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This article is an abridged version of the author’s PhD thesis, completed at the
Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, in 2012. It was presented in
a two-day workshop titled “Turning the Page: New Directions in South Asian
Book History” held on 9 and 10 March 2017 at the University of Chicago
Center in Delhi. The author is grateful to their doctoral advisor A R
Venkatachalapathy and the reviewers for EPW for their valuable feedback and
comments.
From the middle of the 19th century, the institution of caste had begun to extend
from its traditional space of society and ritual to include a modern political
space. Many reasons have been noted by scholars for the development of caste
clusters in the political lives of people in colonial India. A few important issues
must be mentioned here. Liberal education, governmental patronage and a
slowly expanding franchise had been the three important influences that had
penetrated the caste system and invol¬ved it in stages (Kothari 2004: 13).
Buil¬ding of roads all over India, the introduction of railways, postage,
telegraph, cheap paper, and printing, especially in the regional languages,
enabled castes to organise as they had never done ¬before (Srinivas 1962).
Establishment of a centralised bureaucratic government stimulated caste
clusters. Nicholas B Dirks (1992: 56–78) argues that “only with the introduction
of modern democratic politics has caste begun to undergo the major
transformation of ‘substantialisation.’” The decennial census was one of the
other important factors that acted as a catalyst for caste movements because it
was a starting point for Indians to organise themselves on modern lines in the
name of castes. Since the decennial census recorded caste, it accidentally came
to the aid of social mobility. Many articulate members of lower castes, and
others who were not prosperous, claimed new and high-sounding Sanskrit
names. New lea¬ders and movements emerged to claim respectable positions in
the census records.
Internal and external migration of Paraiyans, one of the most prominent lower-
caste groups, took place in the 1840s in Tamil Nadu. The breaking up of Mirasi
dominance in some parts of Tamil Nadu facilitated the migration of Tamils to
overseas settlements. Overseas mig¬ration was preferred by the erstwhile
untouchables because it gave them an opportunity to escape the feudal
agricultural system of South India into a cash economy that provided higher
wages. Émigrés returning from overseas territories like Sri Lanka, South Africa,
Malaysia, and Burma (now Myanmar) invested their savings in the purchase of
land, and this instilled a feeling of independence and freedom among them
(Basu 2011: 111). The recruitment for government jobs, particularly in the
army, was notable for the economic betterment and independence it offered to
the Dalits. For Dalits of north Tamil Nadu, some internal migration, such as
those to the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), was prominent because it freed them
from the clutches of the caste system. In and around Madras (now Chennai),
Dalits were mostly preferred by the British as butlers and housekeepers.
Although these were menial jobs, they granted economic independence and
gave an opportunity to interact with the British.
The British governance system was an important cause for the politicisation of
caste. Following the Morley–Minto ¬reforms in 1909, the Madras government
began to nominate men to the legislative council as caste representatives. Some
caste associations were formed with the intention of acquiring political power.
For ins¬tance, the Kurmi Conference and the ¬Nadar Mahajana Sangam were
founded in response to the colonial government’s utilisation of communal
designations in the granting of public appointments and political
representations, respectively (Carroll 1978). The British government considered
claims and petitions only from associations and not from individuals; this was
one of the main reasons for the growth of caste sabhas. Mostly, these sabhas
were started by Western-educated elites with the support of a few caste
members to exploit public appointments and political representations.
In 1893 the British Government brought out an order to educate the Pariah
people but unfortunately the matter did not reach the people concerned. As a
result, I started a journal called Pariyan to inform and educate the people. This
four page journal was sold for two annas. The Pariah people recognised it with a
lot of expectations. The production and advertisement cost came to around `10
for the first issue. Within two days 300 issues were sold in the Madras city.
Within three months, it became a weekly and we owned a press also. This
journal advocated the interest of the Pariah people, approached the British
Government for support. Wherever the Pariah people gathered, they commented
about the journal. (Srinivasan 1999: 20)
Organs of Movements
The Sooryothayam (Rising Sun) is the first Dalit journal, started in 1869 by
Pandit Thiruvenkatasamy from Madras. Archival records and old documents
¬revealed 42 journals run by Dalits from 1869 to 1943. Since only four of these
Dalit journals were available in private libraries and state archives—of which
only few copies were accessible—state archival materials like native newspaper
reports (NNRs), annual reports and government orders (GOs) were important
sources for writing a history of Dalit journalism. Translated excerpts recorded in
the NNRs were consulted when even a single copy of the journals was
unavailable.
