Martur: A village in Karnataka that shaped India’s legal heritage

IN FOCUS

A 20-minute drive from Kalaburagi takes you to Martur, a small village with a population of approximately 4,000 in Shahabad taluk. It is the place where India’s celebrated jurist from ancient times, Vijnaneshwara, lived. His monumental treatise, Mitakshara, has influenced Indian jurisprudence for over nine centuries.

As recorded in a stone inscription found in the village, Emperor Vikramaditya VI, a powerful ruler of the Western Chalukya dynasty, touched the feet of the revered scholar.

Navigating through the narrow lanes of this densely populated village leads to the Sri Kalingeshwara Temple, a 1,000-year-old structure that houses Martur’s historical legacy. It was in this temple that the famous Martur stone inscription, dating back to 1123 AD, was discovered. This inscription provided the first substantial insights into the life and personality of Vijnaneshwara.

On the outskirts of the village, off Shahabad Road, stands Sri Vijnaneshwara Bhavan and Research Centre, established by Vijnaneshwara Pratishtana Trust in memory of the scholar. The inscription was shifted from Sri Kalingeshwara Temple and installed in the Bhavan which was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice of India Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti on December 31, 2004.

Martur Inscription

Though every law student and member of the legal fraternity in India is well aware of the Mitakshara, which is universally recognised as a cornerstone of Hindu jurisprudence, little was known about its author until the discovery of the Martur Stone Inscription in the early 20th century. The inscription provided pivotal clues about the author.

Huilgol Narayana Rao, a popular freedom fighter and playwright from Gadag, had mentioned Mitakshara in his famous poem Udayavagali Namma Cheluva Kannada Nadu. The song, which was first played at the Indian National Congress’ plenary session held in Belagavi in 1924 and presided over by Mahatma Gandhi, inspired millions of Kannadigas for the Karnataka Unification Movement and became the State Anthem in those days. The song did not mention the name of Vijnaneshwara but mentioned the text, to indicate that a Kannadiga wrote the great legal treatise.

Inscription discovered

The major initiative to shed some light on the author of Mitakshara came after the discovery of the stone inscription and the subsequent publication of an article about it by Prof. P.B. Desai, a well-known historian from Dharwad, in his journal Prachina Karnataka—Hosa Belaku (Ancient Karnataka—New Light) in 1932.

Later, Dr. V.S. Kulkarni published another article about the inscription in Itihasa Darshana, a journal of Karnataka Itihasa Academy. Dr. J. M. Nagaiah, a scholar of ancient Kannada scripts and inscriptions from Karnataka University Dharwad published a research article about the details provided by the inscription in Bangalore University’s quarterly journal in 1989.

All these articles, which were based on Martur Inscription, concluded that Vijnaneshwara was born in Maseyamadu (present-day Masemadu village of Bhalki taluk in Bidar district) of Attale Nadu, an administrative unit of 300 villages that presently fall in Bhalki, Bidar, and Zaheerabad (Telangana) taluks. According to the inscription, Vijnaneshwara’s original name was Kancha and the research scholars believed that Vijnaneshwara was his penname or title given to him in recognition of his scholarly work. He served as a chief advisor and guru of Emperor Vikramaditya VI, who ruled from Kalyana (present-day Basavakalyan in Bidar district).

Central Hall of the Sri Vijnaneshwara Bhavan on the outskirts of Martur village.
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KULKARNI

Those who dispute

However, other eminent scholars like Sitaram Jagirdar and M.M. Kalburgi disputed the association of the Martur inscription with the author of Mitakshara. Kalburgi posited that Vijnaneshwara mentioned in the Martur inscription was not a Vedic Shaivite Brahmin but an Agama Shaivite Brahmin and he was not the author of Mitakshara. His conclusions indicated the existence of two personalities of the same name Vijnaneshwara.

However, despite the debates, many scholars affirm the connection between Vijnaneshwara mentioned in the Martur Inscription and Mitakshara.

Scholars often compare Vijnaneshwara with Chanakya (Kautilya), who played a crucial role in founding the Mauryan Empire, and Vidyaranya, a key figure in establishing the Vijayanagara Empire. According to them, Chanakya’s influential role as advisor and guru to emperors Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara has its parallel in Vijnaneshwara’s counsel to emperors Someshvara I and his son Vikramaditya VI. In their opinion, Chanakya laid a strong foundation for political science with his Arthashastra and Vijnaneshwara laid a foundation for jurisprudence with his Mitakshara.

