Santali, Bengali: সাঁওতালী, Odia: ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ, Devanagari: संताली, also known as Santal or Santhali, is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari, spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal by Santals. It is a recognised regional language of India per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is spoken by around 7.6 million people in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, making it the third most-spoken Austroasiatic language after Vietnamese and Khmer.
Raghunath Murmu was an Indian Santali writer and educator. He developed the Ol Chiki script for Santali language. Until the nineteenth century, Santali people had no written language and knowledge was transmitted orally from one generation to other. Later European researchers and Christian missionaries started to use Bengali, Odia, and Roman scripts to document the Santali language. However, Santalis did not have their own script. His development of the Ol Chiki script enriched the cultural identity of the Santali society. He wrote many songs, plays and school text books in the Ol Chiki script.
Sitakant Mahapatra is an Indian poet and literary critic in Odia as well as English. He served in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from 1961 until he retired in 1995, and has held ex officio posts such as the Chairman of National Book Trust, New Delhi since then.
Keki N. Daruwalla is an Indian poet and short story writer in English. He is also a former Indian Police Service officer. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1984 for his poetry collection, The Keeper of the Dead, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014.
Droupadi Murmu is an Indian politician and former teacher who is serving as the 15th and current President of India since 2022. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hold the office. She is also the youngest person to occupy the post and the first President born in an independent India.
Murmu is a surname indicating a particular clan of the Santals found in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
Digamber Hansda was an Indian academic and tribal activist who worked for the social and economic advancement of the underprivileged communities in West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha. He was a founding member of the Santhal Sahitya Akademi and was considered a pioneer of Santhali language literature.
Arjun Charan Hembram is an Indian writer of Santali language and banker from Odisha. He won Sahitya Akademi Award in 2012.
Shyam Sundar Besra is an Indian writer of Santali and Hindi. He is also a civil servant from West Bengal. He won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 2018. His pen name is Jiwirarec.
Rabindranath Murmu is an Indian Santali language writer from Jharkhand. He won Sahitya Akademi Award for Santali Translation in 2012.
Tala Tudu is an Indian writer of Santali language and nurse from Jharkhand. She won Sahitya Akademi Award for Santali Translation in 2015. She was born in 1972.
Kali Charan Hembram is an Indian writer of Santali language and civil servant from Odisha. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Santali in 2019.
Damayanti Beshra is a Santali author and Adivasi researcher. She is known for literature of Santali language. In 2020, she was honoured by Padma Shri for her remarkable contribution to Santhali literature.
Joba Murmu is an Indian writer and litterateur who is known for her works in Santali literature. She received the Sahitya Akademi's Children's Literature Award on November 14, 2017 due to her language contribution to Santali literature.
Sadhu Ramchand Murmu was a Santali poet, writer, and educator. He reshaped the Santali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is also known as Kobiguru or Mahakabi of Santali literature. He is one of the great tribal poets from India. He is the first Santali poet who combines the high poetic tradition of Sanskrit and Bengali literature with the cadences and aesthetic sensibilities of Santali oral tradition. He encourages the indigenous Santals community and inspired them in education & culture. He also developed the first script named MUJ-DANDHE for the Santali language in 1923.
Gangadhar Hansda is a Santali author known for writing fiction.
