THE PAST OF THE O U TC ASTE

Readings in D alit H istory

edited by
S a b y a s a c h i B h a tta c h a r y a
Y a g a ti C h in n a R ao

Orient BlackSwan
 CONTENTS

Publishers Acknowledgements vii

sabyasachi bhattacharya Introduction 1
AND YAGATI CHINNA RAO

one APPROACHES TO THE ISSUE

1 . G. K. GOKHALE ‘Turn the Search-light Inwards， 33

2. LALA LAJPAT RAI ‘Humanity，Justice and Self-interest’ 37
3. G. A. NATESAN ‘Nation-building and Social Equality’ 41
4. R. G. BHANDARKAR ‘Address to Depressed Classes’Conference’ 45
5. B. R. AMBEDKAR ‘Right and Might’ 49
6. M. K. GANDHI Statement on Untouchability 55
7. BENOY K. SARKAR The Sociology of the Poor and the Pariah: 59
The Pariahs Contributions to Brahmari
Flesh and Blood
B.T. RANADIVE Six Crore Untouchables: Their Place in 69
Freedoms Battle

tw o HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

9. SUVIRA JAISWAL Studies in Early Indian Social History: 83

Trends and Possibilities
10. VIVEKANAND JHA Stages in the History of Untouchables 104
11. K. R. HANUMANTHAN Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu 123
upto 1600 AD

three CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN COLONIAL SOCIETY

12. VI KRAM HARIJAN Labour Castes under the English Company 149
in Madras in the 17th and 18th Centuries
13. PRIYADARSHINI VIJAISRI Outcaste Pasts: Rethinking the Boundaries 172
14. ELEANOR ZELUOT The History of Dalits in Pune 226
15. RAMNARAYAN S. RAWAT Making Claims for Power: A New Agenda 252
in Dalit Politics of Uttar Pradesh, 1946-48
vj C ontents

four DALIT CASTE MOVEMENTS

^6". Bharat patankar The Dalit Liberation Movement in Colonial 275

and Gail om vedt Period
17. sekhar bandyopadhyay Protest and Accommodation: Two Caste 297
Movements in Eastern and Northern Bengal,
c .1872-1937
^ 18. yagati CHINNA RAO Rise and Growth of Dalit Consciousness 313
in South India: A Case of Andhra and
Hyderabad
,'1ダ. adapa satyanarayana Dalit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial 329
Andhra, 1917-47
20. valerian rodrigues Dalits and Cultural Identity: Ambedkar s 344
Prevarications on the Question ot Culture

five DALITS AND THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT

Depressed し lasses’Uplift in the Gandhian

ATUL CHANDRA PRADHAN 359
Era: A Critique ofThree Approaches
22. BHAGWAN DAS Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and 375
Nation Building
23. STEPHEN HENNINGHAM Autonomy and Organisation: Harijan and 387
Adivasi Protest Movements
24. RAJ SEKHAR BASU Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of 394
Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s
. GOPAL GURU Understanding Ambedkars Construction 415
of the National Movement

s ix LOCATING DALITS IN POST-INDEPENDENCE

INDIAN POLITY

26. K. A. MANiKUMAR Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu: 423

A Study of the 1995 Conflict
—
27. Shura darapuri Social Exclusion of Dalit Women 441
,28. mark juergensm eyer What if the UntouchaDles Don5t Believe 451
in Untouchability?

JNotes on Contributors 463

Index 465
 P U B L IS H E R 'S A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

For permission to reproduce copyright material in this volume, the publisher wishes
to make the following acknowledgements.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee (DBASMPC)

for extracts from B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste? in Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches^ v o l.1 , compiled by Vasant Moon, 38-44
(Bombay: Government of Maharashtra, 1979).

Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) for six essays published in the
Indian Historical Review.
SEKHAR BANDYOPADHYAY, 'Protest and Accommodation: Two Caste
Movements in Eastern and Northern Bengal,c.1872-1937J, TheIndian Historical
RevieWyVol.14, nos 1-2 (June 1987 - January 1988), [published in 1990].
RAJ SEKHAR BASU, Kongress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability
in Tamil Nadu in the 19305^ Indian Historical Review, vol.30 (January - July
2003), 84-110.
K. R. HANUMANTHAN，‘Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto
1600 ad*, The Indian Historical Review^ vol.23, nos 1~2 (July 1996 ~ January
1997).
SUVIRA JAISWAL, 'Studies in Early Indian Social History: Trends and
Possibilities,, The Indian Historical Review^ vol.6, nos 1-2 (July 1979 - January
1980).
VIVEKANAND JHA, 'Stages in the History of Untouchables,, The Indian
Historical Review, voL 2, no.1 (July 1975), 14-31.
ATUL CHANDRA PRADHAN， ‘Depressed Classes’Uplift in the Gandhian
Era: A Critique of Three Approaches5, The Indian Historical Review^ vol.19,
nos 1-2 (July 1992 - January 1993).

Rajalakshmi Hanumanthan, legal heir of K. R. Hanumanthan, for one essay.

K. R. HANUMANTHAN， ‘Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu
upto 1600 ad 5, The Indian Historical Review, vol. XX3II, nos 1-2 (July 1996-
January 1997).

Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist) for

permission to carry one essay.
B.T. RANADIVE/Six Crore Untouchables: Their Place in Freedoms Battle*,
Peoples War^ vol. 3, no. 23 (1944).
viii Publisher's A c kn o w le d g e m e n ts

Annapurna Jha, legal heir of Vivekanand Jha, for one essay.

VIVEKANAND JHA, 'Stages in the History of Untouchables', The Indian
Historical Reviev),vo\. 2, no.1 (July 1975),14-31.

Shura Darapuri, legal heir of Bhagwan Das, for one essay.

BHAGWAN DAS, (Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building^
SocialAction^ vol. 32, no. 3 (1982), 269—82.

The Asiatic Society of Mumbai for one essay published in the Journal ofthe Asiatic
Society ofMumbai,
ELEANOR ZELLIOT, (The History of Dalits in Vunc f Journal of the Astatic
Society of Mumbai^ n.s., vol.74 (1999), 211-39.

Cambridge University Press for permission to carry one essay that appeared in
Modern Asian Studies.
RAMNARAYAN S. RAWAX ‘Making Claims for Power: A New Agenda in
Dalit Politics of Uttar Pradesh, 1946-48^ Modern Asian Studies^ vol.37, no. 3
(2003)，585-612.

Suresh Shelke of Vikas Adhyayan Kendra for permission to carry one essay that
appeared in Vikalp,
ADAPA SATYANARAYANA/Dalit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial
Andhra, 1917-47, Vikalp, vol.6, no. 2 (1998), 41-57.

Indian Social Institute for permission to carry two essays that appeared in
SocialAction,
BHAGWAN DAS/Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building^
SocialAction^ vol.32, no. 3 (1982), 269—82.
VALERIAN RODRIGUES, (Dalits and Cultural Identity: Ambedkar^
Prevarications on the Question of Culture5, SocialAction^ vol.50, no.1(2000),
1-15.

Thomas P. Fenton, Editor, CriticalAsian Studies (www.criticalasianstudies.org) for

permission to carry one essay that appeared in its predecessor journal, Bulletin of
ConcernedAsian Scholars.
MARK JUERGENSMEYER, (What if the Untouchables Dorft Believe in
\]ntonch2biVityï Bulletin of ConcernedAsian Scholars, vol.12, no.1(1980).
 IN T R O D U C T IO N

Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

To the Indian mind, when it is awake to reality, the discourse of iuntouchability,

has always been like a conversation with personal and public conscience. That
conversation may cease for a while at moments when we are unwilling or unable to
look at things as they are. But that lapse into silence soon ends when stark reality
intervenes. Therefore, most of the thought-leaders of what we call the modern
period in India have addressed time and again the issue of untoucnability, the many
dimensions of being outcaste, the urgent need to understand marginality. In that
endeavour the academic historians have not been by any means in the forefront.
Perhaps an ideological occlusion discouraged historical research on the marginalised
communities. Only in very recent decades a substantial corpus of writings on that
segment or history has developed. This book aims to look at those writings.
The idea of a book of readings in the historical narratives or the outcastes5
developed in the context of the recent initiative in many universities to begin teaching
and research in what the University Grants Commission has promoted as 'Studies in
Exclusion. This is a positive development. On the other hand, the poverty of easily
accessible teaching material and academic research in that history is self-evident. The
aim of this book is to bring together in one volume the fruits of research scattered
in different scholarly journals and books published long ago as well as unpublished
doctoral theses produced in recent years.
Before we go any further we need to say a few words on the terms ‘untouchable’，
‘outcaste， and ‘Dalit’一 terms which the authors in this collection have often used
interchangeably. Some authorities look upon the retrospective use of the term ^ a lit5,
in respect of social groups of the period prior to the emergence ofthat term in the 20th
century Dalit movement, as anachronistic and unhistorical. The term £untouchable,
has the merit of clearly counterposing the ‘touchables’as distinct from ‘untouchables’.
Eleanor Zelliot, a pioneer in Dalit studies, refers to 1ex-untouchables, in her chapter
in this volume—which was no doubt an effort on her part to be legally correct. The
word outcaste, was commonly used from the era of early European contact. Some
authors in this volume prefer it, possibly because it emphasises marginality and serves
to remind us of the boundary between the privileged and the disprivileged and the
boundary-maintenance mechanism which maintained that abominable system. The
term outcaste, in fact emphasises precisely the phenomenon of exclusion, now in
focus in the Exclusion studies'. While we have used the term outcaste, in the title of
this volume, it seems to us that other terms like ^ntouchable7can be interchangeable
2 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

with it; variations of usage in the chapters which follow, due to the predilection of
individual authors or the fashion of the period when he or she wrote, do not impede
our comprehension.
In arranging the readings we have selected for this collection, we had two options:
to present them in chronological order or to arrange them in thematic groups. The first
option enables the reader to get an idea of the development of historiography and the
growth of new interpretations and narratives of the outcaste past. The second method
will provide a reader-friendly guidance in respect of the specific subject matter of the
selected readings. The editorial strategy has been to try to combine the merits of both
these approaches. Although there is, inevitably, thematic overlap between different
pieces of writing, we have aimed at a thematic arrangement and at the same time
the sequence of readings included in each thematic group is in chronological order
of publication. The first group includes some representative statements of positions,
each of which might be considered as locus classical in its domain, e.g. statements by
G. K. Gokhale, Lajpat Rai, G. A. Natesan, and, of course, Dr B. R. Ambedkar and
Mahatma Gandhi. A rare piece of writing by the Communist leader B. T. Ranadive
completes the first section. The second theme is the history of the outcastes in the
pre-colonial period, in ancient and medieval north India and south India. We also
have in this section an analysis of the new construction of history from the Dalit
point of view. The third and fourth sections address the continuity of the pre-colonial
past in the colonial period and the beginnings of Dalit consciousness and organised
resistance to caste oppression. The next theme comprises a selection of essays on a
theme that has attracted many research scholars recently, the relationship between
the nationalist movement and the Dalits. Hie sixth and final group of readings tries to
locate the Dalits in the post-Independence polity in India. Needless to say, the views
of the authors are their own and the reproduction of these writings in the form of
extracts in this collection does not involve endorsement of those views.
In this Introduction an effort will be made briefly to review the selected writings
in this volume in the light of trends in the historiography of the so-called outcastes.
This will be followed by a more wide-ranging review of the entire discourse centred
on the outcastes commencing from the late 19th century, and an attempt to situate
the issues focused upon in this book in the conceptual framework of studies in
Social exclusion. A bibliography has been provided at the end, not with the aim of
exhaustive enumeration, but to guide readers to other readings and sources.

* * *

In the first section of this book the writings of some leading nationalist spokesmen
indicate on the one hand a lofty sympathy for the depressed classes', and on the other
certain limitations of the early nationalist approach to the outcastes or so-called
untouchables5. In 1903, G. K. Gokhale1 shows his wonted liberal spirit in criticising
the mild description of the outcaste situation in the very resolution which he defended
at the Indian Social Conference; that conference was held conjointly with the Indian
 Introduction 3

National Congress session each year and it was run by some reform-minded leaders
of the Congress. The resolution, presumably reflecting the attitude of Congressmen,
said: (the degraded condition of the low castes is, in itself and from the nationalist
point of view, unsatisfactory/ Gokhale comments that this description fails to reflect
the reality that their condition (is not only unsatisfactory as this resolution says, ~ it
is so deplorable that it constitutes a grave blot on our social arrangements/ Even a
moderate man like Gokhale was of the opinion that the resolution was not 'as strongly
worded as it should have been/ Gokhale argued for more vigorous intervention in
the caste question on two grounds. First, it was a question of sheer justice'. Second,
the nationalist movement was unable to deploy 4the energy which these [depressed]
classes might be expected to represent.' By the time Lala Lajpat Rai2 addresses the
question, the battle lines were more clearly drawn between Sanatanist organisations
on the one side and the reformists on the other. Lajpat Rai points out that in north
India the Arya Samaj brought about 'religious equality5for all who join the Samaj
including the so-called depressed classes. But this reformism stopped short of social
equality5; attempts to draw water from the same well or inter-marriage were still
resisted. In the south of India the caste prejudices were more blatant and visible
according to some observers. In 1911,the prominent nationalist spokesman of Tamil
Nadu, G. A. Natesan3 described the position of the depressed castes as Sickening,...
pathetic and a state of things which no one can contemplate with equanimity/The
moral fervour of opinion leaders like Gokhale or Lajpat Rai or Natesan was beyond
question, and they recognised that as long as there was untouchability there could be
no true unity and solidarity among the Indian people/ However, they also recognised
a gap between those enlightened people at the top striving for amelioration of the
depressed class and the objects of their attention. The latter were deprived of agency,
the right to speak and act for themselves. As Lajpat Rai put it, what is most urgently
needed for these classes is education which will produce leaders and reforms from
amongst themselves/In 1913, R. G. Bhandarkar4 in a presidential address, originally
in the Marathi language and reproduced here in translation, situates the problem
of the so called depressed classes* in the perspective of ancient history. Recalling
Buddha, Eknath Swami and others, he argues that (it cannot be maintained that
no effort was made in our great land until the present day to elevate the depressed
classes.5But, he conceded that the ideas of the great thinkers had no practical and
permanent results in Indian society.
Hie discourse of "depressed castes'enters a different level altogether in the debates
between Dr B. R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi in 1936. Since many writings
of both of them are easily available elsewhere, we have selected only two extracts
and given more space to others. But, arguably, in these two writings some essential
points made by both of them in many other writings are adequately presented. Dr
Ambedkar5 points to the limitations of the approach of the mainstream nationalist
leadership. He reminds us of the history of the division of the nationalist leaders, some
espousing the cause of social reform* and others like W. C. Bonnerji who prioritised
the cause of political reform above the social reform agenda. Dr Ambedkar reminds us
of the historical background to that tussle—the inhuman treatment of untouchables
4 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

in Maratha country under the Peshwas, the social tyranny the untouchables were
subjected to in Central India, the exclusion of untouchables in Gujarat from
government schools, the atrocities in Jaipur State to keep the untouchables in their
place. He points out that the cause of social reform met with defeat because it was a
very limited agenda of action, it did not aim at 'the break up of the caste system5. And
he denounces the political reforms party'which forgot that they could not ignore the
problem arising out of the prevailing social order. He concluded the speech he wrote
for the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal with these stirring words: *the emancipation of the
mind and the soul is a necessary preliminary for the political expansion of the people/
Mahatma Gandhi6 in ms intervention in the discussion set off by Dr Ambedkar
wrote that although amelioration of the oppressed untouchable castes was first among
his priorities, his attention turned to the political issues by a particular historical
conjuncture. Referring to his fast in Yerveda jail in Pune, he wrote: when it was
first undertaken, it was undoubtedly for removal of untouchability, root and branch.
That it took the form it did was no choice of mine. The Cabinet decision [i.e. the
decision of the British Government regarding reserved seats for the depressed castes]
precipitated the crisis of my life .../ Hence, he focused attention on the constitutional
issue. Further, he reminded his critics that in the course of his travels from one end
of India to the other millions had come to know that Gandhi recognized no barriers
between untouchables and touchables' and that he regarded untouchability as a curse
and a blot upon Hinduism5, as a (crime against God and humanity*.
Gandhi conceded that there were Sanatanist Hindus who condemned this
attitude, but he claimed that he was also a Sanatanist but one of a different hue
from the organised Sanatanist Hindu lobbies defending untouchability: Tor me the
sanatan dharma is the vital faith handed down from generations belonging even to
prehistoric period and based upon the Vedas’ and the Gita. This was a contrast to
the stance taken by Ambedkar who adopted a secular attitude to the social problem
delinking that from religious discourse. It is also notable that Mahatma Gandhi
stated clearly that in his opinion ‘inter-dining should go on where the public itself
is ready for it, it should not be part of the India-wide campaign/ And further:
Correspondents have asked whether inter-dining and inter-marriage are part of the
movement against untouchability. In my opinion they are not/These were reforms
which he expected to come sooner than we expect^ but these he excluded from the
campaign against untouchability. That must have been disappointing to some of his
followers. We cannot, within the limits of this Introduction, elaborate further on the
debate between Dr Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, but we shall return to this
theme in some other extracts or essays selected in this volume.
Writing in 1940 sociologist Benoy Kumar Sarkar (1887-1949) brings to bear
on the status of untouchables or pariahs, (a term of south Indian origin, extended
in colonial usage to all outcaste groups) an anthropological approach.7 He points
out that from the standpoint of the cephalic, nasal and other physiognomic indices
no caste group, including brahmins, display homogeneity. The superior castes are
not hermetically-sealed groups. In fact, mixture of ethnic groups has taken place
for centuries. Therefore, there are physiognomic similarities between high and low
 Introduction 5

castes: 'The Smritisastras, the Dharmasastras, Yajuavalka, and Raghunandana may

rest content with establishing rigid discrimination between the Brahman and the
pariah. ... But the horoscope of flesh and blood is too merciless, precise and severe/
Particularly, Professor Sarkar is keen to point out that the notion of ^ryan* origins
was baseless, and that 'it is not possible to use the category Aryan in an ethnic or
racial sense.’
The last of the public intellectuals we look at is B. T. Ranadive8, the Communist
leader, who in 1944 asks what the place was of six crore untouchables^n the 'freedom
battle1..On the one hand, he says, the Congress very creditably gave moral support
to the lower castes1claim to social justice in Gandhi^ Non-Cooperation Movement
and the Karachi Congress Resolution of 1931; on the other hand, Congress took no
practical step* to help the untouchables cause, and even opposed separate electorates.
Second, Randive lauds the Scheduled Caste Federation led by Dr Ambedkar for
developing by 1942 a strong mass base and a programme of action to address the
Scheduled Castes1problems; however, Ranadive thought that the scheduled Caste
Federation unwisely isolated itself, (in its programme there is no place as yet for
the complete independence of the country/ The end of colonial exploitation is a
necessary condition of economic emancipation of the untouchables. Therefore,
Ranadive ends with a call to *unite for freedom. ... Closest to the movement of the
untouchables stand the class movements of the workers and the peasants. ... The
vast mass of the untouchables belongs to these classes and it is their duty to join the
trade unions and Kisan Sabhas/

H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y O F T H E P R E -C O L O N IA L P E R IO D

While this volume includes a few pioneering historical essays on untouchability in

the pre-colonial period, there is no doubt that till the second half of the 20th century
it was a neglected subject of research. ‘The history of “impure”castes or untouchables
did not receive much attention, Suvira Jaiswal9 comments, 'in the nationalist phase
of Indian historiography which was more interested in the glorification of Indias
past and preferred to skip off its seamy side/This tendency to keep away from the
seamy side, R. S. Sharma had surmised earlier, was due to the historians1yominant-
class outlook*. Jaiswal provides a survey of the earlier historians1approaches to the
explication of the origin of untouchability. She has considered N. K. Dutt^s theory
that untouchability was not an 'Aryan social institution, but a consequence of their
contact with Dravidians. She has also critically reviewed the anthropologist Hutton's
observation that taboos concerning acceptance of food cooked by a person of another
caste is the keystone in a system of prejudices that developed, Furer Haimendorf s
hypothesis that untouchability was a consequence of urbanisation, George Harts
view tracing the concept of pollution to ancient Tamil notions of the sacred and
the polluted, and B. N. S. Yadavs approach to the problem in terms of the material
interests operative in brahmanical society to place some aboriginal groups into a
position that enabled their exploitation. Jaiswal also examines the historiography of
6 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

the transition from 'Vedic1egalitarianism to a patriarchal set up and the evolution

of kinship and family structure in the works of G. S. Ghurye, A. S. Altekar, Iravati
Karve, K. M. Kapadia and others, to impart emphasis to the basic point that modern
sociological studies require historians to re-examine old stereotypes. It seems that the
basic methodological point in this critical survey of the historiography of disprivileged
social groups is to exhort historians to look at the evidence not only in terms of (the
ritual language’which concerned Indologists for decades, but also in terms of‘secular
and politico-economic factors5.
That approach in term of politico-economic factors was reflected in the doctoral
thesis of the late Vivekanand Jha in 1972. A synoptic view of his research findings is
available in his chapter in this volume.10It is perhaps best to let the author summarise
his findings:

These are th e fo u r broad phases in th e early h is to ry o f un to u ch a b le s: The firs t

phase up to circa 600 bc p ro vid e s th e Vedic b ackground , w h e n th e ta b o o e d
sections o f society ap pear first. The second phase e xtends up to circa ad 200,
w h e n u n to u c h a b ility begins and takes firm and d e fin ite shape w ith respect to a
fe w groups. The th ird phase up to circa ad 600 is m arked by an in te n s ific a tio n o f
th e practice and furnishes h in ts o f resistance on the p a rt o f u n to u ch a b le s, w hose
n u m b e r records an increase. The ranks o f u n to u ch a b le s swell c o n sid e ra b ly by th e
accession o f several new castes in th e fo u rth and fin a l phase w h ic h extends up to
circa ad 1200 and beyond and show s u n to u c h a b ility at its peak.

This chapter, enriched with about 300 citations of original texts, makes the important
point that socioeconomic stagnation in the period from circa ad 600 to ad 1200 and
beyond, the 'decline in commodity production, the localisation of the market for the
craft guilds, the increasingly subservient position of backward artisan and service­
providing castes, and their resistance to the process of subordination—all that led to
the growth of untouchability in its fullest form in early medieval India. We are happy
that we are able to include in this volume this essay by Vivekanand Jha who passed
away in 2013.
The focus in the above-mentioned chapters is on north India. K. R. Hanumanthan11
turns our attention to the south of India in his chapter on (The Evolution of
Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad \ About the time when Vivekanand
Jha wrote his doctoral thesis in Patna University, in 1974, Hanumanthan wrote his
dissertation at Madras University to present the following argument: In the Sangam
age, roughly covering the first three centuries of the Christian Era, none of the social
groups is mentioned as untouchables, though some are identified as low-borrf but
not untouchable. The chaturvarna system derived from the north Indian tradition is
rarely noticed in the Sangam classics. Only in the late Sangam period and thereafter
(the idea of the ceremonial purity of brahmanm and the practice of untouchability
by them seem to have sprouted/ That idea seems to have taken deeper roots in
Tamil society in the following period, that of the Pallavas, ad 575-900. While on
the one hand the Bhakti movement—the Nayanmars and the Alvars—stridently
 Introduction 7

spoke against caste rigidity and the spread of the notion of untouchability, in social
and religious practices untouchability was an established institution. In the next
phase, the Chola, Pandya and Vijayanagara period from 9th century ad to 1600 a d ,
'untouchability took deeper roots in Tamil society'. The rulers are influenced by the
ideology inherent in the chaturvarna system: £untouchabüity in Tamil Nadu seems
to be the result of the unholy alliance between the indigenous social differentiation
based on profession and the chaturvarna system of the north, a hierarchy based on
birth and imaginary purity or impurity/ And yet, Hanumanthan points out that we
have occasional evidence of untouchables being given ‘dignified positions in the
Sangam society^ and even in the Chola and Vijayanagara periods they enjoyed some
privileges. Thus there was a kind of ambivalpnc^ei12
On the whole, the chapters collected in this section make us aware of the variety
of pasts constructed from different points of view. These chapters address the pre­
colonial period. Did the colonial period bring about a change in the status of the
untouchables or was that period marked by continuity rather than change? In the
third section we have a few attempts to answer that question.

C O N T IN U IT Y A N D C H A N G E IN C O L O N IA L S O C IE T Y

A notable difference between the historiography of the pre-colonial and colonial

period is that the historians, access to contemporary records and archives is greater
in the colonial period; moreover, in the colonial period there developed, as recounted
in the bibliographic survey in the second part of this Introduction, a considerable
ethnographic and historical literatxire created by British and other foreign observers.
Vikram Harijan13 draws upon rich archival sources in his chapter on the labour
castes5in colonial Madras in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The English East
India Company^ business created new employment opportunity for some of these
castes and hence a sort of social mobility, though the caste boundaries remained
intact. This chapter covers various caste groups without focusing on the so-called
untouchable castes from the rest. However, the information collected here on caste
organisation, often functioning virtually as trade unions, and intercaste disputes
including the well-known conflict between ^eft-hand1and 'Right-hand5castes, are
of great interest.
Priyadarshini Vijaisri's14 research straddles the colonial period and our own
times. We have here 18th and 19th century historical sources as well as ethnographic
accounts of the authors own fieldwork in a village near Tirupati in 2006-08. While
the focus in terms of empirical data is on the traditional Kolupu festival in honour of
the village goddess Mathangi who is the clan goddess of the Madigas, the inferences
elicited from the historical and ethnographic data lead to wide-ranging theoretical
formulations. While on the one hand these formulations address issues of identity
and marginality of the outcastes which are touched upon by many other scholars in
this volume, the author aads to that discourse a new dimension in examining the
notion of Religious power' and by positing £dangerous marginality, as a key analytical
8 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

category. One of the significant results of this approach is that in place of the usual
academic formulations regarding caste order which denied agency to the outcastes,
it is possible to look at the outcastes as subjects—not only in terms of protest and
conflict, but also in terms of rituals accepted as part of the sacral Hindu order and
legitimised through the participation of the entire community of the village including
of the highest castes. The ritual symbolism of the Kolupu festival in honour of the
caste/clan goddess—kula devatalu—of the castes at the periphery is a process that
(not only contests the absolute power of the caste-Hindu divinities but in the process
liberates the outcastes by infusing them with religious power/That power is attributed
to the outcaste Madiga’s contiguity to ‘the negative sacred’, such as dangerous spirits
of a paranormal world. That is counterposed opposite brahmanic ritual purity. The
touchable castes prostrate themselves in the kolupu festival at the feet of the outcaste
ritual specialists, the entire village propitiates the Mathangi while the brahman
recedes to the background, ridicule and abuses are showered on the touchable castes
by the untouchables in leadership in the rituals on that occasion, mythic episodes
evoke outcaste memories of a primordial social order prior to hegemonisation by the
upper castes, the rituals contain the implicit postulation of a moral order in which
there is a continuum between the touchable and untouchable castes each of which
had specific obligations to other castes. All that points to the power of dangerous
marginality, of outcastes, the enactment of a public demonstration of the communal
interdependence between the touchable and untouchable communities, as well as a
vision of an alternative moral order recognising reciprocity.
Eleanor Zelliot,15 a pioneer in the field of Dalit studies, examines the stagnation
as well as progress registered by the Dalit community in the colonial period in the
next chapter. Her objective was the description of the status of the Dalits in Pune
from about 1818 when British documentation is available. On the whole her account
shows that while there was a continuity between the Peshwa regime and the colonial
period in Pune, change was more in evidence. As we have seen earlier in Madras—in
the chapter by K. R. Hanumanthan_ the structure of opportunities altered with the
coming of the British administration. Untouchables had employment opportunities
in the Poona Cantonment from 1818, in particular for Mahars in the British Indian
army. Harold Manns survey of 1912 and D. R. Gadgils in 1945 are used by Zelliot
to evaluate the change in the status and existential conditions of the untouchables
in Pune. She has also looked at the ‘reformers’, notably Jotiba Phule，S. M. Mate and
Shivram Kamble. She offers a balanced account of and thereafter. Although the study
is limited to what is known commonly as a 'Brahman town, it is a significant study
since Pune was a centre of Mahar socio-political activities and later an important site
of the Dalit movement.
In the last days of British rule, what was the impact of nationalist politics and
the structure of electoral institutions since the Puna Pact (1932) and Government of
India Act of 1935 on Dalit politics and consciousness? New light is thrown on that
subject in Ramnarayan S. Rawat^ research on Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the 1940s.16 He
argues that the trend in Dalit politics in the present times in UP can be traced back to
the 1940s when a new agenda emerged. It seems that at the core of this process was
 Introduction 9

the drive towards the elevation of the issue of untouchability from the level of a social
agenda to a political agenda. Second, there was a redefinition of and greater salience
accorded to achhut identity. Rawat argues that, contrary to the generalisations of most
historians of that period, the issues regarding the lower castes were not marginalised
in the decade leading to Independence, nor was there a tendency towards integration
of those castes with the Congress in UR The evidence gathered from contemporary
sources show these trends in Dalit politics: disenchantment with the Congress after
the acceptance of the Cabinet Mission Award, increasing participation under leaders
like Jaipal Singh in the protest movement against begari^ spread of branches of the
Scheduled Caste Federation in various parts of UP, and a new mood and rhetoric
emphasising achhut identity along with mobilisation through caste mahasabhas
of Jatav, Chamar and Adi-Hindu Raidasis. The most visible outcome of these
developments was the success of non-Congress Dalit candidates in the elections of
1945 in the Primaries where Dalits had a separate electorate; the electoral arrangement
since 1932 was such that the General Election results concealed that success of
Scheduled Caste Federation. Beyond electoral politics there was a less visible but
equally important development: a sharpened awareness of the failure of the Congress
and the non-Dalit leadership in general to address the issue of caste inequality—
this strengthened the Dalit resolve to incorporate safeguards in the Constitution in
which task Dr B. R. Ambedkar was destined to play a crucially important role in the
Constituent Assembly. RawatJs socio-political study is a bridge-head into the next
two themes of this volume—dalit caste movements and the location of Dalits in the
national movement in the pre-Independence period.

D A L IT C A S T E M O V E M E N T S

Among the chapters in this section the first by Gail Omvedt and Bharat Patankar,17
and the last by Valerian Rodrigues offer an all-India perspective, while the other
three are detailed regional case studies. Omvedt and Patankars survey of the
history of Dalit struggle was written more than thirty years ago, and remains an
important document of a period when Dalit studies were just beginning to draw
academic attention. It is also an important document where the authors, pioneers
in their generation, engaged in Dalit studies not only as a scholarly enterprise but
also in search of a radical political agenda of action. The approach in this essay is of
theoretical interest. The authors avoid the error of looking at untouchability purely in
terms of ritual purity and the Hindu sacral system, as well as the error of looking at the
issue exclusively in terms of agrestic servitude and appropriation of surplus, without
considering the ideology of caste. Omvedt and Patankar have used the term £caste
feudalism, for the system in operation. The way we understand their exposition, the
system was as follows: (a) at the level of material production, there was (1)hierarchy-
in terms of agrarian relations between cultivators and landholders, as well as (2)
hierarchy in terms of artisanal or service castes5obligations to provide services and
superior castes5entitlement to receive services; {b) at the level of the superstructure
10 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Yagati Chinna Rao

of ideology and socio-cultural institutions,(1)an elaborate scale of degrees of purity

and pollution, and (2) a notion of hereditary transmission of qualities appropriate
to each station in life (and, one may add, the idea of transmittability of pollution
attributed to untouchables), performed a vitally necessary legitimising function.
While these were the central characteristics of caste feudalism5, the actual historical
form in which these were evinced differed according to the context and region. Tihus,
there were differences between ryotwari and zamindari villages, between different
forms of unfree labour service, between field servant castes and artisan castes—but
the content of relationship between untouchables giving labour and touchables taking
services was similar, despite differences in form. Omvedt and Patankar also comment:
'While this traditional system of caste feudalism has left its stamp on the emerging
rural class system of today, it is by no means equivalent to it/ Moreover, they reject
a common stereotype of the British impact dissolving the traditional feudal order;
on the contrary, colonialism maintained and reinforced the traditional hierarchised
system. It is not possible to review in this Introduction the entire chapter by Omvedt
and Patankar but it is useful to reflect on their perception in the concluding paragraph.
The protest movements of the Dalits form a part of the great tradition of the struggle
of the oppressed but each of them developed

as an isolated revolt o f th e w eakest and m ost oppressed sections o f th e p o p u la tio n .

The isolation ... m eant th a t, instead o f organising as th e m ost re v o lu tio n a ry section
o f a u nified m ovem ent, Dalits d e veloped a separatism in w h ich th e y made dem ands
o f nationalists as w e il as th e British. A h o s tility d e veloped to co m m u n ism and class
analysis (w hich was p u t fo rw a rd in such a w ay as to appear to Dalits to exclude
considerations o f caste as such) w h ic h continues to have serious consequences today.

Sekhar Bandyopadhyay18 addresses precisely that issue, the isolation of the low
caste movements and organisations. Why did they stay out of the mainstream?
Bandyopadhyuy rejects the usual explanation in terms of subaltern passivity and
failure of the major parties to mobilise them: 'None of these two interpretations ...
seeks to explore the mentality of these marginal groups which preferred not to join
any mainstream and evolved for themselves, at least for the time being, a separate
socio-political entity. By means of case studies of two lower-caste movements in
Bengal, that of Namasudras in the eastern parts and that of Rajbansis in the north
of Bengal, Bandyopadhyay Instantiates what he perceives as the general trend in late
19th and early 20th century India. The general trend, he suggests, was as follows:
{a) The historical vision dominant in these caste movements differed from the
nationalist perspective, in that for many people among these castes British rule
appeared to be an improvement over a darker past/ {b) These movements were
not monolithic things, because within the caste there developed different levels
of consciousness, and negotiations between different perspectives led to political
actions in their movements, (c) These caste movements were in part expressions
of the spirit of protest against disprivileged status, but in some levels within, there
operated a spirit of accommodation and positional adjustment within the existing
 Introduction 11

system of distribution of power and prestige/ (d) In consequence of the factors

above, one perceives the development of a low caste consciousness which ran
parallel to nationalist consciousness, and in the 1940s when the transfer of power
became imminent 'the protesting spirit of the masses was channelised into the
other more class-oriented movements [while] the accommodating elements were
appropriated by the Congress/This clear delineation of the historical trends and
the documentation through case studies, has the merit of pointing to complexities
which are often ignored ia Dalit studies. The author concludes:

The tw o social m o ve m e n ts o f th e N a m a s u d ra s a n d th e Rajbansis w h ic h in itia lly began

in th e late 19th c e n tu ry as pro te sts a gainst social in ju stice a nd d is c rim in a tio n , were
... u ltim a te ly reduced to m ere p o litic s fo r re se rva tio n .T h e leadership o n ly used th e
depressed status o f th e ir caste b re th re n to d e m a n d fro m th e c o lo n ia l g o v e rn m e n t
som e in s titu tio n a l concessions th a t could h a rd ly b e n e fit th e peasant below .

Thus, the revolutionary potential, which Omvedt and Patankar also mention, was
lost in the morass of politics for reservation or search for accommodation within the
system. Rejection of the system as a whole was no longer on the agenda.
While the majority of the authors in this volume focus only on north India,
Bandyopadhyay looks at eastern India and the chapter by Yagati Chinna Rao
and Adapa Satyanarayana look to the south. Chinna Rao19 offers a fairly detailed
account of the growth of Dalit consciousness in Andhra, i.e. the Circar Districts on
the coast) Haydseema and Tckingärm along wkh a similar study of Üydcrabüd. He
traces the history from the foundation of Jaganmitra Mandal in 1906 by Bhagya
Reddi Varma, followed by Manya Sangam in 1911 and Swasti Dal, i.e. Adi-Hindu
volunteer corps, in 1912. Soon after Hyderabad witnessed these developments, the
coastal districts of Andhra saw in 1917 the beginning of Adi-Ancjhra movement
in the Provincial Panchama Conference under the leadership of a caste-Hindu,
Guduru Ramachandra Rao. In Chinna Rao^ analysis, the Hyderabad wing of the
movement of untouchables did not have much of a rural base, being limited to the
urban educated class, while the coastal district's untouchable organisations succeeded
in spreading into the countryside. However, there was cooperation between these
two wings leading to the development of a non-brahmin identity consciousness
and critique of brahminic hegemony and eventually educational endeavours and
political mobilisation. Adapa Satyanarayanas20 study focuses not so much on the
organisationsil story but on consciousness and ideology, on the articulation of the Self
and the Other. In the poetry of Kusuma Dharmanna, Nakka Chinna Venkaiah, Jala
Rangaswamy and writings and speeches of Bhagya Reddi Varma a beginning was
made and there emerged Dalit consciousness of the need to fight for social justice
and self-respect. Satyanarayana also analyses the impact of the Gandhian 'Harijan
upliftment, movement since the founding of a branch of the All India Harijan
Sevak Sangh in 1932. Raj Sekhar Basu has pointed out in another chapter in this
volume, how the Dalit leaders in Tamil Nadu were critical of the Harijan upliftment
programme. It was likewise in Andhra. A Dalit Telugu poet versified that critique:
12 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Kao

They say, No rig h ts to Malas [th e largest D alit caste]

If w e are d e nied rig h ts
H ow w ill you a tta in freedom ?

A new issue is posited by Valerian Rodrigues21 in his chapter on Dr B. R. Ambedkars

role in the evolution of Dalit identity consciousness. He points out that Dalit identity
is in 'deep contestation' while as far as 'their disabilities are concerned they can take
recourse either to the public conscience or act as a pressure group or be a player, limited
and localised, in the electoral arena. JThus, for many of the erstwhile untouchable castes'
the primary identity remains on caste lines and their identity of being Dalits is thin in
his judgement. Rodrigues goes on to argue that one factor in this situation is the role
played by Dr Ambedkar in defining Dalit identity. While conceding his contribution,
Rodrigues states that Ambedkar s Stance in this regard shifted appreciably from time
to time. These shifts and prevarications are as integral a component of the contested
Dalit identity today as are affiliations to caste and religious identities.5Prevarication
is a strong word, but the chapter does demonstrate the changes and the evolution in
Ambedkars approach to several possible Dalit identities culminating eventually in
his construction of Dalits as a Buddhist community while leaving open other paths
to identity formation—on linguistic or cultural or class lines. This chapter opens up
some new questions about Dr Ambedkar^ intellectual life.

D A L IT S A N D T H E N A T IO N A L IS T M O V E M E N T

There are many studies of the nationalist movement which throw light on the outcaste
socio-political movements. However, in this collection we have included authors who
focus particularly on the latter issue. We have also tried to include writings in journals
which are not easily accessible, rather than reproduce from recently published works of
research, e.g. that of Nandini Gooptu, Saurabh Dube, et al.which are readily available.
Atul Chandra Pradhan22 offers a synoptic account of the struggle by and on
behalf of the ‘depressed classes’ in the 20th century. He differs from most authors
in this collection in arguing that £the untouchability aspect of the Depressed Classes
has been overemphasised over the past few decades/ In his judgement the status
improvement of ‘Depressed Classes’ would depend not so much on specific action
for their iupliftment, but on general economic and educational advancement of
the country/ Bhagwan Das，23 chapter is not a research contribution but rather an
informative document containing his personal experiences as a leader in various
organisations of backward communities. Stephen Henningham24 on the other hand
is a professional historian who, after having published a good deal of research on
agrarian relations and peasant movement in Bihar, turns his attention to Harijan and
Adivasi protest movements from the subalternist perspective. The point he makes
is that agitations by Musahars and Santals in Bihar in the 1930s do not fit into the
stereotype of a peasantry dependent on elite leadership. On the contrary, a great
degree of autonomy is claimed and actually achieved by these Harijan and Adivasi
 Introduction 13

movements. The Congress leaders, and even the Kisan Sabha which was blamed or
credited for radical sympathies, kept their distance. Henningham perceives in the
events he has studied an anticipation of the autonomy that peasant and subaltern
protests acquired in the 1960s and 1970s. While the caste issue is not salient in
that story, Raj Sekhar Basu25 addresses chiefly the politics of untouchability. The
entry point in Bas^s story is a dramatic moment: in 1932 Gandhi wins a few points
in the negotiations leading to the Poona Pact but he loses whatever non-brahmin
support he had. And yet, within a few years Congress wins over a large number of
non-brahmins, a section of Adi-Dravidas began to support the Congress, and
eventually (the Congress [had] an electoral advantage over the Justice Party. The
Congress slogan of Swarajya had indeed a greater appeal than E. V. Ramaswami
Naicker’s slogan of Dravidanadu for the Tamil voters.’How Gandhi and the Congress
managed to do that is Basu’s story. Gandhi’s temple entry movement， the Congress
propaganda for Harijan upliftment and against the conservative Varnashrama
Swarajya Sangha, Gandhi^ (Harijan tourJin 1933, the activities of the grassroots-level
volunteers to reach out to non-brahmins, and C. Rajagopalacharis success in passing
the temple entry bill—all these factors explain how Congress came out of the trough
of 1932 to gain substantial non-brahmin support. Was the Harijan programme just a
political ploy or was it the triumph of high moral values the Congress held up for all
to see? Basu wisely leaves that question for the readers to answer.
Although we did not by design offer here samples of different types of discourse—
Nationalist, Social Reformist, Subaltern and cautiously academic—it so happens
that in Pradhan， Bhagwan Das’ Herxningham and Basu we have approximation to
such a design. Gopal Gurus26 scholarly engagement in a debate about Ambedkar
gives us the flavour of the polemics he responds to and the pitch and temper of
the contemporary debates in the Dalit discourse. Gopal Guru, in a brief piece of
writing here, contests the view that the Right in Indian politics usually upholds that
Ambedkar and his followers among the Dalits were not participants in the freedom
movement, and thus their relationship with the British Raj was questionable. Gopal
Guru rightly points to the historical inaccuracy of this approach and goes on to say
that there were reasons why Ambedkar organised 'Dalits quite separately from the
Indian national movement that was led by the Congress/In his view this was because
Ambedkar was unwilling 'to be subordinated to the nationalist vision of the freedom
struggle as floated by the Congress/ his desire to keep away from ^ in d u culture
due to its anti-egalitarian tone5which was not accommodative enough to allow
space for Dalits, and his belief that the dominant nationalist spokesmen refused to
speak in the language of reciprocal recognition of an autonomous political identity
of the Dalits/ Gopal Guru also surmises that before 1947 the Dalits were unable
to make 'overnight, [an] historical advance, into political consciousness——they were
bound to Waken first to the socio-cultural consciousness which is the first glimpse
of the political consciousness.'This is perhaps debatable because other authors in this
volume have cited evidence of the political consciousness as well. Be that as it may,
Gopal Guru is to be thanked for giving us a flavour of the debates currently taking
place in the Dalit discourse.
14 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Yagati Chinna Rao

L O C A T IN G D A L IT S IN T H E P O S T -IN D E P E N D E N C E P O L IT Y

In putting together selections for this last section we suffered from the embarrassment
of riches. We regret that we could not include many worthwhile writings, but we made
an attempt to include a few significant contributions. In the chorus of critical and
denigratory voices castigating the Indian legal system for protective discrimination,
we may note the legal historian Marc Gallanter s27 essay in 1965 (not included in the
present collection) in defence of the system created by the Constituent Assembly led
by the chairman of the Drafting Committee, Dr B. R. Ambedkar: India^ vast and
unparalleled experiment with protective or compensatory discrimination in favour
of “backward” sections of her population betokens a generosity and farsightedness
that are rare among nations/ Gallanter s essay brings to us the pioneering research
on the impact of the constitutional and legislative provisions in respect of Scheduled
Castes and Tribes in the decades since 1950. On the other hand, in his chapter in
this section, K. A. Manikumar28 examines instances of breakdown of law and order,
the recurring pattern of {caste violence, in Tamil Nadu in the 1990s. Among other
things, the author points to the quotidian acts of discrimination and the authorities,
partisanship despite the legal provisions instituted. In recent times, gender studies
have imparted to Dalit studies a new dimension and made us aware of genders as an
axis of caste discrimination and oppression. In Shura Durapuri^29 narration of the
various aspects of this issue in post-colonial India we have a comprehensive survey
of that theme.
At the end, we have an important theoretical intervention made by the sociologist
Mark Juergensmeyer.30 In his doctoral dissertation on untouchables in Punjab, he
touched on an interesting question: Do the untouchables believe in untouchability?
No doubt in daily life they are compelled to conform to certain norms laid down for
them by higher castes, but a distinction needs to be made between what J. E Staal
called orthopraxy and orthodoxy, obedience of practice as distinct from faith. Almost
half of the upper caste respondents in Juergensmeyer's survey professed faith in the
doctrine of rebirth while less than one-third of the Scheduled Caste respondents
believed that ones condition in this life resulted from actions in the previous birth.
He cites the findings of Bernard Cohn, Gerald Berreman, Kathleen Gough, Pauline
Kolenda and André Béteille that the lower castes had little faith in the concept of
rebirth and karma in previous birth. That concept being the concept that legitimises
caste, Juergensmeyer s conclusion is very important: 'the concept of karma does not
play a significant role in the belief systems of the untouchables.1This difference of
perceptioHj he says, cmade the untouchables uneasy participants in the cultural life of
the dominant society, and ... impelled them to form their own independent religious
and social organisations/ A corollary preposition is that in the perception of the
untouchables their poverty has a salience that suggests that there is a class identity
developing among them: (The Scheduled Caste seem to view themselves as a class, and
the upper castes view them as castes/ Perhaps this generalisation boldly anticipates
future developments, but it points to the potential of a radical transformative change
in lower caste consciousness.
 Introduction 15

On the whole, this collection, beginning with the pronouncements of some major
public intellectuals from the early 20th century, includes some representative writings
of the last four decades. A survey of the historiography of the pre-colonial period is
followed by studies in the changes experienced by the outcastes in the colonial period.
111at leads to research focused on Dalit caste movements and the interface between
them and the nationalist movement. Finally, we look at research in contemporary
history, situating Dalits in post-1947 India. We are aware that many writings other
than those included here merited inclusion. But we worked within the space limits
of an agenda, to put together selected writings in a single volume. If this attempt to
highlight historical research on the various interpretations and constructions of the
past of the outcastes serves to generate interest and further research, the aim of this
collection will have been met.
We began this editorial 'Introduction with an attempt to situate the essays and
documents we have gathered in in the evolving discourse of <untouchability, from
the late 19th century to our own times. However, these writings we have put together
here form a part of a huge literature on the so-called <untouchable, castes. It was not
possible to include in the present volume extracts from that large corpus of social,
historical and anthropological writings. In the following pages of our introductory
essay we make an attempt to bring to the attention of the readers further readings
which enrich our understanding of the issues addressed in the writings reproduced in
the present collection of readings.

R E C O N S T R U C T IN G D A L IT H IS T O R Y

Given the experience of professional historians' apathy towards the treatment of

Dalit history as a subject, it is not only important but also a historical necessity
to overcome the biases that have almost gained the status of truisms. Dalits have
been engaged in the construction of their own history by critiquing the brahminical
traditions. The recent initiatives to reconstruct Dalit history generally draw from
traditional historical sources like archival material, reports of census, Commissions
and Committees and gazetteers. Biographical and autobiographical writings of Dalit
organic intellectuals do exist as also literature in the form of poems, novels, dramas,
contemporary press reports on caste-association activities, mostly in the vernacular.31
The study of Dalits has been often been left to anthropologists and sociologists.
They have done valuable studies, but the historical point of view is often incomplete
and incoherent. Dalit history has not yet become a part of Indian historiography,
even though the study is of immense importance with regard to its inherent radical
democratic identity and its inter-relation with contemporary movements. Available
studies on Dalit history in India to a great extent suffer from lack of historical and
written documentation, providing scope for ambiguity. Many works dealing with the
stratification of Indian society, do give a chapter or a section on Dalits of a particular
region or of a country as a whole as historical antecedents. The saga of the outcaste
from the Pariah—an (untouchable, whose very shadow was considered polluting—to
16 Sabyasachi Ehattacharya and Yagati Chinna Rao

the present-day defiant Dalit, has been long, troubled and painful. For the different
Dalit communities, juridically encapsulated within the official category of Scheduled
Castes, receiving recognition as equal citizens of a democratic republic is a project
still waiting to be actualised.
Owing to their extremely dehumanised and degraded position in Indian society,
Dalits in colonial India awakened interest of missionaries and anthropologists.
Most of the information on the issue emerged as the outcome of missionaries’travel
records and personal accounts,32 official papers, district gazetteers, ethnographic
notes,33 census reports34 and other such sources. Some of such writings include
Risley,35 Crooke,36 Enthoven,37 Sherring,38Thurston,39 Rose,40 Russell,41 Nesfield42
and Iyer43. During the same period some other western as well as Indian scholars
also worked extensively on history of caste in India.44 These studies contributed
in furnishing very rich descriptive accounts of the ethnic background, occupation
pattern and customary habits and practices of almost all important communities
belonging to different regions of India of the late 19th and early part of the 20th
century. Perhaps what is interesting is that most authorities on caste in colonial India
were at some level or the other related to census operations and this resulted in a
detailed caste- and tribe-wise denotation of the population of India in the 1931
census, with detailed tabulation.
Though enthusiasm for history'45 emerged in India sometime in the mid-19th
century, and historical research*46 as a discipline came in the early 20th century, it
remained completely silent on the issue of Dalits. This was despite Dr Ambedkars
exploration of the caste system at Columbia University in 1916, where he presented
'Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development’.47 Ambedkar
advanced a theory of caste, refuting the racial explanations of caste system presented
by ethnographers and western scholars.
Perhaps the earliest exhaustive and systematic work on any Dalit caste was by G. W.
Briggs48 in the 1920s, another non-historian and non-Indian in origin. Another early
work that followed Briggs was by William Hunt.49 One certainly cannot trace any
other major study on Dalits during the colonial period. Post-colonial India witnessed
its first anthropological work on Nimar Balahis in Madhya Pradesh by Stephen
Fuchs in 1951.50 By studying the social structure and culture of (untouchables, Fuchs
made an attempt to fill the lacuna of anthropological literature on the marginalised
sections of Indian society.
In the 1970s caste again attracted the attention of scholars, but in a different
paradigm altogether. It started to be regarded as studies on social structure as a
part of problem-oriented studies; for instance, the works of Issacs,51 Desai52 and
Lakshmanna.53 Harold Issacs based his work on interviews with 50 educated
Dalits from different professional backgrounds, and Desai on his fieldwork in 69
u-ujarati villages have separately located many areas where Dalits were seriously
discriminated against, including such basic human rights as drawing water. While
the former concluded that at the root of many social disabilities lay the problem of
acute poverty among Dalits, the latter highlighted as many as nine different forms
of discrimination, which the Dalits of his sample area suffered from. Similarly,
 Introduction 17

Lakshmanna commendably analysed the extent of discrimination in a sample of 20

Andhra villages, ranging from the drawing of drinking water from wells to interaction
among womenfolk.
Among those who have visualised the problem of Dalits in the perspective of
social change, some attempted their works in rural areas while others based their
studies within urban space. While some of them located Dalit mobility upward in
the traditionally-established social hierarchy due to their own initiatives and under
the impact of many modern forces—constitutional, legal and political—others have
seen them in the light of ongoing urbanisation and industrialisation. Most of them
have visualised social mobility in the context of changes in the occupational pattern,
customary practices, behaviour and levels of aspiration among Dalit society. However,
Srinivas noted that the Sankritization process is never applicable to Dalits In the
sense that they can never rise as a group.54
This led to several other significant contributions on the issue such as Epstien,55
Béteille,56Alexander57and Lynch58. All these studies focused on social change among
Dalits. The most influential study of this period was by Eleanor Zelliot.59 Zelliot
not only depicted the process of Dalit utilisation of emerging political changes in
Maharashtra, but perhaps was the first trained historian to construct a critical and
broader historical framework to explore Dalit history in the modern times.
This was followed by an edited volume by Michael Mahar.60 Though the title
suggests that it deals with Contemporary5issues, the authors have assessed change
since the 1920s and 1930s. This was further followed by Saberwal,61 Patwardhan,62
Sengupta,63 D'souza64 and many others who examined the positive impact of
urbanisation and modernisation on the Dalits in their individual studies. Locating
change in a specific context, Oommen65 perceives that they have so far served a
negative purpose of creating (caste consciousness’，Ramaswamy66 argues that Dalit
politics resulted in the establishment of a separate identity as helpless, dependent
and destitute community rather than integrating them into the rest of the society.
Agrawal and Ashraf57 have similar opinions in their study of Haryana, and note
that the overall impact or the public measures is too mild to make any purposeful
assessment. While analysing the socio-economic and cultural life of Dalits in the
face of developmental measures, Singh68 realises that most of the programmes tail
to attain absolute success mainly due to the relative failure of their implementation.

D A L IT M O V E M E N T A N D R E C E N T H IS T O R IC A L R E SE A R C H

These studies, barring Zelliot, show that all available research on Dalits remained
within the domain of academic sociologists. None of the studies mentioned above
were concerned with the Dalit movement. Dalits were often categorised either as
marginal people without a history of their own, or as objects, rather than subjects of
the history. The Dalit movement has not fared much better in the mstories of modern
India by Indian historians, who generally relegate Dalits to chapters on social reform
and portray them as passive victims, recipients and beneficiaries rather than active
18 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

participants in political and cultural struggles.69 This brief survey would seem to
strongly suggest that there was no decisive stream of politics as the Dalit movement,
particularly during the colonial period.
Virtually, for all the academic writers, Dalits were not seen as acting on their
own but in the shadow of socially-concerned members of the dominant castes. Dalit
manoeuvring and consciousness was perceived as parochial and negative. The first
monograph on the Dalit movement appeared in the 1980s—Mark Juergensmeyers
work on Ad-Dharma movement.70He traces the history of the Ad-Dharma movement
from its origins in the 1920s to its demise in 1940s and its revival in 1970s. However,
his major concern is not with the history of one particular movement but with the role
of religion in the ‘lower caste’ struggles for social change. Following Juergensmeyer，
studies by S. K. Gupta,71 Atul Chandra Pradhan72 andlrilok Nath,73 sequentially
in the mid-1980s provided a comprehensive view of the Dalit movements in India.
The major landmark in the history of Dalit studies was the birth centenary year of
Babasaheb Ambedkar—1991.This provoked a plethora of publications, adding to the
growing literature on Ambedkar on the one hand and surge of academic interest in
Dalit politics and Dalit movement on the other. Though the number of monographs
written, on the Dalit movement in the 19908 was small in quantitative terms, the
discursive frame and orientation signified a shift in Dalit studies. The 1990s saw
several micro-level studies on various aspects of Dalit lives, often related to the post-
colonial era of Dalits in general or centred around Ambedkar in particular.
Nevertheless, by the 1990s, it had become apparent that there are major
differences in the approach to study this subject, which had implications for the
understanding of the Dalit movement. The class perspective of the Marxists which
had at one time termed the Dalit movement as (divisive, and dangerously pro-British,
was challenged from within. Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt74 forcefully argued
that Communists as well as Marxists have to think seriously about the theoretical
basis for an immediate practical solution to the problem of caste oppression.75There
emerged a (Liberar trend among a group of scholars, who believed that it was the
ancient Hindu reactionary traditions and the deep-rooted prejudice against Dalits by
the caste-Hindus that had led to the protest from the Dalits. This trend viewed Dalit
protest as a necessary outcome of an obscurantist Hindu tradition.76 Analysing the
broader changes in the Dalit studies, Ghanshyam Shah77 classified Dalit movements
into two significant trends, viz. (a) reformative and {b) alternative movements.
Another trend that developed in the decade of the 1980s became popularly-
identified as the Subaltern school.78 This school dismissed the previous historical
writings as Elitist5historiography, and attempted to create newer ways of rewriting
South Asian history. Two major themes that have emerged in the writings of the
scholars writing under the subaltern banner are: (a) peasant resistance and peasant
consciousness in colonial India and {b) the relationship between the peasantry and
the national movement. The term Subaltern categorises under its fold (the lesser
rural gentry, impoverished landlords, rich peasants, and upper-middle peasants,.79
However, the school by offering a new mode of understanding history had very little
to offer to the socially oppressed, economically exploited, politically marginalised,
 Introduction 19

landless agricultural labourers and Dalits. Dalitist perspectives of Indian history can
be invariably distinguished from the subaltern.
The dominant schools of history writing in India are yet to acknowledge
scores of <history-less, communities without which history remains severely elitist
and unholistic.80 Nevertheless, individual (Dalit and non-Dalit) attempts at
reconstruction of outcaste past in the recent decades have made valuable contribution
in this direction. The first amongst these were Sekhar Bandyopadhyay^ work on the
two caste movements in eastern and northern Bengal.81This was followed Raj Sekhar
Basus study on Punjab and a more detailed work on the history of Dalits in southern
India82 and Saurabh Dube on central India.83 As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned,
there two important works—Nicholas B. Dirks84 and Hugo Gorringe85. Swaraj Basu’s
work on the Rajbansis of Bengal is another work of historical importance.86 The
history of Dalits in north India by Badri Narayan Tiwari87 and Nandini Gooptu88
and Ramnarayan S. Rawat89 provide a regional focus.
Even on the history of Dalits in the southern India, we have only very few names
to count. In addition to Raj Sekhar Basu,90 mentioned above, and Rupa Viswanath,91
we have Sanal Mohan92 who worked on the Dalit history in Kerala and Adapa
Satyanarayana93 on Andhra Pradesh. Ihus, we do have some researches that provide
a broad overview or historical trends concerning Dalit movements.
As we look back on the journey commenced from a state of the outcastes1history
being out of bounds of history to that where several attempts begin to remedy that
gap in the discipline of history, we need to acknowledge that the progress that has
been made should be acclaimed. Though the history of the untouchables, is yet to
become a part of mainstream Indian historiography, the studies mentioned above are
of immense relevance and significant. However, that literature rarely addresses the deep
structure of social relationship and the conceptual issues of this discourse of Exclusion.

R E T H IN K IN G T H E C O N C E P T O F S O C IA L E X C L U S IO N

The term Social exclusiorfis so evocative, multidimensional and expansive that it can
be defined in many different ways. Yet, the difficulty of defining exclusion and the
fact that it is interpreted differently in different contexts at different times can be
seen as a theoretical opportunity.94 Rather than putting forward a single definition of
exclusion, it is interesting to understand the disputes surrounding the term ^xclusiorf
and its usage in different contexts, by tracing the history of the idea and decoding the
multiple meanings of the term in a variety of contexts.
Addressing social exclusion requires a holistic approach which promotes
involvement of excluded populations in community life, ensures access to all basic
services, promotes behavioural change, increases life opportunities, and addresses
other key elements of exclusion.95 Discrimination is clearly a particular kind
of exclusion and it can take on either an active or passive form. Active exclusion
through discrimination will see agents systematically refusing to hire or accept the
participation of members of a social group despite their formal qualifications while
20 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Yagati Chinna Rao

routinely favouring members of groups who are equally or even less qualified. The
consequences of discrimination can lead to deprivation indirectly, through passive
discrimination in which discouragement and lower self-confidence results in poor
performance, or through direct routes that limit access to income or education that
is mobility enhancing.
The manner in which it has been developed in social science literature, the concept
of social exclusion, thus, essentially refers to the processes through which groups are
wholly, or partially, excluded from full participation and equal opportunity in the
society in which they live. It emphasises two crucial dimensions involving the notion of
exclusion, namely the societal institutions' (of exclusion), and their 'outcome* (in terms
of deprivation). In order to understand the dimensions of exclusion, it is necessary to
explore the societal interrelations and institutions, whicii lead to exclusion of certain
groups and deprivation in multiple spheres—civil, cultural, political and economic*
Thus, for a broader understanding of the concept of exclusion, the insight into the
societal process and institutions of exclusion are as important as the outcome in terms
of deprivation for certain groups. Amartya Sen,96 in his work Social Exclusion (2000)
refers to various meanings and manifestations of social exclusion, particularly, with
respect to the causes or the processes of discrimination and deprivation in a given society.
Exclusion could occur through direct exclusion, violating fair norms of exclusion (that
is, unfavourable exclusion), or through inclusion, but under unfavourable conditions,
again violating fair norms of inclusion (that is, unfavourable inclusion), or through
deliberate government policies (that is, active exclusion), and through unintended
attempts and circumstances (passive exclusion), or exclusion caused through inability
of some persons when compared to other persons (constitutive relevance). Mainstream
economists have further elaborated the concept of discrimination that operates
particularly through markets. Social exclusion can indeed arise in a variety of ways,
and it is important to recognise the versatility of the idea and its reach.
In India, exclusion is embedded in societal interrelations and institutions
that exclude, discriminate, isolate and deprive some groups on the basis of groups
identities like caste and ethnicity. The nature of exclusion revolving around the caste
system particularly needs to be understood and conceptualised. The fundamental
characteristics of caste system fixed civil, cultural and economic rights for each caste,
with restrictions for change implying 'forced exclusion5of one caste from the rights
of other castes, or from undertaking the occupations of other castes.97Exclusion and
discrimination in civil, cultural, and particularly in economic spheres such as occupation
and labour employment, is therefore, internal to the system, and a necessary outcome
of its governing principles. In the market economy framework, the occupational
immobility would operate through restrictions in various markets such as land, labour,
credit, other inputs, and services necessary for any economic activity. Labour being
an integral part of the production process of any economic activity, would obviously
become a part of market discrimination.98
In the light of the above, the caste and untouchability-based exclusion and
discrimination can be categorised in the economic, civil, cultural and political spheres
as the exclusion， and the denial of equal opportunity in economic spheres would
 Introduction 21

necessarily operate through markets and non-market transactions and exchange. First,
exclusion can be practiced through the denial in labour market in hiring for jobs; in
capital market through the denial of access to capital; in agriculture land market through
the denial in sale and purchase or leasing of land; in input market through the denial
in sale and purchase of factor inputs; and in consumer market through the denial in
sale and purchase of commodities and consumer goods." Second, discrimination can
occur through what Amartya Sen would describe as Unfavourable inclusion, namely
through differential treatment in terms and conditions; of contract, one of them would
reflect in discrimination in the prices charged and received by discriminated groups.
This can be inclusive of the price of factor inputs, and consumer goods, price of factors
of production such as wages for labour, price of land or rent on land, interest on capital,
rent on residential houses, charges or fees on services such as water and electricity.
Discriminated groups can get lower prices for the goods that they sell, and could
pay higher prices for the goods that they buy, as compared with the market price
or the price paid by other groups. Third, exclusion and discrimination can occur in
terms of access to social needs supplied by the government or public institutions, or
by private institutions in education, housing and health, including common property
resources like water bodies, grazing land, and other land of common use. Fourth, a
group (particularly the untouchables) may face discrimination from participation in
certain categories of jobs (the sweeper being excluded from inside household jobs),
because of the notion of purity and pollution of occupations, and engagements in so-
called unclean occupations.
Given the complexity and crucial relevance of these issues to large groups of people,
the issue we are presently discussing, assumes great significance. The establishment of
social exclusion programmes of study in various institutions holds promise of more
specialised knowledge to overcome the challenges posed to government, especially in
the post-colonial era. Even if government action is tardy, as it often is, such knowledge
matters, because exclusion from the domain of knowledge tends preserve exclusion.

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1 G. K. Gokhale, {Turn the Search-light Inwards* in The Depressed Classes of India: An

Enquiry into their Condition and Suggestionsfor their Uplift^ edited by Rajendra Singh Vatsa
(1912, reprint, New Delhi: Gitanjali Prakashan, 1977).
2Lala Lajpat Rai, ^Humanity, Justice and Self-interest,, The Indian Review, v o l.1 1 (May
1910).
3 G. A. Natesan，‘Nation-building and Social Equality’， Presidential Address at the Second
Session of the Depressed Classes Conference, held at Madras on 8 July 1911.
4 R. G. Bhandarkar， ‘Address to Depressed Classes’ Conference: Presidential Address in
Marathi delivered at the Depressed ClassesJConference,, The Indian Review, v o l.14 (1913),
482-93.
5 B. R. Ambedkar, (Right and Might!, extract from The Annihilation of Casteyundelivered
Presidential Address composed for the Annual Conference of the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal,
scheduled to meet in 1936 at Lahore.
22 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

6 M. K. Gandhi, 'Statement on Untouchability,, extract from H arijan,11 July and 15

August 1936; in this series of essays Gandhi directly addressed (Dr Ambedkar s IndictmentJ—
4no Hindu who prizes his faith above his life itself can afford to underrate the importance of
this indictment’一 •and Dr Ambedkar, while acknowledging *the honour done to me by the
Mahatma/ responded by pointing out how 4the Mahatma has entirely missed the issues raised
by me/
7 Benoy K. Sarkar: 'Hie Sociology of the Poor and the Pariah,, extract from an article
published in Man in India: A Quarterly Record of Anthropological Science with special Reference to
India, edited by Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Roy, vol.20 (1940).
8 B.T. Ranadive, ^Six Crore Untoucnables: Their Place in Freedom Battle5, Peoples vol.
3, no. 23 (1944).
9 Suvira Jaiswal， ‘Studies in Early Indian Social History: Trends and Possibilities’ ，及ど
Indian Historical Review^ vol.6, nos 1-2, (July 1979-January 1980).
10 Vivekanand Jha, ‘Stages in the History of Untouchables’, むかnVa/ の
vol.2, n o .1 (July 1975).
11 K. R. Hanumanthan,/Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 adj, The
Indian Historical Review, vol.23, nos 1-2 (July 1996-January 1997).
12 Some scholars perceive a similar ambivalence in 17th- and 18th-century Deccan under
the Peshwas. That is to say, on the one hand there was discrimination against the Ati-sudra
castes in the idea of the latter carrying ^ransmittable impurity5, the restrictions on the dwelling
place of impure' castes, various rituals visibly symbolising the latters low status, ana other
marks of discrimination in daily life, evident in the Peshwa period documents; at the same
time, there was a measure of ambivalence in the system in that the Ati-sudras, thus subjected
to discrimination, were also playing an important role as mountain soldiers, town police, and
expert witnesses on occasions of boundary disputes, etc.; see Hiroyuki Kotani, ed., Caste System..,
Untouchability and the Depressed (New Delhi: Manohar), 1999.
13 Vikram Hanjan, ^Labour wastes under the English Company in Madras in the 17th
and 18th centuries*, extract from ^Thie Occupational Caste groups and the English Company
in Madras, 1642-1800 ad5, unpublished PhD dissertation, submitted to Jawaharlal Nehru
University in 2009.
14Priyadarshini V jjaisri， ‘Outcaste Pasts: Rethinking the Boundaries、 chapter commissioned
by the editors of the present volume.
15 Eleanor Zelliot, (The. History o f Dalits in Journal o f the Asiatic Society o f Bombay^
vol. 74(1999).
16 Ramnarayan S. Rawat, Making Claims for Power: A New Agenda in Daiit Politics of
Uttar Pradesh, 1946-48,, Modern Asian Studies^ vol.37, no. 3 (July 2003), 585-612.
17 Bharat Patankar and Gail Umvedt/The Dalit Liberation Movement in Colonial Period,,
awi/P ク份/cv?/ 術 ぺ か ，v o l. 上4, nos 7—8, Annual JNumber on Class and Caste in India
(1979).
18 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, Trotest and Accommodation: Two Caste Movements in Eastern
and Northern Bengal,c.1872-1937,, The Indian Historical Review, vol.14, nos 1-2 (June 1987
-January 1988) [published in 1990],
19Yagati Chinna Rao, 4Rise and Growth of Dalit Consciousness in South India: A Case of
Andhra and Hyderabad， ，•/«ぶ抓 5W抓 vol. 5, no. 丄（2003) ，117-53.
20 Adapa Satyanarayana, ‘Dalit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 ’，
Vikalp, vol.6, no. 2 (1998), 41-57.
21 Valerian Rodrigues， ‘Dalits and しultural Identity: Ambedkar’s Prevarications on the
Question of Culture,, Social Action^ vol.50, no.1(2000), 1-15.
 Introduction 23

22 Atul Chandm Pradhan， ‘Depressed Classes’ Uplift in the Gandhian Era: A Critique of
Three Approaches*, The Indian Historical Review^ vol.9, nos 1-2 (July 1992 - January 1993).
23 Bhagwan Das, ‘Untouchability, Scheduled しastes and Nation Building’, ⑽ ，vol.
32, no. 3 (1982), 269-82.
24 Stephen Henningham, Autonomy and Organisation Harijan and Adivasi Protest
Movements1, Economic and Political Weekly^ vol.16, no. 27 (1981), 1153-56.
25 Raj Sekhar Basu, Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in
the ^SOs*, The Indian Historical Review, vol.30, nos 1-2 (January - July 2003).
26 0 0pal Guru, ‘Understanding Ambedkar’s Construction of National Movement’,
Economic and Political Weekly^ vol.33, no. 4 (1998), 156-57.
27 Marc uallanter, 'Equality and Preferential Treatment: Constitutional Limits and Judicial
ControF, Indian Yearbook of International Affairs^ vol.14 (1965), 257-80.
28 K. A. Manikumar， ‘Caste Violence in Soutn India: The Post-colonial Tamil Nadu’,
commissioned by the editors of the present volume.
29 Shura Darapuri, 'Social Exclusion of Dalit Woman,, commissioned by the editors of the
present volume.
30 Mark Juergensmeyer， ‘What if the Untouchables Don’t Believe in Untouchability?’
Bulletin o f ConcernedAsian Scholars, vol.12, no.1(1980).
31 For details see Yagati Chinna Rao， ‘Dalits and History Writing in India: Some
Historiographical Trends and Outstion^inApproaches to History: hssays in Indian Historiography^
edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, 323-43 (New Delhi: Primus Books and ICHR, 2011).
32 Perhaps first in its kind was of Abbe J. A. Dubois, a French missionary^ experiences of
early decades of 19th century of Indian people, society and culture. Chapter Five of his work
contains one of the earliest aocumented descriptions of Dalits. This was originally written
in 1815, translated by Henry K. Beauchamps. See Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies^
(London: Clarendon, 1953).
33 Emma Rauschenbusch-Clough, While Serving the Sandals: Tales ofTelugu Pariah Tribe
(New York: Fleming H. Reveil, 1899). Perhaps one of the earliest works on Madigas of Andhra
region, one of the major Untouchable7castes. Rauschenbusch-Clougn received a PhD from the
University of Berne, Switzerlana in 1894 and was also a member of the Royal Asiatic Society
of Oreat Britain and Ireland.
34 Amongst the Census Commissioners of India, Denzil Ibbetson was perhaps the first
to count the Punjab tUntouchable, castes, and brought out an ethnographic work. He was a
British administrator and served as Chief-Commissioner of the central Provinces and Berar
and Lieutenant-oovernor of Punjab.
35 Herbert Hope Risley, The Tribes and Castes of Bengal^ 4 vols (Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat
Press,1891),also see his, The Peoples of India (Calcutta: Government Press, 1909).
36William Crooke/Chamars,in Census of India,vol. l^India: Ethnographic Appendices
by H. H. Risely, (Calcutta: Government Press, 1903), 167-75 and also see his, The Tnoes and
Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, 4 vols (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent
of Government Printing, 1906).
37 Reginald Edward Enthoven, The Truces and Castes of Bombay^ 3 vols. (Bombay: The
Central Press, 1920-22).
38 Mathew Atmore Sherring, Hindu Tnoes and Castes as Represented in Benaras, 3 vols
(Calcutta: Thacker, Spink 6c Co., 1872-81); The Tribes and Castes of the Madras Presidency^
(Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1909).
39 Edgar Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India； 7 vols. (Madras: Government Press,
1909).
24 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Yagati Chinna Rao

40 Horace Arthur Rose, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West
Frontier o f Provinces^ 3 vols (Lahore: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing,
Punjab,1911-19).
41 Robert Vane Russel, The Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces oflndia^ 4 vols (London:
Macmillan, 1916).
42 J. C. Nesfield, United Provinces o f Agra and Oudh (Allahabad: Education Department
Publisher, North-Western Provinces and Oudh Government Press, 1885).
43 L. Anantha Krishna Iyer, The Cochin Tribes and Castes^ 2 vols (Madras: Published for the
Government of Cochin by Higginbotham 5c Co., 1909-12); The Mysore Tribes and Castes, 4
vols, (Mysore: Mysore University Press, 1928-^6); and The Travancore Tribes and Castes, 3 vols
(Trivandrum: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Press, 1933-41).
44These include the French authority Emile Senart and u r S. V. Ketkar who held an MA
and PhD from Cornell University, USA and had had his thesis on (History ot Castes in India
published in 1909. ，

45 Ihe poet Raomdranath Tagore used it an essay he wrote in 1899 in the literary magazine
Bharat%^ welcoming the decision of the pioneering amateur historian Akshaykumar Maitreya
to bring out a journal called Oitthashik Chitra (historical Vignettes') from Rajshashi in
northern Bengal (now in Bangladesh). Tagore wrote: <rThe enthusiasm for history that has
arisen recently in Bengali literature bodes well for everybody.... This hunger for history is only
a natural consequence of the way the vital forces of education[al] ... movements are working
their way through Bharatbarsha [India]/ Quoted in Prabodhchandra Sen, Bangalir itihash
shadhona (The Bengali Pursuit of History), (Calcutta, 1953-54), 36. For details, see Dipesh
Chakrabarty, Public Life of History: An Argument out of India', Postcolonial Studiesyvol.
11,no. 2 (2008),170.
46 The English word research was actually translated into Bengali and Marathi m the first
decade of the 20th century and incorporated into names of organisations such as the Varendra
Anusandhan Samiti (Varendra Research Society), established in Rajshashi in 1910, and the
Bharat Itihas Samshodhak Mandal (Association of Researchers in maian History), founded
in Poona in the same year. The Bengali word anusandhan was a piece of neologism, translating
literally the English word research1, while samshodhak in Marathi meant Vesearcher*. Ibid., 171.
47 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, vol.1 (reprint, Bombay; Government of
Maharashtra, 1979/2014), 3-22.
48 George Weston Briggs, The Chamars (London: Oxford University Press, 1920).
49William India's Outcastes: A New Era (London: Church Missionary Society, 1924).
50 Stephen Fuchs, The Children of Hart: A Study ofNimarBalahis in Madhya Pradesh, India,
(Ahmedabad: New Order Book, 1951/1966).
51 Harold R. Issacs, India's Ex~untouchables (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 197b； .
521. P. Desai, Untouchability in Rural Gujarat (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1976).
53 Chintamani Lakshmanna, Caste-Dynamics in Village India (Bombay: Nachiketa
Publications, 1973), also see Hanjans and the Social Discrimination: A Study o f some Telangana
Villages^ (Hyderabad: Osmania University, 1977).
54 For details see M. N. Srimvas, Social Change in Modern India (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1966).
55 G. Scarlett Epstein, Economic Development and Social Change in South India (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1962). Esptein showed the impact of economic development in
the overall political structure in two Mysore villages.
56 André Béteille, *The Future of the Backward Classes: The Competing Demands of Status
and Power* in India and Ceylon: Unity and Diversity^ edited by Philip Mason, 83-120 (London:
 Introduction 25

Oxford University Press, 1965). Béteille described the process of Sanskritization among Dalits
that resulted in renunciation of their traditional occupations.
57 K. C. Alexander, Changing Status of Pulaya Harijans of Kerala^ Economic and Political
Weekly^ v o l.3, Special Number (July 1968), 1071-74. Alexander analysed the multifaceted
impacts of economic indepeudencej modem education and various public welfare programmes
on the Pulayas, an important Dalit community of Kerala.
58 Owen M. Lynch, The Politics ofUntouchability: Social Mobility and Social Change in a City
o f India (New York: Columbia University Press, 1969). Lynch described the process of social
mobility among the Jatavs of Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
59Eleanor Zelliot/Dr. Ambedkar and the Mahar Movement,, unpublished PhD dissertation
submitted to the University of Pennsylvania, 1969.
60 J. Michael Mahar, ed., The Untouchables in Contemporary India (Tucson, Arizona: The
University of Arizona Press, 1972). Eleanor Zelliot gave a very elaborative account of the
different approaches of these two leaders to bring change (ibid., 69-95). Lelah Dushin, while
examining the role of public welfare measures in bringing about change, rightly concluded that
they have so far been unable to provide a suitable means of integration to Dalits in the societal
mainstream (ibid., 165-226).
61 Satish Saberwal, (Status, Mobility and Networks in Punjabi Industrial Town in Beyond
the Village: Sociological Explorations^ edited by S. Saberwal, 111-84 (Shimla: Indian Institute
of Advanced Study, 1972). Also, see his, Mobile Men: Limits of Social Change in Urban Punjab
(Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1976).
62 Sunanda Patwardhan, Change amonglndian Harijans: Maharashtra—A Case Study (Delhi;
Orient Longman, 1973).
63 N. Sengupta, Destitute and Development: A Study of Bauri Community -in Bokaro Region
(New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1979).
64 V. D'Souza/Scheduled Castes and Urbanization in Punjab: An Explanation, Sociological
BulletitiyVoX. 35, n o .1 (March 1975), 1-12; 4Does Urbanism Desegregate Scheduled Castes:
Evidence from District of Punjab,, Contribution to Indian Sociology, n.s., vol.2, no.1(1977).
65 T. K. Oommen, Strategy for Social Change (A Study of Untouchability)5, Economic and
Political Weeklyyvol. 3, no. 25 (1968),1959-64.
66 Uma Ramaswamy, ‘Scheduled Castes in Andhra: Some Aspects of Social Change’ ，
Economic and Political Weekly, vo l.9, no. 29 (1974), 1153-58; ^elf-identity among Scheduled
Castes: Study of Andhra5, Economic and Political Weekly^ vol. 9, no. 47 (1974),1959-64.
67 Pratap Agrawal and C. Ashraf Md. S., Equality through Privileges: A Study of Special
Privileges o f Scheduled Castes in Haryana (Delhi: Manohar, 1976).
68 S. Singh, <rThe Scheduled Castes and New Dimension of Social Changed hidian Journal
o f Comparative Sociology, vol.3, n o .1 (February 1977), 28-38.
69John, C. B. Webster, Understanding the Modern Dalit Movement,, Sociological Bulletin^
vol.45, no. 2 (September 1996), 189-204,
70 Mark Juergensmeyer, Religion as Social Vision: The Movement against Untouchability in
20th Century Punjab (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982).
各 ， }L. The Scheduled Castes in Modern Indian Politics: Their Emergence as Political
Power (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1985). The purpose of S, K. Guptas study was to
present a detailed and analytical account of the multi-faceted struggle of the Scheduled Castes,
the odyssey of the transformation occurring between the last quarter of the 19th century
and the Government of India Act of 1935, the precursor for Dalits of the Constitution of
India in the postcolonial era. He analyses with painstaking data to prove his point that this
transformation passed through three stages—the Dalits, initiation into politics by 1916; their
26 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

establishing a political identity by 1927; and a marked change in their political status secured
by the 1935 Act.
72 Atul Chandra Pradhan, The Emergence of the Depressed Classes (Bhubaneswar: Bookland
International, 1986). Pradhan tells essentially the same story, but with a different framework.
Pradhan considers the developments prior to 1917 to be preparatory and treats them in a very
summary form, but he then extends his period beyond 1935 to 1947. Another significance
of his framework is the manner in which he organised his account less around the various
British-initiated announcements, missions and commissions than around the three key
parties to the emergence of Depressed Classes as a social reality and a political force to be
taken increasingly serious by these parties were: the British policy-makers; the Congress,
Gandhi and caste-Hindu religious organisations; and the Depressed Classes5leaders and
their organisations.
73 Trilok Nath, Politics o f the Depressed Classes (Delhi: Deputy Publications, 1987). In his
workjTrilok Nath aims to throw some light on the socio-political conditions which necessitated
the evolution of policies which facilitated the Dalits, participation in the political arena. He
concentrates primarily upon the decade from 1927 to 1937, although his treatment of history
from the 19th century grows increasingly detailed as he approaches 1927. Like Gupta, he sees
the communal struggle for power following the Aga Khan deputation and the 1909 reforms
as providing Dalits an opportunity for political participation. Also, like Gupta and Pradhan,
Trilok Nath not only concentrates upon politics at the All-India level, which he considers
to have been crucial for Dalits but also provides considerable information on Dalit political
activities aimed at influencing policy at the Centre. In his treatment of the 1927-37 period, his
narrative on the constitutional development stops with the Poona Pact.
74 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt, 'Hie Dalit Liberation Movement in Colonial Period5,
Economic and 'Political Weekly^ v o l.14, no. 7/8, Annual Number: Class and Caste in India
(February 1979), 409-24, emphasis added.
75 The Marxists in India have veered between a rather pure class perspective and a pro-
Congress nationalism, analysis of the Dalit movement has suffered from both interpretations.
This was represented by B. T. Ranadive and the Communist Party of India (CPI) in its
^lass Sectarianism1period and in other periods, and also later followed by the new Marxian
academicians. For more details, see Gail Omvedt, Dalit and the Democratic Revolutions: Dr.
Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India (New Delhi：Sage,1994),10-14.
76 Gopal Guru, ^Dalit Movement in Mainstream Sociology,, Economic and Political Weekly^
vol.27, no.14 (1993), 570-73. Among other notable scholars who fall into this liberal category
is M. S. A. Rao, who has used similar concepts for understanding the emergence of the
protest movements among Dalits and Backwards. However, this liberal view also had a strong
tendency to assume that the Dalit movement is limited to achieving the partial advance that
it has in the socio-economic, civic and political fields within the existing social order, without
any thought regarding its radical transformation in other respects. It is due to this ideological
position that concepts like ‘social mobility’， ‘reference group’ and ‘relative deprivation’ figure
so prominently in their writings on Dalit movement becoming a major frame of reference for
studying the Dalit movement. For details, see M. S, A. Rao, Social Movements in India I (Delhi:
Manohar, 1982).
77 Ghanshyam Shah/Anti-Untouchability Movements,in Removal ofUntouchability^ edited
by Vimal Shah (Ahmedabad: Gujarat University, 1980). The former tries to reform the caste
system to solve the problem of untouchability and the alternative moyement attempts to
create an alternative socio-cultural structure by conversion to other religions or by acquiring
 Introduction 27

education, economic status and political power. Both types of movements use political means to
attain their objectives. The reformative movements further divided into: (a) bhakti movements;
{b) neo-vedantic movements; and (<：) Sanskritization movements. The alternative movements
are divided into: (a) conversion movements, and {b) religious or secular movements.
78 These trend setting volumes were edited by Ranajit Guha under the title of Subaltern
Studies: Writing on South Asian History and Societyy 12 vols (Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1982-2005) are an obvious part of what goes by the name of the ‘Subaltern School’.
79 Ranajit Guha, (On Some Aspects of the Historiography of Colonial India in Subaltern
Studies I, edited by Guha (Delhi.; Oxford University Press, 1982), 8.
80 A group of radical Puerto Rican historians in the early 1970s stated that lwe face the
problem that the history presented as a ours is only part of our history ... what of the history of
the ^history less", the anonymous people who, in their collective acts, their work, daily lives, and
fellowship, have forged our society through the centuries?f For details, see Angel Quientero
Rivera, Workers' Struggle in Puerto Rico: A Documentary Study (New York: Monthly Review
Press, 1976), 6-7. similarly, Dares Salaam School of History expressed its dissatisfaction saying
that Ve would end with the singularly useless i<historyJ,, celebrating individuals, narrating their
biographies ana heroic acts or, at the most, erecting monuments for valiant tribes. These would
leave the large mass of our people out of history, without history/ See Issa G. Shivji, Class
Struggle in Tanzania (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976), 55.
81 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, 'Protest and Accommodation: Two Caste Movements in the
Eastern and Northern Bengal,c.1872-1937', Indian Historical Review., vol.14, nos 1-2 (1987-
88). He continued working on the similar themes and later published Caste^ Protest and Identity
in Colonial India: The Namasudras of Bengal 1872-1947y SOAS London Studies on South Asia
15 (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1997) and Transfer of Power and the Crisis of Dalit
Politics in India,19A S - M o d e r n Asian Studiesyvo\. 34, no. 4 (2000), 893-942.
82 Raj Sekhar Basu，‘Caste, Pollution and Politics of Untouchability in Early Twentieth
Century Punjab, in Imperial Embrace: Society and Polity Under the Raj: Essays in Honour of
Sunil Kumar Sen, edited by Ranjit Kumar Roy (Calcutta: Rabindra Bharati University, 1993);
Gandhi, Akaiis and Vaikam Satyagraha: Hie Beginning of an Unhappy Journal of Sikh
History (2000); 'Christianisation of Paraiyans inTamilnadu: Some Preliminary Observations!
in Christianity in India: Issues and Prospects^ edited by Roger E. Hedlund (New Delhi; ISPCK,
2000); ‘Congress， Gandhi and Politics of Untouchability in Tamilnadu in the Early 1930s’ ，
Indian Historical Review, voi.J 〇, nos 1 and 2 (January and July 2003); and Reinterpreting
Dalit Movements in India, Indian Historical Review^ vol.33 (July 2006), 161-80. Also, see his
more recent work, Nandanars Children: The Paraiyans Tryst with Destmy, Tamil Nadu 1850-
1956 (New Delhi: Sage, 2011).
83 Saurabh Dube, Untouchable Pasts: Religion, Identity and Power among a Central Indian
Community, 1780-1950 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998). This work
deals with an interpretative account of Satnami s endeavours, encounters and experience by
combining history and anthropology, archival and field work.
84 Nicholas B. Dirks, The Holloa Crown: Ethno-History of an Indian Kingdom (Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1993). Later he also published Castes of Mind: Colonialism and
the Making- o f Modern India (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2004).
85 Hugo Gorringe, Untouchable Citizens: Dalit Movements and Democratisation in Tamil
Nadu (Delhi: Sage, 2005).
86 Swaraj Basu, Dynamics of a Caste Movement: The Rajbansis of North Bengal (New Delhi:
Manohar, 2003).
28 Sabyasachi Bhattacharya andYagati Chinna Rao

87 Badri Narayan Tiwari, Documenting Dissent Contesting Fables, Contested Memories and
Dalit Discourse (Shimla: HAS, 2000); with A.R. Mishra, Multiple Marginaltties: An Anthology
o f Dalit Popular Writings (New Delhi: Manohar, 2004); and Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion
in North India (New Delhi: Sage, 2006).
88 Nandini Gooptu, *Caste and Labour: Untouchable Social Movements in Urban Uttar
Pradesh in the Early 20th Century, in Dalit Movements and Meanings of Labour in India,
edited by Peter Robb (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993), 277-98; also, see The Politics
o f Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press?
2001). Gooptu teaches history and politics of South Asia in the Department of International
Development and the Department of Politics, University of Oxford.
89 Ramnarayan S. Rawat, Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North
India (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011).
90 Raj Sekhar Basu, Nandanars Children: The Paraiyans3Tryst with Destiny, Tamil Nadu
1850-1956 (New Delhi: Sage, 2011).
91 Rupa Viswanath, The Pariah Problem: Caste, Religion and the Social in Modern India (New
York: Columbia University Press, 2014),
92 Sana! Mohan, 'Dalit Discourse and the Evolving New Self: Contest and Strategies',
Review o f Development and Change^ vol.4, no.1 (January-June 1999), 1-24; and his Modernity
o f Slavery: Struggles against Caste Inequality in Colonial Kerala (New Delhi: OUP, 2015).
93 Although Adapa Satyanarayana started his research career with economic history and
labour history in the early 1980s, in the 1990s he worked more on social history with a special
thrust on Dalit-bahujan communities. For details, see 'Dalit Protest Literature inTelugu: A
Historical Perspective*, Economic and Political Weekly^ vol. 30, no. 3 (1995); 'Dalit Identity and
Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1904-19471, Vikalp^ v o l.6, no. 2 (1998); ^pper Caste
Violence Against Dalits in Andhra Pradesh, 1947-1985, in Development of Weaker Sections
(Essays in Honour of Prof. K.S. Cha/am), edited by Chandu Subba Rao and D. Francis (Jaipur:
Rawat, 2000); 'Growth of Education Among the Dalit-Bahujan Communities in Modern
Andhra, 1893~1947,, in Education and the Disprivileged: "Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
India, edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2002) and Dalits
and Upper Castes: Essays in Social History (New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2004).
94 W. B. Gallie, Essentially Contested Concepts*, Aristotelian Society Proceedings, no. 56
(1956), cited in Hillary Silver, ^Reconceptualizing Social Disadvantage: Three Paradigms of
Social Exclusion in Social Exclusion: Rhetoric, Reality^ Responses^ edited by Gerry Rodgers,
Charles Gore and Jose B. Figueiredo (Geneva: International Institute for Labour Studies,
International Labour Institute, 1995), 57-80.
95 Robert Jenkins and Elmar Barr, Social Exclusion of Scheduled Caste Children from
Primary Education in India (New Delhi: UNICEF, 2006), mimeo,16; also, see Yagati Chinna
Rao, 'Social Exclusion and the Dalits in India9in Social Exclusion^ Integration and Inclusive
Policies, edited by V. Subramanyam and K. Sekhar (Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2010).
96 Amartya Sen, Social Exclusion: Concepty Application, and Scrutiny (Manila: Asian
Development Bank, 2000); Yagati Chinna Rao and Sudhakar Karakoti, ed., Exclusion and
Discrimination: Concepts, Perspectives and Challenges (New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2010).
97 B. R. Ambedkar, 4The Hindu Social Order: Its Essential Features, in Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, v o l.3, compiled by Vasant Moon (Bombay: Government of
Maharashtra, 1987), 1-34.
98 K. S. Chalam, Caste-Based Reservations and Human Development in India (New Delhi:
Sage, 2007); Sukhadeo Thorat, "Caste, Ethnicity, and Religion: An Overview Paper on
Exclusion/Discrimination and Deprivation, conceot paper for DFID, Delhi (May 2003); also,
 Introduction 29

see his (Caste, Social Exclusion and Poverty Linkages: Concept, Measurement and Empirical
Evidence,, concept paper for PACS, New Delhi (2005), available at http://www.pacsindia.org/
assets/uploads/files/CastePovertyPaper.pdf (accessed September 2016)
94 Sukhadeo Ihorat, 'Caste, Untouchability and Economic and Market Discrimination:
Theory, Concept and Consequences,, Artha Vighyan^ v o l.43 , nos 1-2 (2001). Also see,
Sukhadeo Thorat and R. S. Deshpande, (Caste and Labour Market Discrimination, Indian
Journal o f Labour Economic^ conference special number (November 1999).
 PART ONE

A P P R O A C H E S T O T H E IS S U E
 T U R N T H E S E A R C H -L IG H T IN W A R D S ^

G. K. Gokhale

Mr President and Gentlemen,—Hie proposition which has been entrusted to me

runs thus: £That this Conference holds that the present degraded condition of the low
castes is, in itself and from the national point of view, unsatisfactory, and is of opinion
that every well-wisher of the country should consider it his duty to do all he can to
raise their moral and social condition by trying to rouse self-respect in these classes
and placing facilities for education and employment within their reach.5
Gentlemen, I hope I am not given to the use of unnecessarily strong language
and yet I must say that this resolution is not as strongly worded as it should have
been. Hie condition of the low castes—it is painful to call them low castes一 is not
only unsatisfactory as this resolution says,一 it is so deplorable that it constitutes a
grave blot on our social arrangements: and, further, the attitude of our educated men
towards this class is profoundly painful and humiliating. I do not propose to deal with
this subject as an antiquarian; I only want to make a few general observations from
the standpoint of justice, humanity and national selr-xnterest. I think all rair-minded
persons will have to admit that it is absolutely monstrous that a class oi human
beings, with bodies similar to our own, with brains that can think and with hearts
that can feel, should be perpetually condemned to a low life of utter wretchedness,
servitude and mental and moral degradation, and that permanent barriers should be
placed in their way so that it shoula be impossible for them ever to overcome them
and improve their lot. This is deeply revolting to our sense of justice. I believe one
has only to put oneself mentally into their place to realise how grievous this injustice
is. We may toucn a cat, we may touch a dog, we may touch any other animal, but
the touch of these human beings is pollution! And so complete is now the mental
degradation of these people that they themselves see nothing in such treatment to
resent, that they acquiesce in it as though nothing better than that was their due.

T U R N T H E S E A R C H -L IG H T IN W A R D S '

I remember a speech delivered 7 or 8 years ago by the late Mr Ranade in Bombay,

under the auspices of the Hindu Lmon Club. That was a time when public feeling*
* Extracts from G. K. Gokhale, <rIhe Depressed Classes of India,, speech delivered at the
Dharwar Social Conference, held on 27 April 1903. The speech was published in Rajendra Singh
Vatsa, ed., The Depressed Classes of India: An Enquiry into their Conditions and Suggestions for their
34 G. K. Gokhale

ran high in India on the subject of the treatment which our people were receiving
in South Africa. Our friend, Mr Gandhi, had come here on a brief visit from South
Africa and he was telling us how our people were treated in Natal and Cape Colony
and the Transvaal—how they were not allowed to walk on footpaths or travel in first-
class carriages on the railway, how they were not admitted into hotels and so forth.
Public feeling, in consequence, was deeply stirred, and we all felt that it was a mockery
that we should be called British subjects, when we were treated like this in Great
Britains colonies. Mr Ranade felt this just as keenly as anyone else. He had been
a never-falling adviser of Mr Gandhi, and has carried on a regular correspondence
with him. But it was Mr Ranade s peculiar greatness that he always utilised occasions
of excitement to give a proper turn to the national mind and cultivate its sense of
proportion. And so, when everyone was expressing himself in indignant terms about
the treatment which our countrymen were receiving in South Africa, Mr Ranade
came forward to ask if we had no sins of our own to answer for in that direction. I
do not exactly remember the title of his address. I think it was (Turn the Search-light
Inwards1, or some such thing. But I remember that it was a great speech—one of the
greatest that I have ever been privileged to hear. He began in characteristic fashion,
expressing deep sympathy with the Indians in South Africa in the struggle they were
manfully carrying on. He rejoiced that the people of India had awakened to a sense of
position of their countrymen abroad, and hè felt convinced that this awakening was
a sign of the fact that the dead bones in the valley were once again becoming instinct
with life. But he proceeded to ask:—*Was this sympathy with the oppressed and
downtrodden Indians to be confined to those of our countrymen only who had gone
out of India? Or was it to be general and to be extended to all cases where there was
oppression and injustice?5It was easy, he said, to denounce foreigners, but those who
did so were bound in common fairness to look into themselves and see if they were
absolutely blameless in the matter. He then described the manner in which members
of low caste were treated by our own community in different parts of India. It was
a description, which filled the audience with feelings of deep shame and pain and
indignation. And Mr Ranade very justly asked whether it was for those who tolerated
such disgraceful oppression and injustice in their own country to indulge in all that
denunciation of the people of South Africa. This question, therefore, is, in the first
place, a question of sheer justice.

7 \ Q U E S T IO N O F H U M A N IT Y '
■ ■ -■ ； . —
Next, as I have already said, it is a question of humanity. It is sometimes urged that
if we have our castes, the people in the West have their classes, and, after all, there is
not much difference between the two. A little reflection will, however, show that the
analogy is quite fallacious. The classes of the West are a perfectly elastic institution,
and not rigid or cast-iron like our castes. Mr Chamberlain, who is the most masterful
personage in the British Empire today, was at one time a shoemaker and then a
screw-maker. O f course, he did not make shoes himself, but that was the trade by
 (Turn the Search-light Inwards1 35

which he made money. Mr Chamberlain today dines with Royalty, and mixes with
the highest in the land on terms of absolute equality. Will a shoemaker ever be able to
rise in India in the social scale in a similar fashion, no matter how gifted by nature he
might be? A great writer has said that castes are eminently useful for the preservation
of society, but that they are utterly unsuited for purposes of progress. And this I
think is perfectly true. If you want to stand where you were a thousand years ago,
the system of castes need not be modified in any material degree. If, however, you
want to emerge out of the slough in which you have long remained sunk, it will not
do for you to insist on a rigid adherence to caste. Modern civilisation has accepted
greater equality for all as its watchword, as against privilege and exclusiveness, "which
were the root-ideas of the old world. And the larger humanity of these days requires
that we should acknowledge its claims by seeking the amelioration of the helpless
condition of our down-trodden countrymen.

7 \ Q U E S T IO N O F N A T IO N A L S E L F -IN T E R E S T '

Finally, gentlemen, this is a question of National Self-interest. How can we possibly

realise our national aspirations, how can our country ever hope to take her place among
the nations of the world, if we allow large numbers of our countrymen to remain
sunk in ignorance, barbarism, and degradation? Unless these men are gradually raised
to a higher level, morally and intellectually, how can they possibly understand our
thoughts or share our hopes or co-operate with us in our efforts? Can you not realise
that so far as the work of national elevation is concerned， the energy which these
classes might be expected to represent is simply unavailable to us? I understand that
the great thinker and observer—Swami Vivekananda-~held this view very strongly.
I think that there is not much hope for us as a nation unless the help of all classes,
including those that are known as low castes, is forthcoming for the work that lies
before us. Moreover, is it, I may ask, consistent with our own self-respect that these
men should be kept out of our houses and shut out from all social intercourse as long
as they remain within the pale of Hinduism, whereas the moment they put on a coat
and a hat and a pair of trousers and call themselves Christians we are prepared to
shake hands with them and look upon them as quite respectable? No sensible man
will say that this is a satisfactory stage of things. O f course, no one expects that these
classes will be lifted up at once morally and intellectually to a position of equality
with their more-favoured countrymen.

A N A P P E A L T O E D U C A T E D IN D IA N S

This work is bound to be slow and can only be achieved by strenuous exertions for
giving them education and finding for them honourable employment in life. And,
gentlemen, it seems to me that, in the present state of India, no work can be higher
or holier than this. I think if there is one question of social reform more than another
36 G. K. Gokhale

that should stir the enthusiasm of our educated young men and inspire them with
an unselfish purpose, it is this question of the degraded condition of our low castes.
Cannot a few men—five per cent, four per cent, three, two, even one per cent—of
the hundreds and hundreds of graduates that the University turns out every year, take
it upon themselves to dedicate their lives to this sacred work of the elevation of low
castes? My appeal is not to the old or the middle-aged—-the grooves of their lives are
fixed—but I think I may well address such an appeal to the young members of our
community—to those who have not yet decided upon their future course and who
entertain the noble aspiration of devoting to a worthy cause the education which they
have received. What the country needs most at the present moment is a spirit of self-
sacrifice on the part of our educated young men， and they may take it from me that
they cannot spend their lives in a better cause than raising the moral and intellectual
level of these unhappy low castes and promoting, their general well-being.
 II

/ H U M A N I T Y , J U S T I C E A N D S E L F - I N T E R E S T ，*

Lala Lajpat Rat

It is a matter of great satisfaction that the necessity of taking some steps to ameliorate
the condition of the depressed classes and uplifting the untouchables from their
present wretched position has begun to be recognised so well and so widely. The
question has come to the forefront of the practical questions of the day, and there
seems to be a near prospect of unanimity amongst educated Hindus as to the
necessity, justice and humanity of the measure. The enlightened among the orthodox
Hindus have made a promising beginning under the lead of the Theosophical Society.
The cries of Ram Mohan Roy, Dayanand, Vivekanand, Ranade and Ram Tirath, have
after all begun to be heard. The heart of the nation seems to have been touched. Even
the uneducated seem to be getting conscious of the inevitableness of the reform.
The movement is no more ridiculed. It has passed that stage and is being seriously
opposed by the most bigoted of the orthodox. The serious opposition which was made
to its being included in the agenda of the first Hindu Conference held at Lahore in
October 1909 betokened a healthy and encouraging growth of public opinion in the
matter. The opposition, led by a few fanatics of one of the provincial Sanatana Sabhas,
expressed dismay not at the subject, having been in all probability thrust in, accor­
ding to them, by the heretics of the Arya Samaj, but at the fact of some amongst the
most prominent leaders of the Sanatan Dharma having consented to the programme.
The cry of Religion in danger^ was raised in all earnestness, resolutions were passed
expressing surprise at the conduct of their leaders, suggesting that probably they
had been imposed upon by the enemy* and appealing to them to retrace their steps
and save the faith. Circular letters with copies of the resolutions were forwarded to
the offending leaders and the other Sanatana Sabhas asking the former to undo the
mischief done on pain of forfeiting their leadership, and the latter to agitate and
raise a storm with a view to have the subject excluded from the programme. Angry
letters were addressed to the press and a sort of a storm in a teapot was actually
raised. The response however was not what the opposition expected. True, earnest
and prominent Sanatanists were not wanting who objected to go back, and started
'forward5. The Chairman of the Reception Committee, an Arya Samajist, hinted at
the subject in his address of welcome without making it offensive to anyone. The
President, a Sanatanist, dwelt on it at length explicitly and was vociferously cheered
which unmistakably showed the temper of the house. The opposition now took refuge

* Reprinted from The Indian Review, May 1910.

38 Lala Lajpat Rai

in strategy, cajoled, flattered, threatened and, last but not least, begged of the leaders
to save their faces. The President was evidently prevailed upon to be indulgent to
speakers on the resolutions preceding the objectionable one, and thus eventually the
opposition won the day by having it declared that there was no time to take up the
remaining subjects including the one relating to the depressed classes. Now, what
does all this signify? Simply that the matter has caught the public mind, great and
herculean efforts are needed to keep it in the background or to defend the wall of
superstition that separates it from the sunny land of practical wisdom. The wail was
apparently impregnable so long as it was assailed by sallies or abstract justice；reason
and humanity. There was a breach, however, the moment it was attacked in the name
and on the authority of the Scripture and Shastras. The garrison is still holding out,
but the number of breaches made has rendered the position of the defenders un­
tenable and the victory of the besiegers seems to be assured. The day is not far distant
when the besieged will acknowledge that the efforts to keep out the besieged were
grounded on a regrettable misunderstanding and the latter were and are the best
friends and devoted servants of the former. Yes, it is a very hopeful sign of the times
that even His Holiness the Jagat Guru^ one of the present Shankarachariyas of the
Deccan, has spoken out in favour of the reform, and the propaganda is catching. The
greatest possible credit is due to H. H.The Gaekwar of Baroda for being one of the
earliest in the field and for setting an example of great value to his brother chiefs and
ruling princes. His paper on the subject in the January number of the Indian Review
is a masterpiece and clearly reflects his nobility of mind. So far then, the progress
made is very encouraging, though the full realisation of the hopes of the reformer
is yet far distant. All we can say at present is that a good beginning has been made
and that the final success is no more in doubt. What, however, is required to assure
an early victory is, in the first place, constant, persistent hammering and a readiness
to push on the work with zeal, energy and courage, and, in the second place, that the
matter should be precedence of many which look more important on the surface, but
the importance of which mainly consists in their bringing easy fame and applause
to their pursuers. The keynote to the whole situation is social efficiency. There can
be no nation Withovx it. You may cry, you may shriek, you may howl, but the one is a
condition precedent of the other. Social efficiency, needed to make us a nation, cannot
be achieved without the cooperation of the classes known as the depressed classes.
There can be no unity, no solidarity, so long as they are what they are at present.
They must come up and occupy their proper place in the social hierarchy before we
can, with perfect truth, call ourselves a nation. At present they are nowhere. They
are with us, it is true, but they are not of us. Their fidelity is being put to a severe
strain and unless we recognise the justice and humanity of their cause and recognise
it in time, no blame could attach to them if they were to separate themselves from
us and join the ranks of those who are neither with us nor of us. Humanity, justice
and self-interest they are all ranged on the side of this urgent reform. But what is
of greater value and should be prominently brought out is that the authority of
national tradition, of national history and of national scriptures (the Shastras) is
also on our side.
 'Humanity, Justice and Self~interest, 39

It is not right to say that the authority of the Shastras is against it. The doctrine
and the practice of repentance by penance, of prayaschittay of purification by tapay
gnan and dan is as old as the Himalayas and as eternal as the vedas. The vedas and the
饥 ぬ ”^ y, the 細 が ⑽ d the 娜 rf城 ⑽ 仍 （ history) and夕wranバ tradition) all
and chance to the fallen and the degraded. In olden times the fall was only a personal
fall and not a hereditary one. The children of the fallen could rise to a position even
higher than the one originally occupied by their fallen parent, and that was logical
because in the ancient Shastras there was nothing to bar the admission of the non-
Aryans into the religion as well as the social hierarchy of the Aryas.The Brahmanas,
the Upanishads, and the Puranas give sufhcient instances of such admissions. The
Smritis and the Shastras lay down elaborate rules for the ceremonies that attended
these admissions. The ceremonial was originally very simple. It grew complex and
elaborate with the growth of rigidity in the caste system, till eventually the castes were
almost closed and new admission became very very rare. In the nineteenth century the
question was first raised in the Punjab by the late Swami Dayananda Saraswati who
challenged the priesthood to explain away or deny the authorities he cited in support
of his proposition. The matter attracted the attention of the then Maharaja ofJammu
and Kashmir (the father of H. H. the present Maharaja) Shri Maharaja Ranbir Singh.
He called upon the Pandits of Kashi to examine the authorities relied upon by Swami
Dayananda and pronounce upon them. The sympathies of H. H. were partially with
those who advocated the readmission of those who had left Hinduism or had been
turned out of it, for some reason or other. As a result of the researches made under the
orders of H. H., a book was printed and published which collected all the authorities
in support of the readmission of the outcastes of Hinduism in one volume. This book
is called £Ranoir Prakash' and was published by and under the authority of H. H. In
this book the Pandits pronounced in favour of the readmission of those who had
themselves renounced the ancestral faith. It was yet too early for them to go farther.
The Arya Samajists, however, refused to stand there and have since taken several steps
forward. They argue that it is only a corollary of the position conceded by the Pandits
of Kashi at the instance of Maharaja Ranbir Singh that the outcastes and others
similarly situated as most of the so-called depressed classes are, should have chances
of bettering their position and rising in the social scale. The first thing which the
Arya Samajists in the Punjab have established is religious equality for all who join the
Samaj, whether Hindus or non-Hindus, men and women of the higher castes or of
the so-called depressed classes. They have gone a step further and invested the latter
with the red thread. The wisdom and the legitimacy of the latter step is questionable.
It causes unnecessary irritation and friction and retards the progress of the movement
appreciably. The next thing which the Arya Samajists at is the social equality of all
who join the Samaj. ihey have not yet attained it to the extent of having free inter­
marriages between the different castes. They have to a very great extent broken the
barriers of subcastes, but they still marry within caste. It is true a few inter-marriages
between different castes have taken place, but the exceptions only prove the rule. In
the same way a few marriages of high caste people with the members of the depressed
classes admitted into the Arya Samaj have taken place, but if my memory is to be
40 Lala Lajpat Rai

relied upon, the girls of the latter have been taken as wives by the boys of the former.
Progress in this direction must necessarily be slow and I am quite at one with Babu
Ambika Charan Mazumdar that we should for some time proceed on the path of
least resistance. In the Punjab, the first thing which the Arya Samajists achieve by
the admission of the untouchables into their fold is to make them touchable, the
congregational and other public meetings of the Arya Samaj are freely attended by
all members of the Arya Samaj whoever they were before they joined the Samaj and
by Sanatanists, Mahomedans and Christians too. The converted untouchables thus
sit on the same carpets and benches with the highest of Hindus and no objection is
raised by any. The first sign of resentment comes when the former attempt to draw
water from the same wells as are used by the Hindus. In some places, the opposition
succeeds and the converted untouchables are successfully ousted. In others it fails
and the latter establish their right to use the same wells with the other Hindus. In
the matter of inter-dining there is much freedom even amongst the highest sects of
Hindus in the Punjab. The converted untouchables are thus easily assimilated and in
a short time become undistinguishable from other touchable Hindus.The movement
is thus proceeding satisfactorily, but outside the Arya Samaj nothing is being done
in the cause of the untouchables. In the Arya Samaj, too, the cause is only one of the
many causes and reforms advocated and furthered by the Samaj. The importance of
the subject, however, demands an exclusive organisation pledged to the reform with
ample funds and plenty of energy and sacrifice to back it. People look forward to the
newly started Hindu Sabha to take up the matter in right earnest, but it appears that
august body is engaged in more important work than the uplifting and the elevation
of the depressed classes is supposed to be. They seem to care more for Legislative
Councils and things of that nature than for the danger which the Hindu community
runs by neglecting its backward classes.
What is most urgently needed for these classes is education which will produce
leaders and reformers from amongst themselves and which will give them a status
and position in the social organism. It is in the best interests of the nation that the
education of these classes should be taken in hand and pushed on with zeal and
courage. The education of these classes will also materially conduce to the solution of
our economic problems. Here is valuable material going to waste and rotting without
giving full value to the country. All honour then to those who are devoting their time,
energy and money to the cause of these unfortunate classes whom the country and
its leaders have neglected so long and so much.
 I ll

C A T I O N - B U I L D I N G A N D S O C I A L E Q U A L I T Y 7^

G. A. Natesan

It is difficult to conceive of an educated Indian who is not moved to sorrow 'by

the sight of 50 million people sunk in ignorance, poverty and contempt, branded as
untouchables or unapproachables, treated as serfs and reduced to a state of moral
degradation through the contempt and ill-treatment that they have received for the
past 1,000 years/ No fair-minded man can contemplate for a moment the present
condition of the depressed classes, without being forced to admit *that it is absolutely
monstrous that a class of human beings with bodies similar to our own, with brains
that can think and with hearts that can feel, should be perpetually condemned to a
low life of utter wretchedness, servitude and mental and moral degradation, and that
permanent barriers should be placed in their way that it should be impossible for
them ever to overcome them and improve their lot.ySuch a state of things, as was well
observed by the Hon. Mr Gokhale, £is deeply revolting to our sense of justice/
No one can deny that at present, by a social arrangement which one might term
as almost cruel, these unfortunate classes of people are, as it were, hemmed in by a
forced cordon which completely separates them not only from the superior classes but
also from those accessories which are always so indispensable in a social organisation/
To an educated Indian whose heart overflows with sympathy for his suffering
and sorrowing fellowmen, no sight is more sickening, more pathetic than that one-
fifth of the entire population of this great land should virtually be condemned to
lead a life of misery and distress. That these men and women and children, bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh, should be branded as untouchables, and at every
moment of their lives made to feel that they are a degraded and inferior set of
beings, is a state of things which no one can contemplate with equanimity. Nearly
60 millions of people as a class gentle, docile, industrious, pathetically submissive/
even at the present day continue to be regarded with the utmost contempt and scornl,
Without them agriculture would be impossible, the economy of Indian life would
be most seriously upset, and anything like an organised revolt by them on western
lines will undoubtedly mean ruin to Indian society, and yet these people so useful,
so serviceable, so indispensable, who toil day and night for the enrichment and the

* Full text of the presidential address delivered by G. A. Natesan at the Second Session of the
Depressed Classes Conference, held at Madras on 8 July 1911.G. A. Natesan, cTlie Depressed
Classes of Inaia in The Depressed Classes of India: An Enquiry into their Conditions and Suggestionsfor
their Uplift^ edited by Rajendra Singh Vatsa (New Delhi: Gitanjali Prakasan, 1977/1912).
42 G. A. Natesan

aggrandisement of the classes above them, are regarded as untouchables. (We may
touch a dog, we may touch any other animal, but the touch of these human beings is
pollution/ Speaking so far as southern India is concerned, the depressed classes—the
Pariahs, as they are called—still suffer from disabilities o f a most serious kind. They
cannot use the common well or even the common tank in some places. They toil
hard and sweat under the sun the whole day, and they rightly complain, in these
days of increased wages and prices, they get more or less the same wages which they
obtained 50 years ago. They are treated as if they have no right as labourers to claim
what they consider as fair wages. There is nothing like the relation between master
and servant, as we understand it nowadays. They live in wretched dwellings, have
absolutely no idea of what comfort is and they have no one to treat them in times
of sickness. It would be no exaggeration to say they are at present regarded more or
less as chattel or as machines for making money, absolutely regardless of the fact that
they are human beings. Hinduism which says with one breath that they belong to
its fold, still seems to tell them that they are out of it, and even at the present day it
is a matter of common occurrence in every village, even in some towns, that these
pariah are made (to scurry off the road if a Hindu of a superior class comes along/
They are not admitted to the temples and yet with what pathetic affection these
people, oppressed, degraded and ill-used tling to the Hinduism which flouts and
outrages them/This single circumstance is enough to make every Indian realise the
shame, the sorrow and the humiliation of the present state of things. The Christian
converts among the depressed classes are treated in a quite different way. No wonder,
therefore, that the active Cnristian missionaries have succeeded in dragging to their
fold several thousands of the depressed classes. Can any Hindu with any decency and
self-respect object to their conversion as Christian when under the pale of his own
society they are treated as undesirable? Is it any wonder that several of them (desert
Hinduism for the Crescent or the Cross?1The treatment which the depressed classes
have been hitherto receiving is certainly opposed to the true spirit of Hinduism. It
is fatal to the great fundamental doctrine of Hinduism which proclaims the unity of
the Supreme Soul. The great gurus of Hinduism have recognised the injustice of the
treatment meted out by the upper classes to those below them, and we read from time
to time of generations back.
Latter-day reformers have also applied themselves to this question. Swami
Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda
have pleaded for the cause of the depressed classes. The fact that the fundamental
principle of Hinduism, its chief boast and glory, recognise the unity of the Supreme
Self, the fact that the great gurus, like Sankara and Ramanuja and latter-day religious
reformers, have from time to time proclaimed the equality of all classes and castes
ought to make every Hindu feel for his less fortunate brethren and make him take a
deep and abiding interest in their elevation and uplift.
The outlook for the depressed classes is certainly hopeful. The Theosophists, the
Brahmo Samajists, the Arya Samajists, the Prarthana Samajists, high class Hindus
and the Christian missionaries are taking an active interest in their elevation. The
work of the Depressed Classes Mission in Bombay and other parts of western India,
 'National-building and Social Equality ， 43

its work in our own city and in Mangalore is progressing. Several Hindus and more
especially brahmins, and I speak with special reference to southern India, have
established night schools for teaching the children of the depressed classes, and I
know of several instances where brahmin young men of the most orthodox caste
are at the present most actively engaged in educating them. The untouchables are
being touched. The stigma is being removed. The first great step has been taken, and
I have no doubt the movement is bound to succeed. There is not a politician in India
worth his name who does not recognise the fact that there can be no true vmity and
solidarity among the Indian people, with 60 millions sunk in ignorance and in the
depth of poverty and degradation. There is not a thoughtful Indian who does not
realise that there can be nothing like true nation-building in India so long as one-
fifth of the entire population are denied social equality.
British rule and English education have roused in us new aims, new aspirations,
and all who are actively engaged in the great task of uplifting Indian are deeply alive
to the fact that there can be no true uplift for the Indian nation unless and until the
so-called depressed classes rise with them. It has now come to be recognised that the
present condition of the depressed classes is ‘a blot on our social arrangements’， and
if the present state of things is to be continued, we are preparing the way for national
suxciae. More hopeful than the recognition by the upper classes of the urgent need
for the elevation of the depressed classes is the consciousness of the latter of their
present degraded position and their protests made by them against the exclusiveness
of latter-day Hinduism and against caste restrictions imposed on the lower orders'.
We find traces of this protest even in the teachings of the Upanishads and we know
very well that the great Buddha revolted against it. Sankara recognised the injustice
and everybody is familiar with the story told of him that when he went to Benares
to advocate his philosophy, he asked a Chandala who was going along the road to
step aside. The Chandala is said to have replied, (My soul is as time, and my body
of flesh and blood sprung from the same earth as thine. Why dost thou ask me to
walk aside?* Sankara is said to have replied, 'Surely you are my Guru—Brahmin or
Chandala/And after saying this, the great philosopher, the beautiful exponent of the
Advaita philosophy, prostrated himself before him. Everybody also must be familiar
with the story of Sree Ramanuj standing on the top of a tower crying aloud to the
world that 'if salvation was not to be with the low and the degraded, to hell he would
go.5Buddha protested the equality of human beings with no uncertain voice and
he made latter-day Hindus to some extent change their attitude towards the lower
classes. The bhakti or devotional school of Hinduism which has produced saints who
are honoured and revered, pleaded the cause of the depressed classes as we call them
nowadays, and denounced 'the dogma and formalism of religion and caste tyranny/
The stories of Rohidas, a shoe-maker; Chocka Mela, a Mahar; Sena, a barber; and
of Nanda, the Pariah saint of Southern India, every Hindu listens to with respect
and admiration, and they are persons, who by their own saintliness, have earned an
all-India reputation/ As the Hon. Mr. Justice Chandavarker has said, £if the pages
of the past nistory of Hinduism with reference to the treatment of the depressed
classes are darkened by deep shades, let us not forget that the history has its lights
44 G. A. Natesan

also—lights obscured indeed by a variety of circumstances, but still there, working in

the present and showing in the present and showing that Hinduism in its best and
purest aspects contains within itself elements favourable to the growth of the cause
and mission which have for their object the elevation of the depressed classes. It is
important to bear this in mind, because from the way in which this question of the
depressed classes is sometimes handled, one is apt to suppose that it is only now that
we are making an effort to raise them; that the movements for their elevation are of
our time, without any past going back to some ardent desire to improve their lot. Your
last Conference, your last Meeting at Chidambaram and your Conference today is
a proof of the awakening that has come in you. The first great difEculty which every
reformer who labours for the good of others experiences is the difficulty of making
the men for whom he works realise their condition and the need for reform. It is
something that there are members of the depressed classes who feel keenly about
their own condition and are anxious for their elevation, and I have no doubt that,
with the sympathy and support of enlightened princes like the Gaekwar of Baroda,
of various high class, high-placed and influential Hindus who are advocating your
cause in ail parts of India, of the various reform movements that are pleading for
your elevation, and of the many active organisations which I trust will grow large
in numbers, actively engaged in giving you education and in ministering to your
comforts, your cause is bound to make progress.
It is somewhat unfortxinate that, in the matter of the elevation of the depressed
classes, the Government has been more or less content with adopting the policy
of laissezfaire and that they have not adopted anything which can be called active
measures for their elevation. As pointed out by His Highness the Gaekwar of Baroda,
lA Government within easy reach of the latest thought, with unlimited moral and
material resources, such as there is in India, should not remain content with simply
asserting the equality of men under the common law and maintaining order, but must
sympathetically see from time to time that the different sections of its subjects are
provided with ample means of progress/In the matter of providing them with wells
and with a few tanks, in providing suitable buildings in congested quarters for their
dwelling, in offering facilities for their education and in enabling them to acquire
waste lands for cultivation, I do think Government could take more active measures.
 IV

A D D R E S S TO DEPRESSED CLASSES7
C O N F E R E N C E 7^

R. G. Bhandarkar

In ancient times, when the Aryans spoke the vedic language in India, many kinds of
aboriginal peoples inhabited the country. There was no doubt a feeling of antagonism
between then and the Aryans. Battles were fought and the Aryans occupied their
towns. To all these aborigines the Aryans gave the name ‘Dasyus’ or ‘slaves’. After
sometime one of these Dasyus were admitted within the Aryan community but they
formed an independent section of it. There were already groups within the Aryans.
Brahmans， ICsatriyas and Vkisyas， and to this fourth group now newly admitted was
given the name Sudra. It is not easy to determine the origin of this name, but it
may have been the name of an aboriginal tribe received into the Aryan community.
Afterwards as the Aryan spread to the east and the south and came In contact with
new sections of the aborigines, this name gradually acquired a more comprehensive
significance and was applied to them also. At first the aboriginal tribe that was received
among the Aryan adopted their Aryan. But as they were not able to pronounce the
language properly many of its words became corrupted and formed the Pali language.
Then as this mixed body spread into other districts of Bharat Khand, the language
became still further corrupted, forming such new languages as Suraseni, Magadhi,
Maherastri. In these other districts also while classes who followed unobjectionable
callings were received among those already designated Sudras without their social
status being in any way lowered, other classes whose callings were considered of an
inferior kind were placed in an inferior position. Such despised groups were called
Chandala, Pakasa or Pulkasa, Nisada, Vene, Vikara, Svapaca, Ksattr, Ugra, Dhig-
Vana, Madgu and so on. The Nlsadas were fisherman; the Madgus and others were
hunters and killed creatures of the forest; the Pulkasas among others killed creatures
that live in burrows; the Dhig-Vanas were tanners; others had to execute at the king s
command those who were to be put to death and might take, in return, their bed
and ornaments; others again had to cast outside of the village the body of any kind
of creature that died in the village or city; Chandals, Svapacas and other classes lived
outside of the village or city, their possession consisted in dogs and donkeys, they
did not eat from the vessels of other high castes, they wear the clothes of corpses,
their ornaments were always of iron, other castes had no dealing with them, people

* Presidential aadress delivered in Marathi at the Depressed Classes* Conference, English

translation published in The Indian Reviewyvol. 14 (January-December 1913), 482-93.
46 R. G. Bhandarkar

of high caste would not give food to them directly but only through their servants.
No Chandala should look at a Brahman when he was taking his meals. No one who
desired long life should sit in company with Chandalas or Pulkasas, anyone who
touched Chandalas or Mrtahara must cleanse himself by bathing. In the Markandeya
Purana a caste called Mrtahara or Mrtaharin is mentioned. Mrtahara was corrupted
into (Ma-ahara from which comes the Mahar. Thus it appears that the chief duly of
Mahars at that time was to cast out the dead bodies of any persons or animals that
died within the city or town.
From this it is evident that the despised position of these low castes was due to
their occupations the casting out of the dead, the execution of criminals, as well as
the fact that they lived where the dead were burned and wear their clothes. As in time
the numbers of this class of persons grew, their occupation became insufficient for
them, and accordingly it became necessary for them to do other work as. well. Their
despised position was a hindrance to them in this matter, but we see that gradually
these classes were able to follow other occupations.
In Maharashtra in spite of the fact of that having formerly been (MrtaharasT, in
process of time they had allotted to them the duty of going from village to village
and collecting into the Government treasury village revenues, and in this way Mahars
especially brought much wealth into the treasury. It was considered their duty to
arrange for the entertainment of guests who came to a village, and this custom still
continues. Because this duty was placed upon them certain lands were assigned to
them, and as well the Mahars are the chief of those village servants who receive a
share of the proceeds of other fields. Thus in Maharashtra at least this caste obtained
a recognised position in the social system. ,
Nowadays the condition of this class in respect to education and especially to
religion knowledge is deplorable. So also the taint of the untouchable still attaches
to them. At the same time it is not to be supposed that it is only in modern times
that efforts have been .made to bring about improvement in this matter. Buddha
gave the members of this despised caste a place among his bhiksus. There exist in
Pali the writings of a saint named Sthavira (a word whose form in Pali was 'Thei
and which meant ‘old man). Among these is a work of a ‘Ther， called Sunito Thero
which contains some verses to the following effect: was born in a lowly family; I
was poor; I did not get enough to eat; my ware was the very meanest; I was a sweeper.
All people loathed me; they all set me at naught and despised me; to many I did
reverence in complete humility: Then I was entering this capital city of Magadha the
great hero, very wise and surrounded by a company of holy beggars. Casting aside my
basket I drew near to do them reverence and the saint, having compassion upon me
stood still,I sat by doing reverence to the feet of the lord Buddha, the divine one and
be sought that I might obtain the condition of Sainyasas, the highest for all created
beings. Then the most^ gracious, he who shows kindness into all, addressing me said:
uO holy beggar, come hither: So this great honour became mine and I was admitted
to the class of holy beggars (bhiksus).w
This is the story of how Buddha received into the company of his bhiksus the
Svapaca or Chandala named (Sopak Thero,. Thus Buddha admitting this low caste
 ‘A ddress to Depressed Classes’ Conference’ 47

man among his bhiksus set him upon the way of eternal blessedness. And because
this was the custom that prevailed among the Buddhist bhiksus there is a story told
to Asoka who reigned in Patliputra before 250 bc . The story is that Yasa one of
his ministers did not like that the king should reverence the feet of every Buddhist
bhiksu. He said: (T1ie Buddhist bhiksus come from every caste, even from the very-
lowest. It is not proper that the king should reverence such as these/Then the king
silenced his scruples. So also in a little book called Ascalayana Sutra^ the Buddha
in a discussion with Asvalayana has demonstrated that the ideas about caste and
the belief in caste distinctions are not based upon anything in the nature of the
disposition of man. One point that is argued is the following: (Bhagvan Buddha asked
this question of Asvalayana, aIs it so that when Brahmans, Vaisyas and Kshatriyas
take excellent pieces of arani wood and rub them together fire is produced, but when
Chandalas, Nisadas and Pulkasas take old pieces of inferior arani wood and rub them
together fire is not produced?'1Asvalayana answered, uNo: fire is produced even when
a low caste man rubs the wood together/' 'Trom this the conclusion follows that if
members of the three high castes produce fire by rubbing arani wood together and
perform sacrifices of various kinds with that fire, then if Chandalas and such as they
also produce fire by rubbing together any kind of arani wood. Surely these castes like
the Chandalas should have the same right to perform sacrifices as the three former
castes have. Therefore just as I (Bhagvan Buddha) have admitted these low castes
into my religion so there is no reason why the Brahman should not admit them to
his sacrifices.”’
The gracious saints that arose in later times did not despise these low castes either.
In the Bhagavata it is said: 'Devotion to me purifies the Chandala and frees them
form the stain of their birth/Tukaram says:1 give no heed to caste, I reverence a
Vaishnava be his caste what it may/In this country of Maru there was a town called
Walade in which dwelt a devotee of Hari named Devamurari. In that city there was
a disciple, leather worker (Chambhar) called Robidaca. He asked always to go out
in the early morning for worship taking holy water with him and used to call the
people with a loud voice to take the water. Devamurari had gone to the river to bathe
and was returning when he heard the call of the Chambhar devotee. He entered the
Chambhar^ house to take the holy water and began to ask for it from him. But the
Chambhar hesitated to give it to him doubting in his mind how a Chambhar should
give holy water to a Brahman. But Devamurari said to him, (Holy water is not like
ordinary water and among saints there are no such castes as Mahar and Chambhar.5
We have before us a notable example of this in the case of Eknath Swami. When
food that was to be offered to Brahmans and holy men was being prepared in his
house on the occasion of Sradha ceremony, a Mahar and his wife who were sweeping
the road came to him and bewailed their lot saying: £How can we ever get such food
as thisP^ When Eknath heard them he called them to him and told them that he
would give them the food that was being cooked and he then directed his wife to
do so. Thereupon his wife said: (If you give this food to two only of Mahars the rest
will want it too. So you had better cali all Mahars of the village and give this food to
them.5Accordingly he called together all the Mahars, placed leaf plates before them,
48 R. G. Bhandarkar

and distributed the cooked food to them and set them down to dine. Then it is said
that the Supreme Spirit came and dwelt within the hearts of them all. When Eknath
Swami saw that the Supreme Spirit deems no mans heart so low as to refuse to dwell
there, he gave up his old notions realising that God is worshipped and adored by
means of kindness to every man and that when any man is despised God himself is
dishonoured. The Mahars say that Eknath used to dine in their houses.
From all this it appears that it cannot be maintained that no effort was made in
our great hand until the present day to elevate the depressed classes. Buddha and
other saints enunciated sound views on this subject but our people are so held in
the bondage of caste that these views never developed into actual results in practical
life. But now times are changed. Separate as untouchable? We have intercourse with
people of all classes and all countries, we do not consider any of them untouchable.
Is it then right to brand as untouchable our own fellow countrymen with whom we
have had intercourse for 3,000 years, with whom as a matter of fact we actually have
close relationship in one way or another? But further, we do not suppose that we have
no duty to them except cease to treat them as untouchable. Our chief duty is to create
in them a love of knowledge. We must see that some of them are able to study up
to the BA or MA degrees so as to obtain position of influence; we must treat as our
intellectual equals those who are educated. If that is so, will anyone be so bold as to
say to a Mahar who is an MA and a deputy collector, keep at a distance dont touch
me? I think that the reproach of the untouchables will inevitably disappear with
educational advance and, indeed, it has already in some measure disappeared. No one
of course would say that they should all be educated up to the BA and MA degrees.
Other employments must be made accessible to these despised classes. We must see
that things are so arranged that a Mahar or one of these castes may, if he so desired,
become a mason or a carpenter or stone-cutter or tailor.
 V

' R I G H T A N D M I G H T ，*

B. R. Ambedkar

The path of social reform, like the path to heaven, at any rate in India is strewn with
many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics. The critics
fall into two distinct classes. One class consists of political reformers and the other
of the socialists.
It was at one time recognised that without social efficiency no permanent progress
in the other fields of activity was possible, that owing to mischief wrought by the evil
customs, Hindu society was not in a state of efficiency and that ceaseless efforts must
be made to eradicate these evils. It was due to the recognition of this fact that the
birth of the National Congress was accompanied by the foundation of the Social
Conference. While the Congress was concerned with defining the weak points in the
political organisation of the country, the Social Conference was engaged in removing
the weak points in the social organisation of the Hindu Society. For some time the
Congress and the Conference worked as two wings of one common activity and they
held their annual sessions in the same pandal. But soon the two wings developed
into two parties, a Political Reform Party and a Social Reform Party, between whom
there raged a fierce controversy. The Political Reform Party supported the National
Congress and Social Reform Party supported the Social Conference. The two bodies
thus became two hostile camps. The point at issue was whether social reform should
precede political reform. Por a decade the forces were evenly balanced and the battle
was fought without victory to either side. It was however evxaent that the fortunes of
the Social Conference were ebbing fast.The gentlemen who presided over the sessions
of the Social Conference lamented that the majority of the educated Hindus were for
political advancement and indifferent to social reform and that while the number of
those who attended the Congress was very large and the number who did not attend
but who sympathised with it even larger, the number of those who attended the
Social Conference was very much smaller. This indifference, this thinning of its ranks
was soon followed by active hostility from the politicians. Under the leadership of the

* Extracts from The Annihilation of Caste (1936) which B. R. Ambedkar prepared as the
presidential address for the 1936 annual conference of the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal of Lahore.
After seeing a draft of the speech, however, the organisers cancelled the conference. Source: Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches^ vol.1 ,compiled by Vasant Moon (reprint, New Delhi:
Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India,
2014/1979). Reproduced by permission of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication
Committee, Mumbai.
50 B. R. Ambedkar

late Mr Tiiak, the courtesy with which the Congress allowed the Social Conference
the use of its pandal was withdrawn and the spirit of enmity went to such a pitch
that when the Social Conference desired to erect its own pandal a threat to bum
the pandal was held out by its opponents. Thus in course of time the party in favour
of political reform won and the Social Conference vanished and was forgotten. The
speech, delivered by Mr W. C. Bonnerji in 1892 at Allahabad as President of the
eighth session of the Congress, sounds like a funeral oration at the death of the Social
Conference and is so typical of the Congress attitude that I venture to quote from it
the following extract. Mr Bonnerji said:

I fo r one have no pa tie n ce w ith those w h o saw w e shall n o t be fit fo r p o litic a l reform
u n til w e reform o u r social s y s te m .! fail to see any c o n n e c tio n b e tw e e n th e t w o . ...
Are w e n o t f it (for p o litic a l reform ) because o u r w id o w s rem ain u n m a rrie d and o u r
girls are given in m arriage e a rlie r th a n in o th e r countries? Because o u r w ives and
daughte rs d o n o t d rive a b o u t w ith us v is itin g o u r friends? Because w e d o n o t send
o u r daughte rs to O xford and C am bridge? (Cheers)

I have stated the case for political reform as put by Mr Bonnerji. liiere were many
who are happy that the victory went to the Congress. But those who believe in the
importance of social reform, may ask, is the argument such as that of Mr Bonnerji
final? Does it prove that the victory went to those who were in the right? Does it
prove conclusively that social reform has no bearing on political reform? It will help
us to understand the matter if I state the other side of the case. I will draw upon the
treatment of the untouchables for my facts.
Under the rule of the Peshwas in the Maratha country the untouchable was not
allowed to use the public streets if a Hindu was coming along lest he should pollute
the Hindu by his shadow. The untouchable was required to have a black thread either
on his wrist or in his neck as a sign or a mark to prevent the Hindus from getting
themselves polluted by his touch by mistake. In Poona, the capital of the Peshwa,
the untouchable was required to carry, strung from his waist, a broom to sweep away
from behind the dust he treaded on lest a Hindu walking on the same dust should
be polluted. In Poona, the untouchable was required to carry an earthen pot, hung in
his neck wherever he went, for holding his spit lest his spit falling on earth should
pollute a Hindu who might unknowingly happen to tread on it. Let me take more
recent facts. Tbe tyranny practised by the Hindus upon the Balais, an untouchable
community in Central India, will serve my purpose. You will find a report of this
in the Times of India oï 4th January 1928. The correspondent of the Times of India
reported that high caste Hindus, viz. Kalotas, Rajputs and Brahmins including the
Patels and Patwaris of villages of Kanada, Bicholi-Harsi, Bicholi-Mardana and of
about 15 other villages in the Indore district (of the Indore State) informed the Balais
of their respective villages that if they wished to live among them they must conform
to the following rules:
1 . Balais must not wear goid-lace-bordered pugrees.
2. They must not wear dhotis with coloured or fancy borders.
 Right and M ig h t’ 51

3. They must convey intimation of the death of any Hindu to relatives of the
deceased—no matter how far away these relatives may be living.
4. In all Hindu marriages, Balais must play music before the processions and
during the marriage.
5. Balai women must not wear gold or silver ornaments; they must not wear
fancy gowns or jackets.
6. Baiai women must attend all cases of confinement of Hindu women,
7. Balais must render services without demanding remuneration and must accept
whatever a Hindu is pleased to give.
8. If the Balais do not agree to aoide by these terms they must clear out of the
villages.
Tlie Balais refused to comply; and the Hindu element proceeded against them.
Balais were not allowed to get water from the village wells; they were not allowed to
let go their cattle to graze. Balais were prohibited from passing through land owned
by a Hindu, so that if the field of a Balai was surrounded by fields owned by Hindus,
the Balai could have no access to his own field. The Hindus also let their cattle graze
down the fields of Balais. The Balais submitted petitions to the Darbar against these
persecutions; but as they could get no timely relief, and the oppression continued,
hundreds of Balais with their wives and children were obliged to abandon their homes
in which their ancestors lived for generations and to migrate to adjoining states, viz.
to villages in Dhar, Dewas, Bagli, Bhopal, Gwalior and other states. What happened
to them in their new homes may for the present be left out of our consideration.
The incident at Kavitha in Gujarat happened only last year. The Hindus of Kavitha
ordered the untouchables not to insist upon sending their children to the common
village school maintained by Government. What sufferings the untouchables of
Kavitha had to undergo for daring to exercise a civic right against the wishes of the
Hindus is too well known to need detailed description. Another instance occurred in
the village of Zanu in the Ahmedabad district ot Oujarat. In November 1935 some
untouchable women of well-to-do families started fetching water in metal pots. The
Hindus looked upon the use of metal pots by untouchables as an affront to their
dignity and assaulted the untouchable women for their impudence. A most recent
event is reported from the village Chakwara in Jaipur State. It seems from the reports
that have appeared in the newspapers that an untouchable of Chakwara who had
returned from a pilgrimage had arranged to give a dinner to his fellow untouchables
of the village as an act of religious piety. The host desired to treat the guests to a
sumptuous meal and the items served included ghee (butter) also. But while the
assembly of untouchables was engaged in partaking of the food, the Hindus in their
hundred, armed with lathis, rushed to the scene, despoiled the food and belaboured
the untouchables who left the food they were served with and ran away for their
lives. And why was this murderous assault committed on defenceless untouchables?
The reason given is that the untouchable host was impudent enough to serve ghee
and his untouchable guests were foolish enough to taste it. Ghee is undoubtedly a
luxury for the rich. But no one would think that consumption of ghee was a mark
of high social status. The Hindus of Chakwara thought otherwise and in righteous
52 B. R. Ambedkar

indignation avenged themselves for the wrong done to them by the untouchables,
who insulted them by treating ghee as an item of their food which they ought to have
known could not be theirs, consistently with the dignity of the Hindus. This means
that an untouchable must not use ghee even if he can afford to buy it, since it is an act
of arrogance towards the Hindus. This happened on or about the 1st of April 1936!
Having stated the facts let me now state the case for social reform. In doing this,
I will follow Mr Bonnerji, as nearly as I can and ask the political-minded Hindus:
'Are you fit for political power even though you do not allow a large class of your
own countrymen like the untouchables to use public school? Are you fit for political
power even though you do not allow them the use of public wells? Are you fit for
political power even though you do not allow them the use of public streets? Are you
fit for political power even though you do not allow them to wear what apparel or
ornaments they like? Are you fit for political power even though you do not allow
them to eat any food they like?91 can ask a string of such questions. But these will
suffice; I wonder what would have been the reply of Mr Bonnerji. I am sure no
sensible man will have the courage to give an affirmative answer. Every Congressman
who repeats the dogma of Mill that one country is not fit to rule another country-
must admit that one class is not fit to rule another class.
How is it then that the Social Reform Party lost the battle? To understand this
correctly it is necessary to take note of the kind of social reform which the reformers
were agitating for. In this connection it is necessary to make a distinction between
social reform in the sense of the reform of the Hindu family and social reform in
the sense of the reorganisation and reconstruction of the Hindu society. The former
has relation to widow remarriage, child marriage, etc. while the latter relates to
the abolition of the caste system. The Social Conference was a body which mainly
concerned itself with the reform of the high caste Hindu family. It consisted mostly
of enlightened high caste Hindus who did not feel the necessity for agitating for the
abolition of caste or had not the courage to agitate for it. They felt quite naturally a
greater urge to remove such evils as enforced widowhood, child marriages, etc.; evils
which prevailed among them and which were personally felt by them. They did not
stand up for the reform of the Hindu society. The battle that was fought centred
round the question of the reform of the family. It did not relate to the social reform
in the sense of the break-up of the caste system. It was never put in issue by the
reformers. That is the reason why the Social Reform Party lost.
I am aware that this argument cannot alter the fact that political reform did in
fact gain precedence over social reform. But the argument has this much value if not
more. It explains why social reformers lost the battle. It also helps us to understand
how limited was the victory which the Political Reform Party obtained over the
Social Reform Party and that the view that social reform need not precede political
reform is a view which may stand only when by social reform is meant the reform
of the family. That political reform cannot with impunity take precedence over social
reform in the sense of reconstruction of society is a thesis which, I am sure, cannot be
controverted. That the makers of political constitutions must take account of social
forces is a fact which is recognised by no less a person than Ferdinand Lassalle,
 'R ight and M ight5 53

the friend and co-worker of Karl Marx. In addressing a Prussian audience in 1862,
Lassalle said:

The c o n s titu tio n a l qu e stio n s are in th e firs t instance n o t q u estions o f rig h t b u t

questions o f m ig h t. The actual c o n s titu tio n o f a c o u n try has its existence o n ly in th e
actual c o n d itio n o f force w h ic h exists in th e c o u n try : hence p o litic a l c o n s titu tio n s
have value and pe rm a n e n ce o n ly w h e n th e y accurately express those c o n d itio n s o f
forces w h ic h exist in pra ctice w ith in a society,

But it is not necessary to go to Prussia. There is evidence at home. What is

the significance of the Communal Award with its allocation of political power in
defined proportions to diverse classes and communities? In my view, its significance
lies in tms that political constitution must take note of social organisation. It shows
that the politicians who denied that the social proolem in India had any bearing
on the political problem were forced to reckon with the social problem in devising
the constitution. The Communal Award is so to say the nemesis following upon
the indifference and neglect of social reform. It is a victory for the Social Reform
Party which shows that though defeated they were in the right in insisting upon the
importance of social reform. Many, I know, will not accept this finding. The view is
current, and it is pleasant to believe in it, that the Communal Award is unnatural and
that it is the result of an unholy alliance between the minorities and the bureaucracy.
I do not wish to rely on the Communal Award as a piece of evidence to support
my contention if it is said that it is not good evidence. Let us turn to Ireland. What
does the history of Irish Home Rule show? It is well-known that in the course of
the negotiations between the representatives of Ulster and Southern Ireland, Mr
Redmond, the representative of Southern Ireland, in order to bring Ulster in a Home
Rule Constitution common to the whole of Ireland said to the representatives of
Ulster: £Ask any political safeguards you like and you shall have them/What was the
reply that Ulstermen gave? Their reply was, 'Damn your safeguards, we dont want
to be ruled by you on any terms/ People who blame the minorities in India ought
to consider what would have happened to the political aspirations of the majority if
the minorities had taken the attitude which Ulster took. Judged by the attitude of
Ulster to Irish Jnome Rule, is it nothing that the minorities agreed to be ruled by
the majority (which has not shown much sense of statesmanship), provided some
safeguards were devised for them? But this is only incidental. The main question is
why did Ulster take this attitude? The only answer I can give is that there was a social
problem between Ulster and Southern Ireland, the problem between Catholics and
Protestants, essentially a problem of Caste. That Home Rule in Ireland would be
Rome Rule was the way in which the Ulstermen had framed their answer. But that
is only another way of stating that it was the social problem of Caste between the
Catholics and Protestants, which prevented the solution of the political problem. This
evidence again is sure to be challenged. It will be urged that here too the hand of the
Imperialist was at work. But my resources are not exhausted. I will give evidence from
the history of Rome. Here no one can say that any evil genius was at work. Anyone
54 B. R. Ambedkar

who has studied the history of Rome will know that the Republican Constitution
of Rome bore marks having strong resemblance to the Communal Award. When
the Idngship in Rome was abolished, the Kingly power or the Imperium was divided
between the Consuls and the Pontifex Maximus. In the Consuls was vested the
secular authority of the King, while the latter took over the religious authority of the
King.This Republican Constitution had provided that, of the two Consuls one was to
be Patrician and the other Plebian. The same constitution had also provided that, of
the Priests under the Pontifex Maximus, half were to be Plebians and the other half
Patricians. Why is it that the Republican Constitution of Rome had these provisions
which, as I said, resemble so strongly the provisions of the Communal Award? The
only answer one can get is that the Constitution of Republican Rome had to take
account of the social division between the Patricians and the Plebians, who formed
two distinct castes. To sum up, let political reformers turn to any direction they like,
they will find that in the making of a constitution, they cannot ignore the problem
arising out of the prevailing social order.
Hie illustrations which I have taken in support of the proposition that social and
religious problems have a bearing on political constitutions seem to be too particular.
Perhaps they are. But it should not be supposed that the bearing of the one on the
other is limited. On the other hand one can say that generally speaking history bears
out the proposition that political revolutions have always been preceded by social and
religious revolutions.
The religious Reformation started by Luther was the precursor of the political
emancipation of the European people. In England, Puritanism led to the establishment
of political liberty. Puritanism founded the new world. It was Puritanism which won
the war of American Independence and Puritanism was a religious movement. The
same is true of the Muslim Empire. Before the Arabs became a political power, they
had undergone a thorough religious revolution started by the Prophet Mohammad.
Even Indian history supports the same conclusion. The political revolution led by
Chandragupta was preceded by the religious and social revolution of Buddha. The
political revolution lea by Shivaji was preceded by the religious and social reform
brought about by the saints of Maharashtra. The political revolution of the Sikhs was
preceded by the religious and social revolution led by Guru Nanak. It is unnecessary
to add more illustrations. These will suffice to show that the emancipation of the
mind and the soul is a necessary preliminary for the political expansion of the people.
 VI

S T A T E M E N T O N U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y ^

M. K. Gandhi

For reasons over which I had no control I have not been able to deal with the question
of untouchability, as I had fully intended to after the breaking of the fast. The
Government having now granted me permission to carry on public propaganda in
connection with the work, I am able to deal with the numerous correspondents who
have been writing to me either in criticism of the Yeravda Pact, or to seek guidance,
or to know my views about the different questions that arise in the course of the
campaign against untouchability. In this preliminary statement I propose to confine
myself to the salient questions only, deferring for the time being other questions
which do not call for immediate disposal.
I take up first the question of the possibility of my resuming the fast. Some
correspondents contend that the fast savours of coercion and should not have been
undertaken at all and that therefore^ it should never be resumed. Some others have
argued that there is no warrant in^Hindu religion, or any religion for that matter, for a
fast like mine. I do not propose to deal with the religious aspect. Suffice it to say that
it was at God's call that I embarked upon the last fast and it would be at His call that
it would be resumed, if it ever is. But when it was first undertaken, it was undoubtedly
for removal of untouchability, root and branch. That it took the form it did was no
choice of mine. The Cabinet decision precipitated the crisis of my life，but I knew that
the revocation of the British Cabinets decision was to be but the beginning of the
end. A tremendous force could not be set in motion merely in order to alter a political
decision, unless it had behind it a much deeper meaning even unknown to its authors.
The people affected instinctively recognised that meaning and responded.
Perhaps no man within living memory has travelled so often from one end of
India to the other or has penetrated so many villages and come into contact with so
many millions as I have. They have all known my .life. They have known that Ï have
recognised no barriers between ‘untouchables’and ‘touchables’or caste and outcaste.
They have heard me speak often in their own tongues denouncing untoucnability
in unmeasured terms, describing it as a curse and a blot upon Hinduism. With
rare exceptions, at hundreds of these mass meetings or at private meetings in all
parts of India, there has been no protest against my presentation of the case against*

* Following the lifting of restrictions by the Government on Gandhi}s interviews and his
carrying on propaganda in connection with anti-untouchability work, Gandhi had issued a series
of statements to the Press. Extracts from Gandhis 'Statement on Untouchability I and ir, Collected
Works of Mahatma Gandhi、 v6L 57， 抑 . ？>26-33•
56 M . K. Gandhi

untouchability. Crowds have passed resolutions denouncing untouchability and

pledging themselves to remove it from their midst, and they have on innumerable
occasions called God as witness to their pledge and asked for His blessing that
He may give them strength to carry out their pledge. It was against these millions
that my fast was undertaken and it was their spontaneous love that brought about
a transformation inside of five days and brought into being the Yeravda Pact. And
it will be against them that the fast will be resumed if that Pact is not carried out
by them in its fullness. The Government are now practically out of it. Their part
of the obligation they fulfilled promptly. The major part of the resolutions of the
Yeravda Pact has to be fulfilled by these millions, the so-called caste Hindus, who
have flocked to the meetings I have described. It is they who have to embrace the
suppressed brethren and sisters as their very own, whom they have to invite to their
temples, to their homes, to their schools. The untouchables in the villages should be
made to feel that their shackles have been broken, that they are in no way inferior to
their fellow-villagers, that they are worshippers of the same God as other villagers,
and are entitled to the same rights and privileges that the latter enjoy.
But if these vital conditions of the Pact are not carried out by caste Hindus, could
I possibly live to face God and man? I ventured even to tell Dr Ambedkar? Rao
Bahadur Raja and other friends belonging to the suppressed group that they should
regard me as a hostage for the due fulfilment by caste Hindus of the conditions of
the Pact. The fast, if it has to come, will not be for the coercion of those who are
opponents of the reform, but it will be intended to sting into action those who have
been my comrades or who have taken pledges for the removal of untouchability. If
they belie their pledge, or if they never meant to abide by them, and their Hinduism
was a mere camouflage^ I should have no interest left in life. My fast, therefore, ought
not to affect the opponents of reform, nor even fellow-workers and the millions who
have led me to believe that they were with me and the Congress in the campaign
against untouchability, if the latter have on second thoughts come to the conclusion
that untouchability is not after all a crime against God and humanity.
Corresoondents have asked whether inter-dinins；and intermarriage are part
or the movement against untouchability• 丄n my opinion they are not. jliey touch
一 〜 ，
‘
一— ⑽ ポ ' 為 -一..— 被 倒 5ゆ〜-_ • . ' 卿 一 . - 〜 ふ . - , - 〜 ™ ^ 一 と — 一一一— ™ — — /

untouchability worker to devote himself or herself to inter-dining ana intermarriage

reform. Personally, I am of opinion that this reform is coming sooner than we expect.
Restriction on inter-caste dining and inter-caste marriage is no part or Hindu religion.
IFU a social custorS^EEKTSEJfflnto ftmduism wfien per s it was in.its aecline.
一 „ 一 一一— — 一 〜 一 ^ ^ 一 ' ^ ^ 一 一 — ^'一 、一 一 •細 1^ <
的 A代
” く
，
,
.
〜八

and was then meant 人

供
^^
〜 、
、
,'
^"〆、
,
*めく…
^*
^*^
■ .
ゎ 〜
々
perhaps to be temporary protection against disintegration of
…、
TO.穴
*，
〜/
如 … „
ベ ,、
ゞ

fundamentals which are vital to lires growth. Wherever, thererore, people voluntarily
take part in functions wüere ^lïcTïaBIes7ana Untouchables, Hindus and in non-
Hindus are invited to lorn dinner parries, I welcome them as a healthy sign. But I
süould never dream of making this reform, however aesirable m itseir it may be, part
of an all-India reform which has been long overdue.
 Statem ent on Untouchability 57

Untouchability in the form we all know it is a canker eating into the very vitals
of Hinduism. Dining and marriage restrictions stunt Hindu society. I think the
distinction is fundamental. It would be unwise in a hurricane campaign to overweight
and thus endanger the main issue. It may even amount to a breach of faith with the
— i ei!9 上
different from what they have been taught to believe it to be. On the one hand,
therefore, whilst mter-dining mav on where the public is itself ready tor it,ir
should not be part of the 丄ndia-wide campaign. I have letters， some of them angrily
worded, from those who stvie themselves sanatamsts. tor them untouchabintv, is the
essence of Hinduism. Dome oi them regard me as a renegade, öome others consider
that I have imbibed notions against untouchability and the like from Christianity
and Islam. Some again quote scriptures in defense of untouchability. To these I have
promised a reply through this statement. I would venture, therefore, to tell these
correspondents that I claim myself to be a sanatanist. Their definition of a sanatanist
is obviously dife 職 t from mine. 虫 ^
2 ^ 虫上^ 左 d
細班） 222
她免！ £幽gaA atfdlaw iA sm .
For me 1
the
—免
.
、、
*
'和
'
Vedas
t
are as indexable ^
一 ^ 糾 神 れ
would be Monly
partially true to say that the Vedas are the four books which one finds in print. These
books are themselves remnants of the discourses left by the unknown seers. Those of
later generations added to these original treasures according to their lights. There then
arose a great and lofty-minded man, the composer of the Gita. He ^ave to the Hindu
world a synthesis of Hindu .religion at once deeply philosophical and yet easily to be
understood by any unsophisticated seeker. It is the one open book to every Hindu
who will care to study it， and if all the other scriptures were reduced to a?hps， the
seven hundred verses of this imperishable booklet are quite enough to tell one what
Hinduism is and how one can live up to it. And I claim to be a sanatanist because
for forty years I have been seeking literally to live up to the teachings of that book.
Whatever is contrary to its main theme \ reject as un-Hindu. It excludes no faith and
no teacher. It gives me great joy to be able to say that I have studied the Bible, the
Koran, Zend Avesta and the other scriptures of the world with the same reverence that
I have given to the Gita. This reverent reading has strengthened my faith in the Kjita.
They have broadened my outlook and therefore my Hinduism. Lives of Zoroaster,
Jesus and Mohammed, as I have understood them, have illumined many a passage in
the Gita. What, therefore, these sanatani mends have hurled against me as a taunt has
been to me a source of consolation. I take pride in calling myself a Hindu because I
find the term broad enough
,N_
|
_ 1 1
一
not merely to tolerate out to assimilate the teachings of
. い
.〆.
，，
..
.パ… 〜-顺 却^— Iリ ニ 广 加 穴 州 ■ ” 一
| -
---
---
---

propnets riom alTïRe r ur corners of the earth. I "find no warrant for untouchability
0

in this book ofTiTe.vn the contrary it compels me, by an appeal to my reason and a
more penetrating appeal to my heart, in language that has a magnetic touch about it,
to believe that all life is one and tnat it is through ooa and must return to mm.
According to sanatan dharma tausrht by that venerable Mother (Bhagvad Gita)
life does not consist in outward rites and ceremonial, but it consists in the uttermost
58 M . K. Gandhi

inner purification and merging oneself, body, soul and mind, in the divine essence. I
have gone to the masses in their millions with this message of the Gita burnt into my
life. And they have listened to me, I am quite sure, not for any political wisdom or for
eloquence, but because they have instinctively recognised me as one of them, as one
belonging to their faith. And as days have gone by, my belief has grown stronger and
stronger that I could not be wrong in claiming to belong to sanatan dharma, and if
God wills it, He will let me seal that claim with my death.
It is well to remind ourselves of what wrongs we have heaped upon the devoted
heads of the Harijans. Socially they are lepers. Economically they are worse than
slaves. Religiously they are denied entrance to places we miscall ‘houses of God’.
They are denied the use, on the same terms as the caste men, of public roads, public
hospitals, public wells, public taps, public parks and the like, and in some cases their
approach within a measured distance is a social crime, and in some other rare enough
cases their very sight is an offence. They are relegated for their residence to the
worst quarters of cities or villages where they practically get no social services. Caste
Hindu lawyers and doctors will not serve them as they do other members of society.
Brahmins will not officiate at their religious functions. The wonder is that they are at
all able to eke out an existence or that they still remain within the Hindu fold. They
are too downtrodden to rise in revolt against their suppressors.
I have recalled these tragic and shameful facts in order to make the workers
vividly realise the implications of the Yeravda Pact. It is only ceaseless effort that can
raise these downtrodden fellow beings from degradation, purify Hinduism, and raise
the whole Hindu society and with it the whole of India.
Let us not be stunned by this simple recital of the wrongs. If the demonstration
during the last week was a genuine expression of repentance on the part of caste
Hindus, all will be well, and every Harijan will soon feel the glow of freedom. But
before this much desired end can be achieved the message of freedom will have to be
carried to the remotest village. Indeed the work in the village is far more difficult than
in the big cities where it is possible quickly to mobilise public opinion. Now that there
is the All-India Anti-untouchaDility League, workers should work in co-ordination
with that League. And here I would like to recall what Dr Ambedkar told me. He
said, 'Let there be no repetition of the old method when the reformer claimed to know
more of the requirements of his victims than the victims themselves^ and therefore,
he added (tell your workers to ascertain from the representatives of the Harijans what
their first need is and how they would like it to be satisfied. Joint refreshments are
good enough by way of demonstration, but they may be overdone. There is a flavour
of patronage about them. I would not attend them by myself. The more dignified
procedure would be to invite us to ordinary social functions without any fuss. Even
temple-entry, good and necessary as it is, may wait. The crying need is the raising of
the economic status and decent behaviour in the daily contact/1 must not repeat here
some of the harrowing details given by him from his own bitter experiences. I felt the
force of his remarks. I hope every one of my readers will do likewise.
 VII

TH E S O C IO L O G Y OF TH E P O O R
A N D TH E P A R IA H *

T h e P a ria h ’s C o n t r ib u t io n s t o B .ra h m a ri F le s h a n d B lo o d

Benoy K. Sarkar

About the so-called inferior classes I have a rather peculiar pronouncement to

make. This is to the effect that the world has always been considerably conquered
by the pariah and that mankind today is also being conquered by the pariah on an
appreciable scale. Coming nearer home, our Bihar and Bengal, nay, All-India has
likewise been ever more or less ruled by the pariah. It is the pariah that has been
governing to a great extent the culture and civilisation as well as the physique and the
hands and feet of the Indian people through the ages. The creative achievements of
the pariahs in India are continuing their career still.
The category, pariah, requires to be defined like the category poor5—nay, perhaps
more than the latter category. The pariahs are, of course, the men and the women
who belong to the caste known as pariah in South India. More or less similar castes
are to be found throughout India—north, south, east, west. They are not called
pariah* everywhere. There are other terms for these classes. But my category, pariah,
comprises all such classes without distinction. In contemporary Indian terminology
they are described sometimes as ‘depressed’， often an ‘untouchaDle’，now-a-days as
£Harijan and so forth. Whatever be the nomenclature—I need not go into details—
we know that they all have to submit to social repression of some sort or other. There
is a stigma—no matter of what degree—attaching to their very name. In inter-human
relations they have to bear an indignity which, although not always precisely definable,
is none the less ever perceptible both to themselves as well as to the alleged superior
orders. In one word, we may describe them as the social inferiors.The inferiority is of
all doses and degrees, and varies in quality, quantity and variety. Unless one belongs
to the socially inferior group one cannot experience or fully explain exactly the kind
of indignity or the dose of inferiority under which one has to live. Perhaps it is the
Brahman caste that alone can claim superiority in the Hindu social system, and every
non-Brahman is more or less tinged with some hue of inferiority or pariahdom. In

* Extracts from a Lecture delivered at the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Society, Dhanbad, on

