Editing Dalit (section)

==== Regional terms ====
In Southern India, Dalits are sometimes known as ''[[Adi Dravida]]'', ''[[Adi Karnataka]]'', and ''Adi Andhra'', which literally mean First Dravidians, Kannadigas, and Andhras, respectively. These terms were first used in 1917 by Southern Dalit leaders, who believed that they were the indigenous inhabitants of India.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India |first1=Oliver |last1=Mendelsohn |first2=Marika |last2=Vicziany |author-link2=Marika Vicziany |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1998|isbn=978-0-52155-671-2 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGbp9MjhvKAC&pg=PA3 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The terms are used in the states of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Karnataka]], and [[Andhra Pradesh]]/[[Telangana]], respectively, as a generic term for anyone from a Dalit caste.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}{{clarify|reason=Andhra has now bifurcated – does it apply in Telangana also?|date=July 2017}}

In [[Maharashtra]], according to historian and women's studies academic Shailaja Paik, ''Dalit'' is a term mostly used by members of the [[Mahar]] caste, into which Ambedkar was born. Most other communities prefer to use their own caste name.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mahar–Dalit–Buddhist: The history and politics of naming in Maharashtra |first=Shailaja |last=Paik |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=217–241 |date=September 2011 |doi=10.1177/006996671104500203 |s2cid=144346975}}</ref>

In Nepal, aside from ''Harijan'' and, most commonly, ''Dalit'', terms such as ''Haris'' (among Muslims), ''Achhoot'', ''outcastes'' and ''neech jati'' are used.<ref name="katuwal"/>