one), and _ka pdah_ respectively. This tribal ancestress,
as will be seen in the paragraph of the monograph dealing with
ancestor-worship, is greatly reverenced, in fact, she may almost be
said to be deified. The descendants of one ancestress of the clan,
_Ka Iawbei Tynrai_, are called _shi kur_ or one clan. We then come
to the division of the _kpoh_ or sub-clan, all the descendants of one
great grandmother (_ka Iawbei Tymmen_), being styled _shi kpoh_. The
next division is the _iing_ (lit. house) or family. It is almost
invariably the case that the grandmother, her daughters and the
daughter's children, live together under one roof, the grandmother
during her life-time being the head of the house. The grandmother is
styled _ka Iawbei Khynraw_, or the young grandmother, to distinguish
her from the other two grandmothers, _ka Iawbei-tynrai_ and _ka
Iawbei-tymmen_ who have been mentioned above. The young grandmother,
her daughters and their children are said to belong to _shi iing_,
one house, the word _iing_ in this instance possessing amongst the
Khasis the same significance as the English word _family_.

We will now see how the Khasi clan (_kur_ or _jaid_) grew out of the
Khasi family (_iing_). Let us take the example of the great Diengdoh
clan of Cherra. Disregarding the myth that the Diengdohs are descended
from a mermaid, it may be stated that there seems to be a fairly
general belief amongst the Diengdohs that their first ancestress or
_kiaw_ came from the country beyond the Kopili river (some go so far
as to say that she came from the Assam Valley), to the Jaintia Hills,
where she found a husband. Legend relates that it was one of the
peculiarities of this woman that she was able to accommodate herself
in an earthen jar or _lalu_, which fact gave rise to the name _Lalu_
by which she and her children were called by the Syntengs. The family
prospered during the time when a powerful chief of the Malngiang clan
held sway in the Jaintia Hills. On the death of this king a civil
war arose, and the _Lalu_ family, together with many others, beat a
retreat across the river Kopili. Here they lived in prosperity for
some generations until a plague arose and carried off the whole family
except one female, called _Ka Iaw-Iaw_, who became the sole owner
of the family wealth. Many desired to marry her for her possessions,
and it was owing to their importunities that she fled to Jowai to the
house of a _lyngdoh_ or priest. The _ly