1. Historical origins of a 'caste society'
2. The 'Brahman Raj': kings and service people c. 1700-1830.
3. Western 'orientalists' and the colonial perception of caste.
4. Caste and the modern nation: incubus or essence?
5. The everyday experience of caste in colonial India.
6. Caste debate and the emergence of Gandhian nationalism.
7. State policy and 'reservations': the politicisation of caste-based social welfare schemes.
8. Caste in the everyday life of independent India.
9. 'Caste wars' and the mandate of violence.
