Equity and Trusts in Sanskrit Jurisprudence

Equity and Trusts in Sanskrit Jurisprudence outlines the core principles of equity and trusts in Sanskrit jurisprudence (Dharmáāstra) and traces their application in the practical legal administration of religious and charitable endowments throughout Indian history. Dharmáāstra describes phenomena that, in Anglo-American jurisprudence, are associated with courts of equity: the management of religious and charitable trusts; and the guardianship of those who lack legal capacity. Drawing on Sanskrit jurisprudential and philosophical texts, ancient inscriptions, Persian legal documents, colonial-era law reports, and contemporary case law, Equity and Trusts demonstrates that India's rulers have drawn on rich and venerable Sanskrit jurisprudential principles of equity and trusts in their efforts to regulate religious and charitable endowments. Equity and Trusts presents the history of India as a history of trusts, revealing how the contemporary law of Hindu religious endowments is subtended by a rich mélange of Sanskritic, Persianate, British, and constitutional jurisprudential principles.