Persons who come forward to join the Brahma Samaj have to pass through the initiation ceremonywhich, it was thought advisable to make binding on all owing to there being no caste system in the hills. Approximately speaking there are at present nearly five hundred Brahmas in the Hills, not to speak of those, who died in and after the earthquake of 1897. The number of Brahma families nearly amounts to fifty. The increase of Brahmas and Brahma families brought to the mind of Babu Nilmani Chakravarti the question of the introduction of Brahma rites and ceremonies amongst them. But the task was not an easy one. The Khasis perform the Namkaran ceremony of their children the next day after the birth. The interval is very short; and it sometimes happened that some relatives of the child’s mother had the cere­mony performed peremptorily in their own supersti­tious way, even before the news of its birth came to his knowledge. After the death of a Brahma, it sometimes came to pass, that all his relatives assem­bled to quarrel over the disposal of his last remains. The Christian relatives insisting on burying him, and the Khasi ones trying to burn him according to their own rites. But the greatest difficulty was experienc­ed in introducing the system of Brahma marriage and that of its registration under Act III of 1872. The marriage bond is so brittle amongst the Khasis, that a husband or a wife can leave each other at any moment, without any serious reasons ;—the burden of supporting the children always falling on the mother and hence is the necessity for registration. Babu Nilmani Chakravarti has been able to register a considerable number of marriages within the last few years.

But studying the Khasi religion, Babu Nilmani Chakravarti was convinced that he should open a dis­pensary, to distribute medicines amongst the people at large. Although the Khasis believe in the existence of the Creator, they have no religion in the pro­per sense of the word. They have neither a form of worship, nor any system of religious ceremonies. They perform certain ceremonies in times of illness and other troubles, which they call “Niam”, being a corruption of the Sanskrit word “ Niyam They be­lieve that all the dales and vallies, rivers and moun­tains, are invested by various evil spirits, who on the least cause of provocation send diseases and other misfortunes on the offenders. So when any one falls ill, his parents and relatives cause eggs to be broken, and certain ceremonies to be performed by a person or persons well versed in the tactics, with the view of finding out, by means of omen, the particular spirit who has been offended, and the cause of his anger; and as soon as they have been ascertained, eggs are broken again, and fowls, goats or swine are sacrificed for propitiating him. All these ceremonies are a mere mercenary affair, and are resorted to either for the sake of gaining health or prosperity. To propa­gate Brahmanism among these people required on the one hand, to develop their inherent idea of mono­theism; and on the other, to replace their practice of devil worship with medical treatment in times ofillness. Otherwise in an extreme case of trial, even a worshipper of God may fall back on his old way of superstitions. So side by side with his preaching duties, he has been carrying on the work of distribut­ing Homeopathic medicine from a dispensary opened at his head quarters at Cherrapoonji; and two others located respectively at Laitkynsen and Shillong, are under the charge of two mission workers, one of whom Babu Bausa Bhusan Roy has been duly trained up at the Calcutta Homeopathio School, founded by the late Dr. M. M. Bose. The work was first commenced on a small scale, but as patients began to pour in from all sides, it had to be extended, and each of the mis­sion workers has been trained up, more or less, in the work.

The Welsh Calvinistic Mission had formerly a monopoly of education in the Khasi Hills. It main­tains a large number of small schools, in different villages through-out the hills under the charge of its mission workers. Previously it had the exclusive right of supplying to the Government School-books, school—masters, school sub-inspectors and the examiners, and had to a great extent the option of distributing the scholarships. The books that were taught in the lower classes of these schools, and also as the text books for both the Lower and Upper Primary and the Middle Class Scholarship examinations were those, written by missionaries be­longing to the above mentioned mission, and were full of Christian doctrines of the Calvinistic Sohool.These books were notorious for their bad Khasi, as the Bible and the Christian tracts published by the Christian Missionaries were in Bengal, for their bad Bengali. At first Babu Nilmani Chakravarti had not a mind to open any school in connection with the mission, and thus add to his already heavy burden of work. But some of the Brahmas urged, that some­thing ought to be done for their children, who, they said, when sent to Welsh Mission Schools were treat­ed indifferently, sometimes detained in the same class without any reason, and compelled to attend church meetings on Sundays. So he ultimately felt compel­led to start schools for the Brahma children at two different centres, under the charge of two native workers, in which practical morality is taught along with educational readers. But he had to fight hard on behalf of the public at large, and was in the long run successfnl to a great extent in drawing the at­tention of the Government to the defective system of education in the hills. The evils have been generally remedied, the books greatly improved and the public granted certain privileges. At his suggestion and with the help of certain friends, including a retired Khasi Extra Assistant Commissioner a series of educational readers have been published, which have also been made optional by the Government, ln the ‘mean­time the Khasi literature has been much enriched; some non-Christian Khasis having entered the field. Two monthly news papers are being conducted in­dependently, and even a translation of the Bhagvat Gita has seen the light.

