Dalits in Historical Perspective in North-Western India

Contents: Preface. 1. Situating untouchability and subordinates in early India/Benudhar Patra. 2. Subjugation of women as presented in early literary traditions of Punjab/G.C. Chauhan. 3. Untouchables in ancient Indian society: a historical perspective/Amandeep Kaur. 4. Dalits of North-Western India: cultural subordination and Dalit challenge/Priti Nath. 5. Working Dalit woman under the colonial rule in India/Kanta Singhania. 6. Impact of male emigration on the scheduled caste women in the villages of Punjab: a sociological study/Manoj Kumar. 7. Politics of marginality: Dalit Christians in Punjab/Emanual Nahar. 8. Socio-economic status of Dalits and levels of development in Punjab: an inter-district analysis/Ripudaman Singh. 9. Hindu nationalism and Dalits: an analysis/Kanwar Chanderdeep Singh. 10. Dalits in Punjab: present socio-economic perspective/Jasneet Kaur. 11. Status of Dalit women: tradition, Sanskritisation and globalisation/Harshdeep Kaur. 12. Equity in education: a case study of scheduled caste in Haryana/Kamlesh. 13. Dalits and social equality: role of law/Anil Kumar Sharma. 14. State obligation, Dalit women and human rights/Ameer Sultana and Manvinder Kaur. 15. Justice for the downtrodden: Preambular promises, constitutional ideology and practical reality/Rachna Sharma and Avtar Singh 16. Development of Dalit literature and the means of its dissemination in Uttar Pradesh (1913-1978)/Amardeep. 17. Deciphering ideology: a study of Amedkar’s legacy in contemporary India/Rakesh Thakur. 19. The margin of India: looking at the education and identify of Dalits/Basanta Kumar Mallik. Contributors. Index.

”The present volume is a pioneering effort to unravel some vital aspects of the Dalit study, particularly of North-Western India in historical perspective. It covers a wide range of issues, such as, antiquity of Dalits, their subordination, challenge and mobilization, emigration, socio-economic status, education and literary conditions, legal and constitutional measures for their upliftment, condition of Dalit Christians, Dalit women and human rights etc it brings together the seminal essays contributed by scholars working on different aspects of the Dalit history through which they tried to explore specific areas of their interest. Articles in this volume though written from historical perspectives collectively raise certain common issues and are based on interdisciplinary scientific approach. The objective of this monograph is to create awareness among the people for the upliftment of the Dalits. This volume will fascinate students and researchers alike who are working on the Dalit history and will also be equally useful to scholars of Indian social history.” (jacket)