This book, strongly grounded in primary sources, makes an important contribution to the legal and intellectual history of early modern Bengal. It brings to light the complex interpenetration of diverse interests, opinions, and ideologies articulated by various social groups implicated in the process of colonization. There is no comparable work specifically on Hindu property rights that explores how these came to be perceived or interpreted in early modern Bengal.

The author explores the so-called compendia prepared under British auspices and argues that there was hardly any link between the Smritis and the laws. The latter were determined almost entirely by changing British policy with regard to land revenue and many of the positive features of Hindu custom like women's rights to property were undermined in the process.