A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c17.117

c17.117

Justice was administered by a hierarchy of courts, the emperor's sabhā being the highest appellate authority. Some of these courts appear to have been peripatetic, being held wherever the officers concerened were encamped. The smriti of Yājnavalkya and Mādhava's great commentary on Parāśara's code commanded special authority in the decision of doubtful legal points. Minor offences and violation of caste and trade rules were dealt with in the first instance by village courts and caste and guild organizations, and perhaps seldom found their way to the courts of the crown. When human evidence failed trial by ordeal was not unknown. By modern standards punishments were harsh and even barbarous, including as they did, in extreme cases, mutilation, impalement, and being thrown to the elephants.