Tagore Law Lectures


The Tagore Law Lectures are an annual lecture series organised and hosted by the University of Calcutta, in India. The series is named after Prasanna Kumar Tagore, an Indian lawyer and politician, who established the series in 1868. The first lecture in the series was delivered by Herbert Cowell, in 1870, on Hindu law as administered in British courts in India.

History and Endowment

The Tagore Law Lecture series was established in 1868 by Prasanna Kumar Tagore, an Indian lawyer and politician. In 1868, Tagore provided by his will that a law professor, to be known as the 'Tagore Law Professor' was to be appointed by the Senate of the University of Calcutta, and that this Professor's duties would be to:
"...read or deliver, yearly at some place within the town of Calcutta, one complete course of Law Lectures, without charge to the students and other persons who may attend such Lectures."
Tagore's will further provided for the publication of a minimum of 500 copies of these lectures, to be distributed for free. In his inaugural lecture, Herbert Cowell noted that the intention of this bequest was apparently to encourage the preparation and publication of textbooks on Indian law. The Tagore Law Lectures were delivered by leading Indian, British, and American scholars and jurists, including Rash Behari Ghose, Gooroodas Banerjee, Sir Frederick Pollock, Roscoe Pound, and John Woodroffe, and former U.S. Supreme Court judge, William O'Douglas. H.M. Seervai, the Indian lawyer and constitutional law scholar, was also invited to deliver lectures for the series, but declined on the grounds that his professional commitments would not allow him to develop lectures that fit the series' standards of legal research.
In 2020, the Calcutta University published the Tagore Law Lectures delivered between 1868 and 1986 on their library website, making them publicly accessible, as part of an initiative to digitise records and rare documents.

Legacy

Scholar and lawyer Rajeev Dhavan has described the Tagore Lecture Series as the 'most celebrated' of Indian endowed lectures on law, noting that the research produced for these lectures represents a 'black-letter' tradition, aimed at documenting the law and not critically assessing it. This assessment is echoed by e Rajkumari Agrawala, who has critiqued the series for its focus on a formalistic approach to law, and noted a lack of theoretical appreciation in the lectures delivered under this endowment.
The Tagore Law Lectures have been often cited by courts in India as references for the interpretation of Indian laws. The Privy Council in 1941 relied on Upendra Nath Mitra's Tagore Law Lecture in 1932, concerning the law of limitation. The Indian Supreme Court has relied on multiple Tagore Law Lectures including William O' Douglas's 1939 Lecture on comparative U.S. and Indian law, Julius Jolly's 1883 lecture on the Hindu law of partition, inheritance, and adoption and M.C. Setalvad's 1974 lecture on the relation between the Union and States in the Indian Constitution.

