{{short description|Indian poet and social reformer}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Swami Achootanand | image = | caption = portrait of ''Swami Achutanand'' | birth_name = Hira Lal | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|05|06}} | birth_place = Umri, Sirsaganj, Mainpuri (now Firozabad district, Uttar Pradesh) | death_date = {{death date|df=yes|1933|07|20}} | death_place = Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh | occupation = Social Reformer, Founder of Adi Hindu Movement | years_active = 1923–1933 }}

'''Swami Achhootanand''', also known as '''Achutanand''' or '''Hariharanand''', was a 20th century Indian anti-caste intellectual, Dalit writer, and social reformer. A former Arya Samaji, he became disillusioned with the Arya Samaj and established the Adi Hindu movement. He was a poet, critic, dramatist, and historian.

==Early life==

Achhootanand was born on 6 May 1879<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harshvardhan |first= |last2=Mogha |first2=Shivam |title=Remembering Swami Achutanand: The Pioneer of Dalit Identity and Consciousness in North India |url=https://thewire.in/caste/remembering-swami-achutanand-the-pioneer-of-dalit-identity-and-consciousness-in-north-india |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=The Wire |language=en}}</ref> in a Chamar (Jatav{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=104}}) family in the Umari village of Mainpuri district.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=34}} His parents Moti Ram and Ram Piari followed the Kabir panth. His father and uncles, Kalu Ram and Subedar Mathura Prasad and elder brother, Subedar Bant Lal, were all in the British Indian Army.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Narayan|first=Badri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bo0AwAAQBAJ&q=swami+achhutanand+chamar+caste&pg=PT105|title=Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits|date=2014-04-18|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-93-5118-670-0|language=en}}</ref>

He was raised at the Devlali military cantonment in present-day Maharashtra, where his father was employed. For a Dalit at the time, he received relatively good education: the Christian missionaries at the cantonment school taught him to read Urdu, English, Hindi, and Gurumukhi.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=34}}

== Arya Samaj ==

As a teenager, Achootanand became a follower of the religious leader Swami Sacchidananda, who taught him Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and Sanskrit languages. During the age 14-24, he traveled across north India with mendicant saints. According to his biographer, Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu, he read a variety of religious literature, including the ''Guru Granth Sahib''; the ''Bijak'' of Kabir; the works of various other Bhakti poets (including Dadu Dayal, Ravidas and Namdev); Romesh Chunder Dutt's Bengali translation of the ''Rig Veda''; and several history books.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=35}}

Achootanand became an enthusiastic participant in the Arya Samaj social reform campaigns. He adopted the name "Harihar", and worked on the ''Shuddi'' (re-conversion to Hinduism) ritual campaigns, that sought to prevent the lower castes from converting to Islam or Christianity.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=37}}

After a few years of working with the Arya Samaj, he became disillusioned with the organization. He came to believe that the Hindu social reformers were only concerned about the declining strength of the Hindus in the colonial census: they had no intention of working towards actual social equality.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=37}}

==Adi Hindu movement==

After facing caste-based discrimination within the Arya Samaj movement, Achootanand left Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=104}} He gave up his Arya Samaj name "Harihar",{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=37}} and adopted the name "Achutanand", literally "somebody whose bliss is untouched" or "somebody who rejoices with the untouched/untouchables".{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=104}} The word "Achut" was used as a deorgatory term, and was commonly thought to mean "untouchable"; Achutanand interpreted it as "untouched", implying purity.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=37}}

Achootanand opposed the Arya Samaj and the Indian National Congress (whose leaders in Kanpur included Arya Samajis) using sharp rhetoric.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=109}} In 1919, he launched the ''All India Achhut Caste Reform Sabha'' ("All India Untouchable Caste Reform Assembly"). In the 1920s, he labeled the Congress a Brahmanical organization, opposed the non-cooperation movement, and supported the visit of Prince of Wales Edward to India. By 1922, he had become widely popular among the local untouchables.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=74}}

He started campaigning against the Arya Samaj through his writings and protests. He was invited to Delhi and successfully debated with Arya Samaji leader, Swami Akhilanand over scriptures. He then laid the foundation of "Jati Sudhar Achhoot Sabha'" and was conferred the title of "Shri 108" by proposal of Arya preacher, Pandit Ramchandra & Naubat Singh, the minister of Shahdara Samaj in Delhi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jigyasu |first=Chandrika Prasad |title=Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu Granthavali, Part 2 |pages=351}}</ref>

In 1922, Achootanand led Chamars out of Arya Samaj to establish the Adi Hindu movement.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Saga of Dalits' assertion |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/comment/saga-of-dalits-assertion-648789 |newspaper=The Tribune |language=en|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref> He thus pioneered the first social reform movement for Dalits in the Hindi belt.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Narayan|first=Badri|date=2019-05-15|title=The Bahujan movement needs to reinvent itself|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-bahujan-movement-needs-to-reinvent-itself/article27130228.ece |access-date=2020-05-26|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> He portrayed the untouchables as "Adi Hindus" ("original Hindus"), the original, peace-loving, and cultured inhabitants of India, who had been enslaved after the Aryan conquest.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=104}} Apparently influenced by Jyotirao Phule, he portrayed the upper castes as foreign invaders, who exploited the lower castes.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=33}} Following the Ad Dharm movement of Punjab, he chose the medieval low-caste saint Ravidas as a central figure of the movement.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=105}} The Adi Hindu ideology considered Bhakti as the original religious tradition of India, encouraging direct interaction between the devotee and the god, and discouraging the use of Brahmin priests and Vedic rituals as intermediaries.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=34}}

