Shuddhi reconversion to Hinduism was undercut by caste unwillingness to mingle with converts

Evidence

73 Shuddhi or shuddhikaran—a movement for ‘reconversion’ to Hinduism—was initiated by Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj. In 1877, two years after founding the Arya Samaj, Dayananda is said to have performed the first ever shuddhi of a Muslim man (Parel 2000, 122). Swami Shraddhananda (1856–1926) carried on this legacy more militantly in the early twentieth century in the Punjab and the United Provinces. For an account, see Jaffrelot (1995). However, as Ambedkar points out, shuddhi created many problems since the privileged castes were not willing to mingle with newly ‘purified’ lower caste members. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1096

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• QUESTION: Worth chasing how the Arya Samaj’s inability to integrate converts actually resolved — did shuddhi claims persist only in census categories?

Related

• Hindu reconversion movement failed because upper castes refused to mingle with converts (similarity 0.95)
• Hindu reconversion failed because higher castes refused to mingle with the purified (similarity 0.94)
• Hindu reform movements launched re-conversion programmes to halt Untouchable defections. (similarity 0.85)
• Caste is inconsistent with conversion because no caste admits outsiders. (similarity 0.81)
• Hinduism’s pervasiveness makes renouncing caste seem impracticable to many (similarity 0.80)
• Learned savarna Hindus must reinterpret scripture to correct caste conduct. (similarity 0.80)
• Hindu revivalists proselytised Untouchables to retain them in subordination. (similarity 0.79)
• Competition from Islam and Christianity drove Hindu defensive revival movements (similarity 0.79)
• Hinduism once spread missionaries but later stopped converting outsiders. (similarity 0.79)
• Ambedkar resolved to abandon Hinduism to escape the stigma of untouchability. (similarity 0.78)
• Caste structure makes Hindu conversion structurally impossible for new members. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Caste Hindu reformers avoid alienating orthodox peers even at the cost of untouchable allies #expands (0.60)
• Hindu revivalists proselytised Untouchables to retain them in subordination. #exemplifies (0.55) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 152