Conversion Movements within Hindu Village Culture

by Susan Maneck

Most studies of mass movements in India have dealt with the conversion of tribal
peoples or untouchables to one of the great literate traditions: either
Christianity, Islam Hinduism (Sanskritization), or Buddhism. Conversion in the
case of tribal peoples is similar to those of other non-literate cultures. Non-
literate cultures tend to take a pragmatic approach to religion and are willing to
utilize whatever forms appear most effective. Where other peoples appear
especially powerful non-literates will readily accept their religious forms in
order to obtain the power it is perceived to have. New forms are readily adopted
and old, dysfunctional ones fade as the situation demands. Change occurs often,
yet imperceptibly, since there are no written records to confirm that such a
change has taken place. However, once a literate tradition is accepted boundaries
become clearly defined. While non-literate peoples may readily convert to the
literate tradition, movement away from it appears more difficult. Untouchables
represent largely non-literate persons with a marginal position within the
literate tradition of Hinduism. While excluded from access to the most important
Hindu texts, they are none the less essential to village Hindu life, as distinct
from the tribal peoples who generally inhabit separate areas. Untouchables
organize themselves in patterns similar to other Hindus especially in terms of
their corporate identity. Conversion in these cases represents a dissatisfaction
with the status conferred upon them by higher caste Hindus and an attempt to raise
that status by adopting a new identity.

This particular study focuses on conversions within the Hindu village culture,
particularly among caste Hindus, in order to determine what factors are involved
in conversion movements occurring from one literate tradition to another.
Substantial conversions among caste Hindus have been exceedingly rare, but I will
utilize two cases for comparative analysis. The first was a movement among Sudra
to Protestant Christianity which began in Andhra Pradesh around 1906 and ended
around the time of Independence in 1947. A more impressive movement has occurred
more recently in Malwa among caste Hindus who have embraced the Bah�'� Faith in
the 1960's and 70's. I will examine the various groups involved in the conversion
movements to determine what factors inclined them to convert. I will also examine
the similarities and differences of approach utilized by Christians and Bah�'�s in
each context. Finally, I will investigate the particular manner in which village
converts perceived the message of each respective religion.

CHRISTIAN CONVERSION IN ANDHRA PRADESH

Protestant missions in Andhra Pradesh, like those elsewhere in India. enjoyed

their greatest success among scheduled castes and tribes. Mass movements among the
Malas and Madigas began before the turn of the century and continued through the
1930's. The 1931 Census estimated that 20 per cent of the depressed classes in
West Godavari, 32 per cent in the Krishna and 57 per cent in the Guntur district
had converted to Christianity. Beginning around 1906 caste Hindus also began to
convert, so that by 1931 there were over 26,000 of them. Missionaries regarded
this development as a confirmation of their work among the depressed classes, and
expected that the Christian message could percolate upwards to the higher castes.
Bishop Pickett argued this thesis in his study of the movement Christ'-s Way to
India's Heart. He felt that caste Hindus were impressed by the positive changes
exhibited by the converts. Pickett supports his argument by giving anecdotal
accounts of caste Hindus who were influenced by untouchable converts. He also
shows that the bulk of caste conversions occurred in areas where the mass movement
among Malas and Madigas was also strong. B.A. Oddie in his later study "Christian
Conversion among Non-Brahmans in Andhra Pradesh", supports Pickett's thesis noting
that the majority of Sudras converting were of the agricultural castes which had
the most contact with Christian converts. Andhra Pradesh is a Telugu speaking area
where Sudras, the lowest of the four varnas of caste Hinduism make up the bulk of
society. Kshatriyas and Vaisyas are almost unknown, and Brahmans form a small
minority. Society then is divided into three major groupings: the few Brahmans at
the top constitute the priesthood. scribes and bureaucrats; the Sudras, the large
agricultural castes, while the untouchables are relegated the bottom rung and
serve the Sudras. The barrier, therefore, between Sudra and outcaste has an even
greater significance in this region than in other parts of India. The most
numerous "Sudra" conversions reported occurred among the subcastes of the
Yannadis, Lambadis, Yerkulas, Waddaras. Telegas. Kammas, Yadowas. and Reddis. Of
these the Yannadis and Lambadis were not Sudras at all but tribal people who stood
apart from both the caste system and Hindu society in general. The Yerukalas and
Waddaras were semi-tribal people in the process of "Sanskritization" who had been
reluctantly granted status as Sudras. The Yerukalas were basket weavers who often
lived in separate villages and spoke a dialect different from that of other
Telugu. The Waddaras were itinerant ditch-diggers and stone-cutters. Both groups
had a reputation for stealing and in the 1920's were compelled by the Criminal
Tribes Act to remain in a fixed location under police surveillance. Many of these
people clearly became Christians in order to escape harassment from police and
village officials. Admitted one Yerukalas convert:
Owing to the unbearable oppression of the village authorities not only myself but
all my kinsfolk have become Christians. In former times when a theft occurred,
whoever might be the thief, the village authorities used to arrest us and put us
in prison for some days. But since we have become Christians we are free from such
troubles. No one is bold enough to touch us without the permission of our pastor.
Besides that we are now worshiping the true God.
Besides assistance in their dealings with police authorities, the impoverished
Yerukalas and Waddaras also sought missionary aid in obtaining tracts of land
which had been made available to the missionaries for distribution among the
depressed classes. In these cases, where such aid was not forthcoming, the
converts quickly renounced Christianity. The Yerukalas and Waddaras were eager to
receive the same educational benefits which the missionaries had made available.
From this it would seem that these groups were impressed by the material gains
obtained by the untouchables through their conversion but they had little interest
in social and spiritual change. The Telegas. Kammas, Yadowas and Reddis, unlike
the foregoing, possessed clear credentials as Sudras. Of these groups, the Kammas
converted in the greatest number and the conversion of some of them in the Guntur
district is the best documented. The Kammas played a leading role in the non-
Brahman movement under the leadership of the Justice Party which dominated
politics in the Madras Presidency during the 1920's. This movement originated as a
protest against the leadership of the Brahmans of South India in political and
social life. The Brahmans had been the first to acquire western education in this
area and thereby obtained a near-monopoly on government positions. The Justice
Party pressed for a quota system in order to insure representation of all groups.
They opposed the nationalist movement since they believed it would only
consolidate the dominate position of the Brahmans. Opposition to the Brahmans
expressed itself in the religious realm as well. The Smritis, the Puranas and even
the Ramayana received criticism for being weighed in favor of the Aryans over the
Dravidians and for containing humiliating references to non-Brahmans. In the
Guntur and Krishna districts the Brahmans questioned the propriety of the Viswa
Brahmanas teaching the Vedas to the Kammas since they regarded both groups as
Sudras. The Kammas reacted by training members of their own caste in priestcraft,
calling them Kammas Brahmans. They established schools for this purpose in several
areas. The dissatisfaction on the part of the Kammas and other dominant Sudra
groups, who in economic terms were part of the ruling class, with the Hindu social
system which gave supernatural sanction to their being relegated to an inferior
status, provided a contributing factor which allowed for the conversion of
significant numbers of them. While the anti-Brahminical sentiment and growing
secularism of the Kammas probably made them more tolerant of conversion than they
might otherwise have been, the conversions themselves, came from corners far
removed from the political agitation. Before 1940 most of the Sudra converts in
the Guntur district were women, often elderly and widowed. These women usually
learned Christianity from Bible women', who visited their homes and related Bible
stories to them. Younger women were often exposed to Christianity through the
Lutheran hospital where they went to bear their children. These female converts
often succeeded in inducing their husbands to convert as well. In one instance
where a woman persuaded her husband to become a Christian, the husband, hesitating
to seek baptism alone, sought support from the wife's family. Eventually they were
all baptized in 1917. Most of the Christians in their town (Peddavadlapudi) were
from the depressed classes and the Kammas, though the only caste Hindus in the
community worshiped separately, claiming to be annoyed by the lack of reverence
shown by outcaste Christians. This indicates how little outcaste Christians in
that town had to do with the caste conversion movement. After this family's
conversion, a mission school was opened for caste girls. Within ten years twelve
Kammas families had converted, mostly at the urging of the womenfolks.

