Outlines of an History of the Hindu Law of Partition, Inheritance, and Adoption, as Contained in the Original Sanskrit Treatises

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1885. Excerpt: ... LECTURE V. THE EARLY LAW OF PARTITION. IHI--Collective property--Relics of the old village communities in the Indian Law--The joint family and the coparcenary--Division of the subject--Partition formerly unknown--Immovable property--Naturally indivisible property--Brihaspati and Katyayana--The two classes of impartible property--Separate acquisitions in the Dharmasutras--Gains of science--Other separate acquisitions--Separate acquisitions of a son--Partible property--Right to demand a partition--Distribution of the property during the life of the father--Division after the father's death--Minority and absence--Case of pregnant widow--Mode of division--Arbitrary distribution by the father--Equal division--The son born after partition--Partition against the father's wish--Shares of collaterals--Females entitled to a share--The mother--Stepmothers and paternal grandmothers--The daughter--Charges on the estate--Evidence of partition--The kindling of the sacred fire--Circumstantial evidence--Hidden effects--Progress in the Law of Partition. Collective The evolution of individual out of collective property property. llas been a surprisingly slow process all over the world. Even in modern Europe the relics of corporate property are singularly abundant, as has been proved by the Researches of the Comparative School of Jurists.1 The vast Continent of India may be said to exhibit an epitome of all possible forms of ownership, from the corporate property of the village community to the absolutely private property of the individual. In those parts of India where the Relics of Smritis were composed, the common enjoyment by the tfi0li village community of pasture-ground for cattle appears to communi-have been still in vogue,2 but the arable land was already Indianthe h...