Rituals

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A society that has been built by instinct, habitat and learning. Choosing to move in social groups is a decision based on survival. Whether migrating in groups to find safety in numbers, or to further exploit a food source, or even to defend themselves and their resources better against competitors - survival is the fundamental function of sociability. One concomitant of the tribal instinct is that individuals of species that herd  together for security tend to favour 'flight' (towards the herd) rather than to 'fight' a threat.

History
In the Early Vedic Period (beginning about 1500 BC) several kingdoms existed in the Bihar plain. 

In about 475 BC the capital of the Magadha empire was located at Pataliputra (modern Patna), where it remained under Asoka (emperor of India from about 273 to 232 BC) and the Guptas (a dynasty of emperors who ruled India in the 4th and 5th centuries AD) until the onslaught of the Hupas in the middle and late 5th century. In the 6th–7th century AD the city was devastated by the migration of the Son River; the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan-tsang recorded that in AD 637 the city had few inhabitants. It regained some of its glory, but it is doubtful that it ever served as the capital of the Pala empire (which lasted from about 775 to 1200). During the ensuing Muslim period (about 1200 to 1765), Bihar had little independent history, remaining a provincial unit until 1765, when it came under British rule and—together with Chota Nagpur—was merged with the state of Bengal.

Originally, Chota Nagpur was mostly forest-clad and was ruled by chiefs of various aboriginal tribes. Though British authority was only gradually established in the plains to the north during the second half of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, occasional revolts against them took place in Chota Nagpur, the most important being the Ho revolt of 1820 to 1827 and the Munda uprising of 1831 to 1832. Later, Bihar was an important centre of the Indian mutiny and revolt of 1857 to 1859 against British political authority. Bihar formed a part of the Bengal Presidency until 1912, when the province of Bihar and Orissa was formed; in 1936 the two became separate provinces.

Upon India's independence in 1947, Bihar became a constituent part (becoming a state in 1950), and in 1948 the small states of Saraikela and Kharsawan were merged with it. In 1956, when the Indian states were reorganized on a linguistic basis, a territory of some 3,140 square miles was transferred from Bihar to West Bengal. In 1990, for the first time since independence, a state government was elected from a party other than that controlling the national government.

Culture
Most tribal villages have a dancing floor, a sacred grove (sarna—where worship is offered by a village priest), and a bachelor's dormitory (dhumkuria). The haat or weekly market, plays an important part in tribal economy. Tribal festivals (such as Sarhul), a spring festival (Sohrai), and a winter festival (Mage Parab) are occasions of great festivity. Tribal culture is fast changing under the impact of external influences, such as Christianity, industrialization, new communication links, tribal welfare programs, and community development projects.

 

Ho

Kharia

Munda

Oraon

Santhal

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Description of Festivals in Detail