Page 77 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Unit 11: Changes in Land and Lineage Structure

ciety father and daughter are sharing blood relationship but still daughter is not part of father’s Notes
lineage group.
Anthropologists consider that descent or lineage refers to a special kind of blood relationship
that unifies people together. Lineage system can be divided into two parts in India i.e.
• Unilineal systems: a system of determining descent groups in which one belongs to one’s
father’s or mother’s lineage. Both patrilineality and matrilineality are types of unilineal
descent.
• Non-Unilineal systems: a system where there exists multiple forms of relationship.
Classical anthropologist divides descent groups into two fundamental types such as:
• Patrilineal: inheriting or determining descent through the male line.
• Matrilineal: inheriting or determining descent through the female line.
Lineage is considered as the heart and soul of Indian social life. Despite India’s exposure to
technological and industrial modernity, descent plays a significant role in the life of people.
GS Ghurye writes in detail about various descent groups living together in different regions of
the country carrying different names and identities. These different lineage groups bringing to-
gether a multi-civilisation thereby making India a land of pluralism. However, all these descent
groups imbibe common rules of marriage, common food behaviour, common cultural, religious
ideology radiating from Hinduism and that made Indian society a land of diversity.
Indologists look into the role of descent in defining marriage, family and kinship in India. In
Northern India an individual is not allowed to marry in his father’s group or mother’s group,
father’s brother’s group, mother’s mother group, own group (in one’s own village) driven by
rules of extended kinship. Ghurye indicated that ‘Gotra’, ‘Charna’ brings unity among people
who are geographically dispersed and these two groups are exogamous groups. Regional varia-
tion in kinship offering different prescriptions for rules of marriage are discussed in detail why
various sociologists who consider marriage in case of India is not a matter of preference, rather
it is driven by rules of descent and kinship.
Kinship or descent are foundation to caste is the argument forwarded by Gail Omvedt wherein
she considers that people belonging to similar descent group are located in a given region
where they worship to their common ancestors, follow common way of life and when the size
of descent group expands, they migrate to different areas but still carry their identity. Therefore
caste is nothing but an expanded descent system that maintains its boundary, distinguishing
itself from the other caste.
Andre Beteille indicates association of man and kinship is so strong in India that voting behav-
iour is driven by kinship rather than on the basis of merit. In all the political parties of India kin-
ship is the primary source of political recruitment. Thus democratic polity in India is engaged in
social and cultural reproduction.
Krishna Kumar points out that the influence of kinship on the life of man is so intensive that
“behind any corrupt man there is present an ambitious family”. He goes on to say that industrial
recruitment greatly takes place on the basis of kinship rather than on the basis of merit.
In case of India family/kinship offers ideological, economic, infrastructural support to indi-
vidual to determine the nature of occupation. In conclusion it can be said that the role of descent
and kinship not only determines the private sphere of an individual’s life like marriage, family,
household, gender role, rituals but also has great influence over his public life like occupational
selection, political participation and identity formation. Therefore the role of descent and kin-
ship has changed very little under the influence of modernity in India and so while studying
social transformation one cannot afford to ignore the same.

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