briefly given. The King is advised to recruit his forces from the upper parts of Hindostan, where the best men are still found. He is in person to set an example of valour to his troops, and is recommended to encourage them, when drawn up for battle, with short and animated speeches.

Prize property belongs to the individual who took it; but when not captured separately, it is to be distributed among the troops.'

The laws of war are honourable and humane. Poisoned and mischievously barbed arrows, and fire arrows, are all prohibited. There are many situations in which it is by no means allowable to destroy the enemy. Among those who must always be spared are unarmed or wounded men, and those who have broken their weapon, and one who asks his life, and one who says, "I am thy captive." Other prohibitions are still more generous: a man on horseback or in a chariot is not to kill one on foot; nor is it allowed to kill one who sits down fatigued, or who sleeps, or who flees, or who is fighting with another man."

The settlement of a conquered country is conducted on equally liberal principles. Immediate security is to be assured to all by proclamation. The religion and laws of the country are to be maintained and respected; and as soon as time has been allowed for ascertaining that the conquered people are to be trusted, a prince of the old royal

Chap. VII. 96, 97.

8 Chap. VII. 90-93.

CHAP.

II.

BOOK family is to be placed on the throne, and to hold his kingdom as a dependence on the conqueror."

I.

It is remarkable that, although the pay of the King's household servants is settled with some minuteness', not a syllable is said regarding that of the army, or the source from which its support is derived. The practice of modern Hindú nations would lead us to suppose that it was maintained by assignments of land to the chiefs; but, if that practice had existed at the time of the Code, it is impossible that so important a body as those chiefs would have formed should not have been alluded to in discussing the internal administration; even if no rules were suggested for regulating their attendance and for securing some portion of the King's authority over the lands thus alienated. It is possible that the army may have been paid by separate assignments of land to each individual soldier, in the same manner as the local troops of the small states in the south of India (which have been little visited by the Mahometans) are still; and this opinion derives some support from the payment of the civil officers having been provided for by such assignments.*

From one passage it would appear that the monarchy descended, undivided, to one son, probably (according to Hindú rule) to him whom his father regarded as most worthy.

Chap. VII. 201-203.

* See Chap. VII. 119., already referred to.

Chap. VII. 126.

;

CHAP.
III.

rules.

JUSTICE is to be administered by the King in person, assisted by Bramins and other counsellors " or that function may be deputed to one Bramin, General aided by three assessors of the same class. There is no exception made for the conduct of criminal. trials; but it may be gathered from the general tone of the laws, that the King is expected to take. a more active share in this department than in the investigation of civil causes.

From the silence of the Code regarding local administration, it may perhaps be inferred that the King's representative fills his place in the courts of justice, at towns remote from the royal residence.

a Chap. VIII. 1, 2.

b

Chap. VIII. 9-11. The early practice of the Hindús recorded in other books leaves this question in some uncertainty; for, in those books, it appears that there were local judges appointed by the King in different parts of the country; and also a provision for arbitrations, to be authorised by the judges, in three gradations — first, of kinsmen; secondly, of men of the same trade; and thirdly, of townsmen an appeal from the first lying to the second, and from the second to the third. Appeals lay from all three to the local court, from that to the chief court at the capital, and from that to the king in his own court, composed of a certain number of judges, to whom were joined his ministers, and his domestic chaplain (who was to direct his conscience); but,

BOOK

I.

The King is entitled to five per cent. on all debts admitted by the defendant on trial, and to ten per cent. on all denied and proved. This fee probably went direct to the judges, who would thus be remunerated without infringing the law against Bramins serving for hire.

A King or judge, in trying causes, is carefully to observe the countenances, gestures, and mode of speech of the parties and witnesses,

:

He is to attend to local usages of districts, the peculiar laws of classes and rules of families, and the customs of traders: when not inconsistent with the above, he is to observe the principles established by former judges.

Neither he nor his officers are to encourage litigation, though they must show no slackness in taking up any suit regularly instituted...

A King is reckoned among the worst of criminals who receives his revenue from his subjects without affording them due protection in return.f

The King is enjoined to bear with rough language from irritated litigants, as well as from old or sick people, who come before him."

He is also cautioned against deciding causes on his own judgment, without consulting persons

though these might advise, the decision rested with the King. The precise date when this system was in perfection is not stated. Colebrooke on the Hindú Courts of Judicature, Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. ii. p. 166.

d Chap. VIII. 139.

f Chap. VIII, 307.

e

Chap. VIII. 41—46.

8 Chap. VIII. 312.

learned in the law"; and is positively forbidden to CHAP. disturb any transaction that has once been settled conformably to law. In trials he is to adhere to established practice.*

1. Criminal Law.

law.

The criminal law is very rude, and this portion Criminal of the Code, together with the religious penances, leave a more unfavourable impression of the early Hindús than any other part of the Institutes.

It is not, however, sanguinary, unless when influenced by superstition or by the prejudice of cast; and if punishments are in some cases too severe, in others they are far too lenient. Mutilation (chiefly of the hand) is among the punishments, as in all Asiatic codes. Burning alive is one of the inflictions on offenders against the sacerdotal order; but it is an honourable distinction from most ancient codes that torture is never employed either against witnesses or criminals. But the laxness, confusion, and barbarism which pervade this branch of the law seem to prove that it was drawn from the practice of very early times; and the adoption of it at the time of the compilation of these Institutes shows an unimproved condition even then, though it is not unlikely that parts of it were early superseded by an arbitrary system more conformable to reason, as is the case in Hindú countries in modern times; and by no h Chap. VIII. 390. i Chap. IX. 233. k Chap. VIII. 45.