Sanga Killi
Munda
At a glance
- Called a
- Killi
- Community
- Munda
- Found in
- Jharkhand
About
Sanga is a killi (totemic clan) of the Munda of Chota Nagpur. Roy (1912) counts it among the twenty-one original Munda killis and explains the name: sanga is the Mundari word for the pith of a certain plant. In his day it was one of the few old killis that kept its name in Sonahatu thana, where most Munda families had taken the name Sandil gotra. A killi is not a gotra and names no rishi.
What “Killi” means for the Munda
A killi is a Munda clan. Roy (1912) records that its members count themselves descendants of one forefather, that it passes from father to children, and that no Munda may marry within his own killi. Many killis are named after an animal, plant or thing, their totem, which members will not eat or harm. A killi is not a gotra and names no rishi.
Every killi of the Munda, with how the clan system works: the Munda page.
Name and Origin
Roy (1912, p. 234 n.) writes that sanga is the Mundari name for the pith of a particular plant; he does not name the plant or record a story of how the killi took it. In the legend he took down from a Munda Christian, in which Sutia Pahan had the heads of the twenty-one parhas each choose an animal or plant for their totem, Champa Munda became the founder of the Sanga killi (Appendix I, p. 335). These are traditions, not dated history.
Historical Journey
Roy names Sanga among the twenty-one killis that, by Munda tradition, came onto the Ranchi plateau with the patriarch Risa Munda (1912, p. 72 n.). He also records it among the Mundas of the Panch Parganas, where many families had changed their killi names under Hindu influence: in Sonahatu thana most Mundas had taken the name Sandil gotra, after the rishi Sandilya, and the only other killis there were the Nag, the Tau (sparrow) and the Sanga (p. 234). His longer list of Munda killis also names a Dere Sanga killi (p. 235); he does not say whether it is a branch of the Sanga.
How the Killi Is Kept
A Munda may not marry within his own killi (Roy 1912, p. 228), and the killi passes from father to children. Roy gives no rule about the sanga plant, though for other killis he records that members will not eat or harm their totem (pp. 232-233). No family deity is tied to the Sanga killi in the sources checked.
Presence Across Regions
Sonahatu, Ranchi district, Jharkhand
Tribal - Munda
In Roy's day the Sanga was one of the few killis in Sonahatu thana that had kept its old name (Roy 1912, p. 234).
Stories and Legends
Sutia Pahan's council
In a legend Roy (1912) took down from a Munda Christian, which he says shows the influence of Bible history, Sutia Pahan, chief of the seven garhs, could find no bride for his son outside his own line. He gathered birds and beasts inside the seven gates of Sutiambe and called the heads of the twenty-one parhas, and each chose an animal or plant for his totem, so that the parhas became twenty-one killis for marriage.