A number of factors might account for the extraordinary influence of the women in
these conversions and the relative lack of opposition which accompanied them. It
seems that Kammas women exercised a great deal more freedom than other Telugu
women. She usually retained control over a large portion of her dowry. Caste
violations among the Kammas were always handled by the immediate family, there
being no institutional apparatus to pressure dissident caste members. From the
foregoing examples it seems that where conversions to Christianity occurred among
caste populations they were often in spite of. not because of, but caste
Christians. How ever in some instances Christians from the scheduled castes did
successfully mediate Christianity to Sudra Hindus. When they did so it was by
addressing religious paradigms common to all village Hindus. P. Y. Luke and John
B. Carman, who conducted research on the relationship between village Christians
and the Hindu culture on behalf of the Christian Institute for the Study of
Religion and Society, had the opportunity of observing some of the ways this
occurred. During their stay in Kondapuran they noted that a number of Hindus from
the Sudra castes were attending worship services of that congregation regularly.
They had become interested in Christianity after having attended the camp services
conducted by an itinerant healer, Sadhu Joseph. Sadhu Joseph was born into a
family of Mala Christians but grew up largely ignorant of Christian beliefs and
practices. As a young man he contracted leprosy but was miraculously cured after
having a vision which empowered him to heal others. He left his home and went out
into the jungle for prayer, meditation and Bible reading. Although previously
illiterate he now found himself able to read the Bible. Afterwards he traveled
from place to place, erecting his tent on the outskirts of villages. and healing
people in the name of Jesus Christ. His wife joined him in his ministry, but they
did not cohabited. Sadhu Joseph ate no solid food but lived on milk and orange
juice. He grew his hair long and wore a cassock with a silver cross. In his
preaching, Sadhu Joseph taught almost exclusively from the Gospels, emphasizing
especially the healing miracles of Jesus. While he would speak about repentance in
general terms, he would not make it a condition for healing. Without insisting
they do so exclusively,, he urged the people to worship Jesus. Mention was not
made of other religions at all. Sadhu Joseph would cooperate closely with the
established church. He made no attempt to administer communion but would invite
the local pastor to celebrate it. He himself would receive communion from the
pastor. On special request, with the pastor's approval, he would occasionally
baptize people. Caste Hindus often attended Sadhu Joseph's services, sitting
together with the outcastes during the worship. Rarely however, were they actually
baptized, for this represented a definite break of caste. Usually they returned to
their villages reciting the songs learned at these services, and sometimes
regarded themselves as devotees to Jesus Christ in gratitude for their healing.
While virulently opposed by the Arya Samajists, most caste Hindus seem to accept
Sadhu Joseph in the traditional mode of a holy man in India whose renunciation of
the world has rendered his caste status irrelevant. Healing and dreams seem to be
the most common ways in which Christianity was mediated to Sudra converts and
inquirers. Village Hindus often regarded the hearings received in the mission
hospitals as evidence of the power of Christ. In the village of Ambojipet,
Narayana Gowd, a toddy-tapper, first learned of Jesus in the evangelist's school
he attended. Years later, when cholera broke out in his village, he refused to
participate in the sacrifices to the cholera goddess although he was under great
pressure to do so. That night he dreamed Satan tried to strangle him for not
worshiping idols but that Jesus, appearing in white robes. killed Satan and
rescued him. Three years later Narayana's wife became seriously ill during her
pregnancy. Narayana took her to the mission hospital where she safely delivered a
son whom, in gratitude, they named Swamidas (Servant of the Lord). A month later
the wife developed severe stomach pains. One night Jesus appeared to her in a
dream. He placed his hand where the pain was and put three pills into her mouth.
The next morning her pain was gone. As a result of these experiences Narayana and
his wife decided to be baptized even though this meant joining a church which was
made up entirely of untouchables. Later, the father-in-law, Posha Gowd, developed
eye trouble and Narayana took him to the hospital for surgery. The night before
surgery Posha saw Jesus in a dream. Though the father-in-law credited the success
of the operation to Jesus, after two years he had not yet been baptized. In
another family of the same village, a women who had lost three or four children
was visited by the Christian teacher who prayed with her for the birth of a son,
requesting that should she have one he would be named Devidas (Servant of
Goddess ) Five years later. under the influence of Narayana, this family agreed to
be baptized. Another young man, Vittal, a potter was baptized with them although
he had received no Christian instruction. During the baptismal service the
minister warned the new Christians against participating in the traditional Hindu
practices, including the performance of the Ramayana It so happened that both
Vittal and Narayana belonged to the drama association which staged those
performances. Vittal tried to drop out of the group made up of fifteen caste
Hindus. At first they protested, but finally decided to give up performing the
Ramayana and instead decided to adapt the traditional music and dances to
Christian themes. Later the leader of the drama association also became a
Christian.

Contrary to what has been suggested by a number apologists for the work of
missionaries among the untouchables, mass movements rarely moved up in the caste
structure. Where caste conversions did occur they were usually independent of the
mass movements among the scheduled castes. In a few cases caste Hindus converted
simply to obtain real or imagined material benefits from the missionaries. When
those were not forthcoming they quickly fell away. Conversion was most likely to
occur among caste Hindus who, like the untouchables. had become dissatisfied with
their ritual status within the Hindu system. Lack of strong caste sanctions
against conversion also provided a contributing factor. In some cases Christians
from the scheduled castes did succeed in influencing caste conversions. They did
so by mediating Christianity to Hindus in terms of their own religious paradigms
and conceptions of piety.

BAHA'I CONVERSIONS IN MALWA

The Bah�'� Faith was established in India in 1872 after Jamal Effendi was directed
by Bah�'u'll�h to spread the Bah�'� teachings throughout South and Southeast Asia.
Jamal Effendi remained in India from 1872-1878 where he met with leading Indian
figures including the founder of the Arya Samaj, Dyananda Sarasvati. Bah�'�
communities were established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras but they mostly
consisted of persons of Parsi or Muslim background. Over the next thirty years
many Bah�'�s from Iran visited India both for business reasons and to spread the
Bah�'� teachings. Beginning in 1908 Bah�'�s from America began traveling to India
as well. These Bah�'�s, many of them women had previously been associated with the
Theosophical Society or other groups associated with the American
transcendentalists. Their teaching projects were often carried out in coordination
with those of the Theosophical Society, the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj. They
directed their message towards the intellectual elite of India.

Between 1921 and 1938 the Bah�'� community in India began adopting institutional
structures which had been developed in the American Bah�'� community and received
the sanction of the Guardian of the Bah�'� Faith, Shoghi Effendi. Among the
administrative practices adopted was an enrollment procedure whereby
representatives of the local administrative body (Spiritual Assembly) examined a
potential convert's knowledge of the Bah�'� teachings before accepting his
declaration of faith. New believers were expected not only to have an adequate
knowledge of the basic doctrines and principles of the Bah�'� Faith; they also had
to fully understand its administrative organization,procedures, and historical
development. Naturally these procedures limited enrollment to the literate urban
classes since rural Indians could not grasp the finer details of the movement's
structure and organization. The result of these administrative policies, along
with the extensive use of Islamic paradigms by Bah�'� is in their teaching
programs, was that by 1960 the Bah�'� community in India amounted to no more than
a thousand souls. Bah�'�s first settled in Malwa in 1942 in response to the call
of Shoghi Effendi for Bah�'�s residing in major cities to disperse to smaller
towns and cities in order to spread the Bah�'� Faith to a wider range of people. A
Bah�'� family of Parsi ancestry, the Mehrabanis, settled in Ujjain where they were
later joined by a Muslim Bah�'� family,, the Munjis. Five converts were soon made,
four of them of Muslim background and one Hindu. In 1944 the first Local Spiritual
Assembly was established. One of these Muslim converts married one of the
Mehrabani's daughters, which created a stir in the Muslim community. That same
year Bah�'�s participated in the city's Arya Samai conference where they offered
an address on the social principles of the Bah�'� Faith. This speech attracted the
attention of a scheduled caste leader from Shajapur, Kisan Lal, who subsequently
became a Bah�'�. Kisan Lal informed other Harijans in the villages of Shajapur
about the Bah�'� Faith and many of them frequented the Bah�'� center in Shajapur.
There they were received graciously but no attempt was made to enroll them. A few
individuals from the surrounding villages of Ujjain were judged capable of meeting
Bah�'� standards of enrollment. One of them was Daya Ram Malvia who was also a
scheduled caste leader. He in turn enlisted several prominent scheduled caste
members of his village, Harsodan, and thus established the first Bah�'� village
community in Malwa. With partition in 1947 the Bah�'� communities of Malwa were
dealt a devastating blow as nearly all of the Bah�'�s of Muslim background (which
still formed the bulk of the Bah�'� community there) left for Pakistan. Apparently
those Bah�'�s were still generally recognized as Muslims. The Local Spiritual
Assembly of Ujjain which was then the only one in Malwa was dissolved and for the
next twelve years Bah�'� activity was negligent. The Local Spiritual Assembly was
reformed in 1960. This time all the members of the [[year Bah�'�s participated in
the city's Arya Samai conference where they offered an address on the social
principles of the Bah�'� Faith.

