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In cases of family quarrels, or dissensions amongst the members of the same clan, which it is desired to bring to a peaceful settlement, it is customary to perform a sacrifice to the first mother, "Ka Iawbei." They first of all take an augury by breaking eggs, and if it appears from the broken egg-shells that Ka Iawbei is offended, they offer to her a cotton cloth, and sacrifice a hen.

We see clearly from the above prayer that the Khasi idea is that the spirit of the deceased male ancestor is capable of being in a position to help his descendant in times of trouble. The same thought underlies the extreme reverence with which Ka Iawbei is regarded.

This tribal ancestress, as will be seen in the paragraph of the monograph dealing with ancestor-worship, is greatly reverenced, in fact, she may almost be said to be deified. The descendants of one ancestress of the clan, Ka Iawbei Tynrai, are called shi kur or one clan.

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.

At Cherra two effigies called Ka Puron and U Tyngshop are prepared and dressed up; the former is intended to represent Ka Iawbei, the first ancestress, and the other U Suidnia, the first maternal uncle of the clan. These effigies are held in the hands of the dancers. In the meantime two lines of upright stones consisting of three each, with a table-stone in front of each line, have been set up.

The greater number of the flat table-stones we see in front of the standing monoliths in these hills are erected in honour of Ka Iawbei. In former times, it was the custom to offer food to her on these stones.

Ka Iawbei, “the first mother,” has the foremost place of honour by her side, and acting as her agent is U Suid Nia, her brother. There is another fact to show the honour in which the female ideal is held.

It is almost invariably the case that the grandmother, her daughters and the daughter's children, live together under one roof, the grandmother during her life-time being the head of the house. The grandmother is styled ka Iawbei Khynraw, or the young grandmother, to distinguish her from the other two grandmothers, ka Iawbei-tynrai and ka Iawbei-tymmen who have been mentioned above.

Notwithstanding the strong influence of the matriarchate, we find that U Thawlang, the first father and the husband of Ka Iawbei, is also revered. To him on occasions of domestic trouble a cock is sacrificed, and a jymphong, or sleeveless coat is offered. This puja is called kaba tap Thawlang, i.e. covering the grandfather.

Ka Iawbei is the primeval ancestress of the clan. She is to the Khasis what the "tribal mother" was to old Celtic and Teutonic genealogists, and we have an interesting parallel to the reverence of the Khasis for Ka Iawbei in the Celtic goddess Brigit, the tribal mother of the Brigantes. Later on, like Ka Iawbei, she was canonized, and became St. Bridget.