A Treatlse C It Hindu Law and Usage

1020 Pages·2017·58.37 MB·English

A T EATlSE
R
t
C
i
HINDULAWANDUSAGE.
JOHN I) . MAYNE
,
or THE mm-za TEMPLE
, qq BAR ISTE R - AT- LAW,
-
FORMER LY ovmcurmc ADVOCATE GENERAL 0? “Ann“
,
I
"
AUTHOR OF A m am as on DAMAGES , Tm : C R IMINAL m w or mum, E TC .
- v v v v v v s fxf l v J g p s o 1 “
SEVENTH EDIT ION.
R E V ISE D A ND E NLA R GE D.
~W~UWM
MADRAS : HIGGINBOTHAM (30.
B oiamem to D. G. t he Governor at madras.
y l p
1906.
Al l ri hts reserved
[ g ]
PREFACE TO THE
SEVENTH EDITION.
Two im o rta nt de cismns ofthe
Judicia l Comm itte e which
,
p
have alre
ad furnishe d mate rial for much discussion in India
,
y
will be foun d in 563 A and In othe r re spe cts the large
numbe r ofne w case s which are include d in this e dition have
, ,
bee n
ofmore inte re st to the individual suitors than to the stude nts
oflaw .
GOODR BST
,
R E AD ING JOHN D. MA
YNE .
,
Ma 1906 .
y
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION.
THE incre ase d bulk of this volume is chie fly owing to the
conside rable am ount ofnew mate rial which I have found at m
y
disposal . Both the Privy Council and the Indian Courts have
be e n rich in de cisions ofunusual importance particularly in re gard
,
to the law ofadoption and wills . Mfrie nd R ajah Dharma Pravina
y
Thumboo Che tty , of the Mysore Council ofR e ge ncy, has be e n
g
ood e nough to furn ish me with a comple te se rie s of the re ports
ofthe Chie f Court of Mysore . The re ce nt works of M. Le on
Sorg Chie f Justice ofthe Court ofFirst Instance in Pondiche rry
, ,
have for the first tim e supplie d uswith a conne cte d vie w ofthe
mode in which que stions ofHinduLaw are de alt with by Fre nch
jurists . The se are ofe spe cial value asthe y are base d not me re ly
, ,
upon the writings ofthe H indulawye rs but upon formal e nquiry
,
as to the usage at pre se nt pre vailing u on e ach dispute d point
p
among the native s subje ct to the Pondiche rry Courts .
The inve stigations of the MalabarMarriage Comm ission have
thrown a flood oflight upon th e e xiste n ce ofpolyandry on the
We st Coast ofIndia
, and upon the characte r ofthe unions
contracte d unde r its influe nce . The se are furthe r supple me nte d
by the Ce nsus R e ports for 1891ofthe State s of Cochin and
’
Travancore and by Mr. Logan s most valuable Manual ofthe
,
Malabar District . I have util ise d the se source s for the purpos
e
ofgiving a brie f and I hope fairly accurate vie w ofa rathe r
,
obscure subje ct . I have also take n advantage ofthis opport
unity
to gle an from the invaluable re ports ofthe Ce ns
us ofIndia for
1891
, and from the singularly le arne d work by Dr.Macle an on the
adm in istration ofMadras m any curious and inte re sting instanc s
, e
oflocal usage on matte rs ofdome stic law . The District Man als
u
of South Canara and North Arcot abound in sim ilar infor
mation
to which I am inde bte d .
PRE FACE .
vii
Dr. Jol ly hasagain place d Indian e nquire rs he avily in his
de bt by h isne w work
, R echt und Sitte , itse lf only a se gme nt of
-
an E ncyclop e dia of Indo Aryan re se arch
, which is be ing e dite d
by Dr. Biih le r. The first chapte r in which the com bin
e d re sults
,
of Ge rm an and British re se arch in re fe re nce to Sanskrit law books
are focuse d into one v ie w is of imm e nse value .
,
Afte r I had com e te d this e dition I re ce ive d through
the
,
fl
courte sy ofMr. S. Sitarama Sastri a le arne d scholar ofMadras
, ,
a proof she e t of a translation of a portion of the comme ntary of
Visva ru a. o n Ya nava lk n ofwhich e ve n Dr . Jol ly only kne w
,
p j y
from citations that it existe d and was e arl ie r than the Mitakshara .
,
It is ve ry curious e spe cial ly asshow ing the gradual de ve lopm e nt
,
ofhe irship among wome n . Asto dau hte rs he e xpre ssly state s
, ,
g
what I have long sugge ste d was probable that only appointe d
,
da
ughte rs took by inhe ritance afte r a widow while he se e m s
to l im it the te rm widow
, as me an ing a pre gnant widow who
,
would appare ntly take on ly as guardian for he r possible son .
