Chapter VI

Forms of Hindu Marriage.

Laxity of female morality. 2. It is true that among many of the Dravidian tribes and those of the lower Himâlayas, like the Thârus, the standard of female morality is very low. Intrigues of unmarried girls, or even of married women, are very lightly regarded, provided the paramour is a clansman. Numerous instances of customs of this kind will be found in the following pages. The penalty on the relatives of the offenders is usually a fine in the shape of a compulsory feast to the tribesmen. On the other hand, the penalty is much more severe if the woman’s lover belongs to a strange tribe. If he belongs to one of the higher tribes, the punishment is much less than if he belongs to one of the degraded menial races, such as the Dom, Dharkâr, or Bhangi. In such cases the woman is almost invariably permanently excommunicated. The tolerance of intertribal immorality, while significant is, however, far from actually legalised community of women.

The jus primæ noctis. 3. The custom of the jus primæ noctis has been also adduced as a proof of the existence of communal marriage. Of this the examples collected in the present survey are slight and inconclusive. The Ahîrs and many similar tribes have a custom of paying a fee to the village landlord at a marriage. This is known as mandwâna from mândo, the hut or pavilion in which the marriage is performed. This is hardly more than one of the common village manorial dues, and it is pressing the custom to an illegitimate extent to regard it as a commutation for the jus primæ noctis. There is reason to believe that in comparatively modern times some of the Râjas of Rîwa, a native state bordering on these Provinces, in their annual progresses, insisted on a supply of girls from the lower tribes, and there are still villages which are said to have been presented to the ancestors of women honoured in this way. But this is far from sufficient evidence for anything like the general prevalence of the custom, which is regarded with abhorrence by the public opinion of the country side.

Polyandry. 4. The same feeling prevails as regards polyandry which, according to Mr. McLennan, formed one of the regular stages in the evolution of marriage. There is certainly no ground for believing that at any time polyandry flourished as a permanent domestic institution. At the same time it seems quite certain that it has prevailed and does still prevail in Northern India, but usually among isolated communities and under exceptional circumstances.

7. In all these cases it would seem that polyandry is associated with, and in fact dependent on, female infanticide. In the course of the present survey, it has been ascertained that the custom prevails among some of the pastoral tribes, such as Ahîrs, Gûjars and Jâts, chiefly in the upper valleys of the Ganges and Jumna. It has even been embodied in the current proverb:—Do khasam kî joru, Chausar ka khel,—“The wife with two lords is like a game of backgammon.” The arrangement suits these pastoral people, who graze their herds in the river valleys. The brothers take it in turn to attend the cattle, and one remains at home in charge of the house-wife.

10. In modern times, in this part of India, practically all the tribes which permit widow marriage allow the levirate in the restricted form that it is only the younger son of the late husband who is allowed or expected to take the widow to wife. Whatever may have been the idea connected with this practice in early times, the fiction that the son was supposed “to raise up seed unto his brother” seems to have altogether disappeared, and no survival of this rule of affiliation has been discovered. In fact, according to common custom, the widow is regarded as a kind of property which has been purchased into the family by the payment of the bride-price; and among some of the Dravidian tribes there is a rule of tribal law that if the widow goes to live with a stranger to the family, he is bound to repay the bride-price, and in some cases the costs incurred in her first marriage, to her younger brother-in-law or his father. It is noticeable that in this form of the levirate alliance with the elder brother of her late husband is rigidly prohibited: in fact all through the Hindu caste system any intercourse, even to the extent of speaking to, touching, or appearing unveiled in the presence of, her husband’s Jeth, or elder brother, is strictly guarded by a special taboo. There is a Behâr proverb—Latul bhainsur dewar barâbar—“a weak elder brother-in-law is like a younger brother-in-law, with whom you may take liberties.”

12. This marriage of widows, known to the east of the Province as sagâi and to the west as karâo and dharewa, is a perfectly legal form of marriage, and when recognised by the tribal council the children are regarded as legitimate and succeed to their father’s estate. In subsequent pages will be found numerous details of the ritual in widow marriages. Among many of the lower castes the general rule appears to be that the widow is married to a widower: but this rule is subject to exceptions. The prohibited degrees for the widow are the same as for the virgin bride, with the additional limitation, as already explained, that she cannot marry her elder brother-in-law or her senior cousin. Though the marriage is quite legitimate, there is a certain amount of secrecy connected with it. It is performed at night. The bridegroom after eating with the woman’s friends invests her with a new robe and some jewelry, and withdraws with her to a private room. Next day he brings her home and procures the recognition of the union by feasting his clansmen. The rules as regards the custody of children by the first marriage are not very clearly defined. The usual course seems to be that if she has an infant she takes it with her to her new home, where it is practically adopted by its step-father. Children who have passed the stage of helplessness fall under the guardianship of their uncles, who manage their estate until they attain years of discretion, or, in the case of girls, arrange their marriages.

Age periods. Absolute number of males and females married. Proportion to 10,000 of same sex and age periods.

Males. Females. Males. Females.

0 Year 857 1,114 10 13

1 Year,, 857 1,172 24 31

2 Year,, 1,883 2,713 31 43

3 Year,, 3,382 5,504 47 73

4 Year,, 6,097 10,014 90 149

0 4 Year,, 13,076 20,517 41 63

5 9 Year,, 139,773 291,373 433 999

Total 0 9 Year,, 152,849 311,890 238 506

10 14 Year,, 684,952 1,221,070 2,417 5,744

15 19 Year,, 1,020,582 1,507,733 5,014 9,119

20 24 Year,, 1,443,669 1,911,373 6,923 9,404

25 29 Year,, 1,654,290 1,856,524 7,849 9,155

30 34 Year,, 1,778,861 1,747,479 8,206 8,501

35 39 Year,, 1,135,619 988,812 8,526 8,040

40 44 Year,, 1,393,582 1,050,977 8,157 6,438

45 49 Year,, 661,188 434,907 7,970 6,002

50 54 Year,, 885,634 454,625 7,541 3,891

55 59 Year,, 263,152 142,643 7,134 4,216

60 and over 746,220 245,005 6,142 1,688

Total 11,820,598 11,873,838 4,863 5,253

18. The difficulty in examining the apparent survivals of marriage by capture lies in determining which are indications of the usual maiden modesty of the bride, her grief at leaving home and her dread at entering a new family, and which are signs of violence on the part of the bridegroom and his friends.

21. Numerous instances of similar practices have been recorded at the present survey. Thus, among the Ghasiyas, the bride hides in a corner of the house, and the youth goes in and drags her out into the presence of the assembled clansmen. It is etiquette that she makes some resistance. Much the same custom prevails among the Bhuiyas and Bhuiyârs. The Kanjar bridegroom comes armed to the bride’s house after the negotiations have been settled, and demands delivery of the girl in threatening tones. Similarly the bridegroom is armed with a bow and arrow.

22. There are numerous other customs which seem to be based on the same form of symbolism. Thus, the members of the bridegroom’s party are mounted on horses and armed: they, on arriving at the bride’s village, do not enter her house, but halt outside; the bridegroom on reaching her door makes a feint of cutting at the arch (toran) with a sword: there is the invariable fiction, no matter how near the houses of the bride and bridegroom are, that she must be carried in some sort of equipage. This the Mânjhis and some other Dravidian tribes call “a boat,” or jahâz; possibly a survival of the time when the bride was taken away by water.

Marriage with dowry. 30. The last stage is when the relatives of the bride provide a dowry for the bride, which is the subject of careful negotiation, and is paid over in the presence of the tribesmen when the wife lives with her husband.

Confarreatio. 31. In all these forms of marriage the ceremony of Confarreatio, or the feeding of the married pair by the relatives on both sides, takes an important place. We have seen that it is the main rite in widow marriage. It is regulated by rigid rules of etiquette, one of the chief of which is that both bride and bridegroom must at first refuse the proffered food, and accept it only after much pressure and conciliation by gifts.

GENERAL DISTRICT STATISTICS.

District. Area in square miles. Population. Density per square mile. Religions of the people.

Hindu. Musalmân. Jain. Christian. Arya. Sikh. Buddhist. Parsi. Jew. Brahmo. Deist. Unspecified.

Dehra Dûn 1192·9 168,135 140·9 143,718 19,896 234 2,743 784 755 2 3 … … … …

Sahâranpur 2242·0 1,001,280 446·5 667,494 324,432 6,084 1,974 496 792 … 8 … … … …

Muzaffarnagar 1658·2 772,874 466·1 542,563 218,990 9,396 127 1,032 766 … … … … … …

Meerut 2369·7 1,391,458 587·2 1,047,650 316,971 16,380 5,435 2,784 2,237 … 1 … … … …

Bulandshahr 1911·1 949,914 497·0 764,937 179,019 1,284 210 4,430 34 … … … … … …

Aligarh 1952·4 1,043,172 534·3 918,730 120,338 2,507 465 992 126 … 14 … … … …

Mathura 1440·6 713,421 495·2 646,385 62,657 2,403 846 209 919 … 2 … … … …

Agra 1845·5 103,796 543·9 879,319 104,443 13,462 4,758 989 540 254 41 … … … …

Farrukhâbâd 1720·3 858,687 499·1 756,194 99,476 1,048 828 877 24 232 8 … … … …

Mainpuri 1700·9 762,163 448·0 714,294 41,529 5,760 132 326 122 … … … … … …

Etâwah 1691·2 727,629 430·3 682,863 42,325 2,117 134 169 19 … 2 … … … …

Etah 1740·7 702,063 403·3 622,833 72,953 4,945 520 764 43 … 4 … … … 1

Bareilly 1594·6 1,040,691 652·6 789,603 245,039 4 5,271 351 300 111 12 … … … …

Bijnor 1898·4 794,070 418·2 521,891 267,162 998 908 2,046 1,065 … … … … … …

Budaun 2016·5 925,598 459·0 733,179 148,289 229 2,581 1,215 105 … … … … … …

Morâdâbâd 2282·5 1,179,398 516·7 773,001 400,705 1,002 3,307 1,305 75 … 3 … … … …

Shâhjahânpur 1744·1 918,551 526·6 787,136 129,266 36 1,328 640 144 … 1 … … … …

Pilibhît 1371·7 485,366 353·8 402,120 82,486 11 365 383 1 … … … … … …

Cawnpur 2363·2 1,209,695 511·9 1,103,990 101,541 415 3,036 620 52 … 32 3 6 … …

Fatehpur 1633·1 699,157 428·1 621,923 77,061 83 71 15 4 … … … … … …

Banda 3060·1 705,832 230·6 664,679 40,662 284 74 76 49 2 … … … … 6

Hamîrpur 2288·7 513,720 224·4 480,215 33,281 107 50 37 11 … 19 … … … …

Allahâbâd 2852·3 1,548,737 542·6 1,341,934 199,853 568 5,933 … 155 268 25 1 … … …

