Social categories and colonisation in Panjab, 1849-1920

Abstract

Highly fragmented British and Panjabi populations negotiated both the content and form of social categories such as caste and tribe, suggesting an historical process of creation of colo nial knowledge that resembled less a 'dialogic process and more a multivalent set of locally focused transactions. While British administrators developed categories in order to exercise greater control over Panjab, the participation of Panjabis in the development and naming of such categories meant that Panjabis were quite aware of the stakes involved and could act, within certain limits, to maximise their own or their lineage 's material returns.