Social Reform, Law, Gendered Identity Among an Oppressed Caste, the Ezhavas in Travancore

Undoubtedly the most widespread mass movement that Travancore witnessed, the social reform movement among Ezhavas arose in the context of the emergence of new social classes in Travancore from among non-dominant castes and communities. The Ezhava social reform movement sought to unite all sections of their caste through a common law of inheritance. As low castes struggling to assert their identity and dignity, the Ezhava social reform movement's campaigns were directed not only towards enhancing the educational and occupational status of the Ezhavas, but also to free them from the social shackles or customs, many of which were considered as imitations from the upper castes. This paper looks at the discourse within the Ezhava social reform movement in 1919 on matriliny, inheritance, form of marriage and the campaign for a law of succession and marriage for Ezhavas which was predicated on a distinct construction of gender. The discourse around the Ezhava Law Committee ‘s attempts to enact laws of inheritance, succession and form of marriage suggest both an attempt to build a community identity, its ‘reputation’ and ‘status’ as well as the subordination of women by controlling the relations, including property relations, between the sexes within the emerging unit of the family.’

Caste · Dignity · Personhood · Political science · Social change · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts