This book analyses the relationship between symbolic violence, inequality and ethnicity and addresses the question of unequal integration of small ethnic groups into state structures by using the Limbus of the Northeastern Indian Borderlands as a case study. The book explores the symbolic classification of such groups and the incorporation of this classification by the dominant and dominated groups by examining three historical phases of unequal integration into the state of Sikkim, which are also different configurations of inequality: precapitalist states, colonial and postcolonial states. In addition, this book studies contemporary modes of classification in three different settings, namely Sikkim, Nepal and Darjeeling. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence, the author argues that Limbus’ ethnicization has been associated with the devaluation of their cultural identity, which was first constructed and naturalized by the same process of ethnicization. The book is a pioneering work in terms of application of Bourdieu’s sociology to Northeast India and the theoretical interpretation of ethnic inequality in Northeast India. Moreover, the book broadens readers’ overall understanding of the constant structural identity of symbolic violence and its varying manifestations. Exploring the symbolic dimensions of power relations within state structures, this book will be of interest to a wide readership from various disciplines including area studies, global studies, comparative studies, borderland studies, inequality studies, sociology, anthropology and political science.