The MPI for Legal History and Legal Theory is expanding its collaboration with India through the launch of the Centre for Legal History of India (CLHI)
Together with the leading law schools NLSIU Bangalore and NALSAR Hyderabad, the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory is expanding its cooperation with India.
© Joshua Olsen / Unsplash
At a glance
- A new Centre at MPI Frankfurt: The establishment of the Centre for Legal History of India (CLHI) gives the study of Indian legal history its first own dedicated institutional home at a German Max Planck Institute.
- Highlighting Indian legal traditions: The CLHI aims to investigate the rich diversity of Indian legal traditions, spanning pre-colonial legal cultures, the jurisprudence of the British Empire and the modern era, establishing the field as an independent area of scholarship.
- Partnerships in India: Formal cooperation agreements have been concluded with the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bangalore and the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, two of India’s most prestigious law schools.
- Nurturing the next generation: The Centre will offer targeted training, mentoring, scholarships, and research fellowships in Frankfurt for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, with the ultimate goal of training a new generation of Indian legal historians.
How did British colonial courts reshape the law of the Indian subcontinent, and what traces of that transformation remain in Indian law today? What legal cultures existed before colonial rule, and how were they overwritten, translated, or carried forward? And how can the history of Indian law be told without simply repeating a Eurocentric perspective?
These are the kinds of questions at the heart of a new research centre that has now begun work at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory (mpilhlt) in Frankfurt am Main. Based in Stefan Vogenauer’s Department of European and Comparative Legal History, the CLHI is led by Reeju Ray. It brings together research on the legal history of the Indian subcontinent for the first time in a systematic way, and serves as a bridge between German, Indian, and international research institutions.
Indian legal history as an independent field
Globally, Indian legal history has so far largely been treated as a subfield of British Imperial history or comparative common-law research. The CLHI is taking a different approach: it views the legal history of India as an independent field of research with its own sources, its own actors, and its own theoretical frameworks.
“Indian legal history is far more than just an extension to the history of the British Empire,” says Reeju Ray, Head of the CLHI. “It encompasses a wealth of legal traditions that emerged long before the colonial era, became intertwined with it, and continue to leave their mark today. With the CLHI, we are creating a space where researchers from India and other countries can work together to map out and define the contours of Indian legal history. At the same time, we want to train a new generation of legal historians who will carry this research field into the future.”
Building on a long research tradition
The CLHI builds on the long-standing engagement of the Vogenauer Department with the Indian subcontinent. Research on legal transfers within the common-law world has been one of the department’s core areas for many years. Given the central role the subcontinent has played in the history of the British Empire and in the global development of modern legal systems, the creation of a dedicated centre was the logical next step.
“The legal history of the Indian subcontinent is one of the richest yet least explored areas of global legal history,” notes Stefan Vogenauer, Managing Director of the mpilhlt and Head of the Department of European and Comparative Legal History. “Studying it allows us to better understand the history of modern law as a whole, far beyond the borders of India. The CLHI provides a permanent platform for this research while deepening academic collaboration between Germany and India.”
Partnering with NLSIU Bangalore and NALSAR Hyderabad
The CLHI is intended as a hub for an expanding network of scholars and institutions in India and worldwide. At the heart of this network are formal partnerships with the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bangalore and the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, two of India’s most influential law schools. Both institutions bring to the Centre their own distinct research traditions and approaches to the subcontinent’s legal history.
This work will be supported by a Centre Advisory Council made up of internationally renowned experts.