List of Lectures

A list of the Tagore Law Lectures that have been delivered is below.
YearLecturerTitle
1870Herbert CowellThe Hindu Law: Being a Treatise on Law Administered Exclusively to the Hindus by the British Courts in India I
1871Herbert CowellThe Hindu Law: Being a Treatise on Law Administered Exclusively to the Hindus by the British Courts in India II
1872Herbert CowellThe History and Constitution of the Courts and Legislative Authorities in India
1873Shama Churun SarkarThe Muhammedan Law: Being a Digest of the Law Applicable Especially to the Sunnis in India
1874Arthur PhillipsThe Law Relating to the Land Tenures of Lower Bengal 1874-75
1875Rash Behari GhoshThe Law of Mortgage in India
1877Ernest John TrevelyanThe Law Relating to Minors in the Presidency of Bengal
1878Gooroodas BanerjeeThe Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan
1879Trailokyanath MitraThe Law Relating to the Hindu Widow
1880Rajkumar SarvadhikariThe Principles of the Hindu Law of Inheritance
1881William Fischer AgnewThe Law of Trusts in British India
1882Upendra Nath MitraThe Law of Limitation and Prescription including Easements
1883Julius JollyThe Hindu Law of Partition, Inheritance and Adoption
1884Syed Ameer AliThe Law Relating to Gifts, Trusts, and Testamentary Dispositions Among the Mahomedans
1885K. K. BhattacharyaThe Law Relating to the Joint Hindu Family
1886K. M ChatterjeaThe Law Relating to the Transfer of Immovable Property
1887G.S. HendersonThe Law of Testamentary Devise as Administered in India or the Law Relating to Wills in India
1888Golapchandra Sarkar SastriThe Hindu Law of Adoption
1889T. A. PearsonThe Law of Agency in British India
1890Lal Mohun DossThe Law of Riparian Rights: Alluvion and Fishery
1891Maulvi Mahomed Yusoof Khan BahadurMahomedan Law Relating to Marriage, Dower, Divorce, Legitimacy, and the Guardianship of Minors
1892Pandit Pran Nath SaraswatiThe Hindu Law of Endowments
1893Arthur CasperszEstoppel by Representation and Res Judicata in British India
1894Sir Frederick PollockThe Law of Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Mistake in India
1895Saradchandra MitraThe Land Law of Bengal
1896Ram Charan MitraThe Law of Joint Property and Partition in India
1897John George WoodroffeThe Law Relating to Injunctions in British India
1898Asutosh MukhopadhyayThe Law of Perpetuities in British India
1899Frederick PeacockThe Law Relating to British Easements in India
1901K. Shelley BonnerjeeThe Interpretation Of Deeds Wills, And Statutes In British India
1903Satya Ranjan DasThe Law Of Ultra Vires In British India
1904Jogendra Chundra GhoshThe Hindu Law Of Impartible Property Including Endowments
1905Kisori Lal SarkarThe Mimansa Rules Of Interpretation As Applied To Hindu Law
1906Satish Chandra BanerjiThe Law Of Specific Relief In British India
1908Sripati RoyCustoms And Customary Law In British India
1909Priyanath SenThe General Principles Of Hindu Jurisprudence
1910C. O. RemfryCommercial Law In British India
1912Bijoy Kisor AcharyyaCodification In British India
1913Samatul Chandra DuttCompulsory Sales In British India
1914Satish Chandra BagchiPrinciples Of The Law Of Corporations With Special Reference To British India
1916Prosanto Kumar SenThe Law Of Monopolies In British India
1917K. P. JayaswalManu And Yajnavalkya A Comparison And A Contrast : A Treatise On The Basic Hindu Law
1918Nagendranath GhoseComparative Administrative Law
1920K.Subramania PillaiPrinciples Of Criminology
1921S. P. Sen GuptaLaw Of Mortgage
1922James Wilford GarnerRecent Developments In International Law
1923Westel W. WilloughbyThe Fundamental Concepts Of Public Law
1924Satyaranjan DasThe Law Of Ultra Vires
1925Radhabinod PalThe History Of The Law Of Primogeniture With Special Reference To India Ancient And Modern
1929Prosanto Kumar SenPenology Old And New
1930Radhabinod PalThe History Of Hindu Law In The Vedic Age And In Post-Vedic Times
1931Arnold D. MacnairThe Law Of The Air
1933James MackintoshRoman Law In Modern Practice
1937Nalini Kumar MukherjeeThe Law Of Partnership With Special Reference To British India
1938Radhabinod PalCrimes In International Relations, 1938,
1939William O. DouglasFrom Marshall To Mukherjea : Studies In American And Indian Constitutional Law
1942Nripendra Nath SircarThe Law Of Arbitration In British India
1948Roscoe PoundThe Ideal Element In Law
1950Nares Chandra Sen-GuptaEvolution Of Ancient Indian Law
1951P.B. GajendragadkarThe Hindu Law Of Religious And Charitable Trusts
1962J.R.MudholkarPress Law
1963B.C.MitraThe Law Of Carriage By Sea
1972Durga Das BasuLimited Government And Judicial Review
1977Sir Zelman CowenIndividual Liberty And The Law
1983M. HidayatullahRight To Property And The Indian Constitution
1986Imam Fakhruddin Hassan Bin Mansur Al-Uzjandi Al FarghaniMahomedan Law Of Marriage, Dower, Divorce, Legitimacy And Guardianship Of Minors, According To The Sunnis