Hinduism and Law
Hinduism in India: Modern and Contemporary Movements, edited by Will Sweetman and Aditya Malik (Sage Publications, 2016), pp. 41–68.
28 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2015 Last revised: 2 Aug 2016
Date Written: February 26, 2015
Abstract
Beginning with a review of the interaction between religion and law in premodern periods, this essay presents in more detail the complex developments since the seventeenth century up to the present day. This includes the creation of ‘Anglo-Hindu’ law, colonial administration of justice (including the legal treatment of disapproved Hindu practices), and the gradual restriction of Hindu law to matters of family law; legal treatment of Hindus and Hindu institutions under secular law in modern India and Nepal; and Hindu religion under modern secular law outside of South Asia. Throughout, the emphasis is on the fruits of research in the last thirty years or so, especially current developments.
Keywords: South Asia, India, colonial law, colonialism, Hindu law, Anglo-Hindu law, personal law codes, legal pluralism, nationalism
JEL Classification: K10, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation