Sentence:  In Ghosh's novel, a canonical western scientist is pitted against a counterscientific group of native folk-medicine practitioners led by Mangala, a <WSD>subaltern</WSD> in every conceivable meaning of the term. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A member of a group that is socially, politically and geographically outside of the hegemonic power structure of the colony and of the colonial homeland.