The Khasis | Page 2

Islands which appeared in the "Journal of the Indian Archipelago." Mackenzie, Sir Alexander.--Account of the North-Eastern Frontier Mills, A. J. M.--Report on the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, 1853 Nissor Singh, U--Hints on the study of the Khasi language. Nissor Singh, U--Khasi-English dictionary. Oldham, Thomas--On the geological structure of a portion of the Khasi Hills, Bengal. Oldham, Thomas--Geology of the Khasi Hills. Peal, S. E.--On some traces of the Kol-Mon-Anam in the Eastern Naga Hills. Pryse, Rev. W.--Introduction to the Khasis language, comprising a grammar, selections for reading, and a vocabulary. Records of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Secretariat. Roberts, The Rev. H.--Khasi grammar. Robinson--Assam. Scott, Sir George--Upper Burma Gazetteer. Shadwell, J. B.--Notes on the Khasis. Stack E.--Notes on silk in Assam. Waddell, Colonel--Account of the Assam tribes.J.A S.B. Ward, Sir William--Introduction to the Assam Land Revenue Manual. Weinberg, E.--Report on Excise in Assam. Yule, Sir Henry--Notes on the Khasi Hills and people.

Contents
Introduction xv-xxvii Section I.--General.
Habitat 1-2 Appearance 2-3 Physical and General Characteristics 3-6 Geographical Distribution 6-10 Origin 10-11 Affinities 11-18 Dress 18-21 Tattooing 21 Jewellery 22-23 Weapons 23-26
Section II.--Domestic Life.
Occupation 26-28 Apiculture 28-30 Houses 30-33 Villages 33-35 Furniture and Household Utensils 36-38 Musical Instruments 38-39 Agriculture 39-43 Crops 43-48 Hunting 48-49 Fishing 49-51 Food 51-52 Drink 52-54 Games 54-57 Manufactures 57-61
Section III.--Laws and Customs.
Tribal Organization 62-66 State Organization 66-75 Marriage 76-79 Divorce 79-81 Inheritance 82-85 Adoption 85-86 Tenure of Land and Laws regarding Land 86-91
Laws regarding other Property 91 Decision of Disputes 91-97 War 97-98 Human Sacrifices 98-104
Section IV.--Religion.
General Character of Popular Beliefs 105-109 Ancestor Worship 109-113 Worship of Natural Forces and of Deities 114-116 Religious Rites and Sacrifices, Divination 116-120 Priesthood 120-124 Ceremonies and Customs attending Birth and Naming of Children 124-127 Marriage 127-132 Ceremonies attending Death 132-139 Disposal of the Dead 140-144 Khasi Memorial Stones 144-154 Festivities, Domestic and Tribal 154-157 Genna 158-159
Section V.--Folk-Lore.
Folk-tales 160-187
Section VI.--Miscellaneous.
Teknonomy 188 Khasi Method of Calculating Time 188-190 The Lynngams 190-197
Section VII.--Language 198-215 Appendices.
A--Exogamous Clans in the Cherra State 216-217 B--Exogamous Clans in the Khyrim State 218-220 C--Divination by Egg-Breaking 221-222
Index 223-227

Introduction
In 1908 Sir Bampfylde Fuller, then Chief Commissioner of Amman, proposed and the Government of India sanctioned, the preparation of a series of monographs on the more important tribes and castes of the Province, of which this volume is the first. They were to be undertaken by writers who had special and intimate experience of the races to be described, the accounts of earlier observers being at the same time studied and incorporated; a uniform scheme of treatment was laid down which was to be adhered to in each monograph, and certain limits of size were prescribed.
Major Gurdon, the author of the following pages, who is also, as Superintendent of Ethnography in Assam, editor of the whole series, has enjoyed a long and close acquaintance with the Khasi race, whose institutions he has here undertaken to describe. Thoroughly familiar with their language, he has for three years been in charge as Deputy-Commissioner of the district where they dwell, continually moving among them, and visiting every part of the beautiful region which is called by their name. The administration of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills is an exceptionally interesting field of official responsibility. About half of the district, including the country around the capital, Shillong, is outside the limits of British India, consisting of a collection of small states in political relations, regulated by treaty with the Government of India, which enjoy almost complete autonomy in the management of their local affairs. In the remainder, called the Jaintia Hills, which became British in 1835, it has been the wise policy of the Government to maintain the indigenous system of administration through officers named dolois, who preside over large areas of country with very little interference. All the British portion of the hills is what is called a "Scheduled District" under Acts XIV and XV of 1874, and legislation which may be inappropriate to the conditions of the people can be, and is, excluded from operation within it. In these circumstances the administration is carried on in a manner well calculated to win the confidence and attachment of the people, who have to hear few of the burdens which press upon the population elsewhere, and, with the peace and protection guaranteed by British rule, are able to develop their institutions upon indigenous lines. It is now more than forty years since any military operations have been necessary within the hills, and the advance of the district in prosperity and civilization during the last half-century has been very striking.
The first contact between the British and the inhabitants of the Khasi Hills followed upon the acquisition by the East India Company, in consequence of the grant of the Diwani of Bengal in 1765, of the district of Sylhet. The Khasis were our neighbours on the north