Of late years the Folk tales of India have been the subject of much
study and research, and several interesting collections of them have
been published. But I am not aware that as yet the folk lore of the
Santals, has received the attention which it deserves. The Santals
as a people, have, to a remarkable degree, succeeded in resisting the
subtle Hinduising influences to which they have long been exposed, and
to which such a large number of aboriginal tribes have succumbed. They
have retained their language, institutions, tribal organization, and
religion almost intact. Their traditions show the jealousy with which
these have been guarded, and the suspicion and distrust with which
contact with their Aryan neighbours was regarded. The point at which
they have been most accessible to outward influence and example, is
in their relations with the aboriginal tribes, who in a more or less
degree have merged themselves in Hinduism. Hindu ideas, customs and
beliefs, filtering through these tribes, became considerably modified
before they reached the Santals, and were therefore less potent in
their effects than if they had been drawn from the fountain head of
Hinduism itself. Still, in respect to their aboriginal neighbours
they are always on their guard, ready to repel any innovation on
their customs or religion with which they may be threatened. In the
folk tales of such a people we may well expect to find something,
if not altogether new, still interesting and instructive from an
ethnological point of view, and this expectation, I believe, would be
abundantly gratified if they were only made accessible to those who,
by training and study, are competent to deal with them.
Santal folk-tales may be divided into two classes--those apparently
purely Santal in their origin, and those obtained from other
sources. Those of the first class are by far the more numerous,
and besides showing the superstitious awe with which the Santals
regard the creations of their own fancy, they throw a flood of
light upon the social customs and usages of this most interesting
people. The second class embraces a large number of the more popular
tales current among the Hindus and semi-Hinduised aborigines. These,
although adapted and modified by the Santals to suit their language,
modes of thought, and social usages, may generally be detected by the
presence of proper names, or untranslatable phrases which unmistakably
indicate the source from which they have been derived.
These tales were taken down in Santali at first hand, and are therefore
genuine and redolent of the soil. In translating them I have allowed
myself considerable latitude without in any way diverging so far from
the original as to in any degree impair their value to the student
of Indian Folk-lore.
It was to be expected that in the popular tales of a simple, unpolished
people like the Santals, expressions and allusions unfitted for ears
polite would be found. In all such cases the changes which have been
made are in accord with Santal thought and usage, so that the tales
are, notwithstanding these alterations, thoroughly Santali.
I have aimed at making these Santal Folk-tales, in their English dress,
true to the forests and hills of their nativity. I am not without hope,
that in this I have succeeded in some small degree.
A number of the tales included in this volume have already appeared
in the Indian Evangelical Review, but in this collected form they
are more likely to prove of service to those who take an interest in
the subject.
This volume of Santal Folk-Tales is offered as a humble contribution
to the Folk-lore of India.