SONTHAL, Mundah, Bhumij, and Ho speak languages nearly identical. They occupy most of the British districts of Chutia Nagpur, Singblunn, Manbhum, and the hilly part of Bliagulpur, now known as the Sonthal Parganas ; also parts of West Bardwan, Midnapur, and Cuttack,—an ex tensive country west of Calcutta. The SonthaI are a simple, industrious people, honest and truth ful, and free from caste prejudices. Their country is healthy, their numbers are increasing, and they are much prized as labourers by the Bengal indigo planters, in the Assam tea plantations, and on the iailways and other works of Western Bengal. The tribes live apart in detached lionsea or isolated hamlets. The South& are a branch of the Mundah Kol. They seem to have separated from the Mundell, and fell back on Chutia Nagpur from the Dammla river, which the Sonthal call their sea, and they preserve the ashes of their dead until an opportunity occurs of throwing them into that stream or burying them on its banks. The Sonthal are now most numerous in the Sonthal Parganas, but there are many in Molturblinnj, and there are several colonies of them in the Singbhum district. In 1881, the total in British India, was 210,661. They are an erratic race, but Lieutenant-Colonel Dalton thinks that they left their chief settlements on the Daninda river from having been pressed by the Kurtit;. The Sonthal, Bliumij, and Mundell tribes have long been known to be intimately con nected, and they have affinities with the wild clan of the Korewah of Sirguja and Jushpur, with the Kheriall tribe of Chutia Nagpur, and the Juanea of the Cuttack Tributary Mallets. Since the b°e ginning of the 19th century they have intruded themselves into some of the Rajinahal districts, which therefore now contain two populations, allied to each other, but speaking languages said to be mutually unintelligible. The close relation
ship of the Kur and Sonthal, and their separation from the Dravidian, may be illustrated by a few examples :— The Sanded and Bliutnij races have suffered in esteem in consequence of the human sacrifices offered at the shrine of Kali as Runkini, but these races personally do not much care for this god dess, at whose shrine the establishment and ritual are essentially Bralimanical. The Setubal and Rajmaliali are markedly different in habits, ap pearance, manners, and national characteristics, and on the Chutia Nagpur plateau these differ ences are very marked. The Sonthal are a very ugly race, with flat, broad-nosed features. They are a more simple, mild, industrious race than the Raj mahali, Gond, or Khond. Though the Sonthal are geographically near the plains, they seem to be more shy and more socially isolated than the Mundell, Bliumij, and lio. They have kept much to themselves, preferring loc.ations surrounded by jungle and segregated from the world, and culti sating the lower lands of their country, but they have lattelly taken to labour for him.
SOO111, a religious sect in Turkish Arabia. At a village not far frum the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates, forming the Shat-ul-Arab, in 1872, lived the Sabxan chief priest. Ile had ancient books which lie as.serted to be inspired, and a ritual which he refused to divnIge. His followers, numbering 500 or 600, are scattered about over the province, and call themselves Soobi, but are popularly styled ' Christians of St. John,' or ' Baptists.'