Identity, autonomy and emancipation: The agendas of the Adi-Andhra movement in South India, 1917–30

Dalits of the Telugu-speaking region of Madras Presidency struggled for liberation from socio-economic and politico-cultural deprivation by mobilising themselves under the ‘Adi-Andhra’ identity. They worked for the eradication of untouchability, achieving education, land, jobs and political representation, using modern ideas of equality and empowerment and, thus, challenged the traditional caste hierarchy. The existing literature on the subject has largely tended to represent Dalit movements as either autonomous from or integral to Congress-dominated nationalism and Hinduism. However, I would argue that to accomplish their objectives, Dalits constantly interacted with Hindu nationalists and the colonial state between 1917 and 1930. However, on a number of occasions, they expressed their dissatisfaction with both Hindu nationalist reform and colonial policies and programmes for the emancipation of Dalits. It is, therefore, essential to recognise that Dalits were neither integrated with them, nor entirely estranged from them.