Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.418

c7.418

The last named work reminds us of the category of digests originated under English influence, specially works like the Vivādārṇavasetu⁶ written at the order of Warren Hastings and published in Bombay,—an elaborate treatise on law and judicial proceedings, which was written in 1773-75 by a commission 11 Pandits from every part of Bengal and was translated into English by Halhed in 1775. The sources, mentioned in the introduction, all belong to the Bengal school with a few exceptions. Similar works are the Vivādasārārṇava composed for Sir W. Jones in 1789 and the two works Dharmaśāstrasamgraha and Siddhāntapīyuṣa written towards the end of the century at the order of Colebrooke. Most remarkable however is the Vivādabhaṅgārṇava¹ written by Jagannātha of Calcutta at the instance of Sir W. Jones, which (with the exception of the part dealing with criminal law) was translated into English by Colebrooke at the order of Sir John Shore. This translation, completed in 1796 by Colebrooke in 3 volumes, along the translation of M. by Jones, was the starting point of the study of Indian law in Europe. The Indian original too possesses lasting value as, so far as it goes, it is the most elaborate exposition of Indian jurisprudence based on a profound study of the literature on this subject.