Hindu Law - Classical Hindu Law

Classical Hindu Law

There is little evidence for the practice of law in India prior to about the eighteenth century. In some regions, such as Maharashtra, a kind of hybrid Hindu and Islamic legal system was fashioned under the Maratha kings. In other places, such as South India, temples were intimately involved in the administration of law.

Law during the classical period was highly based upon the teachings of the dharmaśāstra and the distinguished sources of dharma as dictated by those learned in the Vedas. Although theologically law was primarily derived from Vedic knowledge, in actual practice, the community norms of particular social groups determined the actually rulings. Law was therefore highly decentralized and quite particular in nature towards specific groups.

What is almost completely lacking for classical and medieval India are the records of courts. In lieu of such records, other kinds of evidence for legal practice must be used to piece together an outline of Classical Hindu Law in practice. Such evidence includes prominently the numerous inscriptions from this period that record a variety of legal transactions, gifts, contracts, decrees, etc. associated with political rulers, temples, corporate groups and others. Many aspects of law were likely under the jurisdiction of castes or other corporate groups such as merchant guilds, military groups, traders, and religious orders.

Beginning around the eighth century, Hindu legal traditions began to be imported into certain parts of Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Java, Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, and Burma) as part of a larger cultural influence mediated by trade and diplomatic relations. In each of these regions, Hindu law fused with local norms and practices, giving rise to legal texts (Āgamas such as the Kuṭāra-Mānawa in Java, and the Buddhist-influenced Dhammasattas/Dhammathats of Burma and Thailand) as well as legal records embodied (as in India) in stone and copper-plate inscriptions.