A History of Assam c17.3

c17.3

The dominions of the Rajas of Jaintia included two entirely distinct tracts of country, namely, the Jaintia hills, which are inhabited by a Khāsi tribe called Synteng, and the plains country, south of these hills and north of the Barāk river, in the Sylhet district, now known as the Jaintia parganas, the inhabitants of which are Bengali Hindus and Muhammadans. The former tract was the original home of the dynasty. The latter was a later annexation, but it was this area which first bore the name of Jaintia, and which is mentioned in Paurānik and Tāntrik literature as containing one of the fifty-one famous shrines sacred to Durga.