Question

Write a note on the non brahmin movements in western and southern India.

Answer 1

The British colonial period witnessed many non-Brahmin movements in the country against the Brahman community.

In Western India, the non-Brahman movement was the strongest in Maharashtra. Jotirao Phule, who belonged to the mali caste was the intellectual head of this movement. His writings and his Satyashodhak Samaj were the foundation for this movement. Later, Shahu Maharaj who was the Maratha king of Kolhapur also turned against the Brahmans. The 1920's saw the rise of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Dalit movement. Keshavrao Jedhe, Dinkarrao Javalkar, and others had challenged the Brahman cultural dominance in the city of Pune and interfered with the Communist movement in Bombay that was Brahman-dominated.

In South India, the non-Brahmin movement was called as the Self-respect movement. Most of the Brahmins in Tamil Nadu were literate and so they were able to adapt to the British culture soon. This caused a difference in between the Brahmin class and the non-Brahman classes. In 1916, the non-Brahman movement became a political movement in the Madras city. This led to the formation of a Justice Party, which had representatives from the Muslim religion, Christians, and the Shudras. However, later there were internal conflicts within the Justice party and a national movement was started which attracted most of the non-Brahman peasants. E.V. Ramasami Naicker, also known as "Periyar", was an important intellectual behind this movement. He started a Satyagraha in Vaikom, Kerala, on the Gandhian footsteps and supported the Harijans also.

Answer 2

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