Th e discove ry at so late a pe riod ofa copy of this work is ve ry
re m arkable .
The de lay in th e appe arance of this e dit ion which has be e n so
l ong prom ise d arise s from m having in conse que nce of the large
, ,
y
am ount of ne w matte r re que ste d m publishe rs to allow al l the
,
y
-
she e ts to pass through m own hands . The cross re fe re nce s in
y
th e body ofthe work and in the con te n ts are stil l to the para
, ,
graphs but those in the index and table ofcase s are for the
,
,
—
fi
rst time
, to the page s a change which , I hope ,Will be found a
con ve nie nce to the re ade r .
INNER
TEMPLE JOHN D. MA
YNE .
,
Auust 1900.
g
v
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
SINCE the
publication of the last
e dition of th is work , many new
mate rial s for the study of H
indu Law have be e n place d within
the reach of those who lik
e myse lf are unable to examine the
, , ,
’
authoritie s in the ir original San skrit . Profe ssor MaxMfille r s
Se rie s of the Sacred Books of the E ast has give n us translations
of the e ntire te xts ofA astamba Gautama and Vishnu, by
, ,
p
Dr. Buhle r and Dr. Jolly . Mr. Narayan Mandlik hassupplie d
ne w
uswith a translation of the whole ofYajnavalkya
, and a
re nde ring of the Ma ukha while the Sarasvati Vilasa and the
;
y
Viram itroda a have be e n re nde re d acce ssible by the labours of
y
Mr. Foulke s and of Gola chandra Sarkar .
p
Judging from an examination of the se works I doubt whe the r
,
we ne e d expe ct to re ce ive much more l ight upon the existing
Hindu Law from the works ofthe pure ly le gal write rs . The y
se em to me me re ly to re produce with slavish fide l ity the same
textsof the ancie nt write rs and the n to criticise them as if the y
, ,
we re alge braic formulas without any atte mpt to show what re la
,
tion if any the y have to the actual facts of life . Whe n for
, , ,
instance so mode rn a work as the Viramitroda a grave ly discusses
,
y
marriage s be twe e n pe rsons of different caste s
, or the twe lve spe cie s
of sons it is impossible to imagine that the author is talking of
,
anything which re ally existe d in his time . Ye t he dilate s upon
all the se distinctions with as much appare nt faith in the ir value
,
as would be exhibite d by an E nglish lawye r in expounding the
peculiaritie s of a bill of exchange . From the extracts ive n by
g
Mr. Narayan Mandlik I im agine that th e m ode rn write rs of
,
Weste rn India are more willing to re cogn ise re al itie s than thos
e
of Be n al and Be nare s. Probably much that is use ful and
,
g
inte resting m i ht be found amid an infinity ofrubbish in the
g ( )
workson ce re monial law. But what we re ally want isthat we l l
PREFACE . ix
informe d native s of India should take a law book in the ir hands
,
and te l l usfrankly unde r e ach he ad how much ofthe writte n
, ,
-
te xt is actual ly re cognise d and practise d as the rule of e ve ry day
’
life . The gre at value ofMr. NarayanMandlik s work consists
in th e e xte nt to which he has adopte d this course . His forth
coming work will be looke d for with the gre ate st inte re st by
e ve ry studen t ofHinduLaw .
I fe e l a natural tim idity in e n te ring pon the re gion ofvolcanic
u
controve rsy which has s rung u around the works of Mr. J. H.
p p
Ne lson . It se e m s a pity that ami d so much with which e ve ryone
must agre e the re should be so much m ore with which no one can
,
a re e .When he de n ie s that Manu Yajnavalkya and the Mitak
g , ,
shara form th e re co niz e d uide sofDravidian or e ve n ofSudra
,
g g
l ife one isWilling to acce t t h e sta te m e n t . But whe n he goeson
,
p
to asse rt th at Mann Ya n ava lkya and th e Mi takshara are the m
, ,
j
se lve sWithout auth ori ty am on g S ansk ri t l awye rs or have authority
,
on ly am on obscure and l im i te d se cts one iste mpte d to ask what
,
g
i
oseuble am oun t ofe n dem c h e woul d conside r sufficie nt to e stab
p
li sh th e con trar ? Can
Mr. Ne l son ut h is finge r upon any
y p
Sin le law book subse ue nt to the probable date s of Manuand
g q
Ya nava lkya in wh i ch th ose sage s are not refe rre d to not only
j ,
‘
With respe ct and re ve re nce butWith absolute subm i ssi on 1Ifthe
,
Mitaksh ara isa work ofno auth ori ty h ow doe s i t happe n that
,
e ve ry pundi t i n e ve ry p
art ofIndia e xce pt Be ngal invariably Ci te s
, ,
’
Vi nane svara i n support ofh isopin i on Mr. Ne lson s grote sque
j
su e stion th at the Mitaksh ara date s from the se ve nte e nth or
gg
e i h te e n th ce ntury is di sm i sse d b M. Bart/b one ofthe gre ate st
f
g y
ofl ivm Sanskri t scholars
With th e summary remark E ve ry
g ,
ori e ntali st who has re ad
Oole brookeWill answe r that, ifthat
admirable in uire r had found noth ing be tte r to write about the
q
”
Mitakshara he w
ould not have writte n a l ine upon the subje ct .
