Drawing from publications by Swami Achutanand and the Adi-Hindu Mahasabha press between 1916 and 1940, this article examines the role of this north Indian Dalit organization in creating language and categories of liberalism in the Hindi vernacular. The Mahasabha poet-activists published numerous song-booklets in a variety of Hindi song genres to intervene in ongoing discussions on the subjects of representation and equality which they characterized as mulki-haq and unch-niche. Histories of liberties in late colonial India have typically examined its emergence within dominant Hindu and Muslim middle-class groups. This article uncovers the unique contributions of Dalit poet-activists who recognized the value of liberal ideas and institutions in challenging caste and abolishing “Manu’s Kanun” (lawgiver Manu’s Hindu law codes). It highlights the methodological importance of mohalla (neighborhood) sources usually located in Dalit activists’ houses in untouchable quarters. The chapbooks found in mohalla collections have enabled the writing of a new history of the Mahasabha’s activism and of the initiatives taken by poet-activists in founding a new Dalit politics in northern India. I explore the emergence of a Dalit literate public which sustained the activities of the Mahasabha and which responded with enthusiasm to its articulation of the new social identity of Achut (untouched) and a new political identity of Adi-Hindus—original inhabitants of Hindustan (India). Offering a new methodological approach in using mohalla sources and song-booklets composed in praise of liberal institutions, this essay makes a significant contribution to the recovery of a forgotten Dalit public sphere in early twentieth-century India.

本文借鉴了 Swami Achutanand 和 Adi-Hindu Mahasabha 出版社在 1916 年至 1940 年间出版的出版物，探讨了这个北印度达利特组织在印地语白话中创造语言和自由主义类别方面的作用。 Mahasabha 诗人活动家出版了许多印地语歌曲流派的歌曲小册子，以介入正在进行的关于代表性和平等主题的讨论，他们将其描述为mulki-haq和unch-niche。印度殖民地晚期的自由史通常考察其在占主导地位的印度教和穆斯林中产阶级群体中的出现。本文揭示了达利特诗人活动家的独特贡献，他们认识到自由主义思想和制度在挑战种姓和废除“马努的卡农”（立法者马努的印度教法典）方面的价值。它强调了莫哈拉（邻里）来源的方法论重要性，这些来源通常位于贱民活动人士的房屋中。莫哈拉收藏中发现的小册子使人们能够书写马哈萨卜哈的激进主义的新历史，以及诗人激进主义者在印度北部建立新的达利特政治时所采取的举措的历史。我探讨了达利特识字公众的出现，他们维持了摩诃萨婆罗的活动，并对阿楚特人（未受影响的）新社会身份和阿迪印度教徒——印度斯坦（印度）的原始居民——的新政治身份的阐述做出了热情的反应。 ）。本文提供了一种新的方法论途径，使用莫哈拉资料和歌颂自由制度的歌曲小册子，为恢复二十世纪初印度被遗忘的达利特公共领域做出了重大贡献。