SANTHAL AND KHASIS TRIBE

Comparative study between Santhal and Khasis tribe

1. COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN SANTAL AND KHASIS TRIBE RICHA DHINGRA

2. SANTHALS The   Santal  or  Santhal ,  are an ethnic group native to  India  and Bangladesh in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand state of India in terms of population and are also found in the statesof  Assam,Tripura, Bihar,  Odisa  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.

3. HISTORY According to linguist Paul Sidwell  (2018), Austro-Asiatic language speakers probably arrived on coast of  Odessa  from Indochina about 4000–3500 years ago . The Austroasiatic speaker spread from Southeast Asia and mixed extensively with local Indian populations . British officials intended to enhance the revenue by expansion of agriculture.They encouraged the  Paharia people of  Rajmahal hills to practice settled agriculture but they refused to cut the trees. Then British officials turned their attention to Santals , who were ready to clear the forest for the practice of settled agriculture. In 1832, a large number of areas were demarcated.

4. CULTURE Sohrai  is the principal festival of Santal community. Besides that  Baha ,  Karam ,  Dansai , Sakrat, Mahmore,  Rundo  and  Magsim  are important festivals. The Santal traditionally accompany many of their dances during these festivals with two drums: the Tamak ‘ and the Tumdak ’.  Chadar Badar , a form of puppetry  , is a folk show involving wooden puppets. Originally hunter-gatherers, Santals made a transition to agrarian lifestyle. Decision-making matters is done through a village council which is headed by a person titled  manjhi . The  manjhi  is aided by other council members to carry out and deal with local affairs.

5. ART The   Santhal  people loved music and dance. Like other ethnic groups, their culture had been influenced by mainstream Indian culture and by Western culture, but traditional music and dance still remain. Santhali music differed from Hindusthani classical music in significant ways LANGUAGES SPOKEN Bengali language; Hindi. The Santals mostly speak Santali, the most widely spoken of the  Munda languages.

6. KHASIS The  Khasi people are an indigenous ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. The Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of Meghalaya, and is the state's largest community, with around 48% of the population of Meghalaya. A cultural tradition of the Khasi people is that they follow the matrilineal system of descent and inheritance.

7. HISTORY Khasi mythology traces the tribe's original abode to ' Ki Hynñiewtrep  ("The Seven Huts").According to the Khasi mythology,  U Blei Trai Kynrad  (God, the Lord Master) had originally distributed the human race into 16 heavenly families ( Khadhynriew Trep ). However, seven out of these 16 families were stuck on earth while the other 9 are stuck in heaven. According to the myth, a heavenly ladder resting on the sacred Lum Sohpetbneng Peak (located in the present-day  Ri-Bhoi district) enabled people to go freely and frequently to heaven whenever they pleased until one day they were tricked into cutting a divine tree which was situated at Lum Diengiei Peak.

8. CULTURE Before the arrival of Christian missionaries, the majority of the Khasi people practiced an indigenous tribal religion. Though around 85% of the Khasi populace have embraced Christianity, a substantial minority of the Khasi people still follow and practice their age old indigenous religion, which is known as  Ka Niam Khasi  or  Niam tre . The main Christian denominations followed by the Khasis include  Catholicism ,  Anglicanism ,  Presbyterianism  (largest Christian denomination among the Khasis ), and others marriages, who are Muslims. There are also followers of Khasi Unitarianism as founded by Hajom Kissor .

9. DRESS The traditional Khasi male dress is a  Jymphong , a longish sleeveless coat without collar, fastened by thongs in front. Nowadays, most male Khasis have adopted western attire. On ceremonial occasions they appear in a  Jymphong  and sarong with an ornamental waist-band and they may also wear a turban. LANGUAGES SPOKEN The  Khasi language  is classified as part of the  Austroasiatic  language family.. Many of the words are similar to other Austroasiatic languages such as Palaung and Khmer language.

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