On January 1, 1818, the British-led army of 800 Dalit soldiers defeated a 2,000-person battalion composed almost entirely of high-caste Brahmin elite. The battle was one of the many confrontations that ultimately led to the British overthrow of the ruling Peshwa. Today, thousands of Dalits gather annually in the village of Bhima Koregaon, in the modern-day West Indian state of Maharashtra, to commemorate the anniversary of the group’s victory there.
In the months leading up to the 2018 battle bicentennial, high-caste Maratha and right-wing Hindu groups began to voice displeasure with the planned celebration, arguing it was an anti-national act to celebrate the victory of the British. On the first day of the year, hundreds of thousands of celebrators and protesters arrived. Clashes broke out between Maratha and the lower-caste Mahar, killing one person and injuring five.
Initially police investigated Hindutva leaders as possible instigators of the violence. But within six months,…