This speech attracted the attention of a scheduled caste leader from Shajapur,
Kisan Lal, who subsequently became a Bah�'�. Kisan Lal informed other Harijans in
the villages of Shajapur about the Bah�'� Faith and many of them frequented the
Bah�'� center in Shajapur. There they were received graciously but no attempt was
made to enroll them.@l A few individuals from the surrounding villages of Ujjain
were judged capable of meeting Bah�'� standards of enrollment. One of them was
Daya Ram Malvia who was also a scheduled caste leader. He in turn enlisted several
prominent scheduled caste members of his village, Harsodan, and thus established
the first Bah�'� village community in Malwa.community were either of Parsi or high
caste Hindu background. All had at least a secondary education.]] Beginning in
1953 a teaching program was instituted aimed at spreading the Bah�'� Faith
throughout the world. Shoghi Effendi urged Bah�'�s to spread the teachings among
the masses. When the first small-scale mass conversion movement began in Africa
during the mid-1950's Shoghi Effendi. through his secretary relayed these
sentiments:
... the friends [Bah�'�s] should be very careful not to place hindrances in the
way of those who wish to accept the Faith. if we make the requirements too
rigorous, we will cool off the the initial enthusiasm, rebuff the hearts and cease
to expand rapidly. The essential thing is that the candidate for enrollment should
believe in his heart in the truth of Bah�'u'll�h. Whether he is literate or
illiterate, informed of all the Teachings or not, is beside the point entirely.
The Indian National Spiritual Assembly reflected this change in policy in a
statement made in February of 1959:
On the other hand we should not deprive people to embrace the Faith pending their
acquiring elaborate knowledge of the Faith and details of administration, etc. If
conviction in Faith has been established in mind and heart of our friends, no
matter how little they know about the Faith, we should not deprive them to have
rights and privileges of being Bah�'�s.
In 1960 Mrs. Mehrabani spent several days in a Bhil tribal village of Kweitiopani
near Indore which previously shown interest in the Bah�'� Faith. She returned
periodically over the next few weeks and finally invited them to join them to join
the Bah�'� Faith. 75 of the 200 villagers declared themselves believers by placing
their thumb prints on enrollment cards since they could not write. With the aid of
Kisan Lal arrangements were next made to hold a conference in the village of
Sangimanda, a predominantly scheduled caste village of Shajapur. At this open air
meeting held in January of 1961, Bah�'� speakers announced that Bah�'u'll�h was
the bhagavan kalkin , the tenth avatar of Vishnu whose return in Vaishnavite
theology marks the end of the kall-y a. Bah�'�s also stressed that the Bah�'�
Faith considers all men equal and makes no distinction on the basis of wealth or
caste. At the conclusion of the conference 200 villagers became Bah�'�s and
representatives of other villages appeal - for Bah�'� teachers to visit L their
villages as well. In response, the Indian National Spiritual Assembly purchased a
number of jeeps and sent Bah�'� teachers throughout rural Malwa.

During the first few years of mass teaching in Malwa most of the enrollments were
from the scheduled tribes and castes. This was partly because of the Bah�'�
Faith's obvious appeal as a casteless religion. But it also reflected the
strategies used by the Bah�'�s in their teaching efforts. When the decision was
made to implement a mass teaching program in Malwa the original Bah�'� converts of
rural areas were consulted, particularly Kisan Lal and Daya Ram Malvia. They
naturally directed Bah�'�s to their own areas and communities and hence the bulk
of new converts were from the scheduled castes to which they belonged. When mass
teaching was implemented in the Gwalior area in 1962 Bahais utilized a different
strategy. Concerned with reaching all strata of Indian society, Bah�'�s there
first approached the leading castes when entering a village. Bah�'�s made special
efforts to convert the village head man or at least gain his sympathy. This policy
enjoyed remarkable success. When William Garlington visited a number of village
Baha7i communities he found the numbers of Bah�'�s in each caste was roughly
proportional to the caste breakdown of the village itself. Of the 276 declared
believers he studied, 159 were members of untouchable or unclean The rest were
caste Hindus, often Raiputs and Brahmans. By 1974 there were 113,692 declared
Bah�'�s in Malwa scattered among 6.572 localities. In only one village did
discontent on the part of the scheduled castes seem to be a motivating factor
behind conversions. Forty years previously violence had erupted between Balais and
Raiputs during a land dispute. In that village 91 Balais and 14 members of other
scheduled castes had become Bah�'�s. But surprisingly,, so had 19 caste Hindus,
including 4 Raiputs. The total population of that village consisted of
approximately 825 scheduled caste members as opposed to 277 clean caste Hindus and
25 Muslims.

In the village of Richa other factors predominated. There a greater balance

existed between the higher and lower castes. 15 of the 48 declarants were
Brahmans, 3 Raiputs, 13 Dalais, 10 Chamars, 2 Bhangis, 1 Jain, and 4 Muslims. Yet
66 of the Bah�'�s were under 30 and 95 under 40. Most of these Bah�'�s were
enlisted by a twenty-seven year old Rajput with a tertiary education who had
attended Bah�'� 'deepening' classes in Ujjain. The Bah�'� communities in the
villages of Karankani, Manasa and Kasod appear similarly to revolve around
specific individuals. In all three cases the village headman had become a Bah�'�
and others had enrolled under his influence. In all three villages Bah�'� primary
schools were established since there existed no government schools in the area.

THE MESSAGE DELIVERED

The foregoing descriptions of the mass movements in Andhra Pradesh and Malwa
suggest some very different processes involved in the Bah�'� conversions as
opposed to the Christian ones. This next section will examine the similarities and
differences in the organizational structures, belief systems, and propagation
methodologies introduced by the Christians and Bah�'�s respectively, in order to
determine some of the factors which might account for these differences in
outcome. Both the Bah�'� Faith and Christianity alike place supreme value in the
individual worth of a person and his equality before God. The caste system,
therefore, has no supernatural sanction and is strongly discouraged by both
religions. Both religions regard their written texts, supported by accepted
institutional structures, as the final determinant of faith and practice. Among
the profound differences is the cultural background of those involved in the
proselytizing effort. In the period under consideration in Andhra Pradesh this
work was either done by foreign missionaries themselves or by those under their
direct supervision. Only a few remarkable individuals like Sadhu Joseph were an
exception to this. Indians associated these missionaries, whether justly or not,
with the colonial ruling power. This encouraged some conversions, especially among
disadvantaged and marginal groups who felt they could better themselves by
affiliating with the religion of the British. Their sentiments were expressed in
the sermon offered by a local preacher.

India was ruled first by Brahmini rulers. and at the time the Bramins kept the
Harijans away from the main village in a separate block. They were denied all
privileges and education. Then came the Muslim rule. The Muslims defeated the
Brahmini rulers with the help of the British. Then the British became the emperors
of the world and ruled the earth. They, with the love of Christ, came here to us
and lifted us up from our low state. Through Jesus Christ we have received
salvation muk-:ti ) and education. Salvation is to be found in the Bible, and now
we are able to read it and tell others about this good news.

