass instruments or Idiophones A. Ka Kynshaw B. Shakuriaw (5) Wind instruments or Aerophones A. Ka Besli B. Ka Tangmuri C. Ka Mieng D. Ka Tanglod E. Ka Sharati F. Ka Shawiang G. Ka Put Sla Membrane instruments (drums) are mainly made out of the hide of an animal. The membrane covers one or both ends of the drum.

Source: Baladiang H.H. Hadem. Figure 23.1: Khasi drums From top left: (a) Ka Bom, (b) Ka Ksing Shynrang, (c) Ka Ksing Kynthei and (d) Ka Ksing Padiah

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The pieces of wood used as raw material is usually from the dieng sophan (jackfruit tree) and sometimes from dieng kseh (pine tree). The trunk of the jack fruit tree is usually cut during the tenth or eleventh month (i.e. October and November), being a dry season thereby ensuring no insurgence of pests. The threads used for tying the hide to the drum are known as bthet which is made of cow’s skin. Tuning of the drum is done by pulling or adjusting the bthet with small sticks inserted inside them called ki dieng patha. Two circles encompassing the hide on the top and lower surfaces are called ki syrwiang baheh and ki syrwiang barit, respectively and these are woven by using u thri or ri bah (cane). These instruments provide the rhythm and also serve as percussion in giving tonal beauty to the beat. Ka bom is the big, standing drum. Two sticks are used for beating this drum at the top. This drum is used for dancing purposes; it also serves as a calling drum for the people of the vil­ lage to rally in times of war and other emergencies. Ka ksing bom (ksing nakra) are used together with the big drum in male dance. Since this drum is played only by males, it is also called as ka ksing shynrang. As the name ka ksing kythei suggests, is a drum played only by the females. Ka ksing padiah is a small type of drum used for playing at home or for female dance beats. Two long flat sticks made of bamboo are used to play this drum. This drum is usually played along with the female drum in the dancing arena. Wind Instruments are mostly made either of reeds or bamboo. Ka besli (flute) is popularly used for accompaniment in folk music. It is one of the popularly used instruments amongst cowherds. It contains seven holes; one hole is for the lips whereby wind is blown through and six holes for the fingers and tunes are produced by adjusting the fingers on the holes. Ka besli is made of dried bamboo called shken. Reed instruments are those made of reeds and are made with or without other materials. Ka mieng is played with the tongue which is blown musically. It is most popular amongst children and regarded as playful and amusing. Ka tangmuri is the most popular of instrument and is considered as the ‘queen of Khasi musical instruments’ since it is used not only at the folk level, but also at the traditional religious and non-religious level as well. The tangmuri

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is made out of u dieng lum plam. It contains seven holes called ka kti and the rhang which is cup-shaped, from where the sound reso­ nates. Joining the tongue of the tangmuri with the holes is u kdor made of copper. This is then tied by u sai kor. The tongue which comes directly on the lips is made of u siej japung (a piece of bamboo or reed). The importance of this instrument is such that it has come to be used for all occasions. Other reed instruments include, ka dymphong and ka sing phong. Ka dymphong is made out of reed and played by clapping of the right hand against the instrument. It also acts like a harp whereby the reeds are played by an action of the fingers of the left hand. There are two long sticks at the front side of the instrument which acts as a tuner. Both of these instruments are folk instruments which can be used at home as accompaniment in the folk songs. String instruments may be single stringed or have four to five strings. Ka duitara is a four stringed instrument. It is made of a special type of wood called u dieng slang. It can also be made from pine tree or another type of wood called u dieng sohkymphor shrieh. The first string signifies the young boys and girls or the youths, the second and third string signifies the father and mother while the fourth string stands for the maternal uncle or the old or elderly. Ka marynthing is another old string instrument with only one string. It is made of gourd and is mainly used as a drone instrument which is monotonous in tune. A new type of marynthing has also emerged which is five stringed. The new marynthing is used as an accompa­ niment to ballads and so on. Brass Instruments such as ka kynshaw or ka shaw shaw is made of copper. The two cymbals are tied together by a thread made of the hide of an animal. The performer holds on to the thread while playing otherwise it shall not produce a melodious sound.

Endangered Musical Instruments Some of the endangered musical instruments of the Khasis include the maryngod, the sharati, and the mieng, which are discussed in the following.

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Maryngod Maryngod (pronounced Ma-ring-odd) is a traditional Khasi stringed musical instrument. Today, there are only two types in use – one found in the Ri War region of Pynter and the other is found in the Ri-Bhoi district. There are only a handful of people who can make and play the instrument. It can be thought of as a traditional cello, as it is played like the cello itself. The instrument can be basically termed as a ‘mourning instrument’ as it is played during the death of a loved one. The stick that is used for playing the maryngod is known as jingot which simply translates into a ‘cutting stick’. There is a difference between the two types of maryngod of RiBhoi and Ri War. The one from Ri-Bhoi has a leather cover, while the other is without leather, i.e. Ri War maryngod. MANUFACTURE OF MARYNGOD

The maryngod can be made from three types of trees. These are as follows: 1. Dieng sal, or 2. Dieng bti (pooma), or 3. Dieng lapiang. The string for the instrument is made from fishing strings known as ksai khwai. The playing stick or the cutting stick also uses a fishing string. In Ri War, the tree for the maryngod is cut during the winter season, i.e. December-January so that the wood is not inflicted by rot and decay. As mentioned previously, the Ri War maryngod is without an outer covering of leather. The Ri-Bhoi maryngod is, however, covered with leather after the instrument is finally finished and is ready for use. The leather is provided by three animals the tyrpud (lizard), cow or a goat. The playing stick is made from the wood of dieng sohphan, i.e. jackfruit tree. The stick is basically made into a semi-circle and tied from end to end by the aforementioned ksai khwai or fishing string forming a semi-circular shaped stick. As mentioned before, the basic difference between the two types is that one is covered with leather (Ri-Bhoi) after the instrument

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Baladiang H.H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling

is shaped, while the other is without leather (Ri War). The other significant difference between the two is with regards to the orien­ tation of the strings on the two types. While the Ri-Bhoi maryngod has the thickest strings starting from the right and ending with the thinnest string on the left of the instrument, it is the other way around for the Ri War maryngod, i.e. the thinnest string on the right side and ending with the thickest string on the left side of the instrument. MANIPULATION

The instrument is played by sitting flat on the ground (though in Figure 23.2 Klement is seen sitting on a chair) and in Figure 23.3 Johanam sits atop the resting stones. The instrument is about an

Source: Pynshailang R. Dohling Figure 23.2: Klement playing the maryngod in Pynter village

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Source: Pynshailang R. Dohling.

Figure 23.3: Johanan playing the maryngod

arm’s length and is placed upright with the top resting on the chest while the bottom resting on the ground. The music is created by pressing down on the strings at different positions while the playing stick cuts through the middle portion of the instrument creating a sad, mournful tune and adding words in compliance to the tune produced. The instrument was brought into public knowledge in the 1940s­ 50s through the efforts of the All India Radio. The instrument was played at one of the traditional programme of the All India Radio. Before that the only people who had knowledge about it were the people from the above mentioned regions and the ones who were into traditional Khasi music. But thanks to the All India Radio the instrument gain some recognition and appreciation. Ka Sharati Ka sharati is a wind instrument similar to that of ka besli. This instrument is used during sad occasions especially in the event of a

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Baladiang H.H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling

death. It is usually played throughout the night, from dusk to dawn before the deceased body is taken out for the final rituals. Ka sharati is said to be first used by Manik Raitong. Story has it that it was through the use of this instrument that the mahadei (queen) fell in love with Manik Raitong and it was for this act of adultery that he was burnt alive in a funeral pyre by the syiem (king). He fixed the instrument firmly upside down in the ground as he threw himself into the fire. Bamboos that grew in this place where the sharati was planted (now known as Lum Raitong), had inverted leaves. MANUFACTURE

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The sharati belongs to the family of flutes. The sound produced from this instrument is different from other wind instruments, which gives an eerie feel when played. It is sometimes accompanied by the Maryngod. Ka Mieng Mieng is a traditional Khasi wind instrument which is used by the people of the Bhoi region. It is an instrument which is made from bamboo. Mieng is a playful instrument which according to Johanan Lyngdoh Narlein (a traditional instrumentalist and poet) is used by young men for proposal. The instrument was once popular among the children as it was playful and frolicsome in nature. MANUFACTURE

Mieng is made from bamboo. MANIPULATION

The instrument being a wind instrument basically employs the mouth for producing the desired sounds off of it. The tongue plays an important role as wind is blown the soft reverberating sound is produce musically while the fingers beats the instrument

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simultaneously, the mouth remains open for the entirety of the instruments’ playing.

Discussion Music is an expression in the truest form. Various instruments are used at different occasions. The Khasi traditional music is used during festivities and ritualistic events or even at leisure. Most of the musical instruments are used to write tunes that are upbeat and joyous in nature except for a few that have been especially used for mourning during the loss or death of a loved one, as in the case of the maryngod and the sharati. Although most songs are accompanied by vocal tunes, songs of lamentation played on these instruments are mostly only played in tunes, i.e. instrumentally. This instrumental nature of the maryngod and the sharati adds a rather deeper sense of void that reminds the listener of their loved ones and provides a soundtrack for the mournful situation of the event. Mieng, on the other hand, produces more of a light-hearted, jovial and mischievous tune. The instrument is purely leisurely in nature and played by children for fun and by young adults for flirtatious purposes. Khasi music as like most other traditional music is not of written form but passed down from one generation to another through the spoken word. The talent (of both manufacture and manipulation) is usually kept within the family and the teachings are orally taught from father to son. Even if the family is big, it is more often likely to be taken up only by a single sibling. The world has gone through major changes and with the ongo­ ing changes music has also changed with time. With globalization the world is becoming more accessible and everything can be eas­ ily available. With the technological advances in the modern times there has been a rapid spread of Western and other music genres into the remotest parts of the world and with it there has been a greater emphasis for people to get caught up in the hype and excite­ ment of modern music which in turn has led to the endangerment of traditional music and its related instruments.

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Baladiang H.H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling

The case is no different for the Khasis, with the advent of the internet and other technological advances the traditional music has taken a back-step due to the undeniable influence of Western and Bollywood music on the masses. The ease of access of modern music through these technologies has made traditional music a rare commodity that is being performed by only the traditionalists who still have the pride for tradition in them. Maryngod, ka mieng, and ka sharati are just the few exceptions which we have highlighted here, besides these there are other instruments that are being overlooked in the modern era. It might come as a shock but the majority of the people especially the young adolescents and young adults are so influenced by the Western traditions that they have no intelligible knowledge of their own traditional music. One of the other reasons for the endangerment of the traditional instruments is the lack of support from the people and government. The Khasi traditional music is mainly kept alive through individual efforts of various musicians. The other factor for the endangerment is due to the fact that the people who make and play these musical instruments have become few and far between with the changing modern times. The knowledge and know-how for the production of these traditional instruments seems to have dwindled because of lack of interest shown towards them. In fact, most of these instruments can only be seen in some museums and are displayed as antiques rather than as an important aspect of a continuing cultural norm.

Conclusion Musical instruments have always been a part of the society and play a significant role in the culture of the people. The different instruments depict different meanings in the society. The prevalence of the two male drums shows the dual role of the man, as a father to his children and as the maternal uncle. Such in the case of the female drum whereby it is not used in the religious beats because the woman, although she is the keeper of trust and takes care of all the preparation even during ritualistic practices, but does not take part in the rituals.

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The people in most villages still enjoy playing their own indige­ nous instruments, during their dancing and other festive occasions. After their day’s work they sing and play at night with the accom­ paniment of the various instruments. To the Khasi, music and songs are a part of their life. They sing in joy, happiness, sadness and even when they are busy. There is a tradition among the Khasi, about how they learnt to make their instruments from the shouts and sounds and dances that they heard from the animals and nature around them. It is with this that the beautiful landscape of the Khasi shall ring with music and songs for time infinity. It is observed that with the rise of globalization and Western cleansing of our way of life has made it even more difficult for the youth to keep to their roots. Although the use and craftsmanship in the making of traditional instruments have seen a revival in the recent times, however the essence of the instrument is lost with the fusion of different styles of music into the core of our tradition. It is through the recognition of the importance of our heritage that will play a key role in keeping our culture alive. Traditional Khasi music is a symbol of cultural identity that separates them from other tribal populations and its continuance is a necessity in order to be identified as a populace that still has a firm grip on its roots. Music is a cultural expression that can bind the people and remind them of their identity and traditional music is one such cultural expression. The Department of Arts and Culture in Shillong which is one of the departments that is looking after the welfare of traditional music as one of its initiative organizes annual programmes in order to emphasize and make the people aware of their rich cultural heritage through the festivals of traditional music and other culture related programmes. The efforts by such depart­ ments is a welcome initiative as it does bring the spirit of unity and a sense of identity and pride to the modern tribal populace. Besides the departments, individuals with a strong sense of pride for their culture are continuing their initiatives to spread awareness about their unique identity by being the core and foremost runners in the continued awareness of traditional music to not only their tribal

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Baladiang H.H. Hadem and Pynshailang R. Dohling

brethren but also to the non-indigenous populace of the country as a whole.

Acknowledgements We thank Queenbala Marak for giving us this opportunity to write on a subject that is close to our hearts, for her constant encouragement, guidance and support. We would also like to acknowledge Lapynshai Syiem (author and professor), Genevieve Khongjee and Johanan Lyngdoh Narlein (traditional instrumentalist and poet) without whose help the completion of this work would not be a possibility. We would like to thank them for sparing their time from their busy schedules for their discussions, suggestions and kind explanations on the Khasi music culture. Their knowledge of the subject was an immense help.

REFERENCES Lyngdoh, M.P.R. 1991. The Festivals in the History and Culture of the Khasi. New Delhi: Har-Anand. Syiem, L. 2005. The Evolution of Khasi Music: A Study of the Classical Content. New Delhi: Regency Publications. Syiem, L. 2010. ‘Khasi Music: From the Folk to the Traditional’. Indian Folklife, 36 (October).

CHAPTER 24

Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills

Dachanmi Dkhar

Introduction Material culture is the study through artefacts of the beliefs, values, ideas, attitudes and assumptions of a particular community or society at a given time. Therefore the objects that are made or modified by man reflect the beliefs of the individuals who made, commissioned, purchased or used them, whereby by extension it also reflects the beliefs of the larger society to which they belonged (Prown, 1982). In traditional societies, both men and women build their homes, make their clothes, prepare their food, farm their fish, process the earth’s bounty, fashion their tools and implements and design their furniture and utensils, etc. In material culture, folk crafts constitute an important area of study ( John, 2010). The term ‘craft’ is derived from the AngloSaxon word craft meaning strength, skill or cunning in contrast to art which implies an intention of producing beauty or pleasure (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017). Craft includes all activities that produce or modify objects by manual means with or without the use of mechanical aids. Traditionally, the products of the heredi­ tary transmission of skill which serve the purpose of fulfilling some of the sociocultural needs of the society and therefore traditional craftsmen are generally identified by their traditional occupation (Soni et al., 2009; John, 2010). Like in most tribal societies, Jaintia culture and tradition are also based on a close relationship with nature ( Jaiswal, 2010).Thus

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knowledge of specialized craftwork originated and concentrated in certain villages which became the primary centres where major traditional crafts evolved. Gradually craft knowledge spread to other locations as well. It may be noted that most traditional crafts sprung up in areas where raw materials were readily available. This is also the case of pot-making which came to be centred at Larnai on account of its proximity to the Sung Valley which is the main source of clay for potting (Mawlong, 1999). The Jaintia people are also said to have grown cotton to a limited extent at Mynso encouraging the spinning and dyeing of cotton in the village which gradually spread to the villages of Sutnga and Shangpung who used to procure cot­ ton from Mynso. The Nongtungs and Khyrwangs also rear their own eri worms and spin the silk from the cocoons into thread for weaving it into cloths (Gurdon, 1975). Similarly, the availability of several varieties of bamboos in the forests of Meghalaya contributed to the development of the craft of basket-making. However unlike pot making or textile weaving, basketry was not village specific on account of the fact that bamboo and cane is abundant and widely distributed. Thus geo-cultural factors played an important role in facilitating the emergence of craft-specific centres in the Jaintia Hills, such as pottery, with the exception of basketry.

Pottery in Jaintia Hills The term ‘pottery’ refers to objects made of clay that have been fashioned into the desired shape, dried, and either fired or baked to fix their form (Violatti, 2014). Pot-making is one of the oldest crafts in human history first innovated by the pre-historic people of the Neolithic age (Duary, 2008). Thus, the introduction of pottery generally coincides with the adoption of an agricultural lifestyle, when durable and strong vessels and containers were needed. As clay is abundant, cheap, and adaptable, this makes it convenient for human exploitation (Violatti, 2014). Although agriculture was the mainstay of the Jaintia people, some villages also took up craft production to supplement their incomes. A case in point is the village of Larnai in Jaintia Hills which is a well­

Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills

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known traditional centre of pot-making in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Larnai pottery is hand made by women folk and they are known and identified with the place as kikchu Larnai (Gurdon, 1975; Choud­ hury, 2002). As mentioned earlier, Larnai emerged as a traditional centre of pot-making on account of its strategic location close to the Sung Valley which is the main source of clay (Mawlong, 1999). Apparently some of the Larnai ware also found their way into the markets in the foothills in both the Surma and Brahmaputra valleys (Lamare, 2013). After Larnai, secondary centres emerged in the contiguous villages of Tyrchang and Ummulong. Ummulong vil­ lage was also an important centre of distribution of manufactured pots to other market centres at Shillong, Jowai and Nartiang (Das Gupta et al., 1968; Mawlong, 1999). There are also references to other centres of pot-making at Nongkhlieh and Sumer located in the Leteinriver valley (Simon, 1996; Lamare, 2013). It appears that earthenware is no longer produced in these villages as the source of clay is now submerged on account of the rise of the water level of the Letein river. So it may be noted that in earlier times Letein Valley was also a source for potting clay. Process of Pot Making In the making of pots, two types of clay are used: khyndawiong or the black soil which is dark blue in colour and khyndawkhluit or hot soil, which is yellowish-green in colour. Following are the stages of pot making (Figure 24.1): STAGE

1: PREPARATION OF CLAY

The khyndawiong clay is first moistened with water and mixed with charcoal. This is known as khyndawbyrtha or soil that has been mixed. The clay is then pounded on a leather mat with the help of a wooden pounder known as synrai after which khyndawkhluit is added which acts as a tempering material. Next the processed lumps of clay are placed on a wooden board called pyrthap where it is rolled over and over again after which ashes is then spread on the wooden board to prevent the clay from sticking to the board.

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Source: Author. Figure 24.1: Process of pot-making in Jaintia Hills STAGE

2: INITIAL SHAPE

The clay is then flattened using a wooden dabber to form a somewhat rectangular shape called kynthiew. The kynthiew is then rolled and rested perpendicular to the wooden board to form the rim portion or wiang. This constitutes the basic step for the making of all types of pots. Keeping the moulding board fixed firmly between the feet,

Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills

475

the potter using both hands slowly presses the clay outward and upwards. The potter frequently changes her position around the moulding board (Mawlong, 1999). The pressure thus exerted is checked and controlled by tapping with the tip of the other palm, to maintain uniformity in curvature of the wall of the pot in all directions (Das Gupta et al., 1968). In making the rim of the pot, the upper part of the wiang is softly pressed with two thumbs and moulded in both clockwise and anti-clockwise direction. During this entire process the potter frequently moistens his/her hands and rubs the surface of the wiang with a wet cloth to keep it humid and soft. STAGE

3: SEMI-DRYING

The potters then cover the upper portion of the pot with a wet cloth while it is exposed to the sun or dried in the shade. STAGE

4: FINAL SHAPE

The next day the potter detaches the pot from the moulding board and places it on her lap with the mouth facing downwards. After this a highly polished stone enclosed in a wet cloth is introduced into the pot through the mouth to smoothen the unworked portion. For making the base portion, a triangular wooden mallet called siangda or siangchohkchu is used to beat gently but firmly from the outer surface of the pot. Every time pressure is applied to the outer surface, the force is cushioned internally by the highly polished stone ball. In this manner, the surface gradually enlarges on all sides to form the base of the pot (Mawlong, 1999). STAGE

4: FINAL DRYING

When several pots have been made, they are then sun-dried for two or three days and at night time they are kept beside the hearth or placed on wooden shelves above the hearth. This is done to minimize the water content in the pot. STAGE

5: FIRING

After a few days the pots are then taken outside and piled up in an open area at some distance from the house, over a layer of

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charcoal (rngaw) and charcoal dust. The entire pile is then enclosed completely using firewood. Next, fire is introduced at the base and then allowed to burn out until the pots takes on a deep red colour. The pots are then removed one by one from the fire with the help of bamboo tongs (khnapckhen). STAGE

6: DECORATION

Next the pots are treated with a slip, dark in colour extracted from wild fruits called sohliya. With the help of a tyllenup (fibrous root which has been softened by pounding), the water of the sohliya is applied to the pot, with the pot taking on a dark colour. This technique is used to eliminate or cure porosity and thereby decrease the fragility of the pots (Mawlong, 1999). After passing through all the six stages, the pots are then dried in the sunlight after which they are ready for sale. Types and Functions There are different types of Larnai pottery produced in Larnai, Tyrchang and Ummulong villages which have their importance in everyday lives of the people and also in rituals. As the pots are hand-made, they are ordinary and simple in nature (Gurdon, 1975; Bareh, 1991; Mawlong, 1999; Passah, 2004). Following are the purposes of the pots produced. A. Cooking Vessels (Das Gupta et al., 1968; Bareh, 1991; Mawlong, 1999; Passah, 2004; Lamare, 2013): 1. Kchu jhur: A vessel for cooking and boiling vegetables. 2. Kchu ja: A pot used for cooking rice. They are of two types (a) kchu ja khien (small pot) and (b) kchu ja heh (big pot). 3. U weiñ chet tpu: A vessel with a corresponding lid called kasara for making tpuseiñ, tputharo, tpumaloi or Jaintia rice cakes. It may be noted this lid was also used in covering the other cooking vessels. In the secondary works, u weiñ chet tpu is often referred as kchu shetputharo and pumaloi, whereas sara as saraw and sorrow. 4. U katiliand u tipot: A kettle and a tea pot respectively.

Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills

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5. U kharai: A pan used for frying and cooking purposes. B. Dishes and drinking vessels (Mawlong, 1999; War, 2014): 1. Ka pliang: A plate. 2. Ka pliang khien: A small plate. 3. Ka kyllung: It is a bowl used for keeping left over items. 4. Ka khuri: A cup. 5. Ka mok: A tumbler used for drinking purposes. These are of two types – (a) mok heh (big tumbler) and (b) mok khien (small tumbler). C. Storage Vessels (Das Gupta et al., 1968; Gurdon, 1975; Mawlong, 1999; Passah, 2004; War, 2014): 1. U kum um: A big jar used for storing water and storing grains. 2. Ka dabor khyndaw heh: A wash tub also used for storing water. D. Ceremonial Vessels (Lamare, 2013): 1. U kchu pangrai: A large jar used for boiling bathing water for newborn babies. 2. U kchu rah shyieñ: A small jar with an open mouth, used for keeping the bones of the deceased. 3. U kchukhien: A small pot which has a mouth, neck and a bulging rim. It is used to keep and preserve the placenta till the naming ceremony. 4. U kchu bhet: A small vessel used during rituals performed at Nartiang village. E. Pot for distilling liquor (Das Gupta et al., 1968; Gurdon, 1975; Bareh, 1991; Mawlong, 1999): 1. U kchu bhot/kchu em reiñ: It is a vessel with a broad mouth just below its rim, with a small pipe attached to its body used in distilleries for preparing local rice beer. This pot is wrongly spelt as vot. F. Miscellaneous items (Das Gupta et al., 1968; Gurdon, 1975; Bareh, 1991; Mawlong, 1999): 1. U kchuboohsyntu: A flower pot. 2. Ka chulim: A funnel-shaped smoking device into which locally available tobacco is placed and is used by elderly men. Ka chulim is misspelt as chillim in the earlier works.

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3. Kasmok: Another type of hand-made smoking pipe used by elderly people.

Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Pottery in Jaintia Hills It may be noted that in Jaintia Hills, agriculture is the main activity of the people for which craft production is by and large a seasonal part-time activity and therefore specialized full-time crafts persons are absent. Added to that, the traditional craft of pot making in Jaintia Hills is monopolized by women and mostly practised at the level of household. The Jaintias being a matrilineal society, traditional knowledge of pot-making also passed on from mother to daughter. No doubt, the craft is dominated by women and men helped in the collection and transportation of clay from the source to potter’s house and also help in the pounding and mixing of large volumes of clay. Thus while there was gender-based division of labour in pot making, potters were invariably women therefore the transmission of craft knowledge also passed down from mother to daughter. According to Mawlong (1999), such tradition tended to encourage the organi­ zation and stabilization of craft along clanlines. As crafts are produced for utilitarian purposes they are also closely linked to ritual practices (Dhamija, 1970). The traditional religion of the Jaintia people is called Niamtre or the original reli­ gion. The Jaintia people of the traditional faith have a very clear conception of God and refer to him as U Blai Wa Booh Wa Thoo or as U Tre-Kirot. In their religious life, the cock plays an import­ ant role and takes the form of a mediator between God and man. The cock (U Khon Lymboit-Lymbiang) and other animals are usu­ ally sacrificed by the people to appease God. The Jaintias have no temples, churches or any other concrete place of worship as they believe that God is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. They worship many gods and goddesses by way of the performance of rituals that bind them as a group. Some of the deities that are wor­ shipped include U Blai Pyrthat or god of thunder, Ka Myntdu, Ka Kupli and Ka Myntang river goddesses, ka Ron-Chyndi or goddess

Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills

479

of accident, Ka Syiem Synshar or goddess of health and wealth (Lamare, 2013). During the rituals, objects accompany the different rites and practices of the people. In respect to the rituals carried out for the gods or goddesses, pottery such as the earthen plate or ka pliang khyndaw is use in the ritual of Ka Myngkti, the ancestress of Dkhar clan at Raliang (Dkhar, 2013). Another pot called kchu bhet (a small vessel) is used during Durga Puja in the rituals performed at Nar­ tiang village. In birth ceremony, other pots are used such as kchu Larnai khien (a small jar for keeping and preserving the placenta till the naming ceremony) and u kchu pangrai (a big Larnai pot for boiling bathing water for newborn babies). In funeral ceremonies, u kchu rah shyieñ (a small Larnai pot with an open mouth) is used for keeping the bones of the deceased (Lamare, 2013).These pots therefore were not only objects but also signify social importance in the society especially for those who still follow indigenous religion. Among the pots the most important earthenware that is used in almost all occasions is the weiñ chet tpu. Till date this pot is popu­ larly used for making Jaintia rice cakes. Crafts are viewed as a specific form of production and employ­ ment which creates as its product an object which represents a social group (De Vidas, 1995). In Jaintia Hills, the earthenware that were made at Larnai, Tyrchang and Ummulong villages are often identified as kchu ranei or kchu larnai which represent the main centre of pot-making.

Conclusion In conclusion, it may be said that pot making in Jaintia Hills is mostly a secondary employment to agriculture for the potters. The fact that the pots were hand-made and few numbers are made, they cannot compete with wheel turned pottery which are mass produced and offer a much greater variety of design and forms. It may be pointed that the coming in contact of the people of Jaintia Hills with the British and the people outside of the region in the later part of the eighteenth century led to an increase in trade and commerce

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whereby finished products were easily available in the markets. This made the local people more dependent on machine manufactured products from the markets which are more efficient and cheap. Also the coming of Christianity and Western education had impacted the craft production by way of transformation in dress, food habits, art, marriage, funeral, house building and village ceremonies, etc. The abandonment of traditional rituals and ceremonies has also had a similar effect on the potting industry with a drastic decrease in the demand of ceremonial pots. Furthermore with the rapid growth of education and expansion of communication networks has led to the migration of rural folk to urban centres and district headquarters like Jowai and Shillong and even beyond that, where they started taking up white collar jobs or have got themselves engaged in petty business. Thus, pot making at Larnai is being sustained and revived under government sponsorship. Trainings on new designs and moulds have been introduced to help sustain the craft. Similarly, trainings are conducted by the Meghalaya Handloom and Handicraft Devel­ opment Corporation. The main aim of the training is to develop traditional crafts and refine them for better market value which will benefit the crafts people. At Larnai, even though marketing, supply and orders of their products are taken up by the government, the potters of Larnai say that the measures have not improved their liv­ ing conditions but only aimed at preserving the traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation. Tyrchang village on the other hand, do not depend much on government sponsorship. They make pots under their own initiative and on sponsorship by private investors who supply the moulds for making the pots. Although help has been extended by the government to the pot­ ters in the form of providing raw materials, training, supply and marketing their products, the government still needs to extend more help by uplifting the living condition of the craftsmen which will not only improve their standard of living but will also help in creating employment for the Jaintia people.

Traditional Pot Making in Jaintia Hills

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NOTE I acknowledge the following people who provided relevant information: Masskil Lamare, Plinda Lamare, Pelina Pyrtuh and Bunlang Talang from Larnai; Milda Shylla and Yoophi Shylla from Tyrchang.

REFERENCES Bareh, H. 1991. The Art History of Meghalaya. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan. Choudhury, A. 2002. ‘Larnai: A Study of the Jaintia Potter’. Resarun, 27: 206­ 24. Das Gupta, B.K. and N.K. Syamchauduri. 1968. ‘A Cultural Survey of Indigenous Earthenware in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills’. Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India, XI (3-4): 193-8. De Vidas, A.A. 1995. ‘Textiles, memory and the Souvenir Industry in the Andes’. In M.F. Lanfant, John B. Allcock and Edward M. Bruner (eds.), InternationalTourism, Identity and Change. London: Sage, pp. 67-83. Dhamija, J. 1970. Indian Folk Arts and Crafts. New Delhi: National Book Trust India. Dkhar, H. 2014. U Chwar Lanei. Raliang: H. Dkhar. Duary, N. 2008. ‘Traditional Hira Potters of Lower Assam’. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 7 (1): 98-102. Gurdon, P. R.T. 1975 [1909]. The Khasis. Delhi: Cosmo. Jaiswal, V. 2010. ‘Culture and Ethnobotany of Jaintia Tribal Community of Meghalaya, Northeast India -- A Mini Review’. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 9 (1): 38-44. John, S. Simon. 2010. ‘Traditional Knowledge of Folk Crafts in Tamil Nadu’. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 9 (3): 443-7. Lamare, S.N. 2013. The Jaintias: Studies in Society and Change. New Delhi: Regency. Mawlong, C.A. 1999. ‘Some Aspects on the Indigenous Earthenwares of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills’. Proceedings of North East India Association. Nineteenth Session, Kohima: NEIHA, pp. 62-5. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2017. https://www.merriam-webster.com Passah, A. 2004. ‘Role of Khasi-Jaintia Women of the Meghalaya Plateau in Pre-Colonial Society and Economy’, in M. Momin and C.A. Mawlong (eds.), Society and Economy in North-East India, vol. I. New Delhi: Regency Publication, pp. 57-71. Prown, J.D. 1982. ‘Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method’, Winterthur Portfolio, 17 (1): 1-2.

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Soni, L.N. and B.F. Kulirani (eds.). 2009. Crafts and Craftsmanship: Studies in Traditional Knowledge in India, vol. I, Kolkata: Anthropological Survey of India. Simon, I.M. 1996. Meghalaya District Gazetteer: Jaintia Hills District. Shillong: Directorate of Arts and Culture Department. Violatti, C. 2014. ‘Pottery in Antiquity’, Ancient History Encyclopaedia. http;//www.ancient.eu/pottery/. War, K. 2014. Iei Syllai U Pynkhai. Jowai: K. War.

CHAPTER 25

A Note on Garo Music and

Musical Instruments

Pynshailang R. Dohling and Seigoumang Chongloi

Introduction Music is an integral part of tribal life and it has been passed down from one generation to the next by their ancestors. They are employed in dances, singing, rituals, religious ceremonies and festivals. Playing of instruments varies in accordance to time and place. Different styles of playing and the types of instruments used connote different meanings in the lives of the people. Alan Merriam (1964) writes that music is a socially accepted sound. What is music to one can be a noise for others. Thus for certain sounds to be called music, it has to be accepted by the concerned society. The sounds of music are shaped by the culture of which the people are a part. Traditional music and instruments plays an important role in the culture of the Garos. It is an important cultural aspect which is deeply rooted in them. Traditional music plays a major role in their rituals and festivals among the people, especially those who belong to the traditional religion, i.e. Songsarek. Traditional songs, prayers, incantations, etc., are highly connected to agriculture. Besides the agricultural related uses, Garos also use in different life cycle rituals, for dancing, singing, chanting of prayers and narrations of myths. Although a majority of Garo have become Christians today, but it can be seen that traditional music has been making inroads into Christian devotion as well, in the form of songkristans (unique

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Pynshailang R. Dohling and Seigoumang Chongloi

renditions during Christmas), and fusion of traditional beats and instruments (like dama [long drum]). It cannot be denied, however, that traditional music today has taken a backseat in the modern day. It can be seen in the limelight only during the Wangala post-harvest festival and other related cul­ tural festivals. It has more significance and uses in the rural areas, far flung from city or town life. There are only a handful of people now who knows how to manufacture and play traditional instru­ ments, and who remember the various traditional folk songs. In this chapter, an overview of Garo music and musical instru­ ments will be discussed briefly. In this connection, as a case study, we will also discuss one of the very few traditional musicians from Garo Hills.

Music as a Way of Life Music plays a very important part in the life of the Garos. It is seen in everyday lives, agricultural practices, and in different stages of the life cycle. Most Garo festivals are based on the agricultural cycle. These are majorly performed by those who still follow the traditional religion (Songsarek), however with the passage of time the music and festivity has become a secular event leaving only the ritualistic and religious ceremonies being performed strictly by the traditional heads of the Songsarek religion. Agricultural Rituals Agalmaka is a festival that is performed by the Garos at the beginning of the jhum cultivation in the month of March. The ritual rites to Misi Saljong (Sun God) are done before sowing the fields. After the completion of the rites and rituals of Agalmaka, the people gather back in the village and start the celebration by playing the dama, adil, rang and flutes with the liberal drinking of rice beer. The celebration is segregated between the males and females. Males gather together in one house and play instruments while women celebrate separately in another place. Wangala also known as Wanna or Wanna Rongchuwa is a harvest

A Note on Garo Music and Musical Instruments

485

festival celebrated by the Songsarek Garos. This is an important thanksgiving festival celebrated to give thanks to god Misi Saljong, also known as Pattigipa Ra·ronggipa or Sun God, for blessing the people with a rich harvest. It is celebrated in the months from September to December. The Wangala festival begins with Rugala or ritual of libation and is followed by Chachat So∙a or incense ceremony. These are per­ formed in the nokma’s house. On this occasion, Dama Gogata is the dance and singing festivity. The dance starts with the grika (warrior) dance performed by the a·king nokma (chief) which is reminiscent of the old warring days. The grika dance is accompanied by the playing of the kram (nokma’s drum) and rang (brass gongs), during which the dancer exalts and recounts his deeds of valour. The grika dance is immediately followed by grong doka or starting drumbeats which signal an open invitation to all present to join in the dance. On this occasion, people (both young and old) adorn themselves in colourful garments and feathered headgear and dance to the music played on the long drums known as dama. Earlier, the chigring was used as the main instrument during Wangala before the dama was employed permanently. Besides the dama, the use of chigring, rang, flutes, trumpets, gonggna are also seen. Men and women, young and old, and even boys and girls go on dancing together with rhyth­ mic feet movements and gentle, graceful movements of hands and body in response to the orchestra of the instruments played. These instruments are also used to accompany folk songs which depict ordinary Garo-life, God’s blessings, beauty of nature, day-to-day struggles, romance and human aspirations. During the festival, the playing of the instruments are accompanied by katta doka which is a singing style in the form of talking, ajea and Doroa (also doro ra·a) which is a battle of singing poetry phrases between two groups or individuals. Life-cycle Rituals Music during life-cycle rituals are an important cultural aspect of many tribal groups across the world. Garos also have certain music and singing during life-cycle rituals.

486

Pynshailang R. Dohling and Seigoumang Chongloi

The singing of dirge for the deceased in Garo is known as kabe. The term is derived from two words: ka from ka·tong (heart), and be from be·a (to break), i.e. heart-break. According to folklores, Garos learnt kabe or the song of lamentation from a female hornbill that was found mourning for her dead mate. The dirge of the bird moved man so much that he not only learnt the song of lamenta­ tion, but also taught the same to his wife and instructed her to sing it in the same manner on his death (Sangma, 1996 [1982]). The kabe myth tells us that from that time onwards they began singing kabe at the time of death. Thus, it follows that kabe is a song of mourning by someone who is heart-broken by the passing of a loved one. The Garos sing kabe to mourn the dead which is a continuous process, where singer or singers recall the life and deed of the dear departed, in the process unravelling the life of the deceased to the hearers. The employment of mournful tune provided by the dimchrang or kimjim instrument with accompaniment of the dama (drum) adds a heightened sense of sadness coupled with the singers’ gestures and words that are appropriate to the situation and often moves the listeners to tears. Kabe singers recall the life and deeds of the dead person and with the use of appropriate voice modulation, tune and correct pauses, are able to render a fitting requiem and move people to tears (Sangma, 2013). A few lines of kabe sung for a married man at the arrival of his mother, sisters and other female relatives known as ma·nok is given below. In A·chikku Aiha! Nang·ni ba·rima ino donga Ku·aganboda nang·mana Aiha! Gana bipake neng·gipani re·baengode Depante ku·aganboda. Source: Tengnang D. Sangma, personal communication English Translation

Aiha! Your siblings are here,

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487

Open your mouth and say something to your mother. Aiha! When the one who went through travails to bring you forth has come Open your mouth, son of the house. Translated by Tengnang D. Sangma

Traditional Instruments Iris Watre Thomas (2007) says before developing the skill and knowledge of using instruments, Garos too accompanied songs with the clapping of hands, stamping of feet, whistling by blowing tunes through certain types of leaves. Gradually, they learnt to use the natural and abundant supply of foliage, wood and bamboo in indigenous ways, along with horns, hides and entrails of animals. But the selection of raw materials is much more specific than generic in nature. For example, Marak (2017) while discussing the drums says, dama is made from the trunk of the trees gambari, kimbal or sokchon only and not from other trees. Again another drum called the kram is made only when ‘permission’ is received from the spirit who will eventually reside in it. The traditional Garo musical instruments can be broadly classi­ fied into four groups. These are as follows: Idiophones These instruments are made of self-sounding resonant materials made out of metal. Some examples of such instruments are cymbals like kakwa and nanggilsi, and gongs called rang like rangkilding and rangbong. There are two kinds of cymbals used by the Garos. They are as follows: (a) Kakwa – It is a cymbal similar to those used by people belong­ ing to the Hindu religion in the plains. (b) Nanggilsi – It is a smaller cymbal than the kakwa. It resembles two small cups of brass. These cymbals are played by hitting each other in tune with other instruments.

488

Pynshailang R. Dohling and Seigoumang Chongloi

The rangs or gongs are brass or metal plates or basin-like. They are used for various purposes by the Garos. They are played as musical instruments during dances and festivals. They are also used as a gold reserve, in other words ‘prized possession’, because a man’s wealth and social standing are measured by the number of rang one possesses. The more rang one posseses, the higher his power in society would be. The gongs are played by the continuous beating of it with a piece of wood or metal. Aerophones These are wind instruments made of bamboo and animal products or a combination of both. Sound is produced by blowing air into the instrument and as the air passes through the instrument air vibrates inside thus creating sound waves. Aerophones are flutes and trumpets. There are two kinds of trumpets which are played in accompa­ niment with the drums. These are made primarily from buffalo’s horns. (a) Adil – It is a small trumpet made out of the top of a buffalo’s horn to which a bamboo mouthpiece is attached for blowing in air. (b) Singga – It is merely the whole of the buffalo’s horn and can produce sound only two or three times in one breath. Flutes or bangsi are made out of bamboo. Some examples are olongma, otekra, illep and dakok or akok. The trumpets and the flutes are played by blowing air into them. For the trumpets, blowing of air into them produces a kind of vibra­ tion that results in the production of sound waves while in the case of flutes, small holes are made which are covered or opened by the fingers randomly producing different kinds of sounds. Chordophones These are stringed instruments made out of bamboo, cane and wood. Some of the examples of chordophones are sarenda, chigring,

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dimchrang or kimjim and gonggna. The strings are made from strips of bamboo like in the case of chigring or dimchrang (kimjim) or a plastic cord can be used as a string like in the case of sarenda. (a) Sarenda: It is made of wood and it resembles the violin. It is played with the use of a wand made out of bamboo tied with strips of thinly-cut cane. It is played upright. (b) Chigring: It is made of bamboo and is played upright. Six bam­ boo strings are tightened on the sides (three on each side) and played by beating the strings with two sticks, one on each hand. (c) Dimchrang or Kimjim: It is made of a bamboo frame. One side of the frame is fitted with bamboo strings and the other side can be beaten like a drum. The strings are played by using the fingers and the percussion area is played with the help of a drumstick. (d) Gonggna (Jew’s harp): It is a small instrument made out of a thin slit of bamboo about 4 inches long and half an inch wide. To one end a short piece of string is fastened and to the other end a small bamboo handle is attached. The instrument is held between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand and placed between the teeth; the string is given a succession of sharp tugs by means of the handle in the right hand thus producing sound. Gonggna made out of iron metal is known as matjong. Membranophones These instruments are basically drums. The gambil (b. Gareya arborica) tree is mainly used for making the frames of the drums. At the ends of the drums, animal products like deer and cow skins are fitted. They are played by beating the skin with the hands or drumsticks. Membranophones includes dama, kram, nagra, etc. (a) Dama: These are long and narrow drums which are thickest in the centre and tapering away at each end. It maybe 4 or 5 feet long and is made of wood tightened with animal membranes at each end. It is played using the hands. They are of different types like atong dama, ambeng dama, etc. (b) Kram: It is a larger drum compared to the dama and is made

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out of wood with both ends covered with cow-hide. It is larger at one end and tapers away to a much smaller size at the other end. It is used exclusively by the nokma or traditional Garo headmen. (d) Nagra: It is a large drum consisting of earthenware pot covered with cow-hides. It is beaten only to call the people to assemble at the nokma’s house for an event of feast or merry making. It is a sacred possession and it can be owned only by the nokma.

The Case of Ringjeng Ringjeng T. Sangma (approx. 70 years) is a well-known instru­ mentalist of Garo music. He is a skilled musician and he also manufactures most of the instruments like dama (drum), dimchrang (strings with percussion instrument), chigring (stringed instrument), kram (drums used by nokmas or headmen), bangsi (all types of flutes), and sarenda (violin-like string instrument) (Figure 25.1).

Source: Pynshailang R. Dohling. Figure 25.1: Ringjeng playing different instruments From top left: Ringjeng playing the (a) dama (drum), (b) chigring, (c) matjong, and (d) sarenda

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He started at a young age, learning by observing his uncle Siljohn T. Sangma who was a musician and manufacturer of instruments himself. He learned to make the sarenda, illep, dakok, otekra and olongma (different types of flutes) by observing and learning from his uncle. Professionally, he started performing in 1975-6. He first performed at Shillong in 1975 and got recognition for his flawless sarenda (his instrument of choice) and flute playing ability. On 15 August 2010 (i.e. Independence Day), he received a certificate of recognition from Ranjit Mooshahary, the then Governor of Meghalaya. He has travelled to many places few among them being Tura, Shillong, Tripura, Madras (present-day Chennai), etc. His skill in playing Garo instruments have won him honour and recognition in many traditional music competitions all over. His wife Sotjak Ch. Sangma is also a musician and has accompanied her husband to many national showcases of traditional music and instruments. She can play chigring, gonggna and matjong. Some of the instruments that Ringjeng manufactures and plays are as follows with a brief description. (a) Dama (drum): It is a one of the major instrument used by the Garos during Wangala, Ahaia and Agalmaka. It has now become a popular Garo instrument and it has replaced the chi­ gring as a permanent instrument during the Wangala festival. It is made out of wood hollowed out for the body and to each end, deer or cow skins are fitted. It was earlier used and stored in the village nokpante (village dormitory). (b) Chigring (stringed instrument): It is an instrument made from bamboo and has six strings, three strings on either side of the instrument. It is played by using sticks for beating the strings to produce music. As mentioned above, it was earlier used as the main instrument during Wangala festival before the dama took away the spotlight and became the permanent instrument of the festival. It is an instrument used in merry-making, singing folk songs and harvest related songs. It has varied playing style depending on the musician play-style. It is used in Ajea and Doroa, which are battles of poetry phrases between two people or groups or between a male and a female.

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(c) Dimchrang or Kimjim (Stringed with drumming instrument): It is an instrument made from bamboo used for both the strings and the body. One side contains five strings and the other side is used for drumming. They are mostly used by the Atongs of South West Garo Hills during funerals and post-funerals accompanied by the dama. Another utilization of it is for nar­ rating stories or epic and romantic lores of Garo heroes and warriors (Sembertush A. Sangma, personal communication). Epic story narration is known as Katta Agana or Katta Doka and the narrator is known as katta agangipa. There are different varieties of Katta Agana like Dokkotchua, Katchi Doka or Katchi Ring·a, Ruga Katta, A·we Katta, etc. Dewansing Rongmuthu (1967) referring to these epics states that all folk songs, which are by no means composed extempore, but have been handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, with their simple tunes, and reveal much of the true spirit of the people and their land. (d) Sarenda (Violin-like string instrument): This is Ringjeng’s instrument of choice and is made from wood for the body and bamboo for the wand. It is a two-stringed instrument one string is used for the body and the other for the wand. It is small in size and played upright. It is used to accompany folk songs. It can be used for any occasion, but earlier it was used by people involved in agriculture in order to pass time and boredom while minding the fields. (e) Bangsi (All types of flutes): These are made from bamboo and have many types. However, only four types have been men­ tioned here. They differ from each other in size and diameter of holes which ultimately determines the kind of sound they produce. These are as follows: (i) Illep: It is the smallest in size and is of one type. (ii) Dakok: It is bigger than the illep but smaller than the others. (iii) Otekra: These are of six types and a little bigger than the illep and dakok. (iv) Olongma: These are the largest in the flute family and are of three types.

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(f) Matjong (Jew’s harp): This is a very small instrument made of iron metal. It is played using the mouth. It is the same as the sarenda in use, i.e. to accompany folk songs during the Wangala festival and the rainy season. It can be played by both males and females. Ringjeng can play this instrument but he cannot make it. Gonggna is also another similar instrument but is made out of bamboo (which Ringjeng can make).

Discussion When we look at the different musical instruments that are used by the Garos, some interesting facets come into view. First, earlier drums and flutes were never allowed to be played during cultivation or the rainy season because the Garos believed that if played them, wild beasts will hunt them down, they do not even take the name of the instruments. Second, the nagra and kram are strictly the nokma’s possessions and they cannot be taken out of the nokma’s house. If taken out, they believe some ill-luck or misfortune would befall the owner of the instruments. Third, rangs or gongs are used as a gold reserve because a man’s wealth and social standing are measured by the number of rang one possesses. A dead nokma is laid out before the cremation on rows of these gongs. In cases of legal disputes, the guilty has to pay the fine in terms of rang. These gongs therefore acquire value with age. Finally, the dama, chigring and the gonggina are played using phrases. Some of these phrases are as follows, the first line is in Garo and the lines in English are rough translations of the phrases. GARO: Dimchrang oke dengdengo, biting biting salika ENGLISH: Hopping while playing the dimchrang producing a pulling sound beat. GARO: Deng dade kimita, nomil ja·teng rimite ENGLISH: A girl’s leg turns yellowish while hopping with flipping hand movements. GARO: Ja·jong mika simdapa, grai grai kimita ENGLISH: Moon-lit cloudless rain beating at the sounds. GARO: Nomil Dongja Kadingja, Chipe Dongja Sedingja

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ENGLISH: No woman no smile, no snakes no bite. Garo instruments also have religious connotations related to their use in appropriate time and place. The instrument like the kram (nokma’s drum) is of a religious nature. It is used during Wangala on the first day when the Rugala or ritual of libation and Chachat Soa or incense ceremony takes place. Soon after the grika (warrior) dance is performed. Besides the kram, the nagra is another sacred instrument that can be possessed only by the nokma. In the case of Christians, the use of the drums, cymbals and the gongs are common in devotional worship (esp. in Songkristan). The Bengali-Garo kirtan have come about from the influence of Garo migrants who migrated into India from the erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh in the 1960s. In kirtan, the performers enter the stage in line in a devout manner. The lead singer known as gaiok, and the instrument players form a small inner circle, while the respondents, known as dowari, form a bigger outer circle. After the circle is completed they pause and a silent invocation is made. This is followed by the rhythmic beating of the drums, gongs and cymbals and the gaiok starts the song simultaneously which are repeated by the dowari. A simple but remarkable rhythmic foot movement marks the kirtan performance. The foot movement of the dowari is accompanied by a stylized, controlled clapping of hands and the dance is performed in a circular form. The whole show is suffused with devotion and religious fervour. The playing of musical instruments and the singing start in a slow tempo, pick up speed as they proceed and finally reach a crescendo. Just like its starting, kirtan ends in a very devout and profound manner. Kirtan singing and dancing is a whole night process. Songkristan is a word borrowed from the words kirtan and sankirtan and modified to suit the needs of the community for particular type of songs. It has evolved through the influence of Assam (and Bangladesh) and was first practised by the Garos in the Assam border. This is applied to popular religious songs sung during Christmas and New Year season. The drums play a major role during this religious dance and singing practice. The themes of the Garo Songkristan are religious in nature; the songs sung by a congregation of villagers as they

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dance are about the birth of Christ and the traditions relating to it. The New Year songs centre on the message of God’s boundless love for Human-beings (Marak, 2007). On one end when traditional music and musical instruments are dying out, it is a welcome sign that there is a surge in instruments and it has to some extent become commercialized. Ringjeng (among others) as a manufacturer of traditional musical instruments and he sells his instruments to willing buyers and takes it as a second­ ary source of income. The demand for traditional instruments is quite high in the market due to the shortage of good makers of traditional instruments in the present day. People come and pur­ chase the instruments directly from him. Ringjeng manufactures the dama, chigring, bangsi (flutes), dimchrang (or kimjim), sarenda and sells them at appropriate rates to people willing to buy them. The commercialization of traditional musical instruments is a flourishing business and it helps in the further popularization of the long forgotten art of instrument-making as well as propagating the spread of Garo knowledge regarding instruments which is fad­ ing fast with the acceleration and speed of modernization. In this context, the role played by A∙chik Literature Society (ALS) based in Tura cannot be overlooked. ALS annually conducts a series of workshops for musical instrument constructions for school chil­ dren (Figure 25.2).

Source: Wilberth D. Marak.

Figure 25.2: Workshop conducted by ALS (Tura) for school children

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Conclusion The Garos have a rich heritage of music and culture. Their music passed on from generations and has undergone tremendous changes with the advent of Christianity, Westernization and modernization. Christianity, though it has many merits, has also been indirectly responsible for the loss of a huge portion of their past culture. The Songsarek who follow their indigenous faith, have to some extent preserved their past traditions and culture, while the Christians slowly moved away from their past traditions. Since majority of the population have become Christian, the number of people retaining their old traditions have declined, this led to the decline in their traditional music and musicians. Today there are few traditional musicians who play these instru­ ments and fewer people who can make it. There is a danger in this rich musical heritage that they have, to vanish as time goes. Another important reason being, the present generation youths prefer to learn and play Western musical instruments than their traditional ones. However, initiation by the people and the government has successfully salvaged and revived their music to a large extent. Their festivals and instruments have become known to much more people than in the past. Garo music has gone through lots of changes in the past. No doubt many instruments and their songs show high influence of cultural contacts with the neighbouring groups of people, yet they retain their identity in their music.

REFERENCES Marak, C.R. 2007. ‘Relevance of Oral Literature’, in S. Sen and D.L. Kharmawphlang (eds.), Orality and Beyond: A North-East Indian Perspective. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, pp. 13-19. Marak, Q. 2017. ‘The Garo Drums: Types, Functions and Traditional Craftsmanship’, in S.K. Chaudhuri (ed.), Peoples Art of Northeast India. New Delhi: Aryan Books, pp. 11-25. Merriam, A. 1964. The Anthropology of Music. Illinois: Northwestern Press. Rongmuthu, D. 1967. The Epic Lore of the Garos. Gauhati: Department of Tribal Culture and Folklore Research, Gauhati University.

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Sangma, B. 2013. ‘From Rituals to Stage: The Journey of A∙chik Folk Theatre’. The NEHU Journal, XI (2): 55-72. Sangma, M.N. 1996 [1982]. Pagitchamni Ku∙bisring Bak I. Tura: Eeu Dee Printers. Thomas, I.W. 2007. Music and Musical Instruments of the Garo Tribe of NorthEast India. New Delhi: Akansha.

CHAPTER 26

Archery as an Intangible Cultural

Heritage of the Khasis

Roplyneda Lyngdoh

Introduction The meaning of cultural heritage is a wider expression which con­ sists of various aspects of culture, values and traditions. Cultural heritage implies a relationship of people belonging to a community. It represents the history of the people connected from the past, to the present and to the future generations. However, cultural heritage is not only limited to material objects that we can see and touch. It also consists of immaterial or intangible elements such as traditions, oral history, performing arts, social practices, rituals, knowledge and skills transmitted from generation to generation within a community. As a result, cultural heritage helps us to re­ member one’s cultural diversity, and its understanding develops mutual respect amongst different cultures. By understanding cultural heritage, one preserves ones identity as members of the society. The study of traditional Khasi archery can be discussed and understood as intangible cultural heritage of the community. It is a form of social folk custom that has survived from the past and transmitted through generations. In fact, some of the traditional performances of the Khasis that were once popularly practised by the people are now on the verge of extinction, some of which have already disappeared from use, while others continue to exist but

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in a modified form. Archery is one such kind of traditional per­ formance where the process of modification and new addition has taken place. Popularly known as traditional sport, earlier, archery was a game where every village played and every Khasi man knew the art. However, with the changes of time, people started neglect­ ing it and today only a few villages practice and treasure it as part of their tradition. The game is traditionally an outcome of war and other types of combats among the Khasis and hence occupies the pride of place amongst the people. Since time immemorial, among Khasis the game of archery involved betting. No archery competition could be played without a bet. Therefore, in Khasi it is known as ka iasiat thong (shooting arrows with a bet). Initially, when the concept of paper money was not known to the people, it was believed that domestic animals (such as pigs), was the first item to be used as the stake prize of the competition. It should be made clear that the game held was meant for a kind of contest between two rival groups (which comprised mainly two villages). The way of playing the game today has, how­ ever, taken a new shape and form from the old way of playing, in that the game has become more of a friendly match rather than a contest. Therefore, the name for this kind of new game is no longer ka iasiat thong, but ka rongbiria (recreation) which is a combination of two words rong and biria. The word rong refers to the two distinct colours of the arrows and biria meaning amusement. Again, from this game another term evolved and that is rangbiria, a term used to refer to Khasi men who are fond of archery. Rang, here, is a short form of the word shynrang meaning ‘man’. In short, rangbiria, therefore, means a male entertainer. It is very difficult to trace the origin or when and how archery started among them. According to oral traditions, Khasi archery is considered as old as mankind; the use of the bow and arrow was taught by the first mother to her sons. It has a traditional origin of Ka Mei hukum (Mother decree) which dictates the rules of the game to the archers. The game of archery is said to have been started by two brothers, namely U Batiton and U Shynna, who were sons of Ka Shinam1 and U Mangring. Ka Shinam and U Mangring lived in one of the caves at Mawmluh near Sohra. They gave their sons the

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bows and arrows and taught them the art of archery as amusement and entertainment. This was supposed to be good for their physical fitness and intelligence. At the same time she warned them not to lose temper over the game. Further, the story goes on as follows (after Khymdeit, 2009): One day when these two brothers were playing archery in a friendly competition, the game started happily and as it progressed, the villagers, who were interested to watch the game, came to witness the skill of the two brothers as they drove arrow after arrow to the target. Amongst the spectators, Kajang was really fascinated with the game and continued watching them every evening whenever they were playing, but he envied the happiness of these two brothers. So, whenever their parents were not at home, Kajang used to come and sit nearby the field they were playing and started supporting them with contempt, sometimes to the younger brother when the elder brother struck more arrows on the target and sometimes to the elder brother when the younger brother struck more. So these made them arrogant on their abilities which gradually lead them to argue over whose arrows hits more on the target. Their parents were astonished and much worried that the game they created as an amusement for their children became the main cause of their quarrel. The parents then requested and made an appeal to Ka Mei Hukum (Mother decree), to solve the problem, who then advised the parents to separate and differentiate the arrows of the two brothers by marking in two different colours. So their parents made a distinguishing mark on arrows to avoid this kind of conflict. One could see these marks at one end of the arrows that is the black and the red colours which is called ‘thing iong’ and ‘thing saw’. These two marks are meant to identify the arrows of the two opposing teams who are set for archery competition.

