By HH Mohrmen
More often than not, the internet and social media in particular are being blamed for generating many ills in the society including spreading of fake news, but sometimes interesting and worthwhile things also happen on these sites. Internet and social media could also be an interesting place because a lot of good things happen in different platforms. For those who use the medium seriously, it is not only a mean for information sharing but more importantly a place to learn for one who desires knowledge. Sometimes the information exchange on social media platforms could lead to discovery of new truths and wisdom.
For so long no serious study was done on the Jañtia kingdom and the history of the monarchy has been lost except for folk stories that have been told by the hills people of Jañtia. All along the assumption especially by the hills people was that since the kingdom belongs to them, only they know about it. The assumption was that the subjects from the plains belts of the country have very little or no information about the greatness of the kingdom. But recently rather unexpectedly, the gap between the hills and plains portion of the erstwhile Jañtia kingdom was bridged.
In the last few months three articles about the Jañtia kingdom which were aptly titled “Jaintia: The story of the lost kingdom” was shared on Facebook by people from Jaintiapur, Bangladesh. The three posts have drawn the interest of many who live on both sides of the India-Bangladesh border. The write-ups, originally written in Bengali by Asif Ajhar was translated to English by Faisal Khonglah who are themselves residents of Jañtiapur. And the fact that one is a Khasia and another is a non-Khasia descendant of the people who live in Jañtiapur make the incident more interesting.
The posts have brought to light the truth about the Jañtia kingdom, which was later ruled by more than 20 kings of (Khasia/Jayanteah) Pnar descent for more than 200 years. The kingdom according to the post, comprises 18 regions in the plains and the 12 elakas headed by the Dalois who are representatives of the king in the hills. This is also in accordance with the common perception amongst the highlanders that theirs is the land of the 12 Daloi or the twelve chieftains. Interestingly the hill region is also traditionally called as (ka Ri Khadar Daloi) the land of the 12 chieftains.
According to the story from the hills portion of the kingdom, the Sutnga kings invaded a kingdom in the plains and expanded its dominion to the area. There were references about the long history of the kingdom in the chronicles of the Ahom kings which was later compiled (in Assamese) into a separate volume by Prof. S.K. Bhuyan and called “The Jayantia Buranji”. Other neighbouring kingdoms also have records about the Jañtia kingdom in their chronicles. Many references about the kingdom were also made by British officers and visitors to the kingdom at different points of time.
But the major source of information about the kingdom could be found in books like “The History of Jaintia” written in by SM Ali and published from Dacca in 1954. Other books which include one by Shadap-Sen Namita Catherine “The origin and early history of the Khasi-Synteng people,” which was her PhD thesis was published from Calcutta in 1981. Another book which mention extensively about the kingdom is “The History and culture of the Khasi people” written by Hamlet Bareh Ngap Kynta and published by Spectrum Publication, Guwahati (2016). Recently N.G Rhodes & S.K. Bose published another book which brought to light the numismatic history of the kingdom in a book titled, “The coinage of Jaintiapur” (January 2010). Perhaps the Jañtia kings are the only kings amongst the Khasi Pnar tribe who had issued coins.
The Facebook post has evoked much interest in the history of the lost kingdom amongst the people who live in the Khasi and Jañtia hills region. Many have sought more information about the kingdom and were surprised that they were not aware of this very important part of history. The same has also created a lot of interest amongst the people of Jañtiapur in Bangladesh and most of them are plains people or non-Khasia.
There are considerable amount of evidence about the approximately three hundred glorious reigns of the Jañtia kings over the plain and the hills portion of the kingdom. True the written records have established the fact that the Jañtia kingdom has existed for the past two hundred years plus but the tribal kings must have ruled the kingdom much before they achieved the glory and fame that they had before the British arrived in the region.
The exits of the monoliths around the palace in Jañtiapur which is now in Bangladesh not only establishes the connection that the kingdom has with the Khasi Pnar culture, but it will also help answer the question of how long the Pnar family has ruled the territory. The answer to the question when did the Sutnga king capture the kingdom and extend their dominion to the plains is still open. Whether the Pnar kings have ruled the kingdom since prehistoric times is a question which we are yet to find answers to. Perhaps dating the monoliths and the megalithic structure in Jañtiapur and all along the path from Nartiang to Jañtiapur will help establish the dates when the kingdom extended its dominion to the plains. The need of the hour is to date the monoliths both at Jañtiapur at Nartiang and the megalithic bridges along the path from Nartiang to Jañtiapur.
It is now obvious that compiling the complete history of the kingdom will only be achieved if sources from both sides of the border are taken into consideration, which hopefully will happen sooner than later. But more than compiling the history of the lost kingdom, there is a need for opening an opportunity for people to people contact between the hills and the plains people of the erstwhile Jañtia kingdom.
One cannot predict which direction this journey of discovering the lost kingdom will take but there is definitely a deep desire to know about the history of kingdom from people on both sides of the border. What will be interesting is the outcome of this new found discovery of the history of the kingdom by the people on both side of the border. The immediate outcome is that the hills and plains people of the two countries realise that they were once upon a time part of the same glorious kingdom and they have a shared history. It may also not be out of place to mention that Sylhet region up until the reign of the British was attached to Assam. It is rather unfortunate that the region was made part of East Pakistan during Independence. The erstwhile kingdom is now divided into two independent countries, the hill region of the country becomes part of India and the plains portion was made part of Bangladesh, earlier known as East Pakistan. It will be interesting to see if this shared history will help connect the people of the two regions which were once upon a time part of the glorious Jañtia kingdom.
But the most important outcome of this study is that it provides evidence of the existence of the Jañtia kingdom since time immemorial in an area which is now part of Bangladesh. It has also proven beyond doubt the fact that the Khasi Pnar people who live in Bangladesh are the autochthons of the place. They are indeed the indigenous people of the area that they live in because they are the descendants of the erstwhile Jañtia kingdom.
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