Front view of Jaintaswari HousePrincess Iravati's inn
The Jaintia Kingdom was a matrilineal kingdom in present-day some parts of Bangladesh's Sylhet Division, India's Meghalaya state and Nagaon, Morigoan district of Assam. It was partitioned into three in 630 AD by Raja Guhak for his three sons, into the Jaintia Kingdom, Gour Kingdom and Laur Kingdom. It was annexed by the British East India Company in 1835. All the Pnar Rajahs of the Jaintiapur Kingdom are from the Syiem Sutnga clan, a Pnar clan of the Khasi tribe which claims descent from Ka Li Dohkha, a divine nymph.
One theory says that the word "Jaintia" is derived the shrine of Jayanti Devi or Jainteswari, an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga. Another theory says that the name is derived via Pnar (the language of the rulers) from Sutnga, a settlement in the modern day Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.[3] The Pnars (also called Jaintia) and War, speak Mon-Khmer languages that are related to Khasi.
Entrance to the Jaintaswari House.
Extent
Jaintaswari Front Wall
The Jaintia Kingdom extended from the east of the Shillong Plateau of present-day Meghalaya in north-east India, into the plains to the south, and north to the Barak River valley in Assam, India. The winter capital located at Jaintia Rajbari, Jaintiapur, now ruined, was located on the plains at the foot of the Jaintia Hills; it appears there may have been a summer capital at Nartiang in the Jaintia Hills, but little remains of it now apart from the Nartiang Durga Temple and a nearby site with many megalithic structures. Much of what is today the Sylhet region of Bangladesh and India was at one time under the jurisdiction of the Jaintia king.
History
Peculiar building in Jaintiaswari Estate.Coin of Jaintia kingdom
In ancient times, Austroasiatic tribal migrations from Southeast Asia during the Holocene period to what is now known as the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. The tribe split into two; modern-day Khasi which was the religious class, and the modern-day Pnar which were the ruling class. According to the legend constructed by the Brahmin pandits, the hero of Hindu mythology, Arjuna travelled to the Jaintia to regain his horse held captive by a princess, a story mentioned in a Purana or Hindu epic known as the Mahabharata.[4]
The earliest known ruler, Ka Urmi Rani, married Sindhu Rai who was the ambassador to Kamarupa. They had a daughter called Ka Urvara who married Krishak, another Kamarupi ambassador. Krishak claimed he was of the lunar dynasty and descended from Parikshit, as he was the offspring of a Kachari damsel.[5]:96 Other sources claim Krishak was a prince of the Tibetan kingdom of Hotik.[6] Krishak changed the inheritance law from youngest daughter to eldest son. This angered the King of Kamarupa who summoned him to his land never letting him return to Jaintia hills again. After the death of his mother, Krishak's son Hatak took over the throne.
When Guhak ascended the Jaintia throne in 600 AD and married a princess from Kamarupa, just like his father Hatak. Guhak had a deep interest in Hinduism and migration of Brahmins from the Kamrup region to this area took place. On his way back, Guhak brought a stone image known as Kangsa-Nisudhana, an image of Krishna and Balaram murdering Kamsa, as well as Grivakali and Janghakali, and they put it on top of a hill in modern-day where they would worship it. During the British colonial period, this hill was also home to the Civil Surgeon's Bungalow.[5]
