Meghalaya was formed from United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills from the state of Assam. Meghalaya was previously part of Assam.
Williamson Ampang Sangma who was a Garo leader by origin, was the founder Chief Minister of Meghalaya to make Meghalaya the twenty-first state of Indian Union.
The people of Meghalaya originate from Pnars, Khasis, and the Garos communities of Paleo-Mongoloid origin.
The Achiks or Garos are closely related to the Bodos of Assam and belong to the Tibeto-Burman family while the Khasis and Pnars come from Mon-Khmer family.
The Khasi and Pnar communities practiced trade and commerce and their influence was spread from the hills into the plains.
Meghalaya gained statehood after a peaceful agitation, the Hill State Movement.
Garo traditional tribal architecture in Garo Hills are magnificent example of architecture, design and construction.
Traditional Khasi houses are built on raised platforms.
Their houses have thatched roof, the walls may are made by stone masonry with lime mortars, Mud and stone walls are common in areas with heavy rainfalls.
Demographic Location
Meghalaya is a small state in the north-eastern region of India in the middle of the eastern Himalayan range with abundance of beautiful landscape and flourishing species.
With three other states of Northeast of India sharing domestic border and Meghalaya also shares an International border with Bangladesh.
Shillong is the captial city of Meghalay known for its scenic splendor is called “Scotland of the East“. Meghalaya is one of the seven sister states of North-East India.
Meghalaya has many rivers that originate from seasonal rainfall. The important rivers in the Garo Hills region are:
Ganol river
Daring river
Sanda river
Bandra river
Bugai river
Dareng river
Simsang river
Nitai river
Bhupai river
Barapani lake also called 'big water'. It is the largest artificial lake in the state and a major source of fresh water fish for the region.
Nature has blessed the state with abundant rainfall, adequate sun-shine, green forests, high rugged plateaus, great waterfalls, fresh water rivers and streamlets.
There are ample sites of Intriguing limestone caves, mysterious living root bridges, sacred groves, majestic falls.
Season and Climate
Meghalaya has subtropical and humid climate. Due to high rainfall Manipur is called the most “wet” state of the country.
The climate oi the state is influenced by the south west monsoon and the north east winter winds. Temperature drops with higher altitude.
Basis climate, the region has four seasons:
Rainy Season from May to October
Cool Season from Mid October to November
Cool Season from December to February
Warm Season from March to April
The entire plateau region gets rapid strong wind due to northwards direction taken by wind jet streams from Gangetic Plain towards Tibetan Plateau creating a low pressure belt.
Due to heavy rainfall in this region Flash Flood are common that carry mud, limestone, hill sand, trees and logs that makes the agricultural land more fertile.
Cherrapunji city known for the highest recorded rainfall in a calendar month is located in the south of the capital city Shillong.
Mawsynram village located near Cherrapunji records the most annual rainfall.
Culture & Education
The main ethnic communities of Meghalaya include Khasis, Garo, and Jaintia.
It is believed that people from these communities came to Meghalaya from South East Asia. The people of Meghalaya are known for their cheerful nature and adaptability.
Each community has its customs and cultural traditions the Khasis (of Mon-Khmer ancestry), the Garos (of Tibeto-Burman origin) and the Jaintias said to be from South East Asia.
People of Meghalaya spoke in English which is the official language of the state. There are several other languages spoken in the state like
Khasi and Garo
Panar
Tiwa
Baite
Nepali language
The Garos, Khasis and Jaintias tribal people work as skilled craftmen in Meghalaya who work on cane and bamboo material with unique artistic style of weaving and wood carving.
Most of the tribes are engaged in different types of handicraft making including bamboo, cane products and local material.
Performing Arts like Dance and Music are famous in Meghalaya.
The dances are associated with their festivals or seasons. These dances have social, religious, agricultural, funeral and recreational significance.
Men and women enjoy to play beautiful songs and traditional instruments and dance under the open sky.
Men perform war dance (Grika) while women cheer up. The harvest dance is Wangala in honor of a deity named Saljong ( Sun God ).
Other dances are :
The partners or elopement dance (jikseka)
Group dance (chroka)
Gariroa is a merry-go-round dance by girls and boys
The main food is rice, dried fish and meat, it can be called as “Non-vegetarian’s” paradise.
These hunting people are very fond of them, meat is their delicacy. They eat wild animals like deer, bison, wild pigs, fish, prawns, crabs, eels and dry fish.
