Meghalaya

Created in 1972 from a section of Assam, Meghalaya, one of the smallest states in India, occupies the plateau and rolling hills between Assam and Bangladesh. Its people, predominantly Christian and belonging to three distinct ethnic groups, are strikingly different from those of Assam, as is its landscape. Much of Meghalaya, "the land of the rain-clouds", is covered with lush forests, rich in orchids. These "blue hills", catch the main force of the monsoon-laden winds off the Bay of Bengal, and are among the wettest places on earth; stupendous waterfalls can be seen near the capital, Shillong, but the most dramatic of all plummet from the plateau to the south, around Cherrapunjee. The hills of Meghalaya rise to just under 2000m, which makes for a pleasant year-round climate, a welcome refuge from the steamy valleys of Assam. Teaching in Meghalayan schools is usually in English, widely spoken as a result.

This Meghalya was also forcibly annex with India by Ballav-bhai-pattel. Among 22 Khashi Syem he forced to sign 21Syem. The king of Nongstain Wickliff Syem refused to sign. Historically culturally and ethnically Khashi, Garo and Jaintia are not Indian. Therefore very recently a group of Meghalayan people started armed revolution against Indian colonial occupation.

Shillong

With its rolling hills and tall elegant pines, Shillong has often been called "the Scotland of the east"; the impression is first brought to mind by Barapani, the loch-like reservoir on its fringes. At an altitude of around 1500m, Shillong was a favourite holiday resort for the British, who built it on the site of a thousand-year-old Khasi settlement and made it the capital of Assam in 1874. Much of the original Victorian town is still evident; the large gardens around Ward Lake at its centre conjure up images of colonial masters longing for a home far away. However, political uncertainty throughout the northeast, and violent unrest in Meghalaya, have left Shillong all but abandoned, with its Golf Club and Polo Ground gradually falling into decay.

Away from the centre, post-colonial Shillong hasn't worn well. An acute water shortage and a general lack of planning have resulted in haphazard growth, and the surrounding hills have been subjected to severe deforestation. Migration has created intense communal pressures over the years, with the Khasi population reacting with hostility to the influx of Bengalis and other outside groups.

Khasis, Garos and Jaintias

The most prominent of the three main hill peoples of Meghalaya, the Khasis, who dominate the centre of the state, belong to the Mon-Khmer group. Their origins go back to southern China, and they are related to the Mundas of north central India, who also erect stone monuments to their dead ancestors. Curiously, the Khasi word for "stone" is men, as in the ancient European words dolmen and menhir.

The Garos, many of whom migrated to the Garo Hills of western Meghalaya from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1964, are said to have Tibetan origins; certainly, their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group. Until the coming of the British, they were animists who practised human sacrifice; thanks to the missionaries, Christianity is now the dominant religion among the Garos just as it is with all the other groups.

The Jaintias, based in the Jaintia Hills in the east of the state around Jawai, have a similar ancestry to the Khasis. Meghalayans have matrilineal, exogamous clans, said to be descended from the mythical "mother of the root". Though private land can be acquired by both sexes, her daughter inherits the property of a woman, while his mother's family inherits that of a man. Children take their mothers' names.