ABSTRACT
In the evolution of law in India, which meant Pakistan and Bangladesh as well till 1947, both religion and local customs and practices have played the most dominant role, as is the case anywhere in the world. Custom had an important place in the Indian legal system prior to the imposition of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence over the Indian legal system during British rule. On the whole the British did a good job in the evolution of law in India, which was, as much as possible, based on justice and equity. The nineteenth century was the most critical period in respect of British interventions in Hindu personal law. Alongside the compilation and recording of different canonical and customary laws, the British rulers also took note of the fact that it was necessary to consider the legal tenets differently, keeping in view regional specificities. Secularism and equality were writ large in the codified and other laws administered by the British.
