Law and identity in colonial South Asia : Parsi legal culture, 1772-1947 / Mitra Sharafi.

"This book explores the legal culture of the Parsis, or Zoroastrians, an ethno-religious community unusually invested in the colonial legal system of British India and Burma. Colonized peoples (including minorities) often tried to maintain collective autonomy and integrity by avoiding interaction with the state. The Parsis did the opposite. From the mid-nineteenth century until India's independence in 1947, Parsis became heavy users of colonial law, acting as lawyers, judges, litigants, lobbyists, and legislators. They de-Anglicized the law that governed them and enshrined in law their own distinctive models of the family and community by two routes: frequent intra-group litigation often managed by Parsi legal professionals in the areas of marriage, inheritance, religious trusts, and libel, and the creation of legislation that would become Parsi personal law. Other South Asian communities also turned to law, but none seem to have done so earlier or in more pronounced ways than the Parsis"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Using law: colonial Parsis go to court -- Making law: two patterns -- The limits of English law: the inheritance acts -- Reconfiguring male privilege: the matrimonial acts -- The jury and intragroup control: the Parsi Chief matrimonial court -- Entrusting the faith: religious trusts and the Parsi legal profession -- Pure Parsi: libel, race, and group membership

English.

Description based on print version record

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