UPSC 2021: With reference to the history of ancient India, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Mitakshara was the civil law for upper castes and Dayabhaga was the civil law for lower castes. 2. In the Mitakshara system, the sons can claim right to the property during the lifetime of the father, whereas in the Dayabhaga system, it is only after the death of the father that the sons can claim right to the property. 3. The Mitakshara system deals with the matters related to the property held by male members only of a family, whereas the Dayabhaga system deals with the matters related to the property held by both male and female members of a family. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

In both schools the key doctrinal difference is that under Mitakshara a son acquires a coparcenary interest by birth, whereas in Dayabhaga he gets a share only after the father’s death – so statement 2 is correct. Mitakshara and Dayabhaga are regional variants of Hindu law (Mitakshara prevails over almost all India except Bengal-Assam, while Dayabhaga is confined to that region); they were never laws for different social castes, hence statement 1 is wrong. Coparcenary under both schools was traditionally limited to male members; Dayabhaga does allow certain female heirs (e.g., widow, daughter) to inherit, but it still does not treat them as coparceners holding family property jointly, so the sweeping claim made in statement 3 is inaccurate. ([thelegalschool.in](https://thelegalschool.in/blog/difference-between-mitakshara-and-dayabhaga?utm_source=openai))