In 1818, “untouchables” joined forces with British colonizers. Their victory has become an assertion of pride for India’s marginalized Dalit community. Exactly one year ago, thousands of people identifying as Dalit — traditionally India’s marginalized social caste — gathered at the Koregaon war memorial in Pune, Maharashtra. The Dalits are one of India’s most historically persecuted communities, but this event was an observance of a rare victory. At the memorial, which is referred to as the victory pillar, or Vijay Stambh, people started pelting the gathered crowd with stones. Groups wielding saffron flags, a symbol of right-wing Hindu nationalism, clashed with the Dalits, and the ensuing violence injured several people and killed one. Buses and police cars were torched as police fired tear gas shells into the mob. In the wake of the violence, massive protests by Dalits took place across India. Exactly 200 years earlier, something similar had happened. On Jan. 1, 1818, 500 soldiers from a marginalized caste in India, the Mahars — a subsection of the Dalit community, formerly known as “untouchables” and who converted to Buddhism in October 1956 — joined forces with 334 soldiers from Britain’s East India Company to fight a battle against the high-caste Peshwas, 28,000 strong, at Koregaon. They won. It helped the British army consolidate its rule in India. But for the Dalit community, it was a victory to reclaim their humanity from the oppression of the Peshwas. | 
