iC 



132 MALAY LAND TENURE. 



" In case a husband, on account of the barrenness of his 

 " first wife, marries another who bears him a son, this latter 

 " is the sole heir of his father and he provides, after the death 

 " of the latter, for the support of the first widow and his own 

 (t mother/'' 



" The law of the Hindus sanctions similarly the right of 

 i( the eldest son to the greater part of the patrimony of the 



father and mother. ' The eldest of the family/ says the 

 iC law, l if he be virtuous, may take possession of the whole of 

 " his patrimony of the father and mother, and the other 

 (< brothers must live under his guardianship as they live under 

 i( that of their father/ " 



" Generally, in India, distribution used to be made in the 

 " following way : the eldest had a double share, the second a 

 11 share and a half, and the other brothers a single share res- 

 " pectively. The brothers gave to their sisters by the same 

 " mother a quarter of their shares to help them to establish 

 " themselves/' 



Chapter IX. 



NATIVE TENURE UNDER EUROPEAN RULE. 

 INDIA, BURMA, JAVA, CEYLON. 



INDIA 



A wholesale modification of the systems of land tenure of 

 ancient and highly civilised communities in British India by 

 the introduction of English law would obviously have been 

 unwise. It has always been the object of British Administra- 

 tors in that country to recognise native laws and customs 

 relating to the tenure of land, and, in elaborating Revenue 

 systems, to secure that the regulations laid down shall give 

 due effect to every class of interest in land known to native 

 laws. It has been gradually ascertained in the various pro- 



