In the previous Rational Responders posting I wrote about two Norwegian missionaries who in the mid 1800s discovered an oral tradition among the Santal people of India about a Genuine God named Thakur Jiu. This oral tradition was told to the missionaries by a Santal sage named Kolean. In addition to the Adam and Eve type account mentioned in the previous posting, Kolean also recounted how the descendants of this first created pair had become corrupted.
According to the tradition, as recited by Kolean, Thakur Jiu decided to eliminate mankind with a flood but rescued a 'holy pair' in a cave on Mount Harata (a name similar to Mount Ararat [pictured above], the final resting place of Noah's ark).
Kolean explained that the descendants of the 'holy pair' multiplied and Thakur Jiu split them into many different people groups. One of these groups migrated eastward but were prevented from continuing because of a group of impassable mountains. 
Becoming discouraged at their plight it was at this time that the ancestors of the Santal turned away from Thakur Jiu and made an oath to the evil spirits of the mountains. They would practice spirit appeasement if the spirits would allow them to pass through the mountains. Shortly after, the travelers found a pass through the mountains and entered the plains of present day Pakistan and India. Because of their oath the Santal people began practicing spirit appeasement, sun worship, and sorcery and turned away from Thakur Jiu.
(The account of this Santal oral tradition is described in Don Richardson's book Eternity in Their Hearts, Regal Books, Ventura, CA, 1984, pages 43 and 44.)
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