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Revisiting Traditional Institutions in The Khasi Jaintia Hills Charles Reuben Lyngdoh Editor All Chapter
Revisiting Traditional Institutions in The Khasi Jaintia Hills Charles Reuben Lyngdoh Editor All Chapter
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Preface ........................................................................................................ ix
Chapter Seven............................................................................................ 93
Traditional Political Institutions in Jaintia Hills: Raliang Dolloiship
Spainlinmi B. Lapasam
units and its citizens. In this sea of political change spanning over a
century, the Khasi states continued to exist and carry out their traditionally
entrusted responsibilities backed by local public opinion that called for
their continuity amidst diminishing responsibility and utility. Today these
traditional institutions continue to exist though public opinion has been
critical on several occasions of their defiance to adapt to changes.
In 2014 the Department of Political Science, Synod College, Shillong,
organised a workshop, “Revisiting Traditional Institutions in Khasi-Jaintia
Hills” to deliberate on a range of issues affecting these traditional
institutions. It was felt that the discussions and deliberations should see the
light of day in the form of a publication. This book is thus a collection of
the revised papers that were presented at the workshop. Several papers
have also been contributed by other scholars working on issues relevant to
traditional institutions. These papers, fifteen in all, weave together a
landscape that portrays traditional institutions as they exist in the present
Khasi and Jaintia Hills in the State of Meghalaya. The papers have blended
oral tradition on the evolution of traditional institutions with historical
records and available sources from secondary literature both in English
and local writings. These papers discuss traditional institutions both in the
urban as well as the rural setting. They discuss the structure of these
traditional institutions, their functions and relevance in the present day,
existing amidst other constitutionally mandated systems of administration.
The papers examine the interplay of power and functions between the
legitimate power holders such as the state government and the Autonomous
District Councils and the traditional power holders represented by the
traditional institutions across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Some papers
examine the role of women in these traditional institutions, an issue that
evokes intense academic discussion especially among the Khasi and
Jaintia people who practise matriliny. The last paper looks at the
traditional forest management regime existing in the Khasi Hills and its
adaptation of REDD+ as a climate change mitigation mechanism.
The publication of this edited volume would not have been possible
but for the efforts of several people. I would like to express my gratitude
to the contributors for their submissions and especially for their
enthusiasm and commitment to ensure that this collection of papers is
published. I thank Mankhrawbor Dunai and Sue Morecroft for their
thorough work of proof reading and I also express my sincere gratitude to
the publisher for the meticulous work and effort to publish this volume.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
INTRODUCTION:
REVISITING TRADITIONAL
AND CONSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONS
IN THE KHASI-JAINTIA HILLS:
INTERFACE OF CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
L. S. GASSAH
Introduction
Traditional political institutions occupy a central place in the tribal
milieu of North-East India. These institutions evolved in tribal societies to
bring order to and regulate settled life among the inhabitants. Among the
Khasi and Jaintia people, the development of these traditional political
institutions had been gradual. Over the centuries these institutions evolved
beyond the confines of village settlements to higher forms exhibiting
remarkable foresight in village leaders and their kin groups (Lyngdoh,
2009: 4). The Hima, that is, the state (Note 1) was the highest traditional
political settlement that evolved among the Khasi and Jaintia people. The
political office that administered the affairs of the Hima was the
Syiemship under an administrative head called (by various nomenclatures
in different Hima), Syiem, Lyngdoh, Sirdar and Wahadadar (Lebar, 1964:
10). Syiemlieh notes that:
Prior to the advent of the British in the Khasi Hills, the Khasi states
exercised independent control over their respective territories. The arrival
of the British at the periphery of the Khasi Hills (Note 2) ushered in a
phase of uneasy relations between the British and the Khasi states. These
relations were marked by contact, trade, incursions, resistance to
restrictions and impositions and finally, insurrection of the Khasi states
against the British. The Khasi states were against the British larger
interests of connecting the Surma valley with the Brahmaputra valley
through routes across the Khasi Hills where the territories of the Khasi
states were located. The British suppressed the insurrections (which took
place between 1829 and 1839) of the Khasi states that opposed their
authority. The Khasi states ultimately came under “the protection and
authority of the Government” and were bound “to obey without demur all
the mandates of the Government” (Allen, 1903: 26-27). The Khasi states,
reported to be twenty-five in number were then categorised by the British
as semi-independent and dependent (Ibid). The semi-independent states
(such as Cherra, Khyrim, Nongstoin, Langrin and Nongspung) were
regarded to be of a higher rank as these states never came into conflict
with the Government. Of these, with the exception of the Chief of Cherra,
the rest had no written agreement with the Government (Dutta, 1982: 131).
