Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.843

c7.843

(1) The female property (*stridhana*) i. e. the peculium of the female members of the family and their special privilege of inheriting the same ³ is mentioned already in the older Dharmasūtras, sometimes in substance and sometimes in name, particularly in Gaut. 28, 24 ff. ; yet it is only Vi. 17, 18 who gives an enumeration of the different items of the Stridhana. He mentions as such the presents which a woman has received from her parents, sons, brothers or relations, and what has been presented to her at the time of and after her marriage, as well as the Śulka and the compensation (ādhivedanika) received from her husband in case he subordinates her to another wife. By Śulka is to be understood the nuptial fee given by the husband to the wife before or at the time of the marriage (§ 16)—a custom also found among other peoples which was developed out of the primitive usage of the purchase of bride¹.