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82-646: Ghoraghat was established in the time of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji (see Blochmanu's Contr., J.A.S,1873, p. 215, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri , p. 156, Ain-i-Akbari , Vol. II, p. 135 and Vol. I, p. 370). After the historical conquest of Nabadwip from Lakshman Sen in 1203 and the conquest of principal city Gaur , Ikhtiyar al-Dīn Muḥammad Khalji left the town of Devkot in 1206 to attack Tibet , leaving Ali Mardan Khalji in Ghoraghat. The old Musalman military outpost of Deocote or Devkot near Gangarampur

164-463: A mortgage on their land. When the Santals were unable to pay the moneylenders back, they became owners of the land and the Santals became dispossessed landless peasants. The Baniya merchants and other outsiders also began to treat Santals as outcastes in a Brahminical system. Eventually, these acts of exploitation , combined with British tax policies and corrupt tax collectors, deteriorated to

246-503: A 5000 km area, called Santal Parganas , where the normal procedures of British India did not apply. Administration of the community was primarily made the responsibility of the village headman, or pradhan, who was also given the power to collect taxes. It was made illegal for Santals to transfer land to non-Santals, allowing them to have legal rights over their land. After the British Crown formally took control over India in 1858,

328-491: A cave, where they stayed for the rest of their days. The children of these seven couples became the progenitors of the Santal clans. A characteristic feature of a Santal village is a sacred grove (known as Jaher ) on the edge of the village where many spirits live and where a series of annual festivals take place. This grove is set aside in the founding of the village and left undisturbed except at times of festival. Inside

410-611: A common ancestor, no more than a few generations back, that live nearby. The khunti is identified by some distinguishing feature of the ancestor, such as poeta , people who wear a thread on their chest in worship. In many cases, all the people of a gusti live in their ancestral village, but some members may have migrated to neighbouring villages. Sohrai is the principal festival of Santal community. Besides that Baha , Karam , Dashain , Sakrat, Mahmore, Rundo and Magsim are important festivals. They traditionally accompany many of their dances during these festivals with two drums:

492-399: A group of men from the bride's village, including the jog majhi , headman, village elders, and the bride's father and some relations, arrives at the bride's village. They are seated at the headman's house with respect and organized by marang or hudin status. Meanwhile, the groom's family gathers to discuss the bride price the groom's father should pay. The two parties then meet and

574-421: A relationship exemplified by the couple's parents, or sangat , between cross-siblings of a couple. Santal society has much less stratification and is more egalitarian than adjacent caste Hindu society, but still has some status differences. The most important marker of a person when interacting with others in Santal society is their standing as marang ("senior") or hudin ("junior"). This standing

656-531: A senior clan do not marry members of a junior clan, and there are some forbidden marriages as well, such as between Marandi and Kisku. In addition, Besras are sometimes treated differently due to their perceived low status, but other than the context of marriage, they play no role in social life. The clans also avoid harming their clan totem, lest evil befall them. The Santals have another social organisation important for rituals, called khunti , or gusti in south Chota Nagpur. The term refers to descendants of

738-621: A time came upon the daughters, who had become maidens and were unrecognisable. They became introduced and made love. Looking for his sons, Pilchu Haram discovered an old woman and asked for fire, and upon talking to her more, he discovered his wife and reconciled with her. Another version tells how Pilchu Budhi was in fact in tears at her daughters' disappearance, but Marang Buru reassured her that they were all safe and brought her to reconcile with her husband. When their sons found out they had married their sisters, they were very angry and would have killed their parents if Marang Buru had not hidden them in

820-453: A total area of 148.67 km. According to the 2011 Census of Bangladesh , Ghoraghat Upazila had 30,077 households and a population of 117,740. 25,404 (21.58%) were under 10 years of age. Ghoraghat had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 45.98%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 996 females per 1000 males. 23,554 (20.01%) lived in urban areas. Ethnic population was 7,801 (6.63%), of which Santal were 4,929. As of

