History of Meghalaya

The state Meghalaya was created in 1972 from the Khasi, Jaintia, Garo districts of Assam, which were formerly small kingdoms inhabited by separate tribal groups. Meghalaya is the home of the Tribals especially the Khasis, Jaintias, Mikirs and Cacharis, who are said to have inhabited this region before the start of the Christian era. These tribes evolved out of the migration into north east by the migrants who belonged to the Indo-Chinese linguistic family, the Mon-Khmer and Tibeto-Burman.

The Khasis came from the Khasis and Jaintias. The Tibeto-Burman sub-family were the Naga, Kukichin and Bodo. The Bodos were later divided into small linguistic groups such as Garo, Kachari, Mechs, Dimasa, Tippea, Lalung, Rabha, Chutiyas. The British occupied the Garo Hills in 1872. The tribal district council was established.

The tradition among the tribals was kingship. The earliest Jaintia Raja is said to have ruled from 1500AD. They were influenced by the Hindu culture. The British influence in Meghalaya extended to the improvement of the landscape, development of roads. The works for progress and development of this region is still continuing after independence and formation of Meghalaya into a state.