JÁINTIA HILLS. For administrative purposes the Jâintia Hills are regarded as a subdivision of the Khâsi and Jâintia Hills district, in the province of Assam. They cover an area of about 2000 square miles, and are bounded N. by the district of Nowgong, E. by Cachar, S. by Sylhet, and W. by the Khâsi Hills.

The Jáintia Hills are divided into twenty-five fiscal divisions, of which three are inhabited by Kuki or Lu&hâi immigrants, and one by Mikirs. The remainder of the inhabitants are Syntengs, a race akin to the Khâsis, but with distinct ethnical characteristics and language. The chief crop is rice, grown on the nomadic system of agriculture known as jum. The most valuable natural product is limestone, which is quarried on the river banks, and despatched by water into Bengal from the Sylhet markets. Coal of excellent quality has been found in situations mostly inaccessible to water traffic. The Syntengs are keen traders, and retain in their own hands the valuable commerce of their hills. They frequent the markets held in the chain of villages at the foot of the hills on the Sylhet side. In 1876-77 the total value of exports from the subdivision was XI9,000, and of the imports (chiefly cotton, woollen, and silk cloth, rice, dried fish, salt, and tobacco) £34,560. The gross revenue in the same year was £1271....