Dalit, also some of them previously known as untouchables, is the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and the peasant class of the medieval European feudal system.
Kanshi Ram, also known as Bahujan Nayak or Manyavar, was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the backward or lower caste people including untouchable groups at the bottom of the caste system in India. Towards this end, Kanshi Ram founded Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4), the All India Backwards (SC/ST/OBC) and Minorities Communities Employees' Federation (BAMCEF) in 1971 and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. He ceded leadership of the BSP to his protégé Mayawati who has served four terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Amar Singh Chamkila was an Indian singer and musician of Punjabi music. Chamkila's vivid language, high-pitched vocals, and novel compositions accompanied by tumbi made him popular. His music was influenced by the Punjabi village life in which he grew up. On 8 March 1988, at the height of his popularity, Chamkila and his second wife Amarjot were killed along with two members of their band in an assassination which remains unsolved.
Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. They are found throughout the Indian subcontinent, mainly in the northern states of India and in Pakistan and Nepal.
Chuhra, also known as Bhanghi and Balmiki, is a Dalit caste in India and Pakistan. Populated regions include the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, as well as Uttar Pradesh in India, among other parts of the Indian subcontinent such as southern India. Their traditional occupation is sweeping, a "polluting" occupation that caused them to be considered untouchables in the caste system.
The Regar are a caste group of India. They are sometimes associated with the Chamar caste but, for example, the sociologist Bela Bhatia considers them to be distinct. The Regar are found in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. They are known as Regar in the Mewar region of Rajasthan.
Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a religion based on the teachings of Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009. However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of the Guru Granth Sahib as their focal religious text, wearing Sikh articles of faith (5Ks), and appending Singh or Kaur to their names.
Jatav, also known as Jatava/Jatan/Jatua/Jhusia/Jataau/Jatiya, is an Indian community that are considered to be a subcaste of the Chamar caste, who are classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of positive discrimination.
The Ramdasia were historically a Sikh, Hindu sub-group that originated from the caste of leather tanners and shoemakers known as Chamar.
Gurinder Kaur Kainth, popularly known by her stage name Miss Pooja is an Indian singer and actress who primarily sings Punjabi songs in Bhangra, Pop and Folk genres.
Kanth Kaler, sikh artist popularly known as Kanth Kaler is an Indian singer who is famous for singing Punjabi sad songs. His hit songs include Hun Teri Nigah Badal Gai, Dass Asi Kehra Tere Bina Mar Challea, Udikan, and Teri Yaad Sajna.
The Ad-Dharmi is a sect in the state of Punjab, in India and is an alternative term for the Ravidasia religion, meaning Primal Spiritual Path. The term Ad-Dharm came into popular usage in the early part of the 20th century, when many followers of Guru Ravidas converted to Sikhism and were severely discriminated against due to their low caste status. Many of these converts stopped attending Sikh Gurdwaras controlled by Jat Sikhs and built their own shrines upon arrival in the UK, Canada, and Fiji Island.Ad-Dharmis comprise 11.48% of the total of Scheduled Caste communities in Punjab.
Gogu Shyamala is a Telugu-language writer and women's activist and a prominent Dalit.
Sufism has played a major role in the history of Punjab. West Punjab is heavily influenced by Sufi Saints and major Sufi Pirs. The partition in 1947 led to the almost complete departure of Muslims from East Punjab. The Sufi shrines in the region continue to thrive, particularly among so-called ‘low’ caste Dalits that constitutes more than 30% of its population. After the partition the Dalit community took over the care of Sufi shrines in the East Punjab.
Gurdas Ram Alam (1912–1989), was a Punjabi language poet born in Bundala village of Jalandhar, Punjab. He was a progressive poet and an activist poet from a marginalized part of the society known as Dalits, and he is known as the first Punjabi Dalit poet. He was from a working-class family and lived in small mud house in village. Alam did not go to school, he learned reading and writing Gurmukhi from his friends. Being a working-class child he started working at a very young age, and he also started writing poems from his childhood. His first source of inspiration for getting into writing was oppression by the rich on the poor people that he experienced while working as child labor. Despite being illiterate, he emerged as a popular name in Punjabi folk poetry before the partition of India. Alam is recognised as a Dalit activist poet and the voice of deprived, oppressed castes and communities.
Swami Achhootanand was a 20th century Indian anti-caste intellectual, writer, and social reformer. A former Arya Samajist, he became disillusioned with the Arya Samaj and established the Adi Hindu movement. He was a poet, critic, dramatist, and historian.
Dalit music or Bahujan music is music created, produced, or inspired by Bahujans and Dalits, people often discriminated against on the basis of caste, including Dalit rock, Bhim rap and Dalit pop as well as the music genres of the Ravidasis, including Chamar pop, Bhim Palana, Bhim geet and Punjabi Ambedkarite music.
Jagdish Mahto was an Indian communist activist. He was a naxal leader who led the 1970 Bhojpur uprising in the landlord-dominated Bhojpur region of Bihar. He was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), an organisation which was leading the Naxalite insurgency against the Government of India. He also fought against the upper-caste landlords for the cause of lower-caste people. Mahto, also called Master Saheb, was a member of the Bihar State Committee of CPI(M–L) and one of the founding leaders of the party in Bhojpur.
Sheoraj Singh Bechain is an Indian poet, short story writer, and essayist. When he started writing and progressing academically, he adopted the pen name "Bechain". He was appointed Professor on an unreserved position in the Department of Hindi at the University of Delhi in 2010 and became the first Dalit Professor in the department. He is currently serving as the Head of the Hindi Department at the University.
