Chapter I

Introduction: The Arrival of the Welsh Presbyterian Missionaries

in the Khasi- Jaintia Hills

Location and Landscape:

Map of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills

The Khasi-Jaintia Hills region lies approximately between 25°07 and

26°07 North latitude and 90°45° and 92°16° East longitude.1 The area is bounded
by Kamrup on the north, Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills in the east,
Sylhet in the south and East Garo Hills in the west.

Traditionally, the Khasi-Jaintia Hills is divided into three major

geographical zones- Ri Lum or the hilly portion, Ri War or the sloping areas of the
hills and Ri Bhoi or the plain region.

1
Meghalaya District Gazeteeer Khasi Hills District, Directorate of Arts and Culture, Shillong,
1991, p. 1.

1
 The central belt area or Ri lum extends from Jowai in the east to
Lyngngam in the west. Shillong has the highest elevation in the Khasi-Jaintia
Hills. The southern slope receives heavy rainfall during the summer and
experiences cold weather during the winter season.

Ri War lies on the southern side of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. The area is
divided by long ridges, gorges and valleys. The climate here is warm.

Ri Bhoi area lies in the north and it slopes downward to the Brahmaputra
valley. The climate is warmer than the Ri Lum or upland region. Malaria is
prevalent in this region.

Pre-Colonial Polity:

Until the advent of the British at the turn of the 19th century, the area
comprising the Khasi Hills was divided into 26 independent states.2 There was no
common centralised political structure and the political units called hima or
chieftainships were under the rule of various syiem, lyngdoh, sirdar, and
wahadadar who functioned independently. In the Jaintia Hills, the Jaintia
kingdom was the largest and more prosperous. The kings came from the ruling
family of Sutnga. The doloi was the traditional ruler of the other Jaintia states.

The office of the chief and king (in the case of the Jaintia kingdom) was
reserved to the ruling clan of a particular state or hima and kingdom. The chief or
syiem and the kings in Jaintia Hills were the executive heads and played important
roles in all social, religious and festive gatherings. Women were not allowed to
occupy the office of the chief.

The religious duties of the chiefs were shared by the lyngdoh or priest. In
the case of the Khyrim Hima, Ka Syiem Sad or the priestess was responsible for
the religious affairs although she functioned under the supervision of the syiem.

The chiefs however had to act according to the decision taken in the state
council or dorbar hima, which consisted of the bakhraw or the senior member of
a clan which is believed to be the original settlers of the particular state. These

2
Ibid., p. 2.

2
bakhraw also designated as rangbah kur, acted as advisors to the chiefs. Besides
the bakhraw, the dorbar hima also included representatives from the dorbar raid
or the council of a group of villages and dorbar shnong or village council.

In looking at the political set-up, there is a clear hierarchy of the levels of

political structure. The dorbar kur or clan council is at the bottom of the tier, the
dorbar shnong occupies the level above it, the dorbar raid or the council of a
group of villages is above the dorbar shnong. The dorbar hima stands at the top
of the political set-up in the Khasi-Jaintia traditional polity.

Pre-Colonial Economy and Society:

The economy was primarily agricultural. Agriculture was mainly done

through slash-and-burn or jhum system of cultivation. Four types of agricultural
land can be identified in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills- (a) forest land, (b) wet paddy
land called hali or pynthor, (c) high grass land or ka ri lum or ka ri phlang and (d)
homestead land or ka dew kper.3

Land was also the main source of subsistence as well as status and power.
In the Khasi Hills lands were classified under two main divisions- (a) public and
(b) private lands.

Public lands included crown lands or land belonging to the syiem, also
called ka ri raj or ka ri syiem. Ka ri Lyngdoh which was meant for the support of
the lyngdoh, ka ri shnong or village lands which were set apart for the public for
provision of supply of firewood, thatching grass etc., Ki lawkyntang or sacred
groves were village properties.4 It was considered an offence and a taboo for
anyone to cut timber or take away anything that grew inside these groves.

Private lands were subdivided into ri kur or lands which were the property
of the kur or clan and ri kynti or family, or acquired landed property.

In the Jaintia Hills, lands were classified as follows:

(a) Raj lands which used to be the property of the Rajas of Jaintiapur.

3
PRT Gurdon, The Khasis, Cosmo Publications, Delhi, 1975(Reprint), p. 35.
4
Ibid., pp. 87-88.

3
 (b) Service lands were given rent-free to doloi, pator, and other
administrative officers.

(c) Village puja lands were those lands the occupants of which paid rent
to the doloi or lyngdoh. These lands were set apart in each village for
the purpose of worship.

(d) Private lands held by individuals.

In ri war, to the west of Cherrapunjee, considerable portions of the hill

sides were the property of the community known as seng.5 In Lyngngam, the crop
belonged to the person who cultivated it but the land belonged to the clan or
family.

Apart from agriculture, trade was another important economic activity of

the Khasi-Jaintia people. The two main entrepots for the Jaintia and the Khasi
were Jaintiapur and Pandua respectively. Here they plied a brisk trade with the
plains of Bengal. Among the principal goods traded were honey, beeswax, ivory,
lime, oranges, betel nut, iron and coarse cotton. In return they received rice, dried
fish, salt, spices, cotton, silk and copper from Assam and Bengal. The Khasi-
Jaintia also acted as intermediaries,6 selling Assam silk in the plains of Bengal.

Apart from these occupations the people were also manufacturing iron
implements. Important iron manufactures were located at Nongkrem, Laitlyngkot,
and Nongspung. Spinning of cotton was done in places located at Mynso and
Sutnga.7

The society of the Khasi-Jaintia is a matrilineal one. The children trace

their lineages from their mothers’ sides. In this system, the females were
responsible for preparation of the religious ceremonies of their families. They
were also the custodian of family property. They however, had no right to power
in legislation, administration and judicial functions. Maternal uncles were the

5
Ibid., p. 90.
6
Namita C S Sen, The Origin and Early History of the Khasi-Synteng People, Firma KLM,
Calcutta, 1981, p. 244.
7
PRT Gurdon, op. cit., pp. 57-58.

4
more important members of the society and their advice and presence were sought
in all significant affairs of the family.

The social structure comprised of a multitude of kur or clans. Each kur

maintained a strict observance of the social norm of exogamy. The Khasi and
Jaintia regarded marriage within one’s own clan as a shong sang or incestuous.
For this reason they uphold the social convention of tipkur tipkha or to be aware
of one’s own clan as well as paternal relations.

Language:

The Khasi-Jaintia people did not have a common language understood by

all. Different dialect groups existed and in many cases they were unable to
understand each other. They also did not have a written script of their own.
Knowledge was passed down orally through oral traditions that are still present
today though there are others which have been lost into oblivion.

Religion:

The people practised a traditional form of religion although there were

also those, who resided in the southern portions of the hills, like Shella, and in
other areas, like Nartiang who followed certain elements of Hinduism. There is no
evidence to suggest the existence of a community level religion.8 However there
is evidence in the form of oral tradition of the origin myth of the people which
hints at the belief of a high God or U Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw (God the Founder-
Creator), U Blei U Trai Kynrad (God the Overlord- Master).

The deity was usually identified with a particular clan and at the most, it
existed at the level of an administrative territory or hima. Each clan maintained its
own cremation ground. A member of another clan or the father of a certain family
had no place in that cremation ground.9 Some families were believed to have their
own deities like U Thlen, Ka Shwar and Ka Taro.

8
O L Snaitang, “Christianity and Change among the Hill Tribes of Northeast India” in T B Subba,
Joseph Puthenpurakal, Shaji Joseph Puykunnal (eds.), Christianity and Change in Northeast India,
Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2009, p. 146.
9
Ibid., p. 146-147.

5
 Religious festivals that existed at the hima level were Pomblang held at
Nongkrem or Khyrim Syiemship. This festival was arranged by the Syiem Sad or
priestess in consultation with the chief. Another festival, Ka Behdiengkhlam of
the Jaintia was held at Jowai and Tuber. Ka Thang Syiem was a cremation
ceremony of the chiefs of Cherrapunjee. It was organised by a newly appointed
chief10 and the inhabitants of the hima were all given a feast.

