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

360 Pages·2014·8.879 MB·English

by  Mitra Sharafi

LawandIdentityinColonialSouthAsia
ParsiLegalCulture,1772–1947
This book explores the legal culture of the Parsis, or Zoroastrians, an
ethnoreligiouscommunityunusuallyinvestedinthecoloniallegalsystem
of British India and Burma. Rather than trying to maintain collective
autonomyandintegritybyavoidinginteractionwiththestate,theParsis
sankdeepintothecoloniallegalsystemitself.Fromthelateeighteenth
centuryuntilIndia’sindependencein1947,theybecameheavyusersof
colonial law,acting as lawyers, judges,litigants, lobbyists, and legisla-
tors. They de-Anglicized the law that governed them and enshrined in
law their own distinctive models of the family and community by two
routes:frequentintragrouplitigationoftenmanagedbyParsilegalpro-
fessionalsintheareasofmarriage,inheritance,religioustrusts,andlibel,
and the creation of legislation that would become Parsi personal law.
OtherSouthAsiancommunitiesalsoturnedtolaw,butnoneseemsto
havedonesoearlierorinmorepronouncedwaysthantheParsis.
MitraSharafiisanassistantprofessorofLawandLegalStudiesatthe
UniversityofWisconsin–Madison,withanaffiliationappointmentin
History. Herworkhas appeared ina varietyof scholarly journals and
hasbeenrecognizedbytheAndrewW.MellonFoundation,theNational
ScienceFoundation,andtheSocialScienceResearchCouncil.
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StudiesinLegalHistory
Editors
SARAH BARRINGER GORDON UniversityofPennsylvania
HOLLY BREWER UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark
MICHAEL LOBBAN UniversityofLondon
MichaelA.Livingston,TheFascistsandtheJewsofItaly:Mussolini’sRaceLaws,
1938–1943
MitraSharafi,LawandIdentityinColonialSouthAsia:ParsiLegalCulture,1772–
1947
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InmemoryofDouglasW.Buchanan(1951–2007)
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Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia
–
Parsi Legal Culture, 1772 1947
MITRA SHARAFI
UniversityofWisconsin–Madison
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Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Sharafi,MitraJune,1974–author.
LawandidentityincolonialSouthAsia:Parsilegalculture,
1772–1947/MitraSharafi, UniversityofWisconsin–Madison.
pagescm.–(Studiesinlegalhistory)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-04797-6(hardback)
1. Parsees–Legalstatus,laws,etc.–India.–History. I. Title.
KNS2107.M56.S522014
342.5408073–dc23 2013043748
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Contents
ListofFiguresandMap pageix
Acknowledgments xi
TableofCases xvii
ANoteonTransliteration,Citation,andAbbreviation xix
Introduction 1
part 1. parsi legal culture
1 UsingLaw:ColonialParsisGotoCourt 37
2 MakingLaw:TwoPatterns 84
part 2. the creation of parsi personal law
3 TheLimitsofEnglishLaw:TheInheritanceActs 127
4 ReconfiguringMalePrivilege:TheMatrimonialActs 165
5 TheJuryandIntragroupControl:TheParsiChiefMatrimonial
Court 193
part 3. beyond personal law
6 EntrustingtheFaith:ReligiousTrustsandthe
ParsiLegalProfession 239
7 PureParsi:Libel,Race,andGroup
Membership 274
Conclusion:LawandIdentity 313
vii
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viii Contents
Appendix:Legislation 317
Glossary 321
SelectiveBibliography 325
Index 333
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Figures and Map
figures
I.1 Watts’sfrescoatLincoln’sInn page2
I.2 TheprophetZarathustrainWatts’sfresco 3
I.3 CrestofD.F.MullaatLincoln’sInn 4
I.4 DepictionofZarathustra,1912 13
1.1 MistryfamilyinBurmac.1911 64
1.2 ScenefromtheShahNameh,1912 73
1.3 Independentdastur,1914 74
2.1 Drafttextof1865ParsiActs 92
2.2 Milch-Cowscenewithlawyers,1916 100
2.3 GeesewithGoldMohurs,1908 101
2.4 PortraitofJ.B.Kanga 112
3.1 AdvertisementfordiamondjewelryinBombayc.1940s 155
4.1 PortraitofaParsiwoman 169
4.2 TitlepagefromMansukh’sbook,1888 175
4.3 PortraitofaParsigirl 185
4.4 PortraitofaParsiboy 186
5.1 ParsiChiefMatrimonialCourt(PCMC),1888 194
5.2 PCMCcandidatesasdogswithbone,1916 208
6.1 ParsiPanchayatcaseastrain,1908 255
6.2 PortraitofD.D.Davar,1908 256
6.3 RulinginParsiGeneralHospitalcase,1907 263
6.4 Muktadceremonies,1909 265
6.5 Lawyersasvultures,1908 271
7.1 P.B.Vachhaandtwoassociatesc.1909 280
7.2 Parsiwomanwithmathabana,1910 282
ix
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x FiguresandMap
7.3 Bella,1914 286
7.4 “AnInkySport,”1914 290
7.5 SirJamsetjeeJejeebhoyasShahofPersia,1925 309
map
SouthAsiaandtheIndianOceanlittoralintheearly
twentiethcentury,withenlargementofwesternIndia xxiv
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