In 1855, amid the relentless monsoon downpours of Cherrapunji (now known as Sohra), German explorer Hermann Schlagintweit produced some of the earliest detailed visual records of the Khasi Hills. These nearly 170-year-old sketches, created during the Schlagintweit brothers’ expeditions between 1854 and 1857, offer a rare window into the landscapes, architecture, and traditions of the region long before Meghalaya was carved out as a separate state in 1972.
The sketches are currently being showcased in the exhibition Himalayan Encounters – Hidden Views from 170 Years Ago, presented in New Delhi, Dehradun, and Nainital in 2026, in collaboration with the PAHAR Foundation and German institutions.
Scientific Explorers in High Asia
The Schlagintweit brothers — Hermann, Adolph, and Robert — were commissioned by the East India Company to conduct scientific surveys across India and the High Asia region. At a time when photography was still in its infancy, they relied on precise pencil sketches and watercolours to document terrain, climate, flora, fauna, and local cultures with remarkable accuracy and minimal romanticisation.
During his visit to Cherrapunji in 1855, Hermann Schlagintweit focused on capturing the unique features of the Khasi landscape and its people:
- Living root bridges and intricate bamboo structures that demonstrated the Khasi people’s ingenious engineering solutions adapted to one of the wettest places on Earth.
- Traditional Khasi huts and houses, designed specifically to withstand the region’s challenging hill environment and heavy rainfall.
- Monolithic stone structures (megaliths), including towering pillars nearly six metres high, associated with ancient burial practices and the matrilineal clan system of the Khasi society.
- Sweeping panoramic views of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the distant Surma River plains, scattered settlements, and even glimpses of far-off Himalayan peaks observed through telescopes.
These artworks portray a fertile, verdant world and traditional lifeways that have undergone significant transformation due to modernisation, urbanisation, and environmental changes over the past century and a half.
A Valuable Historical Baseline
The sketches serve as an important visual baseline for understanding the Khasi Hills before the major infrastructural and demographic shifts of the modern era. They highlight the remarkable ingenuity of Khasi engineering — most famously the living root bridges that continue to draw global attention today — and underscore the region’s deep ecological and cultural connections to the broader Himalayan system.
By bringing these “hidden views” back to Indian audiences through the ongoing exhibition, the project revives a valuable chapter of Northeast India’s heritage. The works seamlessly blend scientific documentation, artistic skill, and historical insight, making them compelling for anyone interested in the rich cultural and natural history of the region.
These 19th-century illustrations stand as a poignant reminder of a landscape and way of life that, while transformed, continue to define the identity of the Khasi Hills and the state of Meghalaya.
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