Besides the beliefs in a number of gods and goddesses, the people also
believed in spirits associated with “good” and “evil”. Veneration of the ancestors
also formed another feature of the traditional religion. Male progenitors called U
Suidnia (or maternal uncle) and U Thawlang (father) and Ka Iawbei (female
progenitor) were regarded in veneration by the people.

Under the traditional religion, certain rites and rituals were practised.
Divination ceremonies were conducted in time of sickness and other afflictions.
Rituals like birth naming, marriage, cremation ceremonies were also performed.
These rituals were performed to request God for help and blessing, depending on
one’s need and situation.

The Welsh Missionaries and Their Works:

It was to these people that the Welsh missionaries came. The annexation
of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills by the colonial British power, followed by the advent of
the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist missionaries, later called the Welsh Presbyterian
missionaries, is one among the important developments in the history of the
region. People who had practised a traditional religion as well as some elements
of Hinduism were now exposed to a totally different form of religious belief
manifested and popularised by the Christian missionaries. The contact between
the two eventually led to a transformation which had a significant impact upon the
Khasi- Jaintia society.

The earliest Christian to interface with the Khasi was Krishna Chandra Pal
in 1813, who was sent by the Serampore Mission and baptised two Khasi, U
Duwan and U Anna at Pandua. After some years, Alexander B. Lish began

10
O L Snaitang, Christianity and Social Change in Northeast India. Vendrame Institute, Shillong
and Firma KLM, Calcutta, 1993, pp. 31-32.

6
missionary operations in Cherrapunjee and three schools were opened at Sohra,
Mawsmai and Mawmluh respectively.11 However in 1838 the Serampore Mission
had to abandon its work due to lack of funds.12 Meanwhile, in Wales, the
Calvinistic Methodists were planning to set up their own missionary society,
following certain frictions with the London Missionary Society. The connection
between the two ended in 1840. Thereafter, the Welsh Missionary Society’s first
task was the selection of its own mission field.

Upon the recommendation of Rev. Jacob Tomlin, who had spent nine
months of the year 1837 in Sohra, the Society finally chose the Khasi Hills as
their area of operation.13 Thomas Jones, a missionary candidate who had always
set his mind to work in India, eventually arrived at Cherrapunjee on the 22nd of
June 1841, when the rainy season was at its peak.14

Cherrapunjee became the attraction of the British administrative officers,

especially David Scott. More early as July 1827, he discovered that it was a
healthier place than Nongkhlaw. Duwan Sing Syiem, the chief of Sohra, had, in
1829 agreed to cede a portion of his territory to the British for construction of a
sanatorium by the Company.15 Saitsohpen, the ceded portion, was also a base for
military operations of the British. This small town establishment, which included
a jail, a bazaar, besides the bungalows for the British officers,16 also became the
first mission station of the Welsh missionaries.

As soon as British administrative machinery was in place, the need to

secure assistance of the natives was felt. Local interpreters were engaged for

11
F.S Downs, The Mighty Works of God, Christian Literature Center, Guwahati, 1971, p. 12-13.
12
J.F Jyrwa, Reports of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Wales on the Khasi-
Jaintia Hills, 1864-1899, K J P Synod, Shillong, 1998, p.2.
13
J.H Morris, The History of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist’ Foreign Mission, to the end of
1904, C.M Book Room, Carnarvon, 1910, pp. 25-35.
14
Ibid., p. 78.
15
N. K Barooah, David Scott in North-East India, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi, 1970, p.
212.
16
B. Datta Ray (ed.), The Emergence and Role of the Middle Class in North-East India, Uppal
Publishing House, new Delhi, 1983, p. 119.

