Janitias (natively called Pnars/Syntengs) are an ethnic group that inhabit the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.

They are an Austroasiatic group, i.e., same family as Khmers and Vietnamese.

Some consider them to be a subgroup of Khasis despite having considerable differences.

One of the reminders of their kingdom would be the Durga temple of Nartiang, which is now considered a Shaktipeeth.

Hinduism reached Jaintias several centuries before Christianity did.

Jaintias received the exonym after the conversion of their royalty to Hinduism.

Non Xtian Jaintias consider cow to be sacred and hence beef consumption is prohibited.

They call their religion Niamtre (The original religion) while some Jaintias identify as Hindus.

Native priests are called Lyngdohs while Jaintia Brahmins are called Wamons, who are seen as natives because of the matrilineal system they follow.

Their most important festival is called Behdienkhlam, which is their variant of Rath Yatra.

They follow a matrilineal and a matriachal system where the mother of the house holds the power in the family.

Inheritance goes to the youngest daughter.

But this system is breaking apart with the onset of Christianity which has a patrilineal/patriarchal approach.

Niamtre and Hindu practicioners are v much alike when it comes to death. They both cremate their deceased unlike the Christians.

Hindus and Niamtre followers likewise have similar customs for births.

Hindu Jaintias are concentrated in three places - Mihmyntdu, Jowai, Nartiang

The Niamtre practicioners give offerings to the Hindu deities as well, but don't consider themselves Hindu. They perceive the deities to be indigenous rather. One of the most worshipped deities is Ka Lukhimai, an indigenized variant of Lakshmi.

The Jaintia kingdom consisted of three parts - Jaintia Hills, the plains of Sylhet and the plains of Nagaon.

The king was called Syiem natively and raja by the people of the plains.

Contacts with the plain people resulted in conversion of the kings to Hinduism.

The capital of the kingdom was Jaintiapur, which is now in Sylhet, Bangladesh.

The ruins of the palace in Jaintiapur.

The "Chandir Thaal", where human sacrifices were done by the queen mother to the goddess.

Nartiang meanwhile served as the summer capital.

The present temple was built during 15th century when a Koch princess married the Jaintia king and had a vision of the deity in her dream.

The Nartiang temple

The deity residing in the temple

The human mask used for sacrifices

The kings would adopt titles like those of the kings of the plains and this marked a shift to Sanskritization among the royalty.

Inheritance of the throne went to the son of the king's sister..

The kingdom would eventually be annexed when the British came to know about the human sacrifices to the goddess.

Remnants of the Hindu heritage can still be seen among them as quite many Hindu deities were assimilated into their native pantheon.

Shaktism was patronised by the royals of the Jaintia kingdom.

"Encyclopaedia of North-East India, Volume 4" - Col Ved Prakash

Some Khasis still give offering to deities like Durga, Kali, Chandi and Mahadev.

"Encyclopaedic Ethnography of the Himalayan Tribes: A-D" - Narendra S. Bisht, T. S. Bankoti

"Revisiting Traditional Institutions in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills" - Charles Reuben Lyngdoh

Hinduism among the Jaintias, Khasis and Garos.
"Historical Researches Into Some Aspects of the Culture and Civilization of North-East India" - G. P. Singh

Jaintias plaster their homes with cowdung because of Hindu influence.