Indian Renaissance and Dalit

Due to ethnic blending, geographical expansion and the diversification of crafts, which gave rise to new occupations, the later-Vedic theory of the four-fold division of Hindu society was further fragmented into many sub-castes.

According to the Hindu chaturvarnashrama idea, a person's caste fixed the position and the supposed purity of different sections of the population. Caste decided who could gain an education or own land, what work a person should do, whom they could dine with or marry, and much more. In general, a person's social standing was set by caste even before birth. The caste rules governed almost everything: clothing, food, where a family could live, which wells they could draw water from and whether they could enter temples.

The 'untouchables', later called the Scheduled Castes or Dalits, were the hardest hit by this discriminatory system. The barriers placed on them were humiliating and inhuman, and they rested on the false idea of inequality by birth. It is against this background that the reform movements, often described as part of the wider Indian Renaissance, began. You can find more revision material like this in our study notes library.

"A just society is that society in which the ascending sense of reverence and descending sense of contempt is dissolved into the creation of a compassionate society." B.R. Ambedkar

Factors contributing to the decline of caste-based discrimination

1. British rule

British rule created conditions that weakened caste awareness to some extent, sometimes directly through administrative measures and sometimes indirectly by shaping new circumstances. Many of these policies were harmful, yet some had unintended positive effects. For example, the creation of private property in land and the free sale of land loosened old caste ties. As the village oligarchy dissolved, the tight link between caste and occupation could no longer survive.

Modern trade and industry opened up a variety of new economic paths, while growing towns and modern transport increased people's mobility. The British administration also introduced the principle of equality before the law through a common legal system, which struck a serious blow to social and legal inequality and removed the judicial powers of caste panchayats. Government jobs were opened to all castes, and the new schools were run on secular lines.

2. Social reform movements

Social reform movements set out to dismantle caste-based exploitation. From the middle of the nineteenth century, organisations such as the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the Arya Samaj, the Ramakrishna Mission, the Theosophists and the Social Conference, along with many individuals, worked to spread education among the untouchables and to remove the bans on their entry to temples, ponds and tanks. While several of them still defended the chaturvarna system, some openly questioned untouchability. The reformers attacked the rigid hereditary basis of caste and the rule of karma that was used to justify it, and they urged people to work for a better life in this world rather than waiting for salvation after death. The Arya Samaj, for instance, campaigned against the splitting of Hindu society into countless sub-castes and defended the right of even the lowest castes to study the scriptures.

3. The national movement

The national movement was inspired by the ideas of liberty and equality, and it stood against the forces that sought to divide society. National leaders and organisations campaigned against caste privileges, fought for equal civic rights and worked for the free development of the individual. Wide participation in rallies, meetings and satyagraha struggles weakened caste differences, at least for a time. After 1937, Congress governments in several provinces did useful work for the upliftment of the depressed classes. In some provinces free education for Harijans, the term Gandhi used for the 'untouchables', was introduced, and the rulers of states such as Travancore, Indore and Dewas took the lead in opening all state temples.

Gandhi kept the goal of rooting out untouchability at the centre of his work. His thinking was based on humanism and reason. He argued that the Shastras did not support untouchability, and that even if they appeared to, they should be ignored, because truth cannot be trapped inside the pages of a book. He founded the All India Harijan Sangh in 1932.

4. Self-consciousness among the lower castes

With the spread of education and a general awakening, there were stirrings within the lower castes themselves. This awakening grew into a powerful movement to defend their rights and to resist upper-caste oppression.

Jyotiba Phule, born into a low-caste Mali family in Maharashtra, led a struggle against the brahminical oppression of Hindu society. In 1873 he founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers' Society), led by members of the backward castes such as malis, telis, kunbis and dhangars. He placed great importance on education for the lower castes, and especially for girls, for whom he set up several schools.

Babasaheb Ambedkar, who had faced the cruellest forms of caste discrimination in his own youth, campaigned against upper-caste tyranny throughout his life. In the 1920s he began publishing a fortnightly newspaper, Mooknayak (Leader of the Voiceless). In it he argued that a genuine national consciousness could not grow while class and caste divisions were ignored, and he set the plight of the untouchables against the wider background of the caste system. In 1924 he founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha with the motto "educate, agitate and organise", with a special focus on public mobilisation. He started another paper, Bahishkrit Bharat, in 1927 to promote the rights of the oppressed classes, and in 1942 he created the All India Scheduled Castes Federation, while other depressed-class leaders had founded the All India Depressed Classes Association in the 1920s. Ambedkar condemned the entire hierarchical and closed caste system and argued for the abolition of caste as the only way to achieve real national progress.

