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Divorce amongst the Khasis is common, and may occur for a variety of reasons, such as adultery, barrenness, incompatibility of temperament, &c. The rule amongst the Khasis is that both parties must agree, but amongst the Wárs, especially the people of Shella, the party who divorces the other without his or her consent must pay compensation, which is called ka mynrain, or ka thnem. Amongst the Khasis it is not the custom to enforce restitution of conjugal rights; as a rule, when husband and wife cannot live together amicably, they agree to divorce one another; but occasionally it happens that either the husband or the wife will not agree to a divorce. Usually the husband would be willing to live with his wife; but when the latter consents neither to live with her husband nor to accept a divorce, a difficult situation arises, and it is in the event of such a contingency happening that the necessity of assessing ka mynrain, or ka thnem (compensation), occurs. The latter is computed by the village elders. Parties who have been divorced cannot afterwards remarry one another, but they are at liberty to marry into other families. A woman cannot be divorced during pregnancy. The following description of the divorce ceremony is taken from U Jeebon Roy's note on the Khasi religion. If the marriage has been celebrated according to the pynhiar synjat rite, a ksiang (go-between) is necessary on each side, also the kni, or maternal uncles of the parties, to witness the divorce. In other cases the presence of the ksiang is unnecessary, but some acquaintances and friends as well as the relatives on both sides should witness the ceremony. The husband and the wife each bring five cowries (sb
According to the late U Jeebon Roy, it is sang, or taboo, to the Khasis to build a house on the last eminence of a range of hills, this custom having perhaps arisen owing to the necessity of locating villages with reference to their defence against an enemy. Khasis build their houses fairly close together, but not as close as houses in the Bhoi and Lynngam villages.
The ksiangs of the bridegroom and bride recite the marriage contract in lengthy formulae, which may be found on pages 6, 7, 8 of the late U Jeebon Roy's interesting notes on the Khasi religion.
After the expiration of one year the fine is reduced in amount. Khasi widows do not as a rule re-marry, according to U Jeebon Roy, unless they have no female children, in which case the clan urges them to re-marry, so that the chain of inheritance may not be broken, inheritance amongst the Khasis always passing in the female line. Customs in Connection with Deaths by Violence or Accident.
The information I have obtained regarding the ceremony, although differing to some extent in detail from that recorded by the late U Jeebon Roy, agrees with the latter's account as regards the main facts. The information may now be set down as follows. By way of premise it may be stated that the bones and ashes of the deceased are kept after cremation in small stone cairns, or mawshieng.
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