They rear domestic animals like goats, pigs, fowls, and ducks only to feast on them. They take cooked, dries and smoked meat and fish. Beef is popular in Meghalaya,
The common trait binding all the communities living in Meghalaya is its matrilineal system in which the family linage is taken from the mother’s side.
Many from Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo communities follow Christianity. Many churches, temples, mosques, gurudwaras, and monasteries in found in Meghalaya.
Dance and drinking along with the sound of buffalo horns, flutes and mridangas form an integral part of the social ceremonies and religious ceremonies.
Women wear skirts called Jympien made of cotton or endi type over which drapes an apron (Kyrshah) from the left shoulder and loops down to the legs.
Though there are localized challenges to attain education in Meghalaya, well organized education system came into existence in the British colonial era.
Systematic education started with the proposed Khasi alphabet by the Welsh missionary Thomas Jones in 1842.
For people from Garo tribe, the Garo alphabet was put in practice by American missionaries in 1902.
Shillong had the first college of the state of Mehgalaya by the Christian Brothers of Ireland in 1924.
Famous Spots
Meghalaya state has quite a number of places with beautiful landscape and scenic splendors.
Some of the famous places in Meghalaya are :
Nohakalikai Falls
Umiam Lake
Mawlynnong Village
Living Root Bridges
Laitlum Canyon
Dawki River
Cherrapunji
Mawsynram
Elephant Falls
Mawphlang Sacred Forest
Seven Sisters Falls
Aqua-life, Flora and Fauna
The rare and highly endangered Clouded Leopard is the State Animal of Meghalaya.
Other carnivores animals found in the jungles of Meghalaya are Leopard, Leopard cat, Jungle cat, Golden Cat, Marbled Cat, Dhole or Indian Wild Dog and Indian Wolf.
Among the Herbivores animals are Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, Serow and Barking deer.
Omnivores animals living here are Jackals, Common fox, Sloth Bear, Himalayan Black Bear, Large Indian civets, Yellow throated Marten, Mongoose and Hog Badger.
Hoolock Gibbon, the only Ape found in India and Capped Langur both globally endangered species are found in the Meghalaya.
Some other primates found in the State are Slow Loris, Pig Tailed Macaque, Stump Tailed Macaque and Rhesus Macaque.
Reptiles like the Bengal Monitor Lizard, Water Monitor Lizard roam in the forest of the hill state.
Crawling creatures like King Cobra, Indian Cobra, Indian Rock Python, Banded Krait, Vipers, Keelbacks, Vine snakes, Trinket snakes, Wolf snakes, Rat snakes, flying snakes are common in the State.
The State has a variety of local and migratory birds species in the dense thick forest like:
Rufous Necked Hornbill, the Darter, Dordon's or Blyth's Baza Painted Stork, Lesser or Himalayan Grey headed Fish Eagle, Black or King Vulture, Long Billed Vulture, White-backed Vulture, White-legged Falconet, White-cheeked Hill Partridge, Wood Srupe, Tawny Fish Owl, Blyth's Kingfisher, SprangledDrongo, Grey Sibia, Teals, Pintails, and Cormorant (great cormorant), Brahminy Blind snake Indotyphlops braminus, Assam snail Eater Pareas monticola, Copperhead Rat Head Coelognathus radiatus and Indian-Chinese Rat Snake Ptyas korros
Some species spotted for the first time in Meghalaya are:
the Great Crested Grebe, Black Necked Grebe, Red Necked Grebe, Indian Shag, Little Green Heron, Malay Bittern, Greater Adjutant Stork and Black Headed Gull, The Forest Wagtail.
There are more than 400 bird species are recorded from Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary.
There is also a notable record of Galiforms found in the State like the Khasi Hills Partridge, Khaleej pheasant, Jungle fowl and the most elusive Peacock pheasant.
The Golden Mahseer can be found in the river Umtrew. The rare Khasi Hills Terrapin and the Asian Brown Tortoise make their nest and breeding place.
Land of Meghalaya has almost 3,128 species of flowering plants.
There are 5 Wildlife Sanctuaries In Meghalaya:
Nokrek National Park
Balpakram National Park
Baghmara Reserve Forest
Siju Bird Sanctuary
Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary
A wide variety of wild cultivable plants, edible fruits, leafy vegetables and orchids are found in the natural forests of Meghalaya.
Sohphie is a fruit commonly found in Dikhow Valley of Assam and Khasi and Jaintia hills in Meghalaya.
