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| Khasi people | |
|---|---|
| Group | Khasi people |
| Regions | Meghalaya, Northeast India |
| Languages | Khasi language |
| Religions | Khasi traditional religion, Hinduism, Christianity |
| Related | Garo people, Jaintia people, Austroasiatic peoples |
Khasi people The Khasi people are an indigenous Austroasiatic peoples community primarily concentrated in the state of Meghalaya in Northeast India, with diasporic presence in Assam, Bangladesh, and urban centers such as Guwahati and Shillong. They are noted for a matrilineal kinship system, distinct Khasi language literature, and cultural practices centered on clan identities, customary law institutions, and ritual sites across the Shillong Plateau and the Garo Hills fringe. Historical interactions with neighboring polities such as the Ahom kingdom, colonial administrations like the British Raj, and modern Indian constitutional structures have shaped contemporary Khasi society.
The ethnonym traces in scholarly literature to exonyms and autonyms recorded by travelers and colonial administrators linked to terms in Austroasiatic languages and regional chronicles like the Rajmala. Identity markers include clan names () tied to traditional polities documented in sources concerning the Khasi Hills and the Jaintia Hills. Contemporary identity is negotiated through institutions such as the Khasi Students' Union, cultural festivals referenced alongside heritage sites like the Mawphlang Sacred Grove and legal categories established under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Prehistoric and protohistoric occupation of the Shillong Plateau is reconstructed using comparative studies of Austroasiatic peoples dispersals, archaeological finds in Nongkhyllem, and oral genealogies linked to clan migration narratives recorded by ethnographers. Early medieval interaction involved tributary ties and conflicts with polities such as the Ahom kingdom and the Sultanate of Bengal, later compounded by incursions during the Mughal Empire frontier phase. Colonial contact intensified after the Treaty of Yandabo era and through British expeditions leading to administrative incorporations under the East India Company and later the British Raj, which produced ethnographic documentation, missionary activity from Welsh Presbyterian missionaries, and the codification of customary law in district records. The 20th century saw mobilization around regional autonomy resulting in the creation of Meghalaya state after political negotiations involving parties like the All Party Hill Leaders Conference and provisions of the Constitution of India.
The Khasi language, a branch of the Mon–Khmer languages within the Austroasiatic languages, is written in the Latin script due to earlier missionary orthographic work by figures associated with the Welsh Presbyterian missionaries and later standardization by scholars linked to institutions such as Gauhati University and Shillong College. Literary production includes oral tradition genres—folktales recorded alongside Nongkrem Dance narratives—modern poetry and prose published in journals supported by the Syntu Ksiar movement and translation projects connecting Khasi works to Hindi, English, and Bengali literatures. Linguistic description has been advanced by researchers associated with the Central Institute of Indian Languages and comparative studies with Vietnamese and Khmer language families.
Khasi society is organized through matrilineal descent, with property and clan membership passing through female lines, exemplified in inheritance practices documented in studies of Matrilineality in South Asia. Residential patterns center on extended households in villages such as Mawlynnong and Cherrapunji areas, where festivals like Shad Suk Mynsiem and ceremonial spaces such as the Shrine of U Basa remain focal. Artistic expressions include bamboo craft informed by exchanges with the Garo people and musical forms performed during events documented by ethnomusicologists at institutions like the North Eastern Hill University. Social regulation occurs via customary councils analogous to bodies discussed in literature on the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Religious life encompasses indigenous animist traditions, syncretic practices, and conversions to Christianity and Hinduism. Indigenous ritual specialists and priesthood roles are recorded in ethnographies related to the Khasi traditional religion and ceremonies performed at sacred groves like Mawphlang Sacred Grove and at megalithic sites comparable to those surveyed in Northeast India archaeological studies. Missionary campaigns from groups such as the Welsh Presbyterian missionaries and conflicts over religious allegiance feature in accounts of social change and legal disputes adjudicated in forums referenced by scholars exploring religion in the Shillong region.
Traditional livelihoods combine shifting cultivation systems historically described in agrarian surveys of the Shillong Plateau, horticulture centered on areca nut and betel leaf marketed through towns like Shillong and Guwahati, and contemporary wage labor in sectors connected to tourism anchored at sites such as Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. Craft economies include weaving and bamboo work sold via cooperatives linked to organisations inspired by models from the Khadi and Village Industries Commission context. Land tenure interacts with statutory protections under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India and customary institutions that regulate access in areas administered by district bodies.
Political representation occurs through elected bodies in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly constituencies and local governance under Autonomous District Councils instituted by the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India, with party politics involving entities such as the All Party Hill Leaders Conference and regional parties active in state formation processes. Legal pluralism is evident in cases adjudicated by higher judiciary bodies like the Gauhati High Court concerning the interplay between statutory law and customary Khasi practices. Civil society mobilization is represented by organizations including the Khasi Students' Union and cultural preservation efforts coordinated with agencies such as the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Category:Ethnic groups in Meghalaya