ABSTRACT
All parties to the Santal rebellion (1855–1856) committed atrocities against each other. This chapter aims to avoid moral absolutism and instead address all of these atrocities in the light of moral implications as seen from contemporaneous Bengali and European points of view as well as from Santal perspectives. It is argued that the terror released against the Santals, formally against the orders of the Government in Calcutta, was carried out in accordance with orders issued by and to officers in the field. Ritual cleansing among the Santals, advocated for in the moral reforms introduced by Sido and Kạnhu, is also taken into account. With regard to these ritual cleansings, it is shown that responses to allegations of witchcraft (often resulting in the death of the accused) as well as forcing women to marry may have been elements of ritual cleansings introduced by Sido and Kạnhu, but also that these events were understood in this light by only a small minority of Santals, many of whom later condemned them as immoral. Later, many Santal narrators explained the failure of the rebellion by referring to the moral ambiguity or even impurity of its leaders.
