12 Marriage: Definition Type

Dr. Sonali Pattnaik

Content of this Unit

Learning Outcomes

Objectives

1. Marriage: An Introduction
2. Meaning and Definition
3. Types of marriage recognized under Anthropology
4. Functions of marriage
5. Ways of acquiring mates among the tribal societies

Learning Outcomes:

After studying this module:

• You shall have a clear understanding on the background of marriage that is a major social institution, definitions and anthropological explanations.
• You shall learn about the various types of marriage.
• You shall understand the functions of marriage.
• You shall have a definitive understanding pertaining to the ways of acquiring mates among the tribal societies.

Objectives:

The primary objectives of this module are:

• To give a basic understanding to the students about marriage as a social institution, reasons of emergence of marriage and its types.
• It also attempts to provide an informative background about the various ways of acquiring mates in the tribal societies.

1. Marriage: An Introduction Mating and Marriage:

Mating is preponderantly a psychophysical phenomenon involving the pairing of individuals of opposite sex under the influence of sexual drive. Marriage is something else. When mating gets social approval and when it controls the relations of a mated pair to each other, their kinsmen, their offspring and society at large, it will be known as marriage.1 Marriage is a universal concept in human and unites males and females in socially-recognized and has reproductive significance beyond reproduction. Marriage is a fundamental cornerstone of human economic and social units. Stable-breeding bonds are found in numerous taxa, human marriages have wide kinship networks2.

It is the foundation of the basic social unit known as family. It serves as a bridge in bringing close two sets of relatives of the connubial pair on the event of marriage. The sharing of responsibility on the part of husband and wife gives the human marriage a unique stability and dimensions. It defines the inter-personal relationship of the kinsmen of the married couple. Marriage is therefore a cultural complex3.

Despite worldwide variation in marriage patterns, marriage as an institution is universal to all cultures. Why do you suppose some form of marriage transaction is present among all people? One apparent reason is that humans throughout the world have to deal with potential strife surrounding access to sexual relations. It is clear that this issue causes anxiety among people competition for access to sexual relations is itself universal. It is therefore logical to assume that we should see a universal need for cultures to have specific transactions/contracts which clarify and define these sexual issues so as to smoothen the way for our group existence. Each culture provides rules which explicitly define which individuals have access to each others. These explicit rules reduce strife and anxiety and tend to channel sexual energy as well as legitimize child bearing.4

2. Meaning and Definition

Marriage has been a central area of study since the beginning of anthropology, as a main factor in explaining the variety of kinship systems (Morgan 1870, and Rivers 1914). The institution of marriage, however, has not been easy to define as an anthropological concept.

Beals and Hoizer: marriage is a set of cultural pattern to sanction parenthood and provide a suitable background for the care and rearing of the children.

C.P. Kottack: Marriage is a socially recognized relationship between a socially recognized male (Husband) and a socially recognized female (Wife) so that the children born to the wife are accepted as the offspring of both the husband and wife.

From a descriptive point of view it seems clear that when anthropologists refer to the institution of marriage, they designate a distinct class of phenomena. Yet it is extremely difficult to define marriage as a concept useful in accounting for all the ethnographic cases. Cohabitation, sexual access, affiliation of children, food sharing, and division of labor are very restricted criteria in accounting for the ethnographic spectrum. Let us examine, for example, the definition given in Notes and Queries (R. A. 1951, p. 110): ‘Marriage is a union between a man and a woman such that children born to the woman are recognized legitimate offspring of both parents.’ The first element (heterosexual union) does not conform to such ethnographic phenomena as the traditional woman-marriage among the Nuer (Evans-Pritchard 1951) or the homosexual marriages of postmodern societies (Weston 1991). Even if the second element (offspring legitimacy) apparently fits with the marriage customs of the matrilineal Nayars of South India, an anthropological test case for the definition of marriage (Gough 1959), it might be rejected for its vagueness and its limited range of ethnographic cases. As Bell (1997) notes, the statement that marriage is required to produce legitimate children is finalist and tautological. According to the ethnographic data, marriage is neither necessary nor sufficient to define the legitimacy of children and many societies recognize a sharp differentiation between social parenthood and marriage. Leach (1961), recognizing that marriage might be defined as ‘a bundle of rights,’ identified the following different rights: legal fatherhood, legal motherhood, monopoly of sexual access between married partners, right to domestic services and other forms of labor, right over property accruing to one’s spouse, rights to a joint fund of property for the benefit of the children of marriage, and recognized relations of affinity such as that between brothers-in-law. But from this bundle of rights, no single right or set of rights might be defined as central to the universal definition of marriage.

3. Types of Marriage:

Marriage is a union of two individuals belonging to different sex with the approval of the society.

However, the degree and approach to marriage differs from society or from community to community.

1. Monogamy:

It is a form of marriage when a single man marries a single woman or vice-versa and they settle down from a family. “Mono” means single and “Gamous” means marriage. Example – marriage among Kondh, Santhal, Oraon, etc.

