In the core of the beautiful state of Meghalaya, a multitude of tribal communities reside in every nook and corner of the region. Amongst several tribes who have built their settlements here, the tribal communities of Khasi remains stand apart. There are some people who belongs to the community of Khasi tribes also identify themselves as "Hynniew trep". It signifies "the seven huts`. As per the observation of some of the anthropologists of the Indian Territory, light has been on thrown on the total number of Khasi people of the state of Meghalaya. In fact this Khasi tribal community constitutes of near about 50 percent of the whole of the population of Meghalaya state.

The major concentration of the Khasi tribal community has been located in the north and eastern region. To be specific, the Khasi tribal community comprises of the foothills of Jaintia and Khasi mountainous ranges ,the Syntengs, or Pnars, of the state of Meghalaya.

Cultural ebullience of the Khasi tribal community has widely depicted in various aspects like language, religion, clothes etc. In order to carry on conversation this Khasi tribal community converse with each other in the beautiful language of the same name. Following the tradition of most of the tribal communities of the Indian sub continent, maximum of this Khasi tribal community has got an orientation towards the religion and also spiritualism. Majority of this Khasi tribal community has adapted to several religious practices. Quite a handful of followers of Presbyterian, Anglican, Roman Catholic are no less significant in the Khasi society of the state of Meghalaya. Also a multitude of Khasi tribes are found who even adapted to the indigenous practices of the Khasi religion.

As far as the occupations of the Khasi tribal community are concerned, they are in general dependent on jhoom cultivation. This Khasi tribal community produce ample of vegetables and also fruits, crops thus contributing to the bounty of the nature.

In some areas also this Khasi tribal community carry on cultivation of betel leaves also. The origin of this Khasi tribal community has got a significant history to back up. As per the records of the eminent anthropologists of the Indian Territory, this Khasi tribal community has descended from the Mon-Khmer `speakers` who transmigrated from Yunnan to Meghalaya. Based on this fact one can infer that the Khasi tribal community has got the East Asian origination.

If one looks at a Khasi tribal community, one can fail to identify these Khasi tribes from the rest of the population of tribal communities. Majority of the Khasi tribal community have got brown to light yellow skin complexion. Other identifiable features include `epicanthic folds`, towering `nasal bridges` and hooked noses.

The height of most of the Khasi tribal community is quite short. Due to these features, a Khasi tribal member easily can be resembled to a typical people of East Asians to Central Asians or even Persians. Several opinions too are known. For instance the Khasi tribal community are assumed to belong to erstwhile and remote branch of Mon-Khmer people. These Khasi tribes also have inherited the features that are common to `Nicobarese and Yunnanese`. This Khasi tribal community are similar in look to their `northern Mon-Khmer relatives`, including the Palaung and Wa.

This Khasi tribal community too has developed style of wearing beautiful apparels. The conventional attire of a male of the Khasi tribal community is popularly known as Jymphong . It is actually long sleeveless coat with no collar in it and also tightened by lashes in the front. However under the influence of the fashion of the contemporary period, the Khasi tribal community also wore some of the western clothes as well. There are also special dresses to fete several social functions. The beauty of this Khasi tribal community gets enhanced when they wear `Jymphong` and dhoti along with a decorative waistband.

The conventional dress of the Khasi female is somewhat intricate with quite a few pieces of cloths, which gives her body a shape of that of a cylinder. On social occasions, these Khasi females wear a crown made up of silver or gold on the head. A thorn or crest is affixed to the backside of the crown, which corresponds to the feathers worn out by the males of the same Khasi tribal community.

The societal structure of this Khasi tribal community duly follows the tradition of the all the other tribal communities of the Indian subcontinent.

The Khasi tribes follow the norms and rituals of a typical of matrilineal community. Needless to show, descent of a Khasi tribe is traced from the lineage of the mother. However, the father plays a significant role in the whole of the tribal society of the Khasi Marriage is an important institution in the Khasi tribal society. What is interesting is to note that the laws that have been formulated by the Khasi tribal community too are lenient and liberal. To take for instance, a Khasi tribal female cannot be enforced into the bonding of marriage, and even she possesses the children and also legal properties. If a Khasi tribal female wants , she can even makes an end to her marriage at her whims with no protest from her husband. The Khasi have a remarkable devotion toward matrilineal way of life, mostly similar to the Minangkabaus.

More about Khasi Tribe:
History of Khasi Tribe
People of Khasi Tribe
Language of Khasi Tribe
Art and festivals of Khasi Tribe
Physical features and variation of Khasi Tribe