High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The British colonization of India, has had a tremendous impact on the legal system in India. In many respects, English law in letter and spirit came to be applied in India. Even when the law relating to Christian marriage was still in a fluid state, British Indian Administration thought it necessary to bring in a law for divorce among Christians. They thought that the English law on the subject, the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 with necessary modifications, could be applied in India. Thus, the Indian Divorce Act 1869 came to be enacted in India by the Governor General in Council and applied to the Christians throughout India except the Princely States, former Portuguese and French settlements and certain tribal areas. Subject to such exceptions, generally speaking, the Indian Divorce Act, 1869 is the law of divorce for Christians in India.