7
various purposes.17 Thus when the arrival of Thomas Jones became known,
people thronged his house and asked him to teach them English. They believed
that knowledge of the English language would enable them to get employment.
Jones’ ability to carry conversations in the Khasi language attracted people to
listen to him and watch while he wrote. These bystanders also would attentively
watch him while he worked with his saw, a tool they had not used before. When
the missionary had finished, their wonder increased, and to them he was “like
God, and could do everything”.18

In the beginning a number of youths were daily instructed at the mission

house and from these the first teachers were obtained, which according to Jones,
was a plan towards evangelisation. Three schools were opened under the charge
of local youths.19 After he had reduced the Khasi language into writing in the
Roman alphabet, Thomas Jones began working in the production of the first
primers and the Gospels with the help of U Laithat.20 The evangelising activities
were concentrated mostly in Cherrapunjee and its outlying areas during the first
thirteen years of the establishment of the Welsh mission.

The new missionaries, Rev. William Lewis and his wife, who worked in
the Khasi-Jaintia Hills between 1843 and 1860, carried on the task of
evangelisation through education and Bible instruction. Furthermore, they began
to take in a number of the most promising pupils, boys and girls, to live with them
in the mission compound at Nongsawlia. It also appears that in those villages
where school buildings were not available, teaching in the vernacular language
was carried on in private huts.21 The steady progress of education22 was

17
Ibid., p.121.
18
J.H Morris, op. cit., pp. 79-80.
19
Ibid, pp. 80-81.
20
Hamlet Bareh, The History and Culture of the Khasi People, Spectrum Publications, Guwahati,
1997(3rd Revised Edition), p. 365.
21
A.J.M Mills, Report on the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, 1853, NEHU Publications, Shillong, n.d.,
p.106.
22
According to Hamlet Bareh, op. cit., p.395, there were 16 primary schools with 240 pupils in
1857.

8
recognised by the British government and in 1854 a grant of Rs. 50/- per month
was given to the Welsh mission towards imparting secular education. But despite
increasing educational propagation, it is also evident that not all were ready to
send their children to school.

The mission schools were not popular because of the ‘Romanisation’ of

the alphabet and also due to the exclusion of instruction in Bengali which was
used in the Cherrapunjee court petitions at that time.23 The local traders and
others who had developed familiarity with the Bengali language also opposed the
introduction of the Roman alphabet. They believed that it would adversely affect
their economic transaction in the plain market.24 Parents were also apprehensive
of sending their female children to school because of their belief that doing so
would make them barren later on in life, thus leading to extinction of their clan,25
which traces descent from the mother’s side. Nevertheless as evidence shows, the
number of students who attended these mission schools increased gradually.

In Jaintia Hills the starting point of missionary activities was in Jowai,

where a school was opened in 1854 under one U Luh as a teacher26. He was later
joined by U Larsing in the evangelising work. After the suppression of the Jaintia
rebellion in 1863, the Welsh Mission was able to expand its operations in the
Khasi- Jaintia hills under Thomas Jones II, who took charge after the departure of
the Lewises.27 In Jaintia Hills there was strong opposition to the evangelising
work. In Jowai, Mrs. Hughes and her children escaped from the mission house
which was set ablazed by some villagers. In Nartiang, the people opposed the
doloi for welcoming Christian missionaries to work in the area.28

23
B Datta Ray, op. cit., p.129.
24
O.L Snaitang, Christianity and Social Change in Northeast India, Vendrame Institute, Shillong,
1993, p. 145.
25
J.H Morris, op. cit., p. 86.
26
D Ropmay (ed.), Ka Centenary History ka Balang Presbyterian ha Ri Khasi Jaintia Naduh
1841 Haduh 1940, KJP Synod, Shillong, n.d., p. 23.
27
P.N Dutta, Impact of the West on the Khasis and Jaintias, Cosmo Publications, New Delhi,
1982, p. 190.
28
O.L Snaitang, op. cit., p.101.

