Page:Sources of ancient Siamese law (Masao T, 1905).pdf/2

 bring forth such texts from the ancient laws of Siam as will show that these ancient laws belong to the Hindu law system. If the author were a philologist or archæologist he feels confident that he could bring forth interesting philological and archæological facts to support him in his task, but as he is nothing more than a working lawyer he can only fall back on such texts as have come under his notice in the course of his studies in the ancient laws of Siam.

The very first thing that struck the author when he commenced his study of ancient Siamese laws nearly eight years ago, was the very striking similarity of Siamese law to Hindu law in the manner of dividing the subjects or titles of law. In the code of Manu, the typical Hindu law book, the whole body of civil and criminal laws are divided into eighteen principal titles. According to Professor Bühler's translation these eighteen titles or causes of law suits are as follows: (1) Debt; (2) deposit and pledge; (3) sale without ownership; (4) concerns among partners; (5) resumption of gifts; (6) hiring of persons; (7) non-performance of agreements; (8) rescission of sale and purchase; (9) disputes between the owner of cattle and his servants; (10) disputes regarding boundaries; (11) assault; (12) defamation; (13) theft; (14) robbery and violence; (15) adultery; (16) duties orof [sic] man and wife; (17) partition of inheritance; (18) gambling and betting (Manu VIII, 4–8). On this same subject the Siamese Phra Tamasat says: "The causes which give rise to law suits are as follows, etc," and enumerates all these eighteen titles in almost the identical words and adds eleven more, such as kidnapping, rebellion, war, the king's property and taxes, etc.

The same similarity is observable in the manner of classifying slaves. In the code of Manu slaves are classified as follows: (1) those who have been made captives of war; (2) those who have become slaves for the sake of being fed; (3) those who have been born of female slaves in the house of their masters; (4) those who have been bought; (5) those who have been given; (6) those who have been inherited from ancestors, and (7) those who have become slaves on account of their inability to pay large fines (Manu VIII 4–15). On this subject the Siamese Laxana Tat begins by saying that there are seven kinds of slaves