902-796: A total population of 6,570,807 according to the 2011 Census of India . Of this population, 63.15% are reported as Hindu , 23% as Sarna , 7.28% as Sari Dharam (all in West Bengal), and 5.46% as Christian . Other minor religious affiliations include Bidin (27,602), Muslim (13,014), Santal (4,771), Sumra Sandhi (2,059), Sarvdharm (1,625), Buddhist (1,121), Adi Bassi (1,100), Sikh (987), Kharwar (385), Sant (356), Saran (352), Jain (348), Achinthar (273), Sarin (185), Marangboro (167), Saranath (157), Seran (125), Adi (84), and Alchichi (78). Additionally, 102 were Atheist , 331 were believers of Tribal religion , 1,123 followed other unclassified religions, and 16,974 did not state any religious affiliation. In

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984-483: Is phul , a ritual friendship with members of other ethnic groups. Children of phul brothers consider themselves as brothers, and they attend each other's main lifecycle events, such as weddings or funerals, as pera . They also give help in times of hardship. Those who do not have brotherhood are referred to as pera , or guests. Members of other communities, especially those not speaking Santali, are excluded from this grouping, except for communities such as

1066-502: Is common. Although spread out over a large area, they now consider the Santal Parganas as their cultural heartland. The base of Santal society is a division between "sibling" ( boeha ) and "guest" ( pera ), a divide found in many other tribal societies of central and eastern India. Children of the same father (sometimes grandfather), known as nij boeha , often live next to each other and own adjacent pieces of land. Those in

1148-402: Is encouraged in children from a young age. However the hudin - marang distinction does not apply to phul or bala , who instead greet each other as if greeting a marang . The Santals also have totemistic clans , known as pari . These 12 clans are divided into two ranks: 7 senior and 5 junior. The senior clans are believed to originate from the 7 sons and daughters of

1230-462: Is evaluated by relation: for example, is someone is greeting their father's elder brother's son, they would be the junior irrespective of age. Similarly, when someone greets their elder brother's wife, the wife would be marang . However, for strangers or guests with no clear kin connections, the question of marang or hudin is decided by age. The ritual greeting ( god in Santali) of someone

1312-412: Is generally light and it is seen wrong to stop two young people from marrying because of a disagreement about bride price. After an agreement is reached, celebrations ensue and festive drinking continues into the night. A short time afterwards, a relative of the groom along with the jog majhi of the groom 's village hand over the bride price to the bride 's family. Afterwards the couple arrive in

1394-402: Is given much importance and is done in the courtyard of a house when a pera visits. The greeting differs by gender, and whether the person is junior or senior to the one being greeted. The greeting rituals given by a hudin involve an "offering" ( dobok' johar ) of respect, while a marang "receives" this respect. This greeting should not be done hastily, and correct practice of it

1476-696: Is most likely derived from an exonym. The term refers to inhabitants of Saont in erstwhile Silda in Medinapore region in West Bengal. The Sanskrit word Samant or Bengali Saont means plain land. Their ethnonym is Hor Hopon ("child of human"). According to linguist Paul Sidwell , Austro-Asiatic language speakers probably arrived on coast of Odisha from Indochina about 4,000–3,500 years ago ( c.  2000  – c.  1500 BCE). The Austroasiatic speakers spread from Southeast Asia and mixed extensively with local Indian populations. Due to

1558-589: Is often termed as the Red Corridor . After Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, the Santal Parganas was made a separate division of the state. These Santals have also agitated for recognition of their traditions in the census as a separate religion, sarna dharam , for which Jharkhand assembly passed a resolution in 2020. Many still face poverty and exploitation, and in Bangladesh, theft of their lands

1640-520: Is set a series of natural (uncut) stones which represent the bongas, but are not substitutes except during festival. The Majhi Than , a raised mound of earth covered with a thatched roof outside the headman's house, is where the Majhi's ancestors' spirits live. During the summer, a jug of water is placed there so the spirits can drink. Here the most important decisions of the village are made, including judgements. A yearly round of rituals connected with