9
 The reasons for such opposition and reaction were perhaps the
interference of the government authorities with the religious matters of the Jaintia
when they were prohibited to use the cremation ground which had been in their
possession for a very long time. Secondly, when some Jaintia had become
Christian they had no more veneration for the pools and the groves which were
held sacred by those who belonged to the tribal religion. The discontentment of
the people was increased when U Solomon, a person from Cherrapunjee, who
happened to be a Christian, was assigned to collect the much resented house-tax.29

Shillong was visited by Thomas Jones II in 1864 where he held meetings

with the people there.30 When it became the headquarter of the government two
years later, U Babu Donrai Diengdoh became the first Christian to settle there and
built the first church at Umsohsun in 1867.31 A permanent station was opened
under Rev. Griffith Hughes in 187132 and a church was opened at Mawkhar
known at that time as Ka Balang Shillong or the Shillong Church.33

Bhoi area in the northern region with its thick forests and wild animals and
fatal black fever had been isolated from the rest of the hills. However this
isolation was broken down by the coming of Christian workers in 1875. Rev. T
Jerman Jones established the first permanent churches there.34 However, because
of the unhealthy weather, the missionaries were compelled to assign educational
and evangelistic works to the local people who were used to the climatic
conditions of the place.35

In the western part of the Khasi hills, Christianity took its first steps at
Mawphlang in 1849. U Jidor Syiem, Chief of Khadsawphra invited the Welsh
Mission to set up a school there in 1853. U Larsing Khongwir and Rev. O. L
29
Helen Giri, The Khasis Under British Rule, Regency Publications, New Delhi, 1998, pp. 83-85.
30
J.H Morris, op. cit., p. 150.
31
Maurice G Lyngdoh, Recapture, Published by Kynsai M Warjri, Shillong, 1992, p. 42.
32
O.L Snaitang, op. cit., p. 102.
33
Maurice G Lyngdoh, op. cit.,
34
O.L Snaitang, op. cit., p. 103.
35
J. F Jyrwa, op. cit., pp. 113-114.

10
Stephens were the first to work among the people of Nongstoin and Mawiang in
1855 and the 1880s respectively. Khasi converts from War Shella are believed to
be the first Christian workers in Maharam around 1860-61. Lyngngam, located at
the extreme western corner was entered by Khasi Christians towards the end of
the 19th century, and the first Christian community was established at the turn of
the following century.36

Literature:

As pointed out earlier, the Khasi-Jaintia did not have a written script. In
addition to this, the inhabitants of the hills spoke different dialects, which in many
instances were not intelligible to one another. Although transmission of
information was done orally and through oral traditions, yet without any script, it
was difficult to preserve knowledge. However Khasi and Jaintia chiefs had made
use of obsolete Bengali, Assamese, Persian and Arabic scripts for preserving
important records.37 However, it should also be pointed out that the rest of the
population was unable to read or write.

The Serampore missionaries were the first to provide the Khasi language
with the Bengali script. However their efforts did not bear results and they later
abandoned their work in the hills in 1838. It was with the arrival of Thomas
Jones, who, in 1841, introduced the Roman script in the Khasi language, adopting
the Cherrapunjee dialect that Khasi literature saw its starting point.

The introduction of the Roman script was not welcomed by a number of

syiem who insisted on the use of the Bengali script which they had incorporated in
their court writings. A section of the people, which included the traders, also
opposed the idea because they believed it was affecting their trading transactions
which were carried on in the Bengali language.

Thomas Jones prepared a little book, First Khasi Reader and later
translated Mother’s Gift. These were printed in early 1842 for use in the newly set
up school. Succeeding missionaries like William Lewis and Thomas Jones II

36
O.L Snaitang, op. cit., pp. 104-107.
37
Hamlet Bareh, op. cit., p. 362.

11
made more contributions. An Introduction to Khasia Language by William Pryse
focuses on grammatical structure. Mrs. Lewis also translated Pilgrim’s Progress
into Khasi. Besides these texts there were also other books like Rev. Dr. John
Robert’s Khasi Third Reader and Khasi Fourth Reader. He also collected a
number of oral traditions38 which later came out posthumously, through the
efforts of his wife.

John Roberts, regarded as the ‘Father of Khasi Literature’ was also a poet.
He is best remembered for his work, Ri Khasi Ri Khasi, which is a patriotic poem
sung till today by many Khasi-Jaintia people.

Journalism began when William Williams brought out a monthly U

Nongkit Khubor followed by U Nongialam Khristan edited by J C Evans.

The first books that came out were mostly Christian literary works which
included translations of English and Welsh works into Khasi. Subsequently, other
secular texts began to surface and were used largely for schools. With the
emergence of local writers, many secular and non-secular publications came out
and enriched Khasi literature.

Education:

Years before the Serampore Baptist missionaries started schools in the

Khasi-Jaintia hills, there were few Khasi students who studied at the Serampore
College. In 1818-19 two Khasi attended the college and in 1830-33 three more
were added. A few more were enrolled at Fort William College in Calcutta.39
Thus it is apparent that some of the Khasi had realised the usefulness of education
even prior to the establishment of Christian mission schools in the hills.

After Alexander Lish set up three schools, each at Sohra, Mawsmai and
Mawmluh, the Baptist Mission withdrew its work from the Khasi hills. The
groundwork for education in the Khasi-Jaintia hills was laid when the Roman
script was adopted into the Khasi language by Thomas Jones. The Welsh
Presbyterian Mission which arrived in 1841 under Thomas Jones proposed that

38
Ibid., p. 365.
39
Hamlet Bareh, op. cit., p. 393.

12
the task of evangelisation would be carried out gradually after the people were
initially educated.40

“Education, was in fact, one of the most effective

instruments for the spread of Christianity. With rare
exception a school was the forerunner of a church in a
village… it [education] was even made a condition for
church membership among the Presbyterians in the early
years. So close was the connection between school and
church that the people generally did not differentiate between
them. They were synonymous.”41

The system of education carried out by Rev. William Lewis and his wife
often met with opposition from the local community who felt that it was eroding
their values and traditional religious principles and beliefs.42 The unpopularity of
the Roman script and the exclusion of Bengali43 in school instruction were also
other reasons for the slow progress of education in the early stages. Despite many
difficulties, female education took its first steps in 184344 at Nongsawlia when
Mrs. Lewis began to teach young girls to read.

Ten years after the beginning of the mission work, there were only five
schools Due to government’s aversion to considerable involvement in the hills,
education was left to the Christian missionaries.45 In 1853, for the first time, the
government sanctioned Rs. 50/- as grant–in-aid to mission schools. Later this sum
was increased to Rs. 500/- per month from 1864. As of 1867 (i.e., twenty five
years after the advent of the missionaries) the Mission maintained 65 schools. A
Normal School was also instituted for training of teachers.

40
P.N Dutta, op. cit., p. 185.
41
O.L Snaitang, op. cit., p. 116; G Angell Jones ‘ Ka History ka Balang(1841-1966), KJP Synod,
Shillong,1966, p. 48, mentions that an exception to the rule of educational requirement in church
membership was made with regard to the old people.
42
Nalini Natarajan, The Missionary Among the Khasis, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi, 1977, p.
116.
43
P. N Dutta, op. cit., p. 129.
44
D Ropmay (ed.), op. cit., pp. 31-32.
45
S.K Chaube, Hill Politics in Northeast India, Orient Longman, 1999 Reprint, p. 62.

13
 Beginning with the principle of self-reliance for the support of schools U
46
Khaw Kham system was introduced by Babu Joel Gatphoh in 1908. The credit
for setting up of the first high school, located in Shillong, however goes to a non-
Christian, U Babu Jeebon Roy. This school was amalgamated under a missionary
principal in 1878.47 The Welsh Mission did not establish high schools or colleges
to an extent they could have done due to paucity of funds. Till the end of 1973,
there were 520 primary schools, 22 M.E schools, 8 high schools and 1 college run
by Presbyterian church management.48

Evangelisation:

The primary objective of the Welsh missionaries in familiarising the

Khasi- Jaintia people with Christianity started with education. Christian doctrines
imparted, however, were not sufficient if they were not associated with a
transformed lifestyle. For this reason, maintenance of certain standard of conduct
was required of those who wanted to convert to Christianity.49 The early Welsh
missionaries set the following rules for church membership—

