A HISTORY OF UNTOUCHABILITY - SULTANATE PERIOD। Ambedkar is Alive - EP5

Описание: During the 334-year Sultanate rule, the vast majority of untouchables remained confined within the Hindu fold. No Sultan cared for them. If they cared about anything, it was only about raising as much money as possible to maintain their rule. And this was impossible without the cooperation of the upper caste Hindus. They controlled the villages and began learning the new official languages, Arabic and Persian. The Sultans employed them to collect taxes from the villages and handle accounting and other tasks in the Sultanate's offices. When the Sultans were so dependent on the upper caste Hindus, hoping to eradicate untouchability from them was futile. The upper castes would have turned against them, and their rule would have been toppled.

Sultans and Hindu kings and feudal lords kept the untouchables confined within a social cage, but other forces emerged that attempted to break the bars of their cage. One force was the market. Merchants, shopkeepers, owners of freight trains and factories employed rural laborers, including untouchables. Another force was non-discriminatory religion. In ancient India, this force came in the form of Buddhism and Jainism. In the Middle Ages, it came in the form of Sufi, Bhakti, and Sikh saints. Under the influence of these saints, many untouchables joined the Bhakti community, Islam, and Sikhism. The third force was the army, which needed brave and hard-working people for battle and garrison.

ABOUT the DIRECTOR
------------------------------------

ARUN SINHA is a journalist, writer and filmmaker. He broke new ground in investigative journalism with his exposure of the blinding of crime suspects by policemen in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. He was a recipient of the Fellowship of the Reuter Foundation at Oxford. He is the author of 'Against the Few: Struggles of India's Rural Poor', 'Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar', 'Battle for Bihar,' and 'Goa Indica' and the editor of the book 'Freedom's Midnight: Dissent in Exile in Modi's India.' He worked as assistant director to the late new wave filmmaker Shyam Benegal and has made documentaries. He is based in Faridabad, Haryana, India.