20 April 1940. Benoy K. Sarkar, (lh e Sociology ofTlie Poor and the Pariah,, Man -inIndia:A Quarterly
Record of Anthropological Science with special Reference to India, vol.20, edited by Rai Bahadur Sarat
Chandra Roy (1940).
60 Benoy K. Sarkar

my conception of the pariah, i.e. the untouchable and the repressed, I take in every
Hindu who does not belong to the Brahman caste. The Brahmans are just a few
millions in the entire Hindu population of India. You will understand, then, that
virtually almost every Hindu is a pariah in my estimation.
And here I should ask you to recall my definition of the poor man. There are poor
men and poor men. Poverty is not absolute. It can be measured by doses and degrees.
But for the purposes of die present talk I characterised the poor man in one or two
graphic features. The poor man is a person who does not eat more than half a meal
or cannot rinse his mouth twice a day, or a person who is not in the class of Income-
Tax-paying citizens. The poor, then, constitute the majority of the mnabitants of
every country. I am taking the pariah also in the same extensive manner when I say
that every non-Brahman is a parian. There are certainly non-Brahmans and non-
Brahmans. Not every non-Brahman suffers the same amount or variety of indignity-
in social life. Even among the non-Brahmans themselves, there are hundreds, nay,
thousands of higher and lower groups. There are the superior non-Brahmans and
the inferior non-Brahmans. Among the inferior non-Brahmans, again, there are
the higher and the lower，i.e. the superior and the inferior sub-orders. My ‘pariah’
is an omnibus category describing all the most diverse degrees and doses of social
inferiority known to the Hindus just as my category, poor^ comprises the most diverse
grades and forms of economic inadequacy known to mankind. If I were to include the
Mussalmans of India in my survey I should perhaps include all the Momins in my
pariahdom.The non-Brahmans are then the pariahs for my present talk.
You may at once challenge my classification so far, at any rate, as the Brahman is
concerned. It is questionable, for instance, if I have the right to describe the entire
Brahman caste even in a single province or district as a homogeneous social group.
Are not there many persons of the Brahman caste who are treated as inferiors by
certain members of the same caste? It is too notorious that, not all Brahmans enjoy
the same social privilege, dignity or rank as between themselves. Even among the
Brahmans we should then be prepared to demarcate a group or groups of pariahs, i.e.
depressed, oppressed or repressed classes. Thus considered, the number of pariahs in
India rises to still higher proportions.
My message tonight, then, is as follows. It is the non-Brahman, and the inferior
among the Brahmans as well as the Momins that have been substantially creating the
physique and the culture of the Indian Hindus and Mussalmans from the earliest times.
India today is being ruled in considerable proportions by just these inferiors, the social
outcastes. The valuable role of these social inferiors and outcastes in India tomorrow
as some of the re-makers of Indian politics, industry, society, mores and civilisation in
addition to physique and hands and feet is the pivotal conclusion of my studies in the
relations between the races, castes, classes and other groups of Indian population.
Take any University Calendar in India and read the names of the passes at the
lower and higher examinations. The non-Brahmans are sure everywhere to make a
decent show. The dictatorship of the Brahman caste is not a fact of academic life.
In proportion to the total population, the non-Brahmans academic importance is
quite decent. The numerical importance of the non-Brahmans in the school and
 The Sociology o f the Poor and the Pariah 61

college atmosphere has been steadily on the increase. And this increase is being
experienced by all grades of pariahs or Harijans down to the lowest, the actually-
depressed, and the physically untouchable, classes. The industrial and commercial
life of Bihar and Bengal will tell the same story of the gradually expanding position
of the pariah. In the services, the pariahs of all denominations are encountered in
increasing numbers.The arts and sciences, cultural activities, journalism, political and
labour movements are likewise not the fields in which the non-pariah can venture
to dictate. The growing ascendancy of the non-Brahmin in Indian scientific and
philosophical researches, literary and artistic creations, patriotic and self-sacrificing
enterprises is an outstanding fact of the present generation, say, since 1905. As for
the millennium-old traditional manners and customs, rites and ceremonies, gods and
goddesses, it is too well known that the pariah has been creative all through the ages
in Indian history from the Mohenjodaroan epoch onward. The pariah is functioning
still in the same fields—linguistic, religious, economic, etc. But these social and
cultural impacts of the pariah on the non-pariah do not interest me to any special
extent in my discussion tonight. I want to divert your attention from the strictly social
creations, conquests and influences of the pariah to the somewhat ignored but none
the less overwhelming creativeness of the pariah in the physique, physiognomy, bones
and muscles, hands and feet, etc. of the entire Indian people, high or low.
You will have to open your eyes somewhat more widely and watch a bit more
minutely the men, women and children in the diverse geographical regions or zones
of India in order to realise how profoundly and extensively non-Brahmanised,
pariahnised or Harijanised, practically the entire Hindu-Moslem masses and classes
of India are and have been. I should ask you to examine, for instance, the antecedents
of the so-called higher castes, nay, of the so-called Brahmans. My question will be
as follows: How many of the members of these alleged higher castes or superior
social orders are really higher or superior in blood, muscles, nerves? I want to fight
shy of naming the so-called higher castes individually, because you know quite weË
that everybody who believes that he or she belongs to an alleged higher caste lives
in a peculiar social climate. Each one has some sentiments of esteem, privilege and
self-satisfaction attached to his or her caste. People may not like to be told that they
are factually inferior to certain others, or even that they are not so elevated or digni­
fied as they have by tradition been taught to appraise themselves. I do not want to
disturb the sentimental climate of our countrymen by realistic enumerations. Let
me, therefore, ask you to make investigations—rough, detailed, superficial, extensive
or deep, as the ease may be—about any castes that are known to be endowed with
certain doses of superiority or social elevation. The problem is to ascertain if the
alleged inferior castes, the pariahs, are entirely devoid of any drops of the blood or
any particles of the flesh which the superiors can show, i.e. if they are totally different
from the alleged non-pariahs. You notice that in this investigation we are called upon
to bid adieu to the social climate of sentiments, traditions, vested interests. You and
I have to examine as objectively as possible the following questions:(1)whether the
alleged Brahmans or social superiors—no matter of what grade—are hermetically
sealed groups; (2) whether the alleged non-Brahmans or pariahs—again, no matter of
62 Benoy K. Sarkar

what grade—are likewise hermetically sealed groups, and; (3) whether the Brahmans
and the non-Brahmans, i.e. whether the non-pariahs and the pariahs, have had no
mutual infiltrations—i.e. reciprocal absorptions—between them in the past or in our
own generation.
Not everybody present here is an anthropologist or ethnographer. Nor am I
willing to inflict upon you the jargons of the race-sciences at this moment. Indeed,
well-documented data are not available in as good and varied details about the diverse
castes, sub-castes, or districts and sub-districts of India as one should like to possess
in order to understand the anatomy of the so-called Brahmans and the so-called
pariahs of our social system.
I ask you, then, to apply your own simple, unaided, naked eyes. Watch your head-
form, nose-form, skin-colour, chin, jaws, eyes, hair, etc. and compare them with those
of your neighbours, especially of those who belong to your own caste, high or low.
Do you find, and are you quite sure, that all the members of your caste exhibit the
same physical features? Everybody is aware that even the brothers of the same family
do not always possess identical heads, noses, eyes, etc. The caste is a much wider
group than the family. The variations between its members in regard to anatomy are
therefore wider still. The existence of physical and physiognomic diversities in the
same caste group shows that diverse sources have contributed to the emergence of
these physical features. The flesh and blood of human beings are not dropped from
the air. They are derived from flesh and blood. Even if you take a small subdivision
or pargana of a district in Bihar you will find that all the Brahmans inhabiting the
particular locality do not look alike. All the Chamars of the same region similarly
do not look alike. If then you survey a whole province like Bihar you will find that
differences between the Brahmans of a subdivision in a Western district and those of
a subdivision in an Eastern or Southern District are immense. In other words, from
the standpoint of the cephalic, nasal and other physiognomic indices, it is difficult,
if not impossible, to speak of the Brahmans of Bihar as constituting a homogeneous
caste. The Chamars also are not a homogeneous caste in Bihar. Well, right here at
Dhanbad, in the district of Manbhum, there are the Bauris. You may look at them
carefully and you will see that all the members of the Bauri caste in a single village do
not possess identical features.
Applyyour investigation to any caste and to any region. The Kayasthas of Bengal,
say, in the easternmost districts of Chittagong and Comilla exhibit very many
diversities in features which would be almost unintelligible to the Kayasthas, say, of
a Central Bengal or West Bengal district. In other words, the Bengali Kayastha is
not a homogeneous group. Physiognomically he differs from district to district in a
palpable manner, and even in the same locality the Bengali Kayasthas features exhibit
a heterogeneity that is unmistakable. Let us take the Santais. They are in evidence not
only in these border-districts of Bihar, Bengal and Chhotanagpur but in West Bengal
and North Bengal as well. Bengalis are quite familiar with the Santal features. And
yet who would venture to assert that all the Santais are identical in head-form, nose-
form, skin-colour and so on? There are Santais. Some of the Santais are so un-Santal
in appearance—I am not talking of clothing, manners, language, festivals, etc.—that
 The Sociology o f the Poor and the Pariah 63

you would take them for ordinary Bengalis. A group of such physlognomically un-
Santal or de-Santalised or Bengalised Santals has been living in the district of Nadia
within a few miles of Krishnagar.
The more we go into the question with eyes open the more do we feel convinced
that each and every one of the castes, superior or inferior, higher or lower, Brahman
or pariah, is the result of the admixture of diverse physical, physiognomical,
anatomical, racial or ethnic strains. Neither the Brahman nor the Chamar, neither
the Bauri nor the Santal, is a pure caste. To the flesh and blood of each caste-group,
to its bones and muscles, contributions have been furnished by diverse ethnic groups
such as from time to time have happened to live in its neighbourhood. Every caste is
a mixed group. The survey of castes with the naked eye even without the support of
anthropometrical data is well calculated to tell a serious inquirer that varna-sankara
(fusion of colours) or mixture of castes, i.e. of physical and physiognomic features,
is the most positive reality about our Indian social polity. Numerous instrumental
measurements are indeed necessary to demonstrate scientifically and in a precise
manner the nature and extent of these blood-mixtures. But already one is justified
in declaring that blood-purity is as much a myth with the Brahmans as with the
non-Brahmans.
This is one side of the story in regard to the caste surveys. There is another side
and that is equally interesting. In the course of our investigations with the naked
eye we shall find that perhaps the Santal and the Bauri have certain features of
colour, head, nose, etc. common although they consider themselves to be belonging
to two different and water-tight racial, religious or caste compartments. Between the
Chamar and the Brahman we are likely very often to notice a remarkable community
or identity of physiognomy. The Kayastha and the Kurmi, the Vaidya and the
Namasudra, the Mahishya and the Brahman, the Kayastha and the Chamar, each of
these pairs may also be seen to be exhibiting similar or identical muscles and bones.
I am naming these castes at random solely as descriptive categories and without any
emotional reactions. The so-called higher castes and the so-called lower castes are
seen sometimes to possess a remarkable sameness of anatomy. The pariahs features
agree at times with those of the Brahman.
One must not misunderstand the situation. It is not my intention to say that
every Santal or Bauri or Chamar or Mahishya or Namasudra has all the features
similar to or identical with those of the Brahman. I want only to make it clear that it
is possible to come across many instances of identical head-, nose-, hair-forms being
possessed as much by the Brahman as by the panah or non-Brahman.The possession
of identical physiognomical features by certain, members of the so-called superior
castes and by certain members of the so-called inferior castes is not an exceptional or
rare phenomenon. It is to be taken as a positive fact and a very frequent fact of the
Indian social structure.
What does this physiognomic community or identity between the Brahman and
the Chamar, the Kayastha and the Brahman, the Namasudra and the Kayastha, the
Santal and the Vaisya, the Santal and the Brahman, the Vaidya and the Rajbansi, the
Vaidya and the Garo and the Kayastha, the Momin and the Sheikh, the Brahman and
64 Benoy K, Sarkar

the Momin, the Mongol and the Brahman, etc., etc. point to? They point but to one
thing—the common physical and physiognomical origin, i.e. the identical biological
parentage of the groups possessing the common features. In other words, the flesh and
blood of the Chamar, the Santal, the Bauri, the Munda, the Mongol, the Kayastha, the
Vaidya, the Mahishya, the Garo, the Khasi, and so forth is to be taken for granted in
the flesh and blood or the Brahman who happens to possess certain features of one or
other of these castes. When the Hindu and the Moslem look alike in head, jaws, nose,
hair, chin and so forth the common parentage of these two has likewise to be treated
very often as a biological postulate. The Mongolian, Mongoloid or Mongolised eyes,
jawbones and chins of the Bengali Vaidyas, Kayasthas, or Brahmans of the Assam on
the Burma border-districts or East Bengal is but an index to the contribution of flesh
and blood from the Assamese and Burman hill stocks. Altogether it is clear that the
pariah is not so far below or sociologically (distant, from the Brahman as to render it
impossible for the former to influence the flesh and blood and bones and muscles of
the latter. Among the biological parents of the Brahman we have therefore to count
the pariah fathers and the pariah mothers as well.
Society and law, the Smritisastras, the T)harmasastrasy Manu, ^Cajnavalkya,
Raghunandana may rest content with establishing the rigia demarcation between the
higher and the lower, the Brahman and the pariah. They may care even to ignore
the possibilities of contact as well as remain blind to the facts of actual intercourse. But the
horoscope of flesh and blood is too merciless, precise and severe to be bamboozled by
the lawyer and the social pedant. There is such a thing as the biological, anatomico-
physiological parents. They may be very remote in time and perhaps geographically
far removed from the Brahman of today. But no matter who be the immediate parents
according to society and law—according to the latest civil Marriage Act of British
India—the far-off biological parents inexorably declare their might in the very skin,
head, chin, board, eye, nose and what not. And some of these biological parents of
contemporary Brahmans in certain instances happen to be the Chamars, the Santals,
the Kayasthas, the Garos, the Mahishyas, or other pariahs including the Momins.
The Varnasrama (the caste-and-stage) system of social polity is proven by the facts of
biological parentage to be in the racial sense nothing better than a legal fiction.The
effective horoscope of flesh and blood compels the social horoscope constructed by
match-makers to retire into the background as an interesting curio of world-culture.
The role of the pariah as one of the distant biological parents of certain groups
oi the superior social orders, is now self-evident. We have to understand that the
so-called inferior caste has in very many instances succeeded in injecting its flesh
and blood into the flesh and blood of the so-called superior groups. Taking the fifty-
one million Bengalis—Hindu, Musaalman and tribal—we should then be prepared
to believe that, no matter what be the degree or dose of superiority of a certain
social group, the biological parentage of some of its members has very often been
furnished by the members of one or other of the innumerable lower groups. The
Bhutiyas, Lepchas, Tibetans, Nepalis, etc. of the Himalayan valleys or forests have
thus to be counted among the biological parents, however remote, of some of the
Brahmans, Kayasthas, Vaidyas, Navasaks, etc. of Bengal. Among the biological fathers
 The Sociology o f the Poor and the Pariah 65

of the high-caste or low-caste Bengalis of today we have likewise to enumerate the

Chakmas, Mishmis, Khasis, Garos, Mags and so forth of Assamese and Burman
mountains. Then the Mundas, Oraons, Santals and other tribes of Chhotanagpur,
Bihar and Orissa hills and forest have also to be included in the horoscopes of many
Bengalis of all castes as some of their biologically effective fathers and mothers.
In order to bring home to you the farthest logical implications of this caste-fusion
or blood-intermixture let me deliver to you one of my favourite equations, which,
though not ethnologically quite accurate, may be taken as roughly applicable to a
large section of the population even of our higher castes. It runs thus: (Munda ghoshe-
meje Bannerji-Chatterji-Mukherjt, that is, lthe Munda chiselled, rubbed and polished
becomes our Banerji-Chatterji-Mukherji,. This more or less approximate equation
establishes for me once and for all my basic thesis namely, that however high be the
caste to which a modern Bengali may happen to belong it is impossible for him in
many instances to deny his humbler biological affinities. Whatever be the radical
element in the ethnic make-up of the Bengali people, there has been, in the course
of ages, so much miscegenation that it can hardly be denied that a fair amount of
the blood of the lower caste, the pariah, is coursing through the higher castes, alleged
blue blood. The pariah has thus conquered the Bengali people more vitally than we
generally imagine. The arts, sciences, morals and manners of Bengali civilisation have
been made and re-made very often, and very substantially—although not exclusively,
of course by a person in whom pariah flesh and blood, pariah muscles and bones are
too patent to be overlooked or explained away. The Dubeys, Tiwarls, Chaubeys, etc.
of the Bihari and UP Brahmans are similarly to be regarded as specimens of men and
women in the making of which the flesh and blood of the adibash (aboriginal races)
of the hill-forests ana river-valleys has had an influential share.
I have said that this biological parentage may be remote in time from the present
generation and in space irons the localities of the day. But this need not be always
remote in time or locality. Those who go about the world with eyes open know the
actualities of domestic life among their neighbours, high or low. It is easy for them
to get convinced that biological contact between the Brahman and the Chamar,
the non-pariah and the pariah, is hardly, if at all, prevented by socio-legal taboos.
The biological urge is more imperious than the s^sans or commands of Manu,
Raghunandana and the modern Penal Code. Be this as it may, I am in a position to
declare finally—although as yet without the support of adequate anthropometrical
surveys—that some of the greatest men and women belonging to certain superior
castes of Bihar, Bengal and Ail-India have had in part at least, biologically considered,
a pariah heritage. The inferior, unknown, and lower castes or races are therefore to
be described as some of the world-conquerors and rulers of mankind not only in the
socio-cultural or economico-political sense but in the more fundamental physico-
physiognomic and biologico-morphological aspects as well.
You will have noticed that I have never used the word 'Aryan', i ms is neither
an oversight nor a mere accidental slip. I want to invite your attention as much as
possible to the purely physical, anatomical and biological facts. It is these facts that
are implied by the category race. Now the word 'Aryan7implies language and along
66 Benoy K, Sarkar

with its literature, religion，arts， social organisation，etc. It is a linguistic-cultural

category and is entirely independent of physique, head-, nose-, hair-forms, skin-
colour and the entire physiognomic complex. It is not possible to use the category
Aryan in an ethnic or racial sense. For instance, we may not know anything about the
race, i.e. physico-biological affiliations, of the Santals or the Bauris of Dhanbad. But
as soon as they speak Bengali they are Aryan or Aryanised like the Bengali Brahman,
because Bengali is a language wmch belongs to the Aryan family of languages. Their
Bengalicisadon implies automatically Aryanisation. It does not affect and is not
affected by the race of the Santals or the Bauris. A Bengali-speaking Santal is as good
an Aryan as the Hindi-speaking Chaubey Brahman or the Hindi-speaking Chamar,
because Hindi also is, like Bengali, an Aryan language.
My pariah' and <non-pariah,, inferior or superior, non-Brahman or Brahman are
ethnic categories. I am using them as descriptive terms for certain physical or racial
features. They may happen to be entirely Aryan and Aryanised or semi-Aryanised in
language, literature, clothing, festivities, morals, manners and sentiments. If somebody-
says that Bengali culture is partially or wholly Aryan he does not say anything about
the flesh and blood, skin, head, eyes, lips, etc. of the fifty-one million Bengali men
and women. He says nothing more than that a language, which is known to be Aryan,
and a culture-complex, which can also be described as Aryan, are to be found among
the predominant majority of the inhabitants of Bengal. Aryan blood does not exist
anywhere on earth and has never been known to exist. (
I have cited instances only from India and especially from the Hindus of Bihar
and Bengal. You may extend your investigations to other regions, to Asia or to Eur-
America if you care to. In the West the word ^aste5is not used, and naturally the
pariah as known in India is unknown. But among the Eur-Americans also there is the
superiority-complex. Certain groups are believed to be superior and others inferior,
I am talking of blood groups or ethnic, i.e. flesh and blood, classes. All Eur-America
is not inhabited today and was never inhabited in the past by any one race. There are
several races in the Western world. The Jews are generally known to be a distinct race.
They are as a rule taken to be distinct from the Christians. We should understand,
however, that the category Jew' describes a religion (and a culture-complex) but not a
race, i.e. physiognomical category. Similarly Christian, like Aryan, does not indicate
an ethnic group or groups. However, the Jews and Christians of Eur-America can be
divided into many physiognomic groups or classes. And, as In India, the doctrine of
superior races (physico-biological groups) is quite extensive and powerful among the
Western peoples. You have heard of the Nordics, the Alpines and the Mediterraneans.
These are somewhat new ethnographic names. The older ethnic or rather linguistic
categories like the Celts, Latins, Teutons, etc. are well-known. Some of them are
supposed to be inferior to others. \ | ぐ0 V
For instance, the Celts and Latins of France, the Latins of Spain, Portugal
and Italy, as well as the Slavs of Russia, Greece, the Balkan complex, Poland, etc.
are regarded as inferior races by the Teutons (or Nordics) of England, USA and
Germany. Tms conception is widely distributed not only among tlie masses but
among certain groups of ethnologists, politicians and culture-leaders in those latter
 The Sociology o f the Poor and the Pariah 67

countries. Then according to the eugenicists of every country who, as a rule, believe
in the majesty of blood, as well as according to their political allies who as a rule are
opposed to socialism and the demands of the poor, there are superior and inferior
stocks and strains in every region. Thus it is the objective of British political eugenics
to forbid the fusion of the alleged superior and inferior strains as well to prevent the
multiplication of the so-called inferior stocks.
But those who go into details about the ethnic features of the creative men and
women of Eur-America, today or yesterday will be convinced that the non-superior
cannot be marked off from the superior. The non-superior of yesterday has grown
into the superior of today. There are, in the first place, no pure Nordics, pure Alpines,
pure Celts, or pure Latins. And in the second place, the flesh and blood of the superior
or higher race, whatever it be, has been derived to no small extent from the flesh and
blood of the inferior or lower race. For the present I need not go further.
Let me, then, conclude my discussion with the almost universally valid proposition
that the superior or Brahman of today has very often grown, more or less, out of the
inferior or pariah biological stocks of yesterday. And this enables me to conclude
also that the unknown, the lower, the inferior, the depressed, and the pariah of today
is tending to grow into the renowned, the higher, the superior, the Brahman of
tomorrow. In other words, the world is being considerably created and conquered
all the time by the pariah. It is to the pariah, therefore, that the future of mankind
belongs in substantial measure, and this not only from the standpoint of culture but
also from that of flesh and blood.
As I am talking so emphatically of the creative role of the pariah in the societies
of the world there is every danger of my being misunderstood, People might, suspect
that perhaps I wish that pariahdom should be nursed by society. Let me, therefore,
declare in so many words that the condition of the pariah, the inferior race, castes,
community or class is not an enviable one whether in the East or in the West. We
may recall the status of the Roman Catholics in Great Britain down to 1829 and
that of the Jews in Russia, Central Europe and the USA down to our own times.
The Indian pariah is of course a byword—and a world-notorious by-word. The war
against pariahdom of all varieties and degrees both in East and West—in other words,
the war against ethnocentrism or Brahmanocracy in science and politics as well as
in culture—is one of the first desiderata of a new world-planning in my sentiments
as well as scientific researches. The abolition of all sorts of race-prejudices, privileges
and inequalities based on ethnic considerations, and distinctions between Occidental
and Oriental peoples, on the one hand, and the establishment of race-equality, class-
equality and caste-equality in inter-human relations, on the other, are two of the
fundamental planks in my scheme for national and international reconstruction.
But in the meantime, it is impossible to overlook or ignore race-inequalities, race-
prejudices, ethnic chauvinism, the doctrine of race-superiority, inferiority-complex,
ethnocentrism, Brahmanocracy, etc. as positive facts of the world order in all regions
and in all ages. We have seen before that poverty is likewise a social fact of universal
and eternal dimensions. It is therefore simply as a fact of world-history and as a
solid reality of cultural progress that I maintain that the pariah, the inferior, the
68 Bem y K. Sarkar

non-Brahman, like the economically poor, have in many instances in every country-
furnished the flesh and blood of the alleged superiors or Brahmans. It is proven that
the alleged varna-superiority, physico-physiognomic superiority of the Brahman is
a myth. The so-called higher castes are not higher than the alleged inferior castes
in flesh and blood. The pariahs biological contributions to the makeup of the non­
pariah, and flesh and blood contacts with the Brahman are incontestable realities.
The racial and social ‘distances’ between the lower and the higher are not as wide
and deep as may be imagined by toth. All the same, pariahdom is, like poverty to be
combated and annihilated by every possible means and in every region.
 VIII

S IX C R O R E U N T O U C H A B L E S *

T h e ir P la c e in F r e e d o m 's B a ttle

B. T. Ranadive

ail Where does this vast

mass of ostracised people, the helots of Hindu society, stand today in the struggle
for unity and National Government? WKat roles have they to play? How shoul4
the national movement remove their fear of caste-Hindu oppression in a free India,
and win them over for the common struggle? And, finally, what guarantees are they
成^— ^ 似 へ、
和…， 、
一， • ° 。 J .
V .
.
S 、
.
-
.卜.
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themselves demandingjrom the national movement?

There could be no greater condemnation of untouchability than that made by
Gandhijx himself. In ms article in YoungIndia of 15 January 1921, he passionately asked:

Has n o t a ju s t nem esis o v e rta k e n us fo r th e crim e o f u n to u c h a b ility ? Have w e n o t

reaped as w e have sown? Have w e n o t practised Dyerism o r O 'D w yerism on o u r
o w n k ith and kin? We have segregated th e p a ria h a nd we are in tu rn segregated in
th e British colonies. We d e n y h im th e use o f p u b lic w ells; w e th ro w th e leavings o f
o u r plates at h im . His ve ry sh a d o w p o llu te s us. In deed th e re is no charge th a t th e
p a ria h c a n n o t flin g in o u r face w h ic h w e d o n o t flin g in th e faces o f E n p s h m e n ?
、
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C O N G R E S S A N D U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y

The national movement could not ignore the injustice of untouchability. Long before
it learnt to champion the cause of the industrial worker against the capitalist, of the
rack-rented tenant against the landlord, it championed the cause of the Untouchable
against the degrading status imposed on him by Hindu society.
職怒 Indian people for 没I J i 通 :
operation Movement—made； i:emoval o£,unto.uchability one of the main planks of the
S^raj pjatform. It was G a ^ as the leader of this movement was responsible
for combining the fight for Swaraj with the. fight against untouchability. It was he who
brought the question of Untouchables to the forerront or national politics. At hiainstance
the historic Nagpur Session of the National Congress which voted for non-co-operation
dso declared untouchaoility to be a sin. Hié 伽 less campaign

* Reproduced from People's War, vol.3, no. 23 (1944).

 70 B. T. Ranadive

brought the innumerable grievances of the Untouchables to the consciousness of

millions of Indians. He declared in unambiguous words that the Indian people would
have no moral right to demand Swaraj as long as they practised untouchability.
The espousal by the Congress and Gandhijx m 1920 of the cause of Khilafat and
of the Untouchables was the first historic attempt to forge the mightiest unity of the
Indian masses for Swaraj and freedom. It was an attempt to build national unity on
the basis of equality among all fighters for freedom; of removing internal injustices
and allaying all suspicions.
In the course of this first nationwide upsurge, millions of our countrymen learnt
to associate Swaraj with the removal of the curse of untouchability. Ten years later,
the Karachi Session of the National Congress drew up a Charter of Fundamental
Rights in which it declared that under Swaraj all citizens would have equal rights and
that all public places such as wells, tanks, schools etc. would be equally opened to all.
1 his specific assurance was obviously addressed to the Untouchables.

R E F O R M IS T A P P R O A C H

The Congress, however, failed to carry with it the Untouchables in the struggle for
freedom. Why? Because basically the approach of u-andhiii and the Congress was
non-political and inco期 c't…
They looked— at
^— -ムー 一
the下〜
problem
-''1 — of
す''一 一
untouchability
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--''.； 丁-、
-一..'丫ーム
as a question 一
of 一social
…
reform,
- 一.》
-—
as
an mter§县L.pxabieiruc^,riindius〇Giety.,IJiey thought all that was necessary was to
, oropagate against this evil^ agamst the superstitious custom from which according to
: them, the injustice had sprung.
J With this outlook the anti-untouchabiiity programme of the Congress soon
^reduced itseli to mere humanitarian reformist work oi opening a lew schools for
CTntouchables, giving them scholarshxos, etc.— —in short, the programme of the
Harijan Seva Sangh. It was divorced from the political struggle and programme of
the Congress; in the fight between the people and the British Government neither
v|Re special rights nor political demands of the Untouchables found any place.
f • .The mistake lay in the failure to realise that the problem of Untouchables
*transcended the mere assertion of the right to temple-entry or access topublic places.
It was not a question of merely doing away with religious On the other
hand, it^was one of fighting the age-long suppression of an entire class of economic
l.serfs whom the old society had deprived of all means of livelihood so that tfiey could
exist only as slaves, who were forced to live in ghettoes outside the villages and whose
status debarred them from engaging in any pursuits other than that of village serfs.
The overwhelming majority of Untouchables possessed no land; this made them
dependent on the Touchables and perpetuated their status as Untouchables. Lxvmg
in small numbers on the outskirts ox villages they could neither hope to pursue trade
nor any other independent calling; the Touchables would not buy from them. Their
extreme poverty made it impossible for them to educate themselves and secure any
share in services, independent professions, trade or industry. The old and ancient
 Six Crore Untouchables 71

serfdom, imposed by Hindu society, obstructed them from ail sides. Unless a
conscious and special attempt was made to break through this, the prospects before
the Untouchables were of perpetuation of their old status.

A B S E N C E O F P R A C T IC A L STEPS

It was the duty of the national movement to lead a crusade against this by demanding
such specific rights and legislative measures as would enable the Untouchables to
outgrow their status as helots of Hindu society. The problem was one of guaranteeing
equality in every sphere of life—education, services, administration—and adopting
immediate measures whicn would secure such equality.
The Untouchable could not be brought to the same social status unless he was
given special educational facilities, unless special provision was made to give him an
adequate share in services and administration; and
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'ヘン.；
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rectified. In short, unless special provision was made to give him inaependent means
of livelihood, which alone could free him from the Touchables, bondage and secure
equality of status for him. This meant a Special Charter of Political and Economic
Demands of the Untouchables. Only on the basis of such a charter could the national
movement hope to unite itself with the sixty millions and hold their confidence.
Unfortunately, the prevalent outlook in the Congress prevented it from
championing such special demands. Whenever the national demand was presented
to the Government, the specific rights of the Untouchables found no place in it.
Considering it as an internal problem of Hindu society, the Congress failed to stress
them and win the confidence of the Untouchable masses. On the contrary, any demand
for special treatment was looRed upon as reactionary and even opposed. For example,
Gandhiji opposed the separate electorates granted to the Untouchables under the
1935 Constitution and started a fast to get it altered and ultimately succeeded in
keeping the Untouchables in a joint electorate with the Hindus.
Th^w h Y j^eC o n g re^sx 〇uMiißyerr
kept aloof from the mass struggle launched by the national organisation. The failure
of the Congress ministries to enforce the rights of the Untouchables added to their
bitterness. Even the right of entry to all hotels and restaurants was not enforced, though
perhaps hotel proprietors were made to take down the offensive notices barring entry
to Untouchables. But the ministries and the congress did not use public or lee*al
pressure to enforce the right in practice. The movement of the Untouchables took
its own course, and got isolated from the general current of the national movement.
Where does that movement stand today?

S C H E D U L E D C A S T E S F E D E R A T IO N

The proceedings of the Working committee of the Scheduled Castes Federation,

which met at Madras on 29-9-44, have thrown an illuminating light on the politics of
72 B. T. Ranadive

this vast section of our countrymen. The leaders of the Scheduled Castes Federation
claim that this body, in which the Untouchables have organised themselves, has the
solid backing of 60 million members of the community. While this is undoubtedly an
overstatement, it cannot be denied that the Scheduled Castes Federation has a very
strong mass basis and that it embraces the whole of the Untouchable intelligentsia^
to whom the community looks for guidance. It cannot be disputed that it is in the
interest of the Untouchables to strengthen the Scheduled Castes Federation as their
own organisation.
The Madras Session of the Working Committee was attended by representatives
of not less than six provinces. They included two Provincial Ministers (Bengal and
Assam), one Parliamentary Secretary, nine MLAs. Most of them were doctors,
lawyers or journalists; only one was a businessman.
What does this signify? It is unmistakable evidence of the fact that the leadership
of the Untouchables is today in the hands of that very section which also leads
the National Congress and the Muslim League. In the face of unimaginable
obstacles, a section of the Untouchables heroically fought their way to education,
and the downtrodden Untouchable community has now found its leadership in this
intelligentsia born out of itself. Under its guidance, the community has built up its
organisation with Dr Ambedkar at its head.
‘We want to become a go训 厂ポ叹 •ひ，’一 in these words Dr Ambedkar
gave an unambiguous expression to the basic urge of six crores (60 millions) of our
countrymen. No one can characterise this aim as either unjust or anti-national.
Elementary principles of democracy demand that a community of 60 millions
should be assured an equal share in the governance of the country with the rest of the
people. Free India will not be a democratic India, unless these 60 millions have their
due share in running the government.

C H A R T E R O F R IG H T S

This objective of the Untouchables is embodied in the resolution or the Nagpur

Session of the Scheduled Castes Federation (1942), It was reiterated by the Working
Committee at its recent meeting in Madras.
With a view to attain this objective, the resolution set forth the following basic
demands:
1 . The constitution of the country must be framed with the consent of the
Untouchables.
2. The Untouchables must be recognisea m this constitution as a separate and
distinct element in the national life of India.
3. Provision must be made by law for securing representation to the Untouchables
in all Executive governments, Central and Provincial, in all Legislatures and
local bodies, and in the Public Services, in accordance with their number and
needs.
 Six Crore Untouchables 73

4. Adequate provision in the budget for promoting advanced education among

Untouchables must be the first charge on the government revenue.
5. Separate settlements of Untouchables must be established on government
land through a Settlement Commission.
6. The representation of the Untouchables in all legislatures and local bodies
shall be by the real life method of separate electorates.
Are these demands anti-national and anti-democratic? Take the demand that the
Untouchables be recognised as a separate element and that the constitution of the
country must be framed with their consent.
Why does this demand arise? It arises from the fact that the Untouchables
constitute a separate class of downtrodden serfs whose specific rights have been
championed neither by the Congress nor Hindu society. It is directed against the
claims of Hindu society to politically represent the Untouchables and also challenges
the claims of the Congress to speak in their name. It is based on the fear of the
Untouchables that any direct deal between other parties and the British Government,
that even British withdrawal without any guarantees to them, will mean unabashed
domination of the caste-Hindus against them. It arises from the fact that the national
movement has ignored their demands and has failed to inspire them that a free India
will really mean freedom for all.

C O N G R E S S V A C IL L A T IO N S

No man with a conscience can agree that the Untouchables should be considered an
integral part of Hindu society which has all along oppressed them and that they be
denied a separate place in political life. And, considering the failure of the Congress
to champion their demands, no one can say that their aspirations are today adequately
represented by the National Congress itself.
Congressmen are afraid that by recognising the Untouchables as a distinct element
and also by agreeing that the constitution should be framed with their consent we
would be giving them the right to veto all progress, and so obstruct the march to
freedom. They think this is the trap laid by the imperialists who would exploit any
such concession to perpetuate our differences. Frightened by the anti-Congress stand
of the leaders of the Untouchables, Congressmen think that such a confession will
only enable imperialism to forge an anti-Congress front and blow up any democratic
constitution. They think the Untoucnaoles, like the Princes, constitute the reserve
force of British imperialism.
Their argument betrays the inherent weakness of the national movement itself.
What has it to fear from the mass of 60 to 70 million slaves when it itself stands for
complete freedom in all directions. The Princes represent the vested interests; while
the Untouchables represent the rebellions downtrodden mass. It will to the shame of
the national movement itself it cannot win this mass for a democratic constitution
and freedom but allows it to be exploited by imperialism or selfish reactionaries.
74 B. T. Ranadive

Any constitution for a free India will of course have to secure the willing consent of
this vast mass, just as it will have to secure the approval of the workers and the peasants.
None can deny it. To recognise it today unambiguously, to give the Untouchables a
guarantee that they are recognised as a distinct element and will not be steamrollered
by the majority of caste-Hindu votes—is necessary to win them over for the common
struggle for freedom; is necessary in the interests of justice and democracy itself.
It is only thus that the game of imperialism can be foiled and every Untouchable
be made to realise that a free India will be free from untouchability.

D E M A N D S ARE JU S T

The demand for special facilities for education, for adequate representation in public
services and legislatures, ministries, etc. is equally just. It cannot be characterised as
a communal and reactionary demand but one which seeks to remove the existing
inequalities. The Untouchables feel the Indianisation of services and introduction of
elected legislatures has only benefited the caste-Hindus， who have monopolised jobs
and seats in the legislatures and secured the lions share of political power. They now
demand that the administrative apparatus should include their representatives and
that special educational facilities be given to them to enable them to enter services,
etc. It is a demand for equality with the vast mass of the people—a demand which
is sought to be enforced through special provisions to meet the special disabilities
imposed on them.
Speg毪Ledu£atianat£aGilitktandjQb身jn services today play a
in tRe fight 吞 ffainst untQWeh法hUity-J^ntoudhability survives in villages because the
Untouchables have no land, no independent source of livelihood enabling them
to throw oft the yoke of caste-Hindus. Education, opening up prospects into the
services and jobs, makes them independent and begins to cut at the economic roots
of untouchability. No longer need they continue as serfs to maintain their existence.
Thus, educational facilities and employment in public services are means not merely
of individual betterment, but of social emancipation.
It should not be forgotten that even the National Congress had in its early stages
put forward similar demands. Why did the Congress want more administraïive
posts for Indians, facilities for higher education, etc.? Because these instruments
were calculated to break dowa,tlie .waIL,or. inequality between the Indian and the
European. The demands of the Untouchables today have the same social meaning.
The Federation demands special settlements of Untouchables to be established on
government land, where they can live apart from the existing Hindu villages.
Today, the vast majority of the Untouchables have no land of their own; they are
landless labourers entirely dependent on the caste-Hindu majority in the village; in
each village they constitute such a small number that they cannot carry on any trade
without the patronage—which they can never hope to secure—of the caste-Hindus.
1 hus it is not open to them to follow any independent calling to free themselves from
their helotry.Tnis is what perpetuates the curse of untouchability in the villages.
 Six Crore Untouchables 75

If the Untouchables are granted government land and settled on it as independent

communities apart from the caste-Hindu villages, their present bondage will vanish
and they will be able to develop out of themselves a class of independent traders,
shopkeepers, etc. Thus, for the first time they will find themselves on the highroad of
unobstructed economic progress. This will, as nothing else can, cut at the very roots
of untouchability. Those, therefore, who anxiously desire to see the whole of this
suppressed mass of humanity in the camp of Indias battle for freedom, those who
earnestly aim at eradicating the evil of untouchability, cannot but lend their support
to this just demand.

SEP A R A TE E LE C T O R A T E S

Finally, let us consider the demand for separate electorates. The national movement
has been accustomed to think that separate electorates encourage communalism
and perpetuate communal divisions; that they prevent the growth of national
consciousness and become instruments in the hands of reactionaries for spreading
an anti-national outlook. The question of joint versus separate electorates has raised a
big controversy in the course of our freedom struggle; it was brought to the forefront
in connection with the Muslims, and the Congress has continually striven to maintain
joint electorates, and conceded separate electorates only when it found it impossible
to convince its advocates.
The Muslims did secure separate electorates in the course of our national
struggle; the Untouchables themselves were granted this concession under the 1935
Constitution but Gandhiji undertook a fast and ultimately through the Poona Pact
succeeded in keeping them in joint electorates with the Hindus.
Today, the Scheduled Castes want to go back on this arrangement and demand
separate electorates. Is this demand anti-national and communal? Will it perpetuate
existing divisions or be a means of ending them? Why does the demand arise?
Because, first, the Untouchables have a genuine grievance—inhuman treatment and
denial of ordinary rights, and second, because no organisation—not even the National
Congress—has championed their cause. It is an oppressed section demanding that it
should have minimum protection to fight for its own rights.
The joint electorates give a virtual veto to the caste-Hindus to decide who
should represent the Untouchables; the latter scattered in innumerable villages are
in a minority everywhere and the caste-Hindus are in a majority; the caste-Hindus
under joint electorates are in a position to get any one elected even in the teeth of
opposition of the Scheduled Castes, i.e. they are in a position to decide as to who
should represent the Untouchables in any given constituency.
The Scheduled Castes correctly seek to do away with this veto. Their experience
of joint electorates with reservation of seats since the last elections has made them
bitter. In the last elections, joint electorates were utilised to thrust caste-Hindu
nominees on the Scheduled Castes; and attempts were made to defeat their popular
leaders on the strength of the caste-Hindu vote. Congress nominees elected on joint
76 B. T. Ranadive

electorates made no attempts to throw open wells, restaurants and public places to
Untouchables, nor did the Congress Ministries help in this.
If on the basis of this sad experience, this failure of the national movement to win
the confidence of the Untouchables, they today demand separate electorates to protect
their just interests—whose fault is it? Undoubtedly of the national movement. The
demand would not have been there had the Scheduled Castes found in the National
Congress itself an effective champion of their cause.

D U T Y OF TH E CONGRESS

As matters stand today, the Congress does not possess this confidence. And, joint
electorates without mutual and complete confidence spell sheer disruption. They
will be interpreted by the Scheduled Castes as another attempt to enforce caste-
Hindu domination.
Justice and democracy alike demand that this oppressed section be given
complete liberty to decide whether it prefers separate electorates or joint electorates.
The other sections have no right to force joint electorates on them. The Congress
must see the justice of the demand for separate electorates, support it in the interests
of democracy and give the completest assurance to them that the national struggle
will always protect them.
On this basis alone can the reactionaries be fought and imperialist plans to
exploit the situation defeated. The moment the Congress earns the confidence
of this section, the moment it joins the freedom struggle with the Untouchables'
struggle, thé reactionaries will be defeated and the Untouchables will throw up
from their midst the best fighters for freedom to protect their own as well as the
nations interest.
The demands put forward by the Scheduled Castes Federation are based on
justice and equality. In fact, the National Congress should have taken the initiative in
sponsoring these and other immediate demands. That was the only way to implement
the Karachi declaration on civic equality. Had the National Congress taken this
initiative, the movement of the Untouchables would have been linked up with the
general freedom movement, the forces of the national struggle would have been
immensely strengthened, and the National Congress would have succeeded in rallying
behind it the powerful support of six crores of this section of oppressed humanity.

IN D E P E N D E N C E IS S U E S H E L V E D

While supporting these demands, one cannot shut one's eyes to the fundamental
weakness in the stand of the Scheduled Castes Federation. In its programme there
is no place as yet for the complete independence of the country. Although the
movement of the Untouchables has now advanced far beyond the elementary stage
 Six Crore Untouchables 77

of asserting the right of temple-entry, etc., although it now demands an adequate

share in political power, its programme gives no indication of the realisation that this
power has to be won from the British.
Only a united assault can win power from British imperialism for the people of
India and obtain an adequate share in it for the Untouchables; despite this obvious
truth, however, complete independence is not even mentioned in the programme of
the Scheduled Castes Federation. The programme does not visualise the attainment
by India of independence from foreign rule; on the contrary, some of Dr Ambedkar's
speeches suggest that the leaders of the Untouchables are still thinking in terms of
Dominion Status.
The demands outlined above are put forward on the assumption that British rule
will continue in this country. Although, in the final analysis, these demands imply
winning a share in the power that will be wrested from British hands, the Federation
has no programme to force the British to part with that power. The leaders of the
Federation seem to be content with claiming their share in whatever the British may
choose to concede.

IN E X C U S A B L E T O D A Y

Excusable as this might have been in the early stages of the movement, there can
be no justification today for its failure to inscribe on its banner the demand for
complete freedom.
This indifference is particularly harmful to the interests of the Untouchables
themselves.It is clear as daylight that the complete independence of the country and the
winning of an adequate share of power by the Untouchable masses is an indispensable
condition for the eradication of untouchability. Even if all the demands put forward
by the Federation are secured by the Untouchables tomorrow, untouchability will not
vanish; it will only receive a powerful blow, but it will not be finally smashed. How can
all the 60 millions of Untouchables be accommodated in the special settlements or in
public services within the framework of existing conditions?
Rapid industrialisation of the country, liquidation of landlordism and a radical
change in the mode of production in agriculture—these alone will give free scope to
the vast mass of Untouchables to find independent means of livelihood, and lead to
the abolition of untouchability. For this, the country must get rid of the shackles of
foreign rule. How can the leaders of the Scheduled Castes Federation refuse to take
note of this? Prolonging the slavery of the country must mean prolonging the slavery
of the Untouchables also.
True, the Federation has not been guilty of opposing the demand for independence.
In fact, presiding at its Cawnpore Session, Rao Bahadur Shivraj expressedly declared:
(We are not against Indian freedom, but we demand a guarantee that the demands
put forward by us at Nagpur will be granted/ However, it is not enough for the
Federation to take this negative attitude. It must declare it to be its basic task to work
78 B. X Ranadive

jointly with the rest of the people for the attainment of the goal of independence and
for securing the special demands of the Untouchables.

U N IT E F O R F R E E D O M

Now that it has advanced in its aims from temple entry to demand for political power,
the movement of the Untouchables has necessarily to readjust its attitude towards
other parties and sections of the people. Dr Ambedkar has himself declared: (When
India will have attained Swaraj, the three parties that will share power will be Hindus,
the Muslims and the Untouchables'(Speech at the Cawnpore Session, 30-1-44).
If that is so, is it not equally true that these three parties must join together before
Swaraj is attained?and in order to attain it? It follows from this that failure to establish
cordial relations between the National Congress and the mass of Untouchables
must prove disastrous to both and to Indian freedom as well. Capture of power and
liquidation of untouchability is the final step that all have to take together, for it is a
step against imperialism which can be defeated only by the joint forces of all, not by
the separate forces of each.
Behind the National Congress stand the vast masses of our people—workers,
peasants, honest intellectuals—without whose co-operation it will be impossible
to win power. That is why the Untouchables cannot afford to neglect the task of
winning the support of the Congress for their demands. A purely anti-Congress and
anti-Gandhi attitude will only isolate them from the rest of the people.
The Untouchables must realise that Indian freedom can be won and they
themselves can secure their share in power only on condition that all parties join
together. On the basis of this realisation they must learn to develop a new attitude
towards the National Congress, to acquaint themselves with the long history of the
struggle against imperialism carried on under its banner.
Closest to the movement of the Untouchables stands the class movement of
the workers and the peasants. The Trade Unions and the Kisan Sabhas are class
organisations of the workers and the peasants respectively, uniting them on the
basis of their class demands without distinction of caste, creed, etc. The vast mass
of Untouchables belongs to these classes, and it is their duty to join and strengthen
these Trade Unions and Kisan Sabhas in order to work jointly with other workers and
peasants for securing their day-to-day demands.
The more solid their unity with other sections of workers and peasants in
these class organisations, the quicker and more effective will be their pressure on
other parties and sections of the people for supporting their special demands as
Untouchables. Every untouchable worker and peasant must consider it his duty to
join his class organisation and convince other workers and peasants of the justice of
his demands.
The failure of the national movement to understand the real significance of the
movement of the Untouchables and to take up its just demands as its own has so far
proved very disastrous to the cause of the country. The Untouchables awoke to their
 Six Crore Untouchables 79

own needs, built up their independent organisation, and have now advanced to the
stage of demanding power. The road that they have traversed is the road to freedom.
Every freedom-loving Indian must see in their advance the rapid awakening of
one of the most oppressed strata of Indian society. By supporting their just demands,
the national movement must inspire confidence in them and enable them to join
the main stream of national liberation and freedom. They must be considered an
important force in the struggle against famine and deadlock; in the fight for national
unity and National Government.
The sooner the National Congress gives up its old outlook of treating the question
non-politically the sooner it sheds its patronising outlook, and treats it as a major
problem of unity and justice, the sooner it will get the backing of Indies rebellious
‘pariahs，for the cause of independence and freedom.
 PART TW O

H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y O F T H E
P R E < O L O N IA L P E R IO D
 IX

S T U D IE S IN E A R LY IN D IA N S O C IA L H IS T O R Y *

T r e n d s a n d P o s s ib ilitie s

Suvira Jaiswal

The history of impure' castes or untouchables1 did not receive much attention in
the nationalist phase of Indian historiography which was more interested in the
glorification of India’s past and preferred to skip off its seamy side. It is remarked2
that the lack of interest in the fortunes of lower communities was due to the vision of
the historians being limited by their dominant-class outlook. None the less, the idea
and practice of untouchability in Hindu society was striking enough to have given
rise to a number of theories regarding its origin. The view of B. R. Ambedkar that the
roots of untouchability lay in the deliberate policy of the brähmanas, who were full of
contempt and hatred towards those who continued to eat beef and isolated themselves
from the brähmanical tradition by embracing Buddhism, has been successfully
refuted by Vivekanand Jha on cogent grounds.3 He also rejects4 the theory of
N. K. Dutt who thought that the spirit of contempt culminating in untouchability
was borrowed by the Aryans from the Dravidians who were culturally far superior to
the pre-Dravidian aborigines and who treated them as (pariahsJ. Dutt asserted that
untouchability was not a part of the original Indo-Aryan institutions.5 It has been
pointed out6 that there is nothing to show that Dravidians practised untouchability
before their coming in contact with the Aryan culture or that the southerners had
a more conservative and contemptuous attitude towards the sudras, which category
subsumed the untouchable groups in the early centuries preceding the Christian era.
Nevertheless, the temptation to treat the attribution of impurity to social groups as a
unique phenomenon rather than as an extreme form of class exploitation often leads
scholars to trace this practice to the pre-Aryan period and as something endemic to
the Indian style of life.
Some time ago Furer-Haimendorf put forward an interesting hypothesis in favour
of the urban origin of untouchability. He remarked7 that the untouchables have no
particularly close connection with the soil; they are generally craftsmen such as leather
workers and weavers, or menials working as watchmen, sweepers, etc. whose services
are essential to the urban settlements but may not be needed In the rural areas; and he
points out that even today there is no need for scavengers in the smaller Indian villages.
Further, whereas in the villages nearly everyone is engaged in agriculture and there is
*This chapter was earlier published in a longer form as 'Studies in Early Indian Social History:
Trends and Possibilities,, The Indian Historical Review, vo!. 6, nos 1-2 (July 1979 - January 1980).
84 Suvira Jaiswal

less contempt for manual labour, towns have greater economic and cultural disparity
and the poorer classes living in squalor and compelled to pursue 'unclean occupations
are naturally segregated and banished outside the city in a society which identifies
personal cleanliness with purity. However, Furer-Haimendorf concedes that once the
idea of untoucnability developed in urban or semi-urban settlements it could spread
to villages as well, as (it is everywhere the towns which set the standard*. He even
ventures to suggest a link between untouchable craftsmen of Dravidian India and the
i£industrialMproletariat of the ancient Indus towns, whose ultimate break-up might
even account for the dispersal of untouchables throughout other parts of India. But
he himself admits that ^uch a hypothesis would be little more than speculation* and
although everything suggests the urban origin of untouchability, it is not yet possible
to pin it down to a definite period of Indian history.
As we have seen already, the putative polluting nature of the craftsmen in
the Indus culture has not a shred of evidence in its support; the workmen living
in separate quarters resembling modern coolie lines were apparently engaged in
pounding grain, a non-polluting occupation. As to the suggested urban origin of
untouchability, we may point out that in spite of the inadequacy of our researches,
it is well known that the ideas of untouchability and unapproachability of certain
social groups deriving from the concept of ritual pollution were developed and
carried to the extreme in rural India in the Middle Ages. Medieval writers making
prescriptions in this regard almost invariably have a rural setting in mind. Would
the practice have become so rigorous and deep-seated if its roots lay in an urban
environment? Nevertheless, we have no hesitation in accepting Furer-Haimendorf ^
total rejection of the views of those scholars who regard untouchables as remnants of
a conquered aboriginal population and his emphatic assertion that on the whole there
is closer racial approximation between the local Hindu castes and the untouchables
than between the untouchables and the surviving aboriginals.
Recently George L. Hart8 has come up with another interesting theory which
traces the origin of the concept of pollution inhering in certain social groups to ancient
Tamils. He relates it to the ancient TamiFs idea of the sacred which, in his opinion,
was conceived as a capricious and potentially malevolent power. It represented death,
destruction and anarchy. From this concept developed the idea that those who
controlled the sacred and came in contact with it were themselves dangerous and
had the power to pollute others. Consequently, they occupied a low status in the
ancient Tamil society. According to Hart's interpretation9 of certain poems of the
Purunänüru collection, the Pänan (that is, the bard), theTutiyan (one who played the
tuti drum), the Paraiyan (one who played the kinai drum) and the Katampan (very
probably the priest of the god Murugan) were low-caste people, and in his opinion
this was because they were involved in controlling the malevolent supernatural
forces by playing the lute or various types of drums during battle and other solemn
occasions such as birth, death, etc. Hart asserts that earlier scholars such as K. A.
Nilakanta Sastri and Kailasapathy10 have either ignored or wrongly understood these
passages, and in ancient Tamil society the purity/pollution principle functioned in
the same manner as it did in later brähmanical society. He is quite positive that the
 Studies in Early Indian Social History 85

ancient Tamils observed restrictions on connubium as well as commensality long

before coming under the brähmanic influence and? even though rules regarding
contact were not so rigid as they became in later times, (then as now, person of high
caste would not take food from the hands of some one of low caste1.11
In spite of these bold and original assertions, the evidence produced by Hart is
not only extremely weak but also contradictory. He himself informs us that at least
one-tenth of the Pulavans, that is, the composers of Sangam poetry, were brähmanas
and he regards this estimate very much on the low side.12 In view of this it is diflicult
to accept that the society reflected in the Sangam literature is completely free
from brahmanical prejudices. No doubt brähmanical hold became stronger in later
centuries but the very fact: that the brähmanäs were highly honoured and enjoyed the
highest social status indicates that the process of brähmanisation with its corollary,
the concept of social hierarchy, had already begun to take root in ancient Tamil
society. Further, connubial restrictions are not typical of caste society alone; they
prevail in tribal societies also. But the contention that among the ancient Tamils
these were based not on the tribal notions of kinship but on caste hierarchy is yet to
be proved. With regard to commensal taboo, on the basis of a poem13which describes
the feeding of a corpse by a Pulaiyan, Hart draws the inference that the food touched
by a Pulaiyan must have been considered polluted and unacceptable by men of higher
castes. But this is evidently an unwarranted assumption deriving mainly from our
knowledge of what happened in later times. On the other hand, Hart himself quotes
poems winch speak of kings eating and drinking in company of bards， supposedly of
low caste, and remarks that the commensal taboo was not universally observed.
Hart is on surer ground when he speaks14 of the prevalence of ceremonial bathing,
the taboo on menstruous women, puerperium, etc. among the ancient Tamils. He
has produced enough data to show that these taboos derived mainly from the belief
that at certain times women possessed 'sacred power' which could be dangerous
to others and therefore had to be carefully controlled. He further argues that as
according to the Tamils contact with the 'sacred1was polluting, they regarded women
as polluted temporarily and certain social groups as polluted permanently owing
to their constant dealings with the 'sacred'. It is often argued15 that temporary and
permanent impurity is identical in nature and continuous association with ‘polluted’
things results in permanent impurity. But we may point out that contact with the
dangerous sacred would not necessarily lower the status of the people involved, if
it were merely a question of religious feelings. On the contrary, it would have most
likely conferred superior power and status on them. Among African tribes the female
generative power was linked with formal prestige and power and the African priestess-
queen enjoyed superior authority which rested on her supernatural role as rainmaker
ensuring the fertility of plants and animals.16It is rightly asserted that initially women
were profane and uninitiated with regard to men's rituals and men were profane and
uninitiated with regard to women's rituals, both sexes enjoying complete autonomy
within the imperatives of reciprocity.17 In our opinion it was only with differential
access to economic resources and the rise of private property that the subordination
or the female sex began and her sphere of the sacred came to be looked upon not
86 Suvira Jaiswal

only as dangerous for man but also <polluting,. The subordination of the female sex is
already complete even in the earliest Tamil poetry, and a similar process seems to have
begun in the case of indigenous Dravidian Shamans and musicians, since music is an
important means of controlling the sacred in primitive societies. Hart concedes that
Velan, the priest of the god Murugan, is never described as low or base in Sangam
poems but his descendants now form a subcaste of the lowly Paraiyans in modern
Kerala. Hie traditional hostility of .the Paraiyans to the brähmanas reflected in their
'ceremonial antipathy* towards the latter as recorded by Thurston18 and their creation
myths suggest that the custodians of the Aryan sacred tradition played a crucial role
in the degradation of these peoples. D. D. Kosambi has shown how brähmanical
ideology helped in introducing a class structure in tribal societies and in validating
the domination of the tribal chief and his nobility over the rest of the tribe. It is not
without significance that the Tamil king who was the highest representative of the
sacred, (the central embodiment of sacred powers that had to be present and under
control for the proper functioning of society5in the words of Hart,19 had no stigma
of pollution attached to him. But the Paraiyan, in spite of his retaining the traditional
role20 in controlling the indigenous sacred powers on several occasions and sacred
spots, was degraded and condemned to certain menial and filthy tasks on a perpetual
basis. Besides, not all the sections of Paraiyans perform the priestly functions or act
as grave-diggers. In the time of Räjaräja Cola their two main subdivisions are said to
have been weava*s (Nesavu) and ploughmen (Ulavu).21 Obviously, the condemnation
of these people as impure and their hereditary pursuit of the profession of scavenger
were not the causes but the consequences of their degradation.22
Earlier, Hutton had expressed the view23 that the taboo on accepting food cooked
by a person belonging to another caste was the <keystone, of the whole system, the
taboo on marrying outside the caste being an inevitable outcome of the former
prejudice. This has been reiterated in some recent historical studies of the problem
and an attempt is made to explain untouchability as deriving from deep-rooted
'psychologicaF inhibitions.24 Indeed this view acquires some apparent credibility
from the modem field experience which shows the wide prevalence of elaborate
and divergent rules regarding the acceptability of the kaccä25 and the pakkä26 food
among both so-called ‘high’ and ‘low’ castes. But a closer scrutiny of the regulations
governing the cooking and partaking of a meal in a traditional set-up reveals that
these are a curious amalgam of the brahmanical concept of hierarchy and certain
primitive ideas which regard eating and drinking as magico-religious activities having
mysterious significance. Thus, to the latter nexus, we may assign the orthodox practice
of regarding cooked kaccä food as contaminated if touched by a person who has not
had a bath and put on fresh clothes even though he/she was perfectly eligible to do
so otherwise. Obviously in this case the act of taking food is viewed as a sacrament?
a religious rite for which utmost purity has to be observed. As has been pointed out,
such ideas are not confined to Hindu society alone and may be traced among other
peoples as well.27 But to regard such notions of purity as primary factors in the
evolution of a social system in which social groups or castes were isolated, ranked
and interrelated on the basis of the acceptability of food and water from them by
 Studies in Early Indian Social History- 87

members of other social groups is to ignore the crucial fact that the entire network of
purity/pollution functioned with the brähmana as its point of reference. The crux of
the problem is not that certain notions of commensality and connubium have tribal
roots, but that these should have been woven in the social fabric in such a manner as
to institutionalise the inequality of social groups providing religious justification to
the crassest form of class exploitation.
We have shown elsewhere28 that a number of Vedic passages indicate that
there was no prejudice against accepting cooked food from those who were outside
ones own tribal or caste group. For example, according to the prescription of some
srautasütra% the performer of the visvajit sacrifice must live with the Nisädas in their
village for three nights and eat their food. The Nisädas were a non-Aryan tribe living
on the periphery of the Aryan settlements in later Vedic times but were condemned as
untouchables in later law-books.29 R.S. Sharma has drawn attention30 to a satapatha
Bmhtnana passage which instructs the ksatriya and the vis to eat from the same vessel.
The Apastamba Dharmasütra lays down that when südras work as cooks in a brähmana
household, their work should be supervised by a member of any of the three upper
varnas and the sudra cooks should shave their hair and beard and pare their nails
every day and also bathe with all the clothes on.31 The Amarakosa mentions the
synonyms of persons employed in cooking under the Vaisya varga. Thus it mentions
in this section süpakära and ballava?2 who cooked the vegetables, according to the
commentator Ksïrasvamin, and follows it up with four other synonyms of the cook,
namely, ändhasika^ süda, audanika S\.d,guna?^ Of these, ändhastka and audanika were
2

evidently those who cooked or boiled rice, which the current orthodox practice would
describe as kacca food acceptable only if cooked by one belonging to ones own caste
or by a brähmana. But the Amarakosa evidence suggests that the cooks employed in
the kitchen of the well-to-do people belonged to the vaisya caste. Later in the Laghu
Asvalayanasmrti, which is generally ascribed to the chronological bracket extending
from ad 700 to 900, it is prescribed that a brähmana should take food only if it is
cooked by himself or anyone of the following persons: his wife, daughter-in-law, son,
pupil, teacher and the son of his teacher.34 This text also lays down that a brähmana
may accept from anyone milk and sugarcane products and things cooked in oil, milk
and clarified butter but not those with which water is mixed.35 Here we have a clear
textual prohibition of what is now known as a kaccä meal. These notions developing
among the brähmana circles were gradually adopted by other castes as well and
rigiaity in such matters became a symbol of higher social status.
It may be argued that since law-books are brähmanical compositions, we tend
to attribute a brähmanical origin to even those concepts which fact may have been
borrowed from a non-brähmanical source. Nevertheless, we may point out that the
brahmanas as a priestly class had been preoccupied with rituals and external religious
observances from the very beginning. The priestly outlook invested every human
action with religious significance and gradually evolved an ideology which made the
preservation of the purity of the brähmana varna from external contacts its primary-
concern, These ideas growing within the hierarchical social framework of the varna
order not only led to the conception that the brähmana represented the purest but
88 Suvira Jaiswal

also that purity/impurity of a particular social group had to be measured in terms

of its ritual distance from the brahmana varna. This undoubtedly proves that the
ideology originated and developed in brähmana circles. One need not necessarily
1 0 0 k upon it as a sudden invention or ‘a diabolical contrivance’ of the malevolent

brahmanas, for the roots of this ideology lay in the growth and intensification of
class relations with the emergence of a ruling class exercising control over land and
labour of the exploited classes. The brähmanas were by and large both active members
as well as ideologues of this ruling class and hence they perfected a theory which
expressed the dominant material relationships in ritual terms with the brähmana as
its point of reference. It is indeed indicative of the dominance of the brähmana varna
in the socio-economic set-up of the early medieval times that its ideology became the
ideology of the society as a whole and the imitation of its customs or the process of
Sanskritisation became an important vehicle for social mobility.
We do not, however, mean to say that there were no poor brähmanas in early
medieval society or even earlier. In fact, the poverty of a section of the brähmanas had
obliged them to trade on their ritual purity and earn their livelihood by serving others
and cooking food for them, as is indicated by a tenth-century inscription.36 But the
theory of purity/pollution was not the product of such brähmana commoners. It
was apparently developed by those who were engaged in the study and teaching of
scriptures and lived in agrahära% donated by the ruling powers. And this explains the
material foundations of this ideology.
Had the ideology of purity and impurity of social groups been a mere outcome
of the primitive fear of pollution through indiscriminate commensality, one would
expect greater rigidity and exclusiveness in the earlier stages of the caste system.
But as we have seen, both early Tamil as well as Sanskrit sources indicate that rules
regarding interdining and intermarriage became more strict with the passage of time.
The ideology of purity/pollution presupposes the existence of impure groups, but
it can hardly be denied that the emergence of the so-called impure or untouchable
groups is a later phenomenon in the history of the caste system.
In an illuminating study37 of the history of untouchables in India up to ad 1200,
yivekanand Jha has distinguished four major stages in the origin and proliferation
of untouchable groups. He points out that the Rgveda shows no knowledge of any
people contact with whom was tabooed even remotely. The later Vedic texts also do
not give any indication of the practice of untouchability although the tribal groups of
the Candälas and the Pulkasas are mentioned with much spite and revulsion. In the
second phase extending up to ad 200 certain tribal groups such as the Candälas and
the Pulkasas emerge clearly as untouchables. The third phase, being a continuation
of the second, throws up some more ethnic groups as untouchables, but the peak
is attained in the fourth phase extending from ad 600 to 1200 when a number of
occupational groups such as the carmakära% and the rajaka% are degraded to the
category of untouchables and several new ethnic groups are added to the list.
Commenting upon Jha7s conclusions, B. N. S. Yadava emphasises38 the material
roots of the institution of untouchability. He agrees with Jha in linking the increase
in the number of untouchable groups in early medieval times to the stagnant village
 Studies in Early Indian Social History- 89

economy which allowed little mobility to artisans and craftsmen but points out that
the resistance to the process of Hinduisation by the aboriginal peoples and their
consequent degradation to the position of untouchables presents only one side of the
story, and one should also investigate the extent to which greater integration with the
brähmanical society meant greater economic dependence and exploitation of these
peoples. We may add that this line of argument is fully backed by contemporary field
experience. Furer-Haimendorf observes:

on th e w h o le it is n o t th e a b o rig in a ls sta n d in g o u ts id e th e caste system w h o suffer

fro m th e m ost severe social d isa b ilitie s, b u t th e depressed classes w h o fo r centuries
have lived in closest association w ith caste-H indus. M any a b o rig in a ls eat b e e f and
fo llo w o th e r habits o b je c tio n a b le to H indus w ith o u t b e in g tre a te d as u n toucha bles,
w hereas m em bers o f depressed classes c a n n o t g ain a d m itta n c e to H in d u society
even th o u g h th e y m ay have pe rso n a lly a b a n d o n e d such cusom s ... th e a b o rig in a l
cu ltiva to r, be he G ond o r M unda, looks d o w n u p o n th e u n to u c h a b le in th e same
m anner as does any caste H in d u .39

This is not to deny that many of the aboriginal groups have indeed been assimilated
as untouchables or südras depending upon the level of their socio-economic
backwardness. Huttons remark40 that when primitive tribes come within the Hindu
fold they form the exterior or depressed castes may be correct to a large extent, but
his attempt to explain it as a consequence of their lack of prejudice against certain
occupations and certain kinds of food abhorred by the Hindus is totally inadequate.41
We have seen that caste hierarchy develops earlier but prejudices against certain types
of food, drinks and occupations are of later growth. Besides, quite often a depressed
people have no alternative but to follow occupations of low status value. Once again
we find in this statement of Hutton a confusion between cause and effect.
There is no doubt that the impingement of brähmanical society upoa the tribes
often results in their being deprived of their earlier means of production and the
latter become dependent on the former. This is particularly true of the earlier period
of Indian history when much of the land which was earlier the habitat and means
of sustenance of the aboriginal tribes was brought under cultivation through land
grants to brähmanas. The impact of brähmanical culture helps the process of social
stratification and disintegration of egalitarian internal structure of the tribes. It may
allow individual families or narrow lineages access to higher social status dissociating
them from the main body of the tribe, which in turn may be subjected to rigid socio­
economic exploitation. Hutton himself points out that socially superior individuals,
belonging to those very tribes which are reduced to the position of ‘exterior castes’
frequently get incorporated as Rajputs or ksatriyas. This process has been very well
illustrated by a study of the Bhumij tribe which has given rise to Rajput Bhumlj
families at one end of the social scale and the fallen ^ichu Bhumij at the other end.42
Equally revealing could be studies of a number of other depressed communities, as
for example the Doms, who are at present regarded as the lowest even among the
untouchables. But they are known to have founded kingdoms in the Himalayan
90 Suvira Jaiswal

foothills in the thirteenth century43 and the defeat of an aboriginal Dom chief is
mentioned in an inscription from Karnataka.44 The need for using the comomed
■methods of anthropology, archaeology and Indology cannot be overstressed with
regard to the history of the <untouchable, communities. Attempts depending solely
on the Dharmasästra material written by and meant for the upper castes tend to give
a distorted and one-sided picture.
Works on society in ancient India could hardly ignore the problem of women, and
most of the books dealing with the social conditions of the period contain separate
chapters on them. Apart from these, there are a number of independent monographs,
articles, etc. dealing with the condition of women in a particular type of source-
material or sub-period and with womens juridical and ritualistic position or some
other specific role.45 However, most of these studies are descriptive, rarely modifying
the picture drawn by A. S. Altekar in his classic The Position of Women in Hindu
Civilization^ and his views continue to exercise deep influence on later workers
in the field.47 Attempts at analysis are often based on conjectural hypotheses with
little help from the growing store of anthropological knowledge. Marxist scholars
too are accused of depending on the outdated theories of the nineteenth-century
anthropologists because of the strong impact of R Engels well-known work, The
Origin of the Family^ Private Property and the State. Later researches have pointed
out certain ethnographic mistakes made by Morgan and Engels and a reassessment
of their theories is being made in the Marxist circles as well.48 The result of this
stimulating debate is that whereas the basic ideas of Engels regarding the relationship
of property to class and sex stand reinforced, many of his views regarding the stages of
savagery, group-marriage49 and matriarchy are now abandoned. But the effect of the
writings of Morgan and Engels on the studies of women, family or kinship pattern
in ancient India has been extremely marginal; and little effort has been made to see
whether the structural position of women and the institutions and customs affecting
them were, expressions of the socio-economic set-up in which women were placed.
Nevertheless, it is generally recognised that the position of women has
progressively deteriorated from the time of the Rgveda when women enjoyed more
rights and freedom. Altekar thought that primitive communities which had 4not yet
emerged from barbarism’had hardly any checks on the tyranny of men over women
and in these communities women were underfed and overworked; so he expressed
deep satisfaction over the fact that the position of women in the Vedic age was
‘much better than what we ordinarily expect it to have been’.50 Similar sentiments
were expressed by other writers.51 None the less, such remarks reflect only popular
misconceptions about the so-called barbaric or primitive peoples and not a scientific
anthropological understanding. Even those anthropologists who argue that women
have been subordinate to men even in the early societies which subsisted on hunting
and gathering do not draw such a dismal picture, as is imagined by Altekar. However,
it is being increasingly demonstrated that the role of woman the gatherer has been
grossly underestimated owing to the male bias in anthropology;52 and while some
anthropologists emphatically maintain that early societies were sexually egalitarian
having relations of reciprocity rather than of subordination, others point out that
 Studies in Early Indian Social History- 91

in hunting societies too, which according to them subordinated women to men in

certain respects, men did not exercise the amount of control over women as they
did in class societies.53 Society in the Rgvedic period had certainly gone beyond the
state of gathering and hunting; but for a proper assessment of the position of women
in the earliest known phase of the Vedic people as reflected m the earliest portions
of the Rgveda (Books II-VII) an understanding of their production process and the
role of women in it is necessary. Thus, if we regard the vidatha as the earliest folk
assembly of the Indo-Aryans having distributive as well as other functions，54 then
the question of womens participation in it will have to be related to their role in
food production. It is possible that our data are meagre, but it is important to raise
significant questions. According to Irawati Karve, in the early passages of the Rgveda
a common word denoting father and mother, that is, parents, could be derived either
from the dual form of matr or that oïpitryboth the terms conveyed the same meaning,
but later, only the dual form of pitr was used while referring to the two parents.55This
suggests the transition of the Vedic people from an egalitarian social organisation to
a patriarchal set-up. However, more research is needed to establish this hypothesis
on a firm basis.
Related to the question of womens status are the problems of kinship structure
and the nature of the family organisation. A number of <Indologically-oriented,
sociologists such as Ghurye,56 Karandikar,57 Karve58 and Kapadia59 have done useful
work in this field, but they have generally underplayed the role of socio-economic
factors in the development of these institutions, giving more emphasis to ideational
and cultural influences. Nevertheless, they have provided enough evidence to support
the view that kinship usages and the institution of family among the Vedic people
have not remained static but have undergone significant changes in the course of
centuries. It is often charged that the early sociologists and Marxist historians had the
framework of the nineteenth-century evolutionism. Ira our opinion, the evolutionary
theory has been under attack more on account of the political implications than for
the use of faulty data, and it is possible to modify the views of these scholars in the
light of later researches without giving up the basic historical and evolutionary angle
and without resorting to the theory which explains away the vestiges of earlier forms
as inexplicable historical accidents'. The evolutionary theory may need correction
in specific details but the broad fact of evolution can hardly be denied. Thus, for
instance, the philological evidence cited for postulating an earlier stage of promiscuity
among the Rgvedic people may be reinterpreted in terms of 'not actual or potential
biological relationships, present or pasf, but the ongoing social relationships which
suggest collective functioning. If we agree with the view that kinship terminology of
the Rgveda and the Atharvaveda shows an evolution from a system whicn did not
distinguish between relatives of different generations to a system which differentiated
between different generations,60 the conclusion is inescapable that the earlier system
reflects communal functioning, whereas in the latter one may see the emergence of
the joint family in which three or four generations related to the male ego stayed
together, an institution which became the norm in later times. Later evolution of the
patriarchal joint family among the Vedic people is further supported by the evidence
92 Suvira Jaiswal

produced by K. M. Kapadia that in the Rgveda the communal ancestors, collectively

known as pitrs, are offered worship, but in the Afharvaveda offering is made to three
ascendants of the ego in the name of the pitrs or manes.61
Further, the evidence of patrilineality and the desire for sons in the early portions
of the Rgveda does not necessarily prove the existence of a patriarchal joint family at
the time; the important point is to see whether the desire was to have new members
of a societal group or to have private heirs and dependent workers as would be the
case in a patriarchal family. In other words, the crux of the question is whether
womens reproductive labours, like their activities in production, were meant for social
or private use. Hence the 'patriarchaF assumption that sons were treated as items of
property will have to be carefully re-examined62 as it has serious implications for the
position of women and the familial structure and functioning of the early Rgvedic
society. Relations of subordination are not likely to develop between father and son or
between the sexes in a society in which production unit is the same as consumption
unit and references of this kind are cited generally from the later books of the Rgveda
and the Atharvaveda. The application of the term dampati, meaning the owner of
the house, indiscriminately to both the wife and the husband suggests an egalitarian
society in which relations between the sexes were based on reciprocity and autonomy
in their respective spheres of activity. The dependence of the female sex is closely-
related with the growth of private property and the emergence of economic classes,
which development ensured the withdrawal of women from public production to
private household service'.63
Altekars painstaking study of the problem does lead him to the view64 that the
participation of women in productive activities such as agriculture, manufacture of
cloth, bows, arrows, etc. was at the root of the freedom and better status of women in
the Vedic age; and their position began to decline when the cheap and Torced, labour
of the conquered population or of the südras became available to Aryan conquerors
and women ceased to be productive members of society'. But his contention65 that
(the introduction of the non-Aryan wife into the Aryan household is the key to the
general deterioration of the position of ■women’ (as the lawgivers， instead of making
only the non-Aryan wife ineligible for Vedic studies and religious duties, made
the whole class of women ineligible so that the husband who might be favouring
the non-Aryan wife would not be offended at the discrimination against her) is
entirely hypothetical lacking his usual discernment. Similarly, the lowering of the
marriageable age of women and the discontinuance or tneir ufanayana (initiation),
which was essential for acquiring Vedic knowledge and thus for higher status, were
obviously the consequences of the deterioration in their status; and religio-juridical
injunctions in this regard were merely reinforcing and trying to perpetuate the
structural inequalities which had already developed. But Altekar looks upon these as
causal factors.
However, Altekar convincingly establishes that from 500 bc to roughly ad 1800
the story of women in India is that of progressive decline and their reduction to the
status of südras.66The only redeeming feature in this dark scene was the improvement
in their proprietary rights, especially in the case of widows. The point is noted by
 Studies in Early Indian Social History 93

other writers67 too and is generally explained either in terms of social reform, as is
done by Altekar, or as an influence of Dravidian customs. But the possibility of its
linkage with the growth of individual rights in land in an agrarian society is still
to be explored. Failure to do so makes writers regard the changes in the familial
organisation and the concept of individual property as completely irrational.68
However, Yadava has argued69 that the development of productive forces in the early
centuries of the Christian era initiated a social process leading to the break-up of
large family communities into small nuclear families; and this necessitated a change
in the Dharmasästra law allowing the sons to have the right to partition the ancestral
land even if the father was unwilling. In his article70 entitled 'Epigraphic Records
on Migrant Brähmanas in North India (ad 1030—1225)’，B. R Mazumdar shows
that members of a brähmana family were not often given land in contiguous areas;
and this led to the splitting of the joint household making (dents in the age-old
concept of the joint family . in our opinion, the division of property among brothers,
which practice replaced the earlier custom of the eldest brother inheriting the entire
patrimony71 and bearing the responsibility of maintaining the joint patriarchal
household, weakened the ties with the bigger patrilineal group and worked in favour
of the recognition of the rights of close female relatives, especially that of the widow.
A study of the changes in the kinship patterns and family organisation of the upper
classes as documented m the Dharmasästras and contemporary epigraphs could yield
interesting results if the material background of the changes is kept in view.
The brähmanic institution of gotra has excited a great deal of interest among
Indologists, historians and sociologists; and there is considerable literature on it
produced by ancient, medieval and modern writers.72 Kane informs that the (mass
of material on gotra ^nApravara in the Sütras, Puränas and digests is so vast and so
full of contradictions that it is almost an impossible task to reduce it to order and
coherence,.73 The term is found in the Rgveda at several places but, according to
Kane, there is no positive indication that the word was used to denote descendants
of a common patriarchal ancestor', although lthe conception underlying the idea
of gotra1was quite well known even in the Rgvedic age.74 However, John Brough
thinks that clan-exogamy may go back to the Indo-European period; it certainly
existed in Rgvedic times and gotras were always exogamous.75The point is contested
by Irawati Karve76 and in much greater detail by Ghurye, who re-emphasises the
thesis of S. V. Karandikar that the brahmanas borrowed the gotra exogamy from
the indigenous non-Aryan population and that the Indo-Europeans did not practise
clan-exogamy and even the Roman were not exogamous units.77 Ghurye asserts
that the gotras as kin-units were formed around 800 bc in the age of the brahmanas
and were stereotyped in the Sutra period; gotra exogamy was (a development of the
household and family exogamy of the primitive Indo-Aryans in unison with the
growth of ancestor worship and the use of surnames or family names,.78 According
to him, when the Indo-Aryan sages searched for their origins and thought of fixing
their kin-units, they chose to classify brähmana families into eight groups named
after the seven stars of Urs Major (saptarsi) and the bright star Canopus or Agastya.
Thus, the scheme originated in their cosmographical and astronomical view which
94 Suvira Jaiswal

the Aryans had acquired in their new home in the post-Atharvavedic times. This
makes brahmanic gotra exogamy completely artificial and non-rationar,79 not only-
in modern times but even in its inception.
Nevertheless, it is well known that archaic practices which have long lost any real
significance continue to survive by virtue of their connection with some faith which
still represents a living ideal. This would be especially noticeable in the case of a
priestly caste, which is generally more tradition bound. According to D. D. Kosambi,
the gotra system was rooted in joint-property ownership.80 In early Vedic times the
term meant a cow-pen or *herd of cattle1. The term was naturally transferred to the
group of human beings who were common owners of the herd. Later, when the unit
of common holding became the joint patriarchal family, the gotra came to mean the
family as well as the clan. In support, he quotes the Smrti rule that in default of the
immediate relatives of a deceased, the property should pass on to the members of
his gotra. In modern times the gotra no longer functions as a group in relation to
property, but it still retains its collective function for ritual and ceremonial purposes.81
The identification of gotra with clan is questioned on the basis of field observation
which shows that the brahmanic gotra is not a kin-grouping of any kind. In some
brähmana communities, as for instance the Kashmiris, the gotra is acquired at the
time of ones upanayana (initiation), whereas some other brähmana castes even allow
marriages within the gotra.82In our opinion the key to the contradictions in the gotra
system lies in the fact that here can be seen a remarkable example of the transformation
of a structural phenomenon into a cultural one. Despite Ghurye5s conclusion to the
contrary, we have noticed earlier that his own evidence on the worship of the manes
as cited from Kapadia shows that the worship of communal ancestors preceded the
worship of genealogical ancestors of individual families.83 Hence, his argument that
the gotra system developed in harmony with ancestor worship indicates the direction
of change from clan to patrilineal joint family and not vice versa. D. C. Sircar has
shown that84 even as late as the fifth century ad a woman did not change her gotra
upon marriage, but later on it became the normal practice. The change reflects the
transition from patrilineage to the patrilineal joint family system,85as the latter recruits
members both through descent as well as marriage. It is significant from the point of
view of the position of women in society, for this implies their abandonment of all
rights in their own patrilineage, which in fact is symbolic of the complete triumph
of the patriarchal system. In course of time, the brahmanic gotras mainly became
the symbols of high cultural status quite devoid of any structural significance, and
were zealously retained by the brahmanas as a means of establishing their claims of
antiquity and the purity of their ancestry. Although a number of learned disquisitions
on this subject has brought to light a wealth of data, still the process of change in this
institution in the course of its long history has not received the attention it deserves.
It has been pointed out that apart from the neo-brahmana, many non-brähmana
families and groups adopted traditional brahmanic gotras to gain social prestige,
and the gotra had become a useful tool of social mobility.86 The possession of a
brahmanic gotra in the age of the Buddha by an extended ldn-group9such as the
Mallas is interpreted as brahmanic influence.87 However, the affiliation of the
 Studies in Early Indian Social History 95

non-brahmana communities to gotras named after the eponymous sages may have
been largely ornamental. According to anthropologists, clan exogamy was a widely
prevalent feature of the Indian aboriginal population and it is quite likely that the
non-brahmana communities were also divided into a variety of exogamous units,88
which are simply recorded as gotras or laukika (secular) gotras in our sources.89
Just as new castes formed, new kin-groups and clans could also grow; the course of
their development would be influenced by corresponding conditions and necessities.
Despite the general scarcity of documentary evidence, it may be possible to work out
the structural development of certain better documented communities such as the
Rajputs90 and the kayasthas and arrive at interesting results.
A recent sociological study91 has questioned the generally-accepted Indological
view that the patriarchal joint family was the common norm. The work shows that
the higher and more Sanskritised castes place much greater emphasis on joint
family households than the lower and less Sanskritised castes and the joint family
households are hardly seen among untouchables. It follows that the patriarchal joint
family existed only in a small section of the population; the majority of the people
lived in small households corresponding to the nuclear or elementary family. In
our opinion, the joint family system is closely linked with the ownership of land or
property in which all the members of the family have rights of one kind or the other.
It is quite likely that in the lower castes and untouchables, among whom a man's sons
move into separate houses after marriage, the pattern of the simple household based
on nuclear families prevails chiefly on account of their being dependent on individual
labour in which the question of joint income does not arise. The lower incidence of
the joint family or complex households, among the low castes, therefore, may not
be simply linked to the lack of Sanskritising influence but also to their manner of
earning their means of subsistence. At any rate, the joint family system described
in the Dharmasästras need not be looked upon merely as a patrilineal coparcenary
or property-owning group, or as a group which was united only for common family
worship, at least in the period with which we are concerned. Generally speaking, this
group must have had residential unity too, with its members living under one roof
eating food cooked at one hearth'. The separation of Simple households* from the
'complex household, is usually a transitional stage in the break-up of a joint family.
Thus, historians and Indologists do not seem to have been wrong in adhering to a
composite definition of the joint family and regarding it as a multifunctional unit.
Their mistake, however, lies in the fact that they have not properly emphasised the
relationship of this type of family structure with the ownership of property and the
possibility of its absence among those groups which did not have landed property and
did not earn their living through joint enterprises.
However, the influence of sociology has stimulated the historical study of
kinship usages in recent years. The trend has led to a re-examination of a number
of stereotypes as well as search for new data. It is argued92that the earlier generation of
scholars discovered traces of cross-cousin marriage in ancient north India owing to
their nineteenth century perspective of evolutionism; but their interpretation of data
was faulty. References to cross-cousin marriages quoted in this context from the epics,
96 Suvira Jaiswal

Puränas and other texts may be explained on the basis of the fact that these texts were
either composed or redacted in south India or Sri Lanka where the Dravidian kin-
system prevailed. However, in spite of these scholarly attempts it is not possible to
brush aside all the evidence produced so far indicating traces of the matrilineal descent
system and cross-cousin marriage—which is generally associated with the former—
in some regions of the north. A passage of the Mahäbhärata informs93 that property
in the Madra country94 passes on to sisters and not to sons; and the Mahäbhäratay
the Brhatsamhitä and the Räjatarangini speak of the prevalence of promiscuous
relations and striräjya among the people of Madra, Bählika and Gändhära. It is quite
likely that the authors of these texts, imbued as they were with a patriarchal outlook,
looked upon the matrilineal customs as relations of promiscuity. It is difficult to
interpret these references which specifically relate to northern localities as a southern
influence. It is suggested that some areas of northern India may have been under
possible Dravidian influence，95 in an earlier period, which fact may explain references
to cross-cousin marriages. Modern anthropologists are of the view that matriliny is
a stage o f‘specific’evolution and not o f‘general’evolution.96 It is generally accepted
that the gentile organisation was characteristic of a certain stage in the general social
evolution, but whether the gens were structured matrilineally or patrilineally depended
upon technology, division of labour, organization of work groups, control of resources,
types of subsistence activities, etc/ However, the use of metronymics in the case of
the first 36 Vedic teachers mentioned in the succession lists97 of the Brahmanas and
the Upanisads has been recently interpreted as an indication of the prevalence of
polyandry among the highest and the most orthodox of the Vedic population.98 The
work makes a strong case for the existence of polyandry among the Vedic Aryans and
some other Indo-European communities and argues that the practice was rooted in
the socio-economic needs. It fell into desuetude in a changed material milieu and was
condemned by later moralists. But the Khasas, the descendants of the Aryans in the
backward Himalayan regions, still practise it.
As E. H. Carr puts it， history ‘is a continuous process of interaction between
the historian and his facts*.99 Historical problems can hardly be solved by merely-
replacing one stereotype with another without simultaneously having a yialogue*
with facts and more and more facts. Of course, there is no denying that what can be
attempted by a student of history is largely determined by the range of the source
material available to him: and the picture derived from the documentary evidence
may be collated and even supplemented with the field-data, provided that necessary
caution is exercised against the tendency to foist upon the past comparatively recent
developments. Moreover, while underscoring the interdisciplinary approach, one
must safeguard against the uncritical acceptance of sociological models and concepts
which may have some validity for the study of contemporary society but may not
be applied to earlier periods with equal justification. For example, while using the
concept of Sanskritisation for the early period of Indian history one should be aware
of the fact that the concept gives excessive emphasis to the process of ritual or cultural
imitation of the high castes by the aspiring groups and minimises the importance
of politico-economic factors, although in the ultimate analysis it is the latter which
 Studies in Early Indian Social History 97

provide the frame within which Sanskritisation operates, at least in pre-British times.
R. D. Sanwal has shown100 in the case of Kumaon—and M. N. Srinivas who defined
and popularised the term agrees with him—that the regulation and assignment of
status to groups or even individuals by the state through the post of dharmädhikari
was the lynch-pin' of the caste hierarchy. Once the system broke down as a result
of the British conquest of Kumaon, the ritual basis of caste gained primacy over
‘criteria of political privilege’ and secular mobility could not be legitimised through
state action but had to seek purely ritual channels such as the Sanskritisation of life
style, etc. In our opinion Kumaon was not atypical. The post of dhärmadhikari existed
in a number of regions,101 especially in the peripheral areas where the caste hierarchy
was still fluid. Instances are not wanting to show that political authority was expected
to settle disputes regarding caste status; the king could excommunicate, upgrade or
downgrade an individual or group in the caste hierarchy. The custom was so well
established that occasionally even Muslim rulers had to perform such tasks.102 It is in
this sense that one should view the frequently expressed concern of the early medieval
rulers with the maintenance and regulation of the varna order. Social institutions of
early India may have been given a ritual language, but they originated in and were
sustained by secular and politico-economic factors.

N O T E S A N D R E FER EN C ES

1 This section is a revised version o f a paper presented to the 39th session o f the Indian
H istory Congress held at Hyderabad in 1978.
2 R. S. Sharma, Südras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order Down to Circa
AD 600 (Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass, 1958), 4.
3 Vivekanand Jha, {Stages in the H istory of Untouchables,, Indian Historical Review, vol.
XXI, n o .1 (July 1975),14-31.
4 Ib id .,17.
5 N. K, D utt, Origin and Growth of Caste in India (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner
and Company, Ltd., 1931).
6 Sharma, Südrasy131.
7 Christoph von Furer-Haim endorf, Toreword^ The Children of Hari, Stephen Fuchs,
vi~viii (Vienna: Verlag H erold, 1949).
8 George L. H art III, The Poems of Ancient Tamil (Berkeley: University o f California Press,
1975).
9 Ib id ,1 1 9 f.
10 K. Kallasapathy, Tamil Heroic Poetry (London: Oxford University Press, 1968),
11 H art, Poems of Ancient Tamils 129.
12 Ibid., 149.
13 Purunänüruy 363, quoted In H art, Poems of Ancient Tamils 124.
14 Ibid., 9 3 f,126.
15 D um ont, Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications (Chicago and London:
University of Chicago P re s s ,1970), 47; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and
Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law Vol 11 Part 1 (Poona: Bhandarkar O riental Research
Institute, 1941), 168f.
98 Suvira Jaiswal

16 See Eleanor Leacocks review o f Steven G oldbergs The Inevitability of Patriarchy. Eleanor
B. Leacock, c7he Invitability o£VdXnd,xc\\y\ American Anthropologist, n.s., v o l.72, no. 2 (1974):
363-65.
17 Ibid.
18 Thurston informs us that a Paraiyan will never allow a brähmana to enter his habitat,
if a brahmana ventures into it, water mixed w ith cowdung is thrown at his head and he is
driven out of it. H ie Paraiyans claim that they were the first to be created and to wear the
sacred thread and that they are cousins o f the brahmanas. Edgar Tliurston, Castes and Tribes of
Southern India Vol. V I (Madras: Governm ent Press, 1909), 84f.
19 H art, Poems of Ancient Tamils 13.
20 A Paraiyan has to perform the ritual o f tying a tali round the neck o f the Black M other-
goddess in M adras. The Paraiyans are allowed to pull the cars of the idols during the great
festivals held at Kumbhakonam, öirivilliputtur and Kanchipuram. In Tanjore, during the great
festival of Siva at Trivalur, the headman of the Paraiyans is m ounted on the elephant with the
god and carriers his cauri. Thurston, Castes and Tribes VI, 84.
21 Ibid.
22 A typical example o f confusing effect with cause is provided by Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya
who believes that the custom o f untouchability was introduced into the Aryan world by the
aboriginal tribes. H e writes that among the aborigines 4a man following low profession,
such as the one working in cremation ground, etc. or a woman in her periods, or persons
carrying dead bodies are regarded as untouchables, in the last two cases at least temporarily/
(Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya, Social Life in Ancient India [Calcutta: Academic Publishers,
1965, 151f]). W hen the occupational groups became hereditary, those who pursued these
‘low’ professions became untouchables ‘under the influence of the aboriginal customs’. He,
however, does not explain why certain social groups followed these polluting occupations on
a hereditary basis even though it made them timpure, and lowered their social status. In an
obvious effort to present the practice o f untouchability in ancient India in less objectionable
colours, Chattopadhyaya refers to a verse occurring in Vasistha Dharmasütra^ which describes
atheists^ misers, ungrateful persons and people who cherish their anger for long as Candälas
by conduct, the Candäla by birth being the fifth type. H e comes to the conclusion that, in
ancient India, untouchability was associated not only with birth and profession but also with
the C e n ta l states o f persons,. In his view, the above-quoted verse clearly illustrates that of the
five classes o f untouchables (Candälas), four were determined by conduct alone (ibid., 160,
161). Such attempts at interpreting the brähmanical denunciations o f the non-conformists and
socially undesirable persons too literally and taking these as proofs o f the existence o f certain
categories o f untouchables formed on the basis o f bad conduct alone are too naïve to deserve
serious consideration. Chattopadhyayas explanation would have hardly merited mention if
there was no inherent danger o f its being utilised by the obscurantist elements to idealise the
ancient epoch.
23 John H enry H utton, Caste in India: Its Nature, Function and Origins (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1946), 62.
24 Vivekanand Jha, Stages in the H istory o f Untouchables,, Indian Historical Review^ vol.
II, n o .1 (July 1975), 24.
25 Food prepared with water w ithout the use o f clarified butter.
26 Food cooked w ith clarified butter, as, for example, or sweetmeat.
27 H utton, Caste in India, 163-64.
28 Suvira Jaiswal, Tresidential Address: Session Y, Proceedings of the Indian History Congressy
38th Session held at Bhubaneswar, 1977, 30f.
 Studies in Early Indian Social H istory 99

29 Apastamba Srautasütray XVIL26.18; Lätyäyana Srautasütray VIIL2.8; Vivekanand

Jha, T rom lr ib e to Untouchable: H ie Case o f Nisadas, in Indian Society: Historical Probings^
edited by R. S. Sharma w ith Vivekanand Jha, 67-84 (New Delhi: Peopled Publishing House,
1974), 69.
30 R. S. Sharma, (Class Form ation and its M aterial Basis in the Upper Gangetic Plain (c.
1000-500 BC)^ Indian Historical Review, II, n o .1 (July 1975), 1 -1 3 , 12.
31 Kane, History ofDharmasästra 11.1,791.
32AmarakosayÏI.9.27.
33 Ibid., II.9.28. Andhasah means 'the scum of boiled rice,. Hence ändhasika is one who
cooks rice.
^ Laghu-Äsvaläyanasjnrti^X.l^ (in Smrtinam ^WMfCöj/ß,Änandasrama-sanskrtagranthavali,
no. 48,1919). Guruh sutah is evidently a corruption for luroh sutah\ Kane apparently used
some other edition which m entioned Elderly relative, in the place o f teacher s so n . P. V. Kane,
History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law VollI Part 2 (Poona:
Bhandarkar O riental Research Institute, 1941), 791.
35 P. V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra: Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law Vol V
Part 1 (Poona: Bhandarkar O riental Research In stitu te,1958),173.
36 Epigraphica Indica^ Vol. XVI, n o .1,11.67-8.
37 Vivekanand Jha, ^Early H istory o f Untouchables in In d ia , unpublished PhD dissertation
submitted to Patna University, 1972.
38 B. N. S.Yadhava， ‘Problems of Interaction between Socio-Economic Classes in the Early
Medievel Complex,, Indian Historical Review^ vo l.2, no. 2 (January 1976), 43-58.
39 von Furer-Haim endorf, Torew ordJ, viii-ix.
40 H utton, Caste in India^ 171.
41 R. D. Sanwal has shown that whereas the politico-economic factors were crucial
determinants, Vitually edifying, practices such as vegetarianism, teetotalism, religious austerity
and connubial exclusiveness had low status relevance in Kumaon. In our opinion, the operation
o f ritual factors has been exaggerated a great deal in caste studies. Even wine drinking does
not seem to have been a taboo for the upper caste women as late as the time of Kumärila
who disapproves o f the practice but admits that the drinking o f wine was prevalent among
brahmana women of Ahicchatra and M athura (see Kumärila Bhatta, Tantravärtika^ Adhyaya
I, pada iii, Adhikarana 4[a]; see also Tantravartikä (English), trans. Gaganatha Jha [Bengal:
Royal Asiatic Society, 1910], 194). However, Kumarila prohibits only brahmanas from taking
any kind of wine; he allows ksatriyas and vaisyas to drink madhu (wine distilled from grapes
or any other fruit) and sidhu (wine distilled from molasses) but condemns sura (wine distilled
from grain; apparently taken by the poorer sections [ibid.,193]). For the gradual recognition of
vegetarianism as a symbol of pure5conduct and its acceptance as a religious principle, see Suvira
Jaiswal, Origin and Development ofVaisnavismy2nd edn (Delhi: M unshiram Manoharlal, 1981),
127-29.
42 Surajit Sinha, 'State Formation and Rajput M yth in Tribal Central India^ Man in India,
v o l.42 (1962): 35-80.
43 K. Suresh Singh, (A Study in State Formation Among Tribal Communities1in Indian
知 ciが 夕 む か rkfl/ _Pn?み ろ edited by R. S. Sharma with Vivekanand Jha, 31 フー36 (New Delhi:
People s Publishing House, 1974), 38fn2.
44J. R Fleet, ^Sanskrit and O ld-Canarese \nscnp\ions\ Indian Antiquary ,vo\. XI (1880), 9f;
G. A, Grierson, (A New G rant o f Dharasena II o f Valabhi by Curiosities o f Indian Literature,
Indian Antiquary^ vol.XV (1886),15.
45 For works published till 197^, see A Select Bibliography on Women in India by Research
100 Suvira Jaiswal

Unit on Women’s Studies of the SNDT Women’s University (Bombay: Allied Publishers,
1975).
46 First published in 1938, revised and enlarged in 1956. References are to the third edition
(Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass, 1962).
47 For example, see Shakambhari Jayal, The Status of Women in the Epics (Delhi: M otilal
Banarsidass, 1966), 25, 70. Compare pages 291 onwards with Altekar, Position ofWomen, 337f;
Chattopadhyaya, Social Life in Ancient Indiay1091.
48 For a debate on this, see essays by M organ and Engels in Soviet Studies in History, vol.
IV (1966). Eleanor B. Leacock, <Introduction, in The Origin of the Family, Private Property and
the State^ Frederick Engels (New York: International Publishers, 1972); Leacock, tIntroduction,
in Ancient SocietyyLewis H enry M organ (Gloucester: P. Smith, 1974); Kathleen Gough, 'An
Anthropologist Looks at Engels5in Women in A Man-Made Worlds edited by Nona Glazer-
M albin and Helen Youngelson Waehrer, 156—68 (Chicago: Rand M cNally 6c Co” 1972);
Kathleen Gough, JThe O rigin o f the Family, in Toward an Anthropology of Women} edited by
Rayna Reiter, 51-76 (New York: M onthly Review Press, 1975); Karen Sacks, (Engels Revisited:
W omen, the Organization o f Production, and Private Property, in Toward an Anthropology of
Women, edited by Reiter, 211™34.
49 Gough, ‘O rigin of the Family ’ ；Y. L Samynov, ‘Group-M arriage: Its N ature and Role
in the Evolution o f M arriage and Family Relations, in The 7th International Congress of
Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences^ v o l.IV (Moscow, 1967). Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban,
(A M arxist Reappraisal o f the M atriarchate1, Current Anthropology^ vol.xx, no. 2 (June 1979),
341f.
50 Altekar, Position ofWomen^ 337.
51 B. S. Upadhyaya, Women in Rgveda^ third revised edition (New Delhi: S. Chand 8c Co.,
1974[1933]),220f; Shakuntala Rao Shastri, Women in the VedicAge (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, 1954); P. L. Bhargava, India in the VedicAge (Lucknow: Upper India Publishing House
Pvt. Ltd.), 245; R C. Dharm a, (TKe Status o f W omen in the Vedic Age', Journal of Indian
History^ vol. XXVI (1948), 249£
52 Sally Slocum, ‘W om an the Gatherer: M ale Bias in Anthropology’ in Toward An
Anthropology ofWomen^ edited by Reiter, 36-50.
53 G ough， ‘Origin o f the Family’，70.
54 R. S. Sharma, ^ id a th a : The Earliest Folk-Assembly o f the Indo-Aryans' in Aspects of
Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India (Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass, 1968), 78-95;
Charles Drekmeier, Kingship and Community in Early India (Stanford: California University
P ress,1962), 53; J. W. Spellman, Political Theory of Ancient India (London: Clarendon Press,
1964), 96; and J. P. Sharma, Republics in Ancient India, c.1500 bc-500 b c (Leiden: E, J. Brill,
1968), 78-79, have tried to refute this view on the ground that the term vidathya^ meaning
for the vidatha\ shows that the vidatha was a more select body. But, since the term occurs in
the first mandala which is later than the Family Books, it does not controvert R. S. Sharmas
thesis, who concedes that vidatha may have, become a more select body in later times. Sharma,
‘Vidatha’, 92. Spellman and J. P, Sharma regard vidatha as a non-tribal, local and religious body
which did not have any political or distributive functions. This is not the place to examine their
arguments in detail, but there is nothing to show that there were well-established territorial
groups for any purpose transcending tribal boundaries in the Vedic period. The functional
polyvalence of the vidatha maybe an anathema to J. P. Sharma who discovers the existence of
several types of states, republics and monarchies in the Rgvedic age, but in our opinion, the
early Rgvedic period should be characterised as a ‘stateless’ or ‘pre-state’ society which had not
developed a clear-cut distinction between the ritual and the political.
 Studies in Early Indian Social History 101

55 ^Kinship Terminology and Kinship Usages in Rgveda and Atharvaveda Annals of the
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute^ vol.XX (1938-39), 219.
56 Cj . S. Ghurye, Family and Kin in Indo-European Culture^ second edition (Bombay: Popular
Book Depot, 1962).
57 S. V. Karandikar, Hindu Exogamy (Bombay: D. B.Taraporevala 8c Sons, 1929).
58 Irawati Karve, (Kinship Terms and the Family Organization as found in the Critical
Edition o f the Mahabharata\ Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute^ v o l.V (1943-
44), 6 丄一丄48; K a rv e , 沿 ? k i>2ゴ^?, second revised edition (London: Asia
Publishing House, 1965).
59 K. M , Kapadia, Hindu Kinship (Bombay: Popular Book Depot, 1947); Kapadia, Marriage
and Family in India, third edition (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1968).
60 Karve, ‘Kinship Terminology and kinship Usages in Rigveda and Atharvaveda’， y^««ß/y ザ
the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vol.XX (1938-39), 218.
61 Kapadia, Hindu Kinships 7-45, 222, 307-09; Ghurye, Family andKin^ 8f, 58-59.
R. S. Sharma, Torm s o f Property in the Early Portions of the Rgveda% Essays in Honour
of Professor S.C. karkar (Delhi; Peopled Publishing House, 1976), 43-44.
6j Leacock, ‘Introduction’，35.
64 Altekar, Position of Women, 342f.
65 Ibid.,345£
66 Ibid., 3b4. See also R. S. Sharma, {Some Joint Notices o f W om an and Sudra in Early
Indian Literature*, Light on Early Indian Society and Economy, edited by R. S. Sharma (Bombay:
Manaktala, 1966), 29-33.
67J. D. M . D errett, Religion, Law and the State in India (London: Faber &c Faber, 1968), 413
fn 2,414; U. N . Ghoshal in The History and Culture of the Indian People^ v o l.V, edited by R. C.
M ajum dar (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya B havan,1966), 484.
68 Ghurye, Family and Kiny222f.
69 B. N. S. Yadhava, Society and Culture in Northern India in the Twelfth Century (Allahabad:
Central Book D epot, 1973), 140.
70 B. P. M azumdar, {Epigraphic Records on M igrant ßrähm anas in N orth India (ad 1030-
1225Y, Indian Historical Review^ v o l.V, nos 1 and 2 (July 1978-January 1979), 74.
71 Manusmrti^ IX.104-05.
72 For a critique o f these views, see G. S. Ghurye, Two Brahmanical Institutions: Gotra and
Charana (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1972), chapter 1.
73 Kane, History ofDharmasästra II.ly483.
74 Ibid., 479.
75 J. Brough, (The Early H istory o f Gotras^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society oj London
(1947), 85f; J. Brough, The Early Brahmanical System of Gotra and Pravara: A Translation of
the Gotra-Pravara-Manjä of Purusottama Pandita (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1953). Also, see A, C. Banerjee, Studies in the Brahmanas (Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass, 1963),
chapter II.
76 Karve, Kinship Organization in India, 51-52.
77 Ghurye, Two BrähmanicalInstitutions^ 280.
78 Ibid., 308.
79 Ibid., 309-10.
80 D. D. K osam bi,'O rigin o f Brähm in Gotx^.s\ Journal of the Bombay Branch of RoyalAsiatic
Society^ vol. XXVI (1950), 21-80; Kosambi, d ev elo pm ent o f the Gotra System en P. K Code
Commemoration Volume^ edited by H . L. Hariyappa and M . M . Patkar (Poona: Oriental Book
A gency,1960), 214£
102 Suvira Jaiswal

81 T. N. M adan, (Is the Brähmanical G otra a Grouping o f Kin?J, South-Western journal of

Anthropology^ vol. X V III, n o .1(1962), 59-77.
82 For example, Sakadvïpls. H ie Sakadvïpïs or SaKaiadvIpIs are divided into a number of
pure sand marriage within puras is prohibited.}. N. Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects,
reprint (Calcutta: Editions Indian, 1968), 38.
83 Ghurye, Two Brahmanical Institutionsy307.
84 D. C. Sircar, ^ o tra n ta ra or the Change of a W om ans G otra, Proceedings of Indian History
Congress^ Annamalainagar (1945), 48-52; c£ Sircar, Studies in the Society and Administration of
Ancient and Medieval Indiayvol.I (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1967), 209f.
85 For the difference between the two, see A. M . Shah, The Household Dimension of Family
in India: A Field Study in a Gujarat Village and a Review of Other Studies (New Delhi: O rient
Longman, 1973), 114-15.
86 R. N. Nandi, 'G otra and Social M obility in the D eccan, Proceedings of the Indian History
Congress, 32nd session, Jabalpur (1 9 7 0 ),118-24.
87 Narendra Wagle, Society at the Time of the Buddha (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1966),
70.
88 Risley classifies five types o f exogamous units— totemic, territorial, titular, eponymous
and local, communal or family. H . H . Risley, The Tribes and Castes of Bengal^ v o l.I (Calcutta:
Bengal Secretariat Press, 1892), i-lxxi.
89 In the Kathäkosaprakarana the varakas tell a vaisya merchant that his daughter will have
to be given in marriage to someone who does not belong to his gotra (Dasharath Sharma).
Panini lists a number of ksatriya gotras. V. S. Agrawala, India As Known to Panini (Lucknow:
University o f Lucknow), 77.
90 For an interesting attem pt, see B. D. Chattopadhyaya, 'O rigin o f the Rajputs: The Political,
Economic and Social Processes in Early Medieval Rajasthan, Indian Historical Review vol. Ill,
n o .1(1976), 59-82.
91 Shah, Household Dimension of Family in Indiay 124f.
92 T. R. Trautmann, cCross-Cousin Marriage in Ancient N orth India in Kinship and History
in South Asiayed. Trautm ann (Ann Arbor: University o f M ichigan Press, 1974), 61-103.
93 For this and other references, see Sharma, L,tght on Early Indian Society and Economy, 20.
According to Rajbali Pandey, a supplementary hymn o f the Rgveda shows that marriage with
the daughter of ones maternal uncle and paternal aunt was permissible. Rajbaii Pandey, Hindu
Samskarasy second edition (Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass, 1969), 174.
94 The northern M adras are generally located in Kashmir and the southern Madras in
central Punjab. H . C. Raychaudhuri, Political History of Ancient India, fifth edition (Calcutta:
University of C alcu tta,1950), 64.
95 Romila Tliapers review o f T. R. Trautm anns Kinship and History in South Asia in IHRy
vol III, n o .1 (July 1976), 149.
96 David F. Alberle, £M atrilineal Descent in Cross-Cultural Perspective, in Matrilineal
Kinships edited by David M . Schneider and Kathleen Gough (Los Angeles: University of
C alifornia,1961),658f.
97 -y. N. Ghoshal, Studies in Indian History and Culture (Bombay and Calcutta: O rient

L ongm ans,1957) ，2.

98 Sarva Dam an Singh, Polyandry in Ancient India (Delhi: Vikas, 1978).
99 E. H . Carr, What is History? (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961),30.
100 R. D. Sanwal, Social Stratification in Rural Kumaon (Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1976), 32.
 Studies in Early Indian Social History 103

101 For the office o f 必 ゴ か ’/^m?如’々a in Assam, see ‘Kamauli G rant o f Kamarupa ’
，
Epigraphica Indica, v o l.II, 347f. This official is also m entioned in the Benares copper plate of
the Cedi king Karnadeva (ad 1042). King B allalasena, who is credited with the systematisation
o f caste hierarchy in Bengal, had an official known as dharmädhyaksa who may have discharged
similar functions. lNaihati G rant o f Ballalasena^ Epigraphica Indica, vol. XIV, 156f, 160. The
Matsya Purariay CCXV.24, says that the dharmädhikari must be a brahmaria and a kutina.
Q uoted by R V. Kane, History ofDharmasastra: Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law
VolIII (Poona: Bhandarkar O riental Research Institute, 1946), 126.
102 A n interesting case o f change o f caste by way o f punishm ent at the orders o f a Tughlaq
king is brought to light by a copper plate inscription o f Hijra 822 (ad 1414). The inscription
says that twelve ksatriyas who were personal attendants o f the Icing o f Delhi committed some
serious offence for which they were ordered to be shot. But Pandit Nanda Rama Chaube of
Jaunpur, the priest o f the treasurer Seth M aniram o f barkar Shahi, intervened and had the
punishm ent commuted to the change of their caste to that o f the goldsm iths.Ihe ksatriya
offenders and their descendants were forbidden to wear arms and the dress of a ksatriya and
were forced to earn their livelihood as workers in gold and silver. They had to give up their own
gotra and assume the Käsyapa gotra. For this act o f kindness, the fallen ksatriyas agreed to pay
certain dues to the Chaube and his descendants. R. K. Chaube, Proceedings ofthe Indian History
Congress^ second session, Allahabad (1938), 147-48.
 STAG ES IN T H E H IS T O R Y O F U N T O U C H A B L E S ^

VivekanandJha

The Rgveda shows no acquaintance with peopled contact with whom was even
remotely tabooed. In later Vedic texts, the Candala1 and the Paulkasa2 are manifest
objects of spite and abhorrence and exist at the lowest ritual and social level, but
they are not treated as untouchables. The idea of regions tabooed for the Aryans is
mooted and autochthonous tribes bordering Aryan settlements are mentioned,3 but
the generic term anta is yet to acquire the precise meaning of untouchables it did
in days ahead. The forbears of several castes subsequently treated as untouchables
are met with. These are the Nisada,4 the Kaivarta,5 the Däsa,6 the Bidaläkri7 or the
Bidalakära,8 the Rgvedic Carmamna,9 the Malaga,10 the Vasahpalpuli11 and the
Rajayitr,12 the Sailusa13 and the Vamsanartin.14 Our information regarding most of
these social segments is inadequate.The Nisädas are, however, noticed quite frequently
and appear as a numerically large tribe within the Aryan social framework.15 The
Rathakära,16 the Ksattr17 and the Süta18 are respectable people; the Vaideha19 are
torch-bearers of brähmana culture in the east; the Ayogava20 appear with their king
performing, i.e. asvamedha\ only the Mägadha21 is rated low owing perhaps to the
imperfect brähmanisation of Magadha, the country they inhabited. It seems that
these peoples had their habitat chiefly in northern India.

THE SEC O N D PHASE

The Vedic antecedents of untouchables proper are generally somewhat nebulous.

The picture in the second phase is by contrast quite vivid. The notion of pollution
becomes a potent reality and is seen in full play with respect to the Candäla, whose
untouchability is not left in any doubt.22 Taboo inhering in the Candala since his
first contact with the Aryan community becomes explicit and is institutionalised
and legalised by the priestly order. He is represented as an instrument of derivative
pollution as well transmitting contagion through contact with a third source,
although the texts are not unanimous on this point. Occasional references to infection
from the Candäla through sight,23 speech24 and proximity25 occur. His shadow is,
however, not regarded as polluting. The contingency of inevitable lapses is foreseen*
* This chapter is based on the author's PhD dissertation (Early History of Untouchables in
111(11^, submitted to Patna University in 1972. It was originally published as 'Stages in the History
of Untouchables,, The Indian Historical Review, vol.2, n o .1 (July 1975),14-31.
 Stages in the History of Untouchables 105

and provided for, and expiatory rites are enjoined in accordance with the rating of a
taboo, which itself was determined by the school or the region of the lawgiver. The
commensal26 and conmibial27 tab0 0 s in rdation to the Candäk become severe and
absolute. Since the association of the upper varnas with the Candäla might occasion
deviation from the prescribed norms, it was not allowed.28 Segregation was the
natural corollary to the ardently preached and widely-shared belief in pollution, and
several terms such as anta^ antya^ bähya^1antyayon?1 and antyävasäyir?^ testify
to the current practice. Perhaps this only meant a conscious perpetuation of an old
state of affairs and created a definite barrier to free mixing in future. Even a generic
term might at times develop into a specific caste name, as happened in the case
of the Antyävasäyin.34The Svapäka, unknown to the Vedic texts, but familiar, like
the Candäla to Pänini35 figures as a third group at the Candäla level. Curiously, the
Pulkasa, despite his low social esteem, is not specified as untouchable. Of the other
groups mentioned earlier the Kaivarta and the Däsa are ignored; a fall in the one­
time vaisya status of the Carmakära {carmä-vakrnta) and the Rajaka is recorded,
their food, like that of a südra, being forbidden to a brähmana,36 and the loose moral
traits of the Natas37 are underscored. The aiehard varna-samkara myth is broached,
and besides the Candäla,38 the Svapaka,39 the Pulkasa40 and the Antyävasäyin,41 the
Vena,42 the Rathakära,43 the Ksattr,44 the Suta,45 the Äyogava,46 the Mägadha47and
the Vaidehaka48 are included in the category. Facilitating initially a group's induction
in the varna order and recording the lawgivers^ evaluation of its social status, the mixed
caste theory developed contradictions and broke down as a meaningful theoretical
exercise.49 In any case, the untouchability of a caste has no intrinsic relation to its
so-called mixed origin—tiypergamous or hypogamous， though the concept helped
degrade a number of them. Both these points can be incontrovertibly exemplified.
The number of the so-called mixed castes almost always exceeded the number of
untouchable groups, and the treatment of the Ksattr, the Süta, the Ayogava, the
Mägadha and the Vaidehaka %%fratiloma^ in the law-books prompted their inclusion
in the list of antyävasäyins by Madhyamängiras,50 an early medieval lawgiver. Since
both Apastamba and Baudhäyana are presumed to have written their legal texts in
the south, untouchability was not confined to the north, though it was not yet more
rigorous in the peninsula. Differences in individual viewpoints are, however， no less
serious between these two writers than between Gautama and Vasistha, the lawgivers
from the north, with the result that we cannot talk of a northern and a southern school.
Vasistha no doubt shows close agreement with Baudhäyana, an earlier authority, and
seems to have belonged to the same school, but that can hardly validate N. K. Dutt s
hypothesis51 of untouchability percolating to the north from the south.
The Arthasastra of Kautilya, with its locale in the north-east, echoes the
Dharmasutra line discussed above, but is at once more mundane and more practical
in its approach. The uncertainty about the Candälas role in the socio-economic set­
up is over. Without denying his profane, outcast and even untouchable status,52
Kautilya represents the Candäla as quite useful to society. In addition to working
at and staying near the crematorium,53 widely considered an old trait, he is to be
engaged in punishing the offenders in criminal cases54 and defending new settlements
106 Vivekanand Jha

in the countryside.55 To enable him to discharge his public responsibilities without

hindrance, his polluting capacity is placed within reasonable limits. Thus, although
he cannot be allowed to desecrate the blood of groups higher in varna hierarchy,56
he is not deemed unseeable, unspeakable and unapproachable. The delineation of
die Svapäka57 and the antyävasäyin (狀 沒 似 夕 i”， according to Kautilya)58 is similar，
though relatively sketchy. Fines and corporal punishments are substituted for
purificatory penances. It is characteristic of the fate of untouchables in early Indian
history that, although frequently derived in theory from superior caste parents, they
are not accorded even a small share in inheritance. The Arthasastra not only confirms
this59 but also enjoins them to lead a separate existence, marrying among themselves,
performing assigned tasks hereditarily,60 and generally acting as witnesses in their own
disputes.61 The mbced castes of the Pulkasa, the Nisäda and the Vaina are considered
südras, as are the other mongrel groups such as the Suta, the Mägadha, the Ksattr and
the Äyogava.62 Apparently these were presumed to stand on a higher pedestal than
the Candäla or the Svapäka. The Vaidehaka, as a merchant or trader,63 may have been
a vaisya，64 as also is perhaps the Rathakära. TThe ズがみ似似/似 ordains for the latter, as
also for the Süta and the Mägadha, some rights in the property of affluent parents.65
The Baudhäyana Grhyasütra had even laid down upanayana (investiture with sacred
thread) for the Rathakära,66though the Purvamimämsäsütra of Jaimmi relegated him
only to an intermediate rank Detween a vaisya and a sudra.67 The varna status of the
Carmakära and the Rajaka is not referred to, and the ever-itinerant marginal group
of the Nata or Kusilava is thoroughly detested.68The number of strictly untouchable
castes according to the brähmanical texts before Manu does not appear to have been
more than two or three, though the Candala was quite numerous, widely dispersed
and well-recognised.69
The Manusmrti, compiled in the north, marks the culmination of all the strands
in earlier legal literature, with accent on orthodoxy. This, along with more details
about Known groups and information about new ones, accounts for its great, almost
unequal, future influence. The tendency to theorise is of course on the increase and
reflected in the almost threefold rise in the number of the so-called mixed castes.The
Candala in this text is untouchable70 and unassociable71 for a twice-born, especially
a brähmana^ who is not allowed connubial or commensal contacts with him.72 The
apapätra status73 of the Candäla, reminiscent of the Dharmasütra tradition,74 which
Patanjali75 emphasised as a distinguishing trait of Panini^ niravasita südras76 is
pinpointed. Segregation becomes more complete,77 with branding being prescribed
for the Candäla,78 and his entry into the town or village at night even for keeping
watch being forbidden.79 He is a corpse-carrier of persons who have no relatives,80
an executioner of criminals81 and implicitly a hunter as well as a butcher.82 The
insecurity of livelihood obliges him to depend on others for food83 and to live like
a truant.84 The Svapäka shares the habitat and vocations, the dress and outfit, and
the low ritual and economic status of the mandala.85 The antyävasäyin, employed
at the burial ground, is looked upon as the most degraded.86 Manifestly, the taboo
associated with death, the most horrible experience of life, and the connection of
 Stages in the H istory of Untouchables 107

the Candäla and allied sections with it, downgraded them to the lowest social level.
The occupation has played a~vital role in status determination in this country87 and
one great merit of the Manusmrti is that it enlightens us about the vocations of a
number of the so-called mixed castes.88 Thus the Nisada, the Meda (a new name),
the Ksattr and the Pukkasa are hunters;89 the Kaivarta or Däsa is a boatman;90 the
Pändusopäka is a bamboo-worker and basket-maker,91 and the Vena a drummer,92
the Carmävakartin,93 the Kärävara94 and the Dhigvana95 are leather-workers; the
Äyogava is a carpenter,96 the Süta a charioteer,97 the Magadha an inland trader98
and the Vaidehaka a guardian of harem or a person living through service to
women." The enumeration is striking. Castes such as the Carmakara and the Vena,
which had crystallised from crafts, had started proliferating into subcastes; and the
Ksattr, the Vaidehaka and some others were losing in social esteem on account of the
adoption of £low5trades. Admittedly, the status of a group in a living social organism
cannot remain eternally static and mobility can be noticed even in the relatively
stable institution of caste in this country. Moreover， the profession of a group has to
be adapted to the changing realities of material existence. That, however, is not to
vouch for the authenticity of all the prescriptions in Manu, for we have dependable
evidence of his Dias in this respect. The typical examples are the portrayal of the
wives of Äyogava woodworkers as wearers of the garments of the dead100 and of the
Andhras as only hunters.101 Without referring to the untouchability of the Meda
and the Pukkasa, Manu makes them co-partners in the segregation of the Candäla,
the Svapäka and the antyävasäyin,102 and does not allow a snätaka to stay with the
Pukkasa,103 in which caste (or that of the Candäla) the slayer of a brähmana is to
be reborn.104 Obviously, these were economically backward outcast groups, in ritual
status only slightly superior to the Candäla or the Svapaka, as hunting associated
them with the killing and death of various kinds of creatures. Also perhaps there
was more than meets the eye, the taboo being related to some of their traits
considered reprehensible by the upper classes. Taken literally, the Ksattr would have
the same status, but the commentators Medhatithi and Kulluka do not agree with
this implication of the provisions of Manu and warn against such an inference.
Presumably In view of his later Vedic heritage, the hunter Nisäda occupied, in
Manus opinion, a somewhat superior social berth, only his food being tabooed to
a snätaka.105 We have a similar regulation regarding the Vena106 and the Nata,107
the Carmakara108 and the Rajaka,109 the Dhvaj110 and the Cakri111 who are treated
on par with the Nisäda. The varying degrees of pollution attached to different social
segments and the hierarchy among low orders in Manu^ time are sharply brought
out. Apparently, not all the fifteen htna or low groups112 mentioned by him were
untouchables; only the Pukkasa and the Meda would seem to approximate to this
position, besides of course the clear old cases of the Candäla, the Svapäka and the
antyävasäyin. The Rämäyanalu confirms the Candäla^ connection with the funeral
pyre and the tradition about his dress and physical features. Although the Nisädas are
hunters114 and the Kaivartas are boatmen115 in this epic, these two kin-groups stand
at a higher plane than the Chandäla, the former with their kingship and capital116
108 VivekanandJha

and the latter with their warlike traits.117 Magadha does not appear as a tabooed
region and its king is spoken of as well-versed in the brähmana scriptures. Patanjali
places the Mrtapa, besides the Candäla, at the lowest social level below such südras
as the carpenter and the smith.118The Rajaka, in his view, also belonged to the latter
category.119 Since references to the Mrtapä in the vast ancient Indian literature are
most infrequent, far from signifying an independent group, this may have been only
an additional name for sections at the cremation ground.
We might at this stage pause to consider the validity of B. R. Ambedka^s charge
that untouchability in India has been simply a diabolical contrivance120 and sinister
machination of the malevolent brähmanas. This brilliant author of a pioneering and
polemical tract on the subject was appalled by the iniquitous treatment meted out to
India's millions and, himself born in a 'low1caste, he wrote with a raging heart and
a caustic pen. His emotional involvement and obsession with the crude and vulgar
realities of his age were, however, too strong to be overcome for writing balanced
history. He had neither the time and patience nor perhaps the aptitude and academic
equipment (a thorough firsthand knowledge of the wide-ranging sources dispersed
over a long period) to do so. Wilful and capricious in the choice of his data from
translations of brähmana law-books, he did not carefully examine his occasionally
wild generalisations. Lacking the discipline of a historian and prizing 'imagination
more than it deserved, his survey of the origin, development and expansion of
untouchability is fall of subjective impressions. To take one example, he ïaealised
and even lionised the role of Buddhism in the evolution of the institution to an
extent not justified by evidence.121 In fact, the Pali canon and the Jätakas corroborate
and supplement the information from the brahmanical sources. The Candäla is
not depicted as a theoretical category. Apartheid is strictly observed with regard to
him.122 It is not even considered necessary to refer to his untouchability. We see him
contaminating atmosphere, polluting through sight and from a distance.123 Sexual
relationship with him cannot even be imagined. The taboo on food, especially victuals,
from him is absolute124 and, unlike the provisions of Manu125 even starving persons
are not exempted from the operation of this rule. The Buddha is himself declared to
have been quite categorical on this point. The Candala is neither allowed to associate
with higher groups nor to participate in their esoteric knowledge.126The only escape
from this lifelong fate is through renunciation or joining the Order. Perhaps with
a difference in degree, these taboos are shown to have been adhered to not only
by the brähmanas, but also by the setthi and the common folk.127 Engaged in the
pursuits of a corpse-remover128 and cremator,129 an executioner,130 a nightguard,131
a sweeper,132 a public performer133 and musician,134 the Candäla yet ekes out a
miserable existence135 and continues his old profession of hunting.136 Sopäka137 and
Mätariga138 are other names of the ethnicaF Candäla, who heads the list of hina
(low) and kanhabhi (black) (castes) in Buddhist literature. We have an identical
picture of the Candäla in the Jain texts,139 which also mention the Soväga and the
Mätariga.140It is amusing to see Ambedkar deny the very being of the Candäla in his
bid to push ahead the date of the beginning of untouchability in this country.
 Stages in the History of Untouchables 109

The Candäla is, however, not the only despised section in Pali or Prakrit literature.
The Nesäda141with counterparts in the säkunikaythe mägavika and the macchaghätaka142
or the vähuy the macchandha and the väguriyaw or even the Kevatta144 is placed at
the bottom of the social scale. His low material condition145 and the taboo associated
with killing living beings accentuated his distance from the four orders, and he is
described as passing an exclusive life on the fringe of the community.146The Pukkusa,
a poverty-stricken group of refuse-cleaners and hunters147 is a third despised caste,
sometimes represented as an ominous sight. Two other groups demarcated from the
four varnas are the bamboo-working Vena148 and the Rathakära149who built chariots
for war. The same generic term hina^ applied to these five castes, does not justify
their equation, and their material and ritual status seemingly differed. The picture is,
however, similar to that drawn from the brähmana texts. The depiction of the Nata
caste also does not differ.150 Besides, fairly early in their history, the Buddhist and Jain
works make a distinction between high and low crafts {hina kamma^ kammajungiya)
and high and low trades (Joina sippaysippajunglyd)^ and the craft of the leather-worker
is rated low earlier in the Pali sources than in the legal texts of the brähmanas.151 To
say that the adherents to Buddhism became untouchables after the re-establishment
of brahmanic ascendency152 is more than an unwarranted over-simplification of a
complex social phenomenon. It is deliberate oversight or plain ignorance of history,
tragic and unpardonable both ways.
Indeed the existence of high and very low castes was being fully recognised
towards the close of the Vedic period153 and, far from being reversed or contained,
this trend of social evolution was only aggravated in post-Vedic times. We can hear
voices of dissent and dissatisfaction not only in the Buddhist and Jain texts, but
also in brähmana literature.154The system was, however, by and large accepted and
supported. There is absolutely no basis for playing down the massive role of either
brähmana theoreticians or Buddhist and Jain realists in solidifying the institution
of caste. Further, notwithstanding the tremendous cumulative impact of their
writings, we can exaggerate their part only at the risk of suggesting that caste in
merely an artificial growth, which it is not. Untouchability is no doubt the most
sickening and pernicious development in the overall system, a weed deserving to be
rooted out, but it has drawn sustenance from deeper roots. Hence, the failure of so
many rationalist movements against it. Taboo, which has played such an important
part in the development of caste—J. H. Hutton155 stresses this point—is at the
root of the idea of untouchability as well.156 Taboo may be non-rational or even
irrational, but it has been an emotional reality and a cognisable force in the Indian
context. This psychological basis of untouchability has to be kept in view and the
temptation to indulge in superficial and wholesale condemnation of most ancient
Indian writing resisted. This is very clear from the slow and halting way in which
the texts reveal the growth and extension of untouchability to bring new castes
within its fold. They could not and did not force the pace of social evolution beyond
a point; nor did they conceive a full-fledged system at any particular time to hand
it over for general acceptance.157
110 Vivekanand Jha

T H E T H IR D P H A S E

Developments in the third phase broadly conform to the pattern of the second.
Visnu is the first lawgiver to use asprsya}^ the exact Sanskrit word for untouchables.
Unfortunately, its value is considerably undermined by his loose provisions. For
example, he prescribes the punishment of death for an untouchable deliberately
touching a £touchable，159 and flogging for a menstruating woman committing this
offence.160The unreality of the latter injunction is unmistakable, for here one comes
into contact with ones closest and dearest relations. That apart, the distinction
between the impure, one who is an instrument of pollution only for a temporary-
period, and the untouchable, to whom the stain is permanently and hereditarily-
attached, is blurred here. The pollution from the Candäla appears, however, in its true
perspective of the general notion of pollution current in Indian society and, from
all accounts, the Candäla had been long since untouchable rather than impure. The
difference between the dressed and undressed food of the untouchables is for the
first time highlighted.161 The details suggest a further degradation of the Candäla in
Visnus opinion.162 The Sväpakä is the only other untouchable163 even the Pukkasa
not being specified as such. The position as regards the Nisäda164 the Vena,165 the
Carmakära,166 the Rajaka,167 the Nata,168 the Cakri169 and the Dhvaji170 remains
unchanged, only commensal taboos being mentioned. Significantly, although the
Äyogava,171the Süta,172the Mägadha173and the Vaidehaka174are treated as pratilomas
on the pattern of the Dharmasütras and the Manusmrtiythere is no reference even to
food taboos relating to them. A new occupation, that of performance on the stage, Is
enjoined for the Äyogavas175 and an ambivalent stand between a bard and a trader
taken with regard to the Mägadha.176 Yajnavalkya lays down a fine of one hundred
panas for a Candäla deliberately touching a person of higher castes,177 includes
him under the generic term asuci or impure,178 a wider category loosely covering
the untouchables as well, and differentiates him from the sudra more clearly than
his predecessors.179 He, however, agrees with the Dharmasütra writers, Manu180 and
Visnu181 in considering the Candälas shadow as pure.182 We have no meaningful
details about the PukJkasa. The Vena continues at the old social plane. Yajnavalkya183
echoes Manu in prohibiting presents to a snätaka from a Cakri or Dhvaj. On the lines
of Kautilya184 and Visnu,185 the wives of hunters, washermen and actors are treated
as almost equal partners of their husbands in the economic life of the community.186
The Rathakara appears as a mixed caste after a long interlude,187 and a reference is
made to the traditional pratilomas, the Äyogava,188 the Ksattr,189 the Mägadha,190
the Süta191 and the Vaidehaka.192 Närada/93 Brhaspati194 and Kätyäyana195 do not
countenance any imposition of fine on the Candäla, and argue in favour of corporal
punishment instead.196 In contrast with Manu, Närada prescribes for him the job of
a night watchman/97 and although no reference is made to the nature of pollution
emanating from him he is treated as an abhorred and degraded being.198The Svapaka
and the Meda are equally despised.199 A reference is made to the stark poverty of the
Natas, whose meagre possessions, like those of the Candäla, are not to be taxed.200
Like Manu,201 Närada also debars them from acting as witnesses in lawsuits between
 Stages in the H istory of Untouchables 111

members of the higher orders.202There is a further lowering of the theoretical status of

the Äyogavas.203 In contrast with Narada, Brhaspati refers to the untouchability of the
Candäla204 and is the first lawgiver to mention the precise distance within which he
becomes unapproachable.205Tb him is attributed the practical rule that pollution does
not take place at abnormal times or on certain gay and festive occasions.206 Kätyäyana,
the first lawgiver to use asprsya in the definite sense of untouchables207 and to refer to
g uim a^ a possible defensive organisation among them. The Svapaka and the Candala
reappear as the meanest untouchables and are distinguished from the südras,209
This picture drawn from the law-books is endorsed by the Mahabharata^ the
Puranas, the works of Bhäsa, Södraka and Kälidäsa, the Nätyasästra of Bharata,
the Brhatsamhitä of Varahamihira, the Amarakosa of Amarasimha and the Chinese
traveller, Fa-hsien. There is total agreement about the Candälas being at the bottom
of varna hierarchy, their complete segregation, engagement in cruel pursuits, non-
observance of food taboos and polluting traits.210 Their number seems to have
increased.211The Svapäka,212 the Mrtapä,213 the Mätanga,214 the antyävasäyin215 and
even the Pukkasa216 and the Meda217 are given the same ritual and social status, the
two latter observing no food taboos at all. We have references to the ethnic element
inhering the Nisädas,218 the institution of hereditary tribal kingship219 among
them, their irregular warfare,220 political hold over particular areas,221 guilds222 and
geographical distribution.223 Their equation with the Candäla in th.o, Amarakosa,224
however, is hardly justified, though both practised hunting. The Kaivarta225 and the
Dasa226 belong to the same category as the Nisäda. Allusions to the Bhilla may
be traced in the Puränas227 and the Brhatsamhitä?2^ The Kolas are depicted as a
vanquished and degraded military tribe.229 The Süta and the Mägadha have a superior
social standing. Their traditional origin in the time of the legendary king Prthu is
noted.230 The Süta is spoken of as both a charioteer and a bard231 and is designated
a Vrätya.232 The Magadha is also shown as maintaining himself by praise.233 They
appear with the Ksattr and the Vaidehaka in the südra section of the Amarakosa-^
the latter figures in the vaisya section as well.235
Although the Buddhist and Jain texts of the period do not mention all these
castes they allude to the Candäla and the Pukkusa as the most despised sections.
The Saddharma-pundarlka2^6 explicitly forbids contact with the Candala. The fear
of pollution from the Mätanga, associated with the cremation ground, appears to
be most acute in the Jain works. Significantly, the untouchable caste of the Domba,
probably an aboriginal tribe before assimilation in society, makes its first appearance
in the Lankävatdrasutra^1 a Buddhist work of the fourth century ad . One grave
offence ox tiiese castes seems to have been their addiction to meat-eating. Every
living social or religious movement has its scale of values and cherished norms,
whose observance or contravention determines its attitude to existing classes. An
irrefutable example is provided by the lower ranking of the Rathakära in the Buddhist
works than in brähmanical sources.239 In vain does one look to Buddhism for an
effectively different attitude to caste and its most unseemly offshoot, the institution
of untouchability, for it developed its own set of intensely prized taboos, besides those
it shared with brähmanism.
112 VivekanandJha

TH E FO UR TH PHASE

We have the fullest picture of untouchable castes and the growth of untouchability
during this period. The Candäla is depressed further. According to Parasara, he
embodies in his person all varieties of pollution for a twice-born240 and quite a few
for the sudra as well241 which shows a new respect for the latter s status in the existing
caste framework.The Candäla is for the first time represented as infecting the highway
by his treading.242 Drinking water from a tank excavated by him is not allowed.243
What strikes most, however, is the prescription of burning the house on account of a
Candäla womans entry and sojourn there incognito.244The early medieval lawgivers
Atri,245 Angiras,246Devala247 and Vrddhaya-jnavalkya248 prescribe varying degrees of
pollution stemming from the Candäla, while Bäna,249 Somadeva Süri,250 Alberuni,251
Kalhana252 and Hemacandra254 attest the current practice. The Candäla's shadow
is regarded as contagious within a certain distance255—a clear departure from the
previous norm. Evidently, the Candäla deserves the epithets antyaja and antyavasayin
more than anyone else. He appears as an asvapäla^ a groom for horses in the army
in the Harsacarit^^ and Usanas enjoins for use in his neck the humiliating leather-
thong.257 The Svapäka, in Parasara}s opinion, has an equally low social standing.258
Vaikhänasa259 recommends for him the profession of dealing in hides and armour or
in armour made of hides, which shows his probable connection with the dead cattle.
No wonder Vedavyäsa calls him an antyaja260 and Madhyamärigiras an antyavasayin.
The Svapaka is also looked upon as being synonymous or on par with the Domba261
whose pursuit of song and music is referred to in the Rajatarangin^2 and the Jain
texts263 and whose segregation and untouchability are vouched for by the Buddhist
Caryapadas^ Kalhana265 and Alberuni.266 The Kadambari2^ and the Yamasmrt^
identify the Mätangas the Candäla. The Pukkasa emerges in the role of a huntner
and liquor-seller in the law-books of Usanas269 and Vaikhänasa,270 and Aparärka271
quotes Vrddhayäjnavalkya as alluding to his untoucnability. His name, however, does
not occur in the list of antyajas or antyavasayins.
That a taboo did not automatically and immediately make a group untouchable is
clear from the fact that the Carmakära,272 the Rajaka,273 the Buruda,274 the Nata,275
the Cakxi276 and the Dhvaji277 or the Saundika become untouchables only now. The
change may have had some connection with the increasing immobility of the period,
when commodity production decreased substantially, several craft guilds broke up
or became localised and the stagnant village with a number of generally backward
artisans wholly integrated with it became the norm. Despite references to the Nisäda
in the KathäsaritsägarcP^ and in the law-books of Usanas279 and Vaikhänasa,280 to
the nisädin as an elephant-keeper in the Harsacarita2^1 and the SisupalavadhcP1^2 and
to a Nisäda chief in a southern inscription,283 the Nisäda as such is not generally
regarded an untouchable in the brähmanical texts,284 though the Buddhist Caryäpadas
indicate this possibility.285The aboriginal groups of the Bhilla,286 the Kaivarta,287the
Däsa,288 the Meda289 and the Kolika290 are, however, listed among the antyajas and
untouchables. TKe Päla inscriptions affirm the lowest social status of the Medas.291
Apparently, immense backwardness, resistance to the process of conquest and
 Stages in the H istory o f Untouchables 113

Hinduisation and geographical factors may have thwarted full absorption of certain
indigenous sections in Hindu society and eventually pushed them to the position
of untouchables. The data are of course not always unequivocal. For example, the
Kaivartas have a memorable political record292 and are also occasionally referred
to as satsüdra%. The calling and manner of living of an overwhelming majority of
a caste, however, largely determined its general esteem in society. The professional
categories of hunters and fishermen, butchers, executioners and scavengers appear
as untouchables under new labels.293 A limited attempt is made to define the degree
of untouchability and to differentiate the categories of untouchables. Thus, Paräsara
considers the castes of leather-workers, washermen，bamboo-workers and hunters as
only half degraded than the Candala and the Svapäka,294 and Vijnänesvara quotes
Madhyamängiras as making a clear distinction between the Candala and the Svapaka
on the one hand and the Carmakära and the Rajaka on the other.295
Beef-eaters {gaväsanäh) are for the first time dubbed as untouchables.296 Surely,
beef-eating becomes a distinguishing trait of large sections of untouchables from this
period onwards. Ambedkar is, however, patently wrong in viewing this as the sole
contributory factor to the untouchability of those who continued as Buddhists.297
Appearing fairly late to explain the origin of the institution, the hypothesis by
itself is too inadequate to square with the situation at any time. The varnasamkara
theory becomes more absurd. This is clear from new theories of the origin or tne
Candala according to Vedavyasa,298 Yama299 and Laghusätatäpa,300 the increase in
the number of mixed castes to more than a hundred in the Brahmavaivartapuräna^1
a reference to the existence of thousands of mixed castes as a result of miscegenation
of vaisya women with men of lower castes in the Visnudharmottarapurana and the
development of three classes of uttama^ madhyama and adhama among them in
the Brhaddharmapuräna?02 Hie Rathakara does not degenerate to the level of an
untouchable, and the branding of the Süta, the Magadha, the Ksattr, the Äyogava
and the Vaidehika as antyävasäyins along with the Candala and the Svapaka is far­
fetched and illusory.
These are the four broad phases in the early history of untouchables. The first
phase up to c. 600 bc provides the Vedic background, when the tabooed sections of
society appear first. The second phase extends up to c. ad 200, when untouchability
begins and takes firm and definite shape with respect to a few groups. The third
phase up to c. ad 600 is marked by an intensification of the practice and furnishes
hints of resistance on the part of untouchables, whose number records an increase.
The ranks of untouchables swell considerably by the accession of several new castes
in the fourth and final phase which extends up to c. ad 1200 and beyond and shows
untouchability at its peak.

N O T E A N D REFER EN C ES

1 Vajasaneyi Samhitä, XXX.21; Taittiriya Brähmana, 111.4.7; Chändogya Upanisady V.10.7,

V.24.4; Brhadämnyaka UpanisadyW 3.22.
114 Vivekanand Jha

2 Väjasaneyi Samihitä^ XXX.17; Taittiriya Brähmanay 111.4.1.14; Brhadaranyaka Upanisad^

IV.3.22.
3 Aitareya Brähmana, XXXIII.6; Brhadaranyaka Upanisad^ 1.3.30. The Candala and the
Pulkasa were also aboriginal tribes in the beginning.
4 Taittiriya Samhitäy IV.5.4.2; Käthaka Samhitä^ XVIL13; Maiträyani Samhitä^ 11.9.5;
Vajasaneyi Samhitä^ XVL.27; Aitareya Brähmanay XXXVII.7; Pancavimia Brähmanay XVI.6;
Kansitaki Brähmana^ XXV.1.5; Apastamba Srautasütray IX.14.12, XVII.26.18; Lätyäyana
Srautasütra^ V1IL2.8; Kätyäyana Srautasütray1.1.12; etc.
5 Vajasaneyi SamM^ä,XXX.16; Taittiriya Brähmana^WlA.12.1.
6Ibid.
7 Väjasaneyi Samhitä, XXX. 8.
8 Taittiriya Brähmana^ 111.4.5.1.
9 Väjasaneyi Samhitä, XXX.15; Taittiriya Brähmanay111.4.13.1.
AtharvavedayXII.3.21.
11 Väjasaneyi Samhitä,XXK.12'y Taittiriya Brähmana^lWA.l.1.
12Ibid.
13 Vajasaneyi Samhitä, XXX.6; Taittiriya Brähmanay111.4.2.1.
14 Vajasaneyi SamhitäyXXX.21; Taittiriya Brähmana, III.4.17.1.
151 have traced their evolution in my paper. Vivekanand Jha, Trom Tribe to Untouchable:
The Case of Nisadas’in IWfßK 偷 nVa/Proみ Me層rタ ヴ AT刪:m句， edited by
R. S. Sharma in collaboration with Vivekanand Jha (Delhi: Peopled Pub. House, 1974), pp. 67-84.
16 Atharvaveda^ III.5.6; Maiträyani Samhitäy 11.6.5; Satapatha Brähmana, XIII.4.2.17;
Taittiriya Samhitäy IV.5.4.2; Apastamba Srautasütm^ XVIIL10.17, XX.5.18; Satyäsädha
SrautasütrayXIIL1.47, XIII.4.8; etc.
17 Taittiriya Samhitäy 1.8.9.Iff; Maiträyani Samhitäy II.6.5, IV.3.8; Käthaka Samhttä,
XV.4; Taittiriya Brähmana, 1.7.3.Iff; Satapatha Bäahmanay V,3.1.IfF, XIII.4.1.5; Pancavimsa
Brähmana, XIX. 1.4.
18 Pancavimsa Brähmanay XIX.1.4; Taittiriya Samhitäy 1.8.9.1;Käthaka ßamhitäy XV.4;
Maiträyani Samhitäy II.6.5, IV.3.8; Taittiriya Brähmana^ 1.7.3.1; Satapatha Brähmana, V.3.1.5,
XIII.2.2.18; Atharvaveda^ 111.5.7; etc.
19 Satapatha Brähmana, 1.4.1.10-7; cf. Julius Eggeling, trans., Sacred Books of the East,
Book XII, 104fn. Albrecht Weber, The History of Indian Literature^ translated from the second
German edition by John Mann and Theodor Aachariae, sixth edition (Varanasi: Chowicnamba
Sanskrit Series, Varanasi, 1961), 276.
20 Satapatha BrahmanayXIII.5.4.6; Sänkhäyana Srautasütra, XVI.9.14-6.
21 Atharvaveda^ V.22.14, XV.2.1-4; Väjasaneyi Samhitäy XXX.5, 22; Taittinya/Brähmana^
III.4.1.1; A. B. Keith, 'Thte Period of the Later Samhitäs, the Brähmanas, the Aranyakas and
the Upanisads, ßoe Camondge History of India^ I, edited by J. Rapson, third Indian reprint
(Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 1968),110; A. D. Pusalker, 'Aryan Settlements in India,
The VedicAge^ edited by R. C. Majumdar, fourth impression (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
1965)， 260.
21Äpastamba DharmasütrayII.1.2.8; Baudhäyana Dharmasütray1.5.9.5,1.5.11.36; Gautama
DharmasütrayyJN3Q\ Vasislha Dharmasütra,XXU1.33; cf. Sänkhäyana Grhyasütray\1.12.9~\0\
Päraskara Gr/oyasütra,11.11 A.
^Äpastamba Dharmasütra^ IL1.2.8,1.3.9.17 (the study of the Veda is to cease if a Candäla
is witnin sight); Gautama Dharmasütra^ XV.24 (the funeral offering is blemished by his look).
Apastamba Dharmasütra^ II.1.2.8.
 Stages in the H istory of Untouchables 115

25The study of the Veda is to be interrupted where the Candäla lives or stays, Äpastamba
Dhannasütra, 1.3.9.15; Gautama Dharmasütra^^KV\.\9\ Vasistha Dharmasütra^lll.ll,
26 Baudhäyana Dharmasütra^ 11.2.4.14; Vasistha DharmasütrayXX.17.
27 Baudhayana Dharmasütray 11.2.4.12-3, II.2.4.14; Vasistha Dharmasütray XXIII.40-1;
Gautama Dharmasütra^ XX.l, XXIII.32.3.
28 Gautama Dharmasütra, XX.1.
19Äpastamba Dharmasütra^ 1.3.9.15.
30 Gautama Dharmasütra^ IV.23.
31Äpastamba Dharmamtray1.3.9.18.
32 Vasistha DharmasiitrayXVI.30.
33Ibid.,XVIIL3.
34Ibid.
35Astädhyaytj XV,3.118.
36 Vasistha DharmasütrayXIV.3; cf. D.D. Kosambi, 'Early Stages of the Caste System in
Northern lndia\JBBRAS, new series, XXII (1946), 38.
37 Baudhäyana Dhannasütm^ 11.2.4.1,3.1 have discussed the status of this group in
Vivekanand Jha, 4The Nata\ Indian History Congress Proceedings (Muzaffarpur session, 1972),
105-10.
BandhäyanaDharmasüt7'ay1.9.17.7; GautamaDharmasütra., IV.17-8; VasisthaDharmasütra^
XVIIL1.
Baudhäyana Dharmasütra^ 1.8.16.9; 1.9.17.11,
40Ibid., 1.8.16.11,1.9.17.13; Gautama Dharmasütra, IV.19; Vasistha Dharmasütra^ XVIÏI.5.
41 Vasistha Dharmasütrai 'KMn\3.
42Baudhäyana Dharmasütray1.8.16.10; 1.9.17.12; Vasistha Dharmasütra, XVIII.2.
43 Baudhäyana Dharmasütra^ 1.9.17.6.
44 Ibid., 1.8.16.8,1.9.17.7; Gautama Dharmasütm^ IV.17.
45 Baudhäyana Dharmasütray1.9.17.8; Gautama Dharmasütra, IV.17.
46 Vasistha DharmasiiirayXVIIL6.
47 Baudhäyana Dharmasütray1.8.16.8,1.9.17.8; Gautama Dharmasütra, IV.17.
^Baudhäyana Dharmasütray1.9.17.7; Gautama Dharmasütra, IV.17-8.
^Baudhäyana Dharmasütra, 1.8.16.8; Gautama Dharmasütra, IV.17.
50For a detailed exposition of this view, see Vivekanand Jha, 'Varnasamkara in the Dharma
Sutras: Hieory and Practice5, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient^ 13, 3
(1970), 273-88.
51 Quoted in Mitäksarä on Yajnavalkya Smrti^ 111.260.
52 N. K. Dutt, Origin and Growth of Caste in Indiay(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner
and Company, Ltd., 1931), 106-07.
53Arthasastra^ 1.14.10,111.19.9-10.
Arthasastra^ ÏI.4.23.
ss Arthasastra^ III.3.28, IV.7.25-6.
S6Arthasastra, 11.1.6.
S7Arthasastra, 111.20. 16; cf R. P. Kangle, The KautiliyaArthäsastraypart 111,A Study (Bombay:
University of Bombay, 1965), 147.
Arthasastra, 111.7.33-4, IV.13.34-5
5<iArthasastray1.16.14-5,111.18.7.
60Arthasastra, 111.5-7 (chapters on inheritance).
61Arthasastra, 111.7.36.
116 Vivekanand Jha

Arthasastra^ 111.11.29.
61Arthasastra^ III.7.37.
m Arthasastra、 Y^2 .\% ㈣ ibi、 An IritroducHon to the Study of Indian History
(Bombay: Popular Book Depot, 1956), 146.
es Arthasastra, 111.7.35. This is the view of Kangle on the basis o f the Bhasavyakhyana^ a
commentary in Malayalam.
Arthasastray 111.6.14. Kangle, however, interprets aisvarya as pronciency instead o f as
affluence, The Kautiliya Arthasastray part I, second edition, Bombay: University of Bombay,
1969, ‘Glossary’, 20.
67Baudhäyana Grhyasütra^ II.5.6.
68Pürvamimämsäsiitra, VIA.44, 50; cf. P. V. Kane, History ofDharmasastra^ II, part I (Poona:
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1941),48.
mArthasastray11.1.34-5, IV .l.59-60, 65, etc.
70See Vivekanand Jha,'V arjnasaihkara in the D harm a Sutras: Theory and Practice Journal
of the Economic and Social History of the Orient^ X III, 3,282.
71 Mannsmrtiy V.85.
72Manusmrti^ X I.176.
73 Ibid.
Manusmrti^ 111.92, X.51.
75 Apastamba Dharmasütray 1.5.16.30, 1.7.21.17, 11.7.17.20; Baudhäyana Dharmasütra,
1.11.21.15, II.1.2.13; Vasistha Dharmasutra^ XX.16.
NLahäbhäsya^ 1.475.
17Astädhyäyi^ 11.4.10.
78Manusmrtiy X.51.
79Manusmrti^ X.55 (cihnita rajasasanaiH).
m Manustnrti^ X.54.
81 Manusmrti^ X.55 {abandhavatn savam).
82 Manusmrti, X.56.
^ Manusmrtiy V.131.
^ Manusmrti^ X.54.
Manusmrtiy X.d2 {parivrajya ca nityasah).
86 Manusmrtij X .51-6.
9,1Mannsmrtiy X.39 {bdhyandmapi garhitam)y Kj . S. Ghurye emphasises the theoretical
impurity of certain occupations as the basis of the idea of untouchability in Caste and Class in
India (Bombay: Popular Book D epot, 1957), 159.
88 For example, manual work and occupations involving primary production lost in the
esteem of lawgivers in post~Vedic times.
89U. N. Ghoshal presumes that these were living professional castes or subcastes formed in
the natural course of social development m A Comprehensive History ofIndiayII, edited by K. A.
N. Sastri (Bombay: O rient L ongm ans,19 d 7), 467.
90 Manusmrti, X .48-9.
91 ManusmrH,X..34.
92Manusmrti, X,37.
93 Mamismrti^ X.49.
94 Manusmrtiy V.218.
95 Mannsmrti^ X.36.
96 Manusmrti^ X.49.
97Ma?iusmrtiyX.48.
 Stages in the History of Untouchables 117

98Manusmrti^ X.47.
" I b id .
100 Ibid.
101 Manusmrti^ X.35.
102Manusmrti, X.48.
103 Manusmrti^ X.36, 50.
Manusmrtij IV.79.
105Manusmrtij XII.55.
106Manusmrtij IV.215.
107 Ibid.
m Manusmräy IV.214.
Manusmrtiy IV.218.
Manusmrti, IV .216,219.
111 Manusmrtiy IV.216.
112 Presents from him as well as the Dhvajl are not to be accepted, Manusmrti^ IV.84-5.
113Manusmrtiy X.31.
^ Ayodhyä Kända^ LVIIL10~1.
115Bäla Kända^ LIX.21.
^ Ayodhyä KändayLXXXIV.8.
117 Ibid. ，LXXXIIÏ.19.
118 Ibid., LXXXIV.8.
Mahäbhäsya^ 1.475.
120 Ibid.; cf. U. N. Ghoshal,yf Comprehensive History oflndia^ ii, 467.
121 B. R. Ambedkar, The Untouchables: Who were they^ and Why they became untouchables
(Delhi: A m rit Book, 1948), ix.
122 In A m bedkars words, one o f the roots of untouchability lies in the hatred and
contem pt which the Brahmins created against those who were Buddhist^ Ibid., 99.
123Jätaka, IV: 200,376,390; V I : 156, etc.
124Jätaka, ÏII: 233; IV: 376, 390-1.
^25Jätaka,ll: 82fF;IV:388.
n6 Manusmrtiy X .104-8.
n7Jätaka, IV: 391.
128 Ibid.: 376,390—91.
U9Jätaka^ III: 195.
UQJätaka, V: 449; Milindapanha, 331.
131夕 油 ，II: 41 ，179.
U2Jdtaka,lll:27ï,S9.
]ätakayIV: 390; cf. Ghurye, Caste and Class in India^ 246,266.
134 Samyutta Nikäya, V :168.
]ataka^ IV: 390.
^ Ahguttara Ntkäya^ II: Majjhitna Nikäya, III: 169-70.
ni Mahävästity translated b y J.J. Jones (London: Luzac 8c Co., 1952), II, 237.
138 Suttanipäta, Sutta, 137; cf. V. Fausboll, trans., The Sutta Nipata: The Sacred. Books of the
EaslX, (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1881) 2?>\Jataka, IV: 380.
139 S uttanipäta, し〇111111611亡冱犷ゲ，185 任.
140 Sütralcrtanga, 1.9.2; cf. H erm ann Jacobi, txd.ns.yjatna Sutras: The Sacred Books of the East
XLV, 2 parts (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1895) 301.
141 Uttarädhyayana SütrayyJlA \ ct. J a c o b i , Sutrasy50, fn.
118 Vivekanand Jha

142Taking the mixed caste origin of the Candäla to be literally true, he states: ^The Chandala
is not a good case to determine the existence or non-existence of Untouchability5, Ambedkar,
The Untouchables^ 191-cf. 176.
Anguttara Nikäya, 11.85; MajjhimaNikäya^ 11.93, 96,129; Samyutta NikäyayI, 93; Vinaya
Pitaka, IV.7; Suttavibhanga Päcittiya., 11.2.1 ;Puggala-Paniiati^ 51.
^Aä,Anguttara Nikäya, III, 383-4.
145 Vyavahära Bhäsya, 3.94; Nisitha Cürni^ 4: 345;11:747, cited by J. C. Jain, Life in Ancient
India as Depicted in the Jain Canons (Bombay, 1947), 145.
Ahguttara Nikäyay111.31,IV.91; Digha Nikäya, 1.45; Udäna^ 24ff;Jätakayï: 210.
Angiittara Nikäya, 11.85; 111.385; Majjhima Nikäya, 169-70.
U8Jä^aka}II: 36, VI:7I£
U9JätakayIII: 194-5, V: 449; Theragatha^ verses 620-1.
^ Anguttara Nikäya, 11.85,111.385; Samyutta Nikäya, 1.93; Vinaya Pitaka^ IV.6; Puggala-
pannatti^ 51.
151 Anguttara Nikäya, 11.85, 111.385; Samyutta Nikäyay 1.93; Vinaya Pitaka, IV.9.12;
Suttavibhanga Päcittiya^ 11.2.1.
152/々城 I I : 167,431， 111: 541.
153 Vinaya Pitaka^ IV.7; Suttavibhanga Päcittiyay11.2.1.
154Ambedkar, The Untouchables^ 98-99.
155 Chändogya UpanisadyV.10.7yV.24A; Brhadäranyaka Upanisad^YV3.22.
^ Brhadäranyaka UpanisadyIV.3.22; Bha^avadgita, V.18, etc.
157J. H. Hutton, Caste in India: Its Nature^ Function and Origins, fourth editionn (London:
Oxford University Press,1963),188.
158Ibid., 207.
159Max Weber is hardly justified in suggesting that ‘it [caste] must have existed as a finished
idea long before it conquered even the greater part of North Inma, The Religion of India (The
Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism)^ translated and edited by H. H. Gerth and D. Martindale
(Glencoe: The Free Press, 1958), 131.
160 VismismrtiyY.l^Ay^KLP^S.
161 asprsyah kämakärena sprsam sprsanvadhyah'. Visnusmrti, V.104.
162 rajasvalätti siphdbhistddayet Visnusmrti, V.105.
163 Visnusmrti^ IÄ.57—S.
164 Visnusmrti, V.43, XVI.14, XXII.76, XXXV1.7-8, LÏIL5-6,9.
165 Visnusmrti^ LXVIÏ.26.
166 Visnasmrti^ LI.14.
167Ibid.
168 Visnusmrtiy LI.8.
169 Visnusmrtiy LI.13,15.
170 Visnusmrtiy LI.13-4.
171 VisnusmrtiylÄ.15.
172Ibid.
173 Visnusmrti^'KVlA.
174 VisnusfnrliyXyi.6.
175 Visnusmrti,XVl.5.
176 Visnusmrli, XVI.6.
177 Visnusmrli^XYl.S
178 VisnusmrU, X V I.10, stutikriya magadhanam (calling out in public the good qualities).
 Stages in the H istory o f Untouchables 119

Jullius Jolly adds the words 4o f saleable commodities,, The Institutes of Vishnu: The Sacred Books
ofEast}VII (O xford:Ihe Clarendron Press, 1880), 66.
179 Yäjnavalkyasmrti^ 11.234,237.
180 Yäjnavalkyasmrti^ 111.30 as interpreted by Vijnänesvara in the Mitäksära commentary.
181 Yäjnavalkyasmrti, 11.294.
Manusmrtiy V.133.
183 Visnusmrti, XXIIL52.
184 Yäjnavalkyasmrtiy 1.193.
185 Yäjnavalkyasmrti, 1.141.
Arthasästra^ ÏII.4.22.
187 VisnusmrH, VI.37.
188 Yäjnavalkyasmrtiy 11.48.
189 Yäjnavalkyasmrtiy 1.95.
190 Yäjnavalkyasmrti^ 1.94.

192Ibid.
193 Yäjiiavalkyasmrtiy1.93.
194Ibid.
195Näradasmrti^ X V I.14.
196 Brhaspatismrti, X X I.15.
Kätayänasmrtiy verse 783.
198Näradasmrti, X V I.11-4; Brhaspatismrti^ X K I.15.
199Näradasmrti^ XIV.26.
200 Ibid., X V I.13-4; cf. Brhaspatismrti,yDQ..lS.
201 Näradasmrti, XV, X V I.11-4.
202 Ibid” 111.15.
203Manusmrti, VH1.65 .
NäradasmrHj 1.179,181,184.
205 Like the Candäla, he is ascribed a südra-brähmani parentage, ibid., XII.111.
206Brhaspatismrtiy Präyascitta, verses 49-50, cited by R. S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India
(Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass, 1958), 262fn.
207 ca dviyugam caiva triyugam ca caturyugarny cändälasütikodakypatitänamadhah
kramät^ Brhaspati, quoted in Mitäksarä on Yajnavalkyasmrti, 111.30.
208 Cited by Kane, History of DharmasästrayII, part 1 ,175. Visnu also mentions occasions
when im purity does not arise (XXII.53-5).
209Kätyäyanasmrti^ verses 433, 783.
210 candälavapacadnäm samuho gulma ucyate: Katyayanasmrti^ verse 681.
211 Katyayanasmrtiy verses 351, 681.
in Annsasana Parva^ 48.11; Avimäraka^ 14; Pancarätra, 52; Bälacarita^ 11.15, cited by A. D.
Pusalker, Bhäsa:A Study (Lahore: H ehar C hand Lachhman D a s ,1940), 352, 353, 366, 391fn;
Mrcchakatika, Act X; B. S. Upadhyay, India in Kälidäsa (Allahabad: Kitab S th an a,1947),171;
James Legge, trans., A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1886), 43;
Bharat^s Nätyasästra^ X V II.54-6, prescribes for use by Candälas at the stage vibhäsä (local
dialects), and among Prakrit languages Candäli is a type o f M ägadhi which was reserved for
people o f low rank, S. N. D asgupta and S. K. De, A History of Sanskrit Literature^ I (Calcutta:
University of C alcu tta,1947), ix-x.
2nThe Amarakosay11.10.19 contains several new names o f the Candala.
120 Vivekanand Jha

2UBrhatsamhitäy LII.82; Brhajjätaka^ 11.77.

