History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c12.18

v1.c12.18

It does not appear that in ancient India there was any distinction observed in civil and criminal cases. Probably civil cases were very few and far between, disputes being settled by Panchayats; but when they went to the state, either to the king's own court or to the court of the chief judicial officer, they were treated as cases for fine, the party losing having to pay a penalty so to speak. The Rājasthānīya or the Mahādandanāyaka or the chief magistrate probably decided all such cases, on oral or documentary evidence and by the advice or opinion of assessors or what is called the Parishad. We have of course no reference to the Parishad in the inscriptions but probably the provisions of the Smritis must have been observed. Hiuen Tsang describes that in case of doubt ordeals were resorted to, and the four kinds of ordeals are worth being quoted here.