Monuments and Malas

How did a monument built by the East India Company become a symbol of Dalit solidarity?

The 1818 Battle of Koregaon was a pivotal moment in securing British supremacy in India. Although there was no decisive victory between the EIC and the Marathas, the Company took the win anyway 🏆 They commissioned an obelisk monument in modern-day Pune, claiming that the battle had been one of the “proudest triumphs of the British Army in the East.”

But whose triumph was it really?

The “British” army consisted mostly of Indian soldiers. Moreover, some historians believe that the majority of men were Mahars, or Dalit leather workers.

The Maratha army, on the other hand, consisted of Peshwas, or Brahmins. This was likely by design — some historians believe the Peshwas intentionally excluded the lower-caste Mahars from their ranks.

In the 1920s, B.R. Ambedkar (father of the Indian constitution, social reformer, all around smartie) put these pieces together. He surmised that the British may never have won India without the help of the mighty Mahars. He argued that the victory at Koregaon showed the power of Dalit solidarity and that this was yet another case of history books erasing Dalit contributions.

Ambedkar’s words sparked a movement. Soon, a festival to celebrate Dalit contributions began to gather around the monument, now called the “Vijay Sthamb,” or the victory pillar.

But not everyone was down with the party. A conflict over the monument and its meaning has led to riots, arrests, and even deaths.