The dependent states were, on the other hand, inferior in rank since they
were restored as a gift after conquest by the Government (Ibid.).
With the subjugation of most of the Khasi principalities by 1834, the
British began making new political arrangements to administer the Khasi
Hills. In 1834 the Khasi Hills were placed under the political supervision
of the Agent to the Governor General. In 1835 a separate Political Agency
for the Khasi Hills was created with its headquarters at Cherrapunjee. In
the initial phase of preparing and adopting a pattern of administration for
the Khasi Hills, the British wanted to follow a system of indirect rule
cementing it through subsidiary alliances. Thus, in due course the political
relations of the Khasi states and the British were conducted through
subsequent official documents such as sanads and parwanas (Syiemlieh,
2007: 182).
The territorial contours of the Khasi Hills were never to remain static.
These contours changed with the passage of time and in accordance with
subsequent acts and regulations passed by the British government. Two
distinct categories of administration emerged in the Khasi and Jaintia
Hills. The first was the Khasi and Jaintia Hills district which was created
in 1854. This district was administered by British officers duly appointed
8 Chapter Two
by the government. After 1861, the district came under the administrative
charge of the Deputy Commissioner. This district was comprised of the
annexed territories of the Jaintia Hills and thirty-two villages including
Shillong British area––Cantonment and Municipal. The second was the
administration of the 25 Khasi states which had direct relations with the
British government. The relations between these states and the British
government were carried out through agreements, ki sanad, administered
by the Deputy Commissioner (after 1861) who acted as Political Agent to
the Khasi states (Lyngdoh, 2013: 108-109). As mentioned, in 1854 the
Khasi and Jaintia Hills district was created and subsequently, the
jurisdiction of this newly-created district was transferred to the Commissioner
of Assam. On February 6, 1874 the Chief Commissionership of Assam was
created and it comprised of the five districts of Brahmaputra valley, the
Naga Hills, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Garo Hills, Goalpara, Cachar
and Sylhet (Chaube, 1999: 11; Syiemlieh, 1989: 137).
the Assam Legislative Council. Prior to the creation of the three single
member constituencies, there existed only one constituency in the Assam
Legislative Council, the Shillong-Karimganj constituency (Syiemlieh,
1989: 177). In 1920 James Joy Mohan Nichols Roy was elected from this
constituency and his presence ensured that the political and administrative
concerns of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills district were articulated in the
Assam legislature.
The next two decades witnessed various political developments in the
Khasi Hills as the educated Khasi gentry attempted to prepare a political
roadmap for the future progress of the Khasi states. This period witnessed
two significant political developments in the Khasi Hills:
the Khasi National Durbar was formed in 1923 to find out ways and
means to bring about closer unity and cooperation among the Khasi
States, to find out a possibility of constituting a common organisation,
and to consider the future of the Khasi States under the new
constitutional set-up. (2007: 176)
a. To allay fears on the future of the Indian states the Cabinet Mission
observed that with the attainment of independence by British India the
relationship which had existed between the states and the British
Crown would no longer be possible, though it was expected that the
The Khasi States and the British 11
a. The States Department in New Delhi was aware that the legal
position of the Khasi states was no different than that of other
Indian states. To avoid legal consequences of the lapse of
paramountcy the authorities in Delhi needed to take steps to initiate
negotiations with the Khasi states;
b. The negotiations were hurriedly initiated to pre-empt any
possibility of the Federation of Khasi States or the individual Khasi
states to think otherwise, that is, either to initiate the process of
self-determination and complete independence after the lapse of
paramountcy of the British, or to join the other newly-created
Dominion of Pakistan through the District of Sylhet (East Pakistan)
(Note 6);
c. The Governor of Assam had seriously contemplated incorporating
the Khasi states into the province of Assam. However this proposal
would not have received their consent and may have even
influenced separatism. The next alternative was to retain similar
measures of control which had then been exercised by the Crown
Representative through the Agency of the Assam Government
(Political Department, 1947: 20);
d. If certain agreements were not arrived at with the Khasi states
before the lapse of paramountcy, all rights ceded to the paramount
power that (the British) would return to the Khasi states. The
governor of Assam realised that:
i. The Shillong Administered Areas and Cantonments would
revert back to the Syiem of Mylliem;
ii. British Indian laws would cease to have legal force in the
Khasi states;
iii. Mineral rights granted to the British authorities will revert
back to the respective states;
iv. The Syiems will have jurisdiction over foreigners residing in
their respective States;
v. Sanads granted to Khasi traditional rulers will lapse;
16 Chapter Two
Conclusion
The hectic political developments in the Khasi Hills in the years 1946-
47 enabled the Khasi states to engage in consultation with numerous
agencies and groups. The political discussions and the desire of the Khasi
states for a unified Khasi Hills (through a federal autonomous pattern with
Assam) under the administration of traditional elements of polity were
countered by the proponents of a democratic electoral framework within a
federal, parliamentary structure of administration. The proponents of the
latter had experienced the functioning of this type of administration in the
Assam Legislative Assembly and wanted the Khasi Hills to be associated
with Assam through this more representative system of administration. It
was ultimately the Khasi states that were the preferred political agency to
engage in direct negotiations with the States Department.
