A Code of Gentoo Laws; or, Ordinations of the Pundits
From a Persian Translation, Made from the Original, Written in the Shanscrit Language

Published in 1776, this translation of the Hindu legal code served to make it understandable to British authorities in India.

Nathaniel Brassey Halhed (Author)

9781108056373, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 March 2013

478 pages
29.7 x 21 x 2.4 cm, 1.14 kg

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the English philologist Nathaniel Brassey Halhed (1751–1830) was employed in India by the East India Company. There he was asked to translate into English the Hindu legal code, so that the British authorities could better understand native laws. The result was this accomplished work, first published in 1776, which served to correct Western misinterpretations of Hindu law, and to show that it was fully adequate for application in Bengal, and also the most appropriate system, as opposed to Western-style laws, in the region's cultural and religious milieu. In preparing it, Halhed sought advice from experienced native lawyers, who provided verifications of both the Persian version and its Sanskrit original. Accompanied by the translator's preface and a glossary, this extensive code remains of relevance to scholars of Indian law and history.

Letter from Warren Hastings
Letter to the Chairman of the Court of Directors
Translator's preface
Preface
1. Of lending and borrowing
2. Of the division of inheritable property
3. Of justice
4. Of trust or deposit
5. Of selling a stranger's property
6. Of shares
7. Of gift
8. Of servitude
9. Of wages
10. Of rent and hire
11. Of purchase and sale
12. Of boundaries and limits
13. Of shares in the cultivation of lands
14. Of cities and towns, and of the fines for damaging a crop
15. Of scandalous and bitter expressions
16. Of assault
17. Of theft
18. Of violence
19. Of adultery
20. Of what concerns women
21. Of sundry articles.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]