Legally binding: the textual layout of a copper-plate grant from South Asia

Abstract

Copper-plate grants were issued in large numbers by pre-modern South Asian royal courts as legally binding documents recording ownership over land revenue. The textual layout of an inscription, and the positioning and size of certain elements, was linked to ritual dimensions inherent in the transaction and to ancient techniques of legal validation. Using the grant now known as IO-19 as an example, the author shows how textual layout can also reveal the complex and multi-stage processes involved in the production of such grants.