Anglo-Hindu law

Anglo-Hindu law is the case law that developed in British India, through the interpretation of the Hindu scriptures and customary law in the British courts.

The first phase of Anglo-Hindu law started in 1772, and lasted till 1864, during which translations of ancient Indian texts along with textual interpretations provided by court-appointed Hindu Pandits were the basis of jurisprudence. During the same period, the Anglo-Muslim law for Indian Muslims was similarly extracted from Quran with interpretation provided by Muslim Qadis. The second phase of Anglo-Hindu law started in 1864, when the Hindu Pandits along with Muslim Qadis were dismissed due to growing inconsistencies in interpretation of texts and suspicions of corruption. The existing case law, along with textbooks that systematised it, were used for jurisprudence. The Anglo-Hindu law was also extended and modified by a series of Acts between 1828 and 1947, which were based on political consensus rather than religious texts.