# Harijan

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Synonym of Dalit.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi हरिजन (harijan, literally “Children of God”). Coined by Narsinh Mehta, a Gujarati Bhakti poet, in the 15th century and popularized by Mahatma Gandhi as an alternative to the term Dalit.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/harijan