By H.H. Mohrmen
Jayantia (Jaintia) was one of the major kingdoms in medieval Northeast India until it was defeated by the colonial British government on March 15, 1835. Throughout its approximately three hundred years of history, the kingdom resisted invasions from almost all neighbouring powers, including the Koch, Ahom, Dimasa, Tripuri, and Mughal kingdoms. However, it is only now that people have started to tell the history of this small but remarkable kingdom.
When the kingdom was annexed by the British, the territory of the Jaiñtia Kingdom comprised two parts: the hill section, now known as the Jaiñtia Hills of Meghalaya, India, and the plains section, which extended into Sylhet, now in Bangladesh. The kingdom had its capital at Jayantiapur, which is now in Bangladesh, while in the north its territory extended to Gobha Sonapur in Assam (Bhattacharjee, J.B., 2009). The kings were originally of Pnar and War descent, which also constituted the predominant population of the hills.
The Merger of the Two Kingdoms
The plains of present day Bangladesh, lying at the foothills of Meghalaya, share a deep and intricate historical connection with the Pnar people of the hills. Though the people of the hills and those of the plains belonged to different ethnic groups, their histories intersected and at one point in time, both regions were unified under a single authority known as the Jayantia Kingdom. This remarkable kingdom, which had its origins in the hills, expanded its territory down to the Surma River (Dutta, S.K., July 10, 1937, Jayantia Buranji, Introduction, p. v).
Historians generally agree that the Jaiñtia Kingdom emerged from the merger of two smaller states: a tribal kingdom in the hills and a flourishing kingdom in the plains. Several narratives explain how these two diverse kingdoms became one. One narrative, as recorded in the Jayantia Buranji, suggests that the merger was peaceful. Landabur, who had been adopted by the tribal chief of Sutnga, later became the ruler of the Jayantia Kingdom in the plains. Another narrative states that a tribal chief, after uniting the tribes of the hills, invaded the plains and extended his dominion over the region. According to this account, the victorious ruler was called Prabhat Rai, “The Lord of the Hills,” by the subjects of the conquered kingdom (Gait, E.A. 1906).
The Jayantia Kings and Their Tribal Origins
One point on which scholars agree is that the Jaiñtia Kingdom was thereafter ruled by kings of tribal origin from the hills. Although they were influenced by the culture of the plains and eventually adopted Hinduism, they continued to follow many tribal customs and traditions. This was most evident in the succession to the throne. Instead of the king’s son, it was his nephew, specifically the son of his youngest sister, who inherited the throne. However, the study of the coins of Jayantiapur has brought to light another important tribal tradition that was continued by the Jayantia kings.
The Jayantia Kingdom’s First Encounter
Historians also agree that the first recorded encounter involving a Jaiñtia king was with the Koch Kingdom. A king of Jayantia died on the battlefield in 1564 while resisting a Koch invasion led by Chiläräy. Following his death, his nephew was placed on the throne under certain conditions. These included the payment of an annual tribute of ten thousand rupees, seventy horses, and three hundred swords, and the condition that he should not strike coins in his own name (Bose & Rhode, 2010). This invasion is recorded in Koch history and perhaps marks the first appearance of the Jayantia Kingdom in the written records of another kingdom.
The Early History of the Hill Kingdom
Since the Jaiñtia people had no written records prior to the annexation of the kingdom by the British, the only option is to rely on oral traditions, of which the hill people have many. Consequently, much of the kingdom’s early history remains in the realm of legend and oral tradition. Tradition holds that the united tribal kingdom of the hills was originally known as ka Hima Sutnga until the Pnar kings defeated the kingdom in the plains and extended their dominion southward.
In the Jayantia Buranji, it is recounted that the last ruler of the Jayanti Kingdom was a queen who banished her husband. With the help of her favoured deity, she transformed her shadow into a woman, who then turned into a fish and swam upstream to where her exiled husband, Landhabar, was living. Landhabar caught the fish in a nearby river, and it later transformed back into a woman, whom he subsequently married.
