But Austin's theory is a lawyer's view of sovereignty and it has been subjected to a searching criticism, particularly by Sir Henry Maine and other jurists. sovereign according to Maine, does not reside in a determinate human superior''A despot with a disturbed brain." he says, "is the sole conceivable example of such sovereignty.Maine emphasizes the existence of vast mass of influences,which we may call for shortness moral that perpetually shapes, limits, or forbids the actual direction of the forces by sovereign. He cites the example of Ranjit Singh, ruler of Punjab, whom Maine charactereised as an absolute despot apparently possessing qualities of Austin's conception of the sovereign power. Ranjit Singh, Maine says, could have commanded anything; the smallest disobedience to his commands would have been followed by death or mutilation Yet, Ranjit Singh never"once all his life'' issued a command which Austin could call a law. ''The rules which regulated the life of his subjects were derived from their immemorial usages, and these rules were administered by domestic tribunals, in families or village communities.