What concerned the British authorities as well as the British India
authorities on the eve of India’s Independence was the legal status and
position of the Khasi states. In his letter to Sardar Vallabhai Patel on
September 2, 1947, Akbar Hydari, the Governor of Assam wrote that the
legal position of the Khasi states was no different from that of other Indian
states and “subject to paramountcy, the Siems are sovereign in respect of
their own territories” (Political Department, 1947: 19). Thus, to avoid the
legal consequences of the lapse of paramountcy where the Khasi states
would once again assume sovereign status, British India authorities were
keen to take steps to initiate negotiations with the Khasi states. Initially,
the Khasi states were treated on a par with other Indian states. They were
asked to appoint a representative (along with the states of Manipur and
Tripura) to the Negotiating Committee of the Constituent Assembly. The
Khasi states were also invited for a meeting with the States Department on
July 25, 1947. However the Governor of Assam expressed his reservations
at offering the Khasi states this status that was extended to other Indian
states. Owing to the “geographical position, backwardness and smallness
of Khasi states” he suggested that negotiations with the Khasi states be
The Khasi States and the British 17
held at the provincial level (that is, in Shillong) instead of Delhi. Further,
the Governor of Assam desired that the integration of the Khasi states (to
the Dominion of India) should be undertaken through the Provincial
Government of Assam to prevent them from joining the Dominion of
Pakistan through Sylhet. The Federation of Khasi States was the useful
instrument to actualise this process of integration since a majority of the
Khasi states had joined the Federation (Political Department, 1947: 20).
Thus the provincial administration, through the Governor of Assam
executed the necessary Agreements (the Standstill Agreement and the
Instruments of Accession) with the recognised organisation of the
Federation of Khasi States as well as with the Khasi states. The FKS at
this time had a larger following and acceptance despite the existence of
other organisations such as the Khasi and Jaintia Federated State National
Conference. Moreover the Khasi states had treaty rights and obligations
with the British; hence they were the legal local authorities with whom to
engage in negotiations.
The signing of the Standstill Agreement and the Instruments of
Accession before the actual lapse of paramountcy denied the Khasi states
the taste of independence. The Khasi states witnessed no interim period to
decide their future political course of action when suzerainty of British
paramountcy came to an end and the paramountcy of the Dominion of
India took over. The agreements signed by the Federation of Khasi States
and the Khasi states sought to maintain the status quo ante with the
difference that the Khasi states now formed an integral part of the
Dominion of India through administrative relations with the province of
Assam. In his letter to Sardar Vallabhai Patel in September 1947, Akbar
Hydari wrote that,
the Agreement with the Federation gives the Khasi Siems very little
beyond what they already have and certainly not more than the measure of
local autonomy which we have publicly announced we are willing to give
to Tribal people, subject of course to safeguards. (Political Department,
1947: 21)
existed with the British continued to exist after August 15, 1947 the only
difference being the new political authority was the Dominion of India.
Notes
1. The term “state” is used in a very general sense as there is no equivalent term
for the word Hima in English. The Khasi Hima like a state had certain
characteristics––a demarcated territory, a stratified population, a system of
administration and independence especially in the pre-British period. Further,
the term “state” was commonly used by the British in their writings when they
referred to the Khasi Himas as Cossyah states or Kasia states.
