The Rashtrakutas and their Times c21.126

c21.126

A record from Managoli in Bijapur district, dated 1178 A.D., observes:—'If any one in the village should die at Mamgavalli without sons, his wife, female children,(100) divided parents, brothers and their children, and any kinsmen and relatives of the same Gotra who might survive, should take possession of all his property, i. e. bipeds, quadrupeds, coins, grains, house and field. If none such should survive, the authorities of the village should take the property as Dharmadeya grant.'(101) The record reveals the actual order of succession in the Deccan of the 12th century, and it is very probable that the same may have been the case in our period. It is noteworthy that this order of succession agrees substantially with that given by Yājñavalkya and his commentator Vijñāneśvara.¹⁰² The inscription does not mention like Yājñavalkya the bandhus, disciples, and fellow students among the heirs; but it may be pointed out that the inscription was not intended to be a text-book in a law college, and its drafters may have omitted disciples, fellow students etc., because the cases of property going to persons who were not even sagotras were very rare in practice. The epigraphical evidence, therefore, shows that the theory of succession advocated by the Mitākṣarā school was substantially based on the actual practice as it was prevalent in the Deccan. In contemporary Gujarat the law of succession was different; property of persons dying without sons used to escheat to the crown till the conversion of Kumārapāla to Jainism. The credit of permitting the widow to inherit her husband's property has been claimed for that king.¹⁰³ That a widow in the Deccan could inherit her husband's property is made further clear from the case of a country Gavunda, who was succeeded in his office by his widow.¹⁰⁴ That daughters were heirs on the failure of sons is further proved by a Saundatti record¹⁰⁵ which informs us that when Mādirāja II of Kolara family was killed in battle, Gaurī, his only daughter, was married to a Banihaṭṭi chief, who consequently became heir to the fiefdom of the Kolara family as well.