1722-1192: Is subdivided into 9 wards and 29 mahallas . Former Member of parliament: Shibli Sadique . Average literacy 26.1%; male 32.8%, female 19.2%. Educational institutions: colleges 8, secondary schools 18, primary schools 53, Brac schools 29, kindergartens 2, madrasas 34. Noted educational institutions: Ghoraghat Govt. College (1984), Ghoraghat Women Degree College (1994), Raniganj Mahila College (1994), Dugdugirhat Technical College (2003), Raniganj Bilateral High School (1945), Chatsal Secondary School (1946), Balahar Secondary School (1958), Balagari' Secondary School (1966), Gopalpur Secondary School (1972), Krishnarampur Fazil Madrasa (1946), Deogaon Rahmania Senior Madrasa (1947), Nurjahanpur R.M.C.High School (1996), K.C. Pilot High school and College, R.C. Pilot Girlhigh School, Ghoraghat Dakhil Madrasa, Shah Ismail Ghazi Girlhigh School, Ghoraghat Govt. Primary School, Dakshin Joydebpur Govt. Primary school." Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī , also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji ,

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1804-453: The Majhi Than , the bride thanks the headman for all he has done and gives a symbolic gift. The headman then blesses the couple and wishes the bride strength, good luck and many strong sons. The couple then leaves for the groom's village to start their new life. Marriages done by kesimek' involve very little ritual: Santal society has clearly defined roles for marriage, and the choice of

1886-411: The 1991 Bangladesh census , Ghoraghat had a population of 84279. Males constituted 51.01% of the population, and females 48.99%. This Upazila's eighteen up population is 43913. Ghoraghat has an average literacy rate of 26.1% (7+ years), and the national average of 32.4% literate. Santals , Mall Pahari, Bunna and Oraon are the indigenous groups living here for centuries. It is one of the region which

1968-736: The British Raj , are not considered Scheduled Tribes. Instead, they are classified as Other Backward Class in Assam, and the remaining population living in other states is considered part of the general population . The inclusion in Schedule Tribe list have been opposed by respective states and tribal activists organization following Sixth Scheduled autonomy, such as the Coordination Committee of Tribal Organizations of Assam (CCTOA). The organisation feared up that granting Scheduled Tribe status to

2050-602: The Chota Nagpur Plateau like the Kharia , Munda , and Oraon . Smaller and more isolated tribes often demonstrate less articulated classification systems of the spiritual hierarchy described as animism or a generalised worship of spiritual energies connected with locations, activities, and social groups. Religious concepts are intricately entwined with ideas about nature and interaction with local ecological systems. As in Santal religion, religious specialists are drawn from

2132-606: The Indian subcontinent . Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha , Bihar , Assam and Tripura . They are the largest ethnic minority in northern Bangladesh's Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division . They have a sizeable population in Nepal . The Santals speak Santali , the most widely spoken Munda languages of Austroasiatic language family. Santal

2214-460: The Karmakar , Mahali or Lohar of their locality, who are enmeshed in Santal society. Those with this relationship can marry, and attend major festivals as guests. People related by marriage, although pera , have special roles in life-cycle events. Women perform special welcome rituals for pera when they visit. Those related by marriage can have one of two relationships. They can be bala ,

2296-554: The octogenarian emperor Lakshmana Sena at the helm, the Sena dynasty was in a state of decline and could not provide much resistance. As Khalji came upon the city of Nabadwip , it is said that he advanced so rapidly that only 18 horsemen from his army could keep up. The small horde entered the city unchallenged and took the emperor and his army by shock. This caused Lakhsmana Sena to flee with his retainers to east Bengal. Khalji subsequently went on to capture Gauda (ancient Lakhnauti),

2378-493: The 19 sarkars of Bengal Subah , resulting from Raja Todar Mal 's fiscal reorganisation of the province. Sarkar Ghoraghat comprised present-day southern Rangpur District , southeastern Dinajpur District , and northern Bogra District . It had 84 mahals in its territory, of which Irfan Habib was able to locate 24. The town of Ghoraghat was one of these; the Ain lists it as Balda Nuṣratābad , or "the town of Nuṣratābad" (Nuṣratābad

2460-522: The Murang, and the Imperialists stormed Kuch-Behar town, and named it Alamgirnagar . Ghoraghat thana was established in 1895 and was turned into an upazila in 1984. It was primarily founded as a thana in 1895 and converted into an upazila in 1984. Ghoraghat is located at 25°14′45″N 89°13′00″E  /  25.2458°N 89.2167°E  / 25.2458; 89.2167 . It has 17535 house holds and