However where anti-colonial sentiment was strong,, especially among clean caste
Hindus, it proved a great impediment to conversion. Carman points out that while
conversions among lower Sudra castes had been on the increase until 1940, they
decreased after that until 1947 and at the time of his writing (1968) had nearly
stopped. After Independence, Christianity no longer had the same social appeal to
Harijans either. While the Bah�'� Faith was originally introduced to India via
foreigners as well, they were in no wise associated with the colonialists. The
mass teaching efforts themselves were mostly organized and carried out by urban
Indians. While the Arya Samai often attacked the Bah�'� Faith as a foreign
religion, village converts, as we will see, rarely perceived it as such. The
differences between the economic resources of the two communities is striking as
well. Christian missionaries utilized monies collected in European and American
churches to establish a vast network of schools and hospitals throughout India. In
some cases the British government provided aid to their institutions as well. They
also supported a large number of full time workers engaged in the life of the
church. We have already seen how important medical missions were to the rural
population who regarded the healing power of the medical practitioner as evidence
of the efficacy of his religion. The financial resources of the Bah�'�s on the
other hand, was severely limited. Virtually all of their funds came from the
Indian community itself. which as I noted before numbered only a thousand in 1960.
This urban base could not hope to support the nearly 400,000 rural Bah�'�s of
1973. Consequently consolidation work has been extremely haphazard. Bah�'�s did
attempt to establish primary schools in villages which had none whatsoever, but at
the time of Garlington's study there were only ten of these in an area with over a
hundred thousand new believers. The principle outlay at the beginning stages of
the mass teaching efforts was the purchase of several jeeps. Later two institutes
were established in Malwa to educate villagers in Bah�'� principles. There were
also thirteen paid 'traveling teachers' who were recruited from the towns and
villages and assigned to visit the Bah�'�s in surrounding areas. The institutional
structure of the Bah�'� Faith differs considerably from that of the Christian. The
Church of South India which represents the bulk of the Christian community in
Andhra Pradesh has a highly trained professional clergy which is part of a clearly
defined hierarchical structure. This clergy almost exclusively sets the policies
and administers the sacraments. The Bah�'� Faith has neither clergy nor a
sacramental ritual life requiring specialists. The administrative bodies are
elected annually by all members of the community. In each city, town or village
having nine or more adults, an body of nine is elected which consults together on
the affairs of the community. This body is known as the Local Spiritual Assembly.
The National Spiritual Assembly is elected by delegates and also has nine members.
In Malwa there were 2,356 Assemblies as of January 1974. It should not be imagined
however, that most of these are functioning. In fact because of the lack of
trained teachers and the large number of village communities, Bah�'�
administrators are forced to select a few "model villages" in which to develop
Bah�'�s institutions in hopes that when these communities mature they will serve
as examples for further development in rural areas. In the absence of such
functioning bodies, however, there exist no means to control the behavior and
lifestyles of the rural believers. Where such institutions exist it devolves on
those local bodies to determine the direction of the community. The Christian and
Bah�'� communities utilize different criteria in determining membership. In most
Christian denominations in Andhra Pradesh there is a two-tier system revolving
around the Christian sacraments. Persons who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior and who wish to belong to the Christian community are baptized. Only after
a period of instruction and trial, however are they admitted to the church proper
and allowed to partake in communion. Most rural Christian in Andhra Pradesh never
become communicant members. Bah�'�s on the other hand are enrolled by signing or
impressing their thumb print on a form which states that they accept Bah�'u'll�h
as the manifestation (avatar ) of God and recognize that in joining the Bah�'�
community there are principles, laws and institutions which must be obeyed. The
most significant difference between the Christian and the Bah�'� approaches in the
Hindu village is theological. Most missionaries viewed conversion as a total break
from Hinduism. Evangelical Christianity presented sin as the essential human
problem from which faith in Christ was the only salvation. Other religions were
often demeaned or regarded as demonic. Native evangelists were more likely to
present Christianity in terms meaningful to the Hindu villager, but in less
orthodox formulas. This sometimes created tensions between the missionary or the
seminary trained minister and the indigenous preacher. Carman and Luke observed a
superintending minister publicly criticizing an evangelist by remarking to the
evangelist's congregation. "The evangelist said that you received land, etc.,
through Jesus, but he did not say that you have received salvation from your sins
through Him." One missionary protested against any adaptation to Indian religious
paradigms in these words: The real meaning of this unreasonable demand. after all,
is not that Christianity should be adapted to the Hindu mind, but to Hindu
religion and philosophy. Hindu pantheism or Vedantism cannot accept the doctrines
of Christ. e.g., the doctrines of sin and atonement. The trouble is not with the
oriental's mind, but with his religious system, which practically obliterates
moral distinctions, does away with personality and accountability, and makes sin
simply a misfortune, and so has no need for an atonement.

Where local evangelists did utilize indigenous symbols their efforts to reach the
higher castes were much more effective as we have seen with Sadhu Joseph.
Missionaries who were too rigid in their theologies often impeded conversions.
Converts were often given a new name and expected to use it thereafter. In
practice they usually used them only in the presence of church workers. Converts
were sometimes forbidden to participate in village festivals associated with idol
worship. This rule was generally ignored, except by the Madiga converts whose
traditional occupation included beating the drums at festivals. As Christians they
no longer wished to associate themselves with such a defiling activity.

