By Fabian Lyngdoh
The concept of ka sad-ka sunon is one of the most important aspects of the Khasi political system. It is found that the nature of this concept has not been adequately studied and expressed in any of the sociological, political or historical literature about the Khasi society. It is true as some authors say that the phrase “ka sad-ka sunon” does not have any equivalence in any English dictionary. It is also true that no ruling syiem can be considered traditionally and constitutionally a syiem unless he has ka sad-ka sunon because it is the real power behind his seat of power, and that the custodian of this institution is not the ruling syiem, but the eldest female member of the syiem family. Again it is true that if in the United Kingdom, the people sing, “The King is dead, long live the King”, among the Khasis we can sing, “The Syiem is dead, long live ka Syiem Sad”. But the contention that ka sad-ka sunon is an institution which is old as the foundation of any Khasi hima, does not concur with the political history of the Khasis. The institution of ka sad-ka sunon is as old as the foundation of the raid even before any Khasi hima came into existence. Again, the idea that ka sad-ka sunon is the institution of sovereignty behind the power of the ruling syiem, a symbol of unity of the state, of justice and impartiality, of peace, harmony and prosperity; and that it stands collectively for the ruling syiem, the elders and the citizens of the state, and that it symbolizes the highest ideal of the Khasi religion, is found to be either inadequately treated or altogether misinterpreted.
Khasi elders define ‘ka sad’ as ‘u thning'(source or living roots) and ‘ka thymmei’ (foundation) of ka longjait-longkynja (political aspect of the kur). Ka thymmei rests with the kur and u thning is embodied in the person of a female member of ‘ka jait’. This is reflected in the dance in the annual ‘Pomblang Syiem Nongkrem’ at Smit. Ka thymmei of the syiem is symbolized in ka syiem-sad who may be an old woman, while u thning of the jait syiem is embodied in a young woman who may be a sister or a niece of the syiem. This young woman of the jait syiem, dances among other dancers in front of the Iingsad. The whole attention is given to this young woman in the dance because she certifies before the society that the jait syiem is in existence and has a source of continuing existence in the form of a blooming young woman. It is not the present incumbent syiemsad who represents Ka Pahsyntiew, but it is that girl who dances on the floor. The concept of ka sad-ka sunon stands for the continuing existence or source of perpetual succession of ka jait, which legitimizes the position of the syiem, or the lyngdoh, or the basan or bakhraw of the raid or the hima’. This concept takes concrete material form not so much in a building called “ka Iingsad Iing Sunon”, but in the person of the female member of ‘ka jait’ who stands guarantee for the perpetual succession.
The Khasi society is constituted of permanent living members in the forms of the Kurs which have the capacity of self renewal from generation to generation. As the traditional social and political transactions are not recorded in writings but in the covenants of the spoken words, these covenants can only be permanently recorded in the commitment of persons whose age is limitless, and that is, the Kurs. That is why the Khasi society does not recognize the full-fledged membership of an individual in the society because his age is limited. That is also why the Khasis say that the testimony of a man whose kur has become extinct is not acceptable in the dorbar however true his testimony might be because he has a limited period of time to live, and he has no permanent institution to back up the covenant of his statement whether true or false; and to carry the good or evil repercussion of his statement for generations to come. It is on this concept that the institution of ka sad-ka sunon is physically symbolized by a living female member of any jait which holds a political office in the community.
Ka sad-ka sunon exists not only in the jait syiem but also in the jait lyngdoh and jait bakhraw-basan as well. The concept of ka sad-ka sunon is prevalent not only at the hima level but at the raid as well. In Ri Bhoi it is called ka sad-ka dor Even among other jait like the basan, daloi, pator, sangot, maji, kong-san, etc., the office of the representative of the jait in the dorbar has to be backed up by a female member of his jait. A man would lose his right of ‘long-san’ if he has no more ka sad as no female member of his jait was willing to back up his office.
So, ka sad-ka sunon does not symbolize the sovereignty of the state, but it is the sociological guarantee of the kur for the legitimacy of its representative in the political affairs of the community. Captain D. Herbert also in his report on the, “Succession to Siemships in the Khasi States” (1903) has indicated that a person can be disqualified for holding the office of the syiem ‘if he has no more female clan relative to assist him in the performance of the state pujas, or is unable to obtain adoption by another branch of the syiem family’. Even if the jait syiem becomes totally extinct and the surviving male members lose ka sad-ka sunon, the sovereignty of the hima is not destroyed because ka sad-ka sunon of the syiem does not stand for the sovereignty of the hima. Such cases had actually happened in many raids and himas. In the year 1869 when u Duba Singh, the syiem of hima Bhowal died, his clan became extinct but the sovereignty of the hima was not destroyed. The eight founding clans or bakhraws appointed u Khyllait as the new syiem from the Nandah clan which is from outside the hima. From that time on, the kur Nandah became the jait syiem Bhowal.
Every jait in the political community is only a political aspect of the greater institution which is the kur, and the custody of ka sad-ka sunon is held by the eldest female member of the jait. The kur is also a religion which is considered pure and holy. The kur religion has a religious house in the iing-khatduh, the natal household where the youngest daughter in line of customary succession lives. The religious name of this iing-khatduh is ka iing-seng. The centre of the social, religious and economic aspects of the kur is in the house of ka khatduh, while the centre of the political aspect or the jait of the kur is in the house of ka khun-rangbah (eldest daughter) which is called ka iing-sad. The eldest lineage is the custodian of ka sad ka sunon, and the youngest lineage is the custodian of the economy, the religion and the social membership of the kur. The reason for this functional division is because the sanctity of the kur religion cannot be mingled with the state affairs. Among the jait lyngdoh and jait basan in any traditional political community, the chief priest of the kur religion is called u sohsla. The representative of the jait to offer sacrifices to ki blei-ki dken (state deities) of the raid or hima is called u lyngdoh or u sohblei. Those who offer sacrifices to the state deities are considered tarnished to officiate in the kur religion. For this reason, members of the iing-khatduh cannot participate in the state politics and state religion. The syiem and the syiem-sad, or the lyngdoh and the lyngdoh-sad are in charge of ka iingsad, while u sohsla and ka khatduh are in charge of ka iingseng. Hence the contention that the institution of ka sad-ka sunon symbolizes the highest ideal of Khasi religion is incorrect. The core of the Khasi polity is not the syiem but the dorbar. So in the real traditional concept, the ultimate watchword of the Khasi polity is, “The syiem is dead, or the jait syiem is extinct – long live the dorbar of the bakhraws”.