DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16243#0452
APPENDIX VII 443
Kara Guja, Sohodoro; (2) Murniu—Cbampagarh, Bagsumbha, Naran Manjhi ;
^3) Kisku—Kundagarh ; (4) Hembrom—Kunda, Khairigarh, Jalaghatia ;
(3) Marndi—Badoligarh, Jelen Sinjo, Dhano Manjhi; (6) Saren—Anbali, Barha,
'Jero Pargana ; (7) Tudo—Simgarh, Sukrihutup Baru Manjhi ; (8) Baskc —Ranga,
Chunukjhandu ; (9) Besra—Dhokrapalania, Gulu, Phagu Manjhi. These pass-
words or shibboleths seem to serve among the Santals the purpose for which
Australian and North American savages tattoo the totem on the body. They
Preserve the memory of the tic of blood which connects the members of the sept,
and thus furnish an additional security against unconscious incest. They further
go to show that the sept in its earlier form must have been a group of purely local
character analogous to the communal septs. If due allowance is made for the
causes which must tend in course of time to scatter the members of any particular
scpt over a number of different villages, it will be seen to be a remarkable circum-
stance, not that so few local septs are now to be found, but that any traces of such
an organization have survived to so late a period.
Concerning the origin of the five additional septs the following stories are told.
The eighth tribe, Baske, at first belonged to the seven, but by reason of their
offering their breakfast (baske) to the gods while the Santals were still in Champa,
they were formed into a separate sept under the name of Baske. The Besras
(Mo. 9) Were separated on account of the immoral behaviour of their eponym, who
was called Besra, the licentious one. The tenth sept, Pauria, are called after the
P'geon, and the eleventh, Chore, after the lizard ; and the story is that on the occasion
°f a famous tribal hunting party the members of these two septs failed to kill any-
thing but pigeons and lizards, so they were called after the names of these animals.
I he twelfth sept, the Bedea, was left behind and lost when the Santals went up out
°» Champa. They had no father, so the story goes—at least the mother of their
"rst ancestor could not say who his father was, and for this reason they were
deemed of lower rank than the other septs. This sept is believed to have arisen
during the time of Mando Singh in Champa when the Santals had begun to come
ln contact with the Hindus. Some Santals say the father was a Rajput and the
pother a girl of the Kisku sept. There would be nothing antecedently improbable
II the conjecture that the well-known gypsy tribe of Bedea may owe its origin to
. e haison of a Rajput with a Santfd girl ; but the mere resemblance of the names
»a slender foundation for any such hypothesis. Santals are very particular about
lhc honour of their women, so far at least as outsiders are concerned, and it is
cll'ite in keeping with their ideas that a sept formed by a liaison with a Hindu
should have been looked down upon, and eventually banished from the community.
ny way it seems to be clear that the legend need not be taken to indicate the
prevalence of the custom of female kinship in the tribe.
No Santal may marry within his sept (pan's), nor within any of the sub-septs
\*nUnt) (shown below) into which the sept is divided. He may marry into any
°"ler sept, including the sept to which his mother belonged. A Santal proverb
'ays:-—N0 onc nee(js a cow track or regards his mother's sept.
