During the British rule, before 1900, Urdu was used as court language. All petitions were written in Urdu but due to strong protest and demand, the British Government on 8th April, 1900 passed an order that Government offices and law Courts should also entertain petitions written in Hindi in Devanagari script. It also said that Court summons and official announcement should be issued both in Urdu and Hindi languages. The Muslims resented the order of the Government. This Hindi-Urdu controversy widened the gulf between the Hindus and Muslims. This was also one of the causes of the formation of the Muslim League.