India and the translation of the Irish Brehon Laws

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Date
2006-09
Authors
Laird, Heather
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Irish Academic Press
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Abstract
This chapter explores the relationship between colonial rule in India and attitudes towards both the Brehon Laws and English rule in Ireland. It opens with a brief overview of the connection between colonial rule in India and the translation of so-called native law. It argues that the concept of governing India according to its own laws and customs was linked to India’s status as an administrative colony, but that the success of this concept in legitimising English rule in India led many nineteenth-century commentators to endorse its application to Ireland, a very different colonial setting. This resulted, in part, to the British government’s agreement in 1852 to fund a project to translate and publish the Irish Brehon Law manuscripts.
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Brehon Laws , Colonialism , India and Ireland , “Native” Law
Citation
Laird, H. (2006) 'India and the Translation of the Irish Brehon Laws' , in Foley, T. and O'Connor, M. (eds.) Ireland and India: Colonies, Culture and Empire. Dublin : Irish Academic Press, pp. 3-11.
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© 2006, Heather Laird.