The chaukidari force: Watchmen,police and Dalits from the 1860s to the 1920s in United Provinces

Abstract

Recruitment in the chaukidari forces under colonial police administration was an alternative to the colonial army for Dalits to get socio-political status, consciousness, ‘economic freedom’ (cash salary, rewards, lands and concessions), education and ‘civic equality’. Therefore, the chaukidari in the colonial police administration was a positive source of support for a section of Dalits, despite the limitation of numbers.