Meet the Abrahams: Colonial Law and a Mixed Race Family from Bellary, South India, 1810-63.

This article discusses the treatment of race in the colonial legal system of India between 1810 and 1863. The Abraham family, which was of Tamil and English origin, dealt with legal issues of race in the process of interfamilial litigation in the case Abraham v. Abraham. This case concerned the disposition of Matthew Abraham's fortune following his death in 1842. Matthew's wife Charlotte and her children stood to inherit the property under English law, but his brother Francis stood to inherit under Hindu law. The question of jurisdiction turned on issues of female agency, race, and the conflict between market capitalism and traditional Hindu practices.