The term used by B. R. Ambedkar (who was the most significant author of the Indian constitution) for lower-caste Hindus (Ambedkar himself was a Dalit).

Lit. "broken people". The group name adopted by many out-castes, previously classified as "untouchable" See also: Adi-Andhra, Adi-Dravida, Adi-Hindu, Adi-Karnataka, Antyaja, Atishudra, Avarna, Badi caste, Badiga, Bestha, Bhangi, Candala, Caste, Chamar, Chura, Damai, Depressed classes, Dhor caste, Dom caste, Ezhava, Harijan, Kami caste, Kammara, Kumbara, Machegara, Mahar, Mala, Mang, Nekara, Outcaste, Panchama, Pariah, Pulaya, Sarki caste, Scheduled Caste, Shvapakas, Untouchable

literally meaning “broken” people, Dalit is a term first coined by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, one of the architects of the Indian constitution of 1950 and revered leader of the Dalit movement.  It was taken up in the 1970s by the Dalit Panther Movement, which organized to claim rights for “untouchables,” and is now commonly used by rights activists.  “Untouchables” are those at the bottom of, or falling outside of, India’s caste system.  Administrative parlance now employs the term “scheduled castes,” while rights activists and the population more generally employ the term “Dalits.

In the Indian caste system, a Dalit, often called an untouchable, is a person who does not have any varnas. Varna refers to the Hindu belief that most humans were created from different parts of the body of the divinity Purusha and according to which part they were created from it defines their social standing for issues such as who they can marry and what jobs they can do.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6050408.stm BBC News Article: Low-caste Hindus adopt new faith, Last accessed 15 October 2006 Dalits fall outside varnas system and have historically been prevented from doing any but the most menial jobs. They are also known as outcastes.