Santali, 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 as 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.
The Santal are an Austroasiatic-speaking Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Tripura. They are the largest ethnic minority in northern Bangladesh's Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. They have a sizeable population in Nepal. The Santals speak Santali, the most widely spoken Munda languages of Austroasiatic language family.
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.
Santali cinema, also known as Sollywood, has its presence in the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, and parts of Nepal, where Santals live. Santali films are made in the Santali language.
Fagun is a monthly newspaper published on paper in the Santali language in the Ol Chiki script in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. It is the only newspaper in India that is published in Santali, and has readership across the country. The newspaper was founded in April 2008 by Mangat Murmu. and is edited by Malati Murmu, who received the Telegraph Legend Award in 2016. Fagun started with a circulation of 500 copies, and as of 2018 has a circulation of 5000. Copies cost 5 rupees each.
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.
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.
Rupchand Hansda is an Indian writer of Santali language and civil servant from West Bengal. He won Sahitya Akademi Award for Santali Translation in 2018. In 2020, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of poems Gur Dak Kasa Dak.
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.
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.
Gangadhar Hansda is a Santali author known for writing fiction.
Santali literature refers to the literary works written in the Santali language, primarily spoken by the Santal people of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is written in the indigenous script called Ol Chiki script. Santali literature is composed in two broad styles- ᱠᱟᱹᱛᱷᱱᱤ (Kạthni-prose), ᱜᱟᱹᱛᱷᱱᱤ (Gạthni-poetry).In terms of historical development, it is broadly classified into two prominent forms (genres) based on historical passes. They are:
