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KHASI AND JAINTIA HILLS

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 774 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KHASI AND JAINTIA HILLS , a See also:

district of See also:British See also:India, in the Hills See also:division of Eastern See also:Bengal and See also:Assam. It occupies the central See also:plateau between the valleys of the See also:Brahmaputra and the See also:Surma. See also:Area, 6027 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 202,250, showing an increase of 2 % in the See also:decade. The district consists of a See also:succession of steep ridges See also:running See also:east and See also:west, with elevated table-lands between. On the See also:southern See also:side, towards See also:Sylhet, the mountains rise precipitously from the valley of the Barak or Surma. The first plateau is about 4000 ft. above See also:sea-level. Farther See also:north is another plateau, on which is situated the station of See also:Shillong, 4900 ft. above the sea; behind lies the Shillong range, of which the highest See also:peak rises to 6450 ft. On the north side, towards See also:Kamrup, are two similar plateaus of See also:lower See also:elevation. The ',The See also:village of Halfaya, a See also:place of some importance before the See also:foundation of See also:Khartum, is 4 m. to the N., on the eastern See also:bank of the See also:Nile. From the 15th See also:century up to 1821 it was the See also:capital of a small See also:state, tributary to See also:Sennar, regarded as a continuation of the See also:Christian See also:kingdom of Aloa (see See also:DONGOLA).. See also:general See also:appearance of all these table-lands is that of undulating See also:downs, covered with grass, but destitute of large See also:timber.

At 3000 ft. elevation the indigenous See also:

pine predominates over all other vegetation, and forms almost pure pine forests. The highest ridges are clothed with magnificent clumps of timber trees, which superstition has preserved from the See also:axe of the See also:wood-cutter. The characteristic trees in these sacred groves chiefly consist of oaks, chestnuts, magnolias, &c. Beneath the shade grow rare See also:orchids, rhododendrons and See also:wild See also:cinnamon. The streams are merely See also:mountain torrents; many of them pass through narrow See also:gorges of wild beauty. From See also:time immemorial, Lower Bengal has See also:drawn its See also:supply of See also:lime from the Khasi Hills, and the quarries along their southern slope are inexhaustible. See also:Coal of See also:fair quality crops out at several places, and there are a few small coal-mines. The Khasi Hills were conquered by the British in 1833. They are inhabited by a tribe of the same name, who still live in See also:primitive communities under elective chiefs in See also:political subordination to the British See also:government. There are 25 of these chiefs called Sierras, who exercise See also:independent See also:jurisdiction and pay no See also:tribute. According to the See also:census of 1901 the Khasis numbered 107,500. They are a See also:peculiar See also:race, speaking a See also:language that belongs to the Mon-Anam See also:family, following the See also:rule of matriarchal succession, and erecting monolithic monuments over their dead.

The Jaintia Hills used to See also:

form a See also:petty See also:Hindu principality which was annexed in 1835. The inhabitants, called Syntengs, a cognate tribe to the Khasis, were subjected to a moderate income tax, an innovation against which they rebelled in 186o and 1862. The revolt was stamped out by the Khasi and Jaintia Expedition of 1862-63. The headquarters of the district were transferred in 1864 from See also:Cherrapunji to Shillong, which was afterwards made the capital of the See also:province of Assam. A See also:good See also:cart-road runs north from Cherrapunji through Shillong to See also:Gauhati on the Brahmaputra; See also:total length, 97 M. The district was the See also:focus of the See also:great See also:earthquake of the 12th of See also:June 1897, which not only destroyed every permanent See also:building, but See also:broke up the roads and caused many landslips. See also:Tile loss of See also:life was put at only 916, but hundreds died subsequently of a See also:malignant See also:fever. In 1901 the district had 17,321 Christians, chiefly converts of the Welsh Calvinistic See also:Mission. See District Gazetteer (1906) ; See also:Major P. R. T. Guidon, The Khasis (1907).

End of Article: KHASI AND JAINTIA HILLS

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