Santals.: Santali is the most important of all the Munda languages. About 75 percent of all Mundas have been returned under that form of speech. The total number of speakers is about 1.75 million people.

Name Of The Language. Santali literally means 'the language of the Santals.' 'Santal' is the name applied by foreigners to the tribe which has given its name to the Sonthal Parganas. Santal is, according to Mr.Skrefsrud, a corruption of Saotal or Saotar, the common name of the tribe used by Bengalis.The forms Santal and Sontal are only used by natives who have come into contact with Europeans. He derives the name from Saot in Midnapore where the tribe is supposed to have been settled for several generations. The ' Soontarrs' are mentioned as a wild and unlettered tribe as early as 1798. Santals call themselves harko men or har hapan, "man child." When asked about their rname and caste they usually apply the title Manjhi  headman, to themselves. Their language has therefore sometimes been reported under various names such as Har, Har Har i.e. the speech of the Hars, Manjhi and so forth. Outsiders often also use Pharsi or Parsi  as a denomination of this form of speech. In Murshidabad the language is locally known as Jangali, 'forest language,' or Paharia, 'mountain-language.' In Bankura and Morbhanj it has been reported as Thar, i.e. language (That is 'the foreign language'), and in Bankura some speakers were returned in the Survey estimates under the head of Khera or Kara . It is, however, now reported that no such dialect exists in the district. The so-called Khara Khara of the Sonthal Parganas are related to the Jadopatias. They are semi-Hinduized aboriginals.All these secondary names are based on misunderstandings or on considerations which have nothing to do with language. They will, therefore, be discarded in the following pages, and the language will be styled Santali throughout.

Original Home.  According to Santali traditions, the tribe was once united with what are now the Mundaris, the Hos, and other small tribes. They assert that in those old times they were called Kherwars. There traditional tales contain allusions to old wanderings from the west. These wanderings have probably taken place in relatively modern time. According to Mr. Risley, it is clear that a large and important Santal colony was once settled in parganas Chai and Champa in Hazaribagh. The same authority further remarks: 'A tradition is noticed by Colonel Dalton of an old fort in Chai occupied by one Jaura, a Santal Raja, who destroyed himself and his family on hearing of the approach of a Muhammadan army under Sayyid Ibrahim Ali alias malik Baya`, a general of Muhammad Tughlak's, who died in 1353. This tradition, so far as it refers to the existence of a Santal fort in Chai Champa, is to some extent corroborated by the following passage from the legends of the Southern Santals collected by the Rev. J. Phillips, and published in Appendix. to Annals of Rural Bengal, ed. 1868: "Dwelling there (in Chai Champa) they greatly multiplied. There were two gates, the Ahin gate and the Bahini gate, to the fort of Chai Champa." If moreover, the date of the taking of this fort by Ibrahim Ali were assumed to be about 1340 A.D., the subsequent migrations of which the tribal legends apeak would fill up the time intervening between the departure of the santals from Chai Champa and their settlement in the present Santal Parganas. Speaking generally, these recent migrations have been to the east, which is the direction they might have been expected to follow. The earliest settlements which Santal tradition speaks of, those in Ahiri Pipri and Chai Champa, lie on the north-western frontier of the table-land of Hazaribagh and in the direct line of advance of the numerous Hindu immigrants from Behar. That the influx of Hindus has in fact driven the Santals eastward is beyond doubt, and the line which they are known to have followed in their retreat corresponds on the whole with that attributed to them to them in their tribal legends.'From Hazaribagh the Santals are stated to have wandered into Monbhum, and, further, into the Sonthal Parganas. This explanation of the traditional legends agrees well with the fact that scattered settlements of Santals are still found all over Hazaribagh.  Mr. Skrefsrud, it is true, thinks that the traditionary wanderings have taken place in a very remote past. According to him they imply an old immigration into India from the north-west while Colonel Dalton explains themas referring to an ancient wandering from Assam. A good deal of the traditional accounts are concerned with the time previous to the stay at Chae Champa. All places in which they are supposed to have lived, from Hihiri Hipiri to their present home, are mentioned, and also some names from the most remote antiquity. They are always repeated at the chacho chhatiar, the ceremony performed when a person is admitted as a member of grown up society. It seems to me that Mr. Risley is right in refusing to attach high antiquity to the Santal traditions. They are apparently influenced from various sources.

Present Home. Santali is spoken over a strip of country extending for about 300 miles from the Ganges in the north to the Baitarani in the south. It comprises the south of Bhagalpur and Monghyr; thewest of Birbhum and Burdwan; almost the whole of Bankura; the western corner of Midnapore; the greater portion of Morbhanj and Nilgiri; the north-west of Balasore; the north-east of Keonjhar; Dalbhum; Sarai Kala; Kharsawan; Manbhum; the Sonthal Parganas, and the east of Hazaribagh. There are further scattered settlements in the south-west of Murshidabad, in the central parts of the 24-Parganas, in the jungles in the south of Dinajpur and the adjoining tracts of Malda, Rajshahi, and Bogra, and in the south-west of Rangpur. Non-resident immigrants have further brought the language to Jalpaiguri and to Assam, where the Santals are occupied as coolies in the tea-gardens. Santali is nowhere the only language, and only in the Sonthal Parganas is it the principal one. Minor Munda dialects are found side by side with Santali, and Aryan tribes have, generally speaking, occupied the plains, just as the Santals themselves have formerly ousted the Malto tribe from the lowlands and valleys and have confined them to the higher lands and the hills.

