The Family in India: A Regional View [Reprint 2018 ed.] 9783110886757, 3110886758, 9789027933126, 902793312X

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THE F A M I L Y IN I N D I A - A R E G I O N A L VIEW

S T U D I E S I N THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

edited by C. A.O. van Nieuwenhuijze

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THE FAMILY IN INDIA A REGIONAL VIEW Edited by

GEORGE KURIAN Department of Sociology I Anthropology The University of Calgary

1974 MOUTON THE H A G U E . P A R I S

© Copyright 1974 in The Netherlands. Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 74-82385

Printed in The Netherlands, by Mouton, The Hague

To Suzy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

George Kurian Introduction N. K. Wagle A Study of Kinship Groups in the Ramanaya of Valmiki . . . Joginder Kumar Family Structure in the Hindu Society of Rural India B. Mukherjee The Structural Features of the Tribal Families in India U. R. von Ehrenfels Matrilineal Joint Family Patterns in India R. N. Saksena Marriage and Family in the Polyandrous Khasa Tribe of Jaunsar-Bawar John T. Hitchcock Himalayan Ecology and Family Religious Variation Savitri Shahani Kinship in an Indian Village Victor S. D'Souza Family Types and Industrialization in India K. Ishwaran The Interdependence of Elementary and Extended Family . . . Hemalatha Acharya Some Possible Variations in Family Types in Gujarat T. K. N. Unnithan Contemporary Nayar Family in Kerala D. A. Chekki Modernization and Social Change - The Family and Kin Network in Urban India Murray A. Straus Some Social Differences in Family Patterns in Bombay

9 17 43 75 91

107 119 139 151 163 179 191

205 233

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

B. R. Ghosh Changes in the Size and Composition of the Household Brought about by Urbanization in Delhi Area Mireille Abeille Age at Marriage Historical Obstacles to Needed Reforms . . . George Kurian Comments on the Experiences of Some Couples who Married before the Age of Fourteen in Kerala State Joan P. Mencher and Helen Goldberg Kinship and Marriage Regulations among the Namboodiri Brahmans of Kerala Z. Ahmad Marriage and Family among Muslims of Bihar A. A. Khatri Heterosexual Friendships and Involvement in Mate Selection Process of Primary and Secondary Teacher Trainees in Ahemadabad George Kurian Modern Trends in Mate Selection and Marriage with Special Reference to Kerala Ram P. Srivastava Family Organization and Change among the Overseas Indians with Special Reference to Indian Immigrant Families of British Columbia, Canada

249 263

277

291 317

335

351

369

THE FAMILY IN INDIA A REGIONAL VIEW

INTRODUCTION

Studies about family in India have attracted the attention of many anthropologists as well as sociologists. In view of regional cultural variations, accounts about family varied according to customs and traditions prevalent in a particular region. There have been some scholarly attempts to write a book or only an article about family in India, but the fact that regional features are so important makes it extremely difficult to form generalizations about India as a cultural entity. Therefore, these attempts at general description have never been a great success. Some examples may be cited to emphasize this point. The most comprehensive book about the family in India is that of the late Professor K. M. Kapadia of the University of Bombay, entitled Marriage and Family in India (published by Oxford University Press in 1955, and revised and reprinted twice - the last edition appeared in 1966). There is no doubt that this is a most commendable effort. However, the effort to generalize on family in India obviously incurs a great deal of compromise. Professor Kapadia himself admits in the preface to the second edition of the book: "The author realizes that some of the observations made in this book on the evidence of findings from a small sample are not valid for the large mass of the Indian people." The editor of this volume felt that a book emphasizing some of the regional features of family would be valuable to the greater understanding of family life in different parts of India. In view of the editor's wish to give the maximum emphasis on regional features, papers written by scholars who have worked in a specific region of India were selected. In addition to the regional features, the special characteristics of family forms were also given some emphasis. For example, matrilineal family has adherents in both South and North India, which is emphasized by Professor Ehrenfels' paper "Matrilineal Joint Family Patterns in India". Another interesting feature of the book is the difference in interpretation of similar customs in different parts of the country, according to the

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scholars who have specialized in these areas. These varying views about family life in different regions in themselves strengthen the rationale for bringing out a volume of this nature. Of special interest here are the papers of K. Ishwaran on interdependence of elementary and extended family (with special reference to Karnatak), Savitri Shahani's paper "Kinship in an Indian Village" (Maharashtra), and A. Hemalatha Acharya's paper on variations in family types in Gujarat. The book is also divided in terms of traditional features and process of social change. The view of family from the ancient scriptures is most important considering the long history of India. Some of the interesting ideas gathered from Valmiki Ramayana are ably brought together by N. K. Wagle and deal primarily with the past. Since the book gives particular attention to regional features, an overall view of these is given in a fairly comprehensive manner by Joginder Kumar in his paper "Family Structure in the Hindu Society of Rural India". In addition to special emphasis of regional features, he also discusses the forces destructive to the joint family system and the respective advantages of living in a joint family and in a nuclear family. He deals with families in Madras, Delhi, U. P., and Rajasthan. As a result of his study, the following comment of Joginder Kumar is relevant with regard to regional variations: Our analysis brings out an important difference between the northern and the southern part of India. There is considerable evidence... that in North India, the general pattern of the establishment of a nuclear family is the result of the breakage of existing joint families. In contrast to this, in the southern part of India, the tradition appears to be the establishment of a separate home, shortly after marriage.