2542-546: The Paharia's guerrilla attacks, managed to drive them out. They clear the forest tracts and started cultivation in these areas. Their settlement took place between the 1830s and 1850s: in 1830, the area was home to only 3,000 Santals, but by the 1850s, 83,000 Santals had settled in the land and had turned it into paddy fields. This resulted in a 22 times increase in Company revenue from the area. However, as they became more agricultural,

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2624-468: The Santal Parganas to the districts of Bihar and North Bengal such as Purnia, Malda and Dinajpur. The Santals still faced retaliation after the Santal Hul and were invited by zamindars to cultivate many parts of north Bengal, which had become scrubland, land which the Santals specialized in farming. By the 1930s, their numbers in this region the Santals had become two lakh. Most were settled on wasteland where

2706-645: The Santal and other 40 migrated tribal communities will squeeze up the benefits of natives , the "original tribal people" of the state. The Santhal people believe in nature worship , and their place of worship is in sacred groves known as Jaher and Sarna , in contrast to Hindu places of worship in temples . They also perform animal sacrifices to honor their gods and accept flesh, including beef and pork , practices that are generally prohibited in Hinduism . Thus they consider themselves believers of Sari and Sarna religion rather than Hinduism. Although there

2788-401: The Santal community, each with its own degree of social acceptance. The most elaborate kind of marriage is the hapramko bapla , or ancestor's marriage, but the most widely practiced is kesimek' . In this form of marriage, a boy and girl who wish to marry decide to go to the groom's house and stay there a while. When the girl's family are made aware of their situation, the jog majhi of

2870-510: The Santal religion, the majority of reverence falls on a court of spirits ( bonga ), who handle different aspects of the world and who are placated with prayers and offerings. These benevolent spirits operate at the village, household, ancestor, and sub-clan level, along with evil spirits that cause disease and can inhabit village boundaries, mountains, water, tigers, and the forest. The bonga are intermediaries between noa puri (visible world) and hana puri (the invisible reality),

2952-495: The Santals continued their system of government and traditions. Newly established Christian missions brought education, and many Santals moved to the tea plantations in Assam , North Bengal , where they still remain today. However, most continued with their old life, but were still not prosperous. In addition, secular education did not become widespread until after Indian independence. In the late 19th century, many Santals migrated from

3034-613: The Santals once had a significant presence in Hazaribagh . Colonial scholar Colonel Dalton claimed in Chai there was a fort formerly occupied by a Santal raja who was forced to flee when the Delhi Sultanate invaded the territory. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Santals entered the historical record in 1795 when they are recorded as "Soontars." During the Bengal Famine of 1770 ,

3116-667: The Santals provided significant support to the Tebhaga movement . After the Pakistani military crushed the uprising and burned many Santal homes, many fled across the border to Malda in India. In northern West Bengal , tribal peasants participated in Naxalbari uprising led by a Santal communist leader Jangal Santhal . The impoverishment has led to the Guevarist inspired Naxalite insurgency in what

3198-514: The Santals were exploited by the zamindars . Unlike the Santals, the British valued individual competition instead of cooperation, and had a rigid system of laws very different from the relatively relaxed norms of the village council, the highest form of government most Santals knew. Mahajans from Bengal and Baniyas from Bihar began selling goods from elsewhere, and many Santals, seeing them as exotic, were tricked into debt to buy them, usually with

3280-558: The Sultan of Delhi Qutb al-Din Aibak to invade Bengal, who sent an army under Qayemaz Rumi, the governor of Awadh , to dethrone Shiran Khalji. Shiran fled to Dinajpur where he later died. Ghiyas-ud-din Iwaz Khalji assisted the invasion and assumed the governorship of Bengal in 1208. But shortly after, he yielded power to Ali Mardan willingly, when the latter returned from Delhi in 1210. However,

3362-605: The Tamak‘ and the Tumdak’. Chadar Badar , a form of puppetry known also as Santal puppetry, is a folk show involving wooden puppets placed in a small cage which acts as the stage. Local affairs are handled by a village council , led by a manjhi . The walls of traditional Santal homes are ornamented with carved designs of animals, hunting scenes, dancing scenes, and geometric patterns . Santal bridal palanquins are also finely carved. There are seven kinds of marriage recognized in

