Hindu Administrative Institutions c10.s1.2

c10.s1.2

This reminds us of the ancient Teutons to whom law was purely a matter of custom ‘the law of diverse people’ as opposed to the Roman law of a unified state, and the legislature was independent of the executive. Especially this was so after the codification of the law by the *smṛti-kartas* such as Manu, Nārada, and Gautama. Even in Vedic days the use of terms such as *jīvagṛh*¹ and *ugra*² shows that it was the function of the executive to administer the laws of the land.