834 Memoir of Sylhet, Kachar, ^ adjacent Districts. [No. 104. 



custom which prevails in regard to the descent of both personal and 

 real property, and which holds equally of regal authority. By this all 

 property and right passes to the eldest son of the nearest female 

 relative in the descending line, or generally, to the son of the eldest 

 sister of the holder. Whatever laxity may be observed in regard 

 to other practices, and however some of the upper ranks may conform 

 to the rules of caste, and desire admission among the Hindus, this 

 custom is by all most tenaciously adhered to. They are further 

 charged with the practice of polyandry, but however it may in reality 

 be tolerated, the upper classes in general disclaim it, and it can be 

 said to prevail only among the poorer sort, with whom too it would 

 often seem to mean rather facility of divorce than the simultaneous 

 admission of a plurality of husbands. It is possible, however, that 

 unqualified polyandry existed formerly, and that it has fallen into 

 disrepute since a more intimate connexion with the plains has sprung 

 up. ^ 



The Khyee language is unwritten, and moreover exhibits no affinity 

 with any of the languages of the neighbourhood, some of which, 

 (numerous and diversified as they are), often offer indications of a 

 common origin, but the point is of less importance, as among the rude 

 mountain tribes great dissimilarity of language has been observed to 

 exist, even where a common origin was nearly certain. There are no 

 antique remains, or works of art, on which to build conjectures as to 

 the condition of the people by whom the country was anciently occu- 

 pied, for though there are several considerable rude stone columnar 

 erections, yet there is nothing peculiar or artificial in their construc- 

 tion, and they are exceeded in magnitude and vastness of design by 

 Stonehenge, and by the Masses seen in Mexico. No mechanical con- 

 trivances were employed in raising either these columns, or the cir- 

 cular slabs which are often met, but they were constructed by manual 

 labor, some of them being of recent times. There is however a stone 

 bridge of considerable dimensions in the Jynta mountains, the style of 

 which is Saracenic, but it is quite possible the work may have been 

 constructed by a Mussulman in the employment of the Raja at no very 

 distant period. No great respect is paid by the Khyee to hereditary 

 chiefs, though their rank is readily admitted, but their influence depends 

 more on their personal character, and their power to guide the pubUc 



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