From the above table it will be seen that soon after the 1st three sessions the idea began to lose its hold on the Brahma world which was evidently yet not ripe for concerted action. As early as 1893 the Subodk Patrika of the Bombay Samaj observed regarding the 5th session at Allahabad “such pro­vincial gathering is more desirable and even necessary than the general Theistic Conference which takes place in the wake and the town of meeting of the political National Congress, and the latter can work beneficially on the materials supplied by the former.” So even this movement practically remained pro­vincial till it was again vigorously reorganized on larger and truer proportions in its session at Bombay in 1904. Even after this reorganization the Conference could not take up any active work on its programme as the schismatic elements had not yet been quite inoperative and which alone had so long held back the Brahma Samaj as a whole in its onward march of evolution. The first resolution of the Conference at Benares in its first session after its reorganization was ‘‘That this Coference should be mainly a deliberative body and that it should suggest ways and means of progress to the several Samajes and promote spirituality by means of united prayers and conversations, &c.” Alter five years of work on this basis though limited in nature yet wide enough to comprehend all the Samajes so far as representation and attendance were concerned, the following extract translated from the Marathi report in the Subodh Patrika of 50th January 1912 regarding the Session of 1911 at Lahore is noteworthy.

“The first business meeting was held on the morning of the 27th December 1909 in the Dayalsing School Hall, Lahore. In his introductory speech as General Secretary Mr. V. E. Shinde said that on having observed the extremely neglected condition of the Conference in its session held at Madras in 1903, he was determined to reorganize it in the next Session at Bombay. Since the Bombay Session the Conference had gone round the whole country Benares, Calcutta, Surat, Madras and lastly Lahore and had completed the first stage of work, viz., bringing the common needs of the Church to the knowledge of the several Samajes through their representatives. He further pleaded for a more constitutional basis and a per­manent office, fund, and a devoted stall for the Conference so that the resolutions adopted from time to time be given effect to throughout the succeeding years. But after a two hours’ keen discussion over Mr. Shinde's plea, it was decided by a majority that the time had not yet oome to give any definite constitution to the Conference.”

In the next session at Allahabad the question was again brought forward in December 1910. A draft constitution was proposed and circulated among the Brahma and the Prarthana Samajes during the year 1911, amended by the standing and sobjects commit­tees in the light of the opinions received from the several Samajes and finally adopted by a large majority in the Session at Calcutta in December 1911. It is as follows:—

1. The Conference shall be called the All-India Theistic Conference.

2. Its object shall be promotion of Theism and service of humanity by bringing together its adherents from different parts of India on suitable
occasions and by other mean.

3. All persons duly elected, delegates by any Theistic organization and persons elected by the Standing and Re­ception Committees of the Conference shall be considered its members for the year following. All members except those who are missionaries shall have to pay a delegation fee of at least a rupee; the Reception and the standing com­mittees however shall have power to exempt any member from such fee at their discretion.

4.The work of the Conference shall be carried on by a Standing Committee, consisting of the President of the previous Conference, ten members and one or if necessary two Secretaries who will be ex-officio members. (Ten mem­bers to bo selected ordinarily 1 from Bombay, 1 from Madras, 1 from Punjab, 1 from U. P. or C. P., 1 from Behar, 1 from Assam, and 4 from Bengal) The Committees and Secretaries shall be elected annually by the Conference and shall hold office till the appointment of their successors at the next Conference.