“It was enjoined that every candidate should not only

have renounced all heathen practices, and lead a moral
life, but that he must also possess an intelligent
knowledge of Christian principles, observe the Sabbath,
and abstain from all intoxicants.”50
51
These stringent codes of conduct prescribed by Rev. William Lewis
were to be observed along with a lengthy probation before baptism and full
church membership.52These strict codes of conduct were introduced and strictly
enforced by these missionaries to ensure that the applicants were genuinely
46
Hamlet Bareh, op. cit., pp. 395-396.
47
B Datta Ray, op. cit., pp. 130-131.
48
J. F Jyrwa, The Wondrous Works of God, Published by M.B Jyrwa, Shillong, 1998(2nd
Publication), pp. 64-65.
49
F. S Downs, Essays on Christianity in North-East India, Indus Publishing Company, New
Delhi, 1994, pp. 147-148.
50
J.H Morris, op. cit., p. 91.
51
D Ropmay(ed.), op. cit., p. 110.
52
J. F Jyrwa, The Wondrous Works of God, op. cit., p. 25.

14
desirous of becoming Christians and not doing so for mere social and monetary
advancements. It was on March 1846, nearly five years since the Mission started
its work that two candidates- U Amor and U Rujon- were baptised. The total
number of members in the Presbyterian Church in the Khasi-Jaintia hills after
fifty years since the first baptism was 11436.53

The Welsh Presbyterian Missionaries took up another important step to

train the converts in order to help the work of the mission. At the Presbytery held
in Nongsawlia, March, 1869, a decision was taken up allowing some Khasi and
Jaintia to sit for the Evangelists’ Examination. As a result, six of these candidates
became preachers. In the years that followed, the need for a bigger institution for
training resulted in the establishment of a theological institution in Cherrapunjee
whose first Principal was Rev. Dr. John Roberts.

Health Care:

Before the Khasi-Jaintia were acquainted with western allopathic

medicines, they treated their illnesses with local herbal medicines54. They also
attributed sickness to evil spirits and attempted to provide cure by offering
sacrifices in the form of eggs, fowls, pigs, goats, cows, etc. It was reported that
when a young man, U Junkha, was suffering from acute rheumatism, his family
offered sacrifices on his behalf 55 but to no avail.

Initially the Welsh Mission like the other Christian Missions that came
after them, did not plan to set up any medical work because they thought that this
would interfere with their primary task of evangelism and also because of paucity
of funds. However, when they were confronted with the suffering of the people,
they began to treat them in whatever way they could through some elementary
knowledge of the use of medicines. Before the missionaries came to India they

53
J. F Jyrwa, Reports of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Wales on Khasi-
Jaintia Hills, 1864-1899, op. cit., p. 427.
54
Nalini Natarajan, op.cit. p.108.
55
M G Lyngdoh, op.cit.., p. 20.

15
were always equipped with a stethoscope and a thermometer and a case of
instruments.56

Writing in August 1853, Dr. J W Fletcher noted that the principal causes
of mortality among the people were cholera and smallpox.57When there were
reports on the desperate plight of the people who suffered from frequent plagues
of cholera, malaria, tuberculosis etc, the Welsh decided to set up a medical
mission, which was justified not only on humanitarian grounds but also would do
much to attract the people towards Christianity.58

The Medical Mission was inaugurated when Dr. Griffith Griffiths and his
wife, Anne, arrived in late December, 1878. A small dispensary was constructed
at Mawphlang, and in April, 1884, a hospital for in-patients was opened.59 Water-
borne diseases were a major problem in the Khasi Hills and Dr. Griffiths was
always concerned about the difficulty of getting a clean water supply. Child
mortality was also another health issue that was troubling both the Khasi-Jaintia
and the missionaries alike.60

Dr. Arthur Hughes who joined later in 1888 started medical work in
Jowai. He found out in 1890 that it was difficult to make the patients take their
medicines according to the instructions given to them;

“Sometimes a patient will throw away his medicine

as useless, simply because the first dose did not cure him. At
other times, a patient who feels better after the first dose of
the medicine…[would] empty the whole in his haste to get
well. Often times, too, the out door patients will take Mission

56
Amena Passah, “Welsh Presbyterian Mission and Health Care in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills” in
Proceedings of the North-Eastern India History Association, 19th Session (Kohima), p. 278.
57
A.J.M Mills, Report on the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, 1853, NEHU Publications,
Shillong, n.d., p. 31.
58
Basil Griffiths, Khasis and the Welsh Legacy, Published by the author, Cymru, 2007, pp. 14-15.
59
J. F Jyrwa, Reports of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Wales on Khasi-
Jaintia Hills, 1864-1899, op. cit., pp. 56-57.
60
Basil Griffiths, op. cit., pp. 88-92.