Inderdining with untouchables was often a test for admission to communion. The
long tuft of hair, ( juttu ) worn by Hindu men was considered prohibited as well
and shorn before baptism. The church also forbade the intermarriage of Christians
and Hindus and insisted on Christian ceremonies. During the period of British rule
those who violated strictures could be brought to court and fined or imprisoned.
The primary theological assumption of the Bah�'�s is nearly the reverse of the
Christianity. Rather than interpret the Oneness of God to mean that only their
religion is right. Bah�'�s presume that all people essentially worship the same
God. They also believe that Bah�'u'll�h is the promised one and fulfillment of all
the religions of the past and that the social principles of the Bah�'� Faith are
the ones best suited to todays needs. Current Bah�'� literature includes Buddha
and Krishna within its definition of prophet. and Bah�'� theology does not exclude
the existence of other 'manifestations' as well. Since prospective converts are
not expected to deny their own religious tradition conversion is not nearly as
traumatic a break. Many Hindu beliefs stand in direct contradiction to those of
the Bah�'� Faith, however. particularly those related to transmigration. Bah�'�s
resolve this dilemma by insisting that the 'true' teachings of Buddha and Krishna
have been obscured by time and that the teachings of Bah�'u'll�h represents a
return to the original teachings. The Bah�'� Faith presents itself to other
religions as reformist. As far as possible, Bah�'�s attempt to utilize indigenous
religious concepts when presenting the Bah�'� message. Bah�'� teachers spend
little time trying to negate traditional doctrines or in discussing metaphysical
questions such as the nature of God or even the afterlife. In fact they regard all
human conceptions in this area to be at best partial understandings and worthy of
little attention. Instead they emphasize the eschatological and social-ethical
aspects of their religion. Unlike the Christian evangelists Bah�'� teaches little
effort to change the traditional modes of behavior of Bah�'�s outside of
specifically Bah�'� activities and institutions. This is in part, a reflection of
the Bah�'� world view which assumes that the world is moving increasingly towards
internationalism and that traditional social systems (which include modernism)
will find themselves unable to cope with the new problems that will arise. Rather
than attempt to engender radical change, Bah�'� efforts are aimed at providing
doctrines and constructing institutions which can cope with those changes which
will necessarily occur. Because of these presumptions, Bah�'�s have little
reluctance in allowing traditional and Bah�'� principles to operate in separate
spheres, side by side. The aspects of Bah�'� teachings most stressed in the
villages are those fundamental doctrines of the oneness of God, the essential
oneness of religion and the oneness of mankind. Communal gatherings, both
administrative and devotional, are greatly encouraged. Bah�'� laws are not greatly
emphasized. Bah�'�s translate their own concept of the prophet being the
'Manifestation of God' (meaning the perfect reflection of all the names and
attributes of God) into the Hindu term avatar . By so doing they associate
Bah�'u'll�h as the Vaishnavite eschatological figure of Kalkin (the avatar- )
expected to appear at the end of the kali-yuga the last of the four great ages of
the cosmic aeon. Bah�'�s make frequent references to the Bhagavad Gita,
emphasizing the references to destruction and regeneration and ignoring ones to
varnashramdharma , karma samsara , and moksha . The most frequently quoted passage
of the Gita found in Bah�'� literature and song is the following: Whenever there
is a decline of righteousness and rise of unrighteousness. 0 Bharata, then I send
forth Myself. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked
and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age.
(Gita IV, 7-8)

The Bah�'� Faith, then, sees its basic relationship to Hinduism in terms of
eschatological fulfillment which provides basis of their methodology.

THE MESSAGE RECEIVED

Having taken a look at the message which Christian evangelists and Bah�'� teachers
endeavored to deliver to rural Hindus. we now proceed to examine the manner in
which Hindu converts understood this message and incorporated it into their lives.
While as noted above, Christian evangelists demanded a complete break from Hindu
tradition this rarely occurred in actual practice. especially in those areas
without a full time resident evangelist. Most Christians, Luke and Carman found,
participated in some form of non-Christian rites and believed in their efficacy.
They wrote:
Most Christians have a Hindu or Muslim name as well as a Christian name. Some tie
a cross around their necks, and on the same thread put a Hindu charm or talisman.
Once when the author (P.Y.L.) was invited into a home to pray with a woman in
acute pain, he found the sacred ashes of Kamudu (kept from the bonfire at Holi)
smeared over her body in order to ward off the evil spirits. Christians give
thank-offerings to Christ, and also pay considerable sums to the wandering
mendicants of their own caste. They meet regularly to worship Christ, but also on
occasion sacrifice a chicken to Poshamma. the goddess of smallpox. They respect
their presbyter and sometimes bring him through the village in great procession,
yet they consult a Brahman about auspicious days and hours and ask him to draw up
horoscopes for various purposes. They keep a picture of Jesus Christ on the wall
of their houses, but in a niche in the same wall they have a little image of their
household goddess, Balamma or Ellamma. They want the blessings of 'Lord Jesus'
without incurring the displeasure of any of the village goddesses. Each year many
of them celebrate twelve or thirteen Hindu festivals and one Muslim festival
Muharr-am ) as well as the two Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter. In
Kandapuram, the washerman who came back from Sadhu Joseph's healing services and
started attending Christian worship said that he could not possibly be baptized
because of the religious duties he had to perform for the whole village. To this
an elder of the congregation replied, 'It does not matter. You can do both. We are
both doing both and yet we are Christians. We carry out our traditional duties at
the village sacrifices, except that we do not eat the meat offered to idols.
Some Christian families did not participate to such a large extent in the Hindu
rites, yet these were not necessarily the families regarded as the best Christians
in terms of morality. Some congregations had developed a more distinctive
Christian identity as a result of the influence of a number of young men with some
education and more urban contacts. This has weakened their belief in the deities
and demonic spirits. For the most part, Christian converts adapt the general
pluralistic attitudes of their village. They regard Jesus as their ishta devata or
favorite deity and see no contradiction with worshiping other gods. They realize
that the church ministers disapprove of this. but persist in those practices
deemed necessary for welfare of the entire village and its protection from
malevolent powers and calamities. Carman and Luke in their study of the Jangarai
section of Andhra Pradesh found that most Christians knew a few of Jesus'
miracles, that he was born of a virgin, and that he died on a cross. Fewer knew of
the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost or about his expected return. The
concept of vicarious atonement is not well understood, though stories of Jesus'
passion arouse their sympathies. Often they believe the sacrifice of Jesus was to
placate Satan. Village Christians refer to Jesus as Yesuswami and believe by
worshiping him they will receive telivi or knowledge and barkat or material
blessing. By 'knowledge' they refer to the knowledge of reading and writing made
available to them since becoming Christians and more particularly to the knowledge
of the Bible. The term does not include the Hindu notion of jnana , the knowledge
that leads to salvation. Rather it means that, like the higher caste Hindus and
Muslims, they now have access to their own scriptures. By blessings they mean that
Jesus will heal the sick, bless their crops, protect them from misfortune, and
grant them success. The usual term for God is deva the generic term for deity. The
Trinity is generally unknown, as is the concept of the Holy Spirit. Like the
Bah�'�s. village Christians refer to Jesus as avatar Communion is often associated
with Hindu isadaq and it causes confusion that Communion is not offered to all
Christians. Hindus present at worship services have been particularly offended at
being denied the elements.. Salvation is usually translated as mot..sha and is
perceived as a state of eternal communion with the Lord. Salvation from sin is
rarely understood and is usually perceived as a specific immoral act rather than a
state of being. Christians in Andhra Pradesh are not distinguished so much by
their attitudes or customs, but by the act they form a distinctive religious
community having their own religious specialists and distinctive form of worship
not directed to a material image. While the Bah�'� Faith regards itself as an
independent world religion and officially Bah�'�s are expected to resign their
membership in other religious organizations after becoming Bah�'�s, this
regulation has often been enforced only in the urban areas. Furthermore it
presupposes that other religions have an administrative structure analogous to
that of the Bah�'�s to which one can join or withdraw from. Clearly this is not
the case with Hinduism. Given the Bah�'� approach of seeking to affirm each
persons religious heritage and present Bah�'u'll�h as its prophetic fulfillment,
it is not surprising that most Bah�'�s in the villages still regard themselves as
Hindus and apparently identify themselves as such an the Indian census. This is in
marked contrast to Christian converts, who however much they may continue to
participate in the Hindu ritual life, still recognize that being a Christian is to
be other than a Hindu. In instances where they identified themselves as Hindus for
census purposes they recognized this as an act of dissimulation,, and usually
offered their Christian name to church officials. In the areas of religious
conduct the behavior of Bah�'� converts is similar to that of the Christians.
Bah�'� beliefs are often accepted along side contradictory Hindu notions. While
believing in the oneness of God. they continue to offer puja at the village
shrines. They accept the concept of heaven parlok, at the same time they accept
their predestined dharma. One village Bah�'� traveling regularly to nearby
villages to spread the message of Bah�'u'll�h, proudly displayed his sacred thread
and said he performed puja daily in the main village temple. In one village icons
of Rama, Hanumant, and Ganesa were housed in one corner of the Bah�'� center. At
the time of Garlington's study, no Bah�'� funerals had taken place in rural Malwa.
There were however several Bah�'� marriages, each of which was performed after the
Hindu ceremony. In tmodel villages' meetings and holy day observances are held
with some degree of regularity, yet only a portion of the Bah�'� community
participates in any given time. Individual prayer and fasting are usually observed
regularly only by those Bah�'�s who have had extensive contact with Bah�'�s
outside the village. Most Bah�'� meetings are short in duration and center around
specific literate believers, whether they are untouchables or from the higher
castes. No isolation or segregation was visible in the seating arrangements of
those present at Bah�'� meetings. During the consultation periods. however, only
caste leaders or highly literate members among the untouchables castes
participated freely (except in Garabeli.. where all the assembly members are
Balai). However those that do participate are accepted freely. In Richa, where
Brahmans make up the largest group of Bah�'� declarants, one Chamar was elected to
the Assembly. He attended the Assembly meeting at house of a Raiput and seated
himself beside the other 'clean' caste members. During feasts, food is shared
among all participants, but usually only dry foods. such as nuts, are distributed.
In other contexts of village life, interdining would not be practiced. Bah�'�s
sent outside the village to the Indore Teaching Institute for further training
interact with greater freedom. The institute has no facilities for separate dining
so Brahmans and Harijans eat food prepared by several hands at the same table.
Likewise rooms are shared on a mixed caste basis. The dual behavior standards
practiced by village Bah�'�s is characteristic of various Bhakti sects where
deviant forms of behavior which violate caste strictures are tolerated within the
sphere of religious activity, while within the context of conventional society the
traditional rules of dharma prevail. But it also characterizes the
compartmentalization involved for those villagers having extensive contact with
urban and modern life who find traditional norms entirely dysfunctional outside
the village. It is probably no accident that those factions of the village culture
most effected by these changes have been drawn in the largest numbers to the
Bah�'� Faith. namely the young men.

