Publication of the book " India: from the Untouchables to the Dalits. Essays on History, Ideology and Politics "(Moscow, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pandora-1 LLC, 2003, 394 p.) filled one of the serious gaps in the Russian indological literature. The monograph is a fundamental work devoted to the history and current situation of the most backward and traditionally discriminated Hindu lower castes, formerly known as Harijans, now - as Dalits (oppressed), whose population exceeds 160 million people.

The book traces the history of the emergence of grassroots protest against social differentiation and caste discrimination, examines the process of increasing economic and political influence of the so-called backward classes, which mainly include former agricultural castes and untouchables.

The activities of reformist Hindu organizations, Christian missions, and non-Brahmin movements in the last third of the 19th and early 20th centuries were the basis on which independent actions of the lower castes of the untouchables developed during the national liberation movement. The interest of the colonial administration in splitting this movement, the struggle between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League for influence over the lower castes, Mahatma Gandhi's resistance to the efforts of the untouchables ' leader B. R. Ambedkar to separate them from the Hindu community - all this, as shown in the book, led to an increase in the share of this segment of Indian society. Under the threat of a hunger strike, Gandhi forced the leaders of the Hindu community to agree to demands for the political rights of the untouchables to be enshrined in the 1935 Constitution.

Of great interest is the analysis of the views and activities of B. R. Ambedkar, his disagreements with M. K. Gandhi and the Indian National Congress on the fundamental social issue-the elimination of untouchability.

Ambedkar believed that the emancipation of the untouchables was related to their liberation from the shackles of Hinduism. Gandhi, on the other hand, was convinced that Hinduism does not stand for the preservation of untouchability.

The author pays considerable attention to the work of Ambedkar, who devoted his life to the struggle for the reform of the social system based on equality and democracy. As a result, Ambedkar came to the conclusion that it was impossible to reform Hinduism in such a way that Dalits would find a worthy place in it. A harsh critic of the hierarchical caste system, he publicly renounced Hinduism in 1956 and, along with numerous followers, converted to Buddhism. This was seen as a challenge to the policies of the Indian National Congress Government and even as a betrayal of Hinduism. Hence the ambivalent attitude in India towards this prominent figure: from the silence for almost 30 years of his services to the country to the recognition of his contribution to the modernization of Indian society on a democratic basis. In 1990, Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the country's highest order, the Bharat Ratna ("Pearl of India"), and his birthday (April 14) was declared a national holiday.

Most of the work is devoted to the situation of Dalits in independent India, their political organizations, and the reservation (quota) policy implemented by the state in order to create conditions for the development and equality of Dalits, tribes, and "other backward classes". Despite some achievements, the results of this policy over half a century have turned out to be very modest, and the task that was supposed to be solved in 10 years has remained unfulfilled to this day. In broad historical terms, the book examines the problem of social belittlement of a part of the population, in particular, it compares untouchability in India with racism in the United States. The research is based on a wide range of sources.

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