By HH Mohrmen
The Pnar and War people who lived in the erstwhile kingdom of Jañtia have a rich tradition and tales. One such story is the legend about the many ‘ki Mar’. The general definition of the Mars is that of men who can perform extraordinary feats and in most cases stories have it that the Mars are giants among men. The notion that one has about the Mars is the biblical Goliath and one would like to believe that giants would be the common English term that would best describe the Mars of Jañtia hills. But in reality Mars are not necessarily giants; they are men who possess super powers or someone who can perform extraordinary feats. Legend also has it that the Mars in the court of the Jañtia kings came from different parts of hill portions of the erstwhile kingdom.
The common stories connected with most of the Mars are those about their involvement in erecting of monoliths or carting huge stones from one place to another. A case in point is that of u Mar Phalangki of Nartiang and Bir Nongpoh of Nongtalang. Part of the story about u Mar Phalangki is almost identical with the story of u Bir Nongpoh in that they both carries a huge stone over their heads to protect themselves from incessant rains. The only difference is that Mar Phalangki carried a stone from Raliang to Nartiang and Bir Nongpoh carried a stone from Jañtiapur to Nongtalang. Both stones can be seen till date in the two villages which also stand as testimonies to the stories. In War Jañtia area the stone used by the Pnar in the game called ‘kyntiñ or rah mookhrah’ are called ‘shmia Mar’ which means stones of the Mars.
U Sajar Ñangli is another legendary figure in the folk tradition of the Pnars of Jañtia hills and there are many monuments associated with his story. One such monument which testifies to his size is located at Daistong village. On the top of a hill in Daistong village there are three usual flat stones which are unlike the Mawkynthei or dolmen which one could see elsewhere in the Khasi Jañtia hills. The three stones are placed like steps parallel to one another. The flat stones are called ‘ki kjat u Sajar’ because on one of the flat stones there is an imprint of a huge human foot which is about one foot long. Legend has it that the image is the imprint of the feet of u Sajar hence the stones are called ‘ki kjet u Sajar’ or the feet of u Sajar.
Other Mars may not be of the size of giants, but they are men who can perform extraordinary feats, such as when the king would ask them to show their strength by pulling a standing tree from its roots or wrestling with an elephant which the Jañtia kings had in plenty. The case in point is the story of u Ran Niangti, who in order to test his power, the king of the day put him to many tests. One of the tests was when he was asked to cut a huge tree using an ordinary sword which he did without any difficulty. It was said that for the final test, he ultimately asked for the divine sword. Legend has it that he was able to use the divine sword to cut the iron rod which the king’s men cleverly hid under a banana tree and that is considered to be an extraordinary feat that he had achieved.
Mar Phalangki’s name is associated with the tallest monolith in Nartiang and the name of u Luh Laskor from Nangbah village is also associated with the construction of the royal path or ‘ka luti syiem’ from Jañtiapur to Nartiang. Legend has it that the hills portion of the path was constructed by the duo u Luh and u Mar Phalangki but the path which slopes towards the plains was constructed by another Mar named u Bailon Khyriem of Thangbuli village. One can understand the strength and imagine their size if one visit these paths and observes the sheer size of the monoliths and the stones bridges that they built all along the path. No ordinary human can build those stone bridges especially during the time when people had to do everything with their bare hands and using only human strength without the support of any kind of machines.
Not only kings have the tradition of keeping Mars; in the past even elekas too have stories about their own Mars. In the not so distant past when the elekas or the raids were always in conflict with each other, elekas too have their own Mars or legendary figures who achieved extraordinary feats. Some of the few local mars are the likes of u Chai Ramut of eleka Nongjngi who became famous in their battle against the eleka Nangbah. It is said that raid Mukhla also had their own Mars. The people of raid Jwai fondly remember some of their legendary figures like u Tongkha and u Buidkha. The monolith in Ïawmusiang, Jowai is another testimony to the extraordinary feat performed by the duo on behalf of eleka Jowai. The story has it that the two played an important role in the battle of raid Jowai against the king of Malngiang.
Interestingly, apart from stories of male legends, Jañtia also has beautiful stories about queens with extraordinary powers whose name is ‘Ka Syiem Latympang’ of ka hima Manar. The first time that this scribe heard about u Ter Kyndiah is during a maiden visit to the royal Bathing ghat at Syndai village. The Rupasor bathing ghat has an elephant’s head sculpted on a rock. Unfortunately the trunk of one of the elephants is found broken. It was later that one learnt that the broken trunk has to do with the story of u Ter Kyndiah another important legendary figure of the Pnar. U Ter Kyndiah is said to be a man of tall stature who is a little over 6 feet tall. He was well-built and had a big tummy. It is also believed that he lived in the mid eighteenth century perhaps in the heydays of the Jañtia kingdom. He was a trader by profession and visited different markets every week. Like anybody else he engaged in multiple professions and also worked as a mason apart from working in his paddy field as a farmer.
His name and fame spread in the hills and plains and the king invited him to Jañtiapur it is said one day on his return from Jañtiapur he was very sad for unknown reasons. On his way back to Jowai on reaching Syndai where Rupasor is located, he went to the elephant sculpted on a rock and with his bare hands broke the elephant’s trunk. He then threw the broken trunk and till today at Rupasor one of the images of an elephant sculpted on a rock is without a trunk. Another incident which provides an idea about his strength was an incident when one fine winter morning while he was basking in the sun, a bamboo which grew near where he was sitting obstructed the sun. He then went and pulled and uprooted the entire cluster of bamboos.
This is not an exhaustive list of the Mars and the legendary figures of the Pnar; there are also stories about u Railong and other legendary figures in Jañtia hills, like the brother u Joh and u Kat Ymbon of Shangppung. The Pnar and the War of Jañtia still have many stories of their heroes. Hopefully the stories will be brought to light one day.
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