By Bhogtoram Mawroh
A couple of weeks ago, Pynshngainlang Rattane, President of the UKPO (United Khasi Peoples’ Organisation), Karbi Anglong Central Executive Committee, and adviser of Seng Raid Kherwang invited me to the Thoh Lyngdoh ritual in Mynser village, Chingthong, West Karbi Anglong. He had been inviting me to visit the Khasis living in Karbi Anlgong, but for various reasons I could not accept his invitation. However, this time around, I was determined to honour his request. Inviting a friend along, I left Shillong around 6.30 in the morning and took the Mawlasnai road to enter Karbi Anglong. The drive to Mynser took over three hours and we passed through a few Khasi and Karbi villages on the way.
As I was planning for the journey, I was told that the roads would be in terrible condition and therefore we took a bigger car. But barring a few sections, the roads were very good. However, as we approached the Khasi village of Mynser, the paved road gave way to a dirt path which would have been quite hazardous during the monsoon season. Luckily, the sky was clear, and we were able to reach the village, where we asked a woman for directions. We told her we had come for the ritual. She showed us a path which led to an open valley at the end of which we saw people had gathered over an open space. It was there we met Pynshngainlang, busy with the elders who had gathered to conduct the rituals.
There were Khasi men dressed in the traditional attire standing in front of the items used for the rituals. We were told that there were 12 clans in the past, but now only 7 clans remain. The gourds, placed on the ground along with the bamboo mugs, incense sticks, and branches of leaves, represented these clans. Four of the elder clans were back in the house of the Lyngdoh, where they awaited the report of the clans about the auguries from the rituals. Based on the feedback, the four elder clans including the Lyngdoh would decide the course of action for the next year. Pynshngainlang took us to a hut where we met the four clans, together with Shemborlang Rynjah, CEM Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, whom they had also invited.
Thoh Lyngdoh is a pre-sowing ritual performed asking the gods for a successful cropping season. Historically, this must have been a common sight in all Khasi villages, but now only Mynser village, with its households maintain the indigenous faith and continue the practice. The village could very well be one of the few left outside Meghalaya where people still practise Niam Khasi. One must perform the rituals before sowing seeds. This explained some sights that we saw while on our way to the village.
As we were driving through the villages, it was heartening to see that jhum was still being practiced in the area. There were numerous clearings lined with fallen trees lying on top of charred soil, a tell-tale sign that people had recently used fire at these sites. But I saw no young crops. It was only after hearing from the elders in Mynser that we realized they had not yet sown the seeds. The ritual was therefore very important and not just a cultural performance for the outsiders. Bah Khrawbok Shadap, who had arrived a few days earlier from Shillong for the ritual, remarked that this was not a revival, but a preservation of traditions passed down through generations. I was honored to experience these authentic, long-practiced traditions.
Mynser is a very important site for the Khasis and there are many historical events connected to it. From the discussion we had with the elders, we were told that the village is part of the Raid Kherwang, a traditional Khasi polity. In the past, both Hima Jantiapur and Hima Shillong (?) fought over control of this area, and the Raid paid taxes to both of them at various times. The taxes were for the produce of the hali (paddy fields) and not on the produce from the hills where jhum is still being practised. Since the village of Mynser and the area it (i.e., the Raid Kherwang) imclides had a lot of paddy fields, this was a very attractive area to control for both the Himas. Many sites around the village yielded iron slag, clear evidence of a once-thriving iron industry. We were told that the iron ore manufactured here was used to make swords and guns.
Archaeology has established that the oldest iron smelting site in the Northeast is in Nongkrem (2000 years ago) and the area around Sohra (1000 years ago). These are areas inhabited by the Khasis—the second-oldest community in South Asia—and Macro Mitri, in his 2008 PhD thesis ‘Archaeological Investigation in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills: A Study on the Distribution Patterns of Neolithic Sites (An Ethno-archaeological Approach),’ proposed that Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao were the initial locations where the Khasis must have settled when they arrived from the east. So, this area must have had a thriving Khasi population for a very long time, at least for the last 4000 years, much before the Tibeto-Burman groups, first the Kok-Borok groups that include the Garo, Tiwa and then groups like the Karbi arrived a little later. Someone also told us that the Don Bosco Museum found belts worn by Khasi warriors in the neighbouring Amri area. Over time, as the Khasis migrated from the area, groups like the Karbi and Tiwa moved in and started settling down. However, many Khasis also remained, and colonial documents mention this group, now known as the Kherwang Khasis.
When PRT Gurdon wrote his book ‘The Khasis’ in 1907, he noticed that among the Khasis only the Kherwang/Kharwang villages along with some in Mynso and Sutnga were still weaving their own clothes. The Kharwang especially weaved “a special pattern of cotton and silk cloth, striped red and white.” Clubbed under the group of Khasis speaking Pnar, this is a strong sign that Kherwang Khasis have inhabited these areas for many generations. Most probably they were under the jurisdiction of Hima Jaintiapur, asserting their independence as a Raid from time to time attracting the attention of Hima Shillong which also eyed the rich taxation from this area. Even in the recent past, the area has been an integral part of Khasi history. During the rebellion against the British in Jaintia Hills, Kiang Nongbah had used a cave known as Krem Len found in the village’s sacred forest to hide and plot his attacks, strengthening the connection with Hima Jaintiapur. However, because of lack of time, we could not visit the cave, but that is a site for a future visit.
Mynser village and the Raid Kherwang are a very important parts of Khasi history, stretching back to the Neolithic period when Khasis brought rice and farming to South Asia. Today it’s an area inhabited by Karbi, Tiwa and other groups who must have influenced Khasi culture and got influenced, making it a fascinating area for understanding the cultural and ethnic churn that characterises the North East. At present it is a site of contestation between Karbi Anglong and Meghalaya, which could continue for some time to come. But whatever the outcome is, we must ensure that the continuing legacy of the Kherwang Khasis must endure as it gives us a glimpse of our past and our culture. We will always have Khasis living in what today are non-Khasi dominated areas and vice versa. That will not change. What can happen, however, is that we live in harmony with each other, as there are many who are ready to exploit strife and marginalize the indigenous communities in the North East through politics and religion. From my interactions with some student leaders and politicians from Karbi Anglong, it’s clear that this process has already begun. Fostering solidarity among the Khasis, Karbis, and Tiwas is crucial, and the Kherwang Khasis can play a vital role in helping to achieve it.
(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)