According to the __________, the paternal estate was to be divided equally amongst sons after the death of the parents, with a special share for the eldest.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Manusmriti
Questions of who owned property were taken up in the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras, the Sanskrit texts that laid down norms of social life. One of the best known of these is the Manusmriti. According to it, the paternal estate was divided equally amongst sons after the death of the parents, with a special share for the eldest.
Women could not claim a share of this estate. They could keep the gifts received at marriage as stridhana, “a woman’s wealth”, which their children could inherit and over which the husband had no claim.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.1 Gendered access to property … Issues of ownership, foregrounded in stories such as this one (Source 11), also figure in the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras. According to the Manusmriti, the paternal estate was to be divided equally amongst sons after the death of the parents, with a special share for the eldest. Women could not claim a share of these resources. However, women were allowed to retain the gifts they received on the occasion of their marriage as stridhana (literally, a woman’s wealth). This could be inherited by their children, without the husband having any claim on it.…” |