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Lewa Patels, the dominant caste in Central Gujarat, are also one of the most visible and affluent caste groups in india and boast a global diasporic presence. The Patel "caste"' did not stratify into that concrete form until the late nineteenth century.

Many Patels explicitly describe themselves as a “modern” caste and reveal, in their self-description and practices, an entanglement with terms that we would commonly associate with Western epistemes. Their acquired image as the quintessential modern caste predisposes them, for the most part, to a “severe practicality” in the realms of household and farm economics.

Reason (samajh) is reified by Patels as a sign of civilization in much the same way that the European nobility and bourgeoisie linked kultur—“cultivation”—to reason from the seventeenth century onward. Mental work comes to be seen as, both, more cultured (sabhya) and more intellectually exacting (buddhishaali)—hence, in Patel discourse, as the proper undertaking of a genetically superior caste.

Patels are quick to note the economic and social achievements of their caste, which, in turn, they attribute to the fact that Patels are “progressive,” “hard-working,” able to manage their affairs “rationally” and “intelligently,” and quick to adapt to changing circumstances. They commonly cite their mobility across occupations and borders as evidence of this entrepreneurial drive (saahas).

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