In March 1927 Ambedkar organised the Mahad Satyagraha to protest against the backward practices of the caste Hindus. He stressed the need to erase the ideas of 'high' and 'low' and to build self-elevation through self-help, self-respect and self-knowledge.

Self-Respect Movement

E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, a Balija Naidu, launched the Self-Respect Movement in the mid-1920s. Its main aim was to reject brahminical religion and culture, which Naicker saw as the chief tool for exploiting the lower castes. To undermine the standing of brahmin priests, he encouraged and conducted weddings without any priest present.

Temple Entry Movement

Sree Narayana Guru and N. Kumaran Asan had already made significant progress along this path in Kerala, campaigning for the right of the lower castes to enter temples.

Conclusion

Indian society was long plagued by caste-based inequality that led to widespread discrimination. The struggle against it gathered pace after the coming of British rule, which stirred an awareness of the evils of caste, and many social reformers led the way by questioning irrational beliefs.

Leaders such as Ambedkar and Phule were central to this change, awakening a sense of dignity among the lower strata. It came to be recognised that the idea of a united India could not exist without social democracy, because harmony in society depends on cohesion. That same spirit was carried forward by the makers of the Constitution, who abolished untouchability and made equality a fundamental promise.

Why it still matters

Caste discrimination is not only a chapter from the past. The Constitution of India abolished untouchability under Article 17, yet the very questions these reformers raised are still being argued in courtrooms and council chambers today.

On 1 August 2024, a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled, by a 6 to 1 majority, that state governments may sub-classify the Scheduled Castes so that the most disadvantaged groups within them get a fairer share of reservation. The case was State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh, and it overturned an earlier judgment from 2004. The court held that the Scheduled Castes are not one uniform block, because different groups within them face very different levels of disadvantage. At the same time it warned that any state must back a sub-classification with real evidence and that its decision can be reviewed by the courts. This is close to the idea Ambedkar fought for: that equality on paper means little unless we keep measuring who is still being left behind.

The debate is a global one too. In February 2023, Seattle became the first city in the United States to ban caste discrimination, adding caste to its anti-discrimination laws by a 6 to 1 council vote. That decision showed how caste can travel with communities across borders, which is exactly why understanding its history matters for students everywhere.

The scale is huge. The 2011 Census of India counted about 201 million people as Scheduled Castes, roughly 16.6 per cent of the population, or about one in six Indians. You can follow how these ideas connect to rights, the Constitution and current affairs in our Indian Polity notes and explore the bigger picture on the Learnacy Hub.

Sources

1. Supreme Court Observer, judgement summary: Sub-Classification Within Reserved Categories (State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh, 1 August 2024)
2. Al Jazeera: Seattle becomes first US city to ban caste discrimination (February 2023)
3. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population, 2011 Census of India

Key takeaways

• The later-Vedic caste system fragmented into many sub-castes due to ethnic blending, geographical expansion, and occupational diversification, with Dalits/Scheduled Castes facing the most severe discrimination.
• British rule unintentionally weakened caste barriers by introducing private property, modern trade and industry, towns, transport, equality before the law, and government jobs open to all castes.
• Social reform movements from the mid-19th century, including the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, and Ramakrishna Mission, fought to educate untouchables and remove bans on temple entry.
• The national movement, inspired by liberty and equality, campaigned against caste privileges, with Gandhi founding the All India Harijan Sangh in 1932 to eradicate untouchability.
• Lower-caste leaders like Jyotiba Phule and B.R. Ambedkar led movements to defend their rights—Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873, while Ambedkar founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha in 1924 and the All India Scheduled Castes Federation in 1942.

Test yourself

According to the note, what three factors contributed to the decline of caste-based discrimination?

British rule, social reform movements, the national movement, and self-consciousness among the lower castes.

What organisation did Jyotiba Phule found in 1873, and what was its leadership composition?

He founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers' Society), which was led by members of backward castes such as malis, telis, kunbis and dhangars.

What were the three organisations that Ambedkar founded or helped establish to advocate for Dalit rights?

He founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha in 1924, started the newspaper Bahishkrit Bharat in 1927, and created the All India Scheduled Castes Federation in 1942.