Guhak had three sons; Jayantak, Gurak and Ladduk, and two daughters; Sheela and Chatala. It is said that his eldest daughter, Sheela, was once bathing in a lake south of the Kangsa-Nisudhana hill (which became the hillock of the Civil Surgeon's Bungalow during British rule) and she was kidnapped. After being rescued by Guhak, Sheela started to become more religious and live a secluded life. Chatala indulged herself in an unlawful relationship with one of the palace servants, leading to her being disowned and dumped in a distant island in the middle of 2000 square mile lake to the south of the kingdom. After Sheela's death at a young age, Guhak gave up his kingdom to also lead a more ascetic life. This port-area around the lake, which was the largest centre in the Jaintia Kingdom for trade, was named Sheela haat (or Sheela's marketplace) in her honour. Sources such as the Hattanath Tales mention Sheelachatal was named after both daughters for the region.[7] This is one of many theories of how Sylhet got its name.[8]Xuanzang of China mentions that he visited Sheelachatal in the 630s in his book, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. He split the Jaintia Kingdom into three for his three sons. He gave his eldest son, Jayantak, the northern hills which remained known as the Jaintia Kingdom. He gave his second son, Gurak, the southern plains which would be named Gour Kingdom, and he gave his third son, Luddak, the western plains which would become the Laur Kingdom.[9]
Partitioned Jaintia
Jayantak built his own Kamakhya Bama Jangha Pitha temple in the southeast of his kingdom on top of a hill near modern-day Kanaighat. It supposedly contained the left thigh of a Hindu goddess. He had a son called Yang who he dedicated the Phaljur area to. In modern times, there is a hill in the village of Baildara that continues to be known as Yang Rajar Tila (King Yang's hillock). The locals of this village continue to share a legend about how Yang, after being questioned for always leaving the palace by his wife, transformed his queen into a cursed bird which is still alive and inhabits the region as a sign of bad luck.[6]
Jayantak's heir, Joymalla is remembered as an athletic ruler. There are legends of him allowing an elephant to walk over his chest. He is said to have been killed after attempting to fight a rhinoceros. He was succeeded by his son, Mahabal, and then his grandson, Bancharu. Bancharu was interested in cultivation, and planted many trees and increased production of honey, tejpata, orange and agarwood. During his reign, Buddhist merchants came to this region through Sylhet. They promoted Tantric Buddhism and Bancharu gained an interest in it. Bancharu also began the practice of sacrificing humans at Jangha Kali, which would continue for centuries in Jaintia up until British rule. Bancharu was succeeded by Kamadeva, a Sanskrit enthusiast who was close friends with Bhoja Varma Deva, a Sanskrit pandit from East Bengal. In 1090 AD, a Vijay Raghabia was composed in honour of Raja Kamadeva.[5]
Kamadeva was succeeded by his son Bhimbal. Bhimbal could not rule properly due to insurgencies amongst the hill rulers of the region. Jaintia was defeated in a battle and Bhimbal was either murdered or fled his kingdom out of disgrace. His minister, Kedareswar Rai, took over and began the Brahmin ruling dynasty of Jaintia.
New dynasty
Stone structures in the Jaintaswari Estate.
In 1618, Dhan Manik conquered Dimarua leading to a war with Maibong Raja Yasho Narayan Satrudaman of the Kachari Kingdom. Dhan Manik, realising that he would need assistance, gave his daughter in hand to Raja Susenghphaa of the Ahom kingdom. The Ahoms then fought the Kachari allowing an easy escape for Dhan Manik and the Jaintians.[10]
Sometime after 1676, the Raja of Jaintia attempted to rebel against the Mughal Empire. The Akhbarats note that the Raja had gathered 1500 infantry and began plundering the nearby region and led a siege against the fort in Sylhet. In response, the Mughals sent the general, Shaista Khan, the nobleman; Iradat Khan and Raja Tahawar Singh (also known as Kunwar Tahawurr Asad) of Kharagpur Raj in Bihar. Together, they were able to defeat the Jaintia Raja and bring the kingdom back under imperial control.[11]
