4 



HINDU LAW IN 



gagnerez rien, la coutuine Pemportera toujours sur les 

 meilleures raisons," 



Here we have an unequivocal assertion that in 1714, 

 during the long and uneventful reign of one of the last of the 

 Ndyakkans of Madura, the only law known to the people was 

 custom (acdra) ; and family differences were settled, even 

 between princes, without reference to the Vedas, to " Vicna- 

 churam " and the ancient poets, but in accordance with invio- 

 lable usages handed down from father to son. 



The word ' Vicnachuram ' is puzzling. I thought, when 

 I first saw it, it certainly must be a clerical error for Vijnanes- 

 variya, which is synonymous with the Mitaxara of Vijna- 

 nesvara, and is by many supposed to be the " paramount 

 authority " on matters of succession and inheritance over the 

 greater part of India- Subsequently I was inclined to connect 

 the word with Vighneia (Granesa), the god appropriate to the 

 Sudras ; but I have not been able to discover the existence of 

 any such work. If the very extensive compilation styled 

 the Vijmneivanya is the work referred to, the writer's words 

 need not be taken to imply that its chapter on ddyavibhdga, 

 the only chapter used by the Anglo-Indian lawyer, was 

 familiar (or even known) to the people at large ; but, on 

 the contrary, when compared with following passages, must 

 necessarily be taken to imply that such chapter never was 

 used, nor was any book, as an authority in determining 

 causes, even between disputants of the blood royal. 



One of the ' inconvenient ' customs that perplexed Father 

 Bouchet was that of permitting marriages between the chil- 

 dren of a brother and sister, whilst the children of two brothers 

 or of two sisters were looked upon as uterine brothers and 

 sisters. It appears not to have occurred to him in connection 

 with this matter, though (as we shall see hereafter) he was 

 well aware of the fact, that in the primitive stage of society 

 reached by the Indians, children are taught to regard their 