,
H is proposal that
e ve ry law suit should commence with an
e xhaustive e n uiry as to
the le al usa e s if any by which the
, ,
q g g
re spe ctive p
artie s conside re d the y we re bormd is a sly stroke of
,
Re vue Criti
que .1882, p. 165 the a rtic l e contains a thorough examination ofMr.
'
Ne lson svi
ews
, and see msto me to be a mode l ofacute , candid, and courteouscriticism.
‘
PR EFACE .
x
h
umour which cannot be too much admire d . Com ing from an
opp
one n t it m ight have be e n conside re d malicious. I fancy that
Mr. Ne lson as a Judge would be the first to re sist the application
, ,
of hisown ro osal .
pp
An unusual numbe r ofimportan t de cisions have be e n re corde d
sin ce th e publication of the last e d ition and it wil l be se e n
,
-
that se ve ral portions of this work have be e n re writte n in couse
’
uence . The law as to the liabil ity ofa son for his fathe r s de bts
, ,
q
’
and asto the fathe r s powe r ofde aling with fam ily prope rty to
l iquidate such de bts se e m s at last to be se ttling down in to an
,
inte ll igible if n ot a ve ry satisfactory shape . The con trove rsie s
, ,
arising out ofthe text ofthe Mitakshara defining stridhanu
m
appe ar also to be quie te d by dire ct de cision and the conflicting
,
’
vie w ofwoman s rights take n by the Bombay H igh Court has at
last be e n re stricte d and de fine d
, and m ade to re st upon inve te rate
usage
, rathe r than upon writte n law. A single de cision of the
Privy Council has e stablishe d the he ritable right
offe male
-
Sa indasin Bombay
, and re cogn iz e d the all important principle
p ,
that succe ssion unde r the Mitakshara law is base d upon pro
in uit
, and not upon de gre e s ofre ligious m e rit .
pqy
JOHN D. MAYNE .
INNE R TEMPLE
,
Januar 1883 .
y
PR E FA
CE
I HAVE
e
nde avoure d in this work to sho
w not only what the
,
HinduLaw is but how it came to be what it is Pr bably any
, . o m
ofm
y professional re ade rs ma think that the latte r part of the
y
e n
quiry is only a waste oftim e and trouble , and that, in pursuing
i t I have adde d to the bulk ofthe volum e without incre asing its
,
util i ty . It m ight be sufficie nt to say that I have aime d at writing
a book
, which should be some thing diffe re nt from a me re racti
p
’
tion e r smanual .
Hin duLaw has the olde st pe di re e ofan known syste
m of
g y
jurisprude n ce
, and e ve n now it shows no signs ofde cre pitude .
At this da it ove rns race s ofme n
, e xte nding from Cashme re to
y g
Cape Com orin
, who agre e in nothing e l se exce pt the ir subm ission
to it . No tim e or trouble can be waste d
, which is spe nt in in
v esti atin the origin and de ve lopm e n t ofsuch a s ste m and the
g g y ,
cause s ofits influe nce . I can not but indulge a hope that the ve ry
parts ofthis work which se e m ofle ast value to a practising lawye r
, ,
m a be re ad with in te re st b some who ne ve r in te nd to e nte r a
y y
Court. I also hope that th e same discussions which appe ar to
,
h ave only an antiquarian and the ore tical in te re st ma be found of
,
y
re al se rvice if not to the counse l who has toWin a case at
, ,
al l e ve n ts to the judge who hasto de cide it .
The great diffi cult which me e ts a judge is to choose be twe e n
y
the conflicting texts which can be pre se n te d to h im on alm ost
e ve ry que stion . This difficulty i s con stantly in cre ase d by th e
labours ofthose scholars wh o are ye a rly ope n ing u fre sh source s
p
ofinform ation . The workswhich the y have m ade acce ssible are
,
naturally the works of th e v e ry e arly wri te rs who had passe d in to
, ,
obl ivion be cause the substan ce ofthe ir te aching wasembodie d in
,
more m ode rn tre atises. Many ofthe se e arlv texts are in conflict
with e ach othe r and st il l more are in conflict with the
,
ge ne ral body oflaw as it h
asbe e n administe re d in our Courts .
An Opinion se e m s to be growin u that we have be e n going
g p
all wrong ; that we have be e n m istak e n in takin th e law from its
g