ABSTRACT
The most important feature of British administration in the days of the East India Company was its dual origin. The authority of the Company was derived partly from the Crown and partly by delegation from the Mughal emperor or other rulers. For the redress of grievances against natives the British in India were necessarily dependent upon the courts of the local ruler. In Bombay and Madras, where the Company’s power was derived from a single source, this was comparatively simple. In Bombay the Company for a time continued the Portuguese law previously in force, but grafted on to it for the government of the garrison martial-law regulations which were justified by the imminence of attack from several quarters, but which were of doubtful legality. Local courts which had been presided over by Indians were converted into circuit courts under officers of the Company, to whom kazis and muftis were attached in an advisory capacity.
