DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49827#0207
LECTURE IX.
OBSTRUCTED INHERITANCE.
The Smritis — Females excluded — Females as heirs — Half-blood — Cognates •—
Reunion—Modern Law—Widow: 1. She must be a Dharmapatnf.
2. Chastity. 3. Restrictions on her power of disposal. 4. Other limitations.
5. Divided estates — Other heirs—Several widows—Daughter-in-law—
Daughter—Special rules—Growth of these rules— Daughter’s son — The
son of the daughter’s son — Daughter’s daughter — Parents — Priority of
the mother — Stepmother — Brothers — Grandmother. — Half-blood —
Nephews — Sisters and nieces — Sons of the same mother — Grand-nephews
— Remote kindred — Mitakshara system — Bandhus — More than nine
Bandhus — Smritichandrika— Order of precedence among the Bandhus —
Bengal system—Exclusion of females in the Bengal School, and in the
Smritichandrika and Viramitrodaya — Females admitted to succession —
Mayukha — Mitakshara— An objection refuted — Strangers —Succession
to an hermit, etc.— Reunion — Extent and importance of reunion.
The
Smritis.
Females
excluded,
Obstructed inheritance has been a subject for contention
long before the times of the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga.
Each of the standard Smritis lias a list of its own of the
heirs to one leaving no male issue down to the grandson or
great-grandson, and the variety of doctrines embodied in
these numerous lists is almost endless. The principal
points of difference, however, appear to be the following:—
1. Nothing can be more characteristic than the Intro-
duction of Females into the order of heirs in some Smritis,
and their total or partial omission in others. The degraded
position of women in ancient India precludes entirely the
idea of their having been regarded as heirs of the family-
property in early times, and several early writers have actu-
ally quoted a text from the Veda, in which the general unfit-
ness of women for heritage seems to be pronounced.1 This
1 This text is taken from the ritual of the Soma offerings, and declares
in reality that women are not entitled to a portion of these offerings.
See West & Buhler, 126 note ; Buhler, Baudhayana II. 2. 3, 46 note.
In Baudhayana’s Dharmasutra and in Yaska’s Nirukta (III. 4), this
text is referred to inheritance. The first clause of the text, as quoted by
Baudhayana, is clearly an interpolation.
OBSTRUCTED INHERITANCE.
The Smritis — Females excluded — Females as heirs — Half-blood — Cognates •—
Reunion—Modern Law—Widow: 1. She must be a Dharmapatnf.
2. Chastity. 3. Restrictions on her power of disposal. 4. Other limitations.
5. Divided estates — Other heirs—Several widows—Daughter-in-law—
Daughter—Special rules—Growth of these rules— Daughter’s son — The
son of the daughter’s son — Daughter’s daughter — Parents — Priority of
the mother — Stepmother — Brothers — Grandmother. — Half-blood —
Nephews — Sisters and nieces — Sons of the same mother — Grand-nephews
— Remote kindred — Mitakshara system — Bandhus — More than nine
Bandhus — Smritichandrika— Order of precedence among the Bandhus —
Bengal system—Exclusion of females in the Bengal School, and in the
Smritichandrika and Viramitrodaya — Females admitted to succession —
Mayukha — Mitakshara— An objection refuted — Strangers —Succession
to an hermit, etc.— Reunion — Extent and importance of reunion.
The
Smritis.
Females
excluded,
Obstructed inheritance has been a subject for contention
long before the times of the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga.
Each of the standard Smritis lias a list of its own of the
heirs to one leaving no male issue down to the grandson or
great-grandson, and the variety of doctrines embodied in
these numerous lists is almost endless. The principal
points of difference, however, appear to be the following:—
1. Nothing can be more characteristic than the Intro-
duction of Females into the order of heirs in some Smritis,
and their total or partial omission in others. The degraded
position of women in ancient India precludes entirely the
idea of their having been regarded as heirs of the family-
property in early times, and several early writers have actu-
ally quoted a text from the Veda, in which the general unfit-
ness of women for heritage seems to be pronounced.1 This
1 This text is taken from the ritual of the Soma offerings, and declares
in reality that women are not entitled to a portion of these offerings.
See West & Buhler, 126 note ; Buhler, Baudhayana II. 2. 3, 46 note.
In Baudhayana’s Dharmasutra and in Yaska’s Nirukta (III. 4), this
text is referred to inheritance. The first clause of the text, as quoted by
Baudhayana, is clearly an interpolation.