In 1707, Jaintia king Ram Singh kidnapped the Kachari Raja. The Raja of Cachar then informed Ahom RajaRudra Singh Sukhrungphaa which led to the Ahoms attack through North Cachar and Jaintia Hills. Jaintia was annexed to the Ahoms and its capital city, Jaintiapur, was then raided by the Ahoms and thousands of innocent civilians were put to death or ears and noses were cut off. Sukhrungphaa then informed the Faujdar of Sylhet that Jaintia was under his rule and that it is him that they will trade to. However, the Ahom rule in Jaintia was weak and short-lived. The Jaintias rebelled in their own land defeating the Ahom soldiers. Ram Singh, however, died as a captive to the Ahoms and his son, Jayo Narayan took over the Jaintia Kingdom.[12]
In 1757, the Nongkrem-KhynriamKhasi chief closed the Sonapur Duar, stopping trade between the Jaintia and Ahom kingdoms. An envoy of Jaintias assembled at Hajo where they informed the incident to Ahom Raja Suremphaa Swargadeo Rajeswar Singh who re-opened it for them.[12]
The British came into contact with the Jaintia kingdom upon receiving the Diwani of Bengal in 1765.[13]Jaintiapur, currently in Bangladesh, was the capital. The kingdom extended from the hills into the plains north of the Barak river[14] Major Henniker led the first expedition to Jaintia in 1774. The quarries in their possession were the chief supplier of lime to the delta region of Bengal, but with the British, the contact was not very smooth, and they were attacked in the same year. Subsequently, the Jaintias were increasingly isolated from the plains via a system of forts as well as via regulation of 1799.[15]
End
In 1821, a group of Jaintias kidnapped British subjects attempting to sacrifice them to Kali. A culprit was then found by the British who admitted that it was an annual tradition which the Jaintias have been doing for 10 years. The priest would cut off the victim's throat and then the Jaintia princess would bathe in his blood. The Jaintia believed that this would bless the princess with offspring. Upon hearing this, the British threatened the Jaintia Raja that they would invade his territories if this does not stop. The Raja made an agreement in 1824 with David Scott that they will only negotiate with the British. A year later, the Jaintias attempted to continue their annual sacrifice which they had previously agreed with the British that they would stop.
After the conclusion of the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British allowed the Jaintia king his rule north of the Surma River.[16] The Jaintias kidnapped four British men in 1832. Three were sacrificed in the Great Hindu temple in Faljur, with one escaping and informing the British authorities of the atrocities.[17][18] After the Jaintia Raja declined to find the culprits, the British finally marched to the Jaintia Kingdom and annexed it on 15 March 1835[19] The king was handed over his property in Sylhet along with a monthly salary of Rs 500. The British administered the plain areas directly and the hill region indirectly via a system of fifteen dolois and four sardars. The fifteen administrators were free to adjudicate on all but the most heinous crimes.
Jaintia continued to exist though divided into pargana or fiscal division, within greater Sylhet such as the Jaintia Puriraj (Jaintiapuri Raj) pargana, Japhlang pargana, Chairkata pargana and Phaljur pargana. Puriraj had an area of 59.15 square metres and had a land revenue of £325 of 1875. Phaljur was 51.84 sqm and had a land revenue of £301. Chairkata was 37.88 square metres, consisted of 749 estates and land revenue of £276. Japhlang was 40.07 square metres, 342 estates and £279 land revenue.[20]
Rulers
Old dynasty (??-630)
Urmi Rani (?-550)
Krishak Pator (550-570)
Hatak (570-600)
Guhak (600-630)
Partitioned Jaintia (630-1120)
Jayanta (630-660)
Joymalla (660-?)
Mahabal (?)
Bancharu (?-1100)
Kamadeva (1100-1120)
Bhimbal (1120)
Brahmin dynasty (1120-??)
