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APPENDIX B.
persistent stadies in the ancient Literature, both religions and secular, of the Jainas, Drs Weber, Jacobi, Bendall, Hoernle and many others proved again and again all the above results beyond any doubt or hesitation. So it cannot be surprising that the parties at the date of Bachebi's suit did not have the knowledge or means to cite their own books or to understand how their laws and customs really stood. Even at the present day it is. orceedingly diffioult for Jainas to adduce very satisfactory evidence of their customs. The community still suffers from lack of organization and from profound and almost universal ignorance of its spiritual principles and worldly rights, according to Law and custom. I have allowed much space to this matter of a socio-religious type, because, without a full consideration of this semi-obscure background, it is impossible to have a clear perspective of the Jaina rights and practices and of the causes why they were so long submerged io non-recognition and why they were only partially and infrequently set up and 80 exceedingly unwillingly assented to. What wonder then that the widow's champions in Bachebi's case could not bring forward sufficient evidence to outweigh the few Bindalas whom the plaintiff set up to say that a Jaina widow had no right to make testamentary donation of her husband's property ? Even then the defendant in the suit, in I. L. R. 3 all, p. 55, did produce witnesses who deposed to the greater powers of a Jaina widow compared with her Hindu sister; but the court refused to act upon this testimony, as these witnesses were not of the same sect. At the most, the decision in Bachebi's case can only indicate that there may be & falling back of one small part of Jainas from the general practice of the community or that there may be & custom within a custom followed by a small number of Jainas isolated from the rest of their brethren, I. L. R. 16 AII., p. 379; I L. R. 30 All., p. 197 and I. L. R. 4 Cal., p. 744, have been referred to as supporting the plaintiff's
