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A Note on Lawyers in Muslim India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Philip B. Calkins
Philip B. Calkins*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
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Relatively little is known about the operation of legal systems in India during the period of Muslim political dominance, primarily because most disputes were settled outside of the courts that were maintained by the ruling powers. Even during the Mughal period, when the government was more highly centralized than at any other time before the British conquest, Mughal law enforcement seldom reached the village level. Only in cases where there had been a very considerable breach of the peace, or where the revenue of the village had not been paid, were villagers likely to come into contact with Mughal law enforcement officials. One reason why the Mughal legal system was relatively undeveloped in the rural areas was that the Mughals possessed neither the manpower nor the means of communications that would enable them to staff and operate such a system of courts extensive enough to provide convenient access to the villagers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 3 , Issue 2-3: Special Issue Devoted to Lawyers in Developing Societies, with Particular Reference to India , February 1969 , pp. 403 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © 1969 by the Law and Society Association.

References

1. See Bernard S. Cohn, Some Notes on Law and Change in North India, in Law and Warfare 139-42 (Paul Bohannar ed. 1967).

2. W. H. Moreland, India at the Death of Akbar 33 (1962).

3. H. H. Wilson, in A Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms 884 (A. C. Ganguly & N. D. Basu eds. 1940).

4. Francois Bernier, in Travels in the Mogul Empire 236 (A. Constable ed. 1968).

5. Id. at 237.

6. Khafi Khan, in Muntakhab al-Lubab 252 (Maulawi Kabir al-Din Ahmad ed. 1874).

7. ‘Ali Muhammad Khan, Mirat-i-Ahmadi 149 (Syed Nawab ‘Ali ed. 1928); and M. B. Ahmad, The Administration of Justice in Medieval India 165 (1941).

8. Ahmad, supra note 7, at 165-66.