Kedareshwar Rai (1120-1130)
Dhaneshwar Rai (1130-1150)
Kandarpa Rai (1150-1170)
Manik Rai (1170-1193)
Jayanta Rai (1193-1210)
Jayanti Devi
Bara Gossain
New dynasty (1500-1835)
Prabhat Ray Syiem Sutnga (1500–1516)
Maju-Gohain Syiem Sutnga (1516–1532)
Burha Parbat Ray Syiem Sutnga (1532–1548)
Borgohain Syiem Sutnga I (1548–1564)
Bijay Manik Syiem Sutnga (1564–1580)
Pratap Ray Syiem Sutnga (1580–1596)
Dhan Manik Syiem Sutnga (1596–1612)
Jasa Manik Syiem Sutnga (1612–1625)
Sundar Ray Syiem Sutnga (1625–1636)
Chota Parbat Ray Syiem Sutnga (1636–1647)
Jasamanta Ray Syiem Sutnga (1647–1660)
Ban Singh Syiem Sutnga (1660–1669)
Pratap Singh Syiem Sutnga (1669–1678)
Lakshmi Narayan Syiem Sutnga (1678–1694)
Ram Singh Syiem Sutnga I (1694–1708)
Jay Narayan Syiem Sutnga (1708–1731)
Borgohain Syiem Sutnga II (1731–1770)
Chattra Singh Syiem Sutnga (1770–1780)
Yatra Narayan Syiem Sutnga (1780-1785)
Bijay Narayan Syiem Sutnga (1785–1786)
Lakshmi Singh Syiem Sutnga (1786-1790)
Ram Singh Syiem Sutnga II (1790–1832)
Rajendra Singh Syiem Sutnga (1832–1835)
Notes
↑ Betty, Laloo (20 July 2016). "EARLY JAINTIA STATE FORMATION"(PDF). Reconstructing the early Jaintia state through oral traditions (Thesis). North-Eastern Hill University.
Shillong is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a population of 143,229 according to the 2011 census. It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the British of Scotland. Hence, they would also refer to it as the "Scotland of the East".
The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of Meghalaya, that is Khasi Hills, constituting 78.3% of the region's population, and is the state's largest community, with around 48% of the population of Meghalaya. They are among the few Austroasiatic-speaking peoples in South Asia. The Khasi tribe holds the distinction of being one of the few remaining tribes that have a matrilineal society. Under the Constitution of India, the Khasis have been granted the status of Scheduled Tribe.
Jowai is the headquarters of the West Jaintia Hills district of the state of Meghalaya, India, and is home to the Pnar, a sub-tribe of the Khasi people. It is located on a plateau surrounded on three sides by the Myntdu river bordering Bangladesh to the south. Due to its high altitude of 1365 m above sea level, Jowai experiences warm summers with cool to chilly winters.
The history of Assam is the history of a confluence of people from the east, west, south and the north; the confluence of the Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman (Sino-Tibetan), Tai and Indo-Aryan cultures. Although invaded over the centuries, it was never a vassal or a colony to an external power until the third Burmese invasion in 1821, and, subsequently, the British ingress into Assam in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War.
The Dimasa Kingdom was a late medieval/early modern kingdom in Assam, Northeast India ruled by Dimasa kings. The Dimasa kingdom and others that developed in the wake of the Kamarupa kingdom were examples of new states that emerged from indigenous communities in medieval Assam as a result of socio-political transformations in these communities. The British finally annexed the kingdom: the plains in 1832 and the hills in 1834. This kingdom gave its name to undivided Cachar district of colonial Assam. And after independence the undivided Cachar district was split into three districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district, Cachar district, Hailakandi district. The Ahom Buranjis called this kingdom Timisa.
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The Pnar, also known as Jaiñtia, are a sub-tribal group of the Khasi people in Meghalaya, India. The Pnar people are matrilineal. They speak the Pnar Language, which belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family and is very similar to the Khasi language. The Pnar people are natives of West Jaintia Hills and East Jaintia Hills District of Meghalaya, India. They call themselves as "Ki Khun Hynñiew Trep". Their main festivals are Behdeinkhlam, Chad Sukra, Chad Pastieh and Laho Dance.
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Jaintiapur is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Colonial Assam (1826–1947) refers to the period in the history of Assam between the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo and the Independence of India when Assam was under British colonial rule. The political institutions and social relations that were established or severed during this period continue to have a direct effect on contemporary events. The legislature and political alignments that evolved by the end of the British rule continued in the post Independence period. The immigration of farmers from East Bengal and tea plantation workers from Central India continue to affect contemporary politics, most notably that which led to the Assam Movement and its aftermath.
