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Synopsis Social divisions in contemporary India have a long and complex history. This collection of eleven essays in the Themes in Indian History series, discusses various historiographical approaches to the study of marginalized society in early India in the period before 1500 AD. This volume analyses the historical roots of social oppression and exclusion of the 'other' that have marked the making of identities in the Indian subcontinent. With contributions from Romila Thapar, Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya, Vivekanand Jha, eleanor Zelliot, Uma Chakravarti, Dagmar Hellman-Rajanagayam, and other renowned scholars, the book highlights how the Indian civilization dealt with problems of diversity and yet did not let go of hierarchical social relations. In view of how easily historical sources are appropriated and misinterpreted today, the essays discuss source material in different historical and ideological contexts so that simplistic generalizations privileging one tradition or viewpoint can be rejected. The substantive introduction by Aloka Parasher-Sen situates these readings in their ideological and historiographical contexts and simultaneously hinges these essays on the central concern-identities in contemporary India and their not so recent history born of ritual exclusion. An important reader for students, teachers, and scholars of Indian history and society, this volume will also greatly interest Indologists, social and political activists, and the informed general reader.