[5]
The Santals are a Munda tribe, a branch of that aboriginal elementwhich probably entered India from the North East. At the present daythey inhabit the Eastern outskirts of the Chutia Nagpore plateau.
Originally hunters and dwellers in the jungle they are still butindifferent agriculturists. Like the Mundas and Hos and otherrepresentatives of the race, they are jovial in character, fond oftheir rice beer, and ready to take a joke.
Their social organization is very complete; each village has itsheadman or manjhi, with his assistant the paranik; the jogmanghi ischarged with the supervision of the morals of the young men and women;the naeke is the village priest, the godet is the village constable.Over a group of villages is the pargana or tribal chief. The Santalsare divided into exogamous septs—originally twelve in number, andtheir social observances are complex, e.g. while some relations treateach other with the greatest reserve, between others the utmost freedomof intercourse is allowed.
Their religion is animistic, spirits (bongas) are everywherearound them: the spirits of their ancestors, the spirit of the house,the spirit dwelling in the patch of primeval forest preserved in eachvillage. Every hill tree and rock may have its spirit. These spiritsare propitiated by elaborate ceremonies and sacrifices which generallyterminate in dances, and the drinking of rice beer.
The Santal Parganas is a district 4800 sq. miles in area, lyingabout 150 miles north of Calcutta, and was [6]formed intoa separate administration after the Santals had risen in rebellion in1856. The Santals at present form about one-third of thepopulation.
The stories and legends which are here translated have beencollected by the Rev. O. Bodding, D.D. of the Scandinavian Mission tothe Santals. To be perfectly sure that neither language nor ideasshould in any way be influenced by contact with a European mind hearranged for most of them to be written out in Santali, principally bya Christian convert named Sagram Murmu, at present living atMohulpahari in the Santal Parganas.
Santali is an agglutinative language of great regularity andcomplexity but when the Santals come in contact with races speaking anAryan language it is apt to become corrupted with foreign idioms. Thelanguage in which these stories have been written is beautifully pure,and the purity of language may be accepted as an index that the ideashave not been affected, as is often the case, by contact withEuropeans.
My translation though somewhat condensed is very literal, and thestories have perhaps thereby an added interest as shewing the way inwhich a very primitive people look at things. The Santals are greatstory tellers; the old folk of the village gather the young peopleround them in the evening and tell them stories, and the men whenwatching the crops on the threshing floor will often sit up all nighttelling stories.
There is however, no doubt that at the present time the knowledge ofthese stories tends to die out. Under the peace which British rulebrings there is more intercourse between the different communities andcastes, a considerable, degree of assimilation takes place, and oldcustoms and traditions tend to be obliterated.
Several collections of Indian st