https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Pnar_peoplePnar people - Revision history2026-10-27T08:32:15ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pnar_people&diff=248528&oldid=prev->Lancepark: cleanup(repeated section)2021-08-13T10:27:39Z<p>cleanup(repeated section)</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{more citations needed|date=March 2020}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox ethnic group<br />
| group = Pnar (Jaiñtia or Synteng)<br />
| population = 319,324 (2011)<br />
<ref>https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16.html</ref><br />
| region1 = [[Meghalaya]], India <br />
| pop1 = 316,863 (2011)<br />
| ref1 = <ref>https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16.html</ref>region1 <br />
| region2 = [[Assam]], India <br />
| pop2 = 2,169 (2011) <br />
| ref2 = <ref>https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16.html</ref><br />
| region3 = [[Jaintiapur Upazila]], [[Sylhet division]], [[Bangladesh]]<br />
| languages = [[Pnar language|Pnar]]<br />
| religions = [[Christianity]], [[Niamtre]] (Niam Khasi)<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/217208|hdl=10603/217208|title=Reconstructing the early Jaintia state through oral traditions|journal=University|date=20 July 2016|last1=Betty|first1=Laloo}}</ref><br />
| related = [[Khasi people]]<br />
| footnotes = <br />
| native_name = <br />
| native_name_lang = <br />
}}<br />
The '''Pnar''', also known as '''Jaiñtia''', are a sub-tribal group of the [[Khasi people]] in [[Meghalaya]], [[India]].<ref name="Souman_2004">{{cite book|author=Soumen Sen|title=Khasi-Jaintia folklore: context, discourse, and history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r6p0GXek13cC&pg=PA56|access-date=2 December 2011|year=2004|publisher=NFSC |isbn=978-81-901481-3-9|pages=56}}</ref> The Pnar people are [[matrilineal]]. They speak the [[Pnar language|Pnar Language]], which belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family and is very similar to the [[Khasi language]]. The Pnar people are natives of West Jaintia Hills and East Jaintia Hills District of Meghalaya, India. They call themselves as "Ki Khun Hynñiew Trep" (Children of 7-hut). Their main festivals are Behdeinkhlam, Chad Sukra, Chad Pastieh and Laho Dance.<br />
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== Etymology ==<br />
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The name "Pnar" is an [[endonym]], while "Jaiñtia" and "Synteng" are [[exonym]]s.<ref name="Souman_2004"/> The word "Jaiñtia" is derived from the name of a former kingdom, the [[Jaintia Kingdom]], whose rulers were Syntengs. One theory says that the word "Jaiñtia" 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 ''Sutnga'', a former settlement; the myth of Jayanti Devi was probably created after the Hinduisation of the Jaintia kingdom.<ref name="Souman_2004"/><br />
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== History ==<br />
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As with all sub-tribes of the [[Khasi people|Khasi tribe]], the Pnar sub-tribals have no recorded history of their own. However, they are mentioned in the [[Buranji]] chronicles of Assam and the British records.<ref name="Bareh2001">{{cite book | author=Hamlet Bareh | title=Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Meghalaya | year=2001 | publisher=Mittal Publications | isbn=978-81-7099-791-7 | page=307}}</ref><br />
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Like all the other sub-tribes of the [[Khasi people|Khasi tribe]], the Pnar people also claim descent from ''Ki Hynñiew Trep'' (seven mothers or seven families). The rulers of the medieval [[Jaintia Kingdom]] belonged to the Synteng community.<ref name="Souman_2004" /> 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. There are Pnar people in the [[Jaintiapur Upazila|Jaintiapur upazila]], [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet]], [[Bangladesh]].<br />
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== Religion ==<br />
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The original tribal religion of the Pnars is known as Niamtre.<ref name="Suresh_1994">{{cite book|author1=Kumar Suresh Singh|author2=Anthropological Survey of India | title=People of India: Meghalaya | year=1994 | publisher=[[Anthropological Survey of India]] | isbn=978-81-7046-123-4 | page = 12 }}</ref> The Pnar tribals believe that their religion is God-given (not founded by man) and comes to this world by God's decree. The three cardinal principles dictated by God are kamai yei hok, tipbru tipblai and tipkur tipkha. They signify right living and practice based on right livelihood; fulfillment of duties towards fellow men to reach God; and showing respect to the members of one's father's and mother's clans. Therefore, Niamtre stresses equal weight to be given to fellow humans to attain God realisation.<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{Scheduled tribes of India}}<br />
{{Hill tribes of Northeast India}}<br />
{{authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Meghalaya]]<br />
[[Category:Tribes of Meghalaya]]<br />
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Northeast India]]<br />
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South Asia]]</div>->Lancepark