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3444-551: The abode of a Creator. This creator is variously called Marang Buru (Supreme Deity or literally The Great Mountain) or Thakur Jiu (life giver), and is the "cause of all causes," making the Santal religion, in a deep sense, monotheistic as well as pantheistic. There are several ranks of bongas : the most important are associated intimately with Marang Buru and are worshipped by all Santals. These include Marang Buru bonga , Jaher Era bonga and Gosae Era . Other bongas , who are held to be less powerful, are

3526-605: The actual Buddhist sites were already abandoned or in declining state. His rule is said to have begun the Muslim rule in Bengal, most notably those of Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal . Bakhtiyar launched an ill-fated Tibet campaign in 1206 and was assassinated upon returning to Bengal. He was succeeded by Muhammad Shiran Khalji . Bakhtiyar Khalji was born and raised in Garmsir , Helmand , in present-day southern Afghanistan . He

3608-459: The agricultural cycle, along with life-cycle rituals for birth, marriage and burial at death, involves petitions to the spirits and offerings that include the sacrifice of animals, usually birds. Religious leaders are male specialists in medical cures who practice divination and witchcraft (the socio-historic meaning of the term, used here, refers to the ritual practice of magic and is not pejorative). Similar beliefs are common among other tribes on

3690-403: The appeasement of evil spirits or as representing bongas as exclusively harmful. However bonga in itself simply means a supernatural force in the world and has no specific connotation with good or evil. Moreover, these bongas do not refer to specific objects but to the invisible force that governs or is associated with those objects. The Santal creation story holds that originally the world

3772-415: The beginning of the 13th century. He subjugated much of Bihar in 1200. His invasions destroyed the university establishments at Odantapuri , Vikramashila Mahaviras. Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani's Tabaqat-i Nasiri documents Bakhtiyar Khalji's sack of a Buddhist monastery, which the author equates in his description with a city he calls "Bihar", from the soldiers' use of the word vihara . According to

3854-409: The boy's family is consulted for the best day for the kesimek' . The bride and groom are not bound by any obligation to marry. During this time, the jog majhi stays in the village to give all the information he can to the bride's father: both in determining what would be a good bride price to demand and whether the marriage might end in a short time. On the day of the kesimek' ceremony,

3936-427: The bride's natal village. The bride arriving first carrying a pot with white clay, the symbol of a woman returning to her natal village as a guest. The bride greets her mother first and neighbours are invited to share handi reserved for pera ( pera hor handi ), while getting acquainted with the husband. When the couple leaves the bride's village, the bride pays her respects to the headman in his courtyard. At

4018-400: The capital and the principal city of Bengal and intruded into much of Bengal. Muhammad Bakhtiyar's rule was related by Minhaj al-Siraj , as he visited Bengal about 40 years later: After Muhammad Bakhtiyar possessed himself of that territory he left the city of Nudiah in desolation, and the place which is (now) Lakhnauti he made the seat of government. He brought the different parts of

4100-454: The closest form of brotherhood, called mit orak hor ("people of one house") in Singhbhum, cannot marry each other and propitiate the same deity, since the house refers to a common ancestor from which all the families are believed to descend. Only mit orak hor marriages are severely stigmatised. Another brotherhood is membership of a clan, which are exogamous. The last form of brotherhood

4182-428: The couple is respected. Decisions by the families are done in a spirit of consensus rather than adversarially, and marriage is seen just as important for the entire village as for the couple. Religion among Santal people of Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Tripura The Santal are granted Scheduled Tribe status in five states: Bihar , West Bengal , Jharkhand , Odisha , and Tripura , where they account for

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4264-628: The drier western and southwestern parts of Bengal, especially the Jungle Mahals region, were some of the worst-hit areas and were significantly depopulated. This depopulation resulted in a significant loss of revenue for the East India Company . Therefore, when the Permanent Settlement was enacted in 1790, the Company looked for agriculturalists to clear the lands. British officials turned their attention to Santals, who were ready to clear

