Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/91

 LAWS. 77 considerable nations of the Indian islands adopted the Mahomedan religion, the work of conversion commencing naturally from the west and proceed- ing eastward. The degree in which they have adopted the laws and doctrines of Mahomed have been proportioned to the degree of civilization in which the natives were found, and to the greater or smaller intercourse which has since subsisted between them and the Mahomedan nations of the west. The Mahomedan law i§ nominallij established among the whole of the converted tribes, and in 'penal and ecclesiastical jurisprudence is followed pretty closely. Tracts on Mahomedan law, fol- lowing the doctrines of Shojihi, or his pupils, are in circulation in every country of the Archipela- go, accompanied occasionally with commentaries or translations in the vernacular languages. To fur- nish any detailed account of these vvoukl be foreign to the nature of my undertaking, the object of which is to delineate the peculiar features of a state of society widely different from that for which the Mahomedan code was framed, or its commentaries composed. The state of society among all the tribes of the Indian islanders differs so essentially from the latter, that, notwithstanding the avowed supremacy of Mahomedan law, it is hardly applied in any case, without considerable latitude and modification. Lo- cal usages and customs are covertly of authority,