Monogamy is a response to balance sex ratio. As it also favors almost everyone a chance to have at least one spouse and also it provides effective sexual gratification for women and men. It also facilitates relatively easy rules of inheritance, succession and membership in kin group. Monogamy helps to maintain effective child rearing procedure and augment close emotional ties between parents and children. This form of marriage is vibrant in Indian Hindu Society. Monogamy can be further understood as:

i) Serial Monogamy: It is a sub-form of monogamy where a man gets married to another woman only after the death of the first wife. He can also go for 3rd, 4th, 5th wife if the previous wives are dead.

ii) Non – Serial Monogamy: It is a sub-form of monogamy where a man gets married to a woman and stays with each other till he or she dies. There is no provision for second marriage.

Polygamy:

It is a form of marriage when the marriage takes place between more than 2 individuals of opposite sex then it is known as polygamy. “Poly” means many and “Gamous” means marriage. It is then further categorized as:

i) Polygyny: It is a sub-form of polygamy in which one man marries more than one woman at a time and stay together. Westermarck was of the opinion that there were certain basic reasons for the origin or emergence of Polygyny i.e, enforced celibacy, earlier aging of females, desire for variety, the desire for more children, social prestige and economic necessity.

Further, Polygyny is divided into:

a)Serial/Sororal Polygyny: The co-wives or the multiple wives of the man are sisters. Example – Gond, Kharia 

b)Non- serial/ Non-Sororal Polygyny: The co-wives or the multiple wives of the man are not sisters

• (ii) Polyandry: it is a sub-form of polygamy in which one woman gets to marry more than one man at a time and stay together. Westermarck advocated certain reasons for establishment of Polyandry i.e, poverty, bride-price, population control, disparity in numerical strength and the spirit of joint family.

Further, Polyandry is divided into:

a) Fraternal/Adelphic Polyandry: The husbands of one wife are either brothers or related to each other through blood. Example – Toda, Khasa

b) Non – Fraternal/ Non- Adelphic Polyandry: The husbands of one wife are not brothers or are not related to each other through blood. Example – Nayars

c) Familial Marriage: It is kind of polyandry practiced by some communities in Tibet, where, the husbands of one wife are father and son.

• iii) Group Marriage: Group marriage also known as Cenogamy is that type of marriage in which a group of men marry a group of women. Each man of the male group is considered to be the husband of every woman of the female group. Similarly, every woman is the wife of every man of the male group. This form of marriage is found among some tribes of New Guinea and Africa. In India, group marriage is practised by the Toda Tribe of Nilgiri Hills. Except on an experimental basis it is an extremely rare occurrence and may never have existed as a viable form of marriage for any society in the world.

Levirate Marriage:

It is a type of marriage where a woman marries her deceased husband’s brother. Example – Among the tribes in Northeast Indian, Jewish Community.

Further, Levirate marriage is categorized as Senior Levirate (where the woman marries her deceased husband’s elder brother) and Junior Levirate (where the woman marries her deceased husband’s younger brother).

It is a type of marriage where a man marries his deceased wife’s sister. Example – Bonda

Further, Sororate marriage is categorized as Senior Sororate (where the man marries his deceased wife’s elder sister) and Junior Sororate (where the man marries his deceased wife’s younger sister)

E. Cross Cousin Marriage:

It is the type of marriage where an individual is married to his or her cross-cousin. For example:

Individual getting married to mother’s brother’s son/daughter, individual getting married to father’s sister’s son/daughter. This type of marriage is found in Kharia, Oraon

F. Parallel-cousin Marriage:

It is the type of marriage where an individual is married to his or her parallel-cousin. For example: Individual getting married to mother’s sister’s son/daughter, individual getting married to father’s brother’s son/daughter. This type of marriage is found in Kadar community

4. Functions of Marriage:

Anthropologists and sociologists have enlisted some of the aims of marriage. They are as follows:

i) Satisfaction of sexual needs

ii) Procreation

iii) Fulfilment of social and economical needs

iv) Providing healthy environment for the growth and development of the children

5. Ways of Acquiring Mates in Tribal Societies6:

The tribes in India have a variety of ways of acquiring mates. Since the tribals consider their marriage, more or less, as a social and civil contract. The tribal marriages do not have absolute things like religious rituals and rites.

i) Probationary Marriage:

In this type of marriage, a tribal youth lives in the house of his sweetheart for weeks or months together. Thereafter, if both the boy and the girl like each other, they may enter into wedlock or in case of dislike they may be separated. If marriage is not solemnized, the boy will have to pay compensation to the girls’ parents. It is called as probationary marriage because the boy stays in his would be father-in-law’s house as a probationer. The Kuki tribe of Arunachal Pradesh are said to follow this type of marriage.

ii) Marriage by capture:

This is a popular type of marriage among several Indian tribes. It can be both ceremonial and forceful or physical. The boy and the girl like each other but due to restriction from the parent and the community and inability to pay bride-price, the capture takes place. Sometimes the physical captures are pre-arranged and often take place in fare, festivals, markets, and sometimes in ceremonial captures the boy simply smear vermillion on the girls forehead. This type of marriage is practiced among the Kondha, Juang, Bhuinya, Kharia, Birhor, etc. The Nagas take recourse to physical capture during raids from one village to another.