2. Following the Battle of Buxar in October 1764, the English East India
Company received the right of Dewani over the Bengal Subah whose area
stretched to the southern lowlands of the Khasi Hills. This phase of British
administration brought the English East India Company into trade relations
with the Khasi states (see Syiemlieh, 1989: 10-12).
3. This three-member delegation comprised of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the
Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of
Trade, and A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty.
4. G. S. Guha was chosen to represent the Khasi states, Manipur and Tripura in
the Constituent Assembly. He was expected to participate in the negotiations at
the Constituent Assembly on behalf of the princely states that he represented.
Guha presented his credentials before the Constituent Assembly and signed the
register on July 14, 1947 [Lyngdoh, 1996: 181; Constituent Assembly of India
Debates (Proceedings), IV].
5. The Indian Independence Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom
on July 18, 1947 provided for the partition of British India into two new
sovereign Dominions, Indian and Pakistan with effect from August 15, 1947.
On this date British suzerainty over the princely states lapsed and Indian states
would become independent in their political relations with the governments of
the new Dominions.
6. On July 6, 1947, following a referendum, almost all of the erstwhile district of
Sylhet became a part of the new Dominion of Pakistan’s province of East
Bengal, barring the Karimganj sub-division which was incorporated into the
province of Assam of the Dominion of India.
The Khasi States and the British 19
References
Books and Reports
Allen, W. J. 1858. Report on the Administration of the Cossyah and
Jynteah Hills Territory (Reprinted 1903). Shillong.
Bareh, Hamlet. 1985. The History and Culture of the Khasi People (2nd
Edition). Guwahati: Spectrum Publications.
Basan, L. L. D. 1948. The Khasi States under the India Union. Shillong.
Cantlie, K. 1974. Notes on Khasi Law (edited and reprinted by A. S.
Khongphai). Shillong: Ri Khasi Press.
Chaube, S. K. 1999. Hill Politics in Northeast India (updated edition).
Hyderabad: Orient Longman.
Dutta, P. N. 1982. Impact of the West on the Khasi and Jaintias. New
Delhi: Cosmo Publications.
Gassah, L. S. 2007. “Prelude to Integration: Political Consciousness,
Political Organisations and Development in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills”. In
Sajal Nag et al. Making of the Indian Union: Merger of Princely States
and Excluded Areas. New Delhi: Akansha Publishing House.
Giri, Helen. 1998. The Khasis under British Rule (1824-1947). New Delhi:
Regency Publications.
Ki Proceedings Jong Ka Khasi National Dorbar (Dorbar Hima Khasi).
1923. Shillong: Shillong Printing Works.
Lebar, M. Frank et al. 1964. Ethnic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia.
New Haven: Human Relations Area Files Press.
Lyngdoh, C. R. 2013. “Identity Formation in the Khasi Hills: The Khasi
National Dorbar”. In Apurba K. Baruah & Susmita Sen Gupta (eds.)
Social Forces and Politics in North East India. Guwahati: DVS
Publishers.
Lyngdoh, R. S. 1996. Government and Politics in Meghalaya. New Delhi:
Sanchar Publishing House.
Mansergh, N. 1977. Constitutional Relations between Britain and India––
The Transfer of Power, 1942-1947. Vol. VII. The Cabinet Mission 23
March-29 June 1946. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Syiemlieh, D. R. 1989. British Administration in Meghalaya: Policy and
Pattern. New Delhi: Heritage Publishers.
Syiemlieh, D. R. 2007. “The Integration of the Khasi States into the Indian
Union”. In Sajal Nag et al. Making of the Indian Union: Merger of
Princely States and Excluded Areas. New Delhi: Akansha Publishing
House.
20 Chapter Two
Other Sources
Assam Legislative Assembly––since 1937. Accessed through,
http://assamassembly.gov.in/ala-since-1937.html.
Constituent Assembly of India Debates (Proceedings). Volume IV. 1947.
Accessed through
http://164.100.47.132/lssnew/constituent/vol4p1.html.
Lyngdoh, C. R. 2009. Demand for Constitutional Recognition of the Khasi
States: Role of the Syiems of Khyrim and Mylliem. Unpublished Ph.D.
thesis. Shillong: NEHU.
