Land and Law in Mughal India: A Family of Landlords across Three Indian EmpiresBased on a completely reconstructed archive of Persian, Hindi and Marathi documents, Nandini Chatterjee provides a unique micro-history of a family of landlords in Malwa, central India, who flourished in the region from at least the sixteenth until the twentieth century. By exploring their daily interactions with imperial elites as well as villagers and marauders, Chatterjee offers a new history from below of the Mughal Empire, far from the glittering courts of the emperors and nobles, but still dramatic and filled with colourful personalities. From this perspective, we see war, violence, betrayal, enterprise, romance and disappointment, but we also see a quest for law, justice, rights and righteousness. A rare story of Islamic law in a predominantly non-Muslim society, this is also an exploration of the peripheral regions of the Maratha empire and a neglected princely state under British colonial rule. This title is also available as Open Access. |
Other editions - View all
Negotiating Mughal Law: A Family of Landlords across Three Indian Empires Nandini Chatterjee No preview available - 2020 |
Negotiating Mughal Law: A Family of Landlords across Three Indian Empires Nandini Chatterjee No preview available - 2022 |
Common terms and phrases
administrative appears archive Asirgarh associated authority Bhan British called Cambridge Central century Chand Chapter chaudhrī claims clearly collection colonial connection context continued copy court created cultural deeds Delhi detailed Dhar discussed district documents early efforts emperor empire entitlements especially example given grants Hamir hand Hindi Hindu History imperial India Indic Islamic law issued Khan kind land language later Malwa Maratha material military Mohan Mughal Mughal empire Muhammad Muslim Nawazish Khan noble offer officials Parvāna period Persian person petition political princely produced protagonists Purshottam Purshottam Das qānūngō qāzī Rajput range records referred regime region remained royal rule scholars script seal shared social Society South specific story Studies Sultanate transactions translated University Press various villages writing written zamīndārs