The attention of most scholars is directed to the traditional joint family in Hindu society. However, it is imperative to consider an important group, who do not strictly fall into the Hindu social structure - the tribal families in India. There are over 29 million tribal people, according to the 1961 census, divided into 314 tribes. As far as descent groups are concerned, they are patrilineal, matrilineal, and bilateral. Tribal families are found in small groups all over India. In his paper, B. Mukherjee discusses their structural features in some detail. With regard to the study of family in India, much attention was directed towards the study of matrilineal family patterns in view of the unique features. Families of Nayar of Kerala and Khasi of Assam are of special interest to scholars. Therefore, U. R. von Ehrenfels discusses the matrilineal joint families in his paper, and gives special emphasis to the impact of modernization on them.

INTRODUCTION

11

Scholars interested in the study of family in India have also been interested in the isolated cases of polyandry. Therefore, it is of special interest to read the unique contribution of R. N. Saksena, dealing with marriage and family in the polyandrous Khasa tribe of Jaunsar-Bawar in Uttar Pradesh. This study was made in an area familiar to him because of twenty-five years' experience in that region. Specifically in terms of individual studies in different regions, the interpretation, pace, and direction of change are discussed by the respective authors from their own experiences in different areas. Without necessarily referring to the process of modernization, one should examine the influence of traditional upper castes on lower castes; specifically the Brahmin influence. This aspect is well brought out in the paper of John T. Hitchcock, dealing with a part of Nepal bordering India and heavily influenced by Hindu traditions. With regard to the traditional kinship relations, Savitri Shahani makes a comparison of the various traditions between Maratha peasants and Maratha Sirdars in the State of Maharashtra. The relatively static scene of rural India is changing as a result of forces of modernization. Family is undergoing change all over India. Industrialization is also having its effect, not only on urban areas, but in rural areas which are increasingly influenced by rapidly developing communications. This factor is emphasized by Victor S. D'Souza in his paper on family types and industrialization in India. Moving towards studies dealing with the process of change, K. Ishwaran, after discussing the views of well-known scholars about the structure of family in India, cites examples from Shivapur and Dharwar in the Karnatak in his paper. He concludes that, ... one must not lose sight of the fact that even though nuclear families are on the increase, perhaps because of the greater geographical and social mobility that is found in a society being modernized, these nuclear families cannot live in isolation without active cooperation and contacts with extended kin.

In her paper about family in Gujarat, Hemalatha Acharya, after examining the process of change in Gujarat, concludes that the change of structure does not mean disintegration. It is true, family is changing, because roles in the family are changing. These do engender tensions, but family is not disintegrating. On the contrary it is moving equilibrium that characterizes family. It is advisable to view family types as a continuum, having at one end the 'ideal type' nuclear family and at the other extreme end - the 'ideal type' joint family. In between, variations of both the types occur according to the time and place of the particular family type and the field of experience of the members of such family.

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In view of the interest shown by scholars all over the world in the study of the Nayar family of Kerala with its matrilineal traditions, most of the studies done by anthropologists emphasized the traditional patterns with only scanty attention paid to social change. Matrilineal families are giving way to non-unilineal types. Dr. Unnithan, himself a Nayar, has written a critical paper on the inadequacies of anthropological studies of Nayars. After commenting on some of them, he concludes that "the institution of Nayar families stand today radically altered. It retains only some of the very superficial aspects of the matrilineal type of family system." The increasing rate of urbanization has its effect on the structure of family. Joint family does not possess the same importance in urban areas, as compared to its rural counterpart. Even though family is changing, kinship ties are maintained. D. A. Chekki, in his interesting study of the suburbs of Dharwar city in Karnatak, has come to the conclusion that ... this complex process of change is remarkable in that there appears to be no manifest conflict between the young and the old, who stand for change and continuity respectively. This empirical research suggests that in an Indian city, kinship in the main, far from being atrophied, has been resilient. The family without being isolated and atomized is organically fused with the extended kin network and thereby the extra-familial kin relationships do not tend to be attenuated. While one might speak about the impact of social change on family in India, so far very little attention has been given to the effect of those changes on different social classes. Hemalatha Acharya's paper on Gujarat deals with this aspect to some extent. The paper of Murray A. Straus gives a clear analysis of the social class differences in family patterns in Bombay. He concludes after a study of "working class" (manual workers) and "middle class" (non-manual workers) that, ... (1) the two groups differ sharply in a variety of indicators of socio-economic status such as education of the husband and wife, caste, and level of living index. (2) Working class families more frequently depart from the cultural norms of family and household structure in having a slightly larger proportion of incomplete nuclear units and a much larger proportion of non-normative types of joint households. (3) Middle class families are characterized by a greater sharing of decision power between husband and wife. (4) Middle class families have a somewhat higher score on measures of interpersonal support or warmth. (5) Conflict between husband and wife and between parents and children is considerably greater among working class than among the middle class. Urbanization affects the size and composition of the household. Since most of India is primarily rural it is of interest to note the impact of

INTRODUCTION

13

urbanization on families living in rural areas close to large cities. Cities like Bombay and Delhi are expanding in geographical area as a result of rapid rise in population. Therefore, areas which were primarily rural with few urban characteristics have merged into cities. This process of physical integration has significant effects on the people. The study of the Delhi area by B. R. Ghosh, entitled "Changes in the Size and Composition of the Household Brought About by Urbanization", analyzes the changes in the family as a result of inroads of urban influence. According to his study there is an increase from zero to 60.9 percent within the last fifty-five years of the incidence of nuclear type of household. Thus we find that as a community changes from rural to urban in this particular case without any change of site, there does take place a drastic change in the family organization.... In terms of the composition, the trend is definitely towards nuclearization, although today only a minority are nuclear. Moving specifically to marriage, there are a number of papers dealing with various aspects of marriage, such as age at marriage, child marriage, mate selection, etc. With regard to age at marriage, child marriages have been a fairly well established custom throughout India. Mireille Abeille has made a study of the historical perspectives relating to child marriages. She has examined the ancient texts to trace the development of this custom, which has not been much to the advantage of women. The religious rationale for the custom probably explains its hold till modern times. She has noted the custom's survival in certain parts of south India. Mireille Abeille's observation with regard to the custom's survival in Kerala State in south India prompted the editor of this volume to examine the validity of the claim. Therefore, an exploratory study was made in 1968. The findings of this enquiry are incorporated in the paper "Comments on the experiences of some couples who married before the age of fourteen in Kerala State". This study is of special significance in view of the prevalence of the child marriage custom among some Christians of Kerala. One might be able to explain the custom's survival among Hindus, but it is curious to find it among Christians. It only goes to prove that as far as their social customs are concerned, Christians have continued to follow local Hindu traditions. Two interesting findings were the relatively small number of children in the marriages and the near unanimity of satisfaction of the couples involved with their experiences in child marriage. The custom has stopped since the end of World War II, due to rapid development of modern education and the greater effectiveness of the imposition of the law preventing child marriages in Kerala.

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The Namboodiri Brahmans of Kerala have marriage customs which are different from other caste groups like Nayars. Joan Mencher and Helen Goldberg, in their paper on kinship and marriage regulation among the Namboodiri, have commented on the special features of their customs, namely (1) an extreme emphasis on patrilineality and primogeniture; (2) large dowries with a high incidence of exchange marriages ; (3) an absence of distinct affinal terms for male speakers; (4) the total amalgamation of the female with her husband, so that she used the same terms for his relatives as he did; (5) the prohibition of cross-cousin marriage; (6) the absence of positive marriage rules; (7) a duality of organization (i.e. apart from the internal marriage and kinship system, Namboodiri social structure included a symbiotic relationship with matrilineal families following a different set of rules, so that a man could even form an alliance with the daughter of his own father - his half sister through a matrilineal woman). This study also tried to understand the close contact between Namboodiri and Nayars, which helps to make the study of social structure of Kerala more intelligible to the reader. In specifically dealing with marriage customs in India it is essential to speak about Muslims, who form ten percent of the population in the Republic of India. Muslim Influence in India dates back to the eleventh century A.D. Till the partition of India, Muslims formed nearly one third of the population; thus their cultural influence has had a lasting impact in India. The different religious background of the Muslims has provided them with social customs unique to themselves. Therefore, the paper by Zeyauddin Ahmad about marriage and family among the Muslims of Bihar is worthy of special attention. After tracing the rules with regard to marriage according to Koranic law, he discusses the customs prevailing in present-day Bihar. Some of his comments about Muslim family organization in India emphasize the special Indian characteristics: So far as the family organization is concerned, it appears to be very akin to that of the Hindus. It is patriarchal, patrilocal and patrilineal. Kinship system among the Muslims is basically Indian though modified by Islamic law and usages.... Polygamy is now very rarely practised except in Bengal and parts of Bihar (Purneas), where it is still in vogue. One of the reasons is that it means a big financial liability and most of the people simply cannot afford it. Another reason is that the Hindus look at it critically, and most of the Muslims from indigenous population do not favour it much.... At present there are three forces which are at work and bringing about changes in different degrees in the social life of the Muslims in general and their family life in particular. These forces may be termed as Islamisation, Hinduisation, and Westernization.

INTRODUCTION

15

Most marriages in India are arranged by parents in cooperation with close relatives. However, there are some changes in the mate-selection patterns in urban areas. There is evidence of an increasing desire for individual expressions in mate selections. A. A. Khatri's paper, "Heterosexual Friendships and Involvement in Mate Selection Process of Primary and Secondary Teacher Trainees in Ahmedabad", covering his study in Ahmedabad and in Gujarat, shows that "one of the significant findings is more autonomy in personal mobility and more parental tolerance of heterosexual relation in case of secondary school students". He also noted that there is ... increasing involvement of respondents in decision making about selection of the mate. This is found in the fact that many respondents desire that their heterosexual relationship should result in marriage.... We may approach the reported data for furthering our understanding of social change that has taken place in the area of background factors in mate selection. We may postulate ideal type of response patterns - one traditional and one modern. We may then see to what extent results deviate from either of the postulated response patterns and seek understanding of direction of social change. Since arranged marriages are an established custom, with the increasing opportunities for individual selection approved by the parents, it is valuable to study the adjustment process in marriage. For those in western society who are used to free choice in marriage the process of adjustment in Indian marriages is important. The present author, in a study made in 1968 in Kerala State, tried to probe some of these questions. In a paper specifically dealing with mate selection and adjustment, the editior discusses the adjustment process. In arranged marriage the parents and relatives give great attention to the selection of the best possible spouses for their youngsters. The young men and women expect only a minimum out of their marriages, but most of them find that they get more than the minimum, while in love marriages there is a high expectation which may, or may not, be realized. Studies have shown that too high expectations have created adjustment problems. In India, the sacramental nature of marriage is still important. Also if there are problems, parents and relatives take an active role in resolving difficulties. This kind of involvement of close kin is not resented by the spouses having marriage problems, since it is considered the responsibility of close kin who arranged the marriages to see that their problems are also given attention. The last paper in this volume is a study made among Indian immigrant families in British Columbia by Ram P. Srivastava. He gives interesting insights into the problems faced by families with strong traditions trying

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to adjust in western society. The difficulty experienced by Canadian born youngsters in understanding the traditional views of their parents is also of interest to all students of social change. The problems faced by these urban-based families are to some extent similar to problems faced by families living in large metropolises in India. It is the hope of the present editor that this volume will fill a major gap with regard to study of family in India. The overall emphasis on regional studies and social change might provide the reader with some understanding of the variations existing in different parts of India.

N. K. WAGLE

A STUDY OF KINSHIP GROUPS IN THE RAMAYANA OF VALMlKI

INTRODUCTION

Our aim is not to examine a system of kinship in the Ramayana; any complete study of the Ramayana kinship system would involve analysis of interpersonal relationships comprising normative and actual behavior found among the kin. But this is beyond the scope of the present paper. Besides, such a study of relationships as found, for instance, between husband and wife, father-mother and son and daughter, brother and brother, sister and sister, has been dealt with (although inadequately) in various articles and monographs by scholars who generally speaking lacked anthropological perspectives.1 However, until now there has been no attempt to study kinship groups found in the Ramayana. Such a study has its limitations. Unlike modern sociological field observations, we have to rely on an ancient literary document. Valmlki, the author of the Ramayana, knew the forms of kinship groups and did not state them in any detail. Alternatively, he did not intend to describe the kinship groups, but only gave a few indications of the details in passing. Evidently Valmlki was talking to his own contemporary audience, who, in turn, were conversant with Valmlki's frame of reference. Indeed, it is no easy task to ascertain the kinship groups that may be found in the text, since they are not directly mentioned but must be inferred. There are two ways of dealing with this problem. We shall, first, examine a number of key Sanskrit terms and formalizations found in the Ramayana and ascribe to each of them some specific meaning. Undoubtedly we shall find in the understanding of these connotations and denotations a reliable picture of the grouping system. Second, we shall take the conceptual definition of kinship groups most likely found in the Ramayana society (such as household group, family) and find out how far they can be inferred from the data available from the text. The problems concerning the Ramayana chronology, authorship, and

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textual recensions are many. I shall not attempt to elucidate them as they have no direct bearing on the subject of kinship groups. I have used the Southern recension of the Ramayana text, held by many scholars as being more faithful to the original version ofValmikithan, say, the northern version. The Southern recension has seven karidas or chapters; the Ayodhya, Aranya, Kiskindha Sundar, and Yuddha kandas used in this paper (albeit with many interpolations and spurious textual passages) are recognized to be more homogeneous than the Bala and Uttara kandas which are decidedly later additions.2 In order to maintain homogeneity in the kinship data, I have not used the Bala and Uttara. Although there are several controversial opinions regarding the composition date, cir. 100-200 A.D. is generally judged by scholars to be reasonable.3 However, the main kernel of the story in a ballad form may be traced much earlier, perhaps to 300 B.C or so. This study is intended to be descriptive. As far as possible, I have not used data from such works as Mahabharata, Manu, etc. to correlate or confirm observations deduced from the Ramayana. My purpose is simply to examine the structure of kinship groups as found in the Ramayana which can be placed more or less within the framework of a period (cir. 100-200 A.D.), and then proceed to understand the functioning of that structure.

HOUSEHOLD GROUP

We should expect to find that within this group a man's primary responsibility is to maintain his wife and child. Not only must he support them but also feel concern for their welfare. We find Rama asking the people of his city about their sons (putra), wives (dara), household fire, and servants.4 It is observed that a man cannot ignore his sons, wives etc. and eat his food alone.5 Rama tries to console the monkeys who were mourning their dead leader by saying that the attachment one cultivates in this world for sons, wives, and property is only temporary and bound to fall apart. 6 In a noble gesture, raksasa Prahasta manifests his willingness to give up for the sake of his king Ravana even his sons, wives, and his life, evidently a great personal sacrifice.7 In contrast, Ravana's brother, Bibhisana, abandons his sons and wife and seeks refuge in Rama's camp.8 Hanumana advises Ravana not to be responsible for the destruction of his sons and wives.9 Monkeys, sent by their king Sugrlva to locate Slta, are scared when unable to do so. In despair they say "We should give up

KINSHIP GROUPS IN THE RAMAYANA OF VALMIKI

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hopes for sons and wives, possessions and homes, and starve ourselves to death." 10 Hanumana imagines a chain of unhappy events if he were to be unsuccessful in finding Slta. He observes, "Sugrlva will die.... Monkeys with their sons, wives and associates, in despair, on account of their master's death will hurl themselves from the height of the rocks into the abysses and chasms." 11 Hanumana, sensing Angada's frustrations and fearing lest Angada might think of a rebellion against Sugrlva, warns him that if he should think of such a plan then he is bound to lead a miserable existence. Hanumana continues, "The moment you settle in this cave, the monkeys, remembering their sons and wives, sad and pining for domestic happiness, will desert you. Deprived of their sons and wives the monkeys shall not obey you." 12 Angada gives an encouraging speech to the monkey leaders, saying, "What person shall leap over the ocean.... By whose favor shall we be able to go from this place and join our wives, sons and our homes?" 13 Ideally, a person within a household must serve, obey, and respect his father-mother (pita-mata). A person has to serve his parents; 14 they are his superiors.15 One is considered guilty if (he) never served the patrilineal ancestors, father-mother, and {deities) devatas.16 A son who supports his blind parents is accidentally shot and killed by Dasaratha, Rama's father. Dasaratha, for this deed, incurs the terrible wrath of the son's parents.17 Santapi, the old vulture king, maintains his parents regularly by giving them food. 18 Ravana derides Rama by pointing out that the latter gave up his parents on account of a mere woman's word. 19 Jabali, however, cynically comments that father-mother, household, property are temporary abodes for men, hence the wise should not cultivate attachment to them. 20 A wife, too, has to share her husband's respectful attitude towards her parents-in-law. Rama for instance, advises Slta to observe fasting and religious vows. "Rising in the morning", Rama says, "Slta should worship devatas and then salute her father-in-law. She should also pay respect to Kausalya (Rama's mother) and also salute his other mothers." 21 That a wife is dependent on her husband more than on anyone else in the household is clear from the following two instances. In the first, Slta says to Rama that father-mother, brother, sons, and daughters-in-law, all of them are subject to their own actions. It is the wife alone who shares the fortune (bhagya) of her husband. 22 In the second instance it is stated in the text that neither father-mother, sons, oneself, and woman friends, support a woman in this life and hereafter. It is the husband who is her only support. 23 That the slaves (dasa) and servants (bhrtya) formed an integral part of the household group is indicated from the following instances. Rama

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asks the people of his city about their sons, wives, household fire, servants, their pupils, and their gana (guilds).24 In another instance, it is stated that a man cannot ignore his sons, wives, slaves, and servants and eat good food alone.25 In point of fact, it is insisted that in order to avoid accumulation of guilt a person should share his food with servants and slaves.26 Servants should be maintained and given proper wages once the work is completed.27 In one of her better moods, Kaikeyl praises Rama's nomination as heir apparent to the throne of Ayodhya and says that Rama, following his father's footsteps, is bound to support his brothers and servants.28 Kausalya is in tears because her son Rama subsists on eating the fruit of the jungle and gathering wild grain while even his servants and slaves live on well cooked food. 29 Rama actually distributes wealth to many persons in his household who depend on him for their maintenance (opajivinam). And when Rama leaves Ayodhya, they all cry.30 The term generally used for the household group is grha. Kausalya tries to persuade Rama that he should stay put in Ayodhya and disregard his father's wishes. To illustrate her point, she gives an example of the sage Kasyapa who reached heaven by dwelling in his own grha and serving his mother continually.31 Slta says that in her father's grha she had heard from the brahmanas that she would live in the forest. 32 In another instance, Slta indicates her determination to go with Rama to the forest and live with him there, all the time taking the forest to be her father's grha.33 Manthara says to Kaikeyl, "Having sent Bharata to the grha of your bandhus, having got rid of the thorn so to say, Dasaratha is making Rama the king of Ayodhya." 34 It is unbecoming of a person, who, while living in his grha full of sons, wives, slaves, servants, eats good food alone, ignoring the inmates of the grha while doing so. 35 When Rama leaves for the forest the text remarks, "In every grha [grhe, grhe] women became sad and intimidated their husbands, saying "What is the use of this grha, sons, and wealth to the one who can not see Rama. Let us go to the forest with Rama." 36 The brahmanas of Ayodhya also indicate their love for Rama and proclaim that they have made up their minds to follow Rama with Vedic knowledge in their hearts and with their wives in their grhas.37 In yet another instance, on the eve of Rama's departure from Ayodhya, the people of that city give vent to their feelings, saying, "Accompanied by our wives and bandhavas we will follow Rama. Discarding our parks, fields, and grhas, making Rama's happiness our own we will follow him. Let Kaikeyl possess our deserted houses (vesmani)."3S It is significant to observe in this example that there is a clear

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distinction made between dwellings (vesma) and the households (grha). Here are some more examples to illustrate the use of the term grha as the household group. Rama is unwilling to take back Slta after her rescue from Ravana's captivity, saying that he could not possibly take her back since she is "a woman who has lived in the grha of another". 3 9 The monkeys who were sent on an errand to locate Sita's whereabouts, not being able to accomplish their objectives, fear the anger of their king Sugrlva. In despair they feel that they should give up hopes for their sons, wives, wealth, and grha and starve themselves to death. 40 Angada, the leader of the monkeys is more worried than the others; he fears that Sugrlva will be particularly stern on him and kill him. He then makes a resolution to observe a fast unto death and asks other monkeys to go to their grhas.41 The solidarity of the household group is indicated by references to the domestic gods residing in each household. In the first instance, the leading citizens of Ayodha were summoned by Dasaratha to inform them of Rama's impending coronation. After listening to the news which would benefit them, the citizens go to their grhas and offer benediction to their gods. 42 Dasaratha, while giving a boon to Kaikeyl calls all the living creatures of the worlds to bear witness to the act. Among those who are invoked are the "grhadevatas [gods of the grhas] residing in the grhas".43 In the context of kinship, more than one term is used to denote the household group. One such term is kula. In the Yuddha kanda it is observed that when Rama kills innumerable raksasas, their widows, their sons, and their bandhavas, overwhelmed with affliction begin to lament for their dead, and this wailing is heard in every kula (kule, kule).44 It is further stated that from every kula in Lanka, the piercing cries emitted by the female raksasis and their heart-rending lamentation reaches Ravana's ears, making him very angry. 45 The royal chaplain Vasistha, on his way to deliver a message to Rama, slowly proceeds to the king's kula.*6 When a charioteer reaches the king's highway, he could see Rama's kula (royal household) full of wealth. 47 Sumitra, Rama's charioteer has a dilemma: "How can I tell Kausalya, Rama's mother", he says, "that I came alone leaving Rama in the forest. Should I tell her that I have left Rama in his mother's brothers kula [matula kula]T,4S Rama asks Kaikeyl to fetch Bharata from her brother's kula.49 Fearful of raksas , anger, the forest hermits plan to leave the forest of Dandaka. The kulapati, the head of the kula, it is stated in the text, having discussed his fear with Rama, goes with his kula,50

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FAMILY

In our presentation of the data concerning the household group, we can see that father, mother, son, wife, son's wife, slaves, and dependent servants form the inner core. We now turn to an examination of family. The most common term denoting family is kula. The family as group, it need be stressed, is a part of the kinship structure and hence bears relation to other parts. That the term kula denotes the family is apparent from many passages in the text. Thus Marici advises Ravana not to touch Sita. He warns Ravana, saying, "There is no greater papa [guilt] than consorting with another's wife. You have thousands of consorts you can enjoy. Be happy with your kula, preserve your kula, pride, honor, fortune, kingdom and your life." 51 Bibhisana's speech dissuading Ravana from fighting Rama upsets Indrajita and he rebukes Bibhlsana: "What do these meaningless words frought with fear signify", says Indrajita. "No other, even were the issue another kula than our own, would speak thus or even conceive such thoughts. In this kula only in Bibhlsana the younger brother of my father, the qualities of valor, endurance, steadfastness... are lacking." 52 Sita contemplates her future and states: "Ravana in his perversity seeks to seduce me but is not conversant with my nature, nor with my kula.... I shall never submit to Ravana." 53 Rama says, "Ravana has borne away my wife to his own destruction. He has neither regard for morality, nor good conduct, nor kula. Because of this disregard he has committed his heinous deed." 54 Sita asks Ravana (who had assumed that garb of a brahmana mendicant) to reveal his identity, his gotra and kula.55 It is said in the text that, seeing the frightened Sita, Ravana tells her his kula,56 Rama says to Laksmana that kings have two sworn enemies, those belonging to their kula and those who live near their desa (country).57 Rama also says that the relatives are not of a perverse nature and honor those of their kula, but for royalty even a virtuous relative is suspect.58 Rama tells Sita that she should on no account be unpleasant to Bharata for he is king of "our desa as well as of our kula",59 Bharata, leaving all his courtiers behind, approaches the sage Bharadvaja who asks him about his kula, then about his army, treasury, allies etc.60 Taking hold of a branch of the tree she stands under, Sita becomes absorbed in the thought of Rama and her own kula.61 The blind parents of the boy shot and killed accidentally by Dasaratha, perform the funeral rites for their son. While offering water oblation to the dead they say about their son, "you could never reach the wrong way as you belong to our kula".62

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One's family code must be honored. Bharata pleads with Rama: "Taking kuladharma [family code] into account, it is required of you to concede to my mother's and my requests for I cannot alone protect this vast kingdom." 63 Vasistha, illustrating Rama's royal genealogy states that in the kula of Ikswakus the eldest son becomes raja. "When the elder son is living, the younger one cannot be consecrated. You should not, therefore, discontinue this kuladharma of the Raghavas." 64 Bharata says to Vasistha, "In our kula the eldest son alone is fit to perform the task of governing." 65 The term kula in the above example quite obviously refers to the lineage group. There are yet more examples that establish the importance of kula as the kinship group. Bharata in anger abuses his mother Kaikeyl: "You have been guilty of committing a murder because you are destroying the kula [he holds her responsible for his father's death]. You will be born in hell and not the same loka [world] as my father's.... you spoiler of the kula [kulahusnim], you are not a true daughter of your father. Indeed, you are a raksasi born in his kula to destroy it." 66 Khara raksasa derides Rama, saying, "What sort of kula does a warrior belong, who, on the battlefield, his death imminent, sings his own praises." 67 Angada in anger talks about his father's brother Sugriva who had killed his father, saying that no respectable person belonging to his kula can trust him.68 Hanumana advises Sugriva that as Sugriva has obtained his kingdom, fame and also the vast riches of his kula he must now perform his duties towards his friends.69 The term kulaputra has the connotation of being a junior member of groups, based on the extended family or otherwise. The term also ascribes status to a person. Hanumana describes Ravana's strength to Rama, "Northern gate of Lanka is manned by a million men who are mounted on chariots or who ride on horses. They are the sons of distinguished kulas (kulaputras)."70 Rama asks Bharata about his methods of ruling the kingdom: "Are the distinguished kulaputras attached to you and for your cause ready to die for you?" 71 The term kulapati which refers to the head of the family, is rarely mentioned in the Ramayana. Rama soon finds out that his presence in the hermitage in Citrakuta is causing concern among its inmates, and that the sages were about to leave the hermitage to settle elsewhere. Apprehensive of their actions Rama goes to the kulapati (head of the family, and in this context head of the establishment) and asks him the reason for the sages' behavior. The kulapati replies that the sages were troubled by Khara raksasa as the latter could not bear the presence of Rama among them. So with the fear that the raksasas

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might kill them, the sages are planning to leave the place. The text adds: "The kulapati saying this goes away with his kula,"72 At this juncture let me point out an important difference existing between the concepts of 'family' and 'household', although there does not seem to be hard and fast division in day-to-day affairs. In the 'family' there seems to be a greater emphasis on the recognition of kinship ties. The members of the household group, too, consist of primary and affinal relatives (i.e. son's wife), but as was seen other persons such as slaves and servants are also present. The patrilineal nature of kula is brought out clearly in the following instances. Rama states that in his kula (here used in the sense of a lineage group), the sons of Sagara, one of his memorable ancestors from his father's side, met with total destruction while excavating the earth at the command of their fathers. Similarly, Rama, the son of Jagadagni, at his father's behest decapitated his mother with an axe. Rama adds at this juncture, "I am not the only one who is obeying father's orders; those whom I mentioned have also done so. By obeying father's commands, one never becomes degraded." 73 The Ramayana passage states that the father is the one who begets a person.74 Obeying a father's command one never becomes low.75 At one juncture, Rama melodramatically asserts his abiding and lasting love for his father: "How can a man disregard one who is indeed a divinity [daivata]. I shall not live a single moment without listening to the commands of my father [pitr vacana]. If my father commands I shall throw myself into the fire, I can drink poison or be ready to drown myself in the ocean." 76 In yet another instance, Rama states: "There is no virtue greater than the serving of the father and carrying out his orders. Bharata may govern the rajya [kingdom] and look after our father, for this is the virtue eternal."77 Maka rakasasa encounters Rama and Laksamana in the battle and says to Rama, "Let us fight a duel, I shall kill you with my powerful arrow. Remembering that you killed my father my anger increases constantly."78 Indrajlta, the son of Ravana, binds both Rama and Laksamana "for the sake of my father who is prey to anxiety and fear". 79 There is a great deal of evidence for patrilineal ancestor worship. Descent is patrilineal, and also inheritance. Rama says that gods and pitrs (ancestors from father's side) do not accept offering from one who utters lies.80 Rama asserts that by leading a pure life in the forest he will fulfill his vow by worshipping the gods and pitrs.81 One is considered mortally guilty if one never served pitrs, parents, and the devatas.82 One has to offer ripened grains in winter to the pitrs and gods, and also the

