This collection brings together, for the first time, several seminal
essays by Professor Irfan Habib interpreting the main currents in Indian
history from a Marxist perspective. They cover a wide range of issues:
the nature of evolution of caste through the centuries, the role played
by the peasantry in Indian history, the forms of class struggle and the
stage of development of the economy in Mughal India, the impact of
colonialism on the Indian economy, the changes in Marx's perceptions of
India, the problems of Marxist historiography. Representing three
decades of scholarship, each essay in this collection is painstakingly
researched and unfailingly stimulating.