Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c12.s6.4

c12.s6.4

The study of *law*, which is constricted by the theoretical and normative character of the textual sources, is supplemented by occasional inscriptional records attesting to the dispensation of actual cases, which are practically never cited in the texts. Thus certain inscriptions describe the resolution of disputes over land tenure; see, for example, SII 20, xxiv and 282–4 (no. 232).⁸⁰ A rare document testifying to the enforcement of criminal law is provided by the Lāhaḍapura inscription (EI 32, 305–9), recording a *saṃvid* (decree) declaring the penalties imposed on thieves by a council of Brahmans. The charter of Viṣṇuṣeṇa (EI 30, 163–81) provides an interesting list of seventy-two *ācāras*, or customary laws, which were current in western India in the sixth century. The Jaunpur brick inscription (JUPHS 18, 196–201) records a loan by two bankers.⁸¹