Page 140 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Sociology of Kinship

Notes Rules of Hindu Marriage
In every Hindu caste there are certain rules related to marriage. A man cannot marry just any
woman or a woman cannot marry just any man. The caste recognizes those rules, and a life
partner is selected according to those rules. Generally, these rules of marriage are known as En-
dogamy, Hyper gamous. Hypogamy and Exogamy. Whatever the caste, these rules exist, with
little dissimilarities. Here, we mention such rules:

1. Endogamy
According to this rule, an individual can marry within his own caste only, not outside his caste.
Endogamy means marrying within one’s own caste. For instance, a member of the Maheshwari
or Agarwal caste, will marry within his own caste. There are many castes in our country and
these castes are divided into sub castes. These sub castes are further divided into semi sub castes
and each of the semi sub castes follows the rules of Endogamy. Many Hindu sub castes follow
the Endogamy unit, which offers selection from a kinship group, residing in a very limited geo-
graphical area. The significance of the Endogamy rule is clear regarding regional caste, semi sub
caste and religion.
In South India, some castes allow an individual to marry a kin. In Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and
Kannada speaking regions, cousins (father’s sister’s son/daughter or mother’s brother’s son/
daughter) are given preference. In North India, cousins (paternal uncle’s/aunt’s or maternal
uncle’s/aunts sons/daughters) cannot marry. Usually in North India, marriages are arranged
outside one’s village or within the radius of thirteen kilometres. In every region, there are differ-
ent local and social boundaries, which limit the area of marriage.

2. Hypergamous Marriage

According to the rules of this marriage, the husband’s position is superior than that of his wife’s
position. People who follow this rule, look for a life-partner having a higher social status than
their own, for their daughter’s marriage. It is a rule by which the marriage of a girl, coming
from a lower strata of society is possible with a boy of a higher social status, within their own
subcaste. This rule is more prevalent in subcastes and semi sub castes than amongst different
other castes. In almost all the castes, Hypergamous marriage is prevalent. This kind of marriage
affects the social status.
It is important to note that the Hindu scholars too, have given preference to such a marriage.
According to the scholars a girl should marry a boy of higher caste/higher sub caste than her
own. It seems, during the ancient times, Hypergamous marriages within the four castes were
allowed. Even today, such a rule is prevalent amongst some castes and in some parts of the
country.
For example, Rajputs and Jats, who are from North India, allow Hypergamous marriages.
Such a rule of marriage is prevalent in the Anavil Brahmins and Patidars of Gujrat, Maithil
Brahmins of Bihar, Radhi Brahmins of Bengal and Kanyakubj and Saryupari Brahmins of Uttar
Pradesh. In the Northern region of South India, this rule is prevalent in Nayyars, Kshatriyas
and Amba dwellars. In the regions where Hypergamous marriages are prevalent, Sib and
lineage related customs are different. Marriage alliance between the Jats and the Rajputs
was said to be the main cause of killings. In this kind of marriage, usually a lot of dowry was
demanded. The Radhi Brahmins a subcaste of Bengal, for instance, usually married many
woman together and also demanded a lot of dowry. That was because they were of the highest
sub-caste and the woman of this group had no choice but to marry within that group only.

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