Colonialism, Caste Formation and Urban Rule in Early Colonial Madras

This paper examines the relationship between caste labour and colonialism from the mid-seventeenth to the early nineteenth century through the lens of urban governance in the port city of Madras in South India under East India Company rule. A substantial body of scholarship has demonstrated that colonial administrative rationality and enumerative practices were deeply invested in caste as a fundamental marker of social identity in British India.