Soren Pari
Santhal
At a glance
- Called a
- Pari
- Community
- Santhal
- Found in
- Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Assam
About
Soren, written Saren in some older books, is one of the twelve paris, the totemic clans of the Santhal, and one of the seven senior paris. Its totem is the Pleiades, the star cluster that the word soren names in Santali, and in the old accounts the Soren were the soldiers of Champa. The Santhal are a Scheduled Tribe with their own religion, Sarna dharam. A pari is not a gotra, and the Santhal are not described here as a Hindu caste.
What “Pari” means for the Santhal
A pari (plural paris) is one of the twelve totemic clans of the Santhal. Each has a totem, a Santhal does not marry within their own pari, and the pari name is carried today as the surname.
Every pari of the Santal, with how the clan system works: the Santal page.
Name and Origin
Bodding's Santal Dictionary gives soren as the Santali name of the Pleiades, and Risley (1891), Bonnerjea (1930), Sarma and Mukherjee (2019) and the 2018 list of Lea Schulte-Droesch all tie the pari to that constellation. Banglapedia instead says the name comes from fighters, after the pari's old calling. The guru Kolean, whose account of Santhal tradition Skrefsrud recorded in 1871, names Soren sixth of the seven paris formed at Sasan Beda among the descendants of the first couple.
Historical Journey
Kolean says the Soren were the fighters of Champa, and Bodding's dictionary adds that they were the soldiers of the Kisku kings and so are often called Soren sipahi. Sarma and Mukherjee also describe them as soldiers or warriors. These are traditions about Champa, not rules of present-day life. Risley's pass-words for the pari are Anbali, Barba and Pero Pargana. Bonnerjea (1930) counts 23 Soren sub-clans, and Risley records more customs for Soren sub-clans than for any other pari.
Migration and Diaspora
Kolean's account follows the ancestors from Hihiri Pipiri to Sasan Beda, where the paris were formed, then through Jarpi to Chae and Champa, and from there east to the present Santhal country. Today Soren families live wherever Santhals live: mainly in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar, with communities in Assam, Bangladesh and Nepal.
How the Pari Is Kept
No Soren marries a Soren, and a man does not marry into his mother's sub-clan (Risley, 1891). Sarma and Mukherjee tell of an old bar between the Hembrom and the Soren, now no longer followed. Risley describes the customs of several Soren sub-clans. The Sidup Soren set up a sheaf of rice in the doorway of the cattle shed at the harvest festival, which someone of another sub-clan must take away; Bodding's dictionary places this at Sohrae. The Sada Soren do not use vermilion in their marriage rites. The Naiki-Khil Soren, who claim descent from a village priest, keep a sacred grove of their own. The Ok Soren sacrifice a goat or pig inside the house with the doors shut, and the Mundu or Badar Soren sacrifice in the jungle, where only the men eat the meat. The Sankh Soren may not wear shell ornaments, and the Barchi Soren plant a spear in the ground at ceremonies. Kolean's account says each pari has its own abge bonga and house bonga, that they differ even within a pari, and that their names are passed from father to eldest son and not told to others; they are not named here, and no kuldevi or kuldevta is given for the pari.
Notable Personalities
Shibu Soren
1944 to 2025
Founder and long-time president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, known as Dishom Guru, and three times Chief Minister of Jharkhand between 2005 and 2010; his Wikipedia biography records his life.
Stories and Legends
The sheaf in the doorway
Risley and Bodding both describe a custom of the Sidup Soren. At Sohrae, on the day the bullocks are tied to posts in the village street, they stand a sheaf of paddy upright in the door of the cattle shed. They may not touch it themselves. Bodding adds that people of other families take it to mix with their own grain for a good harvest, and that the sheaf may be taken from any field, the owner counting it a gift.