Political Department and the Ministry of States. 1947. File No. 34–P.R.
CHAPTER THREE
FABIAN LYNGDOH
Introduction
According to the Meghalaya Human Development Report 2008, the
Khasi are one of the three major tribes of Meghalaya; the other two being
the Jaintia and the Garo (GOM, 2009). But in reality, the people of the
Khasi and Jaintia Hills belong to the same tribe called “Ki Hynniew Trep
Hynniew Skum” (Nongkynrih, 2001: 120; War, 1998: 16). Linguistically,
the Khasis stand apart from the other tribes of North-East India, because
they speak a dialect of the Mon-Khmer linguistic group which belongs to
the Austro-Asiatic language family. The Austric speaking Khasi are living
in an isolated pocket encircled by peoples who speak the Tibeto-Burman
languages. In 1960, Pater Schmidt showed that linguistically the Khasi are
related to Mon-Khmer speakers of the Malay Peninsula as well as to the
Nicobari. On the other hand he proposed an association between the Mon-
Khmer and the Munda language (Das, 1998: 45). It is also said that the
Khasis are closest to the Vietnamese in terms of linguistic family and that
there is evidence of a Khasi migration route from Vietnam and South East
Asia (Mitri, 2011: 91). The Khasis were the first to migrate into the north-
eastern region of India and were later followed by the various Tibetans,
Shans and Tibeto-Burman tribes (Chatterjee, 1951; Hazarika, 2011: 18;
Kamkhenthang, 2011: 104-105). The Khasi society is now universally
recognised as having a distinct identity historically and culturally, and its
traditional political institutions are also recognised by the Constitution of
India through the Sixth Schedule.
22 Chapter Three
Only at night is he with his wife and not necessarily with his children
(Lyngdoh, 1998; Nongkynrih, 2002). It is also said that among the
traditional Jaintias, the husband only visits his wife at night and generally
leaves her house at dawn. Therefore, he is like a stranger in his wife's
house and can hardly interfere in the family matters of her clan (Passah,
1998: 75-76).
What the clan needed most was to have as many children, especially
daughters, so that it could provide continuity and not face the unfortunate
fate of extinction (Snaitang, 1998: 58). The father may leave his wife and
children but the uncle can never disown his sister and her children nor can
his sister and children disown the uncle. In the past, it was never known
for a Khasi family to be broken and destroyed. Whatever the father might
do as an outsider, the uncle remains with his sister and her children all the
time except for a few hours of the night when he goes to sleep with his
wife in her house (Lyngdoh, 1998: 35). In any three-generational Khasi
iing, husbands in two consecutive generations may be found. These
husbands, as affines, always remain and behave as outsiders, vis-à-vis
other members of the iing in matters concerning the domestic and extra
domestic domains of the iing. Their only role was in “husbanding” the
wives and showing affection to the children in whatever manner they
desire (Nongkynrih, 2002: 52-53).
It is also opined that in the traditional set-up, the Khasis never knew
the term “illegitimate child” because the child carries the mother’s clan
name and once conceived, is an organic part of the mother’s clan. When a
child is born it is part of a larger extended family and does not feel the
pangs of having been abandoned even if the father leaves the family
(Mukhim, 2008). So, other than the requirement of procreation, a Khasi
traditional family can survive normally and well without the father if the
uncles are around to provide economic support and social security. This
kind of social situation may not be a peculiarity of Khasi society alone.
Scholars say that in matrilineal descent groups, married men are not
completely transferred to their affinal group and they retain their
membership and authority in their natal groups (Schneider and Gough,
1961), and a matrilineal system can survive and flourish, only if the males
are completely dependent on their own natal matrilineal descent groups
except for the minimal necessity of marriage. Matriliny requires an
interdependence of brother and sister (Chacko, 1998: 11).
Traditionally, the kur among the Khasis has four institutional
identities:
24 Chapter Three
concept of the permanent social membership of the kurs that the institution
of ka sad-ka sunon is established. The Khasi society does not recognise
the fully-fledged membership of an individual in the society because his
age is limited. That is also why the Khasis say that the testimony of a man
whose kur has become extinct is not acceptable in the dorbar however true
his testimony might be because he has a limited period of time to live, and
he has no permanent institution to back up the covenant of his statement
whether true or false and to carry the good or evil repercussion of his
statement for generations to come.
