By Bhogtoram Mawroh
Recently, I was invited by Jones Ingti Kathar (retired IAS officer and president of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference from Karbi Anglong) to witness a traditional ceremony known as ‘Kove Baida’ (Kove = kwai or betel nut, Baida = act of giving). This ceremony, which takes place in Khang Khadwiu, a location around the village of Umbarsu in West Karbi Anglong, commemorates an important occasion in Khasi-Karbi relations that dates back to the days of the erstwhile Hima Jaintiapur. At this site, the Khasi and Karbi people took an oath to maintain peace between the two communities and resolve all issues through mutual dialogue. Thus, on the February 11, my friend and I left Shillong early in the morning to attend this very important ceremony. We took the Ummulong road, which leads to Khanduli on the Meghalaya side, and crossed into Karbi Anglong.
Because of the importance of the program, I was expecting it to be held in an open field with a lot of space for cultural programs of all kinds. Surprisingly, the spot was along the side of the road leading to Hamren, marked only by a resting shed with a couple of monoliths, fenced by an enclosure. There were already a few volunteers at the location and they knew Pnar and Khasi very well, which was very helpful. We were pleasantly surprised to find that one of the volunteers, Sarin Teron, the secretary of the nearby village of Umjira, had done his schooling in Mawlai. He gladly recounted his childhood days, particularly when he and other kids from the school had gone out into the streets to celebrate an election victory at the behest of one of their teachers. Sarin Teron spoke of his time in Mawlai with great affection.
It was from this affable gentleman that we got more insights into the importance of the venue and its significance for Khasi-Karbi relations. In the past, the location was the site of a conflict between the Khasi and the Karbi. Jones Ingti Kathar later told us that it was over the areas where jhum could be practiced. Eventually both sides decided to come together and establish what the Karbi King (about whom we will discuss later) termed the ‘Peace Accord’. The Karbi were represented by Thong Nokbe, the legendary Karbi hero. On the Khasi side, there was Tymmen Borlai and his wife, Katep Nongjrong, who acted as the representatives of the Khasi Syiem (most probably of Hima Jaintiapur). The monoliths were called mawsmai, which in Khasi means an oath stone. Since then, the Karbis have been coming to this spot to mark this important occasion by offering prayers. And it is the Karbi King (Karbi Rico), belonging to the Ronghang clan and presently staying in Diphu, who conducts this ceremony.
Not long after us, the Karbi King arrived with his entourage, all dressed in their traditional garb. On arrival they entered the enclosure and sat around the monoliths, forming a circle. On the Karbi side was an upright stone alongside a broad, flat stone, while the Khasi side had only a single upright stone. Soon after the King and his advisors took their seats, gourds and beer bottles filled with rice beer were kept at the feet of both monoliths. There were six on the Karbi side and three on the Khasi side. Before them betel nuts, or kwai, were placed on banana leaves. The King/Rico then stepped forward and initiated the ceremony.
To begin with, four chickens were brought and the Rico poured water on their heads. Holding them in his hands, he and his advisers offered prayers to the Karbi monolith. Next, the Rico, now acting as the chief priest, made an incision on the neck of one of the chickens using a knife that resembled a Khasi tari. Immediately, blood began oozing out of the wound. Following this, he flung the chicken on the ground and sprinkled rice on its writhing body. He repeated this action with the other chickens and then replicated the ritual in front of the Khasi monolith. Once the chickens stopped struggling, the Rico poured water onto their abdomens. Using the knife again, he cut open the stomach, took out the intestines, and examined them. Satisfied with the ‘readings’ the carcasses were then handed over to the volunteers, after which candles were lit in front of the monoliths. The Rico and his advisors took their seats again.
About half an hour later, pieces of the cooked chicken were brought and laid atop the rice, now spread on the banana leaf in front of the monoliths. The Rico came forward once again and placed plastic cups filled with rice beer in front of the food. He poured a little bit of the liquid on the stone and offered another prayer with his advisers before both monoliths. This then marked the end of the ceremony, after which food was served to all the attendees, including the guests. Afterwards, we were felicitated with a Karbi shawl by the Rico, which was a great honour and highly unexpected. Thereafter, we expressed gratitude to our newfound friends and bid them goodbye. Soon we were back on the Shillong-Jowai road and on the way home.