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Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) is an autonomous district council in the state of Meghalaya in India. It is one of the three autonomous district councils within Meghalaya, and one of twenty-five autonomous regions of India. Present Jaintia hills was a part of historical Jaintia Kingdom. It was formed as the Jowai Autonomous District Council on 23 November 1964 from the Jowai Subdivision of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District – adopting its current name on 14 June 1973.
The Khasi and Jaintia Hills are a mountainous region in India that was mainly part of Assam and Meghalaya. This area is now part of the present Indian constitutive state of Meghalaya, which includes the present districts of East Jaintia Hills district, headquarter Khliehriat, West Jaintia Hills district, headquarter Jowai, East Khasi Hills district, headquarter Shillong, and West Khasi Hills district, headquarter Nongstoin.
Beltola is a prime residential area in the southern part of Guwahati, Assam. It is an adjoining area of the Dispur capital complex. During Ahom reign, Beltola was a small Koch kingdom, whose ruler assisted in the administration of the Borphukan in Guwahati, the Ahom viceroy of Lower Assam and in maintaining relations with the communities of Khasi Hills. The kingdom of Beltola survived under the British rule and existed till 1947 when it finally joined the Union of India.
The Kingdom of Laur was one of the many petty kingdoms of the Sylhet region. Others included the Gour Kingdom, Ita Kingdom, Taraf Kingdom, Pratapgarh Kingdom and Jaintia Kingdom.
The Greater Sylhet region predominantly included the Sylhet Division in Bangladesh, and Karimganj district in Assam, India. The history of the Sylhet region begins with the existence of expanded commercial centres in the area that is now Sylhet City. Historically known as Srihatta and Shilhatta, it was ruled by the Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms of Harikela and Kamarupa before passing to the control of the Chandra, Sena and Deva dynasties in the early medieval period. After the fall of these Buddhist and Hindu principalities, the region became home to many more independent petty kingdoms such as Jaintia, Gour, Laur, and later Taraf, Pratapgarh, Jagannathpur, Chandrapur and Ita. After the Conquest of Sylhet in the 14th century, the region was absorbed into Shamsuddin Firoz Shah's independent principality based in Lakhnauti, Western Bengal. It was then successively ruled by the Muslim sultanates of Delhi and the Bengal Sultanate before collapsing into Muslim petty kingdoms, mostly ruled by Afghan chieftains, after the fall of the Karrani dynasty in 1576. Described as Bengal's Wild East, the Mughals struggled in defeating the chieftains of Sylhet. After the defeat of Khwaja Usman, their most formidable opponent, the area finally came under Mughal rule in 1612. Sylhet emerged as the Mughals' most significant imperial outpost in the east and its importance remained as such throughout the seventeenth century. After the Mughals, the British Empire ruled the region for over 180 years until the independence of Pakistan and India. There was a complete list of the different amils who governed Sylhet which was recorded in the office of the Qanungoh of Sylhet. However, most complete copies have been lost or destroyed. Dates from letters and seal traces show evidence that the amils were constantly changed. In 1947, when a referendum was held, Sylhet decided to join the Pakistani province of East Bengal. However, when the Radcliffe Line was drawn up, Karimganj district of Barak Valley was given to India by the commission after being pleaded by Abdul Matlib Mazumdar's delegation. Throughout the History of Sylhet, raids and invasions were also common from neighbouring kingdoms as well as tribes such as the Khasis and Kukis.
Gangadhwaj Govardhan was the 20th king of medieval Sylhet's Gour Kingdom.
Prince Garuda, was a 14th-century Hindu prince and heir apparent of King Govardhan of Gour, he is known for his participation in the Conquest of Sylhet.
The Kingdom of Gour was one of the greater of the many petty kingdoms of the medieval Sylhet region. According to legend, it was founded by Gurak, off-shooting from Kamarupa's Jaintia Kingdom in 630. Much of its early history is considered legendary or mythological up until Navagirvana who is mentioned in the Bhatera copper-plate inscriptions. The Kings of Gour are described as patrons of Hindu revivalism in what was previously a predominantly Buddhist and animist populated land.
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