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The story of the origin of the Siems of Suhtnga, who afterwards became the Rajas of Jaintiapur, is a well-known tale in the Jaintia Hills. A description of the wonderful mass of granite known by the name of the Kyllang Rock will be found in the section of the monograph which deals with geographical distribution. I have also added a photograph of the rock.

Waddell to be unacquainted with the art of weaving; but the fact that a considerable weaving industry exists amongst the Khyrwang villages of the Syntengs, and at Mynso and Suhtnga, has been overlooked by him. The Khyrwangs weave a special pattern of cotton and silk cloth, striped red and white. In Mynso and Suhtnga similar cloths are woven, also the sleeveless coat.

On the contrary, two of the most important industries, the smelting of iron ore and the forging of iron implements therefrom, and the cotton-spinning industries at Mynso and Suhtnga, show signs of dying out.

In Cherrapunji the houses are frequently large, but the largest house I have seen in the hills is that of the Doloi of Suhtnga in the Jaintia Hills which measures 74 ft. in length. The house of the Siem Priestess at Smit in the Khasi Hills is another large one, being 61 ft. long by 30 ft. broad.

Near Suhtnga there is a group of stones, said to have been originally thirty in number, together with maw shongthait, or stones to seat the weary, which were erected to the memory of a woman, Ka Kampatwat, who in generations past is alleged to have had no less than thirty husbands. The lady is not supposed to have been polyandrous, nor nine-lived, but to have divorced one husband after another.

It is said that from the fishing rod of U Loh Ryndi, which he left on the bank of the stream, there grew up bamboos, the joints and leaves of which grow upside down to the present day. U Loh Ryndi bad Ka Lim Dohkha. Ki Synteng ki batai ia ka jinglong tynrai ki Siem Suhtnga kumne.

After that U Loh Ryndi saw in a dream that Ka Lih Dohkha had gone by the river Umwai Khyrwi to a village called Suhtnga. After that he married Ka Lih Dohkha and she bore him twelve daughters and a son. When the children of U Loh Ryndi and Ka Lih Dohkha grew up, both of them returned to the stream Umwai Khyrwi.