The Gazetteers Department

Hindu Dharmashasra considers that it is obligatory for every person to marry, as according to it Vivaha (marriage) is one of the Sharirsamskaras (sacraments sanctifying the body) through each of which every man and woman must pass at the proper age and time. But though marriage is thus universally prescribed for all Hindus, the institution as such is hedged in with several rules and restrictions which fall under two main heads viz., endogamy and exogamy.

Endogamy.

A Hindu may not marry outside his caste or his particular sub-caste which according to social custom is considered endogamous. He is confined for the choice of a wife within this group. Thus the internal structure of the Kunbis, the great agricultural caste of the Maratha country, shows several endogamous sub-castes, recruited from different classes of the population. The Jhare or the Kunbis coming from the hilly areas are the oldest immigrants and have no doubt an admixture of Gond blood. The several sub-castes of Kunbis in Wardha district have been enumerated before and their special characteristics have also been described.

Exogamy.

The caste or sub-caste forms the outer circle within which a man must marry. Inside it are a set of further sub-divisions which prohibit the marriage of persons related through males. These are called exogamous groups or classes and their names among some castes is gotra. The theory is that all persons belonging to the same gotra are descended from the same male ancestor and so related. The system of exogamous gotra based as it is on descent from males suffices to prevent the unions of persons nearly related on the father's side, but not those on the mother's side, which are, therefore, regulated by another set of rules. In the twice born castes, marriage is usally avoided between persons related on the woman's side, within three or sometimes five degrees. The marriage of the children of two sisters is prohibited in northern castes and is rare in the southern. The marriage of the children of a brother and sister, called cross-cousin marriage which is common in southern castes is prohibited in most of the Hindustani castes. Among Maratha communities, Marathas, Kunbis, Malis, Mahars etc., the marriage of a brother's daughter with sister's son is common. The other form of cross-cousin marriage viz., the marriage of the brother's son with a sister's daughter is practised by some Gonds and some other less civilised tribes among whom it is spoken of as ' dudh lautna ' (giving back the milk). Among some castes of Telugu origin and among some Deshastha Brahmans, a brother has the first claim on his sister's daughter even as his own wife, an idea which would be looked upon with horror by the northern or Maratha Hindus. The marriage of two sisters at the same time was once permitted in some of the castes which were specially polygamous, but the elder sister might not be married after the younger. There seems to be a general rule that a man should marry a woman of his own generation.

Hypergamy.

Hypergamy relates to the social rule by which a woman should be married to a man who is either her equal or superior in rank. Such practice is still widely prevalent in northern India by which men of the higher sub-castes of a caste will take a daughter in marriage from lower castes but will not give their daughters in return. Thus Marathas in this district will take daughters of Kunbis for their sons, though they do not give their own daughters to the Kunbis.

Polygamy.

Hinduism permits polygamy. [The state of having more than one wife at a time is more aptly described by the term polygyny' than 'polygamy'.] The smritis not only prescribe that a man who has entered grihasthashrama must not remain single and should take another wife without delay to keep up religious rites, but also ask to take up another wife during the life time of the first one who has no son. Even then polygamy has been practised, through the ages, by only a few people. A Kunbi would take a second wife only if the first was childless or a bad character or unattractive. Polygamy is rare among the Banias or Brahmans and it is generally the rule that a man should obtain the consent of the first wife before taking a second one. The same is the practice among Kaikadis. In recent years, the spread of western education and assimilation of modern liberal ideas have made almost all communities among the Hindus monogamous. The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 has now completely reformed the law relating to Hindu marriage all over India and has made monogamy compulsory among all classes of Hindus.

Widow Marriage and Divorce.