iii. Marriage by trial:

This is a peculiar type of tribal marriage practiced among the Bhils. In this type of marriage, the courage and bravery of the young man is appreciated and recognized in assigned competition. If a boy comes out successful in his endeavor, he is free to choose any girl from the group for marriage.

iv) Marriage by Purchase:

The man pays the price for the bride in the form of bride-price to the girl’s parents before he has her as his wife. The price paid may be in the form of cash or kind. This type of marriage is widely prevalent among a number of tribes all over India. The price is paid by the groom’s father to the girl’s father according to the traditional custom. This type of marriage is found among the Kondh, Juang, Ho and Munda. The Rengh ma Nagas also practice this way of acquiring mates.

v) Marriage by Service:

Some tribals have evolved the solution of higher bride price which the economically weaker tribal youths cannot afford to. If the bride groom is unable to pay the bride price, he has to serve in his would be father-in-law’s house as a servant and marry the girl after the lapse of specific period. During the period the boy works in the house of the would be father-in-law without any payment and equalizes the bride price by providing his free services. Gond and Baiga practice this type of marriage.

vi) Marriage by exchange:

If a son and daughter of marriageable age are available in two families they may exchange the daughters and do not pay any bride price for obtaining the bride. In tribal India Kondh, Saora, Juang, Bhuiyan, Santal, etc. practice this type of marriage.

vii.) Marriage by Elopement:

Among many Indian tribes the unmarried boys and girls stay in dormitory and are often involved in sexual relationship by coming in contact with each other. If the parents do not give consent, to the love of the boy and the girl for marriage, then they flee away to some other place without any information to the parents. Such delinquent couple may, later on, be received back by their parents. In this type of marriage, bride price is easily avoided. Juang, Santal, Bhuinya, Kondha and Saora practice this type of marriage.

viii) Marriage by Intrusion:

This is the reverse way of marriage by capture, wherein a girl desirous of marrying a particular tribal male expresses her willingness and goes to his house to stay. She forcibly thrusts herself onto him and stays with him, despite the non-acceptance of the male and his family. In the process she is subjected to humiliating treatment and refusal of food and often physical torture. But in spite of such humiliation, disrespect or torture if she sticks to the marriage and stays there she is accepted and the marriage is performed. The Juang, Kondh, Bhuiyan practice this types of marriage. But such marriages are widely reported from the Birhor and Ho tribes of Chhotanagpur region.

ix) Inheritance of Widow:

Widow Marriage is widely prevalent among the Indian tribes. From the point of view of tradition, custom or personal choice, the youngsters do not usually prefer to marry a widow. In the practice of sororate there is no option. Otherwise the widows are preferred by the widowers. No bride price is paid in the widow marriage. As a customary practice, the Sema Nagas as a matter of obligation often marries his father’s widow, other than his own mother. This type of marriage is held so as to inherit the family property from the widows, because the widows are the legal heirs of their dead husband’s property. The practice of the inheritance of widows is also reported among the Santal, Bhuinyan, Juang and Kondh.

x) Proposed or Arranged marriage:

When the parents of both the boy and girl come forward to negotiate their children’s marriage, it is known as Proposed or Arranged marriage. It is a regular form of marriage followed in tribal societies as well as Hindu and Muslim societies.

xi) Divorce:

Divorce or the dissolution of marriage is practiced in the tribal communities. But one cannot divorce the other whimsically or at will. Some rules and regulations persist in this regard. Murdock has mentioned a number of recognized grounds for divorce, such as incompatibility, adultery, diseases, barrenness or sterility, impotency, sexual unwillingness, laziness, economic incapacity, quarrelsome, mistreatment, etc.

Since the Indian tribes do not consider marriage as a religious sacrament, the process and procedure of divorce is rather simple. In most of the cases of marital disaster the separation occurs with the mutual consent of both the parties. As a matter of customary practice, the divorce cases are generally decided by the tribal council and performed in a public place in the presence of elderly villagers.

The tribal communities allow both the husband and wife the right to divorce the other spouse on certain grounds. Among the tribals, the husband is divorced, generally on the grounds of disease, drunkenness, impotency, extra-marital sexual relationship with other women etc. Generally a wife is divorced on the plea that she has become an insane, a thief or a witch or a runaway. However, there are no common grounds of divorce among all the tribes in India.

However, if his wife deserts him or is caught in adultery, she has to arrange for the return of the bride price her husband paid to her. A second marriage between those once divorced is possible.” Mutual consent is essential for divorce and the divorced couples cannot remarry.

Wide variations are also marked in the ground of divorce. Whereas the Gond allows divorce freely on grounds of marital infidelity, carelessness in household work, barrenness and quarrelsome disposition, the Khasi permits divorce for reasons of adultery, barrenness and incompatibility of temperament. The Kharia tribe allows divorce for reasons of marital infidelity, sterility of the wife, Laziness, wife’s refusal to live with the husband, and theft. Both the parties are allowed to divorce.