ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the debate that developed about caste in British India between historians who have stressed colonial constructivist approaches to the subject and those who have emphasised elements of precolonial continuity and Indian collaboration and agency. The purpose of the contribution is to sketch what has been at stake in their contentions. It suggests that marked differences in how to understand the origins and development of British colonial rule, as well as the phenomenon of caste itself, lie at the root of their interpretative divergences. The chapter also considers the emergence of Dalit historical studies and the implications of this for the aforementioned discussion about caste in colonial India.
