| ID | 164049 |
| Title Proper | Space of the courtroom and the role of geographical evidence in the Punjab boundary commission hearings, July 1947 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Fitzpatrick, Hannah |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This paper examines the geographies of Partition through an analysis of the Punjab Boundary Commission hearings of July 1947. The paper asks: what happens when geographical expertise is transported from ‘the field’ to courtrooms and government offices? I argue that geography was transformed, and was managed and limited by the legal framework that judged evidence according to its own rules. Examining select records of the Punjab Boundary Commission, I argue that the courtroom created certain assumptions about the nature and role of evidence in boundary-making negotiations. Rather than applying evidence to create a workable boundary, evidence was put to work in often contradictory ways in order to lend competing political claims an air of geographical authority. |
| `In' analytical Note | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 42, No.1; Feb 2019: p.188-207 |
| Journal Source | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 2019-03 42, 1 |
| Key Words | Partition ; Lahore ; Geographical ; Punjab Boundary Commission ; Boundar ; O H K Spate |