Dominant Castes or Rich Peasants

Dominant Castes or Rich Peasants ?
John MacDoogall References to 'dotninant castes? and 'rich peasants are frequent in literature on contemporary rural India. These phrases ate used, explicitly or implicitly, to describe the nature of rural power structures. These phrases refer to two somewhat different concepts, yet the concepts are rarely compared, or otherwise related to each other. Are the two concepts complementary or mutually exclusive?