A History of Assam c15.s1.1

c15.s1.1

In civil matters the Hindu law, as expounded by the Brāhmans, seems to have been generally followed in later times; at an earlier period the judge decided according to the custom of the country and his own standard of right and wrong. The joint family system was in vogue, but amongst all except the highest classes, the family usually separated on the death of the father, when the sons took equal shares to the exclusion of daughters. The criminal law was characterized by the greatest harshness; and mutilation, branding with hot irons, and even more terrible punishments were common. In the case of offences against the person, the general principle was that of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," and the culprit was punished with precisely the same injury as that inflicted by him on the complainant. The penalty for rebellion was various forms of capital punishment, such as starvation, flaying alive, impaling and hanging, of which the last mentioned was esteemed the most honourable. The death penalty was often inflicted, not only on the rebel himself, but on all the members of his family. No record was kept in criminal trials, but in civil cases a summary of the proceedings was drawn out and given to the successful party.