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