A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without the roots

Savigny, the founding father of historical school of jurisprudence has very aptly said that ‘Law is like a language, it has national character and it develops with the life of people.  Therefore, the proper appreciation of present law necessitates the evaluation of law since ancient times at least to an extent. Furthermore, as propounded by M.J. Sethana, the synthetic school of jurisprudence emphasizes the method of synthesis to achieve an integrated approach. It advocates the use of methods of analytical, sociological, historical and philosophical school and their amalgamation to find the connecting links and compromises or reconciliations. It believes that through this process of amalgam and synthesis of conflicting ideas, we get the correct synthetic view and proper solutions.

The ancient Hindu legal system draws from Vedas, Smritis, customs and good conscious. Smritis are also followed by Epics and Puranas. While the Vedas are the ‘basic structure’ the other sources of law are amenable as per the need of the time. The Vedas consist of Samhita, Brahmana, Arnyakas and Upnishads. The Vedic manuals of operation were the Sutra, Grihya and Dharama. This Vedic lore is followed by the Epics and Puranas which lay down the principles of law in the post Vedic time, for which the practical manuals are the Smritis by ‘Manu’, ‘Yajnyavlakya’ etc. It was in the 5^th  Century C.E. that one finds the emergence of ‘Nibahdha’ text that explains the various topics and subtopics of law. This whole mass of literature is ‘Dharamshastra’.

This certificate course is a tribute to the illustrious work of Dr. P.V.Kane author of ‘History of Dharmashatra’, which has rightfully earned him the recognition in the form of ‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest civilian award of the country. It is a multi-volume publication running in 6,500 pages. It is an encyclopedia of ancient social laws and customs and includes the development of religious and civil law in ancient and medieval India by looking into several smritis and ancient texts.

The course is not exhaustive in the sense that it does not claim to cover all dimensions of law but definitely it covers some significant aspects of law which are very much relevant in modern times. The main reference of this course is the contents of ‘History of Dharmashastra’ with respect to each below mentioned topic. The goal of this course is to analyse changes in law over times so as to ascertain as far as possible its relevance and utility in modern era