''Bahujan'' is a

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

term frequently found in

Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...

, with a literal meaning of "the many", or "the majority". In a modern context, it refers to the combined population of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes,

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and minorities, who together constitute the demographic majority of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The word ''bahujan'' appears in the dictum "

Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha ''Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha'' (translates to "for the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many") is a dictum or aphorism enunciated in the Rigveda in Sanskrit. Hinduism defines five basic traditional philosophical concepts an ...

" ("for the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many"), articulated by

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. In the post-independence era, the term ''bahujan'' was introduced into Indian political discourse and given its modern definition by anti-caste

social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of ...

inspired by the work of

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

and

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890), also known as Jyotiba Phule, was an Indian social activist, businessman, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including eradication of ...

, and often associated with Dalit Buddhism. The outlook of these movements is sometimes referred to in English as Bahujanism, and is positioned by its proponents as a

majoritarian Majoritarianism is a political philosophy or ideology with an agenda asserting that a majority, whether based on a religion, language, social class, or other category of the population, is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and ...

philosophy demanding social equality for backward castes, religious minorities, and other disadvantaged communities, in opposition to the dominance of the Forward Castes. 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. 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 The Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with Religious ...

Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (translation: Deprived Majority Front; VBA) is an Indian political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar on 20 March 2018. The party is primarily based in Maharashtra in India. Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi follows Phule- A ...

Bahujan Mukti Party The Bahujan Mukti Party (BMP) is a political party in India launched on 6 December 2012. Pravendra Pratap Singh is the national president of Bahujan Mukti Party. Merger proposal with Loktantrik Janata Dal A merger with Loktantrik Janata Dal ( ...

, and the

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh The Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (IAST: Bhāripa Bahujana Mahāsaṅgha; BBM) was an Indian political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar on 4 July 1994. The party was a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and had its roots in the Schedu ...

of India, as well as the

Bahujan Shakti Party Bahujan Shakti Party is a political party in Nepal led by Vishwendra Paswan. History In the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, the party won 1 seat through the Proportional Representation vote. The party was continuent of the NC-UML alli ...

of Nepal.

References

{{wiktionary, बहुजन Pali words and phrases

See also

References