This article is an engagement with the issues of caste and dominance in the light of field data collected from five villages of western Uttar Pradesh. Against the background of some empirical and conceptual studies, the article presents an analysis, in terms of caste, of the ownership of land and agricultural assets, occupational and educational achievement and khap-based solidarity. The analysis shows that the resources available in the villages are highly concentrated in the hands of the Jats. Being the most powerful or dominant caste, the Jats control the village level affairs and use various means such as labour hiring and wage payment arrangement, the provision of natural fodder and lavatory facilities, informal credit arrangement and the institution of panchayat, to control the life of the villagers. The article narrates various acts of dominance of the Jats over the Scheduled Castes or marginalised castes. It ends with the observation that regardless of aggressive political mobilisation among the Scheduled Castes or marginalised castes in the recent years, no caste or community has developed the capacity to object to the dominance of the Jats in the villages.
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