“Sumit Guha’s Beyond Caste is the most important synoptic study of caste since Louis Dumont’s Homo Hierarchicus. Guha is an historian, not an anthropologist, but anthropologists should take note. He has marshalled a vast array of evidence drawn from native and pre-colonial sources, rather than the more conveniently accessible colonial reconstructions that Dumont and others depended on, along with an up-to-date reading of historical literatures few anthropologists are aware of, to powerfully challenge both popular and anthropological common sense on the topic.”—Nathaniel Roberts
“A new book on such a profoundly challenging and yet overworked subject
needed to join a number of qualities. Beyond Caste combines theoretical rigour,
a close knowledge of the archives, the ambition to bridge the gulf of time and
link the premodern, the early-modern, the colonial and the present in a “longue
durée” account, and an elegant writing style enhanced by a fine sense of humour.
These characteristics, present in many of Sumit Guha’s publications, make him
one of the most interesting and stimulating social historians today. This work
justifies that reputation.”—Tirthankar Roy
“. . . there is much in this book besides caste, all of which is worth engaging with. The
book opens up new questions and invites us to imagine India and its pasts afresh.”—Surinder S. Jodhka