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.
The Santal people 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 and Assam. 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 Austro-asiatic language family.
The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its office is located in Rabindra Bhavan near Mandi House in Delhi.
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.
Rewa Prasad Dwivedi was a Sanskrit scholar, poet, writer, teacher, and critic. His original works include poetry as epics and lyrics, plays, and prose. He wrote the new literature under the pseudonym "sanatana", meaning 'the eternal'. He is also known as 'Acharya' Dwivedi.
Adikanda Mahanta was an Indian folklorist from Chitrada, Odisha. He is one of the pioneer folklorists of Odisha and is well known for his research on folk culture of eastern India.
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.
Gadul Singh Lama, popularly known as Sanu Lama, is an Indian fiction writer, poet and translator of Nepali literature. An engineer by profession, he has published three short story anthologies and his stories have been translated into English, Hindi, Urdu, Assamese and Oriya languages. He is a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award (1993), apart from other awards such as Sikkim Bhanu Puraskar, Dr. Shova Kanti Thegim Smrithi Puraskar and Madan Byakhanmala Puraskar. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2005, for his contributions to literature.
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.
Jamadar Kisku is an Indian, Santali writer from West Bengal. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014.
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.
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.
Majhi Ramdas Tudu was a Santhali writer and educator. He is the most notable writer in the early period of Santhali literature. He wrote a book on the traditional Santhal rituals, named Kherowal Bongso Dharam Punthi, in 1894. Every religion has its own book about their religion, culture, spiritual thoughts, and their ideas about life. He is the first person who captures the daily life of tribal Santhal peoples in his book. University of Calcutta honored him with the D.Litt title for his contribution to Santali literature and culture.
Shyam Sundar Hembram was a Santhali writer and educator. Chattarpati Kisku Rapaj is one of his notable plays, published in 1948. In 1950, he published Kherwal Akil Bati. In 1990, he was honored by the All India Santali Writers Association for his contribution to the Santali language and literature.
Gomasta Prasad Soren was a Santhali writer, social worker and educator. Akhara Thau was his first notable publication in 1965. Kahis Aarang, Nonkan geyabon hor, Nonkan getabon Samaj are few of his notable works.
Kherwal Soren or Kalipada Soren is a Santhali playwright, author and editor.
Kisku is a surname indicating a particular clan of the Santals found in India.
