Then follows a list of minor deities, or, rather, evil spirits, e.g. Ka Rih, the malarial fever devil; ka Khlam, the demon of cholera; ka Duba, the fever devil which is said to haunt the neighbourhood of Theriaghat.
Bivar says "the Khasi religion may be thus briefly defined as forms used to cure diseases and to avert misfortunes, by ascertaining the name of the demon, as the author of the evil, and the kind of sacrifice necessary to appease it." We may accept this description as substantially correct. In the Jaintia Hills there is a peculiar superstition regarding a she devil, called "ka Taroh" which is supposed to cause delirium in cases of fever. When such cases occur, it is believed that "ka Taroh" has caused them, and inquiries are made by means of breaking eggs to find out in whose person the demon has obtained a lodgment; or sometimes the sick person is asked to reveal this. When in either of these ways the name of the person possessed by "ka Taroh" is known, the sick person is taken to the house of the possessed, and ashes and bits of broken pots are cast into the enclosure, after which, if the sick person recovers, the party indicated is denounced as possessed by the demon; but if the patient dies, it is concluded that the person possessed has not been properly ascertained. If people are satisfied that some one is really possessed, they denounce the person, who is then out-casted. The only way for him to regain his position is to exorcise the demon by divesting himself of all his property. He pulls down his house, burns the materials, his clothes, and all his other worldly goods. Lands, flocks, and herds are sold, the money realized by the sale being thrown away. No one dares touch this money, for fear he should become possessed by ka Taroh, it will be observed that, as in the case of the thlen, the demon is believed to follow the property.
Mr. Jenkins, in his interesting little work on "Life and Work in Khasia," gives a slightly different account of the superstition, in that he states that it is the sick person who is possessed by ka Taroh. The above belief is perhaps a Synteng development of the Khasi thlen superstition. In the Jaintia Hills "the small-pox" is believed to be a goddess, and is reverenced accordingly. Syntengs regard it as an honour to have had small-pox, calling the marks left by the disease the "kiss of the goddess"; the more violent the attack and the deeper the marks, the more highly honoured is the person affected. Mr. Jenkins says, "When the goddess has entered a house, and smitten any person or persons with this disease, a trough of clean water is placed outside the door, in order that every one before entering may wash their feet therein, the house being considered sacred." Mr. Rita mentions cases of women washing their hair in water used by a small-pox patient, in order that they may contract the disease, and women have been known actually to bring their little children into the house of a small-pox patient, in order that they may become infested and thus receive the kiss of the goddess. It is possible that the Syntengs, who were for some time under Hindu influences; may in their ignorance have adopted this degraded form of worship of the Hindu goddess, "Sitala Devi," who is adored as a divine mother under different names by Hindus all over India, cf., her name mari-amman, or mother of death, in the South of India, and the name Ai, mother, of the Assamese.
In the Khasi Hills the god of small-pox is known under the name of u Siem ñiang thylliew. He is not, however, appeased in any way, the people calling on two other spirits, Thynrei and Sapa, to whom a fowl or a goat is offered. This section cannot be closed without some reference to the household gods of the Syntengs. The legend is that in ancient times there came a woman "from the end of heaven to the borders of the country of u Truh" (the country of the plains people at a distance from the foot of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills). The name of the woman was Ka Taben, and she was accompanied by her children. She offered herself to u Dkhar, the plains man, as a household goddess, but he rejected her. She then went to the Khasis; who were ploughing their fields, and offered to help them with their cultivation. The Khasis also refused her, saying they were capable of managing their own cultivation, and at the same time told her to go to the country of the Bhois and Syntengs, i.e. the Jaintia Hills. Acting on this advice, she went to the village of Nongphyllud in the Jaintia Hills, where the people again turned a deaf ear to her. She proceeded to Mulagula village in Jaintia, at the foot of the Jaintia Hills, and ascended from thence to Rymbai, where she met a man who conducted her to the house of the Siem, who consented that she and her children should live with him. Ka Taben then apportioned to her children various duties in the house of the Siem as follows:—Ka Rasong was to look after the young unmarried folk, and was to supervise their daily labour and to prosper their trading operations at the markets. Next Ka Rasong was given a place at the foot of the king post, trai rishot, and her duty was to befriend young men in battle. Then came Ka Longkhuinruid, alias ka Thab-bulong, who said, "There are no more rooms in the house for my occupation, so I will go and live in the forest, and him who turns not his coat when I meet him I will make mad." Finally came U Lamsymphud, who elected to live with his youngest sister inside the house.
There are special sacrifices offered to these household deities. The leaves of the sning, or Khasi oak, are wrapped round the post of the house, and, a fowl is sacrificed and other formalities are observed which it would be tedious to describe in detail. The legend of the arrival of Ka Taben with her children in the Synteng country from a distant clime is interesting in that it perhaps indicates the possibility of the migration of these people, i.e. the Syntengs, in ancient times from some distant place to their present abode.
Ancestor-worship.
