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Who makes the Kolhapuri chappal? Amid Prada row, a look at the artisans behind the iconic footwear

July 05, 2025 5:02 pm

The Charmakars, who belong to the Scheduled Caste category in Maharashtra, have long been associated with the making of the handcrafted Kolhapuri chappals.

The parallels between Dalit movement in India and US' Black movement

July 02, 2025 6:21 pm

While tracing the existence of untouchability in Indian social life, Suraj Milind Yengde's book unveils the caste-based divisions that persist in societies worldwide

A ‘caste census’ carried out in the kingdom of Marwar, two centuries before the British

June 30, 2025 12:43 pm

A caste-based enumeration carried out in Marwar kingdom in 1664 – for the purpose of tax documentation – influenced colonial surveys later, challenging the idea that the British introduced such practices in India.

From margins to political mobilisation: The story of the Nishad community

June 27, 2025 2:48 pm

The term Nishad began gaining prominence in the early twentieth century as part of a broader effort to forge a collective caste identity for members belonging to different sub-castes. Their demographic strength, coupled with geographical spread, enables them to exert considerable influence in a large number of electoral constituencies across the states of Bihar and UP.

The Kilvenmani massacre: When 44 Dalits were burned alive in one of independent India’s earliest caste-based atrocities

June 10, 2025 3:37 pm

In 1968, 44 Dalits were burned alive in Kilvenmani village in present-day Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu following a labourers’ movement demanding higher wages.

When the Nadar women in 19th-century Travancore revolted to reclaim public space

June 05, 2025 4:13 pm

Prohibited from covering their breasts, the Nadar women in 19th-century Travancore fought for their rights in a historic struggle that culminated in a series of protests known as the Channar Revolt.

Pariah: Why the name of a Tamil Dalit caste entered European vocabulary to mean the ‘ostracised’

June 09, 2025 2:17 pm

The roots of the term ‘pariah’ lie in the name of a caste group called ‘Pariayar’, which originated in Tamil Nadu. In the West, however, the term took on a political meaning of its own in the European Enlightenment of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Mahishyas of Bengal: A caste in conflict 

May 30, 2025 1:42 pm

Earlier known as Kaibartas, the Mahishyas are a farming community concentrated in the southern districts of West Bengal. The community is divided over their Aryan origin and the OBC status

From Manusmriti to British Empire: what history tells us about the practice of manual scavenging in India

May 23, 2025 12:50 pm

One of the earliest references to manual scavenging, a practice rooted in India’s caste system, is found in the Naradasamhita, which lists it among the 15 duties of slaves.

How caste permeated the Sikh community

May 22, 2025 3:27 pm

Sikhism, considered one of the youngest religions in the world, has since its inception denounced the caste system. Yet caste, as a social category, remains predominant among Sikhs.

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