United States or Senegal ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
In Mawsynram the electors of the Siem are the heads of the four principal clans in the State. On a recent occasion, the electors being equally divided regarding the appointment of a Siem, it was necessary to appeal to the people of the State. In Langrin there are, as in Maharam and Nobosohpoh, two main branches of the Siem family, i.e. the "Black" and the "White" Siems.
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 Maharam State was ruled until 1875 by two Siems, called, respectively, the "white" and the "black" Siems. In this State originally there were five lyngdohs who appointed the Siems, but as in certain other States the number of the electors has been expanded by the inclusion of mantris, sirdars, and basans. The electors now number seventy-two persons.
The plant is watered by means of small bamboo aqueducts which are constructed along the hill-sides, the water being conducted along them often considerable distances. As in the plains, the leaves of the pán creeper are collected throughout the year. The bay leaf is gathered for export from the extensive gardens in Maharam, Malaisohmat, Mawsynram, and other Khasi States.
Rableng Hill, which is within full view of the Shillong Peak in an easterly direction, is also said to be the abode of a minor god who is periodically propitiated by the members of the Máwthoh clan of the Khyrim State with a he-goat and a cock. The picturesque hill of Symper, which rises abruptly from the plain in the Siemship of Maharam, is visible for many miles.
The Syntengs and Lynngams are fond of tadpoles, and the Khasis consider a curry made from a kind of green frog, called ka japieh, a bonne bouche. The Khasis of Mariao, Maharam, Nongstoin and some other Siemships eat the hairy caterpillar, u'ñiang phlang.
U Kyllang u long u lúm uba hajan ka shnong Mawnái ha Khadsawphra bad U Symper u dei u lúm uba long ha ri Maharam. Ha kine ki lúm ki tymmen ki jiw tharai ba don ki blei kiba shong hangto kiba kyrteng U Kyllang bad U Symper. Kine ki blei baroh ar ngut ki la ia kajia namar kano kano ka dáw kaba ngi u bynríw ngim lah ban tip. Te ki la ialeh baroh ar ngut da kaba ia khawoh ktih.
The Syntengs have a story that when the strong west wind blows in the spring this is due to the advent of U Kyllang, who comes to visit his wife, the river Umngot, at that season: amongst the Khasis hills are all of them masculine, but to rivers is usually attributed the feminine gender. U Symper is another isolated rocky eminence rising from the Maharam plain close to the village of K'mawan.
The above sections may be sub-divided as follows: The Khasis into the inhabitants of the central high plateau, Cherra and Nongstoin, Maharam, Mario, Nongkhlaw, and the neighbouring Siemships. The Syntengs or Pnars may be divided as follows: Into Syntengs proper, Nongtungs and Kharwangs; the Wárs into Wár proper, and Wár Pnar; the Bhois into Jinthongs, Mynris, Ryngkhongs, and the Khasi-Bhois, i.e.
Word Of The Day