Legal Systems Of World

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Legal Systems Of
World
HINDU LAW:- HISTORY AND
ITS DEVELOPMENT
By:-Devanshi Mukesh Patel
Komal Ratan Totani
Kashish Manoj Singh
Group:- 20LL11a

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Introduction
From thousands of years people living in the Indian
subcontinent have been leading their lives by following
the guidelines and concepts given in the Vedas. These
guidelines have evolved into rules followed by the people
and enforced by the rulers and have thus become de
facto law. In this modern times, the same laws have been
retrofitted to suit present conditions and have been
codified in the form of several acts of which the
important ones are – Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu
Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956, Hindu Minority and
Guardianship Act 1956, and Hindu Succession Act 1956.

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Hindu law
Hindu law is a personal law. In addition to India, it is also applied to Hindus in
other countries such as Burma, Malaya, Kenya and Tanzania.
The word “Hindu used to refer to the ethnic group of people or Indians and,
in the thirteenth century, the word “Hindu” was more widely used to
distinguish them from the Islamic kingdoms within India.
Hinduism” was used during the British Rule in the nineteenth century to refer
to the Hindu religious culture group as distinct from Christianity and Islam.
The following people are considered to be Hindu with respect to application
of Hindu Law Hindu
by Religion
Hindu
by Birth
Persons
Persons
who are not Muslim, Christian, Jew, or Parsee by religion.
who are not governed by any other religious law will be governed
by Hindu Law.

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Origin
The origin of Hindu law is believed to be divine. The key ideal before a Hindu
has always been the achievement of the moksha, the attainment of salvation.
Hindu law, over five thousand years has gone through phases. It is regarded
that the origin of Hindu law is based on religious texts like
the Vedas, the Upnishads, the Geeta, or any other Hindu scripture. A view
emerging from these texts leads to the recognition of the law as Dharma. The
term dharma can be loosely translated as “duty”. Many Hindu Jurists believe
that Law is an enforceable part of Dharma. Thus, the Law is Dharma.
The other view regarding the origin of Hindu law is that it is derived from
customs and usages. The belief is that the primary sources of Hindu laws
are Shrutis, Smritis, Upnishads, customs, digests, and commentaries. The Hindu
Laws practised during the colonization were based on Manusmriti. However,
the genesis of Hindu law cannot be determined accurately owing to its
centuries-old origin.

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History
Hindu law claims one of the longest continuous histories of any legal system in
the world. For about 2,500 years it was based on the same primary sources,
Sanskrit texts composed between ca. 500 BCE and 500 CE. These texts
(dharmaśāstras) were considered to be revealed, and were part of the
eternal, unchangeable Veda. From about the seventh until the eighteenth
century the basic texts became the object of numerous commentaries, in
which each author integrated the entire body of often
contradictory dharmaśāstras into coherent systems. In 1772 the British
decided to apply the law of the dharmaśāstras to Hindus in the newly
established Anglo-Indian courts of law. Yet, ignorance of the Sanskrit
language, lack of familiarity with Hindu culture, and the common law
background of British judges led to fundamental developments. In 1955–6 the
Indian Parliament overruled most of traditional Hindu law with four modern
Acts—on marriage, succession, minority and guardianship, and adoptions
and maintenance.

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Whom to be considered as Hindus?
A person can be called as a Hindu, who:
Is a Hindu by religion in any form.
Is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion.
Is born from Hindu parents.Is not a Muslim, Parsi, Christian or Jews and are not
governed under Hindu law.
Lodge in India.
Hindu by Religion:
If any person follows the religion by practising it or by claiming it can be called as
a Hindu.
Conversion and Reconversion to Hinduism:
Under the codified Hindu law, any person converted to Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism or Sikhism can be called a Hindu.
From the case of Perumal vs ponnuswami, we can say that a person can be
called a Hindu by conversion.

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Schools of Hindu law are considered to be the commentaries and the digestives of the
smritis. These schools have widened the scope of Hindu law and explicitly contributed to its
development.
The schools of Hindu law are:- the Mitakshara and the Dayabagha.
The Mitakshara Mitakshara is one of the most important schools of Hindu law. It is a
running commentary of the Smriti written by Yajnvalkya. This school is applicable in the
whole part of India except in West Bengal and Assam. The Mitakshara has a very wide
jurisdiction. However different parts of the country practice law differently because of
the different customary rules followed by them.
Dayabhaga Dayabhaga school predominantly prevailed in Assam and West Bengal.
This is also one of the most important schools of hindu laws. It is considered to be a digest
for the leading smritis. Its primary focus was to deal with partition, inheritance and joint
family. According to Kane, it was incorporated in between 1090-1130 A.D.
Dayabhaga school was formulated with a view to eradicating all the other absurd and
artificial principles of inheritance. The immediate benefit of this new digest is that it
tends to remove all the shortcomings and limitations of the previously established
principles and inclusion of many cognates in the list of heirs, which was restricted by the
Mitakshara school.The difference arose because two different interpretations were
given by the commentators to one word `pinda’.

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Hindu law can primarily be divided into three categories:
1.
the ‘Classical Hindu Law’,
2.
the ‘AngloHindu Law’,
3.
the ‘Modern Hindu Law’.
Classical Hindu law:- includes the diverse legal practices connected with the Vedic
Traditions in some ways and existing from the Vedic times until 1772. This phase
Anglo-Hindu Law:- can be divided into two phases.
1.
The first phase is the period between 1772 and 1864. This phase starts in 1772 when the British
adopted rules for administration of justice in Bengal.
2.
The second phase is the period between 1864 and 1947. After 1864, India was formally part of
the British Empire, and in 1947, India became independent of the British.
Modern Hindu Law-The British adopted (especially during 1864 and 1947) the modern law
or the English legal system and replaced the existing Indian laws, except for laws related
to family or personal matters like marriage, inheritance and succession of property. Family
law or the personal law applicable to Hindus is the Modern Hindu Law

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Conclusion
In the arena of personal laws hindu law play a very vital role
and it govern the persons who comes with in the perview of
hindu. In ancient period Hindu law had only its divine nature
i.e., law of the God, but in now days its nature has totally
changed. Its devine nature has been seized by its
interpretation, enacting laws and also by the judicial
precedents. By the interpretation of the ancient sources of
Hindu law, its scope has become very wide. Modern sources
of Hindu law has a colossal importance, in the evolution of
modern Hindu law.