CASTES OF MIND: COLONIALISM AND THE MAKING OF MODERN INDIA

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The author argues that caste is neither an unchanged survival of ancient India nor a single system that reflects some core culture. Rather than being an expression of Indian tradition, he argues that caste, as we know it now, is a relatively modern phenomenon, the product of the encounter between India and British colonial rule. This is not to suggest that the British invented caste, but to show that it was on account of British domination that caste became a single term capable of naming as well as subsuming India’s diverse forms of social identity and organisation. Dirks also examines the rise of caste politics in contemporary India, in particular caste-based movements and their implications for Indian nationhood.