DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjahss.2026.v14i04.002

Pages: 149-157

This paper examines the socio-religious reform movements that took shape among Dalit communities in the United Provinces, present-day Uttar Pradesh, between 1900 and 1950. The analysis is grounded in a subaltern historical perspective. It incorporates perspectives from the insider which hinges on lived experiences, intellectual traditions, and organizational creativity of the oppressed communities predominantly belongs to Dalit background. The paper explores the way Dalit communities challenged the caste hierarchy on religious, social, political, and economic fronts, and how their collective actions contributed to the broader struggle for Indian independence and social emancipation. It proceeds in three stages: first, a review of the broader trends of socio-religious reform; second, a thematic analysis of the major reform campaigns in the United Provinces; and third, a survey of the caste associations and federations through which Dalit communities organized themselves. The central argument is that socio-religious reform adopted by Dalits distinctly different from the reform process undertaken by non-Dalit and upper caste communities.