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JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION DURING MEDIEVAL INDIA

Law and Order during Vijaynagar Empire: The empire had its own system of laws and
courts. The dharmashastras, the Smritis and the works on polity were the main sources of law.
Though there was no regular code of laws as we have at present, literary and epigraphic evidence
refers to the law of treason, the law of limitation, and the law governing the enjoyment of (gifted
lands). inams

Treason against the state, the king, the sanghas, and the samudaya were regarded as heinous
crimes. Persons guilty of treason were immediately excuted. But people thought the resistance
against oppression and unjust taxation would not amount to treason. People interpreted
obedience to unfair laws as treason against the community and prescribed penalties for the same.
Inscriptions at Virudhachalam and Pennadam in Tamilnadu show that they exercised such a
right.

The law of limitation held that mortgages would be valid for twelve years only and that
mortgaged properties would revert the owners afterwards. An inscription of an officer of
Sriranga III says that mortgages should restore property to the owners without demanding
any money for the transfer. The law governing rewards stipulated that lands granted as
rewards for services rendered to the state could not be sold or mortgaged or alienated in
any way. Those who violated this law were liable for punishment like traitors.

As in most monarchies, the king appears to have been the fountain of justice. Krishnadeva Raya
is known to have administered justice in person. Abdur Razzak refers to the pradhani
functioning as the chief justice. The assumption of the title dharmapratipalaka by the prime
minister Saluva Timma indicates that he had judicial functions as well. The provincial
governor seems to have decided disputes in the provinces.

Village assemblies, temple trustees, and caste elders administered justice in the outlying areas of
the empire. Inscriptions refer to these popular courts playing the role of regular courts. They
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confiscated lands, awarded punishments , and exercised all the powers and functions of a
full-fledged court. Disputes regarding social and religious practices were decided by the
religious heads. In the days of Krishnadeva Raya, Venkata Tatayaraya was invested with
powers to punish the followers of Ramanuja who were guilty of lapses in social and
religious matters.

Popular courts did not follow any procedure as such in trying cases. It was the usual practice for
them to resort to arbitration. But the regular courts of the king “went into their merits,
examined the documents, tried witnesses and finally reached decisions”. A dispute
regarding the right of worship in the Tirukkamisvaram Udaiya Nayanar temple at Aragalur
in Salem district was heard with all the attributes of a regular court of trail. Adjudication of
this dispute also shows that cases could be appealed from popular to regular courts.

Trial by ordeal was also resorted to in some cases; this would mean divine help was
invoked in setting disputes. Nicolo Conti refers to three kinds of ordeals: licking with the
tongue a red hot iron, carrying a red hot iron or plate for several paces, and the
commonest of all, putting two fingers in boiling butter. If a person undergoing the trial
came out unscathed, it was decided that justice was on his side; otherwise he was declared
guilty and punished.

Severe punishment was meted out to those found guilty of offences. Death, mutilation,
imprisonment, and fines were among the usual punishments. Traitors were impaled alive;
murderers had their heads cut off in the market- place; a few who were ordered to die were
trampled to death by elephants - “ by its knees, trunks and tusks”. Krishnadeva Raya
pleaded that those sentenced to death should be given the chance to appeal for mercy three
times. A thief had a foot and hand cut off. Certain fines were fixed for certain offences. A
detestable practice in Vijayanagar was the offering of lives of prisoners as human
sacrifice. Even Krishnadeva Raya offered such sacrifices to mark “ the successful
termination of his big irrigation scheme”.

Law and order was maintained in the empire by a competent police organisation. There were
two kinds of police, namely, one maintained by the state, and the other by the people.
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Policemen were held responsible for the detection of crime in their respective areas; those
who failed to detect were fined. Both Abdur Razzak and Nuniz make this point clear.

The city of Vijayanagar is said to have been guarded by 12,000 policemen. The government paid
each of them 30 panams a month. In the provinces, the police duties were performed by the
kavalkaras under the nayakas. The kavalkaras generally belonged to criminal tribes; were
entrusted with policing the empire. Apart from giving them grants of rent-free land, villagers
paid the kavalkaras partly in cash and partly in kind; the Bellary District Gazetteer describes
them as “highly paid officials”. Sometimes the villages sold the right of policing; this was
known as padikaval; the tax collected from the villagers for paying the police was known
as arasu svatantram.

Justice and Police during Marathas

The Maratha judicial system was rudimentary and simple. There were no codified laws or rules
of procedure. In both civil and criminal cases, decisions were based upon customs and rules or
formulae drawn from ancient Smrithi works.

The Judicial officer in the village was the patil. Above him were mamlatdar and the
sarsubahdar. At the top was the Peshwa or his minister who represented the Chhatrapati. In
civil cases, arbitration was first step, for the main object was the amicable settlement of the
dispute. If arbitration failed, the case was transferred for decision to a panchayat, appointed by a
patil in the village and by leading merchant (shete mahajan) in urban areas.

Capital punishment seems to have been unknown in the days of the first three Peshwas. Murder
and treason were punished with fine, confiscation of property, and imprisonment. For adultery,
female offenders were condemned to slavery and penal servitude. Mutilation for offences like
treason, murder and decoity came into vogue in the second half of the 18th c.

In the detection of crimes the village watchmen (jaglas) usually the degraded mahars and mangs
were helped by criminal tribes such as the Ramosis, Bhils and Kolis. The village police was
under the patil, the district police under the mamlatdar. Unless the stolen property could be
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recovered or the offence could be traced to some other village, the police and the criminal classes
had to compensate the sufferer. In big cities the police was placed under the kotwal whose duties
included the regulation of prices and taking of census. The efficiency of the metropolitan police
at Poona in the days of Bajirao II extorted Elphinstone’s admiration.

Justice during Delhi Sultanate: A Summary

Qazi- ul-Quzzat or chief qazi headed the judicial department, though the Sultan was the
supreme or highest court of justice and sat in a court called mazalim. In the absence of
Sultan, an officer called amir-i-dad presided over the court. He enforced the qazi’s decision also.
The muftis presided over disputes and cases sent to them by qazis. Muslims came under their
civil law or sharia whereas Hindus were dispensed justice by their local panchayats.

Ibn Batuta informs us that Muhammad bin Tughlaq sat in the court on every Monday and
Thursday. Barani refers to a special court during this time called diwan-i-siyasat specially to deal
with the Muslim opponents, but this seems to be one of Barani’s many exaggerations.