ABSTRACT
The resistance to the caste systems goes back to the birth of Brahmanism. The first jolt to the caste system was in the medieval period due to an alien civilisation making India its home. One more wave of anti-caste movement emerged in the form of the Bhakti movement, which originated in the South between the seventh and tenth centuries. The British colonial rule, which lasted for more than two centuries, had great impact on the caste system in several ways. Significant source of education of the Dalits during colonial times was the recruitment into army and subsequent education in military schools. Since the benefits of education accrued to them almost 50 years before the Dalits, the anti-caste consciousness germinated in them, much earlier, which manifested in Jotiba Phule pioneering the first non-Brahman movement. The attitudinal change in the Congress towards social issues was forced by political developments.
