On 10–11 December 2007, a conference was held in Trinity College, Cambridge, in honour of Dr Rajnarayan Chandavarkar (1953–2006), at which a large number of his former doctoral students and closest colleagues offered research presentations. This special issue of Modern Asian Studies brings together a selection of these papers, revised and extended for publication. It is intended to offer a partial record of the event, and the breadth of research covered within these eight essays is itself testament to the diversity of scholars whom Raj influenced, and the wide array of subjects upon which his work has continued to have an impact.

For their efforts in organising the conference and for their various contributions, thanks are due to Trinity College, the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre and the Smuts Memorial Fund for their generous funding; to the staff and fellows of Trinity College for their hospitality; to Barbara Roe, Jan Thulborn and Rachel Rowe in the Centre of South Asian Studies for their help in coordinating the event; to all participants in the conference; and to Chris Bayly, Magnus Marsden, Jonathan Parry, Anil Seal, Gareth Stedman Jones and David Washbrook for helping to chair it. For their help with the compilation of this volume, I would like to thank Susan Allerton and all editorial staff at Modern Asian Studies, and all those who assisted with the academic review of papers. In particular, I would like to express gratitude to Gordon Johnson and Joya Chatterji, editors of Modern Asian Studies, for their generosity and support in allowing me to bring this volume together, and Kevin Greenbank of the Centre of South Asian Studies, with whom I co-organised the conference, and without whom it would not have happened.