The Marathas of western India came into prominence in the seventeenth century, when Shivaji carved out an independent kingdom. In the eighteenth century the Marathas established an India-wide empire, with their Brahman leaders entrenching religious orthodoxy at the heart of their state. Later, it was from Maharashtra – the “crucible of Indian nationalism” – that India’s leading nationalists emerged, as did Babasaheb Ambedkar and V.D. Savarkar.

Through thematically linked essays, Rosalind O’Hanlon explores the relatively little-known social histories of Maratha Brahman communities. She shows how, despite much-debated uncertainties about Brahman identity, their religious status, legal-administrative skills, and the unities of the Brahman scholar household brought them success across early modern India.

Later, Brahmans set some of the terms for caste politics under colonialism. As scribal rivals challenged their social dominance, some sought to tighten caste norms. The emergence of a successful Anglophone Brahman middle class deepened divisions over the meaning of Brahman identity in the modern era. As non-Brahmans and Dalits sharpened their critiques, some Brahmans looked towards Hindu nationalism.

This major work is indispensable for an understanding of the making of Brahman power, its internal contradictions, its repercussions in the colonial era, and its continuing legacy.