Volume : 12, Issue : 4, APR 2026

ANALYSING SANTAL CREATION MYTH THROUGH THE WRITING OF LARS OLSEN SKREFSRUD

TUSAR HASDA

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the creation story of the Santal tribe and its comparison with the creation stories of other faith. It primarily focuses on the role of Christian missionary Rev. Lars Olsen Skrefsrud’s effort to transform Santal society through the literary contribution. In addition to the Santal literature contribution, his mission among this tribe enhanced their world view and broaden their horizon and way of life through education and Gospel teachings. The core objective of this paper is to portray and delineate origin and early settlement of the Santals. However, narration of the creation story is not same as different authors penned them down them differently from different sources. This paper also focuses on the historiography of the Santal worldview and Santal culture.

Keywords

SANTAL, LARS OLSEN SKREFSRUD, THAKUR JIV, MISSIONARY, BENAGARIA.

Article : Download PDF

Cite This Article

IESRJ

International Educational Scientific Research Journal

E-ISSN: 2455-295X

International Indexed Journal | Multi-Disciplinary Refereed Research Journal

ISSN: 2455-295X

Peer-Reviewed Journal - Equivalent to UGC Approved Journal

Peer-Reviewed Journal

Article No : 29

Number of Downloads : 27

References

1. Bodding, Paul Olaf. 1925. Santal Folk Tales Vol. 1. Oslo: Harvard University Press.

2. Chaudhury, Indu Roy. 1960. Folk Tales Of The Santals. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.

3. Hembrom, Timotheas. 1996. The Santal and the Biblical Creation Traditions: Anthropological & theological Reflections. Calcutta: Adivaani.

4. Hembrom, Timothy. January–July 1994. "Ministry and Mission from a Primal Perspective." Gurukul Journal of Theological Studies.

5. Karlsson, B.G. March 2001. "Indigenous politics: Community formation and indigenous peoples' struggle for self determination in North-East India." Identities (Volume 8, Issue 1).

6. KOLEAN GURU, L. 0. SKREFSRUD. 1887. The traditions and institutions of the Santals. Birbhum (W.B) : CAE BAHER PUBLICATION.

7. Murmu, Stephen. 1996. "Understanding the Concept of God in Santal Traditional Myths." Indian Journal of Theology 38.1 72-87.

8. Schmitz, Thomas A. 2002. Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts An Introduction. Darmstadt, Germany: Blackwell Publishing.

9. Sengupta, Saptarshi. December 2019. Origins and The Early Settlements of the Santals Through the Writings of Christian Missionaries and Others: Indian History Congress

10. Skre, Dagfinn. June 1998. "Missionary Activity in Early Medieval Norway.Strategy, Organization and the Course of Events." Scandinavian Journal of History 1-19.

11. Tank, Nandini. 2019. "Binti: Re-Thinking Santal Identity through the Creation Myth." Lokaratna 17-27.