1840.] Memoir of Sylhet^ Kachar, ^ adjacent Districts, 833 



Ramchundi, the Thakoorain of Kachar, who is adored under the 

 symbol of a sword, religiously preserved in the Rajbarri, and to the 

 possession of which the most inexpressible importance is attached. 

 It is worthy of remark, that no image of any thing having life is 

 worshipped in Kachar, nor are there either in that country or Sylhet 

 any remains of antique buildings, and especially of Hindu buildings, 

 to attest the existence at an early date of a Hindu population. There 

 is a footstep cut in the rock on the ridge east of Aquee, said by the 

 people of both Kachar and Munipur to have been made by the gods 

 as a boundary mark between the two states : this may be one of 

 the numerous footsteps of Gautama, but there is obviously no certainty 

 about its antiquity. 



Kasias, — Among the aboriginal tribes, the Kasias, or more correctly 

 (as they style themselves) the Khyee, attract the most attention, 

 standing as much distinguished from their neighbours in personal ap- 

 pearance, and social and religious customs, as their country is different 

 from others in geological structure and physical aspect. The Khyee are 

 an athletic race of mountaineers, fond still of a martial appearance, 

 and their reputation as warriors is hardly extinct, as their extensive 

 feudatory inroads are still remembered in Sylhet and Assam, the 

 plains of which countries they formerly laid under contribution very 

 frequently. The religion of the Kasias does not assimilate with 

 any of the known Indian systems, but is limited to certain super- 

 stitious practices (among which the augury seems to be in greatest 

 esteem) and to the reverence for, and sacrifice to, the presiding deities 

 of villages, hills, and similar localities, but does not comprehend the 

 knowledge of a universal, all-pervading Intelligence, such as is ac- 

 knowledged by the Kacharis, or the immortality of the soul. Brah- 

 manism has made some progress among the Kasias, especially of 

 Jynta, and some of the higher classes there have adopted Hindu 

 practices, and obtained admission among the Sudra castes, but this has 

 not led to the entire abandonment of their national superstitions, 

 connected with which was the cruel abomination of human sacrifice, 

 for being accessory to which the last Raja lost his throne and 

 country. 



The great peculiarity among the Khyee, and that by which perhaps 

 their remote connexion with other tribes will be established, is the 



