Local Raid Durbar Case Study

to have a ‘local raid durbar’ for their local affairs; however, Cantlie was of the opinion that because the rights of the clans are so deeply fixed in the minds of the people, a change to a dorbar elected by all the people is not possible in the Khasi Hills except in the War area (Cantlie, 2008-09: 187-188). This indicates that a dorbar where the representatives are elected by all the people irrespective of clan affiliations, like the dorbar shnong of today, had never existed in the Khasi Hills in the past, except in the War area. These facts also suggest that the emergence of dorbar shnong and rangbah shnong in the localities of Shillong started with the demand of the immigrants to have what Cantlie called, a ‘local raid durbar’ of their own.
Macdonal Kongor, an agreement called Ka Jingïateh-Jutang ka Hima Mylliem20 was signed in this regard between the 19 myntries of hima Mylliem on one side and U Satiraja, syiem of Mylliem on the other side. It was provided in the agreement that hima Mylliem comprises seven raids including two raid-Bhoi. Each raid shall consist of villages and in each village there shall be a dorbar shnong constituted by ki tymmen ki san or headmen elected by all the male adults who have attained 20 years of age. This agreement, however, concentrated on the territorial authority of the dorbar raid and administrative and supervisory authority of the dorbar hima, and not on the dorbar shnong. Moreover, the agreement simply stated that the leaders of a village shall be ki tymmen ki san (headmen) elected by the male adults of the village, but there is no mention of the the office of the rangbah
Hidayatullah described as a tribal constitution or a ‘mini-constitution’ (Chakraborty, 2010: viii). Accordingly, after the first general elections in India under the new Constitution held in 1952, the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council was inaugurated on 27th June, 1952. When the District Council was established in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the syiemship was continued but subject to the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. The chiefs lost whatever ruling or administrative powers they had by the merger and they were to carry out all the orders issued to them from time to time by The United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District