Santali people

Santals

Total population
6,050,000
Regions with significant populations
India               Jharkhand 2,410,509               West Bengal 2,280,540               Bihar 367,612               Orissa 629,782 Nepal 42,698               Jhapa District 23,172               Morang District 16,387
Languages
Santali
Religion
Sarna  • Sari Dhorom
Related ethnic groups
Mundas  • Hos  • Kols

The Santal (Oriya: ସାନ୍ତାଳ, Hindi: संताल,Bengali: সাওতাল, also spelled as Santhal (formerly also spelt as Sontal), are the largest tribal community in India, who live mainly in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. There is also a significant Santal minority in neighboring Bangladesh, and a small population in Nepal.

Santali language

The Santali language is part of the Austro-Asiatic family, distantly related to Vietnamese and Khmer.

The Santal script is a relatively recent innovation. Santali did not have a written language until the twentieth century and used Latin/Roman, Devnagri and Bangla writing systems. A need for a distinct script to accommodate the Santali language, combining features of both the Indic and Roman scripts was felt, which resulted in the invention of new script called Ol Chiki by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925. For his noble deeds and contribution of the script Ol Chiki for the Santal society, he is revered among Santals. He wrote over 150 books covering a wide spectrum of subjects such as grammar, novels, drama, poetry, and short stories in Santali using Ol Chiki as part of his extensive programme for uplifting the Santal community. Darege Dhan, Sidhu-Kanhu, Bidu Chandan and Kherwal Bir are among the most acclaimed of his works. Pandit Raghunath Murmu is popularly known as Guru Gomke among the Santals, a title conferred on him by the Mayurbhanj Adibasi Mahasabha.

Beside Pandit Raghunath Murmu, very few Indian linguists worked seriously on the linguistic aspects of the language. One of them was Dr. Byomkes Chakrabarti (1923–1981). He was a Bengali research worker on ethnic languages. He was a renowned educationist and a poet too. His major contribution was in finding out some basic relationship between Santali language and Bengali language. He showed (in 'A Comparative Study of Santali and Bengali') how the Bengali language, under the influence of the Santali language, has some unique characteristics absent from other Indian languages.

The Santali script, or Ol Chiki, is alphabetic, and does not share any of the syllabic properties of the other Indic scripts such as Devanagiri. It uses 30 letters and five basic diacritics. It has 6 basic vowels and three additional vowels, generated using the Gahla Tudag.

His contribution on the origin and development of the Bengali and Santali language was fundamental in nature, and provided the scope for research in newer fields of liguistics.

Religion

Santals believe in supernatural beings and ancestral spirits. Santali rituals consist mainly of sacrificial offerings and invocations to the spirits, or bongas. It is believed by some scholars that Bonga means the same as Bhaga (or Bhagavan). The Santals have their own story of creation, from two heavenly birds Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Buddhi.These two birds were created by God and then allowed to fly in all directions. One day they made a nest and laid two cosmic eggs. Out of this two eggs came the male and females of the Earth. Apart from the story of creation of human there is another story explaining the creations of all living things. These two stories are integral to the Santal worldview as it uniquely connects the life of humans to animals. The Santhals have a high regard of the flora and fauna and they decorate the mud walls of their houses with figures of animals and plants.

The Christian Missionaries started working among the Santhals from early 19th century around Orrissa and later in Chotanagpur and the Santhal Parganas. The Christian missonaries were the first to make an effort to understand the Santal way of life and culture. Paul Olaf Bodding a Norwegian missioanry served 44 years in India and wrote the first Santali grammar and alphabets. The devoted missionary efforts served dual purpose, it created a good number of Christian converts and also kindled the light of education in them. Though the introduction of Christianity has brought noticeable changes in the lifestyle of Santals still many Santal Christians do retain their unique cultural identity. Similarly the association of the Santals with the Hindu neighbors influenced their religion as well. A significant number of Santals follow Hindu rituals and customs.