2ysAnusasäna Parvay48.21.
216 Ibid., 3 . 1 9 , 2 8 . 2 8 ; ^ ^ ^ , 11.10.19.
1VAnusasäna Parva, 48.28. The Märkandeya PuräiWi, XXV.34-6 prescribes a purificatory
rite for looking at the antyaväsäyin.
2]8Anusäsana Parvay48.24.
219 Ibid., 22.22 as explained by com m entator Nilakantha {mrtänäm gomahisyädäm
mämsamasnantäh medah).
220 Sänti Pärvay59.95-6; Väyu Parana^ II, 1.120-1; Bhägavata Puräna, ÏV.14.44.
^A diP ärva, 123.9.
222 Sabha Parva, 27.10, 28.5, 44; Bhisma Parva^ 5 0 .5 ,1 4 ,112.108; Kama Parva, 5.19;
Asvamedhika Parva}84.7-10; etc.
221Asvamedhika Parva, 84.7.
224Brhatsamhitäy V.76.
22sAranyaka Parva, 130.3-4; Sabhä Parva, 27.9-10,28.5; Sänti Parva, 135.5, Brhatsamhitä,
XIV.10.
22(>Amarakosay H.10.19.
227I h e Anusäsana Parva^ 50.11,51.6, etc. treats the Kaivartas as identical w ith the Nisadas;
the Äyodhyä Kanda, LXXXIÏI.20, on the other hand, represents the Kaivartas as kinsmen of
the Nisada king Guha.
228The Däsa is derived from the Nisada in the Anusasana Parva^ 48.21.
229 Kosambi regards seven G arda bhilla kings m entioned in the Purajias as Bhillas， ‘The
Basis o f Ancient Indian History}Journal of American Oriental Society, LXKV, n o .1 (Baltimore,
January-M arch 1955), 40.
230Brhatsamhüä,XlV.30 refers to them as Bhallas.
231 Märkandeya PuranäyLXXXI.4f.
232 Vayu Parana, LX II.137-48; Brahmanda Purana^ II, XXXVI.158-73; cf. F. E. Pargiter,
Ancient Indian Historical Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1922),16.
Anusäsana Parva, 48.10; Adi Parvay 179.19; Vayu Purana, II, 1.139. According to A. A.
M acdonell and A. B. Keith, the Suta combined the functions o f a charioteer and minstrel since
Vedic times, Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, third reprint (Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass,1967),
11，462.
2UAnusäsana Parva^ 48.10.
235 Ibid. ，48.13•
Amarakosa^ ÏI.10.2-3.
237 Ibid., II.9.78. Vaidehaka is one of the eight names of the trader here.
238 Saddharmapundarikay180-81,311-12.
239Lankävatarasütray258.
240 See Vivekanand Jha, 'Status o f the Rathakara in Early Indian History, Journal of Indian
History, III, n o .1 (Trivandrum, A pril 1974), 39-47.
241 Paräsarasmrtiy VI.22~-4,43, 67—9, V1L9-10, X .l-3, X II.2 7 , 53—4.
242 ParäsarasmrH, V I.2 8 -9 ,36,44—5, X .8 ,20, X I.2-3.
243 Paräsarasmrtiy VI.23.
244 Paräsarasmrti^ V1.25.
245 Paräsarasmrti, VI.40 {dadyat vesmanipavakam). Some interpret this, however, as merely
placing fire in the house to purify the place.
AtrisamhitäjVcrs&s 267-68.
2A7Angira/ismrHyVtxsc 152.
 Stages in the History o f Untouchables 121

248 Devala, quoted in ParäsaramädhaviyayII, part 1,366.

249 Vrddhaya-jnavalkya, quoted by Aparärka in his commentary on Yajnavalkyasmrti
(Anandashram Sanskrit Series, no. 46), 923.
Kädambari^ 23-24, 591-93; cf. M . R. Kale, A Literal Translation of Banas Kadambari
(Purvabhaga) (Bombay: W aman Yashwant 8c Co., 1924), 12-13.
251 Yasastilakacampüy Book III, cited by R. N. Nandi, ^Social and Religious Developments in
the Deccan, unpublished P hD dissertation submitted to Patna University, 1969,126.
252 E. G. Sachau, ed. and trans., Alberums IndiayI (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner
& Co. ，1910)，101.
253 Räjataranginiy V.74-7.
254 Desinämamälä, 11.73,111.54, cited by Ghurye, Caste and Class in India^ 247.
255 Apararka quotes a verse on page 275 denying pollution from the shadow of
a Candala {candalapatitaccha~ya sparse drnta tu no bhavet), but qualifies this by the
remark: ‘I f the person is at a greater distance from him than the length o f a cow’s tail’
{gopucchapanmitadcsadviprakrstadesasthayascchhayaniigraho'yam). H e, however, quotes Satatapa
on page 1195 for a clear provision regarding pollution from the shadow o f a Svapäka. The
Mitaksarä on the Yajnavalkyasmrti^ 111.30, quotes a verse o f Vyäghrapäda to the effect that if
a Candäla comes nearer to a person than the length of a cows tail the latter must take bath.
256V. S. Agrawala, The Deeds ofHarsa (Varanasi: Prithivi Prakashan, 1969), 195; E.B . Cowell
and F.W . Thomas, trans., The Harsa-Carita ofBäna, reprint (Delhi: M otilal Banarsidass,1961),
207.
257Ausanasasmrti, verses 8-9 {badhrim kanthe),
2SZParäsarasmrtij V.10, V I.19-22, X.5, 8.
259 VaikhänasasmärtasütrayX.15.
260 Vedavyäsasmrtiy verses 12-13.
261 Räjataranginiy V.383, 389, V I.192; a verse ascribed to Parasara by Apararka, 1197;
Desindamala, cited by Ghurye, Caste and Class in India, 247.
262 Räjataranginiy V I.192.
263 Vyavahära Bhäsya^ 3.92; Nisttha Cürni 11,747.
26AC\tediby Vt.YlS/hiTAxmdiZï， Socio-Economic History of Northern India (1030-1194 A.D.)
(Calcutta: K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1 9 6 0 ),1 1 3 ,123.
265 Räjataranginiy V I.192.
266 Sachau, Alberums India^ 101-02.
267 Kadambari^ para 9, cited by Kane, History ofDharmasastra, II, part I, 91.
268 Yamasmrti^ verse 12.
269Ausandsasmrti, verse 17.
270krtakäm varksäm väsuräm hrtväpäcako vikrinitey Vaikhanasasmartasatra^ X.14.
271 Aparärka, 923.
272AtrisamhitäyV&xst \99\AngirahsmrtiyVQXSt 17; YamasmrtiyYQ\:st 33; Vedavyäsasmrtiy\.\2\
H arita, quoted by Aparärka, 279; び/arane 膨 ■，IV .55,65,76, V.74, VI.192, V IL 309,314, etc.;
Sachau, Alberums India, V)\. Atrisamhita^ verse 199; Angirahsmrti, verse 17; Yamasmrtiyverse
33; Vedavyasasmrtiy 1.12; Parasarasmrti, VI.44-5.
271Atrisamhitä^ wtxst 199\Angirahsmrtiyvexs& 17; YamasmräyVQrso. 33; Vedavyasasmrti,1.12
(varäta)\ Paräsarasm7-tiyV lA ^ S \ Atberum s India^ 101.
21&,Atrisamhita^ verse 199; Angirahsmrtiy verse 1/; Yamasmrtiy verse 33; Vedavyasasmrtiy
12; H arita, quoted by Apärarka, 279; T. W atters, trans., On Yuan Chwangs Travels in India I
(London: Royal Asiatic Society,1904-05), 147; Sa.chan?A3erunis India, 101.
275 riarita, quoted by Apärarka, 279.
122 Vivekanand Jha

276Ibid.
277 Kathäsaritsägara, cited by S, B. C haudhuri? Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India, part I
(Calcutta: General Printers and Publishers, 1955), 44.
27BAusanasasmrtiy verses 37-38.
279 VaikhänasasmartasütrayX.13.
280Agrawala, The Deeds ofHarsa^ 161.
281Sisupälavadha., V.41.
Indian Antiquary, cited by Nandi, 'Social and Religious Developments in the Deccan,
138.
283Aparärka, however, quotes a verse on page 1196 which brackets the Nisada with sudra
and enjoins a dvija to sip water on coming into contact with either.
284C ited by Mazumdar, Socio-Economic History of Northern India, 112.
Atrisanihitay verse 199; Yamasmrti^ verse 33; Vedavyasasmrtiy 1.12; Vrddhayajnavalkya,
quoted by A pararka,1196•
286Atrisamhitä^ verse 199; Yamasmrtiyverse 33; Samvarta, quoted by Apararka, 1196. The
Angirahsmrtiy verse 17, treats Dhlvara o f the same professional category as an untouchable.
287 Vedavyäsasmrti^ 1.12.
Atrisamhitäy verse 199; Yamasmrti, verse 33; Vedavyasasmrtiy 1.12.
289 Vedavyäsasmrti, 1.12.
29QEpigraphialndicajXNlilljZll (N alandaPlate o f Devapäladeva);X X ,130 (Paramardideva's
grant o f Samvat 1236), cited by D. C. Sircar, Studies in the Society and Administration of Ancient
and Medieval India, I (Calcutta: K.L. M ukhopadhyay, 1967), 127.
291 Sircar, Studies in the Society and Administration of Ancient and Medieval India, 112fn,
118fn; M azumdar, Socio-Economic History of Northern India^ 111.
292ParäsarasmrH, VI.44-5; Samvarta, quoted by Apararka, 1196; Harita, quoted by Apararka,
279; W atters, On Yuan Chwangs Travelsy 147; 'St'Sidci^.WjAlbernnis India,101.
293Paräsarasmrti, VI.44-5.
294M itaksara on Yäjnavalkyasmrti^ 111.260.
295 Vedavyäsasmrti,1.13.The Brhasfaäsmrii, verse 128, refers to beef-eating by labourers and
artisans in the M iddle Kingdom (madhyade karmakaräh silpinasca gavasinah)ybut according to
R. S. Sharma (there is nothing to show that these ... were regarded as untouchab!es,, Südras,
258fn.
296Ambedkar, The Untouchables^ 103,155,159.
297 Vedavyasasmrti, 1.9-10.
298Yama, quoted in ParäsaramädhaviyayII, part I, 306.
299Laghusätätapasmrtiy verse 59.
100Brahmavaivartapuranay Brahma K handa,X .14-136.
301 Vismidharmottarapurana, 11.81-2 .
302Brhaddharmapurana^ cited in B. N . S. Yadava, Society and Culture in Northern India in the
Twelfth Century (AËahabad: C entral Book D epot, 1973), 47-48.
 XI

E V O L U T IO N O F U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y IN
T A M IL N A D U U P T O 1 6 0 0 ad*

K. R. Hanumanthan

‘Untouchability’， as a unique feature of Indian society, has been subjected to

different interpretations by various authors. According to Dr A. Aiyappan, the term
‘untouchability’ denotes: ‘the socio-religious practice by which Hindus keep large
numbers of the lower castes from touching or coming near their persons, houses,
temples, tanks and sometimes even public roads/1He calls it contact taboo, by which
persons by reason of their birth or physiological or ritual state ... act as carriers
of pollution and induce temporarily a similar state in others by their contact,
either directly or within a prescribed distance, which impurity has to be removed
by ritual means to restore those polluted to their original condition/2 As Dr B. R.
Ambedkar puts it, untouchability underlies fthe notion of defilement, pollution and
contamination and the ways and means of getting rid of that defilement/3
The concept of pollution is denoted by the term <asparsya, in Sanskrit, 'pule in
Canarese and Maiayalam andeなど/ か ’inTamil.This pollution is of two kinds，temporary
and permanent. In Hindu society a person becomes temporarily untouchable if he
f ----- 你你 ^ ^ ' 一^ ' 一 — 一 ^一 一一■

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a child.
™ 一
In such cases,
二一
he becomes pure atter taking* a ceremonial bath. But
， マ よ ， 一 一 一 一 + T_ 一 ，： 一— 『•〜一了
in the case or an untouchaDleLuntouchability is permanent. It is something which is
inneritedTy birth. Once a man is Dorn an untouchable he carries the disaDility to rhe
grave and no expiatory ceremony
丄 ノJ will enable him to set rid ot it. Untouchables are
期》 へ ゃ , ，'、
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^ ^ ' ' へ ’
• - ^ー ー マ ー - 一一一一一/-… …へ 心 T T » 1 "I 1 1 * 广 1 J •
isolated permanently trom the hi2：h~caste Hindus and rorced to live separately outside
jthê. habitatlgns ot the former. As Dr AmDedkar points out: I t is a case of territorial
segregation and of a coraon sanitaire putting the people inside a barbed wire into a
sort of cage/4 Interdining and intermarriage with them is scrupulously avoided oy
the caste Hindus. Louis Dumont, a modern author on caste, defines untouchability
in the way that is most current, by the segregation into distinct hamlets or quarters
of the most impure categories.5

product of the chaturvarna system prevailing in ancient Hindu society. According

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* This chapter is based on the author^ PhD dissertation, 'Untouchability in Tamnakam upto
1500 kd\ submitted to the University of Madras in 1974. It was originally published as 'Evolution
of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad', The Indian Historical Review^ vol.23, nos 1-2 (July
1996— January 1997).
124 K. R. Hanumanthan

ksatriyas (warriors), vaisyas (traders and cultivators) and südras (slaves or labourers).
In this system, brähmanas occupy the topmost postion and su3ras stand at the bottom
of the social ladder. The four varnas are placed in two categories: dvijä% (twice-born)
and ëkajm or (once-born). Brähmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas are called dvijäs or
twice-born because they are supposed to be bom again at the time of the upanayana
ceremony when they are initiated into the study of scriptures and chanting of the
gayatri mantra. At the time of initiation, they are adorned with yajnopavlta or sacred
thread. The ëkajas are sudras who are not initiated and are prohibited from reading
religious scriptures. They are not allowed to wear the sacred thread. However， they
are also included in the chaturvarna system, in which all the four classes (which
Iater~on became castes) are known as savarnas. The aborigines and others who are
not included in the four-varna system were termed as avarna^ who in fact became
untouchable to the savarnas.
The untouchables are usually termed candäläs in later Vedic literature such as the
Brahmanas, Dharmasutras and Dharmasustras. Candälas are of two kinds, karma
candaläs and janma candaläsy that is, candaläs by bad conduct and candälas by birth.
According to Vasistha, 'The atheist, the miser, the ungrateful, and the one who
cherishes anger for long—these are the four candaläs by conduct and only the fifth
is by birth； 6 Manu^state^tha^
of a brahmana^ gold or drinking of spirituous liquors should be excommunicated.57
Kane8 has pointed out that besides born untouchables like the candalas and others,
there are five lands of karma candalas:
1 . Persons who commit great crimes such as murdering a brähmana.
2. Persons belonging to heretical sects (such as jam, Buddhist orTantrlc).
3. Persons who act against their caste dharma ^duties), for example, a brahmana
selling herbs.
4. Persons who touch dead bodies, a woman in her periods or after delivery, and
5. Persons living beyond Äryävarta (the habitation of the Aryans).
The above description accounts for the proliferation of untouchability in
Hindu society.
The jam texts9 also speak of jati jungitas (bom untouchables), karma jungitas
(untouchables by conduct) and sareera jungitas (untouchables in body). Hunters,
painters, fishermen, tailors and acrobats are classified into jungitas by birth. Those
who reared birds like peacocks and fowls or animals like pigs, those who practised
hunting, acrobatic exercises and barbers work as avocations are called jungitas by
conduct. Dumb, crippled and hunch-backed persons, dwarfs and one-eyed persons
are classified as jungitas in body. All these people are to be shunned as untouchables
by a holy jam. Buddhist works10 also speak of htna jatis or degraded castes such
as candalas, venas (basket makers), nisädäs (hunters), rathäkäras (chariot makers)
and pukkasas (hunters). Thus the idea of candalas by birth and by conduct found
in the Dharmasütras is corroborated also by the Buddhist and Jain texts. The
doctrine of ahimsa11 seems to have played an important role in the proliferation of
untouchable castes in India. Evidently, various taboos12 which existed among the
 Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 125

Indians of ancient times—Hindu， Buddhist and Jain—were the basis of the growth
of untouchability in India.

U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y D U R IN G T H E C A N K A M A G E

Let us j5nd out whether the practice of untouchability as delineated in the foregoing
paragraphs, actually existed in Tamil Nadu during the Cankam age. In order to do
so, we must see whether the chaturvarna system of society as depicted in ancient
Sanskrit literature, existed in early Tamil society, as revealed from the Cankam
classics which are the earliest literary sources for the construction of the early social
history of Tamil Nadu. The Cankam age is generally believed to cover the first three
centuries a d . The period from the third century ad to the sixth century ad is known
as the post-Cankam age. The Cankam classics are also classified as early Cankam
literature .and later Cankam literature belonging to the first three centuries ad and
from the third century ad to the sixth century ad respectively. The early Cankam
literature consists of Ettutokai (Eight Anthologies) and Pattupättu (Ten Idylls).
Tolkäppiam, the earliest Tamil grammar, is also said to belong to this literature.
The scholars assign it to the post-Cankam age. The post-Cankam literature consists
of the two epics Cilappathikäram and Manimekälai and also Patinenakilkanakku or
Eighteen Ethical Works.
The society depicted in the early Cankam Ettutokai and Pattuppattn
is a simple one, consisting of various groups, divided horizontally on a regional and
professional basis. The whole Tamil country was divided into four geographical
regions, kurinciy mullah marutam and neitaly which represented the hilly, forest, plain
and littoral regions. The dry and arid region (which may exist in any one of the four
regions) was known 2.%palai (desert).13 The inhabitants or these regions practised
those professions which were suited to each one of them. Thus people living in the
kurinci region, naturally took to vèttai (hunting) and were called vëttuvarXA(hunters)
and eyinar15 (those who hunted a kind of pig known as eymän)y and mulavumä (a
kind of deer). Thus their castes were named after their professions. They were also
named after the region they occupied, that is kunravar or kuravar {kunru means hill)
and känavar16 (känam means forest). They used bows and arrows for hunting.17
People who lived in the mullai or forest region were naturally engaged in sheep and
cattle rearing and were called (protectors of Ko or cow), antar19 (cowherds)
and itaiyar (those who maintained kitai or itaiy meaning sheepfold). Therefore, they
were named after their professions or regions of habitation. Those who inhabited the
marutam or plain region practised cultivation and were known as ulavar11 (cultivators:
ulavu means ploughing). The neital region was peopled by paratavaP2 or meenavar
(those who indulged in fishing; meen means fish) or those who went out on the sea;
{paravai means sea). The palai or arid region was occupied by marnal races such as
maravar^3 (battle heroes, maram means heroism), mallaP10' (wrestlers: mal means
wrestling) and malava^ {mallavar means horse soldiers). But all these people are
never spoken of as untouchables or segregated from other groups.
126 K. R. Hanumanthan

There were some social groups which were engaged in fine panar26 {pan
means musical note) were those who practised music with the help of a yal (a kind
of l y r e ) . T h e {pattu means song) was a female singer and virali27 was a dancer.
Tliey sang in praise of kings and received gifts in return. Koottiyar^ (koottu means
drama) were skilful dramatists. They were also known porunar. Those who beat a
drum called tuti and announced the declaration of war were called tutiar.29 Those
who made royal announcements by beating a drum cdlledparai or murasu were called
paraiyar>{) or valluvar. There were also brähmanas who chanted vedas and performed
sacrifices. They were called antanas, pärppar and irupirappälar (twice-born or dvijäs).31
None of the social groups mentioned above are denoted as untouchables.
Of course, some of them such as tutias are described as pulaiyas meaning impure
persons.32They are also spoken of as ilicinaw>7>and ilipirappälan?^ word £ilicinan,
is derived from the word Hlisu meaning sliding the drum-stick up and down the
drum. The word (ilipirappalan means one who is low born. But it does not mean that
he was an untoucnable. The term pulaiya is adduced to those who plaited the straps
of cots or handled dead bodies and performed funeral obsequies.35 The womenfolk
who were engaged in washing clothes were colledpulaittis.36Though some groups of
people in the Cankam age are spoken of as impure and low-born there is nothing to
indicate that they formed separate units and were segregated as untouchables.
On the other hand, we have ample evidence to show that some of the social
groups which were treated as untouchables during the later periods were virtually
occupying dignified positions in the Cankam society. For example, the paratavars
who later on became untouchables to caste Hindus, owing to their fishing avocation,
are spoken of as an independent tribe with their own chieftains. A Cankam poet
Unpoti Pacunkutaiyar praises the Cola king Ilancetcenni as one who Vanquished
the paratavar.37 So also another poet Mänkuti Marutanar praises the Pändyan king
Nedunchelian as a lion in the battle against the paratavas.38 A king of the paratavas
called Matti is praised in Akanänüru, a Cankam anthology, as the ruler of a territory
known as Kalar?situated at the confluence of the Kaveri with the sea.159
The kuravar, who were considered an untouchable criminal tribe by the British
during later times, occupied an honoured place in the Cankam age. They were quite
literate and there was a kurava poetess by the name of Ilaveyiniyar40who composed a
poem in praise of Ëraikkön who was a great kurava chieftain. They possessed magical
powers so as to bring forth rain by performing a dance called Kuravai-Koottu.41
The maravas ana Kailars who were also regarded as criminal tribes by the British
and semi-untouchables by caste Hindus for a long time, are described as the most
ancient people of Tamil Nadu, who originated there after a deluge, each with a sword
in hand, even before the stone and earth appeared.42 Marava ladies are described as
the ancient wise women.43 When the Pändyan armies in which they were soldiers
were dispersed, they seem to have taken to thieving and robbery (as they did not
know any job other than fighting) which gave them the appellation of criminal tribes.
The mallar and malavar were also other martial groups of ancient Tamil Nadu.
In Cankam literature malavar are described as cavalry men who marched into the
battlefield on horses.44A chieftain called Mävallöri, is described as a famous malava.45
 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 127

Cola kings like Tondaiman Ilantirayan and Kopperunarkilli have been praised by
poets as mallar46 among mallars. A Cera king Kalankai Kanni is addressed by a poet
as a malla lion.47
If even kings could be addressed as mallas then the mallar must have occupied an
honoured place in the Cankam society. But later on the very same people were called
pallar meaning low-class people and treated as untouchables. In Pallu literature, the
hero and heroine are who are described as the descendants of mallas.48
The kurumpar, who became an untouchable tribe in Kerala and Karnataka, are
described as independent tribes having their own kings and forts. Awaiyar, a poetess
of the Cankam age praises king Netumananci as one who conquered many forts of
the kurumpas.49
The pänas who were considered untouchables in modern times Kerala and
Madurai in Tamil Nadu were occupying an enviable status in Cankam society. They
served as minstrels of kings and chieftains and received many gifts from them. A
king presented a pana with a garland of golden lotus flowers.50They rode in chariots
drawn by four horses with their wives wearing garlands of golden lotuses.51 They
were given delicious food when they visited the houses of antanas52 (brähmanas).
Killivalavan, a Cola king, sat along with the panas and took dinner53 with them.
They also participated in the drinking bouts of kings.54 They lived in permanent
settlements situated at river ports with parks full of fragrant flowers.55
The paraiyas who formed a major section of the untouchables in modem Tamil
Nadu are spoken of as one among the four great clans of the mullai region. The other
three clans were pänan, tutiyan and katampan who all became untouchables during
later times. The valluvars, a section of the paraiyas, regarded as untouchables during56
later periods were the royal heralds and court priests during the Cankam period.57
Cankam society was flexible enough to allow intermarriage and inter-dining
between different social groups. We have already seen how panas dined with
kings. The kings married the daughters of velirs or cultivators. The vellälas of the
marutam region married the daughters of kurava chieftains of the kurinci region
and participated in the feasts held by them.58 During the Cankam period, secret
courtship between unmarried girls and young men was allowed. Akanänüru^ a
Cankam anthology, describes many such courtships called kalavu, which ultimately
ended in marriage called /^ ヴな. In one of the poems of a young man who
falls in love with a girl at first sight exclaims, 'Oh! my dear! We dont know who are
our mothers and who are our fathers! We dont know our ancestry! Yet our hearts
are united by love and have become one even as rainwater when mixed with red soil
becomes red/59 When such love marriages were allowed, there was indeed ample
scope for intermarriage irrespective of caste or creed. War conditions and barter
economy further necessitated the intermingling of social groups.
The caturvarna system of social stratification is rarely mentioned in early Cankam
literature. Only the brähmanas are spoken of as irupirappalar60 or twice-born dvijas
tending the three sacred fires.61 The other three varnas are not mentioned at all.
In one poem, the four-fold caste system is mentioned only to be condemned. A
king named Ariyappatai Katanta Netunchelian declares thus, (Among the four castes
128 K. R. Hanumanthan

based on differences, if the low born is learned the high born shall pay obeisance to
him/62Therefore, the status of a man in the Cankam society was based on education
and character and not on birth alone.
Brähmanas mostly lived in towns, in separate streets. The other caste groups also
lived side by side in separate streets. Perumpänärrupatai^ a Cankam work, while
describing the city of Kanci, states that the brahmana quarters were in the heart
of the town, flanked by the streets of fishermen, palli, itaiyas and mallas. Next to
the malla street there was the temple of Tiruverka and the royal palace. Beyond all
these quarters the eyinas or hunters lived in isolated ceris. From this description,
some scholars inferred the existance of untouchability in the Cankam age as there
were different streets for different castes and a ceri outside the city.64 But the word
ceri simply means a place where a particular group of people were gathered together.
There were ceris for both high and low castes. Only in later times the term ceri
denoted the slums occupied by the untouchables. We hear of antana ceris65 in post-
Cankam literature. Further, in the above description of the city, we find the existence
of the streets of fishermen and mallas or pallas who were regarded as untouchables
during later times. Eiyanas or hunters lived outside the city so that they could easily
get into the nearby forests for hunting. Though different occupational groups lived in
separate streets, there seems to have been no professional taboo and segregation of
the low castes during the early Cankam period.
The society depicted in Tolkäppiar s Tolkäppiam is not very different from the
society described in the early Cankam classics. The usual classification of the land
into four regions kurinci, mullai, marutam, neital and the division of the people
living in those regions according to their natural professions such as hunting, cattle
and sheep rearing, cultivation and fishing, as kuravar, itaiyar, ulavar, and paratavar
respectively, is also found in this grammatical work.66 While describing the city
population, Tolkäppiar talks of four classes namely antanar67 (hermits), arasar68
(royal families), vaisigar69 (traders) and valanmantar70 (agriculturists). Antanars
are described as those who always carry with them nool (books and not sacred
thread), karagam (a vessel to receive alms) and mukkolmanai (a wooden seat with
three legs) which are said to be their special emblems. This description is more
appropriate to hermits or saints than to brahmanas with whom they are identified
by later commentators (twelfth and thirteenth centuries ad ). The emblems of royalty
according to Tolkappiar are army, flag, umbrella, war-drum, horse, elephant, chariot,
garland and crown. TTrading and cultivation are said to be the special characteristics
of vaisigar and velanmantar respectively. Though these groups could be found in any
society, Hindu, Jain and Buddhist in general, some authors71 try to identify it with
the chaturvarna system described in Sanskrit literature. Of course there is apparent
similarity between both the classifications. But a close analysis will reveal the fallacy
of such an assumption, because while in Vedic society sudras, the fourth varna, are
depicted as slaves who performed menial services to the other three higher varnas,
in the Tolkappiamy velanmantar the fourth caste, is described as those whose only
occupation is cultivation. Early Tamil society being essentially agricultural, the
peasants were regarded in high esteem by all the others.
 Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 129

According to Tirukkural another Cankam work, the ulavas are the only people
who could be really considered as leading independent lives, while all the rest
are those who eke out their livelihood by bowing before others.72 It is again said
that even kings ought to come under the protective umbrella of cultivators73 who
therefore can be considered the pivot around which the whole world revolves.74
Therefore, the velanmantar could never be identified with the sudras of the
caturvarna system by any stretch of imagination. Such identification is really most
inappropriate and unfortunate and is the handiwork of later commentators who
were influenced by the Dharmasästric injunctions. Of course, Tolkappiar speaks
of atiyavar (slaves or servants), vinaivalar (artisans), panar (musicians), koothar
(dancers), viraliar (dancing ladies) and velans (priests), but they are not spoken
of as untouchables. For example, the panas75 who became untouchables during
later times are described as messengers of love between young men and women.
Therefore the concept of the vertical division of society into four varnas as savarnas
and segregation of all the others as avarnas or untouchables seems to be quite
foreign to the spirit of the Tolkäppiam. Even if the verses mentioning the four castes
are based upon the Vedic varna system they are considered to be an interpolation by
modern scholars.76Thus we may assert that no trace of untouchability can be found
during the early Cankam period.
Even in the later Cankam literature, we do not find much evidence for the
existance of untouchability. The nälvaruna näl means four or chatuvaruna system is
of course mentioned here and there, but at the same time it is stated categorically that
the higher and lower status in society is determined not by birth but only by merit.
Tirukkural^ a didactic work of international fame, and one among the eighteen
ethical treatises in Tamil, declares that (by birth all are equal. Merit differs only
according to the differences in the performance of ones avocation/77 Superior status
in society is decided by ones character. Even a high-born will be considered low-born
if he swerves away from the path of morality.78 If a brähmana forgets the scriptures,
he can read and recollect them again; but if he loses his character he will automatically
lose his status in society.79
Nälatiyar another didactic work declares: (Merely talking of good and bad caste
is of no use. The criteria of a hign caste are austerity, education and perseverance/80
In this work a boatman is. called katat varunattan meaning a man of lowest caste81
(evidently, a sudra).The oil presser82 is designated as low-born as he killed thousands
of oil seeds while extracting oil from them. The influence of the Dharmasastras83 is
discerned here. The impact of the ahimsa doctrine of Jainism and Buddhism can also
be discovered in such descriptions.
In Manimekalaiy an epic of the later Cankam period, Aputtiran, the son of a
brahmana lady and a sudra male is called z pulaimahan^ (the son of a pulaiya) and
brahmanas are exhorted not to touch him lest they should be polluted. Here we find
the influence of the Dharmasutras which declare that the offspring of a brahmana
lady and a sudra male is a candala or untouchable. The profession of harlots is
described as pulaithozhi^ meaning impure profession. In Tirukkural, butchers are
styled pulaivmaya^ (those who performed impure work). Thus the word pulai
130 K. R. Hanumanthan

meaning impurity is being used often in later Cankam literature. But untouchability
of such pulaiyas is not mentioned.
In Cilappatikaram, another great epic of the later Cankam period, the existence of
untouchability or rather unapproachability is hinted at, since the kammala (goldsmith)
who took Kovalan the hero of the epic to the Pandyan king is said to have walked
at a distance from the latter all along the way.87 Kammalas were of course treated as
semi-untouchables during medieval times. But whether they were treated so during
the later Cankam age is rather doubtful because in Purananuru, a Cankam anthology,
they are described as masilkammia^ meaning spotless or pure kammalas. Therefore
it is quite probable that the kammala walked at a distance from Kovalan a high caste
(ぴだz. or merchant), out of reverence89 for his wealth and nobility rather than because
of notions of untouchability.
The valluvar% who were called muthal paraiyans (first among paraiyars) during
medieval times, and included in the list of Scheduled Castes during modern times
are described in glowing terms in Perunkatai, a Jain literary work. There they are
described as royal heralds who announced significant news and events to the public
such as royal weddings, the birth of a child to the king, the beginning of a war and
royal festivals. While making the announcement through the royal drum called
murasu, the valluvar rode on an elephant dressed in a spotless silken white cloth,
with sandalwood paste applied on his forehead and a white garland around his neck.
A small contingent of soldiers called celvacenai always followed him. Before taking
out the was drum or murasu, he performed ouia to Korravai, the goddess of victory.90
Even now he acts as a priest to paraiyas and pallas. It is to be noted that the author of
the Tirukkural of international fame hailed from the valluvar caste.
The panas, the later day untouchables, also enjoyed an enviable status in the later
Cankam period. They are said to have acted as messengers or love, carrying tidings
of love to prospective brides and oridegrooms, or messages of reconciliation between
estranged lovers of high castes.91They helped some heroes win the hearts of attractive
harlots called parattaiyar.92They were here, there and everywhere in the later cankam
society, at times singing the praise of a king, later inspiring a hero in the battle-field
or uniting long separated lovers or consummating marriages of youngsters in love.
Far from being untouchables, they formed an essential cog in the wheel of society.
The wives of farmers are called kataisiyar93 meaning women of the last caste.
Perhaps this meant that they were the wives ofvdanmantar occupying the fourth rank
in the hierarchy mentioned by Tolkäppiar. But they are not notified as untouchables,
The wives of pallas who became untouchables in the course of time are known as
kataisiyars. Those who washed dirty clothes and made baskets out of reeds are termed
pulains"4 meaning impure ladies. But they do not seem to have been treated as
untouchables. On the other hand they are described as favourites of Lord Muruga
who often possessed and spoke through them. The jumping of bulls is compared with
the jumping of pulaitis possessed by the spirit of Muruga.95 When they could act as
fit mediums of a God they could not have been treated as untouchaoles. But the low
status of the pulaiya in society is often ninted at. The cringing look of a lover towards
his love is compared to the look of a pulaiya.96 From this it may be inferred that a
 Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 131

pulaiya saluted his master with a cringing look, yet the pulaiya is not referred to as an
untouchable in the Kalittogai.
Only in the Acärakkövai which is supposed to be a very late work among the
Cankam literature, notions of pollution and untouchability of pulaiyas can be traced
here and there. There it is mentioned that water touched by a pulaiya is defiled and
thereby becomes unfit for drinking by high caste people, for whom even a glance at a
pulaiya leads to pollution.97 High-caste people are exhorted not to give the pulaiyas
even the remnants of food lest they should be polluted98 and not to consult them
with regard to auspicious days." Of the ten situations in which a man should take a
ceremonial bath in order to purify himself, one is said to be the touching of the body
of the low-born.100 Low-caste people are asked to keep away from the brahmanas,
and tapatas (ascetics) and step down from the path and give way to them if they
happen to meet them on the way, so that the latter could escape pollution.101 One
is advised not to touch brahmanas, cows and low-born people.102 Thus the idea of
ceremonial purity of bfähmanas and the practice of untouchability by them seem to
have sprouted during the later Cankam society of the Tamils.

U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y D U R IN G T H E P A L L A V A P E R IO D , ad 5 7 5 —9 0 0

During the period of the Pallavas which followed the later Cankam age notions of
the caste system and untouchability seem to have taken deeper roots in Tamil society.
The Pallava kings who traced their descent from a brähmana of the Bhäradväja gotra
naturally patronised the brahmanas and Vedic Hinduism as propounded by them.
One of the Pallava kings, Parameswara Varman (ad 670-700) openly espoused the
cause of the varnäsrama system of society and enacted laws to preserve the caturvarna
system,103 which implies the division of society into superior savarna castes and
inferior avarna castes which were untouchable to the former. Moreover, it was the
Pallavas who brought a number of brahmana families into T'amil Madu from places
like Magadha in the north granted them tax-free lands and settled them in separate
villages called caturvëdi mangalamsP^
The brahmanas who were settled in the caturvëdi mangalams, were well versed
in Sanskrit scriptures such as Brahmanas, Dharmasütras and Dharmasästras, and
ruthlessly applied their injunctions to the society in which they lived. The newly-settled
brahmanas finding that there was no well-demarcated ksatriya and vaisya varnas or
castes duly initiated into Vedic mantras and reciting them with sacred thread over
their shoulders, simply designated all the non-brahmanas as südras. Those who were
practising certain menial jobs which were a taboo for brahmana priests， according to
the Dharmasastras, were treated as candalas or untouchables. For example, the ezhavas
who were toddy tappers were prohibited from toddy-tapping from the palmyra trees
situated in caturvedi mahgalams inhabited by brahmanas.105 Here we can discern the
influence of the Dharmasastras on brahmanas, for according to Manu Dharmasästra
and Yajnavalkya SmrHy the consumption of liquor is one among the five great crimes
oipancamahapataka%}^ According to the Dharmasütras, even a sudra became 2,patita
132 K. R. Hanumanthan

(outcaste) by consuming liquor.107The ezhavas whose sole profession was toddy-tapping

were therefore not allowed into the brahmin settlements, the catxirvedi mangalams.Hie
ezhavas and tiyas of Kerala, the canars of Tamil Nadu, the idigas of Andhra Pradesh
and the pasir of Madhya Pradesh seem to have become untouchables to the caste-
Hindus only because of the taboo against liquor prescribed in the Dharmasastras.
The Pallava period witnessed the heyday of the Bhakti movement in Tamil Nadu,
which was manifested in the form of Saivism and Vaisnavism. The leaders of the
movement known as Näyanmärs (Saivites) and Älvärs (Vaisnavites) have left behind
them thousands of thrilling devotional songs, in which we also get a glimpse of the
social conditions prevailing during that period. Their catholic attitude prompted
them to condemn outright the rigid caste system and untouchability which they
found around them. For example Appar or Tirunävukkarasar (seventh century ad )
who is said to have converted the Pallava King Mahendravarman from Jainism to
Saivism declares in one of his songs that he would worship a sincere devotee of Siva
as a veritable god even if he happened to be a pulaiya infested with leprosy and who
revels in skinning the cow and eating its flesh.108 From this song, we understand that
pulaiyas were engaged in killing and skinning cows which was indeed a taboo to
an orthodox Hindu especially a Saivite. Further they were guilty of eating its meat,
which is a prohibited food for all Hindus, inasmuch as the cow is regarded as gömatä
(mother cow) sacred to the Hindus and the bull as the vehicle of Lord Siva. The
Apastamba Dharmasütra and Satapätha Brähmana vehemently condemn beef eating,
especially the flesh of a cow.109Those who ate beef were characterised as antyajas (last
in society or lowest born) by the Veda Vyasa Smrti and other scriptures. It is clear that
the aversion against beef eating had percolated deep into Tamil society during the
Pallava period. But in Saivism even the low-born untouchables were freely admitted
during the Pallava period. Appar declares that even the lowest born will be raised to
the position of the highest-bom if only he chanted the holy name of Siva.110
Cambantar (seventh century a d ), one of the three great Tevaram hymnists, took
along with him a päna by name Tiruneelakanta Yalppanar so that he could play on his
yal(a kind of life) whenever a song was sung by Cambantar. Pänas seem to have been
considered untouchables during this period. Therefore when he took his disciple into
the house of an orthodox devotee called Tirunilanakkar, there was some hesitation
on the part of the host to admit him into the house especially near the sacrificial
mound. But Cambantar insisted that his disciple should be admitted. It is said that
when the päna went near the sacrificial mound the fire began to glow from right to
left (an auspicious sign) rather than from left to right as usual.in This incident reveals
that God was pleased to have an untouchable near the sacrificial fire. In another
episode Yälppänar who was initially refused entry into the Meenakshi Temple at
Madurai, was later on admitted when Lord Lokanata, the temple God appeared in
the dream of the temple priest and ordered him to admit the päna devotee into the
sanctum sanctorum. So also at Tiruvarur he was admitted into the temple by God
who opened for him the northern gate, which was closed by the priests.112 These
stories, whether true or not, reveal the fact that pulaiyas and pänas were untouchables
who were demea admission into the temples.
 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 133

Mänikkaväcakar, an illustrious saint of this period, calls himself a pulaiya with

a head infested with creeping worms and who was shortening fus life by uttering
numberless lies.113 In another poem, he calls himself 2, pulaiya blessed by Lord Siva
while lying outside the temple walls and wailing.114 He sings of the greatness of God
Siva who rescued him from the whirlpool of caste {kuld) and subcaste {gotrd).ns From
all these utterances, it is clear that the pulaiyas were considered impure outcastes who
were not allowed into the temples.
Of the 63 Näyanmärs whose statues are being erected in all Siva temples, many
of them belonged to the lowest untouchable castes. Enäti Näyanär of canar (toddy
tapper) caste, Kännappa Näyanär of vettuvar (hunter) caste, Ätipattar of nulayar
(fisherman) caste, Anayar and Tirumular of itaiyar (shepherd) caste, Kaliyar from
the cekkar (oil pressers) caste, Tirukurippu Tontar from Ekali caste (washermen)
and Nantanar from pulaiya or paraiya (drumbeaters) caste are all worshipped in
Siva temples. Of these Nayanmars the most famous was Kannappar116 a hunter
who applied his own eyes to the bleeding eyes of Lord Sivas vigraha (idol) and
Nantanar117who was admitted into the Nataraja temple of Cidambaram due to the
mercy ot Lr〇d. In another case， Siva appeared in the form of a paraiya with ä hide
on the back, in a yagasalai (sacrificial mound) which made all the brahmanas run
away while Sömäsi Näyanär118 recognised him, offered havis (ghee) to God in the
form of a paraiya and got his blessings. Thus, the early Saivite tradition reveals the
utter absence of the caste feeling and notions of untouchability at least among the
devotees of Cj〇d.
The early Vaisnavite Älvärs were not a whit behind the early Saivite Näyanmärs
in their catholic attitude towards caste and untouchability. In fact, many of the Älvärs
hailed from the sudra or even untouchable castes. Nammälvar, the most celebrated
among them, was a sudra, Tiruppänalvar was a päna outcaste and Tirumangai Älvär
was a tribal chief. Later commentators have declared that Lord Visnu purposely
manifested himself in low castes as Alvars, in order to humble the pride of high
castes and to demonstrate the truth that caste is not a barrier for the attainment of
salvation.119 In support of their view they point out how Visnu manifested himself as
Krsna in the itaiya, a sudra caste and as varaha (pig) a low despised animal.120
Tontaratippoti Älvär exhorts the brahmanas to worship a devotee even if he
belongs to a degraded caste and warns them that if they insulted such devotees, then
they would become pulaiyas, or untouchables the moment they do so.121 Nammälvar
declares that a devotee is to be worshipped, even if he is a candäla among candälas
and born in a caste much lower than the four higher castes.122 When Tlruppänälvär
was not allowed entry into the temple of Lord Ranganatha of Srlrangam, God is
said to have appeared in the dream of Lokacäranka Munivar, a brähmana sage and
ordered him to take the Älvär into the temple by carrying him on his shoulders.
Lokacäranka obeyed the Lord^ command and carried the Älvär on his shoulders into
the temple. Thereafter the Älvär came to be called Munivahana or rider of a sage.123
Thus temple entry seems to have been allowed to the untouchables by the Vaisnavites
long before the advent of the temple-entry movement of modern times. Tirumalaisai
Älvär, though he was the son of a rsi or seer, was brought up in the family of a
134 K. R. Hanumanthan

low-caste piramban called Tiruvälan. Even then he was adored with great respect by
Perumpuliyur Atikal124 who belonged to a high caste.125Tirumangai Alvar though a
robber by birth became one of the celebrated Älvärs, because of his sincere faith and
devotion to Lord Visnu.126
Thus, during the early medieval period (up to the tenth century a d ) that is, that
of the Pallavas, we find that untouchability had come to stay in Tamil society and
was practised towards the pulaiyas who were not normally allowed into the temples
but were allowed only on the intercession of God. Though untouchability was
condemned in unequivocal terms by the Alvars and Nayanmars, the phenomenon of
untouchability came to be practised in Tamil society during the Pallava rule in the
Tamil country.

U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y D U R IN G T H E C O L A , P A N D Y A A N D
V U A Y A N A G A R A P E R IO D S (ad 9 0 0 - 1 6 0 0 )

The Pallavas were followed by the imperial Cola, Pändya and Vijayanagara rulers,
under whose regime a rigid caste system and untouchability took deeper roots in
Tamil society, as most of them were great patrons of brähmanas and the Vedic
chaturvarna system of which untouchability is only a by-product. They held the
brähmana räjagurm and priests in high esteem, because they recognised them as
ksatriyas of the Suryakula (solar race) or Candrakula (lunar race). In return for this
recognition, they and their kinsmen were rewarded with tax-free lands, caturvêdi
mangalams, where the four-vama system was strictly enforced and some groups of
people who were indulging in certain impure and tabooed jobs were regarded as
avarnas and segregated from the regular settlements. There is a tradition that Rajendra
I Cök brought a large number of Saivite brähmanas from the banks of the Ganges
and settled them in the Kaveri basin127 in villages called caturvêdi mangalams.
Kulottunga II (ad 1133-50) is described as the protector and preserver of the laws
of castes as well as the sacred laws.128 The Pändyas took special pleasure and pride in
creating brahmadeya (tax-free) villages for brähmanas. Sundara Pandya I connected a
number of villages and created the “Sundarapändya caturvêdi mangalam” comprising
of200 veli of land.129 Vikrama Pandya created Vikxama Pandya caturvêdi mangalam.
Like this there were nine more caturvêdi mangalams in the Pandya empire.130 The
Vijayanagara empire was created under the inspiration of sage Vidyaranya with
the sole aim of protecting and preserving the Hindu sanätana dharma (including
varnasrama dharma) from the onslaught of Muslims. The Näyakas of Madura,
took special care in protecting the caste system. According to Sathianathaier, uThe
Brahmins enjoyed special privileges and were highly venerated during his time. The
caste system was carried sacrosanct and there were occasions of royal interference to
check breaches of the rules.
Medieval Tamil literature abounds with references to the caturvarna system of
society and untouchability. Civakacintämaniy a Jain epic of the tenth century ad
refers to the high position enjoyed by brähmanas in society. They were so imbued
 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 135

with the sense of ceremonial purity and pollution that some of them killed a dog
for its impurity, by simply stoning it.132 Pulaiyar are spoken of with contempt since
they performed funeral rites and offered food cooked without salt to the departed
souls.133 But valluvar, a branch of the paraiyas are spoken of with respect, as experts
in astrology and the drawing of almanacs.134 The text condemns butchery and says
that it is better to be born in a superior caste which does not engage in the slaughter
of animals.135 But it denounces the habit of looking upon mere birth as the basis of
superiority and inferiority.136
Periapuränam^ a Saivite literary text of the Cola period is full of references to
the caturvarnas (four casts) of which the sudra vellälas were the last.137 Cekkilar,
the author of Periapuränam^ was patronised by Cola Kulottunga II138 who jealously
guarded the Vedic caturvarnas. Periapuränam gives a graphic picture of the filthy and
unhealthy nature of the ceri (village) where Nantanar, the paraiya Näyanmär lived,
and it clearly indicates the segregation of the pulaiyas as paraiyas in slums outside the
regular villages.139 Beef eating and dealing with leather seem to be the factors behind
the untouchability of Nantanär who was first denied admission into the Cidambaram
temple and later admitted due to divine intercession and hailed as a Näyanmär.
The great acärya (preceptor) Ramanuja (eleventh century ad ) set an example
to his followers in the condemnation of caste and untouchability. It is said that
when his wife practised untouchability towards his guru (master) Tiruklcacci Nambi
(a vaisya) and his wife, he sent her away to her parents home and became a sanyäsi140
(hermit). He used to go to the river Kaveri for his daily bath, supporting himself on
the arms of a brahmana disciple and return from the river by supporting himself on
the shoulders of a sudra disciple called Uranlcavilli Tasar.141 He became a victim
of persecution at the hands of Kulottunga I (1078-79) and therefore took asylum
in Karnataka. While staying there, he recovered an image of Visnu from a Muslim
chieftain at Delhi and brought it to Mëlkota where he built a temple for that deity.
Since the pancamas (untoucnables) helped him in the recovery of the image, he
ordered that they must be allowed into the Melkote temple for three days in a year.142
Thus he became a champion of temple entry for the untouchables even in the eleventh
century a d . More than that, he admitted a number oïpancamas (panaiyar and pulaiyar)
into the Vaisnavite fold by giving them the holy mantra, sacred thread and applying
nämam (Vaisnavite symbol) to their foreheads. He gave them the title 'Tirukulathar1,
meaning people of pure and holy caste. At Srïrangam, the Mecca of Srivaisnavites,
he allowed a number of low-caste people like tasars to perform a number of temple
services. Märaner Nambi, a disciple of Yamunacarya— —though a pancama by birthj
received at the time of his death all the high funeral honours due to a brahmana.143
Acärya Hirutayam, a great Vaisnavite literary text written by Pinnalakia
Mämunikal proclaims that: (tEven a person born of a low caste becomes a Brahmana
by devotion to God and if any Brahmana (by birth) ridicules such devotees, he at
once becomes a Candäla.w144 Further it declares: (£one who is a devotee of Visnu,
even though he is a consumer of dogs flesh, is superior to a brahmana (by birth)
and one who lacks such a devotion even if he is a sanyäsi, is inferior to a dog eating
low caste person/5145 It describes Tiruvaymolt the Tamil hymnal of Vaisnavism, as a
136 K. R. Hamimanthan

gold pot which can be touched by all, irrespective of caste, while Sanskrit scriptures
are like mud-pots which are polluted by the touch of the low castes and cannot be
used by the high castes thereafter.146 The concept of pollution and untouchability
practised towards some low castes is hinted at in the above passage. Tlius, it is clear
that equality among castes is preached only for devotees of Visnu and not for others
and there were some untouchables in the society who could raise their status only by
devotion to God.
The Siddha school of Saivite philosophy which flourished in Tamil Nadu during
the period between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries is very vehement in its
condemnation of the caste system and untouchability. They even expose the fallacy
behind the notions of purity and pollution {madi pula). Sivavakkiar, a Siddha,
addresses the brahmanas as follows: *Ye, Vetiyas, you recite the Vedas all the time.
But can you tell me where is caste and what is Veda? You talk of pollution caused by
menstrual blood; but dont you know that the child itself is made up of that polluting
stuff? Then how do these differences come about?>147 In another poem, he argues in
favour of intermarriage between various castes thus: (If a male buffalo cohabits with
a cow, a hybrid which does not belong to either of the species is born. But when a
brahmana has intercourse with a pulaiya lady, we get only a normal human offspring.
When, such is the case why all these social distinctions occur/148 He further declares:
'It is true that the vëtiyars do not eat fish then and now. But do they not drink the
water in which the fishes live and take bath in it. It is true you do not eat venison. But
do you not use the skin of a deer for sitting during tapas (meditation)/149Turning to
those who consider beef eating as a taboo, he asks, (You idiotic Saivites, you condemn
beef as polluting stuff. But, have you forgotten that your body itself has grown out
of cow’s milk taken during childhood.’150 To those who talk of impurity caused by
saliva {ecchit) he asks the question, (Is it not a fact that the flowers with which you
offer puja to God, and the honey you drink have been already polluted by the saliva
of bees? Has not the milk you drink already been polluted by the saliva of the calf?'151
In spite of these formidable arguments against caste and untouchability, it continued
to be practised in Tamil society. Kapilar, another Siddha of ttus period, condemns the
rigid caste system in unequivocal terms and declares that the brähmanas were solely
responsible for imposing the four-fold caste system on Tamil society.152
Inscriptions of this period, refer to paraiyas, pallas and cakkilians as belonging to
low castes, but it cannot be definitely asserted that they were treated as untouchables.
The paraiyas seem to have lived in separate cëris outside the villages. In an inscription
of Räjaräja Cola I (ad 1014), separate cëris and burial grounds are mentioned for
paraiyas, toddy-tappers, goldsmiths, etc.153 Paraicerk are mentioned even in the
period of Mahavarman Sundara Pandya I154 (1216-123B). It is clearly stated in
an inscription of Räjaräja I that tax exemption was granted to certain ceris known
as tïntacëris meaning untouchable cëris.155 In another inscription also tintaceri is
mentioned separately.156 Since paraiceri and tintaceri are mentioned separately in the
same line of the inscription, we are led to suspect that the untouchables were different
from the paraiyas. It is quite probable that only a few sections among paraiyas were
considered as untouchables while the others were treated with dignity.
 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 137

While describing the different kinds of people who attended a village assembly,
it is said in an inscription that from the topmost antana (brahmana) to the lowest
arippan (one section of the paraiyans) all the castes were present. All these castes,
thus assembled, took a vow that they should unite themselves against the enemy of
their chieftain and if they allied with the enemy of their chief, they would incur the
ignominy of giving their daughters in marriage to pulluparikkira paraiyans, that is,
those paraiyas who gathered grass for the horses of vanniyars or that of becoming
the husbands of their own mothers.157 But, in the same inscription, the names of
panar, paraiyar and paraimutali (foremost among paraiyas) are found along with
Sivabrahmanas, cakklis, etc. Therefore we are led to think that not all the paraiyas
were considered as lowest untouchables and only certain sections of them such as
arippan and grass-cutting paraiyas were treated as the lowest, while the others were
regarded as somewhat higher in society. But they seem to be definitely lower in status
to the vellälas and brahmanas who employed them as their field labourers. Paraiyar,
panar, cakklis and irulas are spoken of as low castes in the same inscription. In another
inscription, two persons promising loyalty to their master swear that if they run away
from their master they would suffer the same ignominy as that of ojffering their wives
to a cakkilian and watching them without taking any action.158 Thus cakkilians and
some paraiyans seem to have been regarded as low and untouchable castes in the
medieval Tamil society. Beef eating seems to be the cause of their untouchability.
In an inscription of Rajaraja III, the imprecation for violating the injunction of the
inscription was to acquire the sin of eating the flesh of a cow.159 In another inscription,
it is declared that violation of its injunction would bring on the violator the sin of
killing a tawny cow on the banks of the Ganges.160 Such being the veneration of
the cow, it is but natural that those who consumed carrion or beef out of economic
necessity or otherwise became untouchables to those who abstained from eating beef.
Moreover, giving equality to the farm labourers would not be in the interests of vellala
and brahmana landlords, who naturally kept the paraiyas, pallas and cakkilians as
slaves in order to extract maximum work from them with minimum expenditure.They
and their wives were sold as chattels along with lands. According to an inscription of
the former Travancore State (ad 922-923), a pulaiyan was also sold along with the
lands granted whenever such lands were transferred to a third person.161
Many sections of the paraiyas seem to have enjoyed certain privileges during the
Cola and Vijayanagara periods. When the paddy was removed from, the straw, it was
to be measured only by a paraiya162 to whom perquisites were to be paid. Those who
worked in the fields were called ulaparaiyar who lived in separate ceris wmch were
exempted from taxation. An inscription of Räjaräja I, dated ad 1014 speaks of the ceris
of the ulaparaiyar situated on the eastern and western end of the main village being
exempted from taxation.163 Some of the paräiyars served as talaiyaris or supervisors
in the villages and earned some amount as wages. A tax known as talaiyärikkänam or
vetti was imposed on them. In sqme cases, exemption was granted from this tax. An
inscription of Sundara Cola and Räjaräja Cola (985-1014) speak of the exemption
of such a tax from a gifted village.164 Certain ceris of paraiyar were rich enough to be
taxed. Thus, we hear of a gift of the income from a paraiceri to a Siva temple during
138 K. R. Hamimanthan

the period of Immadi Bukkaräya (ad 1394).165 Individual paraiyas seem to have been
rich enough to endow the lighting of temples. We hear of such an endowment made
by a paralyatiyan to the temple atTirakalukunram.166 During the period of Rajaraja
I, a paraiya named Urparaiyän Martal Cömanatan made a similar endowment to a
temple.167 Some of theparaiyas took to the profession of weaving and therefore were
called necavu paraiyas {necavu means weaving) having separate looms cdlltdparaitari
A tax cdlltdparait^ariyirai was levied on them. In sarvamänya villages (villages gifted
outright) of the Colas, in the thirteenth century, the remission of a number of taxes
including the taxes onparaitari and satiyatari (satiyans are another section of paraiyas
included in the Scheduled Castes list). Many of them took up the profession of
beating drums (parai) on festive occasions, marriages and funerals. Such persons were
to pay a tax c a l l e d か which is mentioned in an inscription of Rajaraja IIL168
The paraiyas at times quarrelled with the other castes and refused to beat drums for
them. We hear of one such quarrel between paraiyas and the residents of 24 villages
during the reign of Vlrapäntiadeva (ad 1376) in which there was some bloodshed on
both sides. Kankaarayan, an officer of the king, intervened and effected an amicable
settlement between them, according to which the paraiyas should compulsorily beat
the drums for the caste-Hindus on all occasions good and bad and receive in turn a
fatakku (a measure) of paddy and a fowl as wages for their services. Sometimes rent-
free land cAltAparaitutaimai were granted to such paraiyas.169
The paraiyas enjoyed some privileges from the king, which they zealously
guarded. An inscription of the year ad 1665,170 refers to a quarrel between the
paraiyas and kutumpans (pallas who are included in the Scheduled Castes list) over
the enjoyment of privileges. The paraiyas of the village of Snvilluputtur claimed the
same privileges as the kutumpans of the village, i.e. the right to use a white horse,
a white parasol and keratti (the right to carry torches in daytime), to wear 2.pavatai
(under garment), a pair of cilambu (anklet) and two kotukku (another ornament),
to construct a sixteen pillared (a canopy resting on bamboos) on festive
occasions, to use three ters (chariots) and eighteen kinds of musical instruments
during funeral processions. This was disputed by the kutumpans whose leaders
waited on the king and represented their case. It was then decided, on tne authority
of certain copperplate grants which had been issued previously, that the paraiyas
were to enjoy only a few privileges, such as erection of a three pillared pantal on
festive occasions, wearing of one kotukku and one cilambu, use of the mäppu (white
cloth under pantal) and ont paittam (torch), building a house without a second
floor and payment of a fee for services during funerals.
Some of the paraiyan did selfless service for the state and were duly honoured
for such acts. It is stated that one Kalivlriya Muttarayan, a valluvan of Kakkalur in
Eyil Nätu, died fighting against the thieves on behalf of perumakkal (dignified
residents) of the village, who rewarded his son with a grant of land.171 We hear of one
Poovan Paraiyan, who provided irrigation facilities to a wasteland by his hard work
and made it into a cultivable land. For this service, he was awarded the title of araiyan
anukkan.172 Only officers and soldiers of repute were usually given the title of (araiyan
during the Cola period. An inscription of Räjaräja III, found at Kiranur at Kulattur
 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 139

taluk, Pudukkottai district says that two paraiyans called Armoonru Pamiyan and
Kidarangonda Paraiyan possessed the titles oïpër araiyan and nätu araiyan. Some of
them served as soldiers in the army. Räjaräja I had a special regiment called Valankai
Velaikkära Cenai which perhaps consisted mostly of paraiya soldiers because the
paraiyas are called valankai matrar (friends) in manuscripts.173 Those prominent
among the paraiyar were also included in the village assembles and were denoted
as paraimutaliP^ Mutali means the primary person or first among equals, who sat
along with other castes and offered judgements. Some of the paraiyas were educated
enough to sign their names in documents which were later engraved on stones as
inscriptions. Among the signatories of some of the inscriptions found at Pudukottai
are Ennankaiakki Paraiyan Uttamacola Paraiyan, Känättu Paraiyan and Axacar
Mikamaparaiyan (.pilot in a ship).175
Thus, we find that the paraiyas of the Cola period engaged in multifarious useful
tasks such as field labourers, drum-beaters, weavers, performers of funeral rites,
watchers in villages, etc. They seem to have possessed property of their own and paia
taxes. At least some of them were educated and participated in village assemblies.
Some of them of course were segregated and settled in separate cëris called tïntacêris
or untouchable slums. But only during the later Pandya and Vijayanagara periods
their position in society seems to have deteriorated so much as to be dubbed as an
untouchable caste as a whole.
The pallas who form another major portion of the untouchables in Tamil Nadu
at present, seem to have enjoyed a dignified status during the Cök period. They are
referred to as kutumpan in inscriptions, which means head of the kutumpu or variant,
the unit of the local administration in the villages. Members of the panchayat were
elected by a system of lots {kutavolai system) in which the kutumpans played a
significant role. They are referred to as those who did yeomen service to the village
through kutumpu. Even at the present pallas possess the title kutumpan in the
Pandyan and Kongu region. They practise the kutumpu system of elections for their
pancayats even today. They trace their origin to Indra, god of the marutam region, and
call themselves devëndrakula vèllalar. According to an inscription of Karivalamvanta
Nällur, issued during the Nayaka rule, devëndra kulattar were allowed to possess
royal insignia such as a white elephant, white umbrella, double cilambu, double
kotukku, torch during daytime, two chariots, eighteen drums and pantal supported by
sixteen wooden legs.176 When paraiyas also claimed the same privileges and picked
up quarrels, devendra kulattar appealed to Tirumalai Nayaka, who after consulting
old copperplates decreed that the paraiyas could enjoy only the privilege of wearing
double cilambu and single kotukku, and possessing one torch, one pavatai and one
house without a storey. We have seen how similar privileges were bestowed on them
by the inscription found at Srivilliputhur.177 Even in modern times, temple priests
used to go with an elephant, drums and garlands and invite the pallas to come and
initiate the dragging of the temple car by touching the rope. This practice is adopted
at Karivalamvanta Nallür, Perur near Coimbatore, Maturai, Colavantan, etc.178
During the period oi Uola and Vijayanagara rule, in Tamil Nadu, a peculiar system
of classification arose, according to which there were ninety-eight valankai (right
140 K. R. Hanumanthan

hand) and ninety-eight itankai (left hand) castes. According to Cölan Purvapattayam,
a manuscript of Kulottunga Cola III, each of the four varnas, i.e. brähmana, ksatriya,
vaisya and sudm，was divided into four castes and each of the four castes was fturther
divided into six subcastes, thus bringing the total to 24 castes for each varna and
altogether ninety-six castes, to which the low paraiya caste was added to valankai
and matiga to the left hand castes, raising the number of castes to ninety-eight.179
In general, vellaläs (agriculturists) and their associates belonged to the valanKai,
and kammälar (artisans) and their associates to the itankai classes. Frequently, they
quarrelled among themselves over the sole enjoyment of certain petty privileges, such
as wearing jasmine flowers in the hair, using drams or umbrellas during processions
and so on. Such quarrels180 arose only between low-caste untouchables such as
paraiyar and cakkilians181 (cobblers) or paraiyas and pallas.182The pallas as non-beef
eaters considered themselves superior to the paraiyas who in turn considered the
cakkilians as inferior to them as they came from the Andhra region and became
rivals to them. The kammalars were relegated to the position of untouchables even
to the paraiyas and cakkilians, since they called themselves the direct descendants of
Brahma and claimed superiority to the brähmanas who are said to have sprung only
from the face of Brahma. Whenever the kammalars claimed certain special privileges
for themselves, it was the paraiyars who picked up quarrels with them.183
During the period of Vijayanagara rule (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ad )
Viswanatha Nayaka, a viceroy of Vijayanagara in Tamil Nadu, introduced ^itpalayam
system (a kind of feudal system) by which the whole of Tamil Nadu was divided
into seventy-two pälayams. Telugu nobles who helped him in his expeditions were
made zamindars of rich and fertile lands while drylands were allotted to the marava
chieftains who helped them against the Pandyas. Ariyanatha Mudaliar, a vellala
appointed as the chieftain of Tinnevelly region by Viswanatha Nayaka， brought a
number of vellar from Tondaimandalam and settled them in the Pandya region. The
lands which were owned by the allies of the Pandyas, i.e., the natars (canars), paraiyas
and pallas were confiscated and given to the followers of the Nayakas. Landless
canars, paraiyas and pallas naturally became agrestic serfs and untouchables in due
course of time, to the vellala marava and Telugu landlords.
In conclusion, it may be said that untouchability did not rear its ugly head in
the early Tamil society at least till the end oi tne early Cankam age (up to the
third century a d ). During the later Cankam age, due to the puristic and ahimsa
doctrines of Buddhism and Jainism, the concept of pollution and untouchability
is hinted at in works like Manimekalai ^nd Acarakovai. But, strong condemnation
of superiority based on birth is made by most of the poets of this period and
religious leaders such as Nayanmars and Alvars of the Pallava period, who of course
accept the theory of untouchability of some castes such as puiaiyas, paraiyas and
panas. During the Cola period, we find definite mention of untouchable villages
called tintaceris in inscriptions, and literature like the Periapuranam. During the
Vijayanagara rule, the list of untouchable castes seem to have increased further.
The cakkilians, brought by them into Tamil Nadu, became untoucnables owing
to their association with scavenging, leather work and beef eating. The paraiyas
 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 141

and pulaiyas were already untouchables owing to their beef eating and leather-
work. The vettians who handled dead bodies, the vannans who washed impure
clothes, the navithan who shaved human hair became untouchables to the other
castes. The non-beef eating pallas were relegated to the position of agricultural
slaves after the disbandonment of the armies of the Pandyas and were treated as
untouchables, perhaps due to their loyalty to the Pandyas and stiff opposition to
the Vijayanagara Nayakas.The natars or canars also suffered the same fate due to
their loyalty to the Pandyas and their opposition to the Nayakas of Madurai. But,
many of them chose to eke out their livelihood by toddy-tapping and became
untouchables to brahmanas and their allies. The kammalars who occupied a
honourable position in the society during the Cola and earlier periods, came to be
identified with rathakaras of anuloma caste and treated as untouchables, perhaps
owing to their claim of superiority over brahmanas themselves. The idea of the
caturvarna system seems to have touched only the fringe of Tamil society during
the period under our survey. People came to be divided only horizontally according
to their professions. Superiority based on birth was never accepted in Tamil Nadu.
Though trading classes like komuttis and chettiars assumed the title of danavaisyas
and martial classes like pallar, pallis, natars and maravars assumed the titles of
vanniakulaksatriyas, pandyas and tevars, agricultural castes like the vellalars called
themselves sat-sudrasy there were no varnas in reality in Tamil Nadu. Orthodox
brahmanas never recognised them, and performed the upanayana ceremony
for them or initiated them into Vedic studies after adorning them with sacred
thread. But gradually, it created a sense of superiority and inferiority among the
various castes which led to the relegation of some castes as untouchables. Thus,
untouchability in Tamil Nadu seems to be the result of an unholy alliance between
the indigenous social differentiation based on profession and the caturvarna system
of the north, a hierarchy based on birth and imaginary purity or impurity.

N O T E S A N D R E FER EN C ES

1A. Aiyappan, Ira va s a n d C u ltu re Change (Madras: Government Museum,1945), 37.

2 Ibid” 38,
3 B. R. Ambedkar, The Untouchables^ second edition (Balrampur: Jetavan Mahavihar
Shravasti,1969),1.
4 Ibid., 26.
5 Louis Dumont, H om o H ierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Im plications^ translated by
Mark Sainsbury (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), 134.
6 A. A. Führer, ed., Vasistha D harm a Sastra (Bombay: The Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute,1916), 21,fn.
7V. N. Mandlik, ed., M anu S m riti (Bombay: Ganpat Krishnaji s Press, 1886), IX, 235-38.
8 R V. Kane, H isto ry o f D harm asütras I (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,
1930-62), 168.
9 D. D. Kosambi, B hagaw an B uddha (Tamil), trans. Ka. Sri. Sri. (Madras: Palaniappa
Brothers, 1957), 351-53.
142 K. R. Hanumanthan

10 R. Moris and E. Hardy, A n g n tta ra N ika ya (London: Pali Text Society, 1885-1900),
107; 11,85.
11 For a detailed account of untouchability in Jain and Buddhist literature, see Vivekanand
Jha, 'Candäla and the Origin of Untouchability', The Indian Historical Review 13.1-2 (New
Delhi, July 1986 - January 1987), 24-32.
12 For a detailed discussion of taboos in Indian society, see K. R. Hanumanthan,
U ntouchability: A H is to ric a l Study up to A .D . 1 5 0 0 w ith Special Reference to Tam ilnadu (Madurai:
Koodaï Publishers,1979), 31-60.
13 Maturaikanchi, 238-326 in Pattuppattny edited by U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (Tirunelvely:
South India Saiva Siddhanta Works [hereafter, SISSW] Publishing House, 1961).
14 Patirrupättu, 30:9-10, in Ettuttokai, edited by U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (Tirunelvely:
SISSW Publishing House, 1961).
15Puranäniini, i i i : Ettutokai.
16Malaipatukatam^ 300-30, Pattuppattn.
17Puranänüniy 168-5-6,129: l^Ettuttokai.
AinkunmiirUy 304: 1-2, Ettuttokai.
19Kuruntokai^ 210: 1-2, Ettattokai.
20Paranänüni^ 54:11-12, Ettutokai.
21 Palm -upättU y 13: 22~2A^ E ttu to k a i.
22Ainkurunüriiy 195: \ yEttutokai.
23Patirnippättu, 22: 20,28: 3—4.
24 Ibid., 43: 25.
25Puranänüru, 50:11,88: 3.
26Puranänüru, 170:13, Ettuttokai. {Puram abbreviation hereafter for Puranänuru)
27Patirruppattu,11:11;43: 22, Pattuppattu. {Patirru for Patirruppättu hereafter)
28AkananurUy 76: 5, Ettuttokai) Parananum, 368:15-16, Ettutokai.
29 Puram, 287:12;170: 2,5,6.
30Paranty 335: 7-8, Ettutokai.
31 Puram, 126:11;367:12,13, Ettutokai.
32Puram, 287:12;170: 2,5, 6, Ettutokai.
33Purarn^ 287:12, Ettutokai.
34Ibid., 170: 2, 5, 6, Ettutokai.
35Ibid., 360:15-20, 363:10-16, 82: 3-4, Ettutokai.
36Ibid., 387: 5, 6, Ettutokai.
37Pnramy378, Ettutokai.
38Maturaikänchiy 96-97.
39Akam, 226: 7-8, Ettutokai.
40Puram., 157: 1-8; 7, Ettutokai.
41 Puram, 143: 1-5; 127: 1-3; 129: 1-3, Ettutokai
42Purapporul Venpä Mülaï^ 2:14, Pattuppättu.
43 Puraniy 19, Ettutokai.
44Akamy 1:2, Ettutokai.
45Natrinai, 52, Ettutokai.
46Perumpanärruppataiy Pattuppattu.
47Puramy38.15, Ettutokai.
48M. Arunachalam, ed., Mukkütarpallu (Madras: Sadhu Achagam,1940),12.
的 Puram, 9 7 〜 Ettutokai.

50 Puram, 126: 1—4, Ettutokai.

 Evolution o f Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 143

51 P eram pänärrupataiy 481-90, P a ttu p a ttii.

52 Ibid., 22,301-10.
53 Puraniy 34: 8—15,1-14; 325: \—\l> ^E ttutokai.
54 Ibid.,155,235.
55 M aturaikänchi^ P a ttuppättu.
56 Puram , 335: 7-8.
57 Perunkataiy 211: 30-40.
58 Maraimalaiatikal, C ä tive rru m aiyu m P öliccaivan im (Madras: T.M. Press, 1926), 68-69.
59 K uruntokai^ 40, E ttu to k a i.
60 M atnraikänchi^ 182-83, E ttu to k a i.
61 Puram , 367:12-13.
62 Ibid.，183.
63 P eru m pänärnipatai, 299, 301, P attu p ättu . (U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer)
64 N. Subramanian, Satigam P o lity (Madras: Asia publishing House, 1966), 258.
65 P erunkatai, edited by U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, third;edition (Madras: T.M. Press, 1956),
35: 92-175.
66 Tolkäppiam , Torul^ \yA kam 5 (Tirunelvely: SISSW Publishing House, 1963).
67 Tolkäppiam ^ 615.
68 Ibid., 616.
69 Ibid., 622.
70 Ibid, 625.
71 M. S. Purnalingam Pillai, T a m il In d ia (Tirunelvely: SISSW Publishing House, 1963),
33-34.
72 Tolkäppiam , Toruf, 52, Tiruvalluvar, T iru k u ra l, edited by V. M. Gopalakrishnamachary
(Tiruneively: SISSW Publishing House, 1938), 1033.
73 T irukkuraly 1034.
74 T iru k k u ra l,1032.
75 Tolkäppiam , ToruF, 52.
76 P. T Sreenivasa Iyengar, P re -A rya n T a m il C ulture (Madras: Asian Educational Services,
1980)，14.
77 T in tkku ra ly 409.
78 Ibid., 133.
79 Ibid., 134.
80N ä la tiyä r, 195, edited by Gopalakrishnamachari (Tirunelvely: SISSW Publishing House,
1964)，
81 N älatiyäVy 136.
82 Ibid, 374.
^ M anusm rtiy %S\Apastam ba D harm asutra^ 6,18-23-26.
84 M a n im e ka la ij 13: 91.
85 Ibid., 74: 80,13:43-44.
86 T iru ku raly 33: 9.
87 C ila p p a tik ä ra m ,16:107, edited by U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (Tirunelvely: SISSW Publishing
House, 1964).
88 P uram , 353:1.
89 K. K. Pillai, A S ocial H isto ry o f the Tam ils (Madras: University of Madras, 1969), 282-83.
90 P em nkatai, 211: 30-40..
91 K alittogaiy edited by E. V. Anantharamaier (Madras: Pari Nilayam,1965), 65:10, 85: 22,
95:10,69:19.
144 K. R. Hanumanthan

92M. Raghava Iyengar, Some Aspects o fK erala and T a m il L itera tu re (Trivandrum: Department
of Publications, University of Kerala,1959), 42.
93Perunkataiy p. 507,1:41,p. 234,1:163,164; C iiap p atikäram , 130; P uram , 61:1.
94K a litto g a i, 117: 7, 72:13-14.
95Ibid., 55:17.
96Ibid., 55:18; 158; 188-89.
97T. Celvakeswara Mudaliar, ed., Ä carä kö vai (Madras: SISSW Publishing House, 1942),
6，13.
98Ibid.，90.
"Ibid” 92.
100Ibid.,10.
101 Ibid.，64.
102Ibid.，5.
103 South In d ia n In scrip tio n s (hereafter, 677), vol. I, 151; P a lla v a r Ceppëtukal M uppatu
(Madras: Tamil Varalarrukkalakam, 1966), 55.
104 K. K. Pillai, Studies in In d ia n H isto ry w ith Special Reference to T a m il N adu (Madras:
Published by the author, 1979), 320.
105 P a lla v a r C eppëtukal M uppatu^ The Tiruvalangadu Copper Plate.
106 M anu Sm rH j XI, 55, Y äjn avalkya S m rti, III, 227.
107 R V. Kane, H isto ry o f D harm asastras (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,
1930-62), vol.II, part II, 796.
108Appar, Täveram , edited by Swaminatha Pantitar (Jaffna, 1911),71,82.
^ A p astam b a,1,5,172, Satapatha B rähm ana, HI 1.2. 21-1.2 3.6.
110 Tavëram , 4267.
111 Cëkkilar, P eriapuränam , edited by Thiru. V. Kalyana Sundara Mudaliar, verse 24-31,
p. 544.
112Periapuränaniy verse 6,p. 1098.
113Mänickaväsagar, Tiruvacakam (Madras: SISSW Publishing House,1971),37: 3,23: 3.
114Ibid., 32: 6.
115Ibid., K a n ta p a ttu , 5.
116P eriapuränam , K annappa N a yä n a r P uränam y 122-83.
117Ibid., T iru n ä la ip p o va r P u rä n am ,vtts& 16-37.
118Ibid., Cöm äci M a ra N a ya n a r P uranam } verse 1-6, p. 958.
119 Acärya Hirutayam, edited and translated by B. R. Purushotham Naidu (Madras:
University of Madras, 1965), vol. I,sutra 73.
120Ibid.
121 N ä la yira T ivyaprapantam , edited by Madhavakasan (Madras: Catu accukutam, 1950),
verse 938.
122Ibid., 2971.
123 Swami Ramakxishnananda, L ife o f R am anuja (Madras: Ramakrishna Math, 1959), 30.
124N ä la yira Tivyaprabandhaniy 8-10.
ns A cärya H iru ta y a rrii vol.1,191.
126N ä la yira T ivyaprabandham , 26-28.
127K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, D evelopm ent o f R e lig io n in South In d ia (Madras: Orient Longman,
1963)，124.
128577，V〇l_IV，546. ,
129A n n u a l R eport on E p igra p h y (hereafter, A R E ), vol.II (Archaeological Survey of India,
1955-56).
 Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad 145

130A R E 377 of 1935-36, also K. V. Raman, H isto ry o f Pändyas (Madras: Tamil Nadu Text
Book Society, 1997), 210.
131 R. Sathianathaier, H isto ry o f the N äyaks o f M a d u ra i [microform] (Oxford University-
Press: Madras, 1924), 261.
132Tiruttakkatevar, C ivakäcintäm aniy edited by U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (Madras, 1957), 935.
133Ibid., 2984, refer section dealing with Cankam Age, in this article; infra.
134 Ibid” 419,2150.
135 Ibid, 2752,2753,2868,3107.
136Ibid., 482.
137 Cëkkilar, P eriapuranam } 6: 29-207; 207: 5,22-4.
138 S II, IV, 546.
139 K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Colas (Madras: University of Madras, 1956), vol.II, part 1,
381-82.
140 Ramakrishnananda, L ife o f Ram anuja^ 129-220.
141 Gopinath Rao, H isto ry o f Vaishnavism (Madras: University of Madras Government
Press, 1923), 43.
142 Ramakrishnananda, L ife o f Ram anuja^ 218-19.
143 S. R. Venkataraman, H a rija n s through the Ages (Madras: Bharati Devi Publications,
1946), 6-8.
]44Ä cärya H iru ta ya m } vol. 1,191.
145 Ibid” 196.
146 Ibid., 160.
147 Sivaväkkiar, P atinen, C itta r P ä ta lk a l (y izd m s : SISSW Publishing House), 31,
148 Ibid., 459.
149 Ibid” 155.
150 Ibid., 145.
151 Ibid., 478.
152 Kapilar, K a p ila r A h a v a l: C ä ti V araläru (Madras: publisher unknown), 60.
153 S II, vol.II, no. 5.
154 Ibid., vol.II, no. 63.
155 Ibid., vol.II, no. 4.
156 Ibid” vol.II ，no. 5_
157 Ibid, nos 118,49.
158 Ibid, vol III, nos 8, 86.
159 Ibid., vol. VIIÏ, nos 79, 80.
160 Ibid., vol. I, no. 54.
161 Travancore A rchaeological Series (hereafter, 1j 4S), vol. Ill, no. 40.
162 In scrip tio n s ofP u d u koottai State (IP S ), no. 591.
163 S II, vol.II, no. 5, p. 56.
164 S lly vol. XIII, no. 240 and vol.II, no. 64.
165 M adras E p igra p h ica lR e p ort^ 9-12, Appendix B, no. 208.
166 OT，vol.VIII ，31，32, 33.
167 51/, vol VII, nos 794,168.
^ S J l v o l IV, no. 648.
169 Cëkkilar, P eriapuranam (T iru n a la ip o va rp u ra n a n i),13; A R E 69 of 1924.
170A R E 588 of 1926; Ibid., part II, para 19; A R E 69 of 1924.
^ A R E SA of 1947-48.
172A R E 480 of 1917; S II, vol. XIV, no. 4.
146 K. R. Hanumanthan

173Ita n k a i V alankai C ä ti V aralaru, unpublished manuscript in the Manuscript Library of the

University of Madras,1.
S II,v o l VII, no. 118.
U5 IP S , no. 534.
^ A R E A Z l of 1914.
^ AR ES% % of 1926 (See infra).
178 R. Deva Aseervatam, M oovendarY är? Rama Devan Publishers, 1977), 197-98.
]79 A R E 185 to 188,190,191 of 1910; C ölan Pürvapattayam ^ 43.
iso p〇r a detailed account of such quarrels between itm ik a i and va la n k a i classes, see
Hanumanthan, U n to ach ah ility: A H is to ric a l Study upto 1 5 0 0 A .D ., 194-99.
181 Abbe Dubois, H in d u M anners^ Custom s an d Cerem 〇 7iies (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1947), 25.
182 V alankai C a ritra m , 41-51, unpublished manuscript found in the Manuscript Library of
the University of Madras.
183 V alankai C a ritra m , 41-51.
 PART THREE

C O M T IN U IT Y A N D C H A N G E
IN C O L O N IA L S O C IE T Y
T
 XII

L A B O U R C A S T E S U N D E R T H E E N G L IS H C O M P A N Y
IN M A D R A S IN T H E 1 7 th A N D 1 8 th C E N T U R IE S ^

Vikram Harijan

The study of the labour caste groups and their activities in India in the early modern
phase is an important theme* Generally, untouchables, artisans and different caste
groups (left and right hand) who were engaged in different factories or in the agriculture
fields as labourers, or as workers, slaves, servants, etc. on the basis of their hereditary
or different occupations or as set by the society, may be called labour caste group'.
This work intends to study the labour caste groups, their activities and functions, and
their relationship with the English Company in Madras in the early modern period.

H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y

Very little research has been on the labour caste groups and theirs functions and
position in the socio-economic and political-cultural system. Some good work has
been done by S. Arasaratnam1 who has written many books on the merchant castes
and some on occupational castes groups like the weavers. In his books Merchants^
Companies and Commerce in the Coromandal Coast 1650-1740 and Maritime India
in the Seventeenth Century1 he deals primarily with merchant castes like Chetty
and Comity. He also deals with their involvement with the English Company and
their mutual dependence. He also describes in detail about the right and left hand
castes and their role in the English Company. He has also written many articles
such as *Dutch Indian Commercial policy in Ceylon and its Effects on the Indo-
Ceylon Trade (1690-1750)’3, ‘Merchants and their Trading Methods， （circa 1700)’4,
'Coromandel Revisited: Problems and Issues in Indian Maritime History，5 and 'The
Politics of Commerce in the Coastal Kingdoms of Tamil Nad,1650-1700’6. These
articles also deal with the commercial aspects of a few merchants castes as well the
English Company. However, he has not dealt with low-caste workers and their role
in the English Company. Sanjay Subramanyam too has done some significant work
related to the merchants and the English Company. His book, The Political Economy

* Ï am indebted to my supervisor Professor Yogesh Sharma for his valuable insights, Professor
Chinna Rao for his encouragement and my friends Prashant, Dhiraj, Sughathan and Pankaj. For
further clarification, see Vikram Harijan, Occupational Caste Groups and the English East
India Company in Madras, 1640-1720 a v \ unpublished MPhil dissertation submitted to the
Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2005.
150 Vikram Harijan

of Commerce in Southern India: 1500-1650^ throws some light on the occupational

castes groups. But, his work also ignores the specific study of the lower castes. Vijaya
Ramaswamys Textiles and Weaver's in Medieval South Indict is a very important work
and provides an overview of weaver castes and their role in south India, particularly
in the textile industry. She has also contributed many articles in relation to the
occupational castes of which 'Artisans in Vijayanagar Society, is very important.9
However, she too has not focused on the lower castes like the parai castes and grass-
cutters, umbrella-bearers, washermen, etc. Kanakalatha Mukund has also worked on
the same topic, but her work is also related to the merchant castes.10 Recently, she has
also dealt with the same issues, but interestingly enough she has given the following
title to her book, The Viewfrom Below}1 She has however not dealt with the castes
like halalkhore, grass-cutters, lamp-bearers, scavenger castes, etc. leading us to the
question as to how her work can be a View from below. Brenda Beck, in her book
Peasant Society in Konku,12states that there was a group of left and right in south India,
but she has not mentioned the specific functions of the various castes that were very-
important in the view of the English Company. She has nevertheless done very good
work on the issue of the left and right hand castes. Arjun Appadurai deals with the
left and right hand castes, their positions and their origins in south India and provides
a lengthy description.13 However, he too ignores the emerging social awareness in the
society that they had got from the English Company. Edgar Thurstons work, Castes
and Tribes of Southern India}4 is a kind of encyclopaedia on the south Indian castes.
He has also documented the various folklores which are good sources for the study of
various castes. But his work studies a much later period. In Peasant, State and Society in
Medieval South Indiayis Burton Stein wrote about left and right hand castes and the
caste disputes, but he is not specific on the English East India Company and its role
on caste. New occupations一 such as flag-bearers, lamp-bearers, etc.—in the English
Company emerged as castes^ and this is a very significant development. Although
these occupations did not begin as castes, but later became castes, historians have
largely ignored them. K. N. Chaudhuri also documents about the various merchants
castes including the weaver and dyer castes in Madras. His book, The Trading World
of Asia and the East India Companyy 1000-1760}° is important to understand the
trade and commerce politics of the English East India Company. K. N. Chaudhuri^
Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean: An Economic Historyfrom the Rise ofIslam
to 1750^ is another important work which deals with the boatmen, seamen (and
fishermen)—other very important labour caste groups. But Chaudhuri has not dealt
in great length about their role in the English Comoany. H. D. Love^ Vestiges of Old
Madras^ 1640-1800^ documents which were heavily dependent on the Records of
Fort St. Geroge is very helpful to understand Madras under the English Company.

R O LE O F T H E E N G L IS H C O M P A N Y

Madras was a prolific commercial town under the English East India Company in
the Coromandel Coast in the second half of the seventeenth century.19 It was the
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 151

largest city in the Coromandel Coast,20 and its trade was considerable, especially in
cotton.21 Eminent merchants were permitted to dwell and were admitted to free trade
under the flag of the English,22 who were the lords and masters of Madras town.23
Indeed, the founding of Madras in 1640 was largely because of British commercial
interests.24 East India Company created the *Black Town for the local inhabitants
such as the Moors, Hindus, foreign traders, artisans, sailors and workmen.25 It was
also primarily a commercial centre, and the majority of its inhabitants directly or
indirectly depended on trade.26 The Black Town was the commercial centre of the
city; it was more thickly populated part and many mercantile offices were situated
here.27 Joseph J. Brennig analysed that European enclaves served as trading centres
in seventeenth century and Madras was one of the major centres of trade in the
Coromandel Coast.28 In other words, Madras was a major port and redistributive
centre29 and a growing commercial centre in the Coromandel Coast.30 The English
East India Company wanted to develop Madras into a commercial centre and this
proved enormously successful.31 Generally, Madras became a strong commercial
power centre in India during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.32
The English Company gave this opportunity to the labouring castes due to its
new economic policy. The Company employed Indians extensively, and various castes
were adopting new professions such as shipping, carpentry, weaving and joining
industries such as textiles. In this context, we see the occupational upward mobility
of castes. This was, in fact, not practiced only by the sudras or untouchable groups;
the upper castes too were adopting different professions. For Instance, one brahman,
Rayasan Papaiya, was the chief dubash of the Company in Madras.33
Another example of upward occupational mobility was in the term of merchants.
Generally, merchants organised their businesses independently or in private, with the
Company or with other groups. But, in Madras, famous merchants were appointed
as chief merchants of the Company. Becoming chief merchant of the Company
meant that they had official status and power apart from their respective busineses.
The Company provided them all facilities, including estate ownership, palanquin,
and other honorary symbols which were not available for the ordinary merchants. It
shows that they had extra honours as chief merchants of the Company. Therefore, it
can be argued that occupational upward mobility was occurring in all castes from top
to bottom.
In the context of the numbers of occupational caste groups in Madras, it is again
very problematic. The records of Fort St. George report that there were twenty-nine
caste groups in Madras.34 The above facts show that the numbers of castes were
always increasing throughout the centuries. The numbers rose in early medieval
times, and by the seventeenth century it had become 29 caste groups, which became
300 in the nineteenth century, at least in Madras.
Pertaining to caste positions and functions again, it is confusing. As by convention,
the lower castes were always in a position of disadvantage while asking for better
living and righting for their benefits. However, in seventeenth century Madras
we have several instances of the untouchable groups fighting for their wages, and
claiming a respectable position for their caste. They were also in a position to threaten
152 Vikram Harijan

the English Government in case their demands were not fulfilled. For instance, the
washermen, who belong to untouchable groups, had told the English Government to
increase the wages and provide all facilities to wash the calicoes and the Companys
cloths. They also demanded that the Company provide security from dangers
particularly from the seaside. The Company had agreed to provide the demands
to prevent the washermen from leaving the town. There was also an instance of a
strike which was called by the chief merchants of Madras in 1680-81 in which both
the left and right hand castes and untouchables participated. We also see that in
1707-08 rignt hand caste groups, which includes the Pariah castes, protested against
the English Government and migrated en masse to San Thorne. These untouchable
groups were also in a position to take the support of the people of their respective
caste divisions. For instance, the Pariah caste belonging to the right hand caste group
had immense support of the entire group of right hand castes, including the Komatis
and Chetti merchants. In 1716, a left hand caste boy insulted a Pariah caste woman,
wmch resulted in riots between the left and right hand castes.
Pertaining to labour castes, they were not tied to their traditional functions. They
were adopting new jobs and through these opportunities, they gained a new form of
identity and consciousness through their struggle, strikes and demanding wages. In
fact, they were in a bargaining position and were changing traditional social relations.
However, it is a fact that the untouchable groups were treated badly and were not even
allowed to eat together. Despite that, in the urban centre, untouchability was receding
slowly and gradually. They were also interacting with the English officers including the
Governor.They also interacted with the chief dubashes and other European merchants.
Thus, due to economic compulsion, all Company officers, Chettis, Komattis, weavers,
artisans groups, bricklayers, palanquin bearers, washermen, painters, coolies, peons,
Pariahs, horse-keepers, grass-cutters, barbers, hairdressers, water bearers and other
occupational caste groups were becoming economically independent.
In the contexts of social and physical space, merchant groups were at the top
position while the untouchable groups were at the bottom. In the physical space,
the whole of the labour castes groups were settled in the Black Town. However, the
chief merchants were in a position to settle outside the Black Town. Black Town was
divided into different streets which were named on the basis of occupational caste
groups— —weaver^ street, washermen^ street, Chetti s street, and so on. This symbolises
the social space of the occupational caste groups.

C H IE F M E R C H A N T S A N D C H IE F L A B O U R C A S TE S

Regarding the identities of individuals, I have tried to bring the personal nam e-
such as, Narso Washerman—earlier not brought up by historians. I mean that the
historians commonly address them as washerman or a palanquin bearer and not
by taking their names; however, while addressing the merchants, they named them
explicitly, as in Kasi Viran, Sunnaka Merchant, etc. Historians have focused a lot on
the chief merchants and their day to day activities of their lives. That is, if Kasi Viran
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 153

was going somewhere, they mentioned each and every gesture of the merchant. They
have not done the same in the case of the chiefs of the labour castes. There were
several chiefs of the labour castes, as mentioned in the records of Fort St George
1680-80—the chief of washermen, Chinna Purrupu Narso, who was not only the
Chief Washerman but was also the person who led the strike in 1680. He forced
the English Company to increase wages and the Company agree to the demand of
the Narso. There were many Chief Washermen. Records of Fort St George in 1708
records that the Chief Carpenter was Nina Chine Lingapau Grua Murti. During
the 1680 strike, under his leadership, the carpenters struck work and forced for
raise in wages. There was the Chief Bricklayer cailed Nallan. Under his leadership,
all bricklayers went for strike and left their jobs. The chief labour castes were very
important for the English Company and both were dependent on each other. These
facts have been ignored by historians.

IM P O R T A N T L A B O U R C A S T E S IN M A D R A S

A r tis a n c a s te g r o u p s

Leading artisan caste groups were also prominent in Madras, particularly the
Kammalan caste which consists a group of five. It is also called panchala because
it is supposed to include only the five castes of Vorkers in gold, copper and brass,
iron, wood and stone/35 i.e. goldsmiths, coppersmiths and brass smiths, blacksmiths,
carpenters and masons.36 These castes dominated the metal business in Madras.
According to the census report of 1871, they were in all 3588 in number. Their
percentage to the whole population was 15.7 per cent. The blacksmiths were 1120 in
number, brass workers 238 and coppersmiths 53.37
The social composition of blacksmiths constituted a mixture of several caste
groups, besides the hereditary blacksmiths.The blacksmiths carried bellows and anvil,
hammer and tongs.38 These people also supplied wares to the numerous shipyards
in India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, particularly in the port town of
Narasapur.39 Thomas Bowrey had noticed blacksmiths in the region during his tour
in the second half of the seventeenth century. He says:

M any English m erchants and o th e rs have y e a rly ships and vessels b u ilt here, b e in g
th e o n ly c o m m o d io u s p o rt o n th is o r th e n e x t a d jo in in g th e re to , v is it G ingalee ...
th e best iron upo n th e coast is fo r th e m o st p a rt v e n d e d here and reasonable rates,
w ith th e w o rkm a n s h ip also; any s o rt o f iro n w o rk is here in g e n u o u s ly p e rfo rm e d by
th e Natives, as speeks [sic], b olts, anchors ... ve ry e x p e rt m aster builders, th e re are
several here w h o have m o st o f th e ir dep e n d e n cie s u p o n th e English, and in d e e d
le a rn t th e ir a rt and tra d e fro m som e o f th e m , by d ilig e n tly o b s e rv in g th e in g e n u itie s
o f som e th a t b u ilt ships and sloops [s/c] here fo r th e English East India C om pany and
th e ir Agents, so th a t th e y b u ild very w e ll... I m u st n o t fo rg e t th e ir false heartedness
to o u r English builders.40
154 Vikram Harijan

Abbé Carré had informed us of the prevalence of a unified social system among
the Kammalan artisans. He noted especially among the goldsmiths, blacksmiths and
carpenters that 'if one of them is offended or wronged, all the others shut the shops
and abandon all their works/41 Regarding their wages, we have no clear accounts from
the available sources. However, we are told that in Tamil Nadu during the eighteenth
century blacksmiths and carpenters received a special payment for the work they did
when the house for the community peasants was built.42 The blacksmiths belonged
to the left hand caste groups in Madras.
Goldsmiths were also one of the prominent artisan castes in Madras. They made
plates and jewels of silver or gold.43 Goldsmiths worked in the mint house where
they made coins and other gold products. They also received Tasheif.44 Jewellers
formed a special group of small community of producers during our period of study.45
However, among Kammalan groups, goldsmiths were economical and socially better
than the others.
Carpenters were also an important caste group in Madras. In carpentry, there
were many castes. Tacchan, a carpenter caste, a sub-division of Kammalans, was
very prominent in Madras. Irchakkollan caste also acted as carpenter.46 Though
carpentry engaged many castes Tacchan was a traditional caste. Socially, carpenters
belong to left hand caste groups. In 1708, the carpenter caste chiefs were Nina Chief
Carpenter, Quallandeepau, Lingapau and Grua Moortee.47 The carpenter caste also
acted as a well-wisher of the Company servants, particularly of W. Bridge, a person
to whom they informed; they once informed Bridges that some seaman could attack
at night and, therefore, he should not visit.48 The Company also depended upon the
carpenters for timberwork and for repairing the buildings.49 Seeing their importance,
the Company also tried to build a house for carpenters in the Fort.50 The Company
also made a carpentry yard for the carpenters.51 The Company also paid them in
advance.52 The Company also depended upon the carpenters for boat building.
Therefore， they were employed by them.
From these facts, it can be said that carpenters were in a good position,
economically, socially and politically because they had a good cormection with the
Company servants. Kal Tacchan was a sub-division of stone worker caste called the
stone-masons. The Kammalan castes were economically prosperous, which enhanced
their social mobility among the more prosperous artisan groups.53
The Kammalan caste was highly organised, and its organisation had very interesting
features. Each of the five divisions had its headman and a chief executive officer. Arjun
Appadorai and M. Arokiaswami point out that the Kammalans were a humble caste,
but they were allowed to live only in certain parts of the village. They were not allowed
to take residence in central parts of the village, because an artisans occupation was
traditionally regarded as being lower than that of the farmer^.54 But this argument
was not true in the case of Madras; artisans were considered important groups by the
English East India Company as mentioned before. Burton Stein also mentions that
the artisans are very important caste groups in Madras.55 However, the artisan castes
had always maintained an animated fight for precedence in Hindu society.
Further, the Kammalans called themselves achari and faththar^ and claimed
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 155

knowledge of the Vedas. Their own priests officiated at weddings, funerals and other
ceremonial occasions. Several folktales were ascribed to the Kammalans, some of
which are given below:
1 . Hie goldsmith knows what ornaments are of fine gold, i.e. he knows who are
the rich men of a place.
2. The goldsmith puts inferior gold into the refining pot.
3. The goldsmith will steal a quarter of the gold of even his own mother^.
4. When the blacksmith sees that the iron is soft, he will raise himself to the
stroke.
5. A blacksmith^ shop and the place where donkeys are all by themselves are
alike.
6. What has a dog to do in a blacksmith shop? Said a man who attempts to do
work he is not fit for.
7. What if the carpenters wife has become a widow? (This would seem to refer
to the former practice of widow remarriage).
8. The carpenters want (wood) too long, and the blacksmith wants (iron) too
short (that is, a carpenter can easily shorten a piece of wood, and a blacksmith
can easily hammer out a piece of iron).56
The above mentioned popular sayings show their strong economic, social and political
status in local society. Accordingly, the goldsmiths5position was elevated while that of
the carpenter s and the blacksmith s were weak.

T h e B o a tm e n

The role of boatmen was also very important. Especially the Catamarans boatmen
were naturally very significant. Catamarans or mussoalars were very big boats, used
by the Machus. They were widely employed in transporting passengers and bulky
goods.57 Elijah Hoole, an 18th century missionary in the region reports that the
Musoala boats and Catamarans exclusively carried on the communication between
the shipping and the shore. He says:

th e boats w h ich w ere fro m tw e n ty to th ir ty fe e t in le n g th , six fe e t d e p th b re a d th

w ere co n stru cte d o f s tro n g planks, b e n t by means o f fire; s titc h e d to g e th e r th ro u g h
holes d rille d all ro u n d th e edges w ith threads o r chord o f coir, th e o u te r fib ro u s
covering o f th e co co n u t; inside th e bo a t, th e s titch e d enclose a so rt o f ca lkin g or
w a d d in g o f straw, re n d e rin g th e seams w a te r t i g h t ... Mussoala b o a t was g e n e ra lly
m anned by ten hands; e ig h t m en at th e oars, o ne at th e h e lm and o ne b o y to th e
w a te r• … D uring strike th e b o a t th e y sing a song to g e th e r.58

K. N. Chaudhari has also pointed out that the fishermenj coral-divers, boat-builders,
rope-makers, and net-menders always settled near the sea. Their childhood starts
with the connection or the sea and it continued through the hard toils of an entire
lifetime. Such people were found everywhere and at every port. They were the
156 Vikram Harijan

original boatmen who found their daily sustenance in the sea. In the social hierarchy,
the position or the fishermen was very low. Thomas Bowrey noticed that the caste
of fishermen in the Coromandel Coast—called the Machuas—was regarded as the
lowest among the Hindu untouchables and they lived separately from other people.59

B ric k la y e r s

Bricklayers were also a part of Kammalans but their role in Madras was very important.
In Madras, aggamoodee or agamudian members were the bricklayers.60 Hie badaga
caste also acted as bricklayers. Bricklayers, function was to construct buildings, repair
walls of bricks, plaster,61 buttresses and pillars,62 and measuring the land to build
the building or wall.63 The brick-maker^ wages varied. Sometimes, bricklayers were
paid 500 pagodas64 and at other times 300 pagodas.65 It is said that wages depended
on the number of bricks laid and the volume of the whole work. Nallana was a
chiet bricklayer in Madras.66 Bricklayers also contributed 400 pagodas towards the
construction of the walls of the Black Town. This contribution was quite significant,
compared to their status in the society when many other castes were seen to be higher
than them.67 Seeing their position and contribution, it can be said that, though they
belonged to the lower strata, they had made considerable economic progress.

P a la n q u in b e a re rs

Palanquin bearers were another major occupational caste group in Madras. The
palanquin refers to a box-litter for travelling, with a pole projecting before and behind
which was borne on the shoulders of four and six men.68 Thevenot describes that it
was a kind of coach with four feet, on each side of the ballista, four or five inches
high. A backstage was like a child cradle. That machine hang by long poles of bamboo
made into two frames nailed to the feet of the coach. Suppose a warm, woman (i.e.
a rich woman) was travelling in that palanquin, it was covered with velvet. If there
would be a possibility of rain that day, the whole palanquin was covered with waxed
cloth. In the bottom of the palanquin, there was a seating mat which moved easily
by means of some straps of silk that were fastened inside the bamboo. Everyone
decorated their palanquin according to their wealth. Some covered theirs with plates
of silver and some had theirs only painted with flowers.69
Peter Mundy points out that a palanquin was a sitting box, which was carried on
mens shoulders. Six or eight men were required at one time. It was used by wealthy
men and women. Palanquin was very comfortable to lie.70 Mundy says that the
palanquin was carried by members of a low caste called kahar.71 They travelled 25
or 30 miles a day bearing a weight oiVi quintal on their shoulder.72 Tlievenot also
noted that four men were required to carry a palanquin because each of the ends of
the bamboo rested upon the shoulder of two men and when the journey was long,
someone else would take their turn.73
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 157

Elijah Hoole, a missionary, who landed in India in the beginning of the 18th
century, extensively describes the palanquin bearers. He points out that four men were
required to carry the palanquin. The four men were relieved about every ten minutes
by four others. Those who were not actually carrying were running before or behind.
The whole party talked, laughed and sang songs while carrying the palanquin. They
usually covered about five miles an hour. The Europeans often dislike this method of
travelling, but it was often indispensable as India was extensive and the good roads
were not good for other modes of transport. There were vast jungles and very few
bridges. For the local people such occupation was regarded as another avenue for
employment. The palanquin bearers were, in fact, very cheerful in the performance
during the journey, Hoole observed. He also says that though they run tired and
thirsty through the forty miles stretch during the night they were fully prepared to
proceed their journey on the succeeding evening. Six men took his palanquin at the
mission door in Madras, with the intention of making a journey of six hundred miles.
Hoole mentions that they were even ready to travel with him to Kasi or Benaras.74
About their nature and social status, Hoole notes that the palanquin bearer
quarrelled rarely with the people of the villages through which they passed.
Unfortunately, in the end of a stage, they often disputed violently among themselves
about various trifles and when they were excited, their language and gestures were
most ill. For instance, he narrates the story of a Danish missionary who was travelling
in a palanquin. At the end, the bearers quarrelled violently. The Danish missionary-
thought that they were fighting over money and had decided to kill him. Thinking so,
he offered money and his gold watch so that they would spare his life and conduct
him safely on his journey. At this gesture the bearers greet him with astonishment
and lead him safely to his destination.75
Elijah Hoole also notes the caste divisions within the bearers. He reports that their
caste did not allow them to eat with each other. During their journeys, one person
was entrusted with carrying their pots for preparing their meals, which consisted
chiefly of rice.76The palanquin bearers were classified into three categories— gentoos5,
Calabars'and pariars,.77The gentoo boys were employed in most of the families. They
did all sorts of jobs. The gentoo palanquin boys were mostly employed in the northern
settlements. The same work was done by the malabars and pariars in Madras.78
Concerning their wages, the Company paid five pagodas a month.79The master of
the palanquin bearers was paid one fanam monthly.80 Love says that gentoos worked
in sets of eight, malabars in sets of seven and pariars in sets of six. Their wages ranged
from 134 to P4 pagodas per month for each man.81The Company provided houses to
their inhabitants, including the palanquin boys, during times of difficulty.82 Here is a
converation between a master (the then Governor of Madras) and with his tupas (the
dubash) about procuring palanquin boys:

M aste r: H ow m any p a la n q u in boys m u st I keep?

Tupas: Sir, you m u st keep six p a la n q u in boys.
M a ste r: W hat is th e ir w ages a m onth?
Tupas: Sir, acco rd in g to th e C om pany's order, you m ust pay five pagodas.
158 Vikram Harijan

On the whole, the condition—

—social, economie and political—
—of the palanquin
bearers was not very good.

W a tc h m e n

Watchmen were also an occupational caste group, whose role was very important in
Madras. Traditionally, people of the taliar caste worked as watchmen in the region.
The word ‘taliar’is derived from ‘talai’， which means ‘head’， a chief watchmen.8311ie
TTalaiari or chief watchman was a kind of policeman who was generally known as the
(talari\ Watchmen had other duties also, that is, to follow on the track of stolen cattle,
to act as a guard over persons, and to serve process and detrain goods. H. D. Love also
points out that trTailia/means watchmen and that they acted as watch and guard,84
Watchmen were appointed in the city of Madras for preventing robberies and
other disorders in the city,85 from the time of the first settlement.86Abbé Carré notes
thatTalliars are a caste of bandits who lurked in the mountains and woods during the
day and ravaged the countryside at night.87The Talliars lived like savages, cut off from
all connection with the towns.88 Not only in Madras, but also all over India, these
watchmen were generally not respected and they did not have a good reputation.89
The Company employed them and gave them importance, but politically, socially and
economically they were weak.

W a s h e rm e n

Washermen were also another leading occupational caste group in Madras. They were
known as 'dhobi^ a term derived from 'dhoba, which in Sanskrit, fdhav5, means to
wash. They followed no other profession but washing.90 Washermen were called as
sembadivan and also Vunnan. Buchanan says that agasa were washermen,91while Fort
St George records referred to them as saccala warr,.92 However, the washerman was
extremely important for the Company. Between gentoo town or the Black Town and
the potters town, there was a river which, the Company decided, could be extremely
useful for the washermen who would wash and dry the Companys calicos everyday.
The Company therefore ordered that Justice of the Choultry should clear as much as
possible of the ground or sand on the North side of river on either side of Mr. Edward
Henry s house and garden, from the houses and gardens that might be useful for the
washers/93 In a sort of protest, the washermen opposed the contract with the East
India Company and forced the latter to provide a proper space for washing.
The washermen were also given money in advance for curing the Companys
cloth.94 But the washermen complained of being paid low prices while they washed
loads of cloths. They also complained to the Company to increase the number of
washermen as they were not able to wash them all. The Company brought washermen
from other parts of the country. In 1700, the Company settled the prices of curing the
cloths cfor their encouragement,.95
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 159

The above facts show that washermen were in a position to bargain with the
Company. Despite this good relationship, the washermen made serious complaints
against their chief washerman Narso. They alleged that he was a cheat who did not give
their wages and that he abused them. Therefore, the Company ordered that Roggiah,
Saugie and Coopah would be three chief washermen and that the head in the General
Book be changed from Narso to Roggiah, Saugie and Coopah as chief washermen.96
The following folktales can be attributed to the washermen in South India:97
1 . Get a new washerman, and an old barber.
2. The washerman knows the defects of the village. That is, he learns a good deal
about the private affairs of the various families when receiving and delivering
the clothes.
3. When a washerman gets sick, his sickness must leave him at the stone. That is,
however sick a washerman may be, his work must be done—the stone referred
to here is a large stone on wmch the washerman washes the clothes.
With the above facts, it could be said that they were in a bargaining position at
least with the English East India Company. Their social position was not good. As
Buchanan says, they were not allowed to sit and eat with the other persons from the
higher castes. They were highly divided within and not permitted to intermarry. The
washermen were not respected and belonged to the most ignorant caste.98Thus, they
were a socially-ignored caste. Economically, they were not so dominant, but during
the East India Company s time, they improved their status.

P a in te rs

Another important labour caste group was that of the painter, who drew patterns and
painted them on calicoes. In the English factory cloths were mostly dyed blue, with
over 300 jars set in the ground for that work. Also, the painters made many of their
best painting here in the 17th century. The Portuguese applied the pintado to any
cloth with a spotted design or any other designs." Chintz were material on which
the coloured design was imprinted by wood blocks or traced by hand, and painters
who worked on this material were known as chintz designers and stampers.100
The caste composition of the painters are disputed. Aobe Carré refers to them as
the palli caste.101The English Factory records speak of a dispute between the painters
and pallis.102 The Records of Fort St George also indicated that £painter castes5and
palli caste^ were different, because they had different signs and symbols.103 For
Thurston, pallis were mainly agriculturist castes,104 but they were not confined to this
occupation. They were merchants, cultivators, painters (printers), lascars, sweetmeat
vendors, flower vendors, fitters, sawyers, oil-pressers, gardeners, polishers, bricklayers
and masons.105 Hence, A 〇De Carré did not understand them wrongly; pallis were
also involved in painting. However, the painters also painted ships and clay goods,106
and their wages depended on the nature of work done by them—fine or rough.107
The painter castes played a significant role in developing Madras as they tried
to collect capital for Fort St George.108 Socially, the painter caste (pallis) belonged
160 Vikram Harijan

to the left hand section.109 Among the pallis, there was also one section who were
the beggars, called nokkan.110 Thus, pallis (painters) were economically, socially and
politically one of the most servile groups in Madras.

C o o lie s a n d P e o n s

The caste of Coolies was also an occupational caste group in Madras. Coolie means
hired labourer or burden carrier. In north India, the term has been frequently used for
the lower class of labourers who carried earth brick as distinguished from the digger.
The word appeared to have been the same as gentleMlve name kuli of a race or castes
in western India meant savagery. The application of the word would mean a slave who
was captured and made a bonded servant in South India. 'Kuli* was a word in Tamil
and Canara commonly used to signify‘hire’or wages.111The term‘Cooly’also denoted
the kahar who were palanquin bearers in North India. They travelled 25 or 30 miles
a day. When they carried the palanquin, they ran.112 Coolies were the most subjected
caste group in India. They were servile labourers who earned a living by a meagre
wages. They may be called Hindu because they were of the ancient inhabitants of the
country and had a reverence for the cow. They did not make distinction of meats and
drinks. They did not eat meat at all.113 Coolies were also hired by other countries.114
The Company also fixed their wages to hire labourers and the chief coolie.115
The chief coolies were Pundula Grua and Woundda Nasso and their wages were
20 pagodas a month.116 Emaun Coolly was also a chief coolie. He maintained good
relations with Nawab Zulfikar.m Emaun Coolly is also said to have had good relations
with the chief dubashes of Madras.118 He had certain privileges in Madras.119 Despite
his relation with the nawab and the dubash, there were several complaints against him—
that he used several people unkindly. He could not proceed his business according to
peons.120However, Emaun Coolly was granted freedom from rent in Madras. This grant
was given by the Prince.121 There were also important coolies such as Issa Coolly122
and Rasasa Coolly.123 The chkf coolies were trying to develop the Madras city, when
Fort St George was in a developing stage.124 Exceptig some coolies, like Emaun
Coolly, the conditions of coolies were deplorable politically, socially and economically.
The role of the peon as an occupational caste group was also certainly important
in Madras, at least for the English East India Company. Peon means a footman, an
armed messenger and orderly,125 a foot soldier,126 a labourer127 and could act as a
watchman.128 The Company appointed talliars and peons to watch persons, arrest
them if found guilty and carry them to the next guard. The officer of the guard shall
examine the arrested person and, if he did not provide satisfactory answers, he would
be finally carried to the justice-delivering authority. If any person shall oppose abuse
or fight even at night, he shall be arrested and should undergo the same process.129
Hie appointment of peons as watchmen to the city was important as there were
many reports of robberies and burglaries both within the walls and in the Black
Town, and of other social disorders.130 The peons employment was based on the
city’s extension and security. Formerly， peons were only 20 in number, but later on
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 161

they were increased to 50.131 However, for the delivering of paddy or rice, peons were
employed in large numbers, sometimes even up to 120 or 150.132 Peons also received
prizes as a soldier and guard.133 They were categorised as servants on the basis of
occupation for which they were employed. Streynsham Master employed 12 peons
as servants.134 Peons were also employed as pattamar% (foot messengers). Despite
their hard work, a peons wages were only 1 pagoda per day.135 In conclusion, we can
surmise that they were not a socially, politically and economically powerful caste.

P a ria h c a s te

Another important occupational caste group in Madras was the Pariah caste. They
played a very significant role. Pariah refers to a hereditary drum beater. It is derived
from parai which means *drum,. The term pariah5had been extended to include all
the lowest caste members who, in the city of Madras, were about one-fifth of the
population.136 A Pariah was a servant whose office was hereditary, i.e. they inherlted
their profession from father to son.
Contemporary writings are full of derogatory and contemptuous language against
the Pariahs. For instance, Bowrey says: 'The Pariahs are the vilest caste of all.. . . Buy
me ... [a] slave boy ... let him not be of Parryar, but a good caste/137 H. Kotani, a
formidable scholar of inscription in south India, points out that above paraiyas are,
in ascending order, watchmen, washermen, barbers, potters, goldsmiths, carpenters,
blacksmiths, oil merchants, weavers, merchants and others. While below Pariahs, in
descending order, are soldiers {sarvakkarar) and toddy tappers {ilampunjai) only.138
Apart from these, Pariahs were not admitted in the temple.139 They were not even
allowed to draw water from public wells.140 This confirms what Yule says: 'low
caste Hindoos [are] in their own land, to all ordinary apprehension, slovenly, dirty,
ungraceful, generally unacceptable in person and surrounding. Yet offensive as is the
low caste Indians, were I estate-owner or colonial governor, I had rather see the
lowest Pariah of the low， then a single trim，smooth-faced, smooth-wayed，clever.
High caste Hindoo on my land or in my colony/141
Generally, Pariahs were the lowest category in society. Despite that, Pariahs were
part of the right hand categories.142Generally, according to social norm, right hand
castes had more privileges than left hand castes. However, the Pariahs were much
below even to left hand castes, as Kotani points out.143 How did the Pariahs secure
a place among the right hand castes? All the primary sources support that Pariahs
were a right hand caste. Though Pariahs were traditionally drum beaters, they were
servants, grave diggers, watchmen, scavengers and palanquin bearers,144 who were
largely employed by the Europeans. The wages of palanquin Pariahs ranged from 134
to 1% pagodas.145 Economically, Pariahs were not in a good position. Some folktales
pertaining to the Pariahs are given below:146

1 . T h o u g h 70 years o f age, a Pariah w ill o n ly d o w h a t he is co m p e lle d .

2. Pariah talks in half-ta lk. This is a reference to th e pariah vu lg a rism o f speech.
162 Vikram Harijan

3. If a Pariah boils rice, w ill it n o t reach th e gods? T hat is, th e gods w ill n o tice all
pity, even th a t o f th e Pariah.
4. The d ru m is beaten at a w e d d in g , and also at a fu n e ra l. Refers to, a ccording to
th e Reverend H. Jensen, o f a d o u b le -d e a lin g , u n re lia b le person w h o is a ready
fo r g o o d as w e ll as evil.
5. You m ay believe a Pariah, even in te n ways; you c a n n o t believe a b ra h m a n .T h is
is th e o n ly saying in fa v o u r o f th e Pariah.

These sayings also reaffirm the social, political, economical and cultural position of
the Pariahs, which played a big role in the construction of Pariah consciousness.

O t h e r la b o u r c a s te s

Several other castes who played also an important role in Madras are cooks;
purchasers, servants who went to the market and kept accounts; horse-keeper boys;147
grass cutters; shaving barbers; hair dressers; water women and totties (sweepers).148
Oil-makers who used two oxen in their mills for producing oils;149 boatmen or
caUmararnnen， who usually appear in the coastal areas for fishing or employed by
Europeans for businesses;150 fishermen; scavengers; potters; flagmen (bearers of the
European flag); kite sellers; chupdars (bearer of silver staff); rundelleers (umbrella
bearers); dutymen (lamp-cleaners); arramen (pike men); sukymen (water-carriers);
gardeners; and other occupational castes.

R O LE O F T H E L A B O U R C A S T E S IN C A S T E D IS P U T E S
A N D R IO T S IN M A D R A S

Various English records have incorporated evidences of caste conflicts and riots of
the two vertically differentiated groups'~right and left hand castes, i.e. the valangai
and idangai castes—during the 17th~18th century period. Most records agree that
in the mentioned period, caste conflicts between the two sides were continuous
causing great problems to Madras people, in general, and to the English authority,
in particular, especially when it erupted into major riots. Honorary distinction,
pride, exclusive privileges and religious superiority were the main factors behind all
these disputes.151 In other words, social status, physical space of human settlements,
and various symbolic locations and areas were the main causes of the riots.152 It is
also very significant that merchants were the leaders of both divisions. Balijas and
Komatis were leaders of the right hand castes and beri Chettis were leaders of the
left hand castes.
In the ensuing riots, the Company had an important role to play as the ruler of
the port town. The English authority regarded such disputes as 'factious madness，153
which needed to be taken seriously, as they destabilised the smooth functioning of
trade and commerce. During our period of study, there were four major riots—in
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 163

1652-5 3 ,1707-0 8 ,1716-17 and 1720—apart from many skirmishes between the
two major caste groups.
During the riots of 1652-53, we find that the leaders were the balija Chettis (for
the right hand caste) and the Beri Chettis (for the left hand caste). Seshadri nayak
and koneri Chettis (right hand caste merchants) held prominent positions in Madras.
Hie immediate cause of the riots was the use of the routes for wedding and funeral
processions. President Baker of Madras had allotted some portion of the town to
each caste for their exclusive residence and rules were laid down as to the streets
through which marriage and funeral processions may pass.154 In a series of disputes,
the right hand caste merchants told the left hand caste merchants, that they were not
worth cash'. In response, the berewar (a left hand caste) replied that the right hand
castes were not worth ctwo cash^. Upon this, the right hand caste attacked the left
hand caste, and the entire right hand caste group ran with swords and clubs in the
direction of the left hand caste streets, plundered their houses and murdered two left
hand caste men. Hearing of this, all the left hand caste groups organised themselves
to avenge the wrongs done to them by the right hand caste group.155 Interestingly
enough, during the ensuing riots, two brahmin brothers who held very influential
positions (they were dubashes to the Agent and the Choultry judge), siaea with the
beri Chettis and the left hand faction.156 In the context of the caste riots, President
Baker saia: £We know not what spirit ot factious madness hath of late possessed our
townes people in general, but the like, we assure you, in all iives, we never knew/157
Hie second major caste riots began in the year 1707 and went on till 1708. During
these disputes, Ihomas Pitt was the Governor of Madras. The leaders of the conflicts
were, on one side, merchants from the right hand caste group—Sunku Muthu Rama,
a rising merchant of Madras; and the kelavi chetti and venkata chetti on the left hand
caste group side.TKe reasons for the riots were again demarcation of streets, wedding
processions and some commercial interests.
There was continuous dispute between the right hand and the left hand castes for
passing through some streets on their wedding processions. The Company tried very
actively to prevent future disputes.158 The heads of the castes of both sides surveyed
the two areas of the town and decided that those who were living in houses on
streets belonging to the other side had to sell them and move to their own area. The
area was demarcated by four stones (pillars) at the cost of the left hand castes. The
Company ordered that both castes should not cross their limits and not ignore tne
rule.159 However, the right hand castes were not satisfied with the decisions and,
consequently, they pasted a notice on the pillars on the streets and gave the notice to
the left hand castes. The notice urged the left hand castes to break the pillars as it was
built by the English authority at their own expense.160 The government also noted
that a paraiyar (a right hand caste) wedding procession went through the left hand
caste streets, which was against the rule.161 This breaking of the rule resulted in the
right hand castes leaving Madras in large numbers for San Thome and neighbouring
villages. These belonged to the boatmen, washermen, fishermen and barber castes.10^
The right hand castes tried to taKe support from the neighbouring places.loJ, The
left hand caste leaders, merchants kelavi chetti and venkata chetti, felt that the
164 Vikram Harijan

disputes occurred because of commercial reasons. This related to the investment in

the Company and right hand castes merchants were not interested in it, and they
made very little progress.164 Thomas Pitt summoned the right hand castes but they
refused to come.165 Finally, an arbitrary division of streets solved the matter and it
was done through the Governor of San Thome. Lastly, both heads of the caste groups
signed the agreement.166
Another riot broke out in Madras in 1716 and lasted till 1717. Edward Harrison
was the Governor of Madras at that time. Again, the contending leaders were
merchants of both sides. The kalavi chetti and kalatti were from the left hand side
and komati and chetti castes were in the forefront on the right hand side. It all began
when a young boy of the left hand caste hurt a paraiyar woman of the right hand
caste. After hearing the news, all the right hand castes grouped together and came
violently down the streets, demanding justice from the Government. Although the
right hand caste group dispersed during the day, they gathered together at night.
Since this was a grave situation, the head asked the left hand castes such as cooks,
water bearers, coolies, palanquin bearers, flagmen and umbrella bearers to desert the
place. The Company ordered the head of the right hand castes to ensure that they
returned to the services and threatened severe consequences if they did not.167
Another dispute arose between the right hand komati caste and the left hand
chetti caste due to a dispute regarding some ceremonies.168Another dispute broke out
between both the castes over an issue in the Nagaram temple, because the Komatis
sang there.169 However, a solution was reached by an act of pardon of Chetti by the
Company which ordered that both divisions should not disturb public ceremonies.170
Again, a minor dispute between both the castes broke out in the year 1720. This
was regarding taking to streets for processions and other ceremonies. The Madras
Governor, Hastings was informed by the right hand castes that the left hand castes
had carried an image in a procession through their streets. The Governor talked to
16 left hand caste merchants for the proposed inquiry, but they refused to provide
any information regarding the procession. However, the Company decided to hold
an inquiry.171

C a u s e s f o r t h e R io ts

Various records and writings on the subject agree that pride, honour, symbols, and
physical and social space, were the most important causes for conflicts and disputes
in Madras. However, we also find that new urban economies—which provided new
avenues for occupational172 upward social mobility to merchants—were one of the
main causes for various disputes including the riots.173 Numerically, the right hand
caste merchants were more dominant than the left hand caste groups. However,
because of their influential position and economic status the left hand caste groups
started to claim an equitable status on par with the right hand caste.This had brought
about constant conflicts between the two groups, which sometimes broke out into
open riots. Apparently, the left and right hands castes were fighting for physical and
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 165

social space. However, if one goes deeper, booming economic conditions provided
the base for the conflicts between the two. The fact that Madras witnessed those
caste riots more frequently in comparison to the hinterlands and other port towns,
suggests that flourishing trades and the booming economy of Madras were the main
cause of the conflicts.
Another chief cause was urbanisation. Since the Cola period, urbanisation
started to gain importance as the state undertook both domestic and foreign trade. It
contributed to the weakening of the state and brought about dramatic social change.
This became prominent especially during the Vijayanagar period and later during
the British period.174 Most scholars who have worked on caste riots such as Stein,
Appadurai, Arasaratnam, etc. agree that urbanisation was the chief factor for the
break of riots. Arasaratnam says that urbanisation factors brought many differences
into caste, production and performance of many caste-related ceremonies, weddings
and funerals.

C O N C L U S IO N

As we have seen, Madras was a great commercial social city under the English East
India Company. The Company heavily employed occupational caste groups such as
skilled and unskilled labourers who were not merchants but cogs in the wheels of
the trade of the Company. The Company was unable to carry on its work without
their support. These occupational castes were in a position to bargain on the issue of
wages and duties. They also went on strikes regarding the wages and migrated to the
San Thome. The English trade paralysed without their participation in work. Due
to this reason, there was great occupational mobility in the profession of the various
castes. The two groups, the left hand and the right hand groups, fought bitterly for
the sake of their pride and for various symbols which the Company called 'madness'.
The labouring caste challenged the caste-hegemony of the brahmanical order. They
defied the existing caste-based knowledge and caste-based structure. For instance,
wherever caste riots challenged the brahmanical order they also challenged the
English Company because it was the brahmanical traditions that prevented the lower
castes or so-called labouring castes from rioting, or getting any kind of education. The
Manusmriti and other brahmanical sources provided rules and conventions that each
and every caste had to uphold and follow. The labouring castes could be seen as having
tried to internalise the values of this brahmanical order. For centuries, they were just
following these rules which were inherently unjust and wrong. It was only with the
advent of the English Company, that the lower castes, labouring castes, could take up
some kind of economic power. This also gave them dignity and empowerment. These
were the reasons behind this occurrence:
1 . The labouring caste became part of the English Company where everyone
irrespective of caste were employed.This interaction with the British generated
a great deal of new knowledge about: everything and equality among all
the people.
166 Vikram Harijan

2. The English Company employed and designated among its employees fa chief
caste* for the labouring caste which again an exclusiveness for the so-called
lower caste. In the absence of any such political structures in medieval times—
where a labouring caste is regarded as a chief caste—it contributed to a new
identity, new ideas and new thinking among the lower castes.
3. The reconstruction of a new history of the labouring caste was an important
event of the colonisation experience. The Company started listing the
inamaual names of all the labouring castes, which had vanished from medieval
history. This is significant because generally in history writing the name of the
labouring caste were left out. Only the name of the big magnate —nobility or
king—was listed by historians or history-writer.
4. The English Company employed the labouring caste on the basis of merit
and provided wages. Earlier these labouring were working as (begar, without
a monetary payment. Under the colonial government, they were working or
became salaried employees' which was an important factor in the labouring
caste. To me it was a great empowerment.
5. The English Company scattered information pertaining to caste.
6. The left and right hand castes were exclusive caste groups which vanished in
the 18th century. However, as long as they existed, we gather that caste-based
discrimination was being practised within the group and between other groups.
Sayings are the reflection of a society. Sayings, which were sometimes very-
derogatory, have produced a negative knowledge about particular castes. Thurston has
used these sayings without much thought, and this appears brahmanical in nature.

N O T E S A N D R EFERENCES

1 S. Arasaratnam, Merchants^ Companies and Commerce in the Coromandel Coast 1650-1740

(New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986).
2S. Arasaratnam, Maritime India in the Seventeenth Century^ reprint (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2005).
3 S. Arasaratnam, 'Dutch Commercial Policy in Ceylon and its Effects on the Indo~Ceylon
Trade (1690-1750),JIndian Economic & Social History Review 4 (1967), 109—30.
4 S. Arasaratnam, Indian Merchants and their Trading Methods (circa 1700)', Indian
Economic & Social History Review 3 (1966), 85~95.
5S. Arasaratnam, 'Coromandel Revisited: Problems and Issues in Indian Maritime History5,
Indian Economic & Social History Review 26 (1989), 101-10.
6 S. Arasaratnam, JThe Politics of Commerce in the Coastal Kingdoms of Tamil Nadu,
^SO-iyOO1, South Asia 1.1(1971), 1-19.
7 Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Political Emiomy of Com?nerce in Southern India, 1500-1650
(Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
8 Vijaya Ramaswamy, Textiles and Weavers in Medieval South India (New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 1985).
9 Vijaya Ramaswamy, Artisans in Vijayanagar Society1, Indian Economic & Soda/ History
Review 22.4 (1985), 417-44.
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 167

10 Kanakalatha Mukund, Trading World of the Tamil Merchant: Evaluation of Merchant

Capitalism in the Coromandel (Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1999).
11 Kanakalatha Mukund, The View from Below. Indigenous Society, Temples and the Early
Colonial State in Tamilnadu,1700-1835 (Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2005).
12 Brenda E. F. Beck, Peasant Society in Konku: A Study of Right and Left Subcastes in South
India (Vancouver: University of British Colombia Press, 1972).
13Arjun Appadurai, 'Right and Left Hand Castes in South India^, Indian Economic & Social
History Review 14.1(1974), 217-59.
14 Edgar Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India^ 1 vols (Madras: Government Press,
1909).
15Burton Stein, Peasant, State and Society in Medieval ^outh India (Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1980).
16 K. N. Chaudhuri, The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company, 1660-
1760 (New Delhi and Cambridge: S. Chand &c Co. and Cambridge University Press, 1978).
17 K. N. Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from
the Rise of Islam to 17^0 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985).
18 H. D. Love, Vestiges of Old Madras 1640-1800^ 3 vols, reprint (Delhi: Asian Educational
Service, 1996).
19 Yogesh Pharma, lA Life of Many Parts: Kasi Viranna, A Seventeenth Century South
India Merchant Magnate1, The Medieval History Journal 1.2 (1998), 261-90.
20 Niccolao Manucci, Storia Do Mogor (1653-1708) III, edited by William Irvin (New
Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation,1981),92.
21 V. Ball, ed., Travels in India by Jean Baptiste Tavernier (New Delhi: Oriental Books
Reprint Corporation,1977), 381.
22Tliomas Bowrey,^ GeographicalAccount of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal 1669-1679-,
edited by C. R.Temple (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1997[1905]), 5.
23 The Travels of the Abbé Carre in India and the near East, 1672-1674 II (New Delhi and
Madras: Asian Educational Service,1990), 554.
24 Patrick A. Roche, (Caste and the British Merchant Government in Madras, 1639-1749T,
Indian Economic & Social History Review^ vol.12, no. 4 (1975), 381-407.
25 Travels of the Abbé Carré II, 549.
2ö busan M. Neild, Colonial Urbanism the Development of Madras v^ity in the Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Modern Asian Studies, vo\,13, no. 2 (1979), 217-46, 239.
27 Gazetteer of South India I, edited by S. W. Francis and others (Delhi: Mittal Publications,
1988X498.
28Joseph J. Brennig, {Chief Merchant and the European Enclaves of Seventeenth Century
Covom^ndtY yModern Asian StudieSy'voh ll,n o .3 (1977), 52.
29 Subrahmanyam, Political Economy of Commerce in Southern Indiay52.
30 Ibid., 62.
31 hx2.sd,X2Xr\.2im, MerchantSy Companies and Commerce, 21.
32 H. A. Newell, Madras, The Birth Place of British India (Madras: Madras Times Printing,
1919)，5.
33 Rayasan Papaiya held the position of chief dubash and translator to successive governors
of Fort St George from 1697 to 1727. After ms death, his successor was ms brother. Following
this, his son, Vyasam Venkatachalam held the position up to 1746. Then, Vellalar Manali
Muthukrishnan Mudaliar became the Chief Dubash of Madras. Susan Neild-Basu, iHhe
Dubashes of Madras*, Modern Asian Studies^ vol.18, no.1(1984): 9-11.
168 Vikram Harijan

34 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras: Fort St George, 1706), 55.

35 Census Report of 1871^ 80.
36 Vijaya Ramaswamy, Weaver Folk Traditions as a Source of Histoiyf, Indian Economic &
Social History Review^ vol.19, no.1(1982), 47-62.
37 Census Report of 1871^ 93.
38Alexander I.Tchitcherov,/«^: Changing Economic Structure in the Sixteenth to Eighteenth
Centuries; Outline History of Crafts and Trade (New Delhi: Manohar, 1998), 71.
39 Ibid., 76-77.
40 Bowrey,^ Geographical Account^ 102.
41 Travels of the Abbé Carré II, 96.
42Tchitcherov, India^ 45.
43 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1700), 89.
44 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1692), 44.
45Tchitcherov, Indiay80.
46 Ibid., vol 2,372.
47 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1708), 5.
48 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George,1700), 5.
49 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1672-78), 124.
50 Ibid., 3.
51 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1705),110.
52 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1702), 93.
53 Vijaya Ramaswamy, Artisans in Vijayanagar Society5, Indian Economic & Social History
ル 22.4 (1985〉，417-44,435_
54 Cited in Tchitcherov, India, 36.
55 Stein, Peasant, Sate and Society^ 248.
56Thurston, Castes and Tribes 1,1*22-25.
57 Ibid” 122.
58 Elijah Hoole, MadrasyMysore, and the South of India, second edition (London: Longman,
Brown and Green, and Longmans, 1844), 28.
59 Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilization^ 121.
60 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1706), 55.
61 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1672-78), 124.
62 Ibid,, 3.
63 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1705),110.
64 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1683), 32.
65 Ibid., 119.
66 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1672-78), 124.
67 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1706), 55.
68 Sir Henry Yule, Hobson-Jobson^ edited by William Crooke (London: J. Murray, 1903),
659.
69 Indian Travels ofThevenot and Careri, edited by Surendarnath Sen (New Delhi: National
Archives of India, 1949), 76.
70 The Travels of Peter Mundy, in Europe and Asiat 1608-1667, Volume II, Travels in Asia,
1628-1634^ second series, no. 35, edited by R. C. Temple (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press,1914),189.
71 Ibid” 114-15.
72Void. ^xxx.
Indian Travels of 7hevenot and Careri，1ら,
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 169

74Hoole, Madras, Mysore^ 46-47.

75Ibid., 47.
76Ibid” 48.
77Love, Vestiges of Old Madras III, 328.
78Ibid.
79Love, Vestiges of Old Madras II, 330.
80Love, Vestiges of Old Madras III,15.
81Ibid., 328.
82Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1696), 144.
83Yule, Hobson-Jobson^ 718-19.
84 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras 1,126; see also Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort
St George, 1672-78),14.
85 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras III, 465.
86 Travels of the Abbé Carré II, 583.

88Ibid, 589.
89Ibid., 583.
90 Francis Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and
Malabar^ 3 vols (London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1807), 1,337-38.
91Buchanan,^Journeyfrom Madras 1,337-38.
92Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1706), 55.
93Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1672-78), 76.
94Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1706), 3.
95(lhe prices of the cloths are Long cloth (Pags:l Fan corge.), Long cloth Midling (Pags:
1:4 Fan corge.), Long cloth Fine (Pags 1:10 Fan corge.), Salampares fine (Pags: 21 Fan corge〇,
Salampares Midling (Pags:16 Fan corge.), Moorees fine (Pags:12 Fan corge.), Moorees
Ordinary (Pags:10 Fan corge,), succatnums (Pags: 23 Fan corge.), Betteelas Original (Pags: 25
Fan corge.), Betteelas d 40 coveds (Pags: 21 fan corge.), Betteelas d 50 (Pags: 25 fan corge.)/
Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1700), 85-86.
96Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1693),15.
97Thurston, Castes and Tribes II,169.
98 A Journeyfrom Madras I, 337-38.
99Yule, Hobson-Jobsoriy 139.
100Love, Vestiges of Old Madras 1,129n.
101 Travels of the Abbé Carré II, 595.
102Love, Vestiges of Old Madras 1,140.
103Records mentioned several castes including pallis and painter castes:
1 ) Churliar Cast. 2) Painter Cast. 3)Taylor Cast. 4) Husband man Cast. 5) Cooley Cast.
6) Washers Cast, 7) Barber Cast. 8) Parrian Cast. 9) Comity C ast.10) Olyimake Cast.11)
Furniture C ast,12) Pot maker C ast.13) Moocha c a s t.14} Shepherds C ast.15) Patanara
Cast 16) Tigga Cast.17) Cavaree Cast.18) Hugabamds Cast.19) Pa"y Cast. 20) Goldsmiths
Cast. 2 1 )Chitty Cast. 22) Weaver caste. {Diary and Consultation Book [Madras, Fort St.
George, 1686], 5)

104Thurston, Castes and Tribes VI, 6.

105Ibid.,17.
106Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1703),14.
107Ibid” 22.
170 Vikrarn Harijan

108 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1686), 5.
109 Ibid.,16.
Ibid.,17.
111 Y v le } H obson-Johorij 250.
112 Travels of Peter Mundy^ 114-15.
113 Colonel Henry Yule, The Diary of William Hedges esq., 1681-1687 III (London: Printed
for the Hakluyt Society, 1889), cccxiu, ccxiv} cccxv.
114 Sir William Foster, The English Factories in India: 1665-1667 (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1925), 91.
115 'To Metchele Patan each coolly 1 :Pags: Dustoory 2: Fans, to Golcondah each colly 1 V2

Pags : Dustoory 3; Fans., To Soundy each colly 34 Pags; Dustoory 1 V Fans., To Neloor each
2

colly; 14:Fans : Dustoory 3/4 Fans., To Carrenda each colly 19: Fans Dustoory 1 Fans., To
Ramapatam each colly 18: Fans: Dustooryl: Fans.,To Oudcore each coolly 13: Fans: Dustoory
M; Fans., To Armagon each c o o ly 8:Fans: Dustoory3/8;Fans., To Policat each coolly 3; Fans ;
Dustoorry XA ;Fans.,ToTrevilore Battee and 3: Fans; Dustoorry XA : Fans.,To Congee Voraum
each colly 5:Fans: Dustoory 3/8 fans, To Veloor each coolly 18: Fans: Dustoory 1 ;Fans, To
Chengy each coolly 16: Fans: Dustoory lFans, To Inpitee each coolly 18: Fans: Dustoory
1 ;Fans, To Tnncumber each coolly 18: Fans: Dustooryl; Fans., To Porto Novo each coolly
12: Fans: Dustoory 2/3 Fans., To puddicherree each coolly 12: Fans: Dustoory 2/3 Fans., To
Sadrasspatam each coolly 4 Fans: Dustoory Va Fans/ Diary and Consultation Book (Madras,
Fort St. George, 1680), 42
116 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1680), 42.
117Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1696), 28.
118Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1694),11.
119 Ibid.,15.
120 Ibid.,117.
121Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1692), 5,
122Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1694),18.
123 Ibid.，29.
124Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1686), 5,
125Yule, Hobson-Jobsotij 528.
126 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras I, 74.
127 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1683), 74.
128 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1701), 109.
129 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1693), 147.
130 Ibid” 146.
131 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1686), 97.
132 Ibid., 98.
133 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George,1692), 8.
134 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras 1,448.
135 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras I I I ,15.
136Yule, H obson-Jobsotiy 680.
137 Bowrey,yf GeographicalAccount, 41.
138 H. Kotani, ed., Caste System, Untouchability and the Depressed (New Delhi: Manohar,
1999), 23-24.
139Yule, Hobson-Jobson^ 680.
140Thurston, C似如 ' 仰ノ ZWfc VI，78.
141 Ynlcy Hobson-Jobsorij 171.
 Labour Castes under the English Company in Madras 171

142 Appadurai， ‘Right and Left Hand Castes， ，217.

143 Kotani, Caste System, 23-24.
144 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras III, 115.
145 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras III, 328.
146Thurston, Castes and Tribes V I,117-18.
1474Boys, means slaves; a servant, as Henry Yule understands them. See Yule, Hobson-Jobson.
148 H. D. Love understands. See Love, Vestiges of Old Madras I I I ,15.
149 Buchanan,^? Journeyfrom Madras I, 80.
150 Hoole, Madras, Mysore and the South India, 30.
151 Yule, Diary of William Hedges III, ^n.
152 Mukund, Trading World of the Tamil Merchant^ 145.
153 Foster, English Factories in India^ 155.
154 Ibid., 135-36.
155 Ibid., 155-56.
156 Ibid., 236-41.
157 Ibid., 155.
158 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1707), 36.
159 Ibid., 40.
160 Ibid., 51.
161 Ibid., 52
162 Ibid., 54.
163 Ibid., 61.
164 Ibid., 54.
165 Ibid., 62.
166 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1708), 5-7.
167 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1716), 155.
168 Ibid.,149.
169 Ibid., 198-200.
170 Ibid., 30.
171 Diary and Consultation Book (Madras, Fort St. George, 1720), 190-91.
172 ‘Occupation is my term. I use the phrase ‘upward occupational mobility， instead ‘caste
mobility, because mobility in caste was not possible. Mobility takes place only in occupation.
173 Mukund, Trading World of the Tamil Merchants^ 148.
174 Stein, Peasant^ State and Society, 204.
 XIII

O U T C A S T E PASTS

R e t h in k in g t h e B o u n d a r ie s

Priyadarshini Vijaisri

Writing outcaste histories is a difficult enterprise.1 One of the most widely

acknowledged reasons being paucity of historical sources. Yet another significant
cause has been the manner in which narratives of outcastes have been framed and
theorised, over the years, resulting in a genre of outcastes7histories一 that of a history
of pathos. The diverse trends within this emerging genre of writing have been shaped
by traditional social sciences, which in turn have culminated in the creation of a
specialised field of studies under the broad rubric of exclusion and marginalisation.2
Simultaneously, the political radicalism of the outcastes has fosterea vibrant a literary
movement broadly termed as Dalit literature—celebrated as protest literature in the
form of pamphlets, fictional writings, memoirs—that has brought to the fore works
produced by outcaste leaders from the late 19th century onwards. This surgence, which
has produced an intellectual basis for Dalit discourses and politics, has a paradoxical
quality; accentuation of a kind of monoistic view of outcaste condition and being in
caste society and thereby absolute denunciation of caste system simultaneous with
(since the 1980's, particularly) emphasis on distinctiveness from caste culture set in
a trend of glorification of selective aspects of outcaste culture. Despite the crucial
significance of existing writings on outcastes, the narratives are beset with ambiguities
and do not often reconcile to the memories and cultural dilemmas of communities.
Eventually, these gaps and silences invisibilse larger structural dimensions, more so
the issue of power in pre-colonial societies resulting in quasi mythos that essentially
mystmes outcaste existence. In tms chapter, focusing on the institution of priesthood
amongst the Madiga, an attempt is made to re-examine issues of caste structure
and outcaste identity focusing on outcaste priesthood and the implications of such
formalised religious power in rethinking caste/histories.3Through an analysis of the
ritual tradition associated with outcaste priests, the chapter seéks to discern its locus
within Indie tradition and suggests of a shared past given the overarching structural
unity of sacrificial ritual across religious traditions, and, to deduce ideas emanating
from this sacred space to retrace the different ways of ordering the profane world. In
departing from conventional historicism towards alternative ways of writing histories,
the notions of religious power and dangerous marginality, it is proposed, offers a
conceptual grid to explore the spaces and processes that have been devalued in both
outcaste discourses and conventional Historiography. This exploration moves by broad
 Outcaste Pasts 173

conjectures and while such indulgence may lack the credibility of conventional ways
of reconstructing the past, this might yet be worthwhile even if it arrives at proposing
challenging questions for future investigation. This study eclectically borrows from
diverse sources like colonial accounts, clan legends of the outcastes and the touchables
{kulapurana^)ysacred lore and ethnographic data to weave an idea about the broader
process of transfiguration from proto-caste to outcaste identity and inversely retrace
the past through the archaic in contemporary times.
As a conceptual category, the term outcaste marks a threshold of immense
possibilities in excavating the cultural past, exuding a sort of wholesomeness, from
its almost bare essence to a transcendent category, is unburdened by essentialised
epistemic and academic attributions. The term is not posited as a self-defining
category, considering the limitations, yet in a certain sense the manner in which it is
used in this chapter is to cast it as a critical discursive category. It does not essentially
suggest the notion of the outcastes as being external to the caste structures that occurs
in the brahamanical ideology, and prominently emphasised in colonial ethnography,
but that it is a category that is counter positioned to the dominant mode of being, i.e.
that of the touchable. It also imputes an epistemic privilege to those at the boundaries
of competing local structures and recognises their tenuous position. Thus, the term
outcaste is postulated as a mutating category contrary to the dominant conception,
and is crucial so far as there is scope for recognising the tension within that discursive
category and can be validated, especially given its idiomatic usages, within the emic
discursive practices.

T H R E S H O L D O F T H E PAST: C O N T R A R Y SITES

Charting this cultural terrain would require keeping at abeyance a premise that has
assumed mythic proportions: the mvth of the outcaste as external to caste structure,
even if that is the desired ideal of brahmanical order and was actualised in specific
cultural zones. The claims to legitimacy of brahmanical texts in interpretation of
caste has led to the representation of outcastes as an embodiment of the oppressed
condition, voiceless and passive beings cast out of the social space, reproducing his
own inferiority* or extreme fatalism. This entrenched conception of the outcaste—as
one cast out of the pure order, whose links to it are circumscribed by stigmatised
duties and subjected to a state of unequivocal suppression—is an undercurrent in
most sociological studies shaped by reformist movements during the colonial period.
As an entry point to chart this overlaid space it would be useful 组 p'QgêJha
conflicting images of outcastes across time with the dominant discourse and academic
formulations to ascertain the facticity of ^ransgressive' elements. This will enable
traversing the complex conflicting spaces and to disentangle the overarching ideals
from the synchronic manifestations that bear the imprint of play of different factors.
Moreover, contemporaenity of such ritual traditions, rather than obscuring the past,
indicate the survival of hidden elements of the archaic and thus impart a different
quality to religious traditions. Also this is suggestive of a certain degree of autonomy
174 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

of the ritual domain, thus conserving the artefacts in rituals from the oeuvre of non-
religious forces or even larger historical processes. For while at one plane outcastes
appear as powerful beings as priest/priestess reinstating a certain moral social order,
at another plane they figure as a mass oJFpowerless victims mirroring the horrors of
extreme violations as normative in caste society. Thus, weaning the senses towards the
archaic within the contemporary would require identifying broader elements with a
prescient quality to serve as markers towards an overshadowed yet persistent pattern
within Indie tradition.
Following are entries in colonial accounts and contemporary period that defy the
stereotypical image of the outcastes:
1 . Abbe J. A. Dubois makes the following entry on the Pariahs and Chuklers
within the Left-hand and Right-hand factions:4

M ost castes b e lo n g to e ith e r th e L e ft-hand or th e R ig h t-h a n d factions. The

fo rm e r com prises th e Vaishyas or tra d in g classes, th e Panchalas or artisan
classes and som e o f th e lo w Shudra castes. It also co n ta in s th e Chuklers or
leather w orkers, w h o are lo o ke d u p o n as its c h ie f s u p p o r t.... To th e R ight-hand
fa c tio n b e lo n g m ost o f th e h ig h e r castes o f Shudras. The Pariahs are its c h ie f
supporters, as a p ro o f o f w h ic h th e y g lo ry in th e title o f V alangai-M angattar,
o r friends o f th e R ig h t-h a n d . In th e d isputes and c o n flic ts w h ic h so o fte n take
place betw een th e tw o fa c tio n s it is always th e Pariahs w h o make th e m ost
disturbances and d o th e m o st dam age.

To illustrate the spirit that animates the Hindus' due to such Tatal distinctions5,
Dubois recalls a dispute he had witnessed between the Pariahs and the Chuklers:

There seemed reason to fears such disastrous consequences th ro u g h o u t th e

w h o le d is tric t in q u estion, th a t m any o f th e peaceful in h a b ita n ts began to desert
th e ir villages and to carry aw ay th e ir g oods and chattels to a place o f safety ju s t
as is done w h e n th e c o u n try is th re a te n e d by th e near approach o f a M aratha
army. H ow ever m atters d id n o t reach th e ir e xtre m ity.T h e p rin cip a l in h a b ita n ts o f
th e d is tric t offered to a rb itra te in th e m atter, and th e y succeeded by d ip lo m a cy
and co n cilia tio n in s m o o th in g away th e d ifficu ltie s and in appeasing the tw o
factions, w h o w ere o n ly w a itin g fo r signal to a tta ck each other.

2. Here^ an entry from a work of colonial ethnography:5

W hen M ahalaxm i, o r Poleram m a o r A nkam m a o r any o th e r o f th e villa g e

deities is to have her festival, th e nearest M atangi is a p p lie d to. Her necklace
o f co w ry {Cyprea m o n e ta ) shells is d e p o s ite d in a w e ll fo r th re e days, before she
is a llow ed to p u t it on fo r th e cerem ony. She d ons th e necklace, and marches
b e h in d th e m aster o f th e cerem onies, w h o carries a knife, w o o d e n shoes and
trid e n t, w h ic h have been s im ila rly placed fo r a tim e at th e b o tto m o f a w ell.
The m aster o f th e cerem onies, his m ale and fem ale re la tio n s th e n stand in a
 Outcaste Pasts 175

line, and M a ta n g i runs ro u n d and ro u n d th e m u tte rin g w h a t appears to be a

m eaningless e xcla m a tio n , s p ittin g u p o n all o f th e m and to u c h in g th e m w ith
her stick. Her to u c h and saliva are believed to p u rg e all uncleanliness o f b o d y
and soul and are in v ite d by m en w h o w o u ld o rd in a rily scorn to approach her,
and it passes one's co m p re h e n sio n h o w she should be h o n o u re d w ith th e task
o f p u rify in g th e soul and b o d y o f h ig h class Reddis and p u rs e -p ro u d Komatis.
It m ust be said th a t o n ly very fe w B rahm in fa m ilie s keep up th is m ysterious
cerem ony o f h o m a g e to th e M atangi. She is a llo w e d to com e in to th e house,
th a t is, to pass th e o u te r gate. There she besm ears a c e rta in sp o t th e co w d ung,
and places u p o n it a basket. It is a t once fille d w ith co o ke d fo o d . A layer o f rice
p o w d e r covers th e surface o f th e fo o d , and o n it is p laced a sm all lam p, w h ic h
is lig h te d . She th e n holds o u t a little e a rth e n w a re p o t, a nd asks fo r to d d y to fill
it w ith . B ut th e B rahm in says th a t she m ust be c o n te n t w ith water. W ith a p o t
on her head, a nd w ild e x u lta n t songs in her m o u th , re c o u n tin g her h u m ilia tio n
o f Brahm in and Kshatriya, o f saint and sovereign, she m oves q u ic k ly ro u n d th e
assem bled m en and w o m e n , sca tte rin g w ith th e free h and u p o n th e m th e w a te r
fro m th e p o t. The w o m e n d o ff th e ir p e tty coats and m ake p resent o f th e m to
th e M atangi, and a m istress o f th e house gives her th e c lo th she is w earing. The
m en how ever, w ith strange inconsistency, d o ff th e ir sacred threads, and replace
th e m by n e w ones a fte r a bath.

3. To arrive at archaic contemporaenity: The Mathangi, an outcaste Madiga

priestess, addressing a gathering of village community during a Kolupu
articulates a familiar conception of relationship between priesthood and
kingship and an exposition of their exceptional state of being as outcaste.6
In one event the Mathangi says, (Even a king has to fall at our feet if they
dont we make them fall/And, in another ritual performance: 'You all possess
touchability and untouchability. We are truly here. If the lotus leaf is touchable
so are we/ On the last day of Kolupu, in the ritual of thanksgiving to the
deity, the Madiga priests, known as bainollu^ induce important members of
touchables and outcastes who are ritual participants, into a ritual play. The
bainollu are in command, one standing in the centre and another outside
the circle formed by the ritual participants. The one standing within the
circle addresses the priest outside it and says: brother, this week we have
done our duty, humbly submitted ourselves to the command of the villagers,
we have brought them joy by appeasing the goddess, and instead what did
we get? We have been subject to their whims. Now see we will show them
om powerywhat we can do.,? Overtly restating their power^ they command
the participants to sit and then stand, run in a circle, animated by robust
spirit of mockery and fun. The pedda Golla (the sacrifier who represents the
village in rituals),8 considerably embarrassed by this overt display of control
and to save himself from further embarrassment, asks the men to quickly
complete the ritual formalities.9This bleak assertion of authority is met with
a vituperative reprimand from the bainollu who mockingly respond to the
176 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

Pedda Golla saying; (Why, Mandadi? Why are you in such a hurry? Is the heat
of the sun too unbearable for you? Are you so weak? Why, Mandadi, all these
days having drunk the urine of the Mathamma [the goddess Mathangi] hasrft
invigorated you enough?*10Hie pedda Golla simply blushes at this derision as
the participants and others witnessing the play laugh aloudJeering or effective
utilisation of vitriolic speech is not uncommon and is nurtured zealously by
ritual specialists. Similarly, caste identities are typified and subject to revelry
despite being highly provocative. As the katha (the performative rendering of
mythical narratives, which are rites in themselves) progresses, ritual specialists
indulge in mocking and mimicking certain caste stereotypes. However, the
manner in which the brahmin stereotype is subjected to exceptional diagnosis
and caricatured remains unparalleled.11
In histories of caste or outcastes these images mentioned above lapse as insignificant
episodes unfathomable within the available frameworks on caste system Or religious
traditions. During the early 20th century, colonial and missionary accounts were
marred by confusion and misconceptions with the conflation of the mythic and the
ritualistic elements in traditions wherein outcastes appear with a distinctive status.
The sheer horror of bloody sacrificial rituals and the presumption of a lack of profound
metaphysical ideas on the part of the writers then logically culminated in the notion
of the outcaste as symbolising intense debasement of primitive communities, and
occlusion from the minimal civilising influence of the caste order. Consequently,
such perceptions lent to idealisation and validation of brahmanical-values, and the
epitomisation of outcaste culture and being as a ‘lapse into barbarism’. A summation
of such popular representations and disdain is typified in Abbe DuboisJimportant
work that was to serve as a manual for the colonial bureaucracy in administering the
colony. By conjuring the image of the (Nation of Pariahs\ the abbot—who praised
the colonial state for its worthy presence一 attributes great positive value to the caste
system, as the most apt (devise for maintaining a state of civilization amongst the
Hindus whose cultural proclivities were determined by characteristic Deculiar to the
torrid zone.5The brahmanical class thus was a civilising force that had prevented
absolute degeneration of the 'general social classes^ wn〇 left to themselves would
speedily become worse than the hordes of cannibals who wander in the vast waste
of Africa, and would soon take to devouring each other/12 Thus the term outcaste
acquired generic connotation as tasteless' people, whose 'natural predilections and
sentiments5was repulsive and abnormal, and illustrated the disastrous consequences
of non-conformity to caste norms and etiquette. In a similar vein, bishop Henry
Whitehead, whose work on the village gods of south India was an important
source for ethnographic accounts of the colonial state,13 categorically disapproved
religious practices associated with the outcaste priests as unfolding Midsummer
madness,. Despite the bishop's diatribe his work remains crucial for recording the
prevalence of a model of priesthood contrary to the brahmanical ideal of priesthood.
The classification of such customs under primitive traditions, lacking any shastric
sanction or as signitying the degeneration caused by caste and superstitious beliefs,
 Outcaste Pasts 177

received legitimacy from across caste-Hindu and outcaste reform movements and
decisively shaped the discourse on caste and outcastes.14
In academic formulations, Dumont's pervasive influence in writings on outcaste
religion is evident in the manner issues relating to outcaste identity are framed.15
Dumont arrives at the pure order by delineating the structural principles， while
not adequately dealing with the nature of religious power. His postulation of the
encompassing principle—of religious authority—is constrained by non-recognition
of its porosity and dispersal across communties/the caste orders, and lends to
ahistorical renderings of the past. In such formulations the untouchable appears as
the very antithesis of the pure order, as structural analysis is premised on brahmanical
conceptions that pertain to specific historical phase and textual tradition. This
relegates to the margins not only the complex layers within the brahamanical tradition
itself but also a range of traditions and cultural spaces that did not conform to the
superimposed brahmanical structure, with little significance for overall orientation of
the Indie. Another underlying idea in Dumont^ postulations lies in the erroneous
formulations on impurity and sacred which primarily informs the problematic
proposition of'the encompassing and the encompassed, as the basic feature of caste
society. While impurity or pollution itself is preempted of its complex religious and
cultural significations， the idealisation of one specific model of hierarchy masks the
questions of power, and the elements of dissent within tradition itself.
Two broad trends can be discerned in existing studies on outcaste religious
traditions: (a) the structural functional analyses that focuses on the relationship
between the structure and religious practices, and their functional significance in
resolving anxieties and powerlessness. However, such perspectives， which evoke
ideas of ‘protestant sectarianism’ or transformation of personality and its capacity
to bring about luminal states, leave Unexplained dimensions of overall structure/16
(b) deviating from this frame is the theoretical proposition of Michael Moffat and
C.J. Fuller—who were influenced by Dumont—that untouchable religious traditions
suggest a continuum with the dominant Sanskrit tradition and thus the outcaste
reproduces his own inferiority.17Robert Deliège critically points to the implications of
such generalisations that obfuscate complex cultural process and terms Moffats' view
as one-sided, and that, apart from the inadequacies of the categories of replication
and consensus, there is no necessary link between the two and thus introduces a
substantial difference in the notion of ambiguity and the fringes.’18
During the post-colonial period, except some rare attempts,19studies on outcastes
and religions were largely based on the Dumontian structuralist framework or the
hegemonic varna system with necessary modifications to suit regional variations. The
fetish for the varna order as an overarching order and thus the unceasing urge to trace
the point of origin of the untouchable/untouchabilty within the varna scheme has
resulted in ingenious modern origin myths, scripted in the West. For instance, against
the authoritative stance of commentators of dharmashastric texts, following upon
Manusmirtis injunction that 'There is no fifth caste/20 Alan Dundes offers a novel
reinterpretation of the very creation myth and claims to have discovered the original
178 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

point of origin of the untouchable within the creation myth. The untouchable is
posited to have originated from the anus of Prajapati, thus assigning a place in the
creation myth in consonance with the impure occupation of scavenging attributed to
untouchables.21 Such interpretation signifies the very apotheosis of the Dumontian
framework and the limitations of brahmanical textual sources that represent but
one dominant way of ordering the world/cosmos. While Dumont brings to fore
the distinctive universalism of the East, contra West or by counterfeit (construct
of Homo equalis^ in opposition to Homo hierarchichusyas the essence of the Western/
European world does not take into account the entrenched cultural notions of racial
purity and impurity and institutionalised practices of racism), the problem with his
postulations lies in imputing absolute value to brahmanical ideology as the source of
such universalism. Over the years, two broad contrary discourses have emerged—one
that continues to seek validation for everything within the brahmanical tradition
as the authentic source of Indie civilisation, and the other trend—opposite yet
complementing partially the former~a tautological criticism, that the outcaste is
the eternal victim, a consequence of the flawed understanding of the past as also
the manner in which modernist discourses have consolidated over the years.22 Thus,
while the burgeoning studies have had to struggle with constraining ideas—where
the outcaste figures as an abomination of the pure order—there has also been a
parallel trend that has culminated in inverse exclusivist formulations that accentuated
the absolute externality of the outcaste to caste society and the increasing emphasis
on selective aspects of outcaste culture as emanating from imposed isolation and
powerlessness. It will be useful to lay forth the broad spectrum of notions that
the construct outcaste embodies. The term outcaste is central to the metaphysical
universe of caste, ascribed both primal mystical notions and structural significations.
Outcastes occur as part of different clusters signifying different meanings by virtue
of Deionging to such broad identificatory groups. For example, while outcastes and
women are coordinates symbo丄ismg a state of being in different degrees (temporary
and permanent untouchability) outcastes are also identified with and share such
identificatory terms with the heretics or those who were opposed to the brahmanical
order. Extricated from such specific meanings it was constricted to signify an ascribed
status within the structure.23 What then were the causes for the continuance of tne
institution of outcaste priesthood? Such historical possibility suggests that outcastes
were as much entrenched m the universe of caste and, it will be seen^ not only
embroiled in its tumultuous history but—being its proponents—have shaped caste
society in parts of southern India like other religious communities. Such history is
deeply intertwined with the fall of the outcastes.

