This talk examines the flexible definition (and boundaries) of “India” throughout the centuries, as well as the complexities associated with authenticity. This relates both to the long legacy of forgeries and fakes produced in South Asia, as well as the problems inherent in Western collectors’ ambitions to acquire authentic portrayals of the region and its peoples. These issues all beg the question of how best to categorize objects that, from their origin and by their nature, belie simple classification.