Lord Kyaw Thu?s Precedent: a Sixteenth-Century Burmese Law Report

Description: 

"This chapter examines a law report on a disputed inheritance within a Tai (Siamese) noble family under the rule of an all-conquering Burmese king. The text itself is generally known as Shin kyaw thu pyatton (?Lord Kyaw Thu?s Precedent?). Pegu?s Golden Palace was the centre of government for a vast mainland empire created by the early Toungoo-dynasty kings. The greatest of the conquerors was the White Elephant King of Hanthawaddy, known to history as King Bayinnaung (r. 1551-82), and The Precedent is the leading source on law and kingship under Bayinnaung?s rule. It reveals a vibrant legalism quite different from those of its neighbours in East and South Asia. Some aspects of sixteenth-century Burmese legalism are reminiscent of Western European approaches to law and kingship, and the end of the chapter pursues this similarity by way of a contemporary English law report.... Keywords: Lord Kyaw Thu?s Precedent; Burmese law; legal texts; King Bayinnaung; legalism; kingship; English law"

Creator/author: 

Andrew Huxley

Source/publisher: 

Legalism, Anthropology and History (Paul Dresch and Hannah Skoda, eds.)

Date of Publication: 

2012-08-00

Date of entry: 

2014-11-09

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Language: 

English

Local URL: 

Format: 

pdf

Size: 

410.71 KB