A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A man who learned transformative magic as a boy tells his wife that he intends to become a tiger and kill a calf. He entrusts her with a root whose smell will restore him. Removing his remaining clothing initiates the change, and swallowing his waistcloth supplies a long tail. Frightened by the attack on the calf, his wife flees with the restorative root.

Unable to change back unaided, he approaches his father-in-law’s house at night. The father-in-law restores him with the root, but afterward sends him away and refuses to let his daughter return to him. An appended note supplies the term Ulat bag. This is a narrated transformation rather than a diagnosis of a living person, and the historical magical prescription is not reproduced as practical instruction.

Human who changes into a tiger and requires a root to returnSpecific Santal narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Santal Parganas, eastern India; source-specific Santali storytelling

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant tale and preface directly read; exact locator identified.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Folklore of the Santal Parganas

    Cecil Henry Bompas, translator; O. Bodding, collector; Sagram Murmu, principal Santali writer credited in preface · 1909

    CLXXXV, The Man-Tiger, pp. 442–443 and appended note

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909)

Historical Santal narrative collection. CLXXXV, The Man-Tiger, pp. 442–443 and appended note

Relevant tales completely read along with full preface. Bodding/Murmu/Bompas mediation explicitly retained; original Santali manuscripts not independently inspected. Narrative supernatural claims distinguished from independently verified history or medicine.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translation of collected narrativesBompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909), CLXXXV, The Man-Tiger, pp. 442–443 and appended noteResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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