The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c9.s1.9

c9.s1.9

Secondly, in regard to the legal status of woman, both Jîmûta-vâhana and Vijnâneśvara declare *strîdhana*² or “woman’s special property” incapable of alienation, on the basis of older authorities. In Hindu India the husband³ has absolutely no right to whatever a woman may have “acquired by inheritance, purchase, partition, seizure or finding”, — the five origins of property in Gautama’s jurisprudence.⁴ Besides, when the husband dies, sonless Hindu widows⁵ have for ages been entitled to enjoy the husband’s property for life. But the right does not extend to alienation except under specified conditions.