Studies in Hindu Law and Dharmaśāstra

Ludo Rocher is W. Norman Brown Professor Emeritus of South Asia Regional Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.Donald R. Davis, Jr. is associate professor of South Asian religions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• Foreword by Richard W. Lariviere; Preface; Abbreviations; Note on the Edition; Introduction; Part One. The Nature of Hindu Law; Hindu Conceptions of Law; The Historical Foundations of Ancient Indian Law; Hindu Law and Religion: Where to Draw the Line; Law Books in an Oral Culture: The Indian Dharmaśāstras; Schools of Hindu Law; Changing Patterns of Diversification in Hindu Law; Part Two. General Topics of Hindu Law; Ancient Hindu Criminal Law; Hindu Law of Succession: From the ‘Śāstras’ to Modern Law; Caste and Occupation in Classical India: The Normative Texts; Megasthenes on Indian Lawbooks; The “Ambassador” in Ancient India; The Status of Minors according to Classical Hindu Law; ‘Quandoque bonus dormitat’ Jīmūtavāhanas;  Notes on Mixed Castes in Classical India; Inheritance and ‘Śrāddha’: The Principle of “Spiritual Benefit”; The Theory of Matrimonial Causes According to the ‘Dharmaśāstra’; Jīmūtavāhana’s ‘Dāyabhāga’ and the Maxim ‘Factum Valet’; The Divinity of Royal Power in Ancient India according to Dharmaśāstra; A Few Considerations on Monocracy in Ancient India; Part Three. Hindu Legal Procedure; The Theory of Proof in Ancient Hindu Law; The Problem of the Mixed Reply in Ancient Hindu Law; The Reply in Hindu Legal Procedure: Mitra Miśra’s Criticism of the ‘Vyavahāra-Cintāmaṇi’; “Lawyers” in Classical Hindu Law; Anumāna in the ‘Bṛhaspatismṛti’; Part Four. Technical Studies of Hindu Law; Possession Held for Three Generations by Persons Related to the Owner; The ‘Vīramitrodaya’ on the Right of Private Defence; The Technical Term ‘Anubandha’ in Sanskrit Legal Literature; The ‘Kāmasūtra’: Vātsyāyana’s Attitude toward ‘Dharma’ and Dharmaśāstra; In Defense of Jīmūtavāhana; ‘Dāsadāsī’; The Definition of ‘Vākparuṣya’; ‘Janmasvatvavāda’ and ‘Uparamasvatvavāda’: The First Chapters on Inheritance in the ‘Mitākṣarā’ and ‘Dāyabhāga’; Karma and Rebirth in the Dharmaśāstra; Notes on the Technical Term ‘Sāhasa’ “Fine, Pecuniary Penalty”; ‘Avyāvahārika’ Debts and Kauṭilya 3.1.1–11; The ‘Sūtras’ and ‘Śāstras’ on the Eight Types of Marriage; ‘Caritraṃ Pustakaraṇe’; The Terms ‘Niyukta’, ‘Aniyukta’, and ‘Niyoga’ in Sanskrit Legal Literature; The ‘Aurasa’ Son; The Introduction of the ‘Gautamadharmasūtra’; Part Five. Anglo-Hindu and Customary Law; Indian Response to Anglo-Hindu Law; Can a Murderer Inherit his Victim’s Estate? British Responses to Troublesome Questions in Hindu Law; Reinterpreting Texts: When Revealed Sanskrit Texts Become Modern Law Books; Father Bouchet’s Letter on the Administration of Hindu Law; Jacob Mossel’s Treatise on the Customary Laws of the Veḷḷāla Cheṭṭiyārs; Bibliography; Index

‘Donald Davis, Jr. and the Anthem Press are to be applauded for undertaking this massive project. Indologists who already know Rocher’s work will deeply appreciate that a ready means of accessing it now exists. For those unfamiliar with Rocher’s work, this volume provides a significant counterbalance for the general study of the Indian tradition, standing as a corrective for a field that has long been dominated by a one-sided focus on religion.’ —Herman Tull, ‘Journal of Hindu Studies’