This essay examines Shivaji’s 1674 royal consecration and the political negotiations surrounding his caste status. Vajpeyi explores how genealogy, ritual authority, and brahmanical frameworks were mobilised to construct legitimacy.
The text interrogates how caste identity is historically produced and contested, and how ritual performance becomes a site of political transformation. It offers a critical lens on the relationship between power, caste, and tradition, a relationship that continues to shape contemporary identity politics.