According to oral tradition, ka sad-ka sunon is the “ka thymmei”
(foundation) of the jait which rests with the kur (matrilineal clan); and the
“u thning” (source or living root) which is embodied in the person of a
female member of the jait. So, the concept of “ka sad-ka sunon” stands for
the continuing existence or source of perpetual succession of the jait,
which legitimises the position of the syiem, or the lyngdoh, or the basan-
bakhraw of the raid or the hima; and “ka sad” is the woman who
embodies that source of perpetual succession. The office of the
representative of the jait in the dorbar has to be backed up by a female
member of his jait. This concept takes concrete material form not in a
building called ka Iingsad Iing Sunon as commonly expressed, but in the
person of the eldest female member of the jait.
The fundamental concept of ka sad-ka sunon is not the seat of the
sovereignty of the state, but the sociological guarantee of the jait for the
legitimacy of its representative in the political affairs of the community.
The sovereignty of the hima does not rest with ka sad-ka sunon of the jait
syiem, or with any of the jaits. Even if the jait syiem becomes totally
extinct and the surviving male members lose ka sad-ka sunon, the
sovereignty of the hima (state) is not destroyed because ka sad-ka sunon of
the syiem does not stand for the sovereignty of the hima. Such cases have
actually happened in many raids and himas. It has been pointed out that
the jait syiem of Hima Bhowal became extinct but the sovereignty of the
Hima was not destroyed. The eight founding clans or bakhraws appointed
the Nandah clan which was from outside the hima as the new jait syiem
(Singh, 1985: 17). From that time on, the Nandah clan also became the jait
syiem in Hima Bhowal.
Traditionally, the custody of ka sad-ka sunon was always held by the
eldest female member of the jait. Every jait in the political community is
only a political aspect of the kur which is a wider and greater institution.
The kur is also a religion which is considered pure and holy. The kur
religion has a religious house or temple in the iing-khatduh, the natal
household where the youngest daughter lives in line with customary
28 Chapter Three
recall precedents; and (ii) by restricting the age limit, the dorbars were
kept small and manageable (Singh, 1985: 21). Another reason besides the
above pointed out by Kynpham Singh, is that a person well qualified to
represent his kur (clan) in the dorbar is one who is an uncle representing
as many iings (households) or as many kpohs (lineages) of the clan as
possible; therefore he must necessarily be a man senior in age.
According to Khasi traditional political thought, for a dorbar to be
legally valid, the presence and participation of the following categories of
members are a necessary condition: (i) u syiem, ki bakhraw (representatives of
founding clans), and ki tymmen ki san (village elders); or (ii) ki bakhraw,
and ki tymmen ki san; or (iii) ki bakhraw only. The dorbar would be
invalid if it is attended and participated only by: (i) u syiem and ki tymmen
ki san; or (ii) only ki tymmen ki san; or (iii) only u paid u phew (the
commons) (Bacchiarello, 2005: 92). Analysis of these conditions indicates
that for a Khasi traditional dorbar to be valid, the presence and
participation of the bakhraws were absolutely necessary. This was so
because the bakhraws were the representatives of the founding clans in
whom territorial authority was vested, severally at the raid level and
collectively at the hima level.
Namar ka iing, ka kur ka jaid (For the family and the clan),
Un khie u sum ka stieh ka stieh ka wait (Shall rise the spear the shield and
the sword).
The idea of a crowing hen was not really based on the belief that the
world would end when the hen crows or when a woman speaks in a
dorbar, but it was merely a sarcastic remark which a Khasi man or woman
would make to a woman of another clan generally in events of inter-clan
feuds. The remark is an implication not to the person of the woman alone,
but to her kur as a whole. The insult is aimed at the uncles who failed to
successfully conduct social interactions on behalf of their kur, thus
compelling the mother, the sister or the niece to come forward and assert
her claim. The reason that a woman is chastised as a crowing hen is
because when she attends a dorbar and pleads for herself it reflects on a
kur without uncles which is called sah-kynthei-khynnah, and this amounts
to insult and embarrassment for her brothers and uncles. So, in principle, it
was not that Khasi women were disallowed from attending public dorbars,
32 Chapter Three
it was then unnecessary for them to do so as it was solely for their own
interests that their uncles were attending the public dorbars.
