Part of the prestigious Themes in Indian History series, this book deals with notions, ideas, and concepts of crime and justice from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Divided into four sections, the first deals with the pre-colonial period with its decentralized law and justice system. The second addresses the colonial period and cites the administrative and legal changes during that period like legal codifications, policing, tattooing and other technologies identification. The section on subaltern legalities studies customary laws and their negotiations with colonial laws. The final section studies the nature of crimes in post-independence India, and discusses issues like violence on Dalits and minorities.

This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of modern Indian history, sociology, and cultural studies.