- "Hindu law, as a historical term, refers to the code of laws applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs in British India."
The study of legal principles derived from Hindu scriptures and traditions.
Dharma: The cosmic order of Hinduism.
Vedas: The primary Hindu scriptures.
Upanishads: Philosophical texts exploring the nature of reality.
Smritis: Legal codes and text that deal with social norms and customs.
Manu Smriti: A text on codes of conduct and law.
Hindu Marriage Act: The legal framework for Hindu marriage in India.
Hindu Succession Act: The legal framework for inheritance and succession in Hinduism.
Joint Hindu Family System: A traditional Hindu joint family system and its legal implications.
Rights of women under Hindu law: Feministic interpretations of Hindu law.
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act: Rules and regulation for adoption and maintenance in Hinduism.
Applicability of Hindu law in India: The scope and limitations of Hindu law and its relationship with modern India.
Religious conversion in Hindu law: How conversion affects legal status.
Hindu temple law: Legal framework related to the management of Hindu temples.
Personal laws of Hinduism compared to secular laws: Comparison of Hindu personal law to secular law.
Hindu law and modern Indian society: The impact of Hindu law on contemporary Indian life.
Constitutional status of the Hindu personal law in India: The status of Hindu personal law under the Indian constitution.
the Hindu Personal Law: Governs aspects of marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.
Mitakshara: Mitakshara is a school of thought in Hindu law that deals with inheritance and joint family property rights.
Dayabhaga: Dayabhaga is a Hindu law system primarily practiced in the region of Bengal, focusing on inheritance rights and property laws.
- "Hindu law, in modern scholarship, also refers to the legal theory, jurisprudence, and philosophical reflections on the nature of law discovered in ancient and medieval era Indian texts."
- "It is one of the oldest known jurisprudence theories in the world and began three thousand years ago whose original sources were the Hindu texts."
- "The ancient term in Indian texts is Dharma, which means more than a code of law."
- "The term 'Hindu law' is a colonial construction, and emerged after the colonial rule arrived in the Indian Subcontinent."
- "When in 1772 it was decided by British colonial officials, that European common law system would not be implemented in India, Hindus of India would be ruled under their 'Hindu law' and Muslims of India would be ruled under 'Muslim law' (Sharia)."
- "The substance of Hindu law implemented by the British was derived from a Dharmaśāstra named Manusmriti, one of the many treatises (śāstra) on Dharma."
- "The British, however, mistook the Dharmaśāstra as codes of law and failed to recognize that these Sanskrit texts were not used as statements of positive law until the British colonial officials chose to do so."
- "Scholars have also questioned the authenticity and the corruption in the Manusmriti manuscript used to derive the colonial-era Hindu law."
- "In the colonial history context, the construction and implementation of Hindu law and Islamic law was an attempt at 'legal pluralism' during the British colonial era."
- "Legal scholars state that this divided the Indian society."
- "Indian law and politics have ever since vacillated between 'legal pluralism – the notion that religion is the basic unit of society and different religions must have different legal rights and obligations' and 'legal universalism – the notion that individuals are the basic unit of society and all citizens must have uniform legal rights and obligations.'"
- "Hindu law, as a historical term, refers to the code of laws applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs in British India."
- "Muslims of India would be ruled under 'Muslim law' (Sharia)."
- "The ancient term in Indian texts is Dharma, which means more than a code of law."
- "The British, however, mistook the Dharmaśāstra as codes of law."
- "Hindu tradition, in its surviving ancient texts, does not universally express the law in the canonical sense of ius or of lex."
- "The construction and implementation of Hindu law and Islamic law was an attempt at 'legal pluralism' during the British colonial era."
- "It is one of the oldest known jurisprudence theories in the world and began three thousand years ago."
- "Legal scholars state that this divided the Indian society."