Sandars

Sandars a criminal tribe in Eastern Bengal districts in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They are now survived only by their name in the folk language. In rural slang, shanda means a muscleman bent on arrogance and highhandedness. As criminals, Sandars operated particularly in the districts of pabna, rajshahi, bogra, faridpur, dhaka and mymensingh. The name Sandar is said to be derived from shana or the shuttle of a weaving loom. The manufacturers of shana were called Sandars (shana+dar).

The collapse of indigenous textile manufactures in Bengal under the impact of colonial rule left most Sandars unemployed. For survival, therefore, they took to criminal activities like cattle lifting, burglary and river dacoity. They became particularly adept in river dacoity. Sandars were mostly Muslims. According to police records, the majority of Sandars lived on land only during the winter months when they could work as labourers. But in the rainy season, when earning opportunities became scarce, they would take to river dacoity. They would move out to rivers on criminal expeditions in bahars (flotillas) of 30 to 40 boats, including a number of small swift boats of the panshi type.

According to police records of the late nineteenth century, nine-tenths of river dacoities in East Bengal rivers were committed by Sandars. Female Sandars were equally adept at riverside burglaries, snatching, and petty pilfering at melas (fairs). With the improvement of communication and governance in the early part of the twentieth century, Sandars found it increasingly difficult to escape the notice of police authorities. Consequently, the criminality of this community tended to decline. By the mid-20th century, Sandars had almost entirely vanished. [Sirajul Islam]