The Khasis

by P. R. T. Gurdon

(b) Mawbynna, or mawnam, which are stones erected to commemorate a parent or some other near relation.

(c) Maw-umkoi, which are put up to mark the position of tanks or umkoi, the water of which is supposed to cleanse the ashes and bones of those who have died unnatural deaths.

(d) Maw-shongthait, or flat table-stones, often accompanied by vertical stones, which are placed in the market places and by the side of roads to serve as seats for weary travellers. Taking the above main divisions seriatim, mawlynti, or mawkjat, may be described as follows. These generally consist of three upright stones, the tallest being in the centre, and a flat table-stone being placed in front. There are, however, some clans which erect more than three upright stones, as mawlynti, or mawkjat. As already stated, the clansfolk used to erect these stones, mawlynti (the stone of the way), or mawkjat (the stone of the leg), at each place at which they halted for the night on their way to deposit the bones of their deceased maternal relations in the clan sepulchre, or mawbah. The stones are called mawkjat, or stones of the leg, because it is supposed that the spirits of the departed sit and rest their limbs on the flat table-stones. The upright stones are not as a rule more than 3 or 4 ft high, and are not massive like the great mawbynna, or memorial stones. They are to be found in great numbers all along the roads or paths which lead to the clan cromlechs. These stones, unlike the mawbynna, have no names.

(b) Mawbynna, or mawnam, are erected to commemorate deceased parents or deceased ancestors, and consist of 3, 5, 7, 9, or even, in an exceptional case, 11, upright stones with flat table-stones in front. The upright stones are called maw-shynrang, or male stones, and the flat table-stones maw-kynthei, or female stones. Turning to the plate of the Laitkor stones, it will be observed that there are nine upright stones, and one large flat table-stone in front. Counting from right to left, stone No. 5 is called u maw kni, or the maternal uncle's stone; and the stones to the right and left of it, ki maw pyrsa ki para, i.e. the stones of the maternal brothers and nephews. The table-stone is called ka Iawbei tynrai, or ka Iawbei tymmen, literally the grandmother of the root, or the old grandmother, in contradistinction to ka Iawbei khynraw, or ka Iawbei kpoh (the grandmother of the family, or branch of the family). It frequently happens that there are two flat table-stones in front of the upright stones, the one on the left being ka Iawbei tynrai, or the first ancestress, and the one on the right ka Iawbei longkpoh, the grandmother of the branch of the clan to, which the memorialists belong, or ka Iawbei khynraw, the young grandmother, i.e. the grandmother of the actual family to which the memorialists belong. In olden days it used to be the custom for the clanspeople to place offerings of food on the flat table-stones for the shades of the departed ancestors, and this is sometimes the case still; but now it is more frequently the custom to make these offerings in the iing-seng, or clan puja-house. The flat table-stones are some 2 to 2 1/2 ft. from the ground, and it is difficult to resist the impression that they were originally sacrificial stones, i.e. that animals or even human beings were actually sacrificed upon them. In connection with this theory I would refer to the interesting folk-tale about the Kopili river. It is here related that in olden days human victims were sacrificed to the Kopili goddess on the flat table-stone (maw-kynthei) at a place called Iew Ksih, close to the Kopili river. A careful search has been made for this stone, with the result that a flat table-stone has been found near the above village, where goats are still annually sacrificed to the Kopili. The doloi reports that this is an ancient custom. None can remember, however, having heard that human victims were ever sacrificed there. Yet I do not think it at all unlikely that this is the stone, locally called Mynlep, which is referred to in the folk-tale. At Jaintiapur and Nartiang, both of which places were the headquarters of the kings of Jaintia, there are very large table-stones. We know for a fact that human sacrifices used to take place at Jaintiapur. Is it possible that human beings were immolated on these table-stones? It would be unsafe to base any conclusion on the solitary folk-tale about the Iew Ksih table-stone; but the tale certainly furnishes food for reflection. The Khasis borrowed their religious customs largely from the Synteng inhabitants of Jaintia, and it is possible that they may have obtained the custom of erecting the table-stones from the Syntengs also, and that the latter were originally used by both of them for sacrificing human victims. Sometimes, immediately on either side of the mawkni, or large central stone, there are two much smaller stones called mawksing, or the stone of the drum, and mawkait, the stone of the plantain; the drum being used in all religious ceremonies by the Khasis, and the plantain relating to their custom of feeding young children on plantains. The mawnan must be described separately from the mawbynna, because they differ from them in an important particular, i.e. that the former may be erected to commemorate the father, while the latter are set up to perpetuate the memory of the ancestors on the female side of the family. Mawnam consist of three upright stones and one flat table-stone in front. The large central stone is called u maw thawlang, or the stone of the father, and the upright stones on either side are meant to represent the father's brothers or nephews. The flat table-stone is ka Iawbei, i.e. the grandmother of the father, not the first grandmother of the clan, as in the case of the mawbynna.

