HISTORY AND HERITAGE: THE AFTERLIFE OF MONUMENTS

Curator: Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray

Housing the Heritage: The Calcutta High Court and Wills from early Colonial Bengal
Illustrated lecture by Dr. Ruchika Sharma, Assistant Professor, Mata Sundri College, University of Delhi

Chair: Prof. Partho Datta, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University

The Calcutta High Court stands tall in the Fort William area of the city of Kolkata. It has the distinction of being the first High Court and one of the three Chartered High Courts to be set up in India, along with the High Courts of Bombay and Madras. The Calcutta High Court houses legal documents, particularly Wills and Probates from late 18th century onwards. The talk will look at two kinds of heritage – the building of the High Court itself; and it will elaborate upon the earliest Wills, giving a glimpse of the mixed-race British household and domesticity of early Colonial Bengal