Jhânsi 1640·0 409,419 249·6 380,804 23,067 2,521 1,877 131 946 … 66 4 2 … 1

Jâlaun 1479·6 396,361 267·9 370,604 25,501 168 67 12 5 … 4 … … … …

Lalitpur 1947·4 274,200 140·8 258,595 5,946 9,546 63 … 49 … … … … … 1

Benares 1009·5 921,943 913·7 831,730 88,401 138 1,364 … 52 255 1 2 … … …

Mirzapur 5223·0 1,161,508 222·4 4,085,232 75,240 281 465 102 188 … … … … … …

Jaunpur 1549·8 1,264,949 816·0 1,148,505 116,344 6 93 … 1 … … … … … …

Ghâzipur 1462·0 1,077,909 737·3 974,340 102,726 27 576 86 150 … … 4 … … …

Ballia 1169·7 942,465 805·7 876,095 66,353 … 15 … … … 2 … … … …

Gorakhpur 4676·1 2,994,057 654·3 2,691,164 301,630 44 1,176 … 2 … 19 21 … … 1

Basti 2767·0 1,785,844 645·1 1,509,989 275,729 … 66 60 … … … … … … …

Kumâun 2148·3 1,728,625 804·6 1,502,911 225,639 … 74 … … … 1 … … … …

Azamgarh 7151·0 563,181 78·8 549,572 11,969 5 1,601 … … 34 … … … … …

Garhwâl 5629·0 407,818 72·4 403,603 3,605 2 573 2 … 33 … … … … …

Tarâi 962·7 210,568 218·7 135,160 75,207 39 23 130 9 … … … … … …

Lucknow 967·0 774,163 800·6 605,625 161,369 797 5,769 553 379 193 66 … … … 12

Unâo 1778·0 953,636 536·4 877,451 73,920 8 106 123 28 … … … … … …

Râê Bareli 1751·2 1,036,521 591·7 950,290 85,965 23 145 2 96 … … … 6 … …

Sîtapur 2254·9 1,075,413 476·9 916,680 157,639 234 717 88 44 1 4 … … … …

Hardoi 2324·5 1,113,211 478·9 998,339 114,674 13 167 … 16 2 … … … … …

Kheri 2964·8 903,615 304·7 784,855 113,057 10 505 132 56 … … … … … …

Faizâbâd 1728·1 1,216,959 703·7 1,076,831 138,461 161 1,254 55 171 … 4 22 … … …

Gonda 2879·9 1,459,229 506·6 1,253,514 205,425 … 248 … 42 … … … … … …

Bahrâich 2680·3 1,000,432 373·2 829,701 169,798 48 124 37 721 … … 3 … … …

Sultânpur 1709·9 1,075,851 629·2 958,952 116,846 … 53 … … … … … … … …

Partâbgarh 1438·2 910,895 633·4 819,835 90,838 130 77 … 15 … … … … … …

Bârabanki 1740·2 1,130,906 649·9 943,740 185,938 1,043 147 … 35 … … … … 3 …

Total 107,502·8 46,905,085 436·4 40,380,168 6,346,651 84,601 58,441 22,053 11,343 1,387 342 60 14 3 22

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND ANTHROPOMETRICAL DATA.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Number. Caste. Name. Residence. Occupation. Height of Vertex. Height of Trunk. Span. Left Foot. Left Middle Finger. Right Ear Height. Round Head. Inion to Glabella. Tragus to Tragus. Vertex to Chin. Antero­posterior Diameter. Maximum Transverse Diameter. Minimum Frontal Diameter. Bizygomatic Diameter. Nasal Width. Nasal Height. Facial Angle (Cuvier).

1 Agariya Musai Billi Bari, Mirzapur Iron smelting 1610 800 1690 244 107 57 540 340 340 212 187 135 109 130 41 50 65

2 Baheliya Thakuri Mirzapur Shikari 1700 840 1760 250 113 63 550 330 330 193 185 136 108 134 38 56 73

” Baheliya,, Prayâg Ditto Ditto 1710 860 1800 252 110 57 540 340 340 216 187 135 105 132 36 57 70

3 Bairâgi Baldeo Dâs Niraon, Mirzapur Begging 1630 810 1669 250 110 62 560 360 360 196 190 145 107 134 32 56 64

4 Baiswâr Bagesari Lâl Chatarwar, Mirzapur Agriculture 1670 860 1710 263 114 64 540 330 330 215 192 135 109 133 40 59 67

” Baiswâr,, Deo Nârâyan Ditto Ditto 1650 870 1670 259 117 61 550 350 350 209 192 137 104 130 35 60 71

” Baiswâr,, Mohan Ditto Ditto 1600 810 1640 260 110 62 540 340 340 205 180 137 103 132 33 54 75

” Baiswâr,, Mithai Lâl Ditto Ditto 1590 820 1590 244 111 57 560 350 340 218 194 136 107 124 37 57 70

5 Banya Girdhâri Robertsganj, Mirzapur Grain-dealer 1690 850 1770 249 115 62 550 350 350 214 195 139 108 135 35 61 68

36 Bhotiya … … … Not measured.

7 Bhuiyâr Raghunandan Arjhat, Mirzapur Wood-cutter and ploughman 1610 800 1660 249 109 56 530 330 340 199 179 132 113 128 38 50 70

8 Bind Ramphal Robertsganj, Mirzapur Ploughman 1690 840 1760 268 117 54 560 350 360 213 190 144 110 142 37 56 70

9 Biyâr Bhuar Sajaur, Mirzapur Ditto 1620 820 1700 239 106 57 560 350 340 187 192 140 115 135 35 52 60

” Biyâr,, Raghu Ghuas, Mirzapur Ditto 1520 780 1580 231 103 56 530 330 320 190 184 132 107 123 32 54 58

10 Chamâr Mekhuri Gothani, Mirzapur Shoemaker and ploughman 1630 810 1660 229 108 67 540 330 330 202 185 133 107 137 30 53 60

” Chamâr,, Nathua (child) Ditto Ditto … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

11 Chero Chhandu Birar, Mirzapur Wood-cutter and ploughman 1590 800 1630 246 108 59 540 340 350 200 186 139 114 140 37 54 60

” Chero,, Faujdâr Katauli, Mirzapur Ditto 1650 830 1770 245 114 62 550 350 350 217 188 136 105 132 36 55 63

