Folktale of the Indigenous

Community

By-
Sandeep Sharma (151020011020)
Sahil Singh (151020011019)

1
Khasi tribe - Where women are the ruler

2
Introduction
 The Khasi people are an indigenous tribe

 According to Hamlet Bareh term khasi

means “born of the mother”

 native of Meghalaya and forms the

majority about 50% of the state
population.

 Also known as Ki Khun U Hynñiewtrep

which means "The Children of The Seven
Huts"
 Seven sub-tribes Khynriam, Pnar, Bhoi,
War, Maram, Lyngngam and Diko
3
 Religion in khasi tribe

 Their indigenous relogion is known as "Ka Niam Khasi"

 85% of Khasi population have embraced Christianity

 Roman Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian, Presbyterian

(largest Christian denomination among the Khasis)

 Few follow Hinduism and Islam also

4
• The Khasis believe in one God, but called him with different
names.

•Khasis believe that God is omnipotent and omnipresent

and have no temples and churches they also have no saints or
martyrs or any system of established priesthood.

•They believe that each man must save himself by his own
deeds and behavior

5
Social structure
 The foundation of the Khasi society is based on the concept
of Kur and Kha.

 Have a matrilineal society and descent is traced from mother

 “A man is the defender of the woman, but the woman is the
keeper of his trust”

 woman looks after home and hearth, the man finds the means
to support the family

 the maternal uncle settles all social and religious

matters.

 Youngest daughter will get the ancestral property

6
 Marriage in khasi-tribe
 Both love and arrange marriage are permissible
 Marriage among blood relation is prohibited and considered as
sin
 Most remarkable feature about the khasi marriage is that husband
have to live in his mother in law’s house

 Bond of cooperation between two clan

 There are two types of marriage - ‘Ka pynhior synjat’

exchanging of rings between bride and groom

 ‘Ka lamdoh’ - where there is no exchanging of rings

presence of maternal uncle is very important, they are known
as negotiator
7
 Marriage in khasi tribe
 Marriage among blood relation is taboo. Not only this, marriage
cannot take place between a man and a woman whose father and
mother have blood relations.

 It’s a great sin to marry within clan

 Those who marry within clan are ex-communicated from their

kinsfolk

 Get complete rejection from rituals, custom and property of

ancestor
 When such people die, his or her bones will not be collected by
family members of clan as their cremation is also not done by clan
member
8
Khasi marriage act
 The Khasi Hills Autonomous District has passed a bill that
seeks to declare Khasi women who marry outside the tribe
as non-Khasi

 The bill passed by KHAD states “Any Khasi woman who

marries a Non-Khasi as well as her offspring[s] born out of
such marriage[s] shall be deemed as Non-Khasi who shall lose
the Khasi status and all privileges and benefits as a member of
the Khasi Tribe who cannot claim preferential privileges under
any law.”

 The Bill defines a non-Khasi as “a person not belonging to

indigenous Khasi Tribe classified as Scheduled Tribe under the
Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order, 1950
9
Original house type

10
11
 Dance in khasi tribe
Ka Shadsuk Mynsiem or Thanks
Giving Dance
The annual spring dance, performed to
celebrate harvesting and sowing.
The Dance is performed in relation to
the agricultural cycle (i.e. the harvesting
period and the beginning of the sowing
period).
 only the unmarried or virgin female
dancers are allowed to participate in
this dance
 The male and female dress in their
traditional attire, dance separately in
two circle.
 Female – inner circle and male outer
circle 12
 Ka Shad Nongkrem
 Also known as Pomblang
Nongkrem
 The Nongkrem word means
“Goat Killing Ceremony”
 For five days, this festival gives
thanks to the Lord Almighty
for a good harvest and the
participants pray for peace
and prosperity of the
community
 The men dance by holding
the sword in their right hand
and whisks in their left. The
sword is used to symbolize a
man’s defense of himself and
his family. 13
The Goddess who came to
live with Mankind
A Legend of the Shillong Peak

14
Shillong Peak
 Shillong Peak is the highest
mountain in the Khasi Hills.
 And although it bears such a
prosaic name in our days, the
mountain was a place of
renown in the days of the
Ancient Khasis, full of romance
and mystery, sacred to the
spirits and to the gods.
 In the mountain there lived a
god. At first the Ancients had
no clear revelation about this
deity; they were vaguely aware
of his existence
15
 After a time there arose among the Khasis a very
wise man of the name of U Shillong who was
endowed with great insight to understand the
mysteries.

 He discovered that the god of the mountain was

great and powerful, and sacrifice and reverence
should be offered to him.

 The name of the deity was not revealed, so the

people began to call him “U ’Lei Shillong” (the god of
U Shillong) after the name of the man who first paid
him homage.
16
 Tradition points out that this famous deity had a wife
and family, and three at least of his daughters are
renowned in Khasi folk-lore.

 One of them transformed herself into the likeness of

a Khasi maiden and came to live with mankind,
where she became the ancestress of a race of chiefs.

 Two other daughters, out of playfulness, transformed

themselves into two rivers, and are with us in that
form to this day.

17
The goddess who came to live with
mankind
 Many hundreds of years
ago, near the place now
known as Pomlakrai, there
was a cave called the Cave
of Marai, near to which
stood a high perpendicular
rock around which the
youthful cow-herds of the
time used to play.

18
 On a certain day, when the lads came as usual to the
familiar rendezvous, they were surprised to
see, sitting on the top of the rock, a fair young girl
watching them silently and wistfully.

 The clothes worn by the little girl were far richer

than any worn by their own women-folk. Today those
clothes are considered traditional dress for the
khasis named as Jainsem or Dhara.

 The villagers began to devise plans to rescue the

maiden from her perilous position.

19
 Chief among the rescuers was a man called U
Mylliem Ngap, who was remarkable for his sagacity
and courage.

 He sent some of his comrades to the jungle to cut

down some bamboos, which he joined together and
made into a pole long enough to reach the top of
the rock.

 U Mylliem Ngap noticed a tuft of wild flowers known

as Pygmy Lily growing near the cave, and he quickly
gathered a bunch and fastened it to the end of the
long pole and held it up to the maiden’s view.
20
 He took her to his own home and adopted her as
his own daughter and named her “Pah Syntiew,”
which means “Lured by Flowers”.

 As she grew up her fame went abroad throughout

the country. She was also gifted and wise beyond all
the maidens of the neighbourhood, and was the
chosen leader at all the Khasi dances and festivals.

 She taught the Khasi girls to dance and to sing, and it

was she who instituted the Virgins’ Dance, which
remains popular to this day among the Khasis.

21
 When she came of age, U Mylliem Ngap gave her in marriage
to a man of prowess and worth, who is mentioned in Khasi
lore as “U Kongor Nongjri”.

 She became the mother of many sons and daughters, who

were all noble and comely.

 After her children had grown up, Ka Pah Syntiew called them
all to her one day and revealed to them the secret of her
birthand at last the time was at hand for her to return to her
native element.

 From that day she disappeared from mortal ken. Her

descendants are known to this day as two of the leading
families of Khasi chiefs, or Siems known as “the Siems (the
Chiefs) of Shillong,” or “the Siems of the god.”
22
THANK YOU

23