Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.136

c7.136

The law proper according to M. is divided under 18 titles : 1. Recovery of debt, 2. deposits, 3. sale without ownership, 4. concerns among partners, 5. resumption of gifts, 6. non-payment of wages, 7. non-performance of agreements, 8. recission of sale and purchase, 9. disputes between the owner of cattle and his servants, 10. disputes regarding boundaries, 11. assault, 12. defamation, 13. theft, 4. violence, 15. adultery, 16. duties of man and wife, 17. law of inheritance, 18. gambling and betting. Mill¹ and others have sharply criticised this classification of Indian law, but it is worthy of notice not only as a first attempt, but this classification seems to have been taken directly from actual life and fully corresponds to the necessities of the life of those days. Thus the law of debt, closely interwoven with the rules of court procedure occupies the first place on account of its great usefulness; then follow the question of deposits, particularly important on account of the general insecurity of ownership in those days, the laws of donations and gifts with which the Brahmans are most closely concerned from their class interest, laws of partnership and trade, disputes about boundaries and other topics of the sphere of civil law. The next five topics are connected with criminal law. The particularly detailed sections about the duties of man and wife and the law of inheritance conjointly form the domestic laws. The few verses about gambling and betting represent a short supplement².