There is a
very common song in Santals that:
Aba manmika
santal manmika
Hihiri
Pipiri Janam lena
Khoj Kaman
reban khoj lenaho
Sasang beda
reban jati lena
The meaning of song as follows-
We the people took the birth in
Hihiri Pipiri
And grew in Harata forest
We were tought a lesson in khoj Kaman
We were devided in sept(group) in
sasang beda.
So, Sasang Beda being a sacred place
in the history of Santal is an important historical place to them. The word
“Sasnat” which means civilization is derived from the name Sasang, where the
Santali civilization had taken place long ago.
Santal people observed a great change
themselves while living in Sasang Beda:
To keep the human relationship in
track for all times to come they were divided in to twelve groups i.e. Sept or
Clan such as 1. Hansda 2. Murmu 3. Hembrom 4.Tudu 5. Soren 6.Baskey 7.Beshra 8.
Kisku 9. Mardi 10. Chone 11. Dankar 12. Gandwar
Each group was treated as one family
and who ever hailed in that family were treated as brother and sister and the
marriage among them was restricted. Thus the human relationship arising out of
marriage became systematic and holy one.