Half Way to Heaven

Tribes of Meghalaya

Meghalaya is predominantly a tribal state. The population of Meghalaya at 2011 Census has been 2,318,822. Of these 2,964,007 persons are Scheduled Tribes (STs), which constitute 85.9 per cent of the state’s total population.

Demographics of Tribes of Meghalaya

Individual Scheduled Tribe wise, Khasi constitute more than half of the total ST population of the state (56.4 per cent). Garo is second with 34.6 per cent. They together constitute 91 per cent of the total ST population. Synteng is listed both as a sub-tribe under Khasi and also as a separate ST. In 2001 Census, 18,342 population of Synteng has been enumerated separately, which constitute 0.9 per cent of total STs. The Hajong (1.6 per cent), Raba (1.4 per cent), and Koch (1.1 per cent) have sizable population in the state, each representing above one per cent of the state’s total ST population. The rest of the STs are very small in their population size. Of these, five STs namely Man (Tai speaking), Dimasa, Chakma, Pawi, and Lakher are having population between 617 to 10 only . The Tibeto Burman tribes came through Burma and entered the hills and valleys of Assam in about 1000 BC. They gradually encroached upon the Austric settlers who have been settling here since 2000 to 2500 BC and forced most of them to take refuge in mountainous homes. That was how the Khasis thrived in their mountainous homes high on the hills of Meghalaya.

Meghalaya has a majority tribal population and is governed under a special constitutional provision, the Sixth Schedule, which recognizes the tribal communities’ rights of ownership-control over land, forests and natural resources.

Of the total ST population majority 79.8 per cent are Christians and 5.9 per cent Hindus. A substantial number of ST population (13.2 Per cent) have been recorded under “Other religions and persuasions”. Quite a large number (6,324 persons) did not mention their faith, and they have been categorized under “Religion not stated”. Besides, 13,105 persons have been recorded as Muslims and 2,249 as Budhists constituting 0.7 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

In Meghalaya, the term ‘Khasi’ is often used in a generic sense and encompasses five subtribes– the Khasi, Jaintia, Bhoi, Lyngngams and the War.

They are mainly found in the four districts of east Meghalaya, namely– East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Ri–Bhoi and Jaintia Hills districts. The Jaintias are also known as ‘Pnars’ and are settled in eastern part of the state. The Khasis who occupy the state’s northern lowlands and the foothills are generally called the ‘Bhoi’, those settled in the southern hill tracts are termed as ‘Wars’, and the ‘Lyngams’ tribe inhabit the north-western part of the state. All the five sub-tribes are believed to have descended from the Ki-Hynniew-Trep3 and also known by the generic name– the Khasi–Pnars or simply ‘Khasi’ or ‘Hynniewtrep’. On the western part of the state, the four Garo Hills, is predominantly inhabited by the Garos. The Garos belong to the Bodo family of the Tibeto-Burman race, believed to have migrated from Tibet (Autonomous Region of China). The Garos are also known as the Achiks and the land they occupy is termed as the Achik land (Census of India, 2011). Before the statehood of Meghalaya, the Assamese community developed substantial holdings in Shillong (present state capital), which was also the capital of the then British Assam. The Assamese people, mainly the Bengali Assamese, hailed from Upper Assam and the Bengalis of Bangladesh (mainly the Hindus, after communal riots in Bangladesh) got employment opportunities in major government sectors and controlled business establishments. The steady rise of non-local migrants, mainly the Bengalis from Bangladesh, the Nepalese from Nepal and the Hindi speaking communities from the other parts of the country resulted in loss of economic opportunities for the indigenous communities. These migrants continued to dominate business establishments, labour force and other employment opportunities, until recently. As a result, the state witnessed three ethnic riots between the indigenous communities and the migrant non-tribal communities. The first riot took place in 1979, when the Bengalis were identified as the principal adversaries, followed by the conflict with the Nepalese who were viewed as the new adversaries in 1987 and then the clashes with the Biharis (from Bihar) and Marwaris (from Rajasthan) in 1992 (Haokip, 2013). In the 1980s, the Bengalis remained the prime target of the ethnic violence. As a result of which, in the early 1980s, approximately 25,000 to 35,000 Bengalis permanently left Meghalaya. To be very precise, in 1981, there were 119,571 Bengalis lived in Meghalaya, estimated at 8.13 percent of the state’s population. Ten years later, in 1991, it got reduced to 5.97 percent of population.