Society-KHASI

The Khasi live in northeastern India in the District of the United
Khasi and Jaintia Hills, under the control of the Assam State Government.
The Khasi proper live in the upland center of the District, while
the closely related Jaintia inhabit the southeastern part of that
region, and the affiliated Lynngam live on the western border of the
Khasi Hills, near the Garo Hills.

The geography of the different areas in which these peoples live varies
greatly. It is one of the factors that has contributed to differences
in culture, dialect, economy, social life, and political organization
among these groups, even though they share the same language and social
structure. The United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District covers 5,554 square
miles of hilly tableland. It is bounded on the south by the Cachar
Hills and East Pakistan, on the east by the United Mikir and North
Cachar Hills Districts, on the north by the plains of the Kamrup and
Nowgong Districts, and on the west by the Garo Hills. The ecology
varies, within short distances, from jungle to scrub or grassland.

The Khasi speak a Mon-Khmer language of the Austro-Asiatic family.
Khasi, Jaintia, and Lynngam are the three major dialects spoken, with
variations occurring in each village. The Khasi language is giving
way to Assamese on the fringes of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills area.
In 1842, writing was introduced by the Methodist missionaries, who
applied the Roman alphabet to the Cherrapunji dialect of Khasi.

According to the 1951 census of India, the total Khasi population
in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills District was 363,599 (Nkane 1967: 95).

Khasi villages are situated below hill summits to avoid strong winds.
In every village, the following places can be found: cremation grounds,
tree groves, a market place, the home of the village priest, and the
home of the chief, if he lives in that village. Today, Christian churches,
government and social welfare buildings, and schools are also part
of the village. In the past, several villages grouped together to
form one large village for defense. Now, the once non-cohesive component
villages have been integrated through the schools and public services.

The Khasi have a market economy based on agriculture. Most Khasi not
only produce goods but also participate in trade as sellers, middlemen,
etc. On the Shillong Plateau, the major field crops are potatoes,
maize, millet, and dry rice. The potato was introduced to this area
in 1830 by David Scott. Paddy rice is found in parts of Jaintia. The
upland Khasi tend house gardens of pumpkins, eggplant, sweet potatoes,
etc. Hunting with bow and arrow is only for sport, and fishing for
subsistence is common only in the southern foothills. In Khasi villages,
women operate household shops. Markets are held in different places
according to the eight-day week, but the Shillong market, which attracts
Khasi from all over the hill area, is open daily. The use of currency
has replaced the barter system. Markets fulfill social as well as
economic functions, by supplying recreation in the form of archery
contests, opportunities for courtship, disseminating information,
etc. There are few industrial arts, but those that exist are the specialty
of certain villages (e.g., the forging of knives and swords in the
villages of the upland Khasi). The production of ready-made garments
has been made possible by the introduction of the sewing machine.

Boiled rice and dried fish are the staple foods of the Khasi; beef,
pork, and chicken are beyond the means of most people. The use of
betel nut, tobacco, and rice whisky as stimulants is common.

In Khasi society, descent is matrilineal; a person is a member of
his or her own matrilineage from birth. The maximal matrilineage is
the sib, and the minimal matrilineage is the local descent group,
or iing. In the past, this group spanned six generations, but today
this has been reduced to four. An iing divides after it grows to more
than four generations in a single village, and new houses are located
some distance from the old iing. The term iing also indicates an extended
family, a nuclear family, or a house.

The nuclear family is the basic domestic unit, but this unit may temporarily
include other relatives. Neolocal residence is common today; traditionally,
however, residence was either matrilocal, uxorilocal, or, occasionally,
virilocal. Elopement frequently occurs among the Christians and non-Christians,
but some Khasi still prefer to be married according to the traditional
ceremony. Other characteristics of Khasi marriage include: monogamy,
sib exogamy, and the lack of a bride-price or dowry. Divorce must
be by mutual consent. Traditionally, the youngest daughter inherited
all of her mother's property; this practice is now changing to include
older daughters and also sons.

The village is the basic unit of political organization. An assembly
of adult males from the village, and the headman elected by this assembly,
govern the village. The 25 Khasi chiefdoms, or states, probably arose
from the voluntary association of villages. Because villages readily
transfer their allegiance from one chief to another, chiefdoms are
not territorial entities. Chiefs have executive and judicial functions,
but before they can act, they must be granted approval by an executive
council. Market tolls, fines, and licenses to distill rice whisky
provide revenue for the chief.

Lineages are classed as either noble, commoner, or servant. The majority
of the people are commoners. A few servant lineages remain, and the
people belonging to these lineages must perform certain duties in
the chief's household. The positions of state and village priest and
the chief's councilor and elector can be filled only by members of
the noble lineages.

Of all the deities in the Khasi pantheon, the unnamed God and Goddess
are the most important. The God is characterized as powerful and merciful,
yet also passive; the Goddess is closer to the individual. Divination
by reading eggshells and entrails is practiced. Sacrifice is performed
to explain and remedy misfortune. The Khasi also believe in demons,
omens in nature and in dreams, and mystic numbers and colors. Ceremonies
addressed to the ancestors take place during life crises, marriage,
divorce, etc. Many chiefdoms also have a state religion, in which
the Pombland ceremony takes place over a year to secure the blessing
of the ancestors for the entire chiefdom. Many foreign missionaries
have been active among the Khasi, with great success. The Calvinistic
Methodist missionaries were the first to establish themselves among
the Khasi in 1832; Unitarians, Seventh Day Adventists, Catholics,
and others followed.

A good introduction to the Khasi may be found in McCormack (1964).
Gurdon (1907) provides historical depth.

Culture summary by Heather M. Fellows



Gurdon, Philip Richard Thornhagh.
 The Khasis.
 With an introduction by Sir Charles Lyall.
 London, D. Nutt, 1907.
 27, 227 p. illus.
 McCormack, Anna P. Khasis.
 In Frank M. LeBar, Gerald C. Hickey, and John K. Musgrave, eds.
 Ethnic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia.
 New Haven, Human Relations Area Files Press, 1964: 105-112.
 Nakane, Chie.
 Garo and Khasi: a comparative study in matrilineal systems.
 Paris, Mouton, 1967.
 187 p. illus., maps.


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