Social and state-legal development of the Ancient India

In conditions of the modern transformation process in organization of in regional and world economic and social relations it is important to comprehend the principal regularities of the state and law development in the countries of the world. This is contributed by the regional researches into the state and law development, in particular, in the territories of the Ancient India, defining its characteristic features, updating the new approaches to the research of the problem with account for the contemporary scientific studies. The relevance of the topic is stipulated by the importance of the scientific comprehension of the problem. The authors of the research set an objective to explore the political and social system and law of the Ancient India having considered the newest scientific findings, outline the most disputable topical issues. As a result of fulfilment of a range of research tasks dedicated to the achievement of the objective: it has been identified that social and state-legal development of the Ancient India requires further scientific comprehension, formation and evolution of the Ancient India has peculiarities characteristic for the Asian countries. At the same time the  ancient Indian political system had certain specific features: notwithstanding the dominance of Oriental despotism the existence of republican form of government at early stages of the state creation is traced, especially in the areas where the strong clan customs survived and made the basis for the elementary tribal democracy traditions that remained alive in early class republics of “ghani” and “santhi”; caste division of the ancient Indian society  was determinative for attributing of the legal status to a person. It has influenced the state-legal development of the ancient Indian state because the people’s rights and duties depended on their belonging to a certain caste; there were laws on property rights, contact law, family law, inheritance law, criminal law, vestige of primitive society. The rules of law are best defined in Dharma Shastra of Manu, considered to be one of the most important legal sources that all the Indian society be predicated on for more than two centuries

the Ancient India, state-legal and social development, law, state, Dharma Shastra of Manu