Soso Tham, the Bard from the Khasi Hills

U Soso Tham, an outstanding poet in the Khasi language has brought grace and vigour into the poetic form. Before him, the Khasi literature was practically deficient in poetry and barring a few minor works of poets like U Rabon and U Radhon, there was nothing worth mentioning as a work of art. Spoken by the people of the Khasi hills of Meghalaya, the language was, however, no less rich in oral literary tradition in the form of folklore and proverbs.
Khasi is an offshoot of the Mon Khmer language which belongs to the Austro – Asiatic family. The tribe with Mongoloid physical features has been found to be retaining the Austro – Asiatic speech of the Austrics or Proto – Australoids. The language did not have any script. A story says that the indigenous script was lost during a fire at Nong Kseh.