ANALYSIS

While the belief system of the Christian and Bah�'� religion differed radically
and had important implications for the reception of each within India, the manner
in which village converts incorporated these systems into their indigenous
categories proved remarkably similar. In both cases the new religion tended to be
understood in categories derived from Bhakti cults. New behaviors and doctrines
became compartmentalized in a specifically devotional sphere without causing grave
disruption in the village life. Yet there seem to be some important differences in
each case in the meaning of those conversions for the new believers themselves.

In Andhra Pradesh conversions, both among untouchables and caste Hindus. occurred
strictly along caste lines and seem to have been primarily motivated by the need
for a new corporate identity. This element may have entered into tribal
conversions and the early conversions among untouchables in the Bah�'� movement in
Malwa as well. However conversions among high caste Hindus occurred more commonly
among villagers of the same age group than along caste lines. The semi-literate
young men with a certain degree of urban contacts provide the backbone of the
Bah�'� community of Malwa. The Bah�'� Faith was often introduced in a village by a
certain key individual who spread it among his peer group of whatever caste. This
might indicate the degree to which the social life in the villages has changed
from the time of the Christian mass movement in Andhra Pradesh to the recent
Bah�'� movement in Malwa. Horizontal relationships in the Bah�'� movement seem to
take precedence over the vertical and caste relationships which proved so
important in Christian conversions.

