Using a catalog of verified instances of collective violence in India, three issues concerning the link between social divisions and collective violence are explored: (1) what cleavages result in the most violence (political, economic, religious, ethnic, linguistic, or caste divisions); (2) trends in various forms of violence over time; and (3) consequences of multiple social cleavages in terms of enhancing or diminishing collective violence. Findings emphasize the primacy of political violence, the relationship over time between all forms of collective violence and the political climate, and how social cleavages generate collective violence because of their salience to and association with structured inequality. It is pointed out, however, that salient social cleavage patterns differentiating unequal groups need not automatically result in high levels of collective violence. Rapid population growth and modernization, rising expectations and resulting frustrations, and regime instability are other factors that must be considered. 47 notes, 1 table, and 1 figure