Dialects. Santali is a remarkably uniform language. There are only two dialects, and even these do not differ much from the standard form of speech. They are the so-called Karmali, spoken by the Kalha tribe in the Sonthal Parganas, Manbhum and Hazaribagh, and the dialect of the Mahles in the central and southern portion of the Sonthal Parganas and the adjoining parts of Birbhum and Manbhum. Both will be separately dealt with below. Santali has, to some extent, been influenced by the neighbouring Aryan languages. This influence is, however, mainly confined to the vocabulary, though we can also see how Aryan suffixes and Aryan syntax are beginning to make themselves felt, and some of the most usual postpositions are perhaps Aryan. Broadly speaking, however, the structure and the general character of the language has remained unchanged. Bihari is the Aryan language which has most largely influenced Santali. In the east the language has now begun to come under the spell of Bengali, and in the south the influence of Oriya is traceable. The different sources from which words have been borrowed influence to some extent the form in which they are adopted. Thus the short a is retained in words borrowed from Bihari but is pronounced as an in case where the long has been made from Bengali. In this way a slight difference is produced in the Santali of the Bengali districts and that spoken in places where Bihari is the principal Aryan language. The influence of Bengaliis of a relatively modern date. On the other hand, it has of late years been gradually spreading. This difference between Bengali-Santali and Bihari-Santali, which only exists in a limited part of the vocabulary, cannot be seen from the specimens which follow. It would be necessary to have far more materials for comparison in order to account for it. The loss is not, however, great, the real language being the same in both cases.The purest Santali is spoken in the north, especially in the Sonthal Parganas and in Manbhum. The dialect spoken in Midnapore, Balasore, Singbhum, and the Orissa Tributary States is more mixed and shows signs of gradually yielding to Aryan influence.

Number Of Speakers. The number of speakers in those districts where Santal is spoken as a vernacular has been estimated as follows for the purpose of this survey: Burdwan 21,368 Birbhum 41,700 Bankura 96,911 Midnapore 118,062 Murshidabad 7,795 Monghyr 7,000 Bhagalpur 50,063 Sonthal Parganas 626,254 Balasore 893 Hazaribagh 72,535 Manbhum 144,820 Singbhum 59,212 Keonjhar 11,730 Morbhanj 154,806 Nilgiri 1,865 Sarai Kala 17,815 Kharsawan 2,957 Bonai 39------------Total 1,435,825

According to local estimates Santal was further spoken abroad in the following districts: Bengal Presidency-24-Parganas 18,868 Rajshahi 5,652 Dinajpur 28,148 Jalpaiguri 3,275 Rangpur 905 Bogra 4,910 Malda 25,000 Sarguja 16----Subtotal-86,774 Assam-Cachar Plains 2,162 Sylhet 3,950 Goalpara 1,000 Kamrup 140 Darrang 1,900 Nowgong 1,100 Sibsagar 4,250 Lakhimpur 4,700-----------Subtotal-19,202---------Total 105,976=======

By adding these figures we arrive at the following grand total for the language:Santali spoken at home 1,435,825 Santali spoken abroad 105,976------------Total 1,541,801========

The speakers in the 24-Parganas are immigrant settlers, mainly from Hazaribagh. Those in Rajshahi are immigrant settlers in the north, and those in Dinajpur immigrant settlers in the south. In Bogra the Santal are found as immigrant settlers in the west. In Malda, where they have settled in the east, they have only been in the district for about 20 years. The speakers in the other district are stated to be non-resident immigrants.The above figures include the speakers of the so-called Khera Kara in Bankura (429), of the so-called Manjhi in Keonjhar (26) and Morbhanj (1,551), of the so-called Thar in Bankura (123)and Morbhanj (1,306), and 39 speakers from the Bonai State who were reported to speak Tar,but regarding whom no further information has been available.

The revised figures for the two Santali dialects Karmali and Mahles will be give in detail later on. The total number of speakers has been put down at 44,060 for Karmali and 28,961 for Mahles. The grand total for Santali is accordingly as follows: Santali proper: 1,541,801 Karmali: 44,060 Mahles: 28,961----------Total 1,614,822.

At the last Census, of 1901, Santali was returned from the following districts:

Santali proper. Bengal Presidency-Burdwan 39,428 Birbhum 47,455 Bankura 98,521 Midnapore 146,018 Hooghly 9,061 Howrah 20524 -Parganas 3,655 Calcutta 4 Nadia 81 Murshidabad 12,508J essore 69 Khulna 83 Rajshahi 2,003 Dinajpur 64,767 Jalpaiguri 12,164 Darjeeling 1,608 Rangpur 5,025 Bagra 2,357 Pabna 252 Dacca 2 Faridpur 8 Chittagong 409 Chittagong Hill Tracts 74 Darbhanga 19 Monghyr 12,461 Bhagalpur 17,396 Purnea 5,315 Malda 37,398 Sonthal Parganas 648,847 Cuttack 1 Balasore 8,257 Puri 3 Hazaribagh 78,358 Ranchi 425 Palamau 362 Manbhum 181,687 Singbhum 74,595 Kuch Bihar 21 Orissa Tributary States 192,284 Chota Nagpur Tributary States 20,884 Hill Tippera 157----------Total Bengal Presidency 1,724,227 Assam-Cachar 2,147 Sylhet 4,241 Goalpara 1,950 Kamrup 426 Darrang 2,890 Nowgong 668. Sibsagar 9,579 Lakhimpur 7,968 Lushai Hills 190 North Cachar 52 Naga Hills 12 Khasi and Jaintia Hills  Manipur 1------------Total Assam 30,129

Karmali: 17,342 Mahles:  18,801----------Total 1,790,499

To this total must probably be added 4,614 speakers of Jangli who were returned from Assam.This would bring the total up to 1,795,133.