What future might be envisioned for each of these communities within India? Since
Independence Christian conversions have slowed considerably in Andhra and among
caste Hindu has ceased almost entirely. This is partly because conversion to
Christianity came to be seen as an unpatriotic act which aligned oneself with the
former colonialists. Gandhi's opposition to conversion perpetuated this feeling.
Untouchables probably had greater hopes at this time for social justice within the
Hindu system. As western countries began to withdraw their financial support and
missionary assistance from India, the indigenous church found itself increasingly
unable to support further expansions and had not yet generated sufficient Indian
leadership to carry on the work. Consequently most of their resources are devoted
to consolidation work among persons already at least nominally converted. While
this work progresses slowly, ultimately we can expect its success. The growing
scriptualism in both Christianity and Islam will probably make compromises with
Hindu culture less tolerable as literacy grows. The degree to which the Christian
become a clearly distinct community within the Hindu villages may be the degree to
which it will not prove attractive to the higher castes. Expansion of the Bah�'�
Faith in Malwa has slowed considerably and this may be partly because local Arya
Samajists have succeeded in convincing some that the Bah�'�s are introducing
foreign gods into India and that Bah�'u'll�h is a Muslim prophet in disguise.
However, the urban based, modernizing, Arya Samai is probably as 'foreign' to the
average Hindu villager as are the Bah�'�s. The major reason this expansion has not
continued at its former pace is that the Indian Bah�'�s have vastly overextended
their resources. Only a few villages where conversion has occurred can be visited
regularly and most see other Bah�'�s only once a year. One particular facet of
Bah�'� policy which may deter conversions, especially those aimed at raising group
status, is the prohibition on political activity. While Bah�'�s may vote they
cannot participate in any political parties or lobbies, and such involvement can
lead to expulsion. Since 1947 the political arena has been the most viable means
of increasing the social mobility of caste groups. For those scheduled caste
factions involved in the alleviation of particular socioeconomic conditions
through political action, the Bah�'� Faith would be regarded as a roadblock to
progress. The Bah�'�s have never developed an effective strategy for reaching
village women such as that of the "Bible women" among the Kamas. Although many of
the leading Baha@is teachers in Malwa have been women, virtually all of the
converts have been men. This may create problems for consolidation in the future,
since children will be unlikely to be raised Bah�'�s where the mothers are not.
The most serious challenge facing the Bah�'�s in India will be developing the
distinctive character of the Bah�'� community in rural Malwa. The very factors
which have made the Bah�'� Faith particularly attractive to Hindus may prove an
impediment to consolidation. At the present time Bah�'� teachers are treading a
precariously thin line of attempting to strengthen Bah�'� institutions in the
village without alienating Bah�'�s from the traditional social structure. if, as a
result of the development of these institutions. Bah�'�s begin to develop new
modes of behavior. their presently harmonious relationship with the Hindu village
culture might change as well. In this case the Bah�'�s will be increasingly
identified as a distinct religion and social group which will restrict its ability
to expand across caste lines. The other alternative would be for Bah�'�
institutions to remain relatively static, in which case they would remain a
specifically religious phenomenon and ideological set of beliefs having little
basis in the social realities of village life. If there is any resolution to this
paradoxical predicament it lies in the processes occurring with Hindu village life
itself. If Bah�'�s can continue to maintain a creative tension between these two
poles and gradually introduce social changes as the villagers themselves begin to
demand alternative social and religious responses to the vast changes affecting
village life , the Bah�'� Faith may find a permanent future in rural India.
Returning to one of the central issues raised in the introduction to this paper,
four factors seem to be involved in the conversion of persons from one literate
religious tradition to another. The first involves the investment persons or
groups have in their present status within the caste system. Lower caste often see
conversion as a means of raising their caste status while higher castes may be
concerned with maintaining the status quo. The second factor. closely related, is
the accessibility of persons or groups to the written scriptures. Those with no or
limited accessibility are more likely to deviate from the written norm and at the
same time be more attracted to another tradition which will give them such access.
In this both the Bah�'�s and the Christians succeeded equally. The third factor
involves the flexibility of the system from which conversion is occurring and its
ability to tolerate such changes. In Hinduism this is fairly high while in
Christianity and Islam it remains low. While converts from Hinduism might be
easily obtained they are. for this same reason, difficult to consolidate. The
fourth factor which proved particularly important in this study,, is the
flexibility of the religion to which conversion is occurring. This involves the
ability of the new religion to affirm the religious heritage of the old one. The
Bah�'� Faith is better able to do this than Christianity with the result that
whereas Christianity has been accepted only among the disaffected within Hindu
villages, the Bah�'� Faith succeeded in reaching all strata. Yet here too, what
makes for widespread acceptance hinders consolidation. While the eventual
consolidation of the Christian community appears inevitable, that of the rural
Bah�'� community may be more dubious.

Footnotes:
1. For a more detailed discussion see Jack Goody, "Religion, Social Change, and
the Sociology of Conversion," in Jack Goody (ed.), Changing Social Structure in
Ghana (London: International African Institute, 1975), pp.91-106.
2. See Walter Fernandes. Caste and Conversion Movements in India (New Dehli:
Indian Social Institute, 1981).
3. G A. Oddie, "Christian Conversion among Non-Brahmans in Andhra Pradesh, with
Special Reference to Anglican Missions and the Dornakal Diocese, c. 1900-1936" in
G.A. Oddie (ed.), Religion in South Asia (London: Curzon Press, 1977), p.69.
4. Ibid p. 70.
5. J. Waskom Pickett, Christian Mass Movements in India (New York: Abingdon Press,
1933).
6. Oddie, op. cit, pp.67-99
7. Ibid p. 90.
8. J. G. Manor, "Testing the Barrier between Caste and Outcaste: The Andhra
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guntur District 1920-1940", Indian Church History
Review,- Vol. V, No. 1, June 1971, pp.31-33.
9. B. Kesavanarayana, Political and Social Factors in Andhra (1900- 1956)
(Vijayawada: Navodaya Publishers, 1976), p.297.
10. Ibid. p.312.
11. Viswa Brahmans were originally Sudras who now serve as priests to other Sudra
castes
12. Kesavanarayana, op. cit. pp.310-311.
13. Manor. op, cit. pp. 35-36.
14. Ibid., p.39.
15. P. Y. Luke and John B. Carman, Village Christians and Hindu Culture (London:
Lutterwarth Press, 1968), pp.148-154.
16. The Arya Samaj is a Hindu revivalist organization founded by Dayananda
Saraswati in 1875 which militantly opposes all non-Hindu conversion movements in
India.
17. Luke and Carman, op. cit.
18. Ibid. pp. 154-157.
19. Ibid.
20. William Garlington. "The Bah�'� Faith in Mawla". in Oddie, Religion in South
Asia , p.103.
21. William Garlington, "The Bah�'� Faith in Malwa: A Study of a Contemporary
Religious Movement", unpublished dissertation, Australian National University,
1976. p. 85.
22. Ibid. , p.86.
23. Ibid. , p.40.
24. Letter written on Shoghi Effendi's behalf to the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bah�'�s of South and West Africa, July, 1957, Arise to Serve , (New Dehli:
Bah�'� Publishing Trust, 1971), p.97.
25. Garlington, op.cit. , p.91.
26. Ibid., p 24
27. Ibid., p.117.
28. Ibid., p.122.
29. Ibid. , pp.129-131.
30. Ibid., pp-121-128.
31. Luke and Carman. op. cit. p.139
32. Ibid. , p.19.
33. Garlington, op. cit. p.292.
34. Ibid., p. 93.
35. Ibid., p. 117.
36. Ibid.
37. Ibid., p. 158.
38. Luke and Carman, op..cit., pp- 190-192.
39. Alvin T. Fishman, For this Purpose: A Case Study of the Teleuqu Baptist Church
in relation with South India, Mission of ABFMS in India., (Ramapatnam: Jt. Council
of ABTM & TB Convention of South India, 1958), p.72.
40. Ibid., p. 71.
41. Ibid. p. 67.