ys ▁and ▁often ▁fort ified ▁their ▁villages . ▁They ▁had ▁no ▁written ▁language ▁of ▁their ▁own , ▁but ▁some ▁could ▁read ▁the ▁Bur m ese ▁and ▁Bang la ▁scripts . ▁Most ▁of ▁them ▁claimed ▁to ▁be ▁Buddh ists , ▁but ▁their ▁religious ▁practices ▁were ▁largely ▁anim istic . ▁ ▁Sant als ▁ ▁The ▁Sant als ▁are ▁known ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁oldest ▁and ▁largest ▁ind igen ous ▁communities ▁in ▁the ▁north western ▁bel t ▁of ▁Bang l adesh . ▁They ▁have ▁been ▁living ▁in ▁the ▁pr ist ine ▁natural ▁surr ound ings ▁of ▁the ▁area ▁for ▁thousands ▁of ▁years . ▁They ▁might ▁be ▁described ▁as ▁children ▁of ▁nature ▁who ▁are ▁n urt ured ▁and ▁re ared ▁by ▁its ▁b ount y . ▁Sant als ▁are ▁largely ▁seen ▁in ▁the ▁northern ▁districts ▁of ▁D ina j pur , ▁Na oga on , ▁Th ak urg a on , ▁Pan ch agar h , ▁etc . ▁They ▁have ▁act ively ▁participated ▁in ▁the ▁T eb h aga ▁movement ▁led ▁by ▁I la ▁Mit ra ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 0 , ▁the ▁Sant al ▁revol t , ▁Bir sa ▁M unda ▁U pr ising , ▁Kol ▁revol t , ▁J itu ▁Sam ur ▁Reb ell ion , ▁P and u ▁R aja ▁In sur gency , ▁Sw ades hi ▁Mov ement ▁and ▁the ▁War ▁of ▁Liber ation ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 1 . ▁Sant al ▁women , ▁especially ▁young ▁girls , ▁are ▁by ▁nature ▁very ▁beauty - cons cious . ▁Sant al ▁women ▁wear