(i) Colonial administrators found Vernacular novels to be a valuable, available source of information on native life and customs. (ii) As outsiders, the British knew little about life inside Indian households. (iii) Novels helped the colonists understand Indian way of dressing, forms of worship, their beliefs and practices. (iv) Many novels reflected social customs, divisions based on caste and class. (v) These novels helped the British to understand the social divisions and used them to their advantage to create further divisions. **** Bentinck helped the Indian reformers in their mission to get rid of the practices like ‘Sati’ and passed legislation favouring remarriage of widows.