T H E O R IG IN S O F T H E S T R U C T U R A L O P P O S IT IO N
A N D T H E D U A L IS T IC M O D E L

To critically re-examine the structural opposition between the brahmin and the
outcaste it would be useful to chart the transfiguration of the category outcast
 Outcaste Pasts 179

itself from its earlier generic significations to gradual constriction as an attribute of

specific communities. It might be useful to recall Hocart s important proposition that
caste is reckon that historically there was no singular
imagination of ordering the world, at least in the southern region.24 It is in this
context that an attempt is made in this section to revisit, through ritual exegesis, a
pivotal theme—-the loci of outcaste in juxtaposition to the brahmin over the longue
durée. Recent historical criticism, by cautioning against the idealisation of varna,
has noted the significance of taking account of parallel processes in shaping caste
order and relations during the medieval and colonial period in Andhra, thereby
unsettling narratives undergrid by neat binaries and predictable frameworks.25 Also,
the recognition of contrary religious cultural principles in reconfiguring local caste
networks26 suggests that locales or sites of power were rarely fixed and categories
of status were often dynamically reconstituted and accompanied by idioms and
practices of contestations against any single overarching normative system.27 And,
thereby, sets forth the ground to move beyond the four-fold caste system as an
absolute structure or caste as an exclusive category-determining status. There is an
increasing recognition of other historical factors in the way caste was reconfigured
by multiple processes and was constantly reproduced, enabling the reproduction and
persistence of clusters of castes as parallel regional schemes of social organisation.
T. N. Madan observes that, given the historical fallacy of notions of caste structure
as an absolute, unchanging, homogeneous structure, it is necessary to locate not
only occasional reversals, but also, more importantly, to stress the continuity of
those reversals and further explore the persistent, constant existence of alternative
structures.28 From such conceptual vantage it becomes possible to reinstate the
seemingly chaotic elements in contemporary relics of the archaic—the rites
mentioned above-—within the encompassing quality of the transcendent, where
contestation and claims to religious and worldly power find articulation. And, the
chaotic and disorderly violent outbreaks that intrigued the colonial authorities
point to a very different configuration of communities and distinctiveness of the
outcastes, in terms of the notoriety attributed to them—both as rioters and as
priests officiating horrifying bloody rites. Thus, rethinking the locus of power in
caste societies has far more significant implications than simply recovering the
outcaste from the abyss of history. The above mentioned deviant* customs and
tdisorderly, instances (in colonial records and encoded in kula puranas) become
available to the historian, as valuable continuous connecting links to conjure broader
shifts in the historical processes, despite the scattered nature of their occurrence. To
understand the process of the transmutation of proto-castes to outcastes it would be
useful to conjure the historical past within the context of the southern region. The
tenuous conflict between those at the apical position and those excluded outside
the structure could, to an extent, be unravelled by broad transitions pointing to the
more fundamental tension in caste society.
This exploration is. based on a premise offered by the archaic in contemporary—
the outcastes have conserved an ancient feature of priesthood in Indie tradition, in
the institution of the priestess and possess religious authority, albeit very distinctive
180 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

from the brahmin. Far from being inferior specialists in impurity, whose role in ritual
activity is marginal to the actual ritual domain, outcastes across the southern region
have been central to the shakta tradition and continue to be priests and priestesses.29
Their religious persona and entrenched authority has been of such measure that they
are believed to possess ‘god-like quality’.30 This is in accordance with the nature of
Indie religiosity which is impelled by a force to actualise it in ritual enactments, and
resonates with another form of priesthood—the brahmins as (gods on earth,. Hence,
the almost undeniable pivotal principle of the caste system that, (in Hindu society, the
brahmin stands supreme'31 was not impervious to contestation, especially in a unique
case of paradoxical reversal, by the outcaste priesthood.
Crucially, the three aperture sites mentioned to serve as entry points, indicating
outcastes potent entrenchment within caste order and outcaste priesthood, can be
traced from the early historical developments in the southern region. The earliest
evidence of such ritual persona, fused with the role of the bard and priest, is indicated
amongst several prominent clans in Sangam literature—the Panar, Paraiyar, Valluvar
and Tutiyar who towards the end of the later Sangam period (3rd century ad to 6th
century a d ) began to be classified as untouchables.32 Their links with specialised
groups organised into egalitarian eco zones in Tamilakam (the land between the hills
of Venkatam and the tip of Kanyakumari) hints at perhaps what can be construed
as indicating the transition of proto-caste to outcaste identities.33 The prominent
role of these clans, entrusted with making royal announcements and declarations of
war,34 is interwoven with heroic tradition emerging amongst the dominant clans. The
function of the domestic segments of the Panar, Tutiyar and Paraiyar were integral
to the heroic culture underpinned by a dominant feature of society, of plundering
raids as (a principle mode of resource mobilisation.35 Their duties were crucial to the
expeditions, beginning with the commencement of the event to overcoming perils, the
challenges involved in such raids and eventual celebration of the clans'prowess. With
their musical services the Paraiyars and Tutiyars as heralders invoked the powers of
the sacred as also the clans for raid, predatory marches to achieve their goals and re™
distributive feasts and rituals. For instance, the Panars elicit such roles as bards who
joined the raids to be inspired by the fighting skills on the battlefield so as to enable
them to compose eulogies of the warrior clans heroic acts. On return to the urythe
settlement, the courageous acts of the heroes were conserved in clan lores, and would
be invoked later to stir up pride in the hero by recalling the glorious past of their
heroic ancestors. This heroic ethos was largely shaped by the close interdependence
between the dominant clans and bardic and priestly clans. Mention is made of such
wandering bards visiting courts and composing eulogies of the kings greatness,
and that outcastes were 4great clans* who occupied positions of bardic authority as
genealogists with ritual functions.36 A significant clue hinting at the transfiguration
of the status of the Valluvar occurs in a historical account, a section of Paraiyars,
regarded as untouchable during later period, were the royal heralders and court poets
during the Sangam period.，37
However, despite the extreme contempt for untouchables with the increasing
presence of brahmins in southern India, it is only in the later Sangam period that
 Outcaste Pasts 181

the notion of infinite or permanent impurity gains credence. A possible crucial shift
during this phase, suggested in historical accounts, is the decreasing provenance of
the proto-outcaste clans with the arrival of brahmins by virtue of a coup dttat and
appropriation of these roles. Eventually, the new category of brahmin bards came
to be closely associated with dominant chiefs, (with enormously high resource
potential, range of domination, extensive and re-distributive complex and elaborate
social relations.5At the centres of political power, analogous to the Panar bard, the
'brahmin bards eulogised Velar (Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras) chiefs and the majority
of brahmins took to singing exploits of the Muventar/38
There seems to have been an interregnum period between the usurpation of
religious authority by the brahmins and the consolidation of an order that set in
motion a process that provided coherence to the structural opposition between
rivalrous bardic clans. That this religious conflict was to severely constrict the proto-
outcaste clans can be deduced by developments in the newer order. The displaced
clans were despised as contemptible and impure in the new order, and several
restrictions and mechanisms of exclusion formalised during this period. Some of the
features that are indicative of this change can be discerned: aversion to beef-eating
percolated into Tamil society during the Pallava period; and, by the 7th century
a d , untouchables were excluded from entering temples in areas of brahmanical
influence.39 However, it is in later puranic literature that the outcastes are depicted
as infinitely polluted—symbolised by the Pulaya who revelled in skinning the cow
and consuming beef7whose presence was undesirable in the pure space in caste
society. Around the 10th century, the notion of ritual impurity was institutionalised
and untouchabilty as cultural norm seems to have been firmly established in the
south, with empires patronising the new brahmanical order. Thus, the apical position
enjoined by the brahmin is simultaneous and in contradistinction to the exclusion
of outcastes to habitation outside the habitation of touchable communties.40There
are no historical accounts of a sacred cartography of settlement patterns of castes
during this period, however, clues to this are available at least as the desired ideal in
brahmanical texts where it is decreed that the outcastes reside beyond the boundaries
of cremation grounds. Yet, this is but a part of the decree, for in the same breath it
needs to be underscored that it is also the space assigned to heretics.41 Thus, during
the early stage, outcaste as a term constituted a fundamental category, attributed
a negative metaphysical value within the conceptual universe of caste, subsuming
diverse meanings and categories of outcasteness. Accounts of differentiation within
outcaste communities thus cannot be reducible to any one specific linear history
given the complexity of historical processes. From their status of aggrestic serfs,
leather working, weaving, as village watchmen, executioners who aided the state (by
absorbing the sin of killing’，42 to some groups who were‘rich enough to be taxed’
and rich enough to make endowments like the lighting of lamps in the temple.43
Yet, extant sources indicate that despite the extraordinary vitriolic onslaught ensued
by brahmanical authority, and perhaps other religious orders too, from within the
proto-outcaste tradition, the most powerful archaic model of priestess survived and
figures in records of the medieval and colonial period.44 Such striking continuity
182 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

of outcaste priesthood can be explained by the unique socio-cultural formations

in the region.
Scholarly works on the social formations of the medieval period have noted
that the social dynamics of the region precluded the possibility of the varna from
emerging as a singular model of social scheme. Cynthia Talbot s study on Andhra
in the early medieval period elucidates the spirit of the period as generally oriented
by the relative insignificance of varna for non-Brahmins in the 13th century/while
the brahmins accorded it great importance.45 Instead, clan and lineage identities,
i.e. kula, gotra and vamsham, were categories by which people identified themselves
and were largely a consequence of the instability of the period.46 This witnessed
physical moments when large tracts of land were being brought under the plough and
mercantile activities received an impetus. Social dynamism is thus attributed to the
intensity of agrarian expansion, which not only resulted in influx of communities into
the hinterlands but also the integration of artisans and pastoral communities that
'fostered flexibility in social relations and mutability in definitions of community/47
Given the f l ui di t y, ( or subcaste) as a clearly-defined cultural unit had not emerged.
The prevalent social groups were less characteristic of an immutable kinship group,
than as an occupational or professional group.
Similarly, local administrative mechanisms like the ayagar system were important
localised units of services between communities and administration in the village. In
the ayagar system the outcastes figure with indispensable roles offering obligatory-
services.48 As one of the twelve ayagars, the Madigas were obliged to supply leather
products that were extremely crucial for the agrarian economy. In return the Madigas
received wages，rights t:o land and customary payments. Äs a community of craftsmen
they were integrated into the local economic network at par with other crafts or
artisanal groups. Certain categories of outcastes flourished as craftsmen Vich enough
to be taxed5and make endowments like lighting of lamps in the temple.49 Thus,
while their status suffered beyond recovery with the hegemony of caste ideology,
local networks of castes were based on a very distinctive principle of mutuality and
reciprocity and the location of the outcastes in these orders was unlike the debasing
status ascribed in varna order. Yet， there is ambiguity over the actual organisation
of castes in the region given the diversity of accounts and conflicting trends. And,
despite the prevalence of other categories of affiliation, the incursions of varna
ideology in Andhra society is evidenced by a set of imprecatory passages during the
17th and 18th century.
The occurrence of the outcastes in inscriptional sources with a brahmanical
orientation, indicate very crucial points: the conception of the outcaste as mirroring
the real danger of loss of purity of caste, and the fall from their recognised status in
the overall general scheme. The purity of customs, allegiance to a dominant order,
was becoming more significant as deviation or violation implied dreadful degradation
accompanied by humiliating debasement. In a recent study of inscriptional sources in
Andhra Pradesh during 17th to 18th centuries, Ramachandra Reddy discerns a very-
striking pattern of reference to outcastes with reference to village administration.50
In seeking to explore the contextual references to outcastes in inscriptional sources
 Outcaste Pasts 183

of medieval period, he identifies a corpus of inscriptions that reveal the conflicting

images of the outcastes in the region. These recur in the context of issuing of
regulations, and foreseeing violation of several communal obligations. Interestingly,
they concern the peasants and the village officials and in very specific context to
everybody residing in the village. These occur in the context of maintenance of
tanks, collections of customary fees and special exemptions.51 Indeed what makes
these unique is .the symbolism surrounding the persona of the outcaste vis-a-vis
the touchable; for instance, the dispersed symbolism and core meaning is woven
around this basic pattern, a variety of acts that breach conformity to the regulations,
misappropriation of fee {merd) received for maintenance of tanks or destruction or
defacement of inscription—•i.e. concealing the regulation would be tantamount to
have given his wife to be fucked by an outcaste labourer {vetti)yor to have given/lost
his wifes honour to an outcaste (Madiga or Mala). Or it would symbolically amount
to indicating that the defaulter was born to the outcaste. There are also instances
where the person who engages in fraudulent acts is degraded to the level of having
licked the vagina of an outcaste woman (Mala).52 However, one cannot fail to notice
in these occurrences a dimension—in sexualised metaphors the virtual threat of
fall, susceptibility of loss, the danger of degradation of the violator. Here within the
brahminical normative order the outcaste has a unique structural value of outcasting
the violator, of penetrating the pure intimate space of the community, as the lurking
threat of dishonour or absolute loss or purity or honour. The imminent dangers on
violations of administrative regulations are crucial to underscore the devaluation
of the outcastes in political and social contexts where brahminical norms gained
ascendancy due to royal patronage.53
Thus, the period between the widening provenance of varna ideology during the
17-18th centuries and the dissolution of the dualistic order in the middle of 19th
century may have been a period of competing structures and intensifying deterioration
of the status of the outcastes. It is puzzling that, despite the abomination that the
outcaste came to symbolise in this period, the outcastes continued to be referred as
‘friends’ of specific blocks in the dualistic order and recognition as priests accorded.
However, the prevalence of such parallel models of organising castes was to have a
decisive impact in resuscitating south Indian outcastes from regression. Available
accounts on the dualistic order evidences its effective sway over parts of the southern
region until the second half of the 19th century. However, the colonial government
was distraught with the dualistic order for being so elusive, that any initiative at
regulation was to imperil the Company government itself. In the neighbouring
territory of Pondicherry the conflicts between theses castes were of such magnitude
that the French government was involved in a war of petitions and civil disturbances.
The French itself were at certain stages embroiled in these disputes that its authority
was challenged as castes refused to confirm to the several regulations introduced to
resolve these disputes.54
Early British colonial accounts betray bewilderment at the frenzy of caste riots
that afflicted the newly-established port towns. The colonial port town of Madras
witnessed a series of riots in which outcastes were actively involved in alliance with
184 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

the touchable dominant castes. Incidents of violence between the touchable castes
and outcastes seemed to be erupting over 'frivolous* matters like the right to marriage
processions and display of symbols of honour are reported.55 Far more problematic
for the colonial government, apart from the peculiar nature of violent outbreaks, was
in terms of arbitrating and regulating an incomprehensible configuration of alliances
between different communities and the resulting paralysis of colonial bureaucracy.
For there was no ‘reliable’ traditional authority to ascertain the logic and traditional
authority of what was construed as a native nuisance that hindered the exercise of
eiFective control. Consequently, it caused the colonial state immense embarrassment
and frustration, given the scale at which these riots broke and the magnitude of crisis.
The missionaries who were closely associated with outcaste communities during
this period regarded these riotous eruptions as not only extremely provocative and
non-conducive to peaceful coexistence but also obscene, especially due to the overt
display of brute physical force by the despised castes.56The records of Fort St George
provides a more complex picture of the magnitude of the conflict between the right
hand castes and left hand castes, noting also the alliances formed across the touchable
communities and outcastes.57
The structural basis and difference of the dualistic order from the brahmanical
varna scheme has been perceived as a mode of social phenomenon with inbuilt and
complex opposition and conflict. During the 19th century, F. W. Ellis, one of the
earliest orientalist scholars and who was later part of a committee to arbitrate over the
traditional privileges of the members of the two blocks, postulated the basic distinction
between the two antagonistic blocks. According to him, the origin of this dualistic
model emerged as a consequence of the ‘rise of trading and manufacturing groups
in a society dominated by agriculturalists/58 Another posited principle underlying
this structural opposition was the opposition between brahman dominance and the
Buddhists who were, in a sense, non-conformists,59 Scholars who sought to provide
a detailed analysis of the model in southern India further elaborated this opposition.
Elaborating on this basic proposition, Brenda Beck defines this dual classification, right
and left dualistic organisation as an overarching scheme of two ritually-opposed social
categories that served to classify the localised and occupational specific kin groups.
This dichotomous structure was characterised by two loci of power; castes dependent
on land formed an alliance known as the right-hand block and were dominated by
rural landlords, and castes with no links to land and basically comprising artisan castes
and hereditary specialised occupational castes constituted the left-hana block.60 The
former division was oriented by hierarchical, integrated model of jati stratification,
i.e. the jajmani system; the latter generally comprised urban-based, itinerant groups
and lived mainly by marketing their skills and who were paid by the individual job/61
Heesterman posits it as the structural reflection of two sources of power; castes of
right-hand section was characterised by the kingly model with land based power and
interdependence, while the left-hand section that of priestly model with emphasis on
purity.62 Similarly, emphasising the structural logic of such dualistic cultural order,
Appadurai posits this model as a ‘root paradigm’ offering a ‘basic form capable of
conferring cultural meanings to a variety of antagonism in South Indian Society/63
 Outcaste Pasts 185

The position of the brahmin within this order has been one of ambiguity. Beck argues,
'the Brahmin (and the Namboodiri Pillai sub-caste of scribes) are neutral or may
viewed as forming the head for the social order/Gananath Obeyesekere criticises the
image of a ‘body social’一 with a head brahmin and the two sides, right and left—by
Becks own superimposition of the brahmin at the top of the structure.64 He notes
that the underlying idea of body politic is embedded in the varna scheme, while right-
left distinction is not associated with the body politic idea at all.65 This corresponds
to Neils Brimnes observations in documenting the conflict between the two blocks
in the early colonial period. A very significant insight emerging from this analysis
is the structural location of the brahmin. Verily the brahmins—being structurally
outside the dual system—had little power to intervene in matters concerning ritual,
caste rules, regulations or obligations. Thus, 'Brahmin pundits were not particularly
helpful in settling disputes between the two divisions among the aIower>,castes/ and
unsuitable for consultation on matters of dispute between the two divisions.66 The
French government was petitioned by the disputing parties and drawn into arbitration
of such disputes. In the absence of any authoritative source of information on the
origins and principles of the dualistic order, Jacques Weber mentions, the French
consulted the brahmins of Chidambaram. On the failure of the southern brahmins
to provide any useful advice on this matter further, counsel was sought from the
brahmins of Tanjore, Jaganatha and Benares. Eventually, when all efforts proved to
be futile, the government, convinced that the brahmins had no authority on these
matters, arbitrated according to local usages and precedents.67
The dualistic order prevailed almost until the middle of 19th century in British
territories and, further, in the French colony of Pondicherry as a parallel or the basic
social scheme. It continued to induce impassioned emotions, provoked by issues of
honour and custom causing virtual chaos and instability of order, from increasing
disturbances, damage with its indiscernible tactics of desertions. Given the fact that
such honours were highly contested and could not be permanently resolved, the
conflicts caused a great hindrance to effective maintenance of order. They proved to
be, as Dubois notes 'most direful disturber of the public peace'and even military force
insufficient to quell the fury/ for the members involved were so ruthlessly passionate
about their privileges that they demonstrated no fear of sacrificing their lives for
safeguarding honour.68What is significant in this context is the initiation of a process
by the colonial power, in its efforts to consolidate their authority, of imparting greater
legitimacy to the brahmanical hierarchical order and reinforced the superiority of
the brahmins as the authentic legislators of custom and tradition. While missionary
accounts represented the disturbances and alliances within the structure as lacking
any authoritative basis, it was Dubois5authoritative stance that remarkably germinated
an idea that gained legitimacy during the later period. Being extremely dismissive
of the YactionaF riots, he construes the right and left order as a 'modern invention
in Indian society lacldng reference in ancient texts.69 Major changes ensued in the
19th century, with the gradual consolidation of colonial rule resulting in newer
economic and political practices. Analysing the causes for the gradual corrosion
of the dualistic structure, Beck identifies two major factors that initiated a gradual
186 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

transformation of the social order during this period; the presence of the British
and the introduction of changes in the economy. Beck points to the larger field of
power, wherein the disintegration of the two exclusive locales of power witnessed
the shift, where power was diversified and nucleated around the colonial state. The
possibility of acquiring a respectful social position was dependent on access to newer
avenues of power and prestige. Major change was introduced by the ryotwari system
which gradually transformed economic and community relations, and eventually the
‘social superstructure’ itself.70 Beck’s reading of the Vociferous’ claims or passionate
involvement of the outcastes in disputes within this structure is problematic when
applied in different regional contexts. According to her, this is a structural trait of
the lower groupings, who—akin to the untouchables—do not have a fixed patterned
identity status within the block due to their ambivalence and fluid position, and is a
phenomenon that reflects the anxiety of those at the bottom, (those who rank low in
the social hierarchy are very often very concerned to show that there exist some other
groups who rank still lower.' However, more intriguing is the assumption that such
ambivalence in fact compels them into an extreme outward show of commitment/71
In this mode of argumentation the position of the outcastes and their structural
ties are merely incidental and epiphenomenal, lacking any structural validity and in
fact ascribes a negative trait to a prominent feature of social phenomenon. Such
interpretations entrap the outcaste to a superfluous state of psychosis, without any
identifiable positive trait of creative potential or will. Yet, it needs to be noted that
this location transmuted the structural status of the outcastes who were complexly-
interwoven within contending blocks. These become definitive with the increasing
competition and consolidation of identities. Brimnes observations in this regard are
valuable, for they suggest the ways in which the transition of the south Indian society
from a fluid, dynamic and competing structure to a more ‘static，traditionalised，order
gained preeminence, conducive as it was for regulating and controlling the colonised
people. Yet, this was a process in which both the colonial powers and the elite, and
influential groups within Indian society collaborated in inventing a fixed, overarching
structure that claimed its legitimacy by its conformity to a singular dominant source
of ancient rights and immemorial custom.72 Thus the compilations of colonial
ethnographers, in a way, reduces the incidents to mere intra-outcaste conflicts as
simply an assortment of myth, hearsay and thereby dismisses the right and left hand
divisions as a mere superjfluous trait of the overarching four-fold caste order within
which the census, official and other ethnographic data was oddly fitted to reinforce
outcastes5lowly social status.73 Though the colonial bureaucracy tried to arbitrate
differences, in a way it also reinforced moral authority of the brahmin as arbitrators of
tradition—a practice that was to have decisive consequences in the manner in which
the social structure was reformulated in the region from thence.
This period in colonial history, retrospectively,had a definitive impact in transforming
the nature of caste, given the unprecedented loss of legitimacy and value suffered by
the dualistic model. Such measure of oblivion was achieved with the consolidation
of colonial authority and the progressive devaluation of diverse precolonial locales of
authority and collectivities, the colonial enterprise of codification of tradition and the
 Outcaste Pasts 187

overpowering presence of non-traditional conception of sovereignty that subsumed

divergent loci of power. Perhaps it may then be possible to deduce that the traditional
space for forging bonds across castes and intimacies dissipated due to the expunction
of the locus of precolonial forms of authority and widened the separation between
outcastes and touchables by introducing an element of autonomy into demarcated
domains, by disjointing the erstwhile interwoven domains of the political and the
cultural/religious. While these elements of affinity, and of a shared past, tended to
be redundant with the accentuation of the outcaste as a separate component of caste
society, it was within the transcendental space (that periodically enlivened those
memories) that artefacts of precolonial bonds survived. The effect of such a process
during this period is reflected in the colonial governments attitudes towards specific
customs associated with the shakta tradition.
Nicholas Dirks* work is useful to understand this dimension within the larger
concern of the British to control and govern the colony in accordance with the
demands of imperial rule. Notions of custom were transmuted by missionary
epistemology and colonised elites, especially the brahmins. A different normative
order was being reproduced wherein customs like hook-swinging were diagnosed as
symptomatic of barbaric torturous tradition causing harm to the individual and social
body. Such representations failed to take into account how customs interconnected
with pre-colonial traditional prerogatives associated with privileges, honour and status
of specific communties.74 Several points of intervention by colonial authorities in
arbitrating traditions continued to be rallying points for liberal modernist discourses
in post-colonial India.75 These principles, largely evolved to legalise traditions, were
intimately linked to the 'irritation such practices caused not only to the Christian
missionaries, as argued by Dirks, but also to the brahmins who were, in a sense, outside
that domain that relayed a kind of rituality that caused them great discomfort. Colonial
domination and authority opened up newer possibilities of contesting the validity of
such practices which were outside their province of religious control, and, ironically
received support from missionary circles.The anthropological knowledge that provided
a reliable basis on information to understand and regulate custom were mostly
overriding presumptions of the colonised elites and the missionary/administrative
accounts; and it often suppressed other opinions of the practitioners, mostly clower
castes^ or precisely the religious authorities of the 1popular, traditions. This privileging
of the brahmin religious authority set in motion a gradual process of corrosion of the
legitimacy of the ritual domain of the non-brahmin priestly class, especially outcaste
priesthood. The policing and eventual lllegalisation of hook-swinging, the banning
of nude worship, the criminalisation of the practice of dedicating girls to the gods/
goddess, all crucially transformed the ritual domain of the non-brahmin religious
traditions and their moral legitimacy.76The colonial legal mechanism, formulated for
intervention, directly affected the essence of the sakta tradition.
Drawing a clear line between purely religious motives and those elements
believed to be causing disturbance or effecting sensibilities of other communities
and invoking the need for righteous restraint a basis was laid for the gradual future
criminalisation or invalidation of contesting traditions. What is however hinted
188 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

in the explication of regulation of custom is, it might be argued, a sort of inverse

Sanskritization—in appropriation of tradition by the brahmins who sought to trace
the genealogy of the ^riginaFrite within a dominant philosophical tradition.77These
representations invalidated the authenticity of not only the religious authority of the
non-brahmanical priestly class but also the very authenticity of the ritual domain,
its practitioners. In fact, the official recognition of the brahmin priestly class as
the sole authority in religious matters recasts the brahmanical worldview as the
litmus test for adjudicating all other traditions which, in the pre-colonial period,
had certain autonomy in defining the domains by rejecting brahmanical authority
and worldview. At work here was a sort of a technique of passive coercion wherein
the brahmins created a conglomeration of cultural principle for the colonial state
to govern the colonised for those belonging to the ^ower castes' were not the ideal
subjects to be consulted for opinion, who were much in awe of the power of the
state to oppose its power.78 However, though Dirks points to the dynamics of this
process and the brahmin position in the colonial bureaucracy as a corollary to the
emergence of a colonial public space that witnessed the reinvention of tradition, to
contingent factors like ‘anglidsation’ or even the ‘alienation’ of brahmins from the
rural, he in fact reinforces—howsoever indirectly—the notion of the brahmanical
caste as a traditional sacerdotal caste with absolute claims to religious authority. It
needs to be noted that there was no overarching provenance of brahmanical authority
or even an uncontested supreme brahmin priestly authority. The religious domain was
indeed marked by local social schemes and If the brahmins enjoyed absolute religious
authority in a particular religious hierarchy, other parallel structures in fact exteriorised
the brahmins from its scheme to a large extent and had inverted the principles of
power, espousing for a more continuous hierarchy and a moral economy. The eventual
colonial codification of the religious/social body legally redefined the pre-colonial
domains and introduced a hierarchy of traditions; lowly popular traditions and
upper-caste brahmanic traditions. Despite the prevalence of syncretic elements or
an interface of the brahmanical and the non-brahmanical practices, the domains
clearly nucleated around distinct locales of power. And it is in this context that the
conflict for religious authority becomes more evident in both the representation and
reinvention of tradition. Thus, by privileging a particular tradition that was contested
through the centuries, the colonial state accomplished a task that brahmanical
ideology and order had failed to accomplish. The ultimate exteriorisation of the
outcastes, with the esteem bestowed on brahmanical texts by the colonial government
and scholarship, lead to grave misconceptions on Indie history and traditions.
There is very little systematic, critical and in-depth work on the dualistic structure
capturing its complexity. While there is clarity about its structural opposition to
the varna order, founded on the idea of a social body organised into two opposed
blocks, and while clusters of communities were thus bonded by their affiliation to
the right hand and the left hand castes, there is very little reflexivity on the status or
location of the outcastes. However, it is explicit that this parallel structure resulted in
radical realignment of caste groups, inclusive of the outcastes who were structurally
exteriorised in the four-fold varna caste structure. What is crucial in this context is
 Outcaste Pasts 189

that the structural affiliation of the outcastes to the contesting blocks, vested them
with power both inside and outside the domain of the sacred. It is from within
this space that the contest for and reclamation of religious power from another
iocus becomes inescapable. This social configuration suggests that, until about the
fundamental shift occurring during the colonial period, there was no great obsession
for affiliation to the varna order. Which then implies that brahmanical preeminence,
except in urban centres, must have, had to contend with various communities who
were religious specialists, bards, sectarian priests and priestesses, whose traditions
were beyond the sphere of brahmanical sacerdotal influence and shaped the cultural
ethos of the dynamic space and reverberated the aspirations of the emerging and
competing communities. That brahmins as religious specialists had to compete
for resources with other groups—whom they held with contempt—which were
diversified, is evident in the commentaries of the 18th century.79 Instantiating this
is， Kuchimanchi Timmanakavi’s ridicule of the prominence shown to non-brahmin
specialists in his work Kukkutesvara Satakam expressing concern regarding the
impropriety of the manner in which brahmins or temple money was diverted to lowly
categories like prostitutes, semi-nomadic groups, deceitful persons, healers, outcaste
priests, minstrels and bards and penalties for violations, spurious drinks like toddy
the black drug (ganjayi), cock fights and opium {nallamandu) rather than showering
gifts on poets.80 The crisis in brahmanical tradition is explained as symptomatic of
Kaliyuga, suggesting the setback to brahmanical faith with non-brahmanical sects
and specialists gaining a dominant hold on the masses.81

F R O M T H E A R C H IV E T O T H E F IE L D : T H E W O R L D
O F M Y T H A N D R IT U A L

A shift from the archive to the field offers possibilities for charting the trajectory
of the dualistic order during the pre-colonial period and the cultural basis for
manifestations of unique bonds evoked in myth and ritual between outcastes and
touchables, the sacred and mortals. Such histories, by virtue of having overcome the
constraints of erroneous conceptions, unfold the broader principles and distinctive
spirit that shaped specific cultural zones during the pre-colonial period. Conventional
historical methods have foreclosed the possibility of critically drawing from the kula
puranas, sacred lore and specific forms of religious traditions, as historical narratives
are constrained by a linear, temporal time and privileging of texts and bounded
constructs at the expense of a totality. Thus mobilising archival sources and orality
offers a possibility of grappling with the challenges emerging from understanding a
multivalent notion of time, space and being, in reference to the contingent, the form
and ways in which they mark their presence in temporality. Unlike orality, whose
locus is the body and memory in self validation traces its origin to the primordial and
whose utility is in its constant enactment; texts are impelled by structural autonomy
in the way idea is envisaged. The text and orality, informed by memory in varying
measures, tend to work towards a desired ideal, its perfection is realised in the former
190 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

as it recedes from the facticity of existence in all its complexitysome areas being
almost inscrutable and irresolvable. Both may be precursors to the desired future.
Thus, both the epistemic artefact/text, and its referent the actualisation in myth/
ritual, need to be taken into account in any critical rendering of rituality. For it is this
dyadic relationship that: shapes civilisational trajectories and marks stages of creative
tensions between over-arching principles that underlie the radical transvaluation of
such principles, inaugurating movements of creative possibilities for ordering the
whole: to enable a credible engagement with these sites, to move back and forth the
archives and the field; to excavate mythical accounts that underlie the ritual—the
embodiment of encoded bonds in mythic time—and to discern the mode by which
the whole is positioned within shakta cosmology. In this context it will be pertinent
to recount a few excerpts from the mythical narratives and ritual domain within the
backdrop of the archive. This idiosyncratic foray will facilitate keeping pace with the
temporal and the mythic as also to detect the contingent within a historical framework.
The colonial ethnographic accounts are extremely critical despite the almost
fragmented superficial entries^ for they evidence a continuity. Excerpts from
mythical narratives/rituals and clues in archives point to a past that debunks
conventional histories. Here we arrive at the chief conundrum around the persona
of the priestess that hints at a remarkable feature of Indie tradition. Whenceforth
becomes available a contrary narrative of past—the complementary pair occupying
a decisive place in all sacrificial orders, its distinctiveness in the dualistic space
within the religious cosmology of shakta tradition, crucial for setting the cultural
basis of such institution. It needs to be noted that myths have a critical value in
caste society for they lay forth a prototypical model for organising the profane
and it is by approximation of that model that ones membership in the whole finds
legitimation. Thus, while bonds between communities find articulation around such
continuous enactments of ones distinctive being, it is in ritual that such enactments
are heightened and ones part in the whole is inscribed. Thereby, given that each
member of caste society enacts his preordained duty, myths are like communal
decrees that orient the ethos of caste society differently from the Dharmashastras
which denote a very different principle of legitimation.82

S H A R E D PASTS: O U T C A S T E S A N D T O U C H A B L E S

Before delving into the past, clearing the conceptual ground will help both ridding
off some general misconceptions and also the limitations of the kind of investigation
undertaken here. A fundamental feature of the dualistic order is the alignment or
alliances between the discrete caste communities in the region. While it is being
increasingly recognised that outcastes do not constitute a cultural monolithic
community, due to the emerging dissenting political movements, it needs to be
noted that the conception of a unified Dalit community is a modern construct
that emerged during the late colonial period. Thus, there persists an uneasy tension
between the traditional identities that continue to shape intercaste relations and those
 Outcaste Pasts 191

forged during the late colonial period that witnessed the emergence of a singular
identificatory category for a broad cluster of outcaste communities with a definitive
modern/politico-legal status. Paradoxically, the modern categorisation corresponds
to the enunciation of status of castes within the order. However the dualistic order
belies such fallacious conception and opens up another site for re-examining the
relationship between outcastes and touchables—that they do not constitute a single
monolithic category, and are split into two oppositional blocks. The fact that such a
divide within the outcastes was deeply rooted is evident by discrete entities that form a
cluster of segments with a broader caste group based on the principle of difference and
separation that is a shared feature of both the structures. Intracaste divisions were also
oriented by this primary basis of division. Thus, while groups of outcastes were divided
into left and right hand orders, subcastes within each division of the outcastes were
similarly hierarchised and structured as belonging to right and left hand groupings.
The ritual identity of the outcastes was pronounced and a primary connecting link
with various touchable castes within the dualistic structure, in accordance to their
affiliation to the blocks. Several cultural practices reflect these inter-block values and
are marked in their ritual relations. Thus, the two dominant outcaste communities in
Andhra—Malas and Madigas—indicate the extent to which such block solidarities
lead to irreconcilable differences and hardened hostilities amongst the outcastes as
reflected in aversion and strife leading to disturbance. It needs to be noted that the
rivalry between the Madigas and Malas is graphically evoked in one of the verses
uttered in front of the goddesses during weddings by the Madigas: £I shall cut with
my saw the Malas of the four houses of Nandyal, and having caused them to be
cut up shall remove their skin and fix them to the drums/83 That such occasions
were highly provocative is evidenced by a petition submitted by a missionary to the
collector of Kurnool in 1887 referring to its obscene nature1and for being the cause
of frequent quarrels between the Malas and Madigas. Similarly, their position within
these blocks legitimated outcaste communities to challenge the privileges or rights of
the touchable members of the opposing block. Such conflicts mostly centred round
issues of honour and ritual privilege like 'one divisions right to wear a red ribbon, to
take the procession through the streets or to display certain banner and temple flags
at festivals/84 and the use of palanquin during marriages/ processions on horseback
on certain streets.85 Simultaneously, it enabled the fostering of close cultural bonds
across touchable and untouchable communities; for instance, the Madigas share a
special relation with the block castes like Gollas and Komatis, unlike the Malas who
have parallel relations of privilege with the Kammalan or Balija and extended to a
set of rules concerning commensality, prestations and obligations. It is here that the
practice of revering Active bonds amongst the touchable and untouchable members
of the dualistic order becomes intelligible, and such intimacies between outcastes and
touchables are encoded in myths. Interestingly, the Komatis, according to mythical
tradition, are believed to be descendents of a brahmin man and a Madiga woman.
In this context, the Madiga-Golla affinity instantiates the persistence of an
archaic bond that has survived the onslaught by vuma order. This relationship between
the Shepherd King—Golla raju or the chief of the dominant Gollas caste—and
192 Priyadarshini ftjatsri

the Madiga ritual specialists begins to get intricate with the pattern of interaction
formulated on the religious notions of mystical kingship and dangerous specialists,
and not simply in terms of prestations, mutual identificatory idioms or coterminous
ritual obligations, but also in their relationship to the village as a ritual unit that is
complete in itself. The Madigas* unique relationship with the Gollas is predicated on
their affiliation to the left block. Their role as spiritual guides of the Gollas has vested
the Madigas with the title of kommuvandluyevocative of their bond sealed in sacred
time. TDhieythus alternate between this exclusive role and their generic priestly identity
as bainoilu. Kommuvandlu (horn blowers; horn being the traditional honorific symbol
of the Gollas) are traditionally regarded as both a bard and priest by the Gollas
and as having, to a great extent, contributed to the composition and transmission
of kula purana. The religious traditions of the Gollas become intelligible when one
reckons the centrality of religio-cultural ideals of heroism which are interwoven with
religious and cultural aspirations that find expression in rituals. The Madigas as a
clan are indispensible for accomplishment of their clan-specific rites essential for the
survival of the pastoral clans of the Gollas.86 They figure prominently as bards and
priests on all or u-ollas'domestic and public ceremonies, as their most intimate allies
in times of crisis and for their martial identity. Such is their intimate relationship
with the Gollas that in an ineluctable verse of the Katama Raju Katha\ ^ridevi, the
Golia mother, nurtured Madiga baby by feeding him from her right breast, while
her own son suckled from the left'—this conscious suclding of the Madiga baby in
an honourable manner sealed their bonds for eternity.87The mythological narratives
illustrate the conflict between right and left hand castes, especially in the Yadava
Purana or Katama Raju Kathaytheir kula purana. The rivalry between the Siddi kings,
belonging to the right hand caste, and GollasJ indicated in conflicts over counter
claims to traditional rights over pastoral and agrarian resources. Within this backdrop
the relationship between the Gollas and the Madigas, is lent to exquisite enactments
during celebrations, and occurs as follows:

W hen B atineni entered th e b a ttle fie ld in Yerra Gadda Padu th e re lie scattered bodies
o f his b ro th e rs-in -la w and a n u m b e r o f Yadava w arriors. To ensure th a t th e y d o n o t
becom e fiends or ghosts (pisach i) he has to make a p p ro p ria te o b la tio n s to ensure
th e y achieve salvation (m o ksh a m ) and reach heaven (ka ila sa m ). On reaching th e
b a ttle fie ld he sees mass d e s tru c tio n w ith corpses lyin g u n a tte n d e d and w o u n d e d
soldiers crying in pain. He firs t sprinkles w a te r and sacred ash a nd revives M adiga
Vira N aidu (also m e n tio n e d as Kaspa Naidu) th e firs t person to lay his life on th e
b a ttle fie ld as he m arched ahead o f th e Golla arm y. He gives Vira N aidu his conch
and asks him to b lo w it as he p e rfo rm s obsequies to th e dead kin. The dead relatives
th u s receive funeral rites and achieve salvation. Then he sprinkles sacred ashes on
w o u n d e d soldiers. The w o u n d s are healed and on recovery th e y ask fo r fo o d since
th e y have been starvin g on th e b a ttle fie ld . He gives th e m th e fo o d g o t fro m his
m other. A fte r th is th e re m a in in g Yadava w arriors, Vira N aidu and B atineni return to
th e ir native to w n .
 Outcaste Pasts 193

At the battlefield Batineni, the Yadava ancestor, declares the Gollas,special bond with
the Madigas:

As lo n g as th e sun and m o o n exists and th e Yadava lineage survives, w h a te ve r

cerem onies are organised by th e Yadavas— be it m arriage, G angam m a festivals,
sacrificial rites (g o vu th e va lu ), fu n e ra l rites—
— you w ill be th e re . D u rin g fu n e ra l rites
w h e n you take th e h o rn and e n te r in to th e lake and take a d ip it w ill sym bolise th e
h o ly d ip o f th e Yadavas. The firs t c lo th w ill be o ffe re d to you. O nly th e re a fte r w ill o u r
paternal and m aternal kin receive such honours.

This alludes to the remarkable bond between the heroic clan and the Madigas who
have a distinctive persona of a <heralder, than narrowly suggested by the category of
priest. In this rivalry between the two contenders the Madigas are formidable allies
of the Gollas in contentious relations with the landed right hand castes. Legendary
sources suggest the rise of Yadavas as local chieftains and increasing tension with right
hand castes meant a constant endeavour to accrue honours, reproduce their heroic
ethos, so intrinsic for the communal identity and their zealous priae in displaying
distinct martial identity. It is in this context that the Madigas are indispensable and
formidable allies who, as their bards and ritual specialists, reproduce the persona
of the 'Yadava Raju*, the great Shepherd King, perhaps a very socially contentious
ideal in an intensely competitive and dynamic cultural space. The Yadava Raju who
upholds royal authority and prerogatives sets the notion of ideal kingship in their
conflict with other kings.
This cultural motif recurs in the sacral lore on various occasions proclaiming
the shared destiny of the communities, A Madiga ancestor, Madiga Viranaidu
in Yadava Purana, symbolises this fraternal bond. It is this bond that instils the
Madigas to adapt their roles to the exigencies of Golla lives. Thus, the legends
exhort the Madigas to assume the role of royal heralders when danger lurks and
the Gollas prepare to fight the enemy. At that moment, the Madigas as spiritual
preceptors lay aside the conch and pick up the horn and march ahead of the troops.
Blowing the horn, and beating the drum and instilling in them the pride, recalling
the courage of their valorous ancestors to summon heroic prowess and vanquish the
enemy, the Madigas lead them to the battlefield. These Active kinship notion also
reproduces specific prerogatives to the outcastes in private and public ceremonies
of the touchable caste.
The Madigas are not simply bards but share heroic virtuosity and are thus respected
allies. And the Madiga memory oi'dakshinadi veerulu —heroes of the south—has
interesting allusions in the Yadava Purana. The Yadava ancestor Katama Raju lauding
Gosangi as the valiant Madiga leader whose alliance is desired and excellence and
mastery in warfare is Indicated in a passage of Katama Raju Katha. He implores
the valiant and virtuous Gosangi to join his forces and wrest victory from the rivals5
forces. Gosangi Virudus, prowess is compared to that of an intoxicated elephant.88
Katama Raju address Gosangi Musallana as follows:
194 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

Oh fam ed M atanga! R enow ned and h o n o u re d fo r y o u r im p e tu o s ity ; noble, v a lia n t

and virtu o u s man! Your u n ta rn ish e d fa m e is such an in d u b ita b le tru th , th a t even th e
w aters o f Kashi reveal as y o u r clan nam e is invoked. Ours is a b o n d created by Lord
Vishnu. Custom arily, you are th e o ne w h o in itia te s w a r fo r us.The Yadava sovereign,
S arvabhom udu, had th a t fa ith in y o u r e x ce p tio n a l a b ility , w h e n he e n tru s te d you
th e task o f e sco rtin g th e Jangam as to y o n d e r land, across th e shore. K in d ly ensure
o u r v ic to ry in th e im p e n d in g war. You are th e brave one! A t th is ju n c tu re jo in yo u r
forces w ith o u r ow n. For w e w ill care fo r y o u r kin, as you y o u rs e lf w o u ld , fo r all ages to
com e and as long as this w o rld exists. As has been th e tra d itio n , w e are kinsm en, th e
co-heirs (d o ya d u d u ) o f gains, w e share th e m im p a rtia lly . O ur fa te on th e b a ttle fie ld
is d e p e n d e n t on you. Oh v a lia n t one, th e p o w e rfu l Gosangi, g o fo rth !89

Responding to this plea the Madiga warrior embarking on this war roars like a
tiger and calls upon the Madiga heroes to join forces.90 Another passage in the text
similarly describes lucidly the skills of warfare displayed by the Gosangi:

Oh, young heroes! Look h o w G osangi M usallan is fig h tin g th e kin g o f Venukonda
V eerabhalladu ceaselessly! He leaps on th e lords o f th e enem ies like a raging lion.
He attacks th e elephants and ravages th e cavalry, e x te rm in a tin g th e m . M o vin g
s w iftly tow ards th e in fa n try, he m u tila te s th e m and cuts a p a rt th e ir noses, ears and,
fla sh in g his sw ord, strikes th e ir ribs, s la u g h te rin g th e m . Leaping on th e chariots ；he
th ro w s th e princes o n to th e b a ttle fie ld , p o u n c in g on th e m , m o u n ts on th e fallen
enem y, th e n fiercely plucks th e ir te e th and thrashes th e m on th e g ro u n d , slits th e ir
a b d o m e n and skins th e ir flesh. Thus, th e e x tra o rd in a ry hero ravaged th e enemy's
forces, w ith his fu rio u s rage, scaring th e m w ith his th u n d e ro u s roars. The b a ttle fie ld
presents a ghastly scene w ith m u tila te d corpses and b lo o d y torsos c u t apart. W hen
V eerabhalladu surro u n d e d him w ith a th o u sa n d m en on horses to q u e ll his p o w e r
and struck him , th e Gosangi was so enraged th a t in on e d e a d ly stroke he slayed th e
king. Picking up th e d e c a p ita te d head in e xh ila ra tio n , he th re w it in to th e sky and
th e n calm ed d o w n and collapsed on th e spot, overcom e by fa tig u e .91

The Golla belief system is unique for it postulates a comprehensive conception of

religious power linking it intimately to individual roles and community identity with
substantial implications in the temporal space. Several ceremonies, performed within
the household and community, indicate this persisting pride for their traditionally-
cherished aspirations. Teluvu Patam is a rite of passage that initiates a Golla into
an active communal role, epitomised in the ideal of the raju5. The meaning of the
term te lu v u is nearest to te lu p a ru ^ meaning to be reborn. Symbolically implying a
transfiguration, it is valued as an initiation ceremony within the community. By this
rite of passage the Golla is reborn as a heroic individual, assuming the attributes of
their divine ancestors. He， as a mediator， is receptacle to the accumulated powers of
their heroic ancestors, and in turn infuses beneficial powers into their clan. Teluvu
Patam empowers the Golla to assume the role of the head, a leader who is invested
with the legitimate authority to undertake a prominent part in the communal
 Outcaste Pasts 195

activities, be it marriage, festivals or other ceremonies.This ritual initiates a Golla into

a core group of community who personify their ideals and cultural values and this
religious resource largely determines their status within the community. It is through
such few select preeminent people that the ancestral spirits maintains a link with
the kin group. For instance, in Katama Raju Katha when Katama Raju goes to the
battlefield he is able to speak to his dead father with the help of goddess Gangamma.
Such seizers are crucial for the well-being of the family channelising their bonds with
the guardian spirits. In fact, the Gollas consult Madiga specialists to initiate them
in the formal ceremony, to evoke their dormant state of being host to the spirit of
their ancestors一 a phenomenon termed as sigalu, i.e. possession of ancestral spirits
or caste gods. It was reported that they deeply feel for this need to sustain a link
with their ancestors and divinities: lWe should get sigalu; at least one brother in our
family should have such special ability or else we will be deprived of our caste duty
{kula vrutti)'92 On the other hand, the clan is susceptible to such visitations and
could suddenly be infected on occasions of chanting, drumming or katha renditions.
Overwhelmed on such contagious occasions they experience convulsions; suffer
accidents, fall unconscious, move about uncontrollaoly tearing their clothes, at times
causing embarrassment to the family and the community. The Madigas diagnose
and condition such dormant abilities by a Teluvu Patam. Generally, a male member
is eligible for the initiation ceremony once he attains five years of age. However,
the opportunity for married men desxrmg to undergo the initiation ceremony Is
not foreclosed. One of the most valued modes of initiation is Katama Raju Patam，
which bestows on the person the attributes and status of Adipati, the sovereign. The
Avuula Pattam ceremony depicted in the Yadava Purana is an elaborate and lavish
celebration, marking it as an important rite of passage for the most distinguished
man in the community, in one such ceremony, Pedhiraju lovingly exhorts his brother:

B rother P oturaju, be an e x e m p la ry b ro th e r like th e epic heroes Krishna and Arjuna,

o b e d ie n t and 丨o vin g . U p h o ld values o f tr u th and tra d itio n in y o u r d is p o s itio n and be a
virtu o u s broth e r. Let kindness g u id e y o u r re la tio n s h ip w ith y o u r relatives, especially
y o u r in-law s ；th e v a lu v u llu . You are th e p ro te c to r o f th e Yadava c o m m u n ity , th e
landlords, th e chieftains, th e va llu lu , th ira m a n d u lu , th e G osangi c o m m u n ity , yo u r
soul m ates and th e co w h e rd . U p h o ld tru th by p ro v id in g shelter to those reeling
u n der th e b lazing sun. As all th e Yadavas b e lo n g to o ne lineage, be th e ir g u id e
and ensure th e ir w e ll-b e in g and p rosperity. A s tu te ly avoid b lin d in g rage, be th e
b e n e fa cto r to everyone, g e n e ro u s even to a stranger. Respect y o u r b ro th e rs and
spread y o u r p ro te c tiv e em brace to all th o se w h o tru s t you.

The religio-cultural beliefs of the Gollas and Madigas deeply correspond with the
Kolupu complex. Especially, the religious notions of purity/impurity, auspiciousness/
inauspiciousness as also the very patterns of invocatory rituals based on the
complementariness of such forces, the indivisiDility of life and death forces. The
rites follow the pattern of Kolupu complex while deeply entrenched in a religiosity
that galvinates around heroic ethics. For instance, the unpredictable seizures, tne
196 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

conception of sacred, bloody sacrifices of the kind only performed by Madiga priests
{g a v ik o re k e d i) are ideas that a Golla strives for communion with his heroic ancestors
and heroic clan gods. In accomplishing such desired mediation and communion
with the divine and ancestors the Gollas are guided by the outcaste priest. Thus, the
outcaste priest could be managing varieties of rituals, ranging from tonsure ceremony,
marriage ceremony, rites of the heroes to ancestral and mortuary rites. While the
brahmin priests may appease the Golla needs for conformity to a larger structural
status, it is the Madiga priests who are greatly regarded for their exceptional spiritual
abilities enabling the Gollas to realise their innate cultural values and reconfigure
their intricate cultural identity—that of the heroes.

M A T A N G I/S H A K T A N A R R A T IV E S

The goddess Matangi is worshipped as a form of Goddess Shakti, who is affectionately

invoked as the mother in control the destiny of the inhabited space. The Kolupu is
celebrated to stir her presence and to ensure a flow of auspicious forces and eliminate
all evil inauspicious forces. The Madiga clan legend, Ja m b a v a p u ra n a M a ta n g i
envisages a cosmology that conceives the Adishakti as the creator of the universe.
While the G a m a ta P u ra n a m 9^ conceives the goddesses in her cosmic form, a terrible
form evoking fear among the worshippers. This three-eyed goddess possesses 18
hands carrying a trident {so o la m ), knife { k a tti) y conch {sh a n ka m )y lance {g a d h a ),
snake {sesh), whip {g a la m )y mirror { r iilu v a ti addam )^ drum {d a m a ra k a m ), a stick with
a face of snake at one end (jo k a rra or s ig id i b e tta m ), bow and arrow {b aan am )^ clay
saucer containing money {d u d d u g o la n i) ^a saw {ra m p a m )y d a k k iy container of sacred
ash {sesha g in n e )y lemon {n im m a -p a n d u or a substitute for a skull), p a la k i ta tta m y
a la yu d a m and p a d ik i. The Adishakti is also warrior goddesses who possesses the
power to annihilate demons and to whom the gods flock for help in times of crisis.
She is depicted as a bloodthirsty goddess who wears a garland of beheaded heads
around her neck. In her terrifying cosmic from she sucks the blood of the demons
and her unquenched thirst leads her to the cremation ground where she feeds on the
corpses. This terrifying form of the goddesses has earned her the fiercely notorious
distinction as a demoness who feeds on corpses.94 In the Mahavidhya tradition
the Matangi figures as one of the Mahavidya goddesses possessing distinct quality,
i.e. tam as —unlike the other two categories, s a ttv a and Matangi is Tond of
vamachara’according to tantric texts.95
Matangi belongs to a category of goddesses, who by their very fierce nature need
to be engaged with great ritual purity. The qualitative distinction between <higher,
gods and that of the goddesses is suggested by Edward Harper: while ritual purity in
approaching the former is 'in the light of customary ways of showing respect, and no
Brahmin, with whom I have talked, has indicated that if the gods are inadvertently
defiled, malevolent consequences would necessarily follow. Fear of severe supernatural
retribution for defiling the supernatural is not generally a part of the religious complex
associated with these more pure gods/ However, (the blood demanding devatas tend
 Outcaste Pasts 197

to be more quickly angry than are the vegetarian ones and more violently take offence
over ritual infractions/96 Thus, generally higher gods and goddesses are approached
with customary respect and devotion and do not evoke fear like the goddesses. The
Matangi outcaste clan goddess represents the inversion of the brahmanical opposition
of the pure and the impure and this creative tension is encoded in the myths. The
conflict between the ordered space and the boundaries—as spaces of the pure and
impure-—and the other in which these spaces are subsumed by the encompassing
sacral dangerous complex becomes meaningful. The religious notion of pollution in
this domain is conceived in relation to the sacred. The religious notion of pollution
attributes to it life-threatening forces that transforms the relation between the sacred
and profane domains and as a source of danger. Though the myths are a complex
fusion of brahmanical and shakta beliefs and values the divine—like the mortals
when afflicted by such dangerous flows—are a source of danger to the order and this
central religious notion transforms brahmanical divinities in this realm.
They refer to notions of pollution, types of sins and passivity of unchaste wives.
Unlike the relational divinity' and segmentation that C. J. Fuller postulates, the
identity of the 'high'divine actors is transfigured to fit in the cosmology of the low,.97
Reversing the travails of the 'high-caste mythological Matangi, who figures as an
attendant of the goddess or a minor deity Jamadagni, is transformed into a leprous
brahmin who on being insulted becomes a malevolent force that causes disease and
chaos. It is only on appeasement that order is reinstated. This lowly^ manifestation
is antithetical to the ‘high’ form.98 To quote Harper， ‘bodily fluids are sources of
defilement. All bodily emissions even blood or puss from wound are sources of
impurity/99 Thus, Jamadagni splits into pure and impure forms, is transformed into
a highly impure brahmin whose presence in the ordered space is dangerous. So also
Renuka, the high goddess, gains visibility in the cosmology by being pushed to the
exterior and loss of status in caste-Hindu space. It is this dangerous marginality that
connects her with the 'ugra-fierce and hot-goddess who normally resides on the
perimeters of or just outside village settlements/100 Undoubtedly, the inverse pattern
that transforms ‘high’ model and legitimacy to such forms is accorded in consensus
with the religious ideology at the 'bottom'.
For instance, in another mythological episode, the special relation between the
Madigas and the goddess is emphatic. According to the version narrated by a group
of ritual specialists, after the marriage of Renuka and Jamadagni the latter retreats
to the mountains to atone for his sins. Renuka yearns to meet him and is in sorrow.
During this time, nine crore siddhulu keep her company.101 Despite the siddhulu^
efforts to comfort Renuka in her distress her separation from Jamadagni is unbearable.
Distraught, Renuka is determined to undertake a journey to the mountains. The
siddulu plead with her not to desert them, for she is their mother who nurtures and
protects them. They would be orphans without her. Renuka promises to feed them
on her return and as a token of reassurance she leaves behind her son Jampanna.
For, even if she fails to keep her word, maternal love would eventually compel her to
remrn. Renuka goes to the hills and rejoins her husband. Engrossed in marital bliss
she does not return for a long time. The hungry siddhulu become restless and agitated
198 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

on account of Renuka^ tailure to return. Having starved for a couple of days, they
hunt foul and askjampanna to cook the meat for them. Jampanna cuts the fowl and
places the meat in a large pot of boiling water. While cooking he ignorantly breaks a
branch from a nearby sanjeevani plant (which possesses life-rejuvenating powers, or
immortality) to stir the pot. The fowl miraculously regain life and fly away. On seeing
the empty pot containing only water the siddulu accuse him of having eaten all the
meat by himself. Jampanna weeps and pleads but the siddulu are not moved. They
tie him to a tree and beat inm brutally. Jampanna cries in agony and calls his mother.
Renuka hears his cries and rushes back. Having realised the cause for this outburst
she cooks a meal and serves the siddulu, seated in a row, till they are satisfied. After
the meal, overcome by affectionate devotion, the siddulu beseech the goddess to grant
them a boon: 'Mother, grant us a boon. Even in kaliyugam you should be our mother,
our clan goddess \ ku la d e va ta \ .y1h Q goddess grants their wish and bestows on them
the exclusive prerogative to perform the intial worship (to lip u jd )\ *In kaliyugam, I will
manifest as a shakti in every village, in each Matanga hamlet. You will be reborn as
Matanga in the village of Matangawada, I will appear and dwell amongst you as your
kula devata. You will have the right to perform the tolipuja (initial rite of worship).
Whenever, wherever you place a stone, offer turmeric and vermilion, burn camphor
and call me, I will appear there. If you invoke me by the syllable I will appear/
The overjoyed siddulu take oath: (We will give your name to children born to us,
and we will raise strings of mango and margosa branches high across the streets and
worship you as our clan goddess/
The basic idea that underlies this text is that that the absence of the goddess leads to
barrenness and draught, while her presence assures bounty and well-being. However,
this myth was cited on several occasions when the bainollu were asked the reason for
worshipping Mathamma and celebration of Kolupu. The bainollu, o r p a n iv a llu y cite
the R e n u k a -M a th a m m a K a th a , claiming their ritual role as a divine right bestowed on
them by the goddess. The destiny of the outcastes is interwoven with the saga of the
goddess. It is a mutual relationship of divine and mortal reciprocity. While in times
of crisis, the goddess receives the unwavering support of the outcastes, similarly the
latter are invested with special privileges of her protection and grace, infinitely. They,
like the goddess, share her dangerous powers and, interestingly, the goddess refuses to
be installed or live within the ordered space of the village and instead prefers to live
on the boundaries of the village.102 It is this special relationship between Mathamma
and the Madigas that sanctions their ritual prerogatives. Though the Mathamma
is fused with the 'high* goddess Renuka, leading to the corrosion of the dangerous
potential reflected in the myths cited above, the Maaigas cherish their own goddess
in her unblushing fierce and erotic form. She is the primordial cosmic feminine
energy, like Jambavantudu. Thus, the Madigas call themselves as belonging to the
lp e d d a in t i v a llü (big house), and p o o rv a b h a tta (translated to mean: older than the
world by six months,103 but signifies the original b h a tta [priest]). Thus, invoking the
presence of the goddess, by harnessing their imminent power and directly engaging
with her dangerous power, they are themselves transformed into semi-divine beings.
The flow of touchables to the Madiga habitation to offer worship to the goddess is
 Outcaste Pasts 199

in accordance to such intimacy between the Madigas and the goddess. Similarly,
the initial revelation of the Goddess Matangi is reserved for the Madigas, when she
makes her appearance on the outskirts of their habitation. It is their duty to detect
her presence and offer her initial worship. Thus, when the touchable castes prostrate
at the feet of the outcaste priestess, the belief in that she in some measure inherits the
attributes of the clan goddess is spectacularly illustrated.
Permanent impurity attributed to the outcaste, in the brahmanical order,
necessitates further examination of the religious conception of pollution for grasping
the nature of outcaste priesthood. A discernible quality of ritual identity is that while
the religious supremacy of the brahmin rests on his acquired purity, made possible
through mediation of several ritual assistants and rites, the outcastes, power is based
on his contiguity to the negative sacred that is more dangerous'104 which in the
process is an attribute shared by priesthood and conception of powerful self. So also
based on the observations, the outcastes priesthood in this domain is foregrounded
in the potency they have to extinguish impurity for ensuing in auspiciousness.
Mailu (pollution) is associated with menstrual pollution, pollution encountered
on childbirth, death and sexual intercourse, but also includes, most importantly,
affliction of spirits or dangerous sacred spirits. While organic waste or dirt are sources
of poEution too, they merely intensify an already dangerous state but do not harbour
elements of danger and can be shed by simple cleansing procedure. It is this notion
of religious power that they enunciate when dealing with the unforeseen forces and
spirit world that sweeps across and seize people. Thus, the boundaries and beyond,
the wilderness where malevolent spirits hover are construed as unsafe and caution is
expressed in ritual demarcation of and dissolution of danger at the boundaries of the
village. One of the popular terms for such affliction by the spirits is galt pattukundi
(seizure by wind), which can be dealt only by specialists who have mastered the
technique of detecting the nature of the spirits and methods of inducing it to move
out of the afflicted persons body. So also the very nature of the boundary goddess
is unpredictable. Similarly, during trance sessions, the identities of the possessor are,
as a condition, detected for the presence of the goddess to be authenticated; for the
person could be possessed by some mischievous, harmful or evil spirit, an ancestor
spirit, or lesser gods like Poturaju, and not the goddess herself. This engagement with
unknown forces is potentially hazardous and has to be dealt with caution. Only those
men and women who have balamaina shakti (strong power) can serve the goddess,
for her power is such that she also occasionally threatens and frightens them.105 She
is a temperamental goddess, her mood fluctuations make it all the more difficult to
approach her. Akin to the goddess is the priestess as she is most intimately connected
to her amongst the mortals and the goddess mediates through her and may seize
her unawares. Devotees who consult the priestess are advised to approach her with
caution, for she may be stirred by unpredictable form of the goddess.106 The nature
of the goddess being characterised by such duality, mediation of the priestess and
priests to approach her is crucial. Also, outcaste priesthood enables mediation with
the malevolent spirit world, beyond the ordered space, who afflict it with evil, life-
threatening forces and are thus inflicted with a dangerous and uncontrollable potency.
200 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

Understandably, the rituals they perform demonstrate unique affinity between the
goddess and her chosen people, where the two domains dissipate and they themselves
are reckoned as mortal embodiments of the goddess and are thus evince both reverence
and fear.107 Due to this uniqueness, they consider and regard themselves as (a fire
like caste5(nippulanti kulam)ya pure community. (We are a caste of fearless people/
they proudly proclaim, a trait essential for accomplishing their role efficaciously.108
The ritual site is also the moment of enunciation of outcaste priesthood^ ambiguous
position. Ambiguity finds expression and recognition of their own 'externality5to
the whole and their entrenchedness in the order; of being dependent on the whole,
as artibidalu (dependent/children of the caste) characterising the paternalistic
relationship between the bardic/genealogical and patron communities; of their state
of being untouchable; of the duality of being unlike others and in the realness of
being located in the whole, and reposition themselves as part of the natural order. The
priestess articulates thus:

We are a rtib id a lu ,
O u t relatives, o u r pots ；p ots fu ll o f to d d y ,
O ur lo g ic is a ll-d iffe re n t.
You all possess to u c h a b ility and u n to u c h a b ility
We are really here
if th e lotus leaf is to u c h a b le , so are we.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge an error of interpretation of the term 'artibidalu1

in my earlier work as 'children of the harati [lamp],) deduced from their cultural
signification as specialists associated with ushering in auspiciousness.109 Instead,
the term signifies a structural attribute of their being as a dependent community, in
relation to other communities. Their status of priests connotes a form of dependency
they share with a specific cluster of genealogists and bards. As itinerant communities,
they evoke the sovereignty of each such communal congregation or the unity of
network of villages or little kingdoms,. According to the accounts of the ritual
specialists, they embark on ritual tours termed as lrajyam mida poyedê (going over
to the kingdom). They reaffirm the village space and its inhabitants as an integrated
whole, not only in the manner in which they realign all castes but also different
religious sectarian groups.110
Before delving into this complex space it is necessary to recognise that the
brahmanical structure hints at its failure as an encompassing structure by permanently
excluding communities by attributing infinite impurity; thus, the structuring
principle of temporary impurity becomes impotent. This contradiction becomes
apparent as the excluded communities continue to be indispensable for the structure,
and becomes moribund if ties with the excluded are ontologically obliterated. This
epistemic and ontological tension is in a way eased out in the other parallel structure,
which—though restructure their internal space on caste norms—draw into alliance
the outcaste, strikingly acknowledging their intrinsic religious power. This stark
contradiction, between excessive powerlessness and intense religious power, in the
 Outcaste Pasts 201

structure demands an explanation. Hegemonic ideologies and structure, are informed

by a past, and by nature signify a desired ideal rather than mirror the actualisation
of what it projects as a natural order. It is within this dyad of the transcendental/
normative and the imminent/contingent that the divine and mortals are drawn in
combat.111 Hegemonic orders strive to disarticulate mystical power which is by-
nature both creative and subversive. However, such accomplishment is possible in
the profane rather than the transcendental realm given the very nature of sacred
and mystical power in the Indie mystical tradition unlike in the Semitic religions.
Thus, while mystical power is dispersed, it is under duress in the profane domain.
Hierarcmcal structures logically are under constraint to subsume contentious locales
of power, whicn implies that a structure cannot devolve specific powers to two
diametrically oppositional points. It assigns a place to each of its part in the religious
order around the persona of the priest and the king/representative of the whole.
A basic principle of an order, while the essence of orders may differ, is that it is
constituted by which a community and the priest/king (or in contemporary context
the village chief) endows it a wholesomeness as a sacrificial order. Thus those outside
this community are excluded in participation of rituals that are performed for the
benefit of the collective/village community. In this sense, the outsider is prohibited
from entering this space during the period where the whole acts together in cohesion
to be reborn anew. This is the religious basis, the village as a ritual whole, which
spectacularly unfolds a basic principle of caste society. This is the basic structural
pattern of invoking the goddess during Kolupu in the villages.
Hocart unravelled the core essence of caste order by postulating that caste is a
sacrificial organisation; the varna order and the village as a unit is underpinned by
a basic structural principle. Thus, absolute rejection of either order is fraught with
problems for those who inhabit the space for it is premised on a basic shared principle
structurally. Two opposed groups cannot claim homologous power in an order, thus
the brahmin and the outcaste operate in opposed religious domains. While one is
at the centre of the order, the other recedes to the margins. This is true of both the
Kolupu, where outcaste priesthood is centre stage and the brahmin withdraws to
the margins by acknowledging the religious authority of the outcaste priesthood.
Conversely, in the brahmanical order, the outcaste is excluded out of the order. The
continuance of the institution of outcaste priesthood is indicative of the brahmins
failure to subsume the former^ power. This can be explained by the religious persona
of the outcaste specialist which is an anti-thesis to the brahmanical model. The
shakta tradition has conserved a model of priesthood, of contrariety of a unique
nature in caste society. This it has resolved by recognising the pre-eminence of the
priestess who is the chief officiant assisted by priests in this domain. The ritual pair
who invoke the goddess and approach as a pair are the priestess and the village head.
Also, the nature of outcaste priesthood, especially the priests, is not only distinctive
but opposed to the brahmin. The hegemonic contender in reaction would then be
positioned at two levels—either acknowledges the authority of the rival groups or to
contest and thereby delegitimise it. Contestation would mean recreation of similar
ritual power to demonstrate its superiority, meaning the brahmin should possess the
202 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

capacity to reproduce the awesome potential and expertise to debunk the exceptional
capacity of those that profess, so as to render the opponent redundant. On the other,
subsume that space and claim their omnipotence, and consequently, extirpate the base
of such contending religious authority. At another level, the hegemonic contender
fathoming the sheer incapacity to transfigure instead manipulates the structure to
render the other invisible. Consequently, such dominant structure strategically seeks
a disjunction from such communities ideologically by attributing those negative
values antithetical to its own self. It diffuses the contender s claims to equal, if not
superior, authority by disjunctive mechanisms of isolation or structural outcasting.
Untouchability, thus, is transformed from being a religious taboo, common across
traditions, to a structural mechanism of exclusion/outcasting and thus de-legitimises
their claims to power. This process of transfiguration is hinted in south Indian society.
The conception of brahmin priest as the par excellent model of priesthood, arises
from a consistent misconception of pre-eminence of the brahmin in Hindu society,.
Even as other 'basis for preeminence, may be sought, this idea continues to have there
is a persuasive enduring quality.112 This has constrained understanding the complex
institution of priesthood. Thus, there has been an unease acknowledging the presence
of outcaste priests in the ritual domain. This led to ambiguity, whereby conscious
reluctance to recognise this has meant an uneasy condolence of a priestly trait of the
outcastes as at best rudimentary in juxtaposition to the brahmins.This is symptomatic
of Whitehead s observations in the worship of village goddesses, when he denies
the existence of a sacerdotal caste* although acknowledging that all the pujaris were
drawn indiscriminately from the lower castes. The investing of ritual roles for men
from other lower castes like potters and washermen, only enhanced the credibility
of this view. Thus, despite avowed denial, Whitehead concedes a specific subcaste of
Malas—i.e. the Asadi—as nearest approach to priestly class5in recognition of the
diversified and active role of the community.113 So also he identifies attributes of
priestly nature in another caste of Pambalas by noting them as 'hereditary priests,.114
And that such ritual service is a traditional privilege is expressed in the endowment
of rent-free lands by the government.115
What is of crucial relevance is that though the communities are perceived as
specialists in impurity, the very understanding of the notion of mailu is embedded
within a more profane notion of pollution. Thus, their ritual role has been simply
reduced to their associations with disposal, handling or contact with defiling bodily
substances like blood or leather or even those associated with intense pollution like
corpses, carcass and filth. Then outcastes become indispensable on two accounts:
as labourers and ritual agents in a number of ceremonial occasions and especially
death.116 Simultaneously, at the ritual plane exists considerable display of goodwill,
joviality and comic play suggesting a desired mutuality for the sustenance of the
village as a whole. The humane element is realigned in episodic breaks on various
ritual contexts.The specialists manoeuvre comic anecdotes, hilarious social exchanges
and a volley of abuse on these occasions. Such acts are tempered by a mild reprimand
occasioning humour deployed to defuse seemingly insurmountable barriers. Social
 Outcaste Pasts 203

plays and commentaries could be indicative of mutations of social organisation with

strong ties of interdependence, obligations, mutual respect and cultural affinities
finding legitimate expression in communal rituals.

O U T C A S T E P R IE S T H O O D A N D S A C R IF IC IA L V IC T IM /B R A H M IN

To a certain extent the relation between antinominian locales of religious power—

that of the brahmin and the outcaste—manifests in the ritual domain. When
structural roles and domains are irreconcilably marked out, it has been noted that the
brahmins usually nurtured a certain disregard and suspicion.117 As Maloneys study
shows, there is a tendency to ridicule ritual practices like shamanism and fire-walking
as a sham, even attributing the significance of drumming to the lesser domain of
extraordinary effects then to any intrinsic value in a structured ritual pattern.118Thus,
the brahmins relationship with outcaste priesthood is fraught with tension. Several
ways of responding to situations when mediation of the priestess is unavoiaable to
those when they can be overcome by avoidance through different forms of mediation
occur. Intriguingly, the brahmins5dilemma in acknowledging the ritual powers of
the outcaste priestess is illustrated in a custom mentioned in relation to the rites
concerning absorption or birth pollution. Unlike the other non-brahmin castes, the
brahmin bypasses the priestess and instead directly approaches the dangerous deity
on occasions that reinstate the superior ritual status or the outcaste specialists, and
their own inferior ritual position as receptors of their services.119 However, in special
situations, when the brahmin is directly confronted with the outcaste priestess, such
tension is camouflaged. Elmore^ observations are extremely important for they
bring to the fore the moment signifying the dissolution involved in the dreaded
encounter between the two opposed entities. He notes, like the non-brahminical
castes, the brahmins too are seized by the wholesome fear, of Mathamma/Matangi
and her priestess and this due to their belief in the evil eye.120 He further adds that
though the brahmin is not inclined to explicitly acknowledging the efficacy of the
pacificatory ritual (the priestess spitting toddy), fear is the motivating emotion in
admitting their ritual abilities.121The Mathamma, her uncontrollable power and awe­
inspiring persona is something the brahmin reckons with least disapproval. Though
the brahmin may deny any ritual significance, because of the fear of eliciting the
wrath of the goddess and her specialists, he concedes to extrinsic ceremonial acts and
expletives. The dread of the brahmin as being transformed into the sacrificial victim,
is a predominant underlying theme in a few myths. This mythic version synthesises
the idea as follows:

The w o rsh ip o f M a ta n g i by B rahm ins is to th e e ffe ct th a t in th e v illa g e o f O ragaliu, a

Brahm in, nam ed Patabi R udrudu, also refused to w o rs h ip M atangi. AH kinds o f evils
cam e upo n his h ousehold . W hen he e n q u ire d th e reason he was in fo rm e d th a t it
was because o f his refusal to w o rs h ip M atangi. He was o rd e re d to arrange fo r a nine
204 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

d a ys'fe stiva l fo r her. He h im s e lf m u st be th e b o in u d u o r sto ryte lle r. His son m ust

guard th e lig h t on th e head o f th e b u ffa lo , and his w ife m u st take th e place o f th e
M atangi. All o f these offices are p e rfo rm e d by M adigas.122

So also given the distinctive nature of the shakta tradition and shakta priesthood this
model could not be subsumed within the structure of brahmanical tradition. us 1 11

it was only by submission—be it in token worship or with occasional reversals of

extreme condoning—that the brahmin could claim his own distinction, rather than
challenging its values and practices.
It is evident in the above accounts that, from flippant disposition to fear, the
brahmin is caught in a ritual centre that signifies his powerlessness . He is a powerless
spectator and recipient of the ritual grace of the outcaste priestess—power ceases
to flow through him in another variant of complete transfiguration through divine
retribution and restitution. Elmore cites such a variant:

The M atham m a w o rs h ip has also ta ke n h o ld o f th e Brahm ans in som e places. This

is m uch notice a b le in C um bam Taluq o f th e Kurnool d is tric t w here th is w o rsh ip
o rig in a te d . Here th e Brahm ans have th e ir o w n im age o f th e M atham m a, w h ic h th e y
w orship. In e xp la n a tio n th e Brahm an says th a t at o ne tim e a Brahm an refused to
w o rsh ip M athangi, d e cla rin g th a t he w o u ld never d o h o m a g e to a M adiga, b u t his
e n tire b o d y broke o u t in sores and th e n he c a p itu la te d .
In co n n e ctio n w ith th e w o rsh ip , th e Brahm ans have a b u ffa lo killed a t th e ir o w n
house, w h ic h is m o st unusual p ro ce e d in g . The M adigas prepare th e b u ffa lo meat,
th e c h ie f co o k ty in g a c lo th over his m o u th to p re v e n t any possible c o n ta m in a tio n
fro m saliva th a t m ay be ejected. W h ile th e M adigas are p re p a rin g th e b u ffa lo m eat,
th e w asher-m an b rin g s a g o a t a nd prepares its flesh.T he Brahm an furnishes all pots
and o th e r utensils.
W hen all is ready, th e M adigas are firs t seated, and th e Brahm an p u ja r i serves
th e m w ith th e b u ffa lo m e a t and o th e r fo o d . A fte r e a tin g , th e M adigas go o u tsid e
th e house and keep up a m o st frig h te n in g d in to w ard o ff evil spirits. The Brahman
p u jari n o w serves th e Brahm ans th e g o a t flesh, w h ic h th e y all eat, s ittin g around
th e im age o f th e M a th a m m a . T hey w o rs h ip th e im age and spend th e e n tire n ig h t
in hearing th e stories o f th e M a th a n g i. In th e m o rn in g th e y give presents to th e
M adigas and send th e m away.123

Underlying the notion of sacrificial victim is a structured pattern with an inbuilt

mechanism of proof, retribution and appeasement. Acts of desecration by members
of the village community are severely condemned, consensual communal submission
is ordained—especially by the priests—to prevent the goddess from slipping into
her uncontrollable form. Herein lies the source of outcaste priesthood, the brahmin
might be tormented by fear of incurring the wrath of the divine, yet the immediacy of
realness of such possibility lurks within this communitarian mode of invocation with
little scope for individual deviation. The fate of those inhabiting the divine topocosm
is inescapably tied to the temperament of the goddess. The resilience of such rites
 Outcaste Pasts 205

and customs of shakta tradition have evinced enough curiosity to gain entry into the
colonial archive.

O N S A C R IF IC E A N D P R IE S T H O O D IN S H A K T A T R A D IT IO N

Sacrifice as a universal motif constitutes the axis around which reflections on ones
location in the cosmos and being find articulation.124 As Wendy Doniger pithily
encapsulates, sacrifice is a paradigmatic place holder for religious rituals5and 'the
foundation of all morality and ethics'.125 The primacy accorded to sacrifice as the
original artefact of human consciousness has evinced immense interest and acquired
a place of eminence in understanding the inner core of civilisations. The glimpses
of sacrificial rites and customs of shakta tradition have found entries in colonial
accounts, as disarrayed, scattered primitive rites lending to their representation as
anomalous, excrescence elements and eventually resolved by criminalisation of these
practices. However, far from receding into oblivion, the extraordinary resilience of
rituals in the Indie tradition has sustained the vigorous presence of other forms
of religiosity, compensating for the obscurity in the textual tradition. The avidly-
continuing- spectacles of such religiosity, in the villages and the heart of the metropolis,
provide a way of contrasting the bloody, frenzied violence in popular* religiosity with
brahmanical sacrificial rituality. Across south India, the villages annually transfigure
modern secular spaces into primal mediating sites with sacrificial blood flowing past
the temple precincts and swelling up the sacrificial pits, lacerations, hook-swinging,
body-piercing, fire-walking along with other rites of bodily mortification. They
charter and spectacularly enliven a sacred cartography unto the otherwise mundane
space and transform the territory into a dense space of mediations, breaching the very
modern liberal principles that underpin the nation-state.126 In periods of crisis it is
from this locus that their claims to citizenship are grounded and the sacred continues
to respond to the innermost desires, anxieties, insecurities and capacities intimately
than the modern state.127This attribute of‘illegality’and survival amidst competing
and co-existing religiosities, that are disdainful of such practices, is indeed a consistent
diachronic feature, in relation to either £dominant, religion or to the nation-state.
Space itself is coiled in layers of meanings and value, for different communities, in a
kind of convoluted synchrony.
Studies on sacrifice and rituality in Indie tradition have consistently privileged
the vedic ritual tradition. Work on vedic sacrifice has proliferated since Hubert
and Mauss' seminal comparative study based on Hindu vedic and Semitic texts. It
offered a general scheme for analysing varied forms of sacrifice and postulated the
influential idea of 'the unity of the sacrificial system'by disentangling rites and ideas
from varying sacrificial systems.128 Sacrifice had a rationale which it accomplished;
in establishing communication between the sacred and profane worlds. A corollary
of such nature of sacrifice was the idea of sacrifice as a contract', established through
the intermediary, the victim offered to the gods. Beginning with this seminal work on
sacrifice to contemporary scholarship, the vedic sacrificial model/rituality has come
206 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

to represent the authentic paradigmatic model for discerning not only the nature
of sacrifice but as a meta-code for subsuming all forms of sacrifices in the Indie
civilisation. The reliability of textual sources一 than primitive practices that were
being reported in the colonies—rested on the assumption of their insusceptibility
to distortion. Also, it was presumed that the texts offered access to undistorted
internal scheme by which systematic exposition of torm and metaphysical principles
underlying sacrifice could be undertaken to arrive at a general theory of sacrifice. It
was noted that ethnographic accounts of rituals were flawed for there was no reliable
mode of ascertaining the ideal form and that such material was un-malleable to
creaible extractions of complex elements underplay, the difficulty in identirying its
inner structure ana ideas; that they were of value only when treated in comparison
with texts. Such theorisation of sacrifice as uncontaminated by conflict and power,
and narrowing the boundaries by discarding a range of sacrificial forms was to have
a defining influence on studies of sacrifice.
Textual exegesis has since defined the scope of sacrincial studies; of the structure,
ïaeas and praxis. It has, over the decades generated, however, systematic and in-depth
analysis of the vedic religion and provides a broad framework to grapple with the
complexities or Indie sacrincial rituality. Jan Gondas prolific work systematically
disentangled the Vedic sacrincial cosmolo^v, established the principles underlying
the ritual. The ‘archetypal sacrifice’ encapsulated the ‘primeval immolation … of
purusa by the gods creation of the universe. This order was sustained by sacrifice and
thus Prajapati is the originator of Vedic sacrificial ritual, which was itself brought
about by the primeval immolation of purusa by the gods - from which originated
the repertoire of sacrificial liturgy/129The consistent investment in Vedic sacrifice has
unravelled the complex configuration of the sacrincial order and enables grasping
the changing nature of ritual field within brahmanical Hinduism. Yet, excessive
idealisation of vedic sacrincial order has haa negative fallout. This has rendered
the vedic sacrifice an esteemed place or rather touchstone in 丄ndic studies, thereby
obuviating an entire domain of archaic non-vedic sacrificial customs from critical
engagement. The recalcitrance of such customs to recede to its assigned space, of
illegality, is affirmed by the spectre of spectrum of sacrifices that interrupt modem
space and time. What meanings do such archaic enactments—hook-swinging, body-
piercings, mortificatory ordeals, fetish for bodily substances and matter of sacrincial
victims and related ecstatic practices—signify? The oblivion or tms range of non-
vedic sacrificial forms in the robust field of sacrifice is rooted largely in the cultural
politics of invention of tradition since the late 19th century in contesting claims
of authenticity of such traditions. The first wave during the early 20th century was
followed by another radical departure in the 1970s and 1980s that further limited
the scope of tradition through criminalisation of animal sacrifices and the custom
of dedication of girls to goddesses— —i.e. the priestesses. Yet, the customs of sacrifice
survive, not so surreptitiously, and have over the years foraged the de-sacralised
nation-space, moving from its authentic habitat to the cities, so have priests. This
bewildering protrusion of the archaic poses unsettling questions about its locus in
the Indie tradition. What connecting links can possibly be available and, significantly,
 Outcaste Pasts 207

how can that movement be arrived at? This quest for analytical credibility entails
demarcating its broader field, the constituent element, its distinctive nature to retrace
the possible continuities and disjunctions in the history of religion. Such reflective
exercise, with a basic premise that there is indeed a delineable structure in this
domain, would be useful to revert to the vedic ritual itself, to mirror its other. Jan
Heesterman’s—despite questionable pre-supposition given his oversight of hubris
in the vedic text—postulations offer extremely critical insights for understanding
the £hidden structural links and contestations in ritual that signify a turning point
in vedic religiosity with fundamental historical implications. His insights are
especially important for they trace the departure of vedic rituality and ideology in
reconfiguration of notions of pollution/danger and sacred. It is this articulation that
signifies a marked break from a shared world of sacrifice, as sacrifice and sovereignty
(restored in kinship and dharma) become autonomous, albeit intimately connected,
realms. In his exposition of this transformation, Heesterman discerns the pre-classical
vedic sacrificial system, underneath and in contradiction to rituality of classical age
predicated on complimentary pair, the Yajamana and the priest. This phase of vedic
rituality is predicated on a religious cultural principle of complementarity of purity
and impurity (purity and impurity are complimentary to each other1). As sacrifice
signifying rebirth entails the danger of death pollution, to be reborn the Yajamana
had to dispose of his impure self*. Death, i.e. evil and impurity, are transferred to the
brahmin officiant during the sacrificial ritual. Thus the brahmin priest is tainted by
the impurity of death. At such exchange is the principle of reciprocity and is thus
characterised by a continuous 'circle of exchanges' and relations of reciprocity between
rival parties.130The quintessence of pre-classical ritual lay in what Heesterman terms
as 'complex of archaic rights: different kinds of contests, dancing, singing, drumming,
lute playing and copulation/ Ariel Gluckiicn offers a detailed analysis of a pre-
classical sacrificial model by analysing the Mahavrata ceremonies that exhibits such
elements in the pre-classical age and was subject to modification later by substitution
and liturgical techniques. The structure of Mahavrata was characterised by ritual
enactments of rivalrous ritual participants (brahmin and shudra) alternating praise
and abuse towards the participants/ sexual intercourse, a ritual dual between an
{Arya and Shudra5and the victory of the former over the shudra/^viF, institution
of sovereignty, of sacrifice, dance and song, etc. The communitarian nature oi this
rituality is explicit, involving different ritual participants (real or surrogate) and the
sheer complexity of ritual structure fusing a variety of traits from different traditions,
‘primitive’，‘folk-festivals’to pre-classical vedic tradition.131
The moment of breaking free， Heesterman crucially observes, from such
entrapments inaugurates (ritual thought^ towards metaphysical reflection to surmount,
'death*, an abstraction that connotes poliution/danger. This was accomplished by
diminishing the ritual presence of their rivaF to whom the impurity was transferred
by elimination of deatl^ through Symbolic equivalences1, a ritual transvaluation that
Heesterman terms as individualisation. With this disillusion of potency of death
in the rituals, i.e. interiorisation, the Yajamana is rendered capable of 'digesting it
within himself Mhis split between purity and impurity in the ritual was simultaneous
208 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

with the elimination of the rival and purified the overall structure of the sacrificial
ritual. For the brahmin, through the purification by the ritual, the conundrum of
impurity, dependence and reciprocity is resolved, yet his claims to a pre-eminent
place in hierarchy do not rest on priesthood and not to absolute purity, suggests
Heesterman, but on prescription to the renunciatory ideology (of being self contained
and independent'.132 This breakthrough in the conception of Vedic priesthood,
Heesterman observes occurs with the transposition of the rival from the sacred to the
profane realm, where it can be transferred and contained by lower levels of hierarchy\
Thus is ushered in a transfigured order, with the rival eliminated, the gods freed of
involvement in mortal combats and with sovereignty over the profane space vested
in kingship, priesthood; and dharma unleashed as an automatic retribution finds
expression in danda and karma to ensure continuation of the cosmos.
HeestermanJs remarkable insights on the fundamental shift within vedic rituality
are crucial, for they facilitate reflections on the possible implications within the
broader context of competing religious traditions. To deduce the possible historical
consequences of such shift through ritual links, a brief outline of shakta sacrificial
rituality will enable grasping its resonance with and in juxtaposition to the above
analysis of vedic tradition. The structure of sacrificial order presided by outcast
priesthood strikingly resonates with what has come to be termed as vedic rituality
of the pre-classical age, and may have been in general circulation around an older
vedic pantheon and prior to consolidation of social hierarcmes. A brief outline of
shakta sacrificial rituality will enable grasping such resonance. The Shakti domain,
in this context, is premised on the conception of Adi-shakti sacred feminine in
wholesomeness, terrifying and benign. Matangi, a form of Adi-shakti, is the creator
of the universe. She is the clan goddess of the Madigas. By virtue of which it is the
prerogative of the Madigas to serve as priests and priestesses. By merely invoking the
name of the Madigas, the goddess is believed to appear, in her benevolent form, as the
benefactor.133The goddess dwells in the wilderness, her presence being too dangerous
for mortals. Being the guardian goddess of the village, the covenant between the
goddess and the village is re-invoked periodically. Invoking her entails a dual process
of extinction of pollution and recreating a state of auspiciousness. This mandates the
absolute submission of the village. Her terrifying power is inescapable and dangerous
given the porosity of spaces and bodies that are vulnerable to afflictions by life-
threatening forces and the goddess herself. Any deviation from common consent and
absolute submission results not simply in divine retribution visited upon the offender
but the extermination of the village as a whole. It is in the duality of her powers—
fiercely terrifying and vindictive, as well as her command over malevolent spirits and
as the nurturing mother whose energy animates the mortal space—the Matangi is
approached with great caution. The priests and priestesses those within whose bodies
the energy of the goddess lies dormant, by virtue of being their clan goddess, inhere
the dangerous ability to mediate with and contain her presence in their bodies and
transfer unto the lived spaces. Mediation with the sacred transfigures the lived space
recreating the sacred geography "withiii which she marks her presence and can be
approached through invocations. Kolupu is designed to re-enact continuity with
 Outcaste Pasts 209

primordial time and coalescing the two domains from whence the village as a whole
is reborn a new. Moreover, the boundaries and village are enlivened by lethal forces
that are threatening and are particularly dangerous. The festival commences with
sealing the ritual space, the village, by the priests. Extinction of elements of pollution
is crucial in this space, for they precipitate danger in the form of inauspicious causality
and endanger collective safety. The goddess is (born7appears on the boundaries in an
anthill and she declares that she will appear in the village. The following days, the
village awaits the ritual pair, the village chief and the priestess; at every household
the cmef invokes the goddesses at the threshold, while the later infuses a desired
state of auspiciousness by a dyadic rite of extinction of pollution and infusion of
auspiciousness. This collective consent for invocation and submission sets into motion
a desired state for the appearance of the goddess into the village. The entire village
marks their presence at the Matangi temple, in the Madiga habitation, on the day the
goddess had promised to appear. Offerings of cooked food and sacrifices will follow.
The goddess* appearance is detected through seizures and on verification through
mediation with the possessed women, commences several entreats and penitence from
the villagers and ends with an assurance from the goddess of her presence amongst
them, i.e. of auspicious flows, wellbeing, prosperity and protection from malevolent
forces. During her presence the priests enact extreme bloody sacrifice, enacting the
inescapable power of the sacred over the desecrator, here the arrogant caste-Hindu
chief. This sacrificial rite takes place in the Torest1, Ritual performance is preceded by
setting up the theatre of spectacle that will follow. Branches inserted in a part of the
clearing by the fields to recreate (a forest'. Ritual participants, especially her spouse,
take positions. Here the goddess transforms into her fierce form, possessing the priest
to destroy the violator through ghastly violence. The sacrificial lamb s (substitute for
the violator) head is dismembered by the priests, who gnaw into its neck and rip it
apart from the torso. The spectre of sacred danger is accomplished by the priests in a
few minutes as the village bear witness to the termination of the violator. Hie goddess
is taken in a procession through the village. Along with regular offerings of cooked
food and animal sacrifices, a set of mortificatory rites or 'bodily ofFerings, like fire­
walking, piercing the body with iron tridents (from miniature models to long heavy-
rods) and a devotee pulling heavy vehicles with hooks inserted into the back shoulder
muscles radically distinguish this from sacrificial rituality of the vedic practices.134
The final day, a buffalo is sacrificed and yet again this signifies the restatement of
compliance to the covenant, and the victimVviolator^ body fat will burn the wick of
the lamp offered to the goddess. Another sacrifice follows a goat, a substitution for
the violator^ wife, who the goddess had commanded to be offered in sacrifice. The
blood is let into the ball kundi (sacrificial pit) for the goddess.The goats intestines
are extricated and donned by the priest with the liver held between teeth, he carries
offerings of rice mixed with a portion of sacrificial blood for the spirits dwelling on
the boundaries of the village. This potent mixture is sought by women who sprinkle
it in different parts of the house as an assurance against danger. The final rite of
exit takes place with the participation of the village head and other prominent men
around the bali kundi rejoicing the assurance of the goddesses presence among them.
210 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

The bali kundi in front of the temple where blood was let is sealed until next year.135
In the shakta tradition, ritual is saturated with sacred violence a force mandated for
unleashing creative power and containing destructive forces. In consonance with this
belief several forms of sacrificial rites are patterned around restoration of order, and
because the evil is dangerous its termination calls for a greater measure of violence. It
is this belief that is central to the conception of the sacred and danger, and the ritual
is thus enacted so as to recreate the realness of the wholesome power of the goddess.
This is best encapsulated in the terrifying sacrificial vitnal gavukorekeäi (literally, biting
the cow; perhaps the goat actually used in the ritual is another level of substitution).
It splendidly encapsulates the spirit and essence of shakta rituality and is exclusively
performed by outcaste priests and a detailed account will illustrate the distinctiveness
of shakta sacrifice from the vedic.

G a v u k o re k e d i

On the fourth day of Kolupu, a violent and terrifying ritual, gavukorekedi sacrifice
is offered to the Matangi. It personifies the ritual aesthetic of shakta tradition, a
synthesis of dramaturgy and several violent and ecstatic rites that unfold in an
ordered sequence. The ritual structure is premised on the several intersecting mythic
episodes in Renuka Mathamma myths and the legend of Gonekatava Reddy; thus
several meanings are deduced, a sign of fusion of brahmanical and shakta myths.
When Renuka/Matangi/Mathamma is on her way to reunite with Jamadagni in
the forest she encounters thieves who rob/assault/behead the goddess. This sets the
ground for her eventual transformation into a terrifying dangerous goddess. It also is
intertwined with another episode in the Goonekatava Reddy Katha where the goddess
threatens to take the life of the wife of one of the desecrators. The prelude to the
rite is another ritual known as tafasmanam^ intertwined with a communal ritual
enactment of the mythic episode. The clearing by the temple is struck with mango
and margosa branches to recreate a primordial sacral site, the forest. In the Torest5a
trunk of palm tree is erected and a palanquin hoisted atop this ‘wish-granting tree’.
The tapasmanam signifies the tree under which Jamadagni meditated and is symbolic
of the auspicious wish-granting tree.136 It is also believed to be a site that possesses
the potency to dissolve inauspicious states. Thus barren women, those afflicted by
the malicious planetary influences and devotees with a specific vow or wish in a state
of ritual purity lie around the tree in a circle, on their abdomen with folded hands
stretched towards the tapasmanam and invoke the goddess. Few feet away, in the
guise of Jamadagni with vibhuti profusely applied on his face, matted locks, loincloth,
etc. the priest (or a ritual participant) is seated over a cloth resembling tiger skin.
After the tapasmanam rite, the ritual activity would shift to the banyan tree.
After the installation of tapasmanam (in which villagers participate along with
the priestess and priests and the village chief) a group of people led by Mathamma,
along with the drummers, bring the image of the deity from the temple to the ritual
site, with the retinue of ritual participants with due honour. One of the priests, in his
 Outcaste Pasts 211

costume and holding a stringed instrument, sings praises of the goddess as he ascends
the wish-granting tree to occupy his seat in the palanquin (small wooden pieces are
fitted into the trunk) carrying a bag containing an assortment of items symbolising
a specific sign of auspiciousness; balls of sacred ash, lemons, flowers, neem leaves,
sweets, bananas, etc. all believed to possess specific wish-granting powers like a male-
child, health, wealth, etc. Atop the tapasmanam the priest sings praises of the goddess
and throws the contents from the bag downwards, creating a virtual chaos as crowds
rush and jostle, swaying from one end to the other, to seize these coveted wish­
granting items for good luck.137
Next, the ritual activity shifts to the 'forest5to proceed to the next rite through a
communal ritual play. The ritual participants prepare for enacting a mythic encounter
that foregrounds the transformation of the goddess into an omnipotent shakti and
the mystical powers of the Madigas. All these acts are directed and monitored by
the ritual specialists who prompt the boys, who will enact the role of the band of
robbers, to utter dialogues. The；villagers encircle the site, moving with a natural
rhythm as events shift from one site to another. One of the priests donning the guise
of Parashuram makes a dramatic entry (customary of a warrior and in the Yakshagana
or dance-drama style) taking huge strides with an aggressive expression on his face,
leaps and pounces to slay the Madiga sanyasis who conjure a symbolic struggle to
protect Renuka. Sitting on a side of this forest are five Madigas (both young and old)
with their caste implements—wooden plank, hammer, sewing needle and strap of
leather—enacting the caste occupation of sewing leather sandals. Parashuram, with a
stern look on his face, flashes the sword, dances vigorously, leaps and jumps in circles,
then squats on his knees and moves swiftly and furiously, evoking much excitement
as he occasionally hits the villagers.138 rIhe pedda Golla, pini pedda and elders are
specially pursued and hit on their shoulders or legs, evoking laughter from the
crowd who beat a retreat. The teams enact the scene of encounter between R_enuka
and Madiga sanyasis putting up heroic fight against Parashuram from beheading
Renuka. Parashuram proceeds to the Madiga sanyasis/leather workers and strikes
them with his sword who after offering symbolic resistance collapse. With the fall
of the Madigas commences the most crucial part of the ritual which is linked to two
diverse mythic streams, one that evidences layers of interface between the Renuka
and Mathangi tradition and the other exclusively Mathangi tradition.139Though the
former deviates from the Matangi narrative, the ritual structure crucially signifies
the transfiguration of the goddess and her uncontrollable dangerous power and
accompanied with it her special bond with the Madigas. It is at this moment that
sacred terror is unleashed and seizes the sacrificial victim.
In yet another version, a king hunting in a forest is thirsty and sends his ministers
to search for water. The ministers fail to find any water but come across Jamadagni
meditating in front of three pots, each containing vermilion, sacred ash and water.
As the ministers try to pick up the pot containing water, Jamadagni is disturbed and
in rage throws sacred ash on them. They are instantly transformed into wild mad
dogs and pounce on the three pots. To divert their aggressive rage Jamadagni throws
a goat at them, which they seize and tear apart. The rite in this case is an enactment
212 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

of Jamadagni curse. Soon another mythic episode is reproduced to capture the

essence of the meaning of this rite, which alludes to an episode in the Gonekatama
Reddy Katha. It reproduces the inescapable power of the goddess who demands
absolute submission from the village, mostly its dominant communities, who are
the most likely to dishonour her. In the Gonekatama Reddy Katha the humiliated
goddess threatens to take the daughter of insolent Golla Ramu as a sacrificial victim.
Though layers of mythological lore are interpolated showing signs of interface with
the brahmanical tradition, the rituals are modulated to reproduce the dangerous
nature of the goddess.
Two priests/bainollu wearing only loincloth enter the forest and pay obeisance
to and invoke the shaktis the four corners of the ritual space and move towards the
centre. Soon on their knees they ransack the forest, plucking the branches off the
ground with their teeth, clearing the entire space. Later, holding hands behind them
they run about for a few minutes towards the idol of Matangi and fall down on their
abdomen. Thty reach towards the leaves of curd rice offerings. Manoeuvring their
bodies, they move their mouth closer and gnaw the offerings before proceeding to
those most intense moments of rituality. As the bainollu perform this transitory rite,
there is a perceptible change of consciousness, the men are overcome by a certain state
of trance, arousal with aggressive surging of energy evidenced by a certain restlessness
quivering, mild groans and eyes wildly focused on the sacrificial victim.140 One can
also notice a certain sense of loss of self at this stage. There is complete silence, a
tangible overflowing emotion of anticipation, fear, exhilaration and anxiety in the
crowd. A goat is placed on the shoulder of one of the priest and as they stride boldly
to settle down the excitement of the crowd heightens. Holding the goat the bainollu
in stoic silence encircles the place before settling down and places the goat in a way
so as to co-jointly accomplish the sacrifice. The most terriiymg rite of grabbing the
neck of the lamb, biting into the animal and plucking of bits of flesh and tearing it
aggressively with intermittent groans and shrieks is marked by a certain ferocious
intensity of movements. In four to five minutes the task of severing apart the head
from the body is accomplished. Holding the severed head in the bloody mouth rising
from the ground the unspent energy renders him almost berserk as he runs wildly,
while the other holding the animal with bits of flesh and blood dripping in his mouth
runs chaotically. is extremely altered consciousness is uncontrollable with pent up
1 1 1

energies, exceptional abilities that they are believed to be seized with, they run about
uncontrollably, fiercely scaring away the crowd. After a few minutes they are held
by the ritual specialists who try to control their movement, by passing a cloth under
their arms from behind holding them tightly. This is done with great caution, as a
cooling act to re-induce them into normal consciousness by gently sprinkling water
with margosa branches and later pouring pots of water on their bodies. On occasions
it is difficult to reclaim them into the normal state as they evade any way of holding
them from running berserk until they collapse with fatigue. The stage of such intense
flux of consciousness and energy is regarded as dangerous, as they border on a stage
of primoraial alterity with the threat of loss of being. The sacrifice is unlike other
sacrificial offerings, mediated by the sacrifice and instruments. The goddess herself
 Outcaste Pasts 213

has descended amidst mortals to ravage the violator; the realness of primal terror is
recreated through this sacrifice.
The week-long celebration is interspersed with different expiatory and invocatory-
rites through the week. The shift in ritual time/event is preceded by several kathas and
narrations accompanied by ritual enactments—drama of sacred events. This fusion of
rites and enactments offers different opportunities of communion with the sacred.
The participation of villagers in such invocations by way of donning specific roles,
seizures, dance and different forms of offerings enlivens the idea of a village, a ritual
space, complete. Contrary to the assumptions about blood sacrifices in India being
merely symbolic, sacrificial ritual around sacred terror has had an enduring value and
it ensues from the awe-inspiring quality of the archaic.141
Another feature of the ritual is alternating between didactic rites and performances
which sets restatement of the beginning of the social order with the exposition of the
creation of the universe. The dialogic combat between the Gosangi/Ambavanthudu
(primeval Madiga man) and the brahmin is staged to challenge ridicule and reject
brahmanical hierarchical notions. This is accomplished by denying the brahmin of
moral pre-eminence by revealing his proverbial proclivity to sexual licentiousness,
superfluousness notions of purity, avarice, deception and lacking mystical ability to
confront danger/eviL
The ecstatic practices of procession, heightened state of transfiguration, near
elimination of sacrificial victim as a medium of communion through bodily offerings
and rites of mortification closest to the idea of self-sacrifice, as a supreme and only
authentic sacrifice demarcated from the vedic sacrifice. The elimination of pain
or suffering in such rites of mortification distinguishes them from other forms of
sacrifices.The religious notion of porosity, of gods, spaces, matter, substances, elements,
beings are porous entities, being central to this domain the rites of transferral is
crucial technique to sustain harmony and order. Thus, like the goddesses, the priests
ought to possess the attribute of the goddesses to contain and remedy the anomalous
state. Thus a variety of rituals of elimination of mailu of different kinds are harnessed.
One that phenomenaliy invalidates the brahmanical notion of purity is a rite of
extinction of pollution by the Matangi. Shared with some reluctance by the outcaste
priests, because of its crude^ nature, is a priestess with a staff (a sign of sovereignty)
and a basket, who sips toddy and spits on the faces of the village heads and prominent
members of the village in the temple precincts.142
Such being the general structure of sacrificial ritual which, it might be inferred,
was akin to vedic rituality not impervious to the imminent concerns and dilemmas
that might have been the possible ramifications of the purified vedic ritualism. This
question bears significance in view of the syncretic nature of religiosity evidenced
by the emergence of regional traditions with the fusion of divinities, rituality and
priesthood across traditions which is reflected in mythic interpolations and the
competing claims to priestly authority. Despite their sectarian rivalry, there is no
radical difference between the two in terms of generic ritual paradigm and is thus,
a structural unity—based on a similar religious notion of purity and impurity as
complementary primordial torces, the logic of transferral and the priests as confronted
214 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

with the danger of impurity and as tainted by impurity of and the aesthetic of ritual
enactments. The striking difference emanates from the nature of sacred danger in the
shakta tradition though, rendering it a distinctiveness and an autonomous sphere of
rituality. The consequences of the paradigm shift accomplished during the classical
period by vedic ritualism may have had significant consequences. First, it could then
imply a widening of the brahmanical influence in general but a drastic corrosion of
priestly power and narrowing of the field of authority. As symbolism was individualised
and interiorised which could mean substitution and liturgical techniques was
no recompense for the robust ecstatic religiosity; no counterfeit could restore the
magicality lost in the communal enactments with the dismantling of constituent
parts of the whole into bounded entities. Then it could have meant that such a shift
substantially widened the scope of outcaste priesthood, generally the scope 〇£ non-
brahmanical priests.Thus, while in the profane world the status of outcasts was deeply
affected by brahmanical hierarchical notions of purity and impurity, in the realm of
the sacred their eminence was unaffected or restituted if it did suffer a brief setback.
Perhaps, moments of crisis were repositioned unto the sacred itself as a breach of the
covenant between the divine and the mortals as an anomaly. For instance, it marks a
catastrophic moment of dissolution set into motion by it. For instance, in the legends
of Gonekatama Reddy Katha^ Matangi summons brother Poturaju to enquire about
the world of mortals if they were conforming to the covenant avoiding sacrilege. The
omnipotent one at this point recounts that she is subject to increasing denigration;
those who previously worsmpped her now revile her as a corpse-eating demoness and
a Madiga sorceress. Such anomaly transforms Matangi into a fearsome vindictive
god who unleashes the spectre of divine terror, ravaging mortal space in wholesome
destruction. It is only after the violator expiates for his sinful conduct is order restored.
The ritual enactments of this episode thus take the form of an expiatory sacrifice
where the lurking threat in the harmony between the two realms is rectified by rite
that proximate the realness of danger in breaching the covenant, harnessing primal
power in accomplishing it: the goddesses through the medium of the priest rips apart
the body without the usual sacrificial tool, the knife. Similarly, in etiological myths of
outcast priesthood their fall is narrated around the idea of having been tricked by the
younger brother, usurper of his priestly function. Given the pattern of sacrificial ritual
then the sacrificial victim unlike the disillusion of death VivaF in vedic cosmology
is a substitution of the enemy, the local potentate who symbolise the sacrilegious.
Thus, in the sacred realm a field of divine retribution is a sight where the profane
is summoned for reconfiguration and restitution is a preordained order. From the
very centre of the sacrifice the outcaste priest enunciates the kula system as ordained
by the Madiga primeval man, Jambavantudu, and the clan goddess as the creator of
the universe. Such moments of (recall, spectacularly repositions the outcaste priest at
the very centre of the caste order, claiming to have been the poorvabhatta.143 Thus,
while several factors and processes undoubtedly may have significantly influenced the
condensation of outcaste identities, the fall in the status is perhaps rooted in religious
conflict. For claims to priesthood must have antecedents in a past prior to the Tallen
status’， it could be incredulous to assume otherwise.
 Outcaste Pasts 215

The sceptics may dispute the validity of such conjuctures about the past or the
credence of religious power. Though such unraveling of almost inscrutable histories
is undeniably prone to risks, yet historical inquiry has failed to move beyond the
certitude of texts and conventional modes of enquiry and foreclosed possibilities for
critical engagement with the past of the outcastes. While engaging with religious
power is crucial to rethink the nature of priesthood which has been fundamental
to expositions of caste and to disband the modernist myth that such power was
unavailable for the outcastes in the imagination and consolidation of certain orders
and processes. It is this consistent paradoxical quality of the outcaste, as a construct,
that unfolds the conflicting elements in tradition and is available as a central category
emanating a multiplicity of meanings and symbolising different states of being. It is
in this sense the enduring quality of the archaic offers an opportunity to propose an
alternative premise one that takes account of the paradoxical nature of outcasteness—
the elemental quality of those on the boundaries and the margins.
Margins and marginality inhere a dangerous quality, and this attribute the shakta
domain confronts by positive engagement and dissolution in the profane world where
engagement with the margins is foreclosed; it resides as a lurking threat to the order.
Thus, even as the brahamanical order has resolved the central tension, the outcaste
priesthood returns back to haunt the brahmin, his very nemesis.

N O T E S A N D R E FER EN C ES

1 I am grateful to Yagati Chinna Rao, T. N. Madan, Gananath Obeyesekere, Sabyasachi

Bhattacharya, Suresh Sharma, Dhirubhai Sheth and Awadhendra Sharan for their comments
on a draft version of this chapter. Hie chapter draws from ethnographic data on village religious
traditions in Andhra Pradesh during 2006-08 and a short study conducted in 2014-15 on the
Mariamma festival celebrated in Delhi by migrants from south India.
2 The generalisations and broadly shared ideas on oucastes一 drawn from over-emphasis
on the varna order and brahmanical Hinduism—deeply impacted the designing and
instituitonalisation of a distinct discipline within the social sciences in recent years; for
instance, the more popular field of Dalit writings, or social exclusion and discrimination which
are a set of programmes recently established and sponsored by the UGC.
3The Madigas are an outcaste community of Andhra.
4 Abbe J. A. Dubious, H in d u M anners, Customs and Ceremonies^ translated by Henry K.
Beauchamp (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906).Tlie manuscript is based on his own observations
and familiarity with the habits and customs of the Hindus for about three decades. Hie editors
introduction to the volume states that the East India Company purchased the manuscript in
1806, because it was impressed by the in-depth and reliable information it offered on a variety
of topics and the value it possessed in aiding the government in the administration of the
colony in accordance to local customs..
5 Edgar Hiurston, Castes an d 7 nbes o f Southern In d ia (Madras: government Press, 1909.)
Vol IV, pp. 296-297.
611ie Kolupu is a week-long celebration of the festival in honour of Mathangi, the village
goddess and clan goddess of the Madigas. It is a village festival and thus the village head is
the ritual representative of the entire inter-caste village community. Religious specialists in
216 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

these celebrations come from the Madiga community—the priests, known as bainollu^vA xo are
organised in troupes known as melam\ and the Mathangi, a priestess who is not associated with
any specific melam but possesses pronounced religious authority distinct from the bainollu.
Their collective endeavour is crucial for the successful accomplishment of a variety of rites and
ritual enactments that constitute the Kolupu festivities. For details see Priyadarshini Vijaisri,
D angerous M a rg in a lity : R e th in k in g Im p u rity and Pow er (Delhi: Primus Books, 2015).
7The English term £power, was used by the bainollu.
8 Gollas are traditionally a pastoral community across southern India, their prominence
during the medieval period is attested by the rise of regional feudatories and small kingdoms in
the Deccan region. Cynthia Talbot, P re~ colonialIn d ia in P ractice: Society, R e lig io n and Id e n tity in
M e d ie va lA n d h ra (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001).I am thankful to Ramachandra
Reddy for permitting me to refer to his article which traces the rise of the Golla community
during the medieval period. Ramachandra Reddy, *Gollas to Yadavas: Social Mobility of a
Pastoral Community in Medieval Andhradesa (2001).
9This embarrassment of the Golla chief could be explained by the presence of an outsider,
the researcher.
10The Golla head of the village is addressed as Mandadi in the rituals.
11The observations in this paragraph are from fieldwork I did during the Kolupu in a village
in the outskirts ofTirupati, Andhra. Hie ritual described here is a sort of sacrificial rite of exit
that marks the closure of the week-long festivities. Similar accounts of such ritual invectives
mention this as a feature of rituality. For instance, K. Mutyam reports that, the washerman
is derided as urine-drinker and the barber as armpit-licker, the Reddy landlords'jati name is
subject to comic iobscene, gesticulation and the villagers are spellbound by the ability of the
bainollu to tear asunder the persona of the powerful landlord. Especially, people of the lower
castes are amused by the manner in which the outcastes stage this and word curiously spreads
around as to how the Reddy, like a dirty cloth, was thrashed against the stone to tatters. For
details, see K. Mutyam, ed. and comp., N enu C h in d u la E llam m an u ... C hindu B hagavatham
Ä athm a (Hyderabad: Drusti Prachurana, 2006).
12 Abbe J. A. Dubois, H in d u M anners, Customs and Ceremonies^ edited by Henry K.
Beauchchamp, third edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906), 29.
13 Henry Whitehead, The V illa g e Gods o f South In d ia (Delhi: Surrtit Publication, 1976
[1921]).
14The denunciations of such religious practices by the brahmins occur in various contexts, be
it in relation to colonial enquires regarding violent rituals or in scholarly accounts of the period
that capture the general disdain the brahmin had towards these traditions. Condemnation of
such traditions was also shared by outcaste reformist movements, although it was different. The
outcaste reformist movements situated these traditions within a history of caste domination
and emphasised that the exploitation of outcastes was accomplished by blind adherence to
such superstitious beliefs of Hinduism. Priyadarshini Vijaisri, R ecasting the D evadasi: Patterns
o f Sacred P ro stitu tio n in C o lo n ia l South In d ia (Delhi: Kanishka Publication, 2004).
15 Louis Dumont, H om o H ierarchichus: The Caste System and its Im plications^ translated by
Mark Sainsbury, Louis Dumont and Basia Gulati (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1966).
16 Paul Younger/A Temple Festival of Mariyamman,, TheJo u rn a l o f the A m erican Academ y o f
R eligion^ vol.48, no. 4 (December 1980), 512.
17 Michael MofFat, £Harijan Religion: Consensu at the Bottom of Caste*, A m erican
Ethnologist^ vol.6, no. 2 (1979); C. J. Fuller, 'T h e Hindu Pantheon and the Legitimation of
Hierarchy’，Maw, n.s” vol.23, no.1 (March 1988).
 Outcaste Pasts 217

18 Robert Deliège, Replication and Consensus: Untouchability, Caste and Ideology in

Indian M a n , n.s, vol.27,155-73 (1992).
19 Brubaker, who writes along the missiological tradition, specially delineates the vital role
played by service castes—i.e. barbers, washermen, gravediggers/labourers and leatherworkers—
in the religious life of the village. This cluster of communities, he observes, is remarkably
distinguished by their dual identity as specialists in impurity and the ritual specialists of
the village goddess; so also, it is inextricably bound to the village economy and religious life.
They restore the order of the village and revitalise it periodically by propitiating the goddess.
R. Brubaker, (Barbers, Washermen and Other Priests: Servants of the South Indian Village and
its Goddess5, H isto ry o fR e lig io n S yW o l.19, no. 2 (November 1979). Also, see Don Haudelman,
<r[he Guises of the Goddess and the Transformation of the Male: Gangammas Visit to Tirupati
and the Continuum of Gender^n S yllables o f the S ky: Studies in South In d ia n C ivilis a tio n ^ edited
by David Shulman (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995).
20 Patrick Olivelle, M anus Code o f L a w : A C ritic a l E d itio n a n d T ra n sla tion o f M a n ava
D harm ashastra (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 209.
21 Alain Dundes, Tw o Tales o f C row an d S p arrow : A F reu d ian F o lk lo rist Essay on Caste
(Lanham: Rownmand and Littlefield Publishing Group, 1997).
22 Ambedkar^ work remains unparalleled in this regard; though his work is largely-
appropriated superficially and uncritically. This study does not engage with Ambedkar, who
was drawn by the allure of Buddhist doctrines as the possible alternative to despicable caste-
Hindu religious practices, and who could have precluded investments in outcaste religious
traditions. Also significant is the historical memory of the Peshwa period, which consolidated
the ideal of brahmin sovereignty and the regulation of caste, and thereby evoked the horrors of
caste system for the untouchables.
23 Vijaisri, D angerous M a rg in a lity^ 38.
24Arthur Maurice Hocart, Castes:A C om parative S tudy (London: Methuneand Co., 1950).
25 Suvira Jaiswal, (Caste, Gender and Ideology in the Making of India1, general presidential
address delivered at the Indian History Congress, 28-30 December 2007; Cynthia Talbot,
P recolo n ia l In d ia in P ractice: Society, R egion an d Id e n tity in M e d ie va l A n d h ra (Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2001). Susan Bayly, Casfe, Society an d P o litics in In d ia (Delhi: Cambridge
University Press, 2000).
26 Gloria Goodwin Raheja, Poison in the G ift: R itu a l, P restation a n d the D o m in a n t Caste in a
N o rth In d ia n V illa g e (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988); Frederique Apffel Marglin,
W ives o f the G od -K in g: The R itu a ls o f the D evadasis o f P u ri (Delhi: Oxford University Press,
Delhi, 1985).
27 Both the units of social identity and their respective relations were part of the complex,
conjunctural, political world. The referents of social identity were multiple and contextually
determined一 temple communities, territorial groups, lineage segments, family units, royal
retinues, warrior subcastes, occupational reference groups, sectarian networks (even priestly
cabals were some of the units of identification); all of them at various times far more significant
than any uniform metonymy of endogamous caste1grouping. Caste was just one category
among many others, one way of organising and representing identity. Nicholas Dirks, *Castes
o ïy\ !m A , Representations 3/, special issue: Im p e ria l Fantasies and P ostcolonial H istories (Winter
1992), 56-78,59-60; Castes o f M in d : C olonialism a n d the M a k in g o f M odern In d ia (New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 2001),
28T. N. Madams comments on an earlier version of this chapter.
29 Shakti or Sakti tradition constitutes a prominent religious mystical and ritualistic tradition
around the religious principle of mother goddess, the source of creation of the cosmos, who
218 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

by nature is both terrifying and benevolent. For details on the relationship between the Shakti
tradition and the tantric tradition, see Priyadarshini Vijaisri, Invoking the Erotic Mother: The
Outcaste Priestess and the Heroic MenJ in Y og in i in South A s ia : In te rd is c ip lin a ry Approaches^
edited by Istvan Kuel (New York: Routledge, 2013).
30 See, for instance, Brian Smith, (Gods and Man in Vedic Ritualism: Towards a Hieracrhy
of Resemblance,, H isto ry o f R e ligion s ^\o\. 24, no. 4 (May 1984), 291-92; regarding the aspect of
rituality as ensuing in a ‘state of religious transformation’, see Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss，
S acrifice: Its N a tu re and Functions^ translated by W. D. Halls (1898, trans. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1946),10.
31 J. C. Heesterman, The In n e r C o n flcit o f T ra d itio n : Essays in In d ia n R itu al^ K ingship, and
Society (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985), 26.
32 K. R. Hanumanthan, 'Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu upto 1600 ad5, In d ia n
H is to ric a l R e vie w , vol.23, no.1~2 (July 1996 - January 1977), 44.
33 Rajan Gurukkal, £Clan and Lineage to Hereditary Occupations and Castes in Early South
India, The In d ia n H is to ric a l R eview ^w ol. 20, no.1-2 (July 1993 - January 1994), 22-33,23. The
concept o f‘eco zones’includes the people and their mode of subsistence in the respective eco
types. It might be added that fieldwork was conducted in villages bordering the temple town
of Tirupati, which formed a part of the region demarcated as Tamilakam in the ancient period.
34 For more details, see Gurukkal, ^ la n and Lineage,.
35 Ibid.
3o Oeorge L. Hart III, Ancient Tamil Literature: Its Scholarly Past and FutureMn Essays on
South In d ia , edited by Burton Stein (Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1975), 59.
37 Hanumanthan, 'Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu*, 47.
38 Gurukkal, ‘Clan and Lineage’，22-33.
39 Vivekanand Jha, 'Candala and the Origin of Untouchability,, In d ia n H is to ric a l R e view
13.1-2 (July 1986 - January 1987), 29-31.
40 Hanumanthan， ‘Evolution of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu’，57-58. It is this historic
dimension that scholars privilege essentialising as a natural growth of the society as an
undisputed marker of all relationships in the region, to the virtual neglect of historical
dimensions.
41 Patrick Olivelle, K in g , G overnance an d L a w in In d ia : K a u tily a s A rthashastra (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2013).
42 Ibid.， 17
43 Ibid., 61.
44 See Aloka Parashar-Sen and Usha Naik, tem ple Girls of Medieval Karnataka^ In d ia n
Econom ic and S ocial H isto ry R eview ^ vol.23 (1986), 63-91. For details pertaining to the 18th
and 19th century, see Emma Rauschenbusch-Clough, W hile S ew ing Sandals or Tales o fa Telugu
P a riah T rib e (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1899). Thurston, Castes an d Tribes IV. The
district manuals, gazettes and ethnographic notes provide scattered descriptions of the ritual
specialists from the outcaste communities who had a significant role in village festivals and
ceremonies.
45Talbot, P recolo n ia l In d ia in Practice^ 51.
46 Ibid. Cynthia Talbot interprets kula as a social category with ^road groupings of lineages
with alleged kinship ties that stem from a shared eponymous progenitor, and vam sham as
implying race, i.e. kula and vamsham are overlapping categories,.
47 Ibid., 86.
48 For details see, Venkata Ramanayya, Studies in H isto ry ofth e T h ird D yn asty o f V ijayanagara
(Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 1986). The system comprised of the priest, administrative
 Outcaste Pasts 219

officials, craftsmen, and other service castes or outcastes as a watchman, and leather worker.
For details on the political and economic dimensions of local networks and units in south
India, see Carla M. Sinopoli, The P o litic a l Econom y o f C ra ft P rod uction: C ra ftin g E m p ire in South
In d ia y c . 1350-1650 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003); Tapan Raychaudhari,
Irfan Habib and Dharma Kumar, eds, The C am bridge Econom ic H isto ry o f In d ia 1 2 0 0 -1 7 5 0
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
49 Iswaradutta provides extremely useful information on the customary payments made
to the Madigas. They enjoyed several types of rights and customary payments which meant
considerable profit and were thus liable to taxation by the government. Kandukuri Iswaradutta,
Sasana Sabda Kosam u (Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi,1967),12.
50 B. Ramachandra Reddy, *Dalits in Medieval Andhra: An Inscriptional Study, mimeo.
51 Ibid. A specific instance is that issued by Velugoti Venkatapati Nayanivaru of Venkatagiri,
Perumallapadu tank meras lays out the following details: *If anybody doesn^ perform his duty,
or misappropriates the customary fees, or refuses to abide by the regulation, or if any ryot or
accountant express their disregard or tamper with the inscription will be considered to have
been born to the (an outcaste labourer) of the village and also to have “given” his wife
to him/To cite another inscription in reference to exemption of fees on marriage in Kagollu
village it specifies that: (This sunkam (tax) if collected by anybody it would tantamount to
having licked the vagina of the Mala woman and if he remains callous about it, his wife be
fucked by a Madiga man/Allan Butterworth and V. Venugopal Chetty, C ollection o f the
In scrip tio n s on Copper-Plates a n d Stones in the N ellore D is tric t (1905, reprint, New Delhi: Asian
Educational Services, 1990).
52 For more details, see Vijasri, D angerous M a rg in a lity y 47-48.
53Jacques Weber Les Establissem entsfra n c a is en In d e au x ix siècle, 5 vols (1816-1914) (Paris:
Librairie de linde, 1988). I am grateful to Jacques Weber for generously sharing his doctoral
thesis, a study which is unsurpassed in unravelling the tumultuous world of dualistic order
in Pondichery. I owe thanks IEA, Nantes for facilitating access to this text and Constance
Cournede for helping translate portions of the text.
54 In one such dispute between the right hand and left hand outcaste faction a 'European
inspector was severely hurt by a Mala over the honour done to a Maaiga^, Thurston, Castes and
Tribes W y2 9 5 .
55 Dubois, H in d u M anners^ 27.
56Thurston, Castes and Tribes IV, 295. Also see G. Hibbert-Ware, C h ris tia n M issions in the
Telugu C ou n try (Westminster:11ie Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,
1912), 92-93.
57 See also Neils Brimnes, C onstructing the C o lo n ia l E ncou nter: R ig h t an d L e ft H a n d Castes in
E a rly C o lo n ia l South In d ia (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, monograph no. 81;Richmond,
Surrey: Curzon Pres, 1999).
58 Ibid.，139-42.
59 Brimnes also notes that Sir Walter Scott who proposed this idea was in the civil service
of the Company administration. Ibid., 29.
60Brinda E. F. Beck, (The Right-Left Division of South Indian Society5, TheJo u rn a l o f A sia n
Studiesy vol.29, no. 4 (August 1970), 779-98, 780.
61 Brinda E. R Beck, Right-Left Division of South Indian Society, in R ig h t an d L e ft-
Essays on D u a l Sym bolic C lassification^ edited by Rodney Needham (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1973), 392.
62 J. C. Heesterman, India and the Inner Conflict of Tradition,, D aedalus, vol.102, n o .1
(Winter 1973), 97-113,100-01.
220 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

63 Arjun Appadurai, £Right and Left Hand Castes in India^ Indian Economic and Social
History Review^ vol.11,no. 2-3 (1974), 216-59.
64 Gananath Obeyesekere，‘Review: The Left-Right Subcastes in South India: A Critique
(Review Article),}Man n.s. 10.3 (September 1975), 463.
65 Ibid., 464.
66 Brimnes, Constructing the Colonial Encounter, 223.
67 Weber, Establissementsfrancais en Inde au xix siècle^ 532.
68 Dubois, Hindu Manners., 26.
69 Dubois, Hindu Manners^ 25. The abbot^ manuscript was purchased by Lord Bentinck
on behalf of the East India Company for its utilitarian value, considering it as *a correct
comprehensive and minute account of the customs and manners of the Hindus, that could aid
the servants of the company in conducting themselves more in unison with the customs and
prejudices of the natives.’Ibid.，‘Editor’s Introduction，.
70 Beck，‘Right-Left Division’，790-91.
71 Ibid.，788.
72 Nicholas Dirks, £The Policing of Tradition: Colonialism and Anthropology in Southern
India', Comparative Studies in Society and History 39.1 (January 1997), 182-212; Dirks, Pastes
of Mind'; Brimnes, Constructing the Colonial Encounter, 244-45.
73Thurston, Castes and Tribes IV.
74 Dirks， ‘Policing of Tradition’，188.
75 The valid grounds for colonial intervention were that: to adjudicate the grounds of
authenticity and consequent legitimacy of practice, the custom in question had to: {a) provide
evidence proving their lack of non-conformity to religious system, {b) involve excessive cruelty,
(r) militate against public decency, {d) be inhuman and (e) be a cause of public distxirbance.
76 Linda J. Epp， ‘Dalit Struggle, Nude Worship and the “Chandragutti Incident” ’ ，
Sociological Bulletin^ vol.4 1 ,nos 1 and 2 (March-September 1992), 145-68; also, see Uttam
Kamble, Devdasi Ani Nagna Puja (Marathi) (Bombay: Lokvangamaya Griha, 1984). The
abolition of the practice of dedication of girls in the 1930s continued till the 1980s. N. D.
Kamble, (Devadasis in Belgaum District: A Sociological Study1, unpublished PhD dissertation
submitted to Shivaji University, Kolhapur, 1988; Kay Jordan, From Sacred Servant to Profane
Prostitute: A Study of the Changing Legal Status of Devadasi in India 1857-1947 (Delhi:
Manohar Publishers and Distributors, 2003).
77 Dirks mentions in his analysis of the hook-swinging rite how the practice was
genealogically traced to (a branch of the Hindu yoga philosophy named hatha yogumf that
was supposedly Resorted to by certain Hindus with a view to acquire control over the mind
by practicing certain physical positions and observances causing bodily pain. ... But like so
many Hindu customs, what was once a practice of bodily torture performed in private for a
certain purpose has degenerated into public exhibition of a cruel and barbarous description/
Dirks, ‘Policing of Tradition’， 192-93. Also, see the manner in which the dedication of girls
was interpreted since the 1920s.
78 Dirks, ‘Policing of Tradition’, 200.
79 M. Krishna Kumari， ‘Dynamics of Society in Andhra Desa: 17th and 18th Centuries’in
Castes, Communties and Culture in Andhra Desa:17th and 18th Centuries ADt edited by R. Soma
Reddy, M. Radhakrishna Shama and Adapa Satyanarayana (Hyderabad: Osmania University,
1996), 45-75.
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid, 56.
 Outcaste Pasts 221

8 2priyadarshini Vijaisri, Origin Myths (forthcoming). This will be a study of a specific

cluster of genealogists/bards and their relationship with patron communities.
83Thurston, Castes and Tribes IV, 295.
84 Beck, ‘The Right-Left Division’，779.
85Thurston, Castes and Tribes IV, 295.
86 Though the Goilas’ pastoral identity is foregrounded in myths they are also engaged in
agriculture.
87This was an instance that was referred to by both the ritual specialists and the Gollas in
explaining their intimate relationship in this region.
88Katama Raju Katha} 402-03.
89The dialogue between the Yadava king and Goasangi is set in the context of the battle of
Balikurruvu, against the Palekonda Baiarajulu. Ibid., 405-06.
90 Gosangi Musallana, the commander of the Gosangi forces calls upon his heroic men:
Hail the Gosangis! Uridi Sekhara, ürugalla Naga, Ganga Penti Ganga, Gajjela Ranga,
Hanumantha Ungare, Alugula Basava, Palapaku Singanna, Bondadi Siddu, Kalinga
Rudrappa, Gadikoti Bhadra, Kummadi Govinda, Kovilala Chandu, Dommi Mukalavairu,
Duddipaku Parasu, Valapusa Vannayya, Vavilla Jangayya, Chilakka Mukku Shankamu,
Chikapaku Ankayya, Chetudummu Singanamnna, Chekatti Mangu, Poturu Papayya,
Paliaki Tatti, Charuvakatti Chalfaya, Sompu Balaiyya, Korusa Mukkadi Jakanna, Kundetti
Dandi, Arupalli Achanna, Alugu Bachanna, Kundeti Dandi, Taruvadi Dharmanna, Dalamu
Kambanna. Oath on our children! The excelling heroes join your forces!

To these forces joined an additional force of a hundred and one sons-in-law who carried the
armaments and necessary equipment on the horses and followed the heroes who rode ahead.
Ibid.，412-13.
91 Ibid.
92 According to the ritual specialists of Nellore, possession by ancestral spirits or the
goddesses enhances the status of the individual and is a coveted attribute. This was evident
during celebrations too, when a girl who showed signs of seizure was recognised as a potential
member who would be resourceful for mediation of different kinds and thus facilitate the
wellbeing of the community.
93 Gamata Puranam is a conglomeration of various legends associated with the Matangi,
Yellama and Renuka. It has several parts but two major ones are Mathamma Puttuu Katha,
(The legend of the birth of Mathamma), Mathamma Renuka-Jamdagni Vivaham (Marriage of
Mathamma Renuka and Jamdagni).These myths were narrated by the priests during Kolupu.
94Peenugulu thinepisachi munda,
95 N. N. Bhattacharya, History ofTantric Religion: A HistoricaU Ritualistic and Philosophical
Study (Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1982), 348.
96 Edward Harper, (Ritual Pollution as an Integrator ot Caste, and Religion,'/owr««/ of Asian
Studies^ vol.23 (June 1964), 151-97,185.
97 C. J. Fuller, ‘The Hindu Pantheon and the Legitimation of Hierarchy’，Mö«，vol.13, no.
1(1988), 19-39.
98 For more details, see Priyadarshini Vijaisri, Dangerous Marginality: Rethinking Imparity
and Power (Delhi: Primus Books, 2015), 100-01.
99 Harper, (Ritual Pollution as an Integrator^ 109.
100 Nicholas J. Bradford, (Transgenderism and the Cult of Yellamma: Hest, Sex and Ritual
in South Indian Journal of Anthropological Research^ vol.29, no. 3 (1983), 310.
222 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

101 In the tantric literature, siddullu are men of exceptional powers and does, in this case,
connote a class of men who possessed special powers by the goddess.
102 Jhrimiirtulu (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) preside over kailasa. One day, Parvathi asks

Shiva if he could grant her marital bliss as his wife for eighteen yugas. Shiva grants her wish
and reveals that she would be born as a twelve-hooded cobra with twenty-four tongues and a
single tail. She will dwell in a five-hooded snake hill. Thus, in her next birth, Parvathi assumes
her new form and dwells in a snake hill in the forest. At night, a couple—Vedi Chennayya and
Vedi Laxmamma—sleep near the snake pit. The goddess appears to them in a dream and tellvS
them not to be afraid for she is not a demon. She orders them to inform that if the goddess is
to be born as a daughter to the king, an elephant has to be sacrificed on the snake hill and blood
passed through its trunk into it. Hie goddess demands a human sacrifice (narabalt). The person
to be sacrificed should not be a beggar or lay person but a three-month-old male baby.The baby
should born to a devout Shiva bhaktuluyon their sixty-first year. The goddess directs that such a
boy would be born in Chindugattukunna patnam, to Shivanandamma and Shivanandayya. The
king proceeds to the patnam and persuades the Shiva couple to offer their son. He promises
to bring the baby back; knowing full well that he would be sacrificed. The couple offers their
son to the king who gets the baby to the kanakastambha and makes preparations for sacrifice.
When the baby is about to be beheaded, the goddess appears and takes him into her arms.Tlie
goddess affectionately looks at the baby and, as she has no brother, wishes to keep him with
her and names him Poturaju. She refuses to move to the town and settles on the boundary in
the forest. In another version, it is evident that she possesses dangerous powers, too fatal to be
installed in the village. It is disastrous to house her in a home, cattle-shed, or the dwelling place
of the village. Both the goddess and Poturaju live in the golden palace. In kaliyugam, they are
reborn as Renuka Devi and Poturaju.
103Thurston, Castes and Tribes IV, 3-4.
104Louis T>umo\mtyA South Indian Subcaste: Social Organization and Religion of the Pramalai
Kallar (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 463.
105 As emphasised by the bainollu in explaining the dangerous ambivalent identity of
the goddess.
106 The Mathamma, given her dangerous state, is approached by women who share similar
attributes, although to a lesser degree. Mention was made of how the Mathamma would not allow
anybody to comb her hdr when she was occasionally consecrated by an ⑽ ceremony.
Only women who were occasionally possessed by the goddess could approach and assist her.
107 The sacrificial rites and offerings to the goddess and other spirits hovering around the
boundaries to drive off to the uninhabited space is conducted during the early hours of the day，
usually around 3 a m , by a select group of outcaste ritual specialists.
108 is was how the ritual specialists perceived themselves in opposition to the brahamimcai
1 1 1

priestly caste. Similar allusions exist in the caste legend of the Madigas: the ふ ；^ み 沒 の ザ z/故 ? ^ ，
where they forcefully claim that when a dangerous disease or epidemic breaks, it is they who
by their power quell those forces of destruction while the brahmin beats a retreat ana hides
in his house. Interestingly, the point was made in conversations relating to Dakkali, a Madiga
subcaste of genealogists and bards, who it was emphasised m the following words, ‘are far more
fire-like than us’ ，
109 Vijaisri, Dangerous Marginality,
110The phrase rajyam midapoyede is intriguing in a sense. It signifies their spatial affinity to
the boundary goddess who refuses to step into the kingdom ana instead wishes to stay on the
boundaries. Instead, the priests and priestess, as iier representatives, visit the settled habitation
as her connoisseur and appease her to protect and bring prosperity to the village community.
 Outcaste Pasts 223

This is evocative of the larger communal need for specialists to mediate between the wilderness
and the goddess and the village community.
111 For a more fruitful discussion on these categories, see Jan Heesterman, India and the
Inner Conflict ofTradition, Daedalus^ vol. 102, no.1 (Winter 1973), 97-113
112Jan C. Heesterman, The Inner Conflict of Tradition Essays in Indian Ritual: Kingship and
Society (Delhi: Oxford University Press,1985), 26.
113Whitehead, Village Gods^ 43.
114 Ibid, 58.
115 Ibid, 63.
116 Jean Luc Racine, 'UntouchabiÜty and Beyond: French Studies of Indian Dalits',
Comparative Studies of South AsiayAfrica and the Middle Eastyvol.18, no.1(1998).
117Brahmins had a certain unease in openly expressing their devotion to the village goddess,
though as Buchanan mentions: £in private many of them make offerings to the ... skates or
destroying female spirits/ Francis Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of
Mysore^ Canara and Malabar (London: W. Blumer and Co. Cleveland, 1807), 155.
118 For details, see Marlene Dobian and Fred Katz, ^Some Relationship between Music and
Hallicinogenic Ritual:TKe ^Jungle Gym,>in Consciousness,, Ethos (1975).
119 Harper, ‘Ritual Pollution as an Integrator of Caste and Religion’，169.
120 Elmore, Dravidian Gods. He explains the notion of the evil eye as follows:
The Dravidian idea of the evil eye is that there are innumerable evil spirits waiting all the
time to do harm. These spirits appear to be very much dependent on human suggestion
and initiative. If special attention is directed to any object or person and especially if
something complimentary is said about it, some listening spirit will take notice, and
thinking that the object is desirable for itself, or out of jealousy and evi! mindedness, will
bring about some evil.

121 ElmoxCy Dravidian Godsy 142.

By the Matangi spitting upon the people she renders them immune in two ways. First as
the Matangi is terrible devii herself, it is well to have her favour, even though it must be
secured in so unpleasant a manner. A second result is that after she has spat upon the
people no other demon would think them worth spending time upon. Anyone who would
consent to be spat upon by a Madiga woman surely would consent to be a poor prey for
other demons. The haste of the Brahmin household to be rid of her, their willingness to
give her plenty of presents, and their meek submission while she sings exulting songs
of their humiliation, ali agree with this idea of their fear of her, and not at all with the
statement that her spittle is purifying.

122 Ibid., 123.

123 Ibid.
124 From folk rendering of birth as a form of sacrifice which is sustained by periodic
offerings of sacrifices to the predominant feature of caste society wherein communities trace
their coming into being through an original sacrifice, this motif is central to the mode by
which communities locate themselves within the cosmos/whole. My thanks to Narendraji for
sharing this folk rendering of sacrifice in Uttar Pradesh.
125 Brian Smith and Wendy Doniger, 'Sacrifice and Substitution: Ritual Mystification and
Mythical Demystification，, iVw舰 ?z, vol.36, no. 2 (December 1989)， 190.
126 For instance, in the countryside， the village space is metamorphosised on those days to
host the flows of primal bonds between the goddess and the inhabitants, and the whole space
224 Priyadarshini Vijaisri

is marked and connected by unfolding primordiality infusing the space. In Delhi, the slum-
dweller had identified and marked a unique sacred geography, with the Mariamman/goddess
originating by the small elevated portion of land adjacent to the railway track and installed in
their colony and connected to the households of the elders, and a specific, dominant migrant
community. The firewalls in front of the temple, the hook-swinging ceremony on public streets
and hook-piercing ceremony in the local park configures the space into one that resonates with
the fusion of spaces, where the sacred and profane worlds are dissolved , in their villages in
Tamil Nadu from that of the everyday, ordinary space.
127 Concerns over ill-health, unemployment and insecurities involved in dwelling in
unauthorised colonies, poorer quality of life and facilities are some that figure prominently in
their vows to the goddess. Hiese peculiarly urban concerns in the slum of Delhi, where a study
was conducted, added to the typical reasons like protection from evil spirits that were believed
to bring in sickness, misfortune, barenness and benefice of the goddess whose presence in the
village ensures protection and well-being of the village as a whole.
128 Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature Functions, translated by W. D.
Halls (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964).
129Jan Gonda, 'Vedic Gods and Sacrifice,, Numen, vol.1,no.l (July 1983), 8.
130 Heesterman, Inner Conflict of Tradition^ 30.
131 Ariel Glücklich, The Sense ofAdharma (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 52-53.
Also see Uma Chakraborty, Teople and the Vedic ^ ,ox'S.c^\Annah of the Bhandarkar Oriental
2

Research Institute^ vol.79, n o .1/4 (1998),179-92. Ki'ishnamachariar and M. Srinivasachariar

comments that the Mahavrata was ;in essence of popular and not merely a priestly rite! in
History of Classical Sanskrit Literature (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1937), 527.
13^ Heesterman, Inner Conflict ofTraditiony44.
13311ie most popular and important invocatory chant is kalojaga, is believed to have been
coined by adding the first syllable of names of three devout Madiga sanyasis and recurs in the
Mathamma Puttu Purvatha Katha (the legend of MathammasJorigin).
134 Performance of the rite of hook-swinging by the jogatis, outcaste priestesses was
reported till recently in Andhra, while Dodily lacerations like whipping was a popular rite in
festivals of Yellamma in Karnataka. Ramberg denotes a set of ritual practices like fasting or
the custom of dedication of girls to the goddess—for instance as ‘bodily offerings’. Lucinda
Ramberg, Given to the Goddess: Sotith Indian Devadasis and the Sexuality of Religion (Durham:
Duke University Press, 2014).
135 Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss notes a similar but minor rite of offering to evil spirits
in Vedic ritual and of choicest part of the victim given to the gods. Hubert and Mauss, Sacrifice^
134-35.
136An uncultivated land across the Madiga locality is cleaned to host the ritual event. Half
of the space is portioned ofF to raise a tapasmana and the rest is used to recreate a sort of forest
area. A pit is dug into which the palm trunk would be inserted after due procedural cleaning
and worship by the Mathamma. After fixing the palanquin to the top end of the tree trunk it
is held with ropes to balance it and install it into the pit. Two ends of the long rope is held by
a tail of men, women and children along with the main officiants as the chanting intensifies
to manipulate the heavy trunk into the pit. "Ihen the pit is covered with mud as the trunk
stands long with the palanquin raised into the sky. Participation in this installation is generally
believed to accrue religious merit.
137 It is interesting to witness people from different communities participate in this ritual
and much excitement is generated by the ability of the bainollu atop the palanquin, and the
manner in which they involve the villagers into a sort of ritual play.
 Outcaste Pasts 225

138The dramatic performance of Parashuram by the bainollu indicates a strong Yakshagana

tradition and several troupes are reputed for their performances.
139 For more details of the myths, see K. C. Tarachand, Devadasi Custom: Rural Social
Structure and Flesh Market (Delhi: Reliance Publishing House, 1992); and Jackie Assayag,
(Modern Devadasi: Devotees of Goddess Yellamma in Karnatak^in Rites and Beliefs in Modern
India, edited by Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi (Delhi: Manohar, 1990).
140 Interestingly, Dumont mentions the prevalence of such rites among the Kallar,
and terms it as entry ritual* directed towards attaining a state of ritual purity avS follows:
'Food is placed on a leaf on the ground, and the man is supposed to take it with his
mouth, without using his hands, which he keeps behind his back is a procedure to maintain
purity.5 Louis Dumont, A South Indian Sub Caste: Social Organisation and Religion in the
_Pra謹 /ai translated by M. Moffat and A_ Mortem (Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1986), 380.
141Hubert andMauss commenting on the symbolic ritual value attributed to blood comment;
‘The mere sprinkling of blood sufficed to dispel evil spirits and the “pit for excrements” was
where the internal bodily organs were disposed of outside the place of sacrifice/ Hubert and
Mauss, Sacrifice^ 135.
142 Shri Gopaliah, the priest, recounts that few years back this rite was conducted in the
precincts of the temple and the priestess sipping toddy spit on the faces of the villagers. It was
not in usage anymore because gradually it came to be viewed as crude practice.
143 This the priest affirms at during the gavrikorekedi, when the Maaiga sanyasis are slain
by Jamadagni.
 XIV

T H E H IS T O R Y O F D A L IT S IN P U N E *

Eleanor Zelliot

While much has been written of Indias Dalits, a word meaning depressed or oppressed
which generally refers to ex-Untouchables, there is no study of their urban history.
When did Untouchables first come to the city? What did they do? Where did they
live? When did they organise for change? What did reformers attempt to do for them?
How did the city change their lives? In what ways are the lives of Dalits and non-
Dalits intertwined? What did Dalits contribute to the city? This essay is an attempt
to answer these questions in the context of the city of Pune, with the realisation that
documentation is scarce, and many observations are either personal or partial.

T H E S H IV A J I-P E S H W A P E R IO D

The earliest living area of Untouchables in Pune was the Maharwada which formed
part of the village which became Mangalwar Peth. The village was added to Pune
around 1663, when the city was briefly conquered by Shaista Khan.1Originally called
Shaistapur and then Astapur, which seems to be a variation on that name, Mangalwar
Peth lay beyond the Nazari stream, to the east of the old Kasba, and was populated
by Malis and Mahars. The village had been separated from the city by a wall that was
built when Pune came under the dominance of the Delhi öuitanate in the first decade
of the 14th century. The wall was gone, however, when Shivaji re-conquered the city
in the 17th century and he made his capital in the more easily protected hill fort of
Raigad in the Konkan after driving out Shaista Khan.
The British census in the Peshwa Daftar of 1822 indicates that Mangalwar had
retained the features of the old village all through the Peshwa period; it listed the 288
Mahars and 26 Mangs who lived there as watandars—traditional village servants
who hold watan or land for their service.2 I have been told that Tadiwala Road,
immediately north of the railway station, is the area of the old Mahar watan, but I
have found no record of this. In any case, the watan brought the Mahars little wealth.
Shashikant Sawant estimates that, according to a 1764-65 survey, Mangalwar was
almost three-fourths huts.3 In fact, it had deteriorated so much {kharab padli) that it
was not officially recognised as a ward from 1746 to the end of the Peshwa period.4
* This essay was originally published as {The History of Dalits in Pune^ Jo u rn a l o f the Asiatic
Society o f Mumbai^n.s., vol.74 (1999), 211-39. Reproduced here by permission of The Asiatic
Society of Mumbai.
 The H istory o f Dalits in Pune 227

A great necessity in a pre-modern city is the scavenger—the remover of human

waste. The word used in this period, 'Halalkhor', is Persian and there is no Marathi
equivalent, nor is there a Marathi-speaking caste which performs this work. Gujarati
ÜntouchablejS^^^ Puae,,proBaBIy as soon as the city grew to the point
where folk could not use the fields as a latrine. The 1822 census in the Peshwa Daftar
notes a Halalkhorpura near Mangalwar Peth, with 148 souls.5 Sometime in the 20th
century, the more common term 'Bhangi' completely replaced (HalalkhorJ.
The leather-working Chambhars would also have been a necessity from the very-
earliest period. Although the Marathas did not use leather saddles, they did need shoes,
buckets, harness and other leather goods. Chambhars seem to have lived in various
areas of the city, since their shoe repair and leather work was needed everywhere, and
they were considered less defiling than Mahars, Mangs and Halalkhors. A few Dhors
also came to Pune to do tanning, but later they were largely replaced by Muslims.
As the city expanded in the last half of the 18th century, various low castes came to
live iry h ê n 钱 ，虫 e traditional direction in the villages of Maharashtra for Untouchable
quarters. Nana and Bhawani as well as Mangalwar Peths became the chief areas for
D3its. Bhawani Peth was added in 1767.6 VijayTendulkars play Ghashiram Kotwal
uses Bhawani as a symbol of the prostitutes1area. Nana Peth, just north of Bhawani,
was founded in 1790 and named after its founder Nana Phadnavis,7 and it became
a mixed area of traders—for wiiom Nana had planned the Peth—and Dalits. Both
Bhawani and Nana contained important temples—the goddess in Bhawani Peth and
Hanuman (Hanmant) in Nana.
The police duties of the Mahar in the village may have been brought into the
constabulary of the city, but that is not clear. The Kotwal ot Poona, an important post
combining police chief and mayor in some respects, was appointed by the Peshwa
from 1764 onwards. In the decade following he had about 2,500 men in his force, but
since the terms constable, orderly and watandar are used—and not Mahar—we do not
know their castes. However, the name Ramoshi, a low but not untouchable, criminal
tribe’一 •in British parlance—often appears in the records. When the hated Lrhashiram
Kotwal was put to death, he was bound and the cord held by a man of the tribe of
Bungi, according to an English narrative of the 1791.8The Englishman probably got
it wrong because Mangs, not Bhangis, were the traditional executioners as well as
ropemakers, but surely some Untouchable performed such unpleasant duties.
The Peshwa Daftar mentions Untouchables in legal matters from time to time.
Gokhale9 notes that Mahars claimed the right to the hides of dead cattle and to gifts
on designated holidays, and that Mahars as well as Kunbis, Guravs and Kumbhars
could be used for compulsory labour. It is also clear that the mixing of castes in sexual
matters was a serious offense. The family of Babaji Gurav had to pay a fine of Rs 50
in 1743-44 because he had illicit relations with a Mahar woman.10 Ramchandra
krisnna Angal,a brahman, was excommunicated for sexual relations with a Mang
woman.11 A Chambhar woman who was accused of adulterous conduct was allowed
to perform an ordeal, and rewarded with a sari when she passed the test of hot iron
rods in her hand.12 The Peshwa^ courts also settled disputes between Untouchable
castes outside Pune; in 1776-77, Nagar Mahar complaints, of Kunbi and Mang
228 Eleanor Zelliot

obstruction in matters such as the taking or hides and the offering of food to Mariai,
were settled in the Mahars, favour, after Pune and Paithan Mahars were consulted.13
There are a number of indications that caste occupations were controlled. For
instance, Mahars were stopped from transporting dried fish from the Konkan for
sale in Pune when Kolis, traditional fishermen, complained.14 But when one sees
the colourful list of occupations gleaned by Gavali15 from the Peshwa Diaries, one
wonders if there wasrft a good bit of mix. He lists as artisan work such known
Untouchable jobs as rope-maker and shoe-maker, but who made the arrows? Worked
in Bamboo? Made bricks? Hewed wood? Made charcoal? Polished the tools and
weapons? Groomed the horses?
There are also legends among Dalits about life in Peshwai Pune. Most common is
the widely-held belief that Untouchables had to carry a pot so that their spit would
not foul the ground and a broom with which to eradicate their footsteps. The father
of Jotirao (Jotiba) Phule (1828-90), who undoubtedly had known the last decades
of Peshwa rule, told him this legend and other stories of unusual punishment for
Untouchables.16 But, Mahars also served in the Peshwas armies.There are legends of
Mahar heroism in Shivaji s time, chiefly in guarding forts, but there is clear evidence
that Mahars actually saw field combat in Peshwa armies. Testimony to the Indian
Statutory Commission17 turned up at least one 'Depressed Class* voter who held a
jagir granted by the Peshwa for services on the battlefield.
Charles Kincaid's lively gossip about Pune provides almost the only light touch
about the Peshwa period. Look for a grave at the foot of Parvati Hill, he says, and you
will find a marker for the Mang who attended the Peshwas rhinoceros, but (ended
his career with its horn through his body/When Kincaid visited the spot at the turn
of this century, a Mahar was in charge, and there were signs of offerings of fowls.
Kincaid was told that the Mang^ ghost supposedly spirits away fair women of high
caste, leaving them foiled and helpless on the roadway!!1One wonders about the
covert meaning of that one. And he also notes new Vetal and Mhasoba stones near
the spot, with a Mahar attendant.18
Statistics for Pune taken immediately after the Peshwa period are the fullest of
any census for the purposes of this essay, but not entirely satisfactory. The Peshwa
Daftar, Jamav Section, of 1822 contains figures on population, ownership of animals,
occupation, type of house_ all tabulated for 99 castes—and a classification by ward
for 113 castes. The relative numbers of brahmans and the Untouchable castes are
indicative of the brahman nature of the city.19

1 Brahman 16755
23 Chambhar 573
31 Mochi 26
83 Dhor 133
90 Holar 35
96 Mahar 867 (plus 288 in Mangalwar Peth)
98 Mang 235 (plus 26 in Mangalwar Peth)
99 Halalkhor 613 (plus 138 in Mangalwar Peth)
 The H istory o f Dalits in Pune 229

Since brahmins are at the top and Bhangis at the bottom, the ranking must be in
status order, which places the Chambhar and the Mochi quite well up on the list.
Occupation statistics are difficult to interpret， since only four categories are
used—well-to-do, traders, artisans and, fourth, labourers and beggars. All the
working Untouchables, except the Holar, are classed as artisans, and the numbers
indicate about one in four persons was employed. Eleven Holars are labourers and
beggars^The animal statistics are interesting, if not very useful. Chambhars owned 5
cows; Mangs 9 and Halalkhors also 9; Mahars had only 6 cows, but also possessed 8
horses and a host of other animals.20
The ward statistics confirm what we already suppose: Chambhars lived in eight of
the thirteen wards—Gunj, Ganesh and Nana (Hanmant) having the largest number.
Mahars are chiefly confined to Bhawani and Nana (and the uncounted Mangalwar);
Mangs are spread somewhat evenly between Gunj, Nihal, Shukravar and Nana; and
Halalkhors live overwhelmingly in Bhawani Peth.21

T H E C O M IN G O F T H E B R IT IS H

The establishment of Poona Cantonment (usually simply called (CampJ) in 1818

meant a major change in the history of the Dalits. Untouchables came to serve the
British as house servants, butlers, menials and keepers of horses and donkeys, and later
as drivers for both British and Parsis and—until the late 19th century—as soldiers.
In fact, Mahars associated with the British may have come during Peshwa times. A
report of Bahirav Raghunath to Nana Phadnavis notes that Charles Warre Malet
came to Pune as envoy around 1790 with 'six topiwalas ... 35 horses, 200 guards,
100 servants, 50 Kamathi porters, 75 palanquin men, 425 Mahars, 2 elephants, 4
palanquins* and a Muslim dancing girl.22 Sardesai23 simply refers to 425 Mahar
guards. We do know if Mahars served in the British army from the very beginning.
A number of Mahar localities grew around the British Army: areas near the
barracks at Ghorpuri and Wanowri; and at least four quarters in Camp—Bhimpura
(old Kamatipura) and Sholapur Bazaar as well as two modi khana%ty\.o^\ Khana, a term
used for the commissariat or stores of the army and for the entourage which followed
the army as well, was established near what is now Synagogue Street, and there is a
sunken stone marking the place of the pestilence goddess Mariai, whose worship was
in the care of Mahars, still in that street. New Modi Khana was established a little
later, at the south end of (Main Street^ now Mahatma Gandhi (or MG) Road. Some
inhabitants claim that it was built for Mahars who worked with mules; others that it
was for army pensioners. Bhimpura, it is said, was built for syces, which would fit with
the traditional Mahar duty of caring for the travelling officials horse.
New Modi Khana is a colony of one-room pukkha houses, built in double storied
rows with a large public area for each four-sided open square of houses. Now in
prime territory, the houses still rent for very little, and the area has continued to
be largely a Dalit area with a public hall for meetings and a vihar for Buddhist
activities, in spite of some (gentrification,, to use a Western term. Ganpatrao Pawar
230 Eleanor Zelliot

put his Siddharth Reading Room and Library here before moving it out to a main
street in Camp to increase its use. Many of New Modi Khanas inhabitants now
hold government jobs reserved for Scheduled Castes, but one could still see women
rolling bidis (which for some inexplicable reason seems to be an occupation open to
Untouchables) in the areas lanes.
Chambhars live here now as well as other low castes, artisan castes such as tailors,
and Buddhists. One 'NirmaF, a song writer, became active in Ambedkar's movement,
even while going each day to the large Chambhar shoe-repair shop on MG Road.
The city also grew to the west, and in the 192〇}s crossed the Mutha river to the
area that is now Shivaji Nagar. This brought another old Maharwada, Bhamburda,
just south and west of the Mula-Mutha Sangam, into the city. A colony of Buddhists
still lives in Bhamburda, in small houses around an open court that is used . for
public meetings as well as the ordinary traffic of a community. The offices of Pune
Municipal Corporation are on the edge of the old Bhamburda Maharwada, as is the
7th century cave temple of Pataleshwar. On a 1945 map， Gadgil shows a ‘Municipal
Mang Colony5on the west bank of the Mutha, just north of Sambhaji Park where
Bal Gandharva Theatre now stands.24That rope-making colony was moved across the
river when Lloyd Bridge was built in 1930.25
One of the most conspicuous slums in the western area is Wadarwadi, a huge area
tucked between Fergusson College Road and the hills, just southwest of the lovely
area of Model Colony. The Wadars are not Dalit in the sense of ex-Untouchable;
they are a Kannada-speaking people who had, in British terminology, the status of
a £tribes. However, they are skilled stone and earth workers, and came to Pune to
build stone works—possibly as early as 1782, when underground masonry drains
were begun, and surely in the next century with the coming of the railroad and the
need tor earthen works.The Wadarwadi colony itself was probably started about 1910
in conjunction with a new drainage system. Some 20,000 people now live here,26
the majority Wadars but with Buddhists and other castes mixed in. It s an area of
crowded, substandard housing, but with a lively community spirit.27
Other areas became important centres of Dalit life during British times. Range
Hills quarters replaced an older area for workers in the Ammunition Factory in
Kirkee, established in 1869. Evidently, the dangerous work of munitions provided
early industrial opportunities for Untouchables, and many Mahars either moved to
the Kirkee area or came into the factory from nearby villages. Range Hills consists
of government housing for workers and Ammunition Factory retirees. It is now a
very active centre for Buddhist activities, although government regulations allow no
religious or private buildings. Range Hills offers a sterling example of change: the
daughter of a Buddhist couple with minimum education won a full scholarship in
1989 to do graduate study in Physics at the University of California!
Depressed Class areas are not generally marked physically, as is the Maharwada
in a village. One can find them by noting the existence of an old Mariai shrine,
since that goddess was in the care of the Mahars, or a new Buddhist Vihar. Most,
but not all, of the Mariai temples in the care of Mahars have been converted to
Buddhist viharas. Other viharas were built after the conversion of 1956 and are
 The H istory o f Dalits in Pune 231

hence post-British but mark older colonies. There is a Mariai temple in Yeravda
which indicates an early Mahar settlement. A Buddhist Vihar near the Mental
Hospital reveals the fact that Mahars, now Buddhists, live in considerable numbers
in employee quarters. Another area of Mahar living is near the airport, which was
constructed about 1930.

