Situating Santhals within the Rubric of Adivasi Identity

The present paper is an attempt to trace the development of Adivasi identity in India and the growing agitation by the Santhals to move beyond it by projecting their Santhalness. There have been persistent attempts by the Santhal intelligentsia in the Twenty-first century to place their language, religion, historical events and cultural practices outside the rubric of Adivasi umbrella. This is further accelerated by the recognition of Santhali language and a shift in the intellectual nerve centre of the community from Jharkhand (Santhal Pargana) to outside its borders in West Bengal and Odisha. With increasing assertion of their language and cultural practices, Santhals are developing an ethno-national identity beyond the political expediency of the Adivasi cause

Assertion · Cultural identity · Identity (music · Intelligentsia · Rubric · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Indian and Buddhist Studies · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora