Chronology

c. 3rd century BCE	Rock and Pillar Edicts of King Piyadasi (Aoka Maurya); pastamba Dharmastra
early 2nd century BCE	Gautama Dharmastra
mid–late 2nd century BCE	Baudhyana Dharmastra (i.e., “Proto-Baudhyana,” namely the early part consisting of the first and most of the second book)
1st century BCE	Vasiha Dharmastra
from early CE	South Indians involved in maritime trade settled on the coasts of Sumatra and Cambodia, and along the Straits of Malacca
c. 150	Sanskrit inaugurated as cosmopolitan language; incorporation of artha into Dharmastra texts and the concomitant incorporation of regional legal norms into the early smtis (dharmastras)
c. 2nd century	Mnava Dharmastra (Manu Smti)
c. 4th–5th century	Yjñavalkya Smti
c. 400–700	Inscriptions begin to indicate strong presence of corporate groups; production of smtis with more detailed and pronounced sections on legal procedure
c. 5th–6th century	Nrada and Bhaspati Smtis
c. 7th century	Viu Smti
c. 7th–8th century	Ktyyana, Parara, Vaikhnasa Smtis
c. 700–900	Temple building increases; earliest commentaries
c. 900–1200	Monumental temples built by regional rulers; earliest digests
c. 1200	Delhi Sultanate introduces state administration of law in Persian
13th–early 16th century	Spread of South Asian populations in Indonesia
c. 1300	Vernaculars begin to be used for legal documentation
c. 1365–1445	Pryacittaviveka
1500	First European colonial presence; formalization of vernacular government documents
c. 1510–80	Raghunandana Bhacrya
c. 1540–80	Divyatattva
1772	Judicial Plan of Warren Hastings, governor of Bengal; colonial administration becomes the central force in law; “personal law” institutionalized
1776	Publication of A Code of Gentoo Laws
1794	Publication of Jones’s translation of the Laws of Manu
1798	Publication of Colebrooke’s A Digest of Hindu Law on Contracts and Successions
1810	Publication of Colebrooke’s Two Treatises on the Hindu Law of Inheritance
1829	Abolition of suttee (sat)
1830	English replaces Persian as the administrative and diplomatic language
1833	Slavery Abolition Act passed (in the UK), ends slavery throughout most of the British Empire, leading to an increase in indentured servitude that encourages the spread of South Asians to Mauritius, Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad, Jamaica, South and East Africa, and Fiji
1850	Caste Disabilities Removal Act
1856	Hindu Widows Remarriage Act
1859	Code of Civil Procedure
1860	Indian Penal Code; Code of Criminal Procedure
1864	Pandits cease to be employed as law officers to the courts
1891	Age of Consent Act
1899–1902	Boer War in South Africa
1906	Zulu Rebellion
1923	Publication of Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (alias “Mahratta”)
1937	Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act (“Deshmukh Act”)
after 1945	postwar diaspora of South Asians to the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, continental Europe, and the Persian Gulf nations
15 August 1947	India becomes independent
1950	Constitution of India enacted
1952–5	“Hindu Code” debates
1955–6	“Hindu Code” Bills enacted
1955	Hindu Marriage and Divorce Act
1956	Hindu Succession Act
1956	Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act
1956	Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act
1985	Shah Bano decision
1986	Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act
mid-1990s	The “Hindutva Cases”
1992	Destruction of the Babri Masjid (mosque) in Ayodhya as part of a campaign to reclaim the site for a temple commemorating the Hindu god Rma’s birthplace