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Key Facts about Santhali Language

Dec. 27, 2025

The President of India recently released the Constitution of India in the Santhali language at a function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

About Santhali Language:

  • The Santhali language, which was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution through the 92nd Amendment Act, 2003, is one of the most ancient living languages of India.
  • It is spoken by a significant number of tribal people in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Bihar.
  • It is primarily used by the Santhal tribal community.
  • It is also spoken in Nepal and Bangladesh.
  • In India, it is spoken by an estimated 7 million people, according to recent census data.
  • It is a member of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family, which is an ancient family of languages spoken across parts of South and Southeast Asia.
  • It is quite distinct from the Indo-European language family of languages spoken in much of India.
  • It is closely related to other Munda languages, such as Ho, Mundari, and Korku.
    • These languages share common features such as their agglutinative nature (where words are formed by stringing together smaller units of meaning) and their use of tones.
  • Santhali has a unique and rich tradition, with its own script and oral literature, reflecting the culture and beliefs of the Santhal tribe.
  • Santhali uses the Ol Chiki script, a writing system that was developed in 1925 by Pandit Raghunath Murmu, a Santhal scholar and writer.

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