With a population of more than ten million, the Santal are the largest of the tribal populations in South Asia. They are the descent of Proto-Astraloid origin with an Astro – Asiatic tongue. They have entered India prior to that of Aryan and Dravidian. They commenced the ancient ethnic stratification of the country along with Ho, Munda, Bhil, Gond, Oraon , etc. They have been living in the deep forest and hill areas of India for centuries. They have noticed by the British invaders while extending their military campaign to their hidden territory. They have been migrated by British Teagarden owners to Assam and slowly got involved with local atmosphere. At present the Santhals have scattered and live permanently in the areas like Dhabi and Hazaribagh district and Santhal Paraganas in Jharkhand, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Birbhum, Purulia, Burdwan, Hooghly, Medinipur, Bankura and Chhotanagpur areas of West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The Santhal women play the key role in the economy of the Santhal society. From dawn to dusk they get involved themselves in various activities for livelihood. They are collecting firewoods from the forest areas, rearing cattle, working in agricultural paddy fields, carrying burdens as laborers, nurturing their kids, cooking in their households with other household activities but still they are the victims of patriarchal structure of society. They have not the right on their own body, own lives. In the childhood their fathers are their masters, in the adulthood their husbands and in the old age their sons are the masters.
The present paper would dealt with the marginalised women of santhal community in West Bengal through the participant observation.