4346-500: The early 17th-century Buddhist scholar Taranatha , the invaders massacred many monks at Odantapuri, and destroyed Vikramashila. Historians Satish Chandra , Mohammad Habib and others have directly or indirectly implicated Bakhtiyar in the destruction of the Mahaviharas in their writings, but others like D.N. Jha and Namit Arora have reasoned that those sites may not have been destroyed by him. In 1203, Khalji invaded Bengal. With

4428-728: The eastern frontier from his headquarters at Barisal . Bakhtiyar Khalji's forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Tibetan guerrilla forces at Chumbi Valley , which forced him to retreat to Devkot with only about a hundred surviving soldiers. This was first and shameful defeat of Khalji. As Bakhtiyar Khalji lay ill and exhausted in Devkot after defeated by Tibetans, he was assassinated by Ali Mardan Khalji. The Khalji noblemen then appointed Muhammad Shiran Khalji as Bakhtiyar's successor. Loyal troops under Shiran Khalji and Subedar Aulia Khan avenged Ikhtiyar's death, imprisoning Ali Mardan Khalji. Eventually Ali Mardan fled to Delhi and provoked

4510-449: The fathers negotiate the bride price to be paid. The groom is first asked whether he wishes the marriage to continue. As a symbolic marriage contract , the groom 's father gives a small amount of cash and gives handi (rice-beer) to the guests. The negotiations for bride-price continue between the fathers exclusively until an amount is reached. Although this is nowadays in cash, livestock or other goods are not uncommon. The bride price

4592-404: The first man and woman, and in order of seniority they are: Hansda (goose), Murmu ( Nilgai ), Marandi ( Ischaemum rugosum ), Kisku (kingfisher), Soren ( Pleiades ), Hembram ( betel palm ) and Tudu (owl). The junior clans are Baskey or Baske (stale rice), Besra ( falcon ), Chorey or Chonre (lizard), Pauria or Pawria (pigeon) and Bediya. Members of

4674-555: The forest for the practice of settled agriculture. In 1832, a large number of area of the Raj Mahal hills demarcated as Damin-i-koh . Santal from Cuttack , Dhalbhum , Birbhum , Manbhum , Hazaribagh migrated and started cultivating these lands as peasants sponsored by landowners and the British who were desperate for labour. Under British direction, Santals took loans from non-Santal moneylenders to buy iron tools, seed grain and oxen as individuals and families, rather than groups as

4756-407: The girl's village arrives at the house of the headman of the boy's village to discover the couple's intentions. The couple are summoned to the village headman and the bride is asked whether she wishes to set a date for kesimek' . If she replies 'no', the boy's family will have to pay a small fine to the jog majhi of the girl's village, who would take the girl back to her father. If she assents,

4838-516: The grievances of Santals of North Bengal. The Santal community, like the others of the region, was split between West Bengal in India and East Bengal in Pakistan during Partition. After independence, the Santals were made one of the Scheduled Tribes in India. In East Pakistan, there were some regions in the west where Santals were still in significant numbers. There and in neighbouring West Bengal,

4920-612: The lack of significant archaeological records, the original homeland of the Santhals is not known with certainty. The folklore of the Santhals claims they came from Hihiri , which scholars have identified as Ahuri in Hazaribagh district . From there, they claim, they were pushed onto Chota Nagpur Plateau , then to Jhalda , Patkum and finally Saont, where they settled for good. According to Dalton, where they were renamed to Santal from cluster name Kharwar. This legend, which has been cited by several scholars, has been used as evidence that

5002-504: The latter, he was rejected due to his ugly appearance. Afterwards, he moved towards Badaun in present-day Uttar Pradesh , where he obtained his first employment. Accounts differ regarding who initially took Bakhtiyar into his service. Bakhtiyar did not come from an obscure background. His uncle Muhammad bin Mahmud had fought in the Second Battle of Tarain against Prithviraja III . Mahmud

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5084-455: The minor Gahadavala chiefs in the region of present-day Uttar Pradesh and from there raided Maner and Bihar where he looted a large amount of booty. These successful raids increased Bakhtiyar's fame and many Khaljis joined in his service. Qutb ud-Din Aibak also honoured him. Khalji was head of the Ghurid military force that conquered parts of eastern India at the end of the 12th century and at

