§7. The system of judicial administration introduced by Warren Hastings was equally cautious and experimental. Bengal zemindars ceased to act as magistrates or judges. The British collector became magistrate and civil judge.[11] As magistrate he made over all prisoners for trial to a Mohammedan court, which was created in each district, but over which he maintained some degree of control. A cazi sat as judge and tried the prisoners, whilst muftis and mulvis expounded or interpreted Mohammedan law; but the British collector was present to see that trials were properly conducted, and perhaps to intercede when the punishment awarded was barbarous or cruel. This was little more than a reform of the existing system--such a reform as might have been carried out by an Akbar or Aurangzeb. For centuries Mohammedan law had been the common law of Northern India, and Hindu criminal law, with its hideous severities as regards caste, had been ignored by Mogul rulers, although, no doubt, caste laws were often enforced by the Hindus themselves. [Sidenote: Mixed civil courts: collectors, cazis, pundits.] Civil justice was administered more directly by the British collectors. In civil disputes, especially as regards inheritance and marriage, the parties concerned were necessarily guided by their own laws. Accordingly the collector sat as judge, but was assisted by Mohammedan lawyers in deciding cases between Mohammedans, and by learned Brahmans, or pundits, in deciding cases between Hindus. Under most circumstances the cazi or pundit must often have been the real judge, whilst the British collector was only the representative of the supreme authority. [Sidenote: Courts of circuit and appeal.] Courts of circuit and appeal were also appointed to travel through different areas, and sit as British judges of assize in both criminal and civil courts. Here was that same mixture of British and Asiatic judges as in the collectors' courts. But many changes were made from time to time in the judicial system, and the whole question will be better considered hereafter when dealing with the reforms of Lord Cornwallis, who eventually succeeded Warren Hastings as Governor-General. [Sidenote: Chief court or Sudder.] Meanwhile the Governor and Council still formed the chief court at Calcutta, and confirmed all capital sentences, or heard appeals in important civil cases, as in the old times when British authority was bounded by the Mahratta ditch. From time to time they passed regulations for the guidance of collectors, and eventually Warren Hastings drew up a clear and concise criminal code with his own hands. This chief court was known as the Sudder. It had a civil and a criminal side, and lasted as an institution down to the latest days of the East India Company.[12] [Sidenote: Patriarchal justice.]