Law, Disorder and the Colonial State Corruption in Burma c.1900

The state in colonial Burma was not an easy entity to negotiate at the turn of the twentieth century. Policemen framed innocents for crimes they themselves had committed. Magistrates solicited bribes in exchange for acquittals in court. Forestry officials produced false documents. Clerks embezzled government funds. These were mundane and everyday acts.
Using previously unexplored archival sources, the daily reality of living under the Raj in this neglected corner of British India is reconstructed. Through the fascinating cases of misconduct uncovered in these documents this book argues that corruption was intrinsic to the making of the colonial legal order. Subordinate officials' daily abuses of power, and British tolerance of these abuses, served to reinforce racial divisions and enact the state as a masculine entity.

Jonathan Saha completed his PhD in history at the School of Oriental and African Studies and is now Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Bristol, UK. His research focuses on colonial Burma and he has published several articles on the topics of law, corruption, madness, and gender.

Preface
Introduction
1. Making Misconduct
2. The Career of Inspector Pakiri
3. Whiter than White
4. The Male State
Conclusion
Notes
Index