The linguistic origin of the term Dalit is Marathi, and pre-dates the militant-intellectual Dalit Panthers movement of the 1970s. It was not in popular use till

A History of the Indian Novel in English traces the development of the Indian novel from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century up until the present day.

Offers a lucid introduction to postcolonial studies, one of the most important strands in recent literary theory and cultural studies.