By HH Mohrmen
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of U Hajom Kissor Singh Nongbri who died on November 13, 1923, at Puriang. Not much is known about him except that he was the founder of the Unitarian Church in the Khasi Jaintia and Karbi Anglong district of Assam. His contribution to the nascent Khasi literature then was not being appreciated. Hajom Kissor Singh’s literary contribution to the emerging Khasi literature and the knowledge about the tribe can be found in almost all-important publications published then. He did not have much individual work but the contribution he made to other important publications was mentioned in the prefaces of these books.
The Khasis by
PRT Gurdon
One cannot study the people who live in the Khasi and Jaintia areas without flipping through the pages of PRT Gurdon’s book ‘The Khasis.’ This book is like the main entrance for outsiders who want to study the Khasis and Gurdon’s book is like a bible for those who study Khasi culture and history. In the preface to the book, “The Khasis by PRT Gurdon”, the author named Hajom Kissor Singh and his brother Nissor Singh on the preface of this book. Gurdon a foreigner relies on the natives who can speak English to help him in his work, and of the nine Khasi names mentioned in the preface as people who had helped Gurdon to come up with the book, the names of the brothers u Hajom Kissor and u Nissor Singh find mention.
His Contribution to LP and UP School Education
Born to Bor Singh Malngiang and ka Bida Nongbri on June 15, 1865 at Saitsopen, Sohra, Hajom Kissor Singh studied up to Matriculation. His love for education was obvious when in his initiative and while still working in the DC’s office in the late 1800’s and 1900’s he started an Upper Primary School in Jowai called Unitarian Free School which catered to the needs of the students in Jowai. Hajom Kissor Singh was also a signatory to the petition sent by the school administrators in Jaintia Hills in which they pleaded with the Government to allow Khasi Pnar students to appear for their Upper Primary School examination in their mother tongue. Unlike Assamese and Bengalis students, Khasi Pnar students had to appear for their examination in English language while the former wrote their exams in Assamese and Bengali respectively. Under the leadership of u Hajom Kissor Singh, a petition was sent to the government requesting that the Khasi Pnar be allowed to write their Upper Primary school exam in Khasi.
In a letter to the Director of Public Instruction, Assam (Through the Sub Inspector of Schools, Jaiñtia Hills) dated Jowai, the 8th of February 1902 the administrators of the three schools in Jaiñtia Hills pleaded that the Khasi Pnar students be allowed to write their exams in Khasi. The application was signed by Hajom Kissor Singh Manager, Unitarian Free School, u Soso Tham Headmaster Shangpung U.P. School, and Samuel Challam officiating Headmaster Jowai. Before the three gentlemen intervened, the Khasi and Jaintia students appeared for their Upper Primary School Scholarship and Pass Examination in English as students of other communities were allowed to appear for their examination in their lingua franca.
In response to the petition of the three heads of schools, the Director of Public Instruction, Assam W. Booth in his letter to the Sub-Inspector of Schools, Jaintia hills, Jowai number 7327 dated Shillong the 21st October wrote: ‘About your Memo. No. 17, dated the 8th February 1902, from the manager, Unitarian Free School, Jowai, and the Headmaster of Jowai Middle English School and the Shangpung Upper Primary School, I have the honour to say that I agree with the applicants on all points stated in their application, the children must be taught in their vernacular to the end of the Upper Primary standard.’
His contribution to the Text Book Committee
The government in the early 1900s constituted a Textbook Committee and in this connection, U Khasi Mynta wrote that it was surprising that the Committee members only comprised the DPI of Schools, the Deputy Commissioner, and J.C. Evans. Earlier a Khasi, Babu Jeebon Roy was made a member of the Committee but after his demise, the government did not appoint any native to the Committee. The report in U Khasi Mynta requested the Governor to consider the request to appoint a member from the local community to the Committee. Later U Khasi Mynta in its September 1903 edition reported that the DPI had made some corrections and nominated Hajom Kissor Singh as a member of the Textbook Committee along with Dr. Roberts. Hajom Kissor Singh not only replaced Babu Jeebon Roy and became the native member of the Textbook Committee which was responsible for selecting textbooks for use in the schools in the region, but he also played a very important role in the government’s effort to bring out the first English Khasi dictionary.
In the Preface of the First English Khasi Dictionary
The first English Khasi Dictionary was published for the first time in the year 1920 and it took the Committee about 11 years to complete the arduous task. In the preface of the Dictionary the then Deputy Commissioner of Khasi and Jaintia Hills A.W. Dentith wrote about the story of how the project was started till the dictionary saw the light of day. Dentith remarked that according to office letter Number 4445C Dated 30th March 1907, the government constituted a Committee to work on the project of coming up with the first-ever English Khasi Dictionary which comprised Mr. F.E. Jackson, Mr. L.O. Clark, and Mr. B.C. Allen members representing the Deputy Commissioner and the other three members were Rai Sahip Dohory Ropmay, u Hajom Kissor Singh and u Nissor Singh the author of the dictionary.
In the later part of the project, a Committee to revise the manuscript was constituted with Rev. Walter Firminges, Rev. C.L. Stephens, Rev. J.C. Evans, and Khan Sahib Amjad Ali as members. The preface also mentioned that the author Nissor Singh read the part of the manuscript sent to him from the Printing Press and was able to proof-read only from alphabet A to O. Nissor Singh died on February 20, 1918, while serving as the Inspector of Schools in Tura, in the Garo region. A.W. Dentith in the preface concluded that the proof of the remaining letters from P to Z was read by his brother Hajom Kissor Singh who not only completed the unfinished task that his brother had left, but he also wrote the keys to pronunciation and the list of abbreviations in the dictionary. Hajom Kissor Singh was therefore instrumental in bringing out the first English Khasi dictionary.
On the Preface of the
Jingsneng Tymmen
Hajom Kissor Singh also contributed to the project of bringing out ‘Ka Jingsneng Tymmen’ and he along with Babu Jeebon Roy wrote the introduction to the book. The relationship between Hajom Kissor Singh and Radhon Sing Berry grew deeper and stronger and the latter ultimately converted to Unitarianism. Any study of Berry’s work will remain incomplete if his contribution to the Unitarian Church is not taken into consideration. Berry composed 35 hymns in the Unitarian hymnal and has also written the chapter “Ki Kpieng Ksiar ban deng” which was once part of the Unitarian hymnbook.
His major literary
contribution
Hajom Kissor Singh also composed 72 hymns for the Unitarian Church hymnal and he has also translated many hymns published in the hymn book. This is not a small feat by any means. When Hajom Kissor Singh sent the first Khasi Unitarian hymnal to U Khasi Mynta, the journal reported that it had nothing to say about the book, because it is already known that it is a book of worship but added that it appreciated the beauty of the Khasi language used in the book. Perhaps Hajom Kissor Singh’s hymn should also be appreciated for the language and the grammar used therein. His translation of English hymns both by foreign and native composers is commendable
The only prose that Hajom Kissor Singh wrote was a piece about his journey from Jowai to Jaintiapur and the sub-title of the write-up is ‘The Journey, the Forest, and the People.’ Again the journey was part of his assignment to address the grievances of the people in Jaintiapur. At that point, in time Jowai and Jaintiapur were part of the same subdivision under the then-British Empire. This piece was included as a chapter in the Mawpun Jingtip which was one of the prescribed textbooks of the Meghalaya Board of School Education.
Hajom Kissor Singh may not have written a book as such but he had contributed immensely to the success of at least four main projects published then. They include ‘Ka Jingsneng Tymmen’, ka first English Khasi Dictionary, the Text book Committee and Gurdon’s book The Khasis.