Adi Dharm: The «Original religion» of Punjab’s scheduled castes

Abstract

In the 1920s, the British province of Punjab saw the birth of a protest movement named Adi Dhar(a)m (Original Religion). It embraced low-caste members of the Sikh community who were eager to establish their own religious identity. Among the Adi Dharm founders was Mangoo Ram Mugowalia (1886–1980), who united the Chamars – one of the largest untouchable castes of Punjab. In 1931, Adi Dharm was listed in the colonial Census as a separate religion boasting almost half a million followers. In the subsequent censuses, Adi Dharm was listed as a caste. By the mid-1940s, the protest movement declined, but in the 1970s it revived owing to a great extent to the support of the Punjabi diaspora. A new phase of its history stemmed from the growth of social and political activities of Dalits (‘the downtrodden’) in India and particularly in Punjab where the Scheduled Castes account for over 30 percent of the population. Contemporary phase of the Adi Dharm history is mostly related to the activities of the All-India Adi Dharam Mission whose main temple is located in the village of Kharali, district Hoshiarpur, Punjab.