The shastric-customary era: family life governed by Hindu religious law (the mitakshara-style joint family, son-preference in inheritance, marriage as an indissoluble sacrament) layered over local custom — a plurality without codification; The Muluki Ain, 1910 B.S. (1854): the first national code — family chapters (marriage, partition, inheritance, adoption) written within a caste hierarchy; the joint family and agnatic succession codified; women's rights defined as dependence; The Muluki Ain, 2020 B.S. (1963): the great recodification — caste hierarchy formally dismantled, monogamy mandated, judicial divorce introduced (fault-based and gender- asymmetric at first), daughters given a limited share (the unmarried daughter's share returnable on marriage — the system Meera Dhungana's case would later challenge); The amendment era — the 11th Amendment (enacted 2058 B.S., in force 2059 B.S. / 2002): the gender-equality package — the daughter's coparcenary share by birth, reformed positions for the widow and the divorced wife, daughters' consent recognized in partition; the Gender Equality Act, 2063 (2006) then struck the remaining discriminations (the "return on marriage" condition abolished); The constitutional era: the Interim Constitution 2063 and the Constitution 2072 — family equality as fundamental right (Arts 18(5), 38(1), 38(6): equal lineage, equal property, equal voice in family affairs); The Muluki Civil Code, 2074 (in force 2075): the modern codification — gender-neutral civil-status chapters on marriage, divorce, relations, adoption, partition and inheritance — flanked by the Children's Act 2075, the Criminal Code 2074 and the Civil Procedure Code 2074.
Memory ladder for the exam: 1854 → 1963 → 2002 (11th Amendment) → 2006 (Gender Equality Act) → 2015 Constitution → 2017 Code (in force 2018).