Santhal Pargana division constitutes one of the five district administration units known as the divisions of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

state in eastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Origin of name

Santhal Pargana derives its name from two words: " Santhal", a major tribe of India and Pargana, a unit of administration in Persian language used mostly by medieval rulers.

Location

Santhal Pargana is one of the divisions of

. Its headquarters is at

Dumka Dumka ( Santali: ᱫᱩᱢᱠᱟᱹ), the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bh ...

. Presently, this administrative division comprises six districts: Godda,

Deoghar Deoghar (pronounced ''Devaghar'') is a major city in Jharkhand, India. It is a holy sacred place of Hinduism. It is one of the 12 ''Jyotirlinga''s sites of Hinduism (Baidyanath Temple). The sacred temples of the city make this a place for p ...

Jamtara Jamtara is a city and a notified area in the Jamtara Sadar subdivision of the Jamtara district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the headquarters of the epynomous district, subdivision and community development block. It is also nicknam ...

Sahibganj Sahebganj (also known as Sahibganj) is a scenic town and a port city with the serene Ganga and sturdy hills in the Sahibganj subdivision of the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand state, India. It serves as headquarters for Sahibganj District, Sahi ...

and Pakur. Santal_Parganas

History

This region is mentioned as

Kajangala Kajangala ( bn, কজঙ্গল), refers to a territory located near Rajmahal in ancient times, in eastern part of India.Majumdar, Dr. R.C., ''History of Ancient Bengal'', First published 1971, Reprint 2005, p. 64, Tulshi Prakashani, Kolkat ...

in different ancient literatures specially in Buddhist literatures. It is mentioned that the Chinese monk-traveller

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

(Hiuen Tsang) travelled from Champa (recent

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Si ...

) to Kajangala and then proceeded to

Pundravardhana Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom ( sa, Puṇḍravardhana), was an ancient kingdom during the Iron Age period in India with a territory that included parts of present-day Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions of Bangladesh as well as the West Di ...

(recent

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

) in the 7th century AD. He says that the northern limit of its territory (means Sahebganj) was not very far from the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. The forests to the south had plenty of

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

s. The people were straight forward, talented and devoted to education.Roy, Niharranjan, ''Bangalir Itihas, Adi Parba'', , first published 1972, reprint 2005, pp. 99-100, 81-93, Dey’s Publishing, 13 Bankim Chatterjee Street, Kolkata, In the system of Permanent Settlement, British encourage paharia of

Rajmahal hills The Rajmahal Hills are located in the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand, India. They were located on the northern margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, and its hills are today inhabited by the Sauria Paharia people whilst its valleys are ...

to practice settled agriculture but they refused to cut trees. Then British officials attracted attention to Santals who were ready to clear the forests for settled agriculture. In 1832, a large number of area demarcated as

Damin-i-koh Damin-i-koh (or sometimes referred to simply as Damin) was the name given to the forested hilly areas of Rajmahal hills broadly in the area of present Sahebganj, Pakur and Godda districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Etymology Damin-i-koh i ...

. Santal from

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

Dhalbhum Dhalbhum was the name given to parganas Supur and Ambikanagar in the Khatra area of present Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal.O’Malley, L.S.S., ICS, ''Bankura'', ''Bengal District Gazetteers'', pp. 194-195, 1995 reprint, fir ...

, Birbhum, Manbhum, Hazaribagh migrated, clear forest tracts and started cultivating these lands as peasants. British collected tax from Santals as revenue. The imposition of taxes, exploitation by

Zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...

and money lenders sparked Santal rebellion. The

Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu were the leaders of the Santhal rebellion (1855–1856), the rebellion in present-day Jharkhand and Bengal ( Purulia,Birbhum and Bankura) in eastern India against both the British colonial authority and the corrupt zam ...

, two brothers led the Santals against the Britishers but were defeated. Attack by 600 Santhals upon a party of 50 sepoys, 40th regiment native infantry

Attack by 600 Santhals upon a party of 50 sepoys, 40th regiment native infantry

In 1855, during

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, Santhal Parganas was created as a district, and was a part of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia an ...

. Santhal Parganas was a district, in undivided

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

state, India. After formation of Jharkhand in became division.

Demographics

Languages

It has a population of 6,969,097.

Religion

References

Divisions of Jharkhand {{Jharkhand-geo-stub