Reinventing Caste: Islam & Hierarchy in Late Colonial India | Buffett Book Talk with Ashish Koul

For centuries, caste has been understood as a peculiarity of Hindu society. However, caste hierarchies have, for long, also operated among Indian Muslims and other non-Hindus. How did one Muslim caste, the Arains of British-ruled India, create a new Islamic vocabulary for caste among Muslims? Join us for a Buffett Book Talk with Ashish Koul, author of Reinventing Caste: Islam and Hierarchy in Late Colonial India (Stanford University Press 2026) and Assistant Professor of History at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. In conversation with Amanda Lanzillo, Assistant Professor of South Asian Languages & Civilizations at the University of Chicago, and Joel Lee, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Williams College, Koul will explore how colonial Indian subjects entrenched caste within multiple religious traditions. They will explore how elements of Indian Muslim identity intersected with colonial power and consider the persistence of caste in South Asia today. Doors open at 12:00 p.m., and lunch begins at 12:15 p.m. Please note that 720 University Place is not an ADA-accessible space. Increasing physical access to buildings and facilities is a goal of the University, but not all buildings and venues have been updated.