Studies In Ancient Tamil Law And Society

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Padma Bhushan R. NAGASWAMY (b. 1930) holds an MA in Sanskrit and a PHD in Indian Art History with special training in archaeology under the Archeological Survey of India, New Delhi. He has served as Curator for Art and Archaeology at the Government Museum, Madras (1959- 63); Assistant Special Officer for Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu (1963-65); Director of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu (1966-88); Vice-Chancellor of Kanchipuram University, and Advisor to the Government of India to the UNESCO project in documenting cultural property.

Arguably the seniormost scholar in the field, Dr. Nagaswamy has popularized archeology among school children, college students, teachers, and the general public. He has organized several exhibitions at district, national, and international levels bringing repute to the state archaeology department. He has participated in every feature of the Tamil Nadu state government in the field of art and culture. He is widely travelled in India and abroad, lecturing in leading universities and museums of the world. He has authored over fifty books known for their authenticity and critical acclaim. His articles have been published in all the major languages of the world by UNESCO.

His signal contribution to Indian art-known the world over-is rendering expert evidence in the 'Nataraja case' in the London High Court. In his judgment, the Judge of the London High Court praised Dr. Nagaswamy's unequalled expertise in the field of Indian art and culture. He also furnished documentary data for the return of the Nataraja from the National Art Gallery of Australia. His other significant contributions include the sound and light programme in the Thirumalai Nayak Mahal and the under-water exploration off the coast of Poompuhar. Further, his contribution to music and dance is noteworthy. He was instrumental in organizing the now world-famous dance festival at Chidambaram and himself staged over twelve dance dramas mainly on historical themes in different countries, including a dance-drama at the British Museum, London.

Dr. R. Nagaswamy has done a signal service by publishing information about inscriptions and palm-leaf records which was either not available before or was available in a less satisfactory or obscure form. To show what this work means I ought to summarise what is known on the subject already.

The actual judicial process in Ancient and Mediaeval India has remained something of a mystery, mainly due to the lack of reported cases, or to the paucity of records. Time and insects have long since done away with the detailed records which the village accountants used to cherish. Gradually inscriptions on the one hand, and the numerous mahazars surviving in Maharashtra on the other, have begun to show us something of the machinery.

In an instance of 1188 parties claim satisfaction against offenders. A king reforms a boundary, in 1220. A sale by a manager of a joint family is disputed (1221).

When my anthology Studies in Ancient Tamil Law and Society came out in 1978, at the suggestion of Justice Hon. SENGOTTUVELAN of the Madras High Court, I sent a copy to Justice Hon. V. R. KRISHNA IYER of the Supreme Court of India for his perusal. He was the Chief of Judicial Reform to Government of India. In 1983, I got a letter from him, which I have included in some of my early publications. Here I am reproducing his opinion, written nearly forty years ago, on the occasion of the reprint of my anthology.

“Dr. R. Nagaswamy's book 'Studies in Ancient Tamil Law and Society' is in some aspects inspirational at a time when swadeshi in law is out of vogue and national roots in jurisprudence berated as dark. When superstitious me- diaevalists mislead the country about its judicial past, we have to search for truth in stone and honesty in metal, and not in man and his lips. Dr. R. Nagaswamy unearthing the law in practice has patriotic relevance. I hastily browsed through his book 'Studies in Ancient Tamil Law and So- ciety' and to my remarkable surprise I discovered that a thousand years ago we had a refreshingly modern system without its sophisticated vices, where law reigned, high people participated in justice, king and community re- spected the verdicts, and jurisprudence or dharma-shastra had dynamic morality and normative popularity. Today, in spite of political claptraps and electioneering catchwords, the rural people are not trusted by the political, judicial, and bureaucratic elite with the basic ability to administer village justice. The suspects see others in their own im- age. Dr. RN's discovery of law in action in Ancient Tamil Society tersely summed up by Dr. Derret in his Foreword challenges the assumption against Panchayat justice and reliance on our justice and reliance on our juristic roots for developing a truly national jurisprudence. The book, to my mind, summons to make law in India Indian. I congratu- late RN on his book which marks the beginning."

**Contents and Sample Pages**