# Bahujan

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{{Short description|Buddhist term related to Indian politics}}

'''''Bahujan''''' is a [Pali](/source/Pali_language) term frequently found in [Buddhist texts](/source/Buddhist_literature), with a literal meaning of "the many", or "the majority". In a modern context, it refers to the combined population of the [Scheduled Castes](/source/Scheduled_Castes), [Scheduled Tribes](/source/Scheduled_Tribes), [Other Backward Classes](/source/Other_Backward_Classes), [Muslims](/source/Indian_Muslims), and minorities, who together constitute the demographic majority of [India](/source/India).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-22 |title=What is Bahujan, Mandal, and Kamandal Politics in India? |url=https://justicemirror.com/bahujan-meaning-and-mandal-kamandal-politics/ |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=The Justice Mirror |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chishti |first=Seema |date=2022-01-27 |title=The substance of the U.P. elections |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-substance-of-the-up-elections/article38330553.ece |access-date=2022-03-05 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> The word ''bahujan'' appears in the dictum  "[Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha](/source/Bahujana_sukhaya_bahujana_hitaya_cha)" ("for the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many"), articulated by [Gautama Buddha](/source/Gautama_Buddha).<ref>{{cite book|last=Madan|first=Gurmukh Ram|title=Buddhism: Its Various Manifestations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqhhR-hY7VQC&pg=PA47|year=1999|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-728-3|page=47}}</ref><ref name=India>{{cite web|url=http://www.transparencyindia.org/resource/survey_study/Towards%20Improving%20Governance.pdf |format=PDF |title=Governance in Classic India |page=13 |access-date=19 September 2013 |publisher=Transparency India organization |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928055223/http://www.transparencyindia.org/resource/survey_study/Towards%20Improving%20Governance.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2013 }}</ref>

In the post-independence era, the term ''bahujan'' was introduced into Indian political discourse and given its modern definition by [anti-caste](/source/Caste_system_in_India) [social movements](/source/social_movements) inspired by the work of [B. R. Ambedkar](/source/B._R._Ambedkar) and [Jyotirao Phule](/source/Jyotirao_Phule),<ref name="Roy2015">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-first1=Uday|editor-last1=Chandra|editor-first2=Geir|editor-last2=Heierstad|editor-first3=Kenneth Bo|editor-last3=Nielsen|encyclopedia=The Politics of Caste in West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qXbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA177|title=Transformative politics: The imaginary of the Mulnibasi in West Bengal|first=Indrajit|last=Roy|pages=169–192|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-41477-3}}</ref><ref name="Jaffrelot2003">{{cite book|first=Christophe|last=Jaffrelot|title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJZp5tDuY-gC|year=2003|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-12786-8|page=153}}</ref> and often associated with [Dalit Buddhism](/source/Dalit_Buddhist_movement). The outlook of these movements is sometimes referred to in English as '''Bahujanism''', and is positioned by its proponents as a [majoritarian](/source/majoritarian) philosophy demanding social equality for backward castes, religious minorities, and other disadvantaged communities, [in opposition to the dominance of the Forward Castes](/source/Anti-Brahminism). Similarly, the term '''bahujanisation''' has been used to refer to the coalescence of various movements advancing the interests of particular backward castes and communities into a broad united front seeking comprehensive social change.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/42761438 |format=PDF |title=Transformation of Bahujan Power in Telangana: The Concept of “Bahujanization” is to Construct the Bahujan Identity |page= 529-536  |access-date=11 May 2022 |publisher=Indian Political Science Association}}</ref>

The word ''bahujan'' features prominently in the names of political parties basing their political programme on this philosophy and campaigning as advocates for groups included under the ''bahujan'' umbrella, such as the [Bahujan Samaj Party](/source/Bahujan_Samaj_Party), [Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi](/source/Vanchit_Bahujan_Aaghadi), [Bahujan Mukti Party](/source/Bahujan_Mukti_Party), and the [Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh](/source/Bharipa_Bahujan_Mahasangh) of India, as well as the [Bahujan Shakti Party](/source/Bahujan_Shakti_Party) of Nepal.

==See also==
*[Caste politics](/source/Caste_politics)
*[Ahinda](/source/Ahinda)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{wiktionary|बहुजन}}

Category:Pali words and phrases

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