Although no regard is paid in marriage to the mother's sept, the Santals have
Precisely the same rule as the Kandhs concerning the sub-sept or khnnt. A man
.nay not marry into the sub-sept or khunt to which his mother belonged, though
ls doubtful whether the Santals observe this rule for as many generations in the
Ascending line as is customary among the Kandhs. Many of the sub-septs have
urious traditional usages, some of which may be mentioned here. At the time
'he harvest festival in January the members of the Sidup-Saren sub-sept set up
a sheaf of rice on^end in the doorway of their cattle-sheds. This sheaf they may
t °i! l?Ucri themselves, but some one belonging to another sub-sept must be got to
ke it away. Men of the Sada-Saren sub-sept do not use vermilion in their
arriage ritual; they may not wear clothes with a red border on such occasions,
Kara Guja, Sohodoro; (2) Murniu—Cbampagarh, Bagsumbha, Naran Manjhi ;
^3) Kisku—Kundagarh ; (4) Hembrom—Kunda, Khairigarh, Jalaghatia ;
(3) Marndi—Badoligarh, Jelen Sinjo, Dhano Manjhi; (6) Saren—Anbali, Barha,
'Jero Pargana ; (7) Tudo—Simgarh, Sukrihutup Baru Manjhi ; (8) Baskc —Ranga,
Chunukjhandu ; (9) Besra—Dhokrapalania, Gulu, Phagu Manjhi. These pass-
words or shibboleths seem to serve among the Santals the purpose for which
Australian and North American savages tattoo the totem on the body. They
Preserve the memory of the tic of blood which connects the members of the sept,
and thus furnish an additional security against unconscious incest. They further
go to show that the sept in its earlier form must have been a group of purely local
character analogous to the communal septs. If due allowance is made for the
causes which must tend in course of time to scatter the members of any particular
scpt over a number of different villages, it will be seen to be a remarkable circum-
stance, not that so few local septs are now to be found, but that any traces of such
an organization have survived to so late a period.
Concerning the origin of the five additional septs the following stories are told.
The eighth tribe, Baske, at first belonged to the seven, but by reason of their
offering their breakfast (baske) to the gods while the Santals were still in Champa,
they were formed into a separate sept under the name of Baske. The Besras
(Mo. 9) Were separated on account of the immoral behaviour of their eponym, who
was called Besra, the licentious one. The tenth sept, Pauria, are called after the
P'geon, and the eleventh, Chore, after the lizard ; and the story is that on the occasion
°f a famous tribal hunting party the members of these two septs failed to kill any-
thing but pigeons and lizards, so they were called after the names of these animals.
I he twelfth sept, the Bedea, was left behind and lost when the Santals went up out
°» Champa. They had no father, so the story goes—at least the mother of their
"rst ancestor could not say who his father was, and for this reason they were
deemed of lower rank than the other septs. This sept is believed to have arisen
during the time of Mando Singh in Champa when the Santals had begun to come
ln contact with the Hindus. Some Santals say the father was a Rajput and the
pother a girl of the Kisku sept. There would be nothing antecedently improbable
II the conjecture that the well-known gypsy tribe of Bedea may owe its origin to
. e haison of a Rajput with a Santfd girl ; but the mere resemblance of the names
»a slender foundation for any such hypothesis. Santals are very particular about
lhc honour of their women, so far at least as outsiders are concerned, and it is
cll'ite in keeping with their ideas that a sept formed by a liaison with a Hindu
should have been looked down upon, and eventually banished from the community.
ny way it seems to be clear that the legend need not be taken to indicate the
prevalence of the custom of female kinship in the tribe.
No Santal may marry within his sept (pan's), nor within any of the sub-septs
\*nUnt) (shown below) into which the sept is divided. He may marry into any
°"ler sept, including the sept to which his mother belonged. A Santal proverb
'ays:-—N0 onc nee(js a cow track or regards his mother's sept.
Although no regard is paid in marriage to the mother's sept, the Santals have
Precisely the same rule as the Kandhs concerning the sub-sept or khnnt. A man
.nay not marry into the sub-sept or khunt to which his mother belonged, though
ls doubtful whether the Santals observe this rule for as many generations in the
Ascending line as is customary among the Kandhs. Many of the sub-septs have
urious traditional usages, some of which may be mentioned here. At the time
'he harvest festival in January the members of the Sidup-Saren sub-sept set up
a sheaf of rice on^end in the doorway of their cattle-sheds. This sheaf they may
t °i! l?Ucri themselves, but some one belonging to another sub-sept must be got to
ke it away. Men of the Sada-Saren sub-sept do not use vermilion in their
arriage ritual; they may not wear clothes with a red border on such occasions,