TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

(A University established under the Tamil Nadu Act No. 9 of 2012)

Dindigul Main Road, Navalurkuttappattu
Tiruchirappalli 620 027
Tamil Nadu, India

B.A. LL.B. (H)

Semester IV

COURSE SYLLABUS

HISTORY II (LEGAL HISTORY)

Course Objectives

 To develop understanding of evolution of modern legal system in India.

 To examine the evolution of Indian administration.
 To inculcate the spirit of the constitution among the students

Learning Outcomes

● Writing article based on legal historical perspective

● Analyzing the role of Governor Generals to set up modern courts in India
● Exploring the growth of legal profession in different stages

Teaching Methods

● Lecture cum White Board enabled method

● Debate and I C T method
● Assignments through Google / Turnitine Class Room
● Case study and field study

Introduction to Legal History MODULE 1

Definitions and Meanings of Legal History - Contributions of Henry Maine and F.W Maitland
towards development of this discipline – Importance of learning Legal History – Value of
History as a part of contemporary legal scenario.

Early Developments (1600 – 1836) MODULE 2

a. Charters of the East India Company: 1600, 1661, 1726 and 1753
b. Settlements: Surat, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta
c. Courts: Mayor’s Court of 1726 and Supreme Court of 1774
d. Statutes: Regulating Act, 1773; Pitts India Act, 1784; The Act of Settlement 1781
e. Conflict: Raja Nanda Kumar, Kamaluddin, Patna Case and Cossijurah
f. Warren Hastings: Judicial Plans of 1772, 1774 and 1780
 g. Lord Cornwallis: Judicial Plans of 1787, 1790 and 1793
h. Lord William Bentinck (With special focus on Appraisal of Criminal law)

Evolution of Law and Legal Profession MODULE 3

a. Development of Personal Laws and Development of Law in Presidency Towns

b. Development of Civil law in Mufassil: Special Emphasis on Justice, Equity and Good
Conscience.
c. Development of criminal Law and Theories of punishment
d. Codification of Laws: Charter of 1833, The Law Commissions and Charter of 1853.
e. Establishment of High Courts, 1861
f. Privy Council and Federal Court: Appeals and working of Privy Council, Appraisal of
Privy Council and Features of Federal Court
g. Evaluation: Special Reference to Racial Discrimination, Merit and Demerits

Legal Profession and Education MODULE 4

a. Early Developments though Mayor’s Court, Supreme Court, Company’s Adalat, High
Court, Legal Practitioners Act of 1879, The Indian Bar Council Act 1926, All India Bar
Committee of 1951.
b. The Advocates Act of 1961: Provisions and Disciplinary powers
c. Law Reporting: Theory of Precedents, Features of Law reporting from 1773 to 1950
d. Legal Education: History and Basic Aims of Legal Education

Constitutional History and Framing of the Indian Constitution MODULE 5

The Indian Councils Act, 1861, 1892 and 1909 - The Government of India Act 1919 and 1935 -
The Constitutional development from 1935 to 1950 -The Constitution of India – 1950 – Salient
features – Issues of federal policy Vs. Centralism, fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of
State Policies – Modern judicial system under Indian Constitution 1950.

Textbook

1. KailashRai, History of Courts, Allahabad Law Agencies, Faridabad, 2016.

2. NilakshiJatar and Laxmi Paranjape, Legal History (Evolution of the Indian Legal System), Eastern
Book Company, Lucknow, 2012.

Essential Readings

1. Gandhi B. M., Landmarks of Indian Legal and Constitutional History, 10th Edition, Eastern Book
Company, Eastern Book Company, Lucknow, 2011.
3. Jain M.P., Outlines of Indian Legal and Constitutional History, Seventh Edition, Lexis Nexis
Publication, Haryana, 2014.
4. Kaith A.B., ‘A Constitutional History of India 1600-1935’, Low Price Publication, Delhi, 2011.
 5. NilakshiJatar& Laxmi Praranjape, Legal History Evolution of the Indian Legal System, Eastern
Book Company, Lucknow, 2012.
6. Rama Jois M., Legal and Constitutional History of India, Universal Law Publishing Co., New
Delhi, 2014.
7. S. Dayal, Revised by Dr. K. N. Cbandrasekharan Pillar, Legal Profession and Legal
Education, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, pp. 154-177.
8. Singh M.P.,Outlines of Indian Legal and Constitutional History, Universal Law Publishing Co.,
New Delhi, 2006.
9. VishnooBhagwan and Vidya Bhushan, Indian Administration, S. Chand & Co., 2005.
10. Fanny Emily Penny, Fort St. George Madras: A Short History of our First Possession in India, MJP
Publishers, Chennai, 2008, pp. 1-22 & 139-152

Additional Readings

1. Alan Macfarlane, F.W. Maitland and the Making of the Modern World, Palgrave Macmillan, a
division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, UK, 2002, pp. 8-13.
2. Alleyne Ireland, The Victorian Era of British Expansion: II. The Colonies and India, University
of Northern Iowa, The North American Review, Vol. 172, No. 534 (May, 1901), pp. 734-
750.
3. Arul K, Criminal justice system in Pondicherry - a comparative critical study of the past and the present,
Cochin University of Science and Technology, 2013, pp. 1-45.
4. Calvin Woodard, History, Legal history and Legal Education, Virginia Law Review, Vol.53,
No. 1(Jan., 1967), pp.89-121.
5. Charles Johnston, The English in India, The North American Review, Vol. 189, No. 642 (May,
1909), University of Northern Iowa, pp. 695-707.
6. Charles Foster Kent, The Recently Discovered Civil Code of Hammurabi, The University of
Chicago Press, The Biblical World, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Mar., 1903), pp. 175-190
7. Colvalkar, Nagesh S, A critical study of Criminal Justice System during Colonial Era and Post
Liberation of Goa, Goa University, 2013, pp. 19-54.
8. Draper Lewis, A few observations on Law and Sovereignty, Being a Partial introduction to the study
of Legal History, The American Law Register and Review, Vol.43, No.8 (First Series)
Vol.34 (New Series.Vol.2) (Aug.1895),pp.531-542.
9. Edgar S. Shumway, Some View-Points of Roman Law Prior to the Twelve Tables, The University
of Pennsylvania Law Review The American Law Register (1898-1907), Vol. 50, No. 2,
Volume 41 New Series (Feb.,1902), pp. 97-104.
10. Edwin Arnold, The Duty and Destiny of England in India, The North American Review, Vol.
154, No. 423 (Feb., 1892), University of Northern Iowa, pp. 168-18.
11. Elizabeth Kolsky, A Note on the Study of Indian Legal History,ResearchGate, September
2005, pp. 703-706.
12. F. W. Maitland, The Materials for English Legal History, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 3
(Sep., 1889), pp. 496-518.
13. Francis H. Skrine, The Awakening of India, The North American Review, Vol. 185, No. 620
(Aug. 2, 1907), University of Northern Iowa, pp. 711-723.
14. Friedmann W, Legal Theory, (5th Edition), Universal Law Publishing Private Ltd., New
Delhi, 2013, pp. 214-221.
15. H. Morse Stephens, The Administrative History of the British Dependencies in the Further East,
Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association The American
Historical Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Jan., 1899), pp. 246-272.
16. Henry James Sumner Maine, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 23,
No. 2 (May,1887 - May, 1888), pp. 356-365.
17. Joan C. Williams, Culture and Certainty: Legal History and the Reconstructive Project, Virginia
Law Review, Vol. 76, No.4 (May 1990), pp. 713-746.
18. Joseph Minattur, Indian Legal System, 2nd Ed., ILI Publication, 2006.
19. Keith A B, A Constitutional History of India 1600 – 1935), Low Price Publications, Delhi,
2011.
20. M. S., Frederic William Maitland, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Jun., 1907),
pp. 282-296.
21. Paul Vinogradoff, The Meaning of Legal History, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 22, No. 8,
(Dec., 1922), pp. 693-705.
22. R. A. Hume Source, The Indian National Congress, The Journal of Race Development, Vol.
1, No. 3 (Jan., 1911), pp. 367-371.
23. R. C. J. Cocks,Sir Henry Maine: A Study in Victorian Jurisprudence, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 1988, pp. vii 1-12.
24. Rajeev Dhawan, Means, Motives and opportunities: Reflecting on Legal Research in India, The
Modern Law Review, Vol. 50,No.6(Oct.1987), pp.725-749.
25. RámRáz and H. S. Græme, On the Introduction of Trial by Jury in the Hon. East India
Company's Courts of Law, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and
Ireland, Vol. 3, No. 2(1836), pp. 244-257.
26. Raymond H. Arnot ,The Judicial System of the British Colonies, The Yale Law Journal, Vol.
16, No. 7 (May, 1907), pp. 504-513.
27. Robert Johnson, “True to their salt” Mechanisms for recruiting and managing military
labour in the army of the East India Company during the Carnatic Wars in India,
Fighting for a Living, Book Subtitle: A Comparative Study of Military Labour 1500-2000,
Amsterdam University Press. (2013).
28. Ron Harris, The encounters of Economic History and Legal History, Law and History Review,
Vol.21, No.2 (summer 2003), pp. 297-346
29. V. S.Deshpande, Revised byThomas Paul, Nature of the Indian Legal System, Universal Law
Publishing Co Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, 2006, pp. 1-6.
30. W. S. Holdsworth, The Place of English Legal History in the Education of English Lawyers,
Columbia Law Review, Vol. 10, No. 8 (Dec., 1910), Columbia Law Review Association,
Inc., pp. 723-739.
31. Wendie Ellen Schneider, Perjury and Prevarication in British India, Book Title: Engines of Truth,
Book Subtitle: Producing Veracity in the Victorian Courtroom, Yale University Press. (2015), pp.
103-142.
32. William Justin Harsha, Law for the Indians, University of Northern Iowa The North
American Review, Vol. 134, No. 304 (Mar., 1882), pp. 272-292.
33. William W. Smithers, The Code Napoléon, The University of Pennsylvania Law Review,
The American Law Register (1898-1907), Vol. 49, No. 3, Volume 40 New Series(Mar.,
1901), pp. 127-147.
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