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In olden days the Siem marched to war at the head of his army. It is not customary to recognize an heir-apparent, and the young men of the Siem family pursue the ordinary avocations of a Khasi, not comporting themselves in the least like scions of royalty.
As there is no Excise in the district, except within a five-mile radius of Shillong, liquor of both the above descriptions can be possessed and sold without restriction. According to some Khasi traditions the Khasis in ancient times used not to drink spirits, but confined themselves to rice-beer.
Ernst Kuhn, of Munich, who in 1888 and 1889 published important contributions to our knowledge of the languages and peoples of Further India. There still remains much to be done before the speech of the Khasi nation can be considered to have been thoroughly investigated.
In all Khasi houses are to be seen ki knup, or rain shields, of different sizes and sometimes of somewhat different shapes. The large shield of Cherrapunji is used as a protection from rain. Those of Maharam and Mawiang are each of a peculiar pattern. Smaller shields are used as protections from the sun or merely for show, and there are specially small sizes for children.
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 Lynngams follow the Khasi law of inheritance. It will be convenient to describe the Khasi law first, and then to pass on to the special customs in vogue in the different doloiships in the Jaintia Hills, and, finally, to describe the Wár, Bhoi and Lynngam customs.
The cost of an ordinary Lynngam marriage is from Rs. 30 to Rs. 40. The marriage system in vogue among the Lynngams may be described as a mixture of the Khasi and Garo customs. As has already been stated, the Lynngams are a mongrel breed of Khasis and Garos. Ceremonies Attending Death.
The Khasi method of obtaining auguries by examining the viscera of animals and birds may be compared with that of the Roman haruspex. Some description of these modes of divination has been given at the end of this chapter. The Khasi religion has been described by Bivar as "demon worship, or a jumble of enchantments muttered by priests who are sorcerers."
We are thus still in a state of uncertainty as to what was the origin of these languages. The brief description which follows of some of the more prominent characteristics of the Khasi language is based chiefly on Sir Charles Lyall's skeleton Grammar contained in Vol. II. of Dr. Grierson's "Linguistic Survey of India."
In land customs as well as other customs the Syntengs seem to preserve more closely than the Khasis what are probably the ancient usages of the race. It must be clearly understood, however, that all land acquired by inheritance must follow the Khasi law of entail, by which property descends from the mother to the youngest daughter, and again from the latter to her youngest daughter.
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