The story reproduced above indicates that the competition in archery began when the game was first started. Furthermore, it is understood that in a competitive game there should be rivals who consist either of a group or individual as represented by U Batiton and U Shynna. Each of the rivals would be differentiated by the mark on their arrow’s head which is of two colours, that is, red and black. The game of archery is usually played once a week during the market day. But in present times, there is no fixed time for the archery game to be played; it only depends on the rules and condi­

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tions made by the archers of different villages and they will fix the day which is convenient for all. It may occur once a week or once a month or only for a few months of the year as it happens today in most villages in Sohra because of the climatic conditions. Archery in its purest form presents the true essence of Khasi sportive spirit, and is considered as one of the major recreations of the Khasis. The archery arena is a place where many Khasi men, including the archers, would frequent themselves to refresh their mind and body. It was the tradition of the Khasis, especially the men, to have a group entertainment during festive occasions, ceremonies, feasts or any event that occurs in a village. It is to be noted that in the game of archery, only men are allowed to participate while women are restricted from participation. Till today, no woman is seen to get a chance to play in any of the traditional archery competitions anywhere. They can only take part in the game just as spectators or supporters.

Traditional Archery Competition Before organizing the archery competition, first of all, the repre­ sentatives of the two villages (or two teams) meet on a particular day in a selected place for the proposal of the game between them. The selected person for representing the group is known as U khlieh kaw2 while the proposal of challenging the game is known as Ka jingiakhap. The khlieh kaw from both the teams are responsible for everything in relation to the game. When an understanding between the two teams is reached, the same day they decide on the distinguishing marks of the arrows to be used on the day of the competition, the type of the game to be played, and the date and place where the game is to be held. Decision for the period of continuing the game is also taken by these persons, say for one or two years or until the time comes when one group surrenders. However, before they meet at the shooting place, they first have to decide on the reward to be given to the winning group, whether it should be in cash or in kind. If cash, then the amount must be determined beforehand. These two men (khlieh kaw) who at the same time are the representatives of the two different villages

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have the authority of arranging and cancelling the game without consultation with the other team mates. In other words, the power that the two representatives possess is considered supreme because once they have planned the competition and everything is arranged, no other changes can be made by the rest of the group members. Usually, these two men select a particular place outside their villages for the meeting, and after they have agreed for the match to be held, they return to their own villages respectively. On reaching their own village(s), they then call a meeting amongst the men folk to convey the message. It is to be noted that each of the khlieh kaw get their own benefit for taking the responsibility for their own group if his group/village wins the competition. Earlier, the monetary units were calculated in annas, i.e. 16 annas equalling to one rupee. The khlieh kaw usually receive 10 per cent of the prize money (in annas) in addition to the share that he will get along with the other members of the group.

Types of Archery The traditional archery of the Khasis can be classified into three main categories. These are – (a) Ka siat nam spah, (b) Ka siat nam hali and (c) Ka siat nam sum. (a) Ka siat nam spah: The first category, i.e. ka siat nam spah refers

Source: Author. Figure 26.1: Ki khnam, arrows for shooting

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Source: Author. Figure 26.2: A group of archers shooting at the target

to the competition in which the number of arrows used by the archers of both the teams should reach the total number of hun­ dred or more. The total number of arrows shot lesser than this stipulated number is not allowed in this contest. Again, in this type of contest, there are two sub-types of competition, viz., ka siat klit or ka siat stet and ka siat suki. In the first sub-category, the total number of arrows is fixed by the representatives at the time when the agreement between them is made. Not only the number of arrows are to be fixed but even the distance from the shooting position to the target are decided by the two selected members prior to the main day of the game. In this competi­ tion, it is a must to have one skilled archer in each group who is selected to be the leader of the group. For a better understand­ ing of this point, the following example is given. Suppose in a challenge between the two villages, the fixed total numbers of arrows to be shot by both the groups is two hundred, which is one hundred by each group. Then, out of hundred, fifteen arrows, called ki namlam, are meant only for the leader to shoot as fast as possible. The rest eighty-five arrows are distributed

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among the other participants of the group. More arrows are given to those who are better in shooting, than those who are not. One interesting feature of this game is that the number of archers need not necessarily be equal in number in both the teams. That means team A can have many as twenty archers while team B might have only ten or twelve. What matters here is the skill of the archers. It is also to be noted that when the leader shoots his fifteen arrows, the rest of the group members do not wait until their leader finishes the shooting, but they are allowed to shoot together with them, and when the fifteen arrows shot by the leaders are finished, no arrows are allowed to be driven at the target. On the other hand, ka siat suki is a type of contest where the number of arrows as well as the number of participants have to be fixed by responsible persons selected by the two groups. This is done at the time of their proposal meet. In this competition, there is no namlam to be shot and therefore, there is no need for an expert archer to be selected as that of the first category. However, here, time is important in which the arrows held by the archers should be finished within the time that was fixed. For instance, if the total number of participants is forty and the total number of arrows is four hundred, then it should be divided equally between the two teams, that is the participants from each group will be twenty and ten arrows are supposed to be shot by each shooter. A time-keeper is appointed and he informs all the contestants about the time and also warns them to shoot fast within the stipulated time. (b) Ka siat nam hali: The second category known as ka siat nam hali is mostly conducted during winter season. This is because this type of contest needs space for the archers to position them­ selves at the shooting line. Thus, members of the archery game would always prefer a bigger space and a convenient time for both the groups so as to avoid any kind of seasonal disturbances. Hence, winter is the most preferable and suitable season for this kind of competition as it is a dry season. In this type of competition four arrows or shi hali for one archer (saw khnam u wei u khun shynrang) are given to shoot. Again, the number of

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the archers is fixed by the representatives a week or a fortnight before the commencement of the competition. Regarding the participation of the archers in the competition, it is up to the members of the group to decide who will take part in shooting and who will not. (c) Ka siat nam sum: The third category, that is, ka siat nam sum, is a type of contest which is different from the above-mentioned competitions. This competition is not meant for shooting but for throwing arrows towards the target. Bows are not used in this contest and the archers use different types of arrows which are shorter in length as compared to those used in other types of the game. This is an individual competition and the village groups are not involved in carrying out this competition. It is mostly played by only a few archers after the main competition gets over. In other words, it is played only as a friendly match between few members of the two groups after the main match.

The Game of Archery In this game, the archers and other members would always select a plain area, be it a football ground or any other plain-levelled field so that the target and the archers who are positioned opposite to the erected target will be at the same level. When the day of the competition arrives, the field throngs with people who were eagerly waiting and supporting their own groups with shouts of joy and laughter, including the organizers of the competition, the participants and spectators. The scene takes on a small marketlike semblance on that particular day with the existence of small teashops and other stalls selling eatable items. At this juncture, everyone is busy in their own job, the organizers are busy measuring the distance from the target to the shooting point (which will be around 60 feet long), the participants get ready for the match, while the spectators are busy finding a seat for themselves or in partaking the eatables at the food stalls. It is to be noted that each side has their own targets which are erected in opposite directions. Before commencement of the game, a ritual is performed sepa­ rately by the two groups of archers. This is done by the leader of

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the team or by the selected person of each group. Performance of this ritual is an act of showing respect to ka mei hukum in the form of offering prayers. Each of the chanter, in their own side informs the Mother goddess about the competition before starting the game and at the same time would ask for her help and blessings so that they can obtain victory. The chanted prayer is as follows: Ko Mei nongsngap hukum,

Ko nongpyniar ka jaidbynriew – longbynriew,

U khun hyniewtrep shi tyllup ka pyrthei,

Ngin long ka biria ngin long ka sngewbha,

Ban neh ka burom ka nam ka jong Phi,

Ba la buh la seng na mynnyngkong ka sngi

Haba la poi kum kane ka sngi

Ban ia long ka biria kum shipara

Ia ka dak ’thingiong – ’thingsaw,

Kumba Phi la buh ban ithuh

Ia ka dak ka shin.

Ka ai ka jong Phi ka pynbiang ka jong Phi

Ioh don ka duna ioh don ka shiteng

Ka sneng ka kraw ka jong Phi,

Ka pynbiang ka jong Phi,

Naduh sha ka pyrthei ka sngi u bnai,

Bad ia ka hok ba la jer la thoh,

Ha ngi ryngkat ka ’tiehjer – ’namjer,

Ngin bat kata kein ia ka ba hok.

Source: Laloo 1978: 88. TRANSLATION

Oh! Mother who listens and give orders,

Who strengthens the human race,

In this entire world of the seven huts,

We will be the amuser and entertainer

So that your fame and honour will remain

As ordained from the first day,

When a day like this comes

To have a brotherhood-like game.

For the red and black,

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As you gave identification marks

And the symbols.

Giving and conforming is yours

Lest it fails or runs short

Admonition is yours

Amendment is yours.

On earth, sun and the moon,

And to the ordained righteous,

Together with ceremonial bow and arrow,

We shall retain it righteously.

(Translated by author)

In this game, there are two rounds and each round is final. Rules and regulations of this competition have to be followed strictly by all the contestants both in the first round as well as in the second round. It is to be noted that the direction of shooting will change from the first target to the second target in the second round. This process is followed just as it is done in other games like football and basketball. Traditionally, the distance from the shooting line to the target is 150 feet approximately (i.e. 100 pruh in Khasi), but today the distance has been shortened to only about 50 to 60 feet. The way of measuring the distance is interesting where both the teams are involved in such a way that half of the distance is measured by one team and another half by the other team. This is followed by the collection of money from all participants before the game begins. This money is kept in the middle part of the shooting area and weighed down with a stone. It is to be mentioned here that the money so collected from among the archers is meant for the stake (although the rate is fixed in advance) though each archer is not required to pay. In fact, an archer can give his contribution accord­ ing to his capability. Collection of money contribution from the participants is conducted in both the teams so as to meet the stake amount for the game. For instance, if the stake amount fixed by the khlieh kaw is Rs. 10,000, it is understood that each team has to share the contribution equally, i.e. Rs. 5,000 each team. However, if the money collected from amongst them does not reach the required amount, then the khlieh kaw has to take the responsibility, i.e. to

Archery as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Khasis

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bear the remaining amount. In this case, he may collect the money from other members of the group who have come to support the team. It is also observed that in the game of archery the ones who bet are not only the archers but even the group’s representatives and spectators. When everything is ready, the organizers announce that the competition is going to begin, and at the same time they wish all the archers to do well. Each group will select one person who is well versed in chanting words which are meant to strengthen the morale of his group. His job is to try to check if his group’s oppo­ nent commits any fault while playing, and if he finds any mistake, he informs Ka Mei Hukum and seeks her intervention to judge the right and the wrong. This person is known as a nongkhangkhnam (the one who stop arrows). This man, by uttering spells and reciting the shortcomings of the opposite team, is supposed to possess the power of preventing the arrows of the opposing party from hitting the mark. While the game is going on, these two persons (i.e. the nongkhangkhnam of both the groups) are also engaged in competing with each other in their chanting abilities to strengthen their own team. On the main day, each of the nongkhangkhnam sits in front of his target with a hollow bamboo full of water in his hands and the bows and arrows being laid on the ground alongside the target. He repeats all the conditions of the competitions, invokes the aid of Ka Mei Hukum, goes through certain incantations freely referring to the many faults of the opposite side, and pours water at intervals from the bamboo in front of the target. While the nongkhangkhnam are busy muttering their incantations, the archers who positioned themselves in a semi-circular form get ready to shoot their arrows at the target. This ritual lasts for about two hours. Then he exhorts the competitors of his side, and the match commences amidst loud cheers. Interestingly, every time an arrow finds its mark, it is acclaimed with loud cheers and inspiring words from the support­ ers with the nongkhangkhnam muttering their incantations all the while (Gurdon, 1981 [1907]). When the first round is over, the organizers or the official mem­ bers of the competition start to pluck and count the arrows that hit the target. The count is done in front of all the participants and

510

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the representatives of both the teams. The fallen arrows are then collected for the next challenge in the second round. This time the target is changed from one side to the other. After the second round is over, the total number of arrows that hit the target in both the rounds is added together and the team with more arrows hitting the target is declared the winner. The winning side carries off the staked prize as a reward for their victory and celebrates their success. The most interesting part of the celebration is the recitation of phawar by which they tease and mock their opponents who have lost the game. While singing phawar, they tap their feet on the ground step by step in such a way that it resembles a rhythmic dancing move­ ment as they move from the first target to the second for at least two to three rounds. Alongside with it, the archers raise their bows up, tap the bowstrings to make a sound in the form of cymbals. This singing-cum-dancing performance is unique in its own form as it is never performed in any other occasion or any dance form of the Khasis except in archery. Phawar singing during archery is known as ka phawar iasiat. This phawar is a festive type which is sung during non-religious celebrations to create joy and entertainment. The significance of this phawar is that it generates a crowd response that involves both spectators and participants. Archery phawars are meant for teasing and mocking the opponent. This is usually done after the game is over as a sign of celebrating victory. The language of the archery phawar is full of words of imagination, symbols and metaphorical expressions. Unlike other phawars, archery phawars contain mean­ ing from the first line itself till the fourth. It can be said that phawar singing is a performance as such. The performance is wholly depen­ dent on the performer and audience reaction. The phawar singers are the performers, whereas, the supporters of both the teams are the spectators. During archery, while phawar is sung at the end of a competition, the winning team moves from one target to the other whilst holding aloft the bows and arrows and mocking and poking fun at the losing team. A melodic rhythmic pattern is followed while singing the phawar. One such phawar is reproduced and analysed as under (Lyngdoh, 2015).

Archery as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Khasis

511

Eh …e….e…e…e….e…e…e…e.

Hoi………..

Ah…….

Ka men ia u khylliat (2 sien)

Soh kynphor ruh shi kynda,

U rem haka iasiat,

U shah takor haka tnga.

Hoi……………. Kiw.

TRANSLATION

Eh …e….e…e…e….e…e…e…e..

Hoi………..

Ah…….

An old woman and a khylliat (2 times)

And a fourth of papaya,

He loses in the shooting competition,

He was taunted by his wife.

Hoi……………. Kiw.

Khylliat (as mentioned in the above) is an instrument for chop­ ping kwai which is mostly used by toothless aged people to ease them in chewing. The singer of the winning team mocks the losing team ridiculing them by their facial expressions. He likens them to an old toothless woman full of wrinkles on her face. It is obvi­ ous that an aged person cannot chew kwai with his gums, so they needed a khylliat to grind it. Even when it comes to the matter of other eatables, old people have to choose something which would enable them to chew without much struggle. Here, we are told in the second line that papaya is the favourite fruit of the old and aged person. The reason is that this fruit is softer than any other local products and hence is not required to be chopped. Similarly, these defeated archers also pose their visage like old people. Their weak­ ness is revealed by this singer publicly in a crowded competition. He also forewarns these men ridiculing and taunting comments on them. He says that such taunts will not stop in the field, but will continue until they reach home. Their wives will not let leave them easily without condemning them on their lack of strength.

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Cultural Significance A comprehensive study of Khasi traditional archery cannot be made without discussing the equipment. The bow and arrow carry a very deep meaning in the Khasi context and also plays a vital role in the life cycle of the Khasi male member in the society beginning from birth to death. They are the symbols of a life-long companion to men. These two objects are important in ceremonies and festivals of the Khasis in relation to Khasi men. During the naming ceremony of a boy child, a bow and three arrows are placed near the child along with some other ritual objects. The ritual objects chosen for the child have a deeper mean­ ing as they symbolize the ideal man as a warrior, a protector and a hunter. The three arrows so placed carry different meanings. The first arrow is called u’nam-da lade or the arrow for protecting his own self; the second arrow is u’nam-da ing kur and is meant to pro­ tect his family and clan; and the third arrow is u’nam-da ri and is meant to defend and save the race and the territorial integrity of the village from all dangers and harm. The bow that is used in this ceremony is called ka tieh-jer or ka tieh-lymboit3 (the naked bow) and the arrows are called ki nam-jer, popularly known as ki nam­ lymboit4 (the naked arrows). The priest who conducts the ceremony take each of the objects mentioned and calls them by name in words of prayers to invoke the blessings of God for the good conduct and health of the baby boy. When a man dies, a bow and three arrows are placed close by the dead body. The bow which is used in death ceremony is called ka tieh-tympem, whereas the arrows are called Ki nam tympem. After the funeral pyre is lit, these three arrows are shot skyward, one each to the north, south and west directions. Arrows are shot only to three directions except the east for the reason that the soul of the deceased person makes his way through the east direction towards the House of God (Ka Dwar U Blei). These are shot to guard the soul from the evil spirits on his last journey to the abode of the Creator. The first arrow is called u nam-lamphrang. It is believed that since the day of naming the baby, the first arrow will lead and

Archery as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Khasis

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make the baby healthy, make him wise and live long, so that when the child grows up he can defend himself, his clan and defend the territorial rights. Here, the first arrow indicate the symbol of the arrow that the Khasi used in warfare and recreation like hunting and archery.U nam-pynbud is the second arrow which guides the man in his every step so that he could be knowledgeable in dealing with clan relationship, state matters and humanity. The third arrow called U nam-synran, is another arrow shot from the funeral pyre to keep off the evil spirits. This arrow guards the man’s spirit till the end of his life on his way to ka dwar u blei. Lastly, during dances and festivals of the Khasis, both male and female dancers are properly dressed in costly costumes. For the male dancers, gold and silver are the main ornaments that they use to adorn themselves. However, their dress is never complete without the silver quiver and three silver arrows hung on their backsides. These silver arrows called ki nam rupa are kept inside a silver quiver called Ka ryngkap rupa and are tied with a cord around the waist with an animal’s tail at its end. The belief is that the use of arrows in such dances is based on the family religious rites like birth or naming ceremony and also death ceremony. Laloo (1978) in this regards writes that the first arrow is called u nam-blei which signifies the blessings of God the Creator through the first maternal uncle U Kñi-rangbah known as U Suidnia. It is called nam-blei (arrow of God) because Ka Hukum Blei (God’s decree) used to come to the people or the members of the family through the maternal uncle for the reason that the Khasi traditional religion follows that it is the duty of the maternal uncle to perform the rites and rituals within a family. The second arrow is called u nam-kpa, which symbolizes the blessings of U Thawlang (the First Ancestor father) and the third arrow called u nam-mei is a symbol of the blessings that comes from Ka Iawbei (the First Ancestress mother). However, it is neces­ sary to note that bow and arrow also plays a very significant role during hunting and warfare. These objects are consecrated while performing the rites and ritual before going for hunting and war and also after coming from the same.

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Conclusion Archery has a connecting link between the past and the present in the socio-cultural and religious life of the Khasi people. It is a fact that the development and modern education, and most of all the influence of Christianity, has brought about a sea-change in the life of the Khasis. Their folklore, customs and practices, in a word, their culture has undergone major changes; people’s life is faced with threats and dangers of continuity of old lifestyle brought about by modernity. Hence, a quest for one’s own identity arises at this juncture, not how to adopt and live a new lifestyle but how to go back in search of the roots of origin where one came from and retain these roots partially if not wholly or to even create new ones that will fit in the present day amidst the influence and changes of the modern world. As a result, it can be found that despite the influence of modern development and the emergence of modern archery that seems to have destroyed the purity of traditional archery, yet, archery game continues to live and survive amongst Khasi people in the society. One of the evidences is the archery competition ka rongbiria organ­ ized by the Apphira Archery Committee which is held annually at Polo grounds on the 4 April to commemorate the uprising of the Khasi Chief U Tirot Singh against the British rule in 1829. The competition is usually among the himas of thirty chiefs in the land of U Hynñiewtrep-Hynñiewskum. The main idea of conducting this competition between the himas is to preserve the culture and tradi­ tion of the Khasis. It is also aimed to tap the local talents, and to show that this unique event was a special occasion for the people of the state to come together and know each other. It is an event that pushes for national integration and the fostering of brotherhood. This festival not only lures participants from different corners of the state but also attracts the attention of many visitors who come to Meghalaya to witness this occasion.

NOTES 1. The woman belonged to the Khyndai Trep-Khyndai Skum (Nine HutsNine Nests) sent down from above by Ka Mei Hukum (Mother Decree),

Archery as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Khasis

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to give and ordain the honour of chieftainship (ka longsyiem-man Syiem) to the children of the seven huts. 2. The person who acts as the leader of the group or an arranger at the same time acts as the go-in-between. 3. The tieh-lymboit or the naked bow is made of bamboo but it is very small in size compared with that used for archery. 4. The nam-lymboit or naked arrow is an arrow without metal cap, fletch, wax and without yarn. It is made simply by scraping a bamboo and sharpening the front part of the arrow.

REFERENCES Gurdon, P.R.T. 1981 [1907]. The Khasis. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications. Khymdeit, M.M. 2009. Evolution of Tʀm Gambling in Meghalaya from the Traditional Archery of the Khasi. Shillong: SMS Hi-Tech Impression. Laloo, D.T. 1978. Ka Rongbiria U Hynñiew-Trep. Shillong: Don Bosco Press. Lyngdoh, R. 2015. Revisiting Khasi Archery: A Study. Shillong: Ri Khasi Publication

PA RT V I

Land-Man Relationships

CHAPTER 27

Office of the Nokma

Studying Traditional Village Administration

of the Garos

Tengnang Dawa Sangma

Introduction In any Garo village, at least one man and often two, three or occasionally even more is referred to by the term nokma, which generally translates to as ‘headman’. The term nokma is etymol­ ogically related to the term nok meaning ‘house’ or ‘household’, while ma is a suffix which in some contexts mean ‘big’ or ‘large’, thus nokma literally means the ‘big house’, though it is referred to the man of that house. Second, the word ma also means ‘mother’ and in this sense, it means the ‘mother of the house’. Though the term nokma invariably refers to the man of the house, but since the man owns the house and the household property through his wife and her clan, this etymology also conveys some practical meaning. Thus, though the nokma, that is, the man is theoretically the owner, the actual owners are his wife and her clan members. As the head of the clan, the nokma is only a custodian of the lands and property of his wife and her clan (Sangma, 2012 [1981]). As mentioned, a single village often has more than one nokma. If so, one of them is always considered to be the first nokma and the others are secondary to him. The ranking of the nokma may conceivably have been encouraged by the government’s custom of recording only a single nokma’s name for official purposes.

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To explain how a man becomes a nokma, it is first necessary to refer to the lineage structure of the village. It is simplest to consider villages with a single main lineage first. Just as one household of each cooperating group is considered to be senior by virtue of the fact that all the other households have sprung from it, one house­ hold is the seniormost of the whole village, since all of the houses ultimately ‘come out’ from it. The process may, of course, have involved many stages and generations, but the senior household is ordinarily considered to be that of the first nokma. Normally, the nokma (like any other Garo father), looks for a ‘nephew’, that is, a younger man from his own lineage, to marry his daughter and become the heir. In this case the nephew not only becomes the heir to the house and property but also succeeds to the headmanship when his father-in-law dies. Inevitably the nokmas of many villages have grown up in a different village and belong to a different clan and to the opposite clan or moiety from the people of the main village lineage. A nokma should, however, be a mem­ ber of the same lineage and from the same village as the previous nokma, so generally a succession of the headmen are members of one village and lineage by descent, but hold the status of headmen of another village by virtue of being married to the women who are successively chosen as heiress in the seniormost house of the village (Burling, 1997 [1963]; Sangma, 2012 [1981]). However, with time, the traditional essence of inheritance and village administration has undergone changes in most of the village. This chapter discusses the office of the nokma among the Garos and its powers and functions. However, the cases mentioned herein are with special reference to the village.

Types of Nokma There are different types of nokma among the Garos for different purposes. 1. A∙king Nokma: A∙king nokma is the head of an area of land referred to as a∙king, to which he holds the title. 2. Songni Nokma: This nokma is the custodian and guardian of

Office of the Nokma

3.

4.

5.

6.

521

the village (i.e. song or asong) land of a particular ma∙chong (i.e. motherhood). Gamni Nokma: This term is a title given to a wealthy man who is rich and possesses vast material wealth. Gamni nokma neither has the power to head the village nor judge disputes or make decisions in the village. A∙mate A∙king Nokma: A∙mate a∙king nokma is a nokma originated through a plot of land acquired by an individual by purchase or through gift. A∙jikse A∙king Nokma: This kind of a∙king land comes into exis­ tence through the system of common inheritance and through unity by a bond of inter-clan relationship. A∙joma A∙king: A∙joma a∙king is the owner of the land owned and used by the community. It is the common land or property. The mahari (members of the two intermarrying clans) has a voice in all matters concerning the land.

The above nokmas are found in Garo Hills. But the nokmas found in Asananggre village are the (a) A∙king nokma, (b) Songni nikma/ nokma, and (c) Gamni nokma. A∙king Nokma A∙king nokmas are the landowners who have possession of titles to land. A plot of land to which a man holds title is known as a∙king and a nokma who holds a title is known as a∙king nokma. He looks after the boundaries and division of territories of the respective village nokma. He also settles land disputes between the villages which fall under him. A a∙king nokma can own one to five villages or more, where one of the five nokmas becomes the sole landowner of the other villages. A∙jikse or nokjikse is also associated with ownership of land which is rather interesting. When two nokmas of different clans share the same village or land on mutual contract or understand­ ing, it is known as a∙jikse or nokjikse. A∙jikse literally means ‘couple’s covenant in land’. For instance, nokma and a∙king nokma of Sel­ balgre village (also landowner of Asananggre) who belongs to the

522

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Chambugong clan shares the same village/land with the Manda clan. Like the Chambugong a∙king nokma, the a∙king nokma of the Manda clan shares the same power and functions in the same vil­ lage. Manda clan too has nokma and a∙king nokma of its own but during the time of this research, the office became inactive since the nokma was a∙kim (widow nokma). That the concept of A∙jikse is usually done between and within clans which are in a marriage bond becomes clear in Figure 27.1. (Nokma/A'king) Chambugong Clan (Ch.)

(A'jikse)

Nokma/A'king

Manda Clan (M.)

(Husband) Pilatson M. Sangma

(Husband) Lt. Mejan Ch. Marak

(Wife) Selbina Ch. Marak

(Wife) Injak M. Sangma

Source: Author. Figure 27.1: A∙jikse in Selbalgre village

Nokma or Songni Nokma Apart from other nokmas, the term nokma is frequently used in village administration, as it achieves the highest status with the flexibility of inheriting the properties, governing the village, and presiding over several matters. Nokmaship is basically a lineageoriented title which passes further in a particular family (nuclear or extended) of a particular clan. He acts as a judge in times of conflict and problems created amongst the individuals and families of the village, and crimes within his territory. The first generation nokma is known as wa∙kap sa (first generation), while his successor will be wa∙kap gni (second generation), the third generation as wa∙kap gittam and so on. He acts as an overall head since the same nokma can also be a∙king nokma, gamni nokma, kamal (priest), nokma jikse or a∙jikse a∙king and a∙mate nokma. Thus, the family in which nokmaship passes on is also known as rajani ma∙kring which means ‘mother clan of the king’.

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523

The succession of a nokma to the next generation has to be from the same lineage. If, in case, he is not from the lineage, the matter is settled by the mahari and chra (male members of the lineage and clan). If the selection is undecided and made complicated, the issue is undertaken and settled by the village court or the case can be handled further by the higher judicial authority of the state. Gamni Nokma Gamni nokma literally means ‘head of the property’. Gamni nokma is often considered head or appointed when he has the most property or is richer than many of the villagers. He may own many animals, have more gongs, clothing, land and so on. Gamni nokma can also be nokma, a∙king nokma and kamal. He may be respected in the villages and given some status in the eyes of the villagers but in comparison to other traditional political authorities of the village he has no power in interfering with the presiding event or situation. At present, gamni nokma could be a person with 5 to 6 cars in one household or perhaps a crorepati in the Indian context. Today, the gamni nokma is given less importance since most of the villages have turned semi-urban, and a handful people from the villages are even working in government offices and other firms.

Method of Selection of the Nokma The selection of the nokma is preferentially done by the will of the nokma’s parents-in-law (when they are alive) which is then passed on to one of the daughters, whose husband will succeed. But more strictly followed is the selection of a nokma after the death of the ruling nokma when the inheriting daughter is an adult and married. Selection of the nokma is based on the support of the maharis, clan or relatives. The mahari selects a daughter and her name is taken to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) for approval. The nokma is not elected by District Council Executives but by their own clan and mahari members. Hence, even today, it follows the Garo matrilineal pattern.

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Eligibility to become Nokma The qualification required to be a nokma are the following: 1. The eligibility for the lifetime representative is counted based on their socialization, expertise in social agendas and counter emer­ gencies, understanding of socio-political norms of the village but most importantly, one should have the right mind for decisionmaking, a faithful daughter and son-in-law to carry further the tradition of their forefathers/foremothers. 2. The daughter should be an adult or old enough to get married. To be a nokma, the inheriting daughter has to be married. 3. Both daughter and son-in-law should be of sound mind. 4. The nokma should be of the same clan from within the family members, siblings or clan, if the former nokma does not have daughter due to some illness or is dead. 5. In the case of villages without an a∙king nokma, the nokma is elected through the locality’s residential citizens by the system of voice vote and is conducted by the Council of nokmas. 6. If the inherited daughter’s husband is dead, the a∙kim (widow) can pass the title on to her daughter or continue to exercise power. 7. Most importantly, the inheriting person should be a woman and the only executive power to be executed by her husband. Tenure The term of ‘administration’ by the nokma is lifetime until she/ he feels like passing it on to one of their daughters and sons-in-law or the title is kept for oneself until she/he dies. The tenure is same with the a∙king nokma. They are liable to hold the status as long as he/she enjoys good health.

Power and Functions of A∙King Nokma/Nokma In the villages of Garo Hills, the a∙king nokma occupies the highest and most important position. He/She plays a crucial role in the

Office of the Nokma

525

administration of the village. His/Her duties, rules and regulation are tied up within his/her mandate for the execution of power and functions to the villages. Some of the powers and functions of the a∙king nokma and nokma are the following: Powers of the A∙king Nokma 1. Without the permission of the a∙king nokma, no rich man or villager from his land and territories can be appointed as gana nokma. 2. The a∙king nokma handles the problems of the family, house­ hold, society and religion in case of dispute. He overall acts as a counsellor. 3. Without the consent and allotment of land by the a∙king nokma, no villager or individual can cultivate or do jhum cultivation. 4. The a∙king nokma settles disputes between two or three villages under his jurisdiction. 5. All the nokmas under his territory have to abide by his decision. 6. The a∙king nokma is also considered of highest status since only he is able to play the sacred drums called kram and nagra. 7. Preserving and protecting his land and territories is his biggest duty. However, he cannot necessarily sell the land, trees, etc. Powers of the Nokma 1. The decision of the nokma in the village is final. 2. If the mahari cannot control the issue of the family or clan dis­ pute, the case is brought before the nokma; he acts as the sole judge. 3. The nokma’s verdict can put the victim to death penalty, punish severely, forgive, give compensation and ostracise from the vil­ lage. All these are applied depending on the crimes the accused had committed. 4. The nokma before giving the final verdict takes the advice from the eldest citizen in the village. 5. To mark his own land boundary, he erects a menhir (ro∙ong ge∙a) or plants a bolchu tree which will live for generations.

526

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6. He can also regulate new rule for the welfare of the village. Demarcation of the Boundary The governance and judgement is associated with the demarcation of boundary. With the knowledge of a∙king nokma, village nokmas mark their territory till where his power and functions extend. A∙king nokma is the owner of the land while the village nokma acts as the keeper of the land. The boundary acts as a symbol of peace and cooperation between neighbouring villages. In case if someone dismantles the erected ‘menhir’ or tree which serves as the boundary marker, accidentally or deliberately, the act is considered as trespassing and penalty may be paid, or even fights may erupt between nokmas. In Garo Hills, village territories are marked with menhir, bolchu tree, valleys, rivers and plants. The natural tributaries and hills act as the pillar of control in the village political administration. These are called a∙mal. During the 1920s British territorialization, feeling insecure of one’s land, the nokmas started to keep a record of their boundary and geographical distribution details by measuring their land with a long bamboo which the Garos called map wa∙reng which means ‘bamboo map’. This was the way and means of measuring the size, breadth, width, and distance of the land they inherited. The land was measured placing a long bamboo horizontally in a particular edge of the land where the land starts. Later the bamboo is extended to the remaining space or line following the same process over and over again. The size of the land is known by how many times the bamboo was placed. The a∙king map was also drawn manually by the a∙king nokma. It was also called map dollil. This hand drawn map was inserted inside a bamboo container. Thus, the bamboo acted as a medium of demarcation and even a mode of administration. A∙song songa is an erection of menhir by a∙king nokma in one’s own village symbolically marking his power of land ownership and authority. The nokma performs certain rituals on the erected stone and its main objective is to exclude other villages and foreigners (i.e. non-Garos) from entering the territory of the nokma or the

Office of the Nokma

527

village. This rule of confinement and inter-dependence among the villagers was strictly followed. Any trespassers and outsiders were head hunted during the 1800s. A∙song songa can still be seen in the village of Selbalgre (Figure 27.2) but today the land has been aban­ doned. This old village is now a forest and believed to be sacred and the menhirs are not allowed to be touched by the people. Hence, menhirs were erected by inheriting nokmas at least once in their lifetime, to secure one’s territory from the invasion of outsiders or different Garo clans. A∙song songa became a symbol of awareness and a notice to the villagers and outsiders that foreigners can nei­ ther hold the land nor step into the territory. These acts actuated by the a∙king nokmas and village nokmas of the villages play a very important role in securing one’s village and bringing peace and orderliness for the villagers. Landholding System In the Garo society, administration of the village or traditional political organization is composed of three aspects – (1) the

Source: Author.

Figure 27.2: A∙song songa of different generations in Selbalgre

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Tengnang Dawa Sangma

Source: Author. Figure 27.3: Dismantled kosi originally used in judgement

inheritance of nokmaship with power and functions, (2) the inheritance of property which includes land, house, etc., and (3) people for governance. Out of these three aspects, nokmaship and landownership becomes important in securing people and giving them what they need. More than the village nokma, the a∙king nokma acquires a vast area of land under his jurisdiction in which a

Office of the Nokma

529

cluster of villages fall. He not only administers his own village but also looks after other villages within his jurisdiction. The Selbalgre nokma is at the same time the a∙king nokma, and in his jurisdiction there are four village nokmas – Rengsanggre, Misimagre, Nokatgiri and Asanangre. The existence of a∙kingship translates to an owner­ ship of land, yet the power and extension of administration is executed in the villages. In the Garo system, the inheritance of property by the daughter of a villager and the inheritance of property in the nokma’s family is understandably different from each other. The heiress or nokna and nokrom (inheriting son-in-law) in a family inherits only the right to take care of the property and family members; while in the case of the inheriting daughter of the nokma and a∙king nokma, they receive all property along with the documents of holding the land and inherits the power of governance and administration. Other daughters, referred to as a∙gate, do not have a claim over the prop­ erty. The household acts as the basic economic unit where the land is passed on from generation to generation to one’s descendants for the purpose of production, consumption and distribution activi­ ties. The land remains with the family or individual until the land is transferred or distributed to the siblings by parents or clan in case of the parents’ death. The land is held both by men and women, but traditionally, it is the women who inherit the property and the husband utilizes for production, consumption and distribution for the household and family. Acquisition or request for acquisition of land is often inspected by the nokma and a∙king nokma. It is only with the permission and decision of the nokma one can purchase and acquire land within the a∙king land of the clan. For instance, nokma of Asananggre village, West Garo Hills has strictly followed a tradition of not allowing non-Garos to buy land from the village. Most of the nokmas have realized the importance of land since the villagers are dependent on cultivation for livelihood and that the land is an investment for their future generations to live on, while in the case of a married couple, they are allowed to hold new land given by the bride’s parents to start an extended nuclear family or household.

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Since 1886, Land Revenue system has been practised; however it was only regulated for the Garos in the plains. The District Council at the village level is represented by the laskar who collects a∙wil (fees/tax) from the villagers for the use of land. A∙wil encompasses tax assessed on any land within the a∙king ‘jhummed’ by any person other than a permanent resident, but also tax on those who has been permitted to jhum in the said a∙king by the nokma. The a∙wil passed by the District Council Act (Act I of 1960) is to collect a fee of Re. 1 on jhum land. The a∙wil fees are collected by the laskar and the Forest Range Officers out of which A∙king nokma receives 25 per cent of the total fees collected from his a∙king land while the rest of 75 per cent is credited to the District Council as district funds. House tax is also collected by the nokma of every village. It amounts to twenty rupees annually from each household for the village fund and for residing within his jurisdiction. The tax is collected by a dakora (peon) of the nokma from each household.

Decision-making and Judgement The order of decision-making and judgement are chronologically discussed in the section. This is to say, whenever there is a case in the village – it first goes to the first body of decision-making, then to the next, and so on. Mahari The first right to preside over the wrongdoings or problems in the village is the mahari (which comprises relatives and senior clan members and family). The act of punishment for a crime committed by a person is judged within the household in the beginning. The problems are tried to be solved within the family members first, so as to not take the issue of conflict to the larger clan groups (of the wife and husband). The eldest of the mahari or maternal uncle of the person being judged would try to solve and also stand on his/ her side, if necessary, provided the person has been accused. The clan plays an important role in showing the strength through their numerical strength, by being present during the judgement from

Office of the Nokma

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both parties. If the mahari is strong, there is always a chance of dominating over the agenda. In Asananggre, a 22 year old boy Johnny Marak was in a rela­ tionship with a girl from Tura Wadanang, Vicuna Marak. Both the families knew about this, but while the boy’s family had no objec­ tion to the match, the girl’s family did not approve. One night, the young couple with permission from their respective families attended a pre-wedding celebration. The next night, they wanted to go for the wedding – so when Johnny went to her house to fetch her, Vicuna’s mother objected and did not allow her to go. As Johnny waited outside, Vicuna’s mother scolded her, slapped her, and locked her in the bathroom. Unfortunately, that night Vicuna hanged herself to death. As an aftermath of this unforeseen event, the two families blamed and accused each other. In a week’s time, the two clans and their respective maharis and resolved the problem amongst themselves. Nokma Kachari When clans from rival families are unable to handle a situation, the case is taken to the nokma. Nokma or a∙king nokma has the highest power and authority in giving unbiased judgement. The nokma’s decision is taken to be final and binding. The nokma has the sole power of dissolving and discharging a case brought to him. However, the nokma’s judgement is based on the final collective opinions of the maharis of the contending individuals. During the judgement process, the nokma gives freedom to the mahari members from both the parties to speak. The nokma may only listen to the discourse from both the parties and later recollect the arguments and decide to give his words of advice to both clans. He gives his verdict and concludes the trial within a day. If the case is complicated and is unable to be dissolved, the case is taken further to the laskar (the rural administrator). If there is a mutual understanding from both the parties, the issue can be concluded either by compromising or by means of compensation. However, if the nokma himself is the complainant or the defendant, then the case has to be taken to the village court which is presided by the laskar.

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Village Court The Village Court acts as a centre for judgement consisting of laskar as the judge and adviser, and a few jury members appointed by the village council. Under village council are the nokmas of various villages. Originally, laskars were appointed by the British government to maintain peace in the villages and a∙kings. The present laskar of Asanangre is Nikseng Agitok Sangma who succeeded Wansing Agitok Sangma in 2011. He is the 31st laskar under Mauza 3 (which comprises 27 villages). The tenure for the laskar is three years, but the same man can be re-elected. The village court handles specific and basic cases related to rural administration in reference to the Sixth Schedule of 1951. In the village court and village council, women are not seen as members or as working heads. Men appear to be dominant in the issues of argu­ ment, judgement, and decision. During the presence of the trial in the village court, the complainant pays Rs. 15 to the court which is collected as government revenue. On 5 January 2015, the case of the nokma of Galwang Songma was taken up by the village court. The said nokma, Gojen R. Marak, allegedly attempted to murder his stepson by throwing an a∙tte (dao) at him. Gojen was the second husband of Margaret A. Sangma, who had inherited the title from her parents. In the village court, the family members as well as the clan members narrated their ordeals at the hands of Gojen, who had created a nuisance of himself. Margaret wanted to divorce him. Following the rules and regulation of the court, she paid Rs. 60 to the court, and the laskar after hearing the statements from both the parties, granted her divorce. The court ordered that till the time her daughters grow up, and till the time she (Margaret) is sure of whom to select as the next nokma, the village of Galwang Songma will be unproductive in terms of judicial, executive and legislative power. The officers in the village court include the following: i. Laskar: He is the presiding judge. ii. Secretary to laskar: He maintains the written record and docu­ ments provided as evidence. He sits next to the laskar on his left.

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iii. Rai ontimgipa (adviser): He gives advice to both the parties. He gives option of what to do and what not to do inside the village. He advises the accused and accuser on the basis of their crimes and redressal sought. iv. Jury members: The jury members sit beside the laskar on his right. They help out the laskar in the decision making and also in stating the terms and condition. v. Five sordars: They act like the police, and guard the laskar, and help him out with works like arresting the convict, spreading information to various localities or other villages. Two or three sordars remain inside the village court to help out with the work of the laskar, while the rest keep guard outside. vi. Dakora: He is the helper (peon) who does odd jobs during the case in the village court.

Oath-taking, Remunerations, and Punishment Crimes committed by any villager or outsiders are supposed to face certain punishments and give compensation to the victim. In case of a culprit running away from the village after committing a crime, he/she will be accounted for when he/she comes back to the village or finally be asked to leave the village permanently. In most of the villages the cases are often solved by means of ending the conflict through compensation and compromise among the clans and maharis. A major conflict of Garo villagers and the nokmas is land dispute. Every nokma mark their territories or boundaries. If somebody tries to break the boundaries and expand their land by trespassing, he/ she is to be accounted for in the courtyard of the a∙king nokma called bandasal. This refers to a rest house in front of the nokma’s house, also used for meetings and judgements. In the courtyard an elongated stone (menhir) called kosi is erected for tying up the accused for questioning and punishing. The tying up of the convict can be for days together. The hands of the criminal or convict is tied up with a rope and the other end of the rope is knotted to the kosi.

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Oath-taking Oath-taking does not necessarily need to be made in front of nokma or in the bandasal. It can be made in the house amongst the family, friends, relatives and an opponent during the conflict. Oath-taking in Garos society is like a curse to oneself, if one wants to prove oneself. While in anger, a person would curse the other individual or the second party in case he is wrong. One of the common way of taking oath is – ‘If you break this boundary I/you will die, my/ your organs will have tumour, elephant will stamp you/me, Tiger will tear and eat me/you, thunder will strike me/you’ and so on. Remuneration or fine The term dai which means ‘fine’ is a common factor in the law of Garos. Fine is paid based on what crime or act is committed. Remuneration is made or given to the opposite party. This is first handed to the head/nokma and then it is passed over to the third party. Out of the many rules this is one of the most utilized laws implemented in most of the villages. Today, a particular rule of compensation made is through compromising and giving a small sum of money. There are still few households which practice a compensation made by giving animals. Cow, pig, goat, chicken, etc., were the fines to be given but today this compensation has been converted into money. Some of the fines and their amount is given in Table 27.1. This practice from the past is still prevalent among the present genera­ tion of the villages under Rongram block, Garo Hills, Meghalaya which includes 27 villages under one laskar. Another peculiar rule in the villages is cutting or piercing ani­ mals. For instance, when a cow or a goat trespasses the neighbour’s compound or a boundary leading to destruction of the neighbour’s plantation like areca nut plants, gourd, paddy, wheat, etc., the ag­ grieved party has the right to cut or injure the animal.

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TABLE 27.1: FINES TO BE PAID FOR CRIMES COMMITTED

Sl. No.

Crimes by men

Crimes by women

Fine

1

Eve teasing and waving at a woman or a stranger woman by unknown men or boys.

-

Rs. 5

2

Touching a woman's breast with bad intention

-

Rs. 15

3

Elopement

Elopement

Rs. 30

4

Impregnating a woman outside marriage

-

Rs. 60

5

Murder

Murder

Rs. 60

6

Divorce

Divorce

Rs. 60

7

Eloping with nokma’s wife (Penalty for both)

If nokma’s wife elopes Rs. 160 with other stranger (Penalty for both)

Source: Author’s fieldwork 2014.

Conclusion The Garos of Meghalaya have a rich cultural heritage governed by their customary laws propagated orally from generation to gene­ ration. Customary laws and administration does not only govern their way of life and beliefs but also land ownership, inheritance, family, transfer of land, protection of land, etc. The village administration among the Garos is peculiar in composition since it follows the matrilineal clan system, settlement pattern, landholding, inheritance, and transfer of property, social institutions like family, marriage, kinship and other aspects of judicial agenda. The prevailing customary laws with reference to village admin­ istration are vested in the hands of the a∙king nokma and nokma of the village. The nokma administers the village as well as judges and gives the verdict when there are cases to be decided. He/she, with the support and assistance of the clan, relatives (chras and mahari) and elders of the victim, make the decisions. The accused (and con­ vict) either has to compensate or face the final verdict, or else the

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case is moved to the village court. Remuneration and compensation plays an integral part in the judicial administrative system among the Garos of Asananggre and other parts of Garo Hills.

REFERENCES Burling, R. 1997 [1963]. Rengsanggri: Family and Kinship in a Garo Village. Tura: Tura Book Room. Sangma, M.S. 2012 [1981]. History and Culture of the Garos. New Delhi: Book Today.

CHAPTER 28

Forest and Tribal Life with

Special Reference to the Khasis

Rekha M. Shangpliang

Introduction The Khasi Hills are located in the north-eastern corner of India in the middle of the Meghalaya plateau with East and West Garo Hills lying towards its west, and Karbi Anglong District of Assam towards the east. The Khasis occupy a unique position both from ethnic and linguistic points of view among the congeries of the tribes inhabiting the mountainous terrain of India’s north-east. There are numerous interpretations of the word Khasi. Hamlet Bareh (1985) suggests that the term Khasi means ‘born of the mother’; kha means ‘born of ’ and si refers to ‘ancient mother’, thus bringing out the matrilineal character of the Khasis who trace their descent from the mother. The Khasis follow the principles of matrilineal descent where ancestral property is passed from the mother to the daughter, preferably the youngest daughter or the khadduh. The matrilineal Khasis of Meghalaya believe in the ideology – long jait na ka kynthei which means ‘from the woman sprang the clan’. This ideology is so deeply rooted in the Khasi ethos that it has brought to light the role of women in perpetuating the clan from one generation to another. Descent line in a Khasi family is reckoned only from the mother’s clan or kur as a result of which the children belong to the descent group of the mother. The Khasis have a deep rooted affinity with nature. The earth

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which is symbolized as ‘mother’ or meiramew is looked upon as the caretaker of all the natural resources. H.O Mawrie (1981: 78) states that ‘U Khasi U im bad ka mariang bad ka mariang ka im ha u’. This declaration which means ‘A Khasi lives with nature and nature lives with him’ bears testimony to the fact that nature with all its bounty shares a harmonious relationship with the Khasis. Thus, forest holds an important place in the social, economic and religious life of the Khasis. For a Khasi the forest or ki khlaw ki btap as they call it, is a well-loved home, a game sanctuary and also an abode of worship all rolled into one, around which his social, cultural and religious activities revolve. It would be pertinent to discuss here the parameters of forest usage in various aspects of Khasi life and culture.

Parameters of Forest Usage among the Khasi The usages of forest and forest products by the Khasis can be enumerated under the following categories: Forest Legends and Folklore The Khasi folklore and legends (Khanatang bad Puriskam) have played a very important role in shaping their ethno-cultural traits and values. Most of them are woven around the various forces of nature such as hills and valleys, rocks and caves, and flora and fauna. These elements of nature are personified in the legends as the mother and son, husband and wife and friend and foe according to their natural behaviours, their love, hate, jealousy, pride and vanity which are projected out before the listeners with the sole purpose of teaching moral and spiritual values. A well-known Khasi legend centres on the belief in U Diengiei, a giant tree on the top of a hill. The tree signifies the foundation of human society within the eco-system. According to this legend, God planted the U Diengiei as a sign of the covenant of coherent existence of all creatures. But man in his foolish greed decided to cut down the tree of social covenant believing that he would see the light of wealth and prosperity, but instead his heart was filled with deep

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sorrow and remorse. He turned to ka Lei-Synshar (God’s executive attribute) and begged for her forgiveness and promised before her that in place of ka diengiei which he had cut down he would set up ki law kyntang (sacred groves) all over the land. The Khasis believe that a tiger is always guarding the law kyntang and it is the same tiger of yore that licked the diengiei in an attempt to save it from wanton destruction. This tiger is known as U ryngkew U basa or U la ryngku. This folk tale throws ample light on the attitude and perception of the ancient Khasis towards trees and forests. They consider the forest as the home of gods and evil spirits, and looked at them with a sense of awe and reverence. Forest for Musical Instruments The Khasis love dancing, music and singing. From time immemorial, the Khasi have their own indigenous musical instruments, which consists of different kinds of drums, pipes, harps and cymbals. The musical instruments are locally made which bring to light the artistic skill of the Khasi. Among the different types of musical instruments, the most prominent are: 1. The Drums (Ka Ksing): (a) Ka bom ka nakra bad tasar or the big drum (b) Ka ksing bom or sing nakra or the smaller drum (c) Ka ksing kynthei or the female drum (d) Ka Ksing shynrang or the male drum, and (e) Ka padiah bad ka ksing dingphong are smaller drums. 2. Stringed Instruments: (a) Ka duitara, (b) Ka marynthing, and (c) Ka maryngod. 3. Blowing Instruments (a) Ka tangmuri ne Ka Muhuri (b) Ka Sharati (c) Ka besli (d) Ka mieng (e) Ka shawiang

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Rekha M. Shangpliang

(f) Ka tanglod (g) Ka put sla All these blowing instruments are made of bamboo except ka put sla. Khasi drums are nearly always made of wood, not of metal or earthenware. ka padiah is a small drum with a handle made of wood, while Ka ksing is a cylindrically-shaped drum and ka nakra is a large kettledrum made of wood having the head covered with deerskin. Ka duitara is a guitar with muga silk strings, which is played with a little wooden key held in the hand. Ka tangmuri is a wooden pipe, which is played like a flageolet. The Khasis also play the Jew’s harp (ka mieng), which is made of bamboo (Gurdon, 1975: 39). Thus we find that the Khasis make extensive use of bamboo and wood in their indigenous musical instruments. Forest for Weaving and Dyeing The Khasis learnt how to depict various designs and colours in their clothing from nature. They are well acquainted with the art of weaving. According to Gurdon (1975), many weaver families were known to have settled in Khyrwang villages of Synteng, Mynso and Sutnga. The Khyrwangs weave a special pattern of cotton and silk cloth with striped red and white. Before the British came, this industry was considerable. The Census conducted before 1907 gives the number of weavers in Khasi Jaintia as 533. The Khasis of Bhoi weave cotton and dye it with leaves of a plant called u nob for black colour. They also boil the coloured thread in the leaves of a tree called ka lakhynroh (b. Symplocaceae, Symplocus glomerata) to make the colour a lasting one. They also use the bark of the dieng pyrshit tree (b. Eurya accuminata latifolia) for dying thread. It gives a yellow colour. There is a village Umrasun in Bhoi area where Khasis are still weaving their clothes with various designs and colours depict­ ing motifs such as trees, bamboo, flowers, animals and birds with threads already dyed in various colours obtained from lac or leaves and barks of trees. These special cloths they make are called phali.

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Rearing of eri silk worm (khñiang ryndia) is an ancient art known to Khasis. They use a tree called ka lakynjor (b. Bignonaceae, Oxyl­ lum indica) as feed for the silkworm. They also cultivate larynda (castor plant) for this purpose (Khongsit, 1999). The Khasis also carry out lac culture by rearing the insects on the sohphyrnu tree. They tie the insects on this tree where they eat and grow up and increase in number. They collect lac in the month of October. Another type of tree called ka jrisim in Bhoi is also used for rearing lac insect. Lac is cultured till today in Nongstoin areas in a village known as Umsohpieng. They use the tree named dieng risim in these areas. During the lean season the lac cultivators preserve lac insect on the trees called u toh laha (b. Popilianceae, Cajanus indica) as seed until the time for cultivation arrives. This tree is small, about 8 to 10 ft tall, with green barks and grows well in Bhoi. During winter, the insects are kept on the toh laha tree, and later transferred to diengsohphyrnu or jrisim or diengrai for cultivation. A particular tree called ka dieng sohtung (b. Aralia Sp., Aralia­ ceae) has black coloured leaves and the Khasis of yore used these leaves for dying threads for making the jymphong or a sleeveless coat worn by men. Besides these trees the following species of trees are also used as dyes: (a) Ka Nuli (Strobilanthes secundus) – brilliant black colour (b) Ka Pantaro (Strobilanthes) – brilliant red colour (c) Ka Dieng Mitang – red colour of different shades.

Forest for Weaponry Weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows and a circular shield, were used for defence. It is surprising that the Khasi sword has a handle which is never made of wood or bone but iron or steel, the result being that the sword is most awkward to hold and could never have been of much use as a weapon of defence. The Khasi weapon par excellence is the bow. Archery is the national game of the Khasis. The Khasi bow ka ryntieh is made of

542

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bamboo and is used mostly for hunting purposes. The bowstring is of split bamboo and the bamboos that are used are of three types: (a) u spit, (b) u shken and (c) u siej-lieh. The Khasi arrow khnam are generally of two types: (a) The plain-headed (sop); (b) The barbed-headed (ki pliang). Both types are made of bamboo. The feathers of birds like vultures, geese, cranes, cormorants and hornbills are used to make arrows. Forest Products in Khasi Rituals and Ceremonies Rituals abound in Khasi religion and culture. In the words of H.O. Mawrie (1981: 11), ‘Ka Kolshor bad ka niam ki long kiba la ngam ha ki thied snam jong ngi kum ka jaitbynriew bad ban bret ia ki ka long kumba patar da lade ia lade. (Rituals are a part and parcel of our culture. They have embedded their roots deep down in our flesh and blood and to think of mankind to throw away either of them is to tear oneself apart.)’ There are rituals pertaining to three important stages in one’s life: (1) Naming ceremony (ka jer ka thoh) (2) Marriage (poikha-poiman) (3) Death (niam ïap). NAMING CEREMONY

The following are some instances of the use of forest products during the birth ceremony: a. When the child is born, the umbilical cord is cut with a sharp splinter of bamboo. Knife cannot be used on this occasion. b. When the umbilical cord, after being tied falls off, a ritual is performed by offering worship to certain water deities ka blei sam-um and also to forest spirit u suid bri or u suid khlaw. c. For the naming ceremony, pounded rice flour is placed on a bamboo winnower called u prah. d. A plantain leaf is used to place five pieces of kha piah or dried fish. e. Liquor is placed in a gourd (klong).

