People of Meghalaya

Meghalaya is mainly a Christianity dominated state. Before the arrival of Christian missionaries in the late 19th century and later, most natives followed tribal religions.

Meghalaya occupies a total area of 22,429 sqkms with a total population of 2,964,007 persons according to the 2011 census report. Three dominant tribes, Khasis, Garos and Jaintias inhabit Meghalaya with each tribe contrastingly distinct from the other yet a harmonious milieu. The Garos inhabit the western area, the central area by the Khasis and the eastern area by the Jaintias.

The Khasis

‘Hynniewtrep’ as they call themselves signifies ‘the seven huts’ constitutes about 50 percent population of the state. Khasis are followers of different religious practices. Presbyterian, Anglican, Roman Catholic are also found significantly in Meghalaya. Khasi tribes who adapted to the indigenous practices of the Khasi religion are also in a large number. The Khasi tribe follow the culture, rituals and norms of matrilineal community. However, the father of the house plays a significant role in a Khasi family.

The Garos

The zesty and zippy Garos are habitants of Garo Hills and call themselves Achik-mande. In the Garo language ‘achik’ means ‘hills’ and ‘mande’ means ‘man’. Hence, Achik-mande means the hill-people. A childbirth in Garos is not only celebrated by family but by the whole clan. The Garos are also one of the few tribes in the world who follow matrilineal societal system.

The Jaintias

This tribe is also called Pnar or Synteng. They belong to Hynniewtrep sect of the Austric race whose kingdom was the oldest and most widely spread around Jaintia Hills. Like the other two, this tribe also is matrilineal where the youngest daughter of the family inherits the family property. The girl child of the family is adored and mollycoddled, in terms of education, health and liberty, by every member of the family. Jaintias has expertise in artistic weaving, wood-carving, cane and bamboo work. Also they are interested in carpet weaving, sericulture and making musical instruments, jewellery and pineapple fibre articles.

The sex-ratio in Meghalaya was 974 females per 1000 males; as against 923 females for the country as a whole. The fairly high sex ratio in Meghalaya may be attributed to the existing tradition of matrilineal society.