The British legacy, Sohra Civil Sub-Division, Sohra

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The Nongsawlia Presbyterian Church

The Nongsawlia Presbyterian Church is the first established Christian church in Meghalaya. It was established in the year 1846. The Presbyterian Church of Wales known at that time as the "The Calvinistic Methodist Church of Wales" sent the first Missionary to Khasi Hills, Rev. Thomas Jones-I and his young Wife Anne Thomas.more...

Don Bosco Shrine

The Salesians all over the worls are celebrating the first century of Don Bosco's death in 1998. Being the premier shrine of Don Bosco in India, Cherrapunji too plans to promote devotion to Don Bosco, the saint of the young, by making known his pastoral and educational zeal for the young, more...

Cherra Teachers' Training Center

The Cherra Teachers' Training Center established at Nongsawlia, Sohra is the oldest Teachers' Training Institution in the State of Meghalaya. Its Origin can be traced back to those da ys when the present North Eastern States was a part of the then East Bengal Province.The Cherra Teacher's Training Centre is the project of the Khasi-Jaintia Presbyterian Assembly.more...

British Cemetry

Located in Dongskul locality of Saitsohpen, Sohra lies the British Cemetry (locally known as 'jingtep phareng') wherein eighteen British Officials of the East India Company (1830-1866) lay buried. Almost all of the graves had an epitaph on them but only few had stood the test of time. One such was that of Surgeon J. Duncan M.D.

Monument Of David Scott

A commemorative monument has been erected in Saitsohpen, Sohra in rememberance of David Scott, Agent to the Governor General, North East Frontier of Bengal and Commissioner of Revenue and Circuit in the districts of Assam who expired on 20th August 1931. A glowing tribute eulogised by the British Raj goes

"By his demise the government has been deprived of a most zealous, able and intelligent servant, whose loss it deeply laments, while his name will long be held in grateful remembrance and veneration by the native population, [Come ON!!! Absolutely wrong!!!] to whom he was justly endeared by his impartial dispensation of justice."

A mountain railway that existed 125 years ago

Meghalaya does not have a rail link at present but around 125 years ago people from this quaint hill-station made memorable journeys on one of the most romantic mountain railways of the world - the Cherra Companyganj State Railways (CCSR). The CCSR a contemporary of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) was aimed at connecting Kolkata and Shillong through the plains of what is now Bangladesh. While the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is currently on the World Heritage list, the CCSR has been relegated to the pages of history. The CCSR in Meghalaya was opened to traffic on June 6, 1886.more...

The British legacy

The old Cherra or Sohrarim was the original Cherra village but with the coming of the British who set up their headquarters further south, the village came to be known as 'Sohra' or present day Cherrapunjee. It was here that the British realised the enormity and intensity of the rainfall and set up a meterological office for measuring the rain. Sohra was declared by the British to be the capital of Assam in 1832, which was later shifted to Shillong in 1866 due to the inclement weather. Sohra is also significant for being the first British outpost in this part of the country. Besides the oldest Presbyterian Church in the North East, Sohra has a considerably large Ramakrishna Mission. It is also famous for orange orchards and apiculture. Sohra is also famous for its Cement factory. Sohra is the place where British Christian missionaries first came into contact with the Khasi tribal community and introduced them to Christianity in the early 18th century. The British also gave the Khasis their script, English, but helped them systematise their grammar.

Earlier, the Khasis were very ignorant of the surroundings and necessities of their livelihood, but things have been brought to light by the coming of the Christian Missionaries which had helped and empowered them in their economic pursuit through sustainable livelihoods. Further, as they became educated, liberative aspect of culture and tradition were gradually being understood and held in high regard for strict adherence while wild superstitions which instill fear, were being discouraged. Till today Sohra is regarded as the original seat of education and the industry of Khasi customs and culture. The various institutions and organisations in this place viz, the Nongsawlia presbyterian Church, the Don Bosco Shrine, the Thomas Jones School of Mission and Evangelism, the Cherra Teachers' Training center stands to testify the rich British legacy.

The Thomas Jones School of Mission

The Thomas Jones School of Mission previously known as Cherra Theological College, was one among the oldest buildings in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills; it is representative of early 20th Century colonial architecture in Sohra. The claim to being one of the oldest major buildings can easily be sustained because nearly all human-made structures were destroyed by the Great Earthquake of 1897more...

Remains of Harry Inglis' Bungalow

Right at the end of the plateau is Kut Madan (literally, the edge of the flat). Here lived Harry Inglis, a local merchant who monopolised the lime and orange trade in the 1830s and 1840s. After his death, his widow Sophie installed her husband's corpse in a glass coffin on the verandah, telling the Khasis 'that he would rise from the dead and avenge himself on any person who wronged her'. Sophie's logic played on the fear the Khasis still felt of Harry's power, even in death. Under Harry's agreements with the Khasis, his leases on the orange groves were good for his lifetime, which in Khasi translated as 'for as long as he remained above the ground'.

Remains of the Shadwell bungalow

In the 1860s Kut Madan became ‘Emma Ville’, the home of John Bird Shadwell (1819-1908), Assistant Commissioner of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and his wife Emma nee Brockway. In 1862, four of the couple's young children-Emma, St Clair, Flora and Howard-were sent to be educated in England in the care of their aunt Martha Brockway. Vivienne still had in her possession some Indian wooden toys that had been passed down to her from one of the Shadwell children who came back to live in England. After his wife's death, J.B. Shadwell married into the local Langstieh clan.