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543

MARRIAGE CEREMONY

A simple wedding ceremony of the Khasi would include the exchange of distilled liquor from two gourds (klong) which are mixed together. The priest then blesses the couple with a prayer and pours the entire liquor on to the three khapiah or dry fish. These are then placed in a container and preserved over the hearth. DEATH CEREMONY

The following instances of the use of forest products are evident in death ceremonies of the Khasis: a. The dead body is laid on a mat (japung) made of bamboo. b. A small bamboo basket (ka shang) is hung up over the head of the corpse. c. Sometimes the body is placed in a coffin, which is laid on a bamboo bier (ka krong). d. As the funeral party sets off with the bone repository (maw­ shieng), one person in front makes a route by strewing it with leaves of the tree known as dieng shit. If any stream is to be crossed, a rough bridge is made of branches and grass. This trail of leaves and the bridges are intended to guide the spirit of the deceased to the cairn. Forest for Food A large variety of non-timber forest products (NTFP) is used by the Khasis to supplement their daily food requirements. These include tubers, fruits, roots, wild edible plants, mushroom, bamboo shoot, creepers, etc. The Khasis have a variety of wild plants which they use as their daily food and it is a natural wisdom of the Khasis to be able to differentiate between different wild plants. They can also distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms. The Khasis know of a wide variety of mushrooms, each of which they have named. A trip into the woods and forests to collect vegetables and mushrooms is something they love and do regularly (Mawrie, 1981).

544

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It is also interesting to note that the Khasis generally use the pre­ fix ja to name the wild variety of edible plants that are found in the woods. The reason for this could be that ja which literally means ‘rice’, is the staple food of the Khasis and so the use of these edible plants with the prefix ja is considered a supplement to rice, espe­ cially amongst the poorer section of the people. Khongsit (1999), who made an in depth study on the various types and uses of forest produce with the prefix ja gives a list of 113 species of such plants and herbs. (See Appendix I at the end of this chapter.) Forests as Sacred Abode Preservation of forests as sacred groves has been existent since time immemorial amongst the Khasis. People are mostly governed by their belief systems in conserving these forests. The presence of U Ryngkew U Basa or ‘the guardian sprit’ in these forests is a belief that has existed amongst the Khasis since time immemorial. The guardian spirit, according to them, resides in the forest and takes care of the village community and protects them from sickness, pain, invasion by enemies, etc. Therefore, destroying or cutting of trees, grass, etc., from these groves is considered to be against the wish of U Ryngkew U Basa and, therefore, people are afraid of these spirits that they might do some harm (Tiwari et al., 1999). Law Kyntang, as they are generally known, are also known by various names such as Law Lyngdoh or Law Niam. These forests are set aside for religious purposes and are managed by the lyngdoh (a priest) or any other person to whom the religious ceremonies for the particular locality are entrusted. Till today, these sacred groves are held in high esteem and every now and then religious ceremonies including worship of forest deities, dances and rituals are regularly performed, by the lyngdoh together with the villag­ ers, inside the groves. Mention may be made of the sacred grove at Pahampdem village located at Ri Bhoi district which is popularly known by the local people as U Lum Mawker or U Lum Umphar. The grove is the biggest recorded sacred grove in the state with an area of 900 ha.

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545

Forests for Medicine The Khasis are known for their unique knowledge about plants and herbal drugs for curing diseases. The origin of Khasi system of medicine is not known, as Khasi folklore and legend are silent about its origin. But the psychological, social and cultural contribution to this system is very prominent.

Khasi Land Tenure System and Forest Management Land and forest are both the natural endowments of nature on humankind. They have both played a historical role in the social, economic and cultural life of human communities through the centuries and one cannot undermine the importance of land and forest both as a resource and as property. As a valuable natural resource, land and forest represent the principal forms of wealth, are a symbol of social status and a constant source of economic and political power. However they have to be dealt as separate entities. Land locally known as ri by the Khasis has a deep attachment to their pattern of social organization and permeates every aspect of their socio-economic life. Land to the Khasis is a ‘gift of nature’ that belongs to the community, therefore access to land not ensures economic security for the individual, but control over it symbolizes territorial integrity for the community as a whole (Nongbri, 2003). There are three categories of land in the Khasi Hills, viz., com­ munity land, known as ri raid land, privately owned land, called ri kynti land, and government land.

Ri Raid Land (Community Land) Ri Raid land is community land which is managed and controlled by the concerned community. Every member of the community has the right of use and occupancy of the Ri Raid land without payment of land revenue. The community may be a village or a group of villages. No person has proprietary, heritable or transferable rights over such land. He has only the right of use and occupancy, and

546

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such rights revert to the community when the person ceases to occupy or use the land for a period of three years or more. The only way in which a person can inherit land or obtain transferable rights over such land is by making permanent improvements on the land in the form of permanent buildings or cultivation of permanent crops and plant like fruit trees or cultivation. But these rights lapse if he abandons the land for a long period. Ri Kynti (Private Land) Kynti means ‘absolute possession’. Therefore Ri Kynti lands are private lands which have been acquired by a man or woman individually, or in the case of a woman, inherited from her mother. Such lands must entirely be distinguished from lands of the clan. Colonel Gurdon notes that privately held lands ‘may be sub­ divided into Ri-Kur or lands which are property of the clan, RiKynti, family or acquired land property’ (Gurdon, 1975: 58). The clan lands, originally when the population was sparse, were owned by families but as the members of the family increased and a clan was formed out of the increasing number of families sprung from a common ancestress, the lands became the property of the clan instead of the family. Such clan lands are properly demarcated by boundary marks. The Khasis also traditionally maintain forest lands under vari­ ous categories: 1. Ri Law Kyntang, Ri Law Niam or Ri Law Lyngdoh – These are forests in raid lands set apart for religious purposes, managed and controlled by the raid or the village or in the case of the Ri Law Lyngdoh by the lyngdoh (priest) of the community. 2. Ri ‘Law Adong, Ri ‘Law Sang, Ri ‘Law Shnong – These are vil­ lage forests reserved by the villagers so that any member could obtain timber or firewood for personal needs or for use as water catchment areas. 3. Ri ‘Law Sumar – Which belongs to the individual, clan or the village who had first occupied and afforested then and maintains them thereafter.

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Present-day Issues With change of times over the last couple of centuries a tremendous change in the pattern of social life of the Khasi has taken place. The symbiotic relationship between man and nature that existed in the past has gradually given way to ecological stress and strain. Pressure of increased population, the development versus environment debate, advent of Christianity and flow of new culture and a borrowed world view, all have combined together to shatter the age-old economy, culture and tribal ethos of the Khasi. There has been an increased global interest in the diverse modes of human interaction with the larger ecological setting. Nature has been perceived as an inexhaustible domain of utility which was to be mastered, tamed and brought under man’s control to satisfy his needs and minister to his happiness. It would therefore be pertinent to discuss some important issues that have affected the symbiotic relation between the Khasi and the forest. Infringement of Traditional Rights Over Forest (Forest for Revenue) The British policy on forest management was primarily oriented towards earning of revenue for the government. To meet that end the British established subsequent Forest Acts and Regulations in 1865, 1868, Indian Forest Act, 1878, and 1927 which conferred the government with the right to constitute Reserved Forests on ‘any forest land or waste land which is the property of the government’. These Acts not only debarred the local people from entering into and removing any forest produce from the reserved forests and protected forests but also permanently alienated them from the land itself. This had a far-reaching impact on the livelihood of the people in more than one way. During the long period of British rule, a considerable area of forested land of Khasi and Jaintia Hills were brought under owner­ ship of the British government, depriving the tribal forest dwellers of their natural rights. According to an estimate the land converted into Reserved and Protected Forests in Khasi and Jaintia Hills

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amounted to 427.79 sq. km, which is certainly a large area for a small hill district. The British left India but the process of erosion in tribal rights that was started by the colonial rule did not stop with their departure. The Government of India adopted a new National Forest Policy in 1952 and enacted revised instruments for management of national resources but the basic character ingrained in the Indian Forest Act, 1878 and 1927 continued to remain in the Indian forest laws. While new concepts of forest for environment and biodiversity were brought into the forest policies the poor peo­ ple whose livelihood depended entirely on forests were completely lost sight of. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, which is the major legisla­ tion currently followed by all forest departments of the country has three main objectives – to check deforestation, to prevent diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes and, to enforce compulsory afforestation in lieu of forest land diverted. The Act thus, provides stringent measures for protection of forest from being reduced in size but at the same time it deprives the forest dwellers of their age old rights enjoyed by them by prohibiting them raising of minor crops in the forest fringe areas. What is unfortunate is that, this Act is silent about creating conditions for alternative livelihood oppor­ tunities to the forest dependents who have been refrained from cultivating in fallow forest lands. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and Amended Act, 1991 which seek strengthening of conservation of flora and fauna and prohibiting extraction of wild plants, animals and birds, puts a complete ban on collecting orchids/wild flowers and medicinal herbs from the forests for the purpose of local consumption and selling. There are a great number of people -- florists and herb deal­ ers who live on these professions in Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the Forest Department is so far liberal in enforcement of this Act on the ground that similar forest products are also available in private or community forests which are existent in large number in this part of the country. Unlike many other states in the north-east region, Meghalaya has vast areas of forested land owned by private individuals/clans

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or communities which are controlled and regulated by the Autono­ mous District Councils according to their Acts and Rules. In order to bring these forests under the jurisdiction of the state forest laws and rules, the Government of Meghalaya introduced the Meghalaya Forest Regulation (Application and Amendment) Act, 1973. This Act is silent about the livelihood issues of lakhs of people engaged in forest activities. If this Act is strictly enforced, a large number of men/women and children who are directly dependent on collec­ tion of Non-timber Forest Produce (NTFP), will be thrown out of employment. The United Khasi and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District (Management and control of forest) Act, 1958 which regulates the management and control of different classes of forests, prohibits the removal of forest produce, including the minor forest products or NTFPs for the purpose of trade, from the Council’s reserved forests, protected forests, community forests, Green Blocks, etc., without permission from the competent authority. The Rules framed under this Act, known as United Khasi and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District (Management and Control of Forests) Rules, 1960, provides elaborate procedure for removal and transit of forest produce from all categories of forests under the control and man­ agement of the District Council. This Act refuses to recognize the tribal rights and privileges of the community to enjoy the NTFPs of the forests in their own land. Although there exists a provision in the Rules for allowing the residents/communities to collect NTFP for domestic purposes, the lessees to whom contracts for trading the NTFPs are given do not allow the villagers to remove the products which belong to them as per contract. Thus the provision made in the rules which permits the villagers to use NTFPs for domes­ tic purpose practically amounts to a naught. Large quantities of unprocessed broom-grass, tejpat, cane and bamboo, etc., collected by the lessees find their way to outside the state every year and the benefit of these natural resources goes to the pockets of the rich businessmen instead of the rural poor. Given the required financial and technical assistance, the Khasi village men and women who have traditional knowledge and skill to process the minor forest

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products into finished goods could have easily made their liveli­ hood and at the same time helped boosting up the state’s economy. The potentiality of the technique of value addition and marketing of various goods and domestic articles produced by village artisans have not been fully realized by the government or the district coun­ cils of Meghalaya. Alienation of Community Land (Forest for Development) As the implementation of the five year plans progressed in the country, more lands were required for multifarious development purposes. Large areas of land were utilized for construction of roads, government buildings, extension of townships, industrial sites, stadiums and playgrounds, airports, etc. These lands were, undoubtedly, acquired by government at the cost of agricultural or forest lands and major part of the land were Ri-Raid land that belonged to the people. This process of land acquisition caused large-scale alienation of land from the people to the government or institutions rendering the poor cultivators landless. Another form of land alienation visible in Khasi Hills is the conversion of community land (Ri-Raid) to private land (Ri-Kynti) by dubious means. Large areas of community land of Khasi Hills, especially in the Ri-Bhoi district and the southern border of Khasi Hills district are in the process of privatization by a section of people taking the advantage of the Khasi land tenure system which allows conversion of Ri-Raid land into Ri-Kynti by permanent plantation or other development of land. This process has been facilitated by government-sponsored schemes like establishment of poultry farm, fish farm, soil conservation or agricultural farms, etc. In recent years the Joint Forest Management (JFM) scheme intro­ duced by the Forest Department is becoming an incentive for many Khasi individuals or clans to privatize community lands for build­ ing up private forest at the cost of government and the community. To quote Sanjeeva Kumar of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India ‘despite its avowed claim to promote participation and con­ servation, in effect, JFM seems not only to extend State control to

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community space but also tends to deligitimise community’ (Laine & Subba, 2012: 139). Livelihood Strategies of Khasi Rural Women Today the issue of women’s land and property rights has gained visibility in academic and policy discourses in the past few decades beginning in the 1970s as part of the Women in Development (WID) approach. This approach seeks to reveal the structural process of how women have been marginalized in the process of development. But how do we conceive of women’s claim to resources? Needless to say the constraints faced by women in controlling and managing land and forest have to a certain extent deprived them of their claims on sustainable livelihoods. In the matrilineal Khasi society, the issue of equitable distribu­ tion of benefits in indigenous management system has often been challenged. Though in principle the matrilineal rule of female inheritance and descent is followed but customary practices are not gender egalitarian, as authority is vested in the mother’s brother. Women inherit property but lack the power to manage it. Woman is the focal point of the household organization but when it comes to allocation of rights over land, a sharp distinction is maintained between ‘ownership’ and ‘control’. While ownership of land is transmitted through women, controls invariably lie with men (Nongbri, 2003). Making the plight of women worse is the system of forest man­ agement operating in the Khasi Hills. Here the management of forest lands falls under three categories: (1) Autonomous District Council, (2) State Government, and (3) Community Control. The diarchic form of control and management of forests in Meghalaya by the state government and district council has con­ tributed to dual forest policies, lack of coordination and division of accountability. Both the authorities formulate their own forest policies and follow a separate set of forest rules and regulations in their respective areas of operation. The district council having a larger area under its jurisdiction suffers from inadequate manage­ ment and lack of technical manpower.

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Conclusion In a country like India, where the vast majority of the rural house­ holds are dependent on the environment to meet their daily household needs, accessibility to natural resources seems to be a crucial problem in recent years. The issue of development in northeast India has posed a challenge to planners since Independence. The region, predominantly inhabited by tribal people has its own opportunities and constraints, strengths and weaknesses, but many of the developmental initiatives in the region follow the national perspective of development where the environment was found to be the most potential resource for industrial and infrastructural development. This approach followed by the Government of India has directly affected the livelihood of the rural poor living in the north-east. The tribals of the region depend on biomass or biomass-related products, which are mostly collected free from the immediate environment and they live within nothing other than a biomass-based subsistence economy. Another important problem that has surfaced in recent years is the alienation of land from the poor peasants due to possession of land by a few private owners and acquisition of land by the government for various developmental works. As the resource demands for massive developmental pro­ grammes like roads, railways, industries, dams, airfields, etc., increased, it induced the government to acquire vast areas of common lands, which was the main source of livelihood to the economically vulnerable and poor village folks. The basic need of the people in the north-east depends on the fundamental concept of fair and just distribution of the natural resources which consists in the land and forest. However, the government has not entirely been successful to construct a development agenda in the interest of the rural poor. Despite its vitality and rapid rise to prominence the environmental movement against development has been unable to contribute creatively to major debates on development policy in contemporary India. Yet this is a debate that can be enriched only by balancing the sometimes conflicting objectives of economic growth and environmental protection.

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REFERENCES Bareh, H. 1985. History and Culture of the Khasis. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications. Gurdon, P.R.T. 1975. The Khasis. Delhi: Cosmo Publications. Khongsit, S. 1999. Kiba Ngi Khot Ja. Shillong: Mrs. Sucila Khongngain, San Mer. Laine, N. and T.B. Subba (eds.). 2012. Nature,Environment and Society: Conservation, Governance and Transformation in India. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. Mawrie, H.O. 1981. The Khasi Milieu. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. Nongbri, T. 2003. Development, Ethnicity and Gender: Select Essays on Tribes in India. New Delhi: Rawat Publications. Tiwari, B.K., R.S.Tripathy and S.K. Barik. 1999. Sacred Forests of Meghalaya: Biological and Cultural Diversity. Shillong: Regional Centre, National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, NEHU.

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APPENDIX I List of Plants and Herbs which Begin with the Prefix ‘Ja’ (1) Jakhria (Rhynchotechum ellipticum), (2) Jalyngiar (Sunchus arvensis), (3) Jabuit (Acanthaccae; Phlo goganthus gamflei), (4) Jalyngkthem saw, (5) Jalyngab lieh (Astecaceae; Senecio densiflorus), (6) Jalyngnap iong (Asteracaea; Inula cappa), (7) Jaskei, (8) Jamiaw, (9) Jamiaw madan, (10) Jathang, (11) Jatira, (12) Jada dieng, (13) Jada hati, (14) Jada shnong, (15) Jathynrait rilum, (16) Jathynrait riwar, (17) Jasnian, (18) Jatung, (19) Jarasong, (20) Jalynsiang, (21) Jatangniang, (22) Jarain, (23) Jakhain (Asteracsae; Pieris hieraciodes), (24) Jakhain pakhama (Asteraceae Hypocharis), (25) Jarem, (26) Jarem saw, (27) Jarem Shrieh, (28) Jahynwet, (29) Jaralud, (30) Jali, (31) Jali Sniang, (32) Jali Krem, (33) Jali Pnar, (34) Jalynteng, (35) Jalwain iong, (36) Japri, (37) Jasniang, (38) Jalyngiem, (39) Jawer, (40) Janailar, (41) Janailar Phud, (42) Jalu, (43) Jarumshiah (Zehneri heterophylla), (44) Jashun (Verbanaceae ruvella), (45) Jahynlaw (Viburnum cariaceum), (46) Jaiur, (47) Jaiur jhur, (48) Jaiur khlam, (49) Jalynnoh, (50) Jalynnoh skei, (51) Jadaw, (52) Jalyngbien, (53) Japung, (54) Japung ktieh, (55) Jaler, (56) Jalmut, (57) Jalmut shniuh, (58) Jamynsleh, (59) Jamyrwai, (60) Ka Jamynrei, (61) Jamyrwait rit sla, (62) Jamynrei ritbian, (63) Jajew skei, (64) Jakrai, (65) Jakrai Lum, (66) Japongdung, (67) Jalyniar prohsla, (68) Jamyrdoh, (69) Jangew, (70) Jalkhan Lieh, (71) Jalkhan iong, (72) Jalkhan heh, (73) Jalyngkhan, (74) Jaltham, (75) Jawieh raij, (76) Jalieh dymmiew, (77) Japu, (78) Jakba, (79) Jalong, (80) Jamiyiang, (81) Jamiyiang synrai (Ternstomoceae; Camellia sp. F. Theaceae), (82) Jashiah, (83) Jaler lum, (84) Jakhaw shoin, (85) Jashun, (86) Japri, (87) Japri lum, (88) Jajew shilliang, (89) Jajew shyrtong syiar, (90) Jajew saw, (91) Jajer (92) Jawieh, (93) Jawieh, (94) Jaum, (95) Jalynnoh skei, (96) Jalbuit, (97) Ja Dieng Janai, (98) Jating, (99) Japiur, (100) Japiur iong, (101) Jasat, (102) Jakhi iong, (103) Jakhi shniuh, (104) Jakhi rit, (105) Jakhi nuli (106) Jaiing, (107) Jalyngap sohriewlong, (108) Jalyngap shymprong, (109) Jarsang, (110) Jasar, (111) Janei, (112) Jaryndem, (113) Japang (Probila denticulate). Source: S. Khongsit (1999).

CHAPTER 29

Traditional Political Institutions of the Khasis Charles R. Lyngdoh

Introduction Meghalaya is a predominantly tribal State occupying an area of 22,429 sq. km and having a population of more than three million.1 The state is predominantly inhabited by three tribal communities, namely, the Khasis, the Jaintias and the Garos though several other smaller tribes and communities also reside in Meghalaya. The three tribal communities belong to the ‘Indo-Chinese linguistic family’ of which two important sub-families are the Mon-Khmer and the Tibeto-Burman (Singh, 1994). The Mon-Khmer includes, among other communities, the Khasis and the Jaintias, while the TibetoBurman includes the Garos. The Khasis and Jaintias today inhabit six of the eleven districts of the state while the Garos inhabit five districts. Like other tribal communities settled in the north-eastern part of India, the Khasis have evolved an established system of trad­ itional administration spanning centuries. The emergence of the traditional system of administration, reflected through various traditional political institutions, was an evolutionary necessity. This traditional system of administration brought order and settled life to a migrating people and regulated community affairs be it at the clan level, the village level or even at the higher level of traditional polity formation. These traditional political institutions among the

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Khasis progressed beyond the boundaries of village settlements to higher settlements and principalities through the process of amal­ gamation and division.

Traditional Political Institutions Traditional political institutions across the world whether in Africa, Latin America or Asia have evoked immense interest among scholars of various disciplines. These institutions have also been referred to by various nomenclatures depending on their location and sphere of influence and the traditional authority that they wield. Cheka (2008) views traditional authority as an institution or power received and handed down or over from generation to generation. Traditional authority whether created by law, in centralized or in segmentary societies, is a power, or permission, an institution that draws its legitimacy, whether wholly or partially, from tribal/ethnic/cultural values of a group of people (wherever they may be) that share them. Traditional authority therefore contrasts with authority based on modern values of accession to power by, say, the application of a constitution, which, for example, embraces democratic principles. This modern mode enables the creation of powers and institutions for which accountability is owed to a different set of people, such as the electorate, unlike the traditional ruler who is largely accountable to a traditional council of notables and to his subjects (ibid). In the context of this paper, ‘Traditional’ refers to tradition – those customs and practices observed by the community that have evolved over a long period of continuous usage and which have been conditioned by necessity. These customs and practices have not been codified, they have not been written down but have been verbally passed on from one generation to the next.2 These customs and practices are honoured and upheld by the people. ‘Political’ refers to those activities and processes that attempt to regulate and administrate the external political behaviour of members of a group living together. This attempt at regulated behaviour begins at the level of the clan when settlements emerge. It becomes discern­ ible and is more elaborate with the growth of complex traditional political organizations commencing with the village (ka shnong)

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and finally culminating in the state (ka hima). ‘Institution’ on the other hand refers to a mechanism, informal or formal established to maintain social and political cohesiveness. This mechanism also begins at the level of the clan and finally culminates at the level of the state, ka hima (Lyngdoh, 2009).

Traditional Polity Formation The journey of the Khasis to their present habitat is obscure. Chowdhury (1998) says that writing about their very early history is to tread on uncertain ground. He further notes that this is probably because the Khasis have neither preserved any clear tradition as to the cause or direction of their migration, nor any hint as to the possible date of their appearance in the hills where they have lived through the corridors of time. Despite this lack of clear information on the migration and settlement in the Khasi Hills, the same can be constructed from Khasi folk tales and writings of scholars and administrators. The Khasi, like the other tribal groups in north-east India have a rich oral tradition which they pass on from generation to generation in the form of narratives. Oral tradition became the vital medium to transmit knowledge of every kind to posterity. A popular and widely told story is that the Khasis came to their present abode from heaven.3 Answering the plea of mother earth, ka Mei Ramew, to send someone to be the guardian of the earth and all of its bounty, God summoned a grand council of sixteen families, ki Khathynriew Trep Khathynriew Skum, that resided in heaven. After due delib­ eration, God chose seven of the sixteen families, ki Hynniew Trep Hynniew Skum, to descend to the earth and to be the stewards of all creation while the nine families, ki Khyndai Trep Khyndai Skum, remained in heaven. These seven families would later become the ancestors of the seven sub-tribes of the Khasi people, comprising the Khynriam, Pnar, Bhoi, War, Maram, Lyngngam and the now, extinct Diko. As a tangible sign of this covenant, God planted a divine tree on a sacred mountain, U Lum Sohpet Bneng (the mount of heaven’s navel), which served as a golden ladder (ka jingkieng ksiar), between heaven and earth. This covenant declared that so

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long as the seven families adhered to the three tenets of Tip Briew Tip Blei, Tip Kur Tip Kha and Kamai ia ka Hok4 they would never be left alone but could come and go as they pleased between heaven and earth through the golden ladder located on Lum Sohpet Bneng. This relationship between God and man continued so long as man upheld the tenets of the covenant and upheld the stature befitting his celestial lineage. Man prospered and so did the earth with all its natural bounty. However, ensnared by the evil one, greed occupied man’s heart and he began to trample upon the rights of his fel­ low beings. Displeased by man’s rebellion and failure to uphold his status and the tenets, God severed His ties with man and forever closed the golden ladder to heaven through Lum Sohpet Bneng. The seven families remained on earth and are believed to be the ances­ tors of the present Khasi today. The writings of British administrators who worked in the north­ eastern part of India and later, the writings of scholars provide some information to the presence of the Khasi people in the Khasi Hills. One view (Gurdon, 1993) says that the Khasis migrated to the Sylhet area, in present-day Bangladesh, from the north. They settled here for a period of time. However, harassed by the regular floods and climatic threats, they came to their present habitat in the Khasi Hills. Quoting the story of John Bird Shadwell, Assistant Commissioner of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, Gurdon says that the Khasis came from Myanmar. They seem to have come through the Patkoi range into the plains of Assam and finally made their settle­ ment in these hills (ibid.). A generally held view is that the migrating Khasi people came to their present habitat in the Khasi Hills in small groups and batches. Each batch comprised a clan (ka kur), and was usually led by the eldest maternal uncle, u Knyi or Rangbah Kur, of the clan (Lyng­ doh, 2009). This elder was chosen to be both the head as well as the leader of the clan by all the adult male members of the clan. He was entrusted with the responsibilities of performing the nec­ essary rites and rituals when the clan first settled or appropriated a portion of land (Costa, 1998). This leader was also vested with both religious and administrative responsibilities. All deliberations carried out in clan meetings and all decisions were arrived at by

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consensus. Another view (Singh, 1985) observes that in the past, families belonging to the same clan lived together in clusters. The eldest male member or any other male member chosen by a council of adult males became the Saidnia or Lyngdoh of the clan. This holder of office functioned as the priest, he performed all religious rites. Being the head of the clan he also administered clan affairs and had the power to direct, control and advice (ibid.). In all stages of traditional polity formation of the Khasis, the clan played an important role. Lyngdoh (2016) notes that traditionally the kur in Khasi society had four institutional identities: a. t he kur is a religion binding on all its members; b. it is an independent economy in which all members were socially and economically secure; c. it is a sociological member of society through which all clan members could have a social identity; and d. it is a political institution, through which every clan member can have political relations with the society. As settled clans grew, other migrating families and clans were accommodated into the habitat of the original clans, thereby paving the way for a more settled life. In this phase of polity formation, the village (ka shnong), comes into existence. Thus the village becomes the first and large organized settlement of polity formation. It administered the affairs of all its residents whether they were the original settlers or later settlers. The head of the village, u Tymmen Shnong or u Rangbah Shnong, was chosen from among the members of the original or founding clans of the village. It was probable that in this stage of socio-political development of the Khasis, two cen­ tres of authority also emerged. The temporal powers were vested with a new authority, the Basan, an elder who was the leader and representative of the founding clan which had claimed possession and ownership of the land; and the spiritual powers were vested with the Lyngdoh, a priest who was chosen from the priestly clan (Bareh, 1985). Another view (Bhattacharya, 1985) says that the office of the Lyngdoh and Basan emerged when different families grouped together in a particular land for their permanent settle­ ment. This permanent settlement was a village institution. Thus

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civil organization of the Khasi-Jaintia people started with the kinship and fixed settlement with the land as village communities consisting of a number of families united together (ibid.). It may also be pointed out that the terms used today in Khasi society such as Basan and Lyngdoh are not Khasi clan or family titles but offices created in the course of polity formation in the past to bestow cer­ tain responsibilities to individuals which must be executed by them on behalf of the clan, the village or even higher traditional political institutions. The administration of the village was carried on with the assistance of a council of elders designated as ki Bakhraw or ki Tymmen ki San.

Formation of Administrative Bodies In the next phase of polity formation, as village settlements grew, administration also became complex. This led to villages merging their individual existence to form a commune, ka Raid (Lyngdoh 2009). The Raid administered those subjects which were of common concern to the villages that constituted it. The administration of the Raid was carried on by the Basan and the Lyngdoh with the assistance of a council, ka Dorbar, comprising councillors such as Matabors, Majis, Pators and Malehangots. The councillors were appointed by the Basan or the Lyngdoh subject to the approval of the residents of the Raid who comprised all adult male members (Bareh, 1985). Another view (Lyngdoh, 1990) notes that in due course, necessity and complexity of administration drove villages to federate and to form a commune (ka Raid). A new leader eligible to lead this higher traditional political entity was chosen either from the members of the original clans or the clans of nobility, the Basan or the Lyngdoh, which already existed and co-habited those villages of which the newly emerging commune comprised. This leader is conferred the title Basan Raid or Lyngdoh Raid and the performance of all administrative functions is bestowed upon this office. Similarly, realizing the complexity and scale of religious functions that were required to be performed at the level of the Raid, the elders and the councilors of the commune ordained an existing clan with the title Lyngdoh and bestowed all religious and

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sacerdotal functions of the commune to this clan (ibid.). Singh (1985), on the other hand, notes that when clans grew, they formed alliances or amalgamated with other clans for the administration of their areas of occupation. This expansion gave birth to a commune, the ka Raid (Sen, 1985). The administration of the Raid followed the same pattern as that of a clan with a Lyngdoh as the head of both the religious and secular administration and having a community home or Ing-Sad (ibid.). As communes grew in size and population, accommodating new settlers in their territory and that of the federating villages and clans, administration also became diverse. The existing authorities could not execute the continuously emerging social and political responsibilities. Under such circumstances, clans, villages and communes federated to create a state (ka Hima) (Lyngdoh, 2009). The emergence of the Khasi state, ka Hima,5 represents the highest and final stage of polity formation among the Khasis. Each Hima was under a ruler and administrative head designated by various terms in different Khasi states, Syiem, Lyngdoh, Sirdar and Waha­ dadar. The Hima is referred to as a ‘territorial conglomeration of communes and independent villages falling under the jurisdiction of administrative heads known as Syiem or Lyngdoh or Sordar or Wahadadar’ (NCRWC, 2001: 62). The institution of Syiemship (i.e. the office of the Syiem) emerged as the apex political organization of the Khasi. It was devised to ‘amalgamate identical pursuits, interests and necessities of clans and units near and far. It was insti­ tuted on the spirit of reciprocity along with a consolidation of other intimate relations amongst different sections of people who made up their units’ (Bareh, 1985: 41). Syiemlieh (1988) notes that this rudimentary stage of state formation evolved into the institution of Syiemship which probably arose out of the voluntary association of clans, villages and communes when new developments took place. To these new developments are attributed the opening of markets, execution of marriage laws, appointment of judicial authority, reor­ ganization of the incongruous land tenure, maintenance of police power and so on (Bareh, 1985). Today, there exist 25 Khasi states6 (ki Hima Khasi), each of which is under an administrator designated by various names. The

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method of election of an administrator may be direct or indirect. In Khasi states such as Hima Langrin all adult males of the state have the right to vote in the election of a Syiem. However, in Khasi states like Hima Khyrim, Hima Mylliem and Hima Sohra (that is, Cher­ rapunjee), the Syiem is elected by an electoral college comprising the representatives of the founding clans and clans of nobility of the respective state, who have in turn been elected by all the adult males of their respective clans. In exercising functions of the state, a Syiem is assisted by a council, ka Dorbar. In terms of the admin­ istration of a Hima, there are two types of councils which assist the Syiem; these are (Lyngdoh 2009): (a) Dorbar Hima or state council which is a popular assembly com­ prising all adult male citizens of the Hima. It is recognized by tradition as the highest body in the administrative set up of the Khasi Hima. (b) Dorbar Synshar Hima or state executive council comprising a small group of councillors, ki Bakhraw designated as Basan, Lyngdoh, Myntri who are vested with executive powers. Though a Khasi Syiem is the head of his state, he exercises powers in accordance with ‘ethical instructions, prescribed by cus­ tomary rules, laws and regulations, as well as customs, traditions and usages’ (Gassah, 2002: 181). His policies and prerogatives must conform to the resolutions of the Dorbar. His acts and decisions can be vetoed by the councils if they contravene prevailing custom­ ary practices and usages. Similarly, the councils have also to come to the rescue of their administrative head whenever they felt that his position as a traditional authority was threatened. In all acts of legislation and executive decisions, the Syiem is assisted by the Dorbar Synshar Hima. Similarly, in judicial matters, the Syiem has the power to try cases and pass sentences in consultation with the Dorbar Synshar Hima. Thus, in the trial and execution of cases, while the Syiem acts as a judge, his Dorbar acts as the jury (Gurdon, 1993). If the necessity arises, the Syiem may also appoint a Syiem Khynnah or junior Syiem to assist him in managing the affairs of the state if he is temporarily indisposed or to even succeed him if he is

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deposed or removed from office. As a ruler, the Syiem does not enjoy any entitlement to land holdings as land belongs to the clan and to the people. Hence, he cannot claim land revenue. Nevertheless, a certain amount of Raid or commune land may be apportioned to him for his personal use. His revenue is derived from fines collected in settling cases, tolls or khrong collected from the market within his jurisdiction and also from the issue and renewal of patta for land holdings. Revenue may also accrue as a license fee collected for the sale of country-made liquor (Rao, 1985).

Conclusion Among the Khasis, at each stage of evolution of the traditional political institutions, whether at the village, the commune, or at the state level, there evolved an intricate set of authorities. The role and responsibilities of these authorities were monitored and instructed upon by an existing council (ka dorbar), and council of elders (ki Bakhraw or ki Tymmen ki San). The dorbar emerged as a core traditional political institution to manage and administer socio-political affairs of the citizens and residents. Unlike the village-oriented and village-centred administra­ tion that was identifiable in many communities of the north-east region, Khasi polity formation evolved to new and workable forms of administration and governance, conditioned by preservation, necessity, continuity and contact with neighbours of the plains. The highest stage in this evolutionary process was the emergence of the Khasi State (ka Hima Khasi) that was under an authority designated by various names, Syiem Lyngdoh, Sirdar and Wahadadar. Tradi­ tion narrates that in several Khasi states (such as the Shillong state and the Sutnga state), this authority is chosen from a pre-ordained royal clan, the Syiem clan, and heirship to the office is in all cases traced through the female offspring. In several Khasi states, there exist an electoral college consisting of a number of electors whose responsibility is to confirm and ratify the appointment or removal of either a successor or an incumbent, respectively. These electors are chosen from among their respective noble clans by all the adult

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male members of the clans. The administrative hierarchy of the Khasi state is traditionally governed by the following pillars: 1. First, the institution of Dorbar Hima: This general assembly is an apex body of the Khasi state, comprising: (a) the admin­ istrative head of the hima, the Syiem, Lyngdoh, Sirdar, and Wahadadar as the convenor and chairman of the dorbar hima, (b) the administrative heads including the executive members of villages, communes and members of the electoral college of the hima, as representatives. 2. Second, the institution of the Dorbar Synshar Hima: This assembly is the state administrative council comprising: (a) the administrative head of the hima, the Syiem, Lyngdoh, Sirdar, or Wahadadar, (b) the members of the electoral college as council­ lors. 3. Third, the institution of Dorbar Synshar Raij: This assembly is the commune administrative council comprising: (a) the admin­ istrative head of the commune, the Syiem, Lyngdoh or Bangthai, (b) the members of the electoral college, who elect their respec­ tive administrative heads, as councillors. 4. Fourth, the institution of Dorbar Synshar Shnong: This assembly is the village or locality administrative council comprising: (a) the administrative head of the village, the Tymmen or Rangbah Shnong, (b) the executive members of the executive committee duly elected by all the male adults of the particular village or locality. 5. Fifth, the institution of the Khasi residents known as ki khun ki hajar and recognized by tradition as the natural citizens of the Khasi state (Meghalaya Guardian, 2001). In conclusion, it is noted that the Khasi society developed traditional political institutions which had elaborate structuralfunctional arrangements. The nature of traditional political institution formation was evolutionary and for a large part it was associative. However, there were also Khasi states that emerged due to fission and secession. The erstwhile Shillong state, ka Hima Shillong, is an example of a state which was bifurcated into two states due to fission, during the period of British administration

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in 1853. The council (ka dorbar) was a crucial traditional political institution at every level of polity formation. It kept a check on the authoritarian tendency of the administrative head, the Syiem, and circumscribed his powers but at the same time also led to the emergence of an oligarchy of noblemen who occupied important positions in the dorbar by virtue of their lineage from original or founding clans of the polity. The residents of these polity forma­ tions were also categorized into various categories (original settlers, later settlers and migrants) and assigned corresponding rights and duties thereby contributing to the evolution of a stratified social structure. In the present context, such residents are part to two forms of administration. In the modern constitutional form, they participate in the democratic process of elections to the State Legislative Assembly, the Autonomous District Council, and the Parliament (Lok Sabha). In the traditional form they can partici­ pate in election of the headman at the village or locality level (if the office is not lifetime or hereditary and which passes on through the matrilineal line of descent). In such elections women have been traditionally denied the right to participate. However, in a few vil­ lages and localities in Shillong, women participate in the elections as well as in the council, dorbar meetings. In the elections to the administrative heads of the communes or the Khasi state, the resi­ dents are debarred from participating as it is the prerogative only of the representative of the chosen clans. Similarly, on the death or removal of the representative of the chosen clan, only the male adult members of the clan will participate to elect a new representative. Khasi society today presents an interesting portrait of two systems of administration coexisting, with the modern constitutional form having legal acceptability and the traditional form diminishing in responsibility as a result of usurpation of its power and functions by the modern forms of administration.

NOTES 1. An article in the Shillong Times dated 20 November 2017 has estimated the population of the state to be 32,30,132. 2. The Khasi had a common spoken language and several dialects but no

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4.

5.

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written script till the arrival of the British. A Welsh missionary, Thomas Jones, introduced the Roman script of writing to the Khasi with necessary adaptation/removal of alphabet. He is recognized as the Father of the Khasi alphabet and literature. This popular story has been narrated by numerous scholars and writers. For this interpretation, the versions of several scholars and writers, namely, Barnes L. Mawrie (2009), H.O. Mawrie (1981), Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih (2007), S. Barkataki (1977) and Tiplut Nongbri (2006) has been perused. These three tenets mean, knowledge of man and God, knowledge of one’s maternal as well as paternal relations, and to earn righteousness in one’s life. In Khasi language and dialect there is no other term to substitute in English for the term Hima. The English term ‘state’ is used to identify this highest stage of polity formation because like the state, the Hima too has evident features – a demarcated territory, a stratified population, a system of administration and independence, especially in the pre-colonial period. Further, the term ‘Khasi state’ came to be widely used in colonial writings when referring to the Khasi Hima. The list of Khasi states is appended in the The United Khasi: Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District (Appointment and Succession of Chiefs and Headmen) Act, 1959.

REFERENCES Bareh, H.1985 [1967]. The History and Culture of the Khasi People. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications. 2nd edn. Barkataki, S. 1977. The Khasis. Pathsala: Bani Prakash. Bhattacharya, D.C. 1985. ‘Khasi-Jaintia Indigenous Institutions: An Unseen Feature’, in S.K.Chattopadhyay (ed.), Tribal Institutions of Meghalaya. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications, pp. 321-37. Cheka, C. 2008. ‘Traditional Authority at the Crossroads of Governance in Republican Cameroon’. Africa Development, XXXIII (2): 67-89. Chowdhury, J.N. 1998. The Khasi Canvas: A Cultural and Political History. Calcutta: Jeetraj Offset. Costa, G. 1998 [1971]. Ka Riti Jong Ka Ri Laiphew Syiem (Ka bynta ka ba­ ar). Translated into English, rpt. Shillong: Don Bosco Publications. Gassah, L.S. 2002. ‘Traditional Self-Governing Institutions Among the Hill Tribal Population Groups of Meghalaya’, in A. Goswami (ed.), Traditional Self-governing Institutions among the Hill Tribes of NorthEast India. New Delhi: Akansha Publishing House, pp. 180-93.

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Gurdon, P.R.T. 1993[1907]. The Khasis. Delhi: Low Price Publications. Lyngdoh, C.R. 2009. ‘Demand for Constitutional Recognition of the Khasi States: Role of the Syiems of Khyrim and Mylliem’. PhD thesis. NorthEastern Hill University, Shillong. Lyngdoh, F. 2016. ‘The Kur and Dorbar in the Khasi Traditional Polity’, in C. R. Lyngdoh (ed.), Revisiting Traditional Institutions in the KhasiJiantia Hills. New Castle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 21-38. Lyngdoh, H. 1990 [1937]. Ka Niam Khasi. Shillong: Sawlyer Printing Press. Mawrie, B.L. 2009 [2001]. The Khasis and their Natural Environment. Shillong: Vendrame Institute Publications. Mawrie, H.O. 1981. The Khasi Milieu. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution: Consultation Paper, Empowering and Strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions/Autonomous District Councils/Traditional Tribal Governing Institutions in North East India, 2001, accessed through, http://ncrwc.nic.in Nongkynrih, K.S. 2007. Around the Hearth: Khasi Legends. New Delhi: Penguin Books. Nongbri, T. 2006. ‘Culture and Biodiversity: Myths, Legends and the Conservation of Nature in the Hills of North-East India’. Indian Anthropologist, 36 (1/2): 1-21. Rao, V.V. 1985. ‘The Khasi Political System: The Syiemship’, in S.K. Chattopadhyay (ed.), Tribal Institutions of Meghalaya. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications, pp. 31-49. Sen, S. 1985. Social and State Formation in Khasi-Jaintia Hills: A Study of Folklore. Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation. Singh, K.S. (ed). 1994. People of India, Meghalaya, vol. XXXII. Calcutta: Seagull Books. Singh, K.1985. ‘Syiems and Durbars in Khasi Polity’, in S.K.Chattopadhyay (ed.), Tribal Institutions of Meghalaya. Guwahati: Spectrum Publi­ cations, pp. 9-29. Syiemlieh, D.R.1988. British Administration in Meghalaya: Policy and Pattern. New Delhi: Heritage Publishers. The Shillong Times, 20 November 2017. ‘Over 15% Population in the State opts for Aadhaar Enrolment’. The United Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District (Appointment and Succession of Chiefs and Headmen) Act, 1959 (as amended). 1995. Shillong: Ibani Printing Press.

CHAPTER 30

Traditional Healing System of the Garos Rameeza Hasan

Introduction ‘Disease is a vital problem for every society, primitive or advanced, and every society has developed its own recipe for the treatment and cure of the diseases to which it is heir. Primitive systems of medicine or even magic have much to commend, and so long as the people have faith in the system they own, it helps them to tide over periods of crisis, and reduces mental conflict that they evoke’ (Rizby, 1991: 60). Health and diseases are fundamentally connected with reproduc­ tion, quality, preservation and loss of life. If disease is considered level of health where the living entity functions under conditions of constantly diminishing performance then the conclusion is death. Health, disease and death are terms that describe a philosophical continuum from maximum genetic function to no genetic function at all. Disease and death are experienced in all human societies. Indeed evidence suggests that in every culture there is built around the major life experiences of health and illness, a substantial and integral body of beliefs, knowledge and practices (Scotch, 1963). The study of indigenous medicine generally referred to as folk medicine, ethnomedicine, popular medicine, and so on, primarily aims at exploring the various aspects of folk taxonomy of disease, magico-religious and other therapies, indigenous preventive mea­ sures, socio-cultural dimensions of indigenous medical features,

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the role of folk medicine man, and relationship between medical phenomena and sociocultural setting. It is to be noted that the indigenous pattern of medicine is characterized by the age-old experience on human body in relation to the surroundings, both natural and supernatural, traditional knowledge on observation of varied phenomena of human life situation together with the close association of factors like customs, habits, charms and incantations as well as continuous process of trial and error that is influenced by experience passed through generations. The indigenous patterns of recipes are the result of close-set process of orientation of cultural traditions with the religious sentiments, psychological perspectives, economy, moral ideas, social values as well as therapeutic process. This indigenous pattern of therapy is specifically characterized by the impact of age-old traditions and value orientations which ulti­ mately has based its foundation on the life-philosophy of the people concerned. The socio-ritualistic perspective and the supernatural belief patterns, around which this particular therapeutic process has become expressive, is understood by the term folk medicine or ethnomedicine. Tribal concepts of health, disease, treatment, life, and death, are as varied as their culture. Accordingly, the tribal society is guided by traditionally laid down customs, and every member of the soci­ ety is expected to conform to it. The fate of the individual and the community at large depends on their relationship with unseen forces which intervene in human affairs. If a man offends them, the mystical powers punish through sickness, death, or other natural calamities. There are many natural remedies and decoctions of for­ est herbs known to the tribals. That means the tribal people have pharmacopoeia of their own for their manifold diseases like malaria, scabies, smallpox, yaws, venereal diseases, bowel complaints, oph­ thalmia, etc. (Gupta, 1986). The most important fact about folk medicine is the way in which it is integrated into a whole or pattern and it is in such a pattern that folk medicine differs from tribe to tribe, and from community to community. Traditional medicine or traditional health care sys­ tem refers to the long standing indigenous system of health care found in developing countries and among indigenous populations.

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These traditional medical systems view humanity as being inti­ mately linked with the wider dimensions of nature (Hasan, 2009). This chapter discusses the traditional healing systems of the plains dwelling Garos especially of the Meghalaya-Assam border, such as Nisangram, Nokmakundi, Bakrapur and other adjoining villages.

Garo Healing System Each culture has their own concept of health and methods for coping with disease which is often referred to as ‘health culture’. Among Garos, there exist various perceptions on disease, sickness and illness, and methods of diagnosis coupled with treatment and healing options – all of which are interrelated and interdependent. For many centuries, they have kept alive a self-managed system of ethnomedicine based on ethnomedicinal and ethno-zoological remedies. Their ingenuity reflects their traditional management and sharing of natural resources in a way that there is optimum utilization of such resources. Garo ethnomedicine involves the use of both material and non-material components. The material components comprise parts of plants (and their products), animal organs, minerals, and other natural substances. The non-material components, which constitute important items of religious and spiritual medicines, include magic charms, incantations, religious verses, amulets, etc. A Garo medicine man sees life as a holistic union of the body – the senses, the mind, and the soul. Disease is explained as being due to imbalances in the various attributes. In Garo perception, sa∙a denotes all kinds of diseases. The use of this term conveys differ­ ent meanings in different contexts. The term sa∙a is always used as a prefix to denote a specific type of illness. Diseases are mainly of three types, namely (a) Namatna manggipa sa∙ani (curable dis­ eases); (b) Masigijagipa sa∙ani (unknown diseases); and (c) Namatna mangijagipa sa∙ani (incurable diseases). Among them, disease or illness names are either descriptive or suggestive. They may metaphorically refer to an outstanding feature of an illness, literally signify a predominant symptom, or suggest an ascribed cause. Descriptive names, be they metaphorical or literal,

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may refer to either internal or external features of the illness. In many cases, diseases are labelled by unitary lexemes (for example, be∙ensa, chigala, kija, oksa and the like). In many other cases, there are derivations of two or more linguistic components like a∙chak chika (dog bite). In some other cases as seen from the illustration above different disease types are simply put together to name the ailment. The Garos can produce innumerable words to define any new disease. However, there are no Garo equivalent words for dis­ eases like cancer, appendicitis and the like. Although Garos consider diseases to be caused by natural or biological factors, beliefs regarding supernatural or psychological factors as disease-causing agents are also found. The causes of dif­ ferent diseases are sought in the domain of the supernatural. There is something that still binds mankind to the fact of unity of men and all other non-human earthly living beings with the omnipo­ tent creator. The unseen divinities in Garo pantheon are formless spirits who perform solemn ceremonial sanctities. Jadoreng is man’s tacit search for ultimate truth in his own psychic makeup. It is a concrete permanent bridge between science and religion. Man’s psychic reality is the intellect (cognitive principle) and will (appeti­ tive principle) of spiritualistic monism. Man knows by intuition, not through his senses, that he really exists. Jadorengism serves to show that the idea of the greatness and the grandeur of the human soul is a reality. The Garos believe that in jadoreng, there is wealth of the past and the promise of the future. The true shamans utilize various mantric processes but they do not support the idea of others who try to achieve their psycho-physical objectives by using tran­ quillizers and drugs. The Garo diviners are aware of the fact that in jadoreng, the only reality about man is the psyche or spiritual world. The jadoreng shamans constitute a hardcore thinking in preliter­ ate Garo society, untouched by modern civilization. They are men and the women, who express the age and the milieu in which they are secretly trained. Having full freedom of truly original thoughts they appreciate the mystery and magnitude of life. Therefore, they implicitly believe in the mysterious ways in which the creator helps. They are also reputed to be experts in dispensing various indig­

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enous medicines and drugs as prescribed in the anciently inherited Garo folk medicine (Sangma, 1993). Jadoreng is hence the psycho-physical culture of the Garos, and Garo folk medicine as a sub-branch which seeks to establish the link with the spiritual world. The medicinal and magical properties and virtues of herbal, vegetal and elemental ingredients in Garo folk medicine, as discovered and inherited since time immemorial, actually aid us ever to live close to the basic things of life and nature. In it there is also the art of ministering to a patient’s troubled mind as well as to his sick body (ibid.). The Garos believe that in Jadoreng, there is wealth of the past and the promise of the future. The true veteran adepts or shamans utilize various mantric processes but they do not support the idea of a few adepts who try to achieve their psycho-physical objectives by using tranquilisers and drugs. The Garo diviners of Bakrapur and Nisangram are aware of the fact that in Jadoreng, the only real­ ity about man is the psyche or spiritual world. It has already been mentioned that medicine and diseases have had an undeniable effect on the history and culture of mankind resulting in the origin of the ‘art of healing’ which involved the use of a combination of superstitious practices and the adminis­ tration of herbal remedies available in the vicinity. The principle of ethnomedicine is thus based on the solution of the problems in the perspective of the interactions of man, nature and environ­ ment. The use of various biological and non-biological materials for curative purposes in the study areas reveals the ability of the Garos, more particularly of the traditional medical practitioner, in identifying the medicinal value of plants, animals and other nonbiological materials. The Garos believe that the occurrence of certain diseases are the malevolent activities of the supernatural beings. The Garos of the study area also believe that dreams can sometimes causes diseases. Bad dreams are believed to be an indication of impending danger. Bad dreams always tend to leave the person in a disturbed state of mind. Besides dreams certain sights can also be disturbing for the Garos as they are believed to hamper their well being. The Garos

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of Nisangram believes that the common night-jar called by them as do’uang, is a messenger of death. It’s sight is considered to be most inauspicious. If the night-jar is seen to perch on the roof of a house, the death of one of its inmates is thought to be imminent. If any member of that house is ill then it is believed that he will surely die. Besides it is also believed that to whichever side the bird faces, a relative of that household residing on that side is going to die within a short span of time. The Garos of Bakrapur and Nisangram also regard contagion as a cause for certain diseases and infections.

Diagnosis of Disease and Ailments Diagnosis of illness is an important step towards how illness is defined and dealt. The Garos have been practising several indige­ nous methods for identification of the causes of diseases. Past experience of similar disease dictates the initial definition and diagnosis and hence the initial treatment of the ailment. Symptoms are the basic criteria to diagnose an illness type. In Garo perception, dreams are believed to have diagnostic value through which a disease can be identified. Belief in dreams leads to numberless interpretation in which implicit trust is placed. To dream of constructing a house means death of a near rela­ tive, to dream of catching fish means the coming of wealth. All the patients’ dreams are often analysed by well known diviners and folk medicine men, such as Heringson Sangma, Joseph C. Momin, Dison A. Sangma, and Nelson Sangma to name a few. Dreams play a vital role in interpretation of the sex of the unborn child. If the expectant mother sees herself frying arum (ta∙a), or digging tapioca (ta∙bulchu) and other such tubers then the unborn baby is a girl. If she sees herself searching for crabs (angke), fish (natok) then also it is a girl child. On the other hand, if she sees her­ self sharpening an a∙te or godal or carrying firewood (ambol) then the foetus is said to be of a male child. If she sees boys’ shoes, and washing of male attire, than the foetus is a boy. Interrogation is another method of diagnosis. The folk medi­ cine man/woman and the bone setter try to identify different types of disease/illness by interrogating the patient and his close

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kins. Shrewd questioning and taking clues from the patient’s own suspicion are important. It is an important criterion for the identifi­ cations of epilepsy, malaria, different kinds of wounds, and the like. Diseases are at times also diagnosed in a state of trance. Joseph C. Momin, a specialist healer from Nisangram has consultations with forefathers in his dreams, and works as a vessel for supernatural spirits in the detection and cure of diseases. The folk medicine men/women also adhere to many other forms of indigenous methods. In any kind of illness, the pulse of the patient is examined. Pulse beat is considered to be an identifying factor. Loss of pulse causes weakness, loss of immunity and appe­ tite. If the pulse beat is found towards the thumb of the sick man it is an indication that the patient will recover soon. When the pulse beat is found towards the little finger it is believed that the patient will die. The eyes and the tongue of the patient are also examined. If the patient cannot open the eyes properly, then it is believed be a serious case. Divination is one of the most important criterions for diagnosis. It is a magical practice directed towards obtaining useful informa­ tion from a supernatural authority. Troubles and misfortunes are often believed to be due to spirit causations. Whenever a person suffers from certain troubles like illness for a long period, the fam­ ily members of the person approach a diviner. The diviners resort to various forms of divination both for diagnosis and treatment, particularly for those diseases believed to be caused by supernatural factors. The diviners take recourse to mantras (spells), mantric pro­ cesses, and other forms of anciently formulated prayers. According to Sangma (1993), the words of mantras are spiritual words through which the invisible spirit of the soul living in the flesh directly communicate with the intelligible invisible spirits of nature or with supernatural powers whose dwelling is not with the flesh. Incanta­ tions are constructed on qualities and basic attributes of sound. All vital incantations were passed from one generation to the next in the pre-colonial days. But now there are only a few well-known diviners who know about these much treasured words. Traditional Garo healers/diviners are aware of the fact that there are certain specific ritual action on certain materials so as to bring about the

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definite desired results or effects in the identification of disease and illness. Some well-known mantric processes in native parlance is known as bet chalaia (propelling a cane stick under spell, used for detection of stolen goods), and tikna nia (probe into the mystery of the past, present and future with regard to a specific event or occurrence). They are of different varieties, namely – (i) mirong rongsea (divination through diffused husked rice) used in detecting malaria; (ii) pongsik nia (divination by means of fresh shoots) used for detecting cholera; (iii) sima nia or divination by means of a bam­ boo splinter tied by a white cotton thread into the form of bow used for identifying jaundice; (iv) sue gata or divination by means of a gila seed; (v) dobik nia or divination by means of entrails of domes­ tic fowls; and (vi) dochi-goa or divination by means of breaking of eggs on chequered slabs of stone used for detecting tuberculosis. All these above-mentioned forms of divination are used at present for identifying different types of disease and ailments. Besides these, the one other form of divination once popular in the study area is bonwata also known as banmara. This mantric process is a way of killing the enemy with the help of a dart or tiny missile. The different varieties of incantation process under banwata are – (i) Ogni ban (projection of fire); (ii) Bombneng ban (projection of black wasp); (iii) Gogak ban (projection of wood beetle); (iv) Dipa ban (projection of bed bug); (v) Gukchri ban (projection of large sized grasshopper); (vi) Gue ban (projection of betel nut); and (vii) Greng ban (projection of animal bone). It is pertinent to note here that some of these forms of divination are used today in detection of mental illness and in counteracting the influences of evil spirits. The Garos, living in a pluralistic medical situation, avail the services of both indigenous and traditional and the modern medi­ cal practitioners. Certain diseases like high blood pressure and low blood pressure can be confirmed only by a modern medical prac­ titioner. Some symptoms like high fever, vomiting, headache are found to be common in different types of disease and illness. Both indigenous/traditional and modern medically oriented perceptions regarding different types of disease and illness are found among the Garos. Table 30.1 shows the different methods of diagnosis of disease and illness.

