On the Santals of south West Bengal, India.

The Book Affirms That The Creation Narratives Or Traditions Of All People In This Vast World Are An Attempt To Describe The Creator-Creation Relationship. To Ask Questions Like, Which Creation Narrative Gives Authentic Details In Order And Content Is Theologically An Irrelevant Question.

1. Asur 2. Baiga 3. Banjara 4. Bathudi 5. Bedia 6. Binjhia 7. Birhor 8. Birjia 9. Chero 10. Chik Baraik 11. Good 12. Gorait 13. Ho 14. Karmali 15. Kharia 16. Kharwar 17. Khond 18. Kisan 19. Kora 20. Korwa 21. Lohar 22. Mahli 23. Mal Paharia 24. Munda 25. Oraon 26. Parhaiya 27. Santal 28. Sauria Pahariya 29. Savar 30. Bhumij 31. Kol 32. Kanwar Conclusion Bibliography Index

The Unwritten Literary World of Tribal Communities is nothing but the Oral Literature or Folklore. It covers stories, legends, myths, song, dances, riddles, proverbs, metaphors and such other aspects of their culture which are in their memory and handed down from generation to generation. These sources of their literary world speak of their spiritual world and the eco-system. The older persons are the store house of of their oral literature and from these sources the literary world of theirs is disseminated among the youngsters. This book gives the folklore of four tribal communities namely, the Kharias, the Oraons, the Santals and the Mundas of Orissa. The Kharias are a hunting and food gathering community, the Oraons are noted for the dance and music and the Santals are well known as hard working cultivators and skilled in wall painting, and noted for their sense of beauty. The cultural patterns of these tribal communities and their life-ways and thought-ways are different from one another as revealed in the analysis of their oral literature. Even though they lead a life full of wants and difficulties, they are very labourious and joyful by virtue of which they forget their sorrows and miseries.

Originally published in 1999, David Ludden's book offers a comprehensive historical framework for understanding the regional diversity of agrarian South Asia. Adopting a long-term view of history, it treats South Asia not as a single civilization territory, but rather as a patchwork of agrarian regions, each with their own social, cultural and political histories. The discussion begins during the first millennium, when farming communities displaced pastoral and tribal groups, and goes on to consider the development of territoriality from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Subsequent chapters consider the emergence of agrarian capitalism in village societies under the British, and demonstrate how economic development in contemporary South Asia continues to reflect the influence of agrarian localism. As a comparative synthesis of the literature on agrarian regimes in South Asia, the book promises to be a valuable resource for students of agrarian and regional history as well as of comparative world history.

According To This Monograph The Santal Rebellion Was In The Nature Of A Peasant Uprising In Which The Village Community Played A Vital Part, But The Village Community Was Also The Cause Of Its Undoing.