Empires of Complaints: Mughal Law and the Making of British India, 1765-1793

In his book "Empires of Complaints," Robert Travers explores how the East India Company consolidated its territorial power in Bengal by adapting and reworking late Mughal and Persianate practices of administering justice to petitioning subjects, leading to the production of a new system of colonial taxation and civil law.

Format: Hardback
Length: 314 pages
Publication date: 15 September 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

In this meticulously researched and enlightening account, Robert Travers presents a fresh perspective on the transition from Mughal to British rule in India. By delving into the processes of petitioning and judicial inquiry, Travers contends that the East India Company solidified its territorial authority in the conquered province of Bengal by adopting and adapting late Mughal, Persianate practices of administering justice to petitioning subjects. Travers reinterprets the origins of the pivotal Permanent Settlement of Bengal revenues in 1793, exploring how a new system of colonial taxation and civil law gradually emerged through the selective adaptation and reworking of Mughal norms and precedents. Drawing upon English and Persian sources, Empires of Complaints reimagines the origins of British India by placing the late Mughal context at the forefront of colonial state-formation and highlighting how British rulers reinterpreted and reconstituted Persianate forms of statecraft to suit their new empire.

In this meticulously researched and enlightening account, Robert Travers presents a fresh perspective on the transition from Mughal to British rule in India. By delving into the processes of petitioning and judicial inquiry, Travers contends that the East India Company solidified its territorial authority in the conquered province of Bengal by adopting and adapting late Mughal, Persianate practices of administering justice to petitioning subjects. Travers reinterprets the origins of the pivotal Permanent Settlement of Bengal revenues in 1793, exploring how a new system of colonial taxation and civil law gradually emerged through the selective adaptation and reworking of Mughal norms and precedents. Drawing upon English and Persian sources, Empires of Complaints reimagines the origins of British India by placing the late Mughal context at the forefront of colonial state-formation and highlighting how British rulers reinterpreted and reconstituted Persianate forms of statecraft to suit their new empire.

Weight: 569g
ISBN-13: 9781009123389