T H E W O R L D O F T H E U N T O U C H A B L E S IN 1 9 1 2

A remarkably complete picture of Untouchables in Pune at the height of the

British period can be found in the sociological essays of Harold Mann, an English
agriculturist who had a deep personal interest in the 'Depressed Classes'. His survey
deals only witn Poona city, not the cantonment or the surburban area, which should
be remembered in assessing Dalit progress. Pune then was a city of 1,11,381 persons,
of which, Mann estimated in lieu of any official census figures, 7000 to 8000 were
of Untouchable castes. 'They live segregated from the rest and, facing segregated,
are largely unknown to the general public/28 To show this ignorance, he quotes a
statement from the 1881 Bombay Gazetteer which he called 'libelous,:

The depressed classes in c lu d e C ham bhars, Dhors, Mangs, and Mahars. They live
in d irty huts o u ts id e o f th e to w n , idle, d ishonest, given to d rin k in g ；th ie v in g and
te llin g lies. Both m en and w o m e n are o f loose m orals a nd husbands a nd w ives
are changed a t w ill. O f Mahars, som e are in th e n ative army, som e are d o m e stic
servants to Europeans, som e are day labourers, and som e are sweepers. Labourers
and scavengers b e g g in g fo r rem ains o f dishes served at d in n e r and fo r a m orsel
o f fo o d w ill rem ain c ry in g a t d oors fo r hours to g e th e r. C ham bhars make shoes,
Dhors ta n hides, and M angs m ake ropes and broom s. T hey live in a b je c t p o v e rty
and have scarcely any b e d d in g b e yo n d a b la n k e t They g o alm o st naked and have
no m etal pots in th e ir houses. T heir w o m e n w o rk as day labourers and do house
w ork. They c a n n o t read and w rite and seldom send th e ir boys to th e schools w h ich
G o ve rn m e n t have o p e n e d fo r th e m .29

At least half of this description is incorrect now, states Mann, and probably never was
accurate; he felt Untouchables were not worthy, of those remarks. The Untouchable
classes do not, in large proportion, live in dirty huts outside the town, although some
do, they are not, as a class, idle, nor dishonest nor thieving nor heavy drinking more
than others, and while wlowly and despised^, they do not live in the abject poverty
described/To gain an accurate impression, Mann ana his assistants—many of them
from the Untouchable classes—interviewed '1400 households, or probably at least
between 80 and 90 per cent of the totaF of Dalits in Pune proper.30
Manrfs figures refer to 2066 Mahars, the largest ox the five castes—Bhangis,
Chambhars, Dhors, Mahars and Mangs. One fourth of the Mahars surveyed were
watandars, descendants of those formerly attached to the villages which Pune had
encompassed. They owned their land and their houses, which were (more or less well
232 Eleanor TLeUiot

built7. Three-fourths of the Mahars had come to Poona from the outside for work
and live under much-more squalid and unsatisfactory conditions, than the watandar
Mahars. They paid a ground rent of eight or so annas a month and built their own
huts, generally of mud and roofed with corrugated iron or old kerosene tins. The
landlord did nothing but put a latrine in the field1.31
Somewhat less than fifty per cent of the Mahar population worked: 574 men,197
women and 71 children—144 for the municipality as sweepers, coolies, etc.; 69 in
one of the two factories in the Pune area: a silk and cotton mill and the ammunition
factory at Kirkee;145 for the railway;138 as domestic servants; 326 as coolies; and
120 miscellaneous, including masons, sellers of firewood, wardboys in hospitals and
beggars. The average earnings of Mahars were Rs 9.9 per month for men, Rs 4.1 for
women and, surprisingly enough, Rs 9.1 for children, which included boys up to 18
and girls up to marriage at 15 or 16.32
Mann found the 526 Mangs who were interviewed in more squalid circumstances,
with 'no status in the community and ... hence far less self-respect... than among the
Mahars1. Fully half the Mangs worked, which included the traditional rope-making,
which women could do in the street just outside their homes. A greater proportion
of Mangs worked for the municipality and as coolies; far fewer (only 6 and 4 Mangs?
respectively) worked in factories and the railroad. Maag children earned much less
than Mahars, Rs 4.5 per month, and men and women slightly less.33
Of 798 Chambhars, who occupied the highest social and economic position of
these groups, few women and children worked, and all but 25 men were involved
in the boot-making and leather-working trade. Mann did not deal with the related
caste of Dhors (tanners) because they were few in number and tanning in Pune was
generally done by Muslims.34
Mann has interesting findings about the Bhangis, the Scavengers and removers
of night-soil, lowest in the social scale, but often possessed of well-built and clean
housing/ and (far more permanent residents of Poona than ... some of the previous
classes/Wages for the 373 Bhangis interviewed worked out to Rs 7.7 per month for
both men and women, and Rs 5.6 for children. All did traditional work, eighty per
cent for the public authority. Because so many in the family worked, the total income
per family per month was Rs 18.2, about five rupees a month higher than any of
the others.35 Pune still has Bhangi colonies, although a 1929 Bhangi strike greatly
increased the number of flushing latrines.36
Mann found the family size of the Untouchable classes very small, with only
the Chambhars averaging four, a good thing since housing usually consisted of one
small room. In a 1916 article, Mann looked at the housing of Untouchables in Pune.
Here, he seems to contradict his earlier denial of the conditions described in the
1881 Gazetteer. In parts of the city, 'neglect prevails to an almost inconceivable extent.
It is at its worst in the rainy season> and at that time visits to some of the quarters
inhabited by Mahars and Mangs show a state of things which has to be seen to be
believed/37 Even the watandar Mahars lived in less than satisfactory conditions. The
pucca houses of the Mangalwar Peth area were more closed in than were huts, and the
space around them extremely limited (a condition that still exists).
 The H istory o f Dalits in Pune 233

For non-watandars, renting open space and building a hut was the chief option.
Gadi Tai and Bhokarwadi were typical of these areas, states Mann (and it was
Bhokarwadi in which Shinde was to establish his chief Depressed Class Mission
Centre a little later than when Mann made his observations). Here, the land belonged
to the Municipality and there were fairly adequate latrines and a good tap water
supply, although the drains remained kachcha. Living quarters for the Bhangis were
far better, with 84 of the 89 families interviewed living in a pucca house. The overall
picture, however, ^akes one ashamed,. Mann decries the wisdom of those who want
to simply close off the worst areas and drive the people away and notes that he has
proposed a model colony, a proposal sanctioned but not funded.38 His 1912 words
are often echoed today.

G A D G IL 'S P R E -W O R L D W A R II S T U D Y

Although D. R. Gadgil s invaluable study of Pune was published in two volumes in

1945 and 1952 much of the data is from late 1930's surveys. And, although Gadgil
was enormously interested in the Depressed Classes, his statistics are for a fairly small
sample; he could include only the city and the suburbs, not the Camp; and he does
not deal with such fascinating questions as the relative place of watandar and non-
watandar Mahars, The aggregate picture of Depressed Glass life is not as complete as
Mann's, but the statistics are our only clue to change, and the incidental information
is very telling. The tabulation of the occupation of 382 Depressed Class heads of
families (out of a total survey of 4529) is worth reproducing in full, since it shows the
very beginnings of occupational advancement:39

Occupational Grade Mahar Chambhar AUDC

Unskilled manual work 94 7 185
Skilled manual work 41 39 101
Lowest professions and administrative posts 19 1 29
Small business 9 3 23
Highly-skilled and supervisory manual work 10 1 15
Clerks and shop assistants 2 1 4
Intermediate professions
Medium business 1 1
Highest professions and salaried posts
Owner of factories, etc.
Pensioners 1
Beggars and prostitutes 8 1 15
No earner 1 —
17
Total 184 54 382

Comparing these as best one can to Manns statistics for 842 Mahar workers, and
assuming Manns categories of sweepers and coolies would count as unskilled labour,
234 Eleanor Zelliot

one finds more than half the Mahars worked in unskilled manual labour in 1912,
only slightly more than in 1937! However, some advance has been made, it seems, in
‘lowest professions’， clerkships and supervisory manual labour.
Overall, Gadgils school statistics show a great change. The category titled
backward Classes'includes Depressed Classes and the low castes immediately above
them, but as Gadgil uses it seems to include only Untouchables. Hie enrolment
figures were gathered in 1937-38:40

Category of Institution Backward Class Total Student

Boys Girls Enrolment
Arts Colleges
Fergusson 14 - 1370
SP 9 - 881
Wadia 6 — 412
Professional Colleges
Engineering 3 - 210
Agricultural 1 —
174
Law 14 - 363
BJ Medical School — —
303
High Schools for Girls — 14 2395
Middle School 54 4 383
High Schools for Girls - 14 2395
Training College for Men 41 - 278
Training College for Women - 6 98
Seva Sadan Training College - 2 , 68
VJ Municipal Tech. 5 - 61
Tailoring College 6 —
79

Schools and institutions with no Backward Class enrollees have been omitted
from this list. Some interesting facts emerge from such raw statistics: look at the
disproportionate number enrolled in Law öcnool! Note the pre-eminence of
Fergusson in educating Dalit men at this time (I have been told by a Buddhist woman
that she did attend Fergusson in this period, but not under the caste name of Mahar.)
In another table, Gadgil tells us that the Poona Seva Sadan Hostel for Depressed
Class Women housed 4 women attending college, which must include half the 8
women in the Training Colleges noted above.41The High Schools most important in
the education of Dalits were Nutan MV and Camp Education Society, with over 40
students each. The New English School, surprisingly enough, had 26 Backward Class
students. The number of boys in teaching training confirms an observation I have
made in interviewing activists in the Ambedkar movement: much early leadership
came from Mahar school teachers. Compulsory education was instituted throughout
the city in 1943, and Patel claims that the greatest emphasis was given on iBackward,
areas. However, the most crowded school in the city was No. 29 in Bhangi Galli in
Bhawani Peth， where two masters taught 133 boys.42
 The History of Dalits in Pune 235

Incidental information in Gadgils volumes adds to the total picture: out of 220
sellers at the Juna Bazaar on Sunday, 9 May 1937,46 of the men and 8 of the women
were Mahars, the largest single caste involved, and 26 of the women sellers were
Chambhars.43 One has an image of the most enterprising of the Dalits recycling old
material this way, and of Dalit women engaging in public commerce in a way that few
other Marathi-speaking women at the time did. A 1938 survey showed that the great
preponderance of casual labour was Maratha, and Gaagil found that the organised
group at the Budhwar stand did not allow Depressed Classes to seek employment
there.44 Gadgil noted 81 shoe-making and repair concerns in 12 Peths, most of them
owned by Chambhars.45 Later in the volume, he notes 64 leather and footwear shops
in Poona; his sample investigations indicated that all were owned by Chambhars
or <Bohori, and Khoja Muslims.46 But he comments that Chambhars were losing
ground to new entrants in the manufacturing, and import business and becoming,
wage-working artisans largely engaged in repair work*.47
N. M. Joshi s study of urban handicrafts, also published by the invaluable Gokhale
Institute, is less pessimistic. He notes that leather-work in Pune in the 19th century
was second only to metal in importance.48 He also tells us, however, that the European
kind of footwear came into the hands of Tardeshi Mochis in the late 19th century,
leaving only the Indian footwear5to the Marathi-speaking Chambhars.49

P O S T -IN D E P E N D E N C E D A L IT LIFE

After 1947, Pune began to change its character, becoming in time a major industrial
city. As the factories ,marched toward the West on the Bombay-Pune road, the area
surrounding them engulfed older villages. One of these was Dapodi, but I only know
of the old Maharwada here because 37 claimants to the Mahar watan decided to
give that land to be a Buddhist centre. The new buildings of the Trailokya Bauddha
Mahasangha, the India branch of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order based
in England, rise on the old Mahar watan. How many other Mahar wadas have been
encompassed by growing Pune is anyone’s guess.
About twenty years after the Gokhale Instituted first survey of Pune, a re-survey
was made, but less intensely and with fewer personal notes than Gadgils. Shivajinagar
(Bhamburda), Mangalwar, Nana, Bhawani, and the Camps in Pune and Kirkee
were where the preponderance of Depressed Classes lived. The best statistics for my
purpose are for occupation and income, and there is an interesting note on education
at the advanced level. The per capita income was Rs 219.1 per year, far below the Rs
356.8 average, but much better than in 1938, which saw Depressed Classes making
Rs 60 to the average of 139.7.50 There is improvement in the numbers of Depressed
Classes in highly skilled and supervisory work, in the intermediate professions and
in clerical positions. The change is not startling, however. But the percentage of
Backward Class students in the three arts colleges had increased from 1 to 2 per cent;
and in the professional colleges from 2.5 to 4 per cent. And 2 per cent of BJ Medical
College students were from the Backward Classes.51
236 Eleanor Xelliot

The fifth Gokhale Institute survey of socioeconomic life in Pune was made by-
Richard Lambert in 1957. At that time, Pune possessed only five private factories
employing over 100 workers. Lambert found the Backward Castes held 11.2 per
cent of the factory positions, but only 4 worked at the biscuit factory and 208 of the
478 workers at the textile mill, the oldest of the factories. Forty-six Buddhists should
be added to that number, none of them making biscuits.52 That low number in the
industry associated with food makes one wonder. The rather astonishing statistic to
Lambert s table on occupational class by caste is that no Backward Class person was
a clerk in any factory, and only in the Paper factory were they supervisors in any
significant degree.53
The real change in Pune, however, was to come with the Buddhist conversion
beginning in 1956, the working of the reservation system in government jobs and
educational facilities, and the droughts which drove refugees from the countryside
into Pune. The first two phenomena brought immense progress; the third added
vastly to Punes poor, the badly housed and the pool of unskilled labour.
Post-Independence Pune saw two phenomena in the physical setting of Dalit
life: the growth of housing colonies which provided the possibilities for a lower-
middle class lifestyle for educated Dalits and, more obvious, a tremendous growth of
shantytowns. As the city became an important industrial centre, the migrants moved
in, far more than could be accommodated in regulation housing. The percentage of
Pune inhabitants which lives in slums, a large part of them Dalit, is truly horrendous.
Bawa54 estimates that in 1984 there were 340 slum pockets housing 33 per cent of
the population. The City Engineer described 14 of these so large as to be called mini­
townships. Earlier figures indicate the rapid rise after the famines of 1966-67 and the
even more severe famine of 1972-73: in 1951，ハ 6 per cent of Pune’s population lived
in slums; in 1968 it was 11.6 per cent and in 1976, 27 per cent.55 In more graphic
terms, Bapat notes that there were 54,194 huts in 1976 for 57,941 families; there
were only 6,300 huts in Pune in 1951.56
Bapat does not delineate specific castes in her excellent study of Punes slum
housing, but reports that Backward Classes constituted 38.18 per cent of the 605
households she interviewed, and 55.27 per cent of the Hindu households. The
Buddhist population was 10.25 per cent of the sample.57
The other major kind of new housing for Dalits is far different. The great Panshet
flood in July 1961 destroyed much of the older part of Pune, submerging Mangalwar
Peth and Bhamburda as well as many other areas. Government-sanctioned loans
brought about 122 registered housing societies, ofwhich 28 societies with memberships
ot 700 were backward Class\ By January 1963, 583 dwellings for these societies
were under construction.58The building of these housing colonies was very slow, and
certainly no answer to the multitudes living in shanty towns. But the colonies today,
scattered in various areas of Pune, are good places to live: small but comfortable
houses, surrounded by trees and flowers and well kept. Parnakuti Housing Society
(which actually was formed in 1948, before the flood, but not able to move into new
housing until 1963) and Dr Ambedkar Housing Societies are to the North of Deccan
 The H istory o f Dalits in Pune 237

College, in what was once wasteland. Vijaya is just off Ganeshkhind Road on the way
to Poona University. There are other co-operative societies for Dalits, including one
inhabited chiefly by Bhangis, but no one has yet, to my knowledge, made a study of
these most interesting answers to city living.
A third sort of housing colony for slum dwellers has just begun to take shape.
The site for Bibwewadi, a massive city-sponsored housing colony to the south of
Pune on the Satara Road was set aside in 1970. But when Meera Bapat did the
research for her shantytown book, she was not sure anything would ever come
of this noble effort to house slum dwellers.59 An article in the Poona Digest in
1986, however, could report happily on one of the most ambitious and novel slum
clearance projects ever undertaken in India/60 It was expected that 7,000 slum
dweller families from the foot of Parvati Hill would be moved to Bibwewadi and,
by the time of the article,1,400 families had been shifted to their own homes.
Monthly instalments were to be paid to the city for 15 years and then the owners
would receive a 99-year lease. The family I visited in Bibwewadi was a Chambhar
family, just moved from the bank of the Mutha Right Bank Canal. The row house
consisted of two small rooms, and the surroundings were still bare and brown, but
the atmosphere was hopeful.
Change has not only come in housing styles. We have no further statistical studies
on caste and occupation to help us see progress. But it is clear that hundreds, if not
thousands, of Dalits in Pune hold responsible positions in government institutions and
industries. The Maharashtra Government Resolution of 9 April 1968 directed that
Scheduled Caste converts to Buddhism be admitted into the 13 per cent reservation
in government services, a contravening of the central government policy (which has
since been changed). This meant high-level state positions were open to declared
Buddhists, which is probably the most ambitious section of Dalits. The percentage
of Scheduled Castes in Class I (4.8 per cent), Class II (7.4 per cent), Class III (12.6
per cent), Class IV (19.3 per cent) that obtains at the all-India level would probably
have to be more heavily weighted at the upper end for the Dalits of Pune. There is no
such pressure to provide Compensatory discrimination for Dalits in private industry,
but there seems to be at least some greater opportunity. One does come across an
occasional high-level worker from the Christian or Buddhist communities.
The statistics for Scheduled Castes and Buddhists seem generally to be for Pune
district, not Pune City. Patwardhan does give unpublished 1961 statistics for Poona
Corporation: 6,899 Mahars,17,879 Mang, 7,440 Chambhar, 478 Dhor, 260 Holar
and 25,006 Buddhists—a total o f58,026 in a population of 7,22,518 for Pune City.61
Pune has grown to more than 17 lakh since then, however, and we have no firm
statistics on the proportion of Dalits now, considering the influx due to the drought
or for job opportunities. District statistics show 58,035 Scheduled Castes and
1,28,150 Buddhists in 1961 and 1,75,402 Scheduled Castes and 1,60,980 Buddhists
in 1971 living in urban areas,62 but these include, of course, more than Pune City. The
same source indicates an even greater percentage in the influx of Scheduled Tribes
to the urban areas of Pune District: 3j871 in 1951 to 18,050 in 1981; but, while
238 Eleanor Zelliot

Scheduled Castes in Pune District are preponderantly urban, Scheduled Tribes are
still overwhelmingly rural.I have omitted Scheduled Tribes from this essay, except to
note Gare^ fine study.63
Occupational statistics are chiefly for the slums, and indicate—as one would
imagine—fully half do unskilled manual labour. There is, interestingly, an organisation
run by Buddhists which attempts to place Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
in positions open and reserved for them. When I visited, a dozen Scheduled Tribes
people from northern Maharashtra were sleeping on the office floor while they were
attending a training school for food workers.
The system of government reservations for Scheduled Castes—and now for
Buddhists—has been extended to universities, and there are now at least six or seven
Dalits teaching in Pune s colleges and at Poona University. But I believe only one is
from Pune; the others come through the ranks of öhivaji University or Marathwada
University, or Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
Statistics on Scheduled Caste mobility for Maharashtra as a whole indicate
the state stands next only to Gujarat and Kerala in literacy, next only to Gujarat in
urbanisation, and first in terms of percentage of job seekers.64 Adding Buddhists to
these statistics would probably enhance Maharashtra's place.
The political power of Dalits in Pune seems not to be of much consequence.
Seats are reserved in the Corporation, and corporators do function on a local level
but are not particularly well-known in the city. A Lok Sabha seat is reserved for
Scheduled Castes from Bhawani Peth; in the 1950s six seats were reserved in the
Municipal Council—Somwar and Mangalwar, Nana, Bhawani, Greater SW Poona,
Greater NW Poona and Yeravda. However, the Republication Party has not been
able to take advantage of the very real politicisation of Buddhists and at least some
Scheduled Castes. The problems of the Republican Party, founded by Ambedkar in
1956, continue to be the idea that it is only for Buddhists and Mahars and its internal
splits. Studies are available only for elections in the 1960s.65There are some unusual
facts: a Buddhist， Bhausaheb Chavan， served as Mayor， a somewhat honorary post，
for a year; a Pune Brahman woman, Dr Neelam Gorhe, was on the Republican Party
ticket in the 1989 national election. Also, the Dalit Panthers may be considered a
political force and there is considerable use of the political system made by Dalits in
the slums, according to Janet Contursi.66
The various classes of Dalits today make a complex picture. Here we will assume
that slum dwellers, conditions and the occupations of the uneducated bear considerable
resemblance to Mann, Gadgil and Bapat s stories, but that for many Dalits there have
been enormous changes. Even in the shantytowns there is some change. At times one
sees the flag of the militant Dalit Panthers flying over the huts. In some slums, there is
a concerted effort to gain amenities from the Municipal Corporation.67To understand
those, and the even more substantial changes, it is necessary to look at the higher caste
Hindu reformers and their work as well as at the leadership that has come from the
Dalit classes themselves.To do tms is to understand that Dalit life has been entangiea
in elite thought and action in Pune far more than is generally supposed. The following
notes also put flesh and blood behind the statistics and the changes.
 The History o f Dalits in Pune 239

R E F O R M A N D R E F O R M E R S IN P U N E

Reform in Pune involves all classes—the Mali reformer Jotiba Phule, the reform-
minded brahman elite, the high-caste Maratha V. R. Shinde, the Englishman Harold
Mann, the brahman writer and teacher S. M. Mate, and the Mahars and Mangs
themselves, Shivram Janba Kamble first among many.
The earliest efforts of Jodba Phule to educate the masses were for Untouchable,
girls. His first school was established in 18) 丄 in Ganj Peth—with his wife as
teacher—and the second near the Shukrawar Talimkhana. In 1854, there were three
schools with 200 pupils.68The schools received a few rupees from the Dakshina Prize
Committee of the Bombay government and from the European community but were
opposed by the Higher castes and not always understood by the lower. Keer, however,
reports that the brahman Vishnupant Thatte taught at Phule s first school for several
months, until high-caste harassment forced his leaving, and that the second school
was at Annasaheb Wasudeo Chiplunkar's own home in Budhwar Peth, although (by
stealth*.69 In any case, it is clear that the schools did not last long, and Phule turned
to writing and to religious reform. Its a pity that we have no record of the later lives
of Phule’s Untouchable pupils.
Phule met an early nationalist and physical enthusiast named Lahujirao Mang,
skilled in the martial arts, in 1847.70 Lahuji Rangaroot Mang and Ranba Mahar
brought children from their communities to Phule^s schools.71 Lahuji Mang also
instructed both Phule and later—the revolutionary martyr—Vasudeo Balwant
Phadke. Biograpmes of Phadke refer to Lahuji Buwa, omitting his caste. The name of
Lahujirao is actually the only definite Pune Dalit name connected with a personality
and a historical record that we have until the turn of the century.
The next wave of reform consisted chiefly of pronouncements, but such
pronouncements as to legitimise radical change. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856-95)
wrote almost entirely in Marathi and is little known outside Maharashtra. His eariy
death may have prevented the development of specific reform institutions, although
he did press for such matters as the opening of public water taps to all castes. His
teachings on caste influenced later activists in Pune and I found several radical
caste-Hindu reformers in other parts of Maharashtra who refer to themselves as
disciples of Agarkar.
fAnother member of the liberal brahman group, which included Gopal Krishna
f' Gokhale and Mahadeo Govind Ranade, was R. G. Bhandarkar (1837-1925) who is
chiefly known for his extraordinary SansKrit scholarship. Here he can be taken as an
example of the position of the Pune reform brahmans. As President of the 9th Indian
Social Conference in 1895, he spoke in such a way as to indicate he not only hoped
for change in the Mahar and Mang position but allowed a Mahar religious figure
into his home:

The Mahars and M angs on th is side o f th e c o u n try a nd th e pariahs on th e other, w h o

fo rm th e low est classes, have been e n tire ly n e g le c te d .... A M ahar Haridasa ... [said]
w h ile p e rfo rm in g a k irta n a a t m y house a fe w years a g o ,... "The Vedas and Shastras
240 Eleanor Zelliot

have cast us aside, b u t th e Santas o r saints o f th e m id d le ages have had com passion
on usw... and I believe fro m th e o p p o rtu n itie s I have had o f o b se rv a tio n , th a t th e
despised M ahar possesses a g o o d deal o f n atural in te llig e n c e a nd is capable o f
b e ing h ig h ly e d u c a te d So th a t to c o n tin u e to keep him in ig n o ra n ce is to deprive,
th e c o u n try o f an a p p re cia b le a m o u n t o f in te lle c tu a l resources.72

Keshavsut (Krishnaji Keshav Damle, 1866-1905), the earliest modern Marathi

poet, had been educated at the New English School in Pune. Later, he wrote a most
sympathetic poem called 'The First Question of the Untouchable Boy', about a
boy who puzzled over why some people were ‘high’ and some were ‘low’. An even
more unusual source of a new vision was Hari Narayan Apte (1864-1919), the great
Marathi historical novelist. Gandhis secretary has recorded a conversation between
Gandhi and Apte on the matter of reform. Mohandas K. Gandhi told Apte the
programme of the Servants of India Society regarding Untouchables was too radical
and Apte answered (Yes, let there be a rebellion. That is just what I want/73
Most of the moderate reformers were inspired by the Prarthana Samaj, and
the Samaj did include branches for Untouchable members; but when a member
of the Samaj went ahead with a major programme specifically for the Depressed
Classes, the Samaj did not support it. Vitthal Ramji Shinde (1873-1944) created the
Depressed Classes Mission in 1906 and moved its central office to Pune in 1913. He
had established a night school in Pune in 1905 under the auspices of the Prarthana
Samaj, but the boys, and girls' hostels developed later were much larger undertakings,
eventually with extensive grounds of their own. Hie Ahalya Ashram for Girls was
placed in Sadashiv Peth near Peshwa Park in an area called Borkarwadi which,
according to Harold Mann, was a slum area-for the Depressed Classes. The hostel for
boys, now called Maharshi Shinde Hostel, was in Nana Peth. Shinde not only helped
to educate the first generation of reformers from the Untouchables themselves, he
also responded to their demand for leadership from among themselves. He created a
constitution for the Mission in 1920 mandating that a majority of the members of the
Managing Committee be Untouchables, a proviso accepted by the Pune branch but not
by Bombay. Shinde secured the Indian National Congress'commitment to remove all
the disabilities imposed by religion and custom upon the Depressed ClassesMn 1917,
but he went too far for Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who denounced Untouchability but
refused to sign a declaration of non-observance of untouchability1in personal life.74
At about the same time, Shinde came into conflict with Dr B. R. Ambedkar over the
issue of appointment (his position) or election (Ambedkar^ position) of Untouchable
representatives in Legislatures, and he drew back from a position of leadership for the
Depressed Classes.75The most radical, the most active, the most understanding of the
caste-Hindu reformers after Phule, he still had to give way to leadership from within
the Depressed Classes themselves and to their political ambitions. A minor but telling
sign of the fame of Shindes work is that during the 1920 famine about 1,000 Mangs
sought a haven in Depressed Class Mission precincts.76
S. M. Mate (1886-1957) was as deeply committed to the Untouchable cause
as öhinde, but chiefly in the field of polemic writing and literature. A professor of
 The History o f Dalits in Pune 241

Marathi at the New English School and then at S. P. College (largely brahman) in
Pune, he was sometimes called Mahar Mate or Asprushya Mate. His Asprushya Vichar
came out in 1922, and his Asprushtancha Prashna in 1933 introduced a new term—
those who are not touched, rather than those who are £untouchable,. Upekshitanche
Antarang^ a book of short stories which attempted to explore the mind of the
neglected', was published in 1941. Mate seems to have been the first to write short
stories about the lives of Untouchables and (tribes, such as the Ramoshi. Written with
great sympathy, his stories have been acknowledged by Dalit writer Shankarrao Kharat
as pioneering; Gangadhar Pantawane, editor of the chief Dalit literary magazine,
acknowledges their realism. But, some Dalit writers, such as Baburao Bagul, note
Mate*s unavoidable position as an outsider. Mate is, unfortunately, neglected by both
caste-Hindus and Dalits today.
One Englishman must be added to this list of reformers: Dr Harold H. Mann
(1872-1961)， agriculturist, sociologist and faithful friend of the Untouchables
of Pune. He was principal of the: Agricultural College at Poona and agricultural
chemist to the Bombay government, and later director of agriculture for the Bombay
Presidency. He not only wrote the first analyses of the lives, housing and work of
Untouchables, he championed their cause at every opportunity for the twenty years
(beginning in 1907) he lived in Pune. He attended the meetings of the early Mahar
reformers, wrote them upon his return to England, and is remembered still as an
unfailing supporter.
With the backing of Shinde and Mann in his early years, a leader emerged from
among the Untouchables classes of Pune who went far beyond the reformers* vision,
initiating the first sophisticated petitions to the government and the first mass
action—a satyagraha for temple entry. Shivram Janba Kamble (1875-1941) was a
remarkable figure. A butler in the Masonic Lodge in Camp, he used that position
to learn English and the ways of English protest. The list of what he and a staunch
group of supporters did is impressive. He founded an Anna Fund1which brought
fifty or sixty people together to plan projects for the ‘Depressed Classes’. He and the
Thiorat brothers opened a night school in 1912 which ran until 1933. There, English
was taught to postmen and peons', and more leaders were trained. He seems to have
been the spokesman for a large group of active young Mahars, some of them educated
through Shinde’s institutions.
In 1910, Kamble and Subhedar Bahadur Gangaram Krishnajee of the Conference
of Deccan Mahars^ent off a petition to the British government asking for employment
of Depressed Classes in public service and the police and readmission into the army.
The argument was knowledgeable, pointing out the demonstrated abilities of the
Untouchables as well as the progress of the lower classes in Great Britain itself!
Kamble also helped secure the Dnyaneshwar Hostel for Boys which was opened in
1922, the government^ first such effort, with Dalit supervisors from the beginning.
The Parvati Satyagraha of 1929 was the most dramatic event in the history
of Dalits in Pune. Shivram Janba Kamble, Subhedar Gadge, a young Chambhar
named P. N. Rajbhoj who later became Ambedkar^ business manager, K. G. Patade
(probably a Mang), R.Thorat, the non-brahman leader K. M. Jedhe and the brahmans
242 Eleanor Zelliot

N. V. Gadgil and S. M. Joshi were among several hundred satyagrahis who gathered
at the foot of Parvati Temple Hill. Twelve of them, including four women, attempted
to climb the stairs to the temple but were beaten back. Rajbhoj's injuries took him
to the hospital. Parties of five then sat before the Parvati gate day and night for four
months, but the temple remained closed. K. B. Bhopatkar, a brahman lawyer and
member of the Mahasabha, appealed to the Trustees; N. C. Kelkar, M. R .Jayakar and
Jamnalal Bajaj offered to mediate, but to no avail. InciderUally， Congress and Gandhi
basically disapproved of Untouchable-led temple entry effort. Parvati remained
closed to Untouchables until Independence.77
Kamble was an early admirer of Dr B. R. Ambedkar, and both were present at a
farewell meeting for Dr Harold Mann.78There was a break, however, between the two
men in 1930, when Ambedkar spoke for Indian Independence, albeit with safeguards
for the Depressed Classes, and Kamble continued to support British rule. In spite
of the disagreement, Kamble is clearly an important figure in forming what became
the Ambedkar movement. But after the Parvati Satyagraha, leadership passed to
Ambedkar and Bombay.
There are still more influential caste-Hindus, such as Pralhad Keshav Atre (1898-
1969), a brahman and one of MaharashtraJs most controversial journalist, dramatists
and editors, who was principal of Camp Education Society High School in Pune
before his days of fame. At times, I am told, the school was composed of 80 per
cent Backward Class students. Atres newspaper, Marathay carried the sketches of
Shivaji, Phule and Ambedkar on its masthead. There are still caste-Hindu reformers
now, but none quite as famous. Baba Adhav is perhaps the most active of caste-
Hindu reformers，with an especially innovative programme for inexpensive meals for
hamals as well as a campaign in the villages around Pune for the opening of wells to
all. Bhalchandra Phadke of the University of Poona is a faithful supporter of Dalit
intellectual activity and has written Dr Ambedkaranche Samajchintan^ among other
works. Dr M. R Mangudkar continues the Jain tradition of reform begun by Bhaurao
Patil by re-publishing works by Phule, Shinde and Ambedkar. But the day for caste-
Hindu leadership is over, and the names of Dalits that come to mind as activists are
creators and contributors rather than reformers.

T H E C O N T R IB U T IO N S O F T H E D A L IT S

In spite of these reformers and the early leadership in Pune of militant Mahar activity,
Pune has not remained one of the chief centres of Dalit activity. Bombay, Nagpur
and Aurangabad seem to be greater centres for cultural, political and educational
achievement. This is not to say that Pune is without creativity or activism, but that it
is no longer in the forefront. I will note a number of well-known Dalit activists and
writers, but I also want to suggest reasons for PuneJs less dominant role.
One reason at the tip of everyones tongue is that Pune is a brahman town. But
then, it was a brahman town in the days of Phule, Shinde and Shivram Janba also.
While brahman dominance may be important, two other reasons must be mentioned.
 The H istory of Dalits in Pune 243

Dalit localities are very scattered, and while a number of them do hold community
festivals, encourage study and provide support for activism, there is no natural centre of
activity. More important, however, is the lack of an educational centre. Dr Ambedkar
College in Yeravda was opened only in 1986, while educational institutions led by
and dominated by Dalits began in Bombay in 1946, in Nagpur shortly after, and in
Aurangabad in 1954. The colleges in which Dalits predominate have been centres of
activity in Bombay, Nagpur and Aurangabad.
Pune is noted as an educational centre, and efforts to provide education, for
backward Classes', which includes Dalits, have been ongoing since Shinde^s day.
The long list indicates both Dalit eagerness for education and a certain commitment
on the part of Pune. In addition to the two hostels which continue from Shindes
early efforts, and the Sant Dnyaneshwar hostel for boys in Camp begun in 1922, the
Directory of Social Welfare Agencies in Greater Poona7<^ list these institutions: Sanskar
Kendra for Women in Yeravda; Dr Radhakrishnan Hostel, the Adi Dravid Welfare
Association and the Adarsha Vikas Mandal in Kirkee; Jawaharlal Chhatralaya
in Shivjinagar; Rana Pratap Sarvodaya Chhatralaya in Ganj Peth; Sant Janabai
Vasatigxiha for girls and Shri Santaji Mofat Vachanalaya in Camp; Union Boarding
House in Gokhale Nagar, begun by Bhaurao Patils Rayyat Shikshan Sanstha, based
in Satara; Vidyavikas Vasatigriha and Poona Harijan Uplift Society in Sadashiv Peth;
Bharat Dalit Sewak Sangh in Ghorpadi Peth; Dalit Varga Vidyarthi Hitsamvardhak
Mandal in ISIana Pethi Magas Vargiya Margadarshan ICendraj Prakash Mitra Mandal
and Samaj Jeevan Vikas Sanstha in Bhawani Peth; Mahatma Gandhi Vichar Prasarak
Mandal in Nana Peth; Sainath Sahakari Mitra Vikas Mandal in Bopodi. Some of
these institutions are hostels, some are reading rooms, some are organisations begun
by Dalits themselves to serve as centres for activity. None, however, can take the place
of an educational institution at a high level in which Dalits form the greater part of
both students and faculty. That combination seems to create a dynamic force which
has put Maharashtra as a whole in the forefront of Dalit creativity.
But there has, of course, been Dalit creativity. It can be said that the current
important Dalit Sahitya movement found its first clear voice in Pune. Shankarrao
Khajat published the first of his many books in 1959. told the stories
of the twelve traditional village servants, including that of Rama Mahar, modelled
after Kharat s own father. These stories were followed by some twenty other books,
some making vivid the lives of people Kharat had served as a lawyer, others about
the Ambedkar movement and the conversion to Buddhism, and one his own
autobiography. Kharat is still writing, but Pune has produced no other such famous
Dalit author. The stream of Dalit literature that now seems unending comes from
Bombay, Nagpur and Aurangabad more than from Pune.
Sumitra Bhave has given us a unique voice in her interviews of eight Dalit Pune
women. While the idea for the book and the editing are not by Dalits, the storytelling
ability as well as the life of the women is very clear in Pan on Fire,so
In the field of Dalit theatre, Pune can also claim an early lead. B. S. Shinde
created Dalit Rangabhumi in a city noted for its theatre, but in a day when Dalit
theatre was unknown. Using untrained actors, and at first usually with high-caste
244 Eleanor Zelliot

women actresses since the Mahar tamasha background had been rejected in the
push for reform and acting was not considered a respectable profession for educated
girls. Shinde created the first Dalit theatre. His plays are based on Buddhist themes
as well as Untouchable hardships. Dalit Rangabhumi flourished for a number of
years, with a variety of plays and an ever increasing, number of capable actors,
actresses and directors from the Dalit community, but fell victim to splits, as do
many Dalit organisations.
Another innovator in theatre is Shilpa Mumbriskar, who: lives in that old Mahar
centre, Mangalwar Peth. She has organised street theatre and produces message
plays, sometimes hilarious, which are put on in the Dalit areas. I saw a very effective
street drama on the problem of drinking in Bhamburda, and practice for another on
womens problems in the community hall of New Modi Khana. Mumbriskar also
starred in Baiy a documentary about the problems of the slums directed by Sumitra
Bhave and made under the auspices of the womens organisation, Streevani.
Tilie traditional Mahar entertainment of tamasha continues in Pune, but is avoided
by the educated and condemned as sexist by some reformers. Ambedkar also found
it vulgar, but the jalsa groups which carried his message all over Maharashtra used
some of the techniques of tamasha, and the importance of drama and music and
singing parties in the Buddhist localities as well as in the more sophisticated theatre
of Dalit Rangabhumi that continues today. Dr K. R. Kiravale of the Dr Ambedkar
Housing Society feels differently from the reformers about tamasha, and is working
on a history of Mahars through tamasha history. Certainly, the tamasha groups I
saw in the Buddhist localities (as opposed to the tamasha theatre) made reference
to Ambedkar and the movement in respectful ways and the women did not behave
provocatively, even as the troupe performed the usual tamasha jokes, music and dance.
A present day reformer from the Dalit community, Vilas Wagh, may stand as
symbol for the kind of changes Pune life has seen since the days of Kamble. Wagh
runs a small publishing outfit which brings out works by Dalit writers on current
activities. A recent example is a history of the Dalit Panthers. He also runs a sort of
marriage bureau! Married to a brahman teacher as committed to reform as he, Vilas
Wagh ana his wife proclaim that intercaste marriages are the wave of the future, and
encourage them in all possible ways. Wagh also has established a hostel and school
for prostitutes’children!
The Dalit Panthers of Pune, while producing no all-Maharashtra leader, have
been very active in certain localities from time to time. The Panthers were organised
in Bombay in 1972 to protest atrocities against Dalits and spread rapidly for a few
years, but now are active chiefly on the local rather than the state level and in different
ways. One of the Poona branchs most interesting activities in recent days was to bring
political leaders from all factions of the Ambedkar political movement together, to
urge unity. The major figures did appear before a large group of enthusiastic young
Dalits in Nehru Memorial Hall in Camp in 1986, but unity did not last many days.
One memorable year, the head of All India Radio in Pune, the Mayor of Pune,
and the Chief of Police were all of Untouchable background, symbolic of the changes
made by governmental effort and ambition from Dalits themselves. Bhausaheb
 The H istory o f Dalits in Pune 245

Chavan, that one time mayor of Pune, has gone on to create some remarkable
institutions, using as a base his old village Maharwada in Charholi on the northern
outskirts of Pune. A housing project, a co-operative for rickshaw, truck and taxi
drivers and a sewing co-operative for women are products of his work. A staunch
Buddhist, he invited the Dalai Lama to attend one of his inaugural functions!
In regard to the Buddhist conversion, Pune also has a half-creative, half-unexciting
record. Very soon after the conversion, D. P. Ranpise, with the help of Professor
P. V. Bapat, prepared materials for religious use from Pali texts. V. R. Ranpise wrote
and published Bauddhanchi Bharatatil Pavitra Tirthakshetre, a remarkable guide, in
1962, and published a guide to chants, names and festivals in 1964. D. D. Pawar
began publishing a Buddhist periodical Dhammarajya in 1976. But, while individual
localities have small buildings for Buddhist gatherings, no large vihar has yet been
built, in spite of much planning. On the other hand, Pune is the centre for the
work of the Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha, which not only teaches the dhamma
but also trains dozens of teachers, holds retreats, runs a child care centre, and
maintains a Buddhist bookstall on the square which is dominated by the statue of
Dr B. R. Ambedkar.
While it is clear that Mahars, now largely Buddhist, are the activists and the
change-makers among Dalit groups, other groups have their own achievements,
either traditionally or in the beginnings of modern creativity. Chambhars take part
in the Ravidas dindi that is at the forefront of the Dnyaneshwar Palkhi which goes
on pilgrimage from Alandi to Pandharpur every year. Garibdas Baba of Poona is
a Mang Kirtankar, instrumental in bringing about many changes in daily living
among Mangs.81 Ram Kamble of the Dalit Swayamsevak Sangh and Sudhakar
Waghmare^-an admirer of the writer Annabhau Sathe—are exhibiting new sorts
of leadership among Mangs. The legacy of the remarkable Lahuji Mang may yet
reappear in modern ways.

D A L IT M E M O R IA L S IN P U N E

Pune is a city which memorialises its great citizens in all sorts of ways—Ranade
Institute, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Phule market, Tilak Smarak
Mandal, etc., etc. There are innumerable place names for the reformers, but there
is also some physical evidence of the importance of Dalits even though no Pune
Dalit citizen is yet famous enough to merit a statue or a building. There is a statue of Dr
Ambedkar near the railway station一 and here on the anniversaries of Dr Ambedkar s
death (6 December) and birth (14 April) great crowds gather for observances. The
Jayanti sees processions from almost all Buddhist localities, drumming, playing
lejime, marching toward the garden in which Ambedkar’s statue stands. The ha_mals
of the railway have donated a ladder which is affixed permanently to the statue, to
allow garlands to be placed around Ambedkar’s neck all through the year.
The bust of Annaohau Sathe, the best-known Mang writer, has been placed near
the Ahilyabai Holkar memorial at Saras Bagh, with appropriate community and city
246 Eleanor Z^elliot

observances. Both Ambedkar and Sathe were based primarily in Bombay, but they
are symbols of accomplishment for Pune Dalits.
For the Chambhar caste, the Hindi saint, Raidas or Ravidas, is an important
symbol and a dindi for Raidas is part of the Dnyaneshwar Palkhi that leaves Aland!
for Pandharpur. A temple to Ravidas was built in a Chambhar colony in Ganesh
Peth in 1952. The temple also encompasses a monument stone to a now-unknown
travelling Chambhar holy man of a hundred years ago.
Mahars also have a old holy place for one of their own, little known to most
Pune people. Gopal Swami was a Mahar holy man, says S. Y. Waghmare, whose
samadhi was near the Race Course. A British soldier, coming home drunk, had a
mystical experience on the site, which was reformed and a lovely garden created at
the samadhi spot. Gopal padukas are still there in that garden, a quiet and
peaceful spot for those who wander into the area or who come to pay reverence.
One monument important to Dalits is a pillar erected on a battlefield, sixteen
miles from the city. The Koregaon pillar commemorates the soldiers of the British
army who fell in an 1818 battle against the Peshwa. Of the 49 names of the 2nd/lst
Regiment recorded on the pillar, 22 are Mahar, identifiable by the nak ending used
at that time,82 the Koregaon monument was used as a gathering place for Mahar
meetings in the 1920s and 1930s and again in the present day as a rallying place
for Dalit Panthers. A miniature replica of the pillar was part of the cap badge of the
soldiers of the Mahar Regiment until Independence, and the commemoration of
militant bravery that Koregaon represents is important today.
Will Dr Ambedkar College, now coming up near the Dalit housing colonies in
Yeravda, be a centre for Dalits and a cultural influence in the future? Even if not, it
is clear that Dalits will continue to be an active and creative part of the Pune scene.

P u n e C h r o n o lo g y

S =Shakespear (Colonel L. W. Shakespear, A Local History ofPoona and its Battlefields

[London: Macmillan,1916])
T = Taraporewala
1604 First mention of Pune - made over by Ahmednagar to Malloji
Bhonsla, Shivaji^ Grandfather. S 6
1637 Shahji s residence. S 7. Never a walled and fortified town
1669 British to Bombay.
1670 Tannaji killed at Sinhgarh. S 68
1730 Shanwar Wada begun. 1732 open. T15
1735 Bajirao capital.T
1749 Temple to Shiva built by Baiaji at Parvati for cure of wife's foot.
^50
1755 Two members of Bombay Council, Spencer and Byfield, visit Peshwa.
S12
1772 Mostyn appointed Resident. 3000 English. S 13
 The History o f Dalits in Pune 247

1778 First British Force. 591 European, 2300 seoovs, 1500 gun lascars.
Conflict atTalegaon. S 80-81.
1780-1817 First cantonment. Collectors Office to Poona Hotel. Garpir. S. of
Jewish Synagogue. Vacated for battle of Kirkee. burned Post in post
office. Elephant stake. ^17
1785-91 Sir Charles Malet resident. Rebuilt burned Sangam Residency. S 19
1792 Mahadji Scindia visits to invest Peshwa. camped in Bamburda plane.
S22
1794 öcindia cremated/wari at Wanowri
1801 Baji Rao m. Vittaji Holkar. Cremated nr. Holkar temple & Dridge,
Kirkee. See Crawford 40 fF.
1802 Holkar's raid. Did not allow Poona looting. S 79. And because of this
Peshwa and British help.
1803 First Poona-Bombay highway. Via Kalas. Laid out by Wellesley, joins
present highway 3 miles beyond Chinchwad. S 2b. Famine. Sawant 20.
1811-19 Llphinstone commissioner and Resident.
1817 Kirkee Battle. 3000 Arabs and Gosains. S 31.Peshwa fled. Col. de
Pinto & Portuguese on Maratha side. S 54.
1818 Jan 1.Poona Horse 102nd Grenadiers Von undying fame^at Koregaon.
S 55. Baji Rao baffled at Satara, turned North to flee to hills of Pune.
Staunton almost accidently withstood 3000 Arabs with 800 men. S 56.
271 or 800 killed. Marathas drew off hearing of Gen. Smiths approach.
Monument on wrong side ox river! lb miles out. S ^7.
1819 Present Cantonment Grounds of 4 villages: KGKKhoruri, Mali,
Manjeri, Wanowri.
1821 Sanskrit Pathshala (7) (U affiliation 1860; Deccan College and New
building 1868)
1821-23 Cantonment boundaries pretty much set. S Jb
1822 Kirkee. Sawant 22
1827 Shanwarwada fire.
1830 Bhor Ghat Roadway. T
1835 Hot Weather Capital
1842 English class added to Pathshala.
1851 Poona College. T
1841-42 Lady Jamsetji- Bund over Moola. Crawford 233
1847 Lakdi pul replaced by stone bridge. S 22. Race Course S 37.2nd in 50s
5 37
1849 Dnyanprakash. T
1854 Poona Engineering Class and Mechanical School became College of
Engineering. K Handbook 19.
1860 Sir Bartle Frere built native industries (?) Crawford 70
1861 Railroad 119 miles. T
1863 Residency on P and T site destroyed by fire. S 25
1863 Rail communication to Poona. T
248 Eleanor Zelliot

1868 Ammunition Factory, Sawant 22. Present location Deccan College

1871 Present Government House. S 26 Vicharavati Stree Sabha. 8 members.
T20
1876-77 Drought - Famine
1878 Education in higher agriculture ed. after famine. Classes at College
of Science. Poona and farm. T. Byramjee Jeejibhoy Medical School.
Handbook 23
1880 English School
1882 Camp Education Society
1883 Shikshana Prasaraka Mandali Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya. T
1884 Maharashtra Girls’ Education Society. Handbook 23
1885 Deccan Education Society and Fergusson College. Deccan Paper
Mills* Handbook 51
1896 Anatha Balikashram. D. K. Karve.To Hingne in 1900. T
1905 Servants of India Society
1908 Seva Sadan. T1Poona College of Agriculture. Handbook
1910 Bharatiya Itihas Samshodhak (?) Mandal
1916 Indian Womens University. 1920 SNDT. T
1917 Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
1918 Shivaji Maratha Society
1924 Law College, Shikshana PrasarakMandaii started Mimansa Vidyalaya
which became
1928 S.P. College (Sir Parashurambhau Patwardhan of Jamkhindi)
1930 Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
1961 Panshet flood
1971-72 Drought

N O T E S A N D R E FER EN C ES

1 D. R. Gadgil (with assistance from staff of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics),
Poona: A Socio-Economic Survey: Part I ~ Economic (Poona: Gokhale Institute of Politics and
Economics,1945)，13.
2 D. R. Gadgil, Poona: A Socio-Economic Survey: Part II - Economic (Poona: Gokhale
Institute of Politics and Economics, 1952), 22.
3 Shashikant Sawant, The City of Poona:A Study in Urban Geography (Poona: Pune University,
1978),14.
4 Gadgil, Poona, P arti,15.
5 Ibid., 22.
6 Meera Kosambi, Bombay and Poona: A Socio-Ecological Study of Two Indian Cities
1650-1900’， unpublished PhD dissertation submitted to the University of Stockholm,
Stockholm,1981,147.
7 Ibid.， 149
8 D. B. Parasnis, Poona in Bygone Days (Bombay: The Times Press, 1921), 108.
 The History o f Dalits in Pune 249

9 Balkrishna Govind Gokhale, Poona in the 18th Century: An Urban History (Delhi: Oxford
University Press,1988),164-65.
10 Ibid., 167.
11 R A. Gavali, Society and Social Disabilities Under the Peshwas (New Delhi: National
Publishing House, 1988), 132.
12 Gokhale, Poona in the 18th Century^ 186.
13 Gavali, Society and Social Disabilities Under the Peshwas^ 119-20.
14 Gokhale, Poona in the 18th Century^ 142.
15 Gavali, Society and Social Disabilities Under the Peshwas, 55-58.
16J. R. Shinde, Dynamics of Cultural Revolution: 19th Century Maharashtra (Delhi: Ajanta
Publications, 1985), 70 n36.
17Indian Statutory Commission^ VolumeXVI(London: HMSO, 1930), 58.
18 C. A. Kincaid, The Tale of the Tulsi Plant and Other Studies (Bombay: The Times of India
Office, 1908), 88-89.
19 Gadgil, Poona, Part //, 42-45.
20 Ibid., 46-49.
21 Ibid., 53-56.
22 Kincaid, Tale of the Tulsi Plants 135.
23 Govind Sakharam Sardesai, New History of the Marathas Volume III: Sunset over
Maharashtra, 1772-1848 (Bombay: Phoenix Publications, 1968), 324.
24 Gadgil, Poona, Part I.
25 Frenzy Patel, ‘Poona: A Sociological Study’， unpublished PhD dissertation for Deccan
College Postgraduate and Research Institute, re-submitted to Poona University,1955,244.
26Meera Bapat, Khanty Town and City: The Case of Poona —Progress in Plannings vol.15, part
3 (Great Britain: Pergamon Press, 1981), 171.
27 Ratna N. Rao, Social Organisation in an Indian Slum: Study of a Caste Slum (New Delhi:
Mittal Publications, 1990).
28 Harold H. Mann, The Social Framework of Agriculture: lndia%Middle EasU England^ edited
by Daniel Thorner,180 (New York : Agustus M. Kelley, 1967). See chapters 14 and 15—‘The
Untouchable Classes of an Indian City' and (The Housing of the Untouchable Classes in an
Indian City’一 first published in 1912 and 1916, respectively.
29 Mann, The Social Framework of Agriculture^ 180.
30 Ibid., 181.
31 Ibid., 182.
32 Ibid., 182-83.
33 Ibid., 184-85.
34 Ibid., 185-86.
35 Ibid,，186- 87.
36 Patel，‘Poona’，233.
37 Mann, The Social Framework of Agriciiltare^ 194.
38 Mann, The Social Framework of Agriculture, 202.
39 Gadgil, Poona, Part II, 77.
40 Ibid., 286-87.
41 Ibid., 293.
42 Patel，‘Poona’，356-57.
43 Gadgil, Poo««, Part 1,241.
44 Ibid, 251.
250 Eleanor Zelliot

45 Ibid., 185-86.
46 Ibid., 233-34.
47 Ibid., 185-86.
48N.M.Joshi, Urban Handicrafts of the Bombay Deccan (Poona: Gokhale Institute of Politics
and Economics,1936)， 60
49 Ibid., 82.
50 N. V. Sovani, D. R Apte and R. G. Pendse, Poona: A Resurvey — The Changing Pattern of
Employment and Earnings (Poona: Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, 1956), 527.
51 Ibid.
52 Richard D. Lambert, Workers^ Factories, and Social Change in India (Poona: Gokhale
Institute of Politics and Economics, 1963), 234.
53 Lambert, Workers, Factories, and Social Change^ 153.
54 Vasant Kumar Bawa, Indian Metropolis: Urbanization^ Planning and Management (New
Delhi: Inter-India Publications, 1987), 246.
55 Bapat, Khanty Town and Cityy178.
56 Meera Bapat, Housing and the Urban Poor: The Poona Experience (London: Bartlett School
of Architecture and Planning, University College, 1977), 49.
57 Bapat, Khanty Town and Cityy202.
58 Sulabha Brahme and Prakash Gole, Deluge in Poona:Aftermath and Rehabilitation (Poona:
Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, 1967), 103-04.
59 Bapat, Khanty Town and Cityt 219-20.
60 Ashok Gopal, Poona Digest (September 1986), 20-23.
61 Maharashtra State Gazetteers、 Pune District: Supplementary (Bombay: Gazetteers
Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1984),12.
62 Ibid.,15.
63 Govind Gare, Tribals in an Urban Setting; A Study of Socio-economic Impact of Poona City
on the Mahadeo Kolis (Pune: Shubhada Saraswat, 1976).
64 Pradip Kumar Bose, 'Social Mobility and Caste Violence: A Study of the Gujarat Riots*
in Castey Caste-Conflict and Reservation^ edited by L P. Desai, G. Shah and P. K. Bose,140
(Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1985).
65 Donald B. Rosenthal, The Limited Elite: Politics and Government in Two Indian Cities
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970); V. M. Sirsikar, Political Behaviour in India: A
Case Study of the 19 62 General Elections (Bombay: Manaktalas, 1965); V. M. Sirsikar, Sovereigns
Without Crowns: A Behavioral Analysis of the Indian Electoral Process (Bombay: Popular
Prakashan, 1973).
66Janet Contursi, 'Millitant Hindus and Buddhist Dalits: Hegemony and Resistance in an
Indian S lum yAmerican Ethnologist^ vol.16, no. 3 (1989): 441-57.
67 Ibid.
68 S. R. Shirgaonkar, Education of Girls in Maharashtra5in Maratha History Seminar
(May 2 8 -3 1 ,1 9 7 0 ) Papers (Kolhapur: Shivaji University), 359.
69 Dhananjay Keer, Mahatma Jotirao Phooley: Father of our Social Revolution (Bombay:
Popular Prakashan, 1964), 29-30.
70 M. S. Gore, Vitthai Ramji Shinde: An Assessment of His Contributions (Bombay: Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, 1989), 20.
71 Keer, Mahatma Jotirao Phooleyy29.
72 R. G. Bhandarkar, Collected Works Volume II, edited by Narayan Bapuji Utgikar, 498
(Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1928).
73 Mahadeo Desai, The Diary of Mahadeo Desai (Ahmedabad: Navajivan, 1953), 52-53.
 The History o f Dalits in Pune 251

74 Shivaprabha Ghugare, Renaissance in Western India: Karmaveer V. R. Shinde (Bombay:

Himalaya Publishing House, 1983),14.
75 Gore, Vitthai Ramji Shinde^ \ 11,
76Ibid” 176.
77 N. V. Gadgil Kahi moti kahi mohra (Pune: Venus Book Stall,1962);, H. N. Navalkar, The
Life of Shivram Janba Kamble (Poona: SJ. Kamble, 1930) [in Marathi, except for petitions
in English]; Arun Sadhu, Kakasaheb Gadgil [Builders of Modern India series] (New Delhi:
Government of India, 1988); Eleanor Zelliot, 'Gandhi and Ambedkar: A Study in Leadership
in The Untouchables in Contemporary India^ edited by J. Michael Mahar, 69-95 (Tuscon:
University of Arizona Press, 1972).
78Navalkar, Life of Shivram Janba Kamble^ 112-13.
79 Sharad W. Gokhale, comp., Directory of Social Welfare Agencies in Greater Poona (Poona :
Co-ordinating Council Publication, 1969).
80 Sumitra Bhave, Pan on Fire; Eight Dalit Women Tell Their Story, translated by Gauri
Deshpande (New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 1988).
81 Sunanda Patwardhan, Change Among India's Harijans: Maharashtra, A Case Study (New
Delhi: Orient Longman, 1973), 54.
82 Sir Patrick Cadell, History of the Bombay Army (London: Longman's, Green and Co.,
1938), 154-55.
 XV

M A K IN G C L A IM S F O R P O W E R S

A N e w A g e n d a in D a lit P o litic s o f U t t a r P r a d e s h , 1 9 4 6 - 4 8

Ramnarayan S. Rawat

[T ]h e a w a k e n e d u n to u c h a b le to d a y is re p e a te d ly a skin g th e m [th e C ongress] i f th e y

c o u ld n o t rem ove th e 'so cia l e v il 'o f th e ir o w n c re a tio n w ith o u t p o litic o ! p o w e r, h o w d o
th e y e xp e ct us [th e U n to u c h a b le s ] to lib e ra te ourselves w ith o u t p o litic a l p o w e r t

This is 1946, n o t 1932.2

Shastris statements above help us locate two related propositions that came to
constitute Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh. The first proposition deals with the claims
made by the Dalits to acquire political power—to acquire influential positions in
the legislative and executive institutions of the state like assemblies, ministries and
bureaucracy. The safeguards for the Dalits, it was argued, should be incorporated in
the proposed Constitution for the Indian citizens. The second proposition is about
achhut identity, through which the Dalits hoped to reconstitute their politics in UP.
A sense of achhut community is repeatedly emphasised by the Scheduled Castes
Federation (SCF) and even by a section of Congress Harijans in their politics to
identify their difference with ‘other communities’. The Poona Pact of 1932 was
increasingly depicted in Dalit writings as a great betrayal by the Congress and the
British. From their experience of the two general elections of 1937 and 1946, they
argued that the electoral mechanism worked out under the aegis of the Poona Pact
was structured against the Dalits. I may also add here that in the present times, from
the 1990s onwards, we are witnessing a vigorous Dalit assertion through electoral
mechanism in UP. Is this a development? In this chapter, I would suggest that perhaps
the first such assertion took place in the 1940s.
In this chapter, I argue that in the 1940s the Dalits of UP articulated an inclusive
achhut identity to mobilise diverse sections of Dalit society: the Jatavs, Chamars, Ad-*

*This essay draws from my MPhil dissertation, especially the first chapter. Ramnarayan S. Rawat,
'The Making of the Scheduled Castes Community in UP: A study of the SCF and Dalit Politics,
1946-48', unpublished MPhil dissertation submitted to the University of Delhi in 1996.1 am grateful
to Gyan Pandey, MPhil supervisor and extraordinary teacher; Sudhir Chandra, Partho Datta, Professor
Ravinder Kumar, Mahesh Rangarajan and Dipu Sharan who were generous with their comments and
support. To my PhD supervisor Shahid Amin for his patience and encouragement. This essay was also
published m Modern Asian Studies,yo \.?>7 yno. 3 (July 2003), 585-612. © Cambridge University Press.
 M aking しlaims for Power 253

Dharmis, Pasis, and so forth. I will argue that the new agenda became the focal point of
the mobilisation. The core of the new agenda was defined by a claim for political power.
Through a discussion of Shastri s response, along with the other responses in the form
of petitions, resolutions and the 1946 Dalit agitation in UP, I will elaborate the content
of their agenda. The Poona Pact constituted a defining moment in the formulation of
Dalit agenda in the 1940s. The Pact, as I will show in this chapter, created structural
constraints to the emergence of a radical achhut polity that would hope to win the
elections and challenge the Congress. This point is demonstrated through a study
of the elections of 1945-46, linking it with the implications of the Poona Pact. The
British had also gone back on their repeated promise of giving the Dalits a substantive
role in the final transfer of power. Betrayal by the British nevertheless gave a much-
needed momentum to the Dalits to rally round the achhut identify.
The Dalits, ignored by colonial state, have also been neglected by much of
mainstream historiography. The historiography of the freedom struggle maintains a
quaint silence about the Dalit society and politics of partition years.3 The questions
raised by Dalit leaders like Dr B. R. Ambedkar, P. N. Rajbhoj, J. N. Mandal, Jagjivan
Ram and by provincial leaders are not even noted or acknowledged. Especially worth
noting here is Dr Ambedkar^ pointed criticism of the Cabinet Mission plan and the
moves initiated by the Congress. Tihere is a particular understanding of the coming
Independence and its liberating potentialities—the Constitution, the Republic —
for the deprived sections or Indian society. The key role played by Dr Ambedkar
in drafting the Indian Constitution is taken as one such instance which allows a
generous interpretation of the role of the Congress and the incipient nation-state
towards the welfare of the Dalits in India. Achhut concerns are reduced to a footnote
in a grand master narrative; more seriously, alternative strategies of empowerment
that they tried out disappear from nistorical accounts.
Some of the writings which are especially concerned with the history of Dalits
make similar statements about the last years of colonial regime. Juergensmeyer s
account of the struggles of Ad-Dharmis in the Punjab is one such study. In (the
final struggle for independence5he writes, issues regarding the lower castes were
all but forgotterf.4 But, forgotten by whom? Only by the caste-Hindu leaders and
the historians, it seems to me. The politics of the Congress, the Muslim League, the
Sikhs, the Princely States and the British during these years have received extensive
scholarly attention. The dynamics of Dalit politics have largely been ignored. Sekhar
Bandyopadhyay^ study or JNamasudras of Bengal from 1937-47 is one of the few
works which address the issues of Partition and Independence/ He has argued
that the politics of the Scheduled Castes moved away from the Alienation or the
earlier years to one of 'integration with the Congress and the nation. However, he
does not problematise these categories or interrogate the many different meanings
for various important actors. It is possible to study Dalit politics in this era from
a different perspective. Elections were and are not the end-all of politics, but by
excavating debates in and around them it is possible to re-open issues of identity,
nationhood and their relationship to power. In this chapter, I suggest that the terms
of the ‘integration’with the nation were more emphatically outlined by the Dalits.
254 Ramnarayan S. Raw at

Dalits of western UP were among the first to register their protest against the
award of the Cabinet Mission. In June 1946, the District Harijan Conference of
Meerut and the District Harijan Uddhar Sabha of Saharanpur passed two identical
resolutions.6 These two organisations protested not only against the award of the
Cabinet Mission, but also against its acceptance by the Congress.The two resolutions
were passed in response to the statement by the Congress President, Maulana Azad,
on 24 June 1946.7 Azad had stated that the seats for the Dalits in the Constituent
Assembly would be fixed in accordance with the proportion of their members in the
Assembly of each province. The Congress Harijans (hereafter, Harijans) of western
UP disagreed with the Congress interpretation of the Award about the rights of the
Dalits. It is not just the disagreement which is interesting, what is more significant is
that the resolutions came from the Congress Harijan organisations. The Harijans of
western UP ended up questioning the Congress’claims to represent them.
The two resolutions outlined the concerns and fears of the Harijans of Meerut and
Saharanpur. The Harijans argued that they had not received adequate representation
in the Constituent Assembly, which they described as undemocratic. The criterion
enunciated by the Cabinet Mission for elections to the Constituent Assembly
was on the basis of one representative to every million of the population. If this
criterion, the Harijans argued, could be applied to other communities—the caste-
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs—then why were they excluded? The Harijans demanded
proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly. The total population of
Dalits was 11 million in UP out of a total population of 55 million. They demanded
45 seats in the Legislative Assembly, out of 140 general seats. They were allotted
only 20 seats under the し abmet Mission plan in the Assembly. It was only through
proportional representation in the Constituent Assembly that the rights of the
Harijan community could be secured. They accused the Congress of being partial and
unfair in the application of the Awards to the Harijan community and warned of a
possiole struggle if their legitimate rights were ignored.
The Harijans were conscious of the empowering potentialities of the Constituent
Assembly. In this regard, the resolutions put forward by the Harijans identified two
flaws in the arrangement worked out by the Congress, i^irst, they pointed to the
inadequate representation of Dalits in the UP Legislative Assembly. The Congress
plans would only perpetuate this injustice into the Constituent Assembly. By raising
the question of their inadequate representation, the Dalits were also questioning the
democratic character of the Legislative Assembly. Their second point was about the
representation provided to the (other communities, in the Constituent Assembly. The
Harijans claimed a treatment on par with caste-Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.This was
offered as an alternative measure which would enable a fair representation to Dalits
in the Constituent Assembly.
What is significant for us is the articulation of this difference with the Congress
ana its implications for Dalit politics. We may note that the Harijans avoided any
direct reference to their separate identity from the caste-Hindus in their resolutions.
 M aking Claims for Power 255

They rather sought a fair approach from the Congress to ‘their community，；similar
to those provided to ‘other communities’.
The distinction between ‘their community’ and ‘other communities’ was an
important one and articulated in explicit terms. It was based on the constitutional
principle acceptable to the Congress. The right of separate representation for other
communities in the Constituent Assembly was based on proportional representation
that was not extended to the Dalits. Thus, to reinforce their claim they drew the
analogy of‘other communities’ to demand a similar treatment to ‘their community’.
This was a deliberate effort to avoid any reference to religious differences with caste-
Hindus. Rather, they made their claims on a secular principle acceptable to the
Congress. Yet, the stand taken by the two Congress Harijan organisations of Meerut
and Saharanpur was closer to the SCF^ position than to that or the Congress.
The SCF, while demanding separate representation for Dalits in the Constituent
Assembly, emphasised religious distinction with the Hindus.
It is this tension between the Congress and their Harijan supporters of western UP
which indicates changes in their position in the 1940s.The two Harijan organisations
were，nevertheless， keen to emphasise their association with the Congress. We may
note that the two resolutions were addressed in order of preference to the Congress
leaders and the Viceroy. They deliberately distanced their initiative from Dr Ambedkar
and the SCF. They further emphasised their relationship with the Congress through
the involvement of Jaipal Singh and the Kumar Ashram.
Jaipal Singh was elected as a Congress MLA in 1946 from the reserved seat of
Faizabad (east) Lucknow.8As a Harijan leader from Lucknow division, he travelled to
Meerut to attend the Conference and lead their cause. He extended his involvement
by participating in the Dalit agitation in UR His presence also highlighted the
prominent role of the Meerut region in Harijan politics of the province.The resolution
of the District Harijan Conference of Meerut, was drafted and signed by Laxman
Singh, manager of Kumar Ashram. A prominent Congressman Algu Rai Shastri set
up the Ashram in 1924, to undertake achhufodhar ^rogx^mmt in the Meerut district.9
It was one of the earliest initiatives in UP, inspired by the Gandhian vision of Harijan
reform. The Saharanpur (east constituency) was a reserved constituency. In the
elections held in 1946, the Congress candidate Girdhari Lai was elected unopposed
to the Legislative Assembly.10 He joined the G. B. Pant ministry as Parliament
Secretary, one of the few Harijan MLAs given a position in the government. Meerut
region in general was a prominent centre of achhut radicalism and activism and was
acknowledged as such by the Dalits and the Congress.
The identical nature of form as well as content and the close proximity of time
and space in the two resolutions needs to be noted. The political events unfolding
in the summer of 1946 were keenly monitored by the Dalits in UP and perhaps all
over India. It indicates that a great deal of debate was generated among the Dalit
leaders of western UP, particularly of the two Harijan organisations. The rapid
ease with which the Harijans organised public meetings after the press statement
of the Congress President on 24 June suggests that the implications of the Cabinet
Mission award were widely known. The meetings were held on 26 June in Meerut and
256 Ramnarayan S. R a w a t.

30 June in Saharanpur. They are adjacent districts and the Dalits of oaliaranpur
approved without any change the resolution passed in Meerut. I would like to locate
their differences with the Congress to the Dalit agitation in UP at that time. The
police reports regularly mention about the Dalit agitation from June till November,
when the agitation petered out. Prior to 1946—between 1943 and 1945—there are no
reports about Dalit protest in UP.
In an interview, the Dalit leader from the 1940s, Dr Chhedi Lai Sathi also
mentioned a massive Dalit agitation a year before Independence.11 It was a response
to the wrong done by the Cabinet Mission proposals to the rights of Dalits. According
to him, it was a popular satyagraha comparable to the Quit India movement. Some
two lakh Dalit satyagrahis, he adds with pride, participated in the movement. This may
be an exaggeration, but it makes a point about the popular strength of the movement
supported by other stray bits of evidence.12Hie Dalit agitation against began (forced
and unpaid labour) was first noted in Meerut, Saharanpur, Bareilly, MuzafFarnagar and
Pilibhit. Hie Fortnightly Reports underlined the increased antagonism between caste-
Hindus and Dalits; particularly tense were Meerut, Saharanpur and Bareilly districts.
The Commissioners of Meerut and Bareilly, especially, noted the Dalit agitation.
In Saharanpur, the protests between 26 June and 5 July were attributed to the meetings
organised by Jaipal Singh, the MLA. Therefore, 'cultivation has ceased because the
Chamars who form the bulk of the labourers were demanding wages ranging from
Rs 45 to Rs 60 a month.* In reprisal the zamindars have forbidden these Chamars
from cutting grass, and relations have became considerably strained/13 The role of
Jaipal Singh and the coinciding of these protests with the resolutions should be
noted. Similar protests were reported from other parts of UP. In Rampurva village of
Gorakhpur, the Chamars demanded three bighas of land for cultivation plus Rs 6 as
monthly pay. In Pilibhit district, the Chamars resolved to boycott carrying bodies for
post-mortem for the police.14 Similarly, the dais (mid-wives), usually Dalit women,
demanded wages for their work. The dais performed the polluting operation of
childbirth for caste-Hindu women.
The Dalits were clearly seeking to redefine their position by making their
occupation respectable and independent of the domination exercised by caste-Hindus.
The caste-Hindus retaliated by withdrawing the traditional rights of Chamars.
They used coercion to enforce their boycott, which also included violent reprisals.
In MuzafFarnagar district, violent retribution by the Gujjars left one Chamar killed
and seventy others injured. Similarly, the Thakurs attacked some Chamar villages in
Badaun district. These are stray but reported incidents of violent attack, to which I
can easily add scores of incidents that may have not been unreported. In Saharanpur
district, however, the Dalit agitation acquired a wider solidarity to effectively resist
retaliation by the zamindars.
The Anglo-Indian press gave particular attention to this incident. 15The perspective
of the Pioneer was very similar to that of the Vartman—a Hindi nationalist weekly-
published from Kanpur.16The Pioneer noted that economic life in the countryside
in the district [Saharanpur] is threatened with serious disruption following some
new demands of Chamars against the age old conditions of services/ It accused
 M aking Claims for Power 257

'Ambedkarites of inciting the lower castes without realising that the difficulties created
by them will be equal for all/ It added that the Muslim League was supporting the
Ambedkarites in this mischievous propaganda which is gradually spreading in many
villages/17 Vartmans editorial was equally revealing. On Dalit satyagraha ofJuly 1946,
it commented that 'the only reason for this satyagraha is Dr Ambedkar^ ambition
and political frustration, and went on to accuse the Ambedkarites of mischievous
propaganda supported by the League.18
The perspective which informed these two press reports on the Dalit agitation
was similar to that of the Congress which is revealed in a series of articles entitled
Tolitical Alignments to-day^ dealing with the growth of communal parties.19 These
articles were prepared for the All-India Congress Committee in the late 1930s. In the
section on 'depressed classes parties^, it was argued that their politics constitute one
form of communal politics and their most important representative is Dr Ambedkar.
It made a distinction between the correct politics that is based on progressive and
radical ideas for the just cause of the most exploited section of Indian society, and
the reactionary politics that exploits cultural, economic and political interests5of
communities and caste, and divides the freedom struggle and stands to benefit the
imperialist and feudal forces.
The paper argued for the working class unity, of achhuts, peasants and workers,
for a united front against the imperialist forces. The Congress has demonstrated its
commitment to radical reform in the Karachi Resolution of 1930 best equipped to
lead a united front. Thus, according to the paper, two kind of politics exist in India,
one that is communal, i.e. reactionary, backward and feudal, and the other that is
nationalist, i.e. progressive, modern and radical. The Dalit politics represents the
former and therefore anti-national. Their leaders were described as ‘reactionaries’,
loyalists5 and accused of being concerned with their personal interests. Dalits
responded to this criticism, Shastri accused the Congress of mischievous propaganda
to discredit their struggle.20A Namierist reading of Dalit politics, then and even now,
would be unfair, for theirs was a fight for liberation—social and political.

The All India SCF expected some kind of constitutional safeguards from the Cabinet
Mission. It was hopeful that the Cabinet Mission would provide the principle of
separate representation for Dalits, by recognising them as a separate community.
This was a major demand of the SCF and head been repeatedly asserted in its
resolutions since 1942.21 It was also put forward at the Simla Conference in 1945.
The expectation of the SCF was not entirely unfounded. It was, indeed, based on
commitments given by the colonial officials and the Viceroys. Lord Wavell in his
letter (15 August 1944) to Mahatma Gandhi had stated that (the Scheduled Castes
are one of the important and separate elements in the national life of India. That
their consent is a necessary condition precedent for the transfer of power to Indians
(sic).'22 Earlier Lord Linlithgow had made a similar statement about the Dalits in
258 Ramnarayan S. R aw at

his speech on 20 August 1940 in Bombay.23 According to Ambedkar, the Cabinet

Delegation had given a positive response to his proposals during their meeting on
15 April 1946.24 However, Dalit leaders were not invited for the final discussion at
Simla. The British, in the end, accepted the Congress position on the Dalits—that
they are Hindus.
In line with this position, the Cabinet Mission Awards of 16 May 1946 failed to
provide any specific safeguards for the Dalits.25 The Cabinet Mission prepared an
interim plan for a peaceful and planned transfer of power to the Indian leaders.26'Ihe
plan envisaged a Constituent Assembly consisting of Indian representatives, to draft
a Constitution for India. It also proposed an Interim Ministry at the centre to manage
the final transfer of power. The crucial question here was the composition of the two
structures, which came to be contested by the political parties. The Mission decided
that *it is sufficient to recognise only three main communities in India: General,
Muslim and SikhJfor representation in the Constituent Assembly. This enabled the
Muslim and Sikh communities to get representation in proportion to their population
in the provinces.27 A similar status was denied to Dalits despite their claims, and they
were classified in the General (Hindu) category.Ihe Constituent Assembly consisted
of the members of provincial legislatures, divided into three categories: {a) General,
(b) Muslims, and (c) Sikhs. Dalits and other minorities were accommodated in the
Advisory Committee to safeguard their interests in the proposed Constitution.
Ambedkar, in his critique of the Cabinet Mission proposals, maintained that the
'the Scheduled Castes were greatly surprised to find themselves lumped together
with the Hindus/28 The status and powers of the Advisory Committee were not
defined either. Further, Ambedkar argued that the representatives of the Dalits in the
Constituent Assembly only represent the Congress. He disagreed with the Cabinet
Missions defence that the Congress had won the Dalit seats in the last election.
He argued that an examination of the results of the elections in the Primaries in
1945 would show us the extent to which the Congress represented the Dalits. It was
only in the Primaries that the Dalits had separate electorate, and not in the general
elections. His analysis of the election results of the Primaries indicated that the non-
Congress Dalit parties gained 72 per cent voting compared to 28 per cent obtained
by the Congress.29
Ja^ivan Rams response to the Missions plan makes interesting reading. He
claimed that the Ambedkarite politics of separate electorates had been rejected by the
Dalits.30 He, however, took a position different from that of the Congress. He agreed
that the Cabinet Mission had failed the Dalits, and reiterated the demand of the
Depressed Classes League (DCL) that the ^arijans should be given representation
in the Constituent Assembly and the Legislative Assembly in proportion to their
population in a province/31 Sometime later, at a press conference, he explained the
difference between his party and the SCF: the DCL wanted the protection of the
Dalits and not their separation.32 This demand was first raised by the DCL in its
resolution of 18 August 1944 at its Nagpur session. The resolution regretted that
neither Gandhiji nor Rajgopalchari^ formula to break the political deadlock took
any notice of the untouchables.* The resolution emphasised the need to protect the
 M aking Claims for Power 259

interests of Harijans in any political settlement between the Congress, the Muslim
League and the British.33 We should rightly acknowledge the DCUs resolution
marking the first break with the Congress.
Historians have generally viewed Jagjivan Ram as a Congress ^gent* and its
alternative to the leadership of Ambedkar. This viewpoint is insensitive to Ja^ivan
Rams concern for the Dalits. His biographer, Nalin V. Sharma, points to the dilemma
faced by Jagjivan Ram at this specific juncture. Jagjivan Ram could not', he writes,
'holding the views he did, assert that the untouchables were a separate nation. He
could not at the same time leave the untouchables5interest completely unrepresented*
eitherJagjivan Ram realised that unless special provisions were made for the rights of
Dalits, their conditions would not change. His biographer argues that this dilemma
was a core element of Jagjivan Ram's thinking.
I would suggest otherwise. Jagjivan Ram came to realise the importance of
changes then in progress and therefore reassessed his position. It was for this reason
that he agreed with Lord Wavells characterisation of the Congress in 1944 as a caste-
Hindu party.34When Gandhi protested against Wavelfs description of the Congress,
Jagjivan Ram issued a public statement approving of Wavell's statement.35This is too
significant to be missed: he was contradicting Gandhi, no less. He argued that the
Poona Pact was a clear acknowledgement of two sections within the Hindus, ^he
Harijan and 'the non-Harijans and Hindus'. This radicalism, in a leading Congress
Harijan leader, underlines the changes taking place around this time in the character
and temper of Dalit politics. It is also a comment on the Congress* failure to deal
adequately with the problems of Dalit society.
Dalits were unanimous in their criticism of the composition of the Interim
Ministry as envisaged in the Award. Ambedkar objected to the unfair and unjust
composition of the Ministry. He said that the Dalits, who had demanded three
seats, were allotted only one.36Jagjivan Ram, too, pointed out that according to their
population of 60 million, they should have been given three seats.37 He complained
that 'if three seats could be allotted to the Muslims, two seats to the Sikhs, then one
seat for the [Dalits] is unfair and against the principles of the Cabinet Mission Plan/
Harijan leaders of UP also made similar criticism. Hari Prasad Tamta, a Dalit leader
of the Congress from Kumaon, accused the Congress and the League of betraying
the Dalits.38 Chaudhari Girdhari i^al, Congress Harijan Legislative Member and
Parliamentary Secretary in the Congress Ministry also expressed his disapproval of
the Cabinet Missions proposal.39
The SCF protest was not limited to mere statements in the press. It organised
satyagrahas throughout India to protest against the Cabinet Mission award and the
Congress.40 The SCF demanded a blueprint from the Congress about the position
of Dalits in independent India. It asked for the abrogation of the Poona Pact,
which was described as a political fraud against the Dalits.41 Tlie party demanded
separate electorates for the Dalits. Gandhi and his Harijan movement were held
responsible for denying legitimate rights to the Dalits. The satyagraha began on IS
July and continued for a fortnight.42 The programme of satyagraha was deliberately
planned to coincide with the session of the legislative assemblies in the provinces.
260 Ramnarayan S. Raw at

The satyagraha was organised in front of the legislative assemblies to highlight lack
of representation of Dalits in these democratic institutions. It was most successful in
the Bombay Presidency, the Central Provinces and the United Provinces (where it
acquired a wide rural character).43
In UP, the satyagraha began on 16 July and continued for fourteen days.44Around
300 Dalits were arrested, including women and children.45 The SCF was able to
organise a similar agitation in April-May 1947. The Dalit movement affected twenty-
three districts of the province. Ten of these districts witnessed prolonged agitation
from June to November 1946.46There may be other factors which contributed to the
extension of the agitation in these districts. This would include the strength of local
Dalit organisations. Altogether, the extent of the satyagraha speaks remarkably well
of a party set up only four years earlier, in 1942.

Ill

So far, I have discussed various Dalit responses to the Cabinet Mission Award from
diverse strands in the Dalit politics. I have argued that this suggests a fundamental
realignment in Dalit politics. In this section, I will elaborate the new trend which
contributed to the remarkable expansion of the SCF in UR In their studies of the
Ad-Dharm movement in Punjab and the Jatavs of Agra, Juergensmeyer and Lynch
note a major shift in Dalit politics in the 1940s. Juergensmeyer ascribes the change
to the emergence of the ‘Ambedkar alternative’ and Lynch describes it as a ‘turning
point1.47 In the case of Juergensmeyer, this helps explain the decline of the Ad-
Dharm movement in the 1940s. Lynch explains it as a shift in Jatav politics, as (now
they identified themselves with the scheduled castes as the oppressed and deprived
section of the society/
The Jatav Mahasabha repeatedly rejected the untouchable Chamar status for their
community in the 1920s and 1930s.48 In fact, this process was not limited to the
Jatavs. It was a prominent feature of the Dalit movement of this period when the
Dalits contested the status of Unclean, timpure, attached to their communities. In
this phase， the Jatavs through their Mahasabha made a claim for Kshatriya status.
The Chuhra community of Punjab articulated a new religious identity by formulating
their own alternative Ad-Dharm religion. The Chuhras consciously began to describe
themselves as Ad-Dharmis and considered their members outside the realm of the
Hindu community. They outlined their own religious ritual and moral order, social
structure and history. The Jatavs sought a (clearf status within the fold of brahmanical
religion; the Ad-Dharmis rejected the brahmanical religion. These two different
choices by the Dalits were also different strategies adopted to seek a ^learf status.
The Gandhian Congress programme of achhutodhar (Harijan uplift) identified
(the problem in terms of an opposition between cleanliness and the lack of it, locating
the whole issue not in terms of economic or social realities but in a physical state/49
Caste hierarchy was not rejected; instead, the emphasis on caste equality through the
temple entry satyagrahas organised by the Congress appealed to the Dalits. Hazari, a
 M aking Claims for Power 261

Dalit, illustrates the point in his autobiography. Writing about the decade of 1920s,
he says that being part of the Congress ^ean t breaking the barrier between castes'.
Recounting his sense of liberation, he writes (if I wore a Gandhi cap no one would
ask who I was\50 Hazari's point is not a mere euphemism; rather it captures the
euphoric impact of the Congress in the 1920s among the educated sections of Dalits.
For the first generation Dalit members, the Congress offered a hope to individual
deliverance, away from the realities of Hindu society. The Dalits were also looking for
answers to reshape their lives. In the urban centres of UP, they had also worked out
alternatives to their menial status.
Nandini Gooptu has argued that by the 1930s Adi-Hinau ideology became popular
in the towns of UP, as it grappled with the questions of their ritual status and menial
occupation.5:1The Adi-Hindu movement in UP emphasised a new religious identity
for the Chamars based on their popular religious traditions. Their ideologues created
alternative structures of religious and social laeology among the Dalit labourers,
borrowed heavily from the Bhakti traditions of the Kabir, Ravidass, Valmiki and Shri
Narayan sects. By linking their status and occupation with the Bhakti tradition, the
Adi-Hindu ideologues sought to fight the stigma of untouchability attached to their
occupation. Despite the process of urbanisation and economic development, the caste
inequities were the dominant feature of life in the towns.
It seems that by the 1940s, Dalit politics with its particular emphasis on Vitual
purity’or a ‘clean’social status that reached its limits. Lynch and Juergensmeyer have
also noted this point (albeit only in passing) in their work. They relate it to a shift in
the agenda of Dalit politics. Lynch and Juergensmeyer explain the change in Dalit
politics as a move towards a more active political participation in the nationalist
politics. However, they do not deal with the nature of transition in Dalit politics. The
emergence of the SCF provided a platform to the Dalits to come together and make
an independent political intervention.
Many of the Dalit caste Mahasabhas found it necessary to join the protest initiated
by the SCF. It was also a conscious move on their part to distinguish their politics
from the Congress. The Dalit caste Mahasabhas in UP merged with the SCF.52This
helped SCF acquire a prominent presence in the major towns of the province within
a short timespan.The SCF benefited from the caste Mahasabhas which were already
engaged in the social uplift of their respective communities. Ttie SCF inherited
the networks of the various caste Mahasabhas. The SCF played an active role in
the Primaries of 1945 and hoped to do well in urban centres like Agra, Kanpur,
Lucknow and Allahabad. The merger with the SCF implied a move towards a new
all-encompassing identity of the achhuts. For instance, the Jatav Mahasabha founded
the SCF in Agra in 1942. We can discern a shift in the agenda of Dalit politics in the
1940s, especially the way in which some of the achhut caste Mahasabhas appropriated
the platform of SCF. In a sense, it was not a one-way process of the SCF seeking to
enlighten the Dalits; rather, it was a conscious move from both the sides.
There was a general realisation among Dalits about the failure and incapacity of
the Congress to offer them a dignified liberation. If there was an optimistic Hazari in
the 1920s, then in the 1940s it was a Shastri, who defined the limits of the Congress.
262 Ramnarayan S. Ra%vat

Shastri argued that it was a mistake to have accepted Gandhi as their liberator for so
long. (If Gandhi and Company had done genuine work for their uplift/wrote Shastri,
(the achhuts would not have felt it necessary to raise their own voice/53The Congress
considered untouchability a religious problem of the Hindus, whereas the Dalits
viewed it as a political one. Shastri identified two key aspects of real social reform for
Dalits: special educational facilities and twelve per cent reservation in government
jobs. Jrle tells us that Dr Ambedkar implemented this agenda for the first time as a
member of the Viceroy's Council in 1942.54
In fact, by the 1940s, education and political power together were being seen as
a panacea for the problems of Dalits.55 Adi-Hindu ideologues and activists played
a crucial role in spreading these ideas in their neighbourhoods. Their dream was for
Dalits to occupy influential positions in the legislatures, government offices and other
institutions in order to be able to formulate programmes for Dalit uplift. Their demand
in 1946 for adequate representation in the Constituent Assembly and Legislative
Assembly derived from their understanding of the significance of political power.
For this reason, the constitutional criteria of separate electorate acquired a new
significance in UP Dalit politics. Shastri was now clear, that in the absence of separate
electorate, their problems would remain unresolved.56 He described the existing
constitutional arrangements as useless since it allowed unrepresentative candidates
of the Congress to be elected. He supported consequently the SCF demand for
separate electorate. It seems that most of the Dalit caste Mahasabhas came to a
similar conclusion. Thus, the Jatavs and Chamar Mahasabha established the SCF
in UR They found it necessary to organise a united front of the achhuts under the
banner of SCF.
The Adi~Hindu Ravidass Mahasabha of Allahabad, in a resolution passed on 16
February 1946, maintained that the Dalits are trying their utmost to gain all their
legitimate social, moral and citizen (sic) rights* and that they were not part of Hindu
Samaj.57Among the important speakers present were the local leaders R. S. Shyam Lai,
Asharfi Lai, Hiralal Balmiki and the Congress MLA Masuriya Din. In fact, the Dalits
passed resolutions along similar lines in various districts of UP in 1946: Gorakhpur,
Azamgarh, Etah?Etawah, Jalaun, Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur, Saharanpur and Meerut.58
On this issue, the position of the Congress Harijan leaders was more ambivalent than
ever before. More so following the increased popularity of the SCF among the Dalits
in UR (I demonstrate this point through an analysis of the 1946 elections in the
following section) Even the Depressed Classes League of Jagjivan Ram, as we have
seen above, was finding it difficult to adhere to the Congress programme.
This suggests, I would argue, a possible consensus among the Dalit activists and
leaders for adequate representation in the Legislative Assembly according to the
proportion of their population. In a broad sense, I would describe them as forming
the Dalit intelligentsia. Their immediate concern was to achieve this objective in
the Constituent Assembly which would draft the Constitution for the people of
India. In this context, the two petitions from Meerut and öanaranpur and Jagjivan
Rams criticism were not isolated instances, but articulated wider concerns of the
Dalit activists across UP.
 M aking Claims for Power 263

Dalit intelligentsia played a significant role in the success of SCF in the

elections to the Primaries in November 1945. Political leaders as well as the leaders
of caste Mahasabhas—Chamars, Jatavs, Raidasis, Balmikis, Kabir Panthi, and the
literate Adi-Hindu ideologues based in the towns of UP—constituted the Dalit
intelligentsia. Nandini Gooptu has argued that {the informal nature of links between
apex Aai-Hindu organisations in the towns and local caste-group in neighbourhoods
contributed to the strength of the [Bhakti] movement/ It was these Bhakti
movements in the towns which at times 'developed into support for caste-based
political agitation, spearheaded by literate leaders to gain recognition of their rights
and privileged access to education and employment/59 These leaders played a stellar
role in the success of UPSCF in the Primaries.

IV

Even the historiography has not acknowledged SCF s success in the Primaries. In
a recent essay, Bandyopadhyay has reaffirmed the success of the Congress in the
context of Bengal: (the Congress had effectively appropriated the scheduled caste
movement’.60 In the Bengal elections， the Congress Dalit candidates won in 24
seats out of 30. The performance of the Congress in UP was even better despite
effective competition from the SCF. The Congress swept the 20 seats reserved for
Dalits in the elections. Through this comparison, and (in view of extended franchise,,
Bandyopadhyay argues that £we may take the election results as an index, though
still in a very limited sense, of popular will as well,.61 Historians have accepted the
success of the Congress in Dalit reserved constituencies as evidence of the widespread
popularity of the Congress. This allowed nationalist historians to perpetuate a myth
that the Dalits were supporters of the Congress.
Bandyopadhyay s conclusion regarding Dalit support to the Congress is open to
question. Shastri holds the Poona Pact responsible for the iailure of SCR The electoral
arrangement worked out under the Poona Pact ensured that Dalits opposed to the
Congress would never succeed in the elections. The SCF had a genuine complaint in
that the electoral arrangements provided an upper hand to caste-Hindus. Implications
of the Poona Pact on the electoral system in the reserved constituencies are crucial to
an understanding of the election results of 1946.62 Otherwise, we will perpetuate the
dominance of the caste-Hindu point of view in the writing of history.
According to Shastri, the Dalit freedom struggle must begin with a demand
for removing this 'evil pact\ For Shastri and the SCF, electoral results of 1945-46
influenced the decision of Cabinet Mission.63 In his book, Shastri argued that the
Poona Pact was supposed to benefit the Dalits, instead it favoured the caste-Hindus.
Therefore, despite its impressive gains in the percentage of votes, the SCF was unable
to win any seat in UP. The elections were held in two stages for the 20 reserved
seats. In the first stage of primary elections, only the Scheduled Caste voted for
Scheduled Caste candidates. Even here, the modalities of participating in primary
election weighed against the achhuts. Primary election was not obligatory; it became
264 Ramnarayan S. Raw at

obligatory only when more than four candidates contested a seat.64 Congress as a rule
fielded only one achhut candidate for the reserved seats in 1945. But, to force a contest
on the Congress and establish its credentials the SCF fielded four or more candidates
in primary elections, which forced the Congress to take a similar step. As Ambedkar
notes, 'the object of a Party in entering into a Primary Election was to drive out all
rival parties from the Final Election by putting up at least four candidates on its party
ticket1.65 According to Shastri, the SCF fought elections only in four urban towns
with the specific objective of demonstrating its support among the Dalits.66
In the second stage, the reserved constituency became a general seat. In a double-
member seat, each voter had two votes with an option to use them to vote for れ
general candidates or for two Scheduled Caste candidates or for one of each.67 Shastri has
explained the rationale of two votes. The Dalits had two votes, one because of their
achhut identity and the other because they were Hindus. Similarly, Hindus exercised
two votes, one because of their Hindu identity and the other because achhuts were
Hindus. In this framework, caste-Hindus occupied an influential role in the election
of an achhut candidate in the general elections, öince the electorate was defined on
a property and education franchise, the influence of the caste-Hindus became even
more pronounced in the outcome.68 It should be noted that an achhut candidate was
also eligible for a general seat beside the reserved seat.
The SCFs critique of the Poona Pact was shaped by their experience of 1946
elections.1wish to elaborate this point to outline my disagreement with Bandyopadhyay.
His study does not acknowledge the specific conditions under which elections were
held for the reserved seats. In this respect I wish to underline the critical distinction
between primary and general elections on the final outcome. It needs to be taken into
account for a fair assessment of the Congress claim of representing the Dalits based
on the 1946 elections. I would argue that we should re-examine what Bandyopadhyay
describes (index of popular will* in favour of the Congress not through an analysis of
the results of general election, but the Primaries.69 For it was only in the Primaries
that the Dalits voted exclusively for their own candidates.
That primary elections were obligatory only when more than four candidates
contested was unfair as it strengthened the position of Congress. This arrangement
made the character of elections in Primaries a nominative one which helped a
well-established party like Congress to field its candidate in all the reserved seats
and get them elected unopposed. In fact, this is what actually happened in most
of the reserved constituencies in the elections of 1935 and to an extent in 1945. In
the 1936 Primaries, elections became obligatory only in six constituencies ana in
fourteen constituencies the Congress candidates were elected unopposed, while in
the 1945 Primaries, election became obligatory only in three constituencies where
the SCF gave the Congress a tough fight.70The congress also benefited m terms of
consolidated votes to its candidate and from the lack of an established party of the
Dalits, except in 1945.
Following the Poona Pact, twenty reserved seats were made into double-member
seats; whereby the candidate with the largest vote；either an achhut or a general
candidate, filled the general seat and the achhut candidate with the highest total
 M aking Claims for Power 265

filled the Scheduled Caste seat. In 1946, however, in three constituencies—Kanpur

city, Budaun (east) and in Basti (south)—Dalit candidates secured the highest
number of votes overall. They were declared elected not as general candidates but as
Scheduled Caste candidates.71 Let me illustrate the point through the example of
the Kanpur city constituency. In Kanpur city, the Dalit Congress candidate, Bhagwan
Dirl Mehtar, polled highest with 34,782 votes, followed by the general candidate Dr
Jawaharlal Rohtagi with 34,550 votes and the SCF candidate Piarelal Talib with
8,736 votes. According to the rules, two Dalit candidates, Bhagwan Din Mehtar and
Piarelal Talib should have been elected for the general and Scheduled Caste seat.
Since Mehtar polled higher votes than the general candidate Rohtagi, he should
have been declared elected as the general seat and Talib should have been elected
as the Scheduled Caste seat. Instead, the officials illegally declared Dr Rohtagi and
Bhagwan Din Mehtar elected for the two seats.
Peter Reeves (finds it difficult to explain these results: either it was an oversight
on the part of Returning Officers which escaped the notice of other candidates or
it was some form of agreement to ignore the rules1.72 We have no evidence whether
Talib protested. Considering the mood and times of an assertive Dalit politics, it is
rather difficult to believe that Talib would have remained silent. It seems to me that
the official deliberately ignored the rules for the benefit of the Congress candidate
and for the sake of their caste-Hindu affinities. If only Shastri and Ambedkar had
known this when they spoke of the open hostility shown by the Returning Officers
and the Polling Officers - all of whom were caste Hindus against the scheduled caste
candidates,.73 It is incidents like these which give us an insight into the nature of
Congress successes in the elections and the so-called claim about the popular support
of the Dalits. It adds to the credibility of the SCF criticism that Congress rule would
be synonymous with Hindu Raj.
A limited budget was another factor which weighed against the SCR This
restricted its ability to field candidates in all the constituencies, with a minimum of
four candidates required in each constituency to ensure elections. In UP, therefore, the
SCF decided to field candidates only in the four urban constituencies, and to put up
a more substantial contest against the Congress in the constituency of Agra city and
Allahabad city. In the two latter constituencies, the SCF fielded a panel of four SCF
candidates. The idea behind this was to drive out SCFs rival, the Congress, from the
general election by nominating four SCF candidates. The Congress barely managed
elections of four candidates from the four urban seats in UP. Whereas nine candidates
of SCF were elected, which was twice the number of Congress.74The performance of
SCF was more impressive in the Agra and Allahabad city constituency.
In Agra city, the SCF and Congress fielded four candidates each. There was one
candidate from the Hindu Sabha and one independent. The four Dalit Congress
candidates polled 27.10 per cent votes, while the four SCF candidates polled 46.39
per cent of the total votes. From the four finalists out of ten, two were from SCF,
Karansingh Kane (24 per cent) and Ram Narain (22 per cent); one from Congress,
Ram Chandra Sehra (26.97 per cent); and one from the Hindu Sabha, Pyare Lai
(14.58 per cent). In Allahabad also Congress and the SCF fielded four candidates
266 Kamnarayan S. Raw at

each. Here the Congress was marginally ahead with 51.27 per cent, closely followed
by the SCF with 48.24 per cent. In the final four, the Congress managed only
one successflil candidate, Masuria Din with 49.40 per cent. The SCF succeeded
in capturing the remaining three seats, R. S. Shyam Lai (19.58 per cent), Prabhu
Dayal (10.49 per cent) and Kalian (10.40 per cent).75 The tactical voting for a single
Congress candidate and for the four SCF candidates should be noted. The SCF
required more dispersed and equitable votes.
Even though the Congress nominated four candidates for Agra city and Allahabad
city, it was least concerned in getting the four elected. It was more of a response to
the SCF^ claim that Congress would fail to nominate four candidates.76 The main
purpose of the Congress was to aim for consolidated votes for a single candidate and
then ensure his success in the general election. The Congress prooaDiy feared that if
it went for the election of all the four candidates, it would lose. For instance, in Agra
city the successful Congress candidate, R. C. Sehra polled 26.97 per cent. Similarly,
in Allahabad；the Congress nominee Masuria Din polled 49.10 per cent votes out
of a total of 51.27 per cent votes for the Congress.77 Due to lack of opposition in
other constituencies it was easy for the Congress to get its candidates elected. The
SCF failed in its effort to get four candidates elected to the Primaries. The four SCF
candidates usually received equitable votes compared to the votes polled by Congress
candidates, in the two constituencies of Agra city and Allahabad city.78
Ambedkar? in his critique of the proposals of Cabinet Mission, argued that the
Congress did not represent the Scheduled Castes of India. To make this point, he also
produced an ‘analysis of the results of Primary elections’.79 According to his analysis
of the election results, the non-Congress Scheduled Caste parties gained 72 per
cent voting in their favour compared to 28 per cent obtained by the Congress.80Hie
political parties included among non-Congress parties were the SCF, independents,
Communists, Unionists, Hindu Mahasabha and Radical Democratic Party. In his
analysis of the Primaries in UP, Ambedkar noted that the Congress polled 41.8 per
cent of votes, the SCF received 30.5 per cent and the independents received 18.8 per
cent of the total votes polled.81 While the Congress share of 41.8 per cent includes
the results of all the twenty reserved seats, the SCF share represent four urban
seats. The good performance given by the independents was due to their impressive
showing in the Almora district (rural) of UP, the third constituency where primary
elections became obligatory. The two Congress nominees, Munshi Khushi Ram and
Kamala, polled 29.37 per cent and 9.69 per cent votes respectively, whereas of the
two independent candidates, Munshi Ram Prasad Tamta polled 45.08 per cent votes
and R. B. Har Prasad Tamta 6.65 per cent. These two independent candidates were
mentioned as members of Kumaun Shilpkar Sabha in the returns.82 The combined
vote of the two independent candidates was 51.73 per cent, compared to 39.06 per
cent of the Congress, once again pointing to the lack of support for the Congress
candidates in a reserved constituency.
Despite the SCFs impressive performance in the Primaries in 1945, it could
not win any seats in the general elections of 1946. This point is underscored by
Peter Reeves in his study of elections in the UP Legislative Assembly in 1937 and
 M aking Claims for Power 267

1946.83 He writes: 'the most significant opposition to the Congress in the urban
seats came from the Scheduled Castes Federation which provided “specialized”
though unsuccessful competition in the scheduled castes seats in the double member
constituencies/ He adds: 'With the exception of the Scheduled Castes Federation
which won 9.90% of the vote in double-member urban seats no party (opposed to
Congress) secured more than 2% of the vote in any category of General seats/84
The discussion on the Primaries also helps us underline a decisive shift among the
Dalit intelligentsia towards the SCF. One aspect through which we could indicate a
shift in the position of the Dalit intelligentsia relates to the success of SCF in offering
an effective alternative to the Congress and caste-Hindus.The success of UPSCF in
elections to Primaries is otherwise difficult to explain. The SCFs nine candidates were
elected from the four urban seats of UP, whereas the Congress managed only four.85
The simple fact that the SCF polled more votes than the Congress drives home the
point that a large section of the Dalit intelligentsia— —comprising leaders and activists
of various caste Mahasabhas, Adi-Hindu ideologues and literate Dalits—moved to
the SCF. Take for example Karan Singh Kane of Agra, a former Congress candidate
in the 1936 elections, who was the SCF candidate in the 1945 elections. Similarly,
R. S. Shyamlal of Allanaoad stood as an independent in the 193o elections but was
an SCF nominee in the 1945 elections.86
The SCFs success was particularly remarkable with the independents: a large
number of independent candidates in the 1936 Primaries were SCF candidates in
1945. They were not an exception but rather a part of a wider process of Dalit leaders
of caste Mahasabhas joining the SCF. Gopi Chand Pipal (President District SCF
Agra), Dr Manik Chand and Karan Singh Kane were prominent leaders of the Jatav
Mahasabha of Agra.87 Similarly, Purushotam Das Kureel, organising Secretary of the
UPSCF, was President of Chamar Mahasabha, while Tilak Chand Kureel—president
of UPSCF—and Piare Lai Kureel (DSCF Lucknow) were prominent leaders of
the Chamar Mahasabha.88 The members of Adi-Hindu Ravidass Mahasabha like
R. S. Shyam Lai (DSCF of Allahabad), Hira jual Jalswal and Asharfi Lai Pasi were
prominent leaders of UPSCF.89This shift within the Dalit intelligentsia is linked to
the emergence of a new Dalit agenda.

CONCLUSION

A remarkable shift in the agenda and temper of Dalit politics in UP took place in
the 1940s. Existing historical writings tell us very little about this shift. Instead, they
reaffirm the mainstream (Congress) position that these years were insignificant. The
Dalit, mostly in the urban areas, were disenchanted with the Congress, contrary to
what the historiography has told us. The Cabinet Mission Award was the immediate
occasion for the notes of dissent. The Dalits openly aired their anger at being ignored
by the British and outrage at the Congress for accepting the Award. The Congress
Harijans of Meerut and baharanpur openly expressed their opposition to the Congress
position. Some of the Congress Harijan leaders went a step ahead by participating
268 Ramnarayan S. Raw at

in the begari agitation. Among them, Jaipal Singhs role in the begari protest was
the most remarkable. The process of realignment was evident even in the organised
Dalit politics. The caste Mahasabhas, Jatav, Chamar, Adi-Hindu Raidasis, and urban
Dalit intelligentsia established branches of the SCF throughout UP. Turning back on
earlier positions, they came to the view that to fulfil their agenda, it was necessary
to emphasise their achhut (untouchable) identity. Its impressive performance in the
Scheduled Castes Primaries only underlined the popular support.
By raising the question of untouchability, Dalits were forcing the Congress to
address the question of caste inequality. It has been argued in the context of UP,
peasant movements during 1921-24 forced the Congress to adopt a radical social
programme—of zamindari abolition and land reforms—into Indian nationalism.90
Despite this radical agenda, the Congress failed to address the issue of caste inequality,
repeatedly raised by the Dalits in UP. Dilip Menon makes a similar point in his
study of Malabar society.91 This explains the growing disenchantment of the Dalit
intelligentsia with the Congress in UP in the 1940s. Perhaps, Indian nationalism was
more successful in negotiating class rather than the caste issues. The social aspect of
nationalism as proposed by the Congress was not accommodative enough for the
Dalits and the SCR The Congress had no choice but to incorporate the agenda of
constitutional safeguards into Indian nationalism only after intervention by the SCF.
Shastris quote in the opening page of this chapter struck me for capturing
the new mood of the times and also for its relevance to the present moment. The
Ambedkarite agenda, of engaging with the political power, came to represent a new
vision.Today, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a Dalit party, which commands popular
Dalit support and which formed the first Dalit government in 1995, represents that
continuum. From the 1940s to the 1990s, generations of Dalit activists have nurtured
the Ambedkarite vision in Dalit neighbourhoods and qasbas of UP irrespective of
their formal political affiliations. Over the years, this vision has acquired a wide social
base that has been transformed into a solid support for the BSP. I submit that an
assertive Dalit politics claiming a radical achhut identity with an Ambedkarite vision
is after all not a radically new development in UP but can be traced all the way back
to the 1940s.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1 Shankaranand Shastri, Poona Pact O r G a n d h i (Hindi), eleventh edition (Lucknow:

Bahujan Kalyan Prakashan, 1994 [1946]), 24.Translations from Hindi are mine. A passionate
account of a Dalit activist, of events from 1932 to 1946 and ends with the Dalit satyagraha.
It was later revised to include events from 1946 to 1956, in the second edition, 1965. In this
sense, the book provides us a Daiit perspective about these events. 'Shastri^s a brahman title
for learned persons appropriated by the author to question their sole claim to learning. I
have used the term achhut and Dalit interchangeably. The Dalits gave a new radical meaning
to the term achhut or untouchable to mean pure, or <untouched, in their struggles around
this time. As opposed to Harijan or Scheduled Castes, the latter was the State category and
 Making Claims for Power 269

the former was Gandhian. Shastri also underlined this point. He issued an appeal to the
Dalits that they should organise under a separate achhut identity and discard their disparate
caste identities.
2Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 76.
3Satyapal and P. Chandra, Sixty Years o f Congress: India Lost; India Regained (Lahore: Lion
Press, 1946); Sumit Sarkar,Mo^m India, 1885—1947 (Delhi: Macmillan India and South Asia
Books, 1983); Ravinder Kumar, ‘Structure of Politics in India on the Eve of Independence’，
Occasional Papers in History and Society, second series, no, XVI, Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library, Delhi (hereafter, NMML); Robert J. Moore, Escapefrom Empire: TheAtlee Government
and the Indian Problem (Oxford: Clarendron Press, 1983); D. A. Low, ed., Indian National
Congress: Centenary Hindsights (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1988).
4 Mark Juergensmeyer, Religion as Social Vision: The M ovem ent against JJntonchability in
20th Century Punjab (Berkeley: Upiversity of California Press, 1982), 164; Marc Gallanter,
Competing Equalities: The Indian Experience w ith Compensatory Discrimination (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1980); Peter Reeves, Changing Patterns of Political Alignments
in the General Elections to the U.P. Legislative Assembly, 1937 and 19465, Modern Asian
Studies 5.2 (1971), 111-42; Eleanor Zelliot, Kongress and the Untouchables, 1917-501
in Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase, edited by R. Sisson and
S. Wolpert, 182-97 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988); Masayaki Usuda, Tushed
Towards the Partition: Jogendranath Mandal and the Constrained Namasudra Movement,
in Caste System, Untouchability and the Depressed^ edited by H. Kotani, 221-74 (New Delhi:
Manohar, 1992).
5Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, Trom Alienation to Integration: Changes in the Politics ot vlaste
in Bengal, 1937-47,, Indian Economic & Social History R eview (hereafter, IE S H R ), vol.31,no.
3 (1994), 349-11. The following works also inform us about Dalits politics and society during
Independence and Partition. R. K. Kshirsagar, D alit M ovem ent in India and its Leaders (1 857-
1956) (Nagpur: M.D. Publishers, 1992). Gail Omvedt describes the SCF as a step backwards
from the 1930s radicalism, of class struggle. Gail Omvedt, Dalits and the Democratic Revolution:
D r Ambedkar and the D alit M ovem ent in Colonial India (Delhi: Sage Publications, 1994), 217;
Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side o f Silence: Voices fro m the Partition o f India (Delhi: Penguin
Books India, 1998); Saurabh Dube, Untouchable Pasts: Religion^ Identity and Power among a
Central Indian Community, 1780-1950 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998);
Marika Vicziany and Oliver Mendelsohn, Untouchable: Subordination^ Poverty and the State in
Modern India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Vijay Prashad, Untouchable
Freedom: A Social History o f a D alit Community (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999).
6F.No. 41/4/47-R, Request from the Scheduled Castes of UP, Secretariat of the Governor-
General Reforms {National Archives o f India [hereafter, N A I], New Delhi).
7The Hindustan Timesy24 June 1946.
8 Peter D. Reeves, B. D. Graham and J. M. Goodman,^ Handbook to Elections in Uttar
Pradesh, 1920-51 (Delhi: Manohar, 1975), 339; also All India Congress Committee (hereafter,
AICC) files, F.No. E.D.1 KW-IÏ/1946 (NMML, Delhi).
9 Gyanendra Pandey, The Ascendancy o f the Congress in UP 1926-34: A Study in Imperfect-
Mobilisation (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1978), 49-50.
10 The Pioneer, 29 July 1946. AICC files, F. No. ED1KW-II/1946 (NMML, Delhi).
11 Personal interview, 26 April 1995. Dr Chhedi Lai Sathi is a Dalit activist, politician and
lawyer. He is 76 years old and lives in Lucknow. He was involved with the Congress and later
with RPL In 1946-47, he was in the Congress, but supported the Dalit Satyagraha.
270 Ramnarayan S. R aw at

12Fortnightly reports, F.No. 18/7/1946 5c 18/8/1946, Home Department {NAIyDelhi).

13Ibid,
14Ibid.
15 The Pioneer (English, Lucknow),11 June 1946
16 Vartman (Hindi, Kanpur), 22 July 1946.
17 The Pioneer (English, Lucknow),11 June 1946.
18 Vartaman (Hindi, Kanpur), 22 July 1946.
19'The Political Alignments to-day1, AICC files, F.No. 49/1946, pp. 31-39 (NMML, Delhi).
20 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 100-15.
21 Vasant Moon, comp., Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, vol.9 (Bombay:
Government of Maharashtra, 1990), 346-49.
22 Vasant Moon, comp., Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches^ vol.10 (Bombay:
Government of Maharashtra, 1990), 540-41.
23Ibid., 539. A very important speech in which the British formally offered the Dominion
Status to India. Speeches by The Marquess of Linlithgow Volume II, November 1938 - October 1943
(Delhi: Government of India, 1944), 64~68.
24Ibid., 538.
25 Papers Relating to the Cabinet Mission to India 1946 (Delhi: Manager of Publications,
1946),100.
26 R. J. Moore, Escapefrom Empire: The Atlee Government and the Indian Problem (Oxford:
Clarendron Press,1983), gives a detailed account of constitutional history during these years.
27Papers relating to the Cabinet Mission to Indiay 1946^ 100.
28Is/loon, Ambedkar Writings and Speeches 523-28.
29Moon, Ambedkar Writings and Speechs X f 529-35; Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 89.
30 The Pioneer, 21 June 1946.
31 Ibid.
32 The Pioneer^ 25 July 1946; Shastri also mentioned a shift in Ja^ivan Ram's position.
Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 50.
33Nalin Vilochan Ram: A Biography (Patna: Sanjivan Press, no date), 127.
34Ibid., 127.
35Ibid., 132.Jagjivan Ram^ statement was also published in The Hindustan Times,18 June
1945.
36 The Pioneer^ 18 June 1946.
37Ibid., 21 June 1946.
38Ibid” 29 June 1946.
39Ibid., 28 June 1946.
40 Ibid., 9 July 1946; Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 71:"... thousands of satyagrahis are
converging under the “blue” flag of the Federation (SCF).’
41 Ibid. Also two pamphlets, ‘To Boycott Mahatma Gandhi is Justified’ and ‘The Poona
Pact—A Political Fraud'. F.No. 41/4/47-R. (NAI, Delhi)
42 The Pioneer,29]n\Y 1946.
43Ibid., 29 July 1946; Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 71,131.
44 The Pioneer,16 July 1946 and 30 July 1946.
45Ibid.,19 July 1946 and 30 July 1946. However, Shastri puts the number of Dalits arrested
to over 3000. Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 132-33.
46 Weekly Police Abstracts of Intelligence for 1946 (hereafter, PAT), Criminal Investigation
Department, UR
 M aking Claims for Power 271

47Juergensmeyer, Religion as Social Vision^ 163; Owen Lynch, The Politics of Untouchability:
Social Mobility and Social Change in a City of India (New York: Columbia University Press,
1969), 86-87.
48Lynch, Politics of UntouchabiIityy69-71.
49 Dilip Menon, Caste, Nationalism and Communism in South India} Malabar^ 1900-1947
(Cambridge: Cambdridge University Press, 1994), 85.
50 Hazari, I Was an Outcast: "TheAutobiography of an Unknown Indian (Delhi, 1951). The
book was written in 1935, as mentioned in the Preface on page 116.
51 Nandini Gooptu, {Caste and Labour: Untouchable Social Movements in Urban UP in
the Early Twentieth Century^n Dalit Movements and the Meanings of Labour in Colonial India,
edited by Peter Robb, 277-98 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993).
52Examples of such Mahasabhas are, the Jatav Mahasabha (Agra) the Chamars Mahasabha
(Kanpur) the Adi-Hindu Ravidas Mahasabha (Allahabad) in U.P. and the Ad-Dharmis in
Punjab.
53 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 9. This aspect forms a major theme of his work.
54 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 41.
55Menon makes a similar point in the context of Malabar. Menon, Caste, Nationalism and
Communism， 145 •
56 See Shastri/Why Separate EIectorates?,>Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 118-21.
57 Harijan Sahayak Department, F.No. 164/1946, Box No. 370 (Uttar Pradesh State
Archives, Lucknow [hereafter, UPSA]).
58PAI(weeldy) for 1946 (CID Lucknow).
59Gooptu， ‘Caste and Labour’，290,297.
60Bandyopadhyay， ‘From Alienation to Integration’，373.
61 Ibid, 373.
62 Reeves, 'Patterns of Political Alignments7, 134-35.
63 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 81-90.
64WloorijAmbedkar Writings and Speeches X , 544.
65Ibid.，251.
66 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 90.
67 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ 74-75; Reeves, 'Patterns of Political Alignments1, 116.
68 Shastri, Poona Pact Or Gandhi^ IS.
69Bandyopadhyay, Trom Alienation to Integration5, 373.
70Reeves， ‘Patterns of Political Alignments，，254—59,315-19.
71 Reeves, Uttar Pradesh^ 1920-51^ 13. For detailed breakup of data on the UP Legislative
Assembly Elections of 1946 see tables in Reeves, Uttar Pradeshy 1920-51y320,327, 334.
72Ibid.
73ls/[〇onyAmbedkar Writings and Speeches 543.
74Reeves, Uttar Pradesh；1 9 2 0 - 5 315-19.
75Ibid.
76y[ 〇onyAmbedkar Writings and Speeches X, 526.
77Reeves, Uttar Pradesh., 1920-51}315-16.
78For detailed breakup of Scheduled Caste primary elections of 1945 for the UP Legislative
Assembly, see Reeves Uttar Pradesh, 1920-51,315-16.
79yioon^ Ambedkar Writings and Speeches X y523-36.
80Ibid.，526.
81 Ibid., 535.
272 Ramnarayan S. R aw at

82 Reeves, Uttar Pradesh, 1 9 2 0 -5 1 , 318.

83 Reeves, ‘Patterns of Political Alignments’，111—42.
84Ibid.，136-37.
85Ibid.
86 Kshirsagar, Dalit Movement in India, 235-36.
87Ibid., 295-96,230-32,235-36.
88 Ibid., 253-55; F.No. 41/4/47-R, Secretariat of the Governor-General Reforms (N A I,
Delhi).
89Harijan Sahayak Department, F.No. 164/1946, Box No. 370 (UPSA, Lucknow).
90£... the experience of popular struggle ... led to a somewhat sharper definition of the social
content and objectives of Congress nationalism .. / Ascendancy o f the Congress^ 206.
91 Menon, Caste, N ationalism a n d Communism^ 90. In Malabar region the success of the
Communists was due to the Reshaping of communism into a doctrine of caste equality1, ibid., 2.
 PART FOUR

D A L IT C A S T E M O V E M E N T S
 XVI

T H E D A L IT L IB E R A T IO N M O V E M E N T
IN C O L O N IA L P E R IO D ^

Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

This chapter attempts to survey the history of Dalit struggles in relation to the national
movement and the Communist movement， and to bring to the fore 命 imP— 0—
rtant
role the Dalit movement has played in the democratic movement of the country and
is going to play in the new democratic struggles in the futxire.)Communists have,
therefore, to think seriously about the theoretical basis for an immediate practical
solution to the problem of caste oppression. This issue is emerging on a national scale
today and is taking new forms, in part heralded by Kanjhawala and Marathwada,
where the masses of caste-Hindu poor peasants and even agricultural labourers are
participating in attacks on Dalits under the leadership of kulaks. The problem is one of
posing a real programnme for agrarian revolution; for, what the kulaks are proposing
today (and what constitutes an important basis of their appeal to poor and middle
peasants) is their own solution to the agrarian problem and unemploymnent—a
capitalist solution of giving land to the (landed) tiller, and employing the rest as
agricultural labourers and in small industries. ^ concrete alternative has therefore to
be put forward—a programme which does more than simply ameliorate the condition
of Dalits as proletarianised agricultural labourers or give them Vaste, surplus land
and which keeps in view the specific nature of caste relations in the rural area and
the need for building a revolutionary unity between Dalits and caste-Hindu toilers,
between agricultural labourers and poor and middle peasants^)Ve examine here the
Dalit movement before Independence keeping these questions in mind. We attempt
to analyse developments in India as a whole, but there is a bias towards Maharashtra
partly because of our limitations and partly because the Dalit movement under
Ambedkar has been the most thoroughly documented.1

D A L IT S IN IN D IA N C A S T E F E U D A L IS M

A central feature of the relations of production in the Indian feudal system was that
they did not simply bind peasants and other producers to land controlled by feudal
lords and to the service of feudal lords. Rather, they bound all toilers to specifically-*

* Originally published in Economic and P olitical Weekly^ vol.14, no. 7/8, Annual Number: (Class
and Caste in India (February 1979), 409-24.
276 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

defined occupations and duties according to the kinship group of their birth. Thus,
while in feudal societies in general peasants and artisans were such from birth and
were considered by blood ana birth to be capable only of performing manual work,
in Indian feudalism a person born in, for example, a sutar family was held to the
performance of specifically sutar work and was bound to marry only into another sutar
family. As a result, two hierarchies developed in the traditional feudal system. One was
a hierarchy of groups defined in terms of their position in relation to the land—ranging
from landlords to nominally independent peasants to tenant cultivators in varying
stages of semi-serfdom to field servants in varying positions of semi-slavery. The other
was a hierarchy of artisans and service workers—ranging from certain priests, etc. at
the top down the scale through goldsmiths, barbers, etc. down to weavers, washermen,
leatherworkers and others at the bottom, and related to the controllers of the land
through the jajmani or balutedari systems which defined their duties.
Overlaying this, was the ideology of caste based on notions of purity and pollution,
hereditary transmission of qualities, and ultimately sanctioned by religious notions
of service to and exchange with the gods.2 In terms of this ideolog}/ the bottom
level öf artisan and service workers were seen as untouchable due to tne polluting
nature of their particular work, such as handling leather, removing dead cattle from
village grounds, roles in death and funeral ceremonies, etc. Thus, the kinship groups
which performed these tasks were defined as untouchable or impure castes and
were generally forced to live in hutment settlements that were close to but officially
outside the Village^ proper as seen by its other inhabitants. While all castes, except
brahmins, were polluting to those above them, the untouchable castes, in performing
the essential tasks of removing the most polluting elements of the entire society,
represented a kind of absolute impurity or pollution that was the polar opposite of
the brahmins absolute puritjy
This, however, is not sufficient to define the structural position of Dalits (let alone
explain it); and the problem with so many usual analyses of caste is that in limiting
their approach to the issues of service work and caste ideology they not only fall into
an essential idealism but fail to see the specific position of the various Dalit castes. To
do this we have to further examine the relations of production on the land.
Generally speaking, traditional Indian villages varied between two basic types.3In
the peasant cultivator or ryotwari village, usually found in less fertile and hillier areas,
the majority of the population were toiling peasants, usually of one caste, who handed
over a share of the produce to representatives of the feudal state—Deshmukhs, Desais,
Deshpandes, Jagirdars, Taluqdars, etc. The state Administration was represented
within these villages by officials, such as the headman (usually from the main peasant
caste) and the accountant (a brahmin) who had specific rights along with the right
to hold rent-free land {watam or inams). This often allowed the officials to share in
the feudal exploitation oi the village. In addition, growing economic prospects in
ryotwari areas made it possible for landlord estate to penetrate the villages further, as
big families bought up watan rights as well as land.4
In the more fertile plains and river valley areas, landlord or zamindari villagers
were generally found. Such villages were controlled by a class of locally-based non-
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 277

cultivating landlords, often derived from original conquerors of an area or from an

earlier family group who had been given the village as a grant. These could be brahmin
or Rajput or high-caste non-brahmins, and they subordinated the existing peasants
as tenant cultivators. Such a class of local lords generally acted as a brotherhood',
controlling the village and the labour of tenants and agricultural workers collectively,
and=the village officials of the ryotwari village did not have much importance.5
However, in both cases, besides the peasant cultivators, tenants, landlords and
feudal lords, a class of untouchable field servants also developed from one of the
untouchable service castes. This caste may have had its traditional artisan duty, such
as shoe-making or weaving or carrying away dead cattle. These varied, but at the same
time its balute orjajmani responsibilities almost always included performing general
menial labour for the village headman and higher state officials (that is, they were the
main ground bound to feudal labour or veth-begar^ as it was known in India). Along
with this, they performed field labour for the peasant cultivators and landlords and
were often bound in a semi-slave status to particular families of cultivators or to the
landlord brotherhood as a whole. The field servants were always drawn from one
particular untouchable caste which was then the largest one in a particular region;
such castes included the Mahars in Maharashtra, Malas and Madigas in Andhra,
Holeyas in Karnataka, Pallars and Paraiyans in Tamil Nadu, Chamars in western
north India, and so forth. Thus, while Chambhars in Maharashtra and elsewhere in
south India were only leather-workers, Chamars in north India were also and more
importantly field servants— —their structural position was similar to that of Mahars in
Maharashtra, not to tlie Maharashtrian Chambhars. These field servant castes were
not considered by the general feudal ideology to have any rights at all to the land. Yet,
their own traditions often described them as ancient (sons of the soiF subjugated by
invaders, and very frequently their caste duties included a power of decision-making
on boundary disputes that implied some sort of primordial connection with the land.
(it was the castes of untouchable field servants who were and continue to be the
most rebellious of all the untouchable castes. They have provided the basis for most
of the militant Dalit movements discussed here. In almost all village studies of the
contemporary period^ there is a report of some attempt by the local untouchable
field servants to resist their oppression and reject their degraded position—though
such attempts were often failures. In contrast, the other untouchable artisan castes
were more traditional, more accepting of the hierarchical order and very often used
by the village exploiting classes against the rebellious field servants. The reason is
not simply the numerical significance of the untouchable field servants; it is also
that their work on the land— —even in a position that was often one of semi-slave
bound labour—gave them a crucial role in agricultural production that put them
in a position which gave them a consciousness to mount at least some rebellion.
In contrast, the untouchable, merely artisan castes (rope-makers, leather-workers,
weavers, washermen, sweepers) performed services that could be more easily
dispensed with if the peasants and landlords so desired.
In other words, it is the traditional relationship to the land in the feudal system
that explains such things as the long-standing differences between Mahars and
278 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

Matangs or Chambhars in Maharashtra; it also explains why Buddhism and the

Republican Party have found a base among Chamars in north India, but not among
Chambhars in Maharashtra, why some groups and not others start calling themselves
Adi-Dravida, etc. An understanding of'untouchability5only in terms of servitude to
the land without looking at caste, neglects the specificity of the Indian situation; on
the othei hand, an understanding of (untouchability, that only looks at caste ideology
and purity-pollution also fails to analyse the specific features of different groups and,
in particular, the basis for the revolt of the exploited which has played the major role
in transforming the system.
Finally, a crucial characteristic of Indian caste feudalism was the degree to which
it institutionalised hierarchy and inequality among the exploited sections. Within the
system, broadly, the exploited classes consisted of the feudal lords (representatives of
the state and whatever local officials claimed the stated share of the produce as well
as rising feudal families who took advantage of watans, etc. to build private estates),
village landlords where they existed, merchants and priests. In varna terms, these
were roughly the brahmins, ksatriyas (or ^^/-shudras in the south where no true
ksatriyas were thought to exist) and vaisyas. Utilising the varna system, however, is a
complicated matter since feudal lords and village landlords sometimes had a caste-kin
relation with other groups of village cultivators. However, if people from ‘low’一 i.e.
peasant—background rose to feudal status, they generally claimed a ksatriya status
and sought to break off relations with their former, lower, kin.
The exploited classes included the independent' or tenant peasant cultivators, the
untouchable field servants, and the artisans and other service workers. Among these,
the peasant cultivators and most of the artisans were defined as shudras in terms of
the varna system, while the field servants and the lowest, or polluting, artisan-service
workers defined as impure or untouchable. It is the latter一 untouchable service castes
and untouchable field servants—that we define as Dalits in this chapter. It should
be noted that Dalits, then, are not exactly equivalent to the category of 'Scheduled
Caste* as defined by the government today. For one thing, Neo-Buddhists are still not
counted as Scheduled Castes (whereas they are clearly Dalits); on the other hand, it
seems that in some areas the Scheduled Castes category includes lower level, semi-
tribal groups (e.g. the Rajbanshis of Bengal) who were not Dalits as defined here.6
It also has to be stressed that while this traditional system of caste feudalism has
left its stamp on the emerging rural class system of today, it is by no means equivalent
to it. For instance, modern exploiting classes include rich peasants or kulak farmers
who are often drawn from a stratum or section of the middle peasant (shudra) castes
who were among the traditionally exploited classes. Similarly, the term Untouchable
field servants5has been deliberately used because they were not at all the same as the
agricultural labourers of today. Modern agricultural labourers' include most of the
Dalits but also include proletarianised members, other untouchable castes (and, on
this basis, radicalism among these castes may proceed fast in the contemporary period)
and of some of the peasant cultivators. The Dalits in this class are, in most cases,
no longer the traditional, bound, field servants, and contemporary contract labour or
year-labour {saldar) arrangements are not equivalent to the traaxtional bondage.
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 279

C O L O N IA L R U LE A N D T H E M A IN T E N A N C E O F F E U D A L IS M

The important question that emerges then is what was the impact of British colonial
rule on this system? Here it seems clear that, at least until the 1920s, when the
struggle of the exploited classes began to make some impact, the main effect of the
British Raj was to strengthen Indian caste feudalism.
First, the political alliance that British imperialism made with the rural landlords
and feudal classes meant by and large a strengthening of their position. Even
when new men and new groups gained control of the land (through buying up
land or purchasing zamindaris) as a result of commercialisation, they maintained
the traditional system of subordinating the exploited classes within the village.
Participation in the modern market economy was limited to rural landlords and
merchants; tenants from middle peasant castes simply turned over a share of their
produce, while the Dalit field labourers continued to toil as before. Frequently, their
traditional servitude became mediated through a relationship of debt-bondage, but
the debt did not operate through any modern contract' system and particular families
of Dalits were, as before, considered the traditional servants of particular families
of landlords and peasant cultivators. (To take one example, in Thanjavur, in spite
of a century and a half of involvement in a commercial economy, it was only after
Independence and the struggles of unionised Dalit labourers that the traditional
system ofpannaiyal bondage, came to an end, and was replaced by wage-labour forms
of exploitation.) Generally, the jajmani-balutedari systems continued to operate
without much change up until Independence.
British law helped to reinforce this system. For—though it: discarded caste as a
criterion for judgement in general criminal, civil and commercial law, and formally
gave the lowest castes equal access to the law—the policy of non-interference in
social and religious customs, of the people, a policy stressed in the first statement of
the Queen after India formally came under British rule in 1858, made this relatively
meaningless. Religious and ritual restrictions (e.g. the exclusion of lower castes from
temples) were enforced by the courts, defilement of religious restrictions was treated
as a criminal offence and so punished, and courts refused to take action against
upper castes who acted on their own to ‘discipline’1—i.e. terrorise and punish—low
castes who tried to rebel. Thus, while 'formally' Dalits were supposed to have equal
access to such public facilities as schools, wells and roads, they almost always had no
economic ability to take their case to court; if they did so, the court was generally not
likely to direct effective police action to help them even if it decided in their favour
and if they rebelled on their own and the upper castes exerted social and economic
boycott against them, the courts took no action to protect them. Exclusion of low
castes from temples and the rights of conservative caste elders to discipline rebellious
upper-caste 'reformers1were generally upheld by the courts on the grounds that these
were private' religious matters. Thus, the position of non-interference taken by the
British officials and the law amounted in practice to upholding caste hierarchy.7
Another major example of British working through the criterion of caste was when
laws were passed in the Punjab to prevent alienation of land to non-agriculturalists,,
280 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

which included not only merchants but also the Dalit field labourers! Occasional
judgements in support of untouchables were eclipsed by this general tendency, and it
is clearly erroneous to see colonialism as imposing a 'bourgeois legal system5on India
in terms of abstract enforceraent of property rights in land.
What of the economic effects of colonial rule? It is often thought that colonialism
had a ‘dissolving’effect on the traditional village feudal order， that by opening up new
avenues of employment and education to people of all castes it provided an opportunity
Tor advance and for breaking traditional restrictions1. In reality, the situation as
munch more complex, and the general effect was to maintain the feudal hierarchy.
It is well known by now that the next professions and occupations dependent
on modern Western education were filled overwhelmingly by members of the upper
castes—brahmins in particular, but also (depending on the area) by Kayasthas, Parsis
and other groups. It is not so well known because historians and social scientists
have relatively neglected to study the working class—that the same systematic
discrimination was true of new industrial jobs. Recruitment to the new factories,
plantations and mines did not take place as a result of a mass of (semi-proletarianised,
displaced and mobile village peasantry flooding into the cities and being randomly
selected for employment. Rather, it was almost often structured, through a system of
labour contractors (jobbers, sardars, mistris, kanganis). These frequently controlled
a gang of workers through debt bondage and recruited them in ways which were
geared to the village feudal economy (i.e. they both depended on and reinforced
village hierarchies). Even where these did not exist, it was often the nature of
caste feudalism that determined which groups could have access to certain jobs or
which would be willing to take the most arduous employment. As a result, there
was stratification among the working class along caste lines. The most exploited
and lowest-paid plantation labour was provided overwhelmingly by Adivasis (from
Chhota Nagpur to the Assam tea plantations) and Dalits (from the Tamil Nadu
Kaveri delta to the tea, coffee, and rubber plantations of Sri Lanka, Malaysia and
other parts of south India). Dalits—particularly the field servant castes such as the
Mahars of Maharashtra—also provided labour for such dangerous and low-paid
jobs as military service (where this was open to them), the mines and unskilled
labour (gang men) on the railways. In contrast, the more skilled positions in the new
jute and textile factories were filled by middle-caste peasants and tenants (Marathas
and Kunbis in the textile mills of Bombay, north Bihar peasants in Calcutta jute
mills) as were more skilled positions and more organised positions (even coolies) on
the railroads and elsewhere.
Thus, from the very beginning, not only was the educated elite, composed of
higher castes, but the emerging Indian working class was divided along caste lines.
The old feudal order left its stamp on the emerging capitalist relations of production.
In industry as well as agriculture, Dalits came to occupy the lowest, most degraded
and lowest-paid positions in the working class. The fact that at least some jobs were
available outside the village (particularly those on railways, military, etc.) gave them a
position from which to organise and fight, but the division of the working class posed
tremendous problems about the form in which this fight would be carried on.
 The D alit Liberation M ovement in Colonial Period 281

Finally, in the realm of ideology, on the one hand British rule confronted Indians
with new ideas of science, equality and freedom, while on the other it presented them
with the sophisticated forms of modern racism which proliferated in Europe with the
need to justify colonial rule over Third World peoples. In the Wryan theory of race5,
the upper castes (brahmins>kshatriyas and vaisyas) were thought to be descendants
of eariy Aryan invaders while Dalits and Adivasis were described as descendents of
conquered non-Aryan peoples (Dravidians, Mongoloid, etc.) and the middle-caste
shudras were considered to be of mixed race in the north and of Dravidian origin in
the south. With this went the idea of the cultural superiority of the Aryans and their
dominant, if not exclusive, role in defining Indian culture'. This theory, originated by
Europeans and forming the basis of the way British writers of censuses, gazetteers,
etc. understood caste, was picked up by the Indian educated elite who used it on the
one hand to justify their own claim to equality with the British (as equally Wryan)
and on the other to justify their class rights to exploit the tinferior, lower castes. Thus,
traditional, religious-based, notions of the hereditary distinctions between castes
were strengthened, if transformed, and were given the backing of science, in this
modern form of racism.
It is thus not really surprising that it was Ambedkar, of all the delegates to the
first Round Table Conference, who most fiercely condemned the British government:

O ur w rongs have rem ained as o p e n sores a nd th e y have n o t been rig h te d , a lth o u g h

150 years o f British rule have ro lle d away. O f w h a t g o o d is such a g o v e rn m e n t to
anybody? It was a g o v e rn m e n t w h ic h d id realize th a t th e cap ita lists w ere d e n yin g
th e w orkers a liv in g w age and d e c e n t c o n d itio n s o f w o rk and w h ich d id realize th a t
th e landlords were, squeezing th e masses dry, and y e t it d id n o t rem ove social evils
th a t b lig h te d th e lives o f th e d o w n -tro d d e n classes fo r several years.8

And as he told a Dalit conference prior to this: (It is only in a Swaraj constitution
that you stand any chance of getting political power in your hands without which you
cannot bring salvation to our people/9Yet, for Dalits more than for any other section
of the Indian population, the issue of how the national movement was to be united
with the anti-feudal movement and how thoroughly the anti-feudal movement itself
would be carried through was of life and death importance.

A N T i-F E U D A L T A S K S O F T H E IN D IA N R E V O L U T IO N

The specific characteristics of Indian caste feudalism and the way it was transformed
and yet essentially maintained by British colonial rule defined the specific anti-feudal
tasks of the Indian revolution. We will outline these here as the basis for evaluation
and analysis of the movements that took place in 20th century India.
1 . The most basic anti-feudal task, the land question^ took on extremely complex
features as a result of the Indian caste feudalism. Because of the way in
which hierarchical relations were maintained within the village and among
282 - Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

the exploited classes themselves, and because of the way in which productive
work for the land was institutionalised through the jajmani/balutedari system,
it was insufficient to look at the land question simply in terras of abolition
of landlordism (zamindari, taluqdari, khoti, inamdari or whatever). Similarly,
the slogan of land to the tiller1was abstract and insufficient In the Indian
context—and even erroneous, if it was taken to imply that revolutionary land
reform could be achieved through giving a cultivating tenant the right to the
land. For the fact was that much of the land had.rt^o^lIers— cultivating
middle-caste peasant, whether tenant ... :,01

whose connection,,!:0.4:he. land (i£ not recognised

longstanding. Hie very inequality among the exploited institutionalised
through the feudal caste hierarchy meant that the need for creating unity in
the context of resolving the land question was crucial. It is hard to see how
this could be done without a specific programme of constituting poor peasant
committee (including Dalits as well as caste-Hindu toilers) who would have
the responsibility of seizing and distributing the village lands and instituting
necessary programmes of co-operative and collective agriculture. Otherwise^
‘abolition of landlordism’ and even the most radical version of (land ceilings’
would simply leave the land in the hands of middle-caste peasants at the cost
of fully proletarianising the Dalit field labourers.
2. Feudal forced labour in India took the specific form of veth-begar which
was institutionalised—again, through the caste system—with various duties
falling on specific artisan castes but the most arduous manual labour duties
falling upon the Dalits. Here again, particular caste-defined responsibilities
within the village were connected with the requirements of performing forced
labour for higher-level landlords and state officials. In practice, the full-fledged
abolition of begar required the abolition of the jajmani/balutedari system.
3. The creation of a new democratic culture is a crucial anti-feudal task which, in
India, required a specific fight against the brahmanic Hinduism which upheld
caste feudalism and against the modern forms of racist ideology which served
to back it up and an eiFort to create the unity of the exploited in the process
of this fight.
4. Finally, because of the way in which the new working class was formed from
within the feudal system, it not only had to lead the central agrarian tasks of
the light against feudalism but also had to fight against the adapted feudal
relationships within its own ranks—the caste division of labourers and the
brahmanic culture.

T H E RISE O F D A L IT M O V E M E N T S

Though attempts were begun by the Dalit castes from the late 19th century to
organise themselves, the various sections of the Dalit liberation movement really
began to take off from the 1920s, in the context of the strong social reform and anti­
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 283

caste movements whicn were penetrating the middle-caste peasantry and the national
movement which was beffinnins: to develop a genuine mass base. The most important
movements^
was or£ankeii.n_lS26; the movement under Ambedkar in Maharashtra, mainly

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tfie Adi-Andhra movement m Andhra which had its first conference in 1917; the
Aai-Karnataka movement; the Ädi-Hindu movement mainlv centred around Kanpur
m UP; and the organising the Pulayas and Cherumans m Kerala.10
0 1

In most of the cases the JViontagu-Chelmsford reforms orovided a spark for the
organisation of Dalits, but the crucial background was the massive economic and
political upheavals of the post-War period. The movements had a linguistic-national
organisational base and varied according to the specific social characteristics in
different areas, but tnere was consideraole all-India exchange of ideas and, by the
1930s, this was beginning to take the shape of all-India conferences with Ambedkar
emerging as the clear national leader of the movement. The founding of the
Scheduled Castes Federation in 1942, and its later conversion into the Republican
Party, gave Dalits a genuine all-Inaia political organisation; though this remained
weak, except in certain specific localities, and did not by any means constitute the
entire Dalit movement.
The social reform and anti-caste movements played an important nurturing and
facilitating一 though often an ambivalent—role in relation to the Dalits. Thus the
movements in Maharashtra, and Mahars to a significant extent, came out of and were
influenced by the non-brahmin movements In those areas, especially their radical
sections—the Satyashodhak Samaj and Self-Respect movement. The Punjabi Ad-
Dharm leaders had nearly all been previously in the Arya Samaj. Brahmo Samaj
upper-caste reformers helped to instigate and aid the iNamasnudra movement and
the Adi-Andhras. Dalits in Kerala were influenced and helped by the Ezhava-based
movement under Sri Narayana Guru.
In nearly all these cases, the ambivalence in the relationship and the reason why
Dalits in the end found it necessary to organise on their own came from the fact
that the caste-Hindu based movements failed to create, a really radical anti-caste
unity among Dalits and lower middle-caste Hindus. The Arya Samaj and non­
brahmin movements, in particular, aspired to create such a unity and did succeed
to an extent in establishing a basis for radical action among sections of the middle-
caste peasants. But this proved insufficient. Even here, there was an important
difference: the northern-based Arya Samaj never really challenged the Aryan notion
or (chaturvarnya as such; rather, it sougnt to <purify, the lower castes, whereas the non­
brahmin movements mounted a thorough-going ideological challenge to the whole
notion of caste hierarchy as such and sought to create a mass unity on the basis not
only of modern secularism and scientific thinking but also in terms of being once-
united original inhabitants of the country (the Wryan theory^ turned upside down).
Thus, whereas the Punjabi Ad-Dharm movement broke with the Arya Samaj
both organisationally and ideologically (though the Arya Samaj itself continued to
284 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

foster some anti-untouchability activities), the Dalit movements of the south and
west accepted and even carried forward the general ideology of the broader non-
brahmin movements, but criticised the middle-caste non-brahmins for betraying
this ideology and falling prey to brahmanic culture as well as to pure self-interest
in gaining government jobs and posts. And this criticism was not wrong. For, the
middle position of the non-brahmins—in particular those whose claims to land
and access to higher education gave them the potential of becoming the privileged
classes in the developing capitalist society—made their opposition to feudalism an
ambivalent one. Thus, they became anti-brahmin more than £anti-caste\ And, in the
important case of Maharashtra, by the time the non-brahmin peasant movement
joined the national government it did so by almost surrendering to the upper-caste
and bourgeois leadership of the National Congress, not by maintaining its own social
radicalism or any separate peasant organisation. The isolation and separatism5of the
Dalit movements was thus forced on them.
Thus, in Maharashtra, Ambedkar’s movement developed with support
from leaders such as Shahu Maharaj and with many activists coming from the
Satyashodhak movement and out of schools founded by non-brahmin leaders.
Ambedkar frequently referred to himself as a <non-brahmin, (not simply an
iuntouchable,) scholar, and became a spokesman in the legislative assembly for all
the non-brahmin Cbackward' and depressed classes5in British terminology) groups.
His Marathi speeches often used the shetji-bhatji terminology of the Satyashodhak
movement Yet, he consistently criticised the opportunism of non-brahmin leaders
and, in the end, after the non-brahmin movement was absorbed into the Congress
party under Gandhi5s leadership and its radical elements forgotten, the separatism
in Ambedkars movement came to dominate.
In Madras, educated Dalits were part of the Justice Party; but a rift grew after
the party won power, partly stimulated by disputes in a textile mill strike and partly
due to charges that the Justice Party was not giving sufficient representation to them
but was monopolising posts for higher caste non-brahmins. M. C. Rajah, the most
prominent untouchable leader, withdrew with his followers, though after this many
participated in E. V. Ramasamis Self-Respect movement which represented the
more radical thrust of the non-brahmin movement.
In Punjab, the young educated Chamars who founded the Ad-Dharm movement
had first been in the Arya Samaj, attracted by some of its ideals which held open the
promise of purification {shuddhi) to the low castes, then became disillusioned by the
control of upper castes in the movement and rejected completely the paternalistic
implication of shuddhi that untouchables needed to be purifiedMlie pattern of these
regional configurations needs to be more thoroughly studied.
But, in contrast to the ambivalence of the Dalits'relations with caste-Hindu based
anti-caste movements, their relationship to the national movement was, even worse,
an antagonistic fact was that, with the notable exception of Kerala—where the
Congress leaders themselves undertook anti-caste campaigns—almost everywhere
the Congress leadership was in the hands of upper-caste social conservatives who
were often not simply indifferent to Dalit demands but actively resisted them.
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 285

Thus, Dalit spokesmen were inclined to argue that British rule was preferable to
brahmin rule1and to look for any means—special representation, separate electorates,
alliance with Muslims—that might prevent them from being swamped by caste-
Hindu nationalists. It has to be stressed that this alienation from the organised
national movement (the Congress) was not just the result of the self-interest of a
few leaders but was a widespread opinion wherever Dalits were organised on militant
lines, and that the Congress leadership up through the time of Independence did
almost nothing to heal the split and build up Dalit confidence and unity. Though
Dalits under Ambedkar did take a nationalist position, it was as a result of their own
conviction that Independence was necessary.
Ideologically, in spite of their very diverse origins, it is remarkable how many
themes the Dalit movements shamiiaXQ■取 獻 to their thinking was the
adi theme, a definition of themselves as the. originaLinhabitaiits^oLt-he.xQ.uiitry: a
3aim that their own inherent traditions were those of equality and unity,, and a
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total rejection of caste (chaturvarnya, varnasnrama dharma) as the ïmoosition or the

conquering Aryans who used this to subjugate and divide tne natives. Very often,
this went with a.rejection of Hinduism,as,.the,reHgion,o£the,invaders and, the main
support of caste society. Ambedkar’s movement was the mQ'st iiripoxtant one that did
not stress such an adi identity， yet the theme.was still a■放rang ele among Mahars.
Ämi5eHR:ar himself, in initiating the later conversion to Buddhism^ was in a way doing
the same thing—rejecting Hinduism and attempting a return to an originaF and
equalxtarian Indian religion. Along with this went a strong secular and rationalist
stress on eauality, the necessity of modem education, the rejection of traditional
superstition and traditional ritual subordination.
These movements then organised struggles in various ways over the rejection
of all the forms of feudal bondage imposed on Dalits. The most spectacular mass
campaigns in the 1920s were efforts at the ritual level, i.e. to break down the
restrictions barring Dalits from use of common temples and water tanks. "Jhe biggest,
and very carg.£ully planned, campaigns took place in Maharashtra (the Mahad tank
satya弓rahLQ£1922',抓üich丄uli取 口拟 ed 瓜 』he.五^
temple satyasraha of 1928 and the Kalaram temple satyagraha m Nasik of 1934-35X
ancfm Kerala (the Vaikom temt)le road satyagraha or 丄924—25 and the Guruvavoor
satyagraha or 1930-3^). TJie deferences here are crucial too: tne Kerala satyagranas
were planned by radical Congressmen oi varvmg castes and met with some success
with the Travancore temple entry declaration of 1936; the Maharashtra satyagrahas
were planned primarily T5y Dalits though with some caste^Hindu support, met with
no succ„£sa^and.were nnally nalted bv Ambedkar on the grounds that he had no wish
to integrate into Hinduism anyway. But it seems jt ^ t ， J^b^r^^r_DalUs .organised
militantly, there was always some direct action or threa
‘people would swarm into the village bathingdank and'use it in 务 打CP Qf卫 PPer
caste prohibitions’11 and, during early Adi-Andhra conferences caste-Hindus closed
temples completely for fear of entry attempts.12 Also, at a symbolic level was the
adoption of particular forms of dress in defiance of feudal ‘consump恤 ry’x\Ü^ in
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which the upoer castes tried to prohibit untouchables from wearing nne clothes: the
286 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

followers of the Ad-Dharm wore red turbans and sashes which, up to then, had been
only a high-caste colour; low castes in Tamil Nadu and Kerala claimed the right to
cover their breasts which they had not been allowed to do previously, and so forth.
In terms of economic relations, the movements and struggles centred around two
themes. Ön the one hanH was the growing refusal to perform the traditional caste
duties—carrvmg away dead animals, piaymo- music at tuneral ceremonies, performing
forced labour for village headmen and government officials—a battle that was rought
in countless ways under varying auspices in countless villages and never totally won.
Amrbedkars long struggle to abolish the Mahar watan was an expression of this.This
was the direct fight against feudal forms of bondage withm the village. Related to it
was the struggle for education and employment; for, by and large, Dalits saw their
opportunity, the positive alternative to the negative fight against feudal bondage, in
escaping from the village to modern industrial and service employment. (Why this
was true is usually understood in terms of the middle-class nature of Dalit leadership,
but just as true was the weakness of the general peasant movement and its inaïïility
to pose the land question in such a way that Dalits could see a real possibility of
gaining within the village.) Thus the movements were highly involved in founding
schools, hostels and other educational associations; and they consistently demanded
fellowships, positions in existing educational institutions and reserved government
jobs. The final outcome of this was the system of concessions' which has become
so controversial today. It is important to note that such concessions were necessary
because existing caste JiscnmmaBÖn (caste and^ H and
the cultural as well as economic disabilities of the low castes) haa resulted in a heavily
divided working class. Breaking down this division, fighting the feudal relations
that nad stamped themselves on the emerging classes of the capitalist system, was
necessary to Build tKe unity of the working class and of the Indian people in the
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fight against colonial rule. But the nationalist leaders and the working ciaSvS leaders
(the communists) rarely saw it this way. As ^ result, rather than the class itself
ngritlng to build its unity, or the people organised under national leadership taking
up consciously the fight against feudal relations, the Dalit movement was isolated
an3, instead ot. becoming a vanguard part of the. anti-feudal and anti-imperialist
movement, fell into the position of asking for concessions from the nationalists as
well as from the British. This, then, brings us to the relation of the Dalits ,tg„the
national and Communist movements, and the related auestion of how the is^ugs of
power and land were posed in colonial In^ia.

D A L IT S A N D T H E N A T IO N A L M O V E M E N T :T H E IS S U E O F P O W E R

(We want to become a ruling community,, was a saying of Ambedkar and, in fact,
the drive to achieve power or a share in power was seen by him and by many not
simply as the negation of the extreme feudal subjugation of Dalits but as the basis
for achieving any other kind of gain. But, because the national movement did not
consciously organise to build alternative revolutionary systems of power m
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 287

Dalits would find a place, this demand for a share in power became expressed in
the demancTIor special, separate representation within the bourgeois parliamentary-
forms being institutionalised in India. An additional motivating fact was the strong
feeling among Dalits that they must represent themselves, that caste-Hindus could
not be trusted to represent them (nor for that matter could the British government),
that the nature of caste and class conflict was so great that, no caste-Hindu could
speak for their interests.
The conflict took specific form in the Dalit demand for separate electorates
(constituencies only of Dalits choosing Dalit representatives to the Parliament) versus
the original nationalist unwillingness to concede anything until finally a compromise,
of reserved seats (Dalit representatives chosen by general, i.e. caste-Hindu plus
Dalit, constituencies) was forced on them. The issue here was different from that of
separate electorates for Muslims because there was at no point a Dalit demand, or
the possibility of a demand, for a separate homeland. Rather, the question was one of
how to achieve the unity of the Indian nation. Gandhis firm opposition to separate
electorates, too, had nothing to do with the threat to Indian unity but rather the
threat to Hindu unity and came from his religiously-motivated insistence that Dalits
were part of the Hindu community. It might also be added that the idea of separate
elecfomtës7 0 r Tunctionar representation of specific social groups or classes, was one
that went beyond bourgeois democratic forms entirely and in a sense could be seen
as an aspect of proletarian democracy, whereas reserved seats not only allowed caste-
Hindu control of Dalit political representation (as Ambedkar so bitterly and effectively
estaBIisTieS^in ^What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the UntouchablesO but
also proved an ideal method for the bourgeois state to absorb and negate the Dalit
movement, eivins：Dalits some semblance of power within the bourgeois framework
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but at the cost o f giving ud militancy. The issue, however, was very rarely seen in
this way. Instead, considerations of power prevailed (the upper-class/caste drive to
control the legislatures through control of Congress, and the fact that Dalits did
not simply have the same political clout as Muslims); the demand for separate
electorates was seen by most non-Dalits as one leading to separatism and disunity.
oince the conflict between Dalits and the congress nationalists was embodied
in the relation between Ambedkar and Gandhi, especially over the issue of separate
electorates climaxing in tne epic fast5of 1932, it is worth examining this in some
detail. Ambedkar, unlike most Dalit spokesmen, was not throughout a proponent
with nearly everyone
m 1919 m testifying before the öouthborough committee, auring the 1920s he
turned away from them. Apparently believing they would lead to disunity， he argued
against them betöre the öimon Commission. The 1920s, it should be noted, was not
only the decade ot the real.upsurge. of .Dalit. movements as mass movements, it was
also the greatest period ot co-operation between Ambedkar and caste-Hindu social
radicals (i.e. tiie non-brahmm movement). This may well have given Ambedkar some
confidence that separate electorates were not necessary. Ihe Nagpur conference
of!5epressed Classes in 1930, just before Ambedkar left for the first Round Table
Conference, was in a sense a landmark. Here, Ambedkar became the first major Dalit
288 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

leader to state forcefully the need for Indeoendence as the minimal basis for solving
DaHt problems, and he stated publicly that he would be satisfied with reserved seats as
long as there was adult suffrage. Then7at London, he completely reversed his position
and asked for separate electorates (at this conference too, it should be added, with
tEe Congress absent 11e was the most forceful spokesman for Indian Independence).
By the time of the second Round Table Conference this attitude had hardened to
produce the major confrontation with Gandhi, \Vhy?
Two reasons that have been suggested are that the unanimous Dalit opinion, aside
from Ämfcieäkär, was in favour of separate electorates, and that Ambedkar felt bound
to represent this; and Ambedkar^ personal experience ot Lrandhi s hardline and even
arrogant attitude13 which rejected not only separate electorates but even reserved
seats. To this it may be jdded 1930^31r th the Maharashtrian non-
brahmins were moving in.to C^ that meant an essential aoandonment
oi: their own independently-based social radicalism 9^4怎 (碑印P〇rary) acceptance of
upper-class, upper-caste Congress leadership.
WKat then of Gandhi^ Here it is worth noting that, when Ambedkar and Gandhi
met for the first time in 1930, Ambedkar not only felt he had been treated rudely, but
Gandhi himself admitted that he had not known that Ambedkar himself was a Dalit
but thought rather that he was a brahmin social reformer aiding the untouchables!
In other words, v^andhi had not only done substantially nothing himself on the
issue of untouchabiliiy up to this time, but he betrayea a crucial ignorance oi the
movement which had been going on for over a decade and of its leadership. Indeed
he unwittingly betrayed his assumption that Dalits themselves were incapable of
doin^ much on their own or of producing their own leadership.
Ambedkar, therefore, insisted on separate electorates. Gandm insisted equally
adamantly that Dalits were Hindus and must be represented by Hindus as a whole
(and was met on his return from London by a black-flag demonstration of 8,000
Bombay Dalits).14 The British Communal Award gave Ambedkar his separate
electorates; and Gandhi undertook his fast~to-death in protest. Here again it has to
be stressed that, this first fast over the.(issue, of untouchability was not a fast against
the British for nationalist causes or against the oppressive caste system, but was a
fast against Dalits themselves to^force tte give up .their demands. Ambedkar
conceded—knowing that if Gandhi died there would be massive reprisals on his
people throughout India—and the result was the Poona Pact of 25 September 1932,
which as a compromise gave Dalits the reserved seats that Ambedkar had demanded
in the first place. For Dalit? jrxd for Ambedkar, the lesson was. clean.jQl a laith in
the ability of satyagraha to Change the hearts, of caste-Hindus, rather that only by
fighting for their rights would Dalits win anything at all.
After 1932, Gandhi made 'untouchability woric a major programme of the
v.on^ress and for many a crucial moral part of the Indian national movement. And
yet essential paternalism,^ Dalits were Hindus
remained in the choice of the tern 'Hanjan1, in the insistence that caste-Hindus
aïid わöt Dalits shöül'd cö位 ïöl the Harijan Sevak §angh. However ‘radical’Gandhi’s
own views on caste became (in approving or mter-dining and inter-marriage, for
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 289

example), he never dropped the belief in chaturvarnya or the idea that children
should follow their fathers}professions, themes that stood in direct contradiction to
the anti-feudal principles of the Dalit movement. Even worse, anti-untouchability
became identified with the Gandhian, i.e. the conservative, wing of the Congress
and~remained a distraction and diversion to the radicals within Congress (and for
that matter the Communist Left) who never developed a programme of their own
on the issue or caste.
It seems rair to say that, essenriailv, the British Raj did nothing to transform
caste feudalism or to alleviate the worst aspects ot untoucnability. Whatever steps
were taken came m the transition period between the wars when concessions
were being given to Indian nationalists. And whatever steps the Indian nationalist
leadership took came as a response to Dalit struggles. In,-1917—after the first
'depressed classes5conferences were organised in Bombay and Dalits as well as
norirlOThïïtiïis 'made proposals for separate electorates—the Congress reversed its
policy of excluding ‘social reform’ and passed a resolution urging upon 'the people of
丄naia tße necessity，justice and righteousn— ess
custom upon the Depressed.Classes^In the 1920s, the governments of Madras and
BomEay (controlled or influenced by non-brahmin organisations) passed resolutions
confirming the rights of Dalits to equal use of government facilities, schools and
wells; so did several progressive princely states. These did little, however, to provide
reinforcement and remained almost totally ineffective. In 1931, the Karachi Congress
session propounded a programme of fundamental rights which called for equal
access for all to public employment etc. regardless of caste and equal right to use of
public roads, wells, schools and other facilities. Temple entry bills were introduced
between 1932 and 193b in the Central Assembly, Madras and Bombay legislatures
and generally met with opposition from both the government and conservatives in
Congress. Baroda and Travancore states proclaimed temple entry in 1933 and 193b.
In 1938, after Congress legislatures were elected, temple entry bills were passed in
Madras and Bomoay.15
But the full and formal Abolition of untouchability^ad to wait until Independence.
In 1946, the Scheduled Caste Federation fought for the reserved seats but lost
heavily to (Congress HarijansJ in strongly nationalist and caste-Hindu dominated
constituencies. As a result, the movement suffered a blow and Dalit demands were
ignored in the final settlements and in the traumas of the Hindu-Muslim holocaust.
The Scheduled Caste Federation then launched satyagrahas in Bombay, Pune,
Lucknow, Kanpur and Wardha, demanding that the Congress make known their
proposals for giving rights to Dalits; the satyagraha forced the abrogation of the
Pune session of the Bombay Legislative Assembly and a compromise meeting with
Ambedkar in July.
Against this background, the Constituent Assembly met. Its resolution that
^ntouchability in any form is abolished and the imposition of any disability on
that account shall be an ofFenceJwas in line with the development of the Congress
movement in the last 25 years.16 But the system of protective discrimination —i.e.
reserved positions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government service
290 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

and educational institutions—was not at all in line with Congress (or Gandhian)
thinking and so was even more clearly then the nationalist response to Dalit struggles,
a result of the Dalit movement itself.

