meghalaya’s population is dominated with tribal people with khasis being the largest group, followed by garos and then jaintias. these were collectively called as “hill tribes” by british. other tribal groups include hajongs, biates, koches, boros, dimasa, kuki, lakhar, tiwa, karbi, rabha and nepali. khasis were the earliest immigrants of the state.

garos are residents of garo hills and belong to tibeto burman race. garos proudly call themselves as achik-mande meaning hill people. they can also be found in the plains of assam and west bengal.

khasis are the dominant tribe and reside in khasi and jaintia hill.

jaintias are residents of jaintia hills

also these tribes follow matriarchal society where youngest daughter inherits the property from her mother and that after marriage man shifts to wife’s place. marriage within the clan is prohibited and severely punishable