Santal

 Santal

The Santals are an Austroasiatic-speaking ethnic group in South Asia.[6] The Santals are the largest tribe in terms of population in the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal and are also present in the states of Assam, Tripura, Bihar, and Odisha. They are the largest ethnic minority in Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division in the northern part of Bangladesh. They have a large population in Nepal. The Santals speak Santali, the third largest language of the Austro-Asiatic family

Etymology

Santal is probably derived from a foreign word. The term refers to the inhabitants of the erstwhile Silday Sawant in the Midnipur region of West Bengal. [8][9] The Sanskrit word samant or the Bengali sawat means plains. [10] Their caste name is Har Hopan ("sons of mankind").

Language and ethnic identity

In terms of language and ethnographic features, the Santals are not of Mongolian origin like many other ethnic groups in Bangladesh. They speak Saotali which belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language group. Their medium-sized bodies, dark skin color, flat noses, thick lips, and curly hair indicate their Australian ethnic origin, suggesting that the group arrived in the Indian subcontinent before the Dravidians from Australia and the adjacent Pacific islands. The Santals are considered to be representatives of a pure pre-Dravidian group in terms of body structure. However, the Santals are very similar to the Australian tribes, so they are called the original Australians. It is believed that the word Santal is derived from the word Soontar.

History

origin

Due to the lack of significant archaeological records, the original homeland of the Santals is not known with certainty. However according to linguist Paul Sidwell, Austro-Asiatic speakers probably arrived on the Odisha coast from Indochina around 4,000-3,500 years ago. Austroasiatic speakers spread from Southeast Asia and intermingled extensively with the local Indian population.[13] After arriving in India, the Munda people intermingled extensively with the Dravidian tribal groups.

The Family

Santal society is patriarchal. Sons have equal rights in property, but daughters have no rights. But the father can give something to the daughter if he wants. However, in the distribution of property, the father gives one cow to each daughter. All the property of a sonless person is inherited by his brothers.

Tribe

The Santals believe that the original human and the human beings Pilchu Haram (Adam) and Pilchu Budhir (Haba) descended from seven pairs of children. That is why the Santals are divided into seven tribes. These tribes are called 'Paris' in the Saotali language. The gotras (Paris) are

Hansda, Saren, Tudu, Kisku, Murmu, Mandi, Baske, Besra, Hembram, Pauria, Chande and Bedya.

First, there were seven gotras and later five more gotras emerged out of them making a total of twelve gotras. Totem belief is prevalent among the Santals. Each tribe has its ancestors or plants, animals and

Also known as Pasupakhi etc. The people of the Hansda tribe believe that they originated from ducks. So the Sawtals of Hansda Gotra are forbidden to eat duck. Again Saren tribe originated from deer so they are forbidden to eat deer meat.

Festival

Sohrai is the main festival of the Santal community. Besides Baha, Karam, Dashin, Sakrat, Mahmor, Rundo, and Magsim are important festivals. They traditionally accompany many of their dances during these festivals with two drums called 'Tamak and Tumdak'.A form of puppet dance 'Chadar Badar' also known as Santal puppetry, is a folk show involving wooden puppets placed in a small cage that serves as a stage. Decision-making matters are done through a village council headed by a person called Majhi (local head of the community). Majhi assists in managing and dealing with local affairs by other council members art is admired for its intricate carving style. The walls of traditional Santal houses are decorated with carved designs, hunting scenes, dance scenes, geometric patterns, and more. Santal-style palanquins are intricately carved and designed.