ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the history of Hindu Law. The relationship of the ruler or king in Hindu Law is key to understanding Classical Hindu Law as the Rajya Dharma or king’s duty is vital to it. Classical Hindu Law also identified three sources of law namely shruti, smriti and achara. As shruti presupposes authority of the Vedas, Vedic texts such as Dharmasutras become relevant. Dharmasutras and smritis like Manusmriti, Katyayanasmriti, Brhaspatismriti, Naradasmriti, Yajnavalkyasmriti and Vishnusmriti were open to interpretation. While initially the Dharmashastras were interpreted by the pandits during the British Raj, these texts lost legal significance as the British realized that the idealized legal system of these texts was not connected with customary legal practices. So codification of various laws took place and Hindu Law was reconstructed in a modern form. To modify the personal law, B. R. Ambedkar had suggested a Hindu Code Bill which was met with immense opposition. Instead, four separate acts sprang from up to deal with personal law namely, Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu Succession Act 1956, the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956 and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956. Despite different family and personal laws for various religions, the courts where matters are adjudicated are common and the judges too represent no specific religion.
