Relying on rarely used sources in English and Telugu, Michael Katten explores in detail at the local level, the distinctive forms of identity and the ways they emerged as the indigenous peoples interacted with colonial leaders in southern India.

In a significant expansion of recent studies of colonial discourse, Katten assesses the early colonial period in southern India as a "dialogic" enterprise. Distinctive forms of identity emerge as indigenous peoples interact with new colonial rulers. For the different groups that Katten explores in careful and meticulous detail, he shows how productive formulations of identity came into being through the working of historical contingency. Using a great deal of Telegu and English material never previously examined, Katten illuminates the way identities coalesced in early colonial India.