The Khasis not only revere the memories of deceased ancestors, but they adore them by means of offerings, which are sometimes periodical, and sometimes made when thought necessary, as in times of trouble. These offerings take the shape of articles of food which are theoretically partaken of by the shades of the deceased ancestors, the idea of making such offerings being very similar to that of the Hindus when they offer the "pinda," or cake, to nine generations of ancestors, i.e. to propitiate the shades of the departed, and to obtain their help thereby. U Hormu Rai Diengdoh writes that, "the real religious demand" amongst the Khasis is the ai bam, or giving of food to the spirits of deceased ancestors, in order that the latter may aid the living members of the clan with their help; and bless them. To honour dead ancestors is the duty of every Khasi, and he who wilfully neglects this duty it is believed, will neither receive their help, nor be defended from the influence of the numerous spirits of evil in which the Khasis believe. Amongst the Syntengs, a few days after depositing the bones in the ancestral tomb, the ceremony of feeding the spirits of the dead is performed: At this ceremony there are some families which give two pigs for each person of the family who is dead, and there are some who give one. The pigs are taken to the iing-seng, or puja house of the clan. Presumably, pigs are usually offered to the shades only of those members of the family whose remains have been recently deposited in the clan cromlech. In the chapter dealing with memorial stones the reader will notice how many of them are erected to the memory of deceased ancestors, and how they bear the names of such ancestors, e.g. Ka Iawbei (the first grandmother), U Suidnia, or U kni rangbah (the first maternal uncle). It was the custom in former days to make offerings of food upon the flat table-stones to the spirits of the deceased ancestors, and this is still the case in places in the interior of the district. This practice, however, may be said to be largely dying out, it being now commonly the custom to make the offerings in the house, either annually, or at times when it is thought necessary to invoke the aid of the departed. Such acts of devotion may well be said to partake of the nature of worship. As has been the case in other countries, and amongst other people, it is possible that the Khasi gods of today are merely the spirits of glorified deceased ancestors transfigured, as has happened with some of the gods of the Shinto Pantheon of Japan. It may be interesting to note that the ancient Shinto cult of Japan possesses some features in common with the ancestor-worship of the Khasis. Take the funeral ceremonies. With both people we find the dead laid out in the house, food placed before the corpse; and the funeral ceremonies taking place, accompanied by music and dancing. Mr. Lafcadio Hearn, in an interesting book on Japan, writes "that in ancient times the Japanese performed ceremonies at regular intervals at the tombs of deceased members of the family, and food and drink were then served to the spirits;" this is exactly what the Khasis used to do at their *cenotaphs. This, apparently, was the practice in Japan before the "spirit tablet" had been introduced from China, when the worship of the ancestors was transferred from the tomb to the home. We have an exactly similar instance of evolution amongst the Khasis of the present day, i.e. the transfer of the ancestor cult from the flat table-stones erected in honour of deceased ancestors to the home. Last, but not least, is the idea common to both people, that no family or clan can prosper which does not duly perform the worship of deceased ancestors; this, as Hearn puts it, is "the fundamental idea underlying every persistent ancestor-worship; i.e. that the welfare of the living depends upon the welfare of the dead." The "Khasi Mynta," in an interesting article, notes some further points of resemblance between the methods of ancestor-worship adopted by the two people. The following instances may be quoted. Amongst the Japanese the spirits of those who fall in battle are said to help their fellow-warriors who are still fighting. The "Khasi Mynta" quotes a similar belief as having existed amongst the Khasis in former days. The remains of Japanese warriors who die in battle are said to be reverently taken to the warrior's home at the first opportunity. The Khasis do likewise, the clothing in default of the ashes of Khasi transport coolies, who were employed on military expeditions on the North-Eastern Frontier, having been carried home by the survivors to present to the dead men's relations, who then performed the ceremonies prescribed by custom for those who have died violent or unnatural deaths. Of all deceased ancestors the Khasis revere Ka Iawbei the most, the word Iawbei being made up of 'iaw, short for kiaw (grandmother), and bei, mother. Ka Iawbei is the primeval ancestress of the clan. She is to the Khasis what the "tribal mother" was to old Celtic and Teutonic genealogists, and we have an interesting parallel to the reverence of the Khasis for Ka Iawbei in the Celtic goddess Brigit, the tribal mother of the Brigantes. Later on, like Ka Iawbei, she was canonized, and became St. Bridget. [28]