5166-586: The nobles of Bengal conspired against and assassinated Ali Mardan in 1212. Iwaj Khalji assumed power again and proclaimed his independence from the Delhi sultanate. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had the Khutbah read and coins struck in his name. Mosques, madrasas , and khanqahs arose through Bakhtiyar's patronage, and his example was imitated by his subordinates. Santal people The Santal (or Santhal ) are an Austroasiatic -speaking Munda ethnic group of

5248-511: The northern frontier district skirting Koch-Behar , numerous colonies of Afghan and Mughal chiefs were planted there under the feudal system, with large jagir lands under each. Bhim Narain, Rajah of Kuch Behar used to regularly pay tribute to the Emperor Shah Jahan , but that during the chaos which arose owing to Emperor's illness, and after the death of Sultan Shuja in February 1661 there

5330-517: The point where Santals grew discontented. In 1855, they revolted in the Santal rebellion , better known as the Santal Hul . 30,000 Santals, led by Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu , attacked the zamindars and other outsiders ( dikkus ) who had made their lives so miserable, as well as the British authorities. Eventually, around 10,000 British troops managed to suppress the rebellion. Although the rebellion's impact

5412-413: The rent was cheaper than the more fertile wet lands. However they faced heavy taxation from the zamindars, and were oppressed by moneylenders, upper castes, and the bureaucracy in general. In 1924, several Santal sardars, influenced by Gandhian ideology and led by Jitu Sardar, began to lead agitations against the oppressive double system of elite Bengalis and British government. Santals stopped paying rent to

5494-498: The spirits of important people of the village who have since been deified. There is also another class of bongas who are feared as bringers of evil. These spirits are not placated by a priest but by a medicine-man called ojha . In the present-day, belief in these malignant bongas is eroding due to the penetration of modern medical science. The lack of a separate name for malignant bongas caused many early colonial scholars to present Santal religion as wholly focused on

5576-510: The spirits with the bodies, they flew away and asked for a place to build a nest. Marang Buru could not get anyone else to bring land to the surface, and so the tortoise volunteered and pushed the Earth onto his back. The birds then gave birth to a boy and a girl called Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi . These two had seven sons and seven daughters, but the couple soon had a quarrel and separated. Pilchu Haram and his sons became great hunters, and on

5658-477: The territory under his sway, and instituted therein, in every part, the reading of the khutbah , and the coining of money; and, through his praiseworthy endeavours, and those of his Amirs , masjids [mosques], colleges, and monasteries (for Dervishes ), were founded in those parts. Bakhtiyar Khalji left the town of Devkot in 1206 to attack Tibet, leaving Ali Mardan Khalji in Ghoraghat Upazila to guard

5740-583: The traditional Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India. In Bengal, Khalji's reign was responsible for the displacement of Buddhism. The leading centre of teaching for Mahayana Buddhism was Nalanda . At the end of the 12th century, Bakhityar Khilji demolished the Monastery in a brutal sacking. But some historians don't agree and reason that Bakhtiyar's attacks weren't on the Buddhist viharas, and

5822-509: The village or family and serve a wide range of spiritual functions that focus on placating potentially dangerous spirits and co-ordinating rituals. The Santhal people are constitutionally designated as Scheduled Tribes only in Fifth Schedule areas , such as Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Tripura. While the Santals, who migrated from Fifth Schedule areas to Sixth Schedule areas , specifically to Assam as tea garden laborers during

5904-478: The zamindars, beat up revenue inspectors, and led agitations against the moneylenders. In 1928, the Santals stopped paying the chaukidari tax and led protests in Thakurgaon in 1929. In 1932, several Santals attempted to organise their own state with Jitu Sardar as head, initially based on Gandhi's Ram Rajya but quickly criticised Gandhi when he did not help them. In 1933, a British commissioner was appointed to look into

5986-567: Was a Turko-Afghan military general of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor , who led the Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal and parts of Bihar and established himself as their ruler. He was the founder of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal , ruling Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE. Khalji's invasions of the Indian subcontinent between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and massacres of monks, and caused damage to

