Santal people

The Santal or Santhal, are a ethnic group native to India.[3] Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, 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 speak Santali.

Quotes

• There is, however, a remarkable abhorrence,among the Santals, of the Mohammedans, whom they call Turuk, a term which carries a connotation of contempt. According to their tradition, the sojourn of the Santal ancestors in ‘the corrupt and defiled land’ of the Muslims was attended with such grave harassment that contact with Muslims must be avoided. ... the Santals of Pangro, likemany other Santals elsewhere, however, do not accept food from these Muslims.
  • Joseph Troisi , Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices Among the Santals, 247 also quoted in Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar (1993) 227ff

• “While among the non-Christians the most important part of the marriage ceremony is the Sindradan, or smearing the bride’s forehead with vermillion, among the Christians the exchange of rings by bride and groom marks them as husband and wife. The applying of sindoor [= vermillion] is tabooed.” The clean break is also in evidence in the funeral rites: “In the funerary ceremonies, there is little trace of non-Christian customs and modes of thought.... The converts are, by and large, being alienated from their village communities. Moreover, converts also become estranged from their own kinsfolk. They are prohibited by their own religion from taking part in the ritual offerings and ceremonies [for the ancestral and other deities]. These ritual practices and ceremonies … act as a strong unifying force among the household and family members.... Cutting themselves off from many aspects of their old community life, the converts find themselves members of a new community, the Christian community.
  • Joseph Troisi , Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices Among the Santals, 270ff also quoted in Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar (1993) 227ff and in Decolonizing the Hindu Mind (2001) Elst K.