Khasia, The (or Khasi)
Mongolite ethnic group. The Khasia's descended to the Khasia hills and
Jaintia
hills from Cherapunji and Shilong regions. They migrated to
Bangladesh from Assam where they came about five hundred years ago,
presumably from Tibet, and now form one of the major matriarchal tribes in
Bangladesh. Khasias are short people with flat noses and mouths, high jaws,
and small and straightened black eyes. Once they were nomads and they are
still inclined to roam. North-east Bengal formed their traditional welling
place. The habitats of the hilly Khasias extend upto the Garo hills in the
west. They are fond of hills, mounds, bushes, and forests. They build their
cottages with a balcony on a platform made of wood and bamboo. The balcony
is used as drawing room. Recently, they have begun to build houses like the
Bangalis. The kitchen is attached to the bedrooms and almost every house of
Khasias has a pig-shed near it.
Historical Background:
Khasias call their villages
punjis. The villages are clusters of houses within the cultural boundary of
their own community. However, in search of livelihood, they often desert
their punjis and move to new places, where they form new ones to live in.
They spread out to different places. Previously, Khasias in Bangladesh lived
in the northeast border of sunamganj district, while in India they had
settled in the foothold of the Jaintia hills in Meghalaya, at an elevation
9-10 meter above the sea level. Once a Khasia Sardar (tribe leader) occupied
a few parganas (administrative divisions) and built an estate, but later, he
was ousted. At present, Khasias are spread over bishwamvarpur, tahirpur and
chhatak in Sunamganj. Other tribes living in the Khasia region include the
Syntong, garo and Lalong, who are minority groups. Although descendants from
the Khasia, these minority groups are looked down upon by them. Khasias have
a number of other descendants of their own like the Khongta, Palong and
Surong. There are five punjis in the border bteween habiganj and maulvi
bazar, sixty-one in Maulvi Bazar, and seven in sylhet. Most Khasias live in
the border region. Some live in Guyanghat, jaintapur, and Joyai. Many Khasia
children are found working in the tea garden in kulaura.
Khasias are strongly attached
to their tribal origin and culture. Although at present, they are gentle,
polite and very disciplined, they were known to be aggressive in the past.
The hilly Khasias used to attack villages in the plain regions and plunder
villages, commit arson, and kill innocent people. In 1744, they were known
to have burnt the scaffold of the capital of a feudal king (chieftain). The
Mughals posted an army in the border parganas to repel the attack of Khasias.
The British also did the same thing. The mountains in the border region
abound in limestone. Conflicts over the business in limestone prevailed up
to 1795. The mountains were under the control of the Khasia chieftains. In
1787, they attacked some five parganas and killed about three hundred
people. Poisonous arrows and bows were used in these raids. The British
faced great difficulty in controlling them. Khasias attacked even many local
zamindars then.
Socio Economic Aspects:
Livelihood:
According to the census of 1991, the total number of Khasias in Bangladesh
was 12,300, but the Bangladesh Khasia Society claims the number to be around
30,000. Birth rate is very high among Khasias. The chief of the punji is
called Siem. Some punji-chiefs in Meghalaya and Bangladesh have the power of
arbitration. They are called ministers, and own vast land property.
Sharecroppers work in their lands and orchards. The job of the sharecroppers
is supervised by paid workers. Religious festivals and social ceremonies are
held under the supervision of the ministers. Many Khasias used to grow
bananas, pineapples, oranges, cassia leaf (or dial), blackpepper and pan
(betel leaf) on lands which they did not own. In addition to working in tea
garden, they also traded in betel leaf, oranges, fish and rice in markets on
both sides of the border. Rice and fish are their major food items.
Social System:
Lifestyle: The religious
feelings, culture, dress and manners of the Khasia today have been moderated
considerably under the influence of modern developments in education,
science, technology and culture. While they are adopting modern life-styles,
some primitive traits are still found in them. They perform various kinds of
rituals throughout the whole year and pray for the fertility of their land.
They perform khyakhang brata at the time of sowing seeds. Other rituals are
pisthol, pirdong and khyaklam. Marriage is compulsory for Khasia men and is
treated a command of God. Celibacy is sinful and cursed. They dance and sing
in a chorus in marriage ceremonies and other regular festivals. They
celebrate birth and death. They are good in dancing and singing.
