The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c9.s4.t2.16

c9.s4.t2.16

Nothing illustrates better the "legal fiction" of corporations as "immortal persons" than these latter-day ideas in regard to *gaṇa*, *śreṇî*, and *varga*. It is clear, therefore, that Hindu *samûhas*, whether of capitalists, working men or peasants, and trade unions or commercial fraternities had the distinctive characteristics of a homogeneous "community" with common rights and common obligations, — the "real group-persons" of Gierke and Figgis.⁹