Chowringhee in 1757, by Thomas Daniell

Historian Pradip Sinha is bringing out of hiding a collection of legal documents compiled by an 18th Century judge, Justice John Hyde, who was one of the first groups of judges to be appointed by the King in 1774. Victoria Memorial is sponsoring the research and publication of these papers, whose dryness even historians find forbidding.

?It is very strange that Hyde is almost a forgotten name in Calcutta and in judicial history. People confuse him with Hyde Park in London, which has no connection,? says Sinha.

Hyde started writing the papers in late 1775 and they have been lying unexplored since. The judge also collected notes from other judges like William Jones and, hence, this assemblage of 74 bound volumes is known as the Hyde collection.

No portrait exists of Hyde but according to contemporary records, he was a jovial man, fond of the good life. He was known to be a good host. Europeans looked forward to his parties in the Dalhousie area. He had strong differences with Elijah Impey, who described him as a bit of a talkative person.

?But,? says Sinha, ?his differences did not reach a point of bitterness. Both Impey and Hyde were hard empiricists in matters of law. William Jones represented another dimension ? a civilisational view of law. Hyde was honest enough to record William Jones? reflections.? Hyde rests in peace in South Park Street cemetery next to William Jones.

The papers had become brittle and they were lying in the Bar Library of Calcutta High Court. Nisith Ranjan Ray had brought them over to Victoria Memorial around 1985.

But Sinha says the Hyde collection gives an idea of the introduction of English law in India. ?Though fragmentary, it gives an idea of Anglo-Shastric law, that is Hindu law in the first stage of its evolution in India,? Sinha said. He enumerates the salient points of the document. The record of the sessions trials, where judges distinguish between murder and manslaughter, are significant because of the adjustment of the Indian situation and English criminal law.

The papers afford a view of the Calcutta underclass, including slaves ? mostly Bengalis, Biharis and Africans ? through petty criminal cases. Slavery was widespread in eastern India. It is also a record of libels, duels and criminal conversation ? near adultery, such as the notorious case of Madam Grand.

The early revenue cases are important because they were removed from the scope of the Supreme Court in 1781, revenue being too important to be tackled by English law.

The papers were also a record of the introduction of rules and procedures of English law in the Indian context. The Supreme Court had a branch called ecclesiastical business, which recorded matrimonial suits, including one filed by an Indian.There are scattered references to judicial control of arbitrary action by Europeans who sometimes acted as ?boy sovereigns? to Indians after the Battle of Buxar in 1765.

Sinha says: ?In the initial phase, the Supreme Court, in trying to enforce legal equality in India, bungled over the Nandakumar case.? Dry they may be but they do afford insights into contemporary life in Calcutta. ?The majority of cases deal with money bonds. This shows that Calcutta was an overwhelmingly commercial city,? he observes.

The overview volume ? ?a modest attempt to project the history of Indo-British law? ? will be ready by March.