Robert Lingat

Robert Lingat (1892-1972), was a French academic scholar most known for writing a very important book on the history of Indian Law.

Life

Lingat was born in Charleville in 1892 and though not much is known of his personal life it is established that he received his doctorate in Law in Paris in 1919. He moved to work in Bangkok as a legal adviser between 1924-1940 where he became involved in the growing debate regarding the origin of the Indian legal system. He worked at several universities in the former French colonies where he among other things was named Professor in the faculty of Law in Indo-China in 1941, a post which he held until 1955. In 1961 he left his post at a university in Cambodia to return to France. Until shortly before his death he taught at the Center for Indian Studies at the University of Paris. He died on May 7, 1972, one year before the first English translation of his works was published which catapulted his name into international fame in the scientific community. [In his preface to the 1993 edition of the English translation of "The Classical Law of India" writes about these things. See also the cover of the book.]

Work

Lingat is most known for his book "The Classical Law of India" in which he details the origin of the Indian legal system. The book draws heavily on the work of P. V. Kane and Max Müller but is at the same time very innovative in its approach. He also used Professor Ram Sharan Sharma's works to have an idea on ancient India. It was originally published in French in 1967 and translated to English by J. Duncan M. Derrett in 1973. It has since become the standard textbook those who wish to learn about the history of the Indian legal system. The reason for his central standing in the field of study regarding the history of the Indian legal system stems from the fact that his works shrink the enormous volume of Indian literature into one fairly short book unlike P.V Kane who published his findings in an incredibly dense and long series of books. [See Lingat, "The Classical Law of India", 1973.]

See also

Hindu Law

History of India

References