Evaluating the concept of Dharma in Medieval Hindu legal traditions

This work was written for the fulfillment of Master's degree requirement at South Asian University, New Delhi. The idea of studying the Indian notion of Natural Law was generated in my mind in the Jurisprudence course I undertook in Dr. Ramani Garimella's class. I am grateful to her for inspiring me to think of this subject in depth. This thesis has discussed the classical Indian concept of Dharma and how it was incorporated into law in the medieval era. Furthermore this has been written as a comparative essay whereas the concept of Dharma in Hindu jurisprudence has been compared with how Thomas Aquinas understood the notion of natural law in his well known work "Summa Theologia". This work has unveiled the Indian understanding of natural law and how it was duly manifested in the process of justice in medieval India. It is not an exaggeration to regard this thesis as first attempt to compare Aquinas with the Indian concept of natural law, which simply dates back to the much earlier time of Aquinas. Indeed this is a useful work for both law students and Orientalists.