Santals, The an ethnic group
in Bangladesh. Mainly living in the
Himalayan sub-mountain region in
different districts of Rajshahi
division. Their principal home
is in radha (in West Bengal), the
forests of adjacent Bihar (Jhadkhand)
and Orissa, and Chhota Nagpur. The
British government assigned a
special territory for their living
and named it Santal Pargana. It is
difficult to definitely say when and
why they settled in the East Bengal
region. But the census of 1881 shows
that there were Santal settlements
in the districts of pabna, jessore,
khulna and even in chittagong. A
survey of the Santal population of
present Bangladesh area conducted in
1941 recorded their number as
829,025. The censuses organised
after the Partition of Bengal (1947)
did not count Santals as a separate
group of people, and consequently,
their exact number in East Pakistan
could not be determined. According
to an estimate made by Christian
missionaries in the 1980s, the
Santal population in northern
Bangladesh was over one hundred
thousand. According to the 1991
census, the Santal population was
over two hundred thousand.
Historical Background:
Santals are the descendants of
Austric-speaking Proto-Australoid
race. Their complexion is dark,
height medium, hair black and
curled, and lips heavy. mundas,
oraons, paharias and some other
ethnic groups have a good deal of
similarity with the long-headed,
broad-nosed Santals in physical
features, language and culture.
Similarity is also there in their
village panchayet administration, in
social values, and their
characteristic love for dance,
singing and music. Santals and
related aborigines are among the
earliest settlers of the
subcontinent and are acknowledged as
the progenitors and maintainers of
agricultural production system and
agro-based culture.
Socio Economic Aspects:
Livelihood: Santals live a poor life. They are
compelled to sell their labour at a
very low price in tea gardens or
elsewhere. Besides, they dig soil,
carry loads, or engage themselves in
similar works of day labourers. They
are accustomed to hard work.
Social System:
Rituals: Although the chief god of Santals is
the god of the sun (Sing Bonga, in
their language), the god of mountain
– Marang Budu is also dignified
enough to have become a village-god.
Santals believe that soul is
immortal and that supernatural soul
(Bonga) determines worldly good and
evil. Bonga occupies an important
place in their daily worship.
Probably that is why house-deity
Abe-Bonga is quite a mighty god.
Influence of folk Hindu deities is
also visible in their religious
ceremonies. In fact, Santal men and
women are animistic
nature-worshippers, but again they
acknowledge Thakurjiu as Creator.
Idol-worship is not a part of their
religious practices.
Festivals: Santals are fond of festivities.
Like Bangalis, they also have
'thirteen festivals in twelve
months' ie, many festive occasions
around the year. Their year starts
with the month of Falgun (roughly,
15 February-15 March). Almost each
month or season has a festival or
fiesta celebrated with the pomp of
dances, songs and music. The
Shialsei festival of Santals takes
place in the New Year month of
Falgun, Bongabongi occurs in Chaitra,
Home in Baishakh, Dibi in Ashwin,
and Sohrai at the end of Paush.
Sohrai is a kind of national
festival for Santals celebrated with
great pomp on the last day of Paush
(around 16 January). To express
gratitude to the god of crops is
also a part of this festival. It
turns splendid with dance, songs,
music and pleasant beauty of flowers
along with food and drinks. Probably
its greatest attraction is the
chorus dance of Santal girls.
Another important ceremony of
Santals is called Baha or the
festival of blossoms. The purpose of
this festival at the beginning of
spring is to welcome and offer
greetings to the beautiful
blossoming of colourful flowers. It
is also characterised with an
overflow of dancing, singing and
music.
The Spring Festival of Santals
provide young men and women an
opportunity to exchange hearts. The
hub of such exchange of hearts or
choosing one's partner is the akhra
(sort of club) just as the dhumkadia
of Oraons. In the Santal society,
there is no bar against young
couples' premarital free-mixing. But
in their married life, breach of
faith is indeed rare. Divorce is
allowed in their community. Paying
the bride a dowry is still in vogue
but the amount is usually very
small. Both widows and divorced
women have the right to remarry.
Family Structure: Domination of the male is more
prominent in the Santal society
although, the role of women in the
family is by no means insignificant.
Santal women rather take a leading
role in earning livelihood or in
farming work. The houses of Santals
are small but their yards are very
clean. Artwork on earthen walls of
the house is an evidence of Santal
women's liking for beauty and of
their artistic mind. furniture in
the house is very simple reflecting
their plain lifestyle.
Social Structure: The Santal society is still ruled by
traditional Panchayet system and the
village headman enjoys special
dignity in the society. The
community's division into twelve
gotras (clans) is still found among
Santals. In common practice,
marriage between a man and a woman
of the same gotra is prohibited. But
these regulations are not so
effective today.
Lifestyle: Like
their simple, plain and candid way
of life, their dress is also very
simple. Women wear short, coarse but colourful sari, fix flowers on their
heads and hair-buns, and make
themselves graceful with simple
ornaments. Men wear dhutis or
gamchhas (indigenous towels).
Well-to-do and educated Santals wear
modern dress. Skilful workers as
they are, Santal women, especially
young girls are by nature very
beauty-conscious. Santal men and
women wear tattoos on their bodies.
Principal food items of Santals are
rice, fish and vegetables. They eat
crabs, pork, chicken, beef and the
meet of squirrels. Jute spinach (nalita)
is one of their favourite food
items. Eggs of ducks, chicken,
birds, and turtles are delicacy in
their menu. Liquor distilled from
putrefied rice called hadia (or
pachai) is their favourite drink.
They are also accustomed to distill
liquor at home from mahua or palmyra
syrup. These drinks are
indispensable in their festive
ceremonies. Santal women are skilled
in making different kinds of cakes.
The Santal language (Santali)
belongs to the family of Austric
languages. Santali has profound
similarity with Kole and Mundari
languages. Today most Santals of
Bangladesh speak both Bangla and
Santali. Also many Bangla words are
now adopted in Santali. There is no
written Santali literature, but the
rich heritage of folk songs and folk
tales of Santals is acknowledged by
all. Just like the fact that Santals
have a language but no alphabet,
they have a religion but no
canonical scripture. In the terribly
poverty-stricken life of Santals,
Christian missionary work of social
welfare and, along with that,
preaching of the message of
spiritual peace accelerated their
conversion to christianity. On the
other hand, as a result of financial
aid from NGOs, desire for receiving
modern education is growing among
Santals, but poverty is a great
obstacle. The Santal community has
not been able to free themselves
from the rule and exploitation of
landowners and moneylenders. Santals
took active part in the tebhaga
Movement that took place during the
period between 1946 and 1950.
Santals cremate their dead bodies.
But today, many of them bury the
dead in graves. When an inhabitant
of a village dies, the village
headman's duty is to present himself
at the place of the departed and
arrange for the last rites with due
respect. The custom of holding a
sraddha (obsequies) ceremony later
at a convenient time is also in
practice in the Santal community.
[Ahmad Rafiq] |