D A L IT S A N D T H E LEFT: T H E IS S U E O F L A N D

The relation between the Dalit movement and the emerging Communist and Left
movement was, unfortunately, little better than that with the national movement.
The Left evolved no programme of its own regarding the abolition of caste. And,
m regard to working class orgamsmg， a history of antagonism was built u p . 丄he
major exception was in fightine- feudalism m agrarian relations where the All Inaia
Kisan öabha (AIKS) orogramme dia make an important contribution. Hus, however,
remained partial and isolatea from the organised Dalit movement.
In terms of the working class, the position or i^alits as unskilled workers in tne
most dangerous and difficult-to-organise jobs put them in the position of potential
antagonism to other working-class-organising in the sense that they were often
ready to act as strike-breakers in the hope of getting higher-level jobs (the same
phenomenon could be seen elsewhere where groups were excluded and so given no
opportunity to develop working class solidarity, e.g. among US blacks prior to World
War I), ana in the sense that they were inclined to form separate unions.
Thus, Dalit willingness to return to work first in a Dalit-caste Hindu 1921 mill
strike in Madras provoked violence and a conflict with the Justice Party. Dalits were
part of the major 1928 Bombay textile strike which brought Communists to the
leadership of the working class movement. But, when a second strike was called in
1929, Ambedkar not only opposed it but attempted to actively organise Dalit strike­
breakers. His reasons were the special hardships imposed on the economically-weaker
Dalits by the earlier strike and the fact that the womng class leaders had taken no
stand regarding the barring of Dalits from the better-paid weaving department.17
On the other side of what proved to be an enduring hostility between Amoedkar and
the Communists, it has to be emphasised that the Communists concentrated their
attempts on militant economic gains, on organising the working class in its fight for
survival, rather than attempting to put it in the leadership of the anti-imperialist
and anti-feudal struggles. The latter, as we have emphasised, meant not simply that
workers should give leadership to a peasant movement but that the working class
itself should fight to break down the feudal within it that held Dalits down. Yet
nothing was done by AITUC on the caste issue and in the Bombay textile industry,
where ‘the red flag was planted in the Indian working class’ 50 years ago, Dalits
remain barred up to the present from (non-automated) weaving departments.
The most central aspect of the anti-feudal struggle for Dalits and for other toiling
peasants was, however, the land issue and village economic relations. Here, the work
of the Kisan Sabha becomes crucial. By the late 1930s and 1940s, the AIKS had
become a force in several areas—most especially Bihar, Andhra, Kerala, UP (in a
sense, for, Kisan Sabhas here remained outside the AIKS for a long time)—and made
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 291

a conscious and revolutionary effort to evolve an all-round anti-feudal programme

that would be in the interests of poor as well as middle and rich peasants.
But the gaps were crucial. The top AIKS leadership was almost entirely of
non-peasant origin; even though peasants came to be crucial as cadres, these were
overwhelmingly drawn from caste-Hindu middle-rich peasants even at a time when
the AIKS was attracting more and more poor and low-caste peasants; partly perhaps
because of this and partly because of the strenuous pace of organising there was
little formulation of the Indian problem in Indian terms and abstract class categories
were simply borrowed, usually from European thinking. The AIKS did not pass a
resolution on untouchability until 194518 and never really considered cultural-level
struggles of importance (this applied also to the role of women). Opposing feudal
Torced labour1was a major element of Kisan Sabha programmes but this was never
analysed in its specific expression through caste bondage.
This, in itself, may not have been of overwhelming significance. After all, the fact
that forced labour was actively opposed was of crucial significance to the Dalit toilers
who took part and were apparently a major part of the Telangana rebellion. This may
be one of the reasons for the enthusiastic mobilisation of Dalits, who reportedly-
provided the major element of the armed squads.19The most important failure of the
AIKS was at a different level. It lay in the way it formulated the land question itself.
For the AIKS, land to the tiller' was the central anti-feudal demand, and it was
expressed mainly in terms of abolition of landlordship (zaminäari, taluqdari, klioti,
jenmi, malguzari, etc.). Along with this, ryotwari peasants were to be freed from
indebtedness to moneylenders and from government over-assessments. Lower-level
feudal relations within the village seemed to be invisible to the AIKS. A category of
^agricultural labourers, was identified and this presumably included almost all Dalit
toilers, but they were seen in European terms as peasants dispossessed of the land.
The Kisan Sabha leadership was amoigupus about tneir inclusion, but where they
argued for unity of interest between 'kisans* ana agricultural labourers' it was in terms
of the fact that middle-D〇or peasants were rapidly becoming impoverished, losing
lands, and becoming landless labourers..The special, traditional position of Dalit field
servants with their hereditary connection to the land was simply not taken note of.
A 1947 AIKS resolution on the abolition or landlordism stated: 'All agricultural
labourers must have a minimum wage. All other tillers of the soil must get proprietary-
rights in it under their direct cultivation, and cultivable waste land must be distributed
among poor peasants and agricultural labourers/20 Thus, while Dalits here were
somewhat ambiguously seen as 'tillers' they were not considered to have any rights in
the land at all; only their wage interests were to be protected and their land hunger
satisfied by leftover— —i.e. waste5land. Thus, in spite of the participation of poor
peasants and landless toilers in kisan Sabha agitation, it is not surprising—because
only middle-caste cultivating peasants were seen as having rights in the land—that
the end result was land reforms which even in their most radical version (e.g. Kerala)
have benefited rich peasants. (Land to the tiller^, then, systematically excluded Dalits.
On the other side, the Dalit movement itself also took up the issue of land, but
in an equally partial way. Campaigns against veth-begar and specific menial and
 292 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

degrading caste duties (carrying away dead cattle, serving officials) were, as noted
above, an important part of the movement and were, of course, equivalent to the
AIKS opposition to 'feudal forced labour\ But, generally, these were undertaken by
the Dalit movement in such a way that the alternative was seen, not as revolutionary
land reform in the villages or transformation of the villages, but rather as moving
from the villages altogether to new jobs in industry and service. The inability to see
any real opportunity for advance within the village was, of course, realistic in the
absence of a revolutionary movement.
No direct struggles for land for Dalits were apparently taken up before
Independence, but as far as Ambedkar at least was concerned it seems the issue of land
was always present. Again, though it was a question of looking beyond the village, in
one of his earlier meetings he argued that Dalits should look for land for colonisation.
In later meetings, he considered the possibility of settlements in Sind.21The climax of
this, however, came in 1942, at the conference which founded the Scheduled Caste
Federation, when a resolution was passed on separate village settlements. This was
a demand that Dalits from all the villages in one area (later sometimes specified as
I a taluka) should be given land—to be provided both from unoccupied government
[ land and from land bought up by the government for the purpose—so that they
j could form independent settlements of their own.22 This has come to be known as
? the (Dalitstan demand. But the term is something of a misnomer for it is not really a
\ demand for a Dalit homeland but rather a way of posing the land question for Dalits,
j In contrast to the Kisan Sabha, here it is implicit that Dalits do have rights to land,
j and not only to waste\ But the emphasis is still on moving away from the villages;
/ and, because this land demand was not linked to a proposal for agrarian revolution,
it served instead to pose the interests of Dalits against those of all caste-Hindus and
appeared as a totally utopian proposal around which it was impossible to organise
struggles. Yet, the continual survival of the idea undoubtedly lies both in the land
hunger of Dalits and their continued feeling of insecurity as a village minority.
Ambedkar^ final thoughts on the land question, however, were on very different
lines. Urging State Socialism, he argued:

N either co n so lid a tio n [o f land h o ld in g s ] n o r te n a n c y le g is la tio n can be o f any help

to th e 60 m illio n s o f un to u ch a b le s w h o are ju s t landless labourers. O nly c o lle ctive
farm s can h e lp them . ... A g ric u ltu re shall be a state in d u stry. Land w ill b e lo n g to
th e State and shall be le t o u t to villagers w ith o u t d is tin c tio n o f caste or creed and in
such a m anner th a tth e re w ill be no la n d lo rd , no te n a n t, a nd no land-less labourer.23

For an avowed anti-Communist and a stem critic of Indian ‘socialism’ it was an

impressive programme. What was lacking, of course, was an idea of how it might
be achieved.
In the end it seems that, however anti-Communist or anti-nationalist Dalit
leadership might be, the Dalit movement remained consistently radical on the land
question. It was Ambedkar who proposed a bill and led a march in 1986 for the
abolition of the khoti system in the Konkan, and attempted to arouse Mahars in
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 293

opposition. In Bengal, the Namashudras allied with Muslims against the Hindu
bhadmlok nationalists—not simply on opportunist grounds but on a programme
of which the central feature was abolition of zamindari, and the Scheduled Castes
withdrew their support when this programme was reneged upon.24 The organised
Dalit movement was inevitably a radical force for agrarian revolution and not just for
the5abolition of'cultural5aspects of caste bondage. But, in the absence of integration
into an all-round peasant movement, this force could have little impact in the rural
areas before Independence.

C O N C L U S IO N

One of the most striking features of the anti-feudal movement in colonial India
was its fragmentation—a fragmentation which reflected the divisions among the
exploited sections that were so characteristic of Indian caste feudalism.
While social reform and anti-caste movements arose throughout India, and all
provided some kind of ground for Dalits to begin to move ahead, the non-brahmin
movements of south and west India posed a genuine possibility of a radical movement
against caste traditions that could unify both caste-Hindu toilers and Dalits.
Their ideology itself and the principles of their most radical organisations—the
Satyashodhak Samaj and the Self-Respect movement—posed a thorough challenge
to caste hierarchy and, in fact, provided the central ideological themes for the Dalit
movements. But such unity did not materialise as the more conservative wing of these
movements gained strength among caste-Hindu peasants and educated sections.
It might have been expected that a national movement, dominated by bourgeois
and upper-caste forces would prove resistant to Dalit demands and respond only
in a nominal and co-opting way. More serious really was the failure of the Left to
provide a radical and unifying anti-feudal alternative. The Communists organised
the working class in its struggle for survival and at points this organisation aided the
lowest sections of that class, but they failed really to put the working class politically
in the leadership of the anti-feudal movement and as a result the class remains divided
and the organisation benefited mainly its skilled and more upper-caste sections.
Kisan Sabha organising, in its areas of strength, benefited Dalits more directly.
The fight against feudal force-labour struck at bondage within the village; the
organisation of agricultural labourers, which had its beginnings in the 1940s, also
involved a challenge to feudal servitude: as a Kerala landlord put it, (His body and
his father s body are my property and he dares to ask for wages. Is it rights?'25The
demand for giving cultivable waste land to agricultural labourers and poor peasants,
though a partial one, proved to be the main form around which Dalit struggles for
land took place, particularly after Independence. And yet this was insufficient. In
failing to pose the land issue in a July revolutionary and thoroughgoing way, the
Kisan Sabba gave no defence against the real alternative programme to what became
an essentially bourgeois land reform and offered no way to prevent its most militant
agricultural labourer unions from being caught in the trap of economism in the post-
294 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

Independence period. The connection between agrarian revolution and the wage-
based organising o f labourers remains problematical.
Indian Communists thus failed to formulate a programme for a revolutionary anti-
feudal movement which could unify the exploited, which could take up cultural and
political as well as economic issues, and which could pose a real alternative to bourgeois
land reform (abolition of zamindari)， bourgeois notions of‘uplift’of depressed groups，
bourgeois separation of ‘cultural’ and ‘economic’ factors, and bourgeois strategies of
creating and absorbing an educated elite among the down-trodden sections.
This was not simply a case of being relatively weak, or of being unable to take
leadership of the national movement away from bourgeois upper-caste nationalists.
It may well have been impossible to organise a struggle for a full-scale agrarian
revolution or do more than fight on partial demands linked to it. The problem was
that the agrarian revolution was never really posed. The Left was unable to appear
before the people as anything more than devoted organisers of the working class on
economic demands and (with the exception of 1942) more militant anti-imperialists.
It was in this context that the Dalit movement developed before Independence
as an isolated .revolt'o£ th©-weakest and most oppressed sections of the population.
The isolation had serious consequences; for it meant that, instead of organising as the
most revolutionary section of a unified movement, Dalits developed a separatism in
which they made demands of'nationalists as well as the British. A hostility developed
to communism and class analysis (which was put forward in such a way as to appear
to Dalits to exclude considerations ofcaste^ as such), which continues to have serious
consequences today.
Still the achievements of the Dalit movement are impressive, and are too often
overlooked. They have given birth to a tradition of struggle in many areas, not only
on cultural and ritual issues but on breaking feudal bonds. They have mounted
powerful pressure on the national movement resulting in constitutional provisions for
reservations and laws making imtouchability an offence; unsatisfactory as these have
been, they have still provided weapons in the hands of low-caste organisers. They have
created a deep-seated conviction of equality and self-confidence which is inevitably
making itself heard. If this has not yet achieved a revolutionary transformation in the
life of the most exploited sections of society, it is because of the incompleteness of
the revolutionary and democratic movement itself. If tms is to go forward, the Dalit
movement will inevitably be a part of it.

N O T E S A N D R E FER EN C ES

1 TKere are still limited studies of the existing Dalit movements and some existing works
have been unavailable to us. But among important sources are the ‘tribes and caste’ studies of
the British period (Thurston, Blunt, Enthoven, etc.) which give some ethnographic data on the
various castes. Contemporary village studies which give detailed data about social relations in the
villages studied are also very useful. Whatever may be the theoretical bias of the authors, the most
useful collection on Dalits, though somewhat dated, is J. Michael Mahar, ed,, The U ntouchable
 The D alit Liberation M ovem ent in Colonial Period 295

in Contemporary India (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1972). Among these, in terms
of the Dalit castes studied, can be included: On the Chamars—J. Michael Mahar, Agents of
Dharma in a North Indian Village, in Untouchables in Contemporary IndiayMahar, 17-36; Oscar
Lewis, Village Life in Northern India (New York: Vintage Books, 1975); M. C. Pradhan, The
Political System of the Jats o f Northern India (Bombay: Oxford University Press,1966); On the
Pallas in Tamil Nadu—André Béteille, Caste, Class and Power (Bombay: Oxford University
Press, 1969); Kathleen Gough, ^arijans in Thanjavnr7in Imperialism and Revolution in South
Asia^ edited by Kathleen Gough and Hari P. Sharma (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973);
Kathleen Gough, cColonial Economics in Southeast India^ Economic and Political Weekly, vol.
12, n o .13 (26 March 1977), 541-54; On the Paraiyans in Chingleput district,Tamil Nadu—
Joan Mencher, Continuity and Change in an ex-Untouchable Community of South India in
Untouchables in Contemporary India, Mahar, 37-56; Joan Mencher, 'Hie Caste System Upside
Down, or Hie Not So-Mysterious East*, Current Anthropology^ vol.15, no. 4 (December 1974),
469-93; Marguerite Ross Barnett and Steve Barnett,'Contemporary Peasant and Post-Peasant
Alternative in South India:IKe Ideas of a Militant Untouchable1, of New York Academy
of Sciences^ vol.220 (1973), 385-410; On the Holeyas or Adi~Karnatakas—T. Scarlett Epstein,
Economic Development and Social Change in South India (Manchester: Manchester University
Press, 1962); On the Pans of the Kondmal Hills, Orissa— R G. Bailey, Caste and the Economic
Fr ⑽ 汾 r (Manchester: Manchester University Press，1957); and, on the Dublas or Halpatis of
Gujarat~~Jan Breman, Patronage and Exploitation (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1974); Jan Breman， ‘Mobilisation of Landless Labourers: Halpatis of South Gujarat’， ⑽ 麵 /c
必 .似 / 浓 ペ ケ ，vol.9, n o .12 (1974)，489- 96. Studies of specific Dalit movements are still

rare, but include Eleanor Zelliott^ many works on the Mahars: a forthcoming book by Mark
Juergensmeyer on the Ad~Dharm movement in the Punjab and Owen Lynch, The Politics of
Untouchability (New York: Vintage Books, 1966), on the Chamars/Jatavs in Agra.
2 See Louis Dumont, Homo Hierarchicus (Chicago and London: Lmversity of Chicago
Press, 1970); McKim Marriott and Ronald Inden,'Caste Encyclopedia Britannica^vol.
3 (Chicago: Bentons, 1974), 982-91.
3For a useful discussion, see Eric Stokes, The Peasant and the Raj (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1978)，‘Introduction，，1一18 and Chapter 2 ,‘Privileged Land Tenure in Village
India in the Early Nineteenth しentury’，46_62.
4These types were often modified. However, for instance, as Frank Perlin shows for 17th
century Maharasntra, feudal states were often organised by D ig families buying up various
types of watan and inam rights; it is thus crucial to look beyond the purely formal definition
of rights for any complete analysis.
5 For an excellent description of such a system see Gough， ‘Colonial Economics in
Southeast India’.
6See, for example, Swasti Mitter, who records over 100 villages where two-thirds of the
population were Rajbanshi and Pods who were not only share-croppers but also joteda-n) this,
of course, is not a tDalit, type of situation; lSonarpur: A Peasant s View of the Class W ar, South
Asian Review^ vol.8, no. 4 (197^ J. Tlie situation in Bengal in many ways seems anomalous and
needs closer study.
7Marc Galanter,111ie Abolition of Disabilities: Untouchability and the Law^in Untouchables
in Contemporary IndiayMahar, 227-314.
8Quoted in Dhananjay Keer, Dr Ambedkar: Life and Mission (Bombay: Popular Prakashan,
1954)，150.
296 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt

10 See Mark Juergensmeyer， ‘A d-Dharm: Origins of a Revolutionary Religion and

'Myth and Mobilisation: The Religious Symbols of Untouchables5, forthcoming book from
University of California Press; Eleanor Zelliot, le a rn in g the Use of Political Means: The
Mahars of MaharashtraJin Caste in Indian Politics^ edited by Rajni Kothari, 27-65 (New Delhi:
Orient Longman, 1970); Eleanor Zelliot, 'Gandhi and Ambedkar: A Study in Leadership*
in Untouchables in Contemporary India, Mahar, 69-95; C. B. Khairmode, Dr Bhimrao Ramji
(Marathi) 5 vols (Bombay: Baudhian Panchayat Samid, 1952-68); L H. Broomfield,
Elite Conflict in a Plural Society: Twentieth Century Bengal (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1968) (contains limited information of the Namashudras); V. R. Shinde, Turva
Bangalyantil As-prushya Vargachya Uce Shikshanaci Pragiti, in Shinde Lekhangraha (Marathi)
(Pune: publisher unknown, 1963): Marguerite Barnett and Steve Barnett, 'Contemporary
Peasant and Post-Peasant Alternative,; Uma Ramaswamv/Scheduled Castes in Andhra: Some
Aspects of Social Change^, Economic and Political Weekly^ v ol.9, no. 29,(1974), 1153-58; and
Uma Ramaswamv, 'Self-Identity among Scheduled Castes: A Study of Andhra Pradesh1,
Economic and Political Weekly^ vol.9, no. 47,(1974), 1959-64; Y. B. Abbasayalu, Scheduled Caste
Elite: A Study of Scheduled. Caste Elite in Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad: Department of Sociology,
Osmania University, 1978); Fran 〇is Houtart and Genevieve Lemercinier, {Socio-religious
9

Movements in Kerala: A Reaction to the Capitalist Mode of Production, Social Scientistyvol.

6, no. 7 (1978), 3-34.
11 Mark Juergensmeyer, A d Dharm: Religion of the Untouchables,, Times of India, 12
October 1975.
12Abbasayalu, ‘Scheduled Caste Elite’，35-37.
13 See Zelliot， ‘Learning the Use of Political Means，. On the evolution ot Gandhi’s, views
of caste, see Dennis Dalton, 'The Gandhian View of Caste, and Caste after Gandhi! in India
and Ceylon: Unity and Diversity^ edited by Philip Mason, 159-81 (London: Oxford University
Press, 1967).
14Keer, Dr Ambedkary191-92.
15Galanter, £The Abolition of Disabilities: Untouchability and the Law1.
16Keer, DrAmbedkar, 375-91; Leela Dushkin, ^Scheduled Caste Politics, in Untouchables in
Contemporary India, Mahar.
17Khairmode, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, vol. 3; Keer, DrAmbedkar, 128-29.
18M. A. Rasul,A History of the All India Kisan Sabha (Calcutta: National Book Agency,
1974) , 123. Also, on the Kisan Sabha see Maiteya Ghatak, cThe Agricultural Labourer: A Case
Study from Bengaf, National Labour Institute Bulletin (May 1977); D. N. Dhanagare, *1116
Politics of Survival: Peasant Organisations and the Left W ing in India^, Sociological Bulletin
(March 1975); D. N. Dhanagare, Teasant Protest and Politics: The Tebhaga Movement in
Bengoï, Journal of Peasant Studies^ vol. 2, no. 3 (April 1976); D. N. Dhanagare, 'Social Origins
of the Peasant Insurrection in Teiengana, Contributions to Indian Sociology^ vol.8, n o.1(1974),
109-34.
19Dhanagare, Social Origins of the Peasant Insurrection in Teiengana, 108,112.
20Rasul, History of the All India Kisan Sabha, 147.
21 Keer, Dr Ambedkar, 63,127.
22 For the full resolution, see Vasant Deshpande, Towards Social Integration (Pune:
Sliubbada-Saraswat, 1978), 167-69.
23 Keer, D r Ambedkar, 389.
24Broomfield, Elite Conflict in a Plural Society, 295-310.
25 Quoted in K. C. George. Im m ortal Punnapra-Vayalar5 (New Delhi; New Age Press,
1975) , 17-18.
 XVII

P R O T E S T A N D A C C O M M O D A T IO N ^

T w o C a s te M o v e m e n t s in E a s te rn a n d N o r t h e r n B e n g a l,
c 1 8 7 2 -1 9 3 7

Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

Almost all the historians of nationalist movement in Bengal have agreed that
sorpe castes heré remained outside the political mainstream.
The phenomenon is either explained as a failure of mobilisation1 or presented as a
manifestation of subaltern.：pa^sTOt^3 None of these two interpretations, however,
seeks to explore the mentality of these marginal groups which preferred not to
join any mainstream and evolved for themselves, at least for the time being, a
separate sociopolitical identity that took shape through movements of a different
kind. Such lower caste agitations occurring in other parts of colonial India in
the late 19th ana the early 20th centuries have been looked at primarily in two
different ways. These are considered as manifestations of protest against a dominant
system of social organisation that imposed disabilities and inflicted deprivation
on certain subordinate groups.3 Alternatively, such movements are interpreted as
expressions of ambitions and. aspirations that sought accommodation and positional
readjustments within the existing system of distribution of power and prestige.4
Both these interpretations, however, overlook the important fact of differentiation
within each of these communities. This chapter would show that within such social
groups, different levels of social consciousness and different forms of political
action emerged—all incorporated within a single movement. At one level, due
to their socioeconomic backwardness, some of these lower castes of Bengal had
developed world-views which were in many respects fundamentally different from
that of the nationalists; this resulted in their alienation from the mainstream.
However, at another level, within the same social movement of such ritually
low castes, there could be a convergence of different tendencies, some protestant
and some accommodating. Indeed, it was such convergence that actually led to*

* I am indebted to Professor Barun De for his valuable comments on an earlier draft of

this chapter. This chapter was originally published as Trotest and Accommodation: Two Caste
Movements in Eastern and Northern Bengal,c.1872-1937,, The In d ia n H isto rica l R eview , v o l.14,
nos 1-2 (June 1987 - January 1988), [published in 1990].
298 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

the strengthening or 'rise* of such movements at different historical junctures.

But, this did not preclude the possibility of divergence at a subsequent stage,
resulting in the weakening or TalF of the movements. Their social protest, as a result,
in spite of the immense possibilities of initiating some fundamental change in the
structure of society or polity, ultimately dissipated without any major or tangible
positive consequence.
The way these caste movements had developed till the middle of the 1930s also
shows that these were based on a different ideological construct on the nature of
colonial rule and on a different perspective on what should properly
w o r d I i x their Yiew of history^ British rule appeared to be an improv^nent over
a darker past, and in their frame of reference caste5preceded the larger natiorf. In
this sense, tfiese movements represented some parallel streams of consciousness, and
were not certainly the distributaries of any major stream of nationalist politics in the
country. But subsequently, the dominant streams sought to capture them, and this
Viver capture'process picked up momentum in the 1940s?when the transfer of power
became an imminent possibility. At this stage, while the protesting spirit of the masses
was channelised into the other more class-oriented movements, the accommodating
elements were appropriated by the Congress. This shifting of the flow into the major
streams gradually reduced the lesser parallel streams into 'beheaded rivers1, some of
them, however, still maintaining their inconsequential existence, much as oxbow
bends do in an active delta.
All these trends have been illustrated here through a comparative study of two
major caste movements in Bengal during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries:
that of the Namasudras in eastern Bengal and of the Rajbansis in the north. These
were perhaps the two most powerful movements among the Scheduled Castes of
Bengal and, when separate Scheduled Caste politics emerged in this province in the
1930s, it was these two communities which provided it with both leadership and a
popular support base. And so far as the nationalist movement was concerned, the
non-participation of these two large communities constituted a major constraint that
circumscribed its success. The Namasudras being tne largest agrarian caste in eastern
Bengal, their separatism—as mstorians of all shades would agree—weakened the
nationalist movement almost in the same way as the Muslim breakaway politics in
the early 20th century.J The Rajbansis were also a dominant peasant caste in northern
Bengal, where tneir lack of enthusiasm was perhaps the major reason behind the
inertia that was palpable in this region as far as the nationalist movement was
concerned.6The social movements of the two communities, although begun initially
as powerful protests against caste disabilities and social discrimination, ultimately
failed to leave any permanent imprint on either the social structure in the province
or on the cultural ethos of its people. Hus failure, in the final analysis, was due to
the limitations of an accommodating leadership, which in the end looked only for
certain institutional concessions to ensure their own positional improvements, while
the dissent of the masses, in the absence of proper mediation, also failed to effect any
permanent systemic change in Bengali society.
 Protest and Accommodation 299

The Namasudras, who were earlier known as the Chandals of Bengal, lived mainly
in its eastern districts. According to the Census of 1901, more than 75 per cent
of the Namasudra population lived in the districts of Bakarganj, Faridpur, Dacca,
Mymehsingh, Jessore and Khulna. Within this area again, a contiguous region
comprising north-eastern Bakarganj, southern Faridpur and the adjoining Narail
and Magura subdivisions of Jessore and the Sardar and Bagerhat subdivisions of
Khulna contained more than half of this caste population.7 A section of the Kochs
of north Bengal who began to call themselves Rajbansis from the early 19th century8
also lived in a contiguously definable region; in 1921 more than 88 per cent of their
population lived in the districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and the state of
Cooch Behar.9 This geographical anchorage, which may be explained in terms of
the tribal origin of both the communities,10 was certainly one of the sources of their
strength and the loss of such territorial anchorage in 1947 contributed to the decline
of their movements.
The Namasudras enjoyed a very low social status among the Hindus and were
considered as untouchables. Though untouchability se was never a problem in
colonial Bengal,11 they suffered from various social disabilities which created a
considerable social distance between them and the traditional higher castes of Bengal,
that is, the brahmans, Kayasthas and Baidyas.12 And this was further accentuated by
the specific class situation in the region. In 1911, about 78 per cent of the actual earners
among the Namasudras lived on agriculture. Among this agricultural population, on
1.15 per cent were rent-receivers, while 95.71 per cent were cultivatorsMhe majority
of cultivators were tenant-farmers with or without occupancy right, while a few
were sharecroppers or bargadars, whose numbers increased towards the end of the
1920s. Landholding in this region was on the other hand monopolised by the three
Hindu higher castes and the Sayed Muslims. In the three eastern Bengal divisions
of Dacca, Rajshahi and Chittagong, where almost the entire Namasudra population
lived, 80.82 per cent of the rent-receivers belonged to these social groups, while only
3.78 per cent were Namasudras. Thus the fundamental dichotomy in Bengal agrarian
relations between the rent-receivers and the rent-payers had coincided in the case of
the Namasudras with the caste hierarchy. And this contradiction sharpened all the
more because of the various forms of zamindari oppression, such as subinfeudation,
exaction of illegal cesses, non-fixity of rent and the introduction of heavy produce
rent in lieu of easy cash rents. However, the situation also suggests that a small group
among the Namasudras had moved up the economic ladder by taking advantage of
the process of reclamation that had started in the area in the mid-19th century. As
a result, a big Namasudra peasant or a Namasudra tenure holder was not rare in the
late 19th or the early 20th century. Many of them took to money-lending and trade,
and later to education and various professions. But a very rough calculation would
suggest that such upwardly mobile people constituted even less than 2 per cent of
the caste population.13
300 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

The Rajbansis in the north were also situated in almost the same socioeconomic
conditions. So far as the social relations were concerned, they fared no better, as the
stigma of untouchability often put even some of the well-placed educated members of
the community in uncomfortable situations.14 But economically, in comparison with
the Namasudras they were in a better and perhaps more dominant position in the
agrarian^, structure of the region. In 1911,89 per cent of the Rajbansis who had any
occupation were ‘cultivators’, while only 1.2 per cent had income from rent. But， in the
Rajshahi division as a whole—which in fact contained the major concentration of this
caste population—the Rajbansis constituted about 10.68 per cent of the rent-receivers,
preceded only by the Muslims (46.74 per cent) and the brahmans (25.26 per cent).
Among the cultivators*, although many were sharecroppers or adhiarsy a substantial
section had become rich peasants, enjoying various grades of tenurial rights asjotedars
and chukanidars. Like their Namasudra counterparts, the process of reclamation of
the jungle areas in northern Bengal had been the major source of their economic
mobility, which resulted even in the establishment of some big zamindari houses
by the Rajbansis. Later on some of them also took to trade, education and various
professions.15 In comparison with the Namasudras， this upwardly mobile section
among the Rajbansis was of relatively larger size， and consequently this community
was much less homogeneous. But these inner contradictions did not come to the fore
till about the end of the 1930s, as the elites—like their Namasudra counterparts_ had
not been able to evolve a separate identity of their own and consequently remained
attached to the peasant community. The latter also considered these men to be its
integral parts， as opposed to the high caste Hindu gentry， representing dearly outside
economic and social control. This symbiotic relationship, however, could be stretched
only up to a certain point, after which it was likely to break down, as it did in the 1940s.
Under the influence of certain liberal religious sects, a sense of self-respect had
been developing among the Namasudras in the early 19th century.16Their movement
actually began in 1872-73 in the Faridpur-Bakarganj region and it took the form
of a social and economic boycott of the higher castes who denied them social
rights.17 The failure of this initial move led to the development among them of an
organised religious sect, known as Matua. Its guru, Sri Guruchand Thakur, coming
from a rich peasant background, preached the elimination of caste, equality of men
and women and above all a work ethic attuned to the social needs of an upwardly
mobile community.18 Apart from this sect, which acted as a powerful instrument of
social mobilisation, a samiti was started in 1902 and regular uplift meetings1were
organised to disseminate the message of the caste movement. Other mediums,
such as performance ofjatra (folk theatre) and collection of mushti (handful of rice)
were also frequently used for the purpose of mobilisation. From 1912, the Bengal
Namasudra Association provided the movement with a formal organisational
network.19 However, as the movement progressed, two levels of consciousness and
two forms of action gradually became clearly discernible, one represented by the elite
leaders and the other by their peasant followers.
An almost similar situation could also be found among the Rajbansis although their
movement was slightly more organised from the very early stage. In the 19th century,
 Protest and Accommodation 301

Buchanan Hamilton had noticed the beginning of a social movement among them,
under the leadership of certain important zamindars like Mahiram Chaudhuri.20 To
organise this movement further, in 1891 the Rangpur Bratya Kshatriya Jatir Unnati
Bidhayani Sabha was established, with another influential zamindar, Haramohan
Khajanchi, as its president. And then in 1910, Rai Sahib Panchanan Barma founded
the Kshatriya Samiti which, in order to reach out to the masses, decided in its
fourth annual conference in 1913 to set up mandali samitis in every village. From
1916 onwards, under the initiative of its volunteers, such samitis began to come up
slowly. By 1918, the scheme was further elaborated into a full-fledged network of
village organisation, spreading its tentacles from district to subdivisional, village
and neighbourhood levels. By 1926, about three hundred such mandli samitis had
come into existence21 and they were trying to bridge the gulf between the cultivating
Rajbansi masses and their rich peasant-landholding leadership.

The first and foremost demand of the Namasudra leaders was for the public
recognition of their new name instead of the old despised appellation £ChandaF.
As a result of the growing strength of their movement, ultimately in 1911 the
census authorities accepted their new caste name and entered them as Namasudras.
Along with this, the elites within the community also went in for other forms of
Sanskritization and sought to appropriate symbols that would give them a ritually
higher status. For example, they began to refer to their brahman origin, forbade
their women from visiting market places, acquired sacred thread and performed
eleven days mourning like the higher castes.22 At a secular level, they realised that
education and employment were the new sources of higher social status. Uneven
competition with privileged higher castes as well as various forms of overt or
concealed discrimination were, according to them, reasons of their lack of access to
educational institutions or exclusion from public employment. Hence, the colonial
policy of protective discrimination initiated since 1906 in favour of the Muslims
also inspired the Namasudras to ask for the same privileges.23 Some concessions in
matters of education and employment were also granted to them in the 1920s and
the early 1930s. But in spite of that their position did not improve noticeably, mainly
due to the local officials, noncompliance with such orders.24
From 1891,the Rajbansi leaders were also trying to dissociate themselves from the
Kochs and demanding official recognition of their new caste name, which was finally
granted at the time of the Census of 1911. As a further step towards Sanskritization,
in 1891 tftey described themselves as bratya (fallen) kshatriyas, while from 1911 they
began to boast of a pure kshatriya origin and secured vyavasthas from Nabadwip
pundits to validate that claim. The sacred thread for them became a symbol of social
mobilisation, as since 1912 a number of mass thread-wearing ceremonies (milan
kshetrd) were organised in different districts, where laidis of Rajbansis went through
the ceremony of ritual reDirth and began to don the sacred thread as a mark of their
302 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

kshatriya status. Along with this, they began to adopt kshatriya surnames; some
of them arranged early marriages for their daughters and some began to confine
their women behind the purdah. And then, in order to forge a greater pan-Indian
horizontal unity, their leaders in 1920 established links with the Bharatiya Kshatriya
Mahasabha.25 Yet at another level? they were also speaking about the necessity of
education and raised money to maintain student hostels and offer scholarships to
poor students of their community. Their kshatriya samiti, in its annual conferences,
almost invariably appealed to the government to recruit them in larger numbers in
the army and to start a Kshatriya Regiment for them (this demand may be identified
as a manifestation of both the tendencies of Sanskritization and secularisation),
to nominate them to local bodies and to extend preferential treatment to them in
matters of education and employment.26They had reservations about being classified
as a 'depressed class, because of the stigma attached to that category. They were
prepared, however, to accept—or for that matter also pray for—special favour from
the government offered in view of their depressed socioeconomic conditions.27
These lower caste elites, both Namasudra and Rajbansi, also remained deprived of
political power. Although their position in the local bodies had gradually improved,28
their representation in the provincial legislature was still minimum. This fact of
under-representation, in the context of the possibilities of greater devolution of
power, led to the development of separatist tendencies among the Namasudra elites.
When the Montagu-Chelmsford Reform proposals were announced, they resolved at
a conference in Calcutta in 1917 that if any additional power was Vested in the hands
of few leaders without giving any share of power to us it will make the future progress
of the backward classes impossible,.29 A similar conference next year unequivocally
demanded 'communal representation to prevent 'the oligarchy of a handful limited
castes’. The resolution was also endorsed by the Rajbansis.30 As a result of these
demands, the Reform Act of 1919 provided for the nomination of one representative
of the depressed classes to the Bengal legislature. But apart from this member, such
classes remained almost totally unrepresented and all the constituencies inhabited by
them returned only caste-Hindu candidates.31
Hie attitudes of these lower caste elites to nationalism, vis-a-vis the Raj, were based
on their own ideological construct about the nature of colonial rule. As the nationalists
portrayed the establishment of this alien rule as a break with a glorious past, in the
lower caste perception of history, the new regime appeared to be an improyement
over that past. The new era seemed to promise the permanent elimination of the age-
old disparities, discriminations and disabilities. 'There is no more the casteism and
communalism of the middle ages*, wrote Kshatriya in 1920, *God has dispensed even-
handed justice by placing the Indians for their proper education in the hands of a
noble nation from far off Britain'.32 Since the Pandavas, wrote a Namasudra publicist
in 1919, no Hindu or Muslim king had taken so much care to dispense impartial
justice and look after the welfare of the subjects as the present Emperor of India.33
In this egalitarian rule, even the Sudras can now read the Vedas,.34 For everybody,
brahman and sudra, there was now the same court, the same law and the same prison.
The codes of Manu had thus been thrown off by the British and so any political
 Protest and Accommodation 303

movement to overthrow them appeared to be steps in historical retrogression, as

attempts to put the clock back and thus to re-establish the oppressive social control
of the higher castes.35 The continuing frustration of their political ambitions had,
in this way, led to the development among the Namasudra and Rajbansi elites of a
certain sense of loyality to the colonial government and a suspicion about nationalist
politics which came to be identified as a high caste affair. Nationalism for these
marginal elites had in fact assumed a different connotation. The Bengali wordjaH for
these people, had come to mean not nation, but only caste, and its upliftment became
their sole concern.36The same language was thus communicating different messages
to different people with different levels of political consciousness. The differences,
therefore, seem to have been much wider than were imagined by some of nationalist
leaders of that time, as also by some of their recent historians.
As a consequence, the Namasudras opposed the Swadeshi movement along with
the Muslims, condemned the Home Rule agitation and even in the age oi Lrandhian
mass politics stayed away from the Non-Cooperation and the Civil Disobedience
movements.37 Of course, not all the educated Namasudras followed the same path.
Important personalities like Keshab Chandra Das, Bhyagai Haider or Mohini
Mohan Das tried to maintain the link between this community and the nationalist
mainstream. But, as some of the contemporary accounts suggest, they were, still
ploughing lonely furrow.38 Such ambivalence was much more evident among the
Rajbansi leaders. They were occasionally involved in nationalist mass protests, such as
the Non-Cooperation movement, and later developed connections with the Hindu
Mahasabha from its inception in Bengal in 1924. Some of the important personalities
among them, like Upendranath Barman or Jagadindradev Raikat, were also deeply
influenced by the nationalist fervour at different junctures. But in spite of all these,
their kshatriya movement on the whole remained loyal to the British and in its 13th
annual conference in 1926, their samiti adopted a formal resolution expressing its
‘loyalty and obedience’to the Raj.39
This rejection óf the nationalist politics was not just an elite affair. Certainly in the
case of the Namasudras it was common at the lower level too, as their leaders could
successfully convince the peasantry that nationalism was simply a high caste gentry-
affair. Such an identification of the Swadeshi movement was quite obvious, as most of
the leaders and volunteers in eastern Bengal came from these social groups and were
frequently using their coercive power to compel the peasants to participate in their
movement.40 The latter detested it and the antipathy that was generated persisted
through the days of the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements.41
But this non-participation and sometimes active opposition to the nationalist politics
was ふ >'riiaiiifestatioi.Q£Jc)yalty to the Raj. On the contrary， it was an
expression of protest against social and economic injustices perpetrated on them by
tKe^high caste landlords who were now in the leadership of the movement against
the Raj. Indeed, the attitude of the Namasudra peasantry towards the government
was rather ambivalent, Usua%, .|hey preferxed the.. 4^
nearby and frequently resorted to bazaar-looting ancL house-breaking ta harass
thek obtrusive landlords. But whenever a u t h o r i t i e s . 及身取を.〇.f 犯 gntaining
304 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

law and order, sided with the landed classes, as they did in Faridpur in 1909, the
Namasudra peasants did not hesitate to take up arms against the state machinery.42
What was really consistent in their oehaviour was a yearning for social honour and
an urge to escape economic exploitation. For these purposes, they sometimes sided
with the government against the nationalists. Sometimes, they combined with the
Muslims against tHe ïiigh caste Hindus as in parts of Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur and
Mymen Singh in 1908-09.43 But sometimes they also fought pitched battles with
the Muslims, as in various pockets of Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur and Bakarganj in
1911,1923-25 and 1938, to uphold primarily their community honour.44 This strife
with the Muslims was also a part of social existence of the Rajbansi peasants. At one
time, in fact, 'Dangdhari maoJ, the club-wielding mother, had become their rallying
cry for communal mobilisation against the Muslims, ostensibly to protect the honour
of their women.45 But so far as nationalism was concerned, passivity in their case
was the more dominant trend46 than active opposition as among tïïeTïamasudras.
But here too they were guided by their own judgement and looted shops? as in the
Swadesm period, when they found prices to .be too high ,;and;v;^^ an<i
participated in no-rent campaigns against loyal zamindars, notwithstanding the fact
that the latter also belonged to another upwardly mobile low caste.^8

The Namasudra and Rajbansi peasantry had so long remained with the caste leadership
that the latter could effectively and constantly harp on the peasant grievances.
In order to evolve a caste ideology by articulating such class contradictions, they
often tried to capitalise on the fact of exploitation and harassment of the low caste
peasantry' by the (high caste landlords, and bhadralok politicians.49 At a Namasudra
conference in 1922, for example, the government was urged to pay more attention
to the development of agriculture and to amend the Bengal Tenancy Act in such a
way as to declare the peasants the owners of the land.50 Such demands also featured
regularly in the pages of Kshatriya51 and were raised on the floor of the Bengal
Legislative Council. In July 1921, Bhishmadeb Das, the Namasudra nominated
representative in the Council, demanded suitable amendments to protect the rights
of the raiyats and under-raiyats. The movement of time , he argued, ^as rendered
it necessary to give a higher and better status to the raiyats5, in order to free them
from the clutches of the landlords. Apart from this, other agrarian demands, such
as the prevention of crop failures or amelioration of food scarcity in villages, also
figured frequently in the speeches of the legislators of the depressed classes.As
some of these leaders, at least in their use of popular rhetoric, proposed to alter the
established structure of social authority, they did succeed in certain cases and for
some time in mobilising the masses in support of their politics.
But, from the 1930s, these leaders began to forget their peasant followers and as
more and more institutional concessions began to pour in,53 they started devoting
more time to Council politics and constitutional debates. Of course, they could not
 Protest and Accommodation 305

totally ignore the masses who would form their constituencies in the coming election.
So, some of the Namasudra leaders continued to mention such peasant issues—as the
necessity of clearing irrigation canals or amending the existing-tenancy legislation.54
But apart from some occasional public meetings and Council questions, there was
nothing more on their cards for the rural poor. Rajbansi leaders like Panchanan
%rma also sent appeals to the government for the abolition of the oppressive ijaradari
system in the Cooch Behar state or for allocation of more grants for the rural health
centres. But the other leaders, mostly ofjotedar status, were themselves so distressed
by the Depression that they did not have the time or inclination to think about the
peasants below them. And to many, as Upendranath Barman himself acknowledges
in his autobiography, constitutional politics and Council election held out a promise
for financial solvency.55 As a result, the depressed classes' organisations in Bengal,
headed mostly by the Rajbansi and Namasudra leaders, welcomed the Communal
Award forgiving them (a political advantage unprecedented and unparalleled in the
constitutional history of India5.56 In a personal note to the government, Panchanan
Barma pleaded for special electorates1to protect the political rights of the Scheduled
Castes *111 the teeth of opposition by the people of advanced classes in a general
constituency... Z57When the Poona Pact was ultimately signed, with two Namasudra
representatives
〜 三 — „ ， ，
present there, ° the organisations ox the depressed classes in Bengal
. 上 .
— .『.
， .'.'マ.......，
..'.一 十 … …-r マ マ — て'.ママーーニ.,-..'— . . . . . . . . ぐ.… . . . . . . へ 〜 . 一 上

condemned it as Ur. Ambedkar s DOJLitical blunder. It took awav the privilege of

separate electorate and this could be, as they apprehended, ultimately leading to the
political deatn of millions of people at the hands of the so-called caste Hindus,.59 But
gradually they realised that the pact was afait accompli and rallied in its support, as
there was now a caste-Hindu backlash against it in Bengal.60 However, thev accepted
it as the next Dest thing for them’ and cud it omy ‘by necessity’and ‘not by choice’.61
And in this wav as the leaders became more and more institution-oriented, their
movement became more faction-ridden.62 It: was perhaps also inevitable， as they were
at this stage merely seeking accommodation within the system, with greater facilities
ror themselves, ihev were asking ior reservation in matters like education,employment
〜>ド,ハ
、》'
、《
«,〆•仏
》'■へ、
*^へ*一，
〆- 分 、
*り"'-ハ,、
、
-，
-,,‘
女‘
パいり•、
，..，
へ‘
，.
,
V,.
•«又
,ウ
"*，
，
*
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り•
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rural poor, wno were lli-equipDed to take advantage of these institutional concessions,
lhe movements, as a result, began to lose popular support. ぅ

This erosion of the support base for the Namasudra leaders was also due to the
emergence of the Praia movement, offering a more class-based political programme.
In fact, from the early 20th century, the Namasudra peasantry had been showing
independence of action in mobilising occasionally on exclusively peasant issues—
such for the commutation of the high produce rents into easy cash rents in the first
decade of the 20th century64 or for the three-fourths share for the bargadars in the late
1920s.65 But, in a more organised way, the krishak Praja Parly under the leadership of
Fazlul Huq had successfully mobilised a large section of the Muslim and Namasudra
peasantry of eastern Bengal. Leaders of the younger generation, like Jogen Mandal
or Birat Mandal, were behind the mobilisation of the Namasudras under the banner
of this new tenants* party. But, before the election of 1937, the Krishak Praja Party
abandoned the Scheduled ^aste constituency in order to compete with the Muslim
306 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

League for Muslim votes.66 As a result, the Namasudra peasantry was left with no
choice other than supporting their caste leaders. But that they did not fully approve
of the politics of their caste leaders is proved by the fact that many of the established
leaders lost the election in 1937. On the other hand, their distance from the Congress
could not also be narrowed down, as only one of the elected Namasudras in 1937
was a Qongress nominee. In an unreserved constituency, inhabited predominantly
by the Namasudras, Jogen Mandal as an independent candidate defeated a Kayastha
Congressman in a straight battle.67 This shows the attitude of the Namasudra
peasantry, their determination to back somebody of their own caste who had shown
sympathy for their class interests. But unfortunately for them, Jogen Mandal too
opted for caste politics at a later stage and then joined hands with the Muslim League.
For the Rajbansi movement, the 1930s precipitated an even greater crisis...It is
true that at the time of the election of 1937 some of their jotedar leaders had tried
to project themselves as peasant leaders, and also included a few peasant issues in
their manifestos.68 But although there was no immediate topsy-turvy in the election
results, mere gestures like these could no longer prevent class polarisation within the
community, sharpened further by the recent Depression. Dissent had always been
there within the movement and the leaders of the community were often castigated
for their elitism and neglect of the poor.69 But so far, there was no major eruption of
conflict over economic interests. The Depression, however, severed the community
bonds and the Kisan Sabhas from 1938 also began to cut into the support base of
the Kshatriya movement by organising the lesser peasants on class lines. The first
major conflagration took place in 1939-40 in Jalpaiguri-Dinajpur region where the
common caste identity failed to tame the conflict between the Rajbansi jotedars and
adhiars over the latters demand for a greater share of the harvest. This sharecroppers5
agitation in north Bengal developed further during the early 1940s and reached its
climax in the Tebhaga movement of 1946-47.70
While the protest of the low caste peasantry was thus being gradually channelised
into more class-oriented radical movements, the Congress had also been trying
from the beginning of the 1930s to appropriate and absorb their movements into
nationalist mainstream. At a mass level, the Congress volunteers organised temple
satyagrahas at Munshiganj Kalibari in Dacca (1929) and at the Kalighat temple
in Calcutta (1932), held public meetings to preach against untouchability and
began welfare activities in the localities of untouchables under the well-publicised
Harijan upliftment programme.71 These gestures, according to the oral testimony
of a Namasudra activist of the 1930s, had indeed evoked enthusiasm and sympathy
among the Scheduled Caste population in Bengal.72 But the gulf could not be fully
bridged and Gandhi himself, at a meeting in 1938 with the elected scheduled Caste
members of the Bengal Assembly, acknowledged the failure of the Congress in
mobilising the Scheduled Caste masses. At the elite level, the dilemmas were initially
greater. But with the constitutional privileges already sanctioned and the mass base
significantly eroded, many of the Rajbansi and Namasudra leaders gradually managed
to overcome this early inhibition about joining the Congress. At the meeting with
Gandhi mentioned above, the Namasudra leader P. R. Thakur—as Upendranath
 Protest and Accommodation 307

Barman, the Rajbansi member in the delegation, has recorded in hxs autobiography—
expressed in no uncertain words their lingering suspicion of the caste-Hindu political
leadership. Consequently, in 1938 they supported the non-Congress (KPP-Muslim
League-Independent) Fazlul Huq ministry, which included the Namasudra leader
Mukunda Behari Mullick and the Rajbansi zamindar Prasannadeb Raikat. These
legislators also formed an Independent Scheduled Caste Party, with Jogen Mandal as
its secretary and Upendranath Barman as a prominent leader in the Assemoly/3 But
this did not really mean the emergence of a new organised political force in Bengal
politics. Even when the Bengal Provincial Scheduled Caste Federation was formed
in 1943?this did not signify the rise of a third alternative political party. With their
mass base constantly eroding, its leaders operated as an interest group, bargaining
with the established political parties for greater privileges. The two Congress leaders,
Subhash Chandra and later his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, had been trying
all the while to win over these Scheduled Caste elites. As a result of this persuasion,
prominent Rajbansi and Namasudra leaders, like Upendranath Barman and Rasildal
Biswas, joined the Congress and held important portfolios. Some others, like Jogen
Mandal, in spite of his well-known connections with the Congress and Subhash
Bose, later made alliance with the Muslim League to have a berth in the ministry.
Some others again preferred to work only for purely social programmes and felt shy
of dabbling in politics.74 The two caste movements under review, thus? dissipated;
one more rapidly than the other because of the different nature of their community
composition, without bringing about any significant change in society or polity. The
little changes that took place in the distribution of power, prestige and opportunities,
benefited only the elites of the community, while the masses continued to suffer both
socially and economically as before.

The two social movements of the Namasudras and the Rajbansis which imtmdy
began in the late 19th century as protests against social injustice and discrimination
were thus ultimately reduced to mere politics for reservation. The leadership only
used the depressed condition of the majority of their caste brethren to demand from
the colonial government some institutional concessions that could hardly benefit
the peasantry below them. The latter had also become conscious of their interests
and were ready to articulate their demands in their own way. But, in the absence
of proper mediation, their protest could not affect politics at the upper level. The
situation suggests that though caste consciousness was still a potent factor in social
relations, the lower caste peasantry—primarily due to the accommodative nature of
their community leaders一 had become receptive to other more organised class-based
politics that was to come later in the 1940s. This weakened the community bonds
and eroded the support base of the caste associations. Such movements became in
the process all the more institution-based and their leaders got more involved in their
politics for reservations or sought association with the established political parties.
308 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

The process of divergence or the two strands within these movements thus set in,
leading gradually to their sad and silent demise or their merger with one or the other
major stream of political movement in the country. The Partition of 1947, which
deprived both these communities of their geographical anchorage and consequently-
resulted in a considerable amount of demographic dislocation, dealt the final death
blow to their social protest.

N O T E S A N D R EFERENCES

1 See, for example, John Gallagher, Congress in Decline: Bengal, 1930~1939, in Locality,
Province and Nation: Essays on Indian Po/Uics, 1870-1940^ edited by John Gallagher, Gordon
Johnson and Anil Seal, 278-79 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973); Rajat
K. Ray, Social Conflict and Political Unrest in Bengal, 1875-1927 (Delhi: Oxford University
Press,1984), 306.
2Sumit Sarkar, (The Conditions and Nature of Subaltern Militancy: Bengal from Swadeshi
to Non-Cooperation, c.1905-22* in Subaltern Studies III, edited by Ranajit Guha, 278-82
(Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1984).
3 See, for example, Kathleen Gough, Indian Nationalism and Ethnic Freedom5 in The
Concept of Freedom in Anthropology^ edited by David Bidney, 174-75 (Hie Hague: Mouton &,
Co., 1963); Hetukar Jha, (Lower Caste Peasants and Upper Caste Zamindars in Bihar (1921-
1925): An Analysis of Sanskritization and Contradiction between the Two Groups!, The Indian
Economic and Social History Review, v o l.14, no. 4, 556; Gyan Pandey, Rallying Round the
Cow: Sectarian Strife in the Bhojpuri Region, c.1888-1917, in Subaltern Studies IIyedited by
Ranajit Guha, 71-74 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983).
4 See, for example, F. G. Bailey, Caste and the Economic Frontier (Delhi: Oxford University-
Press, 1958), vii\ Robert L. Hardgrave Jr, The Nadars ofTamilnad (Bombay: Oxford University
Press, 1969), 263; Eleanor Zelliot, le a rn in g the Use of Political Means: The Mahars of
Maharashtra* in Caste in Indian Politics^ edited by Rajni Kothari, 39 (New Delhi: Orient
Longman, 1973); David Washbrook, <The Development of Caste Organisation in South India,
1880-1925!in South India: Political Institutions and Political Changey1880—1940 edited by C. J.
Baker and D. A. Washbrook, 150-203 (Delhi: Macmillan,1975),176--77.
5 See, for example, Gallagher, ^Congress in Decline*, 278-79; Sumit Sarkar, The Swadeshi
Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908 (New Delhi: Peoples Publishing House, 1977), 330-31,392.
6 Sarkar， ‘TKe Conditions and Nature of Subaltern Militancy’，278; Ranajit Dasgupta,
Teasant, Workers and Freedom Struggle: Jalpaiguri, 1945-1947^ Economic and Political Weekly^
vol.20, no. 30 (1985), PE42-52.
7Census of India, 1901, vol.VI, part II, 395-96; vol.VI A, part II, Table XIII, 246; Naresh
Chandra Das, Namasudra Sampraday O Bangladesh (Calcutta, 1368 b s ) , 1.
8 For the controversy regarding Koch-Raj bans! ethnic lineage, see Swaraj Basu, *Caste
Mobility in Northern Bengal:A Study of the Raj bansi Movement in the Late Nineteenth
and the Early Twentieth Centuries, 1891-192r, unpublished MPhil dissertation, University
of Calcutta,1986,11-14.
9Census of India, 1921, vol.V, part 1,358.
10 Because of the community organisation and distribution of occupations among the
Namasudras, Risley thought that they were originally a tribe. The traditions which the
Namasudras themselves refer to also indicate that they were an autochthonous people of the
 Protest and Accommodation 309

region, sometimes living in the forests, sometimes maintaining an amphibious existence in the
marshy tracts. See H. H. Risley, The Tribes and Castes of Bengal^ vol.I (1891, reprint Calcutta:
Firma Mukhopadhyay, 1981),183,185; Rashbehari Ray, Namasudra Darpan, vol.1(1316 b s ) ,
132-40. On the other hand, Charu Chandra SanyaFs anthropological study of the Rajbansis
clearly shows the prevalence of tribal deities and marriage customs among these people; see
Charu Chandra Sanyal, The Rajbansis ofNorth BengalyThe Asiatic Society Monograph Series
Volurfie XI (Calcutta: The Asiatic Society,1965), 91-97,134-50.
*Report (of the enquiry made to investigate the desirability of appointing a special
1 1

officer to look after the interests of the depressed classes in Bengal)J, Government of Bengal
Appointment (hereafter, GB)y (Appointment), File No. 5M-1J4 of 1928, February 1930,
Proceedings (hereafter, Progs) Nos 7~20, West Bengal State Archives (hereafter, WBSA).
Risley, Tribes and Castes ofBengal^ vol. 1 ,183-85,188; Census of India,1901,vol.VI, part
1 2

I ，372.
Census of India,1911,vol.V, part II, 370-73,Table XVI, 379, Appendix to Table XVI, part
1 3

IS; for further details, see Sekhar Bandyopadhyay/Social Protest or Politics of Backwardness?:
The Namasudra Movement in Bengal, 1872-191T in Dissent and Consensus: Social Protest in
Pre-Industrial Societies edited by Basudeb Chattopadhyay, H. S. Vasudevan and Rajat K. Ray,
175-81 (Calcutta: K. P. Bagchi c Co., 1989).
6

Upendranath Barman, Thakur Panchanan BarmarJibancharit (Jalpaiguri, 1387 b s ) , 13.

1 4

Census of India, 1911, vol.V, part 1,574; vol.V, part II, Appendix to Table XVI, part II,
1 5

379; Risley, Tribes and Castes 1,491,499-500; Barman, Thakur Panchanan Barmar
Jibancharit^ 9; Partha Chatterjee, Bengal 1920-1947: The Land Question (Calcutta: K. R Bagchi,
1984), 45™48; Sugata Bose, Agrarian Bengal: Economy, Social Structure and Politics, 1919-1947
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1986),12-15,47; Basu, (Caste Mobility in Northern
Bengal’， 19- 21.
Risley, Tribes and Castes ofBengal^ vol. 1 ,187.
1 6

G5, Judicial, March 1873, Prog. no. 179; May 1873, Prog. no. 57, WBSA.
1 7

18Tarak Chandra Sarkar, Sri Sri Harileelamrita (Faridpur,1323 b s ) , 13,59-60,66-67,107;

Mahananda Haidar, Sri Sri Guruchand-Charit (Calcutta, 1943), 567-74; Das, Namasudra
Sampraday O Bangladesh^ 15; Paramananda Haidar, Matua Dharma Darshan (Thakurnagar,
24-Parganas, 1393 b s ) .
C. S. Mead, The Namasudras and OtherAddresses (Adelaide: Hussey c Gillingham, 1911),
1 9 8

59; Sitanath Biswas, Jatitattva O Namasyakulodarpan (Dacca, 1931), 157,160.

Montgomery Martin, The History^ Antiquitiesy Topography, and Statistics ofEastern India^
2 0

vol.II (London: Wm. H. Allen &c C o .,1838), 741; Upendranath Barman, Rajbansi Kshatriya
Jatirlthihas (third edition, Jalpaiguri, 1388 b s ) , 1,51-52.
Eighth Annual Report of the Kshatriya Samiti (Rangpur: Kshatriya Samiti,
2 1 1 3 b s),
2 5; 5 7

Ksioatriya (Baisakh 1 b s ) ; Barman, Thakur Panchanan Barmar Jibancharit^

3 3 3 1 , ; Basu,
6 2 9

^ a s te Mobility in Northern BengaF, 39,42,45.

UYidXAdii:， Sri Sri Guruchand-Charit，2$5—5落.，1D a Namasudra Sampraday O Bangladesh， ^ ,
6 ; Risley, Tribes and Castes ofBengal,v o l. Ï, p p .184,186.
8

Namasudra Suhrid(May 1911); Mukunda Behari Muliick, Toreword'in Jatiya lamran by

2 3

Raicharan Biswas, (Calcutta, 1921); Sufia Ahmed, Muslim Community in Bengal, 1884-1912
6

(Dacca: Oxford University Press, 1974), 257.

GByAppointment (Appointment), File No. ID -1, November 1922, Progs nos 114-17;
2 4

File Nos ID -1, October 1923, Progs nos 3-19; File no. 4D-10 of 1930, June 1931, Progs nos
36-41, WBSA; Bengal Legislative Council Proceedings (hereafter, BLCP)yvol.41,no. 2,28 March
1933,634-35.
310 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

Census of India, 1911, v o l.V, part. I, 351-55; Barman, Thakur Panchanan Jib a n ch a rit^
2 5

21-25; Barman, R a jb a n si K sh a triya J a tir Ith ih a s., 50-66; Barman, U tta r B a n g la r Sekal O A tn a r
Jib a n s m riti (Jalpaiguri, 1392 b s ) , 46-47; Harakishor Adhikari, R ajbansiK ulaprad eep (Calcutta,
1314 b s ) ; Sraban (1333 b s ) .
K sh a triya (Jaishtha-Ashadh, Sraban-Bhadra 1327 b s ) , (Baisakh, Jaishtha, Ashadh,
2 6

Sraban, Asl^win, Agrahayan 1331 b s ) , (Jaishtha, Sraban, Paush, Falgun 1332 b s ) , (Baisakh,
Sraban, Kartik 1333 b s ) ; Barman, Thakur Panchanan B a rm a r Jib a n c h a rity 58.
G B , Education (Education), File No, 2P-47, December 1923, Progs nos 939-45, W BSA
2 7

Nos 3-16, W BSA.

G B , Appointment (Appointment), File no. 5M-114 of 1928, February 1930, Progs nos
2 8

7-20, serial nos 3-16, W BSA.

Bengalee, 10 November 1917.
2 9

The Statesm ariy 5 November 1918,

3 0

R ep ort o f the B engal Franchise Com m ittee (Calcutta, 1932), 23-24.

3 1

K sh a triya (Baisakh 1327 b s ) ? (Chaitra 1332 b s ) .

3 2

Ray,N a m asud raD arpan} v o \ .1 ,155,158.

3 3

B i s w a s , Ja g a ra n ,17.
3 4

Buddheswar Biswas, Kuloddeepan N am achandrika (Barisal, 1328 b s ) , 19, 31.

3 5

Raicharan Biswas wrote in 1921:

3 6

S w o r g a d o p i g a re e y a s i j o n m o b h u m i

J a n a n i, jn o n e e r a k a y, S w a ja ti s a b a r p a r a m g a r is h t h o

S w a ja ti tu ly a k i h a y .

Mother and Motherland are greater Than heaven,

say the wise, One's own caste is however greatest of all
丁 here can be nothing comparable to it.

B is w a s , J a t iy a J a g o r a n , 124.
Almost in a similar tone a rural Rajbansi poet of Dinajpur wrote sometime in the early
2 0 th century:
M o r a c h a h in a a r t h o , c h a h in o m a n , C h a h irta b id y a r c h a h in a jn a n , M o r a c h a i s h u d h u j a u r

p r a t is t h o , M o r a c h a t s h u d h u j o t i r p r a n .

We do not want money, nor do we want prestige,

We do not want education, nor do we want knowledge,
We only want the recognition of our caste, We only want our caste to come alive.

Bisw^iSy JaH ya Ja g a ra n f 72-78, 85-90; Haidar, S ri S ri G u ru ch a n d -C h a ritj 168-76, 262,

3 7

403,413-15,442-43.
G B , Political (Political),B November 1917, Progs nos 65, W B SA; Das, N am asudra
3 8

Sam praday O Bangladesh^ 41,61-62.

K sh a triya (Baisakh 1327 b s ) , (Baisakh, Jaishtha, Ashadh, Sraban, Falgun 1331 b s ) ,
3 9

(jaishtha, Sraban, Chaitra 1332 b s ) , (Sraban, Paush-Chaitra 1333 b s ) ; Barman, U tta r B a n g la r

Sekal O A m a r Jib a n s m riti, 31-36; Nirmal Chandra Choudhuri, Svoadhinata Sangrpm a R a jöa n si
Sam praday (Jalpaiguri, 1985), 4 1;Ray, S ocial C o n flict and P o litic a l U nrest in Bengal^ 306; Ranajit
Dasgupta, op.cit.; Basu, 'Caste Mobility in Northern BengaF, ó i-o . 2

S u rn it Sarkary The Sw adeshi M ovem ent in B engal, 1 9 0 3 -1 9 0 8 y pp. 355-60.

4 0

G B , Home (Confidential), File Nos 599 of 1930, 597(1-3) of 1930, 345(1-3) of 1931,
4 1

W B S A B L C IV o l 7, No. 2, 20 February 1922, p. 9.

 Protest and Accommodation 311

4 2 GI, Home (Political), March 1909, Prog. No. 105; April 1909, Prog. No. 52; May 1909,
Prog. No. 1 3 1 ;B November 1909} Prog. No. 34; December 1909, Prog. N o .16, National
Archives of Inda (hereafter, AM).
4 3Mussalman,29 May 1908; L.S.S. OMalley, Bengal District Gazetteers Jessore (Calcutta,
1912), 50; GB, Political (Police), File No. P5R-1,B July 1911, Progs Nos. 326-28, WBSA; GI,
Home (Political),B October 1907, Prog. No. 47 Ju n e 1909, Prog. No. 125; B September 1909,
Pro^. No. 47}NAL
44 GB, Police, File No. P 5R-11/23, B May 1924, Progs Nos 110-49; File No. P5R-2(4-
12)/25, B March I 1926, Progs Nos 95-103, WBSA.
4 5 Barman, Thakar Panchanan BarmarJibancharit, 47-57.
4 6 Ray, Social Conflict and Political Unrest in Bengal^ 306; Sarkar, 'Hie Conditions and Nature
of Subaltern Militancy，, 278,282.
4 7 Choudhuri, Swadhinata Sangrame Rajbansi Sampraday^ 61.
48 GByPlome (Confidential), File n o .14 (21-30) of 1922, WBSA.
49 Kshatriya (Jaishtha 1331 b s ) ; Haidar, Sri Sri Guruchand-Charit^ 168-76,413-15.
5 0 Rajani Kanta Das, BangiyaNamasudra Conference (Pirojpur,1922), 9-11,20-23.
51 Kshatriya (Ashadh 1331 b s ) , (Paush 1352 b s ) .
52 BLCP, vol I, no. (1 A p ril1921),79; vol.3 (4 July 1921),72; (7 July 1921), 306-08;(12
6

July 1921), 495-96; vol.7, no. 3 (27 February 1922), 3.

5 3 For details of institutional concessions, see Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, 'Towards a Corporate
Pluralist Society: Caste and the Colonial Policy of Protective Discrimination in Bengal, 1911-
1937J, The Calcutta HistoricalJournaIyvoLXlynos 1-2 (July 1986-June 1987).
5 4 BLCP, vol.34, no. 3, 31 March 1930, 632; vol.4 1 ,n o .1,20 February 1933,44.
5 5 v o l.36， no.3, 27 March 1931， 640—4 1 ; Barma， 7^2知 r Pam:み ⑽ 伽 jSarmßr
Jibancharity 60-61; Barman, Uttar Banglar Sekar OAmarJibansmriti, 50-61,66-67.
5 6 GI, Reforms Office, File no. 199/R/1932, NAI.
5 7 GB, Appointment (Reforms), File no. 1R-28, July 1933, Progs nos 1-5; File no. 1R-
202 of 1932, January 1933, Progs nos 20-28, WBSA; BLCP, voL 4 1 ,no. 2 ,1 4 March 1933,
92-121.
5 8 The two Namasudra representatives were Rasiklal Biswas and Jojneswar Mandal. See
TidiSyNamasudva Sampmday O BcmgladeshySG.
5 9 GJ, Reforms Office, File No. 199/R/1932,
GB, Appointment (Reforms), File No. 1R-28, July 1933, Progs nos 1-5; File No. 1R-202
6 0

of 1932, January 1933, Progs nos 20-28, WBSA; BLCP, vol.4 1,no. 2,14 March 1933,92-121.
GI, Reforms Office, File no. 199/R/1932, NAI; BLCP, vol.4 1 ,no. 2,14 March 1933, 99.
6 1

6 2Since 1932, there were two organisations of the Bengal depressed classes. One was
the Bengal Depressed Classes Association (founded in 1926) which remained attached
to the Bengal Namasudra Association, both headed by Mukunda Behari Mullick. Hie
other was the Bengal Depressed Classes Federation which came up in 1932 and was
led by important Namasudra and Rajbansi leaders, like P. R. Thakur or Rai Sahib
Panchanan Barma. See GByAppointment (Reforms), File no. IR-90, B August 1933, Progs
nos 870-86, WBSA.
See, for example, BLCP}vol.36, no. 3,19 March 1931,214-21; vol.4 1 ,no. 2,28 March
6 3

1933,633-34; vol.4 1 ,no. 33, April 1933,192-93; vol.42, n o .1,11 August 1933,193-96.
J. C. Jack, Final Report on the Survey and Settlement Operations in the Bakarganj District,
6 4

1900 to 1908 (Calcutta, 1915), 167-68, and Appendix G I, G II, G V, G VII, G IX.
Tanika Sarkar, Bengal 1928-1934: The Politics of Protest (Delhi: Oxford University Press,
6 5

1987), 38-41.
312 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

60Md Enamul Huq-Khan ，‘A.K. Fazlul Huq and Muslim League in Bengal，1906-1947’，
unpublished PhD dissertation submitted to Punjab University, Chandigarh, 1982, chapter III;
also Das, Namasudra Sampraday 0 Bangladesh^ 55.
67 GBj Home (Constitution and Elections), File no. R 3E-27, May 1937, Progs nos 1-13,
WBSA.
68Barman, Uttar Banglar Sekal OAmarJibansmrit% 70-72.
69 KsBatriya (Jaishtha 1331 b s ).

70 For details, see Sunil Sen, Peasant Movements in India: Mid-jyrneteenth and Twentieth
Century (Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi, 1982), 76-77; Bose, Agrarian Bengal, 256-73.
71 Bangabani^ (17,19, 20, 22, 24 September 1932); Hanjan (29 April 1933); Buddhadeva
Bhattacharya, Satyagrahas in Bengal^ 1921-39 (Calcutta: Minerva Publications,1977),159-64.
72Personal interview with Satyabrata Mazumder,14 February 1989.
73Barman, Uttar Banglar Sekal OAmar]ibansmritiy73-75.
74 Ibid., 99; Das, Namasudra Sampraday 0 Bangladesh^ 58, 62; Bharat Bani (1,16 January
1982); Jagadischandra Mandal, Mahapran Jogendmnath (Calcutta, 1382 bs ), 43, 47-51,
98,132.
 XVIII

RISE A N D G R O W T H O F D A L IT C O N S C IO U S N E S S
IN S O U T H IN D IA N

A C ase o f A n d h ra a n d H y d e ra b a d

Yagati Chinna Rao

‘Tell it like it was’runs a common American phrase, echoing， no doubt， consciously

or unconsciously, Leopold von Rankes famous injunction to write history 'wie es
eigentlich gewesen’—how it really was. As is evident, this is neither as simple nor as
easy as it sounds; particularly true in terms of India^ 'untouchable* past.1The actual
past, its recovery, its retrieval, what is rendered, are often sadly different, and answers
to these questions may be both painful to seek and difficult to find.
The current historiographical trends, as regards outcaste history, are ambiguous,
elusive in nature. Frequently, the acts of outcastes are categorised as parochiaFelements.
For instance, censorious references to them appear in nationalist, historiography, a
narrative of Struggle* for freedom. This narrative does not recognise non-elite and
non-brahmin contribution towards the national movement. Likewise, Camoriage
historiography, while it contests the ideological basis of the nationalist narrative, does
not initiate a dialogue with the social periphery and projects the lower castes as mere
passive followers of elite leaders. Marxist historians, working within the rigid class
perspective, show reluctance to address issues related to caste. Finally, the subaltern
school of thought that emerged in the 1980s postulated an alternative framework, but
their research suffered from the same limitation—they failed to raise fundamental
issues related to outcaste historical experience.
A group of radical Puerto Rican historians in the early 1970s stated: Ve face the
problem that the history presented as ours is only part of our history ... what of the
history of the ^history less", the anonymous people who, in their collective acts, their
work, daily lives, and fellowship, have forged our society through the centuries?52
Similarly, the Dares Salaam School or mstory expressed its dissatisfaction saying that
we would end with the singularly useless tthistory,,Jcelebrating individuals, narrating
their biographies and heroic acts or, at the most, erecting monuments for valiant
tribes. These would leave the large mass of our people out of history, without history/3
History in post-colonial societies assumes a crucial role in not only retrieval of
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心 、
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パム…め ％ で ”
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》、
.
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the past but also m constructme" identities. Historical enterprise m 丄ndia encapsulates

- An earlier version of this chapter was published as ^ s e and growth of Dalit Movement in
Andhra, 1906-19465, In d ia n Social Science Review^ vol.5, no.1(2003), 117-53.
314 Yagati Chinna Rao

this crisis in the selective appropriation of the past.4 One category of people neglected
in history is the outcastes, also known as untouchables, Harijans, Depressed castes,
Scheduled Castes, Dalits and so on. The history or these iuntouchables, has yet to
become a part of Indian historiography, though the study is of immense relevance
and significance on account of the inherent radical democratic identity of their
movement and their role as productive communities. Scholarship on these oppressed
communities suffers from lack or historical and written documentation; as a result,
the attempt to historically locate (untouchables5is impeded by an acute shortage of
direct evidence about the realities of Dalit social life. Recent initiatives to reconstruct
Dalit history generally draws from traditional historical sources like archival material,
reports of census, Commissions and Committees and gazetteers. Biographical and
autobiographical writings of Dalit organic intellectuals do exist, as also literature in
the form of poems, novels, dramas, contemporary press reports and caste-association
activities, though they are in the vernacular.
It is on these lines that this chapter attempts to study the nature of the Dalit
consciousness in Andhra during the early decades of the 20th century. The main
issues dealt in this chapter are its ideology and perceptions as also the organisational
basis and activities undertaken by various Dalit organisations, the methods of creating
consciousness among the masses and socio-political upheaval in coastal Andhra and
the influence and cooperation that coastal Andhra received from Dalit intelligentsia
based in Hyderabad (erstwhile Nizarrfs domair〇. There 凡 を in thp whole
movement. First, the radical assertions of autonomy and self-consciously defined
n〇n：H mdu ldeS ^Ä And secor^?tne Dalit nght a g a ^
exploitation and politic政 .巩软 g说 卿 斑 The role oi Dalit mtelligentsia in not only
creating awareness but also m estabushmo- educational institutions and hostels ana
the protest literature they created are studiea m this cnapter.
in the earlj dec^es^of
Andhra, which comprised the coastal region (also known as Circar districts; ana
Rayalseema'J of Madras presidency and Telangana,6 the Telugu-speaking area of
the erstwhile Nizams state. These two regions provided diverse trends in the
movement as a whole. While coastal Andhra had the choice between autonomy
S. . .........へ
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し，
，
"、
-A
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、"、
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.

and integration/ Hyderabad witnessed a radicalised, but 1驻 级 'faction马 Jkをd

Dalit movement. Each gained inspiration and strength from the other. The Dalit
movement in Coastal Andhra had a broad rural base, whereas Hyderabad found an
active factionalised Dalit leadership limited only to urban centres such as Hy^derabaa
and Secunderabad. It was during this period, 1906-39, tnat Dalit leaders rebeliea
against three aspects of their outcast1status: the economic deprivation resulting
from their status, denial of access to social and civic amenities by brahmins and
persecution bas§d.p.n .c
The basic thrust of the Dalit movement was to critique the ideology of brahminicai
Hinduism and counter the socio-cultural hegemony of the upper castes. It also sought
to organise the Dalit masses for achieving socio-economic and political equality. The
Dalit movement and its leaders felt the necessity of organising the masses. In the
light ot growing democratisation, their increasing importance and their involvement
 Rise and Grow th o f D alit Consciousness in South India 315

with various political circles, they were naturally igpliped to Ip从il'4 up'QI"ganisational
strengtfi for achieving political power for their progress. _As a result, on their own
organisations, they started to put fortH their politicär demands and confront and
strike squarely at the practice of untouchability.

F O R M A T IV E P H A S E O F D A L IT C O N S C IO U S N E S S

The Dalit consciousness in Hyderabad dates back to 1906, when Madari Bhagya
Reddi Varmay founded an organisation called the Jagan Mitra Mandali and started
the work of awakening social consciousness among the so called untouchables’. He
arranged regular harikatha kalakshepams and during or at the end of which he spoke
eloquently, brought home the Dalits, and stated that they were the real and original
inhabitants of the country and that the others have migrated for their livelihood
and that the main cause of untouchables, backwardness was their ignorance and
illiteracy. Its membership was restricted to non-drmkers.10Jagan Mitra Mandali, by
its name and activities, was truly a friend of the wretched poor and illiterate masses
and tried to educate the Untouchables* about social maladies. Its members believed
that the Buddha should be venerated. They gave due recognition for Buddhas
movement against the Vedic Dharmas, varna system and the offering of animals to
appease deities, and to his preachings concerning vegetarianism, etc. Buddha Jayanti,
Buddhas birth anniversary was celebrated as a main festival every year on Vaisakhi
poornima day from 1913 till 1938.11 Through the harikathas the organisation spread
the message of the misery of the 'untouchables1and the treachery of Hinduism, the
main culprit for their social disabilities. They also organised preeti bojanamy inter­
dining among all Untouchables1. This gave a scope for the feeling of oneness, and
bought them together, to fight for their betterment.
In 1911, Bhagya Reddi Varma founded the Manya Sangam through which he
worked for the removal of certain evils like intemperance, sacrificing animals or fowl
at the altar of temples, child marriage, etc. The primary aims and objectives of the
Manya Sangam were:12
1 . To impart education to (untouchable, children
2. To discourage cnild marriages
3. To disallow non-vegetarian food and intoxicants in marriages and other
auspicious functions
4. To abolish the ‘Devadasi’ known as ‘Jogin’ or ‘Murli’ or ‘Basavi’ custom
prevalent in the community
At the general committee meeting held on 19 January 1913 it elected an executive
body,13 to work towards these aims and objectives. The Manya Sangam consisted of
members including a building contractor, a confectionery baker, the superintendent
and other employees of the Hyderabad public gardens. It was a disparate group which
gave a sense of the emerging 'Dalit middle class7, still without much education, but
filled with young and enlightened men who initiated social reform and admitted
fellow caste members.14
316 Yagati Chinna Rao

Just like Bhagya Reddi Varma, Arigay Ramaswamy15was another leader who stood
at the centre of Dalit activities in the early period. Madari Adij^a, who was the son
of a butler, started another Manya Sangam at Ghandsimendoy. Arigay Ramaswamy
founded Suneetha Bala Samajam, and carried on his activities in Kummonaguda,
a locality in Secunderabad, where he lived. He exhorted his brothers to abandon
spurious drinks and eradicate the Jogini system and preached against animal sacrifice
and child marriages. Though Rama Swamy had faith in Achal Siddanth and the
Brahma Samaj, he jßrmly believed that Dalits were separate from the Hindus. He
formed on Adi-Hindu Jatiyonnati Sabha in 1922, with Konck Venkataswamy as
president and J. Papayya and himself as its secretaries.16
In 1912, Bhagya Reddi Varma organised Swasti Dal with the help of 35 Dalit
volunteers. The main aim of Swasti Dal was the prevention of cruelty to animals,
which was based on the activities of the Humanitarian League of which Bhagya Reddi
Varma was a full-time preacher. They worked on lines similar to that of the Red Cross
Society, but their symbol was a yellow Swastika, the Buddhist Cross.17 This band of
enthusiastic volunteers did yeomen service during the days when plague and cholera
broke out in and around Hyderabad. In 1925, when the plague broke out, the epidemic
took a heavy toll in Hyderabad. The Swasti Dal volunteers served the desolate, tended
the sick and disposed off unclaimed dead bodies. Their activities and timely service
were recognised and awarded accordingly.18 These volunteers were also involved in
various activities of local organisations and rendered services to many others, including
the INC session at Kakinada and the Cow Conference at Gudiwada.19
Initial inspiration and Dalit consciousness can be seen through the active
participation in these organisations. Between 1906 and 1916, Dalit activities of
Bhajan Mandals and harikathas spread all over Hyderabad. Bhagya Reddi Varma
toured all over Telangana region and created a sense of revolt in the minds of
‘untouchables’.20 With the relentless programmes of Bhajan Mandals as well as the
activities of Adi-Hindu Volunteer Corp (the Swasti Dal) and with their close contacts
with philanthropic caste-Hindus, Dalits succeeded to a greater extent in controlling
the prevalent social evils like Devadasi or Basavi or Jogini system, drinking, etc.
The spirit of social service and their convincing eloquence attracted caste-Hindus
of the state who extended a helping hand in tms work. Prominent among them
were C. Balakumud, a judge of the high court, Seth Ganashamji, a Jain, Jagirdar, a
philanthropist, Dharmaveer and Vaman Naik.21 In a short time, Bhajan Mandals
sprung up in each wada and basti in the city; bhajans were conducted and speeches
were delivered on the basis of pamphlets and tracts issued by the Sangams.
The Bhajan Mandals, where newspapers were subscribed, also served as free
reading rooms for its members. The Sangam regularly celebrated Buddha Jayanti
and Jayanti of Nandanar, Chokmela, Narsimehta and such other saints.22 All these
organisations stressed on internal social reform. They found it necessary in order
to bring about some cultural changes among the Dalit masses. They felt that it was
essential to narrow down the social distance between communities among the Dalits
by coming together and living an associational life. This required communication of
new thought and values to the masses. They realised that this process of socialisation
 Rise and G row th o f Dalit Consciousness in South India 317

was obviously possible through organisations, and thus these associations spread
not only throughout Hyderabad but also extended, influenced and interacted in the
coastal Andhra region.

AD 卜A N D H R A C O N S C IO U S N E S S

The term Adi-Andhra1arose in the post-1917 period when Dalits all over the south,
influenced by the (non-Aryan theories of the Dravidian movement, were identifying
themselves as Adi-Dravidas, Adi-Andhras, Adi-Kamatakas, original sons of the soil';
however, Hyderabad indicates a slightly different picture. These organisations took
up the Adi-Hindu theme. The Adi-Hindu Mahasabha, which at its inception was
known as Adi-Hindu Jatiyonnati Sabha, came into existence in 1922.23 Adi-Dravida
Mahajanasabha, which came into existence in 1890, was then named as the Pariah
Mahajana Sabha. During this period, the untouchables1of Madras made a couple of
reoresentations to the government to obtain the recognition for a new name for them,
reiterating the demand they had presented to Montague at the time of constitutional
hearings in Madras: £ ... we should be designated as Adi-Dravidas or the original
Dravidas, thus bringing us into line with the non-Brahmin Hindus who are ... called
Dravidians/24 Then, the Council recommended to the government that the term
Panchama or Pariah used to designate the ancient Dravidian community in southern
India should be deleted from the government records, etc. and the term KAdi-Dravida
in the Tamil and “Adi-Andhra” in the Telugu districts be substituted instead.’25
During this time, the identity of (Adi' ideology was spreading among the north Indian
Chamars， an adoption of Sanskrit term (leather worker)， who claimed
to be the exploited and conquered original inhabitants. Partly-educated Dalits and
the radicalisation of Dalit movements throughout the south brought an identification
with the (Adi ideology , lhus, the untouchables to a great extent changed their
nomenclature into Adi-Dravidians and Adi-Andhras. Between 1921 and 1931, we
see a striking variation in their numbers: the number of Malas which was 14,93,000 in
1921 was reduced to 8,39,000 in the 1931 census, and the number of Madigas which
was 7,37,000 in 1921 was reduced to 6,12,000 in 1931.Thus more than 6,65,000 of
Malas and Madigas assumed a new label and were known as Adi-Andhras.26
Nevertheless, in coastal Andhra, the decisive year was 1917. At this time, the caste-
Hindu reformer Guduru Ramachandra Rao27 called a conference in Bazawada, the
‘First Provincial Panchama Conference’held between 4 and 6 November 19丄/ at the
(big dramatic hall of Myiavaram Rajah'. Bhagya Reddi Varma presided and Sundru
Venkayya was the Chairman of the Reception Committee. On the very first day of
the conference, in his presidential address after mentioning the atrocities of caste-
Hindus on untouchables and their miserable plight, Bagya Reddi Varma stressed
that the so-called untouchables were original inhabitants of India and condemned
the term ‘Panchama’ and justified the use of the term ‘Adi-Andhras’.28 He argued
that the term Tanchama, (the fifth order) was nowhere to be found in Puranas or
other Hindu, scriptures and that they were the sons of the soil who ruled the country;
318 Yagati Chinna Rao

surprisingly, the very next day all banners and sign cloths of the venue changed to
read as Andhra Desa First Adi-Andhra Conference5.29 The delegates rejected the
term tPanchama,. Thus, the Dalit movement in coastal Andhra began to be called
Adi-Andhra movement.
A total of 18 resolutions were passed in the conference, such as appealing to
the govêrnment for the use of public wells, schools and choultrie% to nominate Adi-
Andhras to the local bodies and legislative councils; and to open free schools for the
Adi-Andhra children in their localities. Though the resolutions were relatively non-
controversial, caste tension showed up in the fact that delegates had trouble getting
accommodation in the town;30and, during three days of the conference, the well-known
Kanaka Durga Temple was closed due to apprehensions of an attempted entry by the
Adi-Andhras.31 Many a thousand delegates from all over the provinces, especially
from Andhra and Telangana regions, attended the conference. A constitution of the
Sangam was framed and district-, taluk- and local-level committees were constituted.
Subsequently Adi-Andhra conferences were held practically every year.
Major themes focused in the Adi-Andhra movement between 1917 and 1947
were related to the socio-economic uplift of the Dalit communities as well as issues
of land, education, employment, representation in decision-making bodies, etc.32
Many factors helped bring about consciousness and consequently made
Dalits participate in the movement in Andhra, particularly during the 1920s
and 1930s. By then Christian missionaries had already penetrated into Dalit
localities. While establishing educational institutions, they undertook amelioration
measures in addition to proselytism. The Madras Government also established
a ‘Labour Department’ to work for the development of Dalits in the presidency.
Commercialisation of agriculture and major irrigation schemes on the Krishna,
Godavari rivers eroded traditional caste and Jajamani ties which had tied down
Dalit labourers and others. It ended in the development of a mobile labour force,
and gave opportunities to many Malas and Madigas to move ahead.
Burma was also a base of the movement.33 Many thousands of Dalit labourers,
especially Malas, used to migrate each year for spells of work on the docks at Rangoon
in Burma from the late 19th century onwards. Some of them stayed back, even after
their contract was over, and managed to learn new trades. While in Burma, they got
education and earned money, and on their return, a few of them took direct part in
the movement,34 and others enthusiastically financed it.35 Many Dalit leaders later
on visited Burma to collect funds for their movements.36
Most of the Dalit leaders who were active in the 1920s were the product of
Sevasram established by caste— Hindu reformer, Gudum Hama Ghandra Rao at
Gudivada, Krishna district in 1912. He invited Dalit activists to work in the Asram
to train the Untouchable cadre*who later worked in rural areas. The activists included
Sundru Venkayya, Kusuma Venkatramayya, Naralasetti Devendrudu, Kusuma
Dharmanna and many others.
After the first Adi-Andhra conference of 1917, Dalit activities and organisational
base strikingly increased. Many associations/organisations cropped up and organised
conferences at district, Taluk and firka levels. They established Farm Labourers
 Rise and G row th o f D alit Consciousness in South India 319

Associations, Field Labour Credit Societies and also educational institutions and
hostels for the Dalit masses. After the first Adi-Andhra conference in 1919, Krishna
District Adi-Andhra Conference was held at Musalipatnam with Bhagya Reddi Varma
as President and Chilukuri Venkataswamy as Chairman of the Reception Committee.

E S T A B L IS H M E N T O F E D U C A T IO N A L IN S T IT U T IO N S

Against the background of rampant illiteracy, Dalits established day schools, night
schools for labouring Dalits, vocational institutes for women and many hostels for
both genders. Adi-Andhra leaders, besides establishing new schools, renovated old
schools established by Christian missionaries and Separate Schools' established by
the British government. Dalit leaders began establishing schools since the early
years of the 1920s. Among them, the most important one is a school established
at Ponnamanda in 1922 by Vuadru Tatayya. When caste-Hindu teachers refused
to teach Dalit children, Tatayya made use or his earlier Burmese connection and
brought Dalit teachers from there to teach here. He financed the construction of
school buildings for Dalits at Anatavaram, Allavaram and Mogalakuduru. In the
early part of the 1930s, Bojja Appalaswamy established a school at Kandikuppa with
himself as the Manager-Head Master. Another Dalit intellectual who worked in
this area was Jala Rangaswamy. He and his wife, Jala Mangamma, established many
schools at Ramadasupeta, Kontamuru, Kolamuru, Rayudu Pakalu and Palacharla.
They also established a night school at Kolamuru and financed the teachers.
In 1928, Jala Rangaswamy established the first separate Dalit hostels for both
girls and boys. Later, Eeli Vadapalli established many hostels including one at
Mandapeta in 1930. He also established the Laxmi Industrial Training School at
Ram Chandrapuram. It is said that he begged in order to feed the students of the
hostel. His admirers honoured him with the titles 'Sevadhurandara and 'Mahatma
of Adi-Andhra. He also published the journal Jaibheem and authored many works,
including Nimna Jatula Charitra (History of the Untouchables).37
Hostels established included the one at Rajolu in 1936 by Golla Chandrayya,
Bapuji Harijan Hostel by Pandu Laxmanaswamy of Rajahmundry, Gandhi
Memorial Harijan Boys Hostel at Recharlapeta by Pachchipala Ramaswamy, Adi-
Andhra Hostel by Moka Mirayya at Kakinada, and the Harijan Hostel by Medidi
Narayana Murti at Tuni.38 Many hostels functioned even without grants from
the government. The hostels also conducted cultural programmes to educate and
organise the Dalit students.39

C U L T U R A L C O N S C IO U S N E S S

The Dalit intelligentsia perceived the existing structure that perpetuated human
exploitation and understood these conditions^ making the unconscious conscious.
They tried all possible ways and methods to educate, organise and unite the Dalit
320 Yagati Chinna Kao

masses. They organised associations and conferences, established schools and hostels,
and enlightened the masses to challenge the ideological legitimisation of their low1
status. They employed popular means like harikatha kalakshepams, Bhajan Mandals
on one hand, and establishment of news papers/joumals of their own on the other.
Emergence of Dalit journalism in the 1930s played a significant role in highlighting
caste-Hipdu atrocities.40 Journals like Navajeevana}Adi-Andhra of Didla Pullayya,
Veera-Bharathi of Jala Rangaswamy, Marijana of Vundru Subba Rao and Jeevana
Jyothi of Chuttumalla Venkataratnam, effectively generated consciousness among the
Dalits. In addition to Dalit journalism, the writings of the Dalit intelligentsia also
played a major role in bringing about unity and a feeling of oneness and self-respect
among the Dalits, and to establish an egalitarian society and envision such a future.
Educated and enlightened sections within the Dalit communities provided., the
direction, programme and leadership for the movement.41 The main programme in
the agenda of the movement was the abolition of untouchability. The counter-cultural
movement and ideology propagated by Dalit intellectuals contained critique and
negation of brahminical Hinduism and undermined the cultural tradition of caste-
Hindus. These aspects were well-represented in the literary and cultural traditions of
the Dalits. A literary and cultural sensibility was projected by the Dalit intelligentsia,
which included Boyi Bheemanna,42 Kusuma Dharmanna,43 Jala Rangaswamy/4
Gurram Jashuva,45 Bhagya Reddi Varma, Nakka Chinnavenkaiah,46 etc. They
depicted the miseries, pain of <untouchables, and educated them that they were the
original inhabitants of the land (i.e. sons of the soiY) and built up consciousness
conducive to the struggle for their rights during 1920s and 1930s.
In an effort to create solidarity and identity among Dalits, Boyi Bheemanna
coined a new term Mamalu which included the two main sub-castes within Dalits
(‘Ma’ or tue Malas and ‘Ma of the Madigas).47 This term was deliberately used by
him to foster the concept of unity among the Dalit communities. Gurram Jashuva
was critical of sub-caste rivalry among Dalit communities and held that ignorance
was the main reason for this. He questioned the very creation of the fifth order, the
Panchama varna,48 and also questioned the wisdom' of the caste-Hindus in treating
the Dalit masses as Panchamas, and wonders:

We heard th a t fo r th e o ld Brahma
She bore fo u r sons
The w re tch e d Low er th a n th e anim al
w h o is this
F ifth Caste Person:
Savitri: (O’M other).

AD 卜H IN D U C O N S C IO U S N E S S IN H Y D E R A B A D , 1 9 2 0 s A N D 1 9 3 0 s

Hyderabad State—being the largest princely state in the Indian subcontinent—-

showed another variation of the autonomy-integration in the specialised
 Rise and Growth of D alit Consciousness in South India 321

circumstances under Nizams rule.49The Dalits of coastal region coined a term with
the prefix 'Adi, and the linguistic regional groups name,50 while in the Hyderabad
State they derived from the 'Adi-Hindu theme. The names of other contemporary
Dalit movements of 1920s, organising as non-brahmins and Dalits, were drawn from
an anti-Hindu ideology. Maharashtra and Madras both radicalised and influenced
thp rest of the country as the strongest initiator of non-Aryan themes. All over the
country Dalit movements, with their regional and low* caste identities, began to
argue in terms of the Aryan conquest and brahmin exploitation through religion.51
In the later part of 1920s and 1930s they organised many conferences in the
Hyderabad State, but unlike in the coastal region these conferences had a lesser
rural base. In 1925, Bhagya Reddi Varma organised an exhibition of handicrafts
containing paintings, sketches, sculptural works and other novelties prepared by
the Adi-Hindu community at Residency Bazar (now known as Sultan Bazar)
in Hyderabad, opened by Goswamy Rajah Dhanrajgiri Narsingirji.52 The idea
behind the exhibition was to prove that the Dalits were in no way less skilful in the
fine arts and crafts even though they had no facilities and opportunities to develop
their skills.
In 1931,a special political session of (Ninth) All-India Adi-Hindu Conference
was held at Lucknow on the eve of the Second Round Table Conference. Bhagya
Reddi Varma presided over this conference in which representatives from all
over India participated. The most significant resolution of the conference, passed
unanimously, was the recognition of Dr B. R. Ambedkar as the sole and true
representative to speak on behalf of the nine crore Adi-Hindu population in India.53
The second important resolution, also unanimously passed, reiterated the demand
for a separate electorate with adequate weightage to the Adi-Hindu community. It
is interesting to note that when some delegates at the conference objected to the
suffix ‘Varma， in Bhagya Reddi Varma’s name—as they regarded it to be an Aryan
title一 he renounced the title and signed all the papers without the suffix ^arm a,
and avoided giving any room for controversy.
As a result of the anti-caste radicalism, along with the growing consciousness of
Dalits all over the country *adi>ideological identity became a major discourse in the
1920s and 1930s. The state census indicated a rather vigorous cultural debate. The
1931 Census of Hyderabad reports a division among 'untouchables5with respect to
their orientation towards Hinduism.54

A c o n tro v e rs y re c e n tly raged in th e press as to w h e th e r th e A d i-H in d u s are H indus

o r n o t w h ile th e C aste-H indus m a in ta in e d d iscre te silence, tw o o p p o s in g sections
o f A d i-H in d u s e n te re d th e arena. The A d 卜D ravida E d u ca tio n a l League u rg e d
th a t, ju d g e d by th e h istory, p h ilo s o p h y a nd c iv iliz a tio n o f th e A d i-D ra vid ia n s,
th e real a b o rig in e s o f th e decade, th e depressed classes are, as a c o m m u n ity ,
e n tire ly separate a n d d is tin c t fro m th e fo llo w e rs o f Vedic re lig io n called H in d u ism .
The League's c o n te n tio n was th a t H in d u ism is n o t th e ancestral re lig io n o f th e
a b o rig in e s o f H in d u s ta n ; th a t n on-V edic c o m m u n itie s o f India o b je c t to b e in g
called 'H in d u ' because o f th e ir in h e rite d a b h o rre n c e o f th e d o c trin e s o f th e
322 Yagati Chinna Kao

m o ve m e n ts and like scrip tu re s, w h o have d is tin g u is h e d th e m se lve s fro m Caste-

H indus fo r ce n tu rie s past. T h a t th e Vedic re lig io n w h ic h th e A ryans b ro u g h t in
th e w ake o f th e ir invasion was a c tiv e ly p ra c tic e d u p o n th e n o n -V e d ic a b o rig in e s,
and th e abo rig in e s, c o m in g u n d e r th e in flu e n c e o f th e H in d u s g ra d u a lly and
h a lf co nsciously a d o p te d H in d u ideas and p re ju d ice s. A s e c tio n o f A d 卜H indus
e m p h a tic a lly re p u d ia te d th e a b ove a rg u m e n ts in a s ta te m e n t in th e press and
d e p lo re d th e te n d e n c y o f th e A d i-D ra vid a E d u ca tio n a l League seek to im pose
an in v id io u s d is tin c tio n . The co n ce p ts o f God, m o d e o f w o rs h ip , th e system o f
ritu a ls and code o f cu sto m s and th e m a n n e r o f dress and w ay o f life o f th e socially
depressed classes are id e n tic a l w ith th o s e o f th e C aste-H indus th e re fo re th e y
m a in ta in th a t re lig io u s ly A d i-H in d u s are H indus.

A similar vigorous debate within the Agra Chamars resembles the arguments of the
Adi-Dravida Educational League and is worth mentioning here.55 They argued that
the tuntouchables, are in fact Adi-Hindus, i.e. the original or autochthonous Negar or
Dasas of the north and the Dravidas of the south of the subcontinent, and that they
are the undisputed, heavenly owners of Bharat. All others are immigrants to the land,
including the Aryans, who conquered the original populations not by valour but by
deceit and manipulation. And that the Hindus and untouchables have since always
remained poles apart.56
Dalits of ■Lamil-speaking areas of Madras Presidency and in Hyderabad State
identified themselves as Adi-Dravidas while Telugu-speaking Dalits of rlyderabad
state identified as Aai-riindus. They used Adi-Hindu in a way in which the term
(Hindu, did not refer to the religion but as a term given by foreigners to those living
in India. They created consciousness through the reading rooms, Bhajan Mandals,
to instilled the sense of self-respect and pride of being the aboriginal masters of
the land overthrown due to the hostility of foreign invaders—dubbed as rakshasa%
in their shastras and puranasノノ In November 1931,an Aax-Hindu (Depressed
Classes) Political conference Nizams state was held at Bolaram. ^mce the Nizams
government did not permit any conferences or meetings of a political nature in its
dominion, they organised at Bolaram which was a British-administered area.58
By the later years of the 1930s, Hyderabad Dalit politics was marked by intensive
competitive struggles, divisions within the movement, the founding of rival Adi-
Hindu organisations and rival caste reform panchayats, and occasional physical
confrontations and fights between the various factions.59 There were differences
between B. S. Venkatarao60 and Arigay Ramaswamy and later between Venkatarao
and Arigay Ramaswamy and between Venkatarao and Suobaiah. The striking
differences were more due to personal competition than ideological and political
differences. None of the later Hyderabad leaders were capable of organising any mass
movement.61 The Adi-Hindu movement of Hyderabad mostly concentrated in the
twin cities with little rural base, unlike the coastal region. Gradually, Communists
gained a foothold in rural Telugu regions while the Ambedkarite movement attained
some significant mass base in the Marati-speaking regions of the state.
 Rise and Grow th o f Dalit Consciousness in South India 323

C O N C L U D IN G R E M A R K S

An overview of the Dalit consciousness in Andhra makes it clear that the organisational
struggles and activities emerged out of very different political and socio-economic
conditions. During the 1930s they were mainly outside the scope of Ambedkar^s
influence. The movement was determined largely by the backward political autocracy
of Nizams state in Hyderabad, and by the agriculture-based commercial development
in Andhra. These movements shared in common several features with other regional
Dalit movements. They were nearly based on solely'untouchable'castes of the region,
the castes which were traditionally assigned to common village service. They emerged
first with sponsorship from either caste-Hindu social reformers or from philanthropic-
minded Christian missionaries, and they all had an inclination to the adoption of a
non-Aryan ideology' the rights claim to being the original inhabitants or £sons of the
soil5which was at that time sweeping across the Dalits of India as a whole.
Within this broad framework two trends can be traced: the first, towards a
radical assertion of autonomy from ‘Hinduism， and from the social and political
organisations of caste-Hindus, and the second, a trend towards integration. To some
degree the ‘adi’ideological identity could lead back into an integration into Hinduism
as exemplified in claims by the Telugu Dalit poet Boyi Bhimanna that Dalits were
the writers of ^ in d u 1scriptures. He was also absorbed into the Congress, worked as
its propagandist,, but later with his Paleru asserted his Dalit identity in the 1940s.
He claimed that scriptures were our literature' and that the Aryans took them Trom
us’. To some extent， this trend towards absorption into Hinduism often led via
identification with the Bhakti movement, with saints such as Chokamala as well as
with linkages to reform organisations.
The emergence of the Dalit movement was related to specific socio-political
upheaval in colonial Andhra and was characterised by the growing social reform, i.e.
Brahma Samaj, Arya Samaj, etc. and non-brahmin movements under the leadership
of caste-Hindus. At political level, the constitutional reforms, viz. the Montagu-
Chelmsford reforms, also gave impetus to the self-organisation and political
mobilisation of Dalits for demanding their share in colonial representative institutions.
The rise and growth of the Adi-Andhra movement since 1917 was influenced to a
significant extent by earlier social reform movements^ because a number of leaders of
Dalit movement were associated earlier with them. Bhagya Reddi Varma is the best
example. Moreover, some of the brahmins of the Brahma Samaj in coastal Andhra
were instrumental in bringing an awareness among the Dalits by imparting modern
education to them. Many schools and hostels exclusively meant for the Dalits were
initiated by these philanthropists. The Rajah of Pithapuram is a case in point. In fact
many of the first generation of Dalit intellectuals and leaders were products of such
educational institutions.
There were two stages in the whole movement. The radical assertion of autonomy
and self-consciously defined non-Hindu identity forced them to form their own
organisations. Since the early decades of the 20th century to the early 1930s, they
324 Yagati Qhinna Rao

fought against social oppression and economic exploitation and could not stand
to withstand powerful pressures of absorption by caste-Hindu dominated political
parties for sheer political power. This was evidently due to the lack of a strong and
dynamic leadership amongst the Dalits after the death of Bhagya Reddi Varma.The
reabsorption into Hinduism, after all, included the acceptance of Hindu leadership
with a Harijan identity. There were many voices around to make the claims of leading
the Harijans and providing an ideology for their advancement without a proper
direction. Gandhi-dominated Congress idealised village-centred *Ram Raj' on the
one hand and Communists imagined an indurstrialised casteless socialism on the
other.62 Both diverted the vital issues only to transform the Dalit movements into
splinter groups.
Group rivalries within the Dalit movement coupled with the ever increasing
influence of power politics brought into it by contending political parties seem to
have been the most decisive factors in bringing a disastrous end to the movement
itself. In the background of the Dalits organising in post-colonial Andhra in the
first and second general elections, Bojja Applaswamy was elected to the legislation
under the SCF banner and B. Subba Rao was elected to the Legislature in 1957,
but he later lost in favour of Congress. Ambedkars pre-occupation mostly outside
Andhra, and his involvement in Delhi in the later years of the 1940s, ensured that
his influence could not compete with the Congress and Communists for long.
Though the independent Dalit movement in Andhra faded away by the late 1940s,
it is not unfair to conclude that the movement came to an end by the 1950s under
the burden of power politics. Much later, in the late 1960s, an attempt was made by
K. Ramaswamy and Neredumilli Nagendrudu to revive the movement, but could
not get off the ground. Only in the late 1980s could they revive and reorganise the
militant Dalit movement in Andhra.

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1Leopold von Ranke, Geschichte der rom anischen un d germ anischen Voelker 1 4 9 5 -1 5 3 5 (Berlin:
Duncker öcHumblot,1874), v ii; G. J. Renier on what Ranke meant and did not mean by this
phrase, see Renier, H is to ry : Its Purpose a n d M ethod (London: George Allen 6c Unwin Ltd.,
1950),130; also see Bernard Lewis, H is to ry : Rem em bered, Recovered, In ve n te d (Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1975), 71.
2 Angel Quientero Rivera, W orkers' S truggle in P uerto R ico : A D ocum entary H isto ry (New
York: Monthly Review Press, 1976), 6-7.
3 Issa G. Shivji, Class S truggle in T a n za n ia (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976), 55.
4 Priyadarshini Vijaisri, R ecasting the D evadasi: P atterns o f Sacred P ro stitu tio n in C o lo n ia l
South In d ia (New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2004), 'Introduction.
5 Before bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh geographically consisted of three regions, i.e.
Coastal Andhra (fertile wetland region), Rayalaseema derived from the monarchs {rayas) of
Vijayanagara once controlling this region, but later on more known colloquially as (Land of
Stones', i.e. less fertile lands; and Telangana, Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Nizams
state. Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna,
 Rise and Growth o f D alit Consciousness in South India 325

Guntur, Nellore and Prakasam are the nine districts of Coastal Andhra; Cuddapah, Kurnool,
Anantapur and Chittoor are four districts of Rayakseema. These two regions were a part of
Maaras Presidency during the colonial rule.
6 Telangana consists of ten districtsAdilabad, Hyderabad, Ranga Reddi, Karimnagar,
Nalgonda, Warangal, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Khammam and Nizamabad. Telangana and
other two linguistic regions (five districts of Marathwada and three districts of Karnataka)
comprised the Nizami state or Hyderabad State.
7 Gail Omvedt, D a lits and the D em ocratic R e vo lu tio n : D r. A m bedkar a n d the D a lit M ovem ent
in C o lo n ia l In d ia (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1994), 114.
8Indu Rajagopal, The T yranny ofC aste: The N on -B ra h m in M ovem ent and P o litic a lD evelopm ent
in South In d ia (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1985), 118.
9 Originally named Madari Bhagaiah (1888-1939) was the second child to Madari
Venkayya and Rangamamba. He worked as a steward for a Goanese Catholic family who
educated him, and later employed him. Their family guru, a Shaivite and a learned person,
conceived as a fact historically, that Untouchables* were the rulers of the land prior to migration
of Aryans to India for their livelihood. (This fact also supports the <hypothesis, of Dalits as the
‘sons of the soil，.） Hence the term ‘Reddi’(derived from W z へwhich means ruler) was justified
to be suffixing his name,, became Bhagya Reddy later on in 1913 at the annual function of
Arya Samaj, when he was honoured with the title ^arm a5for his laudable social service.
10Y. B. Abbasayalu, Scheduled Caste E lite : A Study o f Scheduled Caste E lite in A n d h ra Pradesh
(Hyderabad: Department of Sociology, Osmania University,1978), 32.
11 For details, see Yagati Chinna Rao, D a lits ' S truggle fo r Id e n tity : A n d h ra an d H yderabad
(New Delhi; Kanishka Publishers, 2003),
12 Yagati Chinna Rao, <rTlie Rise and Growth of Dalit Movement in Andhra,1906-1946J,
In d ia n S ocial Science R e vie w , vol.5, no.1(2003), 117-53.
13The executive committee consisted ofWalthati Sashaiah, President; H. S. Venkataram,
Vice-President; J. S. Multhaiah, Secretary; H. S. öhivaram,Treasurer; and M. V. Bhagya Redd!
Varma, Organising Secretary.
14 R R. Venkataswamy, O u r S truggle fo r e m a n cip a tio n , 2 vols (Secunderabad: Universal Art
Printers, 1955),10.
15 Arigay Ramaswamy (1885-1973), bom at Ramankola in Ranga Reddy District, was the
son of a tonga driver in Secundaraoad. He was sent to Baptist Mission School, Secunderabad,
but could not continue due to acute poverty. He worked as an office boy, carpenter and a ticket
coUector on trie railroads at Bolaram, before beginning his social reform activities.
16 R. K. Kshirsagar, D a lit M ovem ent a n d its Leaders (1 8 5 7 -1 9 5 6 ) (New Delhi: M.D.
Publications, 1994), 166.
17 M. B. Gautam, Bhao-vodayam : M a a d a ri B hagya R eddi Varm a, L ife Sketch and M ission
(Hyderabad: Adi Hindu Social Service League, 1991),16.
18 Sir Ali Imam, the President of the Executive Council of H. E. H .ilie Nizams
Government, in appreciation of its activities, awarded Swasti Dal a certificate. The Deccan
Humanitarian League awarded a Gold Medal to Bhagya Reddi Varma ana silver medals to
volunteers for their meritorious service.
19 K. Chandraiah, cThe Awakening of Adi-Hindus of Hyderabad as part of the National
Movement for Freedom,, S ou venir o f D r. A m bedkar Peoples E d u ca tio n a l Society (Hyderabad,
1992),17-24.
20 M. B. Gautam， ‘The Scheduled Castes and Backward Peoples’Movement in Hyderabad’，
mimeo, 30 November 1953.
326 Yagati Chinna Rao

21 Y. B. Abbasayalu, Scheduled Caste E lite : A Study o f Scheduled Caste E lite in A n d h ra Pradesh

(Hyderabad: Department of Sociology, Osmania University, 1978), 32.
22 M. B. Gautam, Untouchables Movement in Andhra Pradesh,, S ou venir o f A n d h ra
Pradesh State H a rija n Conference (1976), 70— 71.
23 Venkataswamy, O u r S truggle fo r E m ancipation^ 18-40.
24 M adras L e g isla tive C ou n cil Proceedings vo l, IV (20 January 1922), 2051.
25 Proceedings o f the L a w (G eneral) D epartm ent, Government of Madras, GO no. 817, dated
25 March 1922.
26 Census o fIn d ia , XIV, Madras Part I, Report, (Madras, 1933), 343.
27 Guduru Ramachandra Rao along with other caste-Hindus, Ayyadevara Kalaswara Rao,
Vamuri Ramji Rao, Maddapati Hanumanta Rao and Vellanki Krishna Rao, etc., made attempts
to introduce a few ameliorative measures for the uplift of <untouchables,.
28 Gautam, Bhagyodayam .
29 Ibid.
30 The caste-Hindu reformers like Guduru Ramachandra Rao and others had to persuade
concerned people and got the town hall opened late in the evening to accommodate the
delegates.
31 Gautam, 'The Untouchables Movement in Andhra Pradesh5, 67-71.
32 Adapa Satyanarayana, D a lits and U pper Castes: Essays in S ocial H isto ry (New Delhi:
Kanishka Publishers, 2004), 96-115.
33 Harold Issacs, In d ia s'E x-U n tou ch a b le s (New York: John Day C o.,1965), 67-70.
34 Satyanarayana, D a lits and U pper Castes^ 2 1 7 -2 5 .
35 B. S. Murthy is the best example of this. He was educated at Rajahmundry and Madras.
He was elected Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Harijan Sevak Sang (1940-49), Electoral
Member of Madras Legislative Assembly in 1937 and Minister Industries and Labour; later
became a Deputy Minister in NehruJs Cabinet He also took part in the national movement
and played a major role in establishing hostels for Dalits.
36 In their usage Burma is more commonly known as *Rangam, (Rangoon). In many
popular Dalit stories, a 'Rangam' factor is visible. Dalits more often fled to Rangoon due to
their inability to repay debt or as a mark of protest against the iandlords' exploitation. This
information is based on my personal interview with many Dalits activists/leaders in coastal
Andhra—Bojja Appala Swamy and Vajrapu Sambamurty of East Godavari district, Konada
Suryaprakasarao and Ravuri Ekambaram of Vijayawada, and Yagati Ramulu of Vijayanagaram
district. Also, see Pamu Ramamurty mention this in various instances in his R ashtra H a rija n
N ayaku lu J iv ith a C h a ritra (Kakinada: n.p., n.d.).
37 Kshirsagar, D a lit M ovem ent^ 211-12.
38 Chinna Rao, D a lits , S truggle fo r Id e n tity .
39 Y. B. Abbasayalu, Sociology o f Depressed G roups (Hyderabad: Centre for Harijan Studies,
Osmania University, 1979), 12-13.
40Ja y a B h e ri was published from Raj ahmundry under the editorship of Kusuma Dharmanna,
and N avajeevana was started from Madras under the editorship of B. S. Murty in 1939.
Personal interview with Bojja Appalaswamy.
41 Personal interview with Ravoori Ekambaram. Initially he joined in the Congress led by
Gandhi and actively participated in Harijan Sevak Sangh activities. Later, he turned into a
staunch Ambedkarite and also authored a poetical work N arudo Am bedkaruda (Vijayawada:
n.p., n.d.).
42Boyi Bheemanna (1911-2005) was one of the legendary figures among Dalit intellectuals.
He graduated with a BA from P. R. College, Kakinada in 1936 and a B,Ed. from Rajahmundry
 Rise and Grow th of Dalit Consciousness in South India 327

in 1937. He was associate editor for the Dalit journal Ja ya b h e ri. He published nearly 50 works
including P alera (A Farm Boy) (1940), K o o li R a ju (Ihe Labour King) {\947)^ Ja a n a P ad uni
Ja a b u lu (1940) among others. For details, see Haimavati, P aleru N unchi P adm asri Varaku: B oyi
Bheem anna (Hyderabad: Sanmana Sanga Prachurana, 1978); Also see Ganumala Gnaneswar,
ed., B oyi Bheem anna Sahitee Shasti P o rti Sanchika (Hyderabad: Sahitee Shastipoorthi
Prachurana, 1983).
43 Kusuma Dharmanna (1896-1948) was one of the prominent Dalit organic intellectual
leaders of the Adi-Andhra movement. He was also a prolific writer. His writings include N a lla
D ora Jhanam (1 9 3 3 )yH a rija n Satakam u (1 9 3 3 )yM aäya Paana N ishedam u (1930) among others.
44Jala Rangaswamy was bom in 1904 at Kambak Peta in Rajahmundry. He was a teacher
by profession and worked for Dalit education, establishing many educational institutions
along with his wife Jala Mangamma. His writings include A n ta ra n i V aarevaru? {W ho Were
U ntonchablesf) (1930), M alasuddhi (1930), among others.
45 Gurram Jashuva (1895-1971) would be remembered as a pre-eminent poet who raised
a strong voice of protest in verse against the caste system, untouchability and socio-economic
inequalities. His writings include P hiradousi (1932), G abbilam (Bat) (1941), etc.
46The most famous among the writings of Nakka Chinnavenkaiah was H a rija n a K eertanalu
(1935).
47 This argument was renewed again in the 1990s among the Dalit intellectual circles. For
details, see Sarini, ed., Indigenous People in In d ia ^ Sarini Occasional Papers n o .1(1997); The
Em ergence o f Indigenous Peoples^ collection of papers presented at the first C AI1 India Conference
of Indigenous People of India held at Bangalore, 24-25 December 1993.
48 Adapa Satyanarayana， ‘Dalit Protest Literature in 丁elugu: A Historical Perspective’，
Econom ic an d P o litic a l Weekly^ vol.30, no. 3 (1995), 171-75.
49 Chandraiah， ‘The Awakening of Adi-Hindus’，17-24.
50At the end of the 8th Session of the All India Adi-Hindu (Depressed Classes) Conference
held at Allahabad,16 November 1930, twelve resolutions were passed. Hie sixth resolution
states:
This conference demands the representation of the Adi-Hindus (Depressed Classes) in
the central and provincial legislatures on their population basic with adequate weightage
commensurate with their position as the descendants of the original inhabitants of this
country who were the rulers and masters of this land of their birth before the advent of
the Aryans to this country.

See B ha?va R ed di Verma Papers and C ollections.

51 The theme of ideology or original inhabitants of the country (sons of the soif) was
a growing phenomenon throughout the country. Hie names of most Dalit movements—Adi-
Dharm in Punjab, Adi-Hindu in UP and Hyderabad, Adi-Andhra in AP, Adi-Dravida in
Madras—indicate a common claim to being original inhabitants.
52 Gautam, B hagyodayam y20-21.
53 Ibid., 32.
54 Census o f In d ia , 1 9 3 1 , vol. XXIII, Hyderabad State, Part I, Report (Hyderabad, 1933),
258.
55 Owen M. Lynch, The P o litics o f U n to u ch a b lility: S ocialM o b ility and S ocial Change in a C ity
o f In d ia (New York: Columbia University Press, 1969), 14-27.
56 R. S. Kliare, The U ntouchable as a H im self: Ideology, Id e n tity and P ragm atism am ong the
Lucknow Cham ars (Cambridge: Cambnage University Press, 1969).
57 Venkataswamy, O u r S truggle fo r E m ancipation^ 3^.
328 Yagati Chinna Kao

58 Abbasayalu, Sociology o f Depressed G roups y 21-23.

59 Chandraiah, ‘The Awakening of Adi-Hindus’，17-24.
60 Originally named Bathula Ashaiah, he was born to parents in the domestic service of the
Europeans. He was a resident of Ghasmandy, Secunderabad. His youthful robust and hefty
body earned him the colloquial nickname of ^obba* (literally, bulky), and he was commonly
known as Dobba Ashaian, but during the later part of his life he was mostly known as B. S.
Venkatarao. He worked in the Public Works Department of Nizams government, and was
later appointed as an Assistant Recruiting Officer in the Nizam Sager.
61 This was partly because Hyderabad was an urban area and also due to the gradual
deterioration of Bhagya Reddi Varmas (d.1939) health.
62 Omvedt, D a lits and the D em ocratic R evolution^ 134.
 XIX

D A L IT ID E N T IT Y A N D C O N S C IO U S N E S S IN
C O L O N IA L A N D H R A , 1 9 1 7 - 4 7 *

Adapa Satyanarayana

In the existing historical literature on Modern Andhra, the emergence of a Dalit

consciousness and of a distinct Dalit sensibility has not received adequate attention.1
What the Dalits themselves thought about their conditions, in their own terms has
also not been properly analysed by scholars. The fact that Dalits have the intellectual
ability to creatively reflect on and analyse tKeiFconHitions historically, sociologically
and in their own language has been missed out. Most scholars tend, to characterise
social forces,
and self-assertion. Thus, the efforts of i^alits and their self-perception to represent
tnemselves to themselves and to others m their own terms need explanation
and elucidation. Furthermore, the emergence of well-informed Dalit thinkers,
commentators, etc. affords ample opportunity to examine the way in which Dalits
symbolise their experience of oppressive subjugation and struggle to create new
socio-cultural identities and ideological bases for autonomous reflection and self-
action. It must be stressed that the literary representation of Dalit resentment and
anger towards upper-caste dominance as the manifestation of their self-awareness,
consciousness ana imagination has been a historical phenomenon. The emergence of
a distinct Dalit poetry, literary tradition and the creation or 'texts of resistance52 and
protest literature 3 not only reflected changing consciousness but also symbolised the
intensification of the Dalit quest for dignity and social justice.
The main purpose of this chapter is to examine the sodo-historical context and
also the articulation of Dalit self-perception and consciousness under colonialism.
Central to tms is an analysis of the nature and character of Dalit intellectual ferment
and alternate ideological formulation. During the colonial period, Dalit seli-identity

* This chapter is a revised version of a paper presented at the 58th session of the Indian
History Congress (Modern Indian section), held at Bangalore, 14-16 November 1997. Originally
published as ‘Dalit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra,1917-4 ア， vol.6, no.
2 (1998), 4 1 - 5 /. Reproduced by permission of Mr Suresh Shelke of Vikas Adhyayan Kendra.
The author is grateful to Kancha Ilaiah, Reader, Department of Political Science, Osmania
University for his comments and suggestions. In this chapter, the term Dalit refers to the erstwhile
untouchable communities of Malas, Madigas and 57 other castes in Modern Andhra. During the
colonial period, they were also known as Panchamas, Depressed classes, Harijans, etc. The Malas
and Madigas constituted more than three-fourths of the untouchables in colonial Andhra. Census
o f I n d ia ,1 9 3 1 , Madras, vol. XIV, part I.
330 Adapa Satyanarayana

was constructed and articulated in terms of a critique of brahmanical Hinduism,

caste ideology and philosophy. Thus, denunciation of the existing caste system and
untouchability was a recurring theme of Dalit scholarly writings, viz. poems, short
stories, essays and plays. In this chapter, an attempt is made to analyse some of the
writings of Dalit scholars like Kusuma Dharmanna, Nakka Chmnavenkaiah and
Jala Rapgaswamy. Further, it seeks to explain the historical roots of Dalit Protest
in colonial Andhra between 1917 and 1947 and to demonstrate how it sought to
undermine and challenge the prevailing social order. An attempt is also made to
describe some aspects of the growth of Dalit organisation and mobilisation, as
manifested in the rise and growth of the Adi-Andhra movement during the pre-
Independence period.

A R T IC U L A T IO N O F SELF A N D T H E O T H E R

It can be said that the assertion of Dalit identity was rooted in the socio-economic
transformation as well as the socio-political Inarmoil.〇£ cplamal^Aadhra .since the
beginning of the 20th centur^lhe completion of major irrigation systems and growth
of commercial agriculture led to the increasing stratification of agrarian society in
the rural Andhra districts.4 Being the lowest and at the bottom of the caste-centred
hierarchy of society, the Dalit masses were chief victims of upper-caste landlord and
rich peasant class exploitation and oppression. Caste restrictions and obligations
condemned them to a toilsome, undignified and degrading means of livelihood.
The traditional occupation of the Malas was to work as agricultural labourers for
land-owning caste-Hindu communities and thus they became the 'backbone of the
agricultural labour forceJin colonial Andhra. Similarly, the caste-defined traditional
occupation of the Madigas was leather work and making footwear. But, most of them
also worked as agricultural labourers. Moreover, the social distribution of landed
property closely corresponded to the caste hierarchy, wherein the brahmin and sat-
shudra communities like the Reddy, Kamma, Kapu, Velama, etc. had considerable
access to land and other economic resources, and the Dalits were compelled to work
mostly as field labourers. An examination of the available census data on caste and
occupation indicates that Mala and Madiga communities constituted the bulk of the
agricultural labour force and worked as farm servants， palerus and casual workers. Very
few of them possessed land.5 The involvement of the entire family, i.e. men, women
and children, was a unique feature of the Dalit communities. Unlike in many other
lower shudra castes, the overwhelming participation of Dalit women in agriculture and
other related occupations is conspicuous. Gail Omvedt observed: (Data indicate low
work participation of women among the Brahman castes ... contrastingly, among the
peasant Jatis it is quite high, while it is highest of all among the Dalits.56 Hence, the
main source of livelihood for the Dalit households was productive and manual labour.
The dependence of Dalit communities on upper-caste landholders and the
exploitative relationship between them was articulated in numerous poems and short
stories by Dalit scholars. In a powerful poem, 'Maakoddie Nalla Doratanam5(4We do
 D alit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 331

not want this black landlordism*) Kusuma Dharmanna, £a bom poet, a gifted speaker
and an able leader7 and a (Kaviveera ?depicts the miserable condition of Dalits thus:9

We d o n 't w a n t th is black la n d lo rd ism , 0 God, 'W e d o n 't w a n t'

If w e d o n 't have d ig n ity in th e so c ie ty 'W e d o n ’t w a n t’
Palerus fo r th e w h o le tw e lv e m o n th s
We live w ith h u n g e r
O ur W ives s h o u ld w o rk as Coolies, C hildren m ust te n d c a ttle
Even if w e all to il to g e th e r, w e have no clo th e s to wear, n o th in g to eat,
'We d o n ’t w a n t’
O ur d ebts w o u ld n o t be cleared off, O God
M ercilessly th e y make us slaves
If w e cu ltiv a te lands and p ro vid e m ilk th e y [caste—
H indus] sit and e n jo y
They g o on increasing o u r d ebts
They beat us and drag us to courts
0 God, th e y d e stro y o u r liv e lih o o d , 'W e d o n 't w a n t7
T h o u g h w e are h u sbandm e n, th e y abuse us
By ta k in g th e names o f o u r m o th e rs and wives
They kick us, squeeze o u r b lo o d and flesh
C om pel us to p lo u g h th e lands, But 0 God
They hate th e Malas and M adigas, 7We d o n 't w a n t'

In another long poem, 'Harijan Shatakam,, he writes about the suffering of the Dalit
agricultural labourers.10

In Sunshine, Rain and Cold

W hy w o u ld th e [D alit] la b o u re r serve th e Ryot?
W hat is th e rew ard/result?
The Ryot w o u ld feed h im w ith w o rth le s s s tu ff
He [th e Ryot] w o u ld increase his [labourer's] d e b t
Crush him and drag h im in to th e street
You [th e D a lit labourer] p lo u g h like a Bull
Bring happiness and pleasure to th e Ryot
Yet, D oesn’t he hate and w o u n d you?

In this poem, the poet describes how the toiling Dalit masses produce wealth by
their hard labour and how rich caste-Hindu peasants perpetrate violence on them.
The sorrow and anger of Dalit labourers, the multiple dynamics of exploitation of
Dalit masses by the rich peasantry, and the conflict between the rich peasant and the
agricultural labourer are brilliantly and powerfully portrayed here. The significant
aspect of this poem is (the true representation of unfolding contemporary social
reality511 under colonial conditions. Further, the poet gives a call for the unification
of the labouring masses who are divided and whose caste has fallen to the ground.
He also exhorts them to proclaim their self-respect and carry on a social revolution
332 Adapa Satyanarayana

and take revenge by resorting to strikes. He feels, that the Dalit masses would be able
to eradicate their poverty, acquire wealth, respectability and rights only by waging
relentless struggles and sacrificing their lives if necessary.
The representation of human degradation, exploitation, poverty and miserable
economic conditions was meant to suggest and inculcate a sense of homogeneity
among th,e Dalits and emphasise the need for organised collective activity. The unity
of the community was stressed with a view to mobilise them under the exclusive
organlsation/association of the Dalits themselves. Perhaps, it was also meant to
remind fellow caste men to challenge and reject their slavery under the dominant
upper-caste exploiters. In a speech, Dharmanna questions as to why the Dalit
communities should be condemned to be coolies and slaves for their entire lives? He
exhorts them to assert their individuality and speak confidently: (Yes I am a human
being. I have self-respect. I do want leisure and pleasure in life/12 He also argues for
self-help and denounces dependence on others. Furthermore， he gives a call for the
self-uplift of the community.
The idea of oneness among the Dalits was also propagated by tracing their common
ancestry and social roots. Bhagya Reddi Varma, the foremost leader and intellectual
of the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha rejected caste-Hindu construction of their own selves
as Panchamas and Chandalas and instead coined a new name Adi-Andhras and
enunciated the theory of sons of the soil and original inhabitants. He also denounced
the low status attributed to the Adi-Andhras and asserted their equality with others.
The Adi-Andhra identity was justified by accepting the great rishis and goddesses of
ancient India—Valmiki, Vashishta, Vyasa, Parasara, Mantanga, Arundhati, Sabari—
as their ancestors. The same views were echoed by many other Dalit poets like Jala
Rangaswamy.13 As Bharat Patankar and ^jrail Omvedt have pointed out elsewhere,
central to the thinking of Dalit intellectuals in different parts of colonial India was
the Adi theme, a definition of themselves as the original inhabitants of the country,
the claim that their own inherent traditions were those of equality and unity, and
the total rejection of caste (chaturvarnya, varnashrama dharma) as the imposition
of the conquering Aryans who used this to subjugate and divide the natives. Very
often, this went with a rejection of Hinduism as the religion of the invaders and the
main support of caste society/14 In his Presidential Address to the first Adi-Andhra
Conference, Bhagya Reddi Varma remarks: 'We are not Dogs or Crows. Just as a
Brahmins mother gives birth to him, our mothers also give birth to us. Did their
mothers feed them with milk and our mothers feed us with Blood? No. Not at all. We
are also human beings like them, but not animals. God has given us all the abilities
just as he had given the Brahmins. We have the same soul as that of the Brahmins/15
Kusuma Dharmanna ridicules and denounces caste-Hindus for the inhuman and
irrational practice of untouchability with the following words:16

They consider us in fe rio r to Dogs and Foxes

Sit beside a Leprosy p a tie n t
D om esticate Dogs and M onkeys w ith a ffe c tio n
Love Cats and Birds
 D alit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 333

D on’t tro u b le Pigs

A llo w Crows to to u c h w a te r
B ut abuse us and d o n 't a llo w us to a p proach th e m

He also sarcastically remarked that because caste-Hindus worship the dog as Shiva,
the*monkey as Hanuman, the pig as Varaha, they treat the poor Dalit human being as
being inferior to these animals. The consciousness that Hindus worship animals and
condemn human beings is similar to that of Phule s expression in his famous book
Gulam Girl. The expressions we are not animals, reveals the agony, anger and hatred
of Dalits against the arrogant upper castes. By claiming the Adi-Andhra identity,
they sought to disown their low status in society. Attempts were also made to obtain
a new group identity through a change in nomenclature and by concerted action to
get this officially recognised. A study on the Scheduled Castes of Andhra noted:
'Till the 1921 census, the Malas and Madigas were the only two castes to be listed
as ^Depressed Classes5' in the Madras Presidency. But, by 1931,the list included a
number of castes.... Most of these castes claiming impressive titles such as Matangi,
Arundhathi and Godari, were none other than offshoots of the Malas and Madigas.
By claiming these titles they were seeking to disown their low status ....，17 The Adi
identity was also stressed by citing legends and Hindu mythology.18
The assertion of self-respect was also an equally important aspect of growing
Dalit consciousness during the colonial period. The Dalit intellectuals questioned
the legitimacy of caste-Hindu rationalisation of untouchability. They refused to
acknowledge the Hindu philosophical justification of ascriptive social order and
inequality. Thus, Kusuma Dharmanna rejected the notion that untouchability was
attributed to the Dalits because they did not follow the Varnashrama Dharma.
He writes:19

You have been e xco m m u n ica te d

Because you have le ft th e Varna Dharm a
Say th e Caste-Hindus, b u t
Brahm ans have le ft th e s tu d y o f Vedas
Kshatriyas have fo rg o tte n th e ir caste profession
Shudras have sto p p e d c u ltiv a tio n
Father, th e n w here is th e Varnashram a Dharm a in this?

The poet blames caste-Hindus for excommunicating the Dalits and the perpetuation
of untouchability. He continues:20

As a result o f a g e -o ld caste-H indu e n m ity

We are distanced fro m th e v illa g e
We are n o t g re a t in any sense to th e v illa g e m u n s iff [Patel]
Karnam [a cco u n ta n t], w e are a s tin k in g lo t
Kammas and Kapus d o n o t m ix w ith us, O God
We have becom e a s tin k in g lo t fo r th e w h o le p e o p le
334 Adapa Satyanarayana

In another poem, Dharmanna gives a call to fellow Dalits to bum and destroy the
devil of untouchability and uphold self-respect. Another notable Dalit poet, Nakka
Chinnavenkaiah in his poem, lAntudoshamu ('The Sin of Untouchability,) 21 appeals
to the upper castes to end the practice of untouchability and asserts that real freedom
would come only after it is abolished. Further, he says that temple entry and the use
of commbn wells would promote unity and interaction among the whole community
and lead to social equality and harmony. Jala Rangaswamy in two long poems?
lAntaranivarevani22 ((Who are the Untouchables?〇 and lMala Shtiddt2^ (^leanlines
of Malas〇 vividly describes the social deprivation of the Dalits and demands social
equality with others. He disputes the brahmanical interpretation of the reasons for
the low and untouchable status of Dalit communities. He does it by reinterpreting
some of the Hindu Texts and asking the caste-Hindu to re-read them. In their
poems, the ‘Dalit triumvirate’一 Kusuma Dharmanna, Nakka Chinnavenkaiah
and Jala Rangaswamyconstruct a distinct ideology of annihilation of caste and
social equality which was quite contrary to the Gandhian nationalist ideology.
They wrote these poems in the 1930s at a time when Gandhian mass movements
were at their peak, yet their Dalit poetry did not reflect and represent the political
aspirations of the upper-caste nationalist intelligentsia. For Dalit intellectuals, real
freedom and liberation meant the end of untouchability, excommunication and social
discrimination. They demanded social equality, self respect and dignity as an integral
part of independence {swarajyam!swantatram).
The emergence of the Dalit movement and Dalit literary texts was related to the
specific socio-political upheaval in colonial Andhra which was characterised by the
growing social reform (Brahma Samaj, Arya Samaj, etc.) and non-brahmin movements
under the leadership of upper-caste Hindus. Likewise, the constitutional reforms, viz.
the Montague-Chelmsford Act also gave impetus to the self-organisation and political
mobilisation of the Dalits for demanding a share in colonial representative institutions.
The rise and growth of the Adi-Andhra movement from 1917 onwards was influenced
to a significant extent by earlier social reform movements, because a number of leaders
of the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha were associated with them. Bhagya Reddi Varma is
a case in point. Moreover, some of the brahmins of the Brahmo Samaj in Coastal
Andhra were instrumental in imparting a sense of self and the other* awareness
among the Dalits by imparting modern education to them. Many schools and hostels
exclusively meant for the untouchable communities were established by leaders of the
Brahmo Samaj. In fact, many of the first generation Dalit intellectuals and leaders
were products of such educational institutions.24 It has been said that, 'The Brahmins
were instrumental in grooming several of the educated Harijan leaders outside the
Christian fold ... by the 1920s when Gandhiji took up their cause at the national
level, there was widespread awareness oi their conditions among the untouchables
in Andhra, and several untouchable leaders had already come to the fore. ... What
Brahmoism, however, succeeded in doing was to impart a social consciousness which
nevertheless fostered a sense of identity among the untouchables/25
However, an examination of the historical process of evolution of Dalit
consciousness and a shared identity reveals a significant break with the earlier reform
 D alit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 335

movements, both in terms of ideology and organisation. In a sense, the growth of the
Adi-Andhra Mahasabha represented the widening of the principles of the broader
non/anti-brahmin movement and its social radicalism in colonial Andhra, for it
mounted a serious attack on the notion of caste hierarchy and sought to create popular
unity based on rationalism and humanism.The Mahasabha movement, also expressed
the new found solidarity among the lower castes and their determination to struggle
to escape the ascripdve and hereditary fixation of occupation and appropriate the
emerging form of newer power structures. Unlike the social/caste reform movements
among sat-shudra upper castes such as the Kamma and Reddi Mahajana Sabhas,
which were essentially adjustive' in nature and meant to effort minimal changes, the
Dalit transformative movement sought to challenge the established unequal social
order, the value system and the patterns of dominance and resistance relationships.
The liberation ideology formulated by the Dalit intellectuals in colonial Andhra was
aimed at the destruction of caste hierarchy, discrimination, untouchability, etc. The
themes of Dalit poetry clearly indicate this. It also represented the aspirations of
Dalit political mobilisation by the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha.
. I * '

D A L IT M O B IL IS A T IO N

Major themes focused on by the Adi-Andhra Movement between 1917 and 1947
were primarily related to the socio-economic uplift of the Dalit communities as well
as the issues of land, education, employment and representation in decision-making
bodies, etc. The Dalit movement in colonial Andhra can be broadly divided into two
phases: the first phase lasting from 1917 to 1932, and the second one from 1932 to
1947.26 The first phase essentially represented the self-mobilisation of Dalits outside
the organisation/ideological framework of the Congress, although at the initial stages
positive response and sympathy was forthcoming from certain liberal upper-caste
individuals; whereas the second phase was characterised by interaction between the
Dalit and nationalist/left movements. It also manifested an earnest desire on the
part of Dalit communities to exhibit their consciousness of their rights, condemning
untouchability, discrimination and their demanding political and other rights. In
various conferences of the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha, several resolutions were passed
demanding free education; sanction of scholarships to meet expenses of books, food,
clothing, etc.; to start hostels for boys and girls; to withdraw recognition and to stop
government funding to educational institutions which do not admit Dalit children;
to provide employment to Dalit youth; to establish vocational institutions and
cottage industries for the benefit of the Dalit communities; to punish caste-Hindus
if they did not allow Dalits to draw water from public wells, tanks and prevented their
entry into temples, choultries, hotels, etc.; to nominate Dalits and reserve seats for
them adequately so as to ensure proper representation in statutory bodies right from
the village panchayat boards to the legislative councils; to grant rental; to establish
labour and credit co-operative societies; and finally to reserve a certain percentage of
the jobs in all government services.27 The Mahasabha also urged the Dalits to give
336 Adapa Satyanarayana

up drinking and abolish intra-community/sub~caste divisions stressed unity within

the community. The Adi-Andhra Mahasabha neld regular provincial conferences as
also at the district and taluq level. Between 1917 and 1937 nearly 15 conferences
were held in different parts of the Andhra districts ventilating the grievances of
the Dalits. Besides the provincial conferences, local level (district, taluq and city)
conferences were also organised. The geographical spread of these various conferences
suggests that the Mahasabha had been able to draw rural masses into its fold. It also
attracted a significant following from the educated sections like teachers, clerks, low-
paid employees, etc. of the community. In fact, most of the local-level conferences
(particularly in the coastal districts) were initiated and organised by them. The
leadership of the Mahasabha was mainly drawn from the educated and reasonably
well-off sections of the community，viz. the Malas and the Mala Dasaries.28
A content analysis of the resolutions passed by the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha
indicates that the Dalits were essentially resentful of the monopoly of socio­
economic resources by the upper castes, primarily the brahmins and demanded
access to the economic and educational fields as well as a reasonable share in the
institutions of power. These demands, it may be said, were also in accordance with
the broader non-brahmin movement of the 1920s. It is pertinent to note that the
Justice Party government of Madras responded favourably to some of the demands
of the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha with regards to education, employment and political
representation. As a measure of providing social justice to the drawntrodden Dalits,
the Justice Party ministry with the backing of the colonial state initiated certain
concrete measures like providing free elementary education to their children in the
local board schools as well as establishing separate schools for them through the
newly-created Labour Department. The land question raised by the Mahasabha was
also addressed by the ministry in terms of assigning government wastelands and tank
to Dalit rural poor peasants and labourers. However limited the efforts of the Justice
Party ministry might have been, they provided a sense of relief to the Dalits.
As far as the question of political representation of Dalit communities was
concerned, the Madras government sought to ensure the participation of Dalits in the
decision-making bodies by nominating some leaders of the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha
like Sundru Venkaiah, Devendrudu, etc.29 A close affinity was sought to be forged
between the non-brahmin and Dalit movements in terms of containing brahmanical
supremacy. But, given the lack of organisational coordination and programmatic
unity, the non-brahmin leadership of the Justice Party had failed to build a cohesive
movement with the active support of the Dalits.30 Some of the Andhra zamindars
belonging to the party had a personal connection with the Adi-Andhra leadership.31
The Adi-Andhra movement in the 1920s was, however, isolated and separated from
the mainstream political organisations, i.e. the Justice Party, the Congress, etc., led by
caste-Hindus.The autonomous character of Dalit mobilisation and organisation is also
indicated by the fact that neither the regional (Andhra movement) nor the national
(non-cooperation) movements had attracted any significant following from among
the Dalit communities: although some of the upper-caste nationalist spokesmen had
exerted an influence over the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha.32 Even then, the interaction
 D alit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 337

between Dalit and other mainstream movements was minimal. The integration of the
Adi-Andhra movement into them may be characterised as insignificant. For instance,
the participation of the Dalit masses in the nationalist movement in Andhra districts
was quite negligible if not absent, as a majority of them were either indifferent and/
or opposed to it precisely because the upper-caste led movements did not adequately
represent/reflect the aspirations of the vast majority of Dalits. At least, this was the
thinking/perception of Dalit intellectuals and this actively involved in the political/,
nationalist controversies unrelated to the Dalit masses.33Yet an element of co-option
of some Dalit leaders into the major political movement was noticeable. The caste-
Hindu leadership of those parties attempted to provide some sort of representation
to Dalits by the nomination of their leaders to the newly-created institutions of
power in a subordinate position.
Nevertheless， the launching of the Gandhian ‘Harijan upliftment programme in
the 1930s was a significant event, which led to the development of close relations
between Dalits and the Congress. The founding of a branch of the All India Harijan
Sevak Sangh in 1932 at Vijayawada facilitated participation of the local Congress
leaders in the welfare activities of Dalits in colonial Andhra. The Andhra Rashtriya
Harijan Sevak Sangh had established branches in all Telugu-speaking districts of
the erstwhile Madras Presidency and had obtained financial assistance from the
Central organisation.34
The caste-Hindu dominated Sevak Sangh carried out programmes like the
cleaning of Dalit localities, establishing schools and separate hostels for Dalit
students, digging drinking water wells for Dalit communities, facilitating temple
entry for Dalits, providing financial aid to poor Dalit families, etc. The visit of Gandhi
to some parts of Andhra also gave a morale boost for the activities of the Sangh.
Donations were also collected during his tours and they were utilised for (Harijan
upliftment’. An activist of the Dalit movement wrote， ‘During Gandhi’s tour， Lakhs
of rupees were collected from the people in the name of Harijan Biksha (Fund) and
he (Gandhi) earmarked the funds to each district from the collections for the purpose
of providing for the needs of the boarders admitted into hostels managed by the
provincial and district Harijan Sevak Sangh branches/35The main thrust of Gandhi^s
visit to Andhra in 1933 was to campaign against the evil practice of untouchability
and secure temple entry for the (Harijans,. On 17 December 1933 he personally led
them into two temples in Siddhantam village ot Ciudivada taluq in Krishna district.36
On this occasion he said,1 am happy to throw open these two temples for the
Harijans. The people who are responsible for this act of mine are pious. God is the
same for the pious and the sinner. How do we know whether Harijans or Savarnas
are sinners? ... Treat Harijan as Brothers. Harijans should be clean. Do not eat dead
animals. Don’t drink alcohol. May God protect you.’37
The so-called ‘Harijan Upliftment Programme’was carried out in various parts of
Andhra districts. Volunteers of the Harijan Sevak Sangh who had visited many villages,
attempted to convince caste-Hindus to permit Harijans to use public wells and enter
the temples. Numerous symbolic gestures of tolerance, fraternity, brotherhood, etc.
were made by the pro-Congress savarnas in a couple or places. News of such acts as
338 Adapa Satyanarayana

the entry of Dalits into specific Hindu temples, the drawing of water by Dalits from
wells and tanks, inter-dining between caste-Hindus and Dalits were also reported in
the local press.38 However, the Gandhian programme appeared to be more symbolic
than real. It could not inspire many savarna Hindus (to change their hearts* and
sincerely work for social equality. His teachings regarding tolerance and brotherhood
seemed to have been short-lived. The upper-caste leadership of the Sangh clearly
failed to persuade most of their brethren to follow Gandhian ideals in letter and spirit.
In implementing the ideals of Gandhi, the Congress activities faced many practical
problems at the grassroots level. They found that many orthodox caste-Hindus in
villages were strongly opposed to the entry of Dalits into temples and grant of access
to wells. A local official of the revenue department at Bhimavaram, West Godavari
district felt that several members of the 'depressed classes were suspicious about the
avowed intentions of the caste-Hindu leaders and hence preferred to remain aloof/39
Commenting about the participation of Dalits in a Satyanarayana Vratam (religious
worship which is usually performed only by caste-Hindus) at Tenali, Guntur district,
the Revenue Divisional Officer remarked: *The occurrence ... is unusual but beyond
that solidarity incident in which caste people mingled with the depressed classes in
the worship, I find public opinions suspicious and reticent in such matters, as temple
entry, common worship, common wells inter-dining and the like. They dislike these
intensely* and they are totally against the grain/40 A local-level Dalit association in
Krishna district noted; 'Gandhi has the interests of the depressed classes at heart.
But all high caste Hindus are not Ghandhijees/ And, when questioned as to why
Gandhi did not undertake a vow against caste-Hindus, he rhetorically stated: I f
the Caste Hindus do not throw open the temples, wells streets, etc., and treat the
depressed classes as their equals and come to a common understanding with them
in a specified time I am determined to fast to death/41 The District Labour Officer
of East Godavari- mentioned that though a few Dalits had visited some temples in
Rajhmundry town and performed Bhajans in front of them, their gates were closed
and admission was denied to them.42 The Anjaneyaswami Temple where they were
allowed to perform their Bhajans was a very insignificant one, maintained by a non-
brahmin which was open on all sides and any person who passed it on the road
might enter. At the same time; the gates of the other important temples in the town
remained fast closed suspecting that Dalits would force their entry into them. The
District Magistrate of Krishna reported: (On 26th September 1932, 33 caste Hindus
of Bandar instigated some Adi-Andhra to enter a temple. The temple Archakas
locked the doors against them. Similarly, unsuccessful attempts were made by some
congressman at Bezwada ... to get Adi-Andhras to enter temples/43 There were also
instances of purification ceremonies being held in those temples, which were thrown
open to Dalits. Therefore, it was most improbable that the orthodox trustees of many
parts of Andhra were not against any such concession being granted to them. It
was legitimate then, that the Dalits were angry and extremely suspicious about the
bonafide of caste-Hindu social reformers.
The most conscious activities of the Adi-Andhra Mahasabha were quite alert
and quickly pointed out the fallacies and inadequacies of the Gandhian nationalist
 D alit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 339

programme of Dalit liberation. Some of the militant sections of the Mahasabha

were very pessimistic about the exhortations of Gandhi and his disciples regarding
untouchability, discrimination and temple entry. Even prominent leaders of the
Sangh confessed to the inadequacies and gaps in the actualisation/realisation of
Gandhian idealism. Some of the glaring inconsistencies were highlighted and
exposëd in the press by literate Dalits. For instance, a Dalit from Krishna district
criticised Nageshwar Rao Pantulu—a brahmin politician, leader of Congress and
President of the provincial Harijan Sevak Sangh—for not allowing Dalits to enter
his own temple in his native village. He asked him either to immediately throw open
the temple for Dalits or make his stand public through the press. It was indeed
embarrassing and a clear rebuff to the senor nationalist leader.44 Another instance of
religious/sodal discrimination against Dalits in Ellore town was also reported by a
member of the Adi-Andhra community.45 A prominent upper-caste social reformer,
Mother Gangaraju, who voted in favour of the Temple Entry Bill in the Madras
Legislative Council had-—on the basis of rumours—petitioned the local police to
prevent the attempted forcible entry of Dalits into a Hindu temple on the day of the
Ekadasi festival as well as to protectfHindu society and dharma. Consequently, the
sub-magistrate passed orders directing the Adi-Andhra to complete their religious
celebrations and leave the main streets by 9 a m . Further, they were also directed not
to interfere and cause inconvenience to the caste-Hindu processions. In effect, this
was a means to ban Dalits from the main streets and confining them to their localities
during the festival celebrations in the town.
This incident confirmed the distrust of Dalits of the sincerity of hypocrite caste-
Hindu reformers. In yet another instance, some Dalits of Machilipatnam town
reported that they were prevented from listening to the harikatha along with the
caste-Hindus. When they protested against it, an upper-caste person became violent
and aggressive.46 In the same town, the most glaring incident of discrimination
involving a_ premier educational institution was narrated by a Dalit activist.47 Tlie
caste-Hindu school committee members had declined the appointment of a Dalit
graduate in their school on grounds or his caste, despite the fact some of them were
pro~Congress freedom fighters and had participated in the activities of the Harijan
Sevak Sangh. In a village in Ananthpur district, sanatanists refused to allow Dalits
to draw water from public tanks and threatened social boycott or. excommunication
if they persisted. This incident was shown in a Telugu film called ‘Malapilla，48 which
depicted the condition of Dalits in colonial Andhra. Kusuma Dharmanna also
narrated several instances of social discrimination against the Dalits in different parts
of Andhra.49The emergence of Dalit journalism in the 1930s also played a significant
role in highlighting upper-caste atrocities on Dalits and in creating awareness among
Dalit masses. It may be stressed that journals like Jayabheri and Navajeevana5^
edited by Dalit scholars successfully moulded Dalit consciousness and articulation.
The journalist reporting made it clear that the implementation of the Gandhian
programme by the obstinate upper-caste leaders was slow, reluctant and half-hearted.
Incorporation of Dalits into the Congress fold through the Harijan Sevak Sangh
did not bring about many noticeable change in the intercaste relations. Harassment
340 Adapa Satyanarayana

and victimisation of the Dalits persisted despite Gandhian appeals to caste-Hindus.

Moreover, the upper-caste nationalist double talk about 'Harijan Welfare* was
exposed by the activists of Adi-Andhra Mahasabha by pointing out the discrepancies/
inconsistencies in the activities of Congress leaders. Dalit intellectuals posed
certain penetrating questions to caste-Hindu nationalists regarding the abolition of
discrimimtion and untouchability.
Bhagya Reddi Varma remarked that the foremost demand of the Dalit masses
was the abolition of untouchability and the acquisition of social respectability. He
felt that once the Dalits acquired reasonable material comforts they would certainly
participate in the political movements. He questioned how a person with an empty
stomach would be able to understand politics.51 Although Dalit leadership did not
desire postponement of political freedom till social equality was achieved, they tended
to doubt the sincerity of the upper-caste nationalists in establishing an egalitarian
society. They maintained that it would be improper to demand/achieve independence
without first abolishing untouchability. Further, most of them also asserted that unless
social equality is achieved, freedom would be meaningless and visualised freedom
with dignity, honour and social justice. A Dalit poet asks:52

these [caste-H indu] social cow ards w h o fear to m ix w ith us,

w ill th e y becom e heroes o f n a tio n a l lib e ra tio n ?
In th e nam e o f fre e d o m th e y fig h t w ith th e g o v e rn m e n t
d em and inde p e n d e n ce , b u t d o n ’t g ive us fre e d o m ,
d o n 't a llo w us in to th e ir tem ples
d o n 't p e rm it us to stay in choultries,
p re ve n t us fro m d ra w in g w a te r fro m wells.
They say n o rig h ts to Malas,
If w e are d e nie d rights,
h o w w ill you achieve freedom ?

To conclude, the early decades of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of
the Dalit movement as an organised, assertive and conscious factor in the socio­
political development of colonial Andhra. Despite certain limitations—it was not
being very strong, dominant/hegemonic as well as containing multiple voices and
was dependent upon caste-Hindu political organisations—it did maintain its own
identity and remained the sole representative of the Dalit masses. Nevertheless, the
founding of the Adi-Andhra movement which predated the Gandhian programme
of 'Harijan Upliftment, was a pronounced self-act of the Dalit masses and their
organic intellectuals，which sought to articulate their suffering and misery within the
context of the growing mass nationalism and the anti-colonial struggle. Although
the upper-caste nationalist intelligentsia sympathised with the Dalit masses in
terms of suggesting certain ameliorative measures, the emancipatory ideology was
formulated and articulated by the Dalits themselves independent of the nationalist
discourse. Their exposing the inadequancies, limitations and gaps in the Gandhian
paradigm of Dalit liberation also forcefully contested the hegemonic nationalist
 Dalit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 341

ideology propounded by the upper caste intelligentsia. In a sense, the Dalit question
in Andhra during the colonial period had posed certain fundamental issues to the
nationalist ideology and its elite ideologues and compelled them to come to terms
with the emerging social reality. The growing movement of Dalits for self-respect,
social justice and an egalitarian social order necessitated a serious reflection on and
resolution of the problems of caste and nation. In other words, the Dalit question
was an important presence in the nationalist agenda of liberation during the pre-
1947 period.

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1 M. Venkatarangaiah, ed., The Freedom S truggle in A n d h ra Pradesh^ vols III and IV

(Hyderabad: Government Secretariat Press, 1965 and 1974); B. Kesavanarayana, S ocial and
P o litic a l Factors in A n d h ra , 1 9 9 0 -1 9 5 6 (Vijayawada: Navodaya Publishers, 1976).
2 M. B. Schwartz, Indian Untouchable Texts of Resistance: Symbolic Domination and
Historical Knowledge5in Id e n tity) Consciousness an d the P ast, edited by H. L. Seneviratne, 177-
9 1 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press,1997),177.
3 Adapa Satyanarayana, 4Dalit Protest Literature in Telugu^ Econom ic a n d P o litic a l Weekly^
vol.30, no.3 (1995), 171-75.
4 See Adapa Satyanarayana, A n d h ra Peasants under B ritis h R u le 1 9 0 0 -1 9 4 0 (Delhi:
Manohar,1991)， Chapter 2. G. N. Rao and D. Rajashekar， ‘Irrigation and Agrarian Expansion
in Andhra: A long-term Overview5, mimeo.
5 Census o f 1 9 2 1 ,Madras, Part I; Census o f 1931^ Madras, Part I.
6 G, Omvedt， Z W t ó ■ ル 働 ^ / (Delhi: Sage,1984)，18.
7J. B. Raju, <rElie Champions of the Downtrodden in Andhra P r a d e s h * , Pradesh State
H a rija n M ahasabha special Souveniery Hyderabad (1976).
8 ゐ? Paか/々ß， 29 June 1935. The tide of Kaviveera was bestowed by the 8th hanjana
Mahasabha held at Rajamundry.
9 Jayadheer Tirumala Rao and Ashok Kumar, ed., D a lita G eetalu (Telugu) (Hyderabad:
Sahiti Circle, 1993), 68-68B, translation mine.
10 Cited in K. Muthyams review article in Varta (Telugu daily), 21 June 1997, translation
mine. I am indebted to Dr Muthyam, Research Associate, Department of Telugu, Osmania
University, for this reference.
"Ibid.
12 K rish n a P a frik a ,14 March 1936, 9. It has been said that this song was most popular
among the Dalit masses and it inculcated a new consciousness among them. It is compared to
G ita n ja li of Tagore. Pamu Ramamurthy, H anjanodyam am (Telugu) (Kakinada, n.d.), 6 /.
13 A n tm -an iva re va ru ? (Telugu) (Rajamundry, 1930), 3-4. I am grateful to Professor
Ranganadhachary, Department of Telugu, Hyderabad Central University, for this reference.
14 Bharat Patankar and Gail Omvedt, <fIhe Dalit Liberation Movement in Colonial Period^
Econom ic an d P o litic a l Weekly^ vol.14, no. 748 (1979) 417.
15 Krishna Patrika,10 November 1917. K. S. Singh writes, According to a Telugu legend,
Lord Sivas two watchmen connived with each other and killed the aivine cow, Kamadhenu.
They were found guilty and were cursed by the divine characters to be born as menial servants.
Thus, those two watchmen, Mala and Madiga, and their descendents have become two
menial castes/ People of India: National Se?-vices}vol.II <fIhe Scheduled Castef (Delhi: Oxford
342 Ädapa Satyanarayana

University Press, 1993), 872; also, see E. Hiuston, ed., Castes and T ribes o f Southern In d ia IV
(New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1993), 292-324, 329-87.
16 Rao and K um LTyD a lita Geetala^ 68B; translation mine.
2

17Uma Ramaswamy,'Self-Identity among Scheduled Castes: A Study o ïA x ió h x ^ yEconom ic

and P o litic a l Week/y, v o l. 21,no. 9 (1986), 1963.
18Thurston, Castes and Tribes^ chapters 3 and 9.
19 Rao^and Kumar, D a lita Geetalu, 68A, translation mine.
20 Ibid., 68E, translation mine.
21 Ibid” 66.
22 ]. M alashuddi (Telugu) (Rajamundry, 1930).
23 Ibid.
24 V. Ramakxishna, S ocial R eform in A n d h ra (Delhi: Vikas Publishing House,1983),186.
25 Ramaswamy,‘Self-Identity，, 1961.
26 For details, see Omvedt, D a lits and D em ocratic R evolution^ chapters 3 and 9.
27 See K rish n a P a trik a y 15 June 1926, 8 January 1927, IB February 1928,23 February 1929,
16 November 1929,13 August 1932,18 November 1933,29 June 1935, 9 January 1937.
28 Majority of the leaders of Adi~Andhra Mahasabha like K. Dharmanna, V. Kurmaiah, B.
S. Murthy, etc. belonged to the Mala c ommuni t ya Dalit subcaste. Mala dasaris/dasus are the
priests to the Vaishnavaite Malas.
29K rish n a P atrika^ 8 January 1927. Also, see M. B. Gautam, (The Untouchables Movement
in Andhra Pradesh' in A n d h ra Pradesh State H a rija n Conference sp ecial Souvenir^ 71.
30 E. Irschick, P olitics an d S ocial C o n flict in South In d ia (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1969).
31 Some of the pro-Justice Party local zamindars like the Raja of Pithapuram, Gollapalli
Zamindar, Zamindar of Mirzapuram, etc. commanded respect from the organisations of the
Dalit movement. Some of them also presided over Adi-Andhra Conferences. See K rish n a
P atrika^ 31 October 1936.
32 For instance, K. Nageswar Rao Pantulu, A. Kaleswara Rao, etc. had close personal
connections with the leaders of Adi-Andhra movement.
33 A. Kaleswara Rao, N ajeevitakath a-N avyan d ram a (Telugu) (Vijayawada,1959), 237-42.
34 K rish n a P a trik a y 27 October 1934, 25 May 1936 and 11 November 1933,11 July 1936.
As many as 41 night and 11 day schools were started for the Dalits in the 12 Andhra districts
and an amount of Rs 8,637 was spent. Also see K rish n a P a trik a , 30 September 1938, on Dalit
education by the provincial organisation in 1935-36.
35 Gautam, Untouchables,, 72.
36 K rish n a Patnka^ 23 December 1933,3 December 1933.
37 K rish n a P a trik a y23 December 1933.
38 K rish n a P a trik a y 29 October 1932, 3 December 1932,18 February 1933, 9 December
1933,23 December 1933.
39 Cited in Venkatarangaiah, The Freedom IV, 537.
40 Ibid., 541.
41 Ibid” 544-45.
42 Ibid., 549,553.
43 Ibid., 557.
44 K rish n a P a trik a , 30 December 1935.
45 K rish n a P a trik a ,1 January 1928.
46 K rish n a P atrika^ 27 September 1924.
47 K rish n a P a trik a y 15 August 1936.
 D alit Identity and Consciousness in Colonial Andhra, 1917-47 343

48K rish n a P a trik a y4 May 1938.

49 NahipUj 16 November -1 5 December 1992.1 owe this reference to Dr Ilaiah.
50Ja yab h e ri was published in Rajamundry under the editorship of Kusuma Dharmanna;
while N avajeevana was started under the editorship of B. S. Nurthy in 1939 at Madras.
51 K rish n a P a trik a ,10 November 1917.
52 Rao and Kumar, D a lita Geetalu^ 68; translation mine.
53b lavajeevana reported many incidents of upper caste violence on Dalits and lapses in the
nationalist programme of'Harijan welfare1. See N avajeevana^ 18 May 1947, 8 June 1947, 26
October 1947.
 XX

D A L IT S A N D C U L T U R A L ID E N T IT Y ^

A m b e d k a r 's P r e v a r ic a tio n s o n t h e Q u e s tio n o f C u ltu r e

Valerian Rodrigues

The issue of cultural identity is a central question in the Dalit movement from its very
inception. It has led to seeking different kinds of recognition by segments of Dalits
at different times. They have sought recognition as Hindus, first settlers, labouring
masses, depressed classes, untouchables, Indians^ Buddhists and simply as human
beings at different phases of the movement and in different parts of the country
although such claims need not necessarily be exclusive. Some of these identities
were commendatory as they mapped out and laid claim to certain resources and
orientations as constitutive of their identity. Others drew attention to disabilities and
disadvantages and sought their removal to enable Dalits to become different or to
bring about a desired state of affairs. Ambedkar s intervention in this movement was
to prove decisive in shaping this search for oelonging and recognition for significant
sections of Dalits in large parts of the country. Attempts at the construction of Dalit
identity have generally paid homage to this role that Ambedkar came to play.1
We are confronted today with a widening base of a shared Dalit identity but it is
in deep contestation. What are the deprivations and resources common across Dalits
all over India? Whom to include among Dalits? These and other related concerns
are not settled issues in India awaiting merely a policy response. There are those
belonging to the erstwhile untouchable castes who continue to recognise themselves
primarily as members of their respective castes. In fact, this would be the primary-
affiliation to a large number of them and their identity of being Dalit is so thin that
it cannot be the basis for any comprehensive and long-term intervention.
As far as their disabilities are concerned they can take recourse either to the public
conscience or act as a pressure group or be a player, limited and localised, in the
electoral arena. There are those who identify themselves as Dalits or as members of
specified castes but who at the same time claim themselves as belonging to certain
encapsulating identities such as Hindus, Christians, Indians, workers and so on.
Many of them may consider the latter as their primary identity.
Formulation and attribution of such identities has not brought about significant
changes for the vast majority of Dalits as far as their specific disadvantages are
concerned. Although Ambedkar contributed much more than anybody else to*
* This chapter was originally published as ‘Dalits and Cultural Identity: Ambedkar’s
Prevarications cm the Question of Culture’， ぬ •⑽ ，vol.50, no.1 (2000)，2—15.
 Dalits and Cultural Identity 345

the making of a Dalit identity, this chapter argues that his stances in this regard
shifted appreciably from time to time. These shifts and prevarications are as integral
a component of the contested Dalit identity today as are affiliations to caste and
religious identities. Ambedkar, however, cannot be merely seen as oscillating; he also
advanced a set of criteria and orientations to undertake the search for an identity.

IN D IA A S A H O M O G E N E O U S C U L T U R A L D O M A IN

In several of his writings, Ambedkar alludes to a shared culture prior to the emergence
of caste in India. In his first published essay, 'Castes in India: Their Origin, Mechanism
and Development’， he says:2

I ve n tu re to say th a t th e re is no c o u n try th a t can rival th e Indian peninsula w ith

respect to th e u n ity o f cu ltu re . It has n o t m erely a g e o g ra p h ic u n ity b u t it has over
and above all a d e e p e r and m uch m ore fu n d a m e n ta l u nity, th e in d u b ita b le c u ltu ra l
u n ity th a t covers th e land fro m en d to end.

In fact, he defined the caste system as arising from the closure of groups in an otherwise
homogeneous culture. Given the cultural homogeneity that existed in India, the
tendency to close on themselves into an endogamous embrace by a group beholden
by the rest precipitate the diffusion of this tendency among others too: £When some
people closed themselves others followed suit/3 He repeatedly drew attention to the
shared cultural heritage of India in other writings of this period too. He talked of the
civilisation of India as 'One of the oldest but like all of them has come to a dead stop,
but it has lived to revive and we may hope never to die again. The contact of the West
has shaken the “fixity”and restored her old dynamic power.’4 Lest this be construed as
the enthusiasm of a young Ambedkar, this position is repeated by him in several places
in later writings. In Annihilation of Caste, published in 1936, he says:5

The caste system c a n n o t be said to have g ro w n as a m eans o f p re v e n tin g th e

a d m ixtu re o f races o r as a m eans o f m a in ta in in g p u rity o f b lo o d . As a m a tte r o f fact,
caste system cam e in to b e in g lo n g a fte r th e d iffe re n t races o f India had c o m in g ie d
in b lo o d and culture.

As per this understanding, if caste system is annihilated in India a homogenous

culture, belief system, values, ideas and corresponding practices, widely shared across
all sections would emerge to the forefront. It will give rise to fellow-feeling and
intimate levels of communication for which the caste system would prove a hurdle.

C U L T U R E S U F F U S E D W IT H B R A H M A N IS M

In several of his other writings, Ambedkar rejected the notion that one can retrieve
a shared cultural identity by annihilating caste system or its ideological anchor,
346 Valerian Rodrigues

brahmanism6. In fact, brahmanism impregnates cultural life as a whole. There is no

cultural realm shorn off the caste system. Indian culture has no alternative expression
except as represented by the caste system:7

The caste system prevents c o m m o n a c tiv ity and by p re v e n tin g co m m o n a c tiv i­

ty it has preve n te d th e H indus fro m b e c o m in g a society w ith a u n ifie d life and
consciousness o f its being.

No communal solidarity becomes possible as the caste system comes in the way.
Even if castes occasionally come together, such association does not result in their
mutual blending and a sense of community. He sometimes compares them to nations
pursuing their interests without a consideration to others:8

The anti-social sp irit, th is s p irit o f p ro te c tin g its o w n interests is as m uch a m arked

feature o f th e d iffe re n t castes in th e ir iso la tio n fro m o ne a n o th e r as it is o f nations
in th e ir isolation.

The mutual ranking, deference and condescension in-built into the caste system make
pursuit of a common culture impossible. He saw them as reasons why In the heart of
so called civilisation there are millions of aborigines who remained untouched by it:9

C ivilising th e a b o rig in e s m eans a d o p tin g th e m as y o u r o w n, liv in g in th e ir m idst

and c u ltiv a tin g fe llo w -fe e lin g . In short, lo v in g th e m . H ow is it possible fo r a H indu
to d o this? His w h o le life is an anxious e ffo rt to preserve his caste.

Caste system, therefore, comes in the way of fusing a common culture. It erects walls
to prevent diffusion of beliefs, values and ways of life:10

Caste is therefore, th e real e x p la n a tio n as to w h y th e H in d u has le t th e savage

rem ain a savage in th e m id s t o f his civ ilis a tio n w ith o u t b lu s h in g or w ith o u t fe e lin g
any sense o f repugnance.

Ihe brahmanical principle of ranking affects everything and not merely social
relations. Even the scriptures do not remain immune from it. The shastras came to
regard themselves as superior to the vedas, puranas to the vedas and tantras to the
smirins and each one of them against the other.11 Annihilation of Ambedkar
argues that the Hindu scriptures constituted the principal agencies defending the
caste system. He found that popular customs and traditions were deeply imbued with
brahmanism. In fact7this ideological system acted as a bulwark against the pursuit of
any serious reform. The code of Manu may no longer be regulating the legal system,
but social institutions and ways of life are pervasive of its influence:12

It m ay w e ll be asked h o w m uch o f th is d harm a o f M anu n o w remains? It m ust be

a d m itte d th a t as law in th e sense o f rules w h ic h a c o u rt o f ju d ic a tu re is b o u n d to
 Dalits and Cultural Identity 347

observe in d e c id in g disp u te s th e dharm a o f M anu has ceased to have any op e ra tive

force .... But if it has g o n e o u t as law, it rem ains as custom . C ustom is no small
th in g as com pared to law. It is tru e th a t law is e nforced by th e state th ro u g h its
pow er; custom , unless it is valid, it is n o t. But in p ractice th is d iffe re n ce is o f no
consequence. Custom is e n forced by p e o p le fa r m ore e ffe c tiv e ly th a n law is by th e
st;ate. This is because th e c o m p e llin g force o f an organised p e o p le is fa r g re a te r th a n
th e c o m p e llin g force o f th e state.

Since the whole culture is impregnated with the spirit of the caste system, there
is little hope of reforms from within Hinduism. What about alternative ways of
interpreting texts and traditions? Ambedkar found that tradition has prescribed
what the legitimate ways of interpretation were. It has to be undertaken from the
perspective of the central concepts of tradition. A reform is acceptable to the extent
to which it is in tune with the explanations and prescriptions of this tradition:13

There have been m any w h o have w o rke d in th e cause o f th e a b o litio n o f caste and
u n to u c h a b ility . O f th o se w h o can be m e n tio n e d , Ramanuja, Kabir and o thers stand
p ro m in e n tly . Can you appeal to th e fa c t o f these reform ers and e x h o rt th e H indus
to fo llo w them ? It is tru e th a t M anu has in clu d e d Sadachar as o ne o f th e sanctions
along w ith Sruti and S m riti - b u t w h a t is th e m e a n in g o f Sadachar. Sadachar does
n o t m ean g o o d acts, o r acts o f g o o d m en. It m eans a n c ie n t custom s, g o o d o r bad.

In relation to their perspectives, castes and untouchability are matters of religion

for Hindus, and Ambedkar argued that the efforts of Gandhi would not serve the
purpose.14 Eliminating them will be perceived by Hindus as an affront. On the other
hand, if they perceived Gandhi as an authoritative religious spokesperson, then his
utterances will be interpreted from the perspective of tradition. In either case, Gandhi^
novelty, if any, will be made to be in consonance with the imperatives of tradition.
The hierarchised culture of Hinduism ,does not provide a cultural access to a vast
number of people: 'Higher caste Hindus have deliberately prevented the lower castes
who are within the pale of Hinduism from rising to the cultural level of the higher
castes.’15 Since there is no space outside the caste system, there is no possibility
of conversion in Hinduism. In fact, Ambedkar thought that initially Hinduism
was a proselytising religion but once caste system engulfed Hinduism, there was
no possibility of conversion. (Where to place the convert, in what caste，15 prevents the
possibility of Hindus embracing others.
There is thus a persistent dilemma in Ambedkar about delimiting the relative
roles of culture and caste system in India. This dilemma persists in him long after,
up to the time of monitoring of the Hindu Code Bill during 1948-51. If cultural
homogeneity makes possible the formulation of a common set of beliefs, values and
concepts to explain and regulate, castes act like nations, pursuing interests and oeliefs
distinctive to them, making themselves apart from others.
This dilemma between what to emphasise, the shared bond or cleavages divisive
of such a bond, is visible in Ambedkars reflections on Muslims and Christians as
348 Valerian Rodrigues

sharing a common Indian culture. Sometimes, he finds both these communities

deeply embedded in caste considerations and discriminations. A t other times, he
distinguished between practices of caste and religious considerations drawn in favour
of its defence. Muslims and Christians m ight be adhering to caste practices, but they
have no religious defence behind them. W hile the absence o f religious legitimacy
behind caste made these religions more attractive than Hinduism , their continued
adherences to caste practices made them repugnant and their appeal limited.

B U D D H IS M A S T H E C U L T U R A L A L T E R N A T IV E

Following the position that Indians or Hindus are bound in a homogeneous culture
and caste as both fragmenting this belonging and violating claims of equality and
freedom, Ambedkär set up the agenda of abolishing caste and untouchability and
founding a system o f rights on the basis of a shared culture. But he found that such a
task was increasingly unrelisable.
O n the understanding that caste and untouchability have irretrievably marked
the H indu society, Ambedkar thought that only Buddhism succeeded in advancing
an alternative to the brahmanical culture, as it suggested an alternative perspective
and concepts and categories fundamentally different from Hinduism . Ambedkar
also argued that the best o f the pre-Buddhist culture is salvaged in Buddhism as
the Buddha was in constant dialogue with the central facets o f tradition.17 The
Buddha approved and acknowledged certain strands o f the pre-existing tradition
but transformed their meaning and significance as he relocated them in terms of
his perspective. As an illustration, we can consider the way Ambedkar reduced the
notion of religion. Religion generally m eant "Belief in God, belief in soul, worship
o f God, curing the living soul, propitiating G od by prayers, ceremonies, sacrifices,
etc. Buddha rejected such a notion o f religion. H e substituted D ham m a in its place.
For him, Dham m a m eant something different. “Dham m a is prajna and Karuna”’18,
reason and consideration towards others. To the extent that these qualities and akin
characteristics are found in Hinduism , Buddha considered them 'as valid.

I n t e r p o la t io n s

Given the fact that the perspective o f Buddhism was markedly different from
Hinduism , Ambedkar thought that the cultural domain in India, till the stage of
brahmanical hegemony, was a field o f combat and contestation between two different
and largely opposed tendencies.19 H e also thought that in the process o f relating and
combating, different interpretations were deployed w ith dramatic turns and shifts.
H e found that brahmins adopted vegetarianism in their combat w itn Buddhism.
They also interpreted significant tests of Buddhism and considered them as their
own. W hile certain Buddhist concepts were given a substantially different meaning,
several others were ignored. For instance, the concept of Karma Niyama collapsed
 Dalits and Cultural Identity 349

into the brahmanical theory o f Karma. Certain concepts that came to be ignored, such
as Nibbana, were resuscitated and deployed for very different purposes. Ambedkar
thought that the primary reason for the weakening of Buddhism was due to the
weakening o f the Sangha. Once such a defence was weakened, other hostile forces
could easily play havoc. Its capacity to act was undercut in the process. Its link with
the masses came to be snapped. Once its central concepts were poached upon and
recast, Buddhists had to fight their battles with the intellectual tools supplied by
others in a terrain which had already caved into others. The task of reconstitution and
reform o f the cultural domain is caught in the terrain of combat. Culture becomes the
ground where the different positions are challenged and alternatives are posed. But
there are positions which are in tune w ith reason and morals. They are appealing to
the masses. Cultural contestation, therefore, need not be anarchic.
State power can enable a cultural strand to become dom inant or ensure a level
playing field to diverse cultural strands. Ambedkar thought that in the cultural battle
with Buddhism, brahmanism deployed political power as in the case o f Pushyamitras
counter-revolution. It was due to the partisanship of state power that Buddhism
came to be subdued.
Ambedkar felt that state power should not advance a specific conception of the
good but certain general conditions conducive to reason find morals.The state should
enable people to live a life befitting reason and morals.

C O -O P T IO N O F E L E M E N T S O F B U D D H IS M BY H IN D U IS M

Ambedkar thought that brahmanism was able to establish its dominance not merely
through interpolation but also by co-opting certain central elements o f Buddhism. In
(Krishna and H is G ita 20 he argues that the vedic religion was not able to withstand
the challenge posed by Buddhism. Therefore, Krishna deployed singular elements of
Buddhism to defend the position of Jaim inis Karmakanda.
The key to the reading of the Gita is not a transcendental ethic that it purportedly
upholds the debate from within tradition. Buddhism had contested the positions o f
the vedic religion on rituals and practices from the perspective of reason. Krishna
defends the vedic positions by taking recourse to and viewing issues from the
perspectives o f Buddhism on several counts.
There are, therefore, four notions o f Indian culture that Ambedkar advanced:
1 . Unity and homogeneity o f Indian culture which is fragmented by the
caste system
2. Indian culture as impregnated through and through with brahmanism.
There cannot be cultural elements that can be salvaged from it from within
its framework
3. The morality-defensible culture of India was Buddhist. Buddhism however
came to coopt certain elements of Hinduism which were in consonance with it
4. However, existing Buddhism is driven through and through w ith brahmanical
concepts and interpretations. Therefore, if Buddhism is to be nurtured in
350 Valerian Rodrigues

India it can be done only by salvaging it from brahmanical intrusions through

appropriate exegetical interventions. Hinduism came to establish its cultural
sway over India by co-opting certain elements of Buddhism.

C O N S T R U C T IN G D A L IT ID E N T IT Y

The kind of prevarications that m ark Am bedkars conception o f culture in India

are also found in his conception o f D alit identity in India. There are two ways
that Ambedkar attem pted to construct a dalit identity; the first pronouncedly in
the class direction, in terms of the shared situation of exploitation and exclusion
of untouchables all over India; and the second in the ethnic direction, in terms o f a
common ethnic identity based on common descent. The first called for a radical re-
structuring o f social relations through collective mobilisation and struggles against
the structures o f deprivation and contempt, while the second construed a common
belonging not merely to Dalits but also to larger non-brahmanical masses.

U n t o u c h a b le s a s s h a r in g t h e c o m m o n lo t o f d e p r iv a t io n
a n d e x p lo i t a t i o n

Ambedkar discussed forms o f exploitation common for untouchables all across the
country. Some of the most, common forms that he highlighted are:

Prohibitions in terms o f dress and appearance

They cannot wear gold-lace bordered pugrees.Hiey cannot wear dress w ith coloured
or fancy borders; women should not wear fancy gowns or jackets. Prohibition to
give presents that upper castes bestow on their dear and near ones; the bridegroom
cannot wear the glitter crown that upper castes wear. O nly specified patterns of dress
can be worn.

Duties th a t untouchables are bound to carry out

Convey the news of the death of a touchable H indu to his/her relatives. A ttend the
confinement o f H indu women. Render all traditional services w ithout demanding
remuneration, that vary from place to place and are sometimes sub-caste specific;
play nautch and tamasha for touchable lords; compulsory eating of the leftover;
undertake; begar or forced labour, perform hereditary menial work; eat stale food and
meat o f the dead cattle; bend low and look down to the ground while passing through
the houses o f the upper castes.
 Dalits and Cultural Identity 351

Prevented from the follow ing

Residing within the precincts o f the village, playing music before marriage processions,
sitting on cots and smoking, wearing the sacred thread after going through the shuddi,
polies and palkies in the marriage procession, wearing o f footwear near the houses
o f the touchables, burning o f the dead, drawing water from village wells from which
upper castes draw water, using butter or ghee for weddings, engaging doctors and
lawyers, riding on a horseback in the village, travelling by public vehicles, drinking
from common glasses in a hotel, worshipping gods o f the great tradition, eating good
food and halva, employing words for salutation, and addresses that the upper castes
employ such as namaskar, Ram Ram, etc.

The upper castes express strong resentment on the follow ing

W hen untouchable children go to school; if untouchables purchase agricultural land;

if untouchables construct pucca houses; when untouchables expand their circle of
interaction.

Assault on fair name

Typecasting— naming leaders such as Ambedkar as Harij an leaders while other

leaders can represent common masses w ithout raising eyebrows; rumours— attributing
aggression and low character; control over sources o f information; discrimination in
service; attribution of inefficiency.

Distinctions to be observed

Touchables and untouchables and their relative rankings, gender and age, space
and time, the sacral and the profane. The residenriai space is clearly marked. The
untouchables are outside the village.

Ambedkar saw the touchables and untouchables as two hostile camps. W hile
the untouchables want to negotiate terms on contract, the touchables want to
acknowledge status. Am bedkar also referred to some o f the most humiliating ways
employed traditionally towards the untouchables. Tying a pot across their necks so
that they do not spit and pollute the surroundings; tying a broom on their back
so that they can clean up the path they have trodden; hiam g from the sight o f the
touchables and make themselves un-seeable.
Ambedkar documents some of the most violent forms employed to suppress
the untouchables in case they do not adhere to any of the injunctions, prohibitions
352 Valerian Rodrigues

and attributions m entioned above: Refuse employment; prevent the untouchables,

particularly young girls and women, from going to the fields for ablutions; fill wells
with human excreta; prevent cattle from grazing in the fields; do not let untouchables
pick up firewood; close down water springs; and, prohibit passing through the lanes
located in the land of the landlords.
W hile most o f these ways can be resorted to without violating law, the touchables
in general and landlords in particular resort to other ways: Rape and assault; physical
attack; filing false charges; burning the houses; collective punishments; force parents
to inflict punishments on their children.
Ambedkar felt that such a situation of the untouchables led to the development
o f certain altitudes and approaches. For instance: 'The inferiority complex of the
untouchables is the result o f their isolation, discrimination and unfriendliness o f the
social environment.’21
Ambedkar felt that such deprivation has left the untouchables little space for
alternatives and protest; he found that the lot of the untouchables was far worse
compared to those of other parallel cases. Although the Roman law declared that the
slave was not a person, Roman religion did not accept this legal view. Alternatives
were available for the slave, such as falling on the altar and thereby surrendering
oneself to the arbitration of the gods or seeking another master. Slavery, by and large,
preserved the sanctity of the person of the slave as a hum an being. There was no
social or religious gulf that separated the slave from the rest o f the society. As a result,
one finds so many bequest for the education of slaves in modern times but none
from touchable castes for the untouchables. Similarly, even though the Jews were
very badly treated, particularly in medieval Europe, their lot was far better than the
untouchables.
Caste-Hindus mete out such treatm ent to the untouchaolcs, provoking no agony
o f their conscience:22

If th e H indu observes u n to u c h a b ility it is because his re lig io n e njoins him to do

so. If he is ruthless and lawless in p u ttin g d o w n th e u n to u c h a b le rising against th e
established order, it is because his re lig io n n o t o n ly tells him th a t th e established
o rder is d iv in e and th e re fo re sacrosanct b u t also im poses u p o n him a d u ty to see
th a t th e established o rd e r is m a in ta in e d by all means possible. If he does n o t listen
to th e call o f hum a n ity, it is because his re lig io n does n o t e n jo in him to regard th e
u n to u ch a b le as h u m a n being.

Given such conditions of the untouchable, Ambedkar thought that Hinduism is not
a civilisation but felony. H e refuted the argument that just because H indu civilisation
has survived, unlike several other civilisations, there must be a greater truth with it.
M ere survival does not constitute a warranty o f the worth of a social institution.23

The m ain p o in t is n o t w h e th e r th e civ ilis a tio n is a n cie n t and w h e th e r it has survived.

The m ain p o in t is w h a t are th e m erits o f civilisation? W hat is its w o rth , if it has
survived, on w h a t plane? In o th e r w ords, th e p rin c ip a l q u e s tio n is: Is th is H indu
 Dalits and Cultural Identity 353

civilisation , th e social h e rita g e a b urden, or a benefit? W hat does it o ffe r by w ay o f

g ro w th and expansion to classes and individuals?

In this version of D alit identity, everything drives to undermine the given culture. There
are no spaces, except those which can be salvaged from the ghetto, to be protected.
It calls out for an absolute negation w ithout an anchor for reconstruction. There are
no points of evaluation. There are no solidarities, except those o f the experience of
the ghetto, that are trustworthy. The D alit can only long for a culture torn out from
the unfathomable depths of the universal and from the bridgehead o f the impersonal.
The exploitation o f the D alit is primarily moral. Dalits fight for a moral revolution.

T h e u n t o u c h a b le s a s a n e t h n ic c o n s t it u e n c y

Against the class conception of the untouchables, Ambedkar sometimes attempted

to present them as an ethnic group or saw them as a community sharing a system of
values, beliefs and practices. This led to the possibility o f a dual construction: first,
Dalits as autonomous constituency subject to exploitation and humiliation, and—
given the refusal of Hindus to make reparations—left with no option but belong to
a potential community which can consider them as human beings. He considered
Buddhism as such a potential community that Dalits can authentically belong. But
it is not any existing Buddhism, but a Buddhism that expresses universal human
emancipation. A part from constructing them as such a potential community based
on certain social relations, he attempted to construct an ethnic identity of the
untouchables as a whole by making them its broken men living outside the village.
They were Buddhists and ate bee£ W hen brahmanism reasserted itselr, these broken
men, however, continued to pursue Buddhism and persisted on eating beef for which
brahmanism declared them as untouchables. Thereby, Ambedkar attempted to work
out a common ancestry to all untouchables in India and, as an ethnic identity, made
claims for the social capital that belonged to it. Such a construction asserted that
culturally the untouchables have a residual presence in Buddhism. The untouchables
thereby were counterpoised to brahminism.
Ambedkar attem pted to link up such an ethnic identity o f the untoucnables
with the broader non-brahm in masses. H e equated Nagas = Dasa = Dravidians. He
suggested with O ldm an that Dravidians of south India were o f the same stock as
the Asuras or Nagas o f the north. The Nagas, he felt, were ardent Buddhists and
Nagpur was their major citadel. The conversion at Nagpur was a message not merely
to untouchables but to all the non-brahm in masses in India. In fact, one o f the major
works that Ambedkar planned was on the Nagas. Ambedkar did not pay much
attention how to negotiate between an ethnic identity as Buddhists attributed to the
untouchables as a whole and Buddhism as a prolaptic community o f universal human
emancipation. I f brahmanism had a deep impact on untouchables as on Indian
culture in general, there were no anchoring points for the striving from within for a
reconstituted universal. The appeal to grow out of Dalit cleavages into a community
354 Valerian Rodrigues

sharing thick bonds could be as elusive as the venture to retrieve an Indian culture
shorn off the caste system.
This tension between rights and identity persists when Ambedkar considered
other akin cases. However, this tension is o f a very different kind compared to the
claims of Dalits and their cultural identity. H e rallies the minorities to fight for a
commoti set of safeguards, known as minority pact, at the Round Table Conference
and reasserted the same position in 'States and M inorities'in 1947. But at the same
time, he felt that Muslims could coalesce themselves into a nation if they come to
perceive that their rights were violated. A t the same tim e， H indus and M uslims have
adequate cultural resources shared in common to live together:24

There is m uch in th e M uslim s, w h ic h if th e y w ish, can ro ll th e m in to a n a tio n . But isn't

th e re e n o u g h th a t is co m m o n to b o th H indus and M usalm ans w h ic h if d e ve lo p e d , is
capable o f m o u ld in g th e m in to o ne people? N o b o d y can d e fy th a t th e re are m any
m odes, m anners, rites and custom s, w h ic h are co m m o n to b o th . N o th in g can deny
th a t th e re are rites, custom s and usages based on re lig io n w h ic h d o n o t d iv id e
H indus M usalm ans. The q u e s tio n is w h ic h o f th e m should be em p lo ye d .

However, while nationalism is the solution to the Muslims if their rights are felt as
violated, there is no doubt that the rights o f untouchables were violated. Nationalism
is not the solution that holds good for untouchables. The solution to the question of
D alit identity becomes possible only by reordering social relations into a universal
moral community. Buddhism becomes, in his imagining， such a community
o f communities.
There is a third kind o f identity that Ambedkar paid close attention, i.e. the
linguistic identity. H e handled it w ithin the m ajority-m inority and rights framework
by encapsulating identities within a regime o f right claims. H e saw the danger of a
linguistic majority dominating the minorities. His preferred solution became that the
official language o f the province should not be the language o f the majority. It should
be the national language, the terrain of rights equally available to all. L et the language
o f the majority prevail in civil arena, he suggested. H e attempted to countervail the
power o f the majority by the countervailing power of the state.
This was not, however the solution that satisfied him while handling other
identities. The realm of the state equally available to all is not able to engage with
the issues confronting Dalits as nationalities. He, however, does not tell us why
cultural identities involving normative frameworks, in a stronger sense— such as
being Muslims and Christians— need to be treated differently from identities of a
linguistic kind.
Am bedkar s prevarications on cultural identity in general and D alit identity in
particular left behind a complex legacy. I f India is a homogenous cultural terrain sans
the caste system, once the realm o f rights are extended or potentially in sight, Indians
are expected to extend a unswerving loyalty in upholding a common cultural identity
or will do so depending upon the way one perceives the role of culture. However,
if Indian culture is suffused w ith brahmanism, the cultural domain becomes a
 Dalits and Cultural Identity 355

terrain o f struggle. Emphasis is not on salvaging but on the construction of cultural

identity. W ith respect to the Dalits, Am bedkar toys around three possible identities:
Dalits as members o f a redeemed hum an comm unity regulating its relation on the
basis of rights and defended by the organised strength o f the community; Dalits as
members of a Buddhist comm unity where Buddhism is constituted as the expres­
sion of reason and morals and can therefore be a comm unity o f communities; and
finally, Dalits as an ethnic Buddhist community. Further, while he recognises other
identities such as those based on religious and linguistic affiliations, his solutions
to discrimination in these respects are markedly different from those he advocated
with respect to the issues of Dalits.

N O T E S A N D R E FER EN C ES

1 Two poems of Namdeo Dhasal make it amply clear: ‘You are the one/Who dances from
shrub to shrub like the butterfly ... W ho unnerves the foundation of universitiesAVho travels
from freedom to freedom, translated by D. B. Karnik from Golpitha\ and {You died but didnt
cease to be/Like us, you slept with your wife ... No dramatic/No imitation, no imitators,
translated by Asha Mundiay and Laurie Hovell with Jayant Karve and Eleanor Zelliot from
Tnhi iyatla kanchi.
2Vasant Moon, comp., BahasahebAmbedkar Writings and Speeches (hereafter, BAWS)yvol.1
(Bombay: Government of Maharashtra,1999), . 6

3Ibid.
^BJW SU , 4.
55 ^ 5 1,48.
6Ambedkar identified the following elements as characteristic o f brahmanism:
1 .it established the right of the brahmin to rule and commit regicide 2. It made the
brahmins a class of privileged persons 3. It converted varna into caste 4. it brought about
a conflict and anti-social felling between different castes 5. It degraded the shudras and
women 6. It forged the system of graded inequality 7. It made legal and rigid the social
system which was conventional and flexible. {B A W S 3/Revolution and Counterrevolution
in Ancient India', 275)

7 BAWS 1,51
8 Ibid., 52.
9 Ibid., 53.
Ibid.
1 0

See BAWS 4, A ddles of Hinduism,.

1 1

BAWS 5, 283. In fact this theme has found a forceful expression in Dalit poetry. See
1 2

Zelliot, U ntouchable to D a lity283.

U W S 1，74.
See BAWS 1,'Reply to the Mahatma'; BAWS 9, 'W hat Congress and Gandhi Have Done
1 4

to the Untouchables1.
BAWS 1,Annihilation of Caste*, 9.
1 5

Ibid., 54.
1 6

See,BAWS 11,'The Buddha and His Dhamma.

1 7
356 Valerian Rodrigues

Ibid.
1 8

For a lucid explanation see, Brian Fay, Contemporary Philosophy of Social Science (Oxford:
1 9

Blackwell,1996), 57.
20BAWS 3, (Krishna and His Gita!, 360-71.
21 BAWS 5,418.
22 BAWS 5,90.
2 3 Ibid., 136.
24 BAWS ^ S3.
 P A R T F IV E

D A L IT S A N D T H E
N A T IO N A L M O V E M E N T
 XXI

D E P R E S S E D C L A S S E S 7U P L IF T IN T H E
G A N D H IA N ERA#

A C r it iq u e o f T h r e e A p p r o a c h e s

Atul Chandra Pradhan

Long before the emergence of M ahatm a G andhi on the Indian political scene, the
question o f the uplift o f those submerged classes o f H indu society who were generally
known as the Depressed Classes or Untouchables had been taken up by some social
reformers and reform organisations w ith a certain degree of earnestness. In the
latter half of the nineteenth century Jyotiba Phooley in the Bombay Presidency and
Sasipada Bandopadhyaya in Bengal made some efforts towards the social elevation
o f the Depressed Classes. After the formation o f the National Social Conference
through the initiative o f M ahadev Govind Ranade in 1887, the issue o f the removal
o f untouchability could be discussed in its forum. By the beginning o f the 20th
century socio-political awakening originated among such advanced sections o f the
Depressed Classes as the Thiyyas o f Malabar, Adi-Dravidas o f Madras, the M ahars of
Bombay and the Namasudras o f Bengal. In Malabar, in 1903, Sri Narayan Gurusvami,
a Thiiyya socio-relxgious reformer, formed an association called SN D P Yogam (Sri
Narayan Dharm a Paripalan Yogam) for the spread o f education among the Thiyyas
as well as their Sanskritization. In 1905, Vithal Ramji Shinde, the social reformer
o f the Bombay Presidency, formed the Depressed Classes M ission Society o f India
for promoting the Depressed Classes, uplift. This society played a significant role in
the spread of education among the Depressed Classes in western India. In M arch
1918, this society held an all-India anti-untouchability conference in Bombay. In the
1920s， the Depressed Classes’problem assumed a political orientation and national
importance because o f three reasons: first, the British government, by nominating
Deoressed Class representatives to the legislatjiir.es, gave a clear indication ot treating
the Depressea Classes as a. minor-it^ Gommua^ty ror the purpose o f representation;
second, with the commencement or the Non-Cooperation Movement, M ahatm a
G andhi incorporated
1
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the removal o f untouchability
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し ongress Partys constructive programme; as movement

pro^ressea under G andhis leadership, a parallel political movement grew among;

This chapter was originally published as ‘Depressed Classes’Uplitt in the Gandhian Era: A
Critique of Three Approaches,, The In d ia n H isto rica l R eview , vol.19, nos 1-2 (July 1992 - January-
1993).
360 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

the Depressed Classes under the leadership o f B. R. Ambedkar and M . C. Rajah

for safeguarding an3 prom oting the rights and interests o f the Depressed Classes.
The spread of education and growth of urbanisation, industrialisation and trade
unionism facilitated the growth o f such a parallel movement wmch was politically-
backed by the British authorities. The purpose of this chapter is to critically analyse
three im portant approaches to the Depressed Classes, problem in the Gandhian
era— the official or British approach, the Gandhian approach and the approach of
those Depressed Class spokesmen, notably B. R. Ambedkar, who worked outside the
mainstream of the nationalist movement. W hile dealing w ith the Depressed Classes5
problem in the G andhian era this chapter also throws light on the natural results of
the above approaches on the problem in the post-Independence era.
The official or British policy on the Depressed Classes was marked by. two
stances— reluctance to remove their socio-religious disabilities and treatm ent o f the
Depressed Classes as a minority for the purpose o f representation in the legislatures.
H ie British authorities not only refused to remove the socio-religious disabilities of
the Depressed Classes, but also in some w a p leeitimised these disabilities. Instead
o f enforcing the Depressed Class childrens right to read in the common schools,
the British authorities followed the policy of providing special schools for them. The
Depressed Class people were excluded from military and police services. Instead of
treating untouchability as an inhuman social custom like sati or infanticiae, the British
authorities professed to treat it as an article of the H indu religion arid considered its
removal beyond the purview o f the government in keeping w ith the tim e-honoured
practice of noninterference in socio-religious matters.
In M arch 1916, when M . B. Dadabhoy, a Pars! member o f the Central legislative
Council, moved a resolution proposing special measures for the Depressed Classes5
uplift, R. H . Craddock, the Hom e member, expressed the view that it was beyond
the power o f the government to remove the social and religious disabilities, which
constituted 'the only obstacles'to the enjoyment of public rights and improvements by
the Depressed Classes. W. Booth-Gravely, Undersecretary in the Home Department,
opposed DadabhoyJs resolution on the ground that it proposed 'social legislation of
a type which must always be treated with the greatest caution/1 The resolution was
finally referred to the local governments, which were advised by the H om e Secretary
to promote educational and material advancement of the Depressed Classes, and
mainly rd y on khe good sense o f the the removal of
social äisabm ties/
In the 1930s, during the countrywide upsurge o f G andhiJs Harijan movement,
the British government did not allow the introduction o f two anti-untouchability
bills in the M adras Legislature on the ground that these bills were related to the
central subject o f civii law and allowed their introduction in the Central Legislature
only to avoid an immediate conflict with o a n d h i and to get rid of criticism outside
India. The government expressed, its total non-com m itm ent to the provisions of
the bills3 and adopted such tactics as 'infructuous debates in the Assembly7 and
circulation of the bills for consolidating conservative opposition against them with
a view to defeating them. Bertrand Russell thus commented on the government's
 Depressed Classes’Uplift in the Gandhian Era 361

stand on anti-untouchability legislation: £The Indian Government s present attitude

only confirms the view that it is impeding social reform. It is meeting the demand for
reform with delaying tactics and spurious argum ents/4 The bills could not be passed
because of official sabotage tactics, active conservative opposition which was backed
by the government and the Congress Party s lukewarm support.
In the first session o f the Round Table Conference, B. R. Ambedkar severely
criticised the British government for its failure to remove the social, political and
administrative disabilities of the Depressed Classes. H e observed:

W hen w e com pare o u r present p o sitio n w ith th e o ne w h ic h it was o u r lo t to bear

in Indian society o f pre-British days, w e fin d th a t instead o f m arching on w e are
m arking tim e. Before th e British w e were in th e loathsom e c o n d itio n due to ou r
unto u ch a b ility. Has th e British G overnm ent d one a n y th in g to rem ove it? Before th e
British w e could n o t d ra w w a te r fro m th e v illa g e w ell. Has th e British G overnm ent
secured us th e rig h t to th e well? Before th e British w e could n o t e n te r th e tem ple.
Can w e enter [it] now? Before th e British w e w ere d e n ie d e n try in to th e police force.
Does th e British G overnm ent a d m it us in to th e force? Before th e British we w ere
n o t allow ed to serve in th e m ilitary. Is th a t career n o w open to us? To none o f these
questions can w e give an a ffirm a tive answer. O ur w ro n g s have rem ained as open sores
and th e y have n o t been righted, a lth o u g h 150 years o f British rule have rolled away.5

A bout a decade and a half later, on the floor o f the C onstituent Assembly, the
nationalist H arijan leader Dakshyani Velayudam, indicted the inability o f the
British government to remove the social disabilities o f the Depressed Classes.
She remarked: ‘The other day Mr. Churchill was very eloquent over the Harijans
and said that the British Governm ent is responsible for the lives o f the so-called
Scheduled Castes o f India. But w hat has the British Governm ent done to improve
the social status o f the Harijans? D id they ever pass any legislation to remove the
social disabilities o f the Harijans?’6
Ambedkar assigned two reasons for the British government s inability to remove
the social disabilities o f the Depressed Classes: first, they had no intention of,
removing them, they only advertised the Depressed Classes^ unfortunate conditions
'because such a course serxes -\vceU.as^aa,excuse. for retarding the political progress of
India5; second, the British apprehended that intervention to amend the existing code
趣 — — 逆 色 :歷 1生 S I ? ♦ 虹 ? ! ^ 生 ㈣ ぜ 迎 ㈣ ノ
It appears that there was a more ulterior motive than mere fear o f resistance from
the orthodox Hindus, owing to which the British government failed to pass any
legislation to remove the social disabilities of the Depressed Classes— that is, the
B rk i^ the conservative elements in
as the latter were thought to be (〇 the whole
门 . 11... supporters or at any rate not open
..... * '........... . — '”
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opponents of the oovem m ent.

一
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Betöre M ahatm a G andhis emergence as the leader or the Indian National

Congress, the Congress had passed an anti-untouchability resolution at its annual
session held in Calcutta in 1917, urging upon the people o f India the necessity, justice
362 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

and righteousness o f removing all disabilities imposed by custom upon the Depressed
Classes/9 This was a formal resolution, not followed by any programme o f action to
remove untoucKaBinty. Tins resolution was the outcome of an understanding between
the Congress and N. G. C h a ^
Society o f India .切 Äccording to this understanding， a meeting of the Depressed
Classes held in Bombay on 11 November 1917 under the auspices of the Depressed
Classes M ission Society pledged support to the Congress-M uslim League scheme
o f self-government and the Congress passed the said resolution.11 It was M ahatm a
G andhi who, by incorporating the removal o f untouchability in the Congress Party s
constructive programme from 1920 onwards, succeeaea in making it a problem of
national importance, o a n d h i tried his utmost to convince the Congressmen as well
as countrymen that though a social problem, the removal of untouchability could not
be put off ir India was to be a free and democratic country in the true sense of the
term. H e wrote in Young India:

S w a ra j fo r m e m eans fre e d o m fo r th e m eanest o f o u r c o u n try m e n . If th e lo t o f th e

P a n ch a m a is n o t im p ro v e d w hen w e are all suffering, it is n o t like ly to be b e tte r u nder
th e in to x ic a tio n o f Sw araj. If it is necessary fo r us to b u y peace w ith th e Mussalmans
as a c o n d itio n o f Sw araj, it is e q u a lly necessary fo r us to give peace to th e P a nch am a
before w e can, w ith any show o f ju s tic e o r self-respect, ta lk o f Sw araj. I am n o t
interested in fre e in g India m erely fro m th e English yoke. I am b e n t u pon fre e in g India
fro m any yoke w hatsoever. I have no desire to exchange "k in g log fo r k in g stork".
Hence fo r m e th e m o v e m e n t o f Stvarq/is a m o v e m e n t o f s e lf-p u rific a tio n .12

(No Swaraj O 〇vernm ent,, Gandhi declared forcefully to the correspondent of the New
York Times on his way to the second session of the Round Table conference, (could exist
for twenty-four hours which continued to uphold the principle o f untouchability/13
No leader in the past had devoted so much o f his time and energy to make ms
countrymen conscious o f the urgent need to remove the stigma of untouchability as
did u a n d h i and some of his associates like A. V. Thakkar. H . N. Brailsford makes
the following eulogistic remark about G andhis contribution to the removal of
untouchability:

N o th in g in his lo n g life has deserved th e g ra titu d e o f m a n k in d so c e rta in ly as

his u n flin c h in g s tru g g le against u n to u c h a b ility . In th is he never rests and never
com prom ises and in an a s to n is h in g ly s h o rt tim e he has already g one fa r to break an
oppression as a n c ie n t as th e B rahm in ascendancy.14

M ahatm a G andhi sought to promote the uplift o f the Depressed Classes by rousing
the caste-H indus5public conscience into action and providing some special facilities
to them like model schools, temples and wells. Early in 1924, G andhi got interested
in the Vaikom Satyagraha, an agitation of caste-H indu congressm en as well as
Depressed Class volunteers for securing to the Depressed Classes access to some
forDicicien roads. Vaikom was a village in TVavancore state where the unapproachable
 Depressed Classes1Uplift in the Gandhian Era 363

castes— the Ezhavas, Pulayas and Shanars—were not allowed access to roads in
proximity to a temple. The Belgaum session of the Congress passed a resolution
supporting the Vaikom Satyagraha.15 G andhi visited Travancore in M arch 1925. In
his presence, a settlement was reached between the Travancore government and the
satyagrahis. As a result, the satyagrahis lifted the barricades and the roads on three
sides of the temple were declared open to the untouchables.16 In 1929, the Congress
W orking Com m ittee Sub-Com mittee with
M ohan Malaviya as the President and Jamnalal Bajaj as the Secretary.
This sub-committee worked for securing to the Depressed Classes the right to enter
temples, use public wells and get admission into public schools, and instructed them
to maintain sanitary living conditions and give up
drinking liquor.17 This sub-committee worked in Bombay and the Central Provinces.
According to the Congress Secretary s report, the propaganda by this sub-committee
produced two results: first, the caste-Hindus were induced in some measure to
give up the exclusiveness which they had for long zealously kept'; and second, the
Depressed Classes themselves became self-conscious and assertive o f their rights,.18
The different phases of the nationalist movement led by M ahatm a Gandhi, directly
as well as indirectly, underm ined the practice o f untouchability. In 1933-34, he
undertook a countrywide tour to rouse public conscience against untouchability as
well as to raise funds for the Depressed Classes' welfare.
Despite all his sincerity and earnestness as a crusader against untouchability,
M ahatm a Gandhi not only failed to change the hearts of the orthodox Hindus but
also to carry conviction with many Congressmen on the question of Depressed Classes1
uplift. H e could not win the confidence of a sizeable section o f the Depressed Classes,
notably B. R. Ambedkar and his followers.Though G andhi wanted to carry on a crusade
against social evils lik^ untpuc^^^ side with the movement for political
freedom, many Congressmen were interested only in political freedom and wanted to
defer social reform questions like the removal of untouchability till the country became
free.19 öome Congressmen took up the question or removal or untouchability only out
of political consideration, as they did not consider it indispensable ror the rerorm of
the H indu society.20 M any anti-imtouchabilitv workers were unable to convert their
own families.^1 Consequently, at the end or colonial rule, the Indian society round
itself plagued by its internal social evils like untouchability and casteism. In 1947, on
the eve o f Independence, Narahari Parikh, a Gandhian, observed:

In practice w e a tta ch g re a te r w e ig h t to castes and c o m m u n itie s ；w h ic h in p rin c ip le

w e are o u t to a b o lis h .... T h o u g h th e G o v e rn m e n t re s o lu tio n is clear re g a rd in g th e
adm ission o f Harijan stu d e n ts in local b oard schools, th e Harijan Sevak Sangh has
to face a n u m b e r o f d iffic u ltie s in g e ttin g stu d e n ts a d m itte d to th e m . H ardly any
school board takes an active in te re st in th is w o rk. The Congress has always claim ed
to stand fo r th e poor, th e d o w n tro d d e n and th e e x p lo ite d . But w e th e Congress
w orkers have n o t th e courage to displease th e e xploiters, black m arketeers, o r such
o th e r tra ito rs to society w hose sordid interests are surely to be affe cte d if w e carry
on o u r ju s t and necessary a ctiv itie s o f h e lp in g th e p o o r on th e rig h t Congress lines.22
364 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

W hile M ahatm a G andhi endeavoured to remove untouchability and promote

.>the
... Depressed, v ja s s e , umiri. .through
. social action， Depressed
..... ..... Class leaders like
................
M . C. Rajah and B. R. A m b e d k a r b o t h o f who worked outside the mainstream of
the nationalist movement—were concerned w ith safeguarding and promoting the
interests of the Depressed Classes through such political and constitutional safeguards
as reservation of seats in legislatures and reservation or posts in government service,
and special measures ror educational and socio-economic uplitt m collaboration with
the British authorities. Ambedkar rought his battle against untouchabinty on political
as well as social fronts. H e asked his followers to seek social elevation through self-
assertion and self-help. In his address to the Depressed Classes Congress held at
Nagpur in August 1930, he pointed out:

But I m ust take th is o p p o rtu n ity to em phasise th a t p o litic a l p o w e r c a n n o t be

a panacea fo r th e ills o f th e Depressed Classes. T heir salvation lies in th e ir social
ele va tio n . They m u st im p ro v e th e ir bad ways o f liv in g . By a ch ange o f th e ir m o d e o f
life, th e y m ust be m ade f it fo r respect and frie n d s h ip . They m u st be educated . Mere
k n o w le d g e o f th e th re e 'R’s is in s u ffic ie n t fo r th e g re a t h e ig h t m any o f th e m m ust
reach in o rde r th a t th e w h o le c o m m u n ity m ay a long w ith th e m rise in th e general
e stim a tio n . There is a g re a t necessity to d is tu rb th e ir p a th e tic c o n te n tm e n t and to
in stil in th e m th a t d iv in e d is c o n te n t w h ic h is th e sp rin g o f all e le v a tio n .23

H itaK arm iJabha with a

view to spreading education and culture among the Depressed Classes by opening
hostels, libraries and study circles, improving their economic condition through
industrial and agricultural training and representing their grievances before the
government.24 In M arch „1922.,.,^^ led hundreds o f his men in a procession for
asserting their right to use the water o f the Chowdar public tank wmch had been
declared open for public use by the M ahad municipality in pursuance of a resolution
passed in the Bombay Legislative Council in 1923.25 In 1928, Ambedkar formed
the Sai^ 社廷ぷ瓜 oik 'DaUS'Pcial E qudity Army) which aimed at establishing political，
social and economic equality.26 In 1929, he supported the temple entry satyagraha
o f the Depressed Classes in Poona and, in M arch 1 9 30,launched the temple entry
satyagraha at the Kalaram^ temple...〇.£Nasik.
W hile freezing the status quo w ith regard to the Depressed Classes in the H indu
social archetype, the British authorities sought to provide them political representation
through separate electorates (in order to introduce a new element o f division and
weaken the National Congress/27 Though the Depressed Classes constituted a
heterogeneous segment o f poverty-striken mass o f India, with varying degrees o f
disabilities and linguistic, regional and cultural variations, the Briush policy tended
to group them under a single class through census and political representation.
In ,th e census of 1 9 1 1 ,the rtin d u untouchable castes or Depressed Classes were
classified as a separate community. Under the Government o f India Act of 1919
the government nom inated the Depressed Classes5representatives to the provincial
and central legislatures. Following the British line, Ambedkar argued before the
 Depressed Classes’ Uplift in the Gandhian Era 365

Indian Statutory Commission that the Depressed Classes should be treated as a

minority community for the purpose o f political representation as they had really
no link' with the H indu society.28 Ambedkar and other Depressed Class spokesmen
demanded separate representation as a corrective against social disabilities and
educational and economic backwardness. As was pointed out in the memorandum of
the M adras Depressed Classes Conference held on 29 January 1928 to the Statutory
Commission, (W hen a corm nuniij is beyond the pale o f society? it will be beyond
the pale of Government, if the Constitution does not take into consideration the
questions and problems relating to tnat community, and make special provisions to
safeguard its interests/29 In ms note to the c e n tra l Com m ittee, M . C. Rajah, M adras
DepressecTCIasses leader, pleaded that the problem o f untouchability could be solved
through political remedies, because the modern state organised on a democratic
basis embraces every sphere o f national and social activity and, as such, is the most
powerful engine o f social reform /30 In his memorandum to the Indian Statutory
Commission, Am bedkar demanded reservation o f seats for the Depressed Classes
in loint electorates along w ith universal franchise.31 ^But, in the first session o f the
Round Table Conference, to which he was officially nom inated as the spokesman o f
— — 一 - — ,-一 一 一 — — ■ 一 - ..、.•二..〜， / 、、，. . . . . . . .

the Depressed Classes, Ambedkar demanded separate electorates and suggested that
the change to reservation in joint electorates axonff with universal rranchxse should
〜…"，
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、". ， ' ■■- ....... ...ンヘ、
ソン，
，、

take plac^after .ten years. 2 In the supplementary memorandum subm ittea to the
secona session oi the Round iaoie Conrerence, Am bedkar ae-ain demanded separate
electorates and suggested that the cnange to joint electorates,Hitb reserved seats
should take place after a laose o f twenty years, subiect to the consent or the maforxtv
of the Depressed Class voters expressed through a referendum conducted on the basis
o f universal adult suffrage.33 In the second session of the Round Table Conference,
which M ahatm a G andhi attended as the sole spokesman o f the Congress, he firmly-
opposed any form o f special electorates for the Depressed Classes as that would
politically institutionalise the social segregation o f the untouchables and hamper the
attempts o f the H indu social reformers to integrate them into the H indu society.
H e announced his determination to resist w ith his life separate electorates for the
Depressed Classes.34 G andhi proposed to place the Depressed classes in the general
roll o f electorate through universal adult suffrage.35
In the Com m unal Award o f August 1932, British Prime M inister Ramsay
M acdonald tried to strike a compromise between Ambedkar s demand for separate
electorates and G andhi s demand for placing the Depressed Classes in the general
electoral roll, conceding more to the former than to the latter. The Com m unal Award
provided separate electorates to the Depressed Classes and also gave them the right
to vote and contest in the general electorates. Separate electorates were provided for
the Depressed Classes in the Com m unal Award not only because their spokesmen
Had demanded this before the Statutory Commission an3 in tlie Round Tabjk
Conference but also because this was desired by the Conservatives in Britain. W hile
M ahatm a G andhi opposed the provision of separate electorates for the Depressed
Classes in the Com m unal Award, J. R. Glorney Bolton wrote in The Times, London:
(M any Conservatives will conscientiously oppose the new reforms if they cannot
366 A tid Chandra Pradhan

convince themselves that the “untouchable” is not to become subject to a Brahmin

tyranny/36 Protesting against separate electorates for the Depressed Classes, G andhi
undertook a fast unto death on 20 September 1932. U nder the pressure of G andhi s
fast, Am bedkar accepted reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes in joint
electorates, which was embodied in the Poona Pact as a result o f an agreement
between the caste-H indu leaders (Congressites, H indu M ahasabhites and Liberals)
and the Depressed Class leaders (belonging to two opposite schools, that is, the
advocates of separate electorates and those or joint electorates with reserved seats).
M ahatm a G andhi broke his fast and accepted reservation of seats in joint electorates
as a lesser evil than separate electorates, as he was opposed to reservation in any form.
The Poona Pact recommended 148 seats for the Depressed Classes in the provincial
legislatures, while the Com m unal Award had recommended only 71 seats for them.
A t the time of the hammering of the Poona Pact, A m bedkar had a hard bargain
with G andhi and the H indu leaders on the question of the period of reservation
and the mode of its termination. Initially, Ambedkar held the view that the question
of further continuation o f reservation was to be decided by a referendum among
the Depressed Classes after a period of twenty-five years. O n the other hand, the
H indu leaders suggested that reservation should cease automatically after a fixed
period w ithout any referendum. D uring the course o f discussion Ambedkar reduced
the time limit for referendum to ten years. C. Rajagopalachari proposed referendum
at the end o f five years. G andhi liked the idea of referendum for putting the caste-
Hindus on trial, but wanted the time lim it for this to be five years. H e said: 'The
Hindus must give a good account of themselves within five years or not at all/37 But,
Am bedkar and his followers firmly adhered to their point o f making the time limit
not less than ten years. Equally firm in his view, G andhi, whose health was fast failing
because o f the fast, said w ith a tone of finality: Tive years or my life/38 The whole
negotiation almost came to the breaking point on this question. But the stalemate
was resolved by Rajagopalachari s suggestion, which both G andhi and Ambedkar
accepted, that the question of referendum and continuance o f reservation would be
decided in future by ‘mutual agreement，.39
As per the recommendations of the Poona Pact, a double system
was adoDted rpr. 卞 ぶ 1癸ctio ル or DeDresse^ Q 稱 路 ' representatives. In the grima^iy
election, the JL»epressed Class voters were to elect a oanel o f rour candidates. In the
nnal election, the general electorate was to elect one out o f the. panel. subsequently,
Am bedkar suggested a modification o f the system o f election recommended bv the
Poona Pact. H e substituted single election for the double election and stipulated that
to be declared elected from a reserved seat, a Depressed Class candidate must poll at
least 25 per cent of the Depressed Class votes.40 The proposal could not make headway
because o f disapproval by G andhi and M . C. Rajah.41 finally, the recommendations
o f the Poona Pact were embodied in the governm ent or India Act of 1935.
^randhi s fast was intended to protest against the provision o f separate electorates
in the Communal Award as well as to rouse H indu conscience against the practice of
untouchability which he considered to be a blot on H indu religion. The fast roused
tremendous sympathy and fellow feeling for the Depressed Classes all over the
 Depressed Classes’U plift in the Gandhian Era 367

country. Initially, Ambedkar had dubbed G andhis proposed fast as a mere political
stunt^42 but later on he shared the general feeling roused by^ the fast. W hile addressing か-.:‘
《，
.，
ベ',.，
,.,”，
ぃ“へ*..,，
*、
'..’
，、
、，
*

the conference of leaders who hammered the Poona Pact held in Bombay on 25
öeotember 193/, he exoressed the hope tnat it would oe possible tor the Depressed
julasses not only to be part and parcel o f the H indu community but also to occupy
an honourable jposition of equality and o f JA the.XQmmum 切 .’43 Ambedkar
also became for some time a member o f the Central Board o f Harijan Sevak Sangh,
■vï®3rG而dhTè一
ä品
movement for the Depressed Classes'uplift.

time after G andhis fast. The conservative n in d u s started organised opposition to

the anti-untouchabilitv movement. Consequently, the Depressed Classes were
denied access to the temples and wells wmch had been declared open to them.
Ihe government helped the conservatives in stultifying the anti-untouchability
legislation, öome atrocities on the depressed classes took Dlace. Indignantly
reacting to tne atrocities on the Deoressed Classes in the Kavitha vulage of v^ujarat,
Ambedkar declared in a conference of his followers heid at \e o la m Nasik district on
13 October 1935 that the Depressed Classes should embrace any religion which gave
them 'equality o f status and treatm ent, instead o f carrying on with the futile fight for
equality in the H indu rehgiop. As for himself， he express， が .h i!. 如 term ination not
to 3ie as a H indu.44 The protagonists of different religions tried to entice Ambedkar
into their respective folds. But, while envisaging the conversion of the Depressed
Classes to 5another religion, Ambedkar could not contemplate their secession from
.....一.--------- „.'''す— ?、
..„.，
.，
„マぐ,..て、へ へ ..へ,......，
..,''.,..ï . 一'....'..'.パ.'.,.、… .................................. .ハ..ハル.へ'.…....广

could nol approvl o t t h i ^ ^ ^

the Depressed Classes to sucn religions of roreign origin as ^hrxstianitr or. I as
such a step would result m denationalising the Deoressed Classes.45 to t some time
he seriously consi3ered the Depressed Classes1conversion to Sikhism, as Sikhism,
according to him, was a part ot the H indu culture. H e said: I f the Depressed Classes
join Islam o r r e l i g i o n , but they also
go out of the H indu culture. O n the other hand, if they become Sikhs, they remain
ぃ一、
へ'…ハ,",ゾ、
、
ベ，、
，,.'"ベ
へ,、
》 、くぐり，，
.，
、.•

within the H indu culture/46 A m bedkars concern over the rorcible conversion or the
Depressed Classes to jsla m in Pakistan atter Partition ana his attempts to pilot the
はね ter 〇f Law are indicative o f his attachm £ 班 to
the m ainstrea|n,,öfJndian s 〇Gio-religio.usiifeiJ
Ambedkar finally embraced Buddhism w ith his follower^ at Nagpur on 14
October 1956. H e chose Buddhism for two reasons; first, Buddhism is an ethical
religion upholding liberty, equality，fraternity ，tru th ，justice, hum anitj) love and peace;
second, Buddhism is a part o f the mainstream o f the Indian culture. <Buddhism,, he
said, (is a part and parcel o f Bharatiya culture. I have taken care that my conversion
will not harm the traaition, culture ana History o f this lan d /47
Am bedkars attitude towards H induism was ambivalent. His bitterness towards
Hinduism was caused by the fact that he was an untouchable by birth, had suffered
as an untouchable and had sympathy for the untouchables who were denied equality
of status and hum an treatm ent in the H indu society. In moments of righteous
368 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

indignation, he denounced Hinduism as legalized class ethics* and (a multitude of

commands and prohibitions’，48 and could even go to the extent of suggesting the
annihilation of Hinduism .49 But, he could not reject the reality of Indian life and
the fact that the Depressed Classes were part and parcel o f the IndiaJPL^aciety. J i e
was in search of compatibility between hum an rights and dignity o f the Depressed
Classes and their comm itm ent and loyalty to the Indian nation. Such a compatibility,
he finally thought, could be achieved by the conversion o f the Depressed Classes to
Buddhism, which was an Indian religion upholding the dignity o f man.
) Bei ng an untouchable by birth, Ambedkar could not work on a wide canvas
like Gandni. His comm itm ent to his community and his intellectual and mental
make-up induced him to work for the cause of the Depressed Classes with an
undeviating purposefulness. H e said, 'I have never aspired to do more than .serve
the untouchables. bU From his insistent demands for separate electorates for the
Depressed Classes, it would appear that the major thrust o f his movement was to
secure political and constitutional safeguards for the Depressed Classes, but in the
totality of his views and activities he emerges as a rebel against the social disabilities
and degradations to which the Depressed Classes had been subjected by the H indu
social system. His ultimate objective was the estaolishment o f a social democracy
based on the values o f liberty,
— . 一 , —一 、
-一 — — 、 ノ’
equality
上
.-.«'=..,-:.叱、
,へ ノ
and fraternity.
j H e knew well thatXpolitical and
.抑 一

constitutional safeguards would be of practically no use ror* the Depressea Classes

unless social conscience was roused. Social conscience,, he said,(is the only sateguffii
or all rights 上iunaam ental or non:rimdamentaL’51
As the ^onsress won a majority or tne scheduled Caste seats in the Provincial
Assembly elections or i937 and 194o, primarily witn the support o f the caste-H m du
voters, Ambedkar put rorward the view that the Depressed ^lass candidates elected
on the Congress Party s tickets were not real representatives o f the Depressed Classes
and revived his demand for separate electorates. In his constitutional dialogue with
the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, in 1939 〜 and w ith the Cabinet M ission in 1946,53 and
in his memorandum to the し onstituent Assembly54 Ambedkar demanded separate
electorates for the Depressed Classes. In the draft constitution of the Indian Union,
wmch was prepared under the stewardship of Ambedkar, provision was made for the
Depressed Classes, separate electorates. If, as Chairm an of the Drafting Committee,
Ambedkar had been given a free hand in deciding the type o f electorates for the
Depressed Class seats, he would have incorporated separate electorates for the
Depressed Classes* in the Constitution. But, as desired by the nationalists, seats were
reserved for the Depressed Classes in joint electorates both in the Lok Sabha and
the provincial legislatures, and the double election system o f the Poona Pact was
substituted by single election. Initially, reservation was made for ten years. Personally,
at the time of the making of the Constitution, Ambedkar wanted reservation to
continue for a longer period.55
But in October 1955, the W orking com m ittee o f the All-India Scheduled Castes
Federation (a party of Am bedkars followers) suggested abolition o f reservation
before the next general election.56 O n 24 M arch 1956, in a large gathering of the
 Depressed Classes5U plift in the Gandhian Era 369

Depressed Classes held at Agra, Ambedkar advised them to embrace Buddhism and
learn to stand on their own feet instead o f depending on reservation. H e said:

B uddhism is a g reat re lig io n . It is m y w ish th a t all o f you s h o u ld em brace B uddhism

a long w ith me. I am n o t g o in g to be s tric t on you in th is m atter. This is a m a tte r o f
y o u r choice. B ut I am n o t g o in g to rem ain an u n to u c h a b le a fte r I em brace B uddhism .
You w o u ld no lo n g e r be th e claim ants o f reserved seats. But th e reservation in
Assem blies and Lok Sabha is acco rd in g to th e C o n s titu tio n lim ite d to o n ly te n years.
That lim it is s h o rtly to be over. They are n o t g o in g to last d u rin g th e w h o le course
o f m y life. U ltim a te ly w e shall have to stand on o u r ow n legs. Like th e lam e cart
th e reservation is n o t g o in g to fu rth e r o u r progress. ... But even a fte r e m bracing
B uddhism , I w ill n o t leave p o litics.57

Successive union governments have renewed reservation decade after decade, even
though Ambedkar, the protagonist o f reservation had suggested its termination way
back in 1955-56. Only in 1990, V. P. Singh, the Janata Dal Prime Minister, announced
in a rally at Dadar, Bombay, the Union Cabinet's decision to extend reservation in
government jobs and other facilities available to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
1 ribes to the Neo-Buddhists (that is, Ambedkar s Depressed Class followers who
embraced Buddhism at his call).58 Reservation has become a political issue and no
political party in India opposes it for fear o f alienating the Depressed Class voters.
G andhi and Am bedkar differed radically in their approaches to the problems
o f the Depressed Classes. For many years, Am bedkar believed in the efficacy o f
such political and constitutional safeguards as reservation o f seats in legislatures
and posts in the government for raising the condition o f the Depressed Classes.
G andhi all along remained opposed to reservation. Clarifying his stand on special
electorates for the Depressed Classes on the eve o f Independence at the demand
o f Ambedkarites, G andhi held that (they m ust go even to the extent they exist
today’， because they were ‘a device of Satan named Imperialism’， ‘never m eant for
the protection o f the untouchables,.59 To G andhi, socio-religious elevation o f the
Depressed Classes was the most fundam ental requisite for prom oting their cause and
political and constitutional safeguards were mere Artificial props,.60 G andhi wanted
to raise the position o f the Depressed Classes through a change o f heart among
the caste-H indus. H e sought to achieve this by means o f peaceful persuasion and
was always keen to avoid tension and strife. Am bedkar encouraged the Depressed
Classes to secure equal social status by m ethods o f direct action like the temple entry
satyagraha. H e held that such a course o f action, even though productive of £sociai
disturbance and bloodshed’， was ‘indispensable and unavoidable’ for securing equal
social status to the Depressed Classes.61 The natural result o f Am bedkar^ course
o f action was the politicisation o f the problem o f the Depressed Classes. G andhi,
on the other hand, tried to depoliticise the problem of the Depressed Classes by-
emphasising the socio-religious character o f the problem and adopting methods of
peaceful persuasion.
370 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

The eradication of the practice o f untouchability appears to call for efforts by both
the caste-Hindus and the Depressed Classes themselves— the caste-Hindus should
change their attitude towards the Depressed Classes and the Depressed Classes
should learn to assert their basic rights. From this standpoint, the dedicated efforts
of the two leaders— G andhi and Ambedkar-—for the cause of the Depressed Classes
appear to have been complementary.
Ambedkar differed from G andhi on the relationship between the caste system
and untouchability. Ambedkar wanted to abolish the caste system in order to remove
untouchability, because he thought: *The outcaste is a by-product of the caste system.
There will be outcastes so long as there are castes. A nd nothing can emancipate the
outcaste except the destruction o f caste/62 H e sought to eliminate the caste system
and untouchability through inter-caste marriages and inter-dining. Laying particular
stress on inter-caste marriages, he observed:

I am convinced th a t th e real rem edy is in te rm a rria g e . Fusion o f b lo o d can alone

create th e fe e lin g o f b eing k ith and kin and unless th e fe e lin g o f kinship, o f b eing
kindred, becom es p a ra m o u n t ；th e separatist fe e lin g — th e fe e lin g o f b e in g aliens—
created by caste w ill n o t vanish.63

G andhi did not consider untouchability to be a product o f the caste system and
regarded such steps as the abolition o f caste system and introduction o f inter-caste
marriages and inter-dining as irrelevant to the removal of untouchability. H e wanted
to eliminate the feeling of (high and lowJ and the nausea o f pollution by touch.
He firmly believed in the H indu varna system which, according to him, was not
hierarchically graded. H e also wanted to integrate the Depressed Classes as shudras
in the varna system.64 Am bedkar wanted to purge the H indu religion o f chaturvarna,
which he thought was the root cause o f inequality in H indu society.65
G andhi professed himself to be an 'untouchable by choice5, while Ambedkar was
an untouchable by birth. G andhi was better known as the champion of underdogs
than Am bedkar because G andhi was a greater mass mobiliser than Ambedkar. Gandhi
and his followers fought against untouchability in interior villages. Ambedkar was
more (a scholar than a field organizer'. N either Ambedkar nor his lieutenants put
in much work in the countryside. But to those untouchables who were Ambedkar^s
followers, he became their demi-god and saviour.
Though Ambedkar had worked as a political leader of the Depressed Classes
outside the Congress mainstream and had often criticised the policy o f the Congress
and G andhi towards them, when Prime M inister Jawaharlal N ehru offered Ambedkar
the post of a Cabinet M inister in the first Cabinet o f the nationalist government,
Ambedkar accepted it saying that one could serve the interests of the Scheduled
Castes better from w ithin the government than from w ithout,.66 In the first Cabinet
o f independent India formed on 15 August 1947, Ambedkar became the M inister
of Law; on 29 August 1947 he was elected Chairman of the D rafting Com m ittee of
the Constitution. Ambedkar was one o f the seven Scheduled Caste members of the
72-member Advisory Com m ittee of the Constituent Assembly.
 Depressed Classes1Uplift in the Gandhian Era 371

O n 29 April 1947, the Constituent Assembly passed the following resolution as

part of the draft Constitution moved by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: ^ n to uchability
in any form is abolished and the imposition of any disability on that account shall
be an offence/67 In the legal sense, this measure constituted a radical departure
from the past policy of the British government which had not only failed to declare
untouchability illegal but also extended legal support to it. As the Indian National
Congress which, under Gandhi's leadership, had committed itself to the uplift o f the
backward sections of the Indian society became the ruling party after Independence
and Ambedkar— the hero of the Depressed Classes— became the Union Law
M inister and the Chairm an of D rafting Com m ittee of the Constitution, adequate
special provisions were made in the Constitution for safeguarding the legitimate
interests of the Depressed Classes as well as for promoting their uplift. The special
Drovisions meant for the Depressed Classes are as follows: abolition o f untouchability
and prohibition o f its practice in any form (Article 17); special care for the promotion
of the educational and economic interests o f the weaker sections o f society (Article
46); throwing ogen of the H indu religious .institutions to all. sections o f Hindus
(Article 25); removal o f‘disability ，liability， restriction or condition regarding access to
shops, public restaurants, hotels, places o f public entertainment, wells, tanks, bathing
ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained who% . Qr. partly. out,of .state funds
or deHicated to the use o f the general puolic (Article 1^)； ; forbidding or denial .of
admission to Any educational ins'ütutioa'maiiitairied'b}Lthe..state or receiving aid out
of state funds (Article 29); reservation of seats in joint electorates (without primary
election ； m the Parliament and Provincial Legislative .Assemblies in ratio to. the
population (Articles 330 and 332); reservation o f posts in the government services
witFiout impairing (the maintenance of efficiency o f administration, (Article 335);
appointm ent o f a special officer by the President to investigate all matters relating
to safeguards for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Constitution
and report to the President upon the working of those safeguards at such intervals
as tne President mav airect ("Article 338); and establishment o f advisory councils and
separate departments in the provinces for promoting the. welfare o f the scheduled
Uastes and Tribes (Article 164 and Fifth Schedule).ihe Untouchability (Offences)
A ct passed by the Union Parliam ent^Hbkh came, into

1976 with more stringent provisions.

Untouchability as a social evil, though considerably eroded, still prevails. The
politicisation of the problem of the Depressed Classes has added a new dimension to
北 g[r—suffering; it has resulted in conflicts between the caste-Hindus and the Depressed
Classes and atrocities on the Depr§s^eif〇 a a a e ^ caste-Hiodus.
ih e untouchability^ aspect o f the problem of the Depressed Classes has been
overemphasised over the past fëw decades. Both G andhi and Ambedkar fought
against the notion of untouchability in their own ways in the spirit o f crusaders.
W hile it is true that the practice o f untouchability, by denying equality o f status and
opportunity and social mobility for the Depressed Classes, has acted as a stumbling
block to their progress, the economic aspect o f the backwardness of these classes
372 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

is no less significant. The Depressed Classes are generally poor and illiterate. Their
elevation is linked to the general economic and educational advancement o f the
country. Jawaharlal Nehru, who did not share Gandhi's or Ambedkar's views on the
Depressed Classes5problem, made the following observation by way of emphasising
the economic aspect of the problem:

I d o n o t recognize th a t th e re is such a p ro b le m as th a t o f th e u n to u ch a b le s. There is

a general p ro b le m o f th e e c o n o m ic a lly p o o r a nd th e p ro b le m o f th e u n to u ch a b le s
is a p a rt o f th a t p ro b le m . It w ilt take its place and receive its a tte n tio n a lo n g w ith
th e o th e r problem s. There is no occasion, no p urpose in b e s to w in g a ny special
th o u g h t on it.68

The caste system and untouchability are aspects of the traditional H indu society.
W ith the progressive modernisation, urbanisation and industrialisation o f the country,
these practices have lost much o f their hold on the peoples lives. The economic
development o f the country will therefore more positively undermine both features
than any special efforts made towards it.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1N a tio n a lA rch ives o f In d ia (hereafter, N A Ï)y ^ o m e Public, A Proceedings^ July 1916, nos
130-33.
2 Ibid.
3 NAIy *Home Politicar, File no. 50/1/1933, Viceroy's statement dated 23 January 1933.
4M odern Rem ew ^June. 1933.
5Dhananjay Keer, D r, A m bedkar: L ife and M ission (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1962), 150.
6 In d ia n A n n u a l Register^ 1946, V o l.11, 3 5 7 -5 8 .
7A m bedkar C ollection (Bombay University Library), B. R. Ambedkar^ presidential address
to the first session of the All-India Depressed Classes Congress held at Nagpur on 8 and 9
August 1930.
8N A Iy (Home PoliticaF, File no. 50/1/1933, see note by M. G. Hallett on anti-untouchability
bills, dated 15 December 1932.
9(Report of the 32nd Session of the Indian National Congress^, Calcutta, 26-29 December
1917,128-29.
10 The In d ia n S ocial R eform er, 9 May 1920: N. G. Chandavarkar^ speech at a Depressed
Classes Conference held at Ernakuiam, Cochin State, on 2 May 1920.
11 B. R. Ambedkar, W hat Congress an d G andhi H ave D one to the Untouchables (Bombay:
Tracker 8c Co. L td.,1945),14-18.
12 Young In d ia ,12 June 1924.
13 Collected Works o f M ahatm a G andhi (hereafter；C W M G )y Vol. XLV, 411; N ew York Times^
12 September 1931.
14 Brailsford, Subject In d ia (Bombay: Vora, 1946), 22.
15*Report of the 39th Session of the Indian National Congress1, Belgaum, 20-27 December
1924,9.
16 D. G.Tendulkar, M ahatm a^voV II (Delhi, 1961),p .182.
 Depressed Classes’Uplift in the Gandhian Era 373

17 CW M G y vol. LXI, 3; N a v a jiv a n (Gujarati), 2 June 1929.

18 'Report of the 44th Annual Session of the Indian National Congress*, Lahore, December
1929, Appendix I ，Secretary’s Report， Para III.
19 H a rija n ^ 1 February 1942: M. K. Gandhi^ answer to the questions of Harijan Sevaks.
20M. K. Gandhi, C onstructive Program m e: Its M eaning an d Place (Ahmedabad: Navajivan
Publishing House, 1941),12.
21 / / 狀ヴ⑽，1Ö May 1942: M. K. Gandhi’s reply to questions asked in the meeting of the
Harijan Sevak Sangh held at Wardha on 28 and 29 April 1942.
22 H a rija n ^ 16 February 1947.
23 Keer, D r. A m bedkar, 143.
24 A m bedkar C ollection (Bombay University Library): ^ahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, Rules
of Constitution5, Part IV.
25 Keer, D r. Am bedkar^ 68-82.
26 W. N. Kuber, D r. A m bedkar: A C ritic a l Study (New Delhi: Peoples Publishing House,
1973), 72.
27 R. Palme Dutt, In d ia Today (Bombay: Peopled Publishing House, 1949), 274.
28In d ia n S tatu to ry Com m ission^ vol. XVI, part I, 54.
29 Tim es o f In d ia , 21 June 192名.
30P a rlia m e n ta ry Papers^ Com mons 10, (East India (Constitutional Reforms): Report of the
Indian Central Committee 1928-29', cmd 3457,375.
31 In d ia n S tatu to ry Com m ission^ vol. XVI, part 1,41.
32 Proceedings o f the Sub-Com m ittees^ vol. Ill, no. Ill (Minorities), Indian Round Taole
Conference,12 November 1930-19 January 1931, Appendix I I , 16 S -7 4 .
33 Ambedkar, W hat C ongreis an d G andhi H ave D one to the Untouchables^ Appendix II,
304-06.
34 Proceedings o f the F ederal S tructure Com m ittee and M in o ritie s Com m ittee^ vol. III, Indian
Round Table Conference, 7 September 1931-1 December 1931,1384-85.
35 Ibid” vol, 1,163.
36 The T im e s,19 September 1932.
37Tendulkar, M ahatm a^ vol. Ill, 174.
38 Ibid.
39Ibid.
40 N A Iy Reforms Office, File no. K.W.F. 76/1933, clipping from The Leader^ 24 April 1933.
41 Ibid., clipping from The Statesm an, 29 April 1933, and clipping from The H ind ustan Tim es,
13 June 1933.
42A m rita B a za r P atrika^ 14 September 1932; see B. R. Ambedkar s statement to Press on
13 September 1932 in Bombay.
43 In d ia n A n n u a l Register^ 1932, vol.II, 232.
44 H a rija n ^ 19 October 1935.
45 Tim es o fIn d ia , 24 July 1936.
46 Quoted in Kuber, D r. Am bedkar^ 88.
47 Ibid., 94.
48B. R. A m b cd kzïy A n n ih ila tio n o f Caste (Jullundur: Bheem Patrika Publications, 1975), 97.
Presidential speech prepared to be delivered before the annual conference of Jat-Pat-Todak
Mandal, Lahore, in 1935.
49 Ibid., 96. Ambedkar says, (You must destroy the religion of the S hrutis and the E m ritis !
50 Keer, D r. Am bedkar^ 368.
51 Quoted in Kuber, D r. Am bedkar^ 68.
374 A tu l Chandra Pradhan

52 Tim es o f Indian 12 October 1939.

53 N. Mansergh, ed., T ransfer o f P ow er, vol. VII, 146, document no. 58, note of meeting
between the Cabinet delegation and B. R. Ambedkar on 5 April 1946.
54 B. R. Ambedkar, States an d M in o ritie s (Bombay: Thacker 8c Co., 1947), 22.
55 Kuber, D r. Am bedkar^ 132.
56 Ibid., 226.
57 Quoted in J. R. Kamble, R ise an d A w ake n in g o f Depressed Classes in In d ia (New Delhi:
National Publishing House, 1979), 210.
58 Telegraphy 16 January 1990.
59H a rija n ^ 28 July 1946.
60 M. K. Gandhi/Our Shame!, Young In d ia ^ 30 June 1927.
61 Ambedkar, W hat Congress an d G andhi H ave D one to the Untouchables^ 136.
62 H a rija n ^ 11 February 1933. ■-
63 A n n ih ila tio n o f Caste, 83.
64 Ci^FMG,vol.XXXl,405: M. K. Gandhi s letter to Purushottam Patwardhan,14 September
1926.
65 Ambedkar, A n n ih ila tio n o f C a s te ,117, Appendix II, Reply to the Mahatma by
B. R. Ambedkar.
66 S a rd a r PateVs Correspondence 1 9 4 5 ~ 5 0 1vol.Vl, 331.B. R. Ambedkars letter to Jawaharlal
Nehru dated 28 April 1948.
67 C onstituent Assem bly Debates^ vol. Ill, 28 April 1947-2 May 1947,435.
68 Quoted by B. R. Ambedkar during his speech in the Lok Sabha on the 'Third Report
of the Commissioner for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes^ see Bhagwan Das, ed.,
Thus SpokeAm bedkaryv o l. Ill (Jullundur: Bheem Patrika Prakashan,1969), 94.
 XXII

U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y , S C H E D U L E D C A S T E S
A N D N A T IO N B U IL D IN G ^

Bhagwan Das

Indian society is based on a unique form o f social order known as the caste system.
Priestly castes were considered to be the highest. The working classes— carpenters,
weavers, smiths, fetchers, bow-makers, drivers o f carts, tillers of land, leather workers,
scavangers, etc. —were among the lowest. A t some stage these divisions o f society
were codified and incorporated into the religious books o f the Hindus. Vedas mention
four varnas—brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. Later, the H indu scriptures
legitimised this division and gave it a divine origin. Those who did not recognise
this system—mostly indigenous people who had their own gods, religion and social
system_ as well as those who opposed or violated system were outcasted and were
put outside the pale o f Hinduism . They were forced to live outside the towns and
villages and were treated as (Untouchables,.
Gradually, as the H indu varna system grew fashionable, strong and strict measures
were adopted to enforce it. Social intercourse became restricted and inter-dining
and inter-marriage were prohibited. Society became strictly endogamous and was
divided into watertight compartments. Upward mobility became difficult. Those who
violated the law o f endogamy were excommunicated and forced to live outside the
community. Those who were excommunicated were forced to adopt lowly, degrading
and less remunerative occupations. W ars, famines, epidemics and natural calamities
forced people to break caste rules or to make new rules. Such incidents resulted in the
multiplication o f castes and sub-castes.
The Untouchables, who were also known as the Panchamas (the fifth caste), or
the antyajas (the last born), had been living outside the cities and towns for centuries.
They were not allowed to enter the cities or to have contact of any kind w ith the
nobility or the upper-caste people. Fa Hien, who came to India in the 6th century,
mentions about the Untouchables who lived outside the cities, and Vishnupurana
mentions an incident in which H indu kings were condemned to be born as dogs,
crows, pigs, etc. for the sin o f looking at or conversing w ith an Untouchable.
M uslim invaders opened the gates o f their cities to the Untouchables. M any of
these Untouchables and low-caste people embraced Islam and joined the invaders
partly to avoid persecution and partly in search o f freedom. Those who joined the *

* Ttliis chapter was originally published as ‘Untouchability， Scheduled Castes and Nation
Building,, Social Action, vol.32, no. 3 (1982), 269-82.
376 Bhagwan Das

armies of M uslim invaders imitated the customs and manners o f their new masters.
Besides those who formally embraced Islam, there were many who became nominal
Mohammedans.These nominal converts did not follow the customs ofM oham m edan
rulers but continued to earn their living by working as weavers, carpenters, shoe­
makers, etc.
By the end o f the 17th century it was difficult to determine their religious
status. They were neither Hindus nor M uslims even though many of them followed
the M uslim customs and manners, and still worshipped their Gods. The British
introduced radical changes in their military policy and began to recruit people from
classes and areas which suited their political needs. For fear o f offending the upper
castes, lower-caste regiments were disbanded and their recruitment discontinued.
For a long time education was the monopoly o f the brahmins. Christians-were
the first to open the doors o f education to the Untouchables. Those who embraced
Christianity encouraged other members of their family to embrace Christianity.
Those who did not embrace Christianity but got education became aware o f their
lowly condition. The demobilised soldiers and the young men who got the benefit
o f education in Christian institutions furnished the first leadership among the
Untouchables. The British, with a view to collecting information on the subjects of
their empire, began to take the census o f the people. The first census was conducted
in 1847 in Punjab. This was followed by a Census of British India in 1871.
These reports showed that the population o f Muslims, Christians and Sikhs was
increasing and that of the H indus was falling.This was mainly due to the large numbers
o f the low castes embracing Christianity or Islam. The second revelation was that a
handful of brahmins, barely three per cent o f the population, occupied most jobs in
the government services. As a result, non-brahm ins began to organise and demand a
share in the administration and the Muslims began to demand a share proportionate
to their population. The Untouchables too began to organise themselves in various
places ana began to demand their legitimate share in the administration. Partly due
to these demands those caste groups who were enumeratea in the census as menial
castes were given the new nomenclature o f ‘Depressed Classes’.
After the publication of the census reports, Muslims and H indus became conscious
o f the importance o f numerical strength. M ore population m eant more political power
and a larger share in the services. The Arya Samaj started a purification {shuddhï)
movement to reconvert those who had accepted Islam or Christianity. Muslims and
Christians, however, continued to strengthen their fold by new conversions.
The orthodox Hindus who were more concerned with their religious states, tried
to consolidate their position by insisting on the separation between the 'touchables'
and the 'untouchables5. The Arya Samajists, on the other hand, encouraged the
Untouchables to return to the H indu fold. In their zeal to increase their strength, the
Arya Samajists converted a large num ber o f Untouchables1— M eghs, Chamars, Julaha
(weavers) and Rehatias (Sikh Untouchables)— and bestowed on them the right to
wear the tuft (choti) and the sacred thread (Janyoo). However, they soon realised that
it was difEcult to give the Untouchables equal status in H indu society, even after the
shuddhi ceremony.
 Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and N ation Building 377

The Untouchables who were received into Hinduism continued to be treated as

Untouchables. The Arya Samajists tried to circumvent this difficulty by declaring
that shuddhi was not necessary in the case o f Chamars, Bhangis, etc. since they were
supposed to be already Hindus. Instead, they tried to Hinduise the patron saints of
the converted Untouchable groups. For instance, sweepers in the areas where Arya
Samaj was active worshipped Lai Beg and followed religious beliefs and customs
which were akin to Islam. The Hindus made the sweepers accept Balmiki or Valmiki
who was more within the H indu tradition as their patron saint.
The Hindus also exhorted the Untouchables to give up beef-eating and burial of
the dead and encouraged cremation in a separate crematorium. Some o f the affluent
Hindus helped the Untouchables to meet the expenses of cremation and for building
separate temples and shrines for them. As a result, some o f the lower castes, especially
in north India sent representations to the government against their names being
included in the list of the Depressed Classes. They claimed to be kshatriyas and
brahmins. The term 'Depressed Classes'was not acceptable to many organisations and
leaders among the Untouchables themselves. A t the Round Table Conference held
in London, 1930-32, D r B. R. Ambedkar—who represented the Untouchables—
demanded the removal o f this nomenclature.
Gandhiji used a new word, 'H arijan. Actually, he did not coin the word.
Narasimha M ehta, a Vaishnawa saint, had used the word ^ a r ija n to refer to the
Untouchables in one o f his poems. O ne o f the correspondents suggested to Gandhiji
the adoption o f this name. It appealed to Gandhiji and he readily adopted this name
and popularised it.

SOME FACTS ABOUTTHE SCHEDULED CASTES

N ot many among the Untouchable leaders and organisers favoured the word ^ a r ija n .
D r Ambedkar vehemently opposed it. Yet, Gandhiji and his followers continued to
use it. However, it was not officially adopted by the Constitution-makers. As a result
o f protests from many quarters, a new name came to be adopted. W hen the British
government was preparing a list of the weaker sections o f the society in order to
extend special assistance to them, those castes that suffered from disabilities arising
from untouchabiiity and had no objection to their name being included in the Sche­
dule, were appended to the Government of India Act, 1935. Because of the inclusion
of these castes in the Schedule, they were called 'Scheduled Castes'.
A t the time of drafting the Constitution the name ‘Scheduled Castes’was adopted
and incorporated in the Constitution. The right to include or exclude any caste in the
List o f the Scheduled Castes belonged to the President o f India. According to
the iwist o f the Scheduled Castes released by the President in 1950, only those
who professed Hinduism were considered to be Scheduled Castes. Converts to
other religions were excluded. U nder pressure from the Sikh leaders Untouchables
who converted to Sikhism were included in the List of Scheduled Castes and all
concessions reserved for the Scheduled Castes were extended to them.
378 Bhagwan Das

H in d u r e a c tio n

The British missionaries and administrators, and European and American scholars
began to write about Indian society.Those who studied the religious and philosophical
books of India developed an admiration for Indian culture and tradition. But those
who dealt with the everyday life o f the Indians had a very different story to tell. They
drew the picture of the ugly Indian. This angered many, but made others reflect on
the Indian condition. The census reports were another cause for alarm. These reports
showed that the growth rate o f the H indus was slower than that of the Muslims,
Christians and Sikhs. The Hindus began to fear that if they did not set their house in
order， they would soon be reduced to a minority. Moreover， the cheap labour provided
by Untouchables and other lower castes would no longer be available. To preserve the
economic status quo and the H indu religious dominance it was necessary to keep the
Untouchables and the other lower castes in their place.
Gradually, and reluctantly, some Hindus began to befriend the Untouchables. Under
the leadership o f Gandhiji they began to use all available means to Hinduise them.
Keeping in view the political and economic advantages of keeping the Untouchables
in the fold of Hinduism, various H indu organisations and individuals endeavoured to
help Untouchables at the local level. Educational institutions established by Hindus,
such as the ones by the Arya Samajists, admitted some Untouchable boys and helped
them with scholarships and grants. Some o f them were adopted and groomed by the
Congress party itself. The Untouchables, however, tried to keep away from all this since
the vast majority o f them trusted neither the H indu leaders nor the Congress party.

D r A m b e d k a r 's a p p r o a c h

The main aim of the H indu leaders, including Gandhiji, in their approach to the
Untouchables was to protect and strengthen Hinduism . Ambedkar, on the other
hand, wanted the Untouchables to achieve equal rights in all spheres of life. D r
Am bedkar came on the scene in 1927 and attracted much attention. H e was preceded
by Rao Bahadur M . C. Rajah in south India. Both Rao Bahadur Rajah and D r
Ambedkar came from families who had served in the British army, Ambedkar^s field
o f action lay in M aharashtra but his participation in the Round Table Conferences
held in London, where he championed the cause of the downtrodden, made him the
acknowledged leader of the Untouchables.
D r Ambedkar was convinced that dependence on the Hindus would weaken the
cause of the Untouchables. H e encouraged them to unite under one banner in order
to fight for justice and equality. Their wrongs could be righted, he told them, only
when they got a share in the political power and in the administration o f the country.
Ambedkar realised that, for achieving both these ends? education was most crucial.
So from 1932 onwards he devoted considerable tim e and energy in promoting
education for the Untouchables by setting up educational institutions and getting
separate financial aid for them from the Government.
 Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building 379

The approach taken by D r Ambedkar and his followers was not liked by many
Hindus.Hie separate electorate granted to the Untouchables by the British Government
through what is known as the Com m unal AwardVas vehemently opposed by the Hindu
leaders while it was accepted for the Muslims. O n the issue of separate electorates for
the Untouchables， Gandhiji undertook ft ‘fast into death’. Owing to pressure from the
H indu leaders and in order to save Gandhijis life, an agreement was signed between
the Hindu leaders and D r Ambedkar. This agreement is known as the Poona Pact.
According to the Poona Pact? the Untouchables lost their right for separate
electorates to choose their political representatives. Instead, they were given a larger
number of seats to be filled by joint electorates. Since there was no constituency in
which the Untouchables were in a majority, this meant that only those Untouchable
leaders would be elected who were acceptable to the H indu majorty and who were
sponsored by political parties controlled by the H indu leaders. D r Ambedkar realised
this and later remarked that it would have been better for the Untouchables if they
had fewer seats reserved for them but which were filled through separate electorates.

ABOLITION OF UNTOUCHABILITY

Untouchability was abolished by the Constitution. O n 29 November 1957， a

provision abolishing untouchability was passed and Article 17 was incorporated in
the Constitution. Thus, untouchability was abolished and its practice was made an
offence under the law, but for seven years there was no law to punish the offenders.
W hen that law was ultimately passed in 1955— Untouchability Offences Act of
1955— it suffered from many defects. As a result, majority o f the cases were ignored
by authorities or ended in compromises under pressure. O ften the police did not
register the cases. The Judiciary tended to treat cases of untouchability lightly and
awarded nominal punishment. M ajority o f the police did not have a copy o f the Act
or had not even heard about it.
Untouchability is still being practised throughout India. In states like U ttar
Pradesh and Bihar, where it is practised in the worst form, cases o f offences are often
not registered. Owing to the multiplication of incidents of atrocities a Commission
was appointed to study the problem under the chairmanship of Elayaperumal. O n the
basis of the recommendations this Commission submitted in 1969, and suggestions
from the Commissioner for the Scheduled bastes and ScheduledIrioes, the original
law was amended in 1976. The law was known as the 'Protection of Civil Rights Act
1955'. (M ore teeth were added to the law /but again the government did very little to
implement the law, or even to publish it. The Depressed Classes League got the Act
printed and distributed, but no other organisation took any serious action to educate
the people against the practice o f untouchability.
Lamenting the inaction on the part of the government and the ineffectiveness
o f the law, Justice Krishna Iyer remarked: 'W h at was abolished was the name not
the practice, for untouchability still thrives and is widely practised.5Like the laws
forbidding child marriage and dowry, the law forbidding the practice o f untouchability
380 Bhagwan Das

too is not respected by the people at large. Courts have also been very slow in meting
out punishment to the offenders. Due to cumbersome court procedures, expense and
time, victims often do not report the cases.
Law cannot bring about social reform by itself. It must be properly and earnestly
implemented. But those who are expected to implement the law, namely the police
and the Judiciary are often controlled by caste elements or political interest groups,
who are prejudiced against the Scheduled Castes. In a case in Gujarat, the lower court
imposed a ridiculous fine of Rs 2 on an offender under the Untouchability Offences
Act 1955. The complainant went on appeal before the High Court and the Gujarat
High Court finally enhanced the fine to Rs SO. The Elayaperumal Commission
Report also confirmed that in many places the police did not possess a copy of the
Untouchability Offences Act. Many of them had not even heard of this law. Much
could be achieved if this law could be included in the course for police officers and
its importance impressed upon them. In the same way, textbooks used in schools and
colleges could be used to expose such a social evil.
The M inistry of Information and Broadcasting can also do much in the matter of
social education. Unfortunately, one gets the impression that much of what is done in
this area is done with the intention of defending and strengthening Hinduism rather
than for the purpose or abolishing untouchability or the caste system.

R E S E R V A T IO N IN S ER VIC ES

In the Mughal empire, Persian was the official language. Those castes who had some
literary tradition joined the government services and monopolised all jobs. When the
British gradually conquered new areas, English was made the official language. Upper-
caste Hindus took advantage of the opportunity to learn English and monopolised
the services allowed to Indians. In the beginning, the Muslims treated English as the
language of the infidels and refused to learn it. This gave them a setback. They woke
up after some decades and realised that they had become backward.
The Muslims, Christians and other minorities began to demand an adequate share
in the administration. The British rulers, keeping in view their political interest and
administrative efficiency, introduced a quota system. A ll minorities and identifiable
social groups were granted a share proportionate to their population. Some of the
Untouchable groups, such as the Depressed Classes Association, also began to de­
mand reservation in services and other facilities, D r Babasaheb Ambedkar gave the
lead to this struggle.
The Untouchables had from the beginning been recognised as a minority like
other minorities. A t the Round Table Conference, due to the efforts of Babasaheb
Ambedkar, they were represented in the government just like other minority groups.
However, the Hindus and Congress leaders refused to accept minority status for
the Untouchables. As is well-known, Gandhiji undertook a fast unto death against
separate electorates for the Untouchables. In order to save the life of Gandhiji, a
compromise solution was arrangea m which, as Ambedkar later acknowledged, the
 Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building 381

Untouchables lost much of their independent status. A t the Annual Conference of

the A ll India Scheduled Castes Federation held at Nagpur in 1942, D r Ambedkar,
then a member of the Viceroys Executive Council, submitted a memorandum to the
Viceroy and to Governor-General on the subject of reservation. The Viceroy made
a favourable recommendation on this memorandum to the Secretary of State. The
government accepted these recommendations, and reservation in services in favour
of the Scheduled Castes became effective for the first time in the history of India.
After India became independent, D r Ambedkar was made the Law Minister
and Chairman of the Drafting Committee to write the Constitution. His presence
in the Constituent Assembly greatly facilitated making suitable provisions in the
Constitution in favour of the Scheduled Castes. W hile reservation in respect of
other minorities in the legislature as well as services was abolished, reservation
in favour of the Scheduled Castes was continued. Reservation for the Scheduled
Castes in legislatures and in the Parliament was initially made for 10 years ending
in 1960. It was later extended for another term. It has now been extended up to
1990. Article 335 also provides for reservation for the Scheduled Castes in the
services and in educational institutions. Moreover, an officer has also been appointed
as Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and scheduled Tribes. As a result of these
provisions considerable progress has been made in the matter of Scheduled Caste
participation in the nation-building process in the country.
The Scheduled Caste leaders who demanded adequate representation for their
community in the services did not believe that this alone would abolish untouchability
or remove the disparities created by religious practices and social customs in
Hinduism. Their argument was that an adequate share in the administrative structure
was a necessary condition for the emancipation of the downtrodden. This argument
was based not on the need for granting special privileges' to the weaker sections,
but primarily on the basic rights of the weaker sections in the functioning of a
representative form of government.
Critics of the reservation policy, on the other hand, base their argument on a
shallow understanding of the principle of equality\ By the principle of equality
they often mean the selection of candidates for posts strictly on the basis of merit'.
They also speak of the need for preserving efficiency in the functioning of the
administrative system. They often forget or deliberately ignore the fact, however, that
the so-called merit system9does not exist in practice, or that taking measures to
assure fair representation from certain sections of the people, who have hitherto been
deliberately excluded from this process and have been exploited by the rest, does not
violate the principle of equality nor necessarily destroy the principle of merit.

A R M E D FO RC ES

Untouchables accounted for a large percentage in the British army prior to the
mutiny of 1857. The Bombay army and Madras army freely recruited Untouchables
such as Mahars, Mehtars, Mangs, Chamars, Katis and Pariahas.
382 Bhagwan Das

During the time of Clive, a large number of Untouchables employed in the army-
bettered their conditions. The benefits in the army service gradually attracted a large
number of Rajputs and brahmins from Bihar and Oudh to the Bengal army. As the
number of brahmins increased, however, the Untouchables were eased out of the
Bengal army. Those who remained were relegated to lower and inferior posts such
as barbers, band players and cooks. Most of the mutineers were initiated and led by
brahmin soldiers, yet the British preferred to have taller and well-built upper-caste
men in the Bengal army. A t first, they were reluctant to admit the Sikhs. Soon the
recruitment policy changed. The notion of martial and non-martial races came into
being. The British began to recruit Sikhs, Muslims and Jats from northern states
while Mahars, Mangs, Chamars, Mahatars, Kolis, etc. were demobilised and their
regiments dismantled. ■'
Only Mazhbi Sikhs and Ramdassia Sikhs from among the Untouchables were
considered m artial.A Mahar regiment was raised in the last year of W orld War I but
was disbanded soon after the War. A Mahar regiment was again raised in 1942, partly
out of necessity and partly due to pressure from D r Babasaheb Ambedkar. Now the
policy is not to have caste regiments, but the Indian army is caste-ridden. Scheduled
Caste people even though physically fit are not recruited in the infantry. They can join
the armoured corps, artillery, Indian General Service Corps, etc.
Recruitment is made by Junior Commissioned Officers brought up in the old
tradition. They invariably prefer to enlist their own caste men. Scheduled Caste men
are either turned down or they are recruited for only menial jobs. If a Scheduled
Caste person happened to be appointed as a Commissioned Officer, he dare not
reveal his caste because the soldiers belonging to other castes like Jats, Dogras and
Rajputs have deep-rooted prejudices against the Scheduled Castes.

R E S E R V A T IO N IN T H E L E G IS L A T U R E

D r Ambedkar believed that political power was crucial for obtaining all other rights.
He fought for the legitimate representation of the Scheduled Castes in the political
process in the country. He succeeded in getting reservation for them in the Legislature
and in the Parliament. Today, the Scheduled Castes have the right to vote but cannot
exercise their vote independently and freely. This is especially true in the rural areas.
Many of the Schedulea Caste Members of Parliament and state legislative assemblies
do not play a very active role. The vast majority of them belong to different political
parties. Their very survival requires that they faithfully obey the dictates of their party
leaders or remain quiet.
The performance of the Scheduled Caste members in the Parliament and in the
legislature councils is often said to be very poor. Some of the main reasons for their
poor performance are said to be their educational backwardness, inferiority complex
and lack of courage. The most important reason perhaps is their dependence on
political parties. A legislator elected from a reserved constituency cannot afford to
antagonise the majority community, because his success depends on their votes and
 Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building 383

not on the votes of the Scheduled Caste people. Caste-Hindus who are invariably
in majority would prefer to have such men representing a reserved constituency who
would respect them and would refrain from doing or saying anything which goes
against the interest of the majority community. Most of the elected Scheduled Caste
members seem to be satisJied with this state of affairs. They have little to gain by
championing the cause of the oppressed. It is only when they are out of office that
they think of identifying themselves with the common masses.
The majority community favours the status quo. Because of this, bills to extend
the period of reservation in legislatures and in the Parliament are easily passed.
Occasionally, there are demands from some caste groups who feel that they are being
neglected. Hie ruling party usually obliges them, as long as such devices protect and
enhance their political interests. In recent years we have been seeing more organised
opposition from certain quarters, especially in those areas where the Scheduled
Castes are in a position to take some advantage of the reservation policy.

A T R O C IT IE S

The Untouchables account for 15 per cent of the Indian population. Eighty per cent
of them are aiviaed into more than 900 castes and are spread out in 6,00,000 villages
of India. W hile literacy in India in 1971 was about 30 per cent, among the Scheduled
Castes it was about 14 per cent. The vast majority of them are agricultural labourers.
They work under different systems of employment such as jajmani, bonded labour,
share-cropping and begat.
Land reforms initiated by the government in some states have led to litigation and
conflict. Wherever the Scheduled Caste landless labourers try to organise themselves
and demand just wages, the upper castes try to terrorise them by burning their huts,
beating and killing people, raping their women and appropriating their property.
Scheduled Caste people are also beaten and butchered if they do not vote according
to the dictates of the dominating castes or landlords. General elections and panchayat
elections are often followed by such violent incidents.
Incidents of violence often occur when the Untouchables try to enter Hindu
temples, when they demand tea to be served to them in cups used to serve others, or
try to take out marriage processions with the bridegroom riding on a horse or being
taken in a palki'. Women are reprimanded if they wear rings on their toes like other
women do, and young men in the villages are assaulted if they failed to rise to salute
a 'high caste' person. Even their wearing shoes or sandals are often objected to by the
upper castes. The police also have been treating them badly and indulging in rape,
beating, looting and killing of the Scheduled Castes. It is often very difficult to get a
case registered. Even if registered, it is rarely investigated properly. The result is that
culprits often get acquitted, for want of evidence while victims get further victimised.
The Untouchables, divided among themselves Into numerous castes and subcastes,
are seldom capable of taking united action against such inhuman treatment. The
government has set up special cells to protect the rights o f the Scheduled Castes.
384 Bhagwan Das

Protection of the C ivil Rights Act, 1955?has also prescribed stringent measures to
punish those who violated the law. But these measures have so far brought about
little change. Atrocities on the Scheduled Castes continue unabated. When tension
arises between communities, the police usually side with the influential upper castes.
There are a few organisations to disperse the issue or to settle the dispute in a peaceful
and just manner. Lack of respect for law, easy access to the use of force for some, and
religious and caste tensions have aggravated the situation.
D r Ambedkar believed that migration of the Untouchables to urban areas and
setting up of separate villages for them would help solve their problems. He also
believed in nationalisation of land and allotment of land to collective or cooperative
units as a long-term solution for uplifting the rural masses. The government, however,
chose to create small peasant proprietors, resulting in the fragmentation of land and
land disputes, and in the disruption of planning and production.

S W EEPER S A N D S C A V E N G E R S

For many people the term ‘Untouchable’ means ‘Chuhra and Chamars’ or ‘Bhangi
and Chamars'. When threatened by mass conversion of the Untouchables to
other religions—especially Islam-~~the Hindu Mahasabha arranged a conference
in Allahabad. Kisan Fagoji Bansade, an Untouchable leader from Nagpur, tried to
ascend the dais. Many began to shout with anger: 'Drive him away, he is a sweeper/A
Hindu leader sitting on the dais tried to pacify the agitated delegates by saying, (He is
not a Chuhra [sweeper], he is a M ahar/All calmed down because they did not know
who Mahars were and what their occupation was.
Besides leather-workers (Chamars, Samgars) sweepers and scavengers are also
regarded as Untouchables throughout India. They sweep the roads, clean the drain
and sewers, and remove night soil. Their women work as midwives and men raise pigs
and poultry, make baskets, cages and other things from bamboo, attend to cremation
and also work in prisons. A number of castes are engaged in the work of sweeping
in northern India while a few castes consider it their hereditary occupation. Dhusis
Chamars do sweeping in some cities. In Bombay, Mahars work as sweepers and clean
gutters, but they w ill not clean lavatories. Madigas in many parts of south India also
work as sweepers. But the bulk of the sweepers comes from northern India—Punjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan ana u^ujarat. Sweepers in these states are divided
into numerous castes such as Lal Begis, Baimikls, Dhanuks, Samphoor, Hela, Hado,
Makhier, Rawats, Shulkha, Halal, etc.
Sweepers of the Punjab were a restless people. They used every means to improve
their condition. Whenever an opportunity arose，they embraced any religion which
ensured equality and better life. During the Muslim invasion, many embraced Islam
ana joined the armies of the invaders. When after the execution ofTegh Bahadur, the
9th Guru of Siichism, Gobind Singh praised the sweeper devotee jawan for his courage
and devotion. This led to many embracing Islam. The jawan had taken great risk in
resuming the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur and ran more 200 miles to Anandpur where
 UntouchabiÜty, Scheduled Castes and Nation Building 385

it was honourably cremated. Gradually, sweepers were accepted in the Sikh Panth as
Mazhbis. Mazhbis work as sweepers but do not clean latrines. Similarly sweepers who
follow Islam in western Punjab do not perform lavatory cleaning.
Christian missions were not allowed in Punjab until 1837. Thereafter besides
opening schools and hospitals they went to the masses. Few among the upper castes
responded, but the sweepers responded, in a big way. There were mass conversions of
sweepers to Christianity. Hindus were understandably frightened. Mass conversion
of sweepers would reduce the number of Hindus and increase the strength of
Christians and Muslims.

W H A T A R E T H E U N T O U C H A B L E S (S C H E D U L E D C A S T E S ) D O IN G ?

Scheduled Castes began to organise themselves in the form of caste organisations

in the beginning of the 20th century. There were organisations like Sargawanshi
Mahar Sabha, the Pariah organisation, the Ravidasi Mahasabha, Namashudra Sabha,
etc. Later on, the Untouchables began to organise themselves under the name of
Depressed Classes. Many such organisations came into existence and continue to
function in Assam, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Naau, Bombay (Maharashtra)
and Uttar Pradesh. The Congress party helped to organise some Depressed Classes
groups do some social work according to the direction of the Congress leaders.
The Government of India Act 1935, for the first time gave the Untouchables
a new title, £The Scheduled Castes,. It was also the beginning of their entry into
politics in the true sense of the word. D r Ambedkar formed a political party
called the Independent Labour Party’. It was not really a party exclusively of the
Scheduled Caste for out of the 17 seats in 1937 that the party won, 5 oelonged to
upper-caste Hindus.
By this time the people who looked to Ambedkar as their leader were already
divided into two camps. Congress had lured many of them to their camp. Since
Gandhi was opposed to the separation of the Untouchables from Hinduism and
since the Congress claimed to represent everybody, there was no possibility of
having a viable separate organisation for the Scheduled Castes. During the period
1937-42, the Untouchables having independent views began to feel that they had
no organisation to represent them or to struggle for their cause. As a result, a new
organisation was formed by the name of A ll India Scheduled Castes Federation.
D r Ambedkar made the formal announcement of the formation of this organisation
in the Conference held at Nagpur in 1942. In 1957, hoping to appeal to wider sections
of people, the Federation was renamed as the Republican Party of India. However,
the election results 1957 showed that the Republican Party could not claim much
popular support.
Today, the RPI is divided into three major factions—RPI (Khobragade)，RPI
(Gawai) and RPI (Kamble). Some state units have become independent and got
themselves registered with the Election Commission. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and
Delhi units do not accept leadership from Maharashtra.
386 Bhagwan Das

The other organisation founded by D r Babasaheb Ambedkar was Samata

Sainik Dal in 1926-27. Bamata sainik means Volunteers for equality^ or Soldiers for
equality1. This organisation was founded with the object of protecting the lives of the
leaders who were often threatened. The Dalit Panthers, another organisation, rose in
Maharashtra and made headlines in 1972, but it soon got split into many factions. In
the elections that followed, they supported the Congress (I) for patronage and favours.

C O N C L U S IO N

This brief survey of the social and political scene in India clearly shows the low status
to which the Scheduled Castes have been relegated in Indian society. It also brings..put
the insignificant role they are able to or allowed to play in nation building and decision-
making processes in the country. Further， it indicates the precarious position in which
the Scheduled Castes find themselves when they attempt to organise themselves.
In spite of these limitations, the Scheduled Castes in India are today a growing
force. As they become more and more aware of their own potentialities and their
own dignity as Indian citizens, they also find themselves face to face with defiant and
shameless ^pper-castes^ who in their heart of hearts hate the Scheduled Castes^ and
deliberately attempt to block every avenue which might help the Scheduled Castes
to stand on their own feet and to demand an equal place and equal participation in
the process of nation-building. But the struggle is on and what form this struggle
takes w ill, to a very large extent, depend on how the Hindu majority in India behaves.
 XXIII

A U T O N O M Y A N D O R G A N IS A T IO N *

H a r ija n a n d A d iv a s i P r o te s t M o v e m e n t s

Stephen Henningham

Peasants in general and poor peasants in particular are often represented as fulfilling
one or the other of two stereotypes: clients and subordinates of an elite, and often
non-peasant, nucleus of organisers， or engaging in ‘spontaneous’ but self-destructive
acts, lacking any organisational structure or sense of direction.
However, of late, the poorest sections of Indian peasantry, specifically Harijans
and Adivasis, have begun to act autonomously under the leadership and organisation
of militants drawn from among themselves. This chapter seeks to demonstrate—by
reference to two agitations in Bihar in the 1930s involving in the one case Musahars
(Harijans) and in the other Santals (Adivasis)—that the kind o f‘autonom〆 currently
associated with such protest movements is very much in the tradition of protest
movements launched in earlier generations.
Extensive stirrings of discontent have developed among Harijan and Adivasi
sharecroppers and labourers in India in recent years, particularly in Bihar. Such unrest
is of course by no means a new feature of Indian political and social life. Frequently
during the past century, and on occasions beforehand, poor peasants and labourers
have participated in a variety of social and political movements.1 But in much of
this agitation they have exercised limited autonomy: they have acted (as for instance
in the nationalist movement2) as adherents of campaigns dominated by rich and
middle peasants, or else (as in the Tebhagha movement3) they have been supplied
with organisational cohesion and strategic direction by militants from a distinct and
essentially urban and middle class, radical party.
W hat seems new about the most recent campaigns, however, is the extent to
which Harijans and Adivasis have acted autonomously under the leadership and the
organisation of militants drawn from among themselves.4 This new autonomy has
been possible because by the 1960s and 1970s the limitations on protest that had
hitherto restricted the political expression of the poor had begun to break down. The
expansion of capitalist agrarian relations and continuing population pressure helped
dissolve traditional patron-client relationships. Post-Independence improvement of

* The author is grateful to Dipesh Chakrabarly and Ranajit Guha for their comments on an
earlier version of this chapter. This chapter was originally published as ^Autonomy and Organisation
Harijan and Adivasi Protest Movements,, Econom ic and P o litic a l Weekly^ vo l.16, no. 27 (1981),
1153—56.
388 Stephen tienningham

road and rail communications helped lessen the parochialism of the villager. Increased
access to education made it possible for some exceptional Adivasis and Harijans to
gain a broader comprehension of the society in which they lived, and to provide
political leadership to their communities. In addition, the beliefs and attitudes
which supported the continuation of grave inequality came under challenge from
the populist ideology which, in an electorate with adult suffrage, became the staple
fare of political propaganda. This ideology criticised the rigidities of the caste system
and promised extensive agrarian reforms including the effective implementation of
land ceiling laws and the distribution of land confiscated from large landholders
to the landless. The failure of the government to fulfil the expectations raised by
populist ideology exacerbated tensions and inspired protest.5 For example, in several
localities, protest from the landless and the poor 'began during the Emergency,
partly spurred by the false hopes raised by the round-the-clock propaganda about
the 20-point programme/6
Despite its significance, however, the apparent novelty of the demonstrated
autonomy in protest should not be exaggerated. As this chapter seeks to demonstrate,
by reference to two agitations in Bihar, at least as early as the 1930s Harijan and
Adivasi protest proceeded with substantial autonomy.

Our first example of autonomous protest developed among the Musahars of

Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts. The Musahars were perhaps the most
depressed and downtrodden of Bihar^ Harijan communities. In 1909, one official
described them as (... field labourers, whose wages are paid in kind. They live in a
kind of social thraldom, sometimes selling themselves, their wives, and children to
lifelong servitude for paltry sums/7 Similarly, in 1911, another official commented
that they lived(... a life very near the margin of subsistence and eat rats, snails, snakes
or anything else they can find/8
In theTirhut division, in A pril and May 1936, members of the Musahar community
held several social uplift5meetings. In late May, their leader Santdas Bhagat mounted
a large demonstration against a Muzaffarpur sugar factory. Unfortunately, little is yet
known about the background of Santdas Bhagat. A few weeks later he drew several
thousand Musahars to a meeting at Dalsingsarai in Darbhanga at which complaints
were levelled against Ramasre Prasad Chaudhuri, M LC, a leading local zamindari
and against Parr of the Harisingpur sugar factory.
Subsequently, the Musahars held a demonstration at Parr s factory, sent a letter of
protest to Chaudhuri, and assembled in large numbers near Chaudhuri^s residence,
armed (according to the official report) with lathis. Chaudhuri gathered a large body
of men and a clash seemed probable when armed police arrived, arrested the Musahar
leaders, and broke up the crowd by means of lathi charge. The police afterwards
charged the Musahar leaders and thirty of their followers with riotous behaviour.9 In
the ensuing weeks the Musahars held two large meetings; at one the police intervened
 Autonom y and Organisation 389

and arrested the leading Musahar spokesman. Probably as a result of this repression
Musahar activity subsided for some months.
In September 1937 Musahars demonstrated outside the Sitamarhi Court in
MuzafFarpur while some of their caste fellows who were under-trial prisoners were
being considered for b ail.A fight broke out between the demonstrators and the jail
staff and the police, and the Musahars were beaten up severely and dispersed. Press
reports appeared claiming that the police and jail staffwere unnecessarily provocative
and brutal in their treatment of the Musahars. In response, the MuzafFarpur District
Magistrate commented:10

The a m o u n t o f excessive force a lleged to have been used b y th e p o lice was in m y

o p in io n g re a tly exaggerate d. The Musahars d id as m uch d a m age to th e ja il sta ff and
th e po lice as th e p olice d id in d isa rm in g th e m a nd so fa r as I re m e m b e r th e case
th e re was som e reason to th in k th a t th e severest force used a gainst th e m o b o f
Musahars cam e fro m o u ts id e m em bers o f th e p u b lic w h o had jo in e d in to assist th e
po lice and n o t fro m th e p o lic e them selves.

This rather lame explanation makes intriguing reading. Given the traditions of the
Bihar Police, the amount of force used probably was excessive，and there must be some
doubt whether 'outside members of the public became involved. A sense of distance
and a feeling of considerable hostility existed between the police and the public in
Bihar, both because of corruption and brutality on the part of the police and because
durine- the civil disobedience agitations of 1920-22 and 1930-34 the police had acted
in support of the alien ruler. Officials regularly complained that the police received little
or no help from the public. So, if outsiders intervened they probably did so because
their antagonism towards the Musahars outweighed their well-established ill-feeling
towards the police. And their readiness to intervene and act harshly might well reflect
the extent to which the Musahar agitation had succeeded in arousing the Musahars
and in challenging the oppressive hierarchy of caste society.
After the Sitamarhi Court incident Musahar protest subsided, except for a brief
revival in June 1938. There is no firm evidence that the Bihar Congress showed any
interest in the Musahar campaign, though there is an allegation that at first Certain
Congress agents'were responsible for encouraging Santdas Bhagat to protest.12

Our second example involves members of the Santa! group of Adivasis who lived
in the Damdaha thana in Purnea. The land in this area was held both by occupancy
tenants and by a large number of tenure-holders who held permanent leases on
proprietary rights from the superior landlord, the Maharaja of Darbhanga. Most of
the tenants and tenure-holders did not engage directly in cultivation but instead had
their fields cultivated by sharecroppers. Some of these sharecroppers were Santals, a
tribal people who originally had been brought from Chota Nagpur to clear the grass
390 Stephen Henningham

jungle from land which had become available for cultivation because of the steady
westward movement of the Kosi river.13
The first Santals arrived around 1900 and many more came in the 1920s and
1930s. Under the tenancy law they were entitled to acquire occupancy rights in the
holdings they tilled for tenure-holders, but in actuality, *On account of ignorance of
their own statutory rights, they were at the mercy of the landlords who were ... free
to evict them and settle their lands with whomsoever they choose/14 In theory, the
Santals shared their produce half and half with their landlord, but in fact, because of
the imposition of abwabs^ the proportion left to them was about one-third. (The lands
assigned to them were frequently interchanged, rent receipts were never granted to
them and they were on the land merely on sufferance and could be ousted at any time
at the Maliks w ill/15
From mid-1938 the Santals began to agitate. The Bihar Congress government
which assumed office in 1937 revised the tenancy laws to give clearer definition to
the rights of sharecroppers, and particularly to the rights of those who cultivated
as under-tenants to occupancy tenants. According to the District Magistrate, local
Congress and Kisan Sabha activists Trom disinterested as well as interested motives
... began to educate them in their rights/16 However, if they occurred, these inter-
ventions by Congress and Kisan Sabha workers seem to have been purely local
initiatives, and received little attention and made little impact in the wider arena of
institutional and agitational politics.
The Santals demanded that their landlords fulfil the provisions of the law and
grant them receipts in return for their share of the crop. The supply of receipts would
permit the Santals to attempt to use judicial processes to acquire occupancy rights.
The tenure-holders and occupancy tenants responded by refusing to give receipts,
and £began to oust the existing Santal bataidars (sharecroppers) and to set up fresh
bataidars from among their relations and servants/17 The Santals reacted with
attempts to take over possession of the lands they claimed by right of long-term
cultivation. According to the District Magistrate, 'they rapidly organised themselves/
and moved in large numbers, many times with bows and arrows/18
There were several crop-cutting cases and a number of clashes, some of which
resulted in casualties. One clash began when some Yadavs interrupted some Santals
while they were ploughing disputed land. It seemed from the evidence available—
the Police Superintendent reported—that the Yadavs attempted to drive the Santals
away with a lathi charge, and that the Santals responded with a volley of arrows.
Members of both parties were injured and one Yadav was killed.
The Santals and their opponents also fought each other in a series of civil and
criminal cases.Tension continued throughout 1939 and 1940, despite official attempts
at arbitration and settlement. Eventually, in late 1940, the administration was able to
quieten agitation by arresting Santal activists and by putting pressure on occupancy
tenants and tenure-holders tQ oblige them to provide receipts. Significantly, though
1939 was elsewhere in Bihar a year of extensive Kisan Sabha agitation, the Kisan
Sabha movement did not involve itself in support of the Santals. A t first, Kisan and
 Autonomy and Organisation 391

Congress workers may have played a part in activating the Santals, but once the
movement got under way they took no part in it.

In the examples cited Harijans and Adivasis protested in defence of their rights and
interests. They acted autonomously, defining their own goals and targets of agitation.
According to official reports, they received some stimulus from Congress activists
at first. This, however, may not have occurred: officials, and particularly policemen,
were inclined to see the hand of Congress behind almost any kind or protest acti­
vity. Certainly police and officials presented no firm evidence of the involvement of
Congress workers. And it should be noted that the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha—a
Congress-Socialist dominated organisation conventionally regarded as on the 'left5of
the mainstream of the Congress—kept a careful distance from the poor peasantry.
Thus, although it claimed to represent all who live for cultivation the Bihar Provincial
Kisan Sabha took little interest in the plight of landless labourers, except to assure
them that there was no need for them to organise separately since it would protect
their interests. The Bihar Kisan Manifesto, rather than calling for the division of
large holdings and the distribution of land to the landless, called instead for the
granting of full ownership rights over their holdings to tenants and for the provision
of gainful employment for the landless. In 19^/, when the Bihar Provincial Khet
Mazdoor Sabha (Agricultural Labourers, Association) came into existence, it received
no support from the Kisan Sabha movement.20 And, during the 1930s, the efforts
of agrarian labourers to protest against exploitation by their Kisan and zamindar
employers were quickly curbed by intimidation and physical assault.21 Some years
later, disillusioned with the movement that he had led in the 1930s, the Kisan activist
Swami Sahajanand pointed out that it was really the middle and big cultivators5who
had been Tor the most part with the Kisan Sabha\ and contended that such people
were in the habit of (using the Kisan Sabha for their benefit and gain/22
What perhaps is at least equally probable is that the Musahars and Santals, for the
sake of publicity and in the hope of strengthening their cause, took over the name of
the Congress and the Kisan movement and represented themselves as acting under
their influence，thus neatly reversing the frequent Congress ploy of using local dis-
contents and appropriating local movements for its own purposes.
But even if the official reports of Congress involvement were correct, they show
that at the most Congressmen took part only in the early stages of the agitations
which from then on developed under their own steam and in their own chosen
directions. Just as in contemporary times, during the 1930s Harijans and Adivasis
displayed autonomy in their acts of protest. The point deserves strong emphasis, for
peasants in general and poor peasants in particular often are represented as fulfilling
one or other of two opposed stereotypes in their protest activity: either they are
portrayed merely as clients and subordinates of an elite—and often non-peasant,
392 Stephen Henningkam

nucleus of organisers—or they are depicted as engaging in 'spontaneous5acts such

as riots, scuffles, disturbances and other sudden acts of violence which lack any
organisational structure or sense of direction.23
Often the reality may lie between these two extremes and, obviously, further
investigation is needed of the organisational forms and the messages transmitted
therein which permit a peasant agitation to proceed autonomously, that is, without a
clearly visible, externally imposed leadership and organisational format, but with more
coherence and direction than is possible if protest is merely spontaneous,. Thus, we
need to know more of the political potentials inherent in caste and kinship networks,
friendships, the neighbourhood, customary personal associations, panchayats,
wedding negotiations and marriage feasts, and we need to know more of the role of
myth, rumour and gossip. But whatever further investigation w ill reveal, it is already
clear that those poor peasants who engage autonomously in protest nowadays are
carrying on a tradition partly established by their ancestors in the 1930s.

N O T E S A N D R EFERENCES

1A. R. Desai, ed., Peasant Struggles in India (Bombay and Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1979).
2 See, Stephen Henningham, Peasant Movements in North Bihary 1917-1942 (Canberra:
Australian National University, 1982).
3Sunil Stn, Agrarian Struggles in Bengal 1946-47 (New Delhi: Peoples Publishing House,
1972).
4 O f course Adivasis previously had engaged in protest on a large scale; for example, in
the Santal revolt of 1855-56 and the Munda revolt of 1895-98. But such movements were
primarily reactions on the part of entire communities to interference from outsiders, rather
than agitations on the part of Adivasis who already had been integrated substantially into the
lower strata of the non-tribal economic and social order.
5 For developments in Bihar, see Geof Wood, (The Process of Differentiation among the
Peasantry in Desipur Village>in The Kosi Symposium: The Rural Problem in North-East Bihar—
Analysis Policy and Planning in the KosiArea, edited by J. l ,. J ov and Elizabeth Everitt (Brighton:
Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, 1976); Martin Hoskins, 'Land-Holding
and Development in the Kosi Area in The Kosi Symposium^ edited by Joy and Everitt; F. Tomasson
Agrarian Crisis in India: The Case of Bihar (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1974); and
Arun Sinhas articles and reports in issues of the Economic and Political Weekly.
6Arun Sinha, cClass War Not ^Atrocities against Harijans,,J, Economic and Political Weekly
vol.12, no. 50 (10 December 1977), 2037+2039-40
7L. S. S. O^Malley, Bengal District Gazetteers: Monghyr (Calcutta: Government of Bengal,
1909), 63.
8J. Byrne, B engal D istric t Gazetteers: B hagalpur (Calcutta: Government of Bengal Calcutta,
1911) ，52.
9 For information on the Musahar agitation, see National Archives of India (hereafter,
NAl)y Tortnightly Reports of the Bihar Government,, April, June, July and August 1936,
July and September 1937, and June 1938, Home (Political) files; (MuzafFarpur Collector to
Tirliut Commissioner，， 1 September 1938; R. S. L. Norsering, ‘Enquiry into Allegations’，
 Autonom y and Organisation 393

Police file 51,9,1940 (includes 51.15,1938 and 51.21,1937), Commissioners Record Room,
MuzafFarpur town.
10A^I/MuzafFarpur Collector toT irhut Commissioner1.
11 See, for example, H, C. Prior^ Bihar in 1922 (Patna: Government of Bihar, 1923), 89-92.
12TVW, ‘Fortnightly Report of the Government of Bihar for the second half of June 1936’，
Home (Political) file IB June 1936.
13 For the Santal agitation in Purnea, see Bihar State Archives^ Political Special file 120(1),
1940; NAI^ Tortnightly Reports of the Government of Bihar for 1939 and 1940*; and
Hoskins, ‘Land-Holding and Development’，79—80. For information on similar conditions
and discontent among Adivasi sharecroppers in Champaran, see NAIyTortmgJntly Reports of
the Government of Bihar for June Ju ly and August 1938*, Home (Political) files 18 June 1938,
18 July 1938 and 18 August 1938.
14Quoted from a Board of Revenue letter dated 3 December 1931 in a note by R. N. Prasad
dated 5 June 1940; Bihar State Archive% Political Special file 120(1), 1940.
15 N. P .lh adani, Purnea Collector/Magistrate, ‘Report on the Agrarian Trouble in
Dhamdaha and Darbhanga Police Stations of Purnea; Bihar State Archives^ Political Special
file 120(1), 1940.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
]9Jaya Prakash Narayan Papers (Nehru Memorial Library), Treamble to the Manifesto of
the Bihar Kisan Sabha’， Agriculturalists Unions file 149,1936.
20Walter Hauser, (The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha>1929-1942: A Study of an Indian Peasant
Movement1, unpublished PhD dissertation submitted to University of ^hicago71961,20.
r See, iwßVßn AWんか ， 9 and 22 July, and 4 August 1938.
22 Qyoted from his presidential address to the All-India Kisan Sabha annual session,14
and 15 March 1944; quoted in Hauser, (Ih e Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha*,19.
23 For a survey which avoids these stereotypes, see Kathleen Gough, Indian Peasant
Uprisings^ Economic and Political Weekly^ v o l.9, no. 32/34, special number (August 1974)
1391-1412.
 XXIV

C O N G R E S S , G A N D H I A N D T H E P O L IT IC S O F
U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y IN T A M IL N A D U IN T H E 1 9 3 0 S ^

Raj Sekhar Basu

The Congress, as early as 1917, had issued its first cautious declaration on the removal
of caste disabilities. The provisions of Congress, 1917 resolution on untouchability
were reaffirmed in its 1920 resolution on non-cooperation. The 1920 resolution made
it imperative on the part of the Congress to highlight the removal of (disabilities, of
the depressed classes as a major nationalist priority.1Incidentally, the highly qualified
declarations also perceived the problem of the (depressed, as a matter wmch required
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religious solutions. Ine Congress favoured religious heads and leading Hindus'to
taKe part in campaigns, supporting reforms in Hinduism. Thus, there was hardly any
emphasis on legislation or state action*
In the 1920s, 'orandni and several other prominent Congressmen sought to
implement a variety of religious solutions to what they generally identified as the
problems of the depressed castes and tribes. Jan Breman has pointed out that the
Gandhians established special ashrams (teaching and spiritual centres) in ..Guj,arat for
members of the 'untoucnable' agricultural labouring classes. These ashrams inculcated
Gandhian virtues of temperance and spinning through devotional hymns (bhajans).
A t the same time, some of the leading Congressmen associated with such institutions
ei£ 9 lised the ideal that k ,was the dharmic duty. of the/unto.uchabl^sl tp,^^
upper-caste masters without attempting to break their bonds of inherited servitude.2
The majority of the upper-caste Congressmen in different parts or India found
it difficult to accept Gandhis views on Harijan uplift and temple entry. Gandhis
insistence on a change of heart on the part of the upper-caste Hindus found few
followers. The oandhian emphasis on voluntary actions also did not find support
from upper-caste Congressen. In the early 1930s, the reluctance of upper-caste
Congressmen to .actively involve themselves with Harijan uplift programmes as well
as the prosp越 一o f ' electoral debacle forced the Congress hierarchy to support
3

legislations for the removal of untouchability.

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In this chapter, i intend to deal with several complexities that emerged from
Gandhi^ Harijan uplitt oropaganda following the Poona Pact in öeütember 1932.
In the first place, it may be argued that Gandhi^ ideas relating to the uplitt of the
Harn ans were strongly criticised bv the Adi Dravxda (a term corned by the leaders

£his chapter was originally published as 'Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability
in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s5, The In d ia n H isto rica l R eview , vol.30, nos 1-2 (January - July 2003).
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 395

of the untouchable communities) community leaders in Tamil Nadu. This possibly

explains the lukewarm public support for Gandhi^ Harijan campaign. Second, it
may be pointed out that despite the reluctance of socially conservative Congressmen,
the upper-caste dominated Tamil Nadu Congress Committee supported the Harijan
uplift programmes more out of political exigencies than any real desire to better the lot
of the Harijans.The growing opposition from the Sanatanists forced the Tamil Nadu
Congress to integrate its temple entry campaign with its general political agenda.
Finally, the growing signs of proximity between the Justice Party and Adi Dravida
leaders also pressurised the Tamil Nadu Congress leaders like C. Rajagopalachari to
take a pro-active stand vis-ä-vis temple entry legislation. The smooth passage of the
temple entry bill in 1939 gave the Congress a distinct political advantage over the
Justice Party. In a sense this legislation: enabled the Congress to vindicate its claim
that it was the true representative of all communities and classes in Tamil Nadu.

T H E C O N G R E S S A N D H A R IJ A N U P L IF T P R O P A G A N D A

In the, months following the Poona Pact, the Congress leadership undertook a
series óf programmes for the social uplift of the depressed classes in Tamil Nadu. In
Madurai and Tiruchirapalli, the Congress organised several meetings in support of
temple entry. In some cases, Congressmen— as members of the temple committees—
passed resolutions in favour of temple entry rights for the depressed classes. The
Congress leaders sent memoranda to the government requesting it to initiate legal
measures that could expedite the formalities of temple entry by these classes.
C. Rajagopalachari led the Congress* anti-untouchability campaign in Tamil
Nadu. In several public meetings he attacked the directives issued by the A ll India
Varnashrama Swarajya Sangha exhorting the caste-Hindus to dissociate themselves
from certain provisions of the Poona Pact.3 Rajagopalachari and other Congress
leaders emphasised on taluk and village level campaigns to give a boost to Congress'
slogan of temple entry and that of anti-untouchability. Congress volunteers
distributed pamphlets bearing signatures of eminent personalities to convince the
caste-Hindus to favour its anti-untouchability propaganda.4
Congress leaders also took part in radio discussions and face-to-face debates with
conservative Hindu pundits over the issue of temple entry. In most cases, these debates
turned out to be inconclusive. Congress leaders also launched signature campaigns
in support of the temple entry right of the untouchables.5 In the districts, local-level
Congressmen sponsored resolutions in the district boards seeking to eliminate the
social discrimination faced by the depressed classes. In Salem, a resolution was passed
in the Municipal Council favouring the cancellation of license to any coffee shop or
restaurant which denied refreshments to these classes.6 In Coimbatore, because of
the pressure exerted by Congressmen, municipalities sanctioned funds for providing
free education to the depressed class children.
Ihe anti-untouchability campaign of the Congress was not solely guided by an
element of altruism. The decision of Congressmen to associate themselves with such
396 R aj Sekhar Basu

propaganda was often guided by political considerations. They believed th a t this

w ould greatly enhance th eir political credibility am ong the depressed classes. Ttiey
also felt th a t involvem ent w ith G a n d h is H arijan cam paign would enable them to
em erge as successful m ediators betw een the G overnm ent and the 3epressed

ambitions of an influential section within the Congress.7

T H E IS S U E O F T E M P L E E N T R Y A N D T H E P O L IT IC S
O F U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y

On 1 November 1932, the introduction of a bill in the Madras Legislative Cpuncil

brought the issue of temple entry to the forefront in Tamil Nadu. The bill suggested
that the government, realising the growing public feeling within the Hindu
community, needed to undertake measures for the removal of the social disabilities
imposed on certain classes with regard to religious observances. The b ill made it clear
that in view of the Poona Pact, places of religious worship need to be thrown open
to the depressed classes. Finally, the bill statea that to avoid all controversies the
depressed classes needed to observe order and cleanliness inside the temples.8
P. Subbarayan, during the debate on the bill in the legislature, blamed the
caste-Hindus for their apathy towards the depressed classes. He argued that the
indifference of the upper castes had forced these classes to dissociate themselves from
the nationalist movement. Such arguments failed to get support from the upper-
caste non-brahmin politicians. The non-brahmin legislators like T A . Ramalingam
Chettiar opposed the temple entry rights of the depressed classes and instead placed
more emphasis on their educational and economic advancement.9
The majority of the non-brahmin politicians displayed a conservative attitude on
the issue of temple entry. But the depressed class leaders were somewhat guarded in
their opinion. R. Srinivasan felt that the b ill moved by P. Subbarayan was modest in
terms of aims and objectives.10 Srinivasan, who differed from Ambedkars views on
temple entry, felt that a legislation on such lines would lead to the spiritual uplift
of the depressed classes.11 However, Srinivasarfs views on temple entry did not
find support from the radical depressed class leaders. N. Sivaraj pointed out that
temple entry could not solve the problems being faced by these classes. He argued
that the issue of temple entry was fast losing its importance as a substantial section
of the Aai-uravidas had been drawn towards the atheist and anti-caste Self-
Respect movement.12
The enlightened caste-Hindus pleaded for the temple entry right of the depressed
classes in the Madras Legislative Council. The reformist Hindu politicians opined
that there was no historical basis behind the social ostracism of the depressed
classes.13 C. R. Parthasarathi Ayyangar, who had participated in the debate on the
bill, stated that there was no Hindu shastra which sanctioned the practice of social
segregation. He observed:
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 397

By a llo w in g th e depressed class p e o p le to e n te r th e tem ples, w e are n o t g o in g to

achieve th e m ille n n iu m and m ake th e Adi Dravida a man o f c u ltu re o r th e h ig h ly
cu ltu re d m an in th is co u n try. C e rta in ly n ot, b u t you dorVt e x p lo it th e m , you d o n ’t
tre a t w ith c o n te m p t th o se persons w h o are w eaker th a n yourselves in culture, in
status, in a b ility and s kill.14

The non-brahmin leaders remained divided in their opinion on the issue of temple
entry legislation. Sir A . P. Patro, an eminent non-brahmin leader, felt that the social
discrimination faced by the depressed classes could only be removed by undertaking
programmes aimed at their economic betterment.15 However, a sizeable section of
the non-brahmin legislators voted with the other members, including brahmins,
in support of the bill. The bill received fifty-six votes in its favour, while nineteen
members of the Council abstained from voting.16 The Provincial Government,
fearing a nationwide repercussion, avoided taking a hasty stand on the issue.
In a telegram to the Viceroy, Gandhi pleaded with the government to adopt a
realistic stand towards the bills dealing with the removal of the social disabilities of
the depressed classes in the Madras Presidency. Gandhi requested the Viceroy to
give immediate assent to the introduction of the Removal of the Depressed Classes
Religious Disabilities B ill in the Madras Legislative Council. He wholeheartedly
supported the bill since it tried to live up to the promises made in the Poona Pact.17
On the other hand, the conservative Hindus tried to mobilise strong public opinion
against the proposed legislation. The A ll India Varnashrama Swarajya Sangha, in its
meeting in Guruvayur, declared that the issue of temple entry could only be decided
on the basis of Hindu religious scriptures and usages. The Sangha in its resolution sent
to the Government alleged that only a handful of self-seeking politicians had been
trying to force the issue of temple entry by issuing threats of fast and referendum.18
On 3 January 1933, the Madras branch of the Sangha sent a memorandum to
the Viceroy against the proposed temple entry legislation. It stated that temple entry
legislation constituted a violation of freedom of religious faith and neutrality that
had been guaranteed by the royal proclamation of 1858. It also declared that a ^ixed
legislature*, comprising non-Hindu members and alien government representatives,
was not competent to deal with a deeply religious issue such as temple entry. The
Sangha also criticised Gandhi for unnecessarily raising the issue, especially when the
depressed classes were more interested in socio-economic uplift.19
Despite the growing Sanatanist opposition, the Tamil Nadu Congress showed
no signs of retreating from its demand of temple entry by the depressed classes. The
influential Congress leaders, apprehending political implications of the Sanatanist
onslaught, favoured the integration of the anti-untouchability and temple entry
campaigns within the Congress5 general political agenda. However, Gandhis
conflicting opinions on temple entry sometimes placed them in a dilemma. W hile
Gandhi supported the integration of the temple entry campaign within a broader
movement aimed at the purification of Hinduism, he remained totally reticent
about the participation of the depressed classes.20 D ilip Menon has pointed out that
398 R aj Sekkar Basu

Gandhi believed that the depressed classes needed to perform the role of admiring
auälences vis-ä-vis the entire show of self-sacrifice that was being enacted before
them by the upper castes.2L,
In the meantime, Tamil Congressmen displayed an interest in entering into
negotiations with the government. C. Rajagopalachari sent a telegram to C. R Andrews
requesting him, to make a representation before the India Office for facilitating the
Viceregal sanction to the temple entry bills that had been introduced before the
Madras Legislative Council.22 The Tamilnadu Congress, under the leadership or
Rajagopalachari, also organised the (Guruvayur Day5celebrations to mobilise public
opinion in support of its anti-untouchability campaigns. The local-level Congressmen
also secured signatures of caste-Hindus to lend force to the temple entry rights for the
depressed classes. In the Madurai Municipality, Congress1signature campaign proved
to be immensely successfixl. The active involvement of eminent political personalities
like C. Rajagopalachari and Devadas Gandhi largely accounted for the Congress'
successes.23The non-brahmin members of the Congress in the Legislative Council
also expressed the opinion that the government needed to appoint a committee of
savarna Hindus to ascertain the Hindu public opinion on temple entry.24
However, the British officials in India expressed strong reservations against the
proposed temple entry legislations. The Home Secretary to the Government of India
feared that the Viceroys sanctions to the bills could disrupt the relations between the
government and the conservative Hindus.25 But he did agree that the Government^
silence on the matter could subject it to severe criticism. He stated that the bills
introduced before the Madras Legislative Council could not be given sanction since
they related to a legal aspect covered by the Central Subject of C ivil Law.26 The
Government of India was also in no mood to grant sanction to the bills brought
before the Madras Legislative Council.27
The lukewarm response on the part of the depressed classes in Madras Presidency-
vis-a-vis Congress* Harijan campaign greatly influenced the Government^ thinking
on the matter. The Secretary of State advised the Government of India to keep a
close vigil on the bills that had been granted sanction for introduction in the Central
Legislative Assembly.28The Government of India was also advised to see that the bills
generated full-scale discussions both within the legislatures as well as in the public
bodies and local government institutions.29 In January 1933, the Viceroy announced
that sanction could not be granted to the bills pending before the Madras Legislative
Council since they affected religious beliefs of the Hindus in general. The Viceroy s
decision to withhold sanctions to the introduction of the temple entry bills in the
Madras Legislative Council gave rise to discontent within the Tamil Nadu Congress.
Swarajya strongly criticised the Government of India for creating an impasse over
the bills. It observed:

It [G overnm e n t o f India] has, it is true, g iven its co n se n t to th e in tro d u c tio n o f Mr.

C.S. Ranga Iyer’s m easure, b u t even th is co n se n t has been g ive n in such a m anner
and it's q u a lifie d w ith such c o n d itio n s th a t it is b e re ft o f all grace. One can see fro m
th e ve ry w o rd in g o f th e c o m m u n iq u e th a t its h e a rt is n o t in it and th a t a m o v e m e n t
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 399

w h ich has been sponsored by no less a m an th a n M ahatm a G andhi h im s e lf and has

stirred th e w h o le n a tio n to its d e p th , has n o t ch anged its w o o d e n o u tlo o k .30

Swadesamitran, known for its pronounced nationalist leanings, also strongly

condemned the ViceroyJs decision to refuse sanction to the bills placed before the
Madras Legislative Council. The nationalist-minded dailies expressed the opinion
that the Government had permitted discussion over C. S. Ranga lyer^ bill in the
Central Legislative Assembly, realising the difficulties that were likely to arise from
its prior circulation.31
In the meantime, the Tamil Nadu Congress integrated the temple entry agitation
with its broader programme of Harijan uplift. Congress, efforts to mobilise the caste-
Hindus in support of Harijan uplift failed to elicit much response. In fact, very few
caste-Hindus were attracted towards Congress* Harijan uplift programmes. The
majority of the depressed classes also displayed little interest in the campaigns that
were being carried out by grassroots Congressmen. Congress5efforts to involve the
Harijan Sevak Sangh to bolster the campaigns in favour of temple entry legislation
also ended in a failure. In Madras, the meetings organised by Harijan Sevak Sangh
in support of anti-untouchability legislations met with thin attendance. The radical
Adi-Dravida leaders openly ridiculed Congress5Harijan campaign as a part of its
agenda to capture political power.32
A t the same time, the caste-Hindu opposition to temple entry legislations also
proved to be fairly strong. The Hindu Sanatanist organisations carried out campaigns
against temple entry in Srirangam and Trichinopoly. The Sanatanists also adopted a
hostile attitude towards the volunteers of the Congress and the Tamil Nadu Anti-
Untouchability League associated with the temple entry campaigns.33
The government's decision to circulate C. S. Ranga Iyers bill relating to temple
entry forced the Sanatanists to intensify their agitation. The Sanatanists spent large
sums to carry out campaigns against the views expressed by Gandhi on temple entry.
In Madras, the Sanatanists publicly criticised Congress' demand for independence
and expressed their loyalty towards the British Raj.34 The Viceroy did issue
statements to assuage the sentiments of the Sanatanists but without much success.
The Sanatanists mainly directed their ire against Gandhi. In the meetings organised
by the Sanatanists, conservative Hinau leaders alleged that Gandhi had undertaken
the anti-untouchability campaign to fulfil his political ambitions. Srinivas Iyengar, a
retired judge, expressed the opinion that the temple entry movement was started with
the purpose of winning over the depressed classes towards the political programmes
of the Congress.35
Gandhi refuted these allegations and stated that his Harijan campaign had no
links with the political movement of the Congress. As early as February 1933,
Gandhi expressed his dismay over the Sanatanist propaganda that the issue of
temple entry was of no importance since the £untouchables, themselves had not
agitated for such privileges. Gandhi argued that such assertions were baseless
because the depressed classes in various parts of India had vigorously campaigned
in favour of temple entry rights.36 He also pointed out that the purpose of such
400 R aj Sekhar Basu

legislations was not aimed at harming the religious sentiments of the Hindus but
to save Hinduism from religious stagnation.37
W hile the conservatives and the reformists debated with each other on the issue
of temple entry, confusion prevailed within the depressed classes over the efficacy of
such legislations. In Madras, the Adi-Dravidas owing allegiance to R. Srinlvasan,
remained somewhat indifferent towards the temple entry legislations. Srinivasan
observed: (We are not opposed to it [temple entry legislation], but we do not think it
advisable to take part in the movement. If temples are thrown open to us for worship,
we can enter them as and when it suits us/38 He too, like Ambedkar, believed that
Gandhis religious approach would not lead to the material improvement of the
depressed classes. But Gandhi was firm in his belief that the anti-untouchability
programmes and the temple entry campaigns would remove the obstacles that.had
been impeding the progress of the depressed classes over a long period of time.39
In the midst of these debates, the Adi-Dravidas, owing allegiance to M. C. Rajah,
pleaded for the smooth passage of the anti-untouchability bills. Rajah, leading a
deputation to the Viceroy, urged him to grant immediate sanction to the bills. The
Viceroy, however, remained unmoved and expressed the opinion that such legislations
required the most careful examination by the Hindu community as a whole.40
Subsequently, Gandhi decided to launch a more vigorous agitation against
untouchability. On 8 May 1933, Gandhi went on a three-week fast to convince
the caste-Hindus of the importance or the Harijan movement. In Tamil Nadu,
Congressmen supported Gandhi^ decision to go on a fast and made preparations
for the observance of the A ll India Harijan Day. But other than the southern Tamil
districts of the Presidency, there was little public support in favour of Gandhi^ fast.
In Ramnad and Tirunelveli, Congress volunteers succeeded in inciting the masses
to observe a hartal on the day of the commencement of GandhiJs fast.41 In the
Trichinopoly jail, v^rnl Disobedience prisoners refused their evening meals to express
their solidarity with Gandhi. However, Congress1publicity campaign in support
ot Oandhis Harijan movement failed to bring about bonhomie between the Adi-
Dravidas and the caste-Hindus. The caste clashes between the upper castes and the
Adi-Dravidas considerably dampened the spirit of the Congress slogan in regard to
temple entry.42
In the meantime, the temple entry bill moved by C. S. Ranga Iyer fell through. In
fact, by August 1933 the interest in the temple entry bills too got diluted in the Madras
Presidency. Congressmen remained divided in their opinion over the implementation
of the anti-untouchability measures. The depressed classes felt that the Congress was
deliberately raising the issue of untouchability to gain more political privileges from
the British government. A large number of depressed class associations from south
India sent petitions to the British government to undertake programmes aimed at
their social and economic betterment.43
Fearing a backlash from the conservative Hindus, the Government of Madras
was also reluctant to support the temple entry legislations. The Congress criticised
the governments approach. A progressive section of the Congress alleged that the
government had adopted double standards. They argued that while the government
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 401

had displayed a liberal attitude by allowing a nationwide discussion on the temple

entry bills, its covert support to the Sanatanist propaganda brought out its inherent
conservatism in social matters. The Tamil Nadu Congress also criticised the
bureaucracy^ attempt to denigrate Gandhis Harijan campaign as a ploy aimed at
denying the depressed classes the opportunities of social equality.44

G A N D H I'S H A R IJ A N C A M P A IG N A N D T H E R E V IV A L O F IN TE R E S 丁
O N T H E ISSUE O F T E M P L E E N T R Y

On 23 August 1933, after his release from jail, Gandhi engaged himselfwholeheartedly
with the Harijan uplift campaign. He undertook a Harijan tour covering various
parts of the country towards the end of 1933 so as to mobilise public opinion on
anti-untouchability and temple entry issues. A t the beginning of tms tour, Gandhi
emphasised the religious implications of the Harijan movement. He repeatedly stated
that he did not intend to nurt the religious sensibilities of the conservative Hindus.
A t the same time, he also clarified that no force or compulsion should be applied
for the removal of untouchability and securing temple entry rights for the depressed
classes.45 However, the conservatives remained unconvinced and they continued to
vilify Gandhi as the destroyer of Hinduism. The official circles in Madras felt that
this sort of opposition from the conservative Hindus would reduce Gandhi's Harijan
campaign to a farce.46
Gandhi began his tour of Tamil iNadu on a note of optimism. He tried to utilise
this tour to win over the conservatives in support of temple entry.47 His campaign,
however, failed to generate enthusiasm among the masses vis-ä-vis the degraded
conditions of the depressed classes in the Madras Presidency. But, contrary to
its professed goals of social reforms, u-andhi's Harijan campaign proved to be of
immense political significance.
Right since the beginning of this tour Gandhi stressed on collection of funds for the
improvement of the conditions of the depressed classes. He personally supervised the
fund raising programmes.48 His involvement can be clearly gauged from the speeches
delivered by him before the audiences comprising largely Gujarati business groups.
In one of these meetings, Gandhi observed: (You [Gujarati business groups] go to far
off lands exploiting people and assuming wealth.1 am now going to exploit you/49
Gandhi was able to pool an amount of Rs 3,52,000 from his tour of south India.50
During his tour of Tamil Nadu Gandhi also acted as a mediator in disputes
involving rival groups. His role as a mediator came to the forefront in early January
1934. A t this time the Adi-Dravida agricultural labourers and the Kallar landlords
were involved in a bitter conflict in Devakottai.51The conflict primarily developed out
of the efforts on the part of the Aai-i^ravidas to gain social dignity. The resistance by
the Kallar landlords only intensified the conflict. Such intercaste conflicts also gained
alarming proportions in the neighbouring districts of Tirunelveli and Madurai.
Gandhi made a hurried visit to these trouble-prone areas. He feared that inaction
on the part of the reformist Hindus might encourage the untouchables to undertake a
402 R aj Sekhar Basu

rnass conversion to Christianity. But, despite the efforts of Gandhi and A . V.Thakkar,
General Secretary of the A ll India Harijan Sevak Sangh, the Adi-Dravidas continued
to embrace Christianity. The rising tide of conversion forced the local branches of the
Harijan Sevak Sangh to invite Arya Samaj preachers for initiating dialogue with the
Adi-Dravidas. Such efforts, however, did not yield any results and failed to change
the decision of the Adi~Dravidas.52 Nevertheless, there was a distinct public support
in favour of the programmes. In some parts of Tamil Nadu, the public enthusiasm
elevated Gandhi to a sort of a messianic leader.53 Irschik has argued that this image
of Gandhi also gained popularity among the Adi-Dravidas.54 In fact, Gandhis tour
brought a section of the Adi-Dravidas closer to the Congress ideology and politics.
However^ the Adi-Dravidas, owing allegiance to R. Srinivasan, shared an apathy
towards Gandhi^ Harijan tour. Srinivasan, leading a deputation of the Depressed
Classes Federation of South India before Gandhi, objected to the electoral principles
laid down in the Poona Pact, The deputationists argued that the Pact would affect
the electoral fortunes of the real representatives of the depressed classes. They also
pleaded that the Congress needed to cooperate with the government to ensure the
social equality of all classes. They further stated that the usage of terms such as
‘Harijan’would intensify social conflicts.55
Subsequently, the Government of Madras entered into a debate with Gandhi over
the impact of the Harijan tour. W hile Gandhi believed that his tour would lead to a new
awakening vis-ä-vis the issue of untouchabillty, the officials dismissed such contentions
as wishful thinking on the part of the former. The Government of Madras pointed out
that Gandhi^ tour had not been an unqualified success. In one of the official reports,
it was observed: 'Crowds came to gaze at Gandhi and went away without bothering
to listen to a single word he had to say. For them，the whole thing was か w似 the
object of which was immaterial/56 But Gandhi remained undeterred by the official
criticism of his tour. He believed that his tour of south India had instilled a spirit of
self-confidence among the depressed classes. Gandhis assertions about the success of
his Harijan tour of south India were not wholly untrue. His sincerity and devotion
brought a large number of new rural followers to the fold of Tamil Nadu Congress.
The wide popularity of Gandhi among the socially ostracised communities influenced
the Congress leaders to adopt the plank of anti-untouchability in their future electoral
battles. Gandhis Harijan tour aroused fresh interest on the issue of temple entry. The
nationalist press in Tamil Nadu gave a wide coverage to the Untouchability Abolition
B ill moved by M. C. Rajah in the Central Legislative Assembly. The press argued that
Rajahs bill did not seek to destroy Varnashrama Dharma or facilitate the temple entry
of the untouchables at the cost of breaking all conventions and norms. The press also
made it clear that it supported the passage of the bill in the Legislature since it did not
offend the religious feelings of the orthodox sections in the society.57
In the meantime, the Congress and the Sanatanists renewed their battle on the
temple entry issue. The Sanatanists organised public meetings to condemn Gandhi^s
Harijan tour. In Iricm nopoly, the Sanatanists expressed their disenchantment with
Gandhi s views on temple entry by organising a black flag demonstration against the
Congress leaders. In the wake of these disturbances, Gandhi toned down his forcefixl
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 403

assertions on the issue of temple entry.58 But the local-level Congress workers in
Tamil Nadu were in no mood to relent to the Sanatanist opposition. They organised
several Harijan conferences in the district towns for gaining public support on the
temple entry issue.59
Subsequently, the Government of Madras sent instructions to the district
collectors to elicit public opinion on Rajahs bill.The district collectors as well as the
Commissioner of Labour expressed the opinion that as caste barriers were breaking
down, there was absolutely no necessity for such legislation. The district officials
believed that since untouchability and temple entry were closely linked to Hindu
religious practices, the government needed to persist with its policy of religious
neutrality. The majority of the judges of the law courts felt that the temple entry bills,
apart from their ambiguity, lacked cohesion in legal terms.60
By July 1934, opposition to the temple entry legislation mounted. In their
memoranda to the government, the Sanatanists stated that modes of worship in
Hindu temples could not be decided by legislations or governmental interference.61
The Commissioner of the Hindu Religious Endowments Board also opposed the
temple entry legislations on the ground that it would be construed as an unwarranted
governmental interference in religious matters.62The Adi-Dravida leaders opposed to
Gandhi also opined that rather than temple entry, the reformist Hindus needed to reform
Hinduism for ensuring equality to all classes.63The recalcitrance of the Sanatanists and
the indifference displayed by a section of the depressed classes ultimately forced the
government to adopt a policy of neutrality on the issue of temple entry.64
Gandhi’s Harijan tour，nonetheless， revealed several interesting facets of Congress’
politics in Tamil Nadu. W hile grassroots-level Congressmen devoted themselves to
Harijan uplift programmes, the influential ones lacked the same zeal and dedication.
The casteist bias of upper-caste Congressmen was condemned by the nationalist
press in Tamil Nadu. The nationalist press warned the upper-caste Congressmen that
unless they supported the temple entry legislation, the < untoucnables, would continue
to be alienated from Hinduism.65
The inability of the Tamil Congressmen to force the government to enact
legislations of social importance gave a new dimension to the Self-Respect
propaganda on samadharma. The Self-Respectors argued that while the Congress
was waging a political struggle against colonialism, it favoured a socio-political order
that sanctioned the exploitation by the rich and the upper castes in the society. The
Self-Respectors identified this oppressive order with Congress5demand for Puma
Swaraj under the leadership of Gandhi. They launched movements to condemn the
Gandhi-led Congress for betraying the interests of the depressed classes.66

T H E C O N G R E S S M IN IS T R Y A N D T H E ISSUE O F T E M P L E E N TR Y

The formation of a new Congress ministry under C. Rajagopalachari was a significant

development in the politics of the province. Rajagopalachari accommodated different
factions in his ministry and tried to secure ministerial berths for the influential
404 R aj Sekhar Basu

depressed class leaders. The allotment of cabinet portfolios to Adi-Dravida leaders

like V. I. Muniswami Pillai may be taken as an example. The differences between
V. I. Muniswami Pillai and M . C. Rajah also gave the Congress the opportunity to
win over a large section of the Adi'Dravidas. The meetings organised by the pro-
Congress Adi-Dravida local leaders raised the morale of the new ministry. The Adi-
Dravida leaders, owing allegiance to the Congress, tried to secure mandate from the
‘Scheduled Castes’67 in support of Congress’programmes.68
Rajagopalachari, however^ personally suffered from a dilemma regarding the
temple entry issue. He feared that hasty decisions might lead to a caste-Hindu backlash.
He felt that compared to the princely states like Travancore, temple entry legislations
would provoke a great deal of controversy in the Madras Presidency. The inability
of the Congress ministry to chalk out a clear stand on the issue brought Gandhi
to the forefront. In this context,jGandhi observed:(... the Madras Government is a
Government responsible to the people of Madras who include all classes and creeds.
It cannot therefore with any propriety pass legislations, like the Cochin Durbar,
opening to Harijans all temples within its jurisdiction.， 69 However, he reminded the
Congressmen that the Congress ministries had to utilise the provisions of the new
constitution in passing temple entry legislations.
The Sanatanist Hindu organisations renewed their protest in Madras. The
Sanatanist leaders with the overt support of prominent landlords like the Raja of
Kollengode appealed to the Hindus to subscribe to the doctrines of Sanatan Dharma.70
The introduction of a bill relating to the opening of Hindu temples to all classes
intensified the debate between them and the reformist Congressmen. In Madras, the
Sanatanists opined that such legislations would not only hurt the religious sentiments
of the Hindus, but would also destroy the sanctity of the Hindu shrines.71
Sanatanist outbursts against the social and religious reforms met with strong
criticism from the pro-Congress Aai-Dravida leaders. V. I. Muniswami Pillai
launched attacks on the Sanatanists by projecting the welfare schemes of the Congress
ministry. Adi-Dravida leaders exhorted their supporters to elevate themselves above
the parochialisms of the Ambedkar and Rajah camps and create conditions conducive
to the implementation of the Poona Pact.72
Yet, the issue of temple entry posed problems both for the Congress and the
Adi-Dravida leaders. W hile the Congress leaders preferred to go slow on the issue,
fearing an erosion of the caste Hindu votes, the leaders of the various Adi-Dravida
factions favoured immediate implementation of the temple entry legislations. Adi-
Dravida leaders like R. Srinivasan, though opposed to the Congress, disagreed with
Ambedkar s views on religion. He insisted that legislations favouring temple entry
would definitely improve the social status of the Scheduled Castes.73
The vexed attitude of the Rajagopalachari ministry towards temple entry
legislations also lea to a misunderstanding between the Tamil Nadu Congress and
Adi-Dravida leaders. M. C. Rajah criticised the congress ministry s dilatory tactics
as deliberate. The attitudes of the upper-caste Congress ministers also influenced
the Adi-Dravida moderates to believe that the Rajaji ministry had covert links with
the proponents of banatan Dharma.74There were also allegations that the Congress
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 405

ministry was hesitant in adopting a tough stand against the upper-caste landed groups.
Subsequently, it was argued that the bureaucratic attitude of the Rajaji ministry would
hardly improve the socio-economic conditions of the Scheduled Castes.
The disillusionment with the Rajaji ministry s Harijan uplift programmes prompted
M . C. Rajah to introduce abill in the Madras Legislative Council, seeking the removal of
the disabilities of the Scheduled Castes vis-ä-vis entry into Hindu temples. He preferred
the bill to be referred to a Select Committee comprising himself, C. Rajagopalachari,
V. L Muniswami Pillai, Rukmini Lakshmipathi, Swami A . Sahajanandam and some
other members of the Assembly.75 Rajah, introducing the bill, forcefully asserted that
despite the initiatives of some upper-caste politicians, the Congress ministry in Madras
had failed to remove the grievances of the Scheduled Castes.76
The bill became a sort of a prestige issue for the government. The discussion
on the bill coincided with a change of public mood on issues related to the social
disabilities of the Scheduled Castes. The bill received support from the upper-caste
reformist Hindus as well as the Scheduled Caste members of the Madras Legislative
Assembly.77 The Scheduled Caste legislators opined that since the Congress under
Gandhi had promised to eliminate untouchability, the provincial Congress ministries
had taken up the issue in all seriousness. They highlighted the initiatives of the
governments of some native states to open state-managed temples to the Scheduled
Castes. It was also pointed out that caste-Hindu opposition had often stalled efforts
to bring about social equality of all communities in the society.78
The bill generated a loose consensus in the legislature. In fact, both the Congress
and the Justice Party tried to enlist the political support of the Scheduled Castes
by supporting the bill. However, the Congress, in view of its numerical supremacy
and long-standing involvement with the issue of Harijan uplift, forged ahead of the
Justice Party. The Congress, by lending its support to the bill, sought to convince the
masses that it was the true representative of all classes.79
The Congress ministry^ efforts to incorporate the grievances of the Scheduled
Castes unnerved many of its political rivals. E. V. Ramaswami Naicker appealed
to the Adi-Dravidas not to fall prey to the promises of the Congress. He alleged
that the Congress leaders had initiated welfare schemes for the Scheduled Castes
to fulfil their own political goals. The F ü ，ゐ▲/，serving as the mouthpiece of the
Self-Respect movement, launched a counter campaign against Congress5propaganda
about the success of the temple entry movements inTravancore and Madurai.80 Self-
Respectors also pointed out that the call for Swaraj by the brahmin Congress leaders
was nothing but an expression of their desire to establish <Ramrajya,J under which
special privileges would be granted to certain sections of the society.81

T H E P O L IT IC S O F P O P U L IS M A N D T H E ISSU E O F T E M P L E E N TR Y
L E G IS L A T IO N IN T H E LA TE 1 9 3 0 s

The failure of the Rajaji ministry to mitigate the grievances of the poor as well as
its authoritarian style of functioning resulted in loss of support among the Adi-
406 R a j Sekkar Basu

Dravidas.82 The sudden decline in Congress' popularity led to a rethinking in the

Congress circles in Madras. There were suggestions that the ministry needed to
revive the debate on social legislation to win back the confidence of the masses.
Rajagopalachari also felt that such legislation would restore his paternalistic image
before the society.83
The Harijan tour of Madras in June 1939 by Rameshwari Nehru, Vice-President
of the A ll India Harijan Sevak Sangh, enabled Congress to revive the debate on
temple entry. She presided over a temple entry conference at Madurai. W hile
addressing this conference, she made a request to the Executive Officer of the Sri
Minakshi Temple to facilitate the entry of the Harijans.The local Congressmen and
reformers also exerted pressure on the Executive Officer to throw open the temple
to all classes. C. Rajagopalachari also informed the Executive Officer of the temple
that the temple officials, who were against temple entry of the Harijans, would be
dismissed. The government also decided to convene a special session of the legislature
to get an Indemnity B ill passed to protect the temple officials, against whom legal
proceedings had been initiated by the Sanatanists.84
C. Rajagopalachari, initiating a discussion on the bill, stated that temple entry-
reform was long overdue and the government could not maintain a silence over the
matter. He argued that the bill was circulated to enable the trustees of the temple
to act in accordance with public opinion on the issue of the entry of the Scheduled
Castes into temples. It was also stated that the Malabar Temple Entry Act had not
been abandoned and that it would certainly come into play where trustees were
unwilling to act in accordance with the general public sentiment. The bill, despite
many amendments, was moved by the members of the legislature, and was passed
without much change.85 The critics of the bill favoured the introduction oi the
principle of referendum for ascertaining public opinion that had been followed in
the case of the Malabar Temple Entry Act. C. Rajagopalachari opined that it was not
necessary to implement the same method for different legislations. He also clarified
that there was no political motive behind the bill and that it had been conceived from
a purely religious point of view.
Subsequently, the bill, which had been passed in the Legislative Assembly, came
up for discussion before the Madras Legislative Council. In defense of the bill,
Rajagopalachari stated that he favoured temple entry of the Harijans and that the
reform needed to be undertaken without any further delay. V. S. Srinivasa Shastri
argued that the Congress had adopted a highly irregular and improper method
to bring about social reform. A t the same time, conservatives like T. S. Srinivasa
Ayyangar criticised the Congress for interfering with the customs and traditions of the
Hindus. The conservatives opined that it was out of sheer political compulsions that
the Congress was hurriedly pushing through the temple entry legislation. Opposing
these ideas, the Congress leaders asserted that, by introducing such legislation, the
Congress was trying to live up to the expectations of the people who had voted for
it in the elections.86
The Justice Party legislators criticised the Congress ministry for neglecting the
interests of the Adi-Dravidas.They argued that rather than emphasising the temple
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 407

entry issue, it would have been better had the Congress fought for the socio-economic
uplift of these classes.87 The Justice Party leaders also felt that to gain political
mileage the Congress had deliberately introduced such legislations. The Congress
refuted the allegations made by the Justice Party and openly declared that the temple
entry legislation was not being used as a smokescreen to cover up the failures of its
ministry.88 C. Rajagopalachari made it clear to his non-brahmin critics in the Justice
Party that his ministry would continue to support programmes for the uplift of the
Scheduled Castes. He also reminded them that there would be no infringement of
civil law if temple entry legislations were introduced by the government.
Rajagopalachari^ views on temple entry failed to convince both the non-brahmin
and the anti-Congress Scheduled Caste leaders in the Madras Presidency. R. Srinivasan
expressed the opinion that legislation would not be able to eliminate the injustices
and humiliations inflicted upon the Scheduled Castes in the name of religion. He
also argued that, despite legislations such as the Removal of C ivi丄-Disabilities Act，
the absence of penalty clauses provoked the upper castes to exploit those occupying
the lowest rungs in the social ladder.89 But the pro~Congress Scheduled Caste leaders
differed in their views on caste violence. V. I. Muniswami Pillai forcefully argued that
the congress ministry had been able to reduce the number of caste conflicts in the
society. He also stated that the temple entry legislation would be an important step
towards the social uplift of the Scheduled Castes.90
The bill, despite the opposition of the Sanatanists, was passed m the Legislative
Council, though it failed to secure the entry of the Adi-Dravidas into all the temples
of the Madras Presidency. The inability of the Congress to enter into an ideological
debate with the conservative Hindus placed it in a difficult position in its battle
with the justicites. By the end of 1939, the Justice Party and the Self-Respectors
jointly started campaigns criticising Congress^ slogan of bwarajya. They pointed out
that the Congress was interested in establishing 'Ramrajya which sought to impose
Manudharma on the non-brahmin population in the Madras Presidency.91
In the miast of this political tussle, Rajagopalachari resigned, xhe resignation
of the Congress ministry was warmly welcomed by the Justice Party and the Self-
Respectors.92 Leading the political coalition between the Justicites and the
Self-Respectors, E. V. Ramaswami Naicker laid stress on Self-Respect and instructed
the non-brahmins to dissociate themselves from the observance of Hindu rituals.93
He also warned the Adi-Dravidas not to be carried away by the prospects of temple
entry since their real salvation lay in their separation from Hinduism.

