Belda College �Dept. of Geography�Malay Pahari�2^nd Sem�Paper- C3T�Topic:- Santhal

Please follow the next Slides:-

Santhal ( Introduction)�

The Santal, or Santhal, are an ethnic group native to India and Bangladesh in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal. They are the largest ethnic minority in northern Bangladesh's Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. They have a sizeable population in Nepal and Bhutan. The Santals mostly speak Santali, the most widely spoken of the Munda languages.

Total Population Of Santhal

7.4 million

Regions with significant population

India • Bangladesh • Nepal

 India Jharkhand 2,752,723� West Bengal 2,512,331� Odisha 894,764� Bihar406,076� Assam213,139

Bangladesh 300,061    

Nepal 42,698

Languages

i) Santali

ii) Religion

iii)  Hinduism Sarnaism, Christianity

 Related ethnic groups

Mundas  • Hos  • Juangs• Kharias  • Savaras• Korku

Santhal�History

​

​

According to linguist Paul Sidwell (2018), Austro-Asiatic language speakers probably arrived on coast of Odisha from Indochina about 4000–3500 years ago. The Austroasiatic speaker spread from Southeast Asia and mixed extensively with local Indian populations^]

British officials intended to enhance the revenue by expansion of agriculture^] They encouraged the Paharia people of Rajmahal hills to practice settled agriculture but they refused to cut the trees. Then British officials turned their attention to Santals, who were ready to clear the forest for the practice of settled agriculture. In 1832, a large number of areas were demarcated as Damin-i-kohor Santal Pargana. Santals from Cuttack, Dhalbhum, Birbhum, Manbhum and Hazaribagh migrated and started cultivating these lands as peasants. British collected taxes from these Santals as revenue. The imposition of taxes, exploitation by Zamindars and money lenders sparked the Santal rebellion. Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, two brothers led the Santals against the British but were defeated.

Religion�

In the Santal religion, the majority of reverence falls on a court of spirits (Bonga), who handle different aspects of the world and who are placated with prayers and offerings in order to ward off evil influences. These spirits operate at the village, household, ancestor, and sub-clan level, along with evil spirits that cause disease and can inhabit village boundaries, mountains, water, tigers, and the forest. The bonga are intermediaries between noa puri (visible world) and hana puri (the invisible reality), the abode of a Creator. This creator is variously called Marang Buru (great mountain) or Thakur Jiu (life giver), and is the "cause of all causes," making the Santal religion, in a deep sense, monotheistic as well as pantheisti

A characteristic feature of a Santal village is a sacred grove (known as the Jaher or Santal Sthal) on the edge of the village where many spirits live and where a series of annual festivals take place.

​

A yearly round of rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, along with life-cycle rituals for birth, marriage and burial at death, involve petitions to the spirits and offerings that include the sacrifice of animals, usually birds. Religious leaders are male specialists in medical cures who practice divination and witchcraft (the socio-historic meaning of the term, used here, refers to the ritual practice of magic and is not pejorative). Similar beliefs are common among other tribes of northeast and central India such as the Khari, Munda, and Oraon

Smaller and more isolated tribes often demonstrate articulated classification systems of the spiritual hierarchy less well documented, described as animism or a generalised worship of spiritual energies connected with locations, activities, and social groups. Religious concepts are intricately entwined with ideas about nature and interaction with local ecological systems. As in Santal religion, religious specialists are drawn from the village or family and serve a wide range of spiritual functions that focus on placating potentially dangerous spirits and co-ordinating rituals.

According to the 2011 Indian Census majority of the Santal's from Jharkhand follow Hinduism at 54%, with 37% following "other religions and persuasions". Christianity is practised by 8.3% present of the population. Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are followed by less than 1% of the population.^]

​

​

Culture�

• Sohrai is the principal festival of Santal community. Besides that Baha, Karam, Dansai, Sakrat, Mahmore, Rundo and Magsim are important festivals. The Santal traditionally accompany many of their dances during these festivals with two drums: the Tamak‘ and the Tumdak’.
• A traditional Santali dance
• Chadar Badar a form of puppetry known also as Santal puppetry, is a folk show involving wooden puppets placed in a small cage which acts as the stage.
• Originally hunter-gatherers, Santals made a transition to agrarian lifestyle. Decision-making matters is done through a village council which is headed by a person titled manjhi. The manjhi is aided by other council members to carry out and deal with local affairs.
• Santal art is noticeable for its intricate carving style. The walls of traditional Santal homes are ornamented with carved designs of animals, hunting scenes, dancing scenes, geometric patterns, and more. Santal styled Palanquins were also finely carved and designed.

​

House�

Santal houses are mud structures, but they are sturdily built and often decorated with floral designs. Roofs are tiled and slope toward all four sides. Houses have verandas and at least two rooms; the "inner room" (chitar ) contains the ancestors and the granary protected by them.

References

i) Wikipedia

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santal_people)

ii) Samaj Bhugoler Ruprekha- Jortirmay Sen.

​