During the ceremony, there was a persistent feeling that the rituals performed appeared so familiar. It was later, when I got home and started reading about the Karbi in the book ‘The Mikir’ by Edward Stack, published just two years after PRT Gurdon’s book ‘The Khasi’, that it started making sense. According to Karbi tradition, their original abode was somewhere along the eastern portion of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills bordering the Kopili/Kupli river. Staying close to the Khasis, they adopted many of the former’s customs and habits, particularly in terms of ornaments, personal names, methods of divination, funeral ceremonies, and memorial stones. The monoliths described earlier have their own Karbi name, lòng-chòng for the upright stone and lòng-pàk for the broad flat stone. Even now, the term used for their exogamous clans is kur, which is the same as used by the Khasi. Thong Nokbe, the legendary Karbi hero, was also supposed to be one of the high-ranking military officers in Hima Jaintiapur. In fact, around the time the conflict in Khang Khadwiu took place, Jones Ingti Kathar was of the opinion that Thong Nokbe was still under the service of the King of Jaintiapur. Most probably, for this reason, he was able to represent the Karbi and discuss terms with the local Pnar population, both of whom were the subjects of Hima Jaintiapur. While trying to locate Jaintiapur in Google Earth, I came across a village called Hawai Bhoi in Amalarem, which, as informed to me by HH Mohrmen, is a Karbi village. It is not surprising, as Bhoi is another name for the Karbi, which is used even now by the Pnar. Did this village come about when Thong Nokbe was under the service of the Jaintiapur King?
But the legend of Thong Nokbe also mentions that he had rebelled against the Jaintiapur King and won freedom for his people. There are many versions around him, and at least three were told to me by Jones Ingti Kathar as we were waiting for lunch. Like it is with the Khasi legends, there is some element of truth in all of them, but it is up to future researchers to find out the original one. But one thing that Jones Ingti Kathar kept mentioning was the brotherhood between the Khasi and the Karbi and how it must be maintained at all costs. He kept using the term ‘Jari Jamai’ while describing the two, which means brothers and sisters. There is a rationale for that, as the Bhoi (many of whom are actually Karbi or Karbi who became Khasi) are treated as being part of the Khasi as one of the seven sub-groups, or the Hynniewtrep. This was also reiterated by Sarin Teron, who lamented that now that the Khasis do not visit the site, it appears that they have forgotten the Karbi, but the Karbi still remember them with fondness.
It cannot be denied that Karbis were one of the groups living under the Khasis (Hima Shillong and Hima Jaintiapur), and the legend of Thong Nokbe actually came about because of his resistance against the oppression his people endured that rule. At the same time, the common Khasi and Karbi folk mingled, married, and exchanged cultures with each other. Some of the Karbi, in fact, went one step further and became Khasi by adapting their clan to sound more Khasi. For example, Tmung is Timung, and Killing became Klein. A certain type of matrimonial alliance also developed called ‘Shim Bhoi’ (personal communication) when a Khasi family in Ri Bhoi who have no daughters would marry their son to a Karbi woman so that the children would carry the Khasi surname and the ancestral property would remain within the family.
Recently, there were clashes between the Khasi and Karbi along the border, and the boundary issue, particularly between Block I and Block II, which is the eternal thorn on the side of both communities. The solution to the border will take some time, but the connections between the two communities go back many centuries, maybe millennia. The site around Khang Khadwiu is a testament to the fact that peace is possible. It was an integral part of the past, and it can also be part of the future as well. No matter what happens in the future, we will always have Karbi people living in Khasi areas and Khasi people living in Karbi areas. It is for these people that the lesson from the peace accord established centuries ago must be remembered and replicated so that people of both communities can live in peace and harmony while continuing to contribute to each other’s welfare.
(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution)