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The postmodernist wave appears to be receding a little, and historical studies that go beyond narrowly “culturalist” or “discursive” approaches are no longer necessarily considered outdated. It is thus an opportune moment for those who remained critical of the dominant trends of the late 1980s and 1990s to evaluate the available information in a way that is not primarily polemical, but that takes into account some of the recent advances in historical understanding generated by the wholesale questioning of earlier assumptions. Until very recently, caste was a neglected theme in histories of “modern” India, which generally focused on the colonial period and were restricted by their adherence to a simple colonialism/anticolonialism binary. Studies inspired by a left-wing nationalism, particularly the early works of the Subaltern Studies movement, enriched this model in helpful ways, emphasizing the autonomous initiatives of peasants, tribes, and workers and the tensions between these impulses and mainstream nationalism. This article pays particular interest to the varied identity strategies that multiplied in India at the end of the colonial era, drawing on information relating to the three principal castes active at this time: the Namasudras, Mahishyas, and Rajbanshis.