Santal Surnames

A total of 12 clans is found in Santals.All these clans derive their names from plant or animal species. The twelve clans are Hansda, Murmu, Hembram, Soren, Kisku, Marandi, Tudu, Baskey, Besra, Chore,Pauria and Bedea. These twelve clans, the Santals believe to have descended from the first man and woman and each clan has a unique social status and role. The Kisku's have the highest social position, they have the same status as of a King. The Hansda's and Murmu's are advisers and priests respectively. The Marandi's are traders and Soren's are the soldiers. In this way special status and responsibility is entrusted to each clans but this division is never strict in matrimonial relations provided the couple do not marry under the same clan. For example a Murmu man cannot marry a Murmu lady, if they marry, a nominal fine is imposed onto them by the village elders. There also exist several sub clans among these clans and all attribute themselves to some totem whether animal or plant. The Santal clan system is not rigid and thus the society is free from untouchablity, non association and other ill effects of harsh class laws.

Profession

The Santals are agricultural tribe, from time immemorial they have cleared forests, toiled the land, and produced food for subsistence. Santals laborers were considered very efficient and they easily found employment in coal mines. Beside agriculture they also domesticate animals like cows, buffaloes and pigs. Apart from these the Santals also are well versed in the art of hunting , where their exceptional skills with bow and arrows is noticeable. After the ban on hunting by the Government of India, the Santals do not get chance to practice their archery skill but recently a new venture of organizing village level archery competitions during festive seasons has given a chance to culture this unique legacy.

Moving with time the Santals have taken up profession in every field. There are good number of Santal doctors, engineers, governments servants, the opening up of new avenues have changed their lifestyle and made it typically urban.

Santali culture

The Santali culture has attracted many scholars and anthropologists for decades. Some studies of the Santali culture were done by the Christian missionaries. The most famous of them was the Norwegian-born Reverend Paul Olaf Bodding. Unlike many other tribal groups of the Indian subcontinent, the Santals have preserved their native language despite waves of migrations and invasions such as Aryan, Hun, Mughals, Europeans, and others.

Santali culture is depicted in the paintings and artworks in the walls of their houses. Local mythology includes the stories of the Santal ancestors Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Bhudi.

The Santals mainly prefer group performance than solo, which is an important feature of tribal art form in India.

A Santal drummer playing Tumda

Group dancing and singing is the most important medium to express their joy and happiness.

Santali dance

The Santali dance and music is tuned with the nature of occasion whether it is social or ceremonial. The three most quintessential instruments in Santali music are two kinds of drums one Tumda and the other Tamak, besides Tiriao or flute. The Tumda is a double headed drum having the shape of a frustum, the drum skins at left and right are made of animal skins. The one at the left has bigger circumference than the right. The Tamak has a hemispherical shape, with a wider circumference and played by two drum sticks. Tiriao or basically a bansuri is a bamboo made musical instrument with five holes.

The most well known dance form of the Santals is a group of women with interlocked hands forming a semicircle, encircling a relatively smaller group of male percussionists at the centre. The dance steps and movements are in accordance with the beats which is relatively simple. The dance forms, countenance, and beats differ from region to region. The Santali Dance have a wide variety and types and is tuned with ceremony and social celebrations. The Dasai dance is performed only by males of the community on festive occasions. Langre, Guluri, and Humti is danced all round the year, whereas Baha and Sohorai are only for festive seasons. In social ceremonies like marraige Dong is danced. Along with these popular dances some other rare forms like Rinjha and Jhika also exist and performed only in few regions.

The Santal songs also have similar variety like there dance, the Santali word for song is "Sereng". Generally singing is accompanied with dancing but there are some songs which do not include dancing. There is also a kind of song sung during the sowing of paddy. The "Gam Sereng" is another type of song which is sung in hot summer evening.

The Santal rebellion

Main article: Santhal rebellion

Background

The insurrection of the Santals was mainly against the British People & their supporters like moneylenders, zamindars and their operatives. Before the advent of the British in India the Santhals resided peacefully in the hilly districts of Mayurbhanj Chhotanagpur, Palamau, Hazaribagh, Midnapur, Bankura and Birbhum. Their agrarian way of life was based on clearing the forest; they also engaged themselves in hunting for subsistence. But, as the agents of the new colonial rule claimed their rights on the lands of the Santals, they peacefully went to reside in the hills of Rajmahal. After a brief period of peace the British operatives with their native counterparts jointly started claiming their rights in this new land as well. The simple and honest Santals were cheated and turned into slaves by the zamindars and the money lenders who first appeared to them as business men and lured them into debt, first by goods lent to them on loans. However hard the Santals tried to repay these loans, they never ended. Through corrupt measures of the money lenders, the debts multiplied to an amount for which a generation of the santal family had to work as slaves. Furthermore, the Santali women who worked under labour contractors were disgraced and abused.

Rebellion

On 30 June 1855, two Santal rebel leaders, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, mobilized ten thousand Santals and declared a rebellion against British colonists.

Soon after the declaration the Santals took to arms. In many villages the Jamindars, money lenders and their operatives were put to death. The open rebellion caught the British Government in surprise. Initially a small contingent was sent to suppress the rebels but it with meet no success and this further fueled the spirit of the revolt. When the law and order situation was getting out of hand the British Government finally took a major step and sent in large number of troops assisted by the local Jamindars and the Nawab of Murshidabad to quell the Rebellion.

A number of skirmishes occurred after this which resulted in large number of casualties for the Santals. The primitive weapons of the Santals, weren't a match against the musket and cannon firepower of the British. Troop detachments from the 7th Native Infantry Regiment, 40th Native Infantry and others were called into action. Major skirmishes occurred from July 1855 to January 1856, in places like Kahalgaon, Suri, Raghunathpur, and Munkatora.

The revolt was brutally crushed, the two celebrated leaders Sidhu and Kanhu were killed. Elephants supplied by the Nawab of Murshidabad were used to demolish Santal huts and likewise profound atrocities were committed by the British army in quenching the Rebellion. Although the Rebellion was crushed with a heavy hand, some British army officers like Major Jervis who observed-

"It was not war; they did not understand yielding. As long as their national drum beat, the whole party would stand, and allow themselves to be shot down. Their arrows often killed our men, and so we had to fire on them as long as they stood. When their drum ceased, they would move off a quarter of a mile; then their drums beat again, and they calmly stood till we came up and poured a few volleys into them. There was not a sepoy in the war who did not feel ashamed of himself."

Charles Dickens in Household Words wrote-

"There seems also to be a sentiment of honour among them (Santals); for it is said that they use poisoned arrows in hunting, but never against their foes. If this be the case- and we hear nothing of the poisoned arrows in the recent conflicts,-they are infinitely more respectable than our civilised enemy the Russians, who would most likely consider such forbearance as foolish, and declare that is not war."

Although its impact was largely shadowed by that of the other rebellion, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the legend of the Santal Rebellion lives on as a turning point in Santal pride and identity. This was reaffirmed, over a century and a half later with the creation of the first tribal province in independent India, Jharkhand.

Santal Population

Sl.Name of State/District Total Population Santal population Per cent

I JHARKHAND-BIHAR

  DEOGARH               9,33,113                           NA
  DHANBAD              26,74,651                     2,40,718            9
  DUMKA                14,95,709                     5,68,370           38
  GIRIDIH              22,25,480                     3,56,077           16
  GODDA                 8,61,182                     1,20,565           14
  HAZARIBAGH           16,01,576                       64,063            4
  KATIHAR              18,25,380                     1,09,522            6
  KODARMA               6,29,264                       37,755            6
  PASCHIM SINGHBHUM    17,87,955                     1,78,795           10
  PURBI SINGHBHUM      16,13,088                        NA
  PURNIA               18,78,885                       93,944            5
  SAHIBGANJ             7,36,835                     3,09,471           42

II ORISSA

 BALASORE             16,96,583                      1,69,658           10
 BHADRAK              11,05,834                        33,175            3
 CUTTACK                  NA
 DHENKANAL                NA
 KEONJHAR             13,37,026                            NA
 KHURDA                   NA
 MAYURBHANJ           18,84,580                       5,67,282          28
 SUNDARGARH               NA

III TRIPURA*

 TRIPURA                                                 2,200

IV WEST BENGAL

 BANKURA               28,05,065                       3,36,607         12
 BARDHAMAN             60,50,605                       3,63,036          6
 BIRBHUM               25,55,664                       1,53,340          6
 WEST (N&S) DINAJPUR   12,00,924                       1,80,138         15
 JALPAIGURI            28,00,543                             NA
 MALDAH                26,37,032                       1,84,592          7
 MEDINIPUR             83,31,919                      13,33,107         16
 PURULIA               22,24,577                       3,33,686         15

V ASSAM

 ASSAM                      NA                        2,00,000

VI NEPAL

 NEPAL               2,27,36,934                    485757453\

\565432.3984+654

   42,698           0.2
  JHAPA                 6,88,109                        23,172           3
  MORANG                8,43,220                        16,387           2

See also

• Santhal rebellion

Bibliography

• Archer, W. G. The Hill of Flutes: Life, Love, and Poetry in Tribal India: A Portrait of the Santals. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1974.
• Bodding, P. O. Santal Folk Tales. Cambridge, Mass.: H. Aschehoug; Harvard University Press, 1925.
• Bodding, P. O. Santal Riddles and Witchcraft among the Santals. Oslo: A. W. Brøggers, 1940.
• Bodding, P. O. A Santal Dictionary (5 volumes), 1933-36 Oslo: J. Dybwad, 1929.
• Bodding, P. O. Materials for a Santali Grammar I, Dumka 1922
• Bodding, P. O. Studies in Santal Medicine and Connected Folklore (3 volumes), 1925–40
• Bompas, Cecil Henry, and Bodding, P. O. Folklore of the Santal Parganas. London: D. Nutt, 1909. Full text at Project Gutenberg.
• Chakrabarti, Dr. Byomkes, A Comparative Study of Santali and Bengali, KP Bagchi, Calcutta, 1994
• Chaudhuri, A. B. State Formation among Tribals: A Quest for Santal Identity. New Delhi: Gyan Pub. House, 1993.
• Culshaw, W. J. Tribal Heritage; a Study of the Santals. London: Lutterworth Press, 1949.
• Edward Duyker Tribal Guerrillas: The Santals of West Bengal and the Naxalite Movement, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1987, pp. 201, SBN 19 561938 2.
• Hembrom, T. The Santals: Anthropological-Theological Reflections on Santali & Biblical Creation Traditions. 1st ed. Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1996.
• Orans, Martin. "The Santal; a Tribe in Search of a Great Tradition." Based on thesis, University of Chicago., Wayne State University Press, 1965.
• Prasad, Onkar. Santal Music: A Study in Pattern and Process of Cultural Persistence, Tribal Studies of India Series; T 115. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications, 1985.
• Roy Chaudhury, Indu. Folk Tales of the Santals. 1st ed. Folk Tales of India Series, 13. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1973.
• Troisi, J. The Santals: A Classified and Annotated Bibliography. New Delhi: Manohar Book Service, 1976.
• ———. Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Santals. New Delhi: Manohar, 2000.

External links

• Santal Engineers' Welfare Association - Working for all round development of Adivasi
• All India Santal Welfare and Cultural Society
• Santal Arts
• A Portal for Santals
• Santal Dance
• Santal lute - Dhodro Banam