Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western IndiaThe nineteenth century saw the beginning of a violent and controversial movement of protest amongst western India's low and untouchable castes, aimed at the effects of their lowly position within the Hindu caste hierarchy. The leaders of this movement were convinced that religious hierarchies had combined with the effects of British colonial rule to produce inequality and injustice in many fields, from religion to politics and education. This study concentrates on the first leader of this movement, Mahatma Jotirao Phule. It shows him as its first ideologist, working out a unique brand of radical humanism. It analyses his contribution to one of the most important and neglected social developments in western India in this period - the formation of a new regional identity. This process of identity formation is studied against the background of the earlier history of caste relations in this area of India, and contributes important evidence about the relationship between ritual status and political power.The movement itself provides a fascinating example of early Third World radicalism, illustrating the role of ideology and religion in the struggle against British colonial power. |
Contents
Low caste protest in nineteenthcentury western India | 3 |
Religion and society under early British rule | 13 |
From warrior traditions to nineteenthcentury politics structure ideology and identity in the Marathakunbi caste complex | 15 |
The crisis of cultural legitimacy missionaries reformers and Hindu society in the midnineteenth century | 50 |
The growth of religious reform opinion in western India | 88 |
Jotirao Phule and his circle the emergence of a distinctive radical voice | 103 |
Student radicals in midnineteenthcentury western India | 105 |
Christianity and the attack on caste in Phules early writing | 122 |
Religious emancipation and political competition | 189 |
Social protest and the construction of a religious ethic | 193 |
Traditional privileges and new skills Phules analysis of the nature of Brahman power | 206 |
The Satyashodhak Samaj in the 1870s | 220 |
Ideology and the nonBrahman movement in the 1880s | 253 |
Phules polemic in the 1880s the ideological construction of rural life and labour | 255 |
The nonBrahman movement in the 1880s | 274 |
Epilogue ideology and politics in nineteenth century western India | 303 |
The creation of a lower caste identity in history and popular culture 186973 | 133 |
Ritual status and political conflict in later nineteenthcentury Maharashtra | 135 |
The Aryan invasions and the origins of caste society | 141 |
Warriors and cultivators the reinterpretation of popular culture | 152 |
Maratha history as polemic low caste ideology and political debate in late nineteenthcentury Maharashtra | 164 |
The lower caste community in contemporary society | 187 |
Bibliographic note | 309 |
311 | |
Glossary | 317 |
321 | |
Other editions - View all
Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in ... Rosalind O'Hanlon No preview available - 1985 |
Common terms and phrases
administrative amongst ancient anti-Brahman argued arguments Aryan Baba Padmanji Bali ballad Bandhu beliefs Bhagavat Bhosale Bombay Bombay Presidency Brahman Brahman priest British government British rule century ceremonies Chatrapati Chitpavan Christian claims concerned Creator cultivators culture Deccan described Dnyanodaya elite Maratha Hindu Hindu religion Hindu society Hinduism human ibid ideas identity ideological important India institutions Jotirao Phule Junnar Keer and Malshe Khandoba King Bali Kolhapur Kshatriya status kunbis labour leaders Lokhande low caste lower castes Mahar Maharashtra Mali Malshe eds Maratha Maratha families Maratha-kunbi missionary Murray Mitchell nineteenth nineteenth-century non-Brahman movement organisation original Paramahansa Mandali Parashuram peshwas polemic polemicists political popular Prarthana Samaj Pratapsinh published Pune religious radicals ritual rural sacred thread Sarvajanik Sabha Satara Satyashodhak Samaj Shivaji University Shudras Slavery social and religious social groups social reform term Maratha Thomas Paine tradition Tukaram untouchable varna Vedas Vedic village western India worship