(c) The maw umkoi have already been described. They use erected to mark the sites of purificatory tanks, which have been dug so that the remains of deceased persons may be cleansed from the impurities attending an unnatural death, and to counteract the adverse influence upon the clan of Ka Tyrut, or the goddess of death. These stones are sometimes called mawtyrut.

(d) Maw-shongthait, or stones upon which weary travellers sit, are to be found alongside all the principal lines of communication in the district. It may serve as an example of these stones to describe the very interesting collection of stones at Nartiang hát, or market. A reference is invited to the plate which gives a representation of some of the Nartiang stones. The great height of the upright stone will at once be seen; it is 27 ft. in height and 2 1/2 ft. thick. This stone is the largest erect stone in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills at the present day, and is a very fine specimen. The upright stones and the flat table-stones at Nartiang are called "ki maw jong Siem." There is no separate designation for each of them. These stones are popularly supposed to have been erected long ago by two men, U Lah Laskor and U Mar Phalyngki, to commemorate the establishment of Nartiang market, which is called Iew Mawlong. "Laskor" is the Synteng equivalent of the Khasi lyngskor, or prime minister. "Mar" is a Synteng word meaning a giant, the idea amongst the people being that in the olden days there were giants in the land who performed marvellous feats of strength, e.g. the erection of the megalithic remains at Nartiang and elsewhere. A puja is performed upon a great flat stone by the doloi and his officers in honour of the founders of the market, but no animals are sacrificed, rice and rynsi (balls of rice) only being offered. In the days of the Jaintia kings only the Raja could sit upon the great flat stone; hence the name maw jong Siem (or Siem's stone). The great upright stone is said to have been brought by U Lah Laskor and a great number of people from Suriang, a place near Nartiang. With reference to the Nartiang stones I would refer to my theory, formulated above, that they were originally connected with human sacrifices. It may be mentioned that at Nartiang there is a bridge constructed out of a single stone, which is also said to have been set in position by U Lah Laskor. Near Suhtnga there is a group of stones, said to have been originally thirty in number, together with maw shongthait, or stones to seat the weary, which were erected to the memory of a woman, Ka Kampatwat, who in generations past is alleged to have had no less than thirty husbands. The lady is not supposed to have been polyandrous, nor nine-lived, but to have divorced one husband after another. As she probably established a record for divorce, her descendants afterwards commemorated her in the manner described. There is another very large atone at Nongkeeh, which unfortunately fell to the ground in the great earthquake shock of 1897. This stone must have stood over 20 ft. above the ground. It is called u mawkni Siem, the stone of the Siem's maternal uncle, and it used to form the central stone, or mawkni, of a line of stones. These stones belong to the clan of the basans of Nongkseh, which furnishes the sohblei, or head sacrificer, of the Siems of Khyrim. The stones at Mawsmai; which in ancient days used to be the headquarters of a Siem, are some of the best carved in the hills. At Mawrongjong, in the Jaintia sub-division, is a stone upon which a figure, evidently of a Hindu god, has been carved, without doubt after the erection of the stone. Here we have a striking parallel case to the painted and carved menhir near Tregastel in Brittany, upon which has been carved the representation of a crucifix. There are also some carved stones near Nartiang (said to represent two women) called mawthawdur briew.

The Khasis say that these great stones were brought sometimes from considerable distances. After being hewn, the stones were laid on a large, wooden trolley and dragged across country by means of ropes of cane, of which plenty can be bad from the War country on the southern side of the district, and then placed in position by means of ropes and levers. It seems little short of marvellous that these stones, which sometimes weighed many tons, were placed in position by such primitive means, especially when we consider the great trouble there was to re-erect one of the fallen stones at Stonehenge lately. Nowadays only comparatively small stones are erected, which are generally hewn and erected on the spot, so that there is no necessity for any conveyance.

In conclusion, it may be remarked that the subject of the Khasi monoliths is in reality a large one, on which a great deal could be written, but owing to considerations of space it has been found necessary to compress the account within its present limits.

Festivities, Domestic and Tribal.

Dancing forms the principal part of all the Khasi festivities, and is an important adjunct of some of their religious ceremonies. One of the greatest festivals in the Khasi Hills is the Nongkrem dance; it may be said to be as important an event to the Khasis as the Beh dieng-khlam festivities are to the Syntengs.