Criminal cases and their punishments, before and during the period of Jang Bahadur

There is no dependable record of the development of the Nepali legal system prior to the fourteenth century AD. The laws shown in inscriptions of the ancient Hindu rulers have not proved to be very important as judicial works which could have influenced the later legal systems of Nepal. The first influential proponent of judicial law in Nepal was Jayasthiti Malla. As stated in the chronicle (vamsavali), this was a wise a ruler who make various social and religious laws. He divided the people into castes and made regulations setting out caste behaviour and inter-caste relationships. He also made significant changes to criminal punishment. Brian Hodgson, the third British Residint in Nepal (1833-1843) rendered a service to Nepal by putting the judicial system of the time into written form. His papers, both published and unpublished, provide a fairly reliable base for comparing the judicial practices of the period with those of the government of Jang Bahadur.