By H H Mohrmen
In the national seminar to commemorate Tribal Pride Week organized by Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong, at the monolith park in Nartiang, renowned folklorist of the state Prof Desmond Kharmawphlang reminded the gathering that the Khasi Pnar words for memory are a two-syllable word kynmaw in Khasi or kynmoo in Pnar. The last syllable in both the Pnar and the Khasi word is “maw’ or “moo” which means stone and the word can be loosely translated to etch in stone. Adding to my Facebook post, a friend Holiram Terang noted that there is a Karbi word “chikimo” meaning reminiscence and “kachikimo” meaning to reminiscence. Though the two tribal groups speak different languages – the Hynñew Trep speaks Austro-Asiatic Mon-Khmer group of language and the Karbi speak the Sino-Tibetan Kuki-Chin-Naga group of languages, the similarity may be a coincidence but is interesting.
The ancient connection
of Nartiang
To understand Nartiang one also has to understand the Jaintia kingdom and know the position that this place holds in the hierarchy of places in the kingdom. In terms of status, we can say that Nartiang was second only to Jaintiapur in its position amongst the villages and towns in the erstwhile Jaintia kingdom. Nartiang is believed to be the summer capital of the Jaintia kingdom but from the Jayantia Buranji it is found that Nartiang could be more than just a summer capital of the kingdom. According to the Buranji (Jayantia Buranji by Dr. S.K. Bhuyan, first published in 1937, the English translation of which was done by Anil Kumar Boruah and edited by Shiela Bora and Manorama Sharma and published by DVS Publishers H.B. Road, Panbazar, Guwahati -781001 in 2022) the Jaintias and the Ahoms had a very close relationship and it is said that every time the Ahoms sent their message to Jaintiapur a copy of the message was also sent to Nartiang. Although the seat of the Jaintia king was Jaintiapur marking a copy to Nartiang shows that Nartiang occupied an important place in the then-Jaintia kingdom.
The status of u daloi Nartiang
By tradition, the status of the daloi of Nartiang is also different from the other dalois. He is called u “kongwasan” or the elder brother by the other dalois in Jaintia hills. The daloi of Nartiang is respected and honoured by his fellow dalois. He is like the first amongst equals between the dalois. Every Durga puja the daloi has to offer two goats for sacrifice in the Durga temple. One goat of the goat offer is on his behalf and another on behalf of the king which was also known as “blang syiem”. So can we say that the daloi of Nartiang is not just a daloi but a vassal of the Jaintia king, or was it just the summer capital of the kingdom? It looks like the daloi of Nartiang is second only to the Jaintia king in the traditional political and administrative system prevalent then.
Nartiang and Jaintiapur the twin cities of the kingdom
Nartiang and Jaintiapur were like twins, one cannot understand the former without understanding the latter. The two places were connected by an ancient stone path known as the royal path and remnants of the same can be seen even today. Ironically, it was not Sutnga but Nartiang which became a popular place in the hills portion of the kingdom. It may not be out of place to state at the later stage of the history of the Jaintia kingdom that Nartiang replaced Sutnga as the most important place in the region. Although the tribal kingdom was started at Sutnga and was called Sutnga kingdom, the place was neglected after the kings extended their dominions to the plains.
The oral narrative says that Nartiang was the summer capital of the Jaintia kingdom and Jaintiapur was the winter capital. Jaintiapur is now part of Bangladesh but one can still see the ruins of the kingdom in the area and the monoliths in the place which stand tall even today. There are about 40 Pnar households in Jaintiapur and they maintain their tribal culture. The two places are connected by history and the tradition that they share.
The religion of the place
The place is also unique in the context of the religion that people have followed since the past. People in Nartiang live a very unique religious way of life where they observe some Hindu festivals and traditions while at the same time following the tribal religious way of life. Concerning the rites of passage, they observed them as per the tribal tradition. It is interesting to note that people observe two traditions in their lives without any problem at all. The religion that people follow at Nartiang is unique because it is a synthesis of tribal religion with Hinduism.
Hinduism in Nartiang
The people of Nartiang follow two religions simultaneously, so how did this happen? It is known that the kings adopted Hinduism and the people in the area also practice certain aspects of Hinduism. And because the king also worshiped some Hindu gods, the subjects of the kingdom too followed the king. Not only that, but people in Nartiang worship tribal as well as Hindu gods, but the village also has two temples, the Jayanti Devi temple and the other is the temple of Shiva. The other unique aspect of the temple here is that there are few ancient canons in the Shiv temple at Nartiang. We don’t know if the temple came before the tradition because the place is also believed to be a “Shaktipeeth.” So did Hinduism exist in Nartiang since ancient times? Or was it brought to the place by the king is also another very important question.
The monolith
Nartiang is also famous for the monolith park and there are at least three stories about the monoliths which are popular. During the U Kiang Nangbah-led Jaintia rebellion, Dr. Thornton mentioned the megalithic bridge at Nartiang which are similarto the stone bridges in the Amlarem area (Dr. James Howard Thornton (1834-1919), Memories of Seven Campaigns: a record of thirty-five years’ service in the Indian Medical Department in India, China, Egypt, and Sudan, published in 1895.) There is also a story about u Marphalangki who on his return from Raliang village to Nartiang because it was raining, requested an old lady in a hut to lend him something to protect himself from rain. Pointing her hand to the stone, the old lady said, “for a man of your size, why don’t you just take the stone and protect yourself?” Marphalangki took the stone and put it over his head to protect himself, but the stone is not ordinary. One of the big stones at Nartiang is believed to be the stone that Marphalangki carried from Raliang to protect himself from the rain.
The story of the tallest stone at the park is believed to be erected by Marphalangki and there is a Karbi connection to the story. The story has it that U Marphalangki tried to put the stone up, but his efforts went futile. They conducted egg divination and the message was, that the gods needed to be propitiated by offering human sacrifice. A golden lime container was purposely dropped in the hole dug to erect the stone. A Karbi man who came to Nartiang market, not suspecting any wrong intention went to pick up the container and u Mar immediately lifted the stone and put it inside the hole over the poor man’s dead body. There is another story connected with the monolith park at Nartiang which is that the monoliths were erected to celebrate the coronation of one of the Jaintia kings.
The Monolith Park
and the ASI tag
Monolith Park at Nartiang is attracting tourists but the spot is not well managed. During the seminar organized by MLCU, the headman of the dorbar chnong of Nartiang expressed his helplessness about the fact that the community is not able to manage the park. They are the custodians of the heritage site but since the place falls under Archeological Survey of India (ASI) protection sites, they can do nothing to manage or preserve the park. The community planned to collect entry fees to the park to generate income to manage and protect the important heritage sites but their hands are tied. By not permitting the community to manage and run the park the ASI is not taking the community into confidence and partnering with them in protecting the important heritage. Perhaps the state government can also mediate so that an arrangement can be made where the community and ASI work in partnership to protect this important heritage.