Enslaved Daughters

In 1884, the case of Rukhmabai highlighted in colonial India and Britain, the plight of women, the injustices of child marriage, and questioned the authority and legality of Indian marriage laws. The author examines the issues of colonial power, gender relations and the law in the 19th century.

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In 1884, the case of Rukhmabai became a cause celebre in colonial India and in Britain, highlighting the plight of women, the injustices of child marriage, and questioning the authority - indeed the legality - of Indian marriage laws. Chandra takes this case as his raw material, but goes on to examine the wider issues of colonial power, gender relations and the law in the late 19th-century.