Ezhava Reform and Hindu Sanghadana in 1930s–40s Travancore

This article examines the intersections between subaltern anti-caste reform and ‘Hindu unity’ in early twentieth century South India, focusing on the princely state of Travancore. Centring the Ezhava reform movement and drawing on underexplored archival sources, the article argues that while some Ezhava elites resisted conservative assimilation, others pursued it, engaging with organisations such as the Travancore Hindu Mahasabha to negotiate status and social mobility. The article introduces a neglected archival document suggesting the existence of a Sree Narayana Dharma Samrakshana Yogam, distinct from the well-known SNDP Yogam, pointing to a more complex range of engagements with Hindu consolidationist projects. Situating these developments within wider anxieties over Christian conversions, princely state politics, and the growing influence of national Hindu organisations in the 1930s and 1940s, the article argues that Ezhava reform encompassed greater ideological heterogeneity than previously acknowledged.