Negotiating Mughal Law

Nandini Chatterjee is Associate Professor of History at the University of Exeter. She has published widely on the British and Mughal empires, including her book The Making of Indian Secularism: Empire, Law and Christianity, 1830–1950 (2011).

• Introduction; 1. Malwa: land of many empires; 2. Zamindars: lords of the marches; 3. Contractors: engaging the state; 4. Transactions: recording deals; 5. Disputes: judges and courts; 6. Invaders: marathas and the British; 7. Identity: professionals or warlords?; Conclusion. Fragments to archives: a methodological manifesto; Appendix. A catalogue of the P Das archive; Glossary.

'This book is an important work that enriches our understanding of family, empire and estate in South Asia. The analysis moves away from state policy and image-building to the micro-processes that actually reproduce state power. It achieves this through the mastery of difficult sources presented in a wide comparative frame.' Sumit Guha, University of Texas, Austin