5. The Standing Committee will organize annual session of the Conference, keep records of its proceedings, submit annual reports and accounts, try to give effect to the Reso­lutions of the Conference and do any other work that the Conference might entrust it with. The Standing Committee will have power to organize a local Reception Committee consisting of representatives of the Theistic organizations in the province where the Con­ference of the year will be held, delegating to it such of its power as it will  think fit for co-operation in the work of the year.

6. The Standing Committee in consultation with the Re­ception Committee shall nominate a President who shall be finally elected by the Conference.

7. Any change in the constitution may bemade at a general meeting of the Conference by a majority of two-thirds of the members present.

 THE ALL-INDIA THEISTIC CONFERENCE
The one movement which makes the nearest ap­proach to an organization combining in itself all the local and provincial Samajes or Theistic Churches in this country is the All-India Theistic Conference and can be called a truly national movement. Brahmaism began as a metropolitan movement under the auspices of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, though the work of the great founder may be classed as not only national but even universal in its utmost reaches. And even at the close of the glorious career of the third great leader Keshub Chandra Sen, Brahmaism was in more than one sense only a provincial movement, i. e., conducted in different provinces on local lines and under local influences, but yet refusing to be consolidated into one visible representative body. The Brahma Samaj of India inaugurated by Keshub Chundra Sen in the early sixties or even the Sadharan Brahma Samaj that came into existence after the second great schism were only ideal names and could not actually extend their operation over, and comprehend the vast expanse of, India within their respective folds.

The Theistic Conference movement however in­directly owes its origin to the movement of the political National Congress which latter itself took its rtee after the death of Keshub Chandra Sen in 1884. “The presence of a large number of represen­tative Brahma gentlemen from various parts of the country at Allahabad on the occasion of the 4th annual Session of the Indian National Congress was taken advantage of and a Brahma Conference was organised there for the first time. Over a hundred Brahmagentlemen and some visitors attended the meeting which was held in the Colonelganja School premises. After a divine service conducted by Pandit Lachman Prasad, the Hon’ble Mr. M. G. Ranade was voted to the Chair. After several speeches on the work of the Brahma Samaj in different provinces, it was resolved that a Conference might be held every year in the place where the Indian National Con­gress happened to hold its session. Pandit S.N. Shastri was electedSecretary for the next year.” *

The Conference has not yet been able to stand on a footing independent of the National Congress. The second session was held in December 1889 in a more organized fashion in the Bombay Prarthana Samaj Hall when the Secretary Pandit Shastri had issued circular letters to all the Samajes. The most impor­tant resolution was for the establishment of a Theistic Union with the object of promoting co-operation amongst the different Theistio Bodies by means of—

(a) Holding United Services and Social Gatherings,

(b) Joint efforts for the propagation of the com­mon principles of Theism and also for the pro­motion of general interest of its members, (e) com­bining for the promotion of common philanthropic and charitable objects, (d) and such other means as may suggest themselves from time to time.
Pandit Nawin Chandra Rai was appointed Secretary of the Union, who however died during the next year and no effect could be given to the above resolution. The Third Session was held in Calcutta and was pretty successful. But since then the interest in the Conference began to wane. The following is the order of the sessions:—
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(*Extracted from the “All-India Theistic Conference, Calcutta Seeeion, 1911,” published by H. C. Sarkar of the Sadharan Brahma Samaj.
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The All India Theistic Conference (For PDF Click Here)