The re-marriage of widows was once strictly prohibited among Brah- Widow mans, it being reasoned that marriage was the only sacrament (samskara) for a woman and she could go through it only once. Even now, though legally permissible, widow marriages are not much in vogue in higher Hindu communities. Only a minority of the most advanced Brahmans would recognise widow remarriage and these were once generally excluded from the caste, though defaults in caste practices such as breaches of rules against consumption of prohibited kinds of meat and drinking even alcoholic liquor were winked at and not visited with proper penalty. Similarly divorce was not once recognised among Brahmans. Among Banias, remarriage of widows was nominally prohibited but frequently occurred. Remarried widows were relegated to the inferior social groups in a sub-caste. Divorce was also said to have been prohibited but it was probable that women put away for adultery were allowed to take refuge in such groups instead of being finally expelled. Many a caste in the district allowed both widow marriage and divorce. The Kunbis permit remarriage of widows with the exception of Deshmukh families. This has already been described. Divorce is permitted on sufficient grounds at the instance of either party, it being effected before the caste panchayat.

Dowry.

In Hindu religious books are enumerated eight forms of marriage i.e. methods of consecrating a marriage-union, of which in modern times, only two are in vogue viz., the Brahma and the Asura. Conforming with the Brahma form of marriage, generally among some castes a hunda (dowry-a property which a woman brings to her husband) is paid by the bride's parents to the bridegroom. Among some other castes, the bride's parents usually take dej (bridge-price) thereby conforming with the Asura form. The monetary aspect in the settlement- of a marriage may take various forms e.g., among the Marathas, in a Salarikrita Kanyadan, the bride's father, besides the ornaments he-gives to his daughter, spends on many items of expenses on both the sides; in Kanyadan, the expenses of the bride's father are much restricted; in Varapaksha-Vadhupaksha, the parties bear their own expenses, stand each other's manpan and the groom's party gives a rasbhog (feast) to all the villagers; in the hunda form the girl's father pays the price of the bridegroom to the boy's father while in the dej form, as the proposal of the marriage comes from the boy's father, he has to pay a dej (bride-price) to the girl's father.

It may be mentioned here that the dowry demanded from the bride's father is under the guise of vardakshina or money the donee receives from the donor to fulfil the purpose of a dana (gift). In communities where for some reason or other, the supply of marriageable boys is much short of the demand, dowry forms an important consideration in a marriage settlement. Education only lends appreciation to the boy's value in the matrimonial market and scarcity of suitable young men enforces spinster-hood on a large number of eligible girls whose parents are unable to pay the demanded dowry. Examples to the contrary are also found; boys remain unmarried in some communities because of the scarcity of marriageable girls; for besides presents to the girl in the shape of ornaments and clothes, large sums in the shape of purchase-money are demanded by the father.

Enactments.

Social usage in relation to Hindu marriage has been considerably affected by various legal enactments passed, perhaps right from 1833, when the Act prohibiting sati was passed. A common form of civil marriage for all communities in India was provided by the Special Marriage Act, III of 1872 which made it possible for an Indian of whatever caste or creed to enter into a valid marriage with a person belonging to any caste or creed, provided the parties registered the contract of marriage declaring inter alia that they did not belong to any religion. This Act was amended by Act XXX of 1923 making it possible for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains (but not for Christians, Jews, Muhammedans and Parsees) to declare their religion and yet get their marriages registered.

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 as amended by Act 19 of 1946 prohibited marriages of boys under 18 years of age and girls under 14 years of age. The Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act XXVIII of 1946 validated marriages between parties (a) belonging to the same gotra or (b) belonging to different sub-divisions of the same caste.

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 abrogates and modifies all the past laws. It has made Hindu marriage strictly adult and monogamous. It has done away with the caste and gotra restrictions which limited the field of marriage. It has also laid down definite conditions under which a degree of nullity and further of dissolution of marriage could be obtained.

As marriage from the Hindu point of view created an indissoluble tie between husband and wife, divorce was not known to the general Hindu law. Neither party to a marriage could, therefore, divorce the other unless divorce was allowed by custom. The Indian Divorce Act, 1869 provided inter alia for dissolution of marriage but it applied only to cases where " the petitioner or respondent professed the Christian religion '' (Section 2 of the Act). However,. according to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 reliefs by way of judicial separation, declaration of nullity of marriage and divorce are recognised. (Sections 10 to 13).

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