TABLE 30.1: METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE AND ILLNESS

Sl. No. 1

2

3

4

5

Name of the Local Perception Disease/illness Acidity a. severe stomach ache b. suffers from indigestion c. dysentery d. feels weak and sleepy Bone fracture a. extreme pain b. swelling c. inability to move the swollen part

Indigenous Method a. tongue is examined b. by questioning the patient c. if the patient is found to be suffering from the given symptoms

a. area is examined by the naked eye and the presence of the symptoms confirms it b. touches the affected area and determines the point of fracture a. high fever a. forehead when touched Cholera is found to be very hot b. vomiting c. stomach ache and b. if the patient is found to be suffering from the watery stool given symptoms c. by using pongsik nia divination Cough In babies: a. pulse is checked a. cough with b. tongue and eyes examined vomiting b. cries due to pain c. breathing (chest) is examined in chest c. pain in abdomen d. body temperature is taken with the help of a In adults: thermometer a. chest congestion b. irritation in the throat c. chest pain, throat pain d. vomiting Different kinds a. eruption occurs in a. observation with the naked eye the affected area of wounds

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Rameeza Hasan b. affected area rapidly multiplies a. foams in the mouth b. trembles or shakes a lot c. faints sometimes d. falls and speaks unintelligible words e. Eye-ball turns red and it occurs only during full moon and new moon nights a. difficulty in breathing b. chest pain c. feels weak and faints

6

Epilepsy

7

Heart attack

8

High blood pressure

a. feels uneasy b. sweats very easily

9

Insect bite

Bites from bee (bija), spider (guang) and centipede (snare): a. swelling of the affected area b. pain in the area

b. questions the patient about his problem a. pulse is checked b. tongue is examined c. if the patient’s body turns blue d. when the patient exhibit the shaking syndrome at anytime during the attack e. if the iris is found to be moving a lot then it is a serious case

a. eyes and pulse examined b. under the mantric process of banwata, uses 7 cowries, name of the patient is uttered and the spirits are impelled to reveal the disease a. cannot confirm by traditional method; for this reason the patient is sent to the dispensary. On confirmation, folk treatment is given by medicine man a. by observing the affected area

Source: Author.

The Garos also believe that breach of taboo or moral injunc­ tions can causes diseases on the person concerned. Traditionally and even today, the Garos abide by the taboos present in their

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society. Special mention must be made of Garo womenfolk, more particularly pregnant women, who adhere to the prescribed norms of behaviour, and also observe the taboos. Breaches or violation in any form is avoided for fear of experiencing a difficult delivery or even death. Conversion to Christianity also necessitated the obser­ vance of certain modes of moral conduct and behaviour in order to avoid impairment of health through the intervention of the divine powers. As Christians they never use forbidden words (blasphemy) against their faith and also try to imbibe the qualities like appropri­ ate behaviour, generosity, and avoid activities like cheating, stealing and quarrelling as such behaviour is considered a sin and results in disease and infections of the concerned person or his family mem­ bers. A devout Christian Garo prays regularly for trouble-free days and general wellbeing. They also offer prayers to overcome crisis caused by disease and illness. For thousands of years people have believed that certain human beings have the power of casting a spell or producing a malignant effect on everything they look at. Belief in the evil eye is probably the oldest and most widespread of superstitions. It was firmly believed that some malignant influence darted from the eyes of the envious or angry persons, and so infected the air as to penetrate and corrupt the bodies of both living creatures and inanimate objects. When anyone looks at what is excellent with an envious eye he fills the surrounding atmosphere with a pernicious quality, and transmits his own envenomed exhalations into whatever is near­ est to him (Elworthy, 1971: 1). The Garos also have a firm belief regarding the effect of the evil eye on a person’s health. Children and pregnant woman are considered to be mostly affected by evil eye, and excessive praise or admiration was considered certain to bring a catastrophe. Protective devices like amulets are worn to counteract the deleterious effects of the evil eye. Stomach prob­ lems, vomiting, loss of appetite, incessant crying (in babies) may be due to evil eye. This is a psychosomatic cause. The evil eye was, and is certainly considered the chief medium of communicating evil. The Garos also believe in skalgitting or pure vampiric beings who roam about in the countryside in odd hours of night searching for prey. It possesses uncanny devouring and visioning powers. The

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people procure amulets to protect themselves from the influence of skalgitting. The Garos believe that when a person suffers from excessive sweating, acute constipation and frequent vomiting he has been attacked by a skal or khatchi which literally means devourer of lives. The skal or khatchi which take the form of human beings has the capacity of bringing death upon a person. Different types of amulets are worn for the purpose of evading the evil influences. For thousands of years superstitious people have believed that certain human beings have the power of casting a spell or produc­ ing a malignant effect on everything they look at. Belief in the evil eye is probably the oldest and most widespread of superstitions. It was firmly believed that some malignant influence darted from the eyes of the envious or angry persons, and so infected the air as to penetrate and corrupt the bodies of both living creatures and inanimate objects. When anyone looks at what is excellent with an envious eye he fills the surrounding atmosphere with a pernicious quality, and transmits his own envenomed exhalations into what­ ever is nearest to him (Elworthy, 1971: 1). The Garos of Bakrapur and Nisangram also have a firm belief regarding the effect of the evil eye on a person’s health. Children and pregnant woman are considered to be mostly affected by evil eye and excessive praise or admiration of them was considered certain to bring a catastrophe. Protective devices like amulets are worn to counteract the delete­ rious effects of the evil eye. Stomach problems, vomiting, loss of appetite, incessant crying in babies may be due to evil eye. This is a psychosomatic cause. The evil eye was, and is certainly considered the chief medium of communicating evil. The Garos of Bakrapur and Nisangram also believe in skalgitting or pure vampiric beings who roam about in the countryside in odd hours of night seeking for prey. It possesses uncanny devouring and visioning powers. The people procure amulets from folk medicine man to protect them­ selves from the influence of skalgittings. The Garos of the study areas believe that when a person suffers from excessive sweating, acute constipation and frequent vomiting he has been attacked by a skal or khatchi which literally means devourer of lives. The skal or khatchi which take the form of human beings has the capability of

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bringing death upon a person. Different types of amulets are worn for the purpose of evading the evil influences of their attacks. Garos also believe that the occurrence of some diseases is the malevolent activity of the supernatural beings. They also believe that dreams can sometimes cause diseases. Bad dreams are believed to be an indication of impending danger, and they always tend to leave the person in a disturbed state of mind. Besides dreams, cer­ tain sights can also be disturbing as they are believed to hamper their well-being. The Garos of Nisangram believes that the com­ mon night-jar called by them as do∙uang, is a messenger of death. Its sight is considered to be most inauspicious. ‘If the night-jar is seen to perch on the roof of a house, the death of one of its inmates is thought to be imminent. If any member of that house is ill then it is believed that he will surely die. Besides it is also believed that to whichever side the bird faces, a relative of that household residing on that side is going to die within a short span of time’ (Playfair, 1975 [1909]: 103). Sometimes when a healthy person become very sick and also utters unintelligible words, evil spirits are believed to have attacked the person. The spirits which influence the life of the Garos are said to haunt certain places, some dwell in the hills, in huge trees of the nearby jungles, others haunt in bamboo groves, a deserted house or some specified areas in the villages. The traditional belief in the activities of the evil spirits has led to the use of amulets and other charms to counteract the attack by malignant spirits as they hover around the atmosphere. To the Garos, the supernatural is everywhere immanent and events can be influenced only by enlist­ ing supernatural aid. So they resort to certain pristine taboos like keeping a dog’s head in the village route to prevent the occurrence and entry of cholera when there is an outbreak in the neighbouring villages. They also believe that an enemy can use a person’s possessions as a charm to induce illness or injury to the person to whom the articles belonged. Things, which once formed a part of the person such as cloth, ornaments, weapons, etc., or even dust of one’s feet, are used to cause diseases upon a person. The sorcerer or evil spirits

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are believed to cause disease or calamity to individuals, families or the entire village. The malignant spirits are mainly of two types – (a) mota bira which attacks the male members, and (b) maiki bira which attacks the female members. There is also another spirit, which attack only women and children. These spirits are most likely to attack only those who happen to pass by a tamarind tree or bamboo groves in the darkness of the night. Mental illness is sup­ posedly caused by evil spirits. The Garos believe that there exists a spirit having dreaded powers who is known as Kamal Maokani. This spirit can bring about misfortune and cause unexplainable disease to a person. All sorts of ailments or diseases which continue for a prolonged period are considered to be the manifestations of evil influences of spirits. Thus, whenever a disease does not respond to the treat­ ment of materia medica, supernatural causation is believed to be the reason (Playfair, 1975 [1909]). Occasionally diseases are believed to be instigated by other human beings through the arts, sorcery and witchcraft manifested through magic. The Garos believe that magic is a mechanical pro­ cess, the compulsion of the supernatural according to traditional rule, used with evil motives in mind. When used by the healer or folk medicine man for the well-being, it becomes a tool of adap­ tation to overcome the calamity of life and thus create hope and comfort in the minds of the people.

Discussion Folk medicine or ethnomedicine is governed by a tradition – that has been developed through time in the perspective of age-long experiences of the people. Ethnomedicinal system has its very root in the cultural settings and thus the whole workings of and the behaviour patterns relating to the healing practices are interwoven in the cultural matrix of the people. The principle of folk medicine is based on the solution of the problems in the perspective of the interactions of man, nature, and environment. Folk medicine is primarily ‘applied magic’, that is to say it consists of charms and spells for expulsion of a special enemy (i.e. disease and ailment).

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It can be studied as medicine in a primarily spoken, not written tradition. This study takes two directions – one towards what nonWestern cultures know about disease and healing, the other towards popular medicine wherever it is found. Garo traditional medicine includes not only medicinal sub­ stances of natural origin, viz., plants, animals, and other inorganic substances, but also items like magic charms, incantations, religious verses, spiritual methods, amulets, sacrifices, folklore, and even faith healing. Ingredients sourced from these are greatly valued as raw materials in the preparation of Garo ethnomedicine. The elabo­ rate system of nomenclature and classification of biological materials indicates the close relationship as well as the faith and dependence of the Garos on natural resources. The use of ingredients from both the material and non-material world is due to the fact that the basic principle of Garo folk medicine is involved with the fact that it strives to treat the whole person rather than his isolated parts, and thinks of him in relation to his emotional sphere and physical environment. The knowledge of therapeutic properties available in and around their vicinity has been acquired by the Garos, more specially the ethnomedical experts principally through parental heritage, or because they have experience about medicinal value of plants, animals and other inorganic substances to heal their kin or themselves (Hasan, 2009). Garos believe that remedies for diseases are available in the vicinity so they always use the plants that are easily accessible. The properties of herbs are related to their taste. Different tastes have different effects. The method of preparation also changes the taste and its consequent effect on the body. The preparation of herbal medicine can be done in varied ways. Plant extract for curative purposes may be consumed in the form of powder, paste, infu­ sion, decoction, or inhalation. In case of powdered medicine, the prescribed part of the plant is first washed and dried in the sun for three to four days. When fully dried it is pound into powder. If a herbal paste is to be prepared, the leaves are first crushed by hand and later the medicine man/woman grinds it into a paste on a stone grinder. Infusion is prepared by pouring boiling water on clean leaves. Quantities of leaves may vary from a pinch to a fistful,

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and it is infused for at least twenty minutes. For medicinal purposes it is filtered and given as a drink or applied externally as per the directions of the medicine man. Decoction is yet another way of preparing medicine. The root, stem, or bark is boiled in a covered vessel. Quantities can differ, but generally one cup of plant material and four cups of water is boiled till it reduces to one cup. It is later filtered and used for curative purposes. In certain ailments, the eth­ nomedicinal experts also prescribe raw juice which is prepared from the paste of plant parts from which the juice is strained through a clean cloth. The Garos believe that the aromatic substances present in certain plants can be used for therapeutic purposes. Such plants are steamed and the vapour inhaled for desirable results. The Garos believe that one can learn a great deal from an obser­ vation of plants. Majority of them are accustomed to the use of some common plants for curative purposes. The ethnomedical experts and midwives are well acquainted with the medicinal plants available in the vicinity. They however differ from one another in preparing medicines to cure an ailment as they work out their own formulae of combination and proportion at which the differ­ ent medicinal ingredients should be mixed with. The existence of varied methods of preparation of medicine from various parts of a plant and different dosages is due to difference in individual effects. It is because of the careful observations of ethnomedical experts that they are able to understand certain contradictory uses of dif­ ferent parts of the same plant. Mention must be made here of the decoction of the tender leaves of guava which is an anti-diarrhoeal medicine, whereas the fruit itself especially the seeds, relieves con­ stipation (ibid.). The Garos talk much about the potency of certain specific herbs in curing particular diseases. The most commonly found medicinal plants are sacred basil, Emblic myrobalan (gooseberry), hogplum, life plant, Indian pennywort, curry leaves, mint, coriander, hibiscus, lemon and the like. All these medicinal plants are collected from the neighbouring jungles of Bormedang, Bangsiaphal and other forest areas of Garo Hills. Some of these medicinal herbs and plants are believed to possess magical properties. The amulets prepared from the leaves and bark of Erythrna stricta tree are believed to cure

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a person possessed by spirits. Chisak is a type of grass, which is tied around the wrist while going through dense forest and other isolated places to ward off evil spirits or avoid a spirit encounter. There are many herbs and plants believed to possess magical quali­ ties. The medicinal herb konduli and jakkop (English equivalent of this and following few plants are not known) helps a person to preserve his wealth, samkading and kamal possess magical virtues of evoking jovial feelings towards one, atchi and daldo is believed to enable a woman to conceive and give birth within seven days of its consumption, anggal is very rare and is believed to make one invis­ ible, songwat is a tiny-stemmed rare herb which enables a person to see well in darkness, bikpil is another rare herb which is exploited in counteracting spells of banmara spells (evil spells cast on a person which strike the person like an arrow causing ill effect on him). Another rare herb bichar makes a guilty person to confess his wrong deeds. It is believed that demesa, a rare herb, has the capability of warning its possessor of impending danger. These herbs believed to possess magical properties are known only to the well experienced folk-medicine man. The availability of medicinal plants in the sur­ roundings is greatly reduced due to deforestation and many other factors. However some medicinal plants are believed to be grown by all. There is hardly any item of flora that is not recognized by the folk healers. From these he/she judiciously prepare his/her pills, tablets, globules and lotions, according to anciently inherited prescriptions (ibid.). Treatments in Garo ethnomedicine are carried out by the inter­ nal and external application of medicaments, physical manipulation of various parts of the body and psychological treatment. The medicinal preparations of the Garos are usually multi-componen­ tial, which are dispensed in various dosage forms such as liquid (e.g. infusion, decoction, etc.), semi-solid (e.g. pastes, creams, and ointments), solid (e.g. whole or powdered plant parts, pills and tablets), and gas (e.g. incense and inhalants). Most of these prepa­ rations are given orally, or applied externally on the affected parts of the body. Some medicinal agents for specific purposes are also inhaled through the nose and mouth in the form of smoke or steamabsorbed gas. However, intravenous application of drug is absent

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in Garo ethnomedicine. In addition to treatment by administering medicaments, other methods like therapeutic fasting and dieting, hydrotherapy (bath, massage and compression with cold or hot water), heat therapy including bone-setting, spinal manipulation, massage, psychotherapy, and spiritual or faith healing are com­ monly used by the Garos for curative purposes. The Garos consider multiple treatment options for curative purposes as they live in a pluralistic medical situation. The various impinging factors in the health-care practices of the Garos have resulted in the emergence of Medical Pluralism among them. The Garos have no qualms about submitting themselves to more than one form of therapy at the same time. Among them self-treatment or home treatment is usually the first step in medical care. They use various herbs, bark of trees, flowers, roots, seeds, etc., to provide relief. Failure to achieve a cure necessitates the use of the treatment options (traditional and allopathic) as per their preference. While availing the modern medical facilities it has been observed that the medicine purchasing behaviour of the Garos are influenced by cer­ tain factors.

Conclusion For many centuries, the Garos have kept alive a self-managed sys­ tem of ethnomedicine that was mainly based on ethnomedicinal and ethno-zoological remedies. Their ingenuity still reflects their traditional management and sharing of natural resources in a way that there is optimum utilization of such resources. They know a large number of biological species having medicinal value because of the fact that majority of them are dependent on forest and natural resources in their day-to-day life and also fall back on various medicinal plants available in the forest. Hence traditional beliefs concerning supernatural causation of diseases are still prevalent among the Garo of Bakrapur and Nisan­ gram even after embracing Christianity. The following case studies reveal the belief in supernatural causation of diseases. Introduction of new faith, i.e. Christianity and exposure to mod­ ern facilities has resulted in certain changes and redefining the role

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of the traditional diviners and other ethnomedical experts. Only a very few diviners chant the traditional mantras or incantations for curing patients. All ethnomedical experts strongly condemn the use of mantric processes to bring death and destruction upon the enemies as it is against the teachings of Christianity. No instances of use of such practices have been reported. It is pertinent to note that even today the use of traditional medicines to counteract sorcery and black magic practices, prescribed by the diviners in a few cases, contradict their firm belief on the absence of malicious use of the traditional ethnomedical properties. It must hence be opined that such instances, though few and far between, have not totally disap­ peared from the rural community of Bakrapur and Nisangram. Finally it can be surmised that each medical system is not only a product of particular historical milieu and cultural apparatus, it has also its own cognitive categories. The Garos caught in illness episodes are less bothered about the issue of combination, they are singularly concerned with recovery and relief. For this, distinction between ‘rational’ and ‘non-rational’ methods of diagnosis and treating illness is not found. Certain beliefs, precautions, which primarily are not medical, are approached for curative and thera­ peutic purposes, on the premise that religion (both traditional and Christianity) is to be resorted to in case of suffering. Medical care, treatment and etiology are defined within this social context. Thus, in the Garo traditional system of curing diseases, culture affects the way in which patients and healers receive and define illness and influence the choice and decisions with respect to the treatment of the illness. Besides the traditional medical practitioners there exists some traditional birth attendants or midwives in the villages of Bakrapur and Nisangram. The midwives operate within their own village and help womenfolk during pregnancy and child birth. All midwives agree to the fact that not every woman can become a midwife. Only women who are blessed by God can start this vocation. Moreover, a midwife should have the following prerequisites – sound health, good eyesight and a quick and alert mind. In addition, she should be cool and resourceful and must have the courage to handle any sort of complication that might arise during delivery cases.

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REFERENCES Elworthy, F. 1971. The Evil Eye. New York: Macmillan Co. Gupta, S. P. 1986. ‘Tribal Concept of Health, Disease and Remedy’, in B. Chaudhuri (ed.), Tribal Health : Socio-Cultural Dimensions. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications, pp. 161-6. Hasan, R. 2009. ‘Ethnomedicine Among the Garos of Northeast India: Aspects of Traditional and Modern Health Care Practices in Two Village Settings’. PhD thesis, Gauhati University, Guwahati. Playfair, A. 1975 [1909]. The Garos. Guwahati: United Publishers. Rizvi, S.N.H. 1991. Medical Anthropology of the Jaunsarias. New Delhi: Anand Printing Service. Sangma, D.R. 1993. Jadoreng, The Psycho-Physical Culture of the Garos. Edited by Julius R. Marak. Shillong: Meghalaya State Museum. Scotch, N.A. 1963. ‘Medical Anthropology’. Biennial Review of Anthropology, 3: 30-68.

CHAPTER 31

A Case Study of Mawphlang Sacred Grove Tambor Lyngdoh

Introduction In India and in many other regions of the world, a number of communities practice different forms of nature worship. One such significant traditional practice is that of providing protection to patches of forests dedicated to deities and/or ancestral spirits. These patches of forests are known as sacred groves or sacred forests. The institution of sacred groves is very ancient, and once it was widespread in most parts of the world. Sacred groves are a rich heritage and play an important role in the religious and socio­ cultural life of the local people. They link people with nature and perform several ecological functions. Many threatened, endangered and rare species find safe refuge in these groves. Therefore, the sacred groves are storehouses of biological wealth of the nation. In olden days every Khasi village had a sacred grove that was managed by the traditional institutions of the locality. A recent study by Nongbri and Tiwari (2017) has reported 215 sacred groves in the state of Meghalaya. In the context of Khasi belief, a saying goes: ‘There can be no Hima or Raid without sacred grove, and there can be no sacred grove without Hima or Raid.’ Sacred groves show the sovereignty of the particular Hima or Raid since they represent the space through which indigenous community people communicate with the Almighty, by performing the rites and rituals. Each sacred

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grove has taboo, social customs, rites and rituals associated with them which are often specific to the grove. Sacred grove is consid­ ered as nature’s own museum or nature university with a treasure trove of unique flora and fauna. Through sacred groves the Khasi people see the insights and wisdom of their forefathers, and how their everyday life is connected to nature harmoniously. Hima is the indigenous traditional institution of the Khasi and Jaintia tribes inhabiting the state of Meghalaya. They are repre­ sented by syiems, lyngdohs, sirdars, wahadadar, and dalois. Raid is generally a group of villages that falls under one syiem (king or chief). Where there is Syiem Raid, these are under the Hima of a syiemship, but they also have some independent status in taking care of the sub-territory or the clan area under the Raid. They also have power to lay or sanctify a plot of land for sacrifice and perform certain rituals related to the welfare and well being of the Hima and Raid. While in the lyngdohship as in the case of Sohiong Lyn­ gdoh they have the Lyngdoh Raid where they have a sacred grove, though small in area. So each Hima and Raid has their own place sanctified to be used for performing sacrifices, rites and rituals. It may be mentioned here that the community as a whole can com­ municate to God through these sanctum sanctorum, whereas the sub-clan and family communicate to God for their family and clan through their eldest uncle or clan and family elder. These are the places where the residents of Hima can witness their sovereignty that they are capable to resist and fight back natural calamities and prepare to be victorious in war. The sacred groves also provide them a space to honour and respect God. Nothing can be taken out of the sacred grove and also no nuisance can be committed in it or else the offender will face the wrath of deities. It is believed that sacred grove is a place where the deity resides and the people are the custodians of the grove. There are many folk stories about punishment by the deities on those who have committed acts of desecration inside the sacred grove.

Mawphlang Sacred Grove Mawphlang sacred grove is located at Mawphlang village, in the southern slope of Lum Ryngkew Mawiong Hill at an elevation of

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1,863 m AMSL in a saucer-shape depression, covering an area of about 76.8 ha. It is more than 600 years old standing aloft through the test of time fenced by social fencing by the village community. The grove is approachable by an all-weather road at 25 km from Shillong, through Mawphlang village. According to local lores, at one particular time, the elders of Blah clan of Jaintia Hills prayed and asked the almighty God to give them permission to move out of the land, and requested to be shown the way though signs. Permission was granted through a sign that they should proceed towards the north-western parts to Khasi Hills by passing through the territories of U Syiem Shil­ long. When they reached Shillong Peak, they followed downstream along the river Umiew or Umiam Mawphlang. On reaching about 5 miles down from Lum Shillong, they climbed westward and settled at Pdengshnong, Mawphlang. Here in Mawphlang the Blah clan took the role of the chief and everything was under their con­ trol. Then they identified a hillock on the periphery of the present Mawphlang sacred grove known as Lait-tyrkhang and demarcated a place for performing rites and rituals. Time passed, and eventu­ ally Mawphlang village became well-known and many other clans came to join the Blah clan and settled at Mawphlang. These clans are Kharshiing, Kharsohliya, Kharhunai, Kharnarbi, Kharsahkhar, Kharmawphlang, Kharmaram, Kharlangniuh, Kharphyrnap, and Kurkalong. These 12 clans together formed the Hima Mawphlang. The Blah carried on their chieftainship until the end of the war between Mawphlangs and Syiemiongs, in which Mawphlangs were the victors. The Blah clan retrospected on the war they had which made them change their minds – they no longer wanted to rule over their own people who had sacrificed much during the war, and who were also their fellow comrades in arms. The people of Maw­ phlang under the leadership of Blah clan wanted to separate the administration and judiciary, so they were on the look out for a new leader. In communications with God, the people received a sign of approval. So, the search for another leader (chief) went on among themselves (the clans that joined Blah), but all these clans refused to take the position (throne) as they too felt the same empathy for their own people. Finally, after much deliberation and discussion, the name of Ka Khmah Nongsai was taken. This lady, wife of

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Lyhir Sohtun, originally came from Balikawan (Baligaon) presently known as Maligaon in Kamrup district of Assam. At that time she was residing in Laitsohma, overlooking Mawphlang village towards the east on the way to Sohra. It was told that Ka Khmah Nong­ sai was even feared by the Syiem of Shillong for her great wit and statesmanship. Ka Khmah Nongsai at first did not agree to let her son take over as the new ruler of Hima Mawphlang without the consent of the Almighty God. So in order to know, whether this is the will of God, she made a promise with the former clan, to give her time to testify this by planting two saplings, i.e. diengsohma (b. Rhussemialata) and diengsning (b. CastonopsisIndica). Another ver­ sion says three saplings of plants were planted, i.e. the third plant is ka Diengdoh (b. Ex-bucklandiapopulnea). All these were planted at Phiephandi, by saying that in three years’ time if the saplings survived she will send her son to be the chief Hima Mawphlang. It happened that after three years these saplings sprouted well. Then Ka Khmah Nongsai and the other clans arranged for the crown­ ing ceremony of the first chief and his myntri representing from Blah clan (Basan myntri), Kharshiing clan, Kharsohliya clan and Kharhunai clan. The function was solemnized at Phiephandi itself, where the stone staging with five seats were made, the chief sat in the middle and on both sides sat the myntri. These stone staging can be still seen and are found preserved till now. From that day onwards, the chief assumed the title of U Lyngdoh and his territory is known as Mawphlang Lyngdoh. Since then all the descendants of Khmah Nongsai assumed their title as Lyngdoh Mawphlang. They have their own rituals and sacrifices done collectively by the original clan, in which the Lyngdoh clan was attached with the eleven clans, now twelve in all, now called khad-ar-kur and its durbar is known as durbar khad-ar-kur. It is through this durbar that they used to decide almost everything required in the administration. Time passed, and the Lyngdoh clan used Phiephandi as the place for doing rituals and sacrifices. Therefore, the ancestral mother of Lyngdoh (priestly clan) sanctified this area into Ka Law Lyngdoh and came to be known as Law Lyngdoh Mawphlang or Lawkyntang Mawphlang. Traditions mention that inside the grove, the elders including the chief and the priest perform only major rituals and sacrifices but the other minor sacrifices are done outside the grove.

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The place where the major sacrifice is done is called Phiephandi. Here, altars are erected to perform the rituals and sacrifices – the main sacrifice is the bull (red in colour). This sacrifice used to be done when the case is major or the threat is of large scale, as in the time of war, epidemic, and famine and to ask the Almighty to save them. The lyngdoh (chief) would pray for special gifts, power and strength and to have bestowed them with wits and wisdom not only to himself but also to the myntri to rule and serve the people with righteousness and let justice prevail upon them. This ritual has been discontinued for quite a long time. Later, the Lyngdoh clan requested the durbar of twelve clans to give some more space to safeguard the sacred sites from forest fire or any danger that may ruin the place. The durbar passed a resolution and permission was given, so parts of community forest were attached for the sake of safety. The whole area was then sanctified and it became a compact structure of about 76.88 ha. On the death of Khmah Nongsai or Khmah Lyngdoh Mawphlang, as she now assumed the title of the office she held, she was cremated inside the grove in Mawphlang, while the ashes and bones were preserved at Lum Meimah oversee­ ing Laitsohma (the village she came from). It is said that, few years after the Anglo-Khasi War ended in 1839, attempts were made by some people to cut down the trees that grew in the sacred grove. The lyngdoh, his myntri and the elders from dif­ ferent village of the Hima tried hard to prevent this and even sent volunteers at night time to prevent people from doing so. It was also told that, once the people of Mawphlang wanted to cut off all the trees from the same grove, but one person name U Kun Lyngdoh Mawphlang stood alone to protect the grove by saying defiantly that ‘Who dare to take away the clothes of my mother, one tree felled, one head will be chopped off ’. From that day no one dares to touch or do anything unlawful inside the sacred grove.

Traditional System of Management The village of Mawphlang has today a written document called Kot Adong Hima Mawphlang in order to manage the sacred grove. In 1915, late Sabu Roy Blah, a myntri in Hima Mawphlang of that time penned down the written rules and regulations on the management

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and uses of the land. This was read out and continues to be read out at the durbar Khat-ar-Kur (durbar of 12 clans) and durbar Hima Pyllun (General Council) held annually. This tradition is passed on to the headmen and the community members through the village durbar. The 1911 rules and regulations was revised in the year 1970 and re-revised in 2011-12. It may be mentioned here that this set of rules has been taken as one of the best practice by ICIMOD Nepal. Mawphlang has set a very good example on preservation of forest in the form of community forest and clan forests, besides protected forest and sacred grove. The rule clearly states that no forest produce, such as trees and grass, can be sold outside Hima and no charcoal making is ever allowed. However, as per the laid down rules, the residents can take fuel wood at the rate of one head load per trip per day. That is why Mawphlang still has good forest cover and it has become the pioneer in teaching and takes along under its fold other Hima in conservation of forest and environ­ ment. It must be mentioned here that if anyone is found guilty of setting fire in the meadows or forests of Mawphlang he/she is fined with Rs. 10,000 without fail. Since the sacred grove has been taken care of by the people of Mawphlang, care is taken through social fencing, so the power of maintenance lies with the office of the Lyngdoh of Mawphlang. The office engages a Mawphlang Sacred Grove Committee, the local youth organization like the Mawphlang Sustainable Tourism Society, and the Seng Samla Shnong, who on behalf of the Hima Mawphlang volunteer themselves to take care of the tourists and the visitors and maintain the cleanliness and security of the area. All funds collected for maintenance and grievances are referred to the office of the Lyngdoh Hima Mawphlang. One other way how this grove is being maintained is through oral narratives connected to the grove. In the following, I would like to present some of the stories that have been handed down verbally from one person to another – some very old, some as recent as last year (2016). These stories are connected to the strong belief among the people that any desecration to the grove will bring about the wrath of the deities.

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The Lady and the Snake One fine day about 100 years ago, one lady named Thimur, a resident of Mawphlang village, went down to Wahlyngkien village to see her brother who was sick for quite some time. On her way to Wahlyngkien, a big snake crossed her way and did not allow her to pass. She noticed the peculiar approach of the snake and then she right away communicated to the snake in Khasi: Kokynradko Ryngkewko Basa, hatokanekadeikadakba lakumpynsngew­ sihiaphi da u para jongngamoubangamut ban leitjngohba u shitom? Da deikumtatekynrad, shah iangabanganleitkyllipyrthewbanngansa wan nguh wan demiaphi ha ryngkatki Rangbah Rangsan bad u Lyngdoh ki Myntri.

This can be literally translated as: ‘My dear Ryngkew and Basa (deities), Is this the sign to show that my brother has hurt you and made you angry? If this is the case please let me go and ask him if anything he had done against your will. Let me go and talk to him, if it is really the case, I will come back to you along with the elders, the chief and the myntri to ask for pardon.’ It happened that when she repeated the request to the snake three times, the snake disappeared. On its disappearance she continued her journey along the way and reached Wahlyngkien. During that time till the 1960s, no permanent structure or house were allowed to be constructed, but only sheds for cattle and storerooms were placed in temporary basis in order that the farmers from Mawphlang village will be able to keep their cattle and store various paddy and grains and farm produce. This whole Wahlyngkien-Kyiemarea of about 1800 ha of land was full of farm land and it was popularly known as the ‘Rice Bowl’ of Mawphlang village. On reaching there after much deliberation the brother confessed that he had taken firewood from the sacred forest about a month ago. So the sister took him along with her to Mawphlang and informed the elders and the chief. She clearly told them what he had done so the chief offered a prayer of penance to the deities on behalf of her brother. The Army from Shillong In the 1970s some Army personnel from Shillong came to Mawphlang, and they gathered the dry woods and fallen twigs and branches from the sacred grove and put it in their trucks. To their surprise the truck engines

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had difficulty in getting started. On seeing this, they properly checked the condition of the trucks and found it to be free from any engine snags. Then after a few moments the deity attacked the drivers and they were soon feeling uneasy and became weak. They found themselves helpless and they went back to the headquarter empty handed without the truck. The next morning, the Brigadier came down to Mawphlang to see what has happened as the loaded trucks were still loaded with the dried logs and woods. He was soon trying to search for local people when the chief came to meet and talk to him. He, as the military officer asked the chief: ‘What have you done and what is all this?’ Then the people of Mawphlang along with the chief told him about the deity and the forest being regarded as sacred. So through the suggestions of the chief, he ordered all loaded wood to be put back inside the grove. After completion of all this, they checked and started the engines of the trucks and it was found that these were all fine and functioned formally. All the drivers also became fit and sound. So as a sign of respect and honour, they conducted a parade in the football ground by going around with their stranded trucks. The Man who Became Paralysed In the month of October 2009, I was personally told this story about one person residing in one of the localities in Shillong. One fateful night this man was suddenly affected by a kind of stroke which caused semiparalysis and he could not move his hands and legs, and his mouth became distorted. The family took him to the best hospitals in Shillong but till the next day, no diagnosis could be done. On finding nothing abnormal or not seeing any symptoms of any disease, the doctors and hospital staff discharged the man next morning. The neighbour, an elderly lady, came to see the sick person and asked him where he went the past few days. The family members told that he had visited the Mawphlang sacred grove. The lady immediately perceived that something was not right and she did not prolong her stay there, but left with a word saying: ‘Ask him (the man) properly, in case he has committed any immoral activities or nuisance inside the grove.’ The family members then responded by recalling the activities of the man inside the sacred grove. It was further revealed that the family brought the man to Mawphlang in a very pathetic condition and the whole family asked pardon from the deity (u Ryngkew u Basa). They stood there for about 15 minutes. Soon after that the boy’s health was restored and he could walk back and found himself free from affliction. It was found that the cause of the affliction of the man was due to creating nuisance and immoral action inside the sacred area.

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The Rudraksha from the Grove Recently just before the Indigenous Terra Madre Festival (2015), held in Mawphlang, a group of four officials visited the grove. The local guides briefed them about the do’s and don’ts, and informed that if they did not comply with the restrictions something bad may happen to them. It is widely known that, nothing is allowed to be taken from the sacred grove: one cannot even pluck, cut and disturb the flora or create any nuisance while inside the grove. Unfortunately, one of the officials without heeding to the restrictions, illicitly took some rudraksha from the grove. What happened thereafter is as follows: just after the first evening, he experienced confusion and it was reported that his wife began finding faults in him. The next day when he went to office he found that his boss became angry with him for no reason; he was mad at him and said many unwarranted things. That evening rashes appeared in his body and it became very irritable and the rashes developed swelling which in a rapid pace increased in size. When he informed his friends, and since this matter happened just within three days of his visit to the sacred grove, they straight away asked him what he did in the grove, or whether he took away something from it. He could not hide anymore and confessed that he had picked up the seed. His friends informed the chief, late Mr. N. Kingkerious Lyngdoh. The chief along with the official entered the sacred grove; the chief prayed and asked pardon on behalf of the culprit, and he threw back the rudraksha near the tree from where he had taken it previously. On coming out of the grove, the rashes and uneasiness of the man disappeared. The Girl who came for Monolith Festival One girl from Jaintia Hills attended the Monolith festival in 2016. When she returned back to her village, she fell ill and doctors failed to diagnose neither the symptoms nor the cause of that illness. Her family members consulted the local healers, who read the sign that a deity (ryngkewbasa of Khynriam) had punished her because she committed nuisance in his territory. On hearing this, the family members thought that this might be the ryngkewbasa of Hima Sohra, so the next day they went down to Sohra and met the elders of the Hima. However, from subsequent signs it was revealed that the cause was not the ryngkewbasa of Hima Sohra. The family returned home with a heavy heart and doubts. Their daughter’s condition worsened. One day, in a state of delirium, the girl became unconscious and kept shouting: ‘Please help me! This fellow is going to strangulate and kill me!’

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The mother communicated with her by asking questions. In her semi­ conscious condition, the wronged deity (in the guise of the girl) responded to her mother’s queries, though reluctantly. The mother repeatedly asked the name of the spirit, and why he was tormenting her daughter etc. At last it was revealed that the deity is the one residing in Mawphlang. The family then prepared themselves to go to Mawphlang. There they met the elders where they also read the omens and the signs which showed that it was indeed the deity of Mawphlang who possessed the girl as she had committed some unwarranted crime there. The elders prayed, and asked forgiveness from the ryngkewbasa of Hima Mawphlang. This happened last monsoon on a rainy day but the good news is that the girl is now recovered.

The above cases are not only mere stories, but with it the sacred nature of the grove is passed on through generations. It is strongly believed that there resides a strong deity (or deities) who are not only the custodians of the grove but also wreck havoc on those who commit any ‘crime’ here. The only remedy is to ask forgiveness of the deity and return what has been taken. Since 1996, Mawphlang village organizes and arranges for locally trained guides to take care of the visits here so that the visitors can enjoy the unique and divine experience of observing the extremely rare plants and herbs and that the flora and do not do anything that will invoke the wrath of the deities.

Rites and Rituals Connected to the Sacred Grove In Mawphlang sacred grove there are two types of rites and rituals conducted. First, when the Lyngdoh assumes office, the swearingin ceremony takes place inside the grove. Second, the rituals of Knia-Shnong performed on different occasions before any big function are performed outside the grove. Knia Phiephandi Ritual There is only one major ritual performed inside the grove and the location is the place called ‘Phiephandi’. Here a bull is sacrificed (Masi Basaw Tlem). This is the place where the lyngdoh takes the

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lead and performs rituals in front of his people by taking a vow to take his office with full responsibility and concern that the administration and judiciary will prevail with righteousness and justice. At this place, there are six standing altars (duwan) next to the lone standing monolith facing west towards the trail and is at a distance of just 20 m away from a diengsohphie tree (b. Myrica indica) (Figures 31.1, 31.2, 31.3). The name of the particular location is derived from it – phie is a derivation from sohphie; phan is related to ritual; and di to a tree in Mawphlang dialect. During this ritual the lyngdoh pray to the almighty to prevent Hima Mawphlang from the outbreak of plague, and epidemic like cholera and other devastating diseases in the neighbouring and adjoining Hima. The evidence clearly shows that this major ritual was performed at least six times or more. During the rituals they must be prepared in both spiritual and financial resources, since this rite involves a lot of preparation and devoted involvement. That is why when they enter with the bull, and take rest about 100 yards from the altar to recall anything that is being left out to be taken along for the ritual. If they forget anything they will send someone to the village to collect it, and everything should be in place so that the performance will be not stopped midway and be successful. After the completion of the ritual, they will come back to the same place where they rested. Here, they not only take rest but pass all information to the younger generation about the pro­ cess and prayers or incantations when they performed the rituals. It is said that Hima Mawphlang is one of the Himas where plague and epidemic seldom occur, because they take precaution through the Knia Phiephandi ritual at Phiephandi. Here the lyngdoh, myntri and the elders also ask the almighty God to give them strength, power and ability to rule the people of Mawphlang with righteousness and justice. If one walks about 200 m from the altar at Phiephandi, one will find a place where the crowning ceremony of the first lyngdoh was performed. Five stones laid vertically in one place represent the location where the lyngdoh and the four myntri were crowned.

Figure 31.1: Mawknia at Phiephandi Source: Author.

Figure 31.2: Mawmei Khmah – bones and ashes of Khmah Nongsai are kept here. Source: Author.

Figure 31.3: Mawbynna at Phiephandi where rituals are conducted. Source: Author.

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Knia Shnong Ritual This ritual is of two types. The first one is performed before any major event that Hima Mawphlang is hosting or at the time when the Hima is preparing to accept any major decision on any development work to be established in Hima Mawphlang. The second one is related to the outbreak of war, plague, epidemic, etc., as mentioned in the major rites. In these rituals only eggs, hens and cocks are used. It is here that they will surely know whether the major ritual is to be followed and performed or not. This is where the elders spend days and use their experience and knowledge to communicate to God and try their best to settle all the matter, without going for any major ritual. Only a member from 12 original clans can take part in the ritual where the lyngdoh takes the lead. Other clans are not allowed to take part and no documentation is ever permitted so this is passed through word of mouth. Knia Phod Sohlang This is performed specifically for the welfare of health and well­ being of the people of Mawphlang. In this ritual a goat is sacrificed; the one who sacrifices the goat represents the Lyngwa clan. During this ritual, the lyngdoh (who holds office) cannot enter the sanctum sanctorum, but may witness it from the hilltop. The priest reads omens from the lungs of the slaughtered goat, and if the sign is good, then all the assembled people will enter the pond and take with them the holy water to drink for good health. All the 12 clans will be informed and the ‘circular’ (i.e. donation) will be collected to meet all expenditures to be incurred for the ritual. The other clans residing in Hima Mawphlang will also be allowed to be a part of it, but the donation collected from them will be half of the original ‘circular’. For example, if the ‘circular’ announced is at the rate Rs. 100 per household for the original 12 clans, the other clans will pay Rs. 50 only. This is because only the original clans will fully take part in the rituals, while the others are mere spectators and witnesses. Since this ritual also involves a lot of time for preparation, the elders take great care and precautions that once they start

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the ritual, they should not fail to get good result by unnecessary interruptions. Monolith Festival The recently organized annual Monolith festival conducted just outside the sacred grove is one of the government-sponsored celebrations which have indirectly espoused the cause of Khasi traditional cultures, values and ethics. In the year 2013 the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) through the Khasi Heritage Conservation Forum (KHCF) and Hima Mawphlang, jointly organized the first Monolith Festival on 25-26 October. This was conducted on a demarcated plot of land near the sacred grove of Mawphlang. This land is managed and maintained by KHCF with members from KHADC and Hima Mawphlang. During the festival, traditional artists showcase their art and artefacts. Originally proposed to be held annually, due to financial constraints it was held only twice and the second one was held on 31 March to 2 April 2016.

Conclusion It is said that in the olden times, due to sporadic attempts to destroy the sacred forests, the chief and his myntri of the Hima invoked the deities by offering sacrifices to u Ryngkew u Basa, to punish those who dared to violate the sacred grove by cutting trees, plucking flowers, etc., or creating nuisance in and around the grove. The fruits, nuts, herbs, eatables, honeybees, and water can be consumed freely, but not to be taken outside the grove or to take home for profit-making business purposes. It is widely believed and reported that anyone who violated these sacred rules are divinely punished by and if not seeking pardon from the chief (and the deities), the sufferers eventually die. Besides the do’s and don’ts, these beliefs also go a long way towards preservation of the sacred grove. Mawphlang sacred grove stands out among the sacred groves in India and the world which still possesses a pristine beauty that has withstood the test of time. This age-old grove is also one of

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the largest sacred groves existent in present time. It has become a Nature University attracting researchers, scientists, nature lovers and tourists who come here to learn and enjoy the bliss of nature inside the grove. There are many rare and endangered orchids and other plants that are found only in this grove and nowhere else. Amphibians, reptiles, rodents and many small mammals are still found aplenty inside the grove.

REFERENCE Nongbri, B. and B.K. Tiwari. 2017. ‘Sacred Groves: A Treasure House of Culture, Biodiversity and Natural Resource Conservation by Indigenous People of Meghalaya’, in Souvenir cum Resource Book on Traditional Farming and Indigenous Food of North East India. Umiam, Meghalaya: Director, ICAR.

CHAPTER 32

Shella

A Frontier Village in Southern Meghalaya

Gautam K. Bera

Village studies were for long more or less the stock-in-trade of social anthropologists of India. Major early contributions were marked by the two collections, both published in 1955, edited respectively by M.N. Srinivas (India’s Villages), for long the doyen of Indian sociologists and by the Chicago anthropologist McKim Marriott (Village India). These two volumes included village studies by the founding generation of what can be considered to be the modern social anthropology of India – scholars such as Kathleen Gough, F.G. Bailey and Bernard Cohn as well as the editors themselves. Succeeding generations, too, up to the present – certainly amongst recent Ph D students at the London School of Economics – have cut their teeth on village studies, focusing on both ‘village studies’, i.e, in which the village itself is in some way the object of study – and ‘studies in villages’, where the village is the site of research on a particular problem (Bera, 2015). The present chapter is based on an empirical study in Shella, a village of the War Khasi located in the East Khasi Hills district of the frontier state, Meghalaya in north-east India. The two categories that have been distinguished above are not so water-tight compart­ ments. In the case of Shella, however, the first concept overlaps the boundary entering into the second domain since several interrelated issues including that of traditional social organization and the traditional village administration controlling the landownership

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pattern have been dealt upon here by the present team of research­ ers. In addition other important issues like universalization and secularization of the tutelary cult; language shift and maintenance; inter-ethnic relationship and trans-border economic exchange in the traditional weekly market have also been dealt upon during the study, all of which could not be accommodated in this write up but have been provided a space in the detailed report. Earlier village studies were influenced by the prevailing struc­ tural-functionalist paradigm of the social anthropology of the time that sought to analyse the relationships between the different dimensions of social life. They were usually focused on caste, how­ ever – since this was taken to be the central and defining institution of Indian society. It is a humble submission here that the present write-up is not an attempt to study the entire village of Shella, rather it tries to have an empirical premise looking back into past that created an anthropological history of later times. Incidentally a part of the village was studied by Pranab Kumar Das Gupta (1984) in 1956-7, 1958, and in 1981 to understand the different aspects of the life of the people, viz., material culture, eco­ nomic, social, political and belief system with particular reference to the War Khasi, the dominant tribal group of the area, which can, however, not be considered as a village study. Six decades ago Das Gupta considered that there was little information available on the War Khasi at that time though the upland Khasi had been covered more or less exhaustively by various colonial administrators and ethnographers. Hence, he focused his attention among the War Khasi only as an ethnographic subject. However, the present study is a departure from the earlier work since it considers Shella as the unit of study. Shella is a big village accommodating mainly the War Khasi as the owner community of the village land along with par­ tial accommodation of other tribal communities like Pnar (Jaintia), Garo, Hajong, Tripuri, Bodo and Koch and non-tribal communi­ ties like Bengali and Nepali. All these groups are tenant residents of the village located on the border of Chattak and Sunamganj of Bangladesh, carved out from the erstwhile district of Sylhet of East Pakistan. Shella is one of the nine villages of Shella Confederacy under a Wahdadar, the administrative head, located on the southern

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border of the War habitation on the elevation across the river Shella between altitudes of 500 to 1,000 feet.

The Village The Shella Confederacy comprising nine War Khasi villages namely Shella, Mustoh, Nongwar, Nongtrai, Umtalng, Lumnong, Lyngkhom, Tynger and Dewsaw is situated roughly between 25° 10' and 25°16' north latitude and between 91°36' and 91°42' east longitude. The village Shella is situated between the geographical coordinates of 25°10' and 25°11' North latitude and between 91°41' and 91°42' east longitude. The lifeline of the village, Shella River (also called Bokra and Umiam), originating from near the Shillong peak flows down south-east and reaches Shella village finally meet­ ing the currents of Wahrew and Ichamati entering Chattak. In addition around Shella the neighbourhood allows flowing of some minor rivers or hilly streams namely Ballat, Rengua, Mawkam, Armen and Frangaru. The vegetative cover includes tropical dry deciduous forest. The entire village has a very rich deposit of limestone and it is understood that ever since traders of this mineral developed business interest in this village the villagers accumulated considerable wealth through this trade. The lime quarries are situated all along the hilly terrain of the village. The village experiences considerable southwest monsoon during the months of May, June, July and August. From the formative period of British expansion in this region the lime quarries of Shella formed one of the principal attractions of Sylhet and drew the Europeans to establish a trade in that min­ eral. Hence, it is obvious that Shella established a contact with the plains people since that time. Before the Partition of the country the people of this village used to export local commodities like limestone, betel leaves, betel nuts, orange, timber, etc., that grew here in abundance, to the plains and received in return the import of rice, egg, fowls and goats, fish, earthenware, brass and bell-metal utensils, etc. After Partition though trade through such importexport has come under government control, still it is running in a limited scale in a controlled manner and the War Khasi of Shella

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are in continuous contact with the plains people through border­ ing markets. There are instances of some Hindu families of Sylhet who have settled in and around the Shella bazar area falling under the Sohlap kher and are earning their livelihood from small-scale business with the War Khasi. Since weaving is not practiced in this village the people are dependent for their clothing on the Hindu cloth merchants of Shella market, who are basically refugee settlers in the Kalatek village situated at an approximate distance of 5 km across the river bordering the international fence with Bangladesh. Of late, a Handloom centre has come up in the vicinity of the bazar area which dually functions as a tailoring centre for the production of readymade garments. For ornaments and iron implements they contact the Hindu smiths settled in the Shella bazar area. The War Khasi do not usually take milk but the supply of little milk which is used in the preparation of tea comes from the Khunti or domestic dairies possessed by the Nepalese settled in the Pyrkan sub-kher plains on the southern margin of the village across the river. How­ ever, there is also an opportunity of procuring condensed milk in tin container that is being imported from across the international border of Bangladesh. There are a few families of Garo, Kachari, Koch, Bodo, Hajong, Rabha, Manipuri and Muslim who live in the southern plains of Shella village near the international border of Bangladesh and cultivate the flat lands of the War Khasi of the vil­ lage for growing seasonal vegetables in a very minimal scale that hardly sustains the bare requirement of any household in the scale of optimal usage. The village accommodates nine kher (hamlet) namely Sohlap, Mawryngkhong, Nongnong, Duba, Jasir, Jamew, Disong, Non­ grum and Ramsongkatonor, situated all along the hilly terrain flanking the river on one side. However, a part of the ninth kher (Ramsongkatonor) is extended on the other side of the river too in the vast plains forming a sub-kher (sub-hamlet) in the name of Pyr­ kan, which has been carved out especially for administrative reasons for the smooth running of the dorbar shnong (village council). Shella, being the most important village among the nine villages under the Shella Confederacy houses the office of the dorbar hima, which structurally delves into the administrative functioning of

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all the nine villages under the leadership of one wahdadar who is elected by the adult (18+ years of age) people of all the nine villages, both male and female, through a voice vote. He is the administra­ tive head of nine villages, without any judicial power, holding the office with tenure of continuous five years, under the direct control of the District Council. Each village maintains its own dorbar shnong through elected members drawn from each kher. The dorbar shnong is headed by a gaonbura (headman) who is assisted by the rangbah shnong (secre­ tary) and dkhat (member), the latter being ten in number (including one member of the sub hamlet Pyrkan). The dorbar shnong func­ tions for only one year, the members being elected by adult (18+ years of age) male members of the village through voice vote. Each member of a kher is elected by such resident voters of that particular kher. The rangbah shnong is elected by the representative member secretaries of all the kher.

Landownership and the Customary Law Land According to the report of the Land Reforms Commission for Khasi Hills, there are two broad categories of land. They are: (i) Bri Raid (community land); and (ii) Bri Kynti (privately owned land). The report defines the land belonging to the former category as: The management and control of Bri Raid land belonging to the community is completely within the jurisdiction of the community concerned. The community may be (i) a village for a village Ri Raid land; (ii) a group of villages constituting the Raid for Ri Raid land of the Raid; and (iii) the Elaka itself for the Ri Raid land. Describing the right to use the Ri Raid the report says: If a person vacates or does not make use of the land under his actual occupation for three consecutive years, the land reverts to the community – village, Raid or Elaka as the case may be. There is no proprietary, heritable or transferable right on the Ri Raid land. It further elaborates that the right to use the Ri Raid is based on the membership of the person in the specific village. A person belonging to Khasi society does not enjoy the right to use the above said land, if that person is not a

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member of the village, Raid or Elaka (a cluster of more than one village). A non-Khasi is not allowed to use the Ri Raid land. The village headman or the head of the Raid does not have the authority to grant permission for such use to a non-Khasi person. (Rymbai et al., 1974)

However, contrary to the above classification it is found in Shella that land belongs to the community, clans, and individuals. Hence, it is classed as (i) Ri Raid (community land); (ii) Ki Ri Kur (clan land); and (iii) Ki Ri Kynti (land belonging to individuals). No cadastral survey has ever been carried out in the Khasi Hills. At the same time mapping of the area belonging to different owners is also unheard of. Villagers still adopt the practice of making a river, tree or a hillock as a landmark for their boundaries. This creates enormous problems in the present situation because the people are no longer all agrarian nor are they pastoral nomads or are engaged in jhum or shifting cultivation. A good number of them are engaged in non-agricultural economy or are service employees with the gov­ ernment or non-governmental institutions. Many are in business of different scales. According to their customary law, community land is collective property and the residents of the village are users of the land. To understand the practice of community land a few examples are dis­ cussed and such examples provide the ‘field-view’. The lands in the village belong to the community and are con­ trolled and managed by the village council. The community land is separated into two parts: residential lands where houses and other common public facilities are built and lands for economic purposes which are used mainly for horticultural activities and lime stone quarrying. Permanent War Khasi residents of the village are the users. Most households of the village are old residents and have made improvements on their land. According to the practice in this vil­ lage, when a household or family or individual makes permanent improvements on the land, the succeeding generations can inherit these improvements. Such users cannot sell or dispose of the land. Annually such users have to renew their permission from the vil­ lage council. When users do not renew the permission, the land reverts to the village and the village council re-allocates it to others.

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When users inform the village council that they would not renew the permission they hand the plot over to the village and the village council takes it over. Some rich persons of the village have acquired large plots of community land that was originally given to them by the village council since they are permanent residents of the village. The rich families have more resources than others and have no problem in utilizing the land. Some scholars have attested that such practices in whole of Khasi Hills would gradually convert the village com­ munal land into privately owned plots (Jamir & Nongkynrih, 2002). On the issue of giving lands to organizations from outside the village, the village council attests that government departments and organizations such as the Rama Krishna Mission,1 the Presbyterian Mission,2 the Church of God and the Catholic Mission got plots of community residential plots by buying them from the permanent residents of the village who had registered their land with the state in the 1960s. However, it is felt that this practice is in contrast to the ideological principles of the Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution, where the locale of the present study is situated.3 The problem arises when institutions that are non–tribal entities, such as cantonment lands, state and central government establish­ ments which have their boundaries well-marked out happen to lie adjacent to the land owned by the tribals inside the revenue juris­ diction. There are several instances of boundary disputes between local landowners and the military, all because the former does not recognize its boundaries while the latter possesses maps and sur­ vey records. In 1976 the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act was passed to prohibit sale or transfer of land to non-tribals, except when the land is used for public interest. This includes construction of educational and other institutions and the setting aside of land for industrial purposes. Landownership among the Women Like the broad Khasi society, among the War of Shella, the youngest daughter (ka khatduh) is the custodian of ancestral and parental property, and not an inheritor as some would like to believe.

