Hinduism and Law
Hinduism and Law
Donald R. Davis Jr , University of Wisconsin, Madison
Jayanth K. Krishnan , Indiana University, Maurer School of Law
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Covering the earliest Sanskrit rulebooks through to the codification of 'Hindu law' in modern times, this interdisciplinary volume examines the interactions between Hinduism and the law. The authors present the major transformations to India's legal system in both the colonial and post colonial periods and their relation to recent changes in Hinduism. Thematic studies show how law and Hinduism relate and interact in areas such as ritual, logic, politics, and literature, offering a broad coverage of South Asia's contributions to religion and law at the intersection of society, politics and culture. In doing so, the authors build on previous treatments of Hindu law as a purely text-based tradition, and in the process, provide a fascinating account of an often neglected social and political history.
- Connects the sources and development of Hindu law with its role in modern India, bridging the gap between traditional treatment of a purely text-based tradition and the social and political history
- Covers new ground by discussing law within a broader cultural context than in previous studies
- Includes glossary, chronology and bibliography, providing clear and concise reference information on the topics discussed
Reviews & endorsements
'[This] book has established connections between bodies of knowledge that were hitherto unconnected and, thereby, initiated a discourse in which all scholars of the polity and the law should be engaged.' Amita Dhanda, The Hindu
Product details
October 2010Paperback
9780521716260
320 pages
228 × 152 × 15 mm
0.5kg
1 map
Available
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- List of contributors
- Chronology
- Map
- Introduction Timothy Lubin, Donald R. Davis, Jr and Jayanth Krishnan
- Part I. Hindu Law:
- 1. An historical overview of Hindu law Donald R. Davis, Jr
- 2. Dharmaśāstra: a textual history Patrick Olivelle
- 3. Hindu legal practice in premodern India Axel Michaels
- 4. The creation of Anglo-Hindu law Rosane Rocher
- 5. Marriage and family in colonial Hindu law Rachel Sturman
- 6. Hindu law as personal law Rina Verma Williams
- Part II. Law in Ancient and Medieval Hindu Traditions:
- 7. Hindu jurisprudence and scriptural hermeneutics Lawrence McCrea
- 8. Indic conceptions of authority Timothy Lubin
- 9. Śūdra Dharma and legal treatments of caste Ananya Vajpeyi
- 10. Law, literature, and the problem of politics in medieval India Whitney Cox
- 11. Hindu law as performance: ritual and poetic elements in Dharmaśāstra Robert Yelle
- Part III. Law and Modern Hinduism:
- 12. Temples, deities, and the law Richard Davis
- 13. In the divine court of appeals: vows before the God of justice Aditya Malik
- 14. Contemporary caste discrimination and affirmative action Laura Dudley Jenkins
- 15. Law and Hindu nationalist movements Smita Narula
- 16. Legally and politically layered identities: a thumbnail survey of selected Hindu migration patterns from South Asia Jayanth Krishnan
- Appendices
- Glossary
- Bibliography.