6068-476: Was anarchy in the region. Bhim Narain became daring and refused to pay tribute and with a large force attacked Ghoraghat. In the same year (on 17th Rabiul-Awwal 1072 A.H) the Khan-i-Khinan ( Muazzam Khan ) set out from Khizrpur (which has been identified to be a place close to Narayanganj ) with war-vessels, for the conquest of Koch-Behar. The Rajah (Bhim Narain) fled to Bhutan , his minister Bholanath fled to

6150-610: Was another name for Ghoraghat at the time). A second mahal, called Bari Ghorāghāṭ , comprised the rural district around the city. The Ain lists Balda Nuṣratābad with an assessed revenue of 336,445 dams and Bari Ghorāghāṭ with a revenue of 165,827 dams. Later it became Chakla of Ghoraghat. The Sarkar produced much raw silk, revenue Rs.202,077. After the battle of Patna, 982 A.H.(1574 AD), when Daud retired to Orissa , (Badaoni, p. 184, Vol. II), his generals Kalapahar and Babu Mankli proceeded to Ghoraghat, (Badaoni, p. 192). Akbar's general, Majnun Khan, died at Ghoraghat. Being

6232-501: Was in this Sarkar. As soon as the Muslims had made themselves masters of Gaur, they established two frontier posts, one at Dumdumma, on the bank of river Punarbhaba and another at Ghoraghat. A mosque in Dumdumma bears an inscription recording that it was built by Zafar Khan Bahram Iztin in the reign of Kai Kaos Shah in the year 697 A.H.(1297 AD). The Ain-i-Akbari lists Ghoraghat as one of

6314-654: Was largely overshadowed by that of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the impact of the Santhal Rebellion lives on as a turning point in Santhal pride and identity. This was reaffirmed, over a century and a half later with the creation of the tribal province in the Republic of India , Jharkhand . Following the rebellion, the British satisfied all Santhal demands, due to their importance as a tax-paying group. The British created

6396-547: Was later honoured with the iqta of Kashamandi. After the death of his uncle, the iqta was passed to Bakhtiyar. However, Bakhtiyar did not stay in Kashamndi for long. He approached the commander of Benaras , Husamudin Aghul Bek, who was impressed with his gallantry and bestowed on him the iqtas of Bhagwat and Bhilui (present-day Mirzapur district). In his early career, before the expeditions in Bengal and Bihar , Bakhtiyar displaced

6478-683: Was member of the Khalaj tribe, which was originally of Turkic origin. After being settled in south-eastern Afghanistan for over 200 years , it led to the creation of the Pashtun Ghilji tribe, with Bakhtiyar seen as a Turko-Afghan . Later in the Khalji Revolution , the Khaljis faced discrimination and were looked down upon by other Turks for Afghan barbarians. Bakhtiyar during his early years went in search of employment to Ghazni and Delhi . At

6560-574: Was selected for implementation of development project called Santal Development Project (SDP). Agriculture 68.64%, non-agricultural labourer 2.84%, industry 0.50%, commerce 12.95%, transport and communication 2.91%, service 4.35%, construction 0.53%, religious service 0.13%, rent and remittance 0.07% and others 7.08%. UNO : Md. Rafiqul Islam. Ghoraghat Upazila is divided into Ghoraghat Municipality and four union parishads : Bulakipur, Ghoraghat, Palsa, and Singra. The union parishads are subdivided into 115 mauzas and 102 villages. Ghoraghat Municipality

6642-455: Was their custom for working the land. When they arrived in Damin-i-koh (present day Santal Pargana ), the British provided no protection for the Santals against the preexisting Mal Paharias , who were against destruction of forest, were known raiders of the plains areas and had only recently been partially "pacified". Eventually, the Santals, with their better technology and ability to match

6724-422: Was water, and Marang Buru and some lesser deities were the only inhabitants. When some spirits requested permission to make humans, Marang Buru asked Malan Budhi to create the human bodies. When she had finally succeeded, she was told by Marang Buru to use the human spirits that were high on the rafters of his hut. She could not reach the human spirit, and took the bird spirit instead. When Marang Buru integrated

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