MADRAS IN 1714. 



13 



The 1st maxim is : " Quand il y a plusieurs enfans dans 

 une maison, les enfans males sont les seuls heritiers ; les filles 

 ne peuvent rien pretendre a l'heritage." Upon this Father 

 Bouchet observes that, when asked why this injustice was 

 done to girls, natives would say that " the nation had agreed 

 to this," and there was no injustice in the custom, because 

 fathers and mothers and brothers were bound to get their 

 girls married and transferred to families of equal position 

 and dignity with their own. And if it were replied to this 

 that the parents got the money given by the husband as the 

 price of his bride, the rejoinder would be that the whole of 

 it went to defray the expenses of the marriage and buy 

 jewels for the bride. As to this, the remark occurs at once 

 that of course no native ever suggested that the nation had 

 agreed to do anything, and that the author of the epistle 

 must have recorded not the very good words, but what he 

 remembered of the substance of the statements, of his infor- 

 mants. The real reason why ordinarily the daughter of an 

 Indian house takes no share of the joint family estate is that 

 on marriage she is given away to and becomes part of another 

 ' house,' and thenceforth looks to that house for protection 

 and adequate maintenance ; whilst the daughters of other 

 houses are given to and become part of the house in which 

 she was born, and take her place. The system is intelligible 

 and reasonable, and need not have disturbed Father Bouchet's 

 mind. 



The general rule was subject to the following exception : — 

 " Cependant il y a de petits Eoyaumes dans les Indes, ou les 

 Princesses ont de grands privileges, qui les mettent au 

 dessus de leurs freres, parce que le droit de succeder ne 

 vient que du coste de la mere. Si le Eoi, par exemple, a une 

 fille d'une femme qui soit de son sang, quoi qu'il ait un enfant 

 male d'une autre femme de meme Caste, ce sera la Princesse 

 qui succedera et a qui appartiendra l'heritage. Elle peut se 



