A Critical Study of Robert Carstairs’ Harma’s Village: A Novel of Santal Life

Abstract

Tribal studies in India are largely a product of travelers, traders, administrators and Christian missionaries of the colonial period. Colonial administrators-cum-scholars have produced a good amount of writings on the tribals. These writings include memoirs, novels, ethnographic notes, monographs, administrative reports, census, missionary reports and other informative reports. The primary purpose of these writings was to produce knowledge about these people, so as to enable colonial governance effective. Robert Carstairs was one of those administrators who produced many informative writings pertaining to the place and people among whom he worked. Carstairs worked among Santhals as a Deputy Commissioner of then Santhal Parganas from 1885 to 1898. Among his writings Harma’s Village is a well-known historical novel on Santhal life.

This paper is a critical reading of Carstairs’ novel Harma’s Village and throws light on the literary portrayal of Santhals and their way of life during the early days of their present settlements. It also focuses on the inconsistencies found in the picturization of certain historical figures and phenomenon, which can alter the perception of people towards them.