” Chero,, Muniya (female) Salkhan, Mirzapur Wood-cutter and field-labour 1490 720 1460 237 108 58 560 360 350 214 191 135 107 127 36 49 69

” Chero,, Katwâru (female) Ditto Ditto 1560 770 1560 229 105 66 540 340 330 200 187 132 108 123 35 53 62

” Chero,, Mangaru Ditto Ditto 1600 830 1600 233 104 63 550 340 340 209 183 131 108 128 35 55 66

12 Dhângar Beni Bardiha, Mirzapur Field-labour and basket-making 1710 850 1800 245 115 59 560 360 350 206 195 138 114 140 35 53 66

” Dhângar,, Dukhi Ditto Ditto 1560 800 1540 239 102 65 530 330 340 214 182 135 107 132 40 54 67

” Dhângar,, Har Lâl Ditto Ditto 1700 820 1760 245 110 63 550 350 340 206 189 134 110 135 36 55 68

” Dhângar,, Râj Kali (female) Ditto Ditto 1530 760 1580 230 106 66 530 340 350 206 175 129 102 125 35 54 70

” Dhângar,, Sugiya (female) Ditto Ditto 1400 650 1400 210 96 59 520 320 320 186 181 131 100 122 31 52 69

” Dhângar,, Child Ditto Ditto … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

13 Dharkâr Dipu Robertsganj, Mirzapur Basket-making 1560 790 1610 229 103 54 540 350 340 199 181 143 112 129 36 53 65

” Dharkâr,, Ekadasiya (female) Ditto Ditto 1500 770 1520 224 104 53 530 330 340 190 178 128 100 123 35 52 63

14 Dom Dwârika Ditto Working in bamboo 1710 850 1730 260 115 60 550 340 340 209 139 134 110 137 38 55 68

” Dom,, Bhagwanti (female) Ditto Ditto 1600 810 1620 236 112 58 560 360 360 206 186 139 110 132 37 53 61

15 Ghasiya Baghola Katauli, Mirzapur Ploughman and wood-cutter 1670 850 1620 256 114 65 540 340 350 215 189 131 105 130 42 58 61

16 Gond Buddhu Sanjaur, Mirzapur Ditto 1620 810 1730 249 111 53 530 330 330 205 177 142 111 133 31 58 68

17 Jalâli Amîr Ali Shâh Mirzapur Beggar 1670 860 1680 250 112 60 570 360 360 201 195 134 112 132 35 49 72

18 Kol Machhal Chirahuli, Mirzapur Ploughman 1640 810 1760 251 112 59 540 330 330 213 182 130 105 129 33 49 65

18 Kol,, Bhondu Sahijan, Mirzapur Ploughman 1720 850 1790 264 116 64 560 360 350 221 195 140 103 133 38 51 71

18 Kol,, Bhondu Sahijan, Mirzapur Ploughman 1720 850 1790 264 116 64 560 360 350 221 195 140 103 133 38 51 71

” Kol,, Biranjiya (female) Ditto Ditto 1540 790 1490 232 100 54 550 340 340 190 187 129 106 124 38 57 76

19 Korwa Karîman Bisrâmpur, Mirzapur Ditto 1530 820 1560 245 110 60 540 330 340 209 186 134 110 135 42 51 69

20 Korwa,, Bodhu Ditto Ditto 1640 820 1720 259 118 67 550 350 350 218 190 134 102 132 41 52 64

” Korwa,, Chhotu Ditto Ditto 1580 790 1630 252 117 60 540 340 330 213 185 133 109 130 35 51 62

21 Kumhâr Sarnâm Robertsganj, Mirzapur. Potter 1570 820 1580 242 105 61 530 340 340 202 183 127 99 128 37 54 62

22 Mahâbrâhman. Murlidhar Kusumha, Mirzapur Funeral priest 1620 820 1630 243 107 66 570 360 360 200 194 140 115 136 32 56 68

” Mahâbrâhman.,, Baban Ditto Ditto 1540 790 1540 225 100 56 550 350 350 201 189 134 112 125 31 50 65

23 Mallâh Makholi Kota, Mirzapur Boatman and fisherman. 1570 810 1680 252 114 59 520 330 340 204 175 132 114 130 35 50 67

” Mallâh,, Mangaru Ditto Ditto 1640 860 1680 251 114 60 560 360 350 219 193 133 107 131 35 56 64

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