In the report for 1879 occurs: “ Sermons and lectures exposing the falsehood of the Mahatmas, rivers, vratas., &c, were given in 1877 and 1878 and some of them published in tracts,” All this destructive criticism would have perhaps served a useful purpose had there been side by side a constructive work and practical life on the new lines of the Samaj. But from the beginning till the present time we receive the one continued confession from this Samaj, “We have no Anusthanic members yet.” As a principle the Samaj prohibits idolatry on the part of its members in their daily worship only, im­plying thereby that it may be allowed on the occa­sions of marriages and other ceremonies. A sensitive people as that of Gujarat naturally felt this contrast between harsh preaching of the leaders and slack practice of the members, and did not trouble them­selves about benefiting by some very sterling virtues and deeds of the leaders of the Samaj but only satisfi­ed themselves by singing some of the sweet hymns of the Prarthana Mala in their temples. In the latter years of the Samaj, however what the little community as a body failed to achieve has been more than com­pensated for by the worthy heads of the Samaj both by their exceptional purity of private character and ex­ceeding utility of public career. For the last twenty-twoyears the late lamented Rao Bahadur Lalshankar Umiyq, Shankar who departed only last month, was at the helm of this Samaj and was devotedly assisted by his lieutenant Mr. Ramanbhai Mahipatram the present Secretary of the Samaj and the son of the first Secre­tary Rao Saheb Mahipatram Rupram. Sir N. G. Chandavarkar wrote in the Times of India, “ The cause of religious and Social reform among Hindus and indeed all good and noble causes in Gujarat in particular, have lost a most devoted leader by the death of Rao Bahadur Lalshankar Umiyashankar. His name stands identified with a number of institutions. The Widow Marriage Association, the Anti-child marriage Society, the Gujarat Social Reform Associa­tion, Widow’s Home, the Prarthana Samaj School, the Dewabhai Girls School, the Schools for the Depressed Classes, the Mahipatram Rupram Orphan­age and the Foundling Asylum, the Ladies’ Club, the Bholanath Institute,the Gujarath Vernacular Society, the Sewa Sadan, the Anjuman Islam—all these were his creations and they meant activities in educational, religions and social matters without Reference to caste or creed. He was Secretary of the Aujumani Islam of Ahmedabad—the Mahomedans owned him as their own as did the Hindus.”

Hyderabad (Sind). Diwan Nawalrai and Sadhu Hiranand are the two names that hail from the North West when we think of Theism in Sind. Pandit Shivnath Shastri described his visit to Sind in the Brahma Public Opinion of September 11, 1879.”Hera in this remote corner cf India there are a number of tbeists who deserve a few words of respectful appre­ciation. The number of members in the local Samaj (Hydera­bad) does not exceed 14 or 15. Some four or five members daily hold a sort of prayer meeting in the Mandir...Just fancy the picture of a number of men walking silently and bare-footed into the open space before the hall taking their seats in the dark on the bare uncovered ground and singing the name of God with one voice. After one or two hymns, one or two short prayers are offered after which the members disperse with the same silence that characteris­ed their entrance. No light, no carpet, no preliminary preparation is necessary for these meetings. In darkness they assemble, on the bare ground they sit and have nothing external to please the eye or the ear; yet day after day for the last six years have these humble worshippers of God daily met and offered their prayers in this striking fashion. There is another good thing about the Samaj. It is a custom with the Minister, Mr. Navalrai Shonkiram to visit the jail every Sunday and deliver an oral discourse to the prisoners for the last three or four years. Last Sunday there were assembled 400 prisoners ranging from youths of 16 or 17 to men of good old age. I was told that with some they have been found to be productive of some real good but the percentage of such men is small...Mr. Nawalrai was once unexpectedly accosted by a man in a lonely forest. “Come and see “he said “how I keep my house in my little hut. Since I left the jail, I have all along considered it a sin to touch another’s property; and this truth I owe to you.”

The,Hyderabad Brahma Samaj was started in about 1868 then known by the name “ Sikh Sabha.’' Diwan Nawalrai, personally inflneuced by Keshub Chandra Sen, joined this Sabha and gave it a definite organiza­tion. The present Mandir was opened on the 3rd Sunday of September 1875.

When abont 600were present at the Sindhi Service in the morning and the same number at the English Service in which Babu Satyendranath Tagore delivered an inspiring address.

At Karachi a few Deccani gentlemen started a Prarthana Samaj in which the late Rajah of Satara sailed the Jangli Maharaj took keen interest. But it was not well-organized till 1884 when Sadhn Hiranand went to Karachi and took up the work. In 1886 Hiranand begged from door to door for funds for a Mandir and built it. In 1894 the name was changed into Brahma Samaj but in spite of the saintly endeavours of the good Hiranand the Samaj seems to have never made any great progress. At present there are twelve members. The present work in Sind seems to be confined to the energetic educa­tional activities of Mr. Pribdas Advani who is conducting a very successful High School at Hydera­bad. Professor L. T. Waswani recently did very good work among the college students and the public at large by his eloquent addresses. But while there were signs of new life coming into these Samajes Prof. Waswani suddenly left Karachi in May 1912 for Lahore as the Principal of the Sirdar Dayal Sing Theistic College in that city.