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The Sociopolitical Effects of Ideological Change: The Buddhist Conversion of Maharashtrian Untouchables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Jayashree B. Gokhale
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Abstract

The conversion of the Mahars to Buddhism in October 1956 was an ambitious attempt to construct a new ideology fundamentally opposed to the traditional Hindu system of beliefs, which had been destructive for the individual psyches as well as for the collective existence of Untouchables. The conversion was intended to transform the consciousness, both individual and collective, of the Mahar-Buddhists through the creation of new institutions and new modes of social interaction. The conversion was effective in inculcating a new ideology and relationships among the Mahar-Buddhists, and it did serve to make the community more cohesive and self-confident than it had been. Yet, because of the intrusion of the reservation issue and the ambiguous constitutional status of the Buddhists, they became more isolated from Untouchable communities than they had been. The conversion also had unexpected effects that ultimately reinforced divisions and class tensions both among Untouchable communities and within wider Maharashtrian society.

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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , February 1986 , pp. 269 - 292
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Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1986

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