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THE UNTOUCHABLES: Who Were They? and Why They Became Untouchables
The Untouchables, first published in 1948, is a sequel to Who Were the Shudras?: How they came to be the Fourth Varna in the Indo-Aryan Society (1946). It represents an early and path-breaking effort to explore a subject that had long remained neglected.
The book examines not only the central question of the origin of untouchability but also engages with a wide range of related issues, many of which have been little understood or insufficiently addressed. Among the questions it investigates Why did the Untouchables live outside the village? How did beef-eating come to be associated with untouchability? Did Hindus always abstain from beef? Why did non-Brahmins abandon beef-eating? What led Brahmins to adopt vegetarianism?
While the answers offered may not claim to be exhaustive, the work opens up new perspectives and invites readers to reconsider familiar assumptions, presenting a fresh and thought-provoking approach to longstanding social and historical questions.
The book examines not only the central question of the origin of untouchability but also engages with a wide range of related issues, many of which have been little understood or insufficiently addressed. Among the questions it investigates Why did the Untouchables live outside the village? How did beef-eating come to be associated with untouchability? Did Hindus always abstain from beef? Why did non-Brahmins abandon beef-eating? What led Brahmins to adopt vegetarianism?
While the answers offered may not claim to be exhaustive, the work opens up new perspectives and invites readers to reconsider familiar assumptions, presenting a fresh and thought-provoking approach to longstanding social and historical questions.
151 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 15, 2026
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