From 1869 to 1930, 17 journals out of the 27 journals published by Dalits
(63%) were published from the urban ¬regions of Madras. But after the 1930s
(1930–43), out of 15 journals surveyed, only four (26%) were published from
the urban regions of Madras. The remaining 11 journals were published from
Tamil-speaking rural districts. Early periodicals concentrated in Madras and
slowly spread to rural districts due to the spread of ideas, movements and other
factors like roads and transportation. Out of the 42 journals, we know the
¬periodicity for 22 journals. One was a quarterly, one bimonthly, eight
monthlies, four fortnightlies and the remaining eight were weeklies.
Most Dalit leaders started journals as organs of their movements like the
Pariyan for the Pariyar Mahajana Sabha, the Tamilan for the South India
Sakkiya Buddhist Society, the Madras Adi Dra¬vidan (Early Dravidians of
Madras) for the Adi Dravida Mahajana Sabha, the Valikattuvon (The Guide and
Organ) for the The South India Oppressed Classes Union and the Adi Dravidan
¬(Early Dravidian) for the Sri Lanka South ¬Indian Association. When
Ambedkar founded the All India Scheduled Castes Federation in 1942, Tamil
journals like the Samathuvam (Equality) and the Jaibheem started as organs of
this movement. There were many local-level orga¬nisations, like district-level
associations, who also started journals to reach out to people.
The political ideology and affiliation of the Dalit leaders-cum-editors was
diverse. In 1898, Iyothee Thass founded the South India Sakkiya Buddhist
Association for the renaissance of Buddhism, which had its presence till the
1980s in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu and KGF of Bangalore (now
Bengaluru). M C Rajah, the editor of the Madras Adi Dravidan, was the founder
of the Adi Dravida ¬Mahajan Sabha in 1916 and became the first Depressed
Classes member of the legislative council from Madras province, and later was
nominated for four consecutive periods as a member of the -Madras legislative
council. Later, he also became a member of Parliament. For a few years, he
associated himself with the Justice Party, a prominent non-Brahmin movement
in the Madras Presidency. K Veeraian, editor of the Adi Dravida Pathukavalan
(Guardian of Adi Dravida) also served as a legislator from 1920 to 1930. Swami
Sahajananda, the spiritual leader of Dalits and the editor of the Jothi (Torch)
journal served as an Indian National Congress (INC) legislator.
Barring a few, all the editors were also the proprietors and publishers of the
journals. Out of the 42 journals, 13 were printed in their own press, 14 were
printed in other presses, and no details were available for the rest. The Dalit-
owned presses were functioning as commercial printing presses involved with
job works and book publishing. In the case of the Tamilan (1907–14), the
members of the South India Sakkiya Buddhist Society from the KGF donated a
printing mac¬hine for the journal within a year of its esta¬blishment. The
Pariyan (1893–1900) also managed to acquire a printing press within a year.
Circulation and Donations
The circulation of Dalit journals ranged from 300 to 1,500. For instance, the
Maha Vikata Dutan, a Dalit journal published from 1893 to 1927, had a
circulation of 1,500 during 1893–1900. This is the highest circulation among
the Tamil journals at that time. In comparison to the circulation of other Tamil
journals brought out by Brahmin and higher castes at that time, it seems that the
circulation of 1,500 copies was better and profitable. From 1897 to 1899, the
Swadesamitran’s (edited by G Subramaniaya Aiyar, a devoted nationalist)
circulation ranged between 900 and 1,050, the Arya Jana Priyan’s circulation
was 450, the Loko¬pakari’s 1,200, and the Prapanchamitran’s was 1,000.
The Dalit journals distributed widely not only within their linguistic region but
also wherever Dalits migrated and settled overseas. The Adi Dravidan,
published from Colombo, had agents in Madras and KGF. The Tamilan,
published from Madras, had agents in Marikuppam in Bangalore, Bombay (now
Mumbai), Rangoon (now Yangon), Durban, and Natal. Contributors to the
journals were also from different places. Although the Adi Dravidan published
from Sri Lanka, the content of the journal dealt with problems of the home
villages of the migrant Dalits. Except a few, most Dalit journals did not receive
a sizeable number of subscriptions, which made it difficult to meet their printing
expenses. But journals run by associations managed to exist through donations
from members and community. In 1913, while appealing to its readers to renew
their subscriptions, the editor of the Tamilan noted that the cost of production
for an issue was `50, which at that time was a month’s salary of two
schoolteachers. One reader advised that the subscription be increased while
adding one more page to the journal (Tamilan 1913). The Adi Dravidan
regularly registered the name and amount of donations received. In 1918, the
total donations were `249.64, which decreased to 99.50 in 1919, and
subscriptions in 1918 amounted to `81.01. The donor’s list revealed that internal
and external migrant Dalit labourers contributed gene¬rously. S Kasturi Ranga
Iyengar, the editor of the Hindu from 1905 to 1923, had also donated `50 in
May 1919 to the Adi Dravidan.
