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The majority of the population and the major tribal groups in Meghalaya follow a matrilineal system where lineage and inheritance are traced through women. The youngest daughter inherits all the property and she is the caretaker of aged parents and any unmarried siblings.[11] In some cases, such as when there is no daughter in the family or other reasons, the parents may nominate another girl such as a daughter in law as the heir of the house and all other property they may own.
Meghalaya has one of the world's largest surviving matrilineal cultures.
In southern Meghalaya, located in Mawsynram, is the Mawjymbuin cave. Here a massive stalagmite has been shaped by nature into a Shivalinga. According to legend, from the 13th century, this Shivalinga (called Hatakeswarat) has existed in the Jaintia Hills under the reign of Ranee Singa.[89] Tens of thousands of the Jaintia tribe members participate over the Hindu festival of Shivratri (Night of Lord Shiva) every year.
Living root bridges
Double-Decker Living root bridge, Nongriat village.
The practice of creating living root bridges can be found in Meghalaya. Here, functional, living, architecture is created by slowly training the aerial roots of the Ficus elastica (rubber tree). Examples of these structures can be found as far west as the valley east of Mawsynram,[92] and as far east as the East Jaintia Hills District,[93] meaning that they are made by both Khasis and Jaintias. Large numbers[94] of these man-made living structures exist in the mountainous terrain along the southern border of the Shillong Plateau, though as a cultural practice they are fading, with many individual examples having disappeared recently, either falling in landslides or floods or being replaced with more standard steel bridges.[95]
History
Meghalaya, alongside neighbouring Indian states, has been of archaeological interest. People have lived in Meghalaya since the Neolithic period. Neolithic sites discovered so far are located in areas of high elevation in Khasi Hills, Garo Hills and in neighbouring states, where Neolithic style jhum or shifting cultivation is practised even today. The highland plateaus fed by abundant rains provided safety from floods and a rich soil.[20] The importance of Meghalaya is its possible role in human history via domestication of rice. A theory for the origin of rice is by Ian Glover while states, "India is the center of greatest diversity of domesticated rice with over 20,000 identified species and Northeast India is the most favorable single area of the origin of domesticated rice."[21] The limited archaeology done in the hills of Meghalaya suggest human settlement since ancient times.[22]
After the Conquest of Taraf in 1304, Shah Arifin Rafiuddin, a disciple of Shah Jalal, migrated and settled in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills where he preached Islamic monotheism to the local people. His khanqah remains in Sarping / Laurergarh on the Bangladeshi border but the part containing his mazar is in Meghalaya on top of Laur Hill.[23]
Bhaitbari is an archaeological site first discovered and excavated by A. K. Sharma in 1993, a fortification of burnt brick with mud core was discovered at Meghalaya - Assam border and is dated to 4th-8th century AD, the city has been speculated to have been one of the capital cities of Kamarupa.[24]
The British discovered Camellia sinensis (tea shrub) in 1834 in Assam and later companies started renting land from 1839 onwards.[25][clarification needed]
The Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia tribes had their own kingdoms until they came under British administration in the 19th century. Later, the British incorporated Meghalaya into Assam in 1835.[11] The region enjoyed semi-independent status by virtue of a treaty relationship with the British Crown. When Bengal was partitioned on 16 October 1905 by Lord Curzon, Meghalaya became a part of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. When the partition was reversed in 1912, Meghalaya became a part of the province of Assam. On 3 January 1921 in pursuance of Section 52A of the Government of India Act of 1919, the governor-general-in-council declared the areas now in Meghalaya, other than the Khasi states, as "backward tracts." Subsequently, the British administration enacted the Government of India Act 1935, which regrouped the backward tracts into two categories: "excluded" and "partially excluded" areas.[citation needed]
In 1971, the Parliament passed the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, which conferred full statehood on the autonomous state of Meghalaya. Meghalaya attained statehood on 21 January 1972, with a Legislative Assembly of its own.[8]
2 июл 2024
