A page from Dalit history in Kerala: The Pulaya Movement in Travancore–Cochin in the pre-Communist phase

Abstract

The Pulayas of Kerala were a depressed caste, subject to acute discrimination and humiliation. This article traces the initial stirrings among the Pulayas’ leaders in the princely states of Travancore and Cochin, and the response of the upper castes and of the administrations of the states, prior to 1947 by which time the Communists began to acquire ascendancy over the lower-caste movement.