Marathas, Marauders and State Formation in Eighteenth-century India

This set of historical essays challenges many widely believed and accepted ideas about the century between the Mughal empire and the British colonial period - the question of the existence of a "thugi" group; "chaos and anarchy" prevailing in the 18th century; the characterization of India's pre-colonial villages as isolated, static and non-monetized; and "castes" as closed groups reinforced by marriage and ideas of ritual purity. This book is intended for scholars of late medieval and early colonial period in India. Graduate and postgraduate students of history.