New Books in British Studies Alastair McClure, "Trials of Sovereignty: Mercy, Violence, and the Making of Criminal Law in British India, 1857-1922" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
Dec 27, 2025
In this intriguing discussion, Alastair McClure, a legal historian from the University of Hong Kong, delves into his book that investigates mercy and the complexities of criminal law in British India. He reveals how colonial discretion was a tool for regulating violence while reinforcing social hierarchies. The trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar exemplifies how mercy masked colonial weaknesses. McClure also explores nationalists like Tilak and Gandhi, showing how their rejection of mercy became a potent form of political resistance.
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Mercy As A Technique Of Sovereignty
- Discretion and mercy were not exceptions but core techniques of colonial sovereignty that managed violence and legitimacy.
- Alastair McClure argues mercy let the state allocate punishments strategically to build a thin, contingent legitimacy.
Bahadur Shah's Trial Exposed Colonial Fragility
- The trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar revealed a dilemma: killing him would have been a political sacrifice that exposed colonial weakness.
- The British used mercy (exile) as a solution to mask lack of public legitimacy after 1857.
Amnesty Rewrote Political Agency
- The Queen's Proclamation amnesty was nominally unconditional but required rebels to renounce political agency and accept being 'misled.'
- Mercy functioned to rewrite the uprising as led by a few instigators and to rebuild colonial order through graded punishment and rewards.