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Scholars interested in deeper understanding of such society will discover that very few clans own fairly large acreage. Among them are the Mawri, Nongkhlaw, Kharkongor, Khyriem, Marbaniang, Blah, Syiem, Lyngdoh and so on in the East Khasi Hills. Not all of them own property enough to distribute to all the daughters, with the desirable practice of giving the biggest share to the ka khatduh. Wealthy families owning landed property are becoming fewer as more people in the rural areas dispossessed of their lands on account of poverty. Many have shifted to urban peripheries, especially to the capital town of Shillong. The few affluent families in any case do not discriminate between sons and daughters. In fact, the trend has always been to allocate some portion of the self-acquired property also to sons. The urban middle-class educated elites actually have no problem about altering the matrilineal practice and adopting traits of patriarchy in respect of taking the father’s surname instead of the mother’s, etc. In a broad sense, therefore, there is an intellectual and cultural divide between the rural and urban Khasis, the latter being the real custodians of Khasi culture, folklore, etc. However, it must be admitted that the urban elites also recognize the harm that the gender bias in matriliny has created. Landlessness or the absence of land titles in the name of Khasi men reduces their status as ‘bank­ able’ individuals who can access loans for entrepreneurship. This has been felt very actually by men. Organizations such as the Syn­ gkhong Rympei Thymmai and Mait Shaphrang Movement have been demanding equal rights for both men and women. It actually boils down to equitable distribution of parental property. However, it is observed that these movements are urban centric and have not made much impact beyond the capital entity of Shillong. Besides, such movements, instead of looking at gender justice tend to be male centric and focus only on the rights of the male members of their society. But there is nothing in Khasi society which debars men from inheriting landed property. There are certain clans who have been known to divide the money earned from sale of land equally among clan members be they men or women, sons or daughters. It is a myth,

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therefore, to say that men have no property rights. But as a rule men do not inherit property in the manner in which their counterparts in patriarchal societies do. All earthly possessions of parents are vested with the khatduh because she fulfils certain responsibilities and obligations which her brothers might be disinclined to take up, more so, because after marriage, a man leaves his parental home. A man who marries the khatduh has to live in her natal home. If he marries any other sister then the couple starts a new family. When a man marries, he is said to have left for somebody else’s home (leit iing briew). This does create a sense of psychological alienation for the male as it does for the daughter in a patriarchal society. The administration of self-acquired property is entirely in the hands of the owners. A piece of land can be sold, or distributed to all children by parents according to their wish. It is the ances­ tral property that they cannot usually sell without the consent of the maternal uncles and brothers. On the flip side, there are many instances when the khatduh is bereft of any property because her parents never owned any. Such instances do not form part of the normal discourse even to perpetuate myths of a ‘unique society’, that is under discussion here. The misconception that sons do not and cannot inherit prop­ erty is not correct. In the Khasi matrilineal society, if a khatduh has no daughters, her sons cannot inherit ancestral property but they can be gifted with the self-acquired property of parents. The ancestral property will, however, pass over to the next elder sister’s youngest daughter. In fact, men usually prefer to buy land in their wife’s name and one reason for it is to ensure that on his death, his clan (kur) members do not appropriate the property and leave his wife and children in penury. The khatduh is a custodian of ances­ tral property with conditions, albeit unwritten and unspoken. She must look after her parents as long as they are alive. Her unmarried brothers may also live under the same roof. If any of her nieces or nephews is orphaned it is the khatduh’s duty to take care of them. If her brothers divorce their wives or vice versa they come back to the iing khatduh or parental home. Looked at from a purely objective prism, therefore, along with the property the khatduh also carries

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overwhelming responsibilities including loss of social mobility (War, 1998). As stated earlier, though ancestral property passes through the khatduh she is really not the owner. She is only the custodian of ancestral property. Her maternal uncle acts as the chief executor or the administrator over the property. Attempts to sell-off ancestral property have often led to court cases because the property is not exactly unencumbered. Every family member has a say in its man­ agement and it is often not based on the best and most equitable formula. This is probably the weakest link in the matrilineal chain. It is an area that perhaps requires deeper study because of its pro­ pensity to create conflicts between individuals in their society. There are several instances of the khatduh marrying outside her community and her brothers demanding that she should cease to be the inheritor/custodian of ancestral property. One such illustration is that of a lady marrying an outsider and the lady herself being employed elsewhere that made her to be out of station most of the time. When the mother became ill, one of her brothers shifted to his mother’s house and staked a claim to the property on the plea that his sister was hardly available and that he was actually look­ ing after his mother. When the sister heard this she returned home immediately and took her brother to court citing customary law. The State of Meghalaya takes cognizance of the customary law and applies it in cases relating to property disputes. Such disputes are pending with the district councils and some are settled by the local traditional institution or the dorbar shnong. However, since the dor­ bar shnong is not in a position to settle cases that are adversarial in nature but only those with a scope for reconciliation, parties most often move to the formal institutions of justice to redress their grievances. Privatization of Community Land In the past the practice was to allocate community land to every member of the village and give jhum land for cultivation. As long as a family resided on that land and cultivated it, it continued to be its rightful occupier. If it abandoned the allotted land or it remained

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uncultivated and unused for three consecutive years then that land reverted to the Raid (community). However, the customary laws also have their loopholes. If a holder of community land makes improvements on it and makes a permanent structure then that person becomes a permanent holder. This is as good as ownership. Another interesting finding is that community lands are admin­ istered by the dorbar shnong/dorbar raid (village council) or dorbar hima (chieftainship). Men alone can be heads of dorbars or the rang­ bah shnong/sordar. Men alone are chieftains who are called syiem. In what can be called a surreptitious stratagem, the syiems, sordar and rangbah shnong have in collaboration with other members of their council converted large areas of land in their jurisdiction into pri­ vately owned land in their own names. In such cases the title holders are male members. This happens especially in the case of forestland and lime stone deposits. Naturally the community owned land has today shrunk considerably or is non-existent. This phenomenon can become the basis for a complete overhaul of the society. Men as heads of the dorbars and chieftainships are increasingly becoming not just owners of land but have also appro­ priated the right to exercise complete control over it. What women will ultimately be left with is the lineage bit. These reversals are happening at a very rapid pace. Incidentally, there is very little con­ sciousness in the community about this swift reversal of women’s status from owners of land to mere inheritors of ancestral property with all its social encumbrances. The above instances of re-appropriation of roles are possible because the customary laws have not been codified. The argument that custom is flexible and, therefore, laws emanating from that custom cannot be set in stone is a valid one. But when that custom tends to upset the equilibrium that has guided the community for generations then there is urgent need to undertake an analytical study to see how far it will also adversely affect the status of women who have hitherto enjoyed a fairly equitable deal. One factor that has tended to reduce women’s power is their exclusion from traditional institutions involved in local gover­ nance. At one time these institutions discussed issues of public welfare and governance. Thus, these traditional institutions were

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to an extent involved in civic administration and also adjudicated on matters relating to land disputes and other non-compoundable offences. Today these bodies have evolved into power centres, which are vested with the authority over land and its distribution. While in the past, these institutions could be trusted to carry out their responsibilities with honour and dignity, always keeping the interests of the community at heart, today those cherished tribal values have been diluted. Probably accumulation of all such en masse threatens to destroy the fabric of the society.

Discussion The empirical understanding points one to look afresh from varie­ gated angles. Therefore, it is felt to make an academic administra­ tion that has applied value for future reconciliation. At this juncture, it is imperative to (i) undertake a cadastral survey of all land in the Khasi Hills in order to identify their rightful owners; (ii) legislative action is required to push for a land ceiling act before the balance is titled completely towards the affluent and the Khasi society is sharply divided along class lines; (iii) undertake a detailed study of the rapid erosion of women’s status from that of landowners to that of powerless, landless ancestors; and (iv) legislation to include women as an integral part of traditional institutions. Probably such an exercise will help to understand the nuances of governance and also to check the erosion of tribal values. Women have traditionally been recognized as custodians of culture and tradition but the administration of the customary laws and practice was a purely male activity. There needs to be gender equity in this aspect. Gender sensitive language needs to be introduced into their traditional milieu. For instance, the nomenclature of the head of the dorbar – the rangbah shnong, literally means village headman. The nomenclature automatically debars women from taking up this responsible position since it is more gender inequitable and exclusive language. Probably the issue of gender equality in such society tends to become acrimonious because men and women are both thinking of their rights alone and the deprivation of those

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rights. Women believe that they have been deprived of the right to decision making in the traditional institutions. Men aver that women are already empowered because of their right to lineage and ownership of property. Some traditionalists tend to go as far as say­ ing that a woman’s place is in the heart and home. She should not meddle with politics and matters outside the home. Three decades ago some scholars have attested that the Khasi society in fact has a very demeaning saying for a woman who dabbles in politics. She is termed as a ‘crowing hen’. The Khasi adage that ‘when a hen begins to crow then doomsday is at hand’; which means to keep women tied to their domestic chores. But at the heart of the conflict is also the inability to sit across the table and discuss these ticklish issues (Sen, 1985: 100-1). However, it is apparent from the study that the possible impli­ cation of the analysis of the economic and political relationship between the villagers is that ‘the village’ has integrity as a unit, depending upon the specific interrelationships between them. The style of anthropological research focusing in regard to the village economy makes it apparent that we have tried to make an attempt to focus on the so-called ‘power’ relations along with the changing dimension of the land relations; and in regard to politics, on the roles of the dominant male population and of ‘village officers’, on village factions and dorbar shnong – which may be seen as having reached a kind of culmination. These were in fact quite resolutely structuralist phenomenon that emphasized the centrality of ideas and values. A part of the argument is that the notion of village soli­ darity is largely an artificial creation, and that to the extent that it is real, this reality derives from the relations between dominant and dependent villagers. However, probably six decades ago Das Gupta (1984) also felt that the tribe or community and not the village should be the proper unit of study, the logic has already been substantiated earlier. There can be a debate on this issue and scholars may argue that ‘there are many kinds of relations which can be studied independently of tribe or community and for which the village provides an adequate framework’ – such, notably, as ownership and control of land and

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the relations deriving from it. It is a matter for debate that how much earlier ethnographies contributed and today that could have been established through analysis of macro-data from NSSO and other large scale surveys. But we have an idea and our own claim is that such earlier studies developed an analysis of the processes of accumulation and provided an account of apparent class formation and the forms of class consciousness – both of which generally lack in the macro-studies. From the present study certain epistemological issues come to the forefront that we like to address here. The defence of village studies is, therefore, that a village is a conjuncture of much wider processes and relationships. Commenting on this idea it can be said that the utility of village studies has been questioned on the ground that they fail to take account of macro processes which affect eco­ nomic and political relations within a given village community; however, to the extent that a village is not regarded as a discrete entity, or a self-contained universe, but is viewed as an arena in which the players participate in – or, indeed, even embody – wider social processes, the analytical significance of village studies tran­ scends the boundaries of the community. This shows the analytical possibilities of longitudinal village studies conducted by a single ethnographic observer and this is something that is a particular strength of village-based ethno­ graphy. The point that we are making here goes rather beyond the arguments expressed by Pranab Bardhan and Isha Roy in the book The Contested Commons: Conversations between Economists and Anthropologists (1989). These conversations ranged over arguments, many of them familiar ones, about the strengths and weaknesses of ‘macro’ research, based on survey data, sometimes using econo­ metric techniques, and favoured by many economists, as opposed to ‘micro’ research, drawing on ethnography, favoured, not exclu­ sively so, by anthropologists. One of the main conclusions that can be gained is by combining methodologies. In the earlier study of Das Gupta (1984), particular emphasis was given to the value of ethnographic understanding of people’s own concepts that could have been utilized by other

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social scientists in later days so as to improve the measurements made. The point that we are making here is that the analysis of non-agrarian production relations, of labour institutions and class formation requires understanding of their cultural and ideological dimensions, and that this kind of analysis is a major strength of village ethnography. Das Gupta’s work is concerned with local community that adhered to the management of common pool resources available in the village. Land, in the matrilineal systems is both subject to ‘rule’ - rather than being ‘managed’ - and is in a sense an instru­ ment of rule. Here land is not only exploitable resources but also media through which a variety of social relations have been struc­ tured. In the village, hierarchy persists and power and authority are articulated through public institutions (dorbar shnong) and their rules. Certainly there are strong hints in Das Gupta’s work that the existence of the local village institutions that he described goes along with male dominance and that where the dominance has so far been challenged, the institutions are much less likely to be found till date. It is, therefore, felt that these are social phenomena that are, in a sense, the preserve in research of village studies. Briefly to conclude these observations, we have argued that anthropological/ethnographic village studies focusing on land relations, class formation and power institutions, have particular strengths, especially because of giving attention to their cultural and ideological contexts. In fact ‘class consciousness’ and ‘class formation’ do not just follow automatically from ‘class structure’. A related point, though we have not elaborated upon very much here, is that there may be a particular value in the kind of research on economic institutions that village studies make possible, because they open up understanding of the significance of their cultural and political ‘embedding’. This is the argument that though there are certainly many good reasons for being critical of ideas about ‘village republics’ or ‘village community’, villages may sensibly be studied as distinctive institutions (corporate groups) with their own public realms and forms of organization, and studied too as distinctive political arenas.

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NOTES

1. Incidentally the Ramakrishna Mission in Shella is the oldest Hindu religious institution established in Meghalaya by Swami Prabhananda (1900-38) popularly known as Ketaki Maharaj in 1924. 2. The missionary activities of Presbyterian Mission started in Sohra way back in 1841 by Reverend Thomas Jones and Nongsawlia Presbyterian Church is the first church of this denomination in Meghalaya established in the year 1846. 3. From the administrative point of view the Sixth Schedule provides comparatively a considerable autonomy as we see for the states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The role of the Governor and the state are subject to significant limitations with greater powers devolved locally. The District Council and the Regional Council under the Sixth Schedule have the real power to make laws, possibility on the various legislative subjects, receiving grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the costs of schemes for development, health care, education, roads and regulatory powers to state control. The mandate towards devolution, de-concentration and divestment determines the protection of their customs, better economic development and most importantly ethnic security. Furthermore, the Sixth Schedule has certain features that can be implanted in any model of governance for tribal areas, particularly dealing with the concepts of constitutional and legislative subjects that are exclusive to local governments. However, as a dyadic principle, the working of a system is always different from the idea of it, the effect of which is reflected on the structure and function of the society. The Sixth Schedule that embodies autonomy has its own shortcomings: break down of laws, elections not being contested, rather than empowerment there is exclusion that fails to give much needed protection to tribes in the absence of a political will, and, often it lives by the mercy of government funds.

REFERENCES Bardhan, P. and I. Roy (eds.). 1989. The Contested Commons: Conversations between Economists and Anthropologists. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Bera, G.K. 2015. ‘Remembering the Remembered Villages’. Anthropos India, 1(1): 317-26. Das Gupta, P. K. 1984. Life and Culture in a Matrilineal Tribe of Meghalaya. New Delhi: Inter India Publications. Jamir, A and A.K. Nongkynrih. 2002. Understanding Land Ownership and Management Systems of the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo Societies of Meghalaya. Rome: International Fund for Agricultural Development.

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Rymbai, R. T., H. Nongrum and D. D. Lapang. 1974. Land Reforms Commission for Khasi Hills. Shillong: Government of Meghalaya. Sen, S. 1985. Social and State Formation in Khasi-Jaintia Hills Matriliny. New Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation. War, J. 1998. ‘The Khasi Concept of Family: Changes in the Structure and Function’, in P.M. Chacko (ed.), Matriliny in Meghalaya: Tradition and Change. Delhi: Regency Publications, pp. 16-30.

CHAPTER 33

Ethno-Medicinal Practices of the Bhoi Khasi

Ananya Chetia and Longshibeni N. Kithan

Introduction In simple terms, ethno-medicine examines the native’s perception of health problems. It tries to understand the entire episode of people’s health care systems vis-à-vis its associated aetiology, symptoms and treatment processes. The discourse on ethno­ medicinal research reveals a fuzzy expression of the terms ‘illness’ and ‘disease’ while referring to health problems. Fabrega (1974) however construes illness as a socio-cultural phenomena and disease as a biological fact. In addition, personalistic aetiology sees illness as entangled with magic and religion and has a preponderance of folk healers with mystic powers. Illness in this case is induced by human (witch and sorcerer), non-human (evil spirit and ghost), and supernatural being (a deity). Whereas naturalistic aetiology rejects the above claim and assume illness as the manifestation of natural order (Foster, 1976). Although health and illness is a universal phenomenon, devis­ ing a universal concept has been problematic until present since different cultures vary on what is really constitutive of good or ill health. Despite differences, one cannot deny that health is a signifi­ cant indicator of prosperity and is recognized as basic human right by the World Health Organisation. Among non-Western cultures particularly, the concept of good and ill health is implicit in relation to local cosmology (Khare, 1963). While health is only a concep­

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tual and analytical tool and not a social reality in itself, it is how individuals organize, interpret and contest the idea that intrigues ethnographers or anthropologists (Kleinman, 1995). It is understood that people across the world will have their own perceptions and world-view regarding health. Similar is the case with the Bhoi Khasi of Umden, RiBhoi district, Meghalaya. This chapter dwells on health problems or illness as a socio-cultural cat­ egory rather than biological, and accentuates personalistic aetiology among Bhoi Khasi. Among Khasis, health and illness is entangled with traditional religion or animism where illness is thought to have been caused by the intrusion of spirit, both malevolent and benevolent and good health is restored only by reconciliation with the spirit. Gurdon (1975 [1907) opines that illness among the Khasis is thought to be caused by one or more of the spirits on account of some act or omission, and health can only be restored by the due propitiation of the offended spirits. In order to ascertain which is the offended spirit, a system of divination by means of cowries, breaking eggs, or examining the entrails of animals and birds, was instituted. In fact, Khasi traditional religion is in fact a religion of restoring health and fortune. This is achieved once the spirit is recognized and adequate sacrifices are made to the spirit. It is often the priest or lyngdohs who carry out the ritual, and often necessitate traces of shamanism on most occasions.

Folk Healers of Umden Folk healers are the categories of people who claim to provide assistance in certain illnesses. Despite the technological revolution in the world, the therapeutic skill of folk healers continues to amaze beyond boundaries and throughout ages. Most folk healers in this region use herbs in order to cure illness. The abundance of medicinal herbs in Meghalaya is attributed to the topography, soil and climatic conditions which favours its out growth (Lyngdoh et al., 2014). In Umden, some folk healers are formally trained and practice herbal/Ayurvedic medicine, while others are not trained, but claim to posses healing gift from God. Many healers dream

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about medicinal herbs which aid the healing process. The different categories of folk healers found in Umden are – (a) kabiraid, (b) thoh, (c) jha, and (d) faith healers. Regardless of the treatment method adopted by different folk healers, the underlying aim remains the same which is to bring about enhancement in the health and well­ being of the people. A folk healer on successful execution of the therapeutic skill enjoys an uplifted status in the society. (a) Kabiraid: A kabiraid is a specialist in treating problems of inter­ nal organs such as uterus, stomach, intestines, kidney, liver, lungs, and throat in addition to skin diseases. (b) Thoh: A thoh is a specialist in tumours, boils, infectious lesions, cuts and burns, insect and snake bites, etc. Their therapeutic procedure involves application of mud and lime paste on the affected areas. Some thohs believe that it is not solely the medi­ cine which cures illness, rather the chanting of magical spells which does the trick. (c) Jha: Jhas are specialists in mending broken bones. A jha would apply oil on the affected area and massage the area gently. He or she follows it up with certain medicinal herbs which are tightly wrapped around the wounded area with a piece of cloth or leaves. The procedure is repeated at regular intervals until the bone heals completely. Jhas claim to possess superior therapeu­ tic skill than the trained medical practitioners who deal with bones. This is because the bones treated by them heal perfectly, without leaving any trace of deformity or irregularity thereby avoiding the snag of painful surgeries. However, this treatment is limited to minor conditions and in case multiple fractures occur, the patient might be asked to consult trained medical practitioners. (d) Faith healers/shaman: Faith healers rely hugely on spirit invoking and intervention of the divine supernatural force for initiating the healing process. They often communicate and appease the spirits on behalf of the clients. In doing so, he or she is able to convey to the client the rationale behind the ill­ ness. The reason may be multifarious. In some instance, illness is seen as a retaliation of the object of aggression to the inflic­

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tor. It also occurs due to non-adherence of certain order by the victim and as a result of witchcraft, sorcery or black magic. Witchcraft, sorcery or black magic is inflicted out of jealousy and as reprisal making the person ill. Faith healers possess ‘dif­ ferent gifts’. Some faith healers make predictions of the causal factor by seeing through a bowl of rice, which is brought from the victim’s home. Few perform elaborate rituals, get into a state of trance in order to connect with the spirit and ascertain the remedial measures. Substantial faith healers inflict illness and other misfortune although there is strict denial among faith healers of the allegation. Besides, the king in the area and members of the Syiem clan are also thought to possess healing gifts. They cure individuals afflicted with black magic by offering prayers and appeasement of the spirit. They also offer sacrifices and chant magical spells. For example, in order to ease an individual from thlen (a serpent) casualty, clan members would burn a portion of the victim’s hair and create a paste with water. The water is then sanctified and the victim is asked to drink it. However, one has to note that the different expertise of folk healer discussed are not evidently distinct but are often overlap­ ping. For example, Masterni Mayong (60 years, male) belonging to Umden Khasi village is popularly known as a jha but also practices herbal medicines like a kabiraid. He acquired knowledge about herbs from one of his relatives. He amalgamates herbs in different proportions in order to cure piles, gastritis, ulcers, nerve disorders, broken bones, arterial problems, skin diseases, and bleeding, etc. The juice of black turmeric or pensumrsi shyrmit jong is applied on the broken bones and is gently massaged with mustard oil in order to reduce pain and for quick restoration of the broken bones. Mayong’s therapeutic skill for treating piles and poisonous snake or spider bites, particularly tarantula bites, is the most recognized of all in the village. Another folk healer is Habis Inghi (55 years, male) from Diwon village who heals victims of black magic and evil eye and reads omens by looking at a bowl of rice. He also cures those afflicted with

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leprosy. He also rendered his service in the Leprosy ward of the vil­ lage public health centre (PHC) located in Umden Nonthneng for several years but later withdrew himself owing to gradual improve­ ment in leprosy cases. He also cures several other health problems such as kidney stones, jaundice, cancer, tumours, measles, piles, urinary tract infections, etc. His patients come from even neigh­ bouring areas of Umden such as Shillong and Assam and a few from Bangalore. He can see visions of medicines which is revealed to him by the forest Goddess. He further supplements his knowl­ edge of medicines by reading books himself and by participating in various seminars and workshops which centres on indigenous medicine. What is striking in Inghi’s method of treatment is the use of a female snake’s skeleton. He reveres the skeleton of the female snake and says it is not a common snake’s skeleton. He had visions about the snake even before he found the snake. As visualized, he went to the interior of a forest looking for the snake and found two female snakes fighting with one another. One of the snake was swal­ lowed by the other and Inghi caught hold of the victorious snake, beheaded it and laid it flat on the ground. He then placed a thread on the slain body of the snake from the head till its tail, buried the snake and left for home. He unearthed the burial after an interval of two months, performed certain rituals over it, and buried it again. After six months of long wait, the thread placed over it completely fused with the snake’s skeleton forming a rope-like skeleton. He carried the snake’s skeleton home and hung it at his workplace. The snake’s skeleton greatly aids his healing process (Figure 33.1). Before initiating the cure, he carefully observes the snake’s skeleton. If the skeleton moves, it is an indication from serpent Goddess to proceed with the cure. If not, it is an indication of assured death of the client. He believes, presence of the snake’s skeleton at his workplace also help him ward off evil eye and black magic targeted at him by his supposed rivals. Habis Inghi’s therapeutic cure is well recognized in the village, and outside. Although he has embraced Christianity, his healing process involves Hindu gods and goddesses. For example, in order to ward off evil eye, he scrapes off the hip-bone of an elephant with a copper coin bearing the image of the Hindu gods and goddesses

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Source: Ananya Chetia.

Figure 33.1: Healer Inghi with the snake’s skeleton

such as Hanuman, Mahadeva, and Goddess Ma Santoshi (Figure 33.2). He then make a powdery paste of the elephant’s bone with water, sanctifies it and asks the victim to drink the mixture. In Umden, the herbs used by these folk healers are directly obtained from the forests. They believe that forests maintain eco­ logical balance, and are the dwelling place of spirits and therefore possess medicinal properties. Some folk healers even grow medicinal plants at home. Each folk healer from Umden has his own special­ ization. Whilst some are experts in curing malaria, others specialize in curing infertility, cancer, etc. The specific expertise possessed in curing certain illnesses because the herbs used by folk healers are different from one another. This is attributable to the fact that the knowledge on indigenous medicine strictly follows down the family line and is secretly preserved. When a folk healer becomes aged, he or she passes down the knowledge to one of his descendants, prefer­ ably his son, daughter or nephew who is regarded as the guardian of

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Source: Ananya Chetia. Figure 33.2: Hindu God inscriptions used in healing

the family tradition. In addition, all medicine men of the village are members of the Kabiraid Association and Umden has a total of 20 medicine men, and this number is strictly maintained. Allegiance to the association helps authenticate their service as well as main­ tain regular check on the prices of medicines so that a monopoly is avoided at any cost. The medicines are also less priced in order to enhance affordability to the poorest.

Personalistic Etiologies Besides commonly occurring diseases which are recognized today, certain uncommon and rather strange health problems or illnesses although scientifically ambiguous are evident among the people studied. Such health problems or illnesses are unique to the people and is best understood within the personalistic framework. These are discussed in the following section: Pynherdoh Pynherdoh is a ritual observed in order to induce illness on an individual, presumably a rival. This ritual involves black magic.

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At first, a site within the forest is chosen which is then followed by animal sacrifices in the form of an egg and a fowl or chicken and blowing a piece of chicken’s or fowl’s meat. A local medicine man or a kabiraid undertakes the above ritual. Both kabiraid and the person who hire the medicine man should ascertain that not a minute detail of the ritual is missed out. If that occurs, not only the purpose remains incomplete, but worst of all is the retaliation of aggression towards the inflictor. Therefore such rituals requires special skills and precision. Peacefully (25 years, female), hailing from Umden Nongth­ neneng and a school teacher by profession, narrates her friend’s experience as a victim of black magic. According to Peacefully her friend who was a skilled football player from the village under­ went sudden swollen eyes causing him much discomfort and pain. Although he tried several medicines, he did not get better. He called upon the shaman as the last resort and the shaman found out that his condition was the outcome of black magic meted on him by someone who intended to prevent him from participating in the local football tournament. The shaman then performed certain rituals and imparted precautionary measures to the victim. The healing miraculously worked and soon her friend was freed from the shackles of black magic. Wankyrtein (ancestral sprit) Sometimes ancestral spirits also intrude on the health and wellbeing of their descendants, preferably grandchildren. In a few instances, a child is born with the spirit of an ancestor. A child with ancestral spirit is easily irritable, refuses to eat, cries continuously and suffers from numerous health disorders. In such a situation, either a kabiraid or shaman is called upon in order to reconcile with the spirit. The kins of the victim are asked to rename the child after the name of that particular ancestor or wankyrtein who is bothering the child. They are also expected to keep the victim contented at all cost, non-adherence of which will amount to affliction of sufferings and malevolence towards the victim and his or her immediate kin. Dwerin (6 years, male), a resident of Diwon village in Umden,

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was renamed as Pularu after the name of his deceased grandfather. Renaming was done when Dwerin suddenly suffered from chronic diarrhoea and wasting, not long after his birth. It was the local kabi­ raid who examined him and found the cause of Dwerin’s health problem to be intrusion of the ancestral spirit. Andy (3 years, male), grandson of a retired civil surgeon named Dr. Syiem from Diwon suffered from high fever for several months. In addition to consulting the victim’s own grandfather, several other medical practitioners in Shillong were also approached but met with less success. The fever would recede and relapse at regular intervals. Although with much reluctance, the kin members approached the faith healer and it was brought to their notice that there was a constant attempt from an ancestral spirit to enter the soul of the child. This further necessitates them to rename the child after the first name of Dr. Syiem which is ‘Jerin’. They were initially reluctant but gradually obliged to the predictions and renamed the child. The child was later cured and is presently in good health. Black Magic Problems of mental imbalance, blindness, deformities, attack of thlen (serpent) are the immediate consequence of black magic meted by a witch or sorcerer. Although blindness and deformities are difficult to cure but mild to moderate mental disorders and victims of thlen are cured by the members of the Syiem clan. This is achieved by pulling out a few strands of the victim’s hair, laying it over the fire, and making a paste with water. The water is then sanctified with adequate prayers and offerings by the Syiem, and is drunk by the victim. In addition, few kabiraids also assist in treating victims of black magic. Evil’s Eye Illness, particularly among young children is believed to be caused due to jealousy or rivalry meted out to them, the malevolence of which is known as ‘evil eye’. Some of the immediate symptoms of evil eye are diarrhoea, boils, cough and vomiting.

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Medical Pluralism Pluralism in health-care system is generally understood as the application of more than one medical system. It could also mean simultaneous application of Western and indigenous or optional medicine. Chrisman and Kleinman (1983) identify three sectors in health-care system which is -- popular, folk and professional. Popular is the non-professional treatment sector and involve selfcare and other health care advices of a kin or someone who has undergone similar infirmity. Folk sector entail those persons with therapeutic skill of both secular and sacred nature. Professional sector encompass officially authorized and organized health practitioners. In addition to folk sector, people also rely on the popular sec­ tor and has access to the professional sector. The establishment of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Umden Nongthneng in 1989 cater to the health and well-being requirement of the people. Before the inception of PHC, people relied entirely on the folk sector. At present, people access numerous medical systems such as allopa­ thy, homoeopathy and ayurveda. Beside provision of immediate relief, allopathic medicines are dispensed either at cheap prices or absolutely free of cost. It has managed to gain prominence with the initiation of rigorous awareness programmes and schemes such as National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), etc. The PHC in Umden Nongthneng caters to 58 villages in Ri-Bhoi district and has two sub-centres in the vicinity. It ensures free health checkups, basic amenities for mother and child care, dispenses off free or cheap medicines (allopathic, homoeopathic and ayurvedic). It also undertakes boils amputation, stitches of minor cuts, vasectomy, tubectomy, and copper T insertion, etc. Despite efforts, PHC still lacks skilled manpower and is managed by only one allopathic and one homoeopathic doctor. There are also not sufficient beds in the patient ward. When PHC fails to handle certain cases, patients are referred to hospitals in Nongpoh or Shil­ long. It was observed that Christianity and education also has influ­ ence on which medical system an individual chooses. For example,

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some educated individuals prefer medicines which are based on sci­ entific reasoning and research, rather than those constructed along cultural lines. Likewise, a Christian Bhoi avoids therapy which has traces of animistic influence. However, ascertaining how precisely religion and education has influenced dependency or choice of a particular medical system is difficult and are conflicting at times. Thus, many Christians still rely on local medicine men whose therapeutic skill sometimes involves spirit invoking. Ajibade et al. (2005) examine the health-care system in Illorin, Nigeria and found increased reliance on herbs and traditional medicines among the people. Although modern health-care sys­ tem is also available, people prefer traditional medicines for long lasting cure. Muleady-Mechan and Schley (2009) provide an over­ view of health-care systems across countries and found China to be an enormous subscriber of ethnomedicine. In addition to per­ sistent manifestation of Chinese traditional value, ethnomedicine is thought to induce lesser side effects in comparison to Western medicines. The persistence towards traditional medicine is varied among Bhoi Khasis of Umden. In some cases, lessened side effects and low cost of ethnomedical therapy attract the user, while in others it is a concern for not only bodily wholesomeness but of emotions, mind and spirit. The latter is in tune with Krippner’s (2007) argu­ ment which reiterates on ethnomedicine as the harmonious blend of body, emotions, mind and spirit which again is directly contrary to Western biomedicine aligned with bodily restoration alone.

Conclusion The above chapter centred on the personalistic aetiology of health problems among the people of Umden. What emerges from the discussion is the preponderance of folk healers who practice traditional or indigenous medicines and are looked upon as effective healers. Western health-care systems are also available in order to enhance health and well-being. When one medical system fails, people take up an alternative medical system reflecting a harmonious blend of folk and modern beliefs. Although many people have embraced Christianity and are formally educated, their

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existing etiological concerns for health reveal a continuity of their belief in the traditional way of life.

REFERENCES Ajibade, L.T., P.O. Fatober, U.A. Raheem, and B.A. Odunuga. 2005. ‘Ethno Medicine and Primary Health Care in Ilorin, Nigeria’. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 4(2): 150-8. Chrisman, N.J and A. Kleinman. 1983. ‘Popular Healthcare, Social Networks and Cultural Meaning: The Orientation of Medical Anthropology’, in D. Mechanic (ed.), Handbook of Health, Health Care and the Health Professions, pp. 569-80. New York: Free Press. Fabrega, H. 1974. Disease and Social Behaviour: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Foster, G. 1976. ‘Medical Anthropology and International Health Planning’. Medical Anthropology Newsletter, 7(3): 12-18. Gurdon, P.R.T. 1975[1907]. The Khasis. New Delhi: Cosmo. Khare, R.S. 1963. ‘Folk Medicine in North Indian Villages’. Human Organization, 22 (1): 36-40. Kleinman, A. 1995. Writing at the Margin: Discourse between Anthropology and Medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press Krippner, S. 2007. ‘Contemporary Threat to Ethno Medicine’. Keynote address at world congress of ethno medicine, Munich, Germany, 12­ 15 October. Retrieved from https://stanleykrippner.weebly.com/ contemporary-threats-to-ethnomedicine.html. Lyngdoh, J.P., D. Syiem and A.A. Mao. 2014. ‘Pattern of Traditional Medicine Usage in East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya’. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 13 (1): 164-70. Muleady-Mechan, N.E. and S. Schley. 2009. ‘Ethno Medicine in Healthcare Systems of the World: A Semester at Sea Pilot Survey in 11 Countries’. Global Health Action, June 17(2). doi: 10.3402/gha.v2i0.1969

PA RT V I I

Change and Continuity

CHAPTER 34

Return to Rengsanggri Robbins Burling*

I left Rengsanggri and the Garo Hills in October 1956 and it would be over forty years before I would be able to return for a proper visit. In 1997, when I finally did return, I could see that extensive changes had come to the village, but I was at least as impressed by how much had persisted through all those years. I want to describe both the changes and the continuities that I found. The Rengsanggri of the 1950s was a relatively conservative place. Indeed, it was its conservatism that led me to choose Rengsanggri as the site of my fieldwork. Wet rice, education and Christianity had already come to many parts of the Garo Hills by the 1950s, but they had yet to reach Rengsanggri. They had all appeared in force by 1997. Even so, much remained that was familiar. In the forty years that I had been away, many people had died, of course, but some of my contemporaries still lived to welcome me back, and the older people who had died had been replaced by their children and grandchildren. These people dealt with me, and they seemed to deal with each other, in the same way as they had forty years earlier. They organized their families much as they had when I first knew *This chapter originally appeared under the title ‘1997’ as the final chapter in the book Rengsanggri: Family and Kinship in a Garo Village (1997) (2nd edn.) published by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, and printed by Tura Book Room, Tura. The chapter is reproduced in its original form with due permissions from the author and publisher, and has not been modified except for the title and copy-editing.

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them, and in the essentials of life, they remained resiliently the same. I will begin this chapter by describing the changes that have come to Rengsanggri, and that are certainly startling to a visitor who returns after forty years, but I will then turn to the continuities that seemed just as impressive.

Technology, Work and the Physical Village The most obvious change that had come to the village during my long absence was the dispersal of the households across its entire land area (a∙king). Every one of the sixty households that constituted Rengsanggri in the 1950s was located in a single well-defined central location, and at least a mile of unsettled territory surrounded the central village in every direction. By 1997, the sixty households of the earlier village had multiplied to 105, but only twenty-six of them, about one quarter, were still found at the site of the old village. The other seventy-nine households were scattered over much of the village land. The villagers described these households as belonging to eight or nine named hamlets (gitim), and if a map of the village existed, it would show the houses to be partially grouped into clusters that correspond to these hamlets. Many of the houses were grouped within calling distance of one another, but they were rarely as close as the houses of the old village had been forty years earlier, and a few outlying homesteads were quite isolated. Indeed, the houses were so scattered that the boundaries that separated the hamlets were not always obvious on the ground and not always unambiguous even in the descriptions of the villagers. Different villagers occasionally assigned a house near a hamlet boundary to different hamlets, and near the better defined border that is still recognized to divide Rengsanggri from the village of Songmagri, the houses on both sides were so close that if people had not told me I would not have known where one village ended and the next began. One small cluster of households that was generally regarded as a part of a hamlet called ‘Wakagri’ had even acquired a name of its own, and people sometimes talked as if it had become a separate hamlet. Villagers told me that a few families had begun to move their

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homesteads away from the site of the old village about twenty years before my return visit, probably during the 1970s. It was then that a few of the more enterprising villagers began to construct perma­ nent fields in low areas where wet rice could be grown. Some people also began to plant pineapple gardens and, a bit later, tea gardens. All these crops are grown on permanent fields. Villagers had always built temporary field houses on their slash and burn plots where, during the periods of most intense farming, they could live for a few days, and so avoid long daily walks back and forth from the main village. Their field houses were small and temporary, however, and they were never occupied for more than a week at a time. When villagers began to construct permanent fields, some of them moved to live permanently beside them. In the nineties, a few people looked back nostalgically to the days when everyone lived together. They remembered those times as more friendly, and they recalled with joy the village festivals that were once held in the old central village. Still, no one proposes that people should move back. The residential pattern of Rengsanggri has irrevocably changed. Architectural style has also changed. By 1997, only one house in Rengsanggri was still built in the style that I remembered from my earlier trip. That one house, like the older ones, still had a central fire place in the main room, and a separate room at the front built with the ground as its floor. Even in that house, people no longer cooked at the central fire place. Instead, they prepared their meals in the front room that would once have served as a barn for their cattle. The main room, moreover, had chairs, benches, and even a bedstead such as were never seen in the Rengsanggri of my memo­ ries, but the building itself was a perfect example of the old style. It belonged to one of the few remaining non-Christian families, and it seemed right that it was located within the site of the old village. Other village houses had different plans. It had become fashion­ able to place the main door in the middle of a long wall of the house instead of at the narrow end where it had always been placed before. This required a more level plot than the older houses where only the narrow front end had to be at ground level. Most houses were still constructed from bamboo, and many were built with the same construction techniques as older houses, but some had new types

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of bamboo mat walls, some had tin roofs, and a few were built, in part or entirely, from wooden planks. In 1997, one man was build­ ing the walls for a new building from mud. There were even a half dozen very small masonry houses that, with government funding, had been built for widows. In the 1950s everyone cooked at the central fireplace in the main house. By 1997, most people had separate cook houses. Houses are more comfortable without the smoke of a fire, especially if people sit high on chairs and benches instead of on the floor or on low stools as they invariably did in the 1950s, but without the smoke of the cooking fires, houses also lose the protection that smoke gives against destructive insects. On cold winter mornings people still gathered companionably close to each other, close to a fire and close to the ground, just as they always had, but they gathered around the fires in their cook houses rather than around the central fireplaces of their main houses. I was startled by the dispersal of the houses around the old vil­ lage land, but this was only the most obvious reflection of the more fundamental changes that have taken place in agriculture. When I took my census in 1956, 293 people had lived in Rengsanggri. By January 1997, the population had climbed to 673. The land area of the village remained the same, of course, and the older slash and burn agriculture was incapable of yielding sufficient food to feed the growing population. New fields were needed each year, and this forced people to clear and burn scrub land before the forest cover had a chance to regenerate the soil’s fertility. By 1997, hardly any real forest remained within the boundaries of Rengsanggri. Every family still cleared and burned a plot each year but, as everyone was all too grimly aware, their harvests had declined disastrously. The slash and burn fields no longer yielded enough rice to feed a family. The most important cash crop had once been cotton, but it did poorly by the nineties and was little grown. People told me that chili peppers and some tubers could still be grown successfully. Ginger does especially well, and much is sold to traders in the market, but the traditional agriculture can no longer support the village. Rengsanggri has been saved from disaster by the new agricul­ ture of permanent fields: wet rice, pineapples, tea, and some areca

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nuts, but permanent fields were less evenly distributed among the population than the fields of shifting cultivation once were. The people of a few enterprising households had been clever enough to seize a new opportunity and to invest the labour needed to con­ struct rice fields and to plant gardens. Others have lagged behind. Villagers told me that only eight or ten households of the 105 in Rengsanggri had enough irrigated land to supply all the rice that their families needed. Another dozen or so had smaller amounts of irrigated land. Most had none. Only five households had tea gardens. More had pineapple gardens but even pineapples were grown by only a minority of the villagers. Government agencies had distributed seedlings for orange and cashew trees but these had not yet sufficiently matured to yield significant income to anyone in Rengsanggri. Many households had no permanent fields at all. Several of the households that have adapted most successfully to the new agriculture had already been among the village’s more prosperous households forty years earlier. Perhaps their relatively ample resources allowed them to invest, or to hire, the labor that was needed to level the fields, plant the crops, and wait out the years until their investment paid off. In 1997 many villagers told me that they were planting permanent gardens of one sort or another, or planning to do so. They could all see that permanent gardens offered the best agricultural opportunity for the future, but it is difficult to know how many of their plans will be carried out. Some of the plans seemed quite vague – little more than a wishful nod in the direction that they felt would be sensible. Villagers were free to plant permanent crops on the land that was not already in use. Village men with the title of nokma hold a kind of title to plots of village land, but they hold it in trust for the villagers, all of whom are to use it even if that makes it unavailable for later shifting cultivation. By 1997 the amount of land that had been converted to permanent fields was not great, probably less than 5 per cent of the total village territory. The best spots for wet rice had already been claimed, however, and it is not clear whether terraces can be constructed that climb up sides. Some families have already missed the best opportunities. Permanent landownership has already given a decisive economic advantage to the households

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who have seized the chance. Their houses are larger, their food sup­ ply more certain, their possessions more numerous, and they have sufficient surplus to invest in their children’s education. When first cleared and planted, ownership of permanent fields is not formally recognized by the government, but the villagers recog­ nize planting as conferring effective rights to the land. Eventually, the district government was expected to send in a surveyor to map the plots and register them in the owner’s name. This is a bit of a mixed blessing, since once the land is registered the owner must start to pay tax. Nevertheless, registration secures the right to use the land and people were generally quite willing to pay the tax in return for this official recognition of ownership. Most permanent land in Rengsanggri was not yet formally registered in the name of the cultivator, but people took it for granted that it eventually would be. People with no permanent fields survived by cultivating their shifting plots, by working for their more fortunate neighbours, or by obtaining wage work outside the village. A very few were able to sharecrop on someone else’s land, but most owners work their own fields and are unwilling to give it out on shares, so the opportunities for sharecropping were limited. More people were able to work for others as day labourers. My visit to Rengsanggri in 1997 was too short to give me a clear idea of the extent of wage work within the village, but many people told me that day labor was main source of income. Even forty years earlier, people sometimes worked for a few days on the fields of their richer neighbours, but at that time laborers were more often paid in rice than in money. Working for others has certainly become more common. Wage work outside the village constitutes a more radical change from earlier practice than working for fellow villagers. In 1997, one villager had a responsible job with the government’s soil depart­ ment. At least two had menial jobs in the neighboring settlement of Asonanggri, where there are shops, schools, and government offices. I was told about a number of other people who had taken work in Asonanggri, Tura, or other places and who had moved permanently away from Rengsanggri. Among those who still count Rengsanggri as their home, a number of men have also had periods of work in the

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coal mines that have opened in the southern part of the Garo Hills. The men stay at the mines for as much as several months at a time, but then return home. Some have cut coal and some have worked as carriers. They are paid by the amount they cut or carry, and I was told that a carrier who works hard can earn as much as Rs. 100 per day. A skilful cutter can earn even more. This is high pay when compared with the Rs. 35 per day that is the government mandated wage for menial labour in the village. Even in the 1950s Rengsanggri families differed in their wealth, but nobody had permanent rights to their fields so nobody had the security that is conferred by permanent land ownership. Everyone could hope that, with enough hard work, they could build up their resources and join the more prosperous families. By 1997 a minority of families had secure income from permanent fields. The poorest families seemed no poorer in 1997 than those I remembered from 1956, but the gap between rich and poor had certainly grown. That must give a sense of greater poverty to the poorest families. The new forms of agriculture and the new pattern of settlement were the most dramatic of the visible changes that had come to Rengsanggri during my forty year absence, but modern technology had arrived in a number of other forms. First came the road. In the fifties, the closest motorable road passed through the market town of Rongram, a five kilometer walk to the north-west. During the years that l was there, however, a new road began to be cut that went right past the village. That road later became a part of the paved highway that connects Tura to the town of Williamnagar in the eastern part of the Garo Hills. In 1997, cars, trucks and buses passed just below the site of the old village. Villagers usually still walked to Rongram but they occasionally took a bus, and the road brought many more outsiders to Rengsanggri than had ever come before it was built. Other changes were more recent. In about 1991, a water supply system was built by a government department. From a collecting place on Arbela hill above the village, pipes, often leaking at the joints, brought water to a number of points around the old village, and even to many of the outlying hamlets. This greatly eased the burden on the women, who once had to carry all of their household

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water from one of the streams that flowed past the village. Water still had to be fetched from one of the taps, but these were generally much closer than a stream. Three or four years before my 1997 visit, electric wires had fol­ lowed the water pipes to Rengsanggri. Long distance wires could be seen crossing the hills, and local distribution wires were draped through the village bringing power for a few light bulbs into the majority of Rengsanggri homes. Some villagers received subsidized electric connections, and some paid the installation charges. Still others told me that the installation charges were high enough to have discouraged them from seeking a connection. The idea that an electric motor might do the work of human muscle had not yet come to Rengsanggri, but seven households had TV sets, the only purpose, except for light bulbs, for which I saw electricity used. Early one morning, high on Arbela Hill to the east of the old village, I was treated to American sports news, courtesy of CNN. The Rongram River passes just below the site at the old village, and a concrete foot bridge was built to span it probably in 1994. Almost half the villagers now live in hamlets that lie across the river from the old village. Lines of stepping stones at convenient points make it is easy to cross the river during the dry season, but during the rainy season the bridge must make it much easier to move from one part of the village to another. Narrow dirt roads that are motorable with care have also been built that join the scattered parts of the village more securely than before. In early 1996, a dirt road was cut all the way to the most remote hamlet of the village. No vehicle bridge crosses the river to connect this dirt road to the paved road on the other side, however, and I do not know how the single jeep that is reported to have reached the hamlet managed to make the crossing. In December 1996, twenty-five villagers were hired by a government department to work for five days at Rs. 35 per day to cut a dirt road up through the center of the old village from the paved road at the bottom. Until some future monsoon washes hopeless ruts into this road, a car will be able reach nearly to the top of the old village. Other bits of new technology and new materials were easy to

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find. Most houses were still thatched, but a substantial number had tin roofs. Four families owned bicycles and many more owned transistor radios. All but the poorest families had chairs where they once had only low stools, and most had tables, long benches with backs and arms, and even bedsteads. Calendars adorned many walls and some, with their colourful pictures of flowers, mountain vistas, or chubby babies, were allowed to hang for several years after their time had passed. Many people cannot yet read a calendar, but they are hung for their pictures so an outdated calendar is as good as a new one. Some families had several identical calendars with pic­ tures of a smiling Purno Sangma, the most successful of all Garo politicians, who was at the time the Speaker of the lower house of the national parliament. A few displayed photographs of family members. Recognizing the many technological changes, I was impressed by the absence of plastic and the absence of litter. Just how the garish plastic objects that are so common in many parts of South and Southeast Asia have been kept away from Rengsanggri I do not know. Perhaps the villagers find them as ugly as I do. The villagers were also able to keep the village surprisingly free of the debris of modern materials. The wrappers and broken artefacts that refuse to rot, and that litter the towns and cities of India, were rarely seen in Rengsanggri. Most houses were still built of bamboo, and their unpainted natural colour made them fit comfortably into the land­ scape. For all its changes, Rengsanggri still looked like a village.

Education Less visible than the changes in settlement pattern and agriculture, but at least as important in the lives of the people, have been the changes that have come in religion and in education. Christianity and formal education have come together in Rengsanggri, just as they have come together everywhere in the Garo Hills. The first steps toward education were taken when I was living in Rengsanggri during the 1950s, for it was at that time that the first school teacher was sent by the district government. For an hour or

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so each morning, a few village children would assemble at the little rest house that villagers maintained for visitors. These children received the first introduction to the alphabet and had the first taste of literacy that had come to Rengsanggri. Like all educated Garos, the teacher was a Christian, and even though he had been sent by the government, he took it for granted that, along with the rest of the curriculum, one part of his job was to teach Christianity. No child of Rengsanggri could have been called literate by the time I left in 1956, but the first steps in that direction had been taken. When I returned forty years later, a three room masonry school building had been constructed near the road at the bottom of the old village, and almost every village child received at least a few years of schooling. One hundred forty-nine adults had attended school, in some cases only briefly. One hundred twenty-two adults (not in every case those who had attended school) claimed to be able to read, and another twenty-five said that they could read ‘some’. An additional 153 village children and young people were still enrolled. Sixty-nine of these attended the Rengsanggri school, and about forty attended schools in Asonanggri, just to the north. The rest found their way to a dozen other schools, some in neighbouring villages, some in Tura, and a few even further away. Education in the Rengsanggri village school ended with class four, so any child who wanted to continue had to go elsewhere. Many of those who attended school in Asonanggri and most of those who were study­ ing further away were in higher classes. The table that follows shows how education has spread in Reng­ sanggri. The middle column gives the number of children who were reported to be studying at each class level in early 1997. The column on the right gives the number of people who had reached each class but who had finished their schooling. The figures must be taken as approximations. Parents were not always sure about which class their own children were enrolled in, and people were sometimes vague even about exactly how far they, or others, had gone in school. Nevertheless, the figures give a rough picture of the forty year advance of formal education that began from a starting point of nothing.

647

Return to Rengsanggri Highest Class Reached

No. in School, 1997

No. who had Finished School

KG

36

20

1

17

16

2

15

15

3

11

17

4

16

22

5

13

16

6

12

12

7

7

8

8

2

5

9

9

10

10

5

10

11

1

-

12 Total

2

-

153

149

Education represents a considerable commitment of time and energy, and it was clear that education was regarded as important. It was something to be encouraged in children. The practical goals of education were not so clear. Most of those who claimed the abil­ ity to read were limited to the Garo language. Children received instruction in English from an early age and a few even attended schools that were described as ‘English medium’. Classes at all the available high schools were conducted in English so everyone who advanced as far as high school (Classes 7-10) had to control some English. Very few had learned to read English easily, however, and no more than one or two people in Rengsanggri could read it easily enough to do so for pleasure. On the other hand, not enough has been published in the Garo language to encourage people to gain a reading habit. Periodicals in Garo were limited to thin weekly newspapers, and neither newspapers nor magazines in any language had become a part of village life by 1997. Reading to expand general knowledge or to improve skills was rare. If their years of schooling

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were meant to teach people to read, then the skills they gained are put to remarkably little use. The place of reading may be summed up by one man’s reply to the question of whether he was able to read. He said, ‘I’m not sure’, but then, after a thoughtful pause, he added, ‘It is a long time since I tried’. Deeds to land are important bits of writing and a few other writ­ ten legal documents were needed from time to time. The church secretary kept detailed records of baptism and of church members who moved into or away from Rengsanggri. Occasionally he pre­ pared tables of figures and cut a stencil so that he could duplicate it on the machine at the high school in Asonanggri, and then inform the congregation about collections and expenditures. Perhaps the arithmetic that people learn in school helped them to calculate prices and wages, though even in the fifties, non-literate villagers could calculate prices with a skill I found surprising. I once saw several men scrutinizing the small print, in English, on a lottery ticket. Along the road stood kilometer posts that gave distances to a number of villages, and signs were hung outside some shops in Asonanggri and in other towns. Toward the end of December, I saw a sign placed on the wall of a small tea shop in Asonanggri inform­ ing the patrons in clear Garo that rice beer would not be available on New Year’s day. No such sign would have been hung up without the presumption that some people can glean information from the written word. By the standards of the West, this amounted only to marginal literacy, but people found the symbols of literacy to be very impor­ tant. They preserved old school books almost as though they were sacred objects, sometimes displayed on a table in the main room of the house. Old copy books, filled with bits of language and arithme­ tic drawn in painful childish handwriting, were preserved long after the school years had passed. Many people had Garo hymn books and bibles. Some could certainly read the words of the hymns, but many knew them so well that the writing served, at most, as a crutch for their memory. I doubt if many people could really read their bibles. The few bibles that I saw did not look well thumbed.