Vijnaneshwara Law College that was shifted to Gulbarga University campus.
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KULKARNI

Second from region

Vijnaneshwara’s work is regarded yet another great work produced by the Kalaburagi region. The first was Kavirajamarga, the earliest available Kannada work on rhetoric, poetics and grammar written by Sri Vijaya, a court poet of Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga, the most prominent emperor of the Rashtrakuta dynasty who ruled vast areas of South India from his capital Manyakheta (present-day Malkhed in Sedam taluk of Kalaburagi district).

Though Mitakshara is a comprehensive commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smriti, senior journalist Srinivas Sirnoorkar, who has authored the book Vijnaneshwara Mitakshara in Kannada, holds that Vijnaneshwara enriched the work by referring to other Smritis, Shrutis and ancient scriptures. It derives common rules and regulations from complex Dharmashastra texts and put them in simple and understandable language for the consumption of common people.

Sri Vijnaneshwara Bhavan on the outskirts of Martur village.
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KULKARNI

Basis for modern law

Mitakshara holds significant importance in India’s legal and cultural history as one of the principal schools of law in Indian jurisprudence. It governs the Hindu personal law related to property, inheritance, marriage, and family matters in most parts of India except for Bengal and Assam, which follow the Dayabhaga School of jurisprudence. The most authoritative text forms the basis for modern Hindu law, influencing customary practices and codified laws. Most of the legislations in the Hindu Family Law, such as the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, Hindu Minority and Guardianship, are significantly based on Mitakshara principles.

The Mitakshara School has four regional sub-schools reflecting diverse interpretations and local dynamics: Banaras School, followed in northern India; Mithila School, influential in parts of Bihar; Maharashtra or Bombay School, prevailing in western India; and Dravida or Madras School, practised in southern India.

Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Markandey Katju noted that Mitakshara was accepted as an authoritative text on Hindu law not through any promulgation by a sovereign authority, but due to the scholarship, logical analysis and sheer intellectual force of its author.

The Mitakshara, originally written in Sanskrit, has been translated into English by various scholars over time. One notable translation was done by H.T. Colebrooke, a British scholar and administrator who codified Hindu law for use in the civil law courts of the East India Company in the 19th century. Colebrooke’s translation provided the British with insight into how to handle inheritance issues in India. At the time, Mitakshara was a legislative text that was used in Indian courts of law.

Statues of Vignaneshwara , the author of Mitakshara, at the Sri Vijnaneshwara Bhavan on the outskirts of Martur village in Shahabad taluk of Kalaburagi district.
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KULKARNI

Conservation efforts

Justice M. Rama Jois, the former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and the former Governor of Jharkhand and Bihar, took initiatives to preserve Martur’s rich heritage and push for further study and research on Vijnaneshwara.

Justice Jois took an interest in unearthing more facts about its author when he was researching for his book, Legal and Constitutional History of India in the 1970s. His curiosity grew after historian Suryanath Kamath, who served as the Chief Editor of the Karnataka State Gazetteer between 1981 and 1985, informed him about the discovery of the Martur inscription.

Justice Jois founded Vijnaneshwara Pratisthana Trust and mobilised donations from philanthropists and aid from the government to build Sri Vijnaneshwara Bhavan on the land donated by Gundappa Kumbar, a resident of the village, on the outskirts of the Martur village. The Bavan was inaugurated by Chief Justice of India Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti on December 31, 2004.  

The State government, led by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, allocated ₹1 crore to develop Vijnaneshwara Park on six acres of land adjacent to the Bhavan. In 2009, the Cabinet meeting in Kalaburagi decided to establish a Government Law College in Martur, named after Vijnaneshwara. However, the project saw little progress. Later, Gulbarga University established the Vijnaneshwara Study Chair on Mitakshara and Human Rights and introduced a postgraduate course in Dharmashastra. Unfortunately, these initiatives also failed to gain momentum.

In disrepair

However, the Trust lies dormant today, while the bhavan stands in disrepair. Except for the central hall, the rooms remain perpetually locked. According to the guard, they contain stored furniture and books, awaiting better days.

“The Vijnaneshwara Bhavan should be handed over to a responsible government institution such as Karnataka State Law University which can establish a postgraduate centre there as a step ahead to make Martur a major destination for law students,” says Sirnoorkar.

Martur, with its historical treasures and the legacy of Vijnaneshwara, stands as a testament to India’s rich legal and cultural heritage. However, its full potential as a centre for research and education awaits realisation through concerted efforts by scholars, institutions, and the government.