Pnar people

The Pnar, also known as Jaintia or Synteng, are a tribal group in Meghalaya, India. The Jaintias are matrilineal.

Etymology

The name "Pnar" is an endonym, while "Jaintia" and "Synteng" are exonyms (used by the outsiders). The word "Jaintia" is derived from the name of a former kingdom, the Jaintia Kingdom, whose rulers were Syntengs. One theory says that the word "Jaintia" is ultimately derived from the name of the shrine of Jayanti Devi or Jainteswari, an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga. Another theory says that the name is derived via Synteng from Sutnuga, a former settlement; the myth of Jayanti Devi was probably created after the Hinduisation of the Jaintia kingdom.

History

The Pnar tribals have no recorded history of their own. However, they are mentioned in the Buranji chronicles of Assam and the British records.

Like the Khasi tribe, the Jaintia people claim descent from Ki Hynniew Trep (seven mothers or seven families).

The rulers of the medieval Jaintia Kingdom belonged to the Synteng community. The Kingdom was annexed by the British East India Company in 1835, and merged into the Assam province. The Jaintia Hills district was established in the region after the establishment of the Meghalaya state in independent India, in 1972.