By HH Mohrmen
In the year 1862 Jowai the District Headquarter of Jaintia Hills District of Meghalaya was a tiny hamlet with a population of say a little over a thousand. People who lived in this small village are mostly Pnars (a Sub tribe of Khasi-Pnar) with a common bond in the form of a shared religion, culture and traditional practices. This is the same state of affairs in the entire Jaintia hills, then known as the land of the Khat-ar Dalloi (or the 12 chieftains). The Khat-ar Dalloi was part of the erstwhile Jaintia Kingdom the boundary of which extended to Jaintiapur now in Bangladesh.
Ïawmusiang a place where the scaffold was raised to hang U Kiang Nangbah the legendary Jaintia freedom fighter who resisted British rule, was a market place in the suburb of the town. It was not only a market place for farmers from the entire area to trade their products but it was also a weekly meeting place of the people from all the elakas of the Khat-ar Dalloi. Adjacent to the Ïawmusiang market in between the office of the now Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council and the Office of the Deputy Commissioner Jaintia hills is a place known as Madan-Siat -thong (An Archery ground) or Madan Kasari, where villagers compete with one another in the game of archery and Kyntiñ Mookhrah every market day. Traditionally a market day was not just occasion for selling and buying goods but was a weekly meeting place where people indulged in many recreational activities apart from trading.
One cannot help but imagine what kind worldview Kiang Nangbah might have had 150 years ago and 85 years before India attained its freedom. The question is whether Kiang Nangbah fought against the British for a certain nation state. Or did he have any notion of a nation state, if so does it mean that the nation he had in mind is India? Or did he rise against the British out of impulse? It was believed that u Kiang Nangbah’s rebellion against the British was purely a layman’s revolt which did not have any backing either from any Kingdom or from any external forces, but latest findings by scholars reveal otherwise. One thing is certain though. In his fight against the British he was supported by the Dalloi of the erstwhile Jaintia Kingdom and the Dalloi as per tradition are but institutional heads representing the King in the area with no army in their command.
The Dalloi themselves were a disorganized lot after the last Jaintia King was defeated by the British and put under house arrest in Dhaka. The revolt which started in 1860 was probably decided in one of those market days in Ïawmusiang during the deliberation on the atrocities inflicted on the natives by the British. Legends have it that the confused 12 Dalloi themselves did not even have a leader to lead them in the fight against the might of the British. Not one of the Dalloi was willing to lead the revolt. Left with no leader to lead the tribal fight against the British, the leaders of the Elakas met at Madiah Kmai Blai, to seek divine intervention in choosing their leader. U Kiang Nangbah a young man with no experience whatsoever in combat, not to mention commanding an army was a chosen leader. He was believed to be pre-ordained by the gods to lead the people in their fight against foreign yolk which came to have dominion on the people.
One of the two main causes which led to the Pnar uprising against the British in the leadership of u Kiang Nangbah was the imposition of house tax on the residents of the area. According to the traditional Pnar land tenure system, land belongs to people and land is managed by the community (dorbar shnong or the raij as the case may be and members of which were duly elected by the people). The tradition of having a village durbar is still being followed by the people today. It is in the tribal belief system that land was a gift of nature or gift from god(s), so having to pay tax for what according to their traditional practices was rightfully theirs was not unacceptable to the people. Moreover the tax was imposed by an alien force – an institution with which the natives had nothing to do. It was like rubbing salt on a wound. The British interest in the area was merely to collect taxes. No services were provided by the government then. The indigenous people saw the imposition of tax as foreign hand trying to control their freedom. But the last straw that compelled the Pnar to revolt against the British was the Government’s directive to the natives prohibiting them from holding any form of religious festivals. At one point of time the British soldiers forcefully stopped the people of Ïalong village (about 9 KM from Jowai) while they were celebrating their Warrior Dance (chad pastieh). The soldiers seized all the items used in the dance including swords and shields. To stand on the way of people performing their religious festival and disturbing the course of the celebration is a taboo in the Pnar culture and a worst kind of sacrilege. The two incidents had immensely hurt the pride and religious sentiments of the people and it was the final spark which led to the Pnar of Jaintia revolt against the British.
Armed with just their swords and shields, their bows and arrows the Pnar valiantly fought against the might of the British soldiers for two long years. They were able to keep the progress of the British soldier in check till u Kiang Nangbah was captured and hanged in public in what was considered an exemplary punishment by the British in the year 1862. The British tried every trick in the trade to capture him and bring the uprising to an end but to no avail. The Pnar guerrillas were tough nuts to crack for the British soldiers. It was one of the most expensive battles for the British which has lost many soldiers and able officers. The army which is used to pitch battles was caught by surprise by the Pnars who engage in guerilla warfare in their fight against the mighty army. Unable to contain the rebels, the government then used the oldest known trick in the world – that of treachery and deceit. They were able to find someone willing to betray U Kiang Nangbah. They found in u Long Sutnga and U Dalloi Tyngker what they needed to catch Kiang who remained elusive till then. The duo identified the location where Kiang was hiding himself in a cave in Mynser while u he was recuperating from the wounds he received in the fight with the ‘enemies’. The British captured Kiang Nangbah on the December 27, 1862. He was hanged to death in Jowai in the Ïawmusiang market on December 30, 1862. U Kiang was purposely hanged in the market for everyone to see and learn a lesson ‘never to mess with the government.’ Ironically it was the same market where the Pnars had hatched the conspiracy to fight against the British atrocities.
On the scaffold U Kiang was allowed to say his last words. Those famous last words were, “If my face turns to the east, my people will regain independence, but if it turns to the west, my people will remain slaves in their own land until the very end. And indeed his head turned to the east after he was hanged and his words of wisdom came true. The British domination came to an end 85 years after Kiang Nangbah was hanged. In India’s freedom the Pnars were able to rid off the British domination and free themselves from foreign control of their land, their way of life and their religious traditions. In the freedom of 1947 the Pnars were able to again celebrate their religious festivals with all fervour and this includes the revival of the famous annual Behdieiñ Khlam festival which was also banned by the British.
Though U Kiang Nangbah may not have the notion of the Indian nation state when he led the revolt, yet he is a freedom fighter, second to none because like any free spirit he rose to fight against oppression by a foreign force on his land. He rose to the occasion when the freedom of the people was challenged. He fought against injustice meted out to his people – he is true freedom fighter to the last. Sadly neither the government nor the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council have planned any celebration to mark the 150th death anniversary of U Kiang Nangbah which is just about two months from now.
Why is it so easy to forget our true heroes? Why do we hero worship false leaders and pay undue respect to those who have defrauded us of the liberty that U Kiang Nangbah had so valiantly defended even up to the point of death? We need answers to these fundamental questions.