In 1925, Achootanand settled at Kanpur, where several Dalit entrepreneurs and businessmen lived.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=104}} The Adi Hindu movement became popular in the United Provinces, and attracted untouchables from a variety of backgrounds including the first-generation educated, village headmen, and rich businessmen.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=105}} His closest followers were the Dalit elites, such as the Chamar merchants, who had become prosperous through involvement in British leather trade.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=106}} Most of his close associates came from the Chamar caste: Gauri Shankar Aherwar, Jhamlal Aherwar, Girdhari Lal Kuril, and Chaudhari Ram Dayal Kuril. His other close associates included Shivprasad Bareta (a Dhobi) and Maikulal (a Kori).{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=107}}

Achootanand held eight ''All India Adi Hindu Conferences'' at Delhi (1923), Nagpur (1924), Hyderabad (1925), Madras (1926), Allahabad (1927), Bombay (1928), Amravati (1929), and again, Allahabad (1930). He also organized three special ''Adi Hindu Conferences'' at Delhi, Meerut, and Allahabad. In addition, he held 15 state-level conferences at various places in present-day Uttar Pradesh.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=105}}

By 1930, Achootanand's Adi Hindu conferences attracted participation from members of several lower castes, including Chamars, Dhobis, Pasis, Bhangis (Valmikis), Kureels, Dhusias and Koris.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=73}}

== Support for Ambedkar ==

On 22 February 1928, Achootanand shared stage with the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar during the ''All India Adi Hindu Sabha'' meeting.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=111}}

Achootanand welcomed King Edward VII, the Prince of Wales and even demanded proposals for Depressed Classes which was going to be submitted before Simon Commission.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kshīrasāgara|first=Rāmacandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wx218EFVU8MC&q=Swami+Achhutanand&pg=PA328|title=Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956|date=1994|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.|isbn=978-81-85880-43-3|language=en}}</ref> While the Congress opposed the Simon Commission, the Adi Hindus welcomed it, because it recognized the Dalits on a national political platform.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|pp=112-114}} On 30 November 1928, Achootanand met Ambedkar in Lucknow, during the Simon Commission hearing.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=111}} During Round Table Conference held in London in 1931, he supported Ambedkar through telegrams and created awareness on the issue among the untouchables of Kanpur.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|pp=114-115}}

Achootanand strongly opposed the use of the term "Harijan", coined by the Congress leader Mahatma Gandhi, to refer to the untouchables.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Swami Achhootanand 'Harihar': A profile|url=https://www.forwardpress.in/2019/02/swami-achhootanand-harihar-a-profile/ |author=Kanwal Bharti |date=2019-02-08|website=Forward Press|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref>

In 1932, when Gandhi declared a fast-unto-death to oppose the separate electorates granted to untouchable Hindus through the Communal Award, Achootanand advised Ambedkar to compromise with Gandhi, fearing reprisals against untouchables in case of Gandhi's death.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=115}}

==Literary career==

Achootanand initiated a new stream of Dalit pamphlet literature in Hindi language, in the 1920s.{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=27}} To raise awareness among the Depressed Classes, he started his own publication, and composed poetry under the pen name '''Harihar'''. Achootanand was one of the pioneers of Dalit literature in Hindi.<ref name="Ramacandra">{{Cite book|last=Kshīrasāgara|first=Rāmacandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wx218EFVU8MC&q=Swami+Achhutanand&pg=PA4|title=Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956|date=1994|publisher=M.D. |isbn=978-81-85880-43-3|language=en}}</ref>

In 1922, he started his first monthly paper ''Achut'' from Delhi, but it closed down in 1923. Later, he started ''Prachin Hindu'', but that too closed within a year. He then established the Adi Hindu Press and published ''The Adi-Hindu Journal'' from Kanpur during 1924–1932.<ref name="Ramacandra" />

Achootanand was a philosopher-poet and also a playwright. His Hindi books include: * ''Shambuk Balidan'', drama * ''Achhut Pukar'', religious songs * ''Mayanand Balidan'' (biography) * ''Pakhand Khandani'' * ''Adi-Vansh Ka Danka''

== Death ==

His health worsened after the Virat Adi Hindu Conference held at Gwalior in 1932. He died in 1933 at Zhabar Idgah in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

He was buried in a graveyard near the Nazirabad Police Station in Kanpur. In 1974, Rajendranath Aherwar, the eldest son of his associate Gauri Shankar Aherwar, set up the ''Sri 108 Swami Achutanand Smarak Samiti'' ("Honorable 108 Swami Achutanand Memorial Committee"). The Committee held celebrations on his birth anniversary, annually on 3 May.{{sfn|Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp|2011|p=116}}

Chandrika Prasad Jigyasu wrote a biography of Achutanand, titled ''Swami Achutanand 'Harihar''' (1968).{{sfn|Sarah Beth Hunt|2014|p=35, 252}}

==References== {{reflist}}

=== Bibliography === {{ref begin}} * {{cite book |author=Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp |editor=Peter Schalf |title=Neuer Buddhismus als gesellschaftlicher Entwurf |year=2011 |publisher=Uppsala University |isbn=978-91-554-8076-9 |doi=10.1515/olzg-2015-0120 |url=https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:472905/FULLTEXT01.pdf }} * {{cite book |author=Sarah Beth Hunt |title=Hindi Dalit Literature and the Politics of Representation |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-73629-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHc9BAAAQBAJ }} * {{citation |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India |year=2003 |publisher=C. H. Hurst & Co. Publishers |isbn=1850656703}} {{ref end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achootanand, Swami}} Category:1879 births Category:1933 deaths Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights Category:Indian male poets Category:Indian social reformers Category:People from Firozabad district Category:People from Kanpur Category:People from British India Category:Arya Samajis Category:Dalit leaders Category:Dalit