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 medicine and Native medicine together, probably
considering that ‘Two halves make one whole’ ”61

Teaching about hospital care and compounding to the local people was
also another service that was imparted among them by these doctors.62 A
significant milestone in the field of health care was the establishment of the Khasi
Hills Welsh Mission Hospital (or the Robert’s Hospital as it is popularly known)
in 1922. With the completion of this hospital, Margaret E Buckley joined her duty
as a nurse and began training the local girls in the nursing vocation. Later Amy
Bullock brought about considerable improvements in nurses’ training.63 The
Robert’s Hospital was the first well equipped hospital in the North East and also
established the first nursing school in the region.

Besides providing curative measures, the missionaries also taught

cleanliness and hygiene to the people by teaching them to boil and disinfect
drinking water, regular bathing and washing and also wearing of clean and fresh
clothes. Soaps, tooth powder and brushes came to be used increasingly in the
urban areas. Wooden, bamboo and bone combs were brought in from the markets
in Sylhet and Kamrup.64

Music:

Another contribution by the missionaries was in the field of music. From

the commencement of the work on the hills, attention was given to the service of
praise through music. P R T Gurdon was nostalgic when he heard the sound of the
distant church bells on a hill side one Sunday evening followed by the familiar
Welsh hymn tunes65 which resounded in the valleys.

61
J. F Jyrwa, Reports of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Wales on Khasi-
Jaintia Hills, 1864-1899, op. cit., pp. 198-199.
62
Ibid.,p. 199.
63
75th Anniversary Souvenir of the KJP Synod Hospital, Shillong, n. d., pp. 57, 62.
64
Nalini Natarajan, op. cit., p. 111.
65
P R T Gurdon, The Khasis, op. cit., p. 6.

17
 Many of the Welsh hymns were translated to Khasi and it was then that
the people initially experienced the taste of church music. 66The first Khasi hymns
were published in 1846 by Thomas Jones at the concluding portion of a book, Kot
Laiphew.67 The Khasi-Jaintia who were fond of music were able to quickly
grasp68 the melodies that were taught to them.

The last two decades of the nineteenth century efforts were made to
introduce the Tonic Sol-fa system which is a notational reading of musical tunes.
It was mainly Robert Evans, who was also called ‘the Father of Tonic Sol-fa’ by
some of the people, took a keen interest in the beginning to organize music
classes for young people and adults in Shangpung. A sum of £ 5 had also been
granted by the directors to be given as prizes 69 to those who did well in the Junior
and Elementary Certificate examinations.

A tune book, Ka Kot Jingkynud containing over 300 tunes, chants,

anthems, etc., was published in 1894.70 Singing festivals were also occasionally
organised in different districts. A number of candidates71 were able to clear the
intermediate and other lower levels of examinations of the Tonic Sol-fa school.

66
Hamlet Bareh, The Art History of Meghalaya, Agam Kala Prakashan, Delhi, 1991, p. 174.
67
Amena N Passah, “Welsh Presbyterian Mission in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills (1841-1969),
Unpublished Ph. D Thesis, Department of History, NEHU, Shillong, 2005, p.217.
68
P R T Gurdon, op. cit,, p. 4.
69
J. F Jyrwa, Reports of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Wales on Khasi-
Jaintia Hills, 1864-1899, op. cit., pp. 197-198.
70
J.H Morris, op. cit., p. 200.
71
J. F Jyrwa, Reports of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Wales on Khasi-
Jaintia Hills, 1864-1899, op. cit., p. 391.

18