The second reason why Khasi women were not allowed to participate
in a public dorbar is because in the past every political community had its
own state deities, whether gods or goddesses. As said in the foregoing, in
every dorbar the presence not only of God Almighty but also the presence
of whosoever among these state deities according to the subject matter of
the dorbar were invoked to stand witness and record accounts of the
resolutions or covenants that the participants in the dorbar were entering
into. Therefore the traditional Khasi dorbar was charged by the presence
of spirits to which a man would not like his sisters or nieces to be exposed.
The elders say that “Ym ju don rukom hakhmat ki blei ban ia suid ia shor
ne ia tang ia pung bad ka kynja ba pun ba kha” (Dkhar, 1993: 27). This
means that it is not proper for a woman who carries in her person the
faculty of conceiving and giving birth, to be involved in communications
with spiritual beings. The women carry in their persons the wombs which
stand guarantee for the kur’s continuing existence from generations to
generations, and hence, also guarantee the perpetual succession of the
clan’s political membership in the community. The womb which every kur
member is carrying in her person was called, “ka jar-ksiar iawbei” (the
golden enclosure of the ancestress). This golden enclosure of the
ancestress must be protected at all costs from being tarnished by human
beings or spirits. It was considered unfortunate if a woman in the fullness
of youth or in pregnancy were to be compelled by circumstances to attend
a dorbar charged by the presence of spirits. That is why, the dorbar, where
men and spirits are mingled in a charged atmosphere was considered to be
a male affair. In some state religious rituals where the presence of women
is necessary they usually appoint women who are past the productive age
or old women to take part in the rituals. So according to Khasi thought on
these grounds too it was not a question of gender discrimination when
women were excluded from public dorbars, but a question of honour and
protection.
The third reason why the restriction on women’s participation in the
dorbar was not considered as gender discrimination is because the
restriction is not seen as a defect in the sociological legitimacy of the
dorbar in Khasi society. As a matter of fact the act of attending a dorbar
shnong is considered not as a matter of right conferred upon the male
adults, but on the contrary it is considered as a socially imposed
responsibility or compulsion imposed on the male adults that they are
bound to attend the dorbar. That is also why fines are imposed on the male
adults of the village who fail to attend the session of the dorbar shnong.
The Kur and Dorbar in the Khasi Traditional Polity 33
Hamlet Bareh (1964: 62) describes the village dorbar as a very important
dorbar which all male adults ought to attend. Bareh used the phrase
“ought to” because the Khasis consider the act of attending a dorbar not as
a personal right but as a socially imposed responsibility. This concept is
also reflected in the “Ceremony of ka Teh Rangbah” provided in Section 6
of the (Village Administration) Bill, 2014, recently passed by the Khasi
Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC). This ceremony indicates
that it is not a right conferred on every male who attains the age of 18
years to participate in the dorbar but it is an imposition of a social
responsibility. The very word “teh” which means “to bind” indicates the
concept behind it. Sometimes, the concept, teh rangbah is also called bat-
dorbar (catching a person to the dorbar). People in the villages also do not
usually say that women are not permitted to attend a dorbar, but they say
that women are not compelled to attend and participate in the dorbar or
that they are not fined for not attending it.
In today’s social situation, it is found that the traditional functionaries
in the raids exercise power mostly for their own individual interests, and
their answerability to the kur or the female clan members is negligible. So
the principle that the uncles are representing the interests of the female
clan members in the dorbar is no longer relevant. The principle that
female clan members embody ka sad-ka sunon which legitimises the
political offices of the male representatives in the dorbar has become
irrelevant as far as the dorbar shnong is concerned. As such, the women’s
role of producing the heirs necessary to maintain the clan’s perpetual
succession in political office has become irrelevant too. In the present-day
dorbar shnong, the male adults attend dorbar not on behalf of their clans
at all but for their own personal interests and on behalf of their nuclear
families. God or other spirits are no longer religiously invoked to be
present as witnesses in the dorbar of the villages or the raids. So the
principle of protecting women from defilement of the occult relations has
also become irrelevant. In today’s context, it is a matter of right for an
individual to participate in the political affairs of the community. Hence
the idea that the act of attending a dorbar shnong is not a matter of right
but a responsibility or a compulsion imposed on the male adults, is no
longer relevant in the modern context. Therefore, the grounds for the
restriction of women’s participation in public affairs have become
irrelevant, and the restriction itself has no longer traditional grounds of
justice, and hence it becomes gender discrimination.
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