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Christianity For all the formal education that people in Rengsanggri had achieved, the village was not yet, in 1997, much dependent on written language, but education could claim one notable achieve­ ment – the introduction of Christianity. The connection between education and Christianity was clear to everyone. Men and women who become educated also become Christians. The first baptisms took place in Rengsanggri during the 1960s, but Christianity progressed only slowly at first. Church records and people’s memories suggest that only about fifteen villagers had become Christian by the end of the sixties. A decade later, another twenty-five had joined them. Baptisms picked up somewhat in the eighties but the real turning point came only in the early 1990s when more than a hundred people were baptized within a brief two-year period. All but small children and the most stubbornly resistant adults had by then been baptized, and with fewer remaining nonChristians, baptisms inevitably slowed once more. Rengsanggri had become a predominantly Christian village. Many of the remaining non-Christians were older people who had never had a chance for education. In early 1997, 541 of the 673 people of Rengsanggri could be counted as Baptists. This number includes not only those who had been baptized but also their younger children, who will almost certainly be baptized once they are old enough. Thirty-four vil­ lagers were Catholic. One woman was married to a Nepali Hindu, and although they lived far from any other household, they did live within the boundaries of Rengsanggri, so her husband was included in my census as the only Hindu. One young woman had recently married a Bengali Muslim. It was not yet clear where this couple would finally decide to live, but they were in Rengsanggri at the time of my census, so this husband is also included, the only Muslim. The remaining ninety-six people of Rengsanggri still counted themselves as Songsareks, adherents of the traditional Garo religion. Seventy-three of the 105 households in the village were entirely Baptist. Nine had at least one Catholic member, and five of these

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were entirely Catholic. Twenty-four households still included at least one Songsarek, but all except seven of these included Chris­ tians as well. Where households were divided it was almost always the younger members of the family who had become Christians while the older people remained Songsarek. I had been surprised in the 1950s and I was surprised again in the 1990s by the lack of resistance to Christianity even on the part of old people who had resisted conversion for themselves. Everyone seemed to regard it as only natural that as their children became educated they would also become Christians. With no sign of strife that I could detect, twenty-one households in the village included members who were affiliated with different religions. In one household four Baptists, one Catholic and one Songsarek lived together in ecumenical peace. Many people told me that they had become Christian simply because everyone else was doing so. One older woman told me firmly, and with a touch of irritation, ‘I don’t know what this Chris­ tianity is all about, but my children wanted me to be baptized, so I went along’. A few suggested that they believed it was important to be baptized before they died and they seemed to fear that some dire fate awaited those who missed the chance for baptism. A number of people pointed out that I was getting old and that I had better hurry and be baptized before it was too late. From only a few did I hear any more thoughtful consideration of the values and ideals that some Christians elsewhere take to be the hallmark of their religion. It was clear, nevertheless, that becoming a Christian was a sign of becoming modern. By joining the church, people became a part of a larger community. Even those who had missed the chance for education could affiliate themselves with a movement that reached all the way to the far side of the world. The Baptists had built a small bamboo church beside the Reng­ sanggri school house, and a few dozen people were attracted to the services that were held there every Sunday morning. The young people were particularly enthusiastic about church, and they took the lead in the singing and guitar playing. Catholics had no church in Rengsanggri, but they could attend services in Songmagri. A few people had religious pictures on their walls along with their cal­

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endars. Many bowed their heads in prayer before eating, and most Baptists refrained from rice beer. A Baptist who slipped and drank beer, was more likely to do so in a wine shop than in his own home and village. The changes in formal practice that had come with Christianity were clear, but I was not in the village long enough to feel confi­ dent that the changes had penetrated very deeply. I attended the funerals of two old people during my visit in 1997. The ceremonies were largely Christian in form, but they seemed little different in spirit from Songsarek funerals. Parties of kinsmen from other villages came bearing food. Feasts were prepared and consumed, and then the bodies were carried to the graveyard beside the river where graves had already been dug. A number of people had told me carefully that while Songsareks had cremated their dead, Chris­ tians buried theirs. What I had not been told was that Christians placed little paper flags attached to small sticks on the grave. When I asked what these were, I was told that Songsareks used feather fans to keep flies off the dead body until it was burned. Christians use paper fans instead of feathers, and it is these fans that are placed on the grave. Even these Christian women had their winnowing baskets and some clothes placed in their graves, symbols of their long lives and their work and, perhaps, objects to be used in the next life as well. Forms have changed, but old forms have found clear substitutes. Christianity has come because teachers have taught the new reli­ gion in schools, because people have been encouraged to convert by friends and kinsmen, and because it has seemed to be a part of becoming modern. These are the positive attractions of the new religion. At the same time, several negative factors have under­ mined the older Songsarek religion. First, the Songsareks lacked any sort of institutionalized priesthood. Some men were regarded as particularly skilful at sacrifices, but no restrictions kept others from performing them as well. No group of specialized priests had a vested interest in defending their position or in persuading people to adhere to the old religion. There were no spokesmen for the Songsarek religion who urged people to hold to the older ways or

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who could reinterpret old beliefs so as to adapt them to a changing world. Quite apart from its teachings, the older religion could not compete with the superior organization of the Christian churches. In addition, two cultural changes undermined the need for sacri­ fices. Songsareks sacrificed for two reasons: to persuade the spirits to stop making someone sick, and to mark important points of the agricultural cycle. As people began to use more Western medicines, sacrifices to cure disease became less necessary, and when the agri­ cultural cycle changed the older ceremonies became less relevant. Both of these changes must have made it easier to abandon the old sacrifices in favor of Christian ceremonies. Several people in Rengsanggri suggested to me that drugs had taken the place of sacrifices. Western medicines have become more readily available but so, it seems, have herbal medicines. Medicines brewed from the products of the forest had only a minor role in Rengsanggri in the 1950s, but their increased popularity seems to have developed in parallel with Western pills and injections. At least two men in Rengsanggri prepared and dispensed herbal medi­ cines in 1997, and one of them denied that he had been taught his skills by an older practitioner. He said that he had taught himself about their use. It is not clear whether the availability of medicines undermined sacrifices or the loss of faith in sacrifices encouraged the use of medicines. The changes have certainly come together.

Continuity of Custom The changes that came to Rengsanggri in the four decades between my visits have been profound, but even more than the changes, I was impressed by the continuities, and these are nowhere more striking than in the practice of kinship. The matrilineal kinship system of the Garos has always been one of their most distinctive characteristics. It was, indeed, the trait that first persuaded me to work among them. Most people of India, even most hill people of the north-east, are patrilineal, tracing their decent from their fathers. The Garos trace descent through women, from a mother to her children, and they are well aware that this distinguishes them sharply from most of their neighbours. The matrilineal kinship

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system that I learned about in the 1950s remained very much alive in Rengsanggri forty years later, and if, in the following pages, I emphasize the points where changes have taken place, it must be understood that the changes have occurred within a context that remains, in most ways, much as it was. It did seem that a number of rules that were once quite strict have been somewhat relaxed and most startling to me was a relaxation in the rules of exogamy. In 1956 every marriage in Rengsanggri united a Marak and a Sangma. I was told about a few couples in other villages where both husband and wife were Maraks or both were Sangmas, but no such marriages existed in Rengsanggri and they were not regarded as proper. In 1997, I was astonished to find no fewer than eight Rengsanggri couples, both of whom were Chambigong Maraks but who nevertheless lived together and jointly cared for their common children. These couples had never been officially married because the Garo Baptist Church will not give its blessing to marriages between people who share a lineage name, even when no literal kinship tie can be traced. Even with­ out church blessing, these Chambigong Chambigong relationships were regarded as marriages by their neighbours. The partners were easily referred to as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, and their children were accepted as Chambigongs. People did seem mildly embarrassed by these relationships. I remember a few giggles when I showed my surprise the first time that I realized that a husband and wife were both Chambigongs. Everyone’s lineage membership is so well known, however, that the impropriety cannot possibly be hidden. I find it difficult to understand how villagers in this part of the Garo Hills could have enforced almost perfect exogamy of Sangmas and Maraks in the 1950s while, forty years later, they failed to pre­ vent unions within the much smaller lineage. A more modest break with tradition would have accepted marriages between Maraks or between Sangmas while still forbidding marriage within the lineages. There are, to be sure, a great many Chambigongs in Reng­ sanggri, and the choice of spouses from other lineages may seem to be a bit limited. Most people marry outside the village, how­ ever, and an ample supply of appropriate spouses should have been available nearby. All these marriages were, I believe, initiated by the

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young people rather than by their parents, and most of the couples probably started living together without community or parental blessing. This is the kind of marriage that the Garos describe as ‘stolen’. People who are willing to defy social disapproval have always been able to start a marriage in this way and eventually gain acceptance by their community. Once one or two stubborn couples had set the pattern of Chambigong-Chambigong marriages, others probably found it easier to follow. All these couples are relatively young. Two or three may be in their early forties, but the rest are in their twenties or thirties. It should also be noted that the other 100 marriages in Rengsanggri united people from different lineages, and all except two or three of these united a Sangma to a Marak. Most people still followed the old rule. In 1997, the great majority of married adults in Rengsanggri were Chambigong, A∙gitok, Ti∙gite, or Manda just has they had been forty years earlier, but travel has become easier and more young people now have periods of residence away from home, either for work or for education. This has allowed some of them to find spouses from more distant places than they had in earlier years. Nine men and three women in Rengsanggri belonged to eleven named lineages other than the four established ones. Village membership has become just a bit more cosmopolitan. Some relaxation had also come to the rule that encourages mar­ riages between men and the daughter of their real or classificatory mother’s brother. It was still felt to be desirable for a man to find a sister’s son, or at least a classificatory sister’s son to marry his heir­ ess daughter, but I found more exceptions to this rule in 1997 than I had in 1956. A few men of entirely different named lineages than their fathers-in-laws were described as nokroms (heirs), something that I did not find in 1956. In 1997 l was also surprised to find one very old woman who was being cared for by her son and daughter­ in-law, a startling departure from earlier practice when it was always daughters rather than sons who cared for their aged parents. I asked why the son was performing a job usually given to a daughter, but I learned no more than that the family found it convenient. All other dependent old people were still living with daughters. In the 1950s the heir and heiress always lived with the wife’s

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parents or with her widowed mother. A few large families built a separate building for the younger couple, but these buildings were always placed next to the main house of the family, and the two were counted as belonging to a single homestead. In 1997, when the homesteads had become much more scattered, five two-generation families had buildings in widely separate locations, most of them in different hamlets. The couple that had been designated as heir and heiress lived in one place and the young wife’s parents or widowed mother lived somewhere else. People assured me that this was done simply as a matter of convenience and they said that whenever the widow or the older couple grew feeble enough to need help the two parts of the family would move back together. It may be that all of these changes – the violations of lineage exogamy, the lowered insistence upon a close genealogical tie between a father-in-law and his heir, the son’s care for his aged mother, the occasional residential separation of the two couples of a household – have been made possible by a more subtle change: a shift in the balance of initiative in selecting spouses. The initiative in making marriage arrangements has always been divided. Parents, especially the bride’s father, took the primary initiative in arranging the marriage of the heiress daughter, but it was always difficult to impose a marriage, even on an heiress, against a young woman’s will. A non-heiress could take considerably more initiative than an heiress, but she might also find it difficult to defy the wishes of her parents. The balance of decision-making seems to have shifted somewhat since the 1950s, and the young people probably have more ability to select their own spouses, or at least more ability to influence the selection, than they did before. That may have allowed the marriages between Chambigongs and it may also have forced some men to accept heirs who were not their own nephews. Young people may have gained more freedom to maintain a house at some distance from the residence of the girl’s parents. Just why young people should have increased their ability to make their own selection is not so clear. Perhaps the spread of edu­ cation has delayed marriage somewhat, and perhaps older or more experienced young people can be more insistent about their own preferences. Perhaps a period of study away from home gives young

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people more opportunity and more willingness to make their own selections. It is not impossible that Christianity has changed some people’s attitudes about the selection of spouse, but I see no obvious signs of this. Indeed, as far as I can see, Christianity has been directly responsible for only two changes to the kinship system: it brought an abrupt end to polygyny, and the older practice of bridegroom capture was immediately abandoned. Neither change brought any radical upheaval. Polygyny, of course, is forbidden for Christians, but since polygyny was never common among the Garos, its prohi­ bition did not effect most people. Almost all polygyny in the 1950s came when a second and younger wife was promised to a young man in order to persuade him to marry a somewhat older widow. When the older wife’s daughter by her previous husband had grown old enough to marry, she would become the second wife of her mother’s husband. With Christianity, this practice had to end. Upon becoming Christians, a few men with two wives had to stop considering one of them as a wife. I asked one man who had been married to the daughter of his first wife, and who had children by both women whether he had been obliged to divorce one of his wives when they all became Christians. Both the women were sit­ ting with us when I asked the question, and everyone burst out laughing. They told me that, yes indeed, he and the older woman were no longer married. This woman, however, continued to live in the household with her daughter and her former husband, and except that she was no longer considered a ‘wife’, she had much the same status as she had before. She continued to work as much as her advancing age permitted, and she could look forward to being cared for by her daughter and her son-in-law, formerly her husband, just as if she were still married. I presume that the man and the older woman no longer had a sexual relationship, but perhaps her age would have limited that even without Christianity. Christianity may do more to change the way people talk about their families than to change their practice. Older women still live with their daughters and sons-in-law and they still play much the same role within their families. It is possible that the prohibition on polygyny will make it more difficult to find younger men who

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are willing to marry widows. That could make it more difficult to provide good care for some elderly women. In 1997, twenty-nine women lived in Rengsanggri who had been widowed or divorced but who had not remarried. Eighteen of these lived with a daughter and son-in-law, and one lived with a son and his wife. Six lived alone or with their unmarried children. Given the expansion of population this is not very different from the eleven widows who lived with a daughter and son-in-law and the three who lived alone with their unmarried children in 1956. Four widowed or divorced young women with small children lived with their parents in 1997, and three women who were no longer married lived with parents or other relatives in 1956. Again, this does not represent any great change. In 1956, however, an additional nine women had remarried but were sharing their husband with a daughter, or expected to do so once the daughter was old enough. Unfortunately, I did not obtain enough information to know how many widowed or divorced women had found new husbands in 1997. A few had, but none of them shared her husband with a daughter. It is possible that some of the widowed or divorced women would have been able to remarry had the option at promising their new husband a second wife still been available. The inability to do this may, in the future, make it more difficult to provide good family arrangements for widows and their children, but Christianity was too recent in Rengsanggri in 1997 for this to have yet become an acute problem. The other change in kinship practice that Christianity brought was the end of bridegroom capture, but that has been less disrup­ tive than the end of polygyny. The preliminary process of selection was always more important than the capture itself, and Christianity brought little change in the selection. One daughter was still cho­ sen to care for their parents in their old age, and her father still tried to find husband for her from among his classificatory nephews. The girl’s parents, especially her father, still took formal initiative, but Christian young people, as much as their Songsarek predecessors, sometimes found their own ways to reach preliminary understand­ ings. The only change was the abandonment of the rather stylized bridegroom capture itself. Among Christians, the marriage was

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supposed to be publicly agreed upon ahead of time, and the boy did not have to be captured.

Continuity of People I was impressed by the continuity of the kinship system, but I was equally impressed by the continuity of particular families. There had been sixty households in Rengsanggri in 1956. Forty years later, people who had been married adults in twenty-three of those households still lived in the village. Many of them had moved to a different hamlet, but their households were clearly recognized as the same as those I had known before. Even households where all the adults had died had not all just ceased to exist, for Garo households are, in principle, perpetuated in each generation by heirs. All of the adults of fifteen of the sixty households I had known in 1956 had died, but their households had survived, maintained by surviving heirs. Another six of the 1956 households had moved to Asonanggri, just north of Rengsanggri. Asonanggri had been a tiny settlement in 1956, with no more than a half dozen houses. The area of that village, however, was selected by the government as the site of a development block, and by 1997 it had shops, schools, and gov­ ernment offices and it must have had many more residents than Rengsanggri. Sometime between my visits, probably during the 1970s when wet rice was just beginning to reach the area, a size­ able patch of land in Asonanggri was brought under irrigation. Asonanggri and Rengsanggri were sister villages, and for a family to move from Rengsanggri to Asonanggri was only marginally more disruptive than to move from the site of old village to one of the new hamlets in Rengsanggri itself. In 1997, of the six households that had moved to Asonanggri, four had at least one adult who had survived from 1956 and the other two households were maintained by heirs. Adding the twenty-three Rengsanggri households with adults who had survived from 1956 to the fifteen that were main­ tained by the heirs and the six that had moved to Asonanggri, a total of forty-four households, almost three quarters of the original sixty, could still be identified in 1997.

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The remaining sixteen original households had varied fates. All the members of three of them had died and these households had come to the end. Eight others did not survive as identifiable households but they still had descendants who lived in either Reng­ sanggri, Asonanggri, or Songmagri. The adults whom I had known these households in the 1950s had died but some of their children or grandchildren had married into other households or formed new households of their own. Four of the original households, or their surviving members, had moved to places more distant than Aso­ nanggri or Songmagri, though three remain within 25 km. I failed to get information about the fate of the final household. When one looks backward from 1997, the continuities are as impressive as when one looks forward from 1956. The village had grown, and of its 105 households, only 38 were identifiable as the ‘same’ as households that were found in Rengsanggri in 1956: the twenty-three original households with surviving members, together with the fifteen that have surviving heirs. The great majority of the remaining sixty-seven households had at least one spouse who had grown up in Rengsanggri, but who had been chosen as an heir. As non-heirs, their families did not continue earlier households but formed new ones instead. In the years between my visits, very few people had moved to Rengsanggri for any reason except to marry a Rengsanggri man or woman. In the 1950s more husbands and wives changed villages at marriage, and the same has been true more recently. There were 108 couples in 1997 (Eight of the 105 households had no married couple at all, nine had two married couples, and one had three. All the rest had one each. All marriages were monogamous). Seventytwo of the husbands, but only eleven of the wives, had moved from other villages to join Rengsanggri spouses. Both spouses of almost every other couple had grown up in Rengsanggri. I was unable to determine the genealogical connec­ tion of one couple to any of the people whom I had known in the 1950s, but villagers insisted that the woman of the family had grown up in Rengsanggri. Only one couple had moved in whose members were really considered to be outsiders, and I was unable to learn how they legitimized their moved. Either the husband or the wife,

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or both, of every one of the other 107 couples living in Rengsanggri in 1997 had a genealogical claim to being a native of the village. One childless widow moved from Songmagri just to the south, however. She supported herself from pineapple garden that she had planted, and she explained to me that Songmagri (like Asonanggri) is a sister village to Rengsanggri. She did not feel that she had really changed villages. Men sometimes leave home for a few months for work. A few people move to a neighbouring village, and a few move further. More often, people move when they marry. Most Rengsanggri vil­ lagers, however, have remained, year after year, in the same village. This is a degree of stability that mobile Westerners find difficult to imagine. Rengsanggri had 248 adults who were married or who had been married in the past. More than half of them had lived there all their lives, and with a handful of expectations, the rest had lived there since their marriage. People get to know each other very well after living in the same village for most or all of their lives. They know who is hard working, who is smart, who is trustworthy, who is helpful and friendly: And they know who lacks these qualities. Of course, they also know the people who live in the surround­ ing villages. They visit the weekly market in Rongram where they meet people from dozens of villages, and they meet Bengali and Nepali traders as well. Songsareks once visited other villages at the times of festivals and Christians now attend intervillage services and meetings. When people need help, and when they get married and die, kinsmen from other villages assemble. Almost everyone occasionally visits Tura, 25 km away, although one woman did tell me that she had ridden a bus three times, become sick every time, and resolved never to try again. She said she had never gone even as far as Tura. A number of villagers have been further, to distant parts of Garo Hills, and a few to other cities in the north east. A handful have even been to Delhi or Bombay on government trips where they took a part in multi-ethnic festivals. Government offi­ cials, vaccinators, and school teachers all pay visits to the village. Once, during my visit in 1997, the man who represents the district that includes Rengsanggri in the state Legislative Assembly paid a visit to the village, courting his constituents. Thousands of people

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pass in trucks and buses. Rengsanggri is far from isolated. Still, the villagers spend most of their hours within the boundaries of Rengsanggri, and they deal constantly with their fellow villagers. It would be difficult to hide much from their neighbours, and mostly they do not try.

Prospects for the Future What of the future? Are more extensive or more disruptive changes in store for the people of Rengsanggri? My suspicion is the strongest pressures for change will be economic. As long as the population continues to expand, less and less of people’s subsistence can come from shifting cultivation. More people will probably have to find paid work away from the village. Families without permanent gardens or rice fields may become impoverished and forced to find menial work somewhere else, as a few already have. Others will gain enough education to claim more prestigious and better paying jobs in government service. Some day, perhaps, people will even find work with private concerns. It is difficult to predict the impact of employment on the traditional family system, but if, in the search of work, people become more residentially mobile, it may become more difficult to maintain the kind of mutual support that the members of extended kinship network can provide when they live near one another. The greatest threat to the traditional family system, however, is likely to be ownership of permanently cultivated fields. If fertilizer were to allow land to be used every year for other crops than wet rice, pineapples, tea, and fruit trees, shifting cultivation might be quickly abandoned. All cultivation might then be done on privately owned fields. The impact of permanent land ownership will depend on how it is inherited. If property continues to be inherited by single daughter, some women will be much wealthier than sisters, and wealth differences might rigidify. That, in turn, could increase the social inequality among households. In a society where people have been accustomed to reasonable economic equality, however, serious inequality among siblings might cause considerable strain. The unequal inheritance of earlier

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days was seen as no more than fair compensation for the care of the old people. With enough hard work, even non-heirs could hope to improve their position. It is one thing to accept wealth differences that can be credited to hard work and cleverness, but quite another to endure differences that are due to nothing but the luck of inheri­ tance. As permanent fields become more important, people may want to find ways of spreading the inheritance more evenly, to give some property to other daughters than their heiress, and even to leave some to their sons. If property is given only to daughters, the disruption to the matrilineal system should not be great, but if couples feel that they would also like to give something to their sons the present kin­ ship system could be undermined. Young men might become less dependent upon the kinship groups of their wives. Sons who are lucky enough to inherit land from their parents might want to bring their wives to live near their fields, and their wives might move to their husbands’ villages more often than they do now. When it is usually men who move, women can live near close female kinsmen even when they are not a part of the same household. If women move more often, the security that comes from living in a neigh­ bourhood among friendly parents, aunts, sisters, and cousins could be undermined. By 1997, private landownership was too recent in Rengsanggri to have had a dramatic effect on income inequality, inheritance, or residence patterns. People told me that the rule of inheritance remained unchanged: the heiress and her husband were supposed to inherit all the property of the older couple, including all the per­ manent fields. The few instances of inheritance of rice land that I heard about seem to have followed this rule. In most respects, the family system that I had learned about in the 1950s remained intact in the 1990s. The possible changes about which I have speculated are for the future.

Old Friends It was an extraordinary experience, to return to Rengsanggri after four decades and to find that its people remembered me as vividly

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as I remembered them. For forty years, I had been writing stories about them, and through all that period they had been telling stories about me. Many people had died, of course, but some of those I had known were still living, and others who had been children still remembered me. Some who had not yet been born in 1956 said that they had heard about me from their parents. I had almost become a legend. I was repeatedly reminded that I had carried my own basket, hanging from a tumpline across my head, and that I had once climbed onto a roof during a thatching party helped the other young man to tie on the bundles of thatch. Far from having grown away from the villagers, I felt that I belonged with them more securely than I had ever had. I remembered parents and grandparents. We shared a history. In December 1996, on the morning of my second day in Reng­ sanggri, when most people had not yet heard about my return, I climbed off the bus that had brought me from Tura and met a woman who looked at me for moment and then said in astonish­ ment ‘Raben Marak’. Raben, a Garoized version of my first name, was the way they had always addressed me, and I acquired the ‘Marak’ one day when I was sitting with some men, one of whom suggested in a joking way that since I was living in a village with so many Chambigong Maraks that I, too, should be Chambigong Marak. People would refer occasionally to my membership in the Chambigongs and the Maraks, but always as a joke. People would laugh heartily at the idea, but they and I knew that there was no way in which a foreigner could really join a Garo kinship group. When I returned, the woman I met on the road was only the first of the many who called me ‘Raben Marak’ and, I noticed with sur­ prise, they no longer laughed. During the forty years that I had been gone, they must have talked about me now and then, and after referring to me often enough as ‘Raben Marak’ it stopped being just a joke. They began to think of it as my real name. I found it easy to deal with these old friends and with their children. Their melting smiles reflected the joy they felt. I had learned how to behave. I know how to be courteous and how to joke. I needed no new learning to take on old habits. Everyone who I remembered, of course, had grown forty years older, and so had

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I. We had all undergone the changes that forty years bring, and we seventy-year olds did not act like the thirty year-olds we once were. But the community in 1997, like the community in 1956, included both thirty-year olds and seventy-year olds, and young and old alike continued to play the familiar roles of their ages. Young and old, men and women still divided the work in the same way. As far as I could see, they still behaved toward one another in the same ways, and they accepted me with the same curiosity and tolerant good will that I remembered so well. Garos are a wonderfully pragmatic people. Things that Western­ ers gloss over are faced with no nonsense. I remember with delight the man, somewhat older than I, who asked if I would ever make another trip to Garo Hills. He thought about his question briefly and then, with a matter of fact good cheer, he answered it himself, ‘No, probably not. You are old and you will probably die soon.’ Garos are less concerned with status and less worried about their own dignity then many of the people of the subcontinent. No caste differences divide them, and they treat each other, and even outsid­ ers, with a kind of symmetry that Westerners miss in their dealings with many Indians. Garos can laugh at each other because they also laugh at themselves. I can tease them because they can tease me, and some of my happiest memories of the people of Rengsanggri are times when they laughed with great good nature at my expense, or when I was able to laugh at them. On my last day in Rengsanggri in 1997, I passed a woman on a path who asked me the same ques­ tion as the older man had asked. ‘Will you ever come back again?’ She too answered her own question but she answered it a bit dif­ ferently: ‘If you do come back you will probably come like this’, and she held up her hand with her index finger tightly crooked, in a gesture they use suggest the bent backs of old people. She burst into gales of laughter, and so did I. After my return in 1997, but when I had made only two short visits to Rengsanggri, a man in the district headquarters at Tura asked me whether the villagers were happier or less happy than they had been forty years earlier. I replied that I did not know ‘yet’, but even then I realized that I would never be able to answer that ques­ tion. Happiness is much too subtle and subjective for a visitor to

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measure. Does it make any sense to ask whether life had improved in those forty years or become worse, or to ask in what ways it had improved and in what ways grown worse? In some material ways, life had unquestionably improved. Women’s clothing had become more colourful and varied, and everyone’s clothing was much less ragged. If happiness comes from wearing sandals then everyone was surely much happier. Water pipes and electric wires made life a bit easier. Many people had furniture that no one could even have imagined earlier. The most important single measure of improvement that I can point to is the ability of people to keep their children alive. In both 1956 and 1997, I asked as many adult women as I could find, how many children they had borne and how many had died. Their answers have too many ambiguities to inspire much confidence. I cannot confidently separate late abortions, still births, and early infant deaths, for example. Nevertheless, it seems clear that people had become considerably more successful at keeping their children alive by 1997 then they had in 1956. More than half of the women in 1956 reported at least as many of their children had died as were still living. In 1997, I asked 110 women who had ever borne chil­ dren how many of them were living and how many had died. ‘Only’ 19 of these 110 women reported that as many or more had died as were alive. They reported a total of 567 births, 407 still living and 160 dead. Most of those who had died had done so as babies or very small children. This is still an appalling infant mortality, but it is a marked improvement on the earlier level. So life has, in some ways improved, but in other ways, people looked back upon the earlier years as better. Some felt that the scat­ tering of the houses away from the old village had brought a loss of a sense of community. They missed the old village festivals, and some Christians admitted to missing the joy that rice beer once brought. Permanent landownership has widened the difference between rich and poor. As the tempo of change accelerates it may become more difficult for parents and children to understand each other’s worlds. But, Rengsanggri survives, still beloved by its permanent residents, and still beloved by me.

CHAPTER 35

Ethnicity vs. Development

Dalus of the West Garo Hills

Tanka B. Subba

The study of ‘ethnicity’ and ‘development’ is fundamental to the study of social change albeit these concepts are often so loosely defined that they overlap with a number of other related concepts. Ethnicity is essentially an ascriptive phenomenon, founded on certain primordial characteristics like language, religion, culture, and geographical territory, but its boundaries being flexible and subject to change in time as well as space its subjective connotation – sense of belonging to a group – is generally found to be the only valid way of defining it. Ethnicity has been found to be closely related to state and develop­ ment (Thompson & Ronen, 1986). The process of development, on closer scrutiny, is found to be more growth-oriented than distributive, and more state-centred than emerging from people’s needs. Consequently, it has been one of the most influencing factors for ethnic upsurges everywhere. Most such upsurges, in final analysis, crave for better control over local resources or better redistribu­ tive justice. Incidentally, ethnicity is often seen as an obstacle for * This chapter first appeared as ‘Ethnicity vs. Development: The Dalus of West Garo Hills District, Meghalaya’, in North-East India: The Human Interface (1998), ed. M.K. Raha and A.K. Ghosh, Gyan Publishing House, Delhi. The chapter is reproduced in a modified form with due permissions from the author and publisher.

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development. Efforts to reconcile these two apparently conflicting concepts are found in the coinage of concepts like ‘ethno-national­ ism’ (Connor, 1973) and ‘ethno-development’ (Stavenhagen, 1987) but ethnicity is more widely seen as a consequence of the failure of developmental efforts (Esman, 1977) rather than an obstacle for development. Development is not yet a discarded goal despite postmodern­ ists trying to bury it. It is not only an irreversible process but also an on-going phenomenon worldwide. But development, as it is understood today – as directed change – is not an uncontested value: it is very often contested by ethnicity itself. In other words, ethnic and development priorities sometimes compete with each other throwing the community concerned in a state of multiple ideological conflicts. One such example is found among a littleknown community called Dalu living in a village called Killapara on the Indo-Bangladesh border of the West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya. But since this community is rarely known even within Meghalaya, a brief introduction may be desirable here.

The Dalus The Dalus are a small and very backward community. Though their exact population is not known, a conventional estimate puts the figure at 9,000, including those living in the districts of Assam like Darrang and Goalpara. At the time of our fieldwork in Killapara in 1993, they had only two graduates and majority of them were illiterates or semi-illiterates earning their bread mainly by manual labour. Published literature on this community is scant. The first ever book published on them was written in Bangla and was entitled Dalu Jatir Bibaran. This book was written by Pandit Mokhyada Charan Samadhyaya but it is not known when it was published. That it was published earlier than Dalu Jatir Itihas (1993), also in Bangla, by Prafulla Chandra Sarkar, the then headman of Killapara village, is clear because he makes a reference to the above-mentioned book in the preface to his book though he regrets not having been able to acquire a copy of the same. I came across a hand-written excerpt of

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the second edition of this book but could not establish its date of publication. The other important publication on this community is a short write-up entitled ‘Dalu’ by Shibani Roy published in People of India: Meghalaya (1994: 148-56). It may be worthwhile to point out here that History and Culture of the Garos by Milton S. Sangma (1981) disposes of them after mentioning them as ‘original inhabitants’ and ‘non-Garo population’ (p. 2). An article by D.N. Majumdar (1984) also devotes a paragraph to this community. From the few literature mentioned above, it is however clear that the Dalus consider themselves to be migrants from Imphal Valley and descendants of an ancestor called Vijay Singh Dhalji who, according to Sarkar (1993), was a king and, according to Roy (1994), a warrior. According to Samadhyaya, he is the son of Com­ mander Vishub Singh Dhalji. He is believed to be the descendant of Arjuna’s son Babrubahana. Once Bhagadatta, a king of Assam, attacked Manipur and forced Dhalji to flee his country with some of his followers, which is estimated to have occurred in the early seventeenth century. Dhalji took refuge in the Garo Hills and estab­ lished a village there, which is still known as Dalu Gaon though not a single Dalu reportedly lives there today. According to Sarkar (1993), the Dalus of that original village sold their lands to the Koch and Hajong communities and left it due to problems of water and the ravages caused to their crops by wild elephants. But the present headman of that village, a Koch, agrees only with the second reason and considers the inability of the Dalus to pay the revenue as more important reason compelling them to leave that village and shift to Killapara, about 4 km away from Dalu Gaon. According to some villagers, however, the first place where they settled was called Roga in the West Garo Hills. The Dalus of Dalu Gaon are known to be visiting Roga for collecting articles like bamboo and firewood and selling the same in Killapara haat for ages. This haat took place on every Monday. The very next day they left for Roga to collect those articles which they brought down to Killapara along the Bhugai River on Sunday. This perhaps explains why Dalu language has many similarities with the Roga dialect of the Garos. Coming back to their history, there is some confusion about certain aspects. For instance, according to Samadhayaya (n.d.) and

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Roy (1994) Dhalji returned to Manipur after some years of hiding in the Garo Hills but he was not accepted back by his community. But Sarkar does not agree with this view. Further, between the first two authors too there is some disagreement: Samadhyaya says that being discarded Dhalji returned to the Garo Hills and settled there but Roy says that being unaccepted by his own community, Dhalji was so disgusted that he discarded many cultural symbols of their society such as vegetarianism, sacred thread, and the ‘Singha’ title and adopted non-vegetarianism and the ‘Dalu’ title. Here again Sarkar (1993) has a different view. According to him, the adoption of new cultural symbols was compelled by the need to camouflage himself and his fellow members for the fear of being attacked and killed by the army of King Bhagadatta. Here it may be worthwhile to refer to a passing but significant note by Majumdar. According to him, the Dalus of the West Garo Hills district are none but those Manipuri soldiers who were brought there by the British (1984: 161). It also appeared from the present investigation that their migration to the Garo Hills must not have crossed two hundred years. However, a careful historical research is called for before a tentative history of their migration is written. It is, however, fairly agreed that the Dalus now living in the bordering areas of Bangladesh, parts of the Garo Hills, and some districts of Assam are those who gradually dispersed from their original habitat in the Garo Hills. About hundred years back, many of them shifted to the present Killapara village surrounded by the Bhugai River on the east, Bangladesh on the south, Choipani on the north, and Gangbhanga village on the west. Others went to either Mymensingh district of Bangladesh on the south or the adjoining areas of Assam on the north. Dalus are believed to be Kshatriyas and they profess Vaish­ navism. They are considered to be vegetarians and wore the sacred thread until they migrated to the Garo Hills. Though they have abandoned most of these cultural symbols they still continue with a host of other cultural traits of Hinduism. Here, a discordant note is offered by Bipin Das, an ex-employee of Border Security Force and married to a Dalu woman. According to him, they were origi­

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nally known as ‘Loo’, which indicates that they probably belonged to the Loi community of Manipur, which is considered to be ‘untouchable’. This is not accepted by the present Dalus though this contention also establishes that they are of Manipuri origin. Their traditional language is considered to be Manipuri but there is a clear influence of Assamese and Bengali languages on their lan­ guage, as evident from a list of 77 Dalu words prepared by Sarkar. Their immediate neighbourers are Bengalis and Garos but due to their cultural and religious proximity with Bengalis their interac­ tion is more intense with Bengalis than with Garos. On the other hand, they have a feature of their social organi­ zation which seems to be closely shared by Garos. This is their dapha or clan system. The whole society is subdivided into twelve daphas or clans, namely, Nengma, Doroong, Kara, Maibara, Chi­ cang, Peera, Koona, Gnadhi, Mashi, Nikinin, Luru, and Sisang. Roy also mentions Bapar as one of their clans and spells most of these clan names a little differently but Bapar was not known to the villagers of Killapara and some of these clans were believed to be of Garo origin. They also have what is called the gotra system found among caste-based societies. The gotra names found among them are mainly Shandilya, Alamban, Grihtakosi, Bharadwaj, and Kashayap. Their marriage and funeral rites also have a clear proof of their being Hindus. Their surnames are Sarkar, Singh, Adhikari and Dalu, of which the first and the third are also found among Bengalis. They mostly follow the patrilineal system of descent and inheritance unlike their Garo neighbourers who are matrilineal. Today, they are essentially a labour-class people in Killapara, where about 600 of them live amidst a better-off class of Benga­ lis. Their lands have been mostly sold away to Bengalis, Garos, and the Catholic Mission which is running a school called Sacred Heart School at Gangbhanga village. Only about 8 to 10 families own small plots of land which they cultivate on the basis of family labour and grow crops like wet paddy, cereals, and some cash crops which they sell at Choipani or Barengapara markets. The Bhugai River is the principal source of their drinking water excepting a few households which have their own dug wells or hand pumps. Most of their houses are thatched and can be easily distinguished from

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the Bengali or Garo houses which have roofs made of corrugated and galvanized iron sheets. Electricity was also not available in most Dalu houses at the time of our fieldwork. The important political events like the Partition of India in 1947, the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, and the creation of Megha­ laya as a separate state a year later seem to have affected them a lot. The first incident divided them into two countries, the second made their area a battlefield, and the third incident completely mar­ ginalized them geographically, politically and economically. Now, as rightly pointed out by Roy (1994: 156), their very survival as a community is at stake. Their survival has been endangered even physically as floods have become more ‘recurring after the Ground Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) Road has been constructed on the southern border of the village, which virtually stops the natural flow of storm water, thereby causing inundation of the village and creating havoc particularly for those who live in huts.

Ethnicity vs. Development Dalu ethnicity has not only been crippled by the conflict of cultural ideologies within themselves but also constrained by their overall backwardness. This is the most crucial point for them to resolve today and the answers are not clearly visible on their sweat-smeared horizon. The present essay attempts to bring out some such issues rather than provide an answer, as Dalus themselves have to search for the answer. The major issues of their ideological conflict are as follows: Vaishnavite vs. Non-Vaishnavite Dalus are clearly divided into Vaishnavite and non-Vaishnavite groups though the former constitutes a small group of 8 to 10 families only. By Vaishnavites, they refer only to those who have taken diksha or initiation from a Vaishnavite guru. In this sense, even a family may have, and there actually are, members who are Vaishnavites and others who are not. For instance, the parents may have taken diksha whereas the children may not have. However, a

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borderline does exist at the family level and the people do make a distinction between Vaishnavite and non-Vaishnavite families. According to them, to become a true Vaishnavite is not easy: one has to lead a disciplined life and act according to the teachings of one’s guru. One must avoid non-vegetarian foods, alcohol, and perform various rituals devoted to the guru every day. All this cannot be adhered to by everybody. Hence it is confined mostly to a few relatively better-off families and the large majority of them are, for all practical purposes, non-Vaishnavites. The difference between these two groups is not merely that of religious beliefs and practices but is also marked by, apart from economic differentiation, marital restrictions outside the group. Normally, no negotiated marriage takes place between these two groups. The members of the Vaishnavite group also consider them­ selves to be ritually purer and thus superior to the non-Vaishnavites. However, the former are not given any special respect by the latter group. The members of the latter group often challenge that there is no pure Vaishnavite Dalu in the village. This was in fact attested to by no other person than Prafulla Sarkar himself, who is the most prominent Vaishnavite in the village with all signs and symbols of Vaishnavism. He was seen taking non-vegetarian food on a number of occasions even during our short fieldwork. This, however, does not mean that the ideological conflict between these two groups is resolved. Gotra vs. Dapha As stated earlier, both gotra and dapha systems are currently followed but the community is actively engaged in underplaying either of them. One section of the community, with Vaishnavite leanings, is apparently highlighting the gotra and underplaying the dapha whereas the other section is engaged in exactly the opposite. This ideological conflict was apparently dormant prior to our visit to this village but when our students began to ask questions on these subjects this conflict seems to have been sharpened. That this conflict was not resolved was clear from the contradictory answers which our students were getting and it was not immediately clear

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why it was so happening. It was only after about a week or so that things began to fall in shape and our mind was clearer than before. The ideological conflict revolves round whether they are origi­ nally dapha-based or gotra-based. One section of them – obviously the non-Vaishnavites – argues that they were originally clan-based and adopted the gotra system only when they were Hinduized during the reign of King Pamheiba in Manipur. On the other hand, there are others – mostly Vaishnavites – who vehemently oppose this idea. According to the latter, they were originally gotra-based and the dapha system was adopted from Garos after they settled in the Garo Hills. Their vagueness about the names of their daphas and the inability of many of them to state even the names of their own daphas made us doubt if it was really central to them. But our experience elsewhere shows that erosion of clan consciousness has been a concurrent feature of most Hinduized communities. Due to their closer interaction with Bengalis the clan organization may have received lesser focus so that they feel at par with the Bengalis. On further investigation, this conflict seems to have been aggra­ vated by the conflict of orientation among the Dalus of the village. They have two reference groups before them – the Garos and the Bengalis – with apparently very different cultural traits. Orienting themselves towards the Garos seems to carry a hope of getting the Scheduled Tribe status more easily whereas orienting themselves towards the Bengalis seems more in keeping with their desire to be accepted as Kshatriyas. If they are accepted to be so it not only makes them feel culturally superior to the Garos but also makes them feel at par with the Bengalis. Politically, they are dominated by the Garos as it is they who represent them in the district council, the legislative assembly, and the parliament. But educationally and otherwise, they are under close supervision of the Bengalis, as it is they who teach them in their schools and provide various kinds of guidance to them. Thus, it is difficult for Dalus to ignore either of these two communities, even though they are usually at the receiv­ ing end. The conflict between gotra and dapha followers is also linked with their apprehension about whether they will remain Hindu or become Christian. The Garos being Christian, Dalus apprehend

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that orienting themselves towards the Garos might later mean abandoning Hinduism, which they do not want. Eating or not eat­ ing beef is also associated with this dilemma. Though there is no reason why their religion and food habits should also be changed, the players in this ideological conflict seem to have become success­ ful in generating a lot of apprehensions in the minds of the mostly illiterate adult Dalus. (c) Caste vs. Tribe Closely associated with the above two points is their conflict over caste or tribal identity. This conflict has taken special significance after the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council Acts, Rules and Regulations as amended up to 31 December 1968 gave recognition to the Dalus (and the Koches) as a tribe. In Chapter 1, p. 2, it says: ‘Tribals’ means the tribes specified in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order of 1950 and includes the Koche and the Daloo [sic] of the Garo Hills district. The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly in its Budget Session of 1984 discussed the issue of recognizing the Banai and the Dalu as Scheduled Tribes. While the Meghalaya Peoples’ Front proposed that they should be recognized as Scheduled Tribes, the Meghalaya Union of Peoples’ Party opposed it. The then chief minister, Captain Williamson Sangma, stated at that time: . . . the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes of the House itself had studied the issue at length and recommended recognition of these communities as Scheduled Tribes of Meghalaya and that if further investigation in this respect was at all called for, it was for the Government of India to do so. (Meghalaya Legislative Assembly 1984).

The matter was then passed unanimously by the house. How­ ever, they are yet to be recognized as a Scheduled Tribe by the Government of India. Their insignificant size of voters, lack of leadership and political awareness among the members, and apathy of the dominant communities in the state are responsible for their failure to secure the constitutional status of a Scheduled Tribe. This problem is further accentuated by a host of apprehensions

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shared by Dalus about becoming a tribe such as having to become Christian and eat beef, among others. They also have the fear of los­ ing the Kshatriya status in the event of their becoming a Scheduled Tribe. Archibald Sangma, the then representative in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly from that area, recalls that Dalus were actu­ ally offered the status of a Scheduled Tribe earlier but they refused on the plea that their caste status would fall and they would have to eat beef. All this is understandable from how basically an illiterate, marginal, and peripheral community perceives things in the sur­ rounding. For them, Garos represent the tribal world and to become a tribe means essentially to become Garo-like. The vast differences within tribes in terms of dress, food-habits, religions, etc., are obviously not known to them. Of course, the Garos, as any other dominant community, would perhaps like to absorb Dalus culturally but that is a different issue altogether. The Dalus have also seen the Bengalis prosper without becoming a Scheduled Tribe and retaining all traits of Hinduism. The Bengali case has shown to them that they need not become a tribe in order to develop them­ selves: rather they should abandon ‘tribal’ habits like alcoholism and gambling. In other words, the Garo and Bengali communities stand as reference groups for them requiring very different cultural orientations. Regarding the ambivalence of caste or tribal identity it may also be pointed out that the very question of descent is being hotly debated within themselves. The ‘pro-clan Dalus’, if I may use this expression, emphasize on what may be described as parallel descent, in which the sons trace their descent through their father and daughters through their mother. Accordingly, many returned the clan names of sons and daughters according to the clan names of their parents. Some of them, of course, informed that the daugh­ ters take their mother’s dapha only when they inherit their mother’s property. This is what Roy perhaps refers to as ‘vestiges of matriar­ chy’ (1994: 48-56). But most villagers, with or without Vaishnavite leanings, deny this outright and say that they are patrilineal. They even allege that the claim of the other group, without Vaishnavite leanings, is unfounded and motivated. In any case, this clearly

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shows an ideological conflict within them and they have not been able to sort it out by themselves.

Conclusion For many Dalus they have to be either like the Garos or the Bengalis in order to develop themselves. That they can achieve their develop­ mental aspirations without becoming either like Garos or Bengalis is not convincing even to the few educated among them. But, perhaps instinctively, some of them consider that they should not lose their Dalu identity. They are ready to become a tribe, and some even dream of becoming so, but not at the cost of their kshatriya status or without having to eat beef. The Dalu identity is being gradually revived, mainly in the initiative of the non-Vaishnavite Dalus. The revivalist Dalus emphasize on their language, dress, festivals, rituals, etc., but all these are, as stated above, in a state of flux. Many of them claim that they can speak in their own language but often speak in Bangla and feel more esteemed to be able to do so. Their dress, festivals, and rituals are also largely same as those of the neighbouring Bengalis but they often come out with examples of their culture such as bastu puja or propitiation of the village deity, and hahisanna, a mourning ritual practised by them. These are often claimed to be exclusively theirs though it is informed that even the Koch and Hajong tribes have the practice of celebrating bastu puja and this practice may also be found among various other tribes though the names of the rituals may vary according to linguistic variation. For a small com­ munity without any strong economic and educational foundation it is indeed very difficult to expect its culture to remain entirely free from the influence of its dominant neighbours. Hence Dalu identity may perhaps be better justified in subjective sense than on the basis of any objective criteria though theoretically they can develop certain exclusive cultural symbols or draw new boundaries between themselves and the neighbouring communi­ ties. The fact that they call themselves ‘Dalu’ and are conscious of their identity is a cultural asset they must preserve. It is partly due to the absence of exclusive cultural markers that

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they are often seen ambivalent about their identity. The ethnic awareness, which is much needed for sustaining the identity of such a small group of people, also faces serious challenges due to their low literacy, poor economic condition, and other such conditions of dependency on majority communities. The need for development is so compulsive for them that many are ready today to redefine their identity in order to make it congenial for development.

REFERENCES Connor, W. 1973. ‘The Politics of Ethnonationalism’. Journal of International Affairs, 27 (1). Esman, M.J. (ed.). 1977. Ethnic Conflict in the Western World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Majumdar, D.N. 1984. ‘An account of the Hinduized Communities Western Meghalaya’, in L.S. Gassah (ed.), Garo Hills: Land and the People. New Delhi: Omsons Publications. Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. 1984. Bulletin no. 6, 27 March 1984, Budget Session Resolution. Roy, S. 1994. ‘Dalu’, in K.S. Singh (ed.), People of India: Meghalaya, vol. XXXII, Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1948-56. Samadhyaya, M.C. n.d. Dahi Fatir Bitiaran. Barak: Rangalal Singh Sarkar (in Bangla). Sangma, Milton S. 1981. History and Culture of the Garos. New Delhi: Books Today. Sarkar, P.C. 1993. Dahl Jatir Itihas. Dalu: Jagadish Chandra Burman (in Bangla). Stavenhagen, R. 1987. 'Ethnocide or Ethnodevelopment: The New Challenge’. Development: Seeds of Change, 1: 74-8. Thompson, D. L. and D. Ronen (eds). 1986. Ethnicity, Politics and Development. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

CHAPTER 36

Sanskritization among the Bodo-speaking

Tribes of Garo Hills

Dhirendra N. Majumdar*

Introduction Though social structures resembling caste are found in many parts of the world, it can be asserted that caste, as such, with all its characteristics, is a phenomenon peculiar to India only. I believe that the Hindu caste structure is a device by which groups at the periphery of Hinduism (tribes) are accepted into the greater Hindu society. At the outset a non-Hindu group (usually a tribe) is accepted at a lower rung of the caste hierarchy (Ghurye, 1950), with the stipulation that they can claim higher status gradually by absorbing larger doses of sanskritization. My general hypothesis in this dissertation will be that the process of sanskritization1 is intimately linked with the process of transformation of a tribe into a caste, or, in other words, its admission into the greater Hindu society. The origin of the four varans of traditional Hindu society gave * This chapter originally appeared under the title ‘A Study of Tribe-caste Continuum and the process of Sanskritization among the Bodo-speaking Tribes of Garo Hills’, in Tribal Situation in India (1972), ed. K.S. Singh, IIAS, Shimla. The chapter is reproduced in its original form with due permissions from the publisher, and the late author’s family, and has not been modified except for copy-editing.

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the castes a mark of occupational groups (Motwani, 1958). After closely examining the castes in various parts of India, as they are functioning at present, many workers2 have concluded that castes are occupational groups. It will be my endeavour to show here that the transformation of a tribal group into a group in the greater Hindu society with a distinct position in the caste hierarchy, may come about without any occupational specialization within the group or by the group as a whole. It will also be shown that admis­ sion into the caste hierarchy has been achieved entirely through the process of Sanskritization. With the theoretical background outlined above, I carried out investigations among a series of groups, which may be said to form a tribe-caste continuum. My investigations were focused on the Garo Hills district of Assam. Now I shall give a short and general account of the groups studied by me for this purpose. The Garo Hills district can be divided into two distinct geo­ graphical regions: (i) A hem, the width of which varies from less than a mile to about 15 miles, covering entirely the northern, western and southern borders of the district. This hem consists of fertile flat land suitable for permanent agriculture. These flat lands may be taken as the last portions of the Brahmaputra Valley meeting the Meghalaya plateau; and (ii) The hilly central region which is the western half of the Meghalaya plateau. There are flat lands suitable for perma­ nent agriculture in this region also, but these plains are not contiguous to the plains of the Brahmaputra Valley, while the plains of the hem are co-terminous with the plains of the sur­ rounding districts, i.e. the Goalpara district of Assam and the Mymensingh district of East Pakistan. Each of these two regions has its own peculiarity as regards demography. The fertile plains of the border areas are occupied mainly by more or less Sanskritized groups, the Rabha, the Boro, the Koch, the Hajong, the Dalu and the Hindu Garo (about whom I shall have occasion to say later), interspersed by a few villages inhabited by Christian and Songsarek Garos.3 These Garo villages were established only a few generations back, either by the Garos

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from the nearby hilly areas, coming down to the plains in search of land suitable for permanent cultivation or by the Garo migrants from East Pakistan, who always prefer to settle in the plains. The areas adjoining the plains of the Garo Hills in the districts of Goalpara and Mymensingh are inhabited by the same groups of people, with the exception that in the areas of the latter two districts these groups live side by side with Hindu groups (mostly lower caste Hindus, such as namasudra, majhi, etc. though a few higher caste Hindu households, mainly Brahmins are also to be found) and Muslims. The central highlands are inhabited exclusively by the Songsarek and Christian Garos. Thus the plains surrounding the central highland can be described as a bufferzone excluding the Garos (who were all Songsareks before British occupation) from the Hindu and Muslim influences of the surrounding districts. Among the groups named above, the Rabha (excepting some sections), the Boro and the Koch (excepting some sections) speak various languages of the Bodo group of the Tibeto-Burman sub­ family. The Hajongs, the Dalus, some sections of the Rabhas and some sections of the Koches have now adopted Indo-Aryan dialects of the neighbouring areas. However, there are grounds to believe that these groups also, a few generations ago, spoke languages of the Bodo group (Census Report of Assam 1888). It is remarkable to note that Garos of the Meghalaya plateau also speak dialects of the same group; thus linguistically all these groups, sanskritized or not, are kindred people. Though no detailed study of the racial characters of all these groups has so far been made, from a general observation it can be said that the mongoloid features are found in different proportions in different groups (Das, 1960). In short, it can be said that all these groups come under the same ethno­ linguistic class.

Meanings of the Terms ‘Tribe’, ‘Caste’ and ‘Sanskritization’ The main concepts around which this dissertation has been developed are ‘tribe’, ‘caste’ and ‘Sanskritization’. It is necessary, at this stage, that I should state clearly what I precisely mean by

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these terms. No clear-cut definition of the term ‘tribe’ can be found.4 However, here by this term I mean a homogeneous group of people (culturally and linguistically showing some amount of homogeneity) which do not claim themselves as followers of any of the major religions of India, such as Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, etc. The amount of claim as belonging to any major religion varies in inverse proportion in describing the group as a tribe. Now, this definition of mine is not a general definition of the term tribe as such, However, this definition fits well with the situation of north-east India, with the exception of groups which have comparatively recently adopted Christianity. Thus the Meiteis of Manipur are not a tribe, as they claim themselves as fullfledged Hindus and follow all the religious practices of a particular Hindu sect. The main difficulty with the present definition is that it excludes all the Christians from the connotation of the term ‘tribe’. The only important criterion shared by converted and nonconverted people of this region is that both speak some non-Aryan language. In other respects, in general economic condition as well as in some important cultural aspects, these converted people have raised themselves to the level of surrounding non-tribal populations (Report of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 1966-69).5 And, I feel very strongly that these sections are regarded as tribes due only to the general misconception that once a group is considered as a tribe, it should remain as such forever. By ‘caste’ I mean here an endogamous group, which has gained some position in the Hindu hierarchy, topped by the three high castes – Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya, the higher position of these three castes being never contested by any other castes. By ‘Sanskritization’ I mean the elements by accepting which a non-caste group (tribal group) gets acceptance in the Hindu society and which give vertical mobility to a group which has already been accepted in the Hindu society.

Alignment of the Groups in the Tribe-Caste Continuum By applying the above definitions the Songsarek Garo can be described as a tribe par excellence. They have absorbed no element

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of Sanskritization. They do not claim themselves to be Hindus nor do they have any position in the caste hierarchy. On the other hand, Dalus can be described as a full-fledged caste absorbing maximum amount of Sanskritization. They claim to be Hindus of the Bengali Vaishnava sect and though they have not achieved a high-caste status, they themselves regard their position as higher than that of other neighbouring Sanskritized groups. Thus, the groups Songsarek Garos and Dalus represent two opposite poles of the tribe-caste continuum. The other three groups occupy intermediate positions, though the position of each of these intermediate groups is not absolute. The three groups, the Rabha, the Koch and the Hajong, also represent three self-contained continua, ranging border line cases between tribe and caste to pure castes, almost equivalent in status with the Dalu. I am showing below (Figure 36.1) the range of each of these groups comprising different gradations of Sanskritiza­ tion among the various sections. On the top of each column I have placed the most sanskritized sections and on the bottom the least Sanskritized sections. Thus the bottom section of each represent the borderline cases and the top section of each the section which has achieved caste status.6 MOST SANSKRITIZED Rabha

Koch

Hajong

Pati/Kocha7

Chapra

Hajong

Dahori

Sathari

Maitori

Song/Tintekiya

Rongdani

Wanang

Khatal

LEAST SANSKRITIZED Source: Author. Figure 36.1: Tribes showing various levels of Sanskritization

Here it is necessary to mention the case of Hindu Garos. Some Garos of the Mymensingh district, who were formerly Songsarek, were converted to Hinduism by a Bengali religious reformer within the memory of the present generation. Like the Dalu they claim

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themselves as belonging to the Bengali Vaishnava sect and all the aspects of Sanskritization accepted by the Dalu have also been accepted by the Hindu Garo. They are also served unconditionally by Brahmin priests. Thus they now represent a caste in the level of the top sections of the three groups, Rabha, Koch and Hajong. Taking the Hindu Garo into account we can now make a gradation like this (Figure 36.2): MOST SANSKRITIZED Hindu Garos Songsarek Garos LEAST SANSKRITIZED Source: Author. Figure 36.2: Garos and Sanskritization

The peculiarity of this sequence is that the sequence comprises two sections only (like the Hajong), but the two sections represent the two opposite poles of the tribe-caste continuum. The elements of Sanskritization are, however, not measurable quantities, so it will not be possible to place all the sections of all the groups in a definite tribe-caste sequence. The process of Sanskritization starts with the simple claim of the group as being members of the greater Hindu society. This varies in direct proportion with the abandonment of the ‘unclean’ ‘nonHindu’ habits, the foremost of which is beef-eating. The ‘unclean’ habits can be graded thus: 8 (i) Beef eating (ii) Keeping of pigs and fowls (iii) Eating of pork and fowl As Sanskritization advances the group in question gives up these unclean habits one by one. Abstaining from beef eating is an indi­ cation that the group in question wants acceptance in the Hindu society. And neighbouring Hindus accept the group more and more as they give up all these unclean habits. The Rongdani section of the Rabha is a case in point. They have developed the usual abhorrence

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towards beef, and they look down upon the beef-eating Garos. They have not absorbed any other element of Sanskritization, still they regard themselves as belonging to the Hindu society and they are recognized as such by their high-caste Hindu neighbours. The second step of Sanskritization is the abandonment or partial abandonment of non-Hindu deities and gradual adoption of deities of the Hindu pantheon along with their traditional rites. The rites to Hindu deities such as Kali, Durga, Saraswati, etc., are neces­ sarily performed by a Brahmin priest. So the group must get itself accepted in the Hindu society first by abstaining from ‘unclean’ habits in order to be served by Brahmin priests. So, the second step of Sanskritization is conditional on the first step. However, having some non-Hindu deities, the rites of which are performed by a nonBrahmin caste priest is not objected to very much by the Brahmin priests.9 The next step of Sanskritization which can be taken as the final stage is the abandonment of all the major elements of tribal social customs, such as the clan organization (which plays a very impor­ tant part in the tribal stage) with all its ancillary aspects, such as, matrilineal inheritance, uxorilocal residence, a clan-oriented kin­ ship system, and taking up in their place the Hindu patrilineal complex. However, all the groups mentioned above have yet to go through this third stage of Sanskritization completely. Perhaps this is true about most of the lower castes or partial castes in other parts of India (Jolly, 1928). Full acceptance of Hindu rites is regarded as an acumen of Sanskritization. At the final stage of Sanskritization a group abandons all traces of its pre-Sanskritized birth, death and marriage customs and adopts the traditional Hindu rites performed by a professional Brahmin priest. The process of Sanskritization can be considered as complete when the group abandons its non-Aryan language in favour of an Aryan language. However, this step of Aryanization can precede any of the three stages described above; the Khatal section of the Hajong are purely Aryanized in language, though they are yet to cross the third stage of Sanskritization. As regards the two very important aspects of Sanskritization, endogamy and observance of strict rules of commensality I found

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the position of these groups rather peculiar. Usually linguistic groups are endogamous – this is true perhaps for other parts of the world also. Cases of caste endogamy crossing the barriers of linguistic group endogamy (nay, even dialectic group endogamy) are very rare even in the high caste Hindu society, considering the fact that Brahmin and the two other high castes are found among all linguistic groups of India. This linguistic endogamy or dialectic endogamy is found in tribal linguistic and dialectic groups even among the non-Sanskritized groups. Thus, among the Garos such dialectic groups, as the Atong, the Ruga, the Chisak, the Awe, the Abeng, etc., are mostly endogamous. However, the strictness of endogamy varies in proportion to the dialectic differences. Thus the dialectic differences between the Rongdani and the Maitori Rabhas are very slight so the frequency of intermarriages between these groups is rather large. Thus, it is not very much relevant, as far as these groups are concerned, in the process of Sanskritiza­ tion. However, its bearing on the process of Sanskritization could have been tested had there been any relaxation of endogamy in use of the marriage of a member of a Sanskritized group with one of an established Hindu caste. But such cases are non-existent as the established castes bar all marriages with any of these groups. The groups by themselves are endogamous, irrespective of the stages of sanskritization in which they are, and also the various sections of the groups are also endogamous as these sections are dialect groups (excepting, however, the cases of Khatals and Hajongs, and Satbari Koches and Chapra Koches, all of whom speak a mixture of Assa­ mese and Bengali). But cases of intermarriage between sections of the same group are rather common, as the dialectic differences between them are not much. Unlike endogamy, rules of commensality appear to be the attri­ bute of Sanskritization. A tribe, as such, does not observe any rules of commensality (Jolly, 1928). But at the very first stage of Sanskri­ tization they strictly prohibit interdining with those groups which have not abandoned the ‘unclean’ habits (specially beef-eating). So, this attribute can be taken as a corollary to the first state of Sanskritization. As regards commensality, there is a distinct line dividing the groups which claim as Hindus from the groups which

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are not Hindus (i.e. tribal groups, Muslims and Christians). But between the Sanskritized groups themselves, it was observed that the rules of commensality vary in proportion with the rules of con­ nubiality. Ideally, each endogamous group is also the group within which interdining is confined. However, dining in the house of a member of a section of the some group, with which intermarriages are frequent or at least tolerated, is not regarded as a very serious transgression of caste rules. It is also to be noted that on social occa­ sions such as marriage feasts such interdining between different sections even of the same group is not allowed.

