Missionary Insurgency and Marginality of Modernity in Colonial South India

Abstract

This article argues that despite some efforts by early missionaries, Christians in India have continued to practise various forms of caste prejudice. The multi-dimensional understanding of caste made this issue heavily contested, dividing the Christian communities into two major components of marginal Christians, later known as Dalit Christians, and elite Christians constituting largely Nadars and Vellalas in South India. Despite considerable missionary misgivings about caste identities and resultant discriminations, traditional differentiation carried on and took new forms. This article traces these debates and shows the challenges of opposing caste-based discriminations that continue today.