The Garo or Achik of the hills south of the Brahmaputra west of the Khasi plateau: a matrilineal people of villages and clan headmen (nokma in later accounts), whose name "Garo" was used in the past for a number of peoples south of the river.
English Wikipedia gives only an oral tradition of migration from Tibet about 400 BC; the earliest written records are from about 1800. Nothing is recorded for 1200 except the existence of the people.
Who he is
- Name
- not named
- Title
- Clan headmen of the Garo villages
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- No political fact before about 1800 is recorded in the page we opened.
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia, Garo people.
What it holds
- The Garo hills, shifting-field villages (jhum) and the hill passes to the plain
Allies and rivals
The Koch and Mech of the plain, the Khasi, Kamarupa, the Sena frontier on the Mymensingh side.
How things stand that morning
No external ruler; a hill people on the margins of Kamarupa and Bengal.
Wealth
Cotton, rice, bamboo and plain-hill trade.
Military
Bowmen and raiding parties; no numbers.
Threats
- None recorded
Places of note
- Tura: Garo hills centre (modern).
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry the-khasi-and-garo-hills groups the Khasi and Garo; we split them because the sources do.
Evidence: Oral tradition and British writers of 1800 to 1950.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: The range is drawn as a province (the matching nie-prov record); this record draws no ground of its own.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.