Tracing Quest for Dalit Identity: Swami Achhutanand’s Role in Literary Assertion

Abstract

Literature has long served as a powerful means for resisting caste oppression and reclaiming dignity. For Dalits, historically labelled as ‘Untouchables’, writing emerged as a crucial site of identity formation and political assertion. Contrary to the assumption that Dalit expression existed only in oral forms, a substantial body of early Dalit literature—pamphlets, poems, plays, essays and speeches—has come to light, particularly in North India. This article examines the writings and political interventions associated with Swami Achhutanand, a key Dalit thinker, poet and leader of the Adi-Hindu Movement in the early twentieth century. Through speeches, theatrical works and bhajan-style poetry, these writings sought to awaken Dalit consciousness, critique Brahmanical dominance and reconstruct a dignified historical identity rooted in the Adi-Hindu past. Rather than treating Achhutanand’s work in isolation, the article situates his literary and political interventions within broader currents of Dalit and anti-caste thoughts, including reformist, bhakti and nationalist engagements with caste and religion. It argues that his contribution has been largely marginalized in both literary and political histories, despite its key role in initiating the early mass mobilization in the Hindi heartland. Situating his literary output within the broader framework of Dalit literature, the article examines how his work challenged dominant aesthetics and created a parallel literary discourse that continues to shape Dalit identity.