Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.6.6

c48.s6.6.6

The jungle section live on the produce of the forest with a little simple cultivation of the migratory sort. When any stranger settles within sight, they move off, a tendency welcomed by their neighbours, who regard them as the possessors of exceptional powers of magic, available against both man and beast. The largest of the Kōl communities is the Santāl, who call themselves, like the Muṇḍā, by a term signifying Headman of a village (Mānjhi). The tribe is not autochthonous in its present locality, though their immigration does not seem to have been from a greater distance than the south-east of the Cūtiā Nāgpur plateau. From thence they spread eastwards and northwards in succession, and peopled the Santāl Parganās about the middle of the 19th century. This eastward movement is still in progress, and the Sant marrying off their girls at a very early age. This practice is common enough amongst the aspiring families of the lower classes, but the remarkable feature in the new departure among the Santāls is that after a few years’ trial the practice was abandoned and the tribal custom of marriage in the teens was resumed.