C O N C L U S IO N

The temple entry movement launched by the Congress as a part of its Harijan
uplift programme in Tamil Nadu in the late 1930s gave rise to several interesting
developments. The temple entry campaign helped the Congress win over a large
section of non-brahmins towards its ideology. The programmes undertaken by the
lower-Ievel Congress volunteers influenced a section of the Adi-Dravidas to switch
408 R aj Sekhar Basu

their political loyalties in favour of the Congress. The pro-Congress Adi-Dravida

leaders ridiculed the claims of the separatist Scheduled Caste leaders that temple
entry was a political ploy on the part of the Congress to appropriate the alternative
Scheduled Caste politics into the mainstream nationalist politics. The pro-Congress
Adi-Dravida leaders were firm in their assertions that, contrary to the claims of the
separatist leaders, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi the Congress had been
drawn towards the issue of Harijan uplift purely from the standpoint of religious and
social considerations. But, while the pro-Congress and separatist Adi-Dravida leaders
were engaged in a battle, the Congress was subjected to scathing criticism both from
the conservative Sanatanists and the radical non-brahmins.The Congress deliberately
avoided a confrontationist position with the Sanatanists to keep intact its hold over
the upper-caste Hindu voters. The radical standpoint of the Self-Respectors, under
the leadership of E. V. Ramaswami Naicker, proved to be more embarrassing for the
Tamil Nadu Congress leaders. The Self-Respectors and a section of the Justice Party
leaders encouraged the separatist Adi-Dravida leaders to expose the hidden agenda
behind Congress' Harijan propaganda: Congress' slogan in favour of granting social
dignity to the untouchables was linked to its secret design to impose Manudharma
upon the non-brahmin majority in Tamil Nadu.
The manner in which the Congressmen reciprocated to this sort of provocative
propaganda was somewhat weak and lacking in focus. However, the weaknesses
on the part of the Congress as an organisation to counter such propaganda
were overshadowed by the arguments put forth by individual Congress leaders.
Rajagopalachari^ statements in the Madras legislative bodies often put the radical
non-brahmins in a dilemma. The smooth passage of the temple entry legislation
was a personal triumph since he was able to prove that the Congress was the real
custodian of the interests of the downtrodden. Finally, the overt involvement of
the provincial Congress leaders with the Harijan uplift programmes organised by
the grassroots-level volunteers gave the Congress an electoral advantage over the
Justice Party. Congress5slogan of Swarajya had indeed a greater appeal than E. V*
Ramaswami Naicker's slogan of Dravidandu for the Tamil voters!

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1Susan Bayly, Caste} Society and Politics in India: From the Eighteenth Century to the Modem
Age (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 247.
2Jan Breman, O f Peasantsy Migrants and Paupers: Rural Labour Circulation and Capitalist
Production in West India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985), 137-40,
3Swadesamitran (Tamil),11 October 1932.
4 The Congress volunteers in the taluks and districts organised feasts for all castes and
also dug wells for their use. In fact, they distributed leaflets bearing signatures of V. S.
Srinivasa Sastri, P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, P. Subbarayan, Varadarajalu Naidu, K. S. Venkatramani,
T. Prakasam, M. Bhaktavatsalam, C. Rajagopalachari and Radhabai Subbarayan. For more
details, see Swadesamitratii 12 and 14 October 1932.
5 Swadesamitrariy 21,25 and 27 October 1932, and 21 November 1932.
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 409

6Eugene F. Irschik, Tamil Revivalism in the 1930s (Madras: Cre-A, 1986), 162.
7 In the early 1930s, Tamil Congressmen realised the importance of involvement with
Gandhi5s Harijan campaign. Congressmen felt that involvement with such propaganda would
not only widen their political links, but would also give them an advantage in their electoral
battles with the Justice Party. See Irschik, Tamil Revivalism.
8Madras Legislative Council Proceedings (hereafter, MLCP), vol. LXII, 1932,223.
9 Ramalingam Chettiar also proposed that there should not be any cuts in administrative
expenses for the programmes that had been undertaken for the socio-economic amelioration of
the depressed classes. The views of Chettiar were supported by several non-brahmin members
of the legislature. For more details， see MZCP, vol. LXII ，1932,227.
10MLCP, vol. LXII, 1932, 245. Srinivasan pointed out that despite all attempts to resolve
a long-standing religious demand or the <untouchables,, the bill hardly made any attempt to
restore the temples, which in the distant past had been managed by the depressed classes.
11 Srinivasan and several other depressed class leaders criticised the view of some upper-
caste Hindu politicians that temple entry would hardly be of much benefit for the Adi-
Dravidas of Madras Presidency. For more details, see MLCP, vol. LXII, 1932.
12 Ibid., 246. Sivaraj pointed out that as long as the Hindus continued to worship God
through an intermediary, the question of temple entry would not resolve the religious
grievances of the non-brahmins.
13For more details, see MLCP^ vol. LXII, 1932,237-38.
14Ibid., 238.
15Ib id , 230.
16Ib id , 250-51.
17The Removal of Depressed Classes Religious Diabilities Bill was proposed by Narayanan
Nambiar, a member of the Madras Legislative Council, towards the end of 1932. In early
1933, the bill was placed before the Legislative Council for consideration. Gandhi favoured
the introduction of the bill along with the earlier one moved by P. Subbarayan, since both of
them intended to fulfil a longstanding grievance of the untouchables. For more details, see
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (hereafter, CWMG) vol.LÏI (Ahmedabad: Navjivan Press,
1972)，309.
18 National Archives of India (hereafter, NAT), Home (Political) File no. 50/IV/1933;
Oriental and India Office Collections^ London (hereafter, OIOC)yL/PJ/7/1737, Public Judicial
Department.
19 The Madras Mail, 3 January 1933, cited in Atul Chandra Pradhan, The Emergence of the
Depressed Classes (Bhubaneswar: Bookland International, 1986), 230.
20Bayly has pointed out that Gandhi looked above all to the Hindu temples as the domain
in which the attack had to be launched against the evil aspects of castes and untouchability. But
Gandhi felt that the use of force, resulting from the involvement of the lower caste participants,
could lead to an atmosphere of violence. In fact, Gandhi felt that issues like temple entry
needed to be integrated with the anti-untouchability campaigns to ensure respectability to the
socially ostracised communities. See Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics in India^ 248.
21 Gandhi believed that the Guruvayur Satyagraha would be a test case and the reformist
Hindus needed to exercise caution in their demand for entry of all castes into all temples. He
was hesitant in adopting a radical approach on the issue since it was felt that such policies
could alienate the conservative Hindus and place obstacles before the path of temple entry.
For more details, see Q|J|psJ^ ,M e n o n , >.Cas.te^JS[ati〇m lis.m an d Com m unism in South In d ia :
Malabar 1900-1948 (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 115. Also, see CWMG,
vol.LII, 428.
410 R aj Sekhar Basu

22For more details, see Pradhan, Emergence of the Depressed Classes, 230.
23Tamil Nadu Archives (Chennai) (hereafter, TNÄ), 'Fortnightly Report for the First H alf
of January 1933 (Confidential)’.
24Ibid.
25 The Home Secretary felt that the Viceroys sanctions to the bills might alienate the
conservative supporters of the British Raj and strengthen the hold of the Congress over the
Indian masses. See NAI, 'Home (Political),ï File no. 50/1/1933.
26 C. S. Ranga Iyers bill pleaded for the abolition of untouchability throughout India.
The Home Member as well as the Home Secretary felt that anti-untouchability bills brought
before the Central Legislative Assembly could hardly achieve their desired objectives because
of the lengthy debates that would take place in the Assembly. Moreover, it was also felt that the
circulation of the bills in the province would not lead to any solution because of the differences
of opinion. See ‘Home (Political)’， File no. 50/1/1933. 〜

27 In November 1932, Narayanan Nambiar brought forward a bill called the Removal of
Depressed Classes Religious Disabilities Bill in the Madras Legislative Council. In December
1932, P. Subbarayan introduced his bill called Temple Entry Disabilities Removal Bill in the
Madras Legislative Council. The Government of Madras submitted the bills for the sanction
of the Governor-General under Section 80-A(3) of the Government of India Act of 1919.1[he
government felt that since the bills related to a Central Subject, namely Civil Law, they could
not be introduced in a provincial legislature without the sanction of the Governor-General. The
Governor-General, after consulting the provincial governments and his colleagues, refused the
sanction to the introduction of bills in the Madras Legislative Council. Soon a bill called the
Hindu Disabilities Removal Bill was sponsored by C. S. Ranga Iyer in the Central Legislative
Assembly. For more details, see S. R. Venkataraman, Temple Entry Legislation: Reviewed with
Acts and Bills (Madras: Bharathi Devi Publishers,1946), 7-16.
28The two bills that had been placed before the Central Legislative Assembly were the
Untouchability Abolition Bill of Rao Bahadur M. C. Rajah and the Hindu Temple Entry-
Disabilities Removal Bill of C. S. Ranga Iyer. For more details, see Venkataraman, Temple
Entry Legislation^ 16.
29For more details, see NAI, Home Political File no. 50/1/1933.
30The Governor-General and the Government of India declared that the Hindu Disabilities
Removal Bill sponsored by C. S. Ranga Iyer in the Central Legislative Assembly needed to
be examined in all its dimensions, not only in the Legislature but also outside it, by all those
who would be affected by the same. It was also clarified that grant of sanction did not in any
way commit the government to accept the principle enshrined in the bills. The Government
of India retained a free hand to take a decision on the proposals after a full consideration of
the circumstances. For more details, see Swarajya, 24 January 1933, cited in TNAy1Report on
the Native Newspapers in the Madras Presidency1(hereafter, 'RNNMP% January-March 1933
(Confidential),12. Also see Venkataraman, Temple Entry Legislation^ 16.
31 CR NNMP\ 104.
32 TNAy 'Fortnightly Report for the First H alf of February 1933 (Confidential)ï; TNAy
Tortnightly Report for the Second H alf of February 1933 (Confidential)’；77似 ， ‘Fortnightly
Report for the First H alf of March 1933 (Confidential)，.
33 TNAyUnder Secretary^ Safe File No. 813, dated 6 February 1933 (Confidential).
34 M. K. Acharya, a Sanatanist, sent memoranda to the Private Secretary of the Viceroy
expressing support and confidence for the British rule in India. For more details, see NAIy
Home Political File no. 50/IV/1933.
 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 411

35 Hie Sanatanists organised protest meetings in Tindivanam, Tanjore, Devakottai and

Tirunelveli in order to voice their protest against Gandhis views on temple entry. For more
details, see N A I, Home Political File no. 50/IV/1933; N A Iy Home Political File no. 50/
VII/1933; C W M G , vol. LIII, 169.
36Gandhi asserted that Hindu religion was not the sole monopoly of the Sanatanists. The
Harijans also had a right to call themselves Hindus. Gandhi also felt that temple entry was
necessary for Harijans since their exposure to Hindu religious education would enable them
to become God-fearing citizens. He also agreed with depressed class leaders like P. N. Rajbhoj
that temple entry would promote the economic improvement of the untouchables. For more
details, see Harijany 11 February 1933, vol. I, n o .1,6.
37Pradhan, Emergence of the Depressed Classes^ 235.
38Ibid.
39For more details, see Harijan,11 March 1933.
40NAI^ Home Political File No. 50/IV/1933; Pradhan, Emergence of the Depressed Classes,
236-37.
41 TTV^， ‘Fortnightly Report of the First H alf of May 1933 (Confidential)’.
42 In some parts of Rarnnad there were clashes between Nattar landlords and the Adi-
Dravidas. In North Arcot, apart from the upper-caste Hindus, Muslims also objected to the
demands for a higher social status on the part of the Adi-Dravidas. For more details, see TNA,
‘Fortnightly Reports for the Second H alf of August 1933 (Confidential)’.
43 For more details, see Venkataraman, Temple Entry Legislation^ 15-26.
44 The government instructed its employees to stay away from the anti-untouchability
campaigns of the Congress as it had acquired distinct political overtones. Congress, <critisism,
of the British governments attitude on Harijan uplift was largely spearheaded by some
nationalist dailies published from Tamil Nadu. For more details, see G.O. no. 468, Public
Department, dated 1 June 1933; T N A , 'R N N M P ', July-September 1933 (ConlEidential), 449.
45N A Iy Reforms Office File no. 10/34-R.
46N A Ij Home Political File no. 50/1/1934.
47Irschik, Tamil Revivalismy 164.
ノ 8 Ibid.

49Hindu} 22 December 1933.

50Irschik, Tamil Revivalism, 167,
51The animosities between the Kallars and the Adi-Dravidas assumed serious proportions
in the early 1930s. The Kallars were landlords and exercised both economic and social
dominance over the Adi-Dravidas who were mainly engaged as agricultural labourers in their
lands. The Kallars instructed the Adi-Dravida menfolk to keep their bosom uncovered during
the religious festivals. In Ramnad, such directives were often flouted. The Adi-Dravida women
too covered the upper parts of their body by Dlouses. The women also wore jewellery and
refused to participate in the vulgar cultural programmes. Such defiance usually led to violence
on the part of the Kallars. On some occasions, missionaries became targets of the attack since
they usually supported the demands of the Adi-Dravidas. By July 1933, tensions escalated and
the clashes assumed the form of an ugly violence. The police failed to curb it. Devakottai and
£,luvankottai witnessed the worst form of destruction and mayhem. Hie seriousness of the
issue forced the Congress leaders to support the programmes of the Harijan Sevak Sangh.
For more details, see TNA, G.O. no. 329, Public Department (Confidential); Irschik, Tamil
Revivalism^ 168.
52 T N A , G.O. No. 329, Public Department.
412 R aj Sekhar Basu

5 3ïrschik, Tamil Revivalism, 170.

5 4 In a public meeting in M adras, G andhi expressed the opinion that unless the blot of
untouchability was removed, there would be divine retribution. For more details, see ibid., 171.
5 5 Madras Mail, 21 December 1933; TNAi U nder Secretary's Safe File No. 862, dated 20
February 1934 (Confidential).
5 6 TNA, H om e Political File no. 50/1/1934 (Confidential); OIOQ L/PJ/7/595.
5 7 For more details, see January-M arch 1 9 3 4 ,110.
5 8 TiV/f, ‘Fortnightly Report for the First H a lf o f February 1934 (Confidential)，.
59 Swadesamitran, 28 M arch 1934.
60 TNA} G .O . no. 364, Law (General) D epartm ent, dated 23 M arch 1934; TNA, G .O . no.
1348, Law (General) D epartm ent, dated 1 M ay 1934.
6 1 Organisations like the Adhyayana Sabha, Triplicane, disapproved governmental
interference in matters related to H indu religious practices. Sanatanists led by M . K. Acharya
pointed out th at the government could not interfere with the functioning o f the H indu
religious places o f worship since in most cases they had been built by devout H indus having
unflinching faith in shastric Hinduism . For more details, see TNA, G .O . no. 2010, Law
(General) D epartm ent, dated 9 July 1934.
6 2Ibid.
6 3Ibid.
6 4 The Governm ent of M adras accepted the arguments or the H om e M em ber o f the
Viceroy^ cabinet that since both H indu conservatives and untouchables had reservations on
the bill, it would be prudent to follow a policy o f non-interference over religious matters. For
more details, see TNAt G .O . No. 3050, Law (General) D epartm ent, dated 26 October 1934;
OIOC, L/PJ/7/595.
6 5 TN Ay lR N N M P \ Juiy-Septem ber 1934 (Confidential), 511.
6 6For more details, see V. G eetha and S. V. Rajadurai, Towards a Non-Brahmin Millennium:
From lyothee Thass to Periyar (Calcutta: Samya, 1998), 444-45; KudiArasu (T am il),18 August
1935 and 17 November 1935.
6 7The term ‘Scheduled Castes’ came to be used by the government for the depressed classes
following the Government o f India A ct o f 1935.
6 8H ie Adi-D ravida leaders like V. I. M uniswami Pillai and B. S. M urthi repeatedly stressed
that Rajagopalachari M inistry would provide the greatest priority to the H arijan uplift
programmes. For more details, see Madras Legislative Assembly Debates (hereafter, MLAD)y
vol.111,1937,1054.
6 9 The Madras Mail, 30 A ugust 1937.
7 0 A prom inent Sanatanist, Devidas M adhowji Thakersay，observed: ‘H ie Sanatanists do
not deprive the untouchables o f their right to seek their mukti as prescribed in the Shastras,
but they deny the right of temple entry because th at is unsuited to untouchables and is against
the mode o f worship prescribed by the Shastras for other classes o f H indu Society.* For more
details, see ibid.
7 1H ie Secretary o f the All India Varnashrama Swarajya Sangh, in his petition to the Speaker
o f the M adras Legislative Assembly and the President o f the M adras Legislative Council,
stressed that secular bodies like legislatures were not competent to interpret the religious and
social usages o f the H indu community. For more details, see The Madras Maily 20 November
1937; OIOC} L/PJ/7/686.
7 2 ゴnw M 奶 7, 29 December 1937.

7 3 The Madras Mail, 3 January 1938.

 Congress, Gandhi and the Politics of Untouchability in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s 413

74 M. C. Rajah Papers^ 'Correspondence o f M .C . Rajah with M.K. G andhr, 1938 (Nehru

M emorial M useum and Library [hereafter, N M M L ], New Delhi).
7 5 For more details, see MLAD, vo l.V I ,1 9 3 8 ,1169-70.
7 6 Rajah argued that as early as September 1932, a resolution had been passed in the
Bombay Conference requesting H indu leaders to bring an end to the social disabilities faced
by the untouchable communities in a peaceful manner. For more details, see MLAD, v o l.VI,
1938,1170.
7 7 In order to win the support of the majority of the members of the M adras Legislative
Assembly, M . C. Rajah opined that prom inent personalities like öir £. C. Srinivasa Ayyangar,
Sir R S. Sivaswami Ayyar, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Ayyar, T. A. Ramalinga Chettiyar and
C. Vijyaraghavachari supported the Social Disabilities Removal Bill. H e also stated that
several social and religious bodies like the W om ens Indian Association o f Madras and the
Saiva Siddhanta M aha Samajam were in favour o f the legislation. For more details, see MLAD,
vol.V I ，1938 ，1175. ,
7 8 It was argued that since Rajagopalachari— as a disciple of G andhi 一 had supported
H arijan uplift, the Congress ministry needed to display a more pro-active attitude on such
issues. For more details, see ibidv 1178-80.
7 9 Rajagopalachari, on the floor o f the legislature, stated: 'W h at matters is that the status,
social, economic, political and religious whom we call Harijans today, should be effectively
equal as other sections o f the communities in our country. I am sorry that our attention has
been directed as to whose credit it is or whose work it is, or under whose leadership it is done.
It is not merely by passing resolutions and government orders that we can succeed. It is only
if we give the true religious impetus to the movement o f liberation that we can succeed/ See
MLAD} vol.V I ,1938,1183-84.
8 0 In one of the articles published in Viduthalai (Tamil) on 15 July 1939, a Self-Respector
claimed that credit for temple entry in Travancore and Madurai should have gone to E. V.
Ramaswami Naicker. In another article published on the same date, the Congress, anti-
untouchability movement was ridiculed as a political ploy to divert the attention o f the Adi-
Dravidas. It was also argued that the brahm in leadership of the Congress, fearing a loss o f its
political support, had adopted progressive ideas to appease the Adi-Dravidas and prevent their
conversion to religions like Islam. For more details, see Viduthalaiy 15 July 1939.
8 1 In one o f the articles (‘"What is the Swarajya of" the Congress?，) the author explicated
that the Congress slogan of Swarajya was the other name for (Ramrajya,, whose sole aim was
to establish the basic principles o f M anudharm a. For more details, see Viduthalaiy 28 Octooer
1939.
8 2 In fact, there was a considerable difference of opinion among the Adi-Dravidas over
the policies pursued by the Rajagopalacnari ministry. The Adi-Dravida leaders sucii as
J. Sivashanmugham Pillai praised the Congress* policies. However, other influential A di-
Dravida leaders like Swami A_ S_ Sahajanandam criticised the し ongress M inistry s indifference
towards the grievances of the Scheduled Castes. It was argued that the G overnm ents policy
o f granting lands was a failure as useless unproductive lands had been assigned mostly to the
Adi-Dravidas. For more details, see MLADt vol. I, 1937, 207~08; Irschik, Tamil Revivalismy
232-35.
8 3 In August 1938, a bill tabled by M . C. Rajah proved to be embarrassing for the Congress
leadership in the Madras Presidency. The bill sought to remove the disabilities faced by the so-
called Scheduled Castes in regard to entry into H indu temples. The Scheduled Caste leaders
also complained that though Rajagopalachari had been trying to portray him self as a social
414 R aj Sekhar Basu

reformer, he was hesitant in supporting temple entry, apprehending a loss o f his popularity
among caste-Hindus. See Madras Legislative Council Proceedings (hereafter, MLCP)y vol. VII,
1938, 182-217; also see Private European Manuscripts (Erskine Collection), Eur D. 596/16;
27似 ， ‘Fortnightly Report for the First H a lf o f Januaiy 1939 (Confidential)’.
8 4 Venkataraman, Temple Entry Legislationy 51.
8 5 The M alabar Temple E ntry Bill, introduced by Rajagopalachari in M arch 1938, was
permissive in character. The bill stated that the trustees o f the temples in Malabar could throw
open a temple to the Harijans if the opinion o f the majority o f the worshippers was found to
be in favour o f such a step. It was laid down that a trustee o f a temple, on receipt o f a w ritten
requisition signed by not less than fifty voters to throw open the temple to the Harijans,
needed to forward the said requisition to the Provincial Government, which in turn would
direct the m atter again to the trustees to ascertain their opinion. For more details, see ibid., 47.
8 6 T. Prakasam stated: <f is movement [temple entry] and tms Act [Temple Entry-
1 1 1

Legislation] will be followed up all over the Presidency and all over the country land and will
enable us to see th at there is no community like the n a rij an community hereafter. W h at is the
Scheduled Classes Community?’ For more details, see MLC/? vol_ IX ，1939, 33. ''
8 7 N. R. Samiappa Mudaliar, a Justice Party legislator, observed: cNow the exclusion o f a
section o f the population from temples is one o f the innumerable humiliations and disabilities
to which they [in this case referring to the Scheduled Castes] are subjected; though we feel
that admission into temples is not by itself going to take them far along the road to political,
social and economic salvation, nothing would have given us greater pleasure and satisfaction
than to give our wholehearted support to a measure wmch unreservedly declared the right of
the Adi Dravidas and other excluded communities to enter into temple w ithout hindrance
from anyone, i t would be knocking down one o f the many barricades erected across the path
o f progress/ See MLCP, vo l.I X ,1939,33-34.
8 8 Rajagopalachari stated: (W h at is th at I want to divert political attention from? W h at
end in life or in politics am I fond of? Am 丄 m nd o f taxing people for the sake o f taxation and
because I wish to tax people? Are we imposing our financial policy and levying taxes upon the
unfortunate people who have been hitherto free from such levies merely for the pleasure o f it?
It is for doing something else wmch is good for the people. ... It is something which is good
for the people. It is a gain for the people and for the unfortunate community wmch is put down
as a separate people not even fit to be touched See M L C B vol.I X ,1939, 34- j 5
. 5

8 9 Ibid., 53. ,
9 0 V. I. M uniswami Piliai argued that Scheduled Caste leaders deeply involved with lower-
caste uplift programmes often placed an emphasis on the beneficial aspects o f temple entry. H e
stated: 4W e have been entreating the legislature that there must be some legislations to remove
this stigma in the Indian Society. ... I do not think that there is any true Harijan who says
that he does not want temple entry. W e have all been fighting for centuries together with and
a measure o f this kind has now come up and it is up to us to embrace it with all our love and
admiration.， See M LC P ，vol.IX ，1939, 57-58, Also, see 0/0(7, L/PJ/7/2798.
9 1 Viduthalai, 28 October 1939.
92 Viduthalai^ 1 November 1939.
9 3 Viduthalaiy 3 November 1939.
 XXV

U N D E R S T A N D IN G A M B E D K A R ^ S C O N S T R U C T IO N
O F T H E N A T IO N A L M O V E M E N T ^

Gopal Guru

Ambedkars notion of nationalism and his understanding of the Indian national

movement has seldom received adequate intellectual attention, both from liberal
and radical scholars and historians in India. This failure to situate Ambedkar in a
proper historical and nationalist perspective has left the ground quite wide open for
people like Arun Shourie to launch virotalic attacks on Ambedkar. Shourie s assault
on Ambedkar in his recent book Worshipping False Gods has led to an unfolding of
a complex set of responses from different sections of society. Some Dalit political
leaders and MPs have reacted by demanding a ban on the book and some have burnt
and torn copies of the book in the Parliament.
In this regard, it is interesting that this has put the RSS and the Hindutva forces
on the defensive. For example, the RSS which tacitly approved of Shouries book,
came out with the public statement in a leading Marathi newspaper that the RSS
had nothing to do with Shourie and his book. It is also interesting that the Sena-
BJP combine government in Maharashtra which otherwise does not have any record
of protecting the freedom of expression, and in fact has been intolerant to such
traditions, has however lost no time in taking a rather intriguing position this time—
favouring freedom of expression.
This so-called Dalit intellectual discourse which has been so much applauded by
the media, however, has serious limitations in the sense that it addresses itself only to
a small section of the educated Dalits who can have access to Shouries book. In view
of this, how does one mobilise Dalits on the issue of the vandalism of Ambedkar?
How can one make the book contestable from the point of view of the common Dalit
masses with oral tradition and are the most reliable agency of revolutionary politics?
The reference point for such Dalit discourse is not the common Dalits but the
middle classes in general, and perhaps the new Dalit class which is anyway the most
unreliable partner in the revolutionary struggle for Dalit emancipation. Secondly, the
Dalit intellectual discourse is fraught with another limitation in the sense that while
it is externally sensitive and therefore correct in its intention to meet the challenges
against Ambedkar on intellectual grounds, it not
of internal critique. In other words, it is not inward looking as it does not show the*

*This chapter was originally published as Understanding Ambedkar's Construction of National

Movement,, Econom ic and P o litic a l Weekly^ vol.33, no. 4 (1998), 156-57.
416 Gopal Guru

same amount of sensitivity to self-interrogation by questioning those Dalits or the

Shouries from within the Dalit community who have been so intolerant or some
times indecently violent in their language to those who are situating Ambedkar in a
broader theoretical ideological framework.
However^any; contestation is better than the suggestion by a section of Dalits
that the book be ignored as it does not deserve any serious attention and, on the
contrary， it: might help Shourie acrueve prominence. A large section of Dalits favour
the idea that the book needs to be demolished intellectually. This mood was evident
in the seminar which was organised by the Department of Political Science of Pune
University on 23 August 1997 and was attended by more than 600 people despite
heavy rains in the city.
In the seminar, Y. D. Phadke, V. N. Gadgii and other scholars who had reviewed
Shourie s book convincingly refuted the author^ extra-academic intention and the
serious distortions of Ambedkar s understanding of the national movement. For
example, contrary to Shouries opinion, all the book reviews—each quoting from
reliable sources~~have shown that Ambedkar made seminal contribution to the
freedom movement. Further, these scholars have also polemically asked Shourie the
awkward question as to where his Hindutva leaders were during the freedom struggle.
While this kind of counter-argument debunks Shouries standpoint, it does not
however fully defend Ambedkar from the false charges levelled by Shourie, because
it can always be said that two wrong things cannot make one good thing. Therefore,
pointing out others' mistake in defence of Ambedkar in polemics, somehow logically
concedes the point commit a historical mistake. Also, polemical
arguments do not offer any theoretical advantage necessary for securing a decisive
demolition of the argument of the adversary. A polemical defence of Ambedkar
certainly is important in achieving quick victories but such rhetorical concession
offered to Ambedkar may not be powerful enough to exhaust the polemical strength
of the opponent. On the contrary, it might deprive the defender of Ambedkar of rich
theoretical sophistication that one can find in Ambedkars mode of thinking. Since
the reference point of polemical contestation is the text, the whole contestation takes
place within the defined boundaries of the text and it does not enable the defenders
to expose the hidden political agenda of the text in question.
There are three major political reasons which seem to have led Shourie to attack
è^htdkarandj f e , Ä
Ambedkar did not participate in the freedom struggle, Shourie would like to send
the message that the Dalits in this country should now live under the obligatipn of
the Hindus 治 上 independence for this country. Shourie’s
argument also suggests that since Ambedkar and the Dalits did not participate in the
freedom struggle and had supported the British during the wars, the^ are morally
inferior to those who fought for Indias freedom. According to this construction of
nationalist struggle in India, Shourie appears to suggest that it is only the Hindus
who can legitimately claim the tradition of freedom struggle and that the Dalits are
therefore silent objects of the nationalist discourse in India.
 Understanding Am bedkars Construction o f the National M ovem ent 417

Second, Shourie and all those who have explicitly or implicitly condemned
Ambedkar and the Dalits as the stooges* of British imperialism, seek to humiliate
Ämbedkar and Dalits inasmuch as they deny Ambedkar and the Dalits an ability
to make historical choice of thought and action on their own terms, which as far as
Ambedkar is concerned reflects the domain of contestation, conflict and struggle
within the established nationalist discourse. Thus, Shourie makes an attempt to
reduce Ambedkar to a passive receiyer .of paternal imperialism.
Third, today, the Dalits in India are relating themselves to Ambedkar more
mtensxvelv than ever before, and this wider claim on AmbedRar as a cultural symbol
is going to become an important rallying factor in the post-Independence politics
of consolidation of Dalit-bahujan power, particularly against tne mndutva forces
representing brahmm-bama nexus witn the global capital. £Kese torces which form
the core of hindutva politics now have realised that their ^oft hinautva, is no more
effective in attracting the Dalits to their iold because an atmosohere ot unstable
political situation has. enhanced the bargaining power of the Dalits who, for further
consolidation oftheir Dalit constituency, can now dictate terms to the BJP (particularly
in UP). This vulnerability or helplessness of BJP has however annoyed the upper
castes from UP. It is this BJP helolessness, with regard to Mayawati factor, which
makes Shouries slur on Ambedkar so comforting for the upper-caste Hindu middle
class in north India. Against this background, it is less important to ask whether
Ambedkar and the Dalits participated in the nationalist struggle. This question has
already been handled competently by defenders of Ambedkar—from R. R Dutta in
India Today (first published in 1940) to a series of other contemporary scholars.
What is much more important is to attempt to tackle the second question: that
is, even if Ambedkar. and. . did not physically and directly participate
the national movement why did he organise the Dalits quite separately from the
Indian national movement that was led by the Congress? Why did he refuse to be
subordinated to the nationalist version of the freedom struggle as floated by the
Congress? Ambedkars notion of nationalism results primarily from the dichotomy
between the the social.As 祝'n' th'纪
more particularly the Hindu nationalists, laid excessive emphasis on the political,
almost ignoring the social aspect of the nationalism. Ambedkar's argument was that
in tne absence ox any
^ 〆 comprehensive critique of the caste system and hinduism
…ご
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tHe ooiiticai is bound to suggest that the local/indigenous tyrants are prererable on
‘patriotic grounds.
Second, Phuk and _Ambedkar were forced 具 res〇urces
and Dalit-banuian vocabularies which were attuned to collective struggle for both
tEe deconstruction of the official nationalist discourse and also to root Dalit-bahujan
nationalist discourse within the indigenous but egalitarian and emancipatory
即 . As we all lmow anti-cplonial Hindu 'nationalisiTLdid try to pnvdege the
Hindu cultural categories for establishing sovereignty in the spiritual-cultural sphere,
tHus juxtaposinp- it with western culture. However, in the process, it triea to attempt a
cultural homogenisation of other culturally-distinct groups in the country. Ambedkar
418 Gopal Guru

was critical of this hindutva homogenisation and therefore he added a secular cultural
coSponent to his notion of natigaalism
tradition of Buddha, Kabir and Phule and at times even the bhakti tradition. These
cultural traditions were entirely commensurate with a secular cultural consciousness
wEicH underlined the aspirations of modern India.
Ambedkar argued that hindu culture, due to its anti-ee*aiirarian tone and spirit,
could not bind culturaliy-diverse people into a oneness which is an important
precondition or nationalism. It is interestme* to note that Ambedkar s understanding
ot culture and nationalism is shared by later scholars and literary ngures like Baburao
Bagul who says: *The nationalist movement was turned into a form of historical
mythological movement and ancestor worship. Those wno propounded inequality
and did not wish society to be democratic, started eulogising history, mythology/1
Third, Ambedkar was more ,sceptical about th of .nationdism
has been, till date, reinvoking the tradition ot treedom, sacrifice, dedication and glory
of tHe freedom fighters, particularly or extremist variety, But, at the same time, this
narrative ot nationalism is,very vague and abstract about the concrete andr.therefore,
the contestable question of unequal distribution of power and prestige of the
Dalits and other toiling masses. Ambedkar engaged with his political adversaries—■
particularly the Hindu Maha-sabhaists, the Congress and Gandhi—on the question
of distribution of political power on terms decided by the Dalits. But the nationalists
have always fulminated against the distribution of power among the deprived sections
of the society and therefore seldom if ever, had occasion to deplore the absence of
power among the Dalits. On the contrary, they opposed such distribution of course
on not such convincing rational grounds but on patriotic grounds which made
convenient sense only to some selective sections during the freedom struggle.
The so-called nationalists refused to speak in the language of reciprocal recognition
of an autonomous political identity of the Dalits which perhaps would have attracted
Ambedkar and tne Dalits.tp join.nationalist forces. Instead, these nationalists chose
to speak in rather vague, abstract and, at times, arrogant terms which naturally made
a person from the margins—like Ambedkar and the Dalits—indifferent and often
sceptical about the nationalist narrative.
Can one therefore, condemn Ambedkar as being anti-national because of his
scepticism? Was not his ideological and political mobilisation directed towards
securing citizenship, equality, and educational and industrial mobility for the Dalits
a theoretical advance which has been considered by Earnest Gellner as an initial
components of nationalism.2 similarly, in Gellners opinion the emergence of the
nation and the victory of the reform movement seem to be a part of one and the
same process. In the same way, was not the social-cultural movement of the Dalits
led by Ambedkar particularly in the early years of the Dalit movement part of the
same process of modern nation-huildiug? In defence of Ambedkar, it is interesting
to quote what B.T. Randive has to say about the relationship between the social and
the political. He says 'the anti-imperialist struggle, the growing sense of national
unity, the anti-caste agitations and the revolt, were all parts of single process ™the
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ト , ,,、、 ゞ ノ
,,，
, ‘
■•
•パ！ ふ 、
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 Understanding Ambedkar's Construction o f the National M ovem ent 419

formation of a modern nation, with its different sections demanding equality and
—— 一 . 一、
〜"..”
’… 、
へ...’
，
.’ へ’
二、’
./..、
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'…’
〜 ...、
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へ ...、、 パ…”。…,-..,、
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ハ.,.， … W …へ へ . 〆.、
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common status in new polityノ

finally, one should not ignore the ract that in a dialectical unfolding of historical
processes the subaltern, in our case, the Dalits do not secure to themselves in
overnight, mstorical advance into their political consciousness. In tact, they are bouna
to, gs the se[ies of subaltern studies volumes show, awaken first to tlie socio-cultural
consciousness which is tlie first glimpse of political consciousness. Hence, it cannot
be pre-empted and imposed on the Dalits who are not yet structurally ready to
develop this consciousness. And, therefore, while understanding the development of
nationalist consciousness, the cultural-social consciousness needs to be treated with
all seriousness ratRer than being dismissed contemptuously as some 'fake nationalists,
séem to be doing by putting a slur of Ambedkar.
- . ’.、’く，“々 . . " 〜 、、> ハ ' 〆
. ' , ， . ， .....、 レ ノ , . 〜 ， ..... . . . . パ . . . . . . . . ............ ,

N O T E S A N D R EFERENCES

Baburao Bagul, 4D alit Literature is But H um an Literature m Poisoned B read, edited by

1

Arjun Dangle (New Delhi: O rient L o n g m an , 1 9 9 2 ), 24.

Earnest Gellner, N ation s an d N a tion a lism (London: Basil Blackwell, 1983).
2

B.T. Randive, Caste, Class and Property Relations,, Econom ic and P o litic a l Weekly^ v o l.14,
3 4

nos 7 and , Annual Num ber (1979), 337.

8
 P A R T S IX

L O C A T IN G D A L IT S IN P O S T ­
IN D E P E N D E N C E IN D IA N P O L IT Y
 XXVI

C A S T E V IO L E N C E IN S O U T H T A M IL N A D U

A S t u d y o f t h e 1 9 9 5 C o n f lic t

K. A. Manikumar

Violence has featured markedly in the social life of the people of south Tamil
Nadu1 at every stage of their material progress. Hie Christian missionaries appear
to have set the trend in favour of social protest in this region. The early missionaries
regarded casteism and caste exclusiveness as serious obstacles for the growth and
spread of Christianity. Therefore, posing as the agents of social change, they and
their compatriots in bureaucracy endeavoured to eradicate certain obnoxious social
customs practiced in the name of caste. They targeted the low caste people for the
protest movement and in public congregations and private conversations urged
them to fight caste exclusiveness.2The Nadars (toddy tapping community classified
as depressed class by the British) were prominent among those who responded to
missionaries’attempt to organise a protest movement in south Tamil Nadu，3followed
by Pallars or Devendrakula Vellalars, a chronically-oppressed Dalit caste group.

N a d a rs s h o w in g t h e w a y

The Nadars took the lead in the social protest movement and provided the first large
movement to Christianity in south Tamil Nadu.4 For sometime social ostracism
practiced against the Nadar converts by upper castes proved to be a stumbling block
to conversion. However, as the converts multiplied they found themselves numerically
sufficient to form colonies of their own. The emergence of villages like Mudalur
(First Town), Megnanapuram (Village of Wisdom), Anandapuram (Village of Great
Joy), Suvisesapuram (Village of the Gospel) and Prakasapuram (Village of Light) is
illustrative of this phenomenon in 19th century Timnelveli district.5
The establishment of separate settlements infuriated the upper caste Hindus
who unleashed acts of violence against the converts.1 11 is sparked off clashes in
Sawyerpuram and Nasareth where there were exclusive Christian settlements. A
serious disturbance broke out in 1829 at Nallur, near Nazareth, where SchafFter had
taken up residence. About 100 upper-caste men who indulged in the destruction of
‘devil pyramids’（temples of Nadars)6 were arrested and kept in judicial custody on
424 K. A. Manikamar

the orders of an European Magistrate of the District Court.7 The arrests and the
subsequent court trails prompted the Court of Directors of the East India Company
to intervene. Orders were issued to end persecution and provide protection to the
converts. The Court of Directors* prompt action served as the chief impulse for the
spread of Christianity.
In the beginning, the conversion brought in its wake loss of work, threats to life
and limb, destruction of property, withdrawal of credit and the like to the converts.
However, as the Christian movement spread and old social fabric was ruptured, the
converts began to feel secure both socially and economically. The Nadars who were
confined to drawing the juice of the toddy palm, fermenting and selling it started
entering school teaching and ‘became pioneers in the introduction of new occupations’.8
A series of famines that struck in the last quarter of the 19th century facilitated -
mass conversions. Earlier, relief operations in times of famines and pestilence used
to be undertaken by the state. But, after 1833, the colonial state adopted laissez faire
policy even in famine relief operations. In north India, Arya Samaj provided aid to
those affected by famines and thereby preempted any movement for a large-scale
conversion. In the south, only the Christian missionaries adopted relief measures
and hence mass conversion to Christianity became possible during this period. It has
been calculated that, during the period from 1871 to 1901, the growth rate of the
Christian population in Madras Presidency was over four times greater than that of
the population as a whole. The total population increased by 22.2 per cent while the
number of Christians rose by 90.6 per cent.9 In south Tamil Nadu, a large chunk of
those who converted during this period were Nadars and Pallars.

N a d a rs c la s h in g w i t h T h e v a r s

The striking phenomenon of this period was the conflict between Thevars, a dominant
agricultural caste, and Nadars. The Thevars, as cultivating tenants and sharecroppers,
lost heavily during this period of famines. In contrast, the Hindu Nadars, taking
advantage of the support of the British and the resultant changing social scenario,
had taken to trade and thrived during these days of scarcity. The black soil, which
was considered useless till the mid-19th century, was found suitable for cotton
cultivation and a few Nadar families that possessed black soil land took to cotton
cultivation. The short-lived cotton boom in Tirunelveli (1861-65) made these Nadar
families prosperous. The economic prosperity accrued to Hindu Nadars prompted
them to aspire for an elevated social ranking. The Nadars* assertion that centred on
temple entry programme posed a threat to the then-existing social customs. The
Thevar gentry headed by the Raja of Ramanathapuram, under whose custody the
temples remained, played the role of guardian of status quo and resisted the move
of the Hindu Nadars. As Nadars pressed their right to enter temples in Kamudhi,
Kalugumalai and Sivakasi, caste riots broke out in these places in 1885,1895 and
1899 respectively.10 Though the Nadars lost their case in courts, the passing of the
Temple Entry Indemnity Act in 1938 had foregrounding in these riots.
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 425

T h e u p s u r g e o f P a lla rs in R a m a n a t h a p u r a m d is t r ic t

The socio-economic conditions created by the Great Depression provided the next
stage of social upheaval in the 1930s. The Depression loosened the grips the village
leaders had over their subjects and, taking advantage of the emerging situation, the
Hindu Nadars renewed the struggle against their non-Nadar oppressors after a lull in
the fighting for about 30 years. Yet, the hallmark of the social protest of the 1930s was
the assertiveness of Pallars as evidenced in Ramanathapuram district. This deprived
section of the society defied the time-honoured social customs and a contemporary
government report vividly recorded the events as follows:

The m o ve m e n t o f A d 卜dravidas to w a rd s th e ir e m a n c ip a tio n is a lm o st a mass

m ove m e n t. A t several places in th e d is tric t [Ram nad] tim e -h o n o u re d o b lig a tio n s
o f d e g ra d a tio n w ere th ro w n aside and th e co n ce rte d e ffo rts o f h ig h e r castes to
resist and suppress th e m o v e m e n t led to th e s itu a tio n w h ic h w ere w ith d iffic u lty
c o n tro lle d by th e p o lic e .11

The defiant attitude of the Pallars signalled social change in Ramanathapuram region.

D a lit a s s e r tio n in l ir u n e lv e li

In the erstwhile Tirunelveli district where caste clashes have become order of the day
now, such a conflict was totally absent. A perusal of records has brought to light a few
disputes, one at Keezhapattam village and the other at Kondanaearam, winch were
localised and quickly settled by the police in the 1930s. Similarly, the Mutnukulathur
riots of 1957—in which Emmanuel Sekaran, a Dalit leader, was murdered—had no
great repercussion in the composite Tirunelveli district. The assertive Dalit, thus,
seems to be a recent phenomenon in Tirunelveli region.12
A small section of the Pallars, who had long remained landless agricultural
labourers, as a consequence of access to education and government jobs have been
empowered in the erstwhile Tirunelveli region. The passing of land to a few Pallars as
evidenced in the resurvey of Slater s viangaigondan village (in present Thoothukudi
district) conducted by the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, in
the early 1980s is explained by this development. The relative affluence of certain
Dalit villages, Kodiyankulam (in Thoothukudi district) for instance, is attributed to
monetary repatriation from Gulf countries where some of the Dalits managed to
find employment. Another aspect to the assertion of the Pallar caste is the emergence
of political organisations among them, krishnaswamys Devendrakula Vellalar
Federation (nowPuthiya xamilagam),John Pandians Devendrakula Vellalar Sangam
(now Tamilaga Munnetra Kazhagam) and the Thiyagi Immanuel Peravai (named
after martyr of the 1957 Muthukulathur events) have politicised the Pallars to a
great extent. The emergence of assertive Pallars has meant that they would not take
discrimination lying down.
426 K. A, Manikumar

In this chapter the caste conflict that rocked TiruneiveIi,Thoothukudi (Tuticorin)

and Virudhunagar districts continually for six months in 1995 is analysed. Those
involved in these clashes were Thevars and Pallars. The conflict was unprecedented
in magnitude and spread. The entire region of south Tamil Nadu was in a state of
great social turbulence^ recording several incidents of violence from July to December
1995. Though the trigger factors have been flimsy, on closer study, they betray a
deeper social malaise.
The chapter has five sections. The first section has briefly traced the history of
caste violence in modern south Tamil Nadu. The sequence of events that took place
in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts in the first phase of 1995 is
narrated in the second section. The third section highlights the violence unleashed
by the state in Kodiyankulam, a village in Thoothukudi district. The fourth section
deals with the second phase of caste violence in the three said districts. The causative
factors of the conflict between Ttievars and Pallars are analysed in the fifth section
of the essay. ^

O u t b r e a k o f 1 9 9 5 c o n f lic t : D a lit o f f e n s iv e in V e e r a s ig a m a n i

It was 4:30 pm on July Vberasigamani school students who were ruiming

heiter skelter across the road were reprimanded by a State Transport Corporation bus
driver Thangavelu (53 years), while the bus was plying from Puliangudiito Surandai
through Veerasigamani. As the students ignored the driver s shouts and continued to
be playful, the driver reportedly scolded them. The school students were of the Thevar
caste from Maduvakurichi.The driver was a Pallar from the neighbouring Dalit village
of Vadanathampatti. The school children informed the elders of their village about
the abusive words of the driver. As there was already animosity existing between
the people of these two villages, the casteist elements in Naduvakurichi, armed with
aruvals and other deadly weapons, stopped the bus on its return from Surandai at
Veerasigamani and manhandled the bus driver. One Sundar Raj, a Thevar youth (20),
also beat up the conductor Murugesan who attempted to pacify the crowd. The bus
was also damaged in the process.
On hearing the incident, about 150 Pallars (hereafter Dalits) from
Vadanathampatti went to Veerasigamani in 3 tractors with deadly weapons in their
possession. When they landed at Veerasigamani there was no electricity in the village.
They indiscriminately attacked the people, ransacked the shops and damaged the
statue of Muthuramalinga Thevar, the deified leader of the Thevar community. One
Ponnusamy, a Thevar by caste, was stabbed in the melee. Following this incident, bus
services were suspended. Shops were closed. The police registered cases against 18
Dalits of Vadanathampatti and 15 Thevars of Naduvakurichi.13
The disfigurement of Muthuramalinga Thevar statue raised the hackles of the
entire Thevar community in the region. The casteist elements in Thevar community
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 427

picketed buses all over the district of Tirunelveli. In view of the tense situation, bus
service to Sankarankoil, Puliangudi and other villages remained cancelled. A peace
committee was constituted and convened at Sankarankovil on 29 July. The Dalits
boycotted the peace committee meeting. The Thevar representatives who participated
in the meeting demanded that the disfigured Thevar statue be renovated. The district
administration conceded it.14 Yet, the Thevar Peravai, a caste outfit of Thevars,
organised a bus-picketing programme in 12 places on 30 July. Incoming buses from
Madras, Madurai and Nagercoil were impounded by the unruly mob in several parts
of the district. All shops in Thalayuthu and Palayamkottai downed their shutters on
that day. All night buses were cancelled on account of anticipated disturbances.15
In spite of the efForts taken by the district administration to defuse the
situation, tension was building up because of some abusive posters pasted by the
Ttievar Peravai. The posters, which carried scurrilous writings against Pailars, had
been pasted in all state-run corporation buses. This provided provocation and led
to further escalation of violence. As the Dalits were also printing posters abusing
Thevars, the District Superintendent of Police, Jayanth Murali, ordered scratching
off posters from public places.

F a llo u t o f t h e d is f ig u r e m e n t o f t h e s ta t u e o f
M u t h u r a m a lin g a T h e v a r

The Veerasigamani episode triggered a series of incidents culminating in a mob

violence in Sivagiri. The Dalit quarters became targets for the rowing mob. Three
persons, suspected to have belonged to the Thevar community, vandalised the
Ambedkar statue in Sivagiri. As a response, a group of Dalits assaulted the three
persons allegedly responsible for the damage.16 The Thevars were furious by this
incident and on the night of 30 July they vandalised a kerosene depot owned by the
daughter of Easwaran, the Dalit MLA of Vasudevanallur constituency (Congress
Party). The mob then proceeded to the house of MLAs brother-in-law. In the mean
time, the Dalits also got ready to confront the Thevar mob. In the ensuing clash, people
on both sides suffered cut injuries. The police wanted the two sections to disperse. As
their warning went unheeded firing was ordered. Seven persons were injured in the
shooting incident. The Deputy Superintendent of Police at Sankarankovil, Chinnian,
allegedly sustained knife injury, while 4 other constables also suffered minor injuries.17
On the following day (31 July), an unidentified gang at Sindhupoondurai near
Tirunelveli old bus stand murdered Thadiveeran, a close relative of the Dalit MLA
Gopalakrishnan, belonging to the AIADMK. Following his murder, the Daiits
raided and ransacked the shops owned by Thevars in the bus stand and picketed buses
coming from various parts of Tamil Nadu to Tirunelveli. Because of total negligence
of the police some rowdy elements also joined the looting spree.18 The entire bus
stand area wore a deserted look throughout the day since buses had been withdrawn
and armed police had been posted there. The police arrested 18 persons who were
later remanded to Palayamkottai Jail.19
428 K. A. Manikumar

Meanwhile, some miscreants desecrated a Muthuramalinga Thevar statue in

Pavoorchatram. As a result, tension was mounting there and police pickets had been
posted. Bus service to Tenkasi and other adjoining areas was cancelled. The Tenkasi
shopkeepers downed their shutters as Thevar Peravai had given a call for a hartal in
protest.20 Shops were closed. Schools declared holiday for the day. Bus services were
suspended. As some miscreants had cut down the trees and put them on the railway-
tracks, railway traffic too got disrupted. The hartal was observed peacefully in Tenkasi
and Kayathar. But it took a violent turn in other places. In Sivagiri some sugarcane
fields were burned down. A hay stock was also torched in Vellanaikottai near Sivagiri.
The aggrieved Dalits laid siege to the police station. The police warned and forced
them to disperse.
On 1 August, some miscreants hurled petrol bombs at the police and it created a
commotion in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai. In the night, an agitated Dalit crowd
pelted stones and frightened the passengers of buses coming into Tirunelveli.21 The
district collector Jayakodi convened the peace committee. The Committee agreed
to the district administration^ proposal to arrest those indulging in violence under
Goondas Act.22 In view of continued incidents of stone throwing the state owned
corporation buses did not ply to Sankarankoil, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi.23 By 4
August 1995,260 persons had been arrested in Tirunelveli district. Of them,110 were
arrested for petting stones at buses and the remaining 150 as a preventive measure.

S p re a d o f c a s te v io le n c e t o T h o o t h u k u d i d is t r ic t

The conflict which was confined to Tirunelveli district for about a week began
to spread to neighbouring districts.24 The caste conflagration began to engulf
Thoothukudi district with the murder of one Palavesam (50) of Pallar caste on 25
August.25 The murder was a sequel to a clash between the Thevars and Dalits near
Vallanadii. Infuriated by the murder of Palavesam, a group of Dalits attacked and
damaged the houses of a few Thevars in Alanda village in Thoothukudi district. The
police had to open fire in the air to scare away the rioting mob.26 Fresh clashes broke
out in Vallanadu region again on 30 August 1995 between the Thevars and Pallars, in
consequence of which three Dalits were murdered in Alandä.27
The arrest of seven Thevars belonging to Singattakurichi in connection with
the murder of Palavesam precipitated the matter further. The people of the Thevar
community continued to gather in public roads and create a law and order28 situation.
A large contingent of police was deployed to patrol in Singattakurichi, Alanda and
Kasilingapuram. As the situation became unmanageable, police fired in the air to
disperse the mob. The mob dispersed but in the meantime reports came that five
houses in Nanalkadu Cheri near Murappanadu had been set on fire.29
Around 200 Dalits in their riotous mood descended with aruvals, lathis and
sticks on the farm of Kombiah Thevar of, Vallanadu， when four people—his family
members and relatives—were working there. On seeing the crowd approaching all
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 429

the four started fleeing. But the crowd pursued them and killed three of them. A
son of Kombiah Tlievar managed to escape and report the incident to the Vallanadu
police station. A battalion of police personnel was pressed into service to repulse the
crowd. Shops in Vallandu main bazaar were set on fire; two state corporation buses
were smashed. Bus service was immediately suspended.

S ta te v io le n c e in K o d iy a n k u la m

The riot spread to the neighbouring Thoothukudi district which had so far been
unaffected. There was an untoward incident in Maniyachi in which one Velladurai
111evar was stabbed grievously near Naraikinaru.30 On 31 August, Sunil Kumar Sen,
Superintendent of Police for Thoothukudi district, believably acting under instructions
from state headquarters, accompanied by his subordinate officials—Gopalakrishnan,
Additional District Superintendent of Police (Prohibition); Radhakrishnan, Sub-
Collector of the district; Ganesamurthy, Palavesam, Rathan Chettiar, Deputy
Superintendents of Police—and a band of 300 policemen went to Kodiyankulam.
According to a police report, they conducted ‘Operation Venus’ to nab the accused
involved in criminal acts, allegedly given shelter by the villagers and to unearth the
deadly weapons that the villagers had accumulated to use against the dominant castes.
Eventually, at the end of the search mission, the police arrested 24 persons
belonging to Kodiyankulam. The residents of Kodiyankulam gathered in a body and
demanded the release of the arrested. This led to commotion and verbal exchanges.
The police later alleged that a section of the crowd hurled country bombs at them.
The police also issued a press statement saying that 12 police personnel suffered
injuries in the incident. Of them one was Inspector, two were Sub-Inspectors and
the others were constables. In a separate statement, the Collector of Thoothukudi
district, A. Parmeer Selvam, claimed that the police raid helped seize 25 aruvals， 25
lathis,10 iron crowbars in addition to petrol bombs. He also stated that about 53
persons had been arrested.31

O p p o s it io n p a r t ie s o n K o d iy a n k u la m I n c id e n t

There are 287 houses in the Kodiyankulam village and about 102 male members of
these households were in the Gulf, in countries like Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Forty
members of the families had returned from the Gulf and settled in their native village,
Kodiyankulam. A delegation of Marxist Party led by K. Ramani, a former MLA from
Coimbatore constituency; A. Abdul Wahab and S. A. Perumal (both were provincial
committee members of the party) visited Kodiyankulam in the context of the police
raid. Their observation was reported in the press:
430 K. A. Manikumar

The police started thei'r a lle g e d search m ission to u n e a rth w eapons and arms
re p o rte d ly h id d e n in K o d iya n ku ia m a t 10 a m . But, u n d e r th e p re te x t o f th e searching
th e missiles and w eapons, th e y ra m paged e ve ry house and d a m a g e d h o usehold
articles. They d id n o t even spare aged people, p re g n a n t w o m e n and in fa n ts fro m
th e b ru ta l attack. A se ve n -m o n th p re g n a n t w o m a n , G a n th im a th i, was beaten u p by
th e police. Her g o ld chain was snatched aw ay fro m her. A n o th e r w o m a n , Vadivoo,
w h o was w ith her baby, was h it w ith a b a yonet. They p o u re d pe sticid e and diesel
in to a w ell, th e source o f d rin k in g w a te rin th e village. They also snatched away th e
f W /s o f a fe w w o m e n and h u m ilia te d a fe w o thers by d is ro b in g th e m . The police
used aruvals, crow bars, battle-axes and rifles a nd bayonets to h it th e resisting
people. They also lo o te d and carried away th e ir personal b e lo n g in g s like jew els,
sarees and bank d e p o s it certificates.

According to the estimate made by the Marxist delegation the material loss
incurred by the people of Kodiyankuiam would amount to Rs 1 crore.They held the
Collector ofThoothukudi district, A . Panneer Selvam, responsible for the vandalism
committed on the people of Kodiyankuiam.32 Some of the people of Kodiyankuiam
village who had recently returned from the G ulf had kept gold coins and foreign
sarees, all of which were allegedly taken away by the police. As was specified by the
Marxists after the raid, one policeman was reported to have said that even if he were
to be suspended from service, he would manage to subsist because he had enough
wealth. The policeman was referring to the loot that was shared amongst them. The
Marxist Party had observed that the village looked as though an invading foreign
army had ravaged it.33
The Marxist delegation had recorded the police arrest of 28 persons and the
Partys state committee member S. A . Perumal disclosed tne information that the
Thoothukudi Collector Panneer Selvam was a relative of Mrs Sasikala, a close friend
of the Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa. He alleged that he was sent as district collector
in order to legalise the appropriation of land done by some vested interests close
to Sasikala in Thoothukudi district.34 Earlier, in a press meet, the leader of Pattali
Makkal Katchi (Proletariat Party; PMK) D r Ramadoss was reported to have stated
the following on the incident:

In K odiyankuiam , th e p o lice vandalised th e b e lo n g in g s o f th e people. Using

crow bars th e y broke h o u s e h o ld utensils. Je w e lle ry and silk sarees w o rth a b o u t
Rs 2 crore was taken away. T h irty c o lo u r TVs, 7 cycles, 9 sew ing m a c h in e s ,13
videocassette recorders and 2 vid e o cameras w ere d e stroyed b e y o n d repair. The
w e ll th a t supplies d rin k in g w a te r to th e v illa g e was p o iso n e d w ith kerosene, p e tro l
and pesticide.35

Hie PMK President Ramadoss held the district collector and superintendent of
police responsible for the incident and demanded their immediate transfer. The
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) demanded a CBI enquiry into the
Kodiyankuiam incident. The SC/ST wing of TN CC , which visited the village after
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 431

the police atrocities, asserted that apart from 500 policemen, who came in 15 police
lorries, there were also outsiders who indulged in violence. Based on its report, the
TN CC demanded the transfer of the district collector and the police officials of
Thoothukudi district.36

E m e r g e n c e o f K r is h n a s a m y as a p o p u la r P a lla r le a d e r

D r K. Krishnasamy, a medical doctor and founder president of the Federation of

Tamil Nadu Devandrakula Vellalar Associations, was the first person to gain the
confidence of the people of Kodiyankulam village following the police excess. He
stated that the police had conducted 'Operation VenusJ in Kodiyankulam without
any basis. No person in Kodiyankulam village was involved in any type of criminal
activity. Everyone was living happily with the gulf money they had received from their
family members. D r Krishnasamy said that the visit of the three A IA D M K ministers
had only indicated that the government would not transfer the Thoothukudi collector
A . Parmeer Selvam who was behind the sordid affair. It is relevant to point out that
earlier the people of Kodiyankulam refused to meet the three ministers deputed by
the Chief Minister. Krishnasamy wanted the government to withdraw cases against
136 Dalits arrested in the wake of the Kodiyankulam incident. He also wanted a
CBI probe into the Kodiyankulam police excess as the probe ordered by the state
government w ill not bring out the truth. He announced that the Federation ofTamil
Nadu Devendrakula Vellalar Associations would hold a massive rally on 6 October in
Madras to press for a CBI enquiry.37
Krishnasamy also filed a case for a direction in the Madras High Court, praying
for a direction to the Home Secretary to take action against A . Panneer Selvam
and Sunil Kumar Sen, Superintendent of Police of Thoothukudi, for their failure to
protect the Dalits of Kodiyankulam.38The Dalits under the leadership of Krishnasamy
commenced their three-day fast on 24 September 1995 at Thoothukudi in protest
against the police excess in Kodiyankulam. According to the participants of the fast
programme, Krishnasamy pleaded for resistance and not conversion of one^ religion
to the atrocities inflicted. This indicates that the people of Kodiyankulam were
thinking of converting to Islam in protest against the violence let loose by the district
administration. Krishnasamy exhorted the Dalits to mobilise all the Dalit youth and
build them into a strong revolutionary force to fight the dominant caste oppression. He
wanted the local Dalit leaders not to take part in the peace committee meetings so long
as the present Collector and the Superintendent of Police continued to hold office.39
There was a big rally organised by the Federation of the Devendrakula Vellalar
Associations in Madras on 6 October 1995 in protest against police atrocities in
Kodiyankulam. The participants raised slogans against the AIAD M K government
and demanded the suspension of Panneer Selvam and Sunil Kumar Sen. They also
demanded unconditional release of John Pandian, President of the Devandrakula
Vellalar Sangam, and Pasupathi Pandian of PMK. The leader of PMK Ramadoss
along with Krishnaswamy led the procession. In a public meeting held at the end of
432 K, A, Manikumar

the procession there were commotions because of police firing against a section of the
processionists near Triplicane, in which two persons lost their lives.40The police arrested
23 participants of the Madras rally on grounds that they indulged in violence on account
of which 20 policemen including the Assistant Commissioner of Police sustained
injuries.41 The police firing in Madras was responded by the torching of four state-
owned buses at different places in Tlioothukudi district. Those who set the buses ablaze
had worn masks and therefore their identify could not be established.42 In Tirunelveli,
on 8 October midnight, two government buses—one belonging to Tiruvalluvar and
the other to Nesamani Corporation—were set ablaze. Hie government appointed
R. Balasubramanian, a former judge of the Madras Sessions Court, as a one-man
commission to probe into the Madras police firing incident and defused the crisis.43
But unfortunately, the one man commission justified the police firing. Regrettably,
the Gomathinayagam Commission appointed later to probe the police excesses, in
Kodiyankulam also exonerated the police of the atrocities committed against the Dalits.

R e n e w a l o f c a s te v io le n c e

Thoothukudi

The caste conflagration, which had subsided for nearly a month got renewed with
fresh outbreaks following a trivial incident in Anaithalayur. A kabadi match held at
Gangaikondan Government High School on 1 November—where the students had
been divided into two teams on the basis of caste—led to a major caste flare up in the
end. A Thevar youth of Vadakkarai assaulted the only Dalit student (Senthil) played in
the team of Thevar students, for siding with the winning team that consisted of Dalit
students. To protest against this, the residents of Anaithalayur village picketed the road
and disrupted vehicular traffic, demanding a separate school for Dalits. Meanwhile,
Balakrishnan, a Dalit from Anaithalayur village, who was waiting at the village bus
stop on Saturday morning was attacked by a group of Thevars. Balakrishnan suffered
injuries and was admitted to Tirunelveli Medical College hospital. In retaliation, the
Dalit supporters of Balakrishnan attacked Esakki and Murugan belonging to the
Ttievar caste and hurled country bombs at them. W hile Esakki was killed on the
spot, Murugan suffered serious injuries and was admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical
College hospital. It was reported on 6 November that the police had arrested 4 Dalits
in connection with the murder of Esakki and were on the lookout for 5 more.44

Tirunelveli

Veluchamy, a Dalit youth of Urudayankudiruppu, was murdered by a group of

Thevars as a revengeful response to the Anaithalayur incident.45 The people of
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 433

Urudayankudiruppu picketed the buses passing through Thatchanallur in protest

against the murder of Veluchamy.46 In the wake of the murder of Veluchamy, who
was an activist in PMK, a string of incidents happened on the Madurai-Tirunelveli
highway. In Thalayuthu, a wine shop owned by Kasipandiyan (Ihevar) was ransacked.
In retaliation, one Mayandi (Dalit) was murdered, Kasipandian was arrested.
Kasipandian was a close relative of the A IA D M K District Secretary, Karuppasamy
Pandian. The arrest of Kasipandian was widely appreciated and the sullied image of
the police was to a great extent redeemed by this bold step.47 Hundreds of persons
belonging to the Devendrakula Vellalar Sangam squatted on the Tirunelveli-
Madurai road at Thatchanallur demanding the arrest of all those responsible for
the killing of Veluchamy. After the SP assured an agitating crowd that the culprits
would be arrested, the situation defused. Later, 5 of the accused surrendered and the
remaining were arrested.

D a lits ’ c o u n t e r o ff e n s iv e

In Virudhunagor

The road roko agitation held in response to a call given by the Federation of
Devendrakula Vellalar Associations sparked off violence in several parts of
Virudhunagar district. On 5 November, a mob of 150 women and 300 men
assembled on Mamsapuram-Pudupatti road near Srivilliputhur and stopped 6 buses
and torched them after forcing the passengers to get down.48 A t Rajapalayam, around
1000 members of the Devendrakula Vellalar Sangam blocked roads and after 7.30
am there was no vehicular traffic. A t Senguntharpuram near Virudhunagar 500
persons sat on the road and blocked the traffic. Since 6 buses had already been burnt
down, buses were off the roads in Srivilliputhur. Near the crossroad junction in front
of the police station in Srivilliputhur, a 2000-strong D alit mob blocked the road
and the entire traffic was paralysed. Schools had to declare holidays and, due to the
withdrawal of buses, government offices wore a deserted look.49

In Tirunelveli

In Tirunelveli district Murugan， aThevar youth of Melaneelithanallur， was murdered

on 8 November, by a band of Dalits near Sankarankoil bus stand.Two of the murderers
were arrested while the others surrendered in court.50 A . S. Manian, of Marumalarchi
Dravida Munnetm Khazhagam of "Ihatchanallur Union，was murdered by Dalits
on 13 November.51 On 14 November, Srinivasan (Seeni) of Urudaiyankudiruppu,
belonging to the Thevar caste was found murdered. This resulted in renewed tension
in the area.52 From 4 November to 15 November 1995, there were 13 murders in the
district.53 In Idaikal near Tenkasi, the pedestal of a Thevar statue was pasted with a
piece of paper that contained slanderous remarks on Muthuramalinga Hievar.
434 K, A. Manikumar

Enraged by the Dalit offensive the Thevars targeted the houses and shops of Dalits
for attack. On 17 November, they disfigured a statue of Ambedkar near Tenkasi and
this provoked the Dalits who burnt down the car of Thangaraj Pandian, a sitting
Rajya Sabha member of the A IA D M K belonging to the Thevar caste. Fortunately,
Thangaraj Pandian was not in the car. The driver and his personal assistant were
dragged out and the car was set on fire.54

P o lic e f i r i n g t o q u e ll v io le n c e

Tension began to mount in Tenkasi following the death of Yeman (48), a Dalit resident
of Azad Nagar in Tenkasi. He was earlier reported missing since 21 November. His
body was found near a water tank in Keelapuliyur village on 29 November. The
relatives of the deceased refused to accept the dead body till the accused were arrested.
The police charge-sheeted 9 persons for the murder.55 But a Thevar mob of around
2000 gathered at Keelapuliyoor village in Tenkasi taluk to attack Dalit habitats. A
30-year-old woman suffered bullet injury in the police firing which became necessary
to tackle the violent mob and arrest those who had been implicated in the murder
case. Manimuthar Rajendradoss, Commandant of Tamil Nadu Special Police camp,
Tahsildar Paramasivam and 27 police personnel suffered injuries in the stone­
throwing. The police had taken into custody 50 persons from both caste groups.56

M in d le s s v io le n c e in t h e la s t p h a s e

The next day, on 30 November, Anthony (60), a watchman belonging to Thuraiyur

was killed in the presence of his wife Anthoniammal. The murder of Anthony near
Gangaikondan sparked off a fresh spell of violence resulting in the murder of 6 other
persons. As the incident happened in broad daylight and in full view of the bus
passengers, it generated considerable tension in the whole region. Anthony was
a watchman of a stone-crushing unit. On knowing about his murder, the Dalits
gathered in large numbers and obstructed vehicular traffic on the busy Tirunelveli™
Madurai highway. The agitators stopped a Kayathar-Tirunelveli bus and pulled down
two persons belonging to the Thevar community and hacked them to death. Later
on, a large number of armed gangsters barged into the Alavandhankulam village and
killed 3 persons.57
On 2 December, a supervisor of a flourmill was dragged out of a bus and murdered
in Thuraiyur, while one Selvaraj was slain inside the bus.58The Thuraiyur incident led
to continuous conflagration in that area for 4 days, resulting in the death of 6 Dalits
and 7 Thevars. Later the D IG of Police M . Balachandran told the correspondent of
みa" that if the troublemakers target a village，then the police could
proceed with enough force and forestall violence. In Tirunelveli district only innocent
people were targeted for the attack and therefore the police could not handle the
situation effectively, he added.59
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 435

There were 7 murders on 2 December. O f the 5 murdered on 3 December, one was

State Secretary of the Communist Party of India R. NallakanniVs father-in-law A . K.
Annasamy.60 Annasamy was a llievar living in Maruthanvazhvu village. A ll through
his life he had worked for the welfare of the Dalits. The people of Maruthanvazhvii
village expressed the view that he would have been murdered by an outsider.61 On 3
December, one Chellaiah and his wife Parvathy of Ramayanpatti near Thatchanallur
were on their way to buy fertiliser. Both of them were waylaid and attacked. Chellaiah
died on the spot. Parvathy suffered multiple injuries.62 About 100 Dalits disrupted
the road traffic at the Chatirampudukuiam junction on the Madurai-Tirunelveli
highway condemning the murder of Chelliah. Police had to resort to lathi charge to
disperse the crowd.63
On 26 December, around 2:15 p m a bus from Puliampatti to Kovilpatti was halted
at Kothali near Kadambur by a violent mob armed with deadly weapons. Many of
them were in a drunken state. They entered the bus wielding their aruvals. In panic,
the passengers started jumping out of the bus and running in different directions.
Six of them who started running were construed to be belonging to the Dalit caste
and were hacked to death by the bloodthirsty mob.64 Later, it was discovered that
none of those killed had any connection with the recent caste riots and most of
them belonged to castes other than Ihevars and Pallars.65The killers were suspected
to be Dalits because the mob had shouted to identify Thevars among the 40-odd
passengers inside the bus.66 But this was a hoax played by the group to identify the
Dalits. The CB-CID team arrested 10 persons in connection with the killing of the
6 passengers.by v^hief Minister Jayalalithaa made a visit to Tirunelveli district in the
wake of this incident on 27 December and consoled the family members of the six
persons who had been hacked to death the previous day.68 This killing of persons
belonging to castes other than the two conflicting groups evoked strong public
opinion against caste violence prompting the two sides to call for a ceasefire.
A fresh wave of violence erupted in March 1996 but notification for state elections
changed the mood of the politicians as well as the dominant caste groups in south
Tamil Nadu. The aggrieved Dalits also took the issue of caste discrimination to the
electorate and elected Krishnaswamy as M LA from Ottapidaram constituency (a
taluk in Thoothukudi district in which Kodiyankulam is situated). The trouncing of
A IA D M K in the assembly elections was attributed to the anti-Dalit and pro-Thevar
stance of the party in this caste conflict of 1995.

C o n c lu d in g re m a r k s

What started off as a wordy duel on 26 July 1995 between a bus driver of the state-
owned Kattabomman Transport Corporation and a group of school students,
led to string of violent incidents. An important feature of the riots was the Dalit
attempt to defend themselves and even counter-attack. Hie entire course of events
436 K. A. Manikumar

showed the complete inability of the state machinery and polity to respond to the
situation. The state government maintained a deafening silence and law and order
collapsed for days together. If we compare this with the government handling of
such a situation in Ramanathapuram district in 1957, the inept handling w ill be too
obvious. Wherever necessary shootings were resorted to and within a weekJs time,
14-21 September 1957, the situation had been brought under complete control. In
all these incidents shooting was resorted to, to prevent the Thevar mobs from setting
fire to Dalit settlements. An enquiry was ordered, and S.Venkateshwaran—a civil
servant who conducted the enquiry~~justified police action and held that the firing
was necessary to give protection to weaker sections of the society. In contrast, in
Tirunelveli and in Thoothukudi districts, it was the role of the police which was most
distressing. A t many places, while the rampaging mobs attacked Dalits, policemen
were silent onlookers. Little was done to prevent or take action against people
involved in disseminating provocative posters which was an important cause for the
spread of violence. 、
Another aspect which needs to be thrashed out is the prejudiced behaviour of
the police against the Dalits. This has been reprimanded even by the Supreme Court
in its judgement on the police high-handedness in Nalumoolaikinaru (Thoothukudi
district) in 1992. W hile they were asleep at about 4.30 a m , the police went into
the village and attacked Dalit men and women causing severe injuries to many. The
police, under the pretext of an all-out search for suspects and weapons, conduct
such midnight raids in Dalit villages. Kodiyankulam represents a high watermark
of such police high-handedness. The police, ostensibly on a search mission, went
berserk. Kodiyankulam incident evoked great public indignation and the villagers
demonstrated their anger by openly campaigning against the then ruling party in the
general elections of 1996. They also succeeded in electing a Dalit leader to the state
assembly exclusively on a Dalit political platform.
When caste violence of an unprecedented nature erupted in Tirunelveli in 1995,
one Dalit leader suggested that the government set up an office of the Inspector
General of Police in Tirunelveli to tackle the tricky situation. It sounded an odd
suggestion then. But when DM K came to power, Chief Minister M . Karunanidhi
translated this idea into reality and it looks as though the state had decided to treat
the clash between Maravars and the Dalits as a law and order issue.
But the present clashes cannot be dismissed as law and order problems.Tirunelveli
region has its own share of discrimination against Dalits. Many village wells and
temples are still out of bounds to Dalits, while separate places of worship and deities
also exist. In effect, municipal schools tend to cater exclusively to Dalit children,
while children of caste-Hindus, notably Thevars, generally abstain from such public
schools. Though stainless steel tumblers have replaced coconut shells or aluminum
cups, Dalits still continue to be served separately in tea stalls of several villages. In
Tirunelveli region the district A rivoli lyakkam, which is part of the National Literary
Mission, had to conduct separate classes for Thevars and Dalits. In many villages
Dalits have no access to Thevar streets. They are not permitted to use cement benches
in bus stops. They have no approach road to their cremation ground. Numerous
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 437

stories about upper-caste deception, especially regarding government subsidy-loan

for milch cow, are rife in this region. More abominable is the case of panchayat
unions. Dalit presidents are pawns in the hands of dominant-caste leaders. A woman
Dalit panchayat union president complained to this writer that the vice-chairman of
the council was not signing cheques since she had acted independently.
The State Minimum Wage Act for agricultural labourers is enforced only in
the breach. Even labour-oriented political parties, despite their best efforts, have
not been able to organise agricultural labourers into a movement as in Thanjavur.
This is because caste appears to be dominant identity which overrules all other
identities here. The TThevar agricultural labourers refuse to associate themselves with
an organisation that gives membership to Dalits. As a result, landlords could not
be forced to implement the State Minimum Wage Act. Lowest wages for the most
onerous work have, over time, forced the Dalits into systematic degradation. It should
be noted that the Dalits who continue to be agricultural labourers and dependent on
Thevars for their livelihood have tended to remain submissive. Similar is the case of
Parayars and Chakkliyars, two other Dalit castes which are a minority in this region.
As for Thevars, they are numerically far more important than other agricultural
castes of the region. Land reforms, like the zamindari abolition and the tenancy
acts of the 1950s helped rich Thevar farmers promote their interests. They have
also been the main beneficiaries of the governments agricultural policies providing
institutionalised credit, and liberal and subsidised agricultural inputs such as fertilisers,
seeds, water, electricity, etc. A sizeable number of others making use of their political
clout have earned quick money through illicit brewery,, contract works and money
lending. However, it should be remembered that vast number of Thevars also work as
agricultural labourers and daily-wage earners.
Systematic efforts have been made to unite all three clans of the Thevar
community—Kallar, Agamudiyar and Maravar. Pasumpon U. Muthuramalinga
Thevar has been deified and used as a symbol to bring all the groups under a single
banner. The government classification o f‘Thevar， community as the most backward
class helped bring about this unity. In Tirunelveli villages where there was not much
reverence for Muthuramalinga Thevar, his statues were erected in the 1980s. Even
the Veerasigamani village statue which was disfigured—the event responsible for
the 1995 riots—had been installed only in 1986. The Thevar Peravai leadership
had cultivated strong caste sentiments among the Thevar youth by erecting Thevar
statues everywhere.
A visit to riot-hit villages reveals that the existing social relationships have broken
down. In the 1930s, when the Dalits first defied their Thevar landlords and in the
1950s when the Dalits launched an agitation against their oppressors (Thevars), it
was an agrarian conflict. Regrettably, on both occasions political parties failed to
politicise the Dalits and organise them on class lines as happened in Kerala. Vested
interests made use of the failure of political parties to perpetuate casteist tendencies.
The estrangement between Thevars and Pallars is total today. In villages where
the Dalits have clung to the land for their subsistence, they feel that they are
culturally treated as second class citizens. Often, these Dalits have to bear the brunt
438 K. A. Manikumar

of Maravar fury during times of dashes, lliese Dalits who constitute the majority
of the downtrodden today are to be pulled out of the moorings of misery, ignorance
and idleness. This w ill alone engender social transformation necessary for the total
emancipation of Dalits.
When we analyse the caste clashes that have taken place since 26 July 1995, it is
known that youths prominently take part in the riots. Vadanathampatti is 3000-strong
Dalit village. There were about 300 graduates without employment at the time of this
writers visit in 1996. They constituted combustible material. In fact, they played a
leading role in attacking theHievars of Virasigamani village in July 1995. The same
is the case with the Tlievar youths. Frustration and despair caused on account of
unemployment have driven the youth to take part in gang violence without regard for
the foreseeable consequences of punishment, physical injury and material damage.
Thus, there exist many objective conditions for the generation of caste violence
in south Tamil Nadu, Instead of eliminating svich conditions, the government— — both
the AIAD M K and the DMK—by its tactless moves has aggravated them since 1995.
Unless basic structural transformation is attempted, through drastic land reforms
thereby changing the production relations, violence w ill continue to escalate and
even spread. As sociologists point out, wherever people are living under unjust
social conditions and are therefore deprived of the chance to realise their human
potentialities, structural violence is inevitable. On our part we have to distinguish the
violence of the dominant class from the violence of the oppressed class, because the
former impedes the advance of historical forces, whereas the latter s violence is used
only in the interest of the emancipation of the entire humanity.

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1 South Tam il Nadu here refers to the erstwhile Tirunelveii district, bifurcated into
Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) and Tirunelveii districts in the early 1980s and the present
Virudhunagar district carved out in 1910.
2 G. A. Oddie, S ocial P rotest in In d ia (New Delhi: Manohar, 1979).
3 Ibid.
4 J. W askom Pickett, C h ristia n M ass M ovem ents in In d ia (Lucknow: Lucknow Publishing
House, 1933), 38.
5 Vincent Kumaradoss, N egotiating Colonial Christianity: The H indu-C hristian Church
o f Late N ineteenth Century T irim dveli’，iSowが iVz沿 aw め edited by M . S. S. Pandian, 37
(January-June 1996).
6 Note that the N adars worshiped formless structure known ^pudam % ^ which the English
called devil pyramids. Joseph M ullen, M issions in South In d ia (London: W .H . D a lto n ,1854),
107 - 09.
7 R. E. Frykenberg， ‘Conversion and Crisis o f Conscience under Company Raj in South
In d ia , Proceedings o f the 5 th European Conference on South A sia n Studies^ Paris (1978), 311-21.
8 J. Waskom Pickett, C h ristia n M ass M ovem ents in In d ia (Tennessee: The Abingdon Press,
1933) ，129.
9 G. A. Oddie, H in d u an d C h ristia n in S outh-East In d ia : Aspects o f R elm ous C o n tin u ity and
Change (London: Routledge, 1991), 151.
 Caste Violence in South Tamil Nadu 439

1 0 Robert Hardgrave, Jr., The N adars o f T a m il N adu (Bombay: OUP, 1969), 115.
11M adras Police R e p o rtfo r 1930^ 18.
1 2 See K. A. Manikumar, T rom Serfdom to Subaltern Militancy: The Case o f Pallar^ in
Castes an d Caste O rg a n iza tio n s in South In d ia yedited
by Balasubramanian (Chennai: University
o f M adras, 2004).
1 3 D in a m a la rj 27 July 1995.
1 4 Ibid., 27 July 1995.
1 5 D inam alar^ 28,29 and 30 July 1995.
1 6 In d ia n Expressy31 July 1995.
1 7 D inam alaVy August 1995.
1

1 8 D / 加 ?？W ar, 28 August 1995.

1 9 In d ia n E xpress, 31 July 1995 and 1 August 1995.
2 0 D inam alar^ 1 August 1995.
2 1 D in a m a la r,2 August 1995.
2 2 Ibid. '
2 3 D in a m a la r, 5 August 1995. 、

2 4 O n 5 August, a Hievar by name Pandian who had been employed to protect the statue
o f M uthuram alinga Thevar was found murderea in M adurai. So the disturbance spread to
M adurai district too. A hartal was organised in M adurai by Tlievar Peravai and M ukkulathor
M unnetra Kazhagam. All shops in M adurai remained closed on that day. Police arrested 45
persons for picketing the road in Madurai.
2 5 D in a m a la ry 4 August 1995.
2 6 D inam alaVy 26 August 1995.
2 7 D in am alary 30 August 1995.
2 8 Ibid.
2 9 D in a m a la ry 31 August 1995.
3 0 Ibid.
3 1 Ibid. O n 31 August, at 6.30 p m , four Thevars armed with deadly weapons murdered
two Dalits— — Kalanjiyam and Raman—who had got down from the M aniyachi-Nagercoii
passenger train atTaalaiyuthu.The murdered were brothers living in Kokkirakulam. They were
in the employ o f a contractor for the construction o f a bridge nearTulukkapatti. Following the
murder, the police arrested 1 persons o f the Thevar caste.
0

3 2 T heekad ir,15 September 1995.

3 3 Ibid.
3 4 Ibid.
3 5 D inam alar^ 5 September 1995; translation mine.
3 6 D inam alar^ 22 September 1995.
3 7 In d ia n Express^ 24 September 1995.
3 8 Ibid.
3 9 D in am alary 26 September 1995.
4 0 D in a m a la ry 1 October 1995.
4 1 Ibid.
4 2 In d ia n Express^ 9 October 1995.
4 3 D in am alary 14 October 1995.
4 4 H indus 6 November 1995.
4 5 D in a m a la r, November 1995.
6

4 6 D in a m a la rj November 1995.
8

4 7 膨 ， 2 January 1996.
440 K. A. Manikumar

48 The H in d u , 6 November 1995.

4 9 Ibid.
50Police D ia ry^ T iru n e lv e li.
5 1 Ibid.
5 2 In d ia n Express^
14 November 1995 and Police D ia ry , T iru n e lv e li.
53D in a m a la r,16 November 1995.
Ju n io r Vikatan^ 26 November 1995 and Police D ia ry , T iru n e lv e li.
ssH in d u y 30 November 1995.
56D in a m a la r^2 \ November 1995.
57In d ia n Express^ 2 December 1995.
58Kum udaniy 21 December 1995.
5 9 T am izhan E xpress, 30 January - February 1996.6

6 0 Theekathir^ 4 December 1995.

6 1K alkig 21 January 1996.
6 2K um udam , 21 December 1995.
6 3In d ia n Express^ 4 December 1995.
6 4M ookiah, Rajamani, Amavasai, Selvaraj, M anikandan and Ramalingam were the victims
of the mob fury.
6 5 Tharasu^ 9 January 1996.
6 6In d ia n E xpress, 21 December 1995.
6 7 Ibid. The names o f the arrested were Esakki M uthu (24), A. M uthu Pandi (23)> M ani
(20), S. Patchayan (30), V. Shanmugavel (23), G. Shanmugavel (25), M . M ariappan (20),
G. M uthu Pandi (25), A. Ihillai (27) and C. Shunmugaiah (24)— all Thevars belonging to
Ammalpatti.
6 8 H i n 28 December 1995.
d u y
 XXVII

S O C IA L E X C L U S IO N O F D A L IT W O M E N

Shura Darapuri

Social exclusion can be defined as (the process through which individuals or groups
are wholly or partially excluded From full participation in tHe society wiffiin which
they live/1The concept focuses on both the processes by which social and economic
institutions exclude groups, and the muLtidimensional nature of the adverse
consequences experienced by those who are excluded. In other words, exclusion
is seen both as a cause and consequence of it. Exclusion disables an individual to
participate in the basic political, economic and social functioning of society. It
involves (the denial of equal access to opportunities imposed by certain groups in
society upon others/2The exclusion discourse in Indian society has to be understood
against the backdrop of the caste system. And, gender is one of the primary axis on
which caste stratification rests/3
Womerfs movements have laid emphasis on the unity among women as victims
of violence. Masculinisation of violence is focused upon, that violence is generally
perpetrated by men. Mental torture or unconventional versions of violence are
not covered; in other words, exclusion has to be addressed. W hile a certain basic
understanding that control over women and control over lower castes are connected
has been developed, the question of untouchability has not been thoroughly
confronted. There has also been an underlying assumption that, if patriarchy is
tackled, caste w ill automatically be weakened. This has often led to a preoccupation
with an argument against brahminism and to a certain romanticisation of low caste
and tribal culture, while not confronting the actual situation of D alit women. Dalit
movements, while being aware of womenJs oppression, tend to emphasise that Dalit
women suffer a violence which is in a category of its own and therefore needs to be
taken up as a caste issue.
Both these positions are valid, and based on experience. It is true that violence
against women cuts across caste and class, especially in an urban context. However,
it is also true that they face the collective threat of physical harm from upper-caste
forces all the time. Against such violence, the men of the Dalit community can often
not protect their women and it is therefore, perceived as a collective weakness and
vulnerability. A t the same time this violence is often taken as normal ^and rape cases
tend to be compromised or cheaply compensated in an overall bargain to settle the
caste issue. Women have hardly any say in such matters. If one asks why such women
do not turn to the womens movement, the answer is probably that the presence of
women movement's, in most cases, are not permanently felt in rural areas, where the
442 Skura Darapuri

physical assault on women is a normaF occurrence. Even if the womens movement is

present, it may not be seen as not taking caste issues seriously. And, Dalit leaders may-
have their own patriarchal interests in using or suppressing an assault on a woman.
The net result of this situation is the exclusion of Dalit women in totality.

E x c lu s io n t h r o u g h t h e D e v a d a s i s y s te m

In r u r a l In d io , d e fia n c e o f c a s te r e s t r ic t io n s b y th e D o lit s h o v e m o s t o f t e n r e s u lte d in

a r s o n a n d g o n g r a p e s o f w o m e n o f t h e lo w e r c a s te s . . . p u s h in g t h e m a j o r it y o f lo w e r

c a s te s p e r f o r m e r s a n d a r tis te s in t o h id d e n fo r m s o f p r o s t it u t io n .

— Sharm ila Rege4

Devdasi is a Sanskrit word that can be split into deva meaning godJand dasi meaning
'female slave5, i.e. female slave or servant of a god. Many young girls and women
dedicated to temples came from the Dalit communities. Caste-based exclusion of
the Dalit families leading to an abject state of poverty compelled them to make their
daughters devadasis. The process is initiated by the landlord of the village when he
spots a young girl of about ten who has the prospects of growing into a beautiful
woman. A word is sent to the family head. The head, who has no power to resist
the authority of the landlord, communicates his intention to dedicate his daughter
to the village deity to the village head, the Patel. The deity is most likely (Yellamma,
or Tochamma*, consistent with the existing moral code in the village. A muhurtam
(auspicious time) is determined and an altar erected in front of the family s house and
the girl is dedicated.

Ritual

According to Spratt, the ancient worship of the mother goddess—in which the
worshipper^ action resembled the unconscious fantasy in which he became identified
with the goddess by entering her womb—was associated with ritual prostitution.5
Traces of this association still persist in the village cult: (a) Asadis of Bellary district,
a Dalit caste, are the nearest to the priestly caste of a village goddess cult. They take
wives from the Madigas, another Dalit caste, but dedicate all their daughters as
Basavis, i.e. sacred prostitutes;6 (b) a Matangi is a woman of the Madiga caste who
is believed to be possessed by one of the goddesses. She is confirmed by a process of
selection and dedication, and is finally married to a tree, and *after that her life knows
no moral restrictions/7
On certain occasions, the Matangi visits a brahmans houses where she receives
presents of clothes, toddy and a basketful of food with a lighted lamp on the top.
Although she is a Dalit, it is her duty on this and other occasions to revile and
spit on people of the higher castes, including the brahmans. As Elmore points out,
brahmans worship her in some places.8The reversal of normal values, i.e. the worship
 Social Exclusion o f D alit W omen 443

of a Dalit prostitute and the acceptance of her saliva as holy, is reminiscent of the
combination of the love and fear of the mother goddess cult. The custom is probably
a surviving element of ritual prostiUition and the presentation of the lighted lamp, a
phallic symbol, is in accordance with this view. The likely effect of the rite is to arouse
unconscious fantasies of a return to the womb; the aggressive character of the mother
image should be noticed.9

Control

Am ong o t h e r k e y e le m e n ts d is tin g u is h in g th e s e ru n g s a re o c c u p a tio n and fo o d s

e a t e n — in t e r m s o f p u r e a n d i m p u r e —- a n d m a r r i a g e p r a c t i c e s i n te rm s o f th e m o s t

t i g h t l y c o n t r o lle d s e x u a l p r a c t ic e s — t h e h ig h e s t fo r m s o f r it u a ls a n d s a c r a m e n ts f o r t h e

u p p e r m o s t c a s te s , a n d t h e m o r e " f le x ib le " p r a c t ic e s f o r t h e lo w e r c a s te s . T h e t i g h t c o n t r o l

o f t h e s e x u a l i t y o f w o m e n o f t h e u p p e r c a s t e s is o n a s p e c t o f t h e l a r g e r //r a t i o n o i e ,/ o f

p u r e a n d im p u r e .

— Uma C h a kra va rti10

In the name of tradition, patriarchal arrangements are made to have sexual access to
lower caste women. On the other hand, there is no evidence of similar arrangements
made either for upper caste women or lower caste men. The upper caste mans casual
or continuous use of lower caste women is naturalised.11 In early literature, the sexual
services of women in servitude—apart from their physical labour—were used by
the masters of dasis. Kerala Mahatmayam^ a late medieval text, provides a succinct
articulation of the self-serving position of the men of the upper castes: (as for the wives
of the brahmanas and other dvijas, let the rule of chastity stand in regard to them; with
other residents let there be no rule of chastity/12The sexual availability of lower caste
women was part of the material structure of domination by the higher castes. It was
something that both men and women of the lower castes were forced to accept. And，
upper caste women had to learn to live with the promiscuity of their men.

Institutionalisation

The devadasi was married to the deity of the temple at which she performed and she
achieved the status of a <
nityasumangali,, i.e. she could never be a widow.13 Tliough
she was married to the god of the temple she had patrons mostly belonging to
the upper castes, who later on refused to recognise the paternity of the children
bom. Religious compulsion and financial pressure force them to be in the profession.
Owing to the stigma attached, it is difficult for them to find alternative employment.
Lack of education or absence of any other skills also closes the doors to other quarters
of employment. From one stigma of being a Dalit, institutionalised prostitution is a
transition to another form o f(forced exclusion .And later, when she contracts diseases
such as AID S, etc., she enters the domain of yet another form of exclusion. In fact
444 Skura Darapuri

her exclusions are endless, for the same reason she is regarded as 'the downtrodden
of the downtrodden. And, instead of encouraging her to raise her voice against the
committed crime, she is expected to internalise the attack on her integrity.
Dr Ambedkar believed that ‘institutionalised prostitution’was, for a number of
reasons, responsible for the further lowering of status of Dalit women and gave way
to the Institutionalised exclusion of Dalit women. Periyar viewed it as an exploitative
system to be seen within the caste system because no upper caste woman became
a devdasi. When in the early 20th century there was a move to abolish it in Tamil
Nadu, debates inevitably featured its caste dimensions. However, the repercussions
of the assault on the mind and body of the Dalit woman have never been taken as a
topic of research. We will briefly address the consequences of such lacunae here.

E ffe c ts o f e x c lu s io n o n h e a lt h

T h e w o r s t s o c i a l s in a M a h a r c a n c o m m i t is t o g e t v e r m i n i n a w o u n d . . . h e is q u i t e

o s tr a c iz e d , a n d when i t is c u r e d th e M a h a rs o f te n o r t w e lv e s u r r o u n d in g v iffa g e s

a s s e m b le . . . t h e f e e l i n g a b o u t i t is g e n e r a l a m o n g H i n d u s . '' 4

According to the Hindu scriptures, Dalits are destined to serve the other castes and
are designated as such because its members have to atone for sins committed in past
lives. And women are especially inclined to internalise the stigma attached to it.
This internalisation of exclusion makes it impossible to handle the situation in any
favourable way. From the already-existing exclusion on the basis of caste, the Dalit
woman enters the domain of yet another. Contagious diseases contracted by them
make them even worst sinners in the eyes of the upper castes and confirm their stand
of excluding them even more. This is also because upper caste mentality does not
approve of diseased or the handicapped body. The Omanaito of Orissa, for instance,
could not tolerate a man suffering from sores and had him excommunicated.15 In
the case of the Dalit womaiij poverty and shame renders her silent till she is silenced
out of life ... For centuries upper caste men have been infecting the Dalit women
by forcing them to have sex, under the belief that sexual intercourse with women,
especially those belonging to sweeper castes, is a sure cure for syphilis. Disease is
greatly responsible for further exclusion of Dalit women.，16
Owing to employment in unpleasant, filthy and hazardous occupations^ Dalit
women become easy victims of various diseases. They are also prone to venereal
diseases like syphilis, gonorrhoea and AIDS. Knowledge about HIV and AIDS is
fragmentary among Dalit women due to the absence of average lower formal education.
From a religious background people living with HIV and AIDS are often seen as
sinners, which justifies untouchability: i.e. the HIV infection is god^ punishment for
their bad behaviour. In such a situation, it is easier to blame the weaker part of the
relationship: 'You brought the infection in the family is an allegation a woman has to
face even if their infected partners died some time before/17
 Social Exclusion o f D alit W omen 445

Due to poverty and ignorance she does not have much idea about hygiene and
healthy food. It is difficult to persuade men to have safe sex; her exclusions render
her helpless to revolt. Dalit women are also found to be anaemic most of the time— —
in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, 51.9 per cent of Dalit women suffer from anaemia.
Poverty, the consequent lack of nutritious food and dependence on left-over food
and her vulnerability to sexual assault may cause bulimia which may further make her
susceptible to anaemic conditions. Her poor economic status deprives her of proper
treatment and sometimes she voluntarily chooses death. In the face of discrimination
they face at government hospitals they depend on quacks, witch doctors, etc. who in
turn worsen the situation. In UP in 1992-93 only 7.9 per cent of Dalit births were
attended by health professionals.
Women involved in scavenging suffer from skin disorders, respiratory disorders,
communicable diseases, and dimimsmng vision and hearing. The physically less-
heavy work of cleaning latrines—scavenging in private houses—has fallen to the
Bhangins. There are very few men for whom private scavenging is the full-time
occupation. It is estimated tnat there are still thousands of Dalit women who clean
toilets by hand, despite the ban on manual scavenging. In the case of male scavengers,
they die early because they have to work in noxious conditions without proper
safety gear. For example, in a study conducted in Gujarat more cases of widowhood
were found among the Dalits.18 Although remarriage is permissible amongst the
lower castes, it is not so easy—issues of health, ages children and indebtedness are
impediments. There is a tradition of engaging daughters-in-law in scavenging in
the Dalit communities. However, in some places—especially cities—daughters are
also seen helping their mothers from a very young age. This is symptomatic of their
exclusion from education.
Dr Ambedkar has written about the relation between disease and Exclusion,
and the vulnerability of Dalit woman because of her low-caste status. He writes about
how her dirty outfit reveals her identity as a Dalit, and how they were required to
carry that identity to avoid passing as upper caste. Being prohibited to wear clean
clothes, their appearance was closely related to their identity as Dalit. Wearing clean
clothes was heralding deference from the code prescribed by upper castes. It was
defying a dependence. To break the hegemony of patriarchal structures over their
lives, they had to create a sense of self confidence in them. And cleanliness was a
necessity to this.

On the women

However, the ground reality is that the requirement of more working hands is being
fulfilled by Dalit women_ more children are given birth to. Women need to go to
government hospitals for pre-natal and ante-natal care, but in the hospitals the Dalit
woman is discriminated against and is deprived of care many a time. She falls back
upon untrained dak and witch doctors of her community. As a consequence, in more
446 Skura Darapuri

than many cases, she either loses the child or her own life. This is one crucial reason
responsible for high mortality of Dalit women and high infant mortality rate, which
again leads to frequent pregnancies telling on the health of Dalit women.
National Family Health Survey 1998-99 data reveal the difference in access to
healthcare between women of SCs and other non-backward/Scheduled Castes: while
56 per cent of SC women suffered from anemia, it was far less—at only 8 per cent—
among others; while a substantial portion of SC women, at 61.8 per cent, could access
antenatal checkup, a much higher proportion, at 71.2 per cent, of other women could
access the same; while 72.1 per cent of SC women delivered their children at home,
only 59 per cent of other women delivered their children at home.

On children

The infant mortality rate is 90/1000.That is because the nutritional status of children
is strongly related to the nutritional statais of their mothers. All the measures of
under nutrition are strongly related to standard of living. Children from households
with low standards of living are twice as likely to be undernourished as children
from households with a high standard of living. According to a study by the Indian
Institute of Rural Management, 90 per cent of Musahar children below 6 suffer
from malnutrition and tuberculosis and cases of rheumatic fever are common among
them.19 Data from the National Family Health Survey 1998-99 reveal a wide gap
between SCs and other non-backward/Scheduled Castes in health status and access
to public services-—while the infant mortality (per 1000) of SCs is 83 and 62 for
others, under-five mortality (per 1000) is at 119 and 82 respectively; 21.2 per cent of
SC children are below 3 standard deviations of the average weight for the age, while
the proportion is 13.8 for others; 53.5 per cent of SC children are below 2 standard
deviations of the average weight for the age, while the proportion is 41.1 for others.

E ffe c t o f r a p e a n d s e x u a l a b u s e o n D a lit w o m e n

The National SC/ST Commission reports that there has been an 8 per cent rise
in crimes against women, especially Dalit women. In 1991,more than two million
women were raped and a majority of them were from Dalit and tribal communities.
Statistics point that three Dalit women are raped everyday and are victims of caste-
based violence.
The rape of a Dalit woman is generally seen as a routinised feature, the gravity
of the crime is generally overlooked. Rape has deep repercussions on the mental and
physical health of the Dalit woman, and this in turn has effects in ways more on her
progeny. This negligence, therefore, affects the general health of the Dalit community.
In the case of rape, exclusion is enforced on her. Even within her own community
she becomes a misfit. In a way it affects all aspects of her life, e.g. pregnancy, alcohol
dependency, sexual difficulties. No study has been carried out to understand the after­
 Social Exclusion o f D alit W omen 447

effects of rape on Dalit women or steps taken to initiate healing. A feeling of shame,
malaise, hurt and a strong feeling to hide or forget the incident follows.This delays the
healing process which has severe repercussions. No reaction is abnormal. Many of the
most serious effects are the result of being unable to start the healing process quickly.
A study conducted on rape victims reports that, in general,a woman who has
been raped generally withdraws from people who could be supportive and avoids
being close to others as a way of protecting herself from possible rejection or blame.20
Frequently, relationships dissolve and women avoid developing new relationships. As
a result, they get strong feelings of exclusion and isolation. This withdrawal is in direct
conflict with their need for comfort and the support from others. Sexual intimacy
becomes particularly threatening because the act of being sexual~and the trust and
vulnerability necessary for intimacy—becomes difficult as the act gets associated ■with
the rape. The woman starts believing that there must be something wrong with her
and that her exclusiveness must have made her vulnerable to the attack. The Dalit
woman blames her caste, and also her poor economic and social status. In totality, her
exclusion is held responsible for the sexual assault. She tends to feel exclusion from
within, because of the norms of purity so closely attached with the izzat (honour)
of women, an Idea set by the upper castes for their women which Dalit men too
emulate. Her healing is never attempted. And, on the contrary, she is ostracised or
she resorts to self-imposed withdrawal, both of wmch prevent her from entering into
any other relationship. The families urge the victim to either hide the assault or forget
it, thereby delaying the healing process.They urge the victim to internalise the whole
situation in face of their susceptibility to sexual attacks by the upper castes because
of their lower status and poverty. Exclusion gets further embedded and the victim is
unable to lead a normal life.
Threats of recurrent attacks on the integrity of Dalit women compel Dalit
families to marry off their daughter early, though that gives them little respite from
insecurities. Dalit womens vulnerability to sexual assault continues because scriptures
permit Dalit women to be exploited on the whims and fancy of upper caste men.
They have no will of their own and are to work to maintain the privileges of the upper
castes. Early marriages entail early cohabitation which again tells upon the health
of Dalit women. Dr Ambedkar was aware of the evil of child marriage within the
Dalit community and its after-effects and he regarded having more children to be a
crime, as it had its repercussions on the health of the women and was responsible for
exacerbating the poverty of Dalits which consequently lead to the exclusion of Dalit
children from education and nutrition.

T h e w a y fo rw a rd

Dr Ambedkar, in his first academic paper 'Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis
and Development,, tells how crucial education is for the emancipation of the Dalits.
Educating women was most primary in emancipation of the lot of Dalits. The
exclusion of Dalit women can end with their education. Dr Ambedkar in addressing
448 Skura Darapuri

the problems of sexual assault faced by Dalit women at the hands of the upper
castes suggests that women should carry chilly powder to protect themselves/21 He
was, in a way, telling women not to depend on any man for help and learn to look
after themselves. This is contrary to Manu^ assertion that it!s the male prerogative
to guard the sexuality of women, and for that they have to be constantly under the
supervision of men; and, thereby, never allowing women to gain confidence to stand
up against their oppressors. Patriarchal structures that barred Dalit women from
progress have to break.
As the Chairman of the Reception Committee of the second session of the
All India Depressed Classes Womens Conference, on 20 July 1942 at Nagpur,
Dr Ambedkar said: 'Give education to your children. Instill ambition into them.
Inculcate in their minds that they are destined to be great. Remove from them all
inferiority complexes/He was aware of the hegemonic influences of caste s patriarchal
structures on the minds of the Dalits and urged the women to save their children
from that effect by inculcating in them positive thoughts. Reports have revealed that
education and training help build self confidence among women and have shown to
be significantly instrumental in their emancipation.

Dalit women are the worst excluded section as they are singularly positioned at the
bottom of caste, class and gender hierarchies. Caste-based exclusion drives them into
various other forms of exclusions which makes it all the more difficult for them to
join the mainstream. The exclusion has a hegemonising effect over their minds, and
when it gets physicaF it gets confirmed and embedded with time. The root of the
problem, caste system, has not yet been directly questioned.
And, we may end with the words of Doudou Diène—United Nations Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance, 2002-08—who urges us to take action:

C o m b a tin g d is c rim in a tio n a g a in st D a lit w o m e n requires c e rta in ly w h a t you

have been fig h tin g fo r and expressing th is m o rn in g : g e ttin g th e necessary legal,
ju d ic ia ry and p o litic a l arm s to c o m b a t it. H ow ever ；th e exam ples o f S outh Africa,
th e U n ite d States and o th e r c o u n trie s show us th a t if you rem ain at th is level
o f c o m b a tin g d is c rim in a tio n th ro u g h th e law, y o u m ay n o t to u c h on th e fe rtile
w o m b o f d is c rim in a tio n . I re m in d y o u o f th e w o rd s o f B e rto ld Brecht, w h o said
a fte r th e Second W orld War: wThe w o m b is still fe rtile fro m w h ic h th e h um an beast
e m e rg e d /' W hat B recht was saying is th a t Nazism had been m ilita ry , p o litic a lly
and le g a lly e lim in a te d But th e c u ltu re , th e m e n ta lity , th e va lu e system w h ic h
had created it, was s till th e re . This is w h y I h ig h ly re co m m e n d yo u to g e t to th e
de e p ro o t causes o f w h y in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and
India you have caste-based d is c rim in a tio n . You have to go b e yo n d th e law. You
have to g e t to th e id e n tity c o n s tru c tio n s . How, o ve r centuries, th e Indian id e n tity
has been c o n stru c te d . All fo rm s o f d is c rim in a tio n can be traced h is to ric a lly and
in te lle c tu a lly . One o f th e key strategies o f th e racist, d is c rim in a tin g c o m m u n itie s
is to m ake us believe th a t d is c rim in a tio n is n atural, th a t it is p a rt o f nature, and
 Social Exclusion o f D alit W omen 449

th a t you have to a ccept it. This is p a rt o f th e ir id e o lo g ic a l w e a p o n and it is n o t

tru e . D is c rim in a tio n does n o t com e fro m th e cosm os. Caste-based d is c rim in a tio n
can be retraced and d e c o n s tru c te d to c o m b a t it. Please, e n gage in th is e thical
and in te lle c tu a l s tra te g y to u p ro o t w h a t is b u ild in g and cre a tin g th e c u ltu re and
m e n ta lity o f d is c rim in a tio n .22

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1 Nicholas Deakin, Ann Davis and Neil Thomas, Public Welfare Services and Social
Exclusion: The Development of Consumer Oriented Initiatives in the European Union (Dublin:
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 1995), 4.
2 Mayra Buvinic, Social Inclusion in Latin America in Social Exclusion and Economic
Development, edited by Mayra Buvinic, Jaqueline Mazza and Ruthane Deutsch, 3~32
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).
3 Sonalde Desai and Reeve Vanneman, 'Doing Gender: Caste and Gender in Action in India',
available at http://citation.allacademic.eom/meta/p_mla_apa_research_dtation/l/0/3/2/8/
pagesl03283/pl03283-l.php (accessed September 2016).
4 Sharmila Rege, *Caste and Gender: Hie Violence against Women in India in Dalit Women
in India: Issues and Perspectives^ edited by P. G. Jogdand (New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House,
1995), 30.
5 P. Spratt, Hindu Culture and Personality: A Psychoanalytic Study (Bombay: Manaktalas,
1966).
6 H. Whitehead, The Village Gods of South India (Calcutta: Oxford University Press, 1921),
250.
7 W. T. Elmore, Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism (Madras: Christian Literature Society,
1925), 35.
8 Ibid., 122-23.
9 R Spratt, Hindu Culture and Personality: A Psychoanalytic Study (Bombay: Manaktalas,
1966), 250.
1 0Uma Chakravarti, Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens (Calcutta: Stree, 2003), 81.
1 1Ibid., 85.
1 2 Quoted in T. A. Kaiyanakrishna Aiyar, Marriage Among the Malayalis^ Malabar
Quarterly Review^ vol.2, no. 4 (1903), 328.
1 3Uma Chakravarti drew from the work of Saskia Kersenboom-Story, Nityasumangali:
Devdasi Tradition in South India (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987); Amrit Srinivasan,
(Reform or Conformity: Temple Prostitution and the Community in the Madras Presidency,
in The Structures of Patriarchy: State, Communiy and Household in Modernising Asia, edited by
Bina Agrawal (Delhi: Kali for Women, 1988); Kalpana Kannabiran, Judiciary, Social Reform
and the Debate on Religious Prostitution in Colonial India, Economic and Political Weekly^
vol.30, no. 43 (1995)，W S59-69.
1 4 R. V. Russell and Hira Lai, Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of Indiay 4 vols
(London: Macmillan, 1916) vol.4,141-42.
1 5 E .Ihurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, 7 vols (Madras: Government Press,
1909), vol.5,444.
1 6Das and Massey, Dalit Solidarity^ 74.
450 Shura Darapuri

ヮ Gabriele Mayer and Andrea Pfeiffer,‘Gender relations and the spread of H I V5cAIDS’in
Stop Gender Injustice and the Spread ofH IV& AID SyEMS (available at https://ems-online.org/
uploads/media/Stop_Gender一Injustice一and—the—spread一of—HIVAIDS—web_2.pdf; accessed
September 2016), 5.
A. Ramaiah，‘Dalits’ Physical and Mental Health: Status， Root Causes and Challenges’
1 8

(Mumbai: Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 2007), unpublished document available on Scribd.
1 9Quoted in http://blogs.redifF.com/sexypablo/2007/ll/12/the-unfortunate-musahars/
(accessed Septemoer 2016)
20Patricia A. Resick and Monica K. Schnieke, Cognitive Processing Therapyfor Rape Victims:
j 騰 C A te 励 7(Newbury Park，CA: Sage，1993)，130.
Das and Massey, Dalit Solidarity^ 74.
2 1

'Human Rights and Dignity of Dalit Women,, Report of the conference in The Hague,
2 2

20-25 November 2006 (available at http://www.justiceandpeace.nl/pubIic/Publication/20/

download/Human%20Rights%20and%20Dignity%20of%20Dalit%20Women.pdf; accessed
September 2016)
 XXVIII

W H A T IF T H E U N T O U C H A B L E S D O N 'T
B E LIE V E IN U N T O U C H A B IL IT Y ?

Mark Juergensmeyer

Louis Dumont has argued persuasively that the concept of caste is not simply a form
of social stratification, but a way of looking at society as a whole.1 Dumont argues
that the Western mind' sees society as the relationship between individuals and the
mass, but that the Indian mind, sees relationships between groups (castes) and social
unity.2This holistic concept of Indian society is essentially religious, for it is based on
beliefs and values which reflect a sacred order, undergird religious institutions, and are
the subjects of religious texts. At the heart of these beliefs and values are the Hindu
concepts of purity/pollution, and the karmic cycle of birth and rebirth. Both these
concepts are intimately related to the notion of Untouchability; and without them,
the caste system would lose its religious legitimacy. The question, then, is whether the
Untouchables accept this logic, or whether it is forced upon ttiem. ”〜 一 ー ト 〜 '
Let us Begin wiWffie rëligiöüs According to Dumont, all
aspects of the logic of caste (are reducible to a single true principle, namely the
opposition of the pure and the impure/3 Dumont continues:

This o p p o s itio n underlies hierarchy w h ic h is th e s u p e rio rity o f th e pure to th e im pure,

underlies separation because th e pure and th e im p u re m u st be k e p t separate, and
underlies th e d iv is io n o f la b o r because pure and im p u re o c cu p a tio n s m u st likew ise
be k e p t separate. T h e w h o l e is f o u n d e d o n t h e n e c e s s a r y a n d h i e r a r c h i c a l c o e x is t e n c e

o f t h e t w o o p p o s ite s .4

Dumont^ statement brings wiae agreement, but there is no consensus on why the
polarity of purity and pollution is of such importance to Hinduism. According to
Dumont, the polarity corresponds to the war between nature and the spirit in which
'impurity corresponds to the organic aspect of man/5 Richard Lannoy advances
the apparently Freudian suggestion that purification is an overt imitation ... of
the infant^ dependence on the mother/6 Mary Douglas suggests that the purity/
impurity continuum in various cultures provides the function or imposing system on
an inherently untidy experience.，7 None of these explanations precludes the others,
and we might add a more basic one as well. If we observe the articles of pollution—*

* This chapter was originally published as ‘What if the Untouchables Don’t Believe in
UntouchabÜity?’5«/ん ムm な n, vol.12, .1(1980). 1 1 0
452 Mark Juergensmeyer

leather, dead animals, faeces, cut hair, sweat and other matter which has passed from
living tissue into rubbish—it is the elementary fear of death and bodily decay which
lurks behind the concept.
In any event, and for whatever reasons, the concepts are very much part of the
Hindu tradition. Only Gandhi and a few other modern reformers have denied their
importance for the integrity of the Hindu worldview8 and even fewer, if any, would
deny the importance of purity and pollution in the logic of the caste system.
Presumably, most upper caste persons believe in the concept of ritual pollution
as Dumont has stated it. Do the Untouchables share their belief? The answer to that
question is not immediately apparent. Like members of the upper castes, they appear
to observe the social customs regarding eating, smoking and fraternising only with
castes of their own social stratum. They regard as polluting any contact with peoples of
castes deemed even lower than they (and, of course, no caste will willingly accept the
notion that it is the lowest). Thus, they appear to accept the concept of ritual polluting.
But do they? Their acceptance of behavioural actions does not necessarily mean
that tHey accept the concepts which traditionally lie behind those actions. The beliefs
oflower caste villagers, and those of many other village folk as well, are quite different
from those of the 'high tradition. Their worldview is populated with good and evil
spirits which reside in trees and rocks, and which invest their powers in certain
people, words and symbols. A particular item ,qf food (a vegetable, for example, or
an animal) may be associated with a certain caste, and that caste will then refuse to
eat the item of totemic association—a matter that obviously has little to do with tKe
traditional avoidance of certain things for reasons of ritual pollution. And even when
inter-caste taboos are avoided by lower caste villagers, it may be because they fear the
wrath of a village god rather .than because they believe in the purity concepts of the
(high tradition.9The god may punish with disease those who break the taboo, and it
is that, rather. thaa,p〇niitibnVwhich they fear. …ー ー ー

Moreover, on those matters ofpollution which do not affect inter-caste relationships,

the Untouchables tend Jp ignpre ,the In eating meat， handling
dead animals or touching ather,such, proscribed p the Untouchables seldom
Eesitate, nor do they find it necessary to perform rituals ot ablution afterwards (nor
tor that matter after performing bodily and sexual functions considered unclean by the
tradition). It is as if the stigma of Untouchability has liberated them from the harmful
effects, öince they are already Untouchable, they cannot be thrust any lower.
Another indication that the lower castes reject the notion of pollution—at
least when applied to themselves—is found in their attitudes towards brahmans.
Brahmans, of course, regard Untouchables as inherently polluted beings who are
fundamentally different from themselves.The Untouchables, however, do not see this
difference. They regard brahmans as essentially no different than they, and their own
myths are crowded with accounts of how they were in fact brahmans themselves
in some earlier age or history. Their mythic plunge from brahman to Untouchable
status is not explained with reasons of their accretion of pollution, as a nigh tradition
explanation might have it, but rather because of some misfortune. Fate is the culprit.
In other myths, the lower caste people are portrayed as being brahmans in disguise,
 W h at I f the Untouchables D on^ Believe in Untouchability? • 453

prince-and-the-pauper tales of lost identities. One of the most famous stories about
the legendary lower caste saint-singer, Sant Ravi Das, involves an angry brahman
attacking the saint for his presumption, only to find a sacred thread lying under the
skin of his chest when it is slashed with a knife. The point of the story, quite literally,
is that all are brahmans beneath the skin.
An even more dramatic example of the disregard for the distinction between
brahmans and Untouchables is the existence of Untouchable brahmans. Presumably,
such a species is impossible under Hindu logic: for brahmans are the incarnation
of ritual purity and Untouchables the embodiment of pollution. The two cannot
go together. Yet, I have found Untouchable brahmans in the Punjab, and they exist
throughout India. These priests are by definition impure, a parody of priesthood.
Admittedly there are not many of them; but the phenomenon is not new. The Punjab
ethnography by Ibbetson, MäcLagan and Rose, based upon material collected for
them for the 1883,1892,1901 and 1911 census reports devotes a dozen pages to
the subject. They report some of the folk legends of the Untouchables which link
the phenomenon to the sant tradition of North India. In one of them, a group of
Untouchable brahmans was created by Sant Ravi Das:

A Brahm an, on his w ay to th e Ganges to bathe, m e t Ram Das, th e fam ous Cham ar
bhagat. Ram Das gave him tw o cow ries and to ld him to p resent th e m to G angaji
[Ganges] if she h eld o u t her hand fo r th e m . She d id so, and in re tu rn gave h im tw o
kangans [bracelets]. The Brahm an w e n t back to Ram Das w h o asked h im w h a t th e
goddess had g iven h im and hey in te n d in g to keep o ne o f th e tw o kangans, said she
had given one o n ly; b u t w h e n he lo o ke d fo r th e m th e y w ere n o t on his o w n b o d y
b u t in th e kunda [breeches] o f Ram Das. Ram Das th e n gave him th e bracelets and
w a rn e d th e Brahm an in fu tu re to accept g ifts o n ly fro m his descendants, o th e rw is e
gre a t m isfo rtu n e w o u ld b efall him . A cco rd in g ly, his descendants o n ly serve Chamars
to th is day.10

From the Untouchables, point of view, therefore, the concepts of purity and pollution
appear to have little weight among their own attitudes toward religion and social
values. For them, even religious priesthood is not reliant on ritual purity. Therefore, the
implication is clean Untouchables observe caste customs, but they do not seem fully
to accept the concepts of pollution and purity upon which the caste system is based.

T H E R E L IG IO U S L O G IC O F C A S T E : K A R M A

Much the same can be said about the Untouchables, attitude toward the Hindu
concept of the karmic cycle of birth and rebirth. According to Dumont, this concept
is linked with the concepts of purity and pollution in the logic of caste.11 Put simply,
the notion of the karmic cycle is that one’s present station in life (including one’s
caste) is the result of oneJs virtue or lack of it in a previous life. If one is born an
Untouchable, therefore, one must have deserved it, for it is an indication of grave sin
454 Mark Juergensmeyer

in a previous existence. It is popularly believed, and sometimes reported by scholars,

that the Untouchables' acceptance of this concept allows them to live with their low
status and onerous conditions. The following, a recent and remarkably inaccurate
statement by a missionary anthropologist, demonstrates this misunderstanding:

The Chamars and, in fact, all th e H in d u villa g e p e o p le o f n o rth e rn India believe

in karm a, a fu ll re trib u tio n in th e n e x t life fo r ail a person's actions ... A Chamar,
consequently, has to a ttrib u te his lo w social status and his hard e c o n o m ic c o n d itio n
to his sins c o m m itte d in a fo rm e r life and he can rid h im s e lf o f these bad effects o n ly
by acce p tin g his hard life as a ju s t p u n is h m e n t fo r his fo rm e r sins. A ny d efiance o f
th e in e xo ra b le law o f karm a and any a tte m p t to im p ro ve his social and e co n o m ic
status w o u ld p re v e n t his a tta in m e n t o f a b e tte r life in his n e x t b irth , A/o d o u b t th is
b e lie f is p a rtia lly responsible fo r th e meekness and p assivity w ith w h ic h th e Chamars
accept th e ir present hard lo t. it also p a rtia lly accounts fo r th e ir lack o f in itia tiv e in
im p ro v in g th e ir really bad liv in g c o n d itio n s .12:

The very fact that there have been social movements among Untouchables, such
as those of Dr Ambedkar among the Mahars of Maharashtra and the Ad-Dharm
movement In the Punjab13, is sufficient refutation of the notion that the Untouch­
ables have a lack of initiative,, and Accept their present hard lot1with (meekness
and passivity'. Moreover, there is some question as to whether the majority of
Untouchables even believe in the concept of the karmic cycle of birth and rebirth.
The lack of enthusiasm by Untouchables regarding the concept of rebirth as a
justification for their oppression has been noted by several anthropologists. In
Bernard Cohrfs study of village Chamars in Uttar Pradesh, he found that (they do
not have any ideas about rebirth1and that, in any event, they do not accept karma
as an explanation for their conditions.14 Similar observations have been made by
Gerald Berreman, Kathleen Gough and André Béteille, who suggest that the theory
of karma is in general less acceptable to Harijans than to upper castes.15 A case
study by Pauline Kolenda indicates that the concept of karma has little currency also
among the sweepers, the Chuhra caste.16
In my survey of Punjab Scheduled Caste communities?I raised both questions:
belief in the karmic cycle of rebirth, and (assuming that the respondent believed in
rebirth), belief that ones present fate was the result of acts committed in a previous
life. The responses indicated that the majority of all respondents did not believe in
the karmic cycle, but even fewer Scheduled Caste respondents professed belief in the
concept than upper caste respondents* The following table indicates the percentage
of affirmative answers to each question:17

Belief in rebirth Belief that ones conditions

resultedfrom previous life
Scheduled Caste Respondents 39% 29%
Upper Caste Respondents 47% 15%
 W h at I f the Untouchables D o n t Believe in Untouchability? 455

It is interesting to note that a smaller percentage of upper-caste respondents believed

that their present conditions were the result of actions in their previous lives, so
there is some indication that the lower castes accept a religious justification for their
conditions more than upper castes do for theirs. But.the more significant fact is that
fewer Scheduled Caste respondents even believe in the concept.1。 Like the concepts
of pollution and purity, the concept of karma does not play a significant role in the
belief systems of the Untouchables. Since these are regarded as necessary for the
logic of caste, one might conclude that the caste system is not a necessary or natural
outgrowth of the Untouchables own religious beliefs; and one would not expect the
Scheduled Castes to apply the concept of caste any more than is required of them for
social conventions.
The fact that the Untouchables do observe the social, conventions of caste even
though they do not necessarily believe in the value assumptions undergirding the
taste system, is an illustration that behaviour and values need not be congruent.
Dumont credits that fact for the existence of caste in areas of Indian culture which do
not have the underlying Hindu concepts, such as the Indian Muslim and Christian
communities.19 Berreman, in observing the same phenomenon, concludes that
Value concensus is not essential to successful social interaction, but that behavioral
articulation is essential/20 and the Sanskrit scholarJ. F. Staal, has described Hinduism
as an orthopraxy^ rather than an orthodoxy; it requires obedience of practice rather
than of faith.21
Thus, the Untouchable castes are ordinarily obedient in following the dictates of
caste observance when they interact in the larger Hindu society. But they should not
be expected to be rigorous about the concept of caste among their fellow Untouch­
ables, if among them even the bases for believing in caste is lacking.

A N E C O N O M IC B A S IS FO R L O W E R C A S T E ID E N T IT Y

If the untouchables do not believe in the concepts that legitimate caste, then what
holds them together as a group? The obvious answer is their common experiences of
social prejudice from the upper castes. And yet there is more of a sense of collective-
identity among the lower castes than would be warranted by merely a uniformity of
response to prejudice. There are social and economic differences which distinguish
the lower castes as a group from the larger society.
In general, the social habits and mores of the Scheduled Castes are more flexible
than those of upper castes. Scheduled Castes are more liberal over the taboos
against meat, of all kinds—even beef. Divorce is permissible, although not espe­
cially honourable.22The Scheduled Castes have a reputation for using country liquor,
marijuana and narcotics1—sources of solace for the poor and disenchanted the world
over. The family patterns tend to be nuclear23 rather than the large joint families
which usually characterise the village society. Perhaps this is due to the possibility of
divorce, but more likely it is due to the mobility of the Scheduled Caste families. Out
456 Mark Juergensmeyer

of occupational necessity some Scheduled Caste nuclear families must live apart from
their joint families in order to live near their upper caste employers; other families
drift apart in search of work.24 The language dialects of the scheduled Castes are in
some areas different from those of the upper castes, and the Scheduled Castes have
channels of communication quite their own.25 Traditionally, caste panchayats have
provided them, with separate social and political institutions. That role within this
century has been played by lower caste religious and social movements. Beneath all
of these social and cultural elements of the sub-societies of the lower castes is a basic,
unifying economic fact as well: despite their traditional caste occupations, most of
them in the villages are all engaged in landless agricultural labour.
The Scheduled Castes all have been employed under the general rubric of
Agricultural labour* with varying degrees of security and comfort. These economic
roles have change in time. The sorts of conditions which effected changes in labour
arrangements for the Scheduled Castes included the following: economic pressures
on the upper castes, either through famine or debt, which enabled them to support less
family labour; consolidation of land-holdings, which also required fewer families and
encouraged wage-rate arrangements; alienation of land ownership, which promoted
the tenant relationships; shortages of labour, which raised the daily-wage prices; and
labour surpluses, which drove the Scheduled Castes towards economic relationships
offering greater security.
For most of this century, there appears to have been a general increase in the
numbers of seasonal labourers, lured by cash wages away from the traditional roles.
The increase in seasonal labourers has also been due to another trend developing
throughout the past century: the erosion of the tenancy and sharecropping systems,
Evidence of both trends are indicated in census returns where the numbers of £farm
servants and field labourers' have risen and the income from the rent of agricultural
land has decreased. Even as early as 1911, significant shifts may be charted, which
have continued throughout the century.26
The decrease of tenant cultivators is apparently a peculiarity of the 20th century.
According to some observers in the Punjab,27 the tenancy system there gained wide
frequency during the latter part of the nineteenth century, because British policies
encouraged large landholdings. Tenancy patterns complemented the system of
multiple landholdings. Progressively during this century a greater centi'alisatiorx
of land control and the discouragement of absentee landlordism28 resulted in the
abandonment of tenant cultivation-The more efficient, centralised land-holdings did
not need tenants, and relied instead upon wage-labour. This meant that the Scheduled
Castes who were formerly tenants were making a step downward in status, as wage-
labourers, or as family labour with no land rights. Ironically, the wages of daily labour
were relatively better than the income of tenants.29But, the status was not the same.
Since Independence, the increased efficiency of agricultural productivity in the
Punjab as elsewhere has created a new trend in landless labour: a seasonal surplus
during most of the year, with a brief labour shortage during the immediate harvest
season.30 The general effect has been to drive labour to the cities, where more
permanent employment may be found in industrial labour (thus producing the
 W h at I f the Untouchables D onJt Believe in Untouchability? 457

phenomenon of large Scheduiea Caste labour colonies in and around the cities).
During the harvest season, large numbers of landless labourers are trucked to the
fields as migrant labourers from nearby Uttar Pradesh a_nd Rajasthan. In relative
terms, therefore, the labour conditions ox tne Scheduled Castes have not improved
substantially since Independence.
Within the whole of the last century, the conditions have actually declined, due
to the shifts from one form of labour to another. The various forms of agricultural
labour which we have discussed are not caste-specific. The distinctions among
Scheduled Castes, such as those between Chuhra and Chamar, are not relevant to
labour categories, although in some villages all of one caste may be employed in
seasonal labour, and the other by tenant cultivators. But, in general, the great mass of
agricultural labour is precisely that—a mass undifferentiated by caste. Trends in the
19th century indicate that the lower castes increasingly tend to identify themselves
by that general category of landless iabourer rather than by their traditional caste
occupations, and their conditions as labourers have become relatively worse over the
years, both in job security and income. Therefore, the economic ingredientsiiave been
present, at least since the turn of the 20th century, for massive unrest among the
labourers as a social group. In the social movements of the mid-1920s and 1930s, this
unrest became a potent force with mass support.

S O C IA L P E R S P E C T IV E A N D S O C IA L C O N S C IO U S N E S S

Max Weber has made a clear distinction between class and caste, which, for Weber, was
illustrative of the differences between economic divisions and social stratification.31
In the case of the Punjab Scheduled Castes, we have seen that the two kinds of
categories are not always coincident. The concept of caste, especially among the
Scheduled Castes, is weak within the Punjab, and rather than the fragmentation
into myriad castes, we find two large—and sometimes overlapping—caste groups,
the Chuhra and the Chamar. The two groups have many similarities and some
differences. The physical location of the Chamar and Chuhra in villages indicates
their separateness—and the ambiguity of their separateness. The Chamar and Chu­
hra castes live in areas separate from one another, but their quarters are usually next
to one another, outside or at the fringes of the upper-caste living areas.
Are the Untouchable castes in fact な、 or do they comprise a separate ゴ
They have characteristics of both. But the interesting feature of this issue is that
there is a divergence of agreement, following social lines. The Scheduled Castes
seem to view themselves as a class, and the upper castes view them as castes. In my
survey, I found that 84 per cent of the Untouchable caste respondents thought that
*all Scheduled Castes are essentially the same^ whereas considerably less of the upper
caste respondents viewed the Scheduled Castes as an undifferentiated whole.
Moreover, the respondents' opinions regarding the reasons for the oppressed
conditions of the lower castes also reflected a difference in social perspective between
the upper castes and lower castes. In answer to my question about the cause of social
458 Mark Juergensmeyer

prejudice against the Scheduled Castes, the majority of the upper castes replied
because of social customs*, whereas the majority of Scheduled Caste respondents
said, because of our hard work and our poverty\
Hie implication of these responses is that there is a difference of social perspective.
In the worldview of the upper castes, the Scheduled Castes are the unfortunate
extensions of society s social logic. But, in the worldview of the Scheduled Castes,
there are only the rich and the poor, those within the higher society and those within
their own. Perhaps the most direct indication that the Scheduled Caste perspective is
set in a consciousness of poverty was given in response to my open-ended question.
'Who are you?7一 the largest number of Scheduled Caste respondents said simply, a
poor person.
If one accepts a concept of class as a cultural and political unit, as well as an
economic one, then one might argue that class identity among the Untouchable
caste eventually may replace caste identity, rather than co-exist with it. In India,
Ghurye has argued, the traditional patterns of caste are gradually givmg way to
stratifications of class.32 It is a process which Ghurye regards as unavoidable and
welcome. For Ghurye the hereditary nature of caste occupations is the critical
feature which must be changed to transform the rigidities of caste into the more
fluid social categories or class.
Economic changes have already come about, for the most part, early xn the 20th
century. But, the consciousness of those changes and class identities based upon them
arrived later, through the activities of social movements. As Thomas Metcalf noted in
his analysis of the development of agricultural classes in the nineteenth century, ([the]
reasons for the lack of class consciousness among the peasantry lie primarily in the
fact that they had neither the means nor the motivation to organize as an effective
political force/33 A similar emphasis on organisation is given by Lloyd and Suzanne
Rudolph:

By a cq u irin g a class consciousness th a t w o u ld u n ite a sense o f e co n o m ic e x p lo ra tio n

w ith questions o f d ig n ity and status, u n to u c h a b le landless laborers m ig h t, given
e ffe ctive and u n ite d le adership and o rg a n iz a tio n and p ro p itio u s circum stances ；be
w e ld e d in to a re v o lu tio n a ry force.34

The Rudolphs were doubtful about the possibilities of such revolutionary forces
occurring, at least in the countryside. Yet, in the guise of religious movements,
there have been organisational attempts to unite the Untouchables into forces which
are keen on improving their depressed conditions. Moreover, it is the religious
differences between upper castes and lower castes which make class consciousness
possible in the first place. As we have seen, the absence of the religious concepts
underlying caste, allow the Untouchables to perceive society—and their own social
conditions—differently. It is these differences, which have made the Untouchables
uneasy participants in the cultural life of the dominant society, and wmch have
impelled them to form their own independent religious and social organisations.
Even if the Untouchables don^ believe in Untouchability, the fact remains that
 W hat I f the Untouchables D o n t Believe in Untouchability? 459

many other people in India do; and the social and economic implications of that fact
continue to be powerful forces for lower-caste solidarity.

N O T E S A N D REFER EN C ES

1 Louis Dumont, Homo Hierarchicas: The Caste System and Its Implications^ translated by
Mark Sainsbury (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970).
2 W hether this view is unique to India is a subject of debate. There is also a strong argument
for the intercultural occurrence of caste; see Gerald D. Berreman, Structure and Function of
Caste Systems, in Japans Invisible Race: Caste in Culture and Personality^ edited by George de
Vos and Hiroshi Wagatsuma, 277-307 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967).
3 Dumont, Homo Hierarchicus, 43.
4 Ibid.; emphasis in the original.
5 Ibid., 50.
6 Richard Lannoy, The Speaking Tree: A Study of Indian Culture and Society (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1971), 156.
7 Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966), 4.
8 The attempts of 19th and 20th century Hindu reformers to extricate caste concepts from
Hinduism are described in Donald E. Smith, India is a Secular State (Princeton: Princeton
University P ress,1963), Chapter 1 1 .Ih e contrast between Ambedkar and Gandhi^ view
of Hinduism is described by André Béteille, Tollution and Poverty' in The Untouchables in
Contemporary India^ edited by J. Michael Mahar, 411-20 (Tucson: University of Arizona Press,
1972).
9 For a thorough account of the animistic beliefs of lower caste villagers, see George W.
Briggs, The Chamars (Calcutta: Associated Press, and London: Oxford University Press, 1920).
Also, see my chapter on the religion of village untouchables in Mark Juergensmeyer, Religion as
Social Vision: The Movement against Untouchability in 20th-Century Punjab (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1982). I am grateful to Kathleen Gough for her reinforcements of these
points, based upon her own experience in South India, in written comments in response to an
earlier draft of this chapter.
Denzil ïbbetson, E. D. MacLagan and H. A. Rose, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of
1 0

the Punjab (Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press,1911),141.

11 Dumont, Homo HierarchicuSy 55.
1 2 Stephen Fuchs, <rIhe Religio-Ethical Concepts of the Chamars in Northern India,
Missiology: An International Review^ v o l.4, n o .1 (January 1976), 50-51. The grammatical
mistake in the first sentence of the quotation is undoubtedly a typographical error. It is curious
that Fuchs conveys such stereotypes, since his earlier book Rebellious Prophets: A Study of
Messianic Movements in Indian Religions (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1965) records a
number of movements in which the lower castes had participated.
See Mark Juergensmeyer, {A d Dharm: Religion of Untouchables,, Times of Indiay 12
1 3

October 1975. Also, Juergensmeyer, Religion as Social Vision, which features this movement
prominently.
Bernard S. Cohn, Changing Traditions of a Low Caste* in Traditional India: Structure
1 4

and Change^ edited by Milton Singer, Bibliographical and Special Series, v o l.10 (Philadelphia:
American Folklore Society, 1959), 207.
460 Mark Juergensmeyer

15 Berreman, Structure and Function of Caste Systems1, 311: Béteille, Tollution and
Poverty*, 413; Kathleen Gough and Hari Sharma, ed., Imperialism and Revolution in South Asia
(New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973), 234.
16 Pauline Kolenda, 'Religious Anxiety and Hindu Fate* in Religion in South Asia, edited by
E. Harper (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1964).
1 7Both groups of respondents—Scheduled Caste and upper caste—were of varied castes and
of mixed urban-rural localities. There were no significant differences among the castes within
the two groups, however there were some differences between urban and rural respondents
in both groups. As a result, the discrepancy between upper-caste belief in karma and lower-
caste disbelief was even wider in rural areas than the 4 フ per cent or 39 per cent division
shown in the list. The upper-caste urban respondents tended to show less belief in karma,
presumably because of their less traditional attitudes. The lower-caste urban respondents一
especially the Balmikis of Jullundur— — showed greater belief in karma, apparently in an effort
of Sanskxitization to emulate the beliefs of the higher castes. In the villages too, the few lower-
caste respondents who professed belief in karma tended to be upwardly mobile and better-
educated. The statistical results of the survey are in an Appendix to my dissertation, Tolitical
Hope: Scheduled Caste Movements in the Punjab', submitted to the Department of Political
Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1974.
1 8 The lower-castes' ideas about lire after death are mixed, including the notions of
wandering spirits—ghosts and benign spirits—as well as places for souls to rest, similar to
Western notions of heaven and hell.
1 9 See Dumont, Comparison: Are there Castes among Non-Hindus and Outside India^
in H om o H ierarchicus.
2 0 Berreman/Structure and Function of Caste Systems', 288, italics in the original. Berreman
cites the work of Anthony Wallace and C. W right Mills m support of this hypothesis.
2 1 J. F. Staal, Sanskrit and Sanskritization^/owrw^/ o f A sia n Studies, v o l./2 , no. 3 (1963),
reprinted in John A. Harrison, ed., A s ia : E n d u rin g Scholarship (Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 1972).
2 2 Marriage and family customs are described in Briggs, Chamars^ Chapter 4.
2j Ihis and other generalisations are based on the statistics of my survey, corroborated by my
observation of a wide variety of Schedulea Caste neighbourhoods in the Punjab.
In my survey, I found a high percentage of Scheduled Caste men who had been born in
locations different from their present places o f residence: upper-caste families tend to be less
mobile, since they are rooted in family landholdings. There are a number of minor scheduled
Castes who originally had wandered into the Punjab as semi-nomadic tribes. Also, the 1891
census and early th century census indicate that during harvest seasons Scheduled し aste
2 0

labourers came from other states, such as UP and Rajasthan as migrant labourers, as they still
do today; many of these migrants then became permanent residents.
2 5 Regarding Scheduled Caste dialects, and their distinct difference from that of the upper
castes, see John J, Gumperz, d ia le c t Differences and Social Stratification m a North Indian
V\]ï^g&\ Journal of Asian Studies,vo\. 22 (June 1964). For separate channels of communication
among the Scheduled Castes, see Robert J. Miller and Pramodh Kale, £lh e Burden on the
Head is Always There* in The Untouchables in Contemporary Inäiayedited by J. Michael Mahar
(Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1972).
26Tihe rise of farm workers was 174.9 per cent, the loss of rent revenue 9 per cent (Subsidiary
Table VII of chapter XÏL, Punjab Census O f 1911, reprinted as Punjab Census^ Part A, Chapter
XI, 369 [1921]).The Census narrative is openly sceptical about the accuracy or comparability
of its own figures. Nonetheless, on the issue of increasing wage-rate labour and decreasing
 W h at I f the Untouchables D o n t Believe in Untouchability? 461

tenancy, the Census figures confirm the recollections of two old watchers of Punjab ag­
ricultural conditions. Personal interview with Gurbax Singh Diwan, General Secretary of the
Communist Party of India, Punjab, dated 4 June 1971; Personal interview with Satwant Singh,
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Punjab,
dated 12 July 1971.
2 7 Personal interview with Gurbax Singh Diwan and Satwant Singh.
2 8 In part, absentee landlordism was discouraged through the Punjab Alienation of Land
Act, 1900 which prohibited non-agricultural castes from owning land. Hie intention was to
keep the moneylenders from taking over huge amounts of mortgaged farmland.
2 9 In 1940, the land rents for tenants were as high as 80 per cent of the profits according
to H. D. Malaviyas 1955 report (Land Reform in India1. Quoted in Charles Bettelheim, In d ia
Independent^ translated by W. A. Caswell (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971),21.
3 0 In a government report, one section or Ludhiana district was reported to have gained in
gross agricultural income from Rs 4650 in 1968, whereas the net return calculated per farm
labourer (both family and wage labour) rose from Rs 1413 to Rs 3192 in the same time period;
J. S. Sandhu, Farm Accounts in theP unjaby 1 9 6 7 -6 8 ^Government of Punjab (1970), 31.This
would seem to indicate that the cultivator was getting more for his money per farm labourer in
1968 than in 1950 (due to greater efficiency, presumably), and that he therefore needed less of
them. Ih e amount of expenditure on farm labourers, incidentally, rose from Rs 867 to only Rs
1458 during that same time period, thereby reinforcing the point; ibid., 31.
3 1 Max Weber, W irtsch aft und G esellschaft: P a rt I I (Tubingen: M o h r,1922), 6357. Weber
makes a similar point in The R e lig io n o f In d ia : The Sociology o f H in d u ism an d Buddhism ^
translated and edited by Hans H. Gerth and Don Martindale (New York: The Free Press,
1958 [1920]), 39.
3 2Modern scholarship in India on the subject of caste began with G. S. Ghurye^ Caste and
Race in In d ia (London: Kegan Paul, 1932) reissued in 1950 as Caste an d Class in In d ia ).
3 3Thomas R. Metcalf, £Land Tenure and Rural Class Consciousness: Ih e North-West
Provinces and Oudh in the Nineteenth Century', unpublished paper, University of California,
Berkeley (August 1964)，6.
3 4 Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, The M o d e rn ity o f T ra d itio n : P o litic a l
D evelopm ent in In d ia (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967), 151.
 C O N T R IB U T O R S

B. R. Ambedkar (1891-19^)〇j, also known as Babasaheb, was an orator, writer,

editor, jurist, philosopher, anthropologist, historian, economist, political leader, and a
revivalist for Buddhism in India. He was also Chairman of the Drafting Committee
of the Indian Constitution.
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay is Professor, School of History, Philosophy Political science
and International Relations, Victoria University of Willington.
Raj Sekhar Basu is Associate Professor, Department of History, University of
Calcutta.
R. G. Bhandarkar (1837-1925) was a scholar, orientalist and social reformer, who
taught at Elphinstone College and Deccan College and retired as Vice Chancellor,
University of Bombay.
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya is former Vice-Chancellor, Visva-Bharati University,
Santiniketan; former Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi;
and former Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Shura Darapuri is Associate Professor, Department of History, Babasaheb Bhimrao
Ambedkar UniversityyLucknow.
Bhagwan Das (1927-2010)， was a prominent Ambedkarite writer and lawyer who
practiced law in the Supreme Court of India.
M. K. Gandhi (1869-1948) was a barrister, writer, orator and the pre-eminent
political and ideological leader of the Indian independence movement.
G. K. Gokhale (1866-1915) was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress,
founder of the Servants of India Society, and one of the early social and political
leaders in the Indian Independence movement
Gopal Guru is Professor, Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
K. R. Hanumanthan was Professor of History, Madurai Kamraj University and the
first General Secretary of Tamil Nadu History Congress.
Vikram Harijan is Assistant Professor, Department of History, Allahabad University.
Stephen Henningham holds a PhD in South Asian Studies from the Australian
National University.
464 Contributors

Suvkajaiswal is former Professor of History，Jawaharlal Nehru University, New

Delhi, and former General President of Indian History Congress, 2008-09.
Vivekanand Jha was former Director, Indian Council of Historical Research, and
editor of the Indian Historical Review and Itihas.
Mark Juergensmeyer is Professor of Sociology and Director, Orfalea Center for
Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara.
K. A. Manikumar is former Professor of History, Manonmaniam Sundaranar
University, Tirunulveli.
G. A. Natesan (1873-1948) was a writer, journalist, politician and freedom-fighter,
and founder and proprietor of G. A. Natesan & Co. which published nationalist
books and a journal of the time, The Indian Review.
Gail Omvedt is former Professor in Sociology, Indira Gandhi National Open
University, New Delhi.
Bharat Patankar is a leading activist of Shramik Mukti Dal and or the peasant
movement in south Maharashtra.
AtuI Chandra Pradhan is former Professor of History, Utkal University.
Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928), popularly known as Punjab Kesari or Sher-e~Punjab
(Lion of Punjab), was an author, freedom fighter, politician, and leader in the Indian
Independence movement.
B. T. Ranadive (1904-1990), popularly known as BTR, was an Indian communist
politician and trade union leader.
Yagati Cninna Rao is Professor and Chairperson, Centre for the Study of
Discrimination ana £xclusion, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New l^elhi.
Ramnarayan S. Rawat is Associate Professor, Department of History, University of
Delaware, USA.
Valerian Rodrigues is former Professor of Political Science, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi.
Benoy Kumar Sarkar (1887-1949) was an Indian social scientist, professor and
nationalist who was also the professor and head of the Department of Economics,
University of Calcutta.
Adapa Satyanarayana is former Professor of History, Osmania University,
Hyderabad.
Priyadarshini Vijaisri is Associate Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, Delhi.
Lleanor Zelliot (1926-2016) was Laird Bell Professor of History Emerita, Carleton
College, Minnesota, Northfield, USA.
 IN D E X

achhut identity 9 Atharvaveda 90

achhutodhar 257 atri 110
Act 1955, Protection of Civil Rights, 377, atrocities 4,380-81
378 avarnas 122
Act of 1935, Government of India 364,375
Ad-dharm (is) 250,257,281，283,284 backward classes 233,240
Ad-dharm movement 17,452 Bahujan Samaj Party 265
Adi-Andhra Mahasabha 333,334,338 Baidyas 297
Adi-Andhra movement 11,316,332,335 Balais 48,49 、
Adi-Andhra(s) 281,315,316,317?318,321 Balmikis 260
Adi-Dravida(s) 240,276, 357,392,398,399, Balmikis 382
400,402 Balutedari 274,277,280
Adi-Dravida Mahajana Sabha 315 Bana 110
Adi-Hindu movement 281 Baroda 36,42
Adi-Hindu(s)11,259,260,265 Begari 9
Adivasi(s)12,278,385,386,387,389 Bengal 250,295,297
All India Kisan Sabha 288,289,290 Bengal, Kayasthas of 60
Alvars(s) 6，130，131， 138 Bhagya Reddi Varma 11,313, 314, 315, 318,
Ambedkar, B. R. 2-5,9,12,14,16,18,21,54, 319,330,332,332,338
70, 81,106, 231,233, 237, 239, 241,242, Bhakti movement 130
250, 252, 254, 263, 257, 282, 283, 284, Bhakti traditions 258
285, 303, 342, 343, 345, 346, 349, 350, Bhangi(s) 228
361-67, 378, 383, 413-15, 442, 443, 446, Bhutiyas 62
442,452 Bidalakar 102
Andhra 11,16,180,275, 288, 312, 321,332, Bihar 12,278,288
327 Black Town 149,150
angiras 110 Bombay 31,40,232,239,278
antya 103 Bonnerji, W. C. 3,48,50
antyajas 373 brahmins 58,61,62, 91,94
antyavasin 103,104 Brahmo Samaj 40,281,321,332,
anuloma 139 British 7,13,32, 75,181，183,223,226,227,
Arya Samaj 35,37,38,281，282,321， 374 250, 277, 279, 282, 284, 296, 357, 358,
Aryan theory of race 279 359,374,376,396,398
Aryans 5,37,43, 63, 81，90,92,94，102,330 Buddha 44,45
Aryavarta 122, Buddhism 107,127, 276, 346, 347, 348, 351,
asprsya 108 352,367
Arthasastra 103,104 Buddhist conversion 233,235,342
asvamedha 102
Asvapaia 110 Cabinet Mission 9,251-57,260,264
466 Index

Cankam (Sangam) age 123,124,126,129 Dasa 102

Carmakara 105,108 Dayananda, Swami 35,37
Caste-Hindus 18, 67, 73?136,235,238, 250, Depressed Classes 4,12,25, 40, 41,228,230,
253, 273, 280, 2 8 1 ,286, 291, 302, 314, 231, 232, 237, 238, 285, 287, 312, 331,
316,321 ，328,329,335- 38,345,360,368, 342,357,358,359,360,361-67,375,378,
378 383,393
Chakkilians 138 Depressed Classes Conference 21
Chakmas 63 Depressed Classes League 255, 377
Chakwara 49 Depressed Classes Women Conference 446
Chamar(s) 9, 60, 61，62, 249, 253, 257, 265, devadasi system 440
275,276,320,374,379,382,452,455 Dhanuks 382
Chambhar(s) 4 5 ,176, 225, 227, 228, 229, Dsharmasastra (s) 5, 62, 88, 91，104,108，122,
232,243,260 129,188
Chandala(s) 41，43, 44,102 ,103 ,104,105, Dhig-vana 43
106,108,109,110,122,133,297,299 Dhor 225,228
chaturvarna system 6,125 Dhusis 382
Cherumans 281 Domba 109 ^
Chhotanagpur 63 Doms 87
Christians/Christianity 33, 343, 345, 374, Dravidians 5, 81，351
421， 422
Chuhra 257,382,455 East India Company 149,156,157,158,163
Chuklers 172 Ezhavas 130,361
Cilapoathikaram 123,128
Civakacintamam 132 Feudalism, Indian caste 276,279
Civil Disobedience movement 301 Fort St George 149,150,158
Communal Award 51,52,286,363
Communist movement 294 Gamata puranam 193
Congress, Indian National, 3,10, 47, 67, 73, Gandhi 416
77, 237, 250-52, 254, 255, 257, 258, 265 Gandhi, M.K, 237
282, 296, 322, 357, 359, 360, 361，376, Gandhi, Mahatma 2,3,4,13,32,67,73,226,
383,389,392,393,415 254,255,259,285,286,357,358,359 360,
Constituent Assembly 9, 251,252, 255, 259, 361,362, 363, 375, 376, 377, 378, 392,
287,359,366,368,369 398,400
Gokhale, G. K. 2,21,39
Dalit discourse (s)13,170 Golla(s) 173,174,189-193,208
Dalit identity 12,342,343,351
Dalit movement 17,26,27,273,275,280-82, Halalkhor 225
285, 287, 288, 289, 292, 322, 332, 333, Harijan(s) 11-13,21,110,251,252,256,312,
335,338 322,385,389,392
Dalit Panthers 235,241,243 Harijan campaign, Gandhi 393-97
Dalit Rangabhumi 240,241 Harijan Sevak Sangh 11，68,286,335,337，
Dalit Studies 1,8,11,18 Hart, George L. 5,82,83,84
Dalit theatre 240, Hindu Code Bill 345,365
Dalits 8,13,16,26, 223, 225, 231，234, 235, Hindu Union Club 31
238,243,249-253,258,259,207-78,280, Hinduism 4,33,40,41，53,55,204,345,346,
282, 283, 284, 285, 288, 290, 291，316, 347,350,365,373,401
327,330,332,336,338,348,352 Hoiar 225,226
 Index 467

Holeyas 275 Madiga(s) 7 , 170,180,188-93,193-95,202,

hook-swinging 185,202 205.208.209.275.282.328.382.440
Hyderabad 11,312,314, 318, 319 Madras 6, 8 , 1 4 7 ,1 4 9 ,1 5 0 ,1 5 1 ， 152,155,
156，158，160-163,422
Inam s 2 1 A Madras Depressed Classes Conference 363
Indian Statutory Commission 225, 363 Madras Legislative Council 394， 396， 397,
Indie tradition 202,203 403
Islam 374,382 Madurai 125,130,139
Itankai 137 Magadha 103,106,108,129
Mahabharagta 94
Jagjivan Ram 255-57,259 MaliEir(s) 8, 41， 44, 45, 52, 223, 224, 224,
Jain(ism) 122,127,130 227—30, 232, 236—37, 241，243,273, 275,
Jajm an il82,274 ,277,280 278,282,379,380,382,452 へ
Jam bavapurana 193 Mahar Regiment 2 4 3 , 380
Jatakas 106 Mahishya 61
Jatav(s) 9 ,249,257,260,265 Mala ( s ) 180, 181，188, 200, 275, 316, 320,
Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal 4 328, 331
Julaha (s) 374 Malis 223
Jungitas, jati 122 Mang(s) 224,228,229,236,379,380
Jungitas, karma 122 Manikkavacakar 131
Jungitas, sareera 122 Manimekalai 123,127
Justice Party 13,282,334 Manu 105,106,108,122,300
Manu dharmasastra 129
Kabir Panthis 260 Manusmriti 104,163,283
Kaivarta(s) 102,105 Matangi 7, 8 , 173，194, 201 ，205, 207, 208,
K a litto g a i 129 209.211.440
Kammalan 150,152,153,154 Matangs 276
Karachi Congress Resolution d, 2hA Mathamma 201,207,208
K atam a R a ju K a th a 190—92 Mazbhis 383
Katis 379 Mehtars 379, 380
Kautilya 103 Mocha 225
Kayasthas 6 2 ,297 Montagu-Chelmsford 281, 300, 321,332
Kemla 19,125,130,282 ,2 8 3 ,288 Mundas 63
Kisan sabha 13 Musahar 12, 386, 387,389
Kolupu 7 ,8 ,173，193， 198 Muslim League 250,360
Krishak Praja Party 303 Muslims 73,76,285,297,298,301,302,303,
kula devatalu 8 334,345,346,352,375-78
kula purana(s) 171,190
kula vrutti 192 Nadars 421,422
Kumaon 95,263 Namashudra(s) 61 ，250, 281 ，291 ，296, 297,
Kumbhar(s) 224, 298,301 ，303,357
Kunbis 224 Namashudra Sabha 383
Nayanars 6,130,131,138
Lepchas 62 Nisada(s) 43, 85,102,105,109
low caste (s)10, 93,129,200,295, non-Brahmins 57-59, 93,275,281,282

Madhya Pradesh 16 outcaste(s)1 ,170,171,174,180,185,198

468 Index

Pakasa 43 Round Table Conference 286, 359, 363,

Palayam system 138 375,376
Paliar(s)139,275
Pallava(s) 6,129,132 Sanatan Dharma 4,35,132
Panar(s)178 Sanatanist(s) 4, 35,400
Panchamas 318,360, 373 Santals 12,60, 388
Pandya(s) 7,132 Saraswati, Dayanand 40
Paraiah/Paraiyan(s) 4,15, 57, 62, 63, 82, 84, Sargawanshi Mahar Sabha 383
96,124,131，133,136,138,150 ,155,159, Satyashodhak Samaj 281，291，
160,379 Scheduled Caste Federation 5, 9, 69, 70, 75,
Paraittariyirai 136 249, 254, 255, 257, 258, 260, 262, 263,
Pasis 250 264,281，287,290,366,379
Paulkasa 102 Scheduled Castes 73, 74, 235,260, 261，262y
Periapuranam 133 296,312,375,378,379,383,384,405,453,
Perunkatai 128 455
Peshwa(s) 4,223,225 Self-Respect movement 281,282,291
Phuie, Jotirao 225,236,357,415,416 separate electorates 73, 74,285,
pollution 31,121,194,205,274,449,450 Shakta tradition 201,202
Poona 8,48,224,225,229,238 Shanars 361
Poona pact 8,13,249,250,256,260,261,286, shudra(s)104,172,205
364,365,377 Sikhs 374,380
pratiloma 103 ' Simla Conference 254
Pravara 91 Simon Commission 285
Pudukkottai 137 Social Conference, Indian 2,47,48,236
Pukkasa 105 social exclusion 2,19,20,439
Pulaiyar(s)131,133,138,139,281,361 Social Reform Party 47,50
Pulkasa 43,44 Svapac(h)a 43,103,104,105,110
Pune 4,223,225,232,233,235,240,241， 242
Punjab 18,257,277,452,454 Tamasha 241
purity 7,274 Tamil Nadu 7,123,125,130,137,138,139,
152,241,275,278,393,399,421,428
Raidasis 9,260 Tamilakam 178
Rajah，M.C.，282, 358, 362, 363, 376, 400, Tanjore 96,183
401，402,403 Tebhagha movement 385
Rajaka 104,106,108 Temple entry Act 397,404,422
Rajbansi(s) 61,276,298, 299, 300, 301,302, Temple entry b ill13
305 Theosophical Society 35
Rajputs 48, 87, 380 Thevars 435
RamTirath 35 Tolkappiam 125,127
Ramanuja 133
Ramaswami, E. V. 282 untouchability 7,21，54,55, 67, 81，110 ,121，
Ranade，M.G. 31，32,357 123,237,282,449
Ranadive, B. T. 5,21 untouchable (s)19, 53, 59, 67, 68, 69, 73, 74,
Ranbir Singh, Maharaja 37 75, 76, 81，223, 224, 225, 227, 228, 237,
Rathakara(s) 103,107,108,139 238, 255, 282, 312, 332, 342, 351，357,
Ravidasi Mahasabha 259, 374,383 373,374-77,378,380,381,379,383,450,
Republican Party 235,383 451 456
^ ^ 8 8 ,8 9 ,9 0 ,9 1 ,1 0 2 Upanayana 90, 92,104,139
 Index 469

Upanishads 37, 94 Veth-begar 280,

Uttar Pradesh 8,249,252,264,258, Vivekananda, swami 35, 40,

Vaidehaka 103,104,105,108, Watans 274,

Vaidya (s) 61,62,
Valankai 137, Yadava purana 193,
Valluvar (s)124,128,133,187, Yajnavalkya 5, 62,129,
Vasistha 103， Yeravada 4,240，
Vedavyasa 110,130, Young India 6, 78,360,
VeMars 138,421,429,431,