The journals covered political, social and religious issues and included a range
of literary forms, such as serialised novels, dramas, articles, poetry, moral
stories, letters to the editor, book reviews, announcements like marriages and
deaths, advertisements, local news and world news. Although educated Dalit
professionals living in cities were the main contributors, a few progressive
Brahmins and non-Brahmins also wrote articles.
The Pariyan’s strong criticism against the INC compelled it to adopt policies in
favour of the Depressed Classes. Dadabhai Naoroji, one of the founding
members of the INC and the first Asian to be a British member of Parliament,
advised the Madras Congress Committee to adopt necessary steps for the
improvement of the Depressed Classes.
In 1895, the issue was revived before Parliament by Naoroji. In this situation, an
article published in the Pariyan read:
The opinion of the Pariyan was widely debated by many Malayalam, Kannada
and Telugu journals. By no means was support for British policies a unique
¬phenomenon, as Dalits in Maharashtra resisted the Swadeshis and the
Namashudras in Bengal supported the British.
Readers
Most of the readers were from Madras and comprised labourers, government
servants, schoolteachers, armed forces staff, and people working as servants in
colonial officers’ houses. Those who benefited from colonialism and
industrialisation emerged as a reading class among the Dalit community. They
participated in the public life of colonial Madras, challenged caste hegemony
and the supremacy of caste Hindus and Brahmins of Tamil society through
reading and discussion of periodicals. The Tamilan found its readers among this
new generation (non-agricultural labourers). The list of subscribers and content
contributors suggests that the journal was circulated not only in Lucknow,
Hyderabad, Secunderabad, KGF, Marikuppam and Vellore, but also in South
Africa, Burma, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia and Tanzania,
wherever Tamil people, especially from the lower castes, migrated and settled
for jobs.
Many readers actively participated in the debates carried out in the journal.
Sometimes people wrote to the editor about problems they were facing in the
villages. In the Tamilan issue of 27 January 1909, the people of Orathur village
in Mathuranthagam taluk, near Chengalpattu of Tamil Nadu, wrote a letter in
which they complained that Pariahs in the village were not being allowed to
fetch drinking water from the public pond by the Brahmins. In response to this
letter, the editor wrote in the next issue that if the problem was not solved, then
the Che¬nnai non-caste Dravida ¬Mahajana Sabha would bring it to the
attention of the government (Tamilan, 3 February 1909). Several other cases
suggest that grievances published in the journals got the attention of
government officials. Although circulation was 500, the number of readers may
have been double or triple this number. As it was functioning as an organ of the
Sakya Buddhist Society, it was read aloud before members during meetings of
all the branches of the Sakya Buddhist Society, in the districts of Chennai,
North Arcot and Sri Lanka, and Natal in South Africa. The published
proceedings of Dalit associations prove that whenever news appeared in any
newspaper or journal, it was read aloud in front of the members who attended
their meetings.
Conclusions
Journals started by Dalit leaders and intellectuals focused on educating their
people and voicing their grievances before the rulers. Moreover, these journals
formed an important tool in the contested terrain of identity politics. The list of
Dalit journals in the study confirm that Dalits were active agents not only in
terms of creating a modern identity questioning their marginalisation but were
also agents of knowledge production in an otherwise restricted public sphere.
Another important aspect of the Dalit print milieu was its inclusiveness, as it
provided space for members of the non-Dalit castes to express their opinions in
the form of major contributions to these journals. It included people who fought
for self-respect, reformers and liberals. Moreover, Dalit print culture never
confined itself to Tamil as we find that there were bilingual journals.
A history of Dalit journals makes it clear that Dalits of the Tamil region used a
tool of modernity—the print medium—and expressed their views and opinions
on political and social issues during a crucial time of the modernisation of
Indian society. So far, in history writing only two views—nationalistic and
imperialistic—were given importance, but it is clear that during the same period
there existed another distinct view, that of the Dalits, which was neglected.
Dalits questioned the claim of the INC that it was the sole representative of all
Indians and never believed that home rule would bring change in their lives.
They stressed on social transformation rather than political transformation,
worked for the larger transformation of society and the annihilation of caste,
and constructed a unique political identity for the erstwhile untouchables such
as Pariyan, Tamilan, Dravidan, and Adi-Dravidan.
Note
1 Thinnai is an elevated platform in front of the house where people sit and talk.
In a thinnai school, students sit in the thinnai of the teacher’s house and learn.
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