By Toki Blah
There have been many expert comments and write-ups on the undocumented past of the Khasis, so I too thought I should try my hand at something that has never been tried before – that is to reconstruct the sort of weapons used by the ancient Khasi – Jaintias; the type of military formations maintained by them and the tactics used by my ancestors. Let me be crystal clear from the very onset that there is very little documented literature on the subjects mentioned above. My whole essay is based on conjectures since even the Jayantiya Buranji fails to throw any light on the subject. These conjectures are nothing short of assumptions based entirely on circumstantial evidence that is available with us today, but they are the only material we can work on, so here goes. First there has been a lot of romanticization of our past history so much so that it is generally believed that our forefathers lived in a so-called “Juk Ksiar” or Golden Age. It is imagined that it was an age where peace, unity and social harmony prevailed throughout the length and breath of the land of U Hynniewtrep. Well, based on knowledge and experience of human nature, and that our ancient Khasis were nothing but practical, hardcore humans of the first order, I would take that sort of romantic imagery with a large pinch of salt. Taking the lawless nature of those times; the lack of basic civic infrastructure, I would imagine our forefathers as communities continuously engaged in short, sharp, brutal skirmishes and fights with each other and with their neighbours in the plains. Definitely nothing angelic about such existence!
Let us now examine the sort of weapons used by our ancestors. First let us look at the most common weapon and that is the Khasi Bow and Arrow. Ours is small, light and short ; made of bamboo and nothing in comparison with the English Longbow or the bigger bows used by other tribals in the Indian mainland. Our arrows too are designed to fit into the overall curvature of the Khasi bow which is designed to shoot straight for a short distance of not more than 25 to 30 meters. Khasi arrows are not lobbed high into the air as by the English Longbow, but shot straight at the target! The arrows used by the ancient Khasi warriors are certainly not the pointed versions ( Nam sop) used for target practice or by modern day ‘teer archers’. Ancient Khasis used the wicked barbed (nam pliang) for their wars and for hunting. The ‘nampliang’ inflicted terrible wounds on the victim and because of barbs on both sides of the arrow head, was very painful if not impossible to extract. These arrows, as mentioned above, were used for short sharp encounters, highly effective within a short shooting distance of not more than 40 meters. So what does this tell us? It simply means that Khasis specialized in ambush tactics or guerrilla warfare. Shooting at an unsuspecting enemy from dense cover; creating panic and confusion in the ranks of the enemy and then rushing in for the final kill. These are lethal tactics common to all other hill tribes in NE India and other South East Asian countries.
Then there is the Khasi sword (wait) so romantically displayed in the cultural dances and rompings of present day Khasis. This is aptly named as the ‘wait shad’ and this definition clearly differentiates it from the real sword used by Khasi warriors in the battlefield. The only real conception of the sword used by ancient Khasi warriors in warfare is to be found in the motif used in the Mait Shaphrang movement of Bah Michael Syiem. This motif in the Maitshaphrang emblem depicts a short thick bladed but pointed sword or in other words a typical machete, colloquially called ‘ka wait –ia- pom’. A machete is more likely to be used in slashing and hacking. A machete with a sharp pointed end can also be used effectively as a blade to stab in close quarter fighting and this suited the guerilla , hit and run, attacking behind enemy lines, tactics of the ancient Khasis. For those not acquainted with the term guerrilla, it means a member of a band of persons engaged in warfare not as part of a regular army but as an independent unit making surprise raids behind enemy lines. It describes the ancient Khasi warriors to a T ! The small rounded shield used by the Khasis also simply enforces the argument in this essay as it is designed to ward off blows or to simply push aside impending bushes and small branches that get in the warrior’s way as he charges ahead in battle. It is unlike the bigger broader and bulkier shields claimed to be used by other tribes.
Then we come to the type of armies employed by the Khasi and Jaintia rulers. Among the Khasis of the Khasi Hills I doubt if any regular army existed for this immediately brings in the issue of maintenance and upkeep of such army. It brings in the availability of funds and as the Syiems or Chiefs of the Khasis do not impose taxes on their citizens, funding then becomes a problem. This also makes the argument for a guerilla force all that more convincing. The force is assembled as and when the occasion demands and once the objective of a raid is completed, the forces disperse and their members go back to their normal day to day lives. This however might be different in the Jaintia Hills where a King with a kingdom stretching up to the plains of Syllhet existed. In the Jaintia kingdom taxes were collected and the King maintained a regular army. This was an army that had close interaction with other armies of the plains and therefore their knowledge and use of firearms was not unlikely. Actually the Jaintia Kings had knowledge and did use small canons and musketry. It simply means that the Jaintia Kings did maintain an army armed with modern firearms of those times but that the hoi polloi retained the common use of the bow and arrow as well as the sword. That the Jaintias were well versed with modern firearms is documented in the fight of the Pnar martyr – hero U Kiang Nangbah against the British invaders. Kiang Nangbah in his fight against the British did use muzzle loaders and this fact plus his resort to guerilla tactics, made him such a thorn in the flesh of the English, that they went all out, by hook or by crook, to eliminate him.
There are some who speak of the Khasi spears, and some statues of Khasi Jaintia heros depict these persons with spears in their hands. However one has yet to encounter the popular use of such a weapon unlike the universal recognition given to the broad bladed, stabbing oriented Naga spear for instance. Nor are we familiar with ancient Khasis using the axe or war club in long forgotten fights and battles. These weapons might have been used on an individual capacity but there is nothing to suggest that they formed part of the general arsenal used by Khasi fighting forces.
From the very start I had made the disclaimer that this is not a researched thesis on the subject under discussion i.e Weapons, arm bearers and tactics of ancient Khasis. On the other hand it is based on observations of what is used today and presumptuously linked these observations to what likely happened in the past. I justify myself and my actions simply on the fact that we have neither documentary proof to deny or confirm such observations. Having said that, I will be the first to welcome any critical analysis to prove my observations wrong. Otherwise let us all continue to live in the blissful wonder of our mysterious past!