Acknowledgement The field work upon which this research work is mainly based was conducted with the financial assistance of the Anthropological Survey of India.

NOTES 1. I have followed M.N. Srinivas (1962: 42) in using the term ‘Sanskritization’ in preference to terms like ‘Hinduization’ or ‘Brahmanization’. 2. Recently in his dissertation on ‘Caste in India’, Sinha (1967: 94) defines caste as ‘A hierarchy of endogamous groups, organized in a characteristic hereditary division of labor’. 3. Songsarek is the term applied by Garos to indicate the section following the traditional Garo religion, and thus the term excludes the Garo Christians as well as Garo Hindus. 4. Weber’s (1958: 31) definition of the term ‘tribe’ includes the following elements: (i) a fixed territory, (ii) lack of occupational specialization, (iii) lack of social ranking with reference to a larger community, (iv) presence of a political association, (v) presence of exogamous sibs but no clear-cut endogamy of the tribe as a whole, (vi) absence of commensality rules. 5. If we want to include the converted sections in the connotation of the term tribe, we will have to narrow down our definition thus: homogenous groups who do not claim themselves as Hindus. By this narrowed down definition all the converted Garos, Khasis, Nagas, etc., will come under the term ‘tribe’, also the Monpa, who are Buddhist, but not the Pnar, who claim themselves as Hindus. 6. These gradations are mainly based on the information contained in the following papers:

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(i) D.N. Majumdar, 1968. ‘A Note on Hajong Marriage’. Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India, XVII (1-2). (ii) D.N. Majumdar, 1968. ‘A Study of Religious Practices among the Song Koch of Garo Hills’. Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India, XVII (1-2). (iii) D.N. Majumdar, 1968. ‘An Account of Magico-Religious Rites and Beliefs and Rongdani Rabha’. Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India, XVII(3-4). 7. The Kochas can hardly be represented in the Rabha column. It is not known how they come to be affiliated to the Rabha; they have a clan organization common with the Koch, rather than with the Rabha. 8. Weber (1958) also observed similar stages. 9. Mathur’s (1964) observation in a Malwa village correspond to my observations.

REFERENCES Report on the Census of Assam for 1881. 1883. Calcutta: Office of Superintendent of Government Printing. Das, B.M. 1960. The Ethnic Affinities of the Rabhas. Guwahati: Department of Publication, University of Gauhati. Ghurye, G.T. 1950. Caste and Class in India. Bombay: Book Depot. Jolly, J. 1928. Hindu Law and Customs. Calcutta: Greater India Society (trans. Batakrishna Ghosh). Mathur, K.S. 1964. Caste and Ritual in Malwa Village. New York: Asia Publishing House. Motwani, K. 1958. Manu Dharma S’astra: A Sociological and Historical Study. Madras: Ganesh & Co. Report of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 1966-69. Government of India. Sinha, S. 1967. ‘Caste in India: Its Essential Pattern of Socio-Cultural Integration’, in A. de Reuck and J. Knight (eds.), Caste and Race: Comparative Approaches. London: J & A Churchill Ltd., pp. 92-105. Srinivas, M.N. 1962. Caste in Modern India and other Essays. Bombay: Asia Publishing House. Weber, M. 1958. The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hindusim and Buddhism. Illinois: The Free Press. Trans. and ed. H.H. Gerth and D. Martindale.

CHAPTER 37

Garo Folk Theatre with Special

Reference to Gahon

Barbara Sangma

Introduction The hills hold many a hidden treasure. The A·chiks are, unwittingly, the custodians of one such treasure. Living amidst an interesting juxtaposition of orality, indigenous religion, age-old methods of agriculture and traditional customs on one hand, and modern education, Christianity, new means of livelihood and lifestyles akin to global trends, on the other – the A·chiks seem to be blissfully unaware of the treasure they hold in their hands. The treasure being referred to is the rich theatrical legacy that has been bequeathed to them by their predecessors from one generation to the next. Theatre worldwide has its origin in religious rituals, myths central to the belief – structure of a people, songs, dances and games. The A·chik have no established visible theatre edifice. However, when the Greek etymology of ‘theatre’ which is theastai meaning ‘to see’ and theatron meaning ‘seeing place’ is considered, it is seen that ‘theatre’ among the A·chiks began with rituals – with its associations with incantations, simple enactments, chanting of myths during ceremonies, epic narrations, songs and dance (Sangma, 2016). The A·chik community is basically an oral community. William Carey (1993) referring to the oral tradition of the A·chik writes that ‘their language is their history’ (p. 2). This oral tradition is a veritable vehicle for passing on historical accounts, myths, tales

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told both in prose and verse, folk songs, incantations, epic narra­ tions, lamentations, lullabies, sayings, riddles, proverbs, raillery, etc., to succeeding generations. The historical accounts include the exodus of A·chiks from Tibet, their difficult sojourn and the final settlement in the land that they are now in. The myths recount A·chik tales of origin of things, gods and goddesses, demi-gods, legendary heroes, etc. some of which are now compiled and have taken the form of books such as Dewansing Rongmuthu’s The Epic Lore of the Garos (2008) and Apasong Agana (1997), and Julius L. R. Marak’s Balpakram Land of Spirits: Garo Mythology (2000). Tales told both in verse and prose and folk songs can lay claim to a large percentage of space in the A·chik oral tradition. The Garo folk theatre comprises prayers and incantations that are offered according to the agricultural cycle or in times of specific needs. It also includes the narrations of epic poetry and folk tales, songs sung during festivals or in everyday life, dirges sung for the dead, dances performed during religious ceremonies and festivals, devotional performances coloured by outside influence. Thus, gahon is a performance which is a combination of songs, dance, dialogue and action. The list may appear similar to that of the folk theatres of the Indian sub-continent and elsewhere. However, as Kapila Vatsyayan has stated, there is community and caste specific dimension to a particular folk theatre tradition and every commu­ nity is a repository of a particular folk form (cf. Mohanty, 2012). Folk theatre, like the A∙chik gahon, is of the people. It invites the participation of the whole community and gets the wholehearted reciprocation of the people. It appeals to the masses and caters to the lowest common denominator, the ordinary man. Folk drama is unself-conscious, spontaneous and boisterously naïve. What is more, it is un-hewn, sprawling while at the same time remaining rural. Folk theatre represents the people in their natural habitat, with all their multifarious activities and contradictions. It gives a glimpse of their style of speech, music, dance, dress, behaviour, humour, proverb, wit and wisdom. It contains a rich store of myth­ ological heroes, medieval romances, chivalric tales, social customs, beliefs and legends. However, folk theatre is also seen to be impo­ lite, rude and vulgar (Sangma, 2014).

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Folk Traditions There are different genres of folk traditions among the Garos – such as folk songs, and epics. Folk songs are lighthearted lyrics, sung to tease each other during festivals and other gatherings. A few stanzas of a folk song are given below: Dimdim dimchong dadichong Dama dokato Nomil pante mesa An·ching wangalao. Dama bangsi sikana An·ching mesana. Kotip gital ra·ako kae nipana Bilsi gisep changsasan an·senge nina. Dimdim Dimchong Dadichong (Sound of drum beats) When thus drum beats start Maidens and young men dance In our Wangala festival To the beat of drums and tune of flutes Let us dance heartily. Let me try the new pagri on my head And dance just this once during the year. (Source: Thomas, 2007: 52)

Epic narrations have always had a special place in the narratinglistening exercise. Folk (or oral) epic songs are narrative poems in formulaic and ornamental style, dealing with the adventures of extraordinary people. They are traditional, that is, handed down by word of mouth, as distinguished from literary epics attributed to definite authors. The beginnings of folk epic go back to time immemorial. Epics are referred to as Katta Agana or Katta Doka.1 Lamentations, referred to as Kabe, is another common form. Though the type and content of the dirge always change according to the dead person, the rubric of lamentations, tune, and intonations remain more or less the same. Kabe is also known as Grapmangtata, meaning weeping or lamenting, and Grapmikchi, literally meaning weeping and shedding tears (Thomas, 2007).

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The Garo oral tradition includes lullabies as well. Special songs – dingdinga (dandling the child) and mumua (rocking small children to sleep) – are present. Although there may be improvisa­ tions according to need and time, lullabies are basically learnt from hearing. Iris Watre Thomas records a typical lullaby, sung by the mother, sister or any other person carrying the baby, tied with a long cloth either on the back or in front on the chest, is as follows: Oe..o..de..o…oe…o, Awa angjong teraka, oe..o Ranggirani takraka oe..o Chambil gongdang mesenga, oe..o, Deba gnang seenga, oe…o.9 Oe..o..de..o…oe…o

My little brother there is cute, oe..o,

As the yam from the Ranggira hills, oe..o

The citrus is surely sour, oe..o,

Just like the one carrying the baby for long time gives off odour.

(Source: Thomas, 2007: 54)

There are short question-answer type games that are played by children where conversations take the form of a song. These games may be called raillery. They may also be considered mini perfor­ mances, as rudiments of A·chik performance is observed here, albeit in a small way (Sangma, 2016). This falls under the genre of recreational games or what is termed ‘nongames’ by Robert A. Georges (1972). The prayers and incantations that are offered according to the agricultural cycle, songs sung during festivals, and narration of myths and dances are all subsumed in the Wangala, a harvest thanksgiving festival. The incantations and myths like Dania or Dani Doka chanted during the Wangala festival show that theatre originated with the Wangala. The Dania or Dani Doka recounts the origin of the Wangala ceremony, the Wangala dance and the myth of incense burning for the god Misi Saljong. A number of prayers are said and incantations chanted during the Wangala ceremony which lasts for several days. One of the songs sung during the per­

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formance of the Wangala ritual is Dania or Dani Doka. The song recounts the origin of the Wangala ceremony, the Wangala dance and the myth of incense burning for the god Misi Saljong. It is seen that the Wangala, like other folk festivals the world over, ‘set the context for other genres’ like chanting, singing, dancing, recitations of the miracles and origins of things (Sangma, 2016).2 A very strong support structure to oral tradition among the A·chik community used to be the Nokpante (bachelors’ dormi­ tory) system, where young men received traditional education and got opportunities to hone their skills according to their likes and aptitudes. It was in these dormitories that young men received knowledge and an all-round training in the fields of art, craft, carv­ ing, music, culture, physical fitness, warfare, defence, medicine, agriculture, as well as moral values and etiquette, from the skilled elders of the village. This was also the lyceum where young men received knowledge on the origin, mythology, folklore, tales of the past wars and adventures, legends of heroes, etc. Thus Nokpante served both as a repository of oral traditions and also as a vehicle for passing on the same from one generation to the next (Sangma, 2016).

Gahon: A Folk Theatre Gahon is a folk theatre of the A∙chiks. It matches many of the definitions of folk theatre. It is a combination of songs, music, dance and gesticulations. Gahon is a ‘simple enactment’, a ‘story­ telling performance’ and also a ‘comedy’ (Tillis, 1999). Gahon can be called semi-operatic performance. In folk drama, music plays an important part. The story unfolds itself with the songs sung by the characters who gesticulate as they sing. The gaps in the story told by the characters are filled in by the gaiok, the narrator, who describes the scenes. The themes of the A·chik gahons are social life and the romance of young men and women. The story of the journey of the A∙chiks from Tibet, biblical stories and stories from the Ramayana provide material for the plot. There is no doubt that the Assamese folk theatre too had an impact on the A·chik tribe (Marak, 2004).

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Gahon exhibits most of the characteristics exhibited in the pan-Indian folk theatre as shown by Richmond and others (2007). Gahon thrives on popular support that encourages the show by just being present or by being an enthusiastic spectator by buy­ ing tickets to watch the performance. At present the gahon teams from Moskuli, Kangkolpara and Rongchadenggre thrive not only on public support, but are also the only existing teams. Moskuli is a Garo village in Goalpara District (Assam), Kangkolpara is from Tikrikilla Block, and Rongchadenggre is situated in Ampati dis­ trict, Garo Hills. These teams perform either on contract or resort to sale of tickets. True to the definition given above, gahon is mainly rural, though an increased interest in it is being detected in the district head­ quarters of the Garo Hills region of Meghalaya. Gahons, being seasonal affairs, are performed in the open air, usually in the paddy fields after the winter harvest. A large shed is erected for the per­ formance, with the performance area clearly marked off from the audience space. A big gas lantern, generally known as petromax, by its company name, is used to light up the acting area. The villag­ ers come in droves, with each family carrying a kerosene lantern. However, things are changing today and with the advent of electric­ ity and public address system, gahon performances are resorting to electric-powered lighting systems, microphones and background music, sounds and even recorded songs. In the towns or semi-urban areas, gahon is being performed in district auditoriums, town halls and even in academic campuses. In gahons most of the parts are sung and the commentary in between the scenes is also rendered in song. The songs are accom­ panied by musical instruments like khol, tabla, harmonium, flute, cymbals and even clarinet. The musicians and singers are posi­ tioned at one side of the stage. The plays are performed at night, the scenes lasting the whole night. However, the gahon scenes may be interspersed with some other small performance items like solo singing or dance. Rongchadenggre Cultural Club has performed in the Tura Cam­ pus of North-Eastern Hill University, Balonggre, Rongsak, Selsela, Wagegitok, Rongsang Abare and other places. Generally, the per­

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formance of gahon used to be confined only to A∙chik inhabited areas of Assam and Garo Hills. However, interestingly, Serejing: Lover was performed during Puja and Diwali in places such as Raksamgre, Monggagre, Jongrapara, Chibinang, Masangpani and Maguapara in Garo Hills and Belguri and Thorko in Assam. In fact, Raksamgre market in the north west of Garo Hills is said to have originated from small shops and teashops that were set up from time to time to cater to the audience of the gahon Serejing: Lover. The costumes used in gahon differ slightly from place to place and from one troupe to another. The actors of Moskuli Cultural Club wear the dresses and accessories of the period the play is set in, with minimum or no make-up at all. But in Rongchadenggre gahon, the use of make-up like wigs and cosmetics is necessary, when the female role is enacted by a male. The gaonbura (headman) of Kangkolpara has stated that the costume worn by the perform­ ers of Serejing: Lover are sarees and dhotis. Hair make-up or wigs, powder, kajal and alta are applied by the actors and anklets worn by all the performers (Sangma, 2016). The term gahon is possibly derived from gan as in Bena-gan in Assam. It originated in a village called Benagong Budalong, north of Dhupdhara town, in Goalpara district of Assam. The villages along the Assam border in the plains where contact with the Assa­ mese culture was plentiful and continuous – Damas, Konchikol, Nishangram, A·dokgre and others – took the lead in the production and performance of the gahon (Marak, 2004). However, these days gahon is performed in many places in Garo Hills. Originating in the A·chik inhabited areas of Assam, the gahons did not begin with any written scripts. The actors sang and recited either from memory and improvisation or from lines prompted to them from scraps of papers. It was in the years 1988 and 1998 respectively that Julius L.R. Marak wrote the two plays Serejing aro Waljan and Kalsin aro Sonatchi, taking the help of individuals and groups that had been performing these plays since 1937-8 and got them published (Sangma, 2016). A glance at J.L.R. Marak’s Kalsin aro Sonatchi (1998), which is a compilation of oral renditions, shows us that folk A·chik gahon is basically composed in verse form.

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Kalsin aro Sonatchi (1998) ACT I SCENE VI

Kalsin Sona na·a dongrikbojok, anga re·chakatna, Goalpara Skulosa, anga poraipana. Re·hane ripeng anga, jako rim·e salam, Bidanasa porainaka, roja anga ramram. Sokangenba Sona anga, chitti seatgenne, Dukni sukni kattarangko, ui·atpagenne.

Sonatchi A·bri bari rakkipana, dilneng do·mikenga, Angko gisik ra·pachina, rumal on·atenga. Ripeng na·a re·angoba, angko gisik ra·bo, Dukni sukni salrangoba, chitti seatrongbo. TRANSLATION

Kalsin Sona you stay on, let me depart,

I intend to study in Goalpara.

I’m going friend and let me shake your hand

In greeting,

I’m going away to study, not to fritter away time.

Once I reach there, Sona, I will write a letter to you,

I will let you know how things stand.

Sonatchi You are setting out to prepare yourself to serve the land

Here I am sending you off with handkerchief that you may remember me,

Friend, even if you go away, do remember me,

Do let me know how things stand with you.

Popular Gahons Kalsin aro Sonatchi and Serejing aro Waljan can be called the most popular A·chik gahons; and Sonatchi and Kalsin, and Serejing and

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Waljan are the most celebrated romantic characters in A·chik folk theatre. Serejing aro Waljan gahon and Kalsin aro Sonatchi gahon – one based on myths, and the other on romantic stories – are popular even today; in fact, there is a reawakening of interest in theatre in general and gahon in particular among the A∙chik. Serejing aro Waljan can claim to be the first A·chik play which originated in oral narration and later developed into fullfledged written drama by J.L.R. Marak (1999). The author (playwright) had painstakingly collected the material from oral renditions of at least eighteen persons. The play is basically a romance steeped in emotion and grief. The playwright, in the ‘Introduction’ to Serejing aro Waljan, gives a lengthy description of the origin and time and place of the first performances of Serejing aro Waljan. He records that Serejing aro Waljan as a play was first performed around the years 1937-8 and became greatly popular in Dambo-Rongjeng in East Garo Hills district. He further states that the characters and incidents that are depicted in the gahon are taken from real life situ­ ations. Serejing and Sereni were orphans and were bewailing their fate on the fringes of the jhum field. At that time a deer-couple who were actually benevolent spirits came to that spot and taught the sisters the mournful tune of Serejing gahon (ibid.). This gahon narrates the story of Serejing and Waljan with the parallel but smaller account of Sereni and Tantan through the medium of songs, dance, gesticulations and music. Serejing and Waljan are the main characters and are orphans. Serejing had been taken in by her maternal aunt and her husband; and along the same time they also took in Waljan. Serejing was ill-treated by the aunt. However, the two youngsters fell in love and eloped against heavy odds. Parallel to the story of Serejing and Waljan runs the story of Sereni and Tantan. Sereni was the younger sister of Serejing and her lover Tantan hailed from the same village as that of the maid­ ens’ aunt and uncle. The love between Serejing and Waljan, and Sereni and Tantan was not accepted by the maidens’ relatives on the grounds that it was legally incompatible. According to the Garo Customary Law Serejing and Sereni could not marry the men of their choice (Waljan and Tantan) because they were supposed to be married to one or the other sons of their maternal uncles. However,

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the maidens do not comply and Sereni too elopes with Tantan. The two couples, after quite many adventures and vicissitudes, finally settle down to a quiet married life. Kalsin aro Sonatchi is the other play rendered into the written form by Julius L.R. Marak and first published by him in the year 1998. There exists a novel in Garo under the same title, purportedly written by Redin Momin. The playwright has followed the storyline of the novel with only some deviations in the subplots. The play is set in Goalpara, Assam. In the ‘Foreword’ to the play, the playwright records Ramesor Sangma, an early producer of the play, saying (Marak, 1998) and I translate: ‘As for me, I procured the play of Sonatchi-Kalsin written in a verse form in a diary by Bupen Momin around 1942-3. The material in that diary I had edited and improved so that by 1955 I was able to stage Kalsin aro Sonatchi in Moskuli in Goalpara district of Assam.’ The title Kalsin aro Sonatchi stands for Kalsin and Sonatchi, the two great lovers in Garo literature. Sonatchi is an exceptional girl, born into quite a well-to-do family, good in studies and endowed with unique qualities, not to mention her striking beauty. Kalsin is an orphan being looked after by the maternal aunt who saw to it that the children went to school. However, the uncle dies and Kalsin is forced to discontinue his studies. It was a little before this period that Kalsin and Sonatchi fell in love. Kalsin decides to wander into far off Dacca in pursuit of education. He leaves Sonatchi with sol­ emn promises to remember and love her wherever he is. He reaches Dacca and finds a home in the house of a good and large-hearted Bengali lawyer. Kalsin fares well in his studies and later works as a teacher. Meanwhile, Sonatchi’s father forces her to marry his nephew Joendro. However Sonatchi hates Joendro; her heart is set on Kalsin. Joendro has a friend by the name Malsin -- an expert in Garo herbal medicine. Sonatchi gets sick and is treated by Malsin and Joendro with country medicine. However, under the pretext of administering medicine to Sonatchi, the two make her drink a sleep-inducing draught. When Sonatchi does not wake from her sleep, she was thought to be dead and was buried promptly. How­ ever, two thieves dig out her coffin with the intention of pocketing the large booty buried along with her and unwittingly help in her

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‘resurrection’. With the help of her cousin Arendronath she wan­ ders off to Dacca in search of education and Kalsin. She finds a loving home in the house of a Reverend who helps her resume her studies and later get a job for herself. It took Kalsin and Sonatchi a period of nine years to find each other in Dacca. Thereafter they get married and after some years leave Dacca and return home.

Development and Present Status Both Kalsin aro Sonatchi and Serejing aro Waljan enjoyed great popularity in Garo Hills and in areas in Assam which are dominated by A∙chiks till the early 1980s. Even though the popularity of the plays has diminished, the same plays are being enacted by a team in Moskuli (Goalpara district, Assam) under the leadership of Nolistone K. Marak (Sangma, 2016). According to Nolistone K. Marak, A·chik folk performance in Moskuli started as a simple per­ formance for the village. Kalsin aro Sonatchi began to be performed in the year 1941 under the leadership of Motilal Sangma and Romesor Sangma. The two were studying in Goalpara High School at the time. While in Goalpara they procured the story of Kalsin aro Sonatchi in prose form from a person from Derek, a village in Goalpara. Gojendro Momin prepared the script for a play based on the story and it was performed during Christmas and New Year celebrations in the years 1952-3. At that time the show was popularly known as tamasha. However, this performance is not to be confused with tamasha, the folk theatre of Maharashtra. It was during this time that Bronson S. Sangma, a government officer under the undivided Assam state, saw the tamasha and exhorted the people to give a title to the play and perform it in a more systematic manner. Following this, Gojendro Momin wrote the lyrics and composed the tunes. By this time the performance came to be known as natok, perhaps a term derived because of the influence of Bengali natok. The play was upgraded to its next stage when Liwinson Momin, Gangadhan Sangma, Gowan Sangma and Somin Sangma rendered tune to the lines and synchronized it to the music of harmonium and tabla and introduced some form of foot movement and hand gestures. In this improved form the play

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Kalsin aro Sonatchi, which later came to be referred to as gahon, spread to the A·chik inhabited areas of Assam and many parts of Garo Hills, and enjoyed the favour of the audiences until around 1983. Thus it is seen that though there may be confusion as to the place of origin of gahon, it cannot be denied that gahon is influenced by Assamese folk theatre and perhaps by Bengali folk theatre, at least going by the fact that at one time gahon was referred to as natok. Up to around 1982-3, Moskuli gahons attracted large crowds in various rural or semi-rural areas of A·chik-dominated Assam and Garo Hills. The play Kalsin aro Sonatchi is so integral to the A·chik community consciousness that even at a very short notice the vil­ lagers can put up a delightful performance of the play without any elaborate preparation or rehearsals. The play is part of the ingrained folk narratology of the Garos. The performance of Sonatchi aro Kalsin gahon by Moskuli Cul­ tural Club begins with a greeting by a group of young girls, who lisp and dance simple steps to a song of welcome sung by one, two or groups of singers. The singers sing the parts of the perform­ ers and also act as narrators as they sing the commentaries and provide information on the progress of the plot. The lines of the main characters are sung. The lines of minor characters and scenes requiring speaking of a number of persons are delivered in prose. The performers of Moskuli rely a lot on improvisations. The venue for performance itself could be a spontaneous choice, like the front yard of a villager’s homestead, the preferred paddy field or the play­ grounds of schools. The musicians, consisting of those playing the tabla, the harmonium and the clarinet, make themselves comfort­ able on a mat and the singers sit adjacent to them (Sangma, 2016). The performance shows the intimacy of the folks with the entire proceedings. The space for performance often merged with that of the audience enclosure, the notion of distance between audience and actors was erased but at the same time the audience was fully aware of a dramatic performance. This is reflective of any folk theatrical ambience like the Bhaona of Assam, the Kushan of the Rajbanshis of Assam and Bengal, and the Prahlad Nataka of Odhisa. In gahon the performers made their entry and exit according to their roles, with

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some of them changing into the character’s costume in full public view. A particular performance by Moskuli Club had a scene that is unforgettable, where the character of a school teacher is involved. Whenever the teacher made an entry onto the stage, his real life daughter would follow him. The girl appeared to be mentally chal­ lenged and in her perception there was no difference between play acting and the real. The audience perceived no interruption either, even when the school master tried to shove her off the stage. The props in gahon are simple and indicative, but have all the desired impact on the audience. This is exemplified in the scene where Sonatchi is taking a boat ride, as she makes her escape to Dacca in her quest for education. As the narrators sing the episode Sonatchi, Arendronath – her cousin and confidant – and the boat­ man are seen sailing along on a boat. A close examination shows that the boat is just a creation of strips of bamboo covered with cloth. The characters get into the boat and unobtrusively carry the boat along with them. However, the audience is emotionally aware that she is taking a portentous boat ride to an unknown shore. The play comes to an end with a simple farewell song and dance by the same young girls who had greeted everyone at the start of the play. Mostly the same gahons, like Kalsin aro Sonatchi and Serejing aro Waljan, are performed year after year, and around the same time of the year. The audience remains practically the same. Since they go to see the same gahon every year, some of the audience comment freely and loudly as the play progresses. The criticism, whether positive or negative, is instantaneous and the actors may improve on their performance according to the comments given or carry on the way they were doing. Nolistone K. Marak (one of the organiz­ ers in Moskuli), comments that this kind of criticism is an integral part of the play. If such comments are accepted, they are instantly integrated into the play. For example, if a particular actor is not performing his role in a convincing manner, the audience may com­ ment that he is not up to the mark. That actor can improve upon his performance and play his role in a more convincing manner (Sangma, 2016). The Serejing Waljan gahon is performed also by the Kangkol­ para Serejing Troupe, in the Tikrikilla Block, on the Assam border.

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This gahon is known as Serejing: Lover and is now being performed by the Rabhas. According to the gaonbura, who once used to act the lead role, the present troupe is the third generation of Serejing Lover gahon in Kangkolpara. The first and second generations of actors in the Serejing: Lover were a mixed group of A·chiks, Rabhas and a few Boros; the third generation performers are only Rabhas and Boros. The Serejing: Lover gahon is said to have started in the 1960s with the invitation of one Omed Sangma/Marak from Kel Mohora near Bajengdoba. Omed is referred to as ustaad and he stayed in the village of Kangkolpara and taught the people the Sere­ jing Waljan gahon. Though initially everything was learned by word of mouth and with some form of unorganized written pieces, today the Rabha performers of Serejing: Lover own a script. It is interest­ ing to note that the script of Serejing: Lover is in A·chikku (Garo language) but written in the Assamese script. This gahon thrived till the mid-1980s. When asked as to why the Serejing: Lover is no longer performed, the gaonbura noted that the time is no longer congenial for such performances. Like other gahons elsewhere, Serejing: Lover was generally per­ formed during the winter season, in the open space, with a small shed with raised bamboo floor and roof made up of plantain leaves. Sandesh Bakshaka from Potamati village near Tikrikilla and oth­ ers, who were once actors in the gahon, claim that Serejing: Lover stage was simple and unassuming. Though the gahon was sung and acted following a script, there was no proper demarcation of acts and scenes. The entry of the gaiok was announced by a whistle – an imitation perhaps of Bengali natak, where the narrator’s entry is announced by the beating of a gong. The Serejing: Lover begins with a greeting and the gaiok is held in great esteem by the gahon troupe as well as the audience. It is reported that at the start of the gahon there was absolute silence. Mothers used to come carrying their babies tied to their backs, but the small ones never made any noise. Such was the interest of the audience in the gahon. There is a character named Saurang, Serejing’s uncle. He is also a comic figure, depicting great fond­ ness for food and drinks. The role of Saurang was immensely liked and his entry was always welcomed with great applause. Among

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the Kangkolpara gahon troupe, Saurang is known as Dangdik. He probably came to be known by this name because of the manner of his dressing. He used to appear on stage with a pair of trousers, one leg of which stopped at the knee. The term dangdik might have been originally dongdik which means ‘to stop’. The actors in the Serejing: Lover gahon are all men; while those of Moskuli cultural Club or Rong·chadenggre Serejing Party are a mixed group of men and women. The reason for the all male theatre troupe is that the group travels extensively for performances. Most of the time the troupe travels on foot, carrying things suspended on their heads in bamboo baskets. The child actors are given pick-a-backs. The Serejing gahon of Kangkolpara appears to have adapted to the changes of the times. While the original Serejing gahon version is set in purely traditional agrarian A·chik society that follows the traditional religion known as Songsarek, the Kangkolpara Serejing depicts Waljan to be taking part in the war in France, thus dating the gahon to the British colonial times. An element of Christianity is infused in the gahon with the rendition of lines such as (Sangma, 2016): Knal salode da·ning robibar

Dhoti chola ganeming chingni roan sal.

TRANSLATION

Oh yes, tomorrow is Sunday

The day to dress up in dhoti and shirt and while away time.

Yet another theatre group that performs the Serejing aro Wal­ jan and Kalsin Sonatchi gahon is Rong·chadenggre Serejing Party, which had its beginning in the early 1980s with Majen R. Marak as its leader. Majen had learned the gahon from Chigitchakgre village in Ampati. This team performs both Serejing aro Waljan and Sonat­ chi aro Kalsin about three times a year. The troupe is composed of quite a large number of members hailing from different places in Garo Hills and much travelling is involved. Hence, at times, a smaller number performs; some may then take on the roles of more than one character. The Rong·chadenggre Serejing Party follows the play Serejing aro Waljan written by Julius L.R. Marak (ibid.).

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The Rong·chadenggre Serejing gahon is as boisterous as it is colourful. The gahon is a success with at least three performances a year. Performances which generally go on the whole night are held in the open air. In the Balonggre Wangala festival the Serejing aro Waljan gahon was also performed. Here, unlike the Kangkolpara Serejing: Lover, the roles of women were enacted by women and not by men. All the actors sang their parts, with the gaiok rendering the lines in the most sonorous voice. The female performers wore the traditional A·chik attire, while men performers wore dresses that looked like pyjamas and some kind of kurta. All the perform­ ers wore anklets. The festival was a time for great fun with several folk songs sung in between. The songs were romantic with some of them bordering on the vulgar and erotic as the following (ibid.): Ahaoea, ahaoea, ahaoea Dama dokgipanade ki·sangti, ki·sangti Bangsi sikgipanade sokkoti, sokkoti. Ahaoea, ahaoea. Ahaoea, ahaoea, ahaoea TRANSLATION

For the one who beats the drum, it’s the buttocks, For the one who plays the flute, it’s nipples. Ahaoea, ahaoea.

Conclusion Today gahon is generally seen to have lost its former popularity. But a few enthusiastic and interested persons like Nolistone K. Marak and Chandra Momin of Moskuli in Assam, theatre groups like ‘Kangkolpara Cultural Troupe’ and ‘Rongchadenggre Serejing Gahon’ in Garo Hills have succeeded in keeping alive the tradition of gahon performances to this day. The A·chik community, it is seen, has quite a collection of plays. While elsewhere performers enact from written plays, it is seen at least in two cases, Serejing aro Waljan and Kalsin aro Sonatchi, that the oral plays preceded the written plays, having been compiled directly from those involved in the performances. A·chik theatre

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is essentially tribe and community specific, with intimate mutual linkages with other theatres. It presents a unique array of rituals, songs, dances and gahons that confer distinctive traits to the panIndian tradition. Against this backdrop the resurgence of theatre in the A·chik cultural space brings in a new dimension of cultural self-awareness. There has been a veritable amnesia in A·chik society so far as theatre is concerned. Owing to the continued phases of social and cultural transition that occurred during the last hundred years or so, A·chik society has been tantalizingly engaged in the act of searching for its own cultural roots. In the process, theatre has gradually emerged as a significant genre from its prolonged existence in the margins of cultural consciousness. A fresh movement is slowly taking shape to begin a new phase of cultural activism among the A·chiks. This has not only led to the resurgence of folk theatre, there have also been modern theatre productions which could generate remarkable audience enthusiasm. A·chik theatre has traversed a long way and has magnificently kept itself unabatingly alive despite tremendous cultural and social challenges. Study in A·chik theatre has proved it once again that so long as cultural expressions are intimate to community mythology, beliefs and geography, they can hardly be deracinated; they remain alive in the deep recesses of community memory and invariably re­ emerge to inform the community of the depth of its roots.

NOTES 1. Katha is the Sanskrit word for ‘story’. The Sanskrit root kath means to ‘converse with, tell, relate, narrate, speak about, explain’. Katha then might be better translated as ‘telling or narration’ (Zarrilli et al., 2006: 106). The literal meaning of Katta Doka is ‘to beat into shape, to mould or to weave’. 2. According to the myth of procurement of paddy in Apasong Agana (Rongmuthu, 1997), it was Misi Saljong, the sun god and god of fertility, who blessed man with chri, gron, both meaning seeds of paddy. However, the god commanded man to remember him every year at harvest time, and to set aside a portion for him and to pour out drinks in his name, saying: ‘Mima gilrimito, jabilsi kaketo, jakari namsango, angkosa cha·changnabene,

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angkosa ringchangnabene, biming mingatpabo, mande ra·atpabo’ (ibid.: 54). A free translation would be: When the paddy turns golden yellow, when fruits mature, do not forget to set aside a portion for me, do not forget to toast for me, do call upon my name, and do not forget to pay obeisance to me. The myth of the procurement of paddy is of paramount importance to the Garos because it provided the foundation to their religion and livelihood. Man promised to abide by the command of the god. That is why every year, soon after harvest, a ceremony is organized where the god Misi Saijong is invoked with the following incantation: Nang·na angni gimalna, nang·na angni besana, dakchengako, rongjanggi ong·chengako dinonga, chin. onga. Angko ka·a nangnabe, angko bika sonabe, mikchi ong·nabe. Na·a angni gimal, na·a angni besa. Chri on·gipa, Gron Watgipa, Ge·songgipa, Ge·botgipa, Barigipa, Dilnenggipa, Rongjanggiatgipa, Ronggronatgipa, anga nang·ko cha·changja, anga nan·gko ringchangja. Pattikubo, ra·ronkubo, nirokkubo, sandikubo (ibid.: 54). Free translation: For you my divine ally, here I apportion the first seeds that have been formed, the first fruits that have been produced. Do not be angry or disappointed, and do not shed tears. You are my friend, provider of seeds. You are the one who makes seedplants grow, thrive and yield fruit. You form the seeds and animate them, making them productive and life-sustaining; I do not forget you as I taste the fruits of my farm and drink from the produce of my land. Continue to bless, to give, to care, to look after us.

REFERENCES Carey, W. 1993[1966]. The Garo Jungle Book. 2nd edn. Tura: Tura Book Room. Georges, R.A. 1972. ‘Recreations and Games’, in R.M. Dorson (ed.), Folklore and Folklife: An Introduction. Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp. 173-89. Marak, C.R. 2004. ‘Some Aspects of the A·chik Culture in the Brahmaputra Valley’, in C.R. Marak and S. Som (eds.), Rivers and Culture: Focus on Garo Hills. Bhopal: IGRMS, p. 10. Marak, Julius LR. 1998. Kalsin aro Sonatchi. Shillong: Dr. Julius L.R. Marak. ______. 1999. Serejing aro Waljan. Mankachar: Dr. Julius L.R. Marak. ______. 2000. Balpakram Land of Spirits: Garo Mythology. Delhi: Akansha Publishing House. Mohanty, B.B. 2012. Indian Theatre Beyond Boundaries. Guwahati: DVS Publishers. Richmond, F.P., D.L. Swann and P.B. Zarilli. 2007 [1990]. Indian Theatre, Traditions of Performance. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Reprint.

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Sangma, B. 2014. ‘Wangala: the Origin of A∙chik (Garo) Folk Theatre’, in J. Prodhani & R.S. Thakur (eds.), Culture, Ethnicity and Identity: A Reader. Guwahati: DVS Publishers, pp. 236-45. Sangma, B.S. 2016. A∙chik (Garo) Theatre: A Case for Indian Folk Theatre. Guwahati: MRB Publishers. Rongmuthu, D. 1997. Apasong Agana. Delhi: Sharona N. Marak. ______. 2008. The Epic Lore of the Garos. Guwahati: Gauhati University Press. Thomas, I.I. 2007. Music and Musical Instruments of the Garo Tribe of NorthEast India. Delhi: Akansha. Tillis, S. 1999. Rethinking Folk Drama. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Zarrilli, P.B., B. McConachie, G.J. Williams and C.F. Sorgenfrei (eds.). 2006. Theatre Histories: An Introduction. Glasgow: Routledge.

CHAPTER 38

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in

Garo Hills

Angira Kar

Introduction The earlier researches on trade with regard to north-east India have largely concentrated upon exchange or sale of commodity and the impact of such act or exchange in the social, economic or political life of a particular group of people under study. Such discourses were evident for the pre-colonial, colonial and even post-colonial period. Similarly, in the context of the Garos, extensive work has been carried out with regard to the mechanism and regulation of exchanges of goods and commodities, trade routes, volume of trade, etc. (Bhattacharjee, 1978, 2000; Kar, 1982b; Mohapatra, 1989; Marak, 2006). My previous researches too dealt on these lines (Kar, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017). Even in the researches undertaken with regard to the neighbouring area of Goalpara of the present state of Assam, references to the role of Garos in trade have been made (Misra, 2005, 2011; Saha, 2014). Though the study of cultural exchange through trade is not very popular, a few earlier attempts in this regard are important to be mentioned. They are the pioneer attempts and provide useful insights to the study of trade beyond the economic and political paradigms. Taking clue from Cyril S. Belshaw, Amrendra Kr. Thakur focussed on the socio-cultural influence of the trad­ ing activities (Thakur, 2006, 2007). Though Thakur has focused

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on Tibet-Arunachal Pradesh and Assam as his area of study; his approach proved inspirational for this chapter. In the same line trade has been studied beyond the economic exchange in the Khasi society of northeast India (Khongdup, 2016). It is in this perspec­ tive that the present chapter tries to analyse the cultural exchanges at the traditional markets of the Garos during the pre-colonial and colonial period between the trading communities. The first part locates the various markets or haats frequented by the Garos along with a brief description of the items of exchange. The second part of the chapter discusses the cultural aspect of the trade.

Traditional Markets in Garo Hills Like many other tribes of north-east India, the Garos also developed and maintained trade relations with their neighbours even before the advent of the colonial rule in the north-eastern part of the country. As the origin and development of trade depended mainly upon the surplus generated by a society, the surplus generation, in the Garo society, like most other tribal societies, was largely from agricultural practices and also from the utilization of natural resources. It was the surplus agricultural products obtained from jhum that comprised the articles of trade. Garos, who ethnically and linguistically belong to the Bodo fam­ ily and are also the members of the Tibeto-Burman group are said to have been cradled in north-eastern China between the upper rivers of Hwang-Ho and Yang-tse-Kiang. According to oral trad­ itions, the Garos departed from their ancestral homeland in Tibet and migrated across the mountains and finally made the hills laying in the western extremity of the present state of Meghalaya their homeland. In course of their journey it is believed that the Garos halted at various places for which we find Garo settlements spread far and wide beyond the hills. The Garos had settled in the foothills adjoining the plains of Bengal and Assam. They are also found in Tripura, in other parts of the state of Meghalaya and in the neigh­ bouring state of Bangladesh. The strategic position of the hills occupied by the Garos facili­ tated lucrative barter trade with the neighbouring areas. At the

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base of the hills lie low wet lands thus exposing the hills to the vast plains of Assam and Bengal. On its northern boundary lie the plains of Goalpara (district of the present state of Assam while prior to Independence it formed part of the district of Rangpur, pres­ ent Bangladesh) while on its south is situated the present state of Bangladesh. At the base of the hills adjoining these plains at the principal hill passes, periodical markets for trade exchange were set up even before the advent of colonial rule in the eastern part of Bengal. Apart from the adjoining plain areas that facilitated trade promotion, the mighty Brahmaputra River that outlined the hills also floated down various forest products from the hills such as timber and bamboos to different destinations in Bengal for their sale. On the eastern frontier of the hills are settled the Megams, with whom the Garos traded since the pre-colonial period. The Megam area extended from the Maheshkhali River up to the border of Kamrup.1 Thus inter-regional trade practices with Bengal and inter-hill trade with the Megams constituted significant trade links maintained by the Garos since the pre-colonial period. Besides topographical conditions supporting trade relations with the neighbours, the need to procure certain basic necessi­ ties that were scarce or unavailable in the hills also encouraged the Garos to enter into trade relations with their neighbours and obtain the required items by exchanging the surplus agricultural products. However a more definite and regular feature to the trading activi­ ties of the Garos was afforded when the Mughal feudatories settled with large landed estates at the Bengal frontier and took initiative to set up a chain of periodical markets at the principal hill passes connecting the hills with the plains. The Mughal feudatories were originally indigenous owners of large areas of land at the frontier of Bengal which were divided into large estates by the Mughal rulers on their occupation of Bengal. These landed estates were conferred on the actual owners with effective rights over their lands and with the title of choudhries and not zamindars. They were also left inde­ pendent with regard to the internal affairs of their estates. Neither were they subjected to land assessment (Mackenzie, 1999 [1979]; Habib, 1986). However, as tributaries they were required to pay a small tribute to the Mughal faujdar stationed at Rangamatty in

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terms of few falcons and mynahs, some captured elephants and a small quantity of sweet smelling wood called aghur. A formidable task was also entrusted to the choudhries. They were required to ward off the inroads of the Garos into the villages at the frontier. To the Mughals the choudhries were influential people who were known for their blood ties with the Garos through intermarriage particularly amongst their ancestors. Thus the strong bond with which the choudhries were connected to the Garos was considered to be an effective weapon by the Mughals to check the incursions of the Garos into the plains. For this reason probably the choudhries were treated as tributaries and not as subjects. Thus the agricultural products of the Garos and other items obtained naturally from the hills were popularized in the plains of Bengal through the markets. The most important of these items was the Garo cotton grown in the jhum field that attracted the attention not only of the choudhries but also of the merchants from different parts of Bengal. Hence the choudhries in their bid to procure the Garo cotton and other items from the hills had set up the markets at the frontier and also took upon themselves the charge of regulating the trading activities at these markets. As the estates of the choudhries were established all along the Garo frontier, hence the markets were also located along these lines. Thus the important estates on the Garo frontier were Kurribari (Karaibari), Kaloomaloopara (Kalumalupara), Measpara (Mech­ para), Habraghat located in that part of Rungpore (also Rangpur) now called Goalpara. The estates of Karaibari, Kalumalupara, Mechpara and Habraghat were separated from Rangpur in the early years of the nineteenth century and eventually included in the Goalpara district of Assam. The markets held along the western border within the Goalpara district close to the Garo border not far from the Brahmaputra were Thikrikilla, Bangal Khata, Phulbari, Rajabala, Singimari, Mankachar and Putimari. Along the southern boundary Susang and Sherpur were impor­ tant estates lying within the Mymensingh district of present state of Bangladesh. The important markets situated along the south­ ern boundary during the pre-colonial period were Mahendraganj,

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Pora Khasia, Dalu, Baghmara, Haluaghat, Nalitabari, Ghosegaon, Durgapur and Nazirpur in Mymensingh (Hunter, 1879). The important estates of the Eastern Duars were Siddli and Bijni district of Assam while Damra, Jeera, Nibari, and Lakhimpur were the principal markets pitched along the northern borders of the hills of the Garos. Several other weekly markets were also occasion­ ally held along the frontiers according to the needs of the people. These markets were popularly known as haats and were held weekly either once or twice particularly during the winter months after the harvest of various agricultural crops was completed. It was also a favourable time for easy movements of the Garos up and down the hills as the hilly paths remained largely dry during the winter months. At these markets the Garos exchanged their surpluses to pro­ cure the items of their need. Cotton was the most coveted item in the markets. It was grown abundantly in the jhum fields particu­ larly in the western and northwestern part of the hills. Hence the choudhries engaged their own agents who directly transacted with the Garos in markets and collected the cotton from the Garos. The cotton collected by these agents was handed over to the choudhries. The choudhries earned enormous profit by their sale elsewhere particularly to the different markets of Bengal. The choudhries also permitted independent merchants from the plains to partake in the transactions on the payment of trade dues either in cash or kind which formed one of their main sources of income. The tenants of the estates within which the markets were located, were also allowed by the choudhries to exchange provision for as much cotton as their own families spun and wove. They too were required to pay certain duties to the estate holders (Kar, 1982a). Thus with the participation of such diverse group of people in the market, the smooth functioning of the dealings and security of the participants was an utmost responsibility of the choudhries. Hence they utilized the services of the burkandazes to maintain peace and tranquility at the markets. These burkandazes were armed men who were actually engaged by the Mughal rulers to aid the choudhries in their task of restraining the Garo inroads into the frontier plains. These armed

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men made their presence felt at the market by their march up and down the haat area, signaling a warning against any provocative act which might lead to grave situations. Thus the choudhries prospered by selling Garo cotton at high rates to the Bengali merchants of Chittagong who came to buy bulk of it during the winter months. These merchants further ferried them in country boats to the Narayanganj market in the Dacca dis­ trict2. The Marwari merchants of Bengal further shipped them to Sirajganj (Hunter, 1879) and distributed them all over Bengal. The peasants of the plains also bought Garo cotton from the merchants to make their clothing, threads and quilts. This cotton was also used in Bengal to make the coarse cotton mats called sattrunjees and for stuffing quilts and mattresses. Thus the inhabitants of Goalpara, Rangpur and Mymensingh were the largest purchasers of cotton who made the maximum use of it in Bengal itself. Lac was another important surplus item of the Garos which they brought to the markets for exchange. Lac was produced by cultur­ ing the lac insects on arhar dhall plants (b. Cytisus cajan) cultivated in the jhum fields. The arhar dhall plants were popularly known as mendu by the Garos. Some quantity of lac was also obtained by nurturing the lac insects in certain trees growing wild in the forest such as the bolmengo (b. Grewia loevigata), the boldo∙bak (b. Kydia calicina) and the prap (b. Ficus rumphi) (Playfair, 1975 [1909]). Lac also became a popular item in the markets of Bengal from where they were further purchased by the merchants of Benares in large quantities for the making of toys and other products such as colour material, shellac, and sealing wax (Bhattacharjee, 1984). Considerable quantities of chilies grown abundantly in the south-eastern part of the hills were regularly brought to the markets from where they were sold to different parts of Bengal. However, the trade in honey was limited but it found its way to several house­ holds of the plains of Bengal. Sandalwood obtained from the southern hills also constituted an important item of exchange at the markets of the southern frontier since the days of the Mughal rule. They found a ready market in the estate of Susung Durgapur as the choudhries were the largest purchasers. They were used for certain religious ceremonies. It was

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the merchants of Susung Durgapur who collected the sandalwood from the markets and sold them to the estate holder. Even large quantities of betel leaves which grew on big trees of the southern hills were brought to the markets of the southern frontier from where these leaves found their way to different markets in Bengal. The womenfolk of the plains particularly of the southern fron­ tier treasured the worn out bangles of the Garo women made of shell of some wild fruits in the hills as they were believed to posses supernatural medicinal efficacy and also power of driving away evil influences (Sinha, 1965). They too constituted important items of exchange at the markets in the southern frontier. The Garo cotton served not only as the most important item of barter trade at the markets, but was also used as a medium of exchange. Most of the items in the market were priced according to the value of cotton that was exchanged by the Garos to procure them. Thus, with a maund of cotton (82 pounds), 5 pounds of rice, or one of tobacco, or even sometimes a bull was purchased (Carey, 1966 [1919]). By exchanging one of the bucha load2 (20 pounds) a fowl was purchased, perhaps even a small puppy or a sucking pig. In the like manner, lac, aghur wood, chilies, ginger, honey and various other hill produces were also exchanged by the Garos for the procurement of their requirements. The requirements of the Garos consisted not only of food but also of certain conventional, social and ceremonial necessities. Among the food items rice was one of the most important item obtained from the markets particu­ larly in times of food shortage as agricultural activities carried on by the method of jhum was entirely dependent on the vagaries of monsoon. Salt which was a basic necessity, was also an important item obtained from the markets. For salt, the Garos used potash which was indigenously made by burning the leaves of old plantain tree. But with the availability of salt in the markets, they started to procure it from there. Extracts of sugar cane and livestock such as cows, bulls, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, fowls, ducks, tortoises were used as food by the people and were obtained from the markets. But cows, bulls, pigs and goats were also very important for ceremonial and social necessities. For instance bulls and dogs were sacrificed during cremation of the dead, while pigs, goats, fowls, cows, ducks

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were sacrificed during ceremonies connected with jhumming such as Den∙bilsia, A∙siroka, A∙galmaka, Mi Amua, Rongchugala or Ginde­ gala, Wangala and Rusrota. Thus there was a constant requirement for all these livestock and they were obtained from the markets. Conventional necessaries like tobacco and areca nut were also pro­ cured from the market as the people enjoyed chewing them. Iron tools and implements such as hoes and spearheads, some brass wares, some grocery items, spinning wheels, were also obtained from the markets by exchanging their surpluses. Garos also maintained trade relations with the Megams or the Lyngams of the eastern hills who also introduced to the Garos certain items from the plains lying beyond the eastern hills. The most important of these items were the beads made of conch-shells which the Garos were very fond of. The Garos used the beads to make necklaces or to decorate their apparels. In the opinion of the Garos the Megams were the manufacturer of the beads. But Major A. Playfair believed that probably the beads were purchased from the plains by the Megams and sold to the Garos at Rs. 4 to 5 per thousand (Playfair, 1975 [1909]). However the other important item obtained by the Garos from the Megams was their war weapon known as the milam which they purchased at Rs. 2 or 3. These weapons appeared to be of Khasi origin. Thus the Megams must have collected the weapons from the Khasis and sold the same to the Garos. Although the Garos entered into monetary transactions with the Megams but it was quite probable that they must have also exchanged some of the surplus agricultural items of the south­ eastern hills such as chilies with them as cotton was not grown here. The cultivation of cotton was restricted to the southeast portion of the hills, even that of lac. The people of this region seemed to have a rooted antipathy both for cotton and lac and alleged that the cultivation of cotton was tabooed for them. As a matter of fact the soil in the south-eastern and south-western hills was very poor and jhumming did not yield good results. Its cultivation was thus considered marang or unlucky by the people living here. Hence the only commercial crop cultivated here was chilies although it did not earn them much profit. Besides these items the Garos particularly

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in Garo Hills

717

of the central Someswari or the Simsang valley also purchased the iron daos from the Megams.

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange The political exigencies of the Mughal rulers to maintain peace and tranquillity at the Bengal frontier by checking Garo inroads into the villages at the plains resulted in the ascendancy of the strongholds of the choudhries around the hills of the Garos on its northern, northwestern and southern frontier. The hegemony of the choudhries in this part of Bengal was further enhanced by the support and aid extended to them by the Mughal faujdar, stationed at Rangamati. He too participated in the cotton trade and collected his share of Garo cotton from the choudhries. In return he left the choudhries totally undisturbed in the internal management of their estates and also in regulating barter trade with the Garos according to their own terms. The political supremacy of the choudhries was evident in their act of providing the Garos with the opportunity for assured periodical exchange of their surplus agricultural products by set­ ting up the frontier markets. It also provided the people with an option to develop contact with cultural attributes of inter-regional barter trade with the plains of Bengal. Apart from necessities, conventional and ceremonial goods, certain luxury items such as ornaments, clothing and accessories like headdresses were also dis­ played at the frontier markets. Gradually, Garos started to select these items from the markets. Such items were also introduced to them by the Megams. The exposure to such articles of luxury stimulated the aesthetic awareness among the people. The rise of one’s aesthetic perceptions led to the adoption of such luxury items which complimented their personality. Thus patterns of cultural exchanges became apparent among the people of the hills and the plains. Some of the items procured by the Garos from the markets were adopted as they were made available there while some of the items were subjected to modifications amongst themselves in order to conform to their traditional customs, values and beliefs. Thus

718

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a process of cultural diffusion and evolution also took place par­ ticularly with regard to the luxury items obtained from the markets which tended to constitute the object-based aspect of the culture of the people. Certain ornaments that were obtained from the frontier markets were treated with an indigenous name such as the metal earrings made of bell-metal which were of different designs. Popularly known as shisha, they were the most desired ear ornament worn by women, and as many as fifty or more of such earrings about two inches in diameter, were worn in each ear throughout the hills although the usual number was four in each ear. Many a times under their heavy weight the ear lobes were torn apart, yet the women took pleasure in wearing them as they were found aesthetically pleasing. Thus, women continued to put them on by supporting them over their heads by a double string which prevented these rings from shifting from side to side. These earrings were also used in multiple numbers to prick the earlobes of the people and the upper part of their ears. The largest number of them was worn by the southern Abengs, while among the Akawes and the Chisaks of the north and north-eastern hills respectively, the earrings of the same size, were worn by both men and women. But the women of Chibok and Ruga groups who dwell in the Bogai River Valley that rises from the Tura range and flows towards the south, wore few small rings. Social and cultural significance exclusive to themselves was attached to these earrings. Thus when a woman was proved with charges of infidelity, these earrings were pulled out of the ears leav­ ing the ear lobes sometimes torn apart. Sometimes on the death of a husband, his widowed wife removed them till the completion of the funeral ceremony and sometimes she never put them anymore even after the completion of the funeral ceremony. Later on these ear­ rings were put on less often and were preserved as heirlooms. Thus the items obtained from the markets became important objects of hereditary possession among the people. Later during the colonial period, smaller rings made of brass (which were also obtained from the markets) were preferred. Another important metal ornament that was obtained from the Bengal frontier market and used as heir­ loom was the metal necklace known as the konal or ka∙kam. It was

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in Garo Hills

719

made of brass or silver. It was a necklace of about 5 inches long and wrapped round the neck and tied in a knot behind it. They were worn by both men and women during festive occasions. A distinctive ornament such as the jaksil, procured from the frontier markets was valued and esteemed among the people. The jaksil consisted of thick metal, elbow rings, made of iron or brass or even silver. It was worn only by those who had accumulated enough wealth and had earned a status for himself in the village. Thus the wearer was required to perform the Gana ceremony for his inves­ titure as a wealthy man in the village. He fed the guests and the village folk during the ceremony with lavish feasts. However this custom was prevalent only among the Garos of the northern and eastern part of the hills (Playfair, 1975 [1909]). Certain items acted as symbols of social stratification among the people of the plains. But with their incorporation within the cul­ tural fold of the people of the hills, the propensity of asserting one’s eminent position in the society with their use was also adopted by the people. Thus while the wealthy Garos of the northern and the eastern hills wore the jaksil, the wealthy Garo chiefs of the southern frontier such as Agund made use of palanquins which was a cul­ tural trait of the wealthy and influential people of the plains. They were usually borne by slaves of the landlords or estate holders and Agund used his slaves to carry him up and down the hills. Although the palanquin was presented to him by the choudhry of Karaibari but Agund adopted the mannerism of the affluent section of the people of Bengal. Moreover Agund was the son of Rengtha, who was also a very famous chief of the southern hills, adjoining the plains of Mymensingh of the present state of Bangladesh. Agund also possessed much wealth in slaves, brass pots and human skulls (Anon, 1839). Cultural interpolation from Bengal signifying stratification in the society was also evident with regard to the procurement of brass studs from the frontier markets. The brass studs were attached to a circlet of cloth and used as headdress known as the kadisil or kadasil. It could be used by only those who went to war (Playfair, 1975 [1909]). In the earlier times the kadasil was used by only those who had killed a foe in the battle. However, during the later period

720

Angira Kar

the headdress was worn only during festive occasions. During the colonial period only Garos of the interior hills who were still inde­ pendent, adhered to the custom while those from the areas who had submitted and acknowledged British authority wore the head dress indiscriminately (Hunter, 1879; Playfair, 1975 [1909]). The process of dissemination and evolution was also largely evident with regard to the use of ornaments obtained from the frontier markets. The nadirong, which was a plain looking, small brass ring, as obtained from the markets was modified indigenously by the Garos to enhance its beauty by attaching a string of beads about four inches long ending in a semi-circular piece of brass, silver or crystal. It was further ornamented with four small brass discs attached to its outer and lower edge and a small semicircular piece of metal called natapsi. The natapsi was made of silver and baser metal, from the lower end of which again hung a number of small pendants by means of chains. These earrings were worn by both men and women in the upper part of the ear. The nadirong was also known as nadangmari or nadimarong among the A∙bengs of south-western hills. Custom and belief played an important role in fashioning the ornaments obtained from the frontier markets according to the need of the people. The nadongbi or otonga were earrings worn in the ear lobes only by men and were also obtained from the frontier markets. They were made of thin brass wire, about one inch in diameter and were also worn as many as thirty or forty in each ear. Otherwise the usual number was as many as twelve and twenty. Thus the menfolk were equally at par with the women in their sense of beauty and adornment. On similar lines the metal necklace known as kochichar was worn only by Ruga women during the post-funeral ceremony known as Mangona. It was also procured from the Bengal markets of the southern frontier. The kochichar consisted of three strings made of brass or silver, long enough to fall on the chest. Similarly the metal headress known as kokasil which was also obtained from the market was meant to be worn only by the womenfolk to beautify themselves especially during dances. The kokasil consisted of semi­ circular silver or baser metal circlet, from the lower end of which hung a number of small pendants by means of thin chains. The

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in Garo Hills

721

headdresses of the Garos were further beautified with the attach­ ment of the feathers of fowls procured from the markets. The use of a striking ear ornament known as penta conspicu­ ously illustrates cultural assimilation between the Garos and the people of the plains. The penta, was a small piece of ivory, only half an inch long, like that of a pencil and sharply pointed at one end to be pierced to the upper part of the ear lobe so that they projected upwards, parallel to the side of the head. It was a typi­ cal ornament of the Ruga Garos who are settled in the area to the south of the Chibok in the low hills bordering the Mymensingh district of present state of Bangladesh in the vicinity of Dalu. But the penta was also worn by the plain dwellers such as the Rang­ daniya Rabhas (Playfair, 1975 [1909]) of the northern frontier of Goalpara. However, the Rangdaniya Rabha women wore the penta made of silver. Although there was a difference with regard to the material used by both the communities to the making of the penta but the custom underlying its use was alike. The womenfolk of both the communities wore it during mourning, on the death of a family member and removed them only after the completion of the funeral ceremony. It is quite probable that at the respective frontier markets, the traders displayed articles according to the demands of the people. Thus ornaments bearing different designs were made available in the different markets surrounding the hills as per the availability of the metals and the choice of the people. Thus the dif­ ference in the material being used for the making of the penta may be attributed to the fact that ivory was easily available in the hills due to the presence of abundance of elephants while in the plains metals such as silver, copper and others were popular. Moreover linguistically and culturally the Rangdaniya Rabhas of Goalpara were considered to bear similarity to the Garos settled along the foothills in the northern frontier in Goalpara where the villages of the Rabhas sometimes overlapped with that of the Garo villages. Till today about 10 km inside Mendipathar in north Garo Hills, Rangdhaniya Rabha settlements are found. Hence cultural assimi­ lation among them was obvious. The arm ornament known as katta baju, used by the Ruga women and which was also obtained from the southern frontier markets bears close resemblance to similar

722

Angira Kar

armlets known as baju bandh, commonly worn by the womenfolk of Bengal. The katta baju was a massive bronze armlet, 2 or 3 inches in depth. Sanchok was another armlet used by the Ruga women, made of heavy iron, open at one end and also procured from the markets of the southern frontier. Bangles called jaksan made of sil­ ver were also procured from the frontier markets. Cultural exchanges between the Garos and the frontier plains were also evident in the field of currency and coinage. At the mar­ kets the Garos were exposed to the coins of the kingdom of Cooch Behar. Such instance took place at the markets only when the cotton that the Garos exchanged to procure certain items was far greater in value than that of the items to be obtained. To compensate for the deficit the balance was paid to the Garos by the merchants in terms of the Cooch Behar coins known as the Narayani coins. The popularity of these coins were spread not only in Cooch Behar but the coins were circulated as far as in the whole of north Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Tibet and the western districts of Assam till about 1864 (Kar, 2015). The significant role that these coins played among the Garos was noticeable from the fact that whenever the balance was paid to the Garos in terms of other coins such as the Ahom coins or those of the Shah rulers of Bengal, the Garos refused to accept them. They even refused to accept the British coin that was introduced in the markets in 1838. It was reported that the Garos returned home with all their cotton that they carried to the haats for exchange and refused to carry on the transactions at the haats. The British officer-in-charge of the Garo Mahal or areas was bound to allow the Garos to make their payment with the Narayani coins (Kar, 1982a). However, since the year 1866 the Brit­ ish government’s coins substituted as legal tender and the Ahom coins ceased to be minted after 1826 (Khadria, 2000). Thus the reliance of the Garos on the coins of Cooch Behar is an indication of their faith in their association with the culture and tradition of the people of Bengal. Their confidence on items used by the people of the plains was also noticeable with regard to the fact that they even refused to accept the charkhas that were brought from Central Provinces and distributed among them by the Deputy Commis­ sioner to encourage weaving (NAI, 1875). The Garos preferred

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in Garo Hills

723

the Bengal charkhas or spinning wheels as they had also adopted a method of weaving that was similar to that of Bengal. Thus the earthen pots made by the Garos were similar to the patil or earth­ enwares of the plains of Bengal. In the field of clothing the frontier markets provided the Garos with great variety of garments during the colonial period to suit their taste and style. Thus cotton clothes of varying descriptions, tailored clothes such as shorts and shirts for men and dresses for small girls and untailored ones including the plain blue cloth adored by the Garos, large number of old uniforms, frock-coats and cotton sheets were displayed at the haats which were selected by the Garos in exchange for their hill produce. With regard to the process of merging of cultural traits and their evolution, the influence of trade relations of the Garos with the Megams of the eastern frontier was also discernible. The rough white beads with which the Megams traded with the Garos were used by the latter for various purposes. These rough white beads were made of conch-shell and were found in the eastern part of the hills. The Garos ground these beads down to a shape as required by them for making necklaces as well as for decorating their apparels. They worked hard to bring the beads down to the required shape as it was a very labourious and slow process as they rubbed these beads continuously against sandstone or other rock (NAI, 1874). For instance the ripok dokatchi was one such necklace that was stitched with four or five strings of white beads, mixed with mul­ ticoloured small stones of red, dark blue, green and pale white and even orange. It was worn by both men and women. These beads were also used to beautify headdresses. The pilne or salchak-mal­ dong consisted of the traditionally dyed indigo blue cloth decorated with rows of white beads. The kotip salchak, was another headdress which consisted of the traditionally dyed blue cloth ornamented with several rows of the generally used white beads to which were added cocks’ feathers. It was worn specifically by the women dur­ ing special occasions. The sengki or the girdle consisted entirely of beads of ivory or conch shells. It was usually worn by the wom­ enfolk on special occasions round the waist over the re∙king or the dress of the Garo women. Thus cultural assimilation was evident

724

Angira Kar

at the eastern frontier of the hills too where either through the Megams or through a chain of connectivity with the Megams and the Khasis, exchange of items of each other’s culture took place.

Conclusion Thus the long distance trade of the Garos with the plains of Bengal was regulated and given a definite shape by the feudatories of the Mughals who were settled at the frontier with large landed estates. The barter trade that was primarily carried out by the choudhries to procure the items of the hills, both agricultural and nonagricultural in return for supplying the basic needs of the Garos, resulted in cultural exchanges among the people involved in the trade. Thus the interregional barter trade between the Garos and the merchants of the plains of Bengal provided one of the earliest means to the participants of the trade to be exposed to each other’s cultures, as such economic exchanges commenced since the pre-colonial period. The items that were traded commercially between the people of two different cultures influenced each other considerably. The blending of the cultures of the people of the hills and the plains was noticed at multiple levels. However, apart from the basic necessities, the Garos were introduced to luxury goods thereby creating a demand and also a market for imitations. The kind of ornaments preferred by the Garos inspired the merchants of the plains to meet their demands by procuring such items from the plains which gave rise to various cultural traits among them. However, such means of cross-cultural exchange have also been documented among ancient cultures around the world. But with regard to the Garos the study of the trade beyond economic exchange is limited. Hence such an area offers wide scope for his­ torical investigation.

NOTES 1. In 1869 Williamson was appointed Deputy Commissioner and by 1872­ 3 the remaining independent Garo villages were subjugated. On the occasion of the demarcation of the boundary between the Garo Hills and the Khasi Hills, the Boundary Commissioners were attended by the

Markets as Centres of Cultural Exchange in Garo Hills

725

chiefs of Nongstoin and Ramrye, who advanced their claims to certain villages west of the present boundary, i.e. the Megam area, starting from the Maheshkhali River upto the border of Kamrup. The respective syiems were compensated with a monetary payment of Rs. 3,000 and 1,500 to relinquish their claims to the Garo villages (NAI, 1875). Prior to the above arrangements, the Megam village lay within the Khasi Hills district. 2. By the bucha load was meant a small bundle of cotton that the Garos were required to carry along with a big basket of cotton to pay the haat toll to the choudhries. But sometimes it was also exchanged.

REFERENCES Anonymous. 1839. An Account of the Burman Empire and the Kingdom of Assam. Calcutta: unknown. Bhattacharjee, J.B. 1978. The Garos and the English (1765-1874). New Delhi: Radiant Publisher. _____. (1984). ‘Pattern of Economic Change in Garo society’, in L.S. Gassah (ed.), Garo Hills: Land and People, pp. 196-215. Gauhati: Omsons. _____. 2000. Trade and Colony: The British Colonisation of North East India. Shillong: North East India History Association. Carey, W. 1966 [1919]. The Garo Jungle Book. Tura: Tura Book Room. Habib, I. 1986. An Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic Maps with Detailed Notes, Bibliography and Index. New Delhi: Oxfrd University Press. Hunter, W.W. 1879. A Statistical Account of Assam, vol. II. London: Trubner & Co. Kar, A. 2013. The Garo Frontier Markets in the Nineteenth Century. Tura: D. J. Publication. _____. 2015. ‘Pre-Colonial trade and coinage in the Garo Society’. Journal of Numismatic Society of India, LXXVII (1&2): 46-56. _____. 2016. ‘Garo Economy during the Pre-Colonial and Colonial Times’. PhD thesis, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. _____. 2017. ‘Disruption, Change and Continuity: The Garo Trade at the Frontier of Bengal during 18th Century’, in T. Gurung (ed.), The Falling Polities: Crises and Decline of States in North-East India in the Eighteenth Century, New Delhi: DVS Publishers, pp. 235-58. Kar, P.C. 1982a. Garos in Transition. New Delhi: Cosmo. _____. 1982b. Glimpses of the Garos. New Delhi: Cosmo. Khadria, N. 2000. ‘Internal Trade and Market Network in the Brahmaputra Valley 1826-73’. The Indian Economic and Social History Review, XXXVII (1): 152-73.

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Khongdup, B. 2016. ‘Trade Practices of the Khasis of Meghalaya: Beyond Commodity Exchange’. Proceedings of North East India History Association, 37th Session, Gangtok, pp. 218-24. Mackenzie, A. 1999 [1979]. The North East Frontier of India. New Delhi: Mittal. Marak, C.R. 2006. ‘Pre-Colonial Economy and Society of the Garos’, in F.A. Qadri (ed.), Society and Economy in North East India, vol. 2, 91­ 200. New Delhi: Regency. Misra, S. 2005. ‘The Changing Frontiers and Spaces: The Colonial State in Nineteenth Century Goalpara’. Studies in History, 21 (2): 215-46. _____. 2011. Becoming a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Identity in Colonial Northeastern India. New Delhi: Routledge. Mohapatra, A.C. 1989. ‘Location Pattern of Markets in Pre-and Early British Period in North East India (Special reference to Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills)’. Proceedings of North East India History Association, 10th Session, Shillong, pp. 347-52. N.A.I. K.W. Political A., November 1875. Nos. 59-60. Office Note.

Playfair, A. 1975 [1909]. The Garos. Guwahati: United Publishers.

Saha, S. 2014. ‘Trade and Markets in Goalpara region: Late Eighteenth

and Early Nineteenth Centuries’. PhD thesis. North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Sinha, B.C. 1965. Changing Times: Autobiographical. Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India. Thakur, A.K. 2006. ‘Polity of Pre-Colonial Arunachal Pradesh: Interactions in Trade, Culture, State and Buddhism’, in S. Dutta and B. Tripathy (eds.), Buddhism in North-East India. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Co., pp. 241-63. _____. 2007. ‘Trade and Culture: Some Reflections on Pre-colonial Arunachal Pradesh’. Proceedings of North East India History Association, 28th Session, Goalpara, pp. 198-209.

Contributors

A.K. NONGKYNRIH is Professor & Head, Department of Sociology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. ABDULLAH ALI ASHRAF (late) was Professor & Head, Department of Anthro-pology, Gauhati University. AKOIJAM M. MEITEI is Assistant Professor, Department of Anthro­ pology, St. Clarets College, Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh. ANANYA CHETIA is Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. ANGIRA KAR is Associate Professor & Head, Department of History, Adamas University, Kolkata. BALADIANG H.H. HADEM is Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. BANRIDA T. LANGSTIEH is Professor, Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. BARBARA SANGMA is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Don Bosco College, Tura. CAROLINE R. MARAK is retired Professor, Department of Garo, North-Eastern Hill University, Tura Campus. CECILE A. MAWLONG is Professor, Department of History, and Dean, School of Social Sciences, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. CHARLES REUBEN LYNGDOH is Associate Professor & Head, Depart­ ment of Political Science, Synod College, Shillong.

728

List of Contributors

CHINTU S.B. MARAK is Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Tura United Christian Academy, Tura. DACHANMI DKHAR is Research Scholar, Department of History, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. DHIRENDRA N. MAJUMDAR (late) was Professor, Department of Anthropology, Gauhati University. DHRUBA K. LIMBU is Professor & Head, Department of Anthro­ pology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. DOKATCHI CH. MARAK is Assistant Professor, Department of Garo, North-Eastern Hill University, Tura Campus. DOROTHY R. MARAK is Guest Faculty, Department of Garo, NorthEastern Hill University, Tura Campus. ERIC DE MAAKER is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University. GANGOTRI BHUYAN is Guest Faculty, Department of Archaeology, Cotton College State University, Guwahati. GAUTAM K. BERA is Tagore National Fellow, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. JOHNSLY W. DKHAR is Assistant Professor, Department of Anthro­ pology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. JUANITA WAR is retired Professor, Department of Linguistics, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. KANCHANI P. KOCH is Archaeologist, Arts and Culture Department, Government of Meghalaya. KENNETH DARNEI is Research Scholar, Department ofAnthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. LONGSHIBENI KITHAN is Zonal Coordinator, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

List of Contributors

729

MANORANJAN R. HAJONG (late) was Extra Assistant Commissioner (retired), Arunachal Civil Services. PYNSHAILANG R. DOHLING is an independent researcher. QUEENBALA MARAK is Associate Professor, Department of Anthro­ pology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. RAMEEZA HASAN is Assistant Professor, Department of Anthro­ pology, M.C. College, Barpeta.

REKHA M. SHANGPLIANG is Associate Professor, Department of

Sociology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong.

ROBBINS BURLING is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Linguistics, University of Michigan. ROPLYNEDA LYNGDOH is Guest Faculty, Department of Culture and Creative Studies, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. SARIT K. CHAUDHURI is Director, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal. SEIGOUMANG CHONGLOI is Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. SEINO VAN BREUGEL is Assistant Professor at United International College in Zhuhai, China. SEZOLU KHAMU is Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. SUDHANYA R. HAJONG is Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. TAMBOR LYNGDOH is an independent researcher. TANKA B. SUBBA is Professor, Department of Anthropology, NorthEastern Hill University, Shillong, and formerly Vice-Chancellor, Sikkim University. TENGNANG D. SANGMA is an independent researcher.

730

List of Contributors

TERESA L. KHAWZAWL is Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Cotton College State University, Guwahati. TIPLUT NONGBRI is Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew Chair, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, Jamia Millia Islamia. UTPALA G. SEWA is Professor, Department of English, NorthEastern Hill University, Shillong. VILHOUSINUO NELI is Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong.

Index

A. Ashraf, Abdullah, 13 Abu (grandmother), 213 A·chik Kata, 131 A·chik Literature Society, 495 Achu (grandfather), 213 Adhikari, 183, 185 Adil, 488 Agalmaka, 484 Agricultural practices of Hajongs, 397-406; agricultural rituals, 404-6; bastu puja, 404; bishibhat, 403-4; chalikheti, 404; crops grown, 403-4; festivals related to agriculture, 405; granary, 401; overview, 397-9; paddy cultivation, 400; traditional tools for, 400 Akhing, 138 A·kim wata, 142-3 A·king nokma, 521-2 Akshi, 179 Ale, Tula Chand, 163 Allen, B.C., 175 Ama (mother), 213 Amphorae, 449 Amwi Khasi, 71 Anga Me·chik, 154 Anglo-Khasi War, 593 Animism, 9-10 Aninlua, 195 Anthropological Survey of India, 4 Archaeological Survey of India, 4, 5 Archery, 499-514; competition, traditional, 502-3; cultural significance, 512-13; game of, 506-11;

ka iasiat thong, 500; ka siat nam hali, 505-6; ka siat nam spah, 503-5; ka siat nam sum, 506; khylliat, 511; overview, 499-502; phawar during, 510; types of, 503-6 Arhar dhall plants, 714 Ashraf, A.A., 31 A·song songa, 526-7 Asthi (ashes), 185 Atong, kinship terms, 12, 205-45; affinal relatives, 226-32; children, nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles and aunts, 221-4; classificatory vs. descriptive terms, 214-15; consanguineal family, 215-18; consanguineal family from perspective of ang, 215-18; de-relationalization, 235­ 8; family loss and replacement, 233-5; grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, 224; my generation, 219-20; my great-grandparents and grandparents’ generations, 218-19; my parents’ generation, 220-1; non-reciprocal vs. reciprocal terms, 213-14; referential vs. address terms, 210-12; relationships through husbands, wives, brothers and sisters, 229-32; relative-age indication, 232-3; sets of family members, 233; social organization, 208-10; spouses, parents- and children-in-law, 228-9; tabooed consanguineal relatives, 225-6; terms based on pragmatic and semantic criteria, 210-15

732

Index

Austro-Asiatic Khasis, 13

Austro-Asiatic speakers: Austro-Asiatic

Khasi vs. Tibeto-Burman Garo,

91; in Meghalaya, 89-91; molecular

genetic study, 92-6; Mundari

groups, 88; overview, 87-9; status of,

92-6; time to most recent common

ancestors, 96-7

Axes: chipped, 36-7; short, 37-8

Ayorak, 183

Baba (mother), 213

Bachofen, Johann Jacob, 131

Bagdas, Harish, 167

Bahi bia, 184

Bailey, F.G., 605

Bakdong, 135, 136

Baker, K.J., 266

Bam Tyngkong, 436

Banchan, 153

Bangsi, 492

Bareh, Angeline, 50

Bareh, Hamlet, 537

Bastola, Hari Prasad Sharma, 163

Bastu Puja, 7, 404

Bera, Gautam K., 17

Bhagabati, A.C., 31

Bhailinis, 361

Bhailo, 361

Bhandari, Dhanvir, 163

Bhattiano, 362

Bhoi Khasi, 71

Bhuyan, Gangotri, 13

Biate Nam Dan, 378

Biates, 12, 71, 368-71; clans among, 372;

festivals of, 370-1; identity of, 368-9;

Khurpui Thlabung, 369; marriage

customs, 371-80; origin of, 369;

religion of, 369-70

Bishibhat, 403-4

Bisundhan, 403

Bodo group, 129-30

Bolsal, 153

Bonepa, 141

Bordoloi, Gopinath, 11

Borers and burins, 39

Brown, Judith, 451

Bthet, 461

Burkandazes, 713

Burling, Robbins, 17, 309

Cairn-cists, 54

Cairns, 54

Carey, William, 689

Caste, meaning of, 681-2

Ceremonial pots, 450

Chad Phur of Shangpung, 77

Chalikheti, 404

Chang ghor, 403

Chara, 209

Charamong, 209

Charkhas, 723

cha·senga, 140, 141

Chatchi, 136, 140

Chatchi-angbak, 136

Chaturvarnashram, 160

Chawari (groom), 135

Chawari sika, 141

Chekke, 153

Chep, 190

Chetia, Ananya, 17

Chhetri, Sri Bir Bahadur, 166

Chigring, 489, 491

Chikku language, 305-25; blending,

317; calque or loan translation,

321-2; classifiers, 312-13; clipping,

317; coinage/coining, 319-20;

compounding, 322-4; echo word,

317-18; hybrid words, 320-1;

linguistic morphology, 306-16;

mass countable classifier, 315; mass

uncountable classifier, 315-16;

numerals, 311-12; onomatopoeia,

319; orthography, 318-19; overview,

305-6; reduplication, 324-5; semantic

functions, 313-16; sortal classifiers,

314; time and space measurements,

expressions of, 314; word formation

process, 316-25

Chipped axes, 36-7

Chisak, 585

Chnong, 434

Index

733

Chola, 207

Chongloi, Seigoumang, 16

Choudhries, 711, 712, 713, 714, 717

Choudhury, J.N., 109

Chras, 140, 141, 143, 144, 149, 154;

power of, 147-8

Cists, 53-4

Cohn, Bernard, 605

Cremation platforms, 55

Crystal, D., 324

Cultural heritage, 2-7; components of,

2-3; definition of, 2; identification

of, 5; and Meghalaya Heritage Act of

2012, 6-7; role of, 6

Cultural identity: symbols of, 6

District Council Act (Act I of 1960), 530

Dkhar, Dachanmi, 16

Dkhar, Johnsly W., 15

Dohling, Pynshailang R., 16

Dolmens, 52-3

Doloi, 434, 436

Doloiship, 435-6

Don, 153

Dong-sniriang, 434

Donne, John, 358-9

Dorbar Hima, 562

Dorbar Shnong (village council), 191

Dorbar Synshar Hima, 562

Doro, 145

Durkheim, Emile, 429

Daidi bhagi, 180-1

Daidi gosti, 180-1

Daidi system, 180-1

Dakmanda (skirt), 151

Daksari, 151

Dalton, E.T., 409

Dalus, 668-72; caste vs. tribe, 675-7;

ethnicity vs. development, 672-8;

gotra vs. dapha, 673-5; Vaishnavite vs.

non-Vaishnavite, 672-3

Dama, 489, 491

Daniel, Guy, 53

Darli, 183

Darnei, Kenneth, 15

Das, B.M., 109, 410

Das Gupta, Pranab Kumar, 606

Dashain, 168-9

Death rituals, 333-4

Deusi, 362

Dhalji, Vijay Singh, 669

Dhari, 432

Dhoni bap, 183-4

Dhoni mao, 183-4

Dhungana, Padam Prasad, 163

Dikka, 450

Dikki-Bandi, 145

Dimchrang, 489, 492

Dimdima, 450

Dingding, 148-9

Dissolith in Nongtalang, 81

Eliade, Mircea, 430

Emblic myrobalan (gooseberry), 584

Erythrna stricta, 584

Ethnicity vs. development, 667-78;

Dalus and, 668-77; overview, 667-8

Ethno-medicinal practices, of Bhoi

Khasi, 623-34; black magic, 631; ‘evil

eye’, 631; faith healers, 625-6; folk

healers of Umden, 624-9; jhas, 625;

kabiraid, 625; medical pluralism,

632-3; overview, 623-4; personalistic

etiologies, 629-31; public health

centre and, 627; pynherdoh, 629-30;

thoh, 625; wankyrtein (ancestral

sprit), 630-1

Ethnomedicine, 582-6

Fennig, C.D., 266

Fillingo, 166

Folk theatre, Garo, 689-705;

development and present status

of, 699-704; folk traditions, 691-3;

Gahon, 693-9; Kalsin aro Sonatchi,

696-7, 698-9; overview, 689-90;

Rongchadenggre Cultural Club, 694;

Serejing aro Waljan, 697-8

Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, 548

Forest Acts and Regulations, 547

Forest Regulation (Application and

Amendment) Act, 1973, 549

734

Index

Forests: alienation of community land, 550-1; for food, 543-4; infringement of traditional rights over forest, 547-50; Joint Forest Management scheme, 550; Khasi land tenure system and management of, 545; legends and folklore, 538-9; and livelihood strategies of Khasi rural women, 551; for medicine, 545; for musical instruments, 539-40; non-timber forest products, 543, 549; overview, 537-8; present-day issues, 547-51; products in Khasi rituals and ceremonies, 542-3; and Ri Kynti lands (private land), 546; and Ri Raid land (community land), 545-6; as sacred abode, 544; usage among Khasi, parameters, 538-41; for weaponry, 541-2; for weaving and dyeing, 540-1 Fox, R., 189

Gachis, 137

Gadgil, M., 87

Gahon, 693-9

Gait, E.A., 410

Gait, Edward, 108

Gala, 150

Galgrika, 150

Gamni nokma, 523

Gamocha, 399

Gana ceremony, 719

Garo Hills, 1, 23, 47; Palaeo-cultural

sites of, 29; people of Palaeo-cultural

phase in, 28; prehistoric tool-making

in, 31-45

Garo Hills Autonomous District Council

(GHADC), 156-7, 523-30

Garo Hills District Council, 333

Garo music and instruments, 483-96;

aerophones, 488; agricultural rituals,

music in, 484-5; case of Ringjeng,

490-3; chordophones, 488-9;

idiophones, 487-8; life-cycle rituals,

music in, 485-7; membranophones,

489-90; music as way of life, 484­

7; overview, 483-4; traditional

instruments, 487-90

Garos, 129; death rituals, 333-4;

exploitation of girls in, 143-4;

matriliny of, 129-58; patriarchal

features of society, 144-8; Songsarek,

333-4; traditional healing system

of, 569-87. See also Healing system,

Garo

Gender, and megaliths, 80-2

Gewali, Krishna Prasad, 163, 167

Gewali, Ramji, 163

Ghat-kama, 185

Ghor jangoy, 182

Ghor-pheni, 184

Ghugu, 179

Gonggna, 489, 493

Gorkha Association, 164-5

Gorkha customs, 351-65; Durga

Puja, 354; overview, 351-3; Teej

celebration, 353-7; Tihar festival,

357-64; traditional Teej songs, 355-6.

See also Nepalis

Gorkha Durga Puja Committee, 161, 166

Gorkha Panchayat, 164

Gorkha Thakurbari, 161

Gorkha Thakurbari Organization, 166

Gorkha Union, 161

Goswami, M.C., 31, 32

Gotra, 192

Gough, Kathleen, 383, 605

Gri-sokchi, 134

Gua khawa, 192

Gumi, 213

Gurdon, P.R.T., 49

Gurung, Babu Mani Singh, 166

Haats, 722, 723

Haddon, A.E., 410

Hadem, 71

Hadem, Baladiang H., 16

Hajong, Manoranjan R., 14

Hajong, Sudhanya R., 14

Hajong Mathas, 176

Hajongs, 175-87; agricultural practices

of, 397-406; divisions of, 177; life

Index cycle rites and ceremonies, 181-5;

niknis, 178-80; overview, 175-7;

religious practices, 185-7; social

structure of, 177-81

Hargaiya Koch, traditional ritual

practices of, 412-20; Anderi Puja,

413; Bangalwai Puja, 416; Bastu

Puja, 414-15; Baus Wai Puja, 415;

Bhasaini Puja, 413-14; Hansraj

Puja, 415; Kaniwai Puja, 416-18;

Katli Puja, 415; Lakkhi/Lakshmi

Puja, 415; Mailidhara Puja, 415; for

prevention and curation of diseases,

418-20; Sitoli Puja, 415; Sona-Rai

Puja, 415-16; for welfare of village

and good harvests, 413-18

Hargiya Koch, 15

Hasan, Rameeza, 16

Hata-chhowa, 184

Healing system, Garos, 569-87; diagnosis

of disease and ailments, 574-82;

divination, 575; dreams and, 574;

ethnomedicinal system, 582-6; evil

eye, 579; factors causes diseases, 572;

folk medicine, 569-71; interrogation,

574-5; jadoreng, 572-3; malevolent

activity of supernatural beings, 581;

natural medicine, 583; overview, 569­ 74; skalgitting, 579-80; symptoms,

574; taboo or moral injunctions,

578-9; tribal concepts of, 570; types

of diseases, 571

Hima, 57, 64, 66, 561-2, 589-90

Himul gash, 179

Hmar, 71

Hunter, W.W., 410

Ïing Blei, 426-7, 434, 435

Indian Forest Act, 1878, and 1927, 547

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the

Arts, 4-5

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav

Sangrahalaya, 5

Inkua-khat, 194

Inlua-roi, 195

International Council on Monuments

735

and Sites, 4

Ïongpiah, 436

Jadoreng, 572-3

Jahu, 182

Jaidbakhraw, 58, 66

Jaintia Hills, 23; ancient man-made

structures found in, 83; megalithic

structures prevalence in, 70-1;

menhirs in, 72; pot making in, 471­ 80; process of pot making, 473-6;

sacred stones in, 76; socio-cultural

analysis of megaliths in, 69-84;

socio-cultural dimensions of pottery

in, 478-9

Jaintia people, 71

Jama, 207

Jamadal, 152

Janai Purnima, 167-8

Janani Suraksha Yojana, 632

Janggi, 334

Jangoy ana, 181

Jhum cultivation, 150, 151, 192, 450, 452

Jhum cycle, 58

Jikgite, 144, 149

Jikmamong, 144

Jiknokkol, 144

Jiu (soul), 184

Jora ghor, 184

Joshi, Gopal Prasad, 163

Kabe, 486

Ka Beh Dei Ãnkhlam, 436, 437

Ka Hok, 433

Ka Ïing Blei, 426-7, 434

Ka Ïing Sad, 431

Kakwa, 487

Kalsin aro Sonatchi, 696-9

Ka Mei Hukum, 500, 501, 509

Ka Niam Tre, 427

Kar, Angira, 18

Karkudo, 360

Ka Syiem Sad, 431

Ka Sympat Ïing, 436

Ka Synjuklang ki Hima Khasi, 112

Kat Triew, 73

736

Index

Ka Wet, 434

Kelphung clan, 198

Kendeyliua (millipedes), 179

Khalsin and Sonatchi, 154-5

Khamu, Sezolu, 14

Khasi Heritage Conservation Forum, 602

Khasi Hills, 1, 23; cultural phase,

doctrine and, 27; early settlers of,

23-7; Sawmerian cultural group of

people in, 24; traditions, customs, or

habits operating in, 26

Khasi Hills Autonomous District

Council, 602

Khasi-Jaintia Hills, 62; clans in, 58-62;

classes of land in, 59; economy, 58;

ethnic groups, 47-8; megalithic

activity in, 57; physiographic units

of, 47

Khasi-Jaintia people: cultural marker

of, 63; inequalities, 65-6; megalithic

tradition of, 47-66; origin and early

history of, sources on, 48-9; shifting

cultivation, 59; stone monuments,

49-51

Khasi kinship terminology, 251-62;

affinal kin, 256-9; hynmen kynsi,

256; impact of social changes on

kinship, 259-62; ka nguh mei-kha,

254; khynnah duh, 255; kiaw, 256;

kthaw, 256; kur and kha terms, 258-9,

262; kynrad, 255; maternal kin, 255;

mei-deng, 255; mei-dot, 255; mei-duh,

255; mei-heh, 255; mei-ieit, 255;

mei-kha, 254, 255; mei-khynnah, 255;

mei-kulong, 255; mei-rit, 255; mei-san,

255, 256; nah-duh, 255; overview,

251-4; para kynsi, 256; pa-san, 256;

paternal kin, 255-6; pyrsa, 256; pyrsa

kha, 260; shi myngkew, 260; tip kur tip

kha, 254; u suid-nia, 256; u thaw-lang,

256

Khasi land tenure system, and forest

management, 545

Khasi language, 11-12

Khasis, 105-26; diverse interpretations of, 108-12; ka taro, 121-3; ki khun u

Hynniew Trep, 112; origin of, 106­ 8; sacrifice ritual, 113; social and

cultural practices, 112-16; tradition,

features of, 111-12; u thlen myth,

116-21

Khatduh, 613-14

Khawzawl, Teresa L., 14

Khiankur, 59

Khylliat, 511

Khyndawbyrtha, 473

Khyndawiong, 473

Khyndawkhluit, 473

Ki Bhoi, 428

Ki Khanatang U Hynniew Trep, 110

Ki Khun U Hynniew Trep, 112

Kikor, 65

Ki Lyngam, 428

Ki Mawniam, 431

Kimawpynieng, 51

Kimawshynrang, 51

Kimjim, 489, 492

Ki Nonglang, 428

Kipaidbahpaidkar, 58

Ki Pnar, 428

Kirati, 172

Kirat Mundhum, 172

Kirtan, 184

Ki soo-kpoh, 434

Kithan, Longshibeni M., 17

Ki War, 428

Kmaikur, 59

Kneener, S.E., 319

Knia Pyllaitsyiar, 77

Koch, Kanchani P., 15

Koches, 409-20; clans of, 410-11;

dialects, 410; food habits of, 411-12;

Hargaiya, traditional ritual practices

of, 412-20; as minor tribe, 410; origin

of, 409-10; religion, 412; source of

economy, 411; village panchayat, 411

Kochichar, 720

Kokasil, 720

Kotip salchak, 723

Kpep, 55, 77

Kpoh, 61

Kram, 152, 489-90

Index Kring, 134, 137, 140, 143

Kumar, Sanjeeva, 550

Kutchoi, 195

Kyndur, 432

Kynthiew, 474

Kynting Khnong, 436

Laisnem (incestuous), 194

Lalung, 71

Land Commission Report, 59

Langmet, 432

Langstieh, Banrida T., 13

Languages, 11-12; Atong, 12; Biate, 12;

Khasi, 12; Ruga, 12

Law Kyntang, 544

Law of a·kim, 142

Leiber, R., 322

Lhosar, 171

Limbu, Dhruba K., 14

Loloiman, 196

Lum Sohpet Bneng, 558

Lyngam kinship terms, 265-99; affinal

relatives, 285-91; bonyng, 274;

botthaw, 271-2, 273-4; burang, 271;

classificatory vs. descriptive terms,

275; derelationalization, 292-4;

family loss, 291-2; gachi, 272, 274;

hmbu, 275; hmin, 274, 275; hymbu,

269, 274, 275; jait, 269; khmon, 271­ 2; kong, 274; kpoh, 270; kynsaw, 274;

kyn’um, 274; lumkur, 271-2; lyngam

society, relevant aspects of, 269-73;

mawhmin, 279; mawhymby, 279;

Mawlyng, 275, 278; morphological

marking of difference in age within

one generation, 275-9; my blood

relatives, 279-85; niaw yniaw, 274;

overview, 265-9; paknna, 278, 279;

pasan, 279; phonemes of, 268;

referential vs. address terms, 273-4;

syrri, 273; terms based on pragmatic

and semantic criteria, types of, 273-5;

thawkha, 271

Lyngdoh (priest), 117

Lyngdoh, Charles Reuben, 16

Lyngdoh, Homiwell, 50, 56

737

Lyngdoh, M.P.R., 458

Lyngdoh, Roplyneda, 16

Lyngdoh, Tambor, 17

Maaker, Eric de, 15

Ma·chong, 135, 136, 139-40, 209

Madal, 167

Ma·dong, 135, 136

Ma·drang, 136

Maghe Sangkranti, 171-2

Ma·gual, 340-5

Maha Ashtami, 169

Mahari, 137, 140, 143, 148, 530-1

Mahari associations, 157

Majumdar, Dhirendra N., 17, 179, 669

Ma·kring, 136

Maksa, 195

Mallong jhop, 393

Mande Buring, 146

Mangona, 720

Manipur ko Sawai, 163

Marak, Caroline R., 13

Marak, Chintu S.B., 15

Marak, Dokatchi Ch., 14

Marak, Dorothy R., 14

Marak, J.L.R., 695, 697

Marak, Jobang D., 131, 132, 139

Marak, Queenbala, 13, 16

Marang, 334

Markets, of Garo Hills, 709-24; as

centres of cultural exchange, 717-24;

and cultural interpolation from

Bengal, 719-20; overview, 709-10;

trade relations with Megams, 716-17;

traditional, 710-17

Marngars, 384-6; family structure

of, 385; Hynniewtrep group, 384;

language, 385-6; marriage customs

and practices, 386-94; occupation of,

385; religion, 385

Mar Phalyngki, 73

Marriage customs, of Biates, 367-80;

change in, 378-80; clan exogamy,

372-3; divorce, 377; marriage

by elopement, 376; marriage by

negotiation, 373-6; overview, 367-8

738

Index

Marriage customs, of Marngars, 383-94; bata pahon, 390-1; forms of marriage, 387-8; hihar khadawa, 392-3; kaka mamala bata, 391; kharumuni pindawa, 391; marriage ceremonies and rituals, 388-93; mikir sona ana, 391-2; overview, 383; selection of spouses, 386-7; stages of marriage ritual, 390-3; theksa phanga, 393; titah kaha khawa, 393 Marriott, McKim, 605

Maryngod, 463-5

Matgrik, 138

Matjong, 493

Matriarchy, 130-1

Matriliny, 9

Matriliny, of Garos, 129-58; a·kim

wata, 142-3; daughter as heiress,

134-5; duties of men, 152-3; duties

of women, 149-52; exploitation of

girls, 143-4; features of, 133-7; law of

a·kim, 142; marriage arrangements,

140-4; nokpante, 144-6; overview,

129-30; ownership and power over

a·king, 137-40; panteni mal, 141-2;

patriarchal features, 144-8; power of

chras, 147-8; process of socialization,

148-53; reasons for, 130-3; rules of

exogamy, 135-7; soft target, 155;

status of men, 146-7; voiceless

women, 154-5; vs. matriarchy, 130-1

Matriliny, and megaliths, 82-3

Matthews, P.H., 321

Mauss, Marcel, 115-16

Mawbah, 53, 54, 59, 61

Mawbri-mawsam, 60

Mawbuh phan kyrpad, 65

Mawbynna, 55, 66

Mawbynna/mawpynbna, 66

Mawbynnanam, 56

Mawiawbeikhynnah, 63

Mawiawbeitynrai, 63

Mawkait, 65

Mawkhang, 60

Mawkni, 63

Mawkynthei, 62

Mawlong, Cecile A., 13, 51

mawphew mawkynroh, 61

Mawphlang sacred grove, 589-603; Blah

clan, 591; Knia Phiephandi Ritual,

598-600; Knia Phod Sohlang, 601­ 2; Knia Shnong Ritual, 601; local

lores, 591; Lum Ryngkew Mawiong

Hill, 590-1; Lyngdoh clan, 592-3;

Monolith festival and, 602; overview,

589-93; rites and rituals connected

to, 598-602; traditional system of

management, 593-8

Mawpynbna, 55, 66

Mawpynieng, 51, 62

Mawpynthiah, 62

Mawpyrsa, 63

Mawrie, H.O., 538

Mawshyieng, 52, 54, 61

Mawshynrang, 51, 61

Mawthawlang, 63

Mawthylliej, 60

Mayong, Masterni, 626

Megalithic tradition, of Khasi-Jaintia, 57-66; alignments, 51-2; availability of suitable rock types, 57-8; avenues, 52; Bareh’s work on, 50-1; categories of megaliths, 51-5; cists and cairns, 53-4; cremation platforms, 55; distribution of megalithic structures, 57; dolmens, 52-3; Khasi megaliths, 60-1; Mawlong’s study, 51; megalithic monuments, 62-6; menhirs, 51; stone circles, 54; upsurge of megalith building, 58 Megaliths, socio-cultural analysis of, 69­ 84; feasts, feastings, and megaliths,

74-5; gender and, 80-2; matriliny,

82-3; memorial stone, 80; mortuary

practices, 77-80; overview, 69-72;

primary burial stone, 78; related

to post-deposition, 77; related to

pre-deposition, 77; sacred megaliths,

75-7; secondary burial stone, 78-80;

status, power, and megaliths, 72-3

Meghalaya Heritage Act of 2012, 6-7

Mei-kha, 254

Index Meitei, Akoijam M., 13

Menhirs, 51

Microlith, 39

Mieng, 466-7

Mikir, 71

Misimagre: explored sites in, 32-6;

prehistoric, 32-6; site of, 33; stone

artifacts from, 36; tool traditions of,

36-44

Moibiak, 195-6

Moiroi, 196

Moi ruai, 195

Mongoloid, 36

Mon-Khmer dialect, 36, 47, 49

Mooknor, 80

Mookynthei, 80

Moolong Syiem, 73, 74

Moolong Syiem of Nartiang, 72

Moomein of Mukroh, 75-6

Moopyllaitsyiar of Nangbah, 77, 78

Moopynnieng, 80

Moo Sajar, 74

Mooshynrang, 80

Moosiang, 80

Moo Thulalane, 73

Mora, 153

Mortuary practices, 77-80

Muchai, 436

Munda, 48

Murdock, G.P., 367

Music, 457-70; adil, 488; bangsi, 492;

brass instruments, 462; bthet, 461;

chigring, 489, 491; dama, 489, 491;

dimchrang, 489, 492; endangered

musical instruments of Khasis, 462­ 7; Garo, 483-96. See also Garo music

and instruments ; gonggna, 489;

kakwa, 487; kimjim, 489, 492; kram,

489-90; Maryngod, 463-5; matjong,

493; membrane instruments (drums),

460-1; Mieng, 466-7; musical

instruments of Khasis, 459-62;

nagra, 490; nanggilsi, 487; overview,

457-8; reed instruments, 461-2;

sarenda, 489, 492; sharati, 465-6;

singga, 488; string instruments, 462;

739

types of instruments, 459-60; wind

instruments, 461-2

Nadangmari, 720

Nadirong, 720

Nadongbi, 720

Nagra, 490

‘Namgen’, 131

Nanggilsi, 487

Nanglo, 361

Napit, 185

Natapsi, 720

National and State Museums, 4

National Forest Policy in 1952, 548

National Rural Health Mission, 632

Neibom clan, 199-200

Nepali Mahila Samity, Shillong, 165-6

Nepalis, 159-74; Dashain, 168­ 9; festivals, 167-73; Gorkha

Association, 164-5; Gorkha

Durga Puja Committee, 161, 166;

Gorkha Panchayat, 164; Gorkha

Thakurbari, 161; Gorkha Thakurbari

Organization, 166; Gorkha Union,

161; as immigrants, 163; Janai

Purnima, 167-8; Lhosar, 171; Maghe

Sangkranti, 171-2; Nepali Mahila

Samity, Shillong, 165-6; Nepali

Sahitya Parishad, 166-7; Nepali

Sahitya Srijan Samity, 166-7; Nepali

Sangeet Kala Samity, 165; overview,

159-60; settlement of, 160-4; Shree

Panchami, 172; socio-cultural

institutions of, 164-73; Teej, 168;

Tihar, 169-71; and Treaty of Sagauli,

159; ubhauli and udhauli, 172-3

Niam Tre, 436, 437

Niamtre, 478

Niamtre Jaintias, 71, 75

Niknis, 178-80, 182

Nippal adding, 162

Nokachik, 145, 153

Nokchong/Nokmong, 137

Nokkrom, 134, 141, 157

Nokkrom chawari, 135

Nokma, 132-3, 138, 139, 148, 150,

740

Index

152, 519-36; decision-making and

judgement, 530-3; demarcation

of boundary, 526-7; eligibility to

become, 524; gamni, 523; kachari,

531; a·king, 521-2; landholding

system, 527-30; mahari, 530-1;

method of selection of, 523-4;

oath-taking, remunerations, and

punishment, 533-5; oerview, 519-20;

power and functions of, 524-30;

songni, 522-3; tenure, 524; types of,

520-1; and village court, 532-3

Nokna, 134, 141, 157

Nokpante, 144-6, 153, 693

Nongbri, Tiplut, 13, 62

Nongkhangkhnam, 509

Nongkynrih, A.K., 15

Nongtang, 185-6

Nono (younger sister), 214-15

Non-timber forest products, 543, 549

Pot making, 443-54; art of, 444-5;

hand-made mould method, 445-8; in

Jaintia Hills, 471-80; overview, 443-4;

pottery, 443-4. See also Pottery; types

of pots, 448-50; women and clay,

450-4

Pottery, 40, 443-4; amphorae, 449;

ceremonial pots, 450; cooking pots,

449; craft of, 452; in Jaintia Hills,

472-8; open-mouthed pot, 448-9;

pots with neck, 449; sacred pots, 450;

storing pots, 450; types of, 448-50;

utilitarian pots, 449-50

Pradhan, Gopi Narayan, 163, 167

Primary Health Centre, 632

Pynherdoh, 629-30

Pynnah, 436

Pyrthap, 473

Rabhas, 37

Raid, 57, 589-90

Omdan, 201

Rakut, 432

Open-mouthed pot, 448-9

Rengsanggri, 637-65; Christianity,

Otonga, 720

649-52; continuity of custom, 652-8;

Panji (horoscope), 183

continuity of kinship system, 658-61;

Pan khawa, 192

education, 645-8; future prospects,

Panteni mal, 141-2

661-2; new forms of agriculture, 643;

Paswet clan, 432, 434-5, 438

new pattern of settlement, 643; old

Patrimonialization, 5

friends in, 662-5; overview, 637-8;

Penta, 720

ownership of permanent fields, 642;

Phawar, 510

technology, work and physical village,

Pheri Pani Sailak Airahechha, 163

638-45

Phiahkpoh, 61

Research Institute of Arts and Culture,

Phiahkur, 61

7

Pnar, 71

Reverse migration, 109

Political institutions, traditional, 555-65; Rice beer, 113

administrative bodies, formation of,

Ridakhol, 59

560-3; Dorbar Hima, 562, 564; Dorbar Ri Kynti, 118

Synshar Hima, 562, 564; Dorbar

Rikynti, 59, 60

Synshar Raij, 564; Dorbar Synshar

Ri Kynti lands (private land), 546

Shnong, 564; four institutional

Rima, 377

identities of Khasi society, 559;

Ri-Pnar (land of the Pnars), 10

Hima, 561-2; ki khun ki hajar, 564;

Ripok dokatchi, 723

overview, 555-7; traditional polity

Ri Raid, 118

formation, 557-60; types of councils, Ri Raid land (community land), 545-6

562

Risley, H.H., 410

Index Rites of inheritance, 329-47; deceased

person, importance of, 338-9; Garo

death rituals, 333-4; inheritance of

kinship ties, 334-7; ma·gual, 340­ 5; overview, 329-32; ranking the

mothers, 340-5

Rongmuthu, D., 139

Roy, David, 50, 60

Roy, S.K., 31, 32

Roy, Shibani, 669

Ruga, 12

Sacred megaliths, 75-7

Sacred pots, 450

Sacred site, and society, 425-39;

architectural design of, 431-4;

matrilineal clans, 434-7; overview,

425-9; sacred things, 434-7; social

meanings and significance, 437-9;

social world of sacred and profane,

429-31

Sadu, 213

Saka, 190

Sakacheps, 189-202; family, marriage

and kinship, 194-5; Kelphung

clan, 198; lineage system, 197-200;

marriage patterns, 195-7; migration

of, 190-4; migration theory, 192-4;

Neibom clan, 199-200; origin of,

190-4; overview, 189-90; Sumtingkha

clan, 199; Thelengsing clan, 198;

Vaichei clan, 198

Saleka, 148

Sampradan ceremony, 183

Sanchok, 722

Sangma, Barbara, 17

Sangma, Jangsan, 138, 150

Sangma, Milton S., 669

Sangma, Ringjeng T., 16, 490-3

Sangma, Tengnang D., 16

Sanskritization, of Bodo-speaking tribes of Garo Hills, 679-87; alignment of groups in tribe-caste continuum, 682-7; caste, meaning of, 681-2; elements of, 685; important aspects of, 686-7; meaning of, 681-2; origin

741

of varans, 679-80; overview, 679-81;

principles or rules for, 684-5; process

of, 685-6; tribe, meaning of, 681-2

Sapana Yeh Bipana, 167

Sapta Kandan, 163

Sarenda, 489, 492

Sarkar, Prafulla Chandra, 668

Sawmerian cultural phase, 23-4

Semen, role of, 62

Sengki, 723

Serejing aro Waljan, 697-8

Settlers of Meghalaya, early, 23-9; Khasi

Hills, 23-7

Sewa, Utpala G., 15

Shadwell, John Bird, 558

Shangpliang, Rekha M., 16

Sharati, 465-6

Sharma, H.C., 31, 32

Sharma, T.C., 31, 32

Shella, 605-19; female landowner, 611­ 14; khatduh, 613-14; land, 609-11;

landownership and customary law,

609-16; overview, 605-7; privatization

of community land, 614-16; the

village, 607-9; Wahdadar, 606

Shifting cultivation, 59

Shillong Nepali Press, 163

Shira, Jonmoni D., 154

Shira, Lyndrid, 161

Shisha, 718

Shlur, 432, 433, 434

Short axes, 37-8

Shree Panchami, 172

Shrot skit, 433

Siangchohkchu, 475

Simons, G.F., 266

Simul, 179

Singga, 488

Singh, Kynpham, 50

Singh, Rabon, 252

Sla-Sning, 434

Social world, of sacred and profane,

429-31

Socio-cultural analysis, of megaliths,

69-84

Sohbar, Robort, 275

742

Index

Sohliya, 476

Sohtun, Lyhir, 592

Songni nokma, 522-3

Songsarek Garo, 333-4

Srinivas, M.N., 605

Stone circles, 54

Subba, Tanka B., 17

Sulungs, 27

Suman, 167

Sumtingkha clan, 199

Syiem (chief), 117

Syiem, Lapynshai, 458

Syiem Raid, 590

Syiem Sad (Queen Mother), 117, 125

Synteng, 71

Takley, 179

Tarun, 167

Teej, 168

Thaiban, 185, 186

Thakur (Brahmin priest), 183, 185

Thelengsing clan, 198

Thomas, Iris Watre, 487

Tihar festival, 169-71, 357-64

Time to most recent common ancestors,

96-7

Tool-making in Garo Hills, prehistoric,

31-45; Misimagre. See Misimagre;

overview, 31-2; Palaeolithic tools in,

presence of, 31-2; tool technology,

40-4; types of tools found, 36-40, 41

Tool traditions of Misimagre, 36-44;

blade, 39; borers and burins, 39;

chipped axes, 36-7; core, blank, waste

flake and chip, 39-40; microlith,

39; picks, 39; points, 38-9; pottery,

40; scrapers, 38; short axes, 37-8;

tool technology, 40-4; types of tools

found, 36-40, 41

Traditions and social memories,

7-12; animism, 9-10; identity and

ethnic formations, 8; languages,

11-12; political institutions, 10-11;

prehistoric sites, 8-9; religions, 9-10;

sacred groves and community reserve

forests, 11; system of matriliny, 9

Treaty of Sagauli, 352

Tre Thlong, 432, 433

Tribe, meaning of, 681-2

Tyllenup, 476

U Basa, 120

Ubhauli, 172-3

U Lum Mawker, 544

U Nam-pynbud, 513

U Nam-synran, 513

UNESCO, 3-4

United Khasi and Jaintia Hills

Autonomous District (Management

and Control of Forest) Act, 1958,

549

Upadhyaya, Dadhiram, 163

U Rishot Blei, 431

U Ryngkew, 120

U Ryngkew U Basa, 544

U Sohpet Bneng, 428

U Suidnoh, 116-17

U Thlen myth, 116-21

Utilitarian pots, 449-50

Vaichei clan, 198

van Breugel, S., 14, 267

Varna, 160

Venice Charter, 14

Wahdadar, 606

Walker, G.D., 139

Wangala, 484-5, 493, 692-3

Wankyrtein (ancestral sprit), 630-1

War, Juanita, 14

War Khasi, 71

We ber, Max, 425

Wiang, 475

Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, 548

Williamson, W.J., 161

Wilson, Alban, 161

World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 3

Yatkhat inluo, 195

Yesto Bhul po Garechhu, 163