Lawforms Workshop 2019: Manuals, Stylebooks, and Formularies for Persianate Legal Documents

Nandini Chatterjee Announcement
Location
United Kingdom
Subject Fields
Asian History / Studies, Colonial and Post-Colonial History / Studies, Law and Legal History, Middle East History / Studies

Times: 9 am to 5 pm on first 2 days; 9 am-2 pm on the final day

Venue:

Hotel Du Vin and Bistro, Magdalen Street, Exeter EX2 4HY

This is a reading workshop within the "Forms of Law in the Early Modern Persianate World" project. In the workshop, we shall focus on texts that would have provided models for the writing of standardised and valid legal documents across the vast cultural and geographical sphere where Persian was once the high language of culture as well as the routine language of administrative and legal recording. During the course of the workshop, we shall read a range of texts - munshatssiyaqnamas, dastur al-'amals, grammars and dictionaries. The majority of texts discussed will be in the Persian language, but there will be some sessions dedicated to the discussion of Marathi, Rajasthani and Bengali manuals as well. Some of the texts dealt with will be from the period of colonial rule or semi-colonial intervention. The overall aim of the workshop is to read and reflect on these texts together, working out the meanings and uses of these prolific but usually neglected non-literary and non-jurisprudential genres of writing.

The provisional programme for the workshop may be seen here, and will be updated again over the coming days. https://lawforms.hypotheses.org/499

Participation is free and day time refreshments will be provided. Ability to read Persian is essential. If a specialist participant would like to suggest a specific manual for the workshop, we may be able to accommodate it. Please write to Nandini Chatterjee before the 3rd of July.

 

Contact Information

Prof. Nandini Chatterjee

Department of History

University of Exeter, UK

Contact Email
n.chatterjee@exeter.ac.uk