Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c9.111

c9.111

Even in the modern period the blood-money as *mund-kati* (*mundakati* "severing of the head"), consisting of pieces of land or villages, was in vogue in Rajputana. Sir A. Lyall speaks of a case of robbery in very recent times of a half wild frontier tribe in Rajputana, which ended in this way that the tribe consented to pay "the usual blood-money" for a Brahman shot down in the fight. In another part of Rajputana regular meetings are held in which prices of the murdered men, children, old men, young or old women, cows etc. are fixed according to certain principles and the compensations to be paid are regulated accordingly¹. Also in Central India the price of blood was known² yet the relations had to give their consent to such a composition³. In Kolhapur in the Mahratta period the murderer was occasionally compelled to indemnify the family of the murdered person; the land given as composition was called Khunkat⁴.