History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.395

v4.c62.395

There were certain privileges that the king enjoyed. His rights to treasure trove have already been referred to (H. Dh. vol. II, p. 146). Kauṭ. (IV. 1) gives the following rules. The person giving information about the discovery of a mine, jewels or treasure trove gets one-sixth, but if the informer be a servant of the king he gets 1/12; treasure trove beyond 100000 paṇas went to the king wholly (the finder being entitled to a ⅙th share only up to 100000 paṇas of the whole); a subject who can prove that the treasure trove belonged to his ancestors would get the whole of it; if he takes it without establishing his ancestral ownership he is to be fined 500 paṇas and 1000 paṇas if he appropriated it secretly. The king also took by escheat the property of a person dying without leaving any heir except in the case of brāhmaṇas (vide H. Dh. II, p. 146 where some authorities are cited). This subject will be dealt with at greater length under the next section on 'law and justice'. The king was also entitled to all property that was lost or given up by the true owner. Vide Gaut.²²⁶ X. 36-38, Vas. 16. 19, Manu VIII. 30-33, Yāj. II. 33, 173-174, Śaṅkha-Likhita. Gaut. and Baud. Dh. S. (I. 10. 17) say that the king should preserve for one year articles found after proclaiming the finding by beat of drum, while Manu says that the period is three years. The Mit. on Yāj. II. 33 reconciles these texts by saying that if the true owner comes to the king and establishes his ownership he gets back the entire article without paying anything for safe custody, if the owner comes in the 2nd year he pays 1/12 of the price for custody, if in the third year he pays 1/10 and ⅙ if he comes after three years. The finder gets ¼ out of the share taken by the king. If the owner does not come at all the finder gets ¼ and the king the rest. The king may dispose of the article if none claims it within that period, but if the owner comes after three years and the article has been disposed off, the king should return the equivalent of the portion taken by him. Yāj. II. 174 specifies other scales of charges for the custody of unclaimed animals such as four paṇas for a horse &c. Another special privilege of the king was that he could not be cited as a witness in a judicial proceeding between private parties. Vide Kauṭ. III. 11 (p. 175), Manu VIII. 65, Viṣṇudharmasūtra 8. 2.