Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia - Parsi Legal Culture, 1772-1947

"This was the Parsi story in a nutshell. The longer version unfolded through three overlapping revelations. The first arose from the question with which my research began: why did Parsis sue each other so frequently in the colonial courts? The Parsi population of India hovered around 100,000 in the early twentieth century, and was most concentrated in Bombay. Even there, they were only 6% of the city's population. But they were almost a fifth of the parties in the reported case law. Equally important wasthe fact that suits between Parsis constituted 5% of all reported cases, a rate much higher than one would expect, given their small population"--

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. Parsi Legal Culture: 1. Using law: colonial Parsis go to court; 2. Making law: two patterns; Part II. The Creation of Parsi Personal Law: 3. The limits of English law: the Inheritance Acts; 4. Reconfiguring male privilege: the Matrimonial Acts; 5. The jury and intra-group control: the Parsi Chief Matrimonial Court; Part III. Beyond Personal Law: 6. Entrusting the faith: religious trusts and the Parsi legal profession; 7. Pure Parsi: libel, race, and group membership; Conclusion: law and identity; Appendix: legislation.

About the author

Mitra Sharafi is a legal historian of South Asia. She is Associate Professor of Law and Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with History affiliation. She hosts the South Asian Legal History Resources website.

Product details

• Authors: Mitra Sharafi
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 21.04.2014
• EAN: 9781107047976
• ISBN: 978-1-107-04797-6
• No. of pages: 368
• Series: Studies in Legal History; Studies in Legal History (Hard; Studies in Legal History
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries; LAW / Legal History, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, Social & cultural history, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Colonialism & imperialism, c 1500 onwards to present day, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Legal History, Colonialism and imperialism, Asian History, South Asia (Indian sub-continent), Legal systems: general, HISTORY / Asia / South / General, RELIGION / Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism