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2 - Recasting Mughal Law

Company Justice after 1772

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2022

Robert Travers
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

This chapter shows how the judicial reforms of Governor Warren Hastings in 1772 attempted to recentre sovereign authority in the British settlement of Calcutta byco-opting and recasting late Mughal venues and practices of petitioning and dispute resolution. It explores how Hastings attempted to found the Company's legal system, not just on 'religious' forms of Muslim and Hindu law, but on Mughal practices of revenue administration. Even after 1772, the chief revenue office in Calcutta (khalisa sharifa or ‘khalsa’) – retained an important role as a site for investigating disputes over land and revenues, and for discovering a new form of ‘civil law’ based on the Company’s interpretations of late Mughal precedents.

Type
Chapter
Information
Empires of Complaints
Mughal Law and the Making of British India, 1765–1793
, pp. 71 - 112
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Recasting Mughal Law
  • Robert Travers, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Empires of Complaints
  • Online publication: 08 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009127882.006
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  • Recasting Mughal Law
  • Robert Travers, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Empires of Complaints
  • Online publication: 08 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009127882.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Recasting Mughal Law
  • Robert Travers, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Empires of Complaints
  • Online publication: 08 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009127882.006
Available formats
×