The Adi-Andhra Movement in India: Origins, Legitimation, Contemporary Context

In the early 20th century, India’s regions hosted movements that united socially backward parts of the society – the untouchables and other depressed classes. Agitation was launched at the turn of the century in Bengal by the Namashudras, while in the 1920s, in Maharashtra, the Mahars started their struggle led by the prominent politician B.R. Ambedkar (1891–1956). In a number of regions, similar movements were self-defined as ‘Adi’ (initial, original): Adi-Dharm in Punjab, Adi-Hindu in the United Provinces, Adi-Andhra in the Madras Province, Adi-Karnataka/Adi-Kannadiga in Karnataka, Adi-Dravida in Tamil Nadu. One result of each movement was the birth of new – basically caste- and religious-affiliated – identities. Addressing the origins and evolution of these movements, their ethno-regional, religious and caste specifics is important for the assessment of contemporary autonomist trends in the Republic of India, as well as for the analysis of the federal policy in center-state relations. The article focuses on the correlation of ethnic, religious and caste components in the Adi-Andhra movement of the 20th century and evaluates the role and place of the Adi-Andhra community in contemporary South India. The author notes that ethnic and religious components – most obvious arguments in the Adi-Andhra movement in the first decades of the 20th century and potential ‘pillars’ for building up own identity – quickly faded away, while social and caste affiliations of Andhra’s and Telangana’ former untouchables have turned out to be the main factors of their mobilization. The contemporary notion of the ‘Adi-Andhra’ term in South India testifies to this.