Ethnic origin of Khasi in Northeast India

Introduction

The Khasi people living in Meghalaya state of Northeast India are part of the Austro-Asiatic people.

This article will narrate their origin, related subgroups, their original homeland and their migration path.

Homeland

The homeland of the Khasi is in Meghalaya state in North-east India. Their tribal name is derived from the word 'Khas' which means hills.

Most Khasi people live in Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya state. They also live in Bangladesh near the southern border of Meghalaya.

Meghalaya was formed by carving two districts which includes Garo Hills, Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills from Assam state in 1972 AD.

Migration to Assam

According to their legends, they originally came into Assam from the east via the Patkai range. The ancestors of Khasi were originally connected with the Mekong River and regard the river as 'senior aunt'.

Their original homeland was in upper Mekong River basin in Yunnan which they once shared with their Austro-Asiatic brothers. It is estimated that they started migrating around 300 BC-69 AD when their ancestors split into at least two groups; one group moved west to become the Khasi people whereas the rest of the groups moved southwards.

The migration of Lolo-Burmese people into western Yunnan was most probably the catalyst for their migration into Assam.

Migration to the Khasi and Jaintia hills

They first lived around the region of southern banks of the Brahmaputra River basin before being forced to migrate to the hills by Tai Ahom and also Indo-Aryan Mogul people in the 15th century AD.

The Tai Ahom dominated the Brahmaputra River basin whereas the Mogul people dominated present-day Sylhet region of Bangladesh.

Migration to Khasi and Jaintia hills (red arrow)

Khasi subgroups

The Khasi people all claim descent from Ki Hynñiew Trep (seven mothers or seven families) which are the seven Khasi sub-groups. They are Khynriam, Pnar aka Jaintia, Bhoi, War, Maram aka Maharam, Lyngngam, Diko. However, the Diko is an extinct sub-group who once inhabited the lowlands of west Khasi Hills. Refer to distribution map below.

Khasi subgroups in Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills

The Garo people living in Garo Hills are Sino-Tibetan people but due to close proximity with the Khasi people, a certain percentage have intermarried with them. A genetic study have confirmed that Sino-Tibetan genes is the most common among the Garo at 55% followed by Austro-Asiatic genes at 18%.

British colonization

The Jaintia people from Pnar tribe established their own Jaintia kingdom (1500s-1835 AD) with its capital in Jaintapur in Jaintia Hills before the British invasion.

U Tirot Sing, an ethnic Khasi chief, fought against the British invasion in Khasi hills in the Anglo-Khasi war (1829-1833 AD). He died under British custody in 1835 AD.

Statue of U Tirot Sing

The Khasi hills and Jaintia kingdom were annexed by the British in 1833 AD and 1835 AD respectively.

These regions were incorporated into British India and have remained under India even after India gained its independence from the British. Shillong became the capital of Meghalaya in 1972 AD.

Culture

Unlike most tribes in East Asia and India, the culture of Khasi people is based on matrilineal system i.e. the head of the household is the mother and not the father. After marriage, the husband moves to live in his mother-in-law's house and the mother's surname is taken by his children. Traditionally, the property is inherited by the daughters and not the sons.

Traditional wedding in Jaintia Hills

However, this matrilineal culture is being threatened by a group of people called Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai which is narrated in the documentary below.

Closest ethnic relative

According to the Khasi language classification and geographical proximity, the Khasi people's closest ethnic relatives are the Palaungic people who are the natives of northernmost Myanmar and western Yunnan in China. The Palaungic languages are closer to Khasi language compared to the Munda languages in India.

The picture below shows the Wa people which is one of the subgroup of Palaungic people. Refer to 'Ethnic origin of Palaung' article for more details in this blog.

Conclusion

The Khasi people are the natives of Meghalaya state in Northeast India. In ancient times, they lived in upper Mekong River basin in Yunnan. They are genetically and linguistically related to the many Austro-Asiatic natives in South-East Asia.

Sources

The History and Culture of the Khasi People. University of Gauhati, Assam. By Hamlet Bareh.
Proceedings of the National Institute of Sciences of India, vol. 1, no. 2, pp 103-105. By J.H. Hutton.
The Khasis. New Delhi: Cosmo Publication. By P.R.T Gurdon.
Origin of the Khasia. By S Kharbangar. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/61322/7/07_introduction.pdf
Sidwell, Paul. 2018. The Khasian Languages: Classification, Reconstruction, and Comparative Lexicon. Languages of the World 58. Munich: Lincom Europa.
Y-chromosome evidence suggests a common paternal heritage of Austro-Asiatic populations. By Vikrant Kumar et al. https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2148-7-47
Journal of the Southeast Asian linguistics Society. Vol. 4.2 Dec 2011. http://jseals.org/JSEALS-4-2.pdf
The lost kingdom of Jaintia. https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/heritage/the-lost-kingdom-jaintia-122848

Last updated: 10 Jan 2022

East Asian origin, history, language, culture

Search This Blog