Rituals: The Khasia
religion is very old but it has evolved over time. Traditional customs and
superstitious beliefs form the core of their religion. The influence of
hinduism, christianity, and islam is very evident. The changes that have
taken place in the Khasia community are most evident in their religious
practices. christian missionaries began to preach Christianity among Khasias
about one and a half a century ago. At present, more than 80% of the Khasias
are Christians. Almost every punji has its own church, where they say their
Sunday prayer and spend some time in discussing about the punjis. Christian
priests often arbitrate in disputes arising in the punjis. Khasias were
originally monotheists, who believe that the God first created the universe
and then a man and a woman. Subsequently, the God created gods and goddesses
for the purpose of controlling various aspects of the universe. They also
believe in the existence of the god of a village. Moreover, they believe in
the existence of evil spirits and adore nature and animals. They perform
numerous rituals. They do not have any religious scripture. Recently, some
Khasias have been converted to Islam. Conversion to Christianity brought
about tremendous changes in the socio-economic structure of their lives.
Christian Khasias are mostly protestants and Catholic Khasias are rarely
found. They, however, continue to maintain their age-old customs and
traditions. There are some exceptions as well. They burn the body of the
dead and bury the remains. The priest recites at the funeral: "Good bye,
good bye, You will chew betel leaf in the kingdom of God".
Language: The Khasia
language does not have alphabets. Tradition says that once they had a
written scripture, which was destroyed by a calamity. They are bilingual and
can speak in the Khasia language as well as in Bangla, although in some
pejorated phonetics. Once the Khasia language used to be written in Bangla
letters. The first Khasia version of some parts of the Bible appeared in
Bangla. The literate Khasias still use Bangla alphabets in writing their
letters in the Khasia language. At present, the Khasia langauge on the other
part of the border is documented in Roman letters. In Bangladesh, the Khasia
language does not have any universal character. Khasias living in Cherapunji
in India, however, have standardised their version of the language.
Family Structure:
According to a Khasia proverb, the civilisation originated from the female.
Because of the existence of a social system based on matriarchy, Khasia
girls make their own choice of bridegrooms from tribes other than their own
and keep their husbands in her own houses after marriage. Marriage within
one's own tribe is forbidden and results in the loss of ownership of
property, excommunication from the village, and no funeral after death. Most
marriages take place on the basis of prior mating on the part of the girl.
Usually girls invite would-be husbands to their houses and sometimes living
together also takes place. Guardians are informed of the agreement among the
intending parties and fix the date of the marriage ceremony. The males on
the bridegroom's side dress the bridegroom in a white loincloth and a turban
and take him to the bride's house. The bridegroom is blessed by his mother
and senior female relatives. The bride's party welcomes them. The priest
recites religious verses and blesses the bridegroom. The gods are offered
wine and dry fish. After palatable dishes and drinks the bridegroom's party
leaves him at midnight. The bridegroom treats the brothers and sisters of
the bride as his own brothers and sisters. Sometimes marriage also takes
place on the basis of the consent of the guardians without prior mating.
After the marriage is over, a cottage for the new couple is built by the
side of the house of the bride's mother. In some punjis this is compulsory.
No cottage is built for the youngest daughter since she happens to be the
heir of her maternal house and property. The wife does the monetary
transactions.
Social Structure: In
Khasia society cultivation and household work are done on the basis of
mutual cooperation and understanding between wife and husband. Disagreement
is very rare. Men respect women. Children have a religious responsibility to
look after their old father if he is a widow. In the event of untimely death
of the wife, the husband can marry and move elsewhere. The social custom of
Khasias is not so rigid as that of the matriarchal Garo. Offsprings are
known by their maternal names. All daughters, including the youngest, get a
share of property but they can not sell it. The youngest sister bears the
responsibility of performing all rituals and ceremonies in the family.
Monogamy is a custom among the Khasias. However, a woman can have more than
one husband if the first husband happens to be sextually impotent. Rules of
marriage and matriarchal social custom do not vary much in Khasia punjis.
The income of the couple is exclusively its own if it lives independently
after marriage. Divorce becomes mutual in the event of mistrust, hatred,
dishonesty, and impotency on the part of husband. One or both have to
communicate the desire to divorce to the minister of the punji and the
people concerned with the marriage before divorce comes into effect. A
specified time period is allowed to the party in question to reconsider the
matter. If the situation does not change, the marriage is officially
declared to be null and void by beating drums in the punjis. In most cases,
divorce is initiated by the wife and in such case, she has to pay fifty
percent of the compensation. But if the divorce is initiated by the husband,
he has to pay for two pieces of cloth. Divorce, however, is ineffective if
the wife is pregnant. Both the husband and wife can remarry after divorce
but the children, if there is any, stay with their mother. A wife can also
remarry after the death of her husband. [Ali Nawaz]
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