The greater number of the flat table-stones we see in front of the standing monoliths in these hills are erected in honour of Ka Iawbei. In former times, it was the custom to offer food to her on these stones. In cases of family quarrels, or dissensions amongst the members of the same clan, which it is desired to bring to a peaceful settlement, it is customary to perform a sacrifice to the first mother, "Ka Iawbei." They first of all take an augury by breaking eggs, and if it appears from the broken egg-shells that Ka Iawbei is offended, they offer to her a cotton cloth, and sacrifice a hen. On these occasions incantations are muttered, and a small drum, called, "Ka 'sing ding dong," is beaten. It is not unlikely that the Khasi household deities, Ka lei iing and Ka ksaw ka jirngam, to whom pujas are offered for the welfare of the house, are also Ka Iawbei in disguise. Notwithstanding the strong influence of the matriarchate, we find that U Thawlang, the first father and the husband of Ka Iawbei, is also revered. To him on occasions of domestic trouble a cock is sacrificed, and a jymphong, or sleeveless coat is offered. This puja is called kaba tap Thawlang, i.e. covering the grandfather. The following incantation to U Thawlang is then chanted:—"Oh, father Thawlang, who hast enabled me to be born, who hast given me my stature and my life, I have wronged thee, oh father, be not offended, for I have given thee a pledge and a sign, i.e. a red and white sleeveless coat. Do not deliver me into the power of (the goddess of) illness, I have offered thee the propitiatory cock that thou mayest carry me in thine arms, and that I may be aware of thee, my father, Thawlang." We see clearly from the above prayer that the Khasi idea is that the spirit of the deceased male ancestor is capable of being in a position to help his descendant in times of trouble. The same thought underlies the extreme reverence with which Ka Iawbei is regarded. Thus we see a striking point of resemblance between the Khasi ancestor-worship and the ancient Shinto cult of Japan, as described by Mr. Lafcadio Hearn. U Suid-Nia, or u Kni Rangbah, the first maternal uncle, i.e. the elder brother of Ka Iawbei, is also much revered. It will also be noticed under the heading of memorial stones that the great central upright monolith of the máwbynna, or memorial stones, is erected in his honour. The influence of the kni, or mother's elder brother, in the Khasi family is very great, for it is he who is the manager on behalf of the mother, his position in the Khasi family being very similar to that of the karta in the Hindu joint family. It is on this account that he is so much revered, and is honoured with a stone which is larger than the other up-right memorial stones after death. It will be seen in the article dealing with "the disposal of the dead," that at Cherra, on the occasion of the bestowal of the ashes in the cinerarium of the clan, a part of the attendant ceremonies consists of the preparation of two effigies called Ka Puron and U Tyngshop, intended to represent Ka Iawbei (the first mother) and U Suid-Nia (the first maternal uncle). The Wárs of Nongjri have a custom peculiar to themselves. They erect small thatched houses in their compounds, which they call iing ksuid. When they worship their ancestors they deposit offerings of food in these houses, the idea being that the ancestors will feed on the offerings. These Wárs do not erect memorial stones, nor do they collect the ashes of the clan in a common sepulchre; they deposit the ashes in circular cineraria, each family, or iing, possessing one. It should further be noted with reference to the Khasi custom of ai bam, or giving food to the spirits of deceased ancestors, that Dr. Frazer, in his "Golden Bough," has mentioned numerous instances of firstfruits being offered to the spirits of deceased ancestors by the tribes inhabiting the Malay Archipelago. (See pages 462-463 of the "Golden Bough.") Some other points of similarity in customs have already been noticed between the Khasis and certain Malay tribes.
Worship of Natural Forces and of Deities.
In the Khasi Hills, especially on the southern side, there are numerous rivers, sometimes of considerable size, which find their way to the Sylhet plains through very deep valleys, the rivers flowing through narrow channels flanked by beetling cliffs which rise to considerable altitudes. The scenery in the neighbourhood of these beautiful rivers is of the most romantic description, and the traveller might imagine himself in Switzerland were it not for the absence of the snowy ranges. Of such a description is the scenery on the banks of the river Kenchiyong, the Jádukátá [29] or Punatit of the plains. It is in the bed of the river, a few miles below Rilang, that there is the curiously-arched cavity in the rock which resembles an upturned boat, which the Khasis call Ka lieng blei (the god's boat), and the plains people Basbanya's ship. Near to this, on the opposite side of the river, there is a rock bearing a Persian inscription, but so defaced by the action of the water as to be impossible to decipher. Like other inhabitants of mountainous countries, the Khasis reverence the spirits of fell and fall, and propitiate them with offerings at stated times. A brief description of the ceremonies which are performed at Rilang, on the occasion when the annual fishing in the river Punatit takes place, may be of interest. The three Siems of Nongstoin, Langrin, and Nobosohpoh each sacrifice a goat to Ka blei sam um (the goddess of the river) before the boatmen can cast in their nets. In former times they say the passage up the river was obstructed by the goddess, who took the form of an immense crocodile; but she was propitiated by the gift of a goat, and the boatmen were then allowed to pass up the river in their boats. Hence it became necessary for the owners of the fishery to sacrifice annually a goat each to the goddess. At the time of my visit each Siem's party erected an altar in the bed of the river, in the midst of which a bough of the Khasi oak (dieng sning) was planted. The goats were then decapitated, it being considered an essential that the head should be severed with one blow. As soon as the head was cut off there was a rush on the part of the sacrificers to see in which direction the head faced. If the head faced towards the north or west, it was considered an evil omen; if it faced towards the south or east, a good omen. The east is a lucky quarter amongst the Assamese also. The people ended up the proceedings by giving a long-drawn-out, deep-toned chant, or kynhoi. Immediately after the ceremony was concluded hundreds of boats shot out from the numerous creeks, where they had been lying, and fished the river all night, the result being an immense haul, to the delight of the Lynngams, who were seen next morning roasting the fish whole on bamboo stakes, after which they consumed them, the entrails being eaten with great gusto. Such is the worship of the goddess of the Punatit.