An intriguing aspect of this tradition is that both the hill kingdom of Sutnga and the plains kingdom of Jayanti share similar origin stories. The Buranji contains multiple versions of the kingdom’s origin story, while the Pnar and War people preserve similar narratives through oral tradition. This version, with its tribal characteristics, is linked to several natural features that still exist today. For instance, the Waikhyrwi River, from which Lo or Lot Ryndi is said to have caught the legendary fish, still flows today, as does the Thlumuwi River, where the woman is believed to have disappeared.
Chronology of the Kings
The Jaiñtia Kingdom has its own versions of the chronology of the kings who ruled the country, and the Jayantia Buranji records four different lists. Scholars in the past undertook the task of authenticating the succession of the Jayantia kings. More recently, a significant contribution to this effort came through a study of the coins of the Jayantia rulers, published in 2010.
N.G. Rhodes and S.K. Bose studied these coins in the book titled The Coinage of Jayantiapur: With an Account of the Last Days of the Jaintia Raj published by Marudhar Arts, Kolkata, in 2010. Rhodes and Bose are well known numismatists who have published a series of monographs on the coinage of Northeast India, including studies on ancient Assam and the kingdoms of Cooch Behar, Tripura, Ahom, and Dimasa Kachari used coins to authenticate the lists.
The monograph covers all known Jaiñtia coins that have so far come to the attention of scholars and coin collectors. The authors have examined each coin in meticulous numismatic detail, documenting its metal composition, size, shape, weight, countermarks, authenticity, and the identification of fake and forged specimens. The study also includes a critical analysis of the inscriptions and other features, along with the dating, cataloguing, and classification of the coins, providing valuable keys to understanding the coins.
Jaiñtia Coins and Their Characteristics
One of the major findings of the study is that the coins of Jaiñtiapur are among the most distinctive in the numismatic history of Northeast India. Some of their most notable characteristics include the fact that almost all Jaiñtia coins prominently feature a six pointed star, often referred to as the Star of David, and although it’s exact symbolic meaning in the Jaiñtia context remains uncertain. Some later coins also display a five pointed star.
Many coins depict a sword and a gun and because of the sword motif, they were locally known as Kâtrâ Tâka or “sword tanka.” A unique feature of Jaiñtia coinage is that the date on many coins represents the accession year of the king, helping historians reconstruct the chronology of Jaiñtia rulers.
Many coins contain carefully arranged dots, which were likely used as mint or security marks to identify mint contractors and ensure quality control. Most Jaiñtia coins were made of debased silver, often of poor quality, which led some early collectors to mistake them for forgeries.
Unlike most other Indian kingdoms, Jaiñtia coins were usually anonymous and did not bear the name of the ruling king. According to the Koch chronicle, the new Jaiñtia king was forbidden from issuing coins in his own name, leading some historians to explain the continued use of anonymous coins in Jaintiapur until the late eighteenth century. However, this interpretation is doubtful because Cooch Behar never regained political control over Jaiñtiapur and would have been unable to enforce such a condition. It is more likely that anonymous coinage was already an established practice, and the Koch rulers merely claimed credit for it. The absence of the king’s name on the coins probably reflected the unique status of the king in Jaiñtia and Khasi society rather than any external restriction.
Important Collectors and Institutions Holding Jaiñtia Coins
The book also listed the important collectors of Jaiñtia coins include Vasant Chowdhury of Kolkata, who is regarded as one of the earliest serious collectors of Jaiñtia coinage. Upon his demise, the collection passed into the custody of J.P. Goenka, who later acquired and expanded this important collection.
Bose and Rhode also mentioned that some of these Jaiñtia coins are now in the hands of several additional private collectors. More importantly, some of these coins are now in the possession of a Pnar businessman. Major institutions holding Jaiñtia coins include the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Indian Museum.
