One of the greatest Santali writers and the first Publisher of santali Poem's book (Baha Dalwag) Paul Jujhar soren was born on 29 December 1892 in the village of Chunpara, which can be located under the Santal Pargana’s (Sahebganj) district in Bihar satate(now part of the state of Jharkhand). Some people say that the word ‘Pauul’ in his name is actually ‘Paul’. Which is came from English word Paul. His father’s name was Munsi Pagu Soren who was a primary school teacher by profession. But His mother’s name is still unknown.
He started his
education from their village’s primary school and later passed his
matriculation from Paul Jujhar Dumka District School. He passed his I. A. From
St. Paul’s College, Kolkata. After completing his education, he was appointed
as Sub-Inspector of Santal Schools by the Government of Bihar in 1915. After
that he got promoted and also crowned with the post of Special Deputy
Inspector. It is still unknown that he when did he retired from this post.
Incidentally,
it is worth mentioning that after the independence of India, the first Lok
Sabha elections were held in 1952. Paul Jujhar Soren participated in these
elections and was elected M. P. While he was an M. P., he passed away in Delhi
on 19th February 1954. While he was a member of the Lok Sabha, Paul
Jujhar was associated with various social development works. It is known that he was also one of the
members of the Patna University Management Committee.
Paul Jujhar was
born and spent his youth during the British era. Naturally, the political
turmoil had an impact on society at that time. The tribal society, especially
the customs, culture, and language of the Santal society, were on the verge of
degradation. The use of other languages (Bengali, Jharkhand Bengali) started
to enter in the Santali folk songs, dances, and songs. They were oppressed by
the British rule. So naturally, the topic of social reform and nation building
came up in Paul Jujhar’s works.
Although he was
primarily known as a poet, he also wrote essays, stories, and plays, but these
remained unpublished. As a result, the whereabouts of their manuscripts are
unknown. Paul Jujhir’s only book of poetry, “Baha Dalwag” (Flower Petals), was
published in 1936. In his poems, the poet’s social reform mentality is evident,
as well as his romantic mind. His use of words, poetic structure, and use of
rhythm are, in a word, impeccable. The touch of modernity is felt in all his
poems. Needless to say, the poetry book
“Baha Dalwag” is the first basic poetry book of Santali poetry, that is, the
poems do not have a touch of song. The poets of the missionary period generally
published collections of songs or collections of poetry on the basis of songs,
but the poetry book “Baha Dilwa” is a collection of poetry in the true sense.
The book is printed in Roman script.
