en be found in the names of the tribes
of the twenty-five villages of the Khyrim State, is merely a corruption
of _jong_ or _iong_, the Synteng word for clan. Let us now see how the
State or Khasi Siemship was formed out of a collection of these clans,
how these clans obtained political powers, how some clans became more
powerful than others, and how a Khasi King or Siem is appointed.

State Organization.

We have studied in the preceding chapter the formation of the clan
from the family, and how the former established villages. Let us
now turn to the constitution of the Khasi State, which, it will be
seen, has been formed, in more than one instance, by the voluntary
association of villages, or groups of villages. The head of the Khasi
State is the Siem or chief. A Khasi state is a limited monarchy,
the Siem's powers being much circumscribed. According to custom,
he can perform no act of any importance without first consulting and
obtaining the approval of his durbar, upon which the state _mantris_
sit. This durbar must not be confused with the electoral durbar which
will be referred to later. It is an executive council over which the
Siem presides, and also possesses judicial powers (for a description
of a judicial durbar, see page 91 of the monograph). The form of
summons to appear before this durbar used to be a knotted piece of
string or cane, the number of knots denoting the degrees of urgency
of the summons, not a piece of pork, as one writer has said. Pork is
a luxury which is not usually distributed gratis. The Siem manages the
State business through his _mantris_, although it is true that in some
States the members of the Siem family have been allowed a considerable
share of the State management. This latter arrangement is, however,
a departure from the ordinary rule in the Siemships, and is regarded
as unconstitutional. In some States there are village headmen, styled
Sirdars, who settle cases, collect labour, and assess and receive
for the chief the _pynsuk_, which may be literally translated as
"gratification." In Nongstoin there is an official styled _lyngskor_,
who is the superior of a number of village sirdars, and who acts
as the Siem's deputy-governor. In the Khasi Hills there is no land
revenue, nor are there any tithes or other imposts levied upon the
cultivator's produce. The land, to a great extent, is the property of
the different clans and villages, although in some instances there are
estates