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special agrahayana rite summoning the pitrs. Bharata says to Rama that any object given by a loving son to a dead father reaches the dead in pitrloka (place of pitrs).84 In the absence of Ravana's sons (who had all perished in the battle with Rama) Ravana's brother BibhTsana offers pitr medha (a sacrifice to appease the pitrs) on Ravanas's funeral occasion. 85 In respect to inheritance this patrilineal nature is doubly emphasized in the text. Thus Jatayu, the vulture king, says to Ravana that he is sixty thousand years old and rules over the rajya of his pitrpaitamaha (patrilineal ancestors). 88 The monkey king Vali administers his rajya which belongs to his pitrpaitamaha,87 Kaikeyl thinks that after Rama's rule of a hundred years, Bharata will inherit the kingdom bequeathed by his pitrpaitamaha,88 The keeper of the garden belonging to Sugriva complains to him about its destruction at the hands of Angada and his followers: "This garden enjoyed by his [Sugrlva's] pitrpaitamaha is off limits to the gods." 89 Rama states that the ways followed by his pitrpaitamaha must be continually enforced. 90 Rama justifies his killing of Vali (whom he shoots in the back) by saying that Vali should not blame him for his actions, for he is merely following the dharma (code) of his pitrpaitamaha.91

BANDHU

We shall now examine the term bandhu in the various contexts in which it occurs in the Ràmàyana. The term bandhu has not been precisely defined in the text, but there are many strong indications suggesting its affinity with patrilineally based kinship groups. The meaning of this contention will be clear as we describe the various roles as a kinship group the bandhu are called upon to perform. It is the prime concern of the bandhus to look after the well-being of their kin, to help them in the event of need. There is a strong sense of obligation to help, even at the risk of one's own life. Thus Ràvana is advised by Marlci that he should not seek enmity with Ràma and should leave him alone. Incidentally, Ràvana had come to Marici seeking his help to kidnap Sltà. Marîci eventually gave him help and in the process sacrificed his own life. Marici says to Ràvana, "I have uttered these words for the good of your bandhus [bandhu hitârthina] ; if you disregard them you and your bandhavas will assuredly perish in combat with Ràma." 9 2 Kumbhakarna advises Ràvna to desist from his intentions of fighting Ràma and to honorably return Sltà to Rama. At this counsel Ràvana

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loses his temper and reprimands Kumbhakarna to act as a suhrit (intimate friend) and a bandhu. "He is a suhrit, who rescues one in distress; a bandhu, he, who helps one who has failed in observing the right path." 93 Kumbhakarna in the end assures Ravana that he will slay Rama, but justifies his earlier advice to Ravana: "I will slay him who is the cause of your distress, but, in any circumstance, I had of necessity to speak to you for your own good, because of brotherly affection for you [bhratrsneha]. It is on account of that I will show myself to be a bandhu with affection [snehana bandhuna] and in combat, annihilate the enemy under your very eyes."94 Kumbhakarna perishes in his battle with Rama. Vali, it is recorded in the text, kills the demon Mayavi, his enemy, with all his bandhus?5 Bharata says that his eldest brother Rama has always been the refuge of his bandhus,96 Hanumana praises Dasaratha in the presence of Ravana, 97 "King Dasaratha, the master of the chariots, elephants, and horses, in splendor equal to Indra was like the father and bandhu of all /okas,"98 Such is the nature of dependence on the bandhus that their loss is a dreaded calamity. Ravana's wife Mandodari sadly reflects on her misfortunes, saying, "When Laksmana killed Indrajita in battle I was struck down but indeed Rama has completely destroyed me. I am without the bandhujana [cluster of bandhus] and my husband, and I have lost all the pleasures to which I am entitled."99 Kubhakarna says to Ravana, "Today all the rakasasas of Lanka whose bandhavas have perished [nihita bandhavaha] will witness the death of Rama. By striking down the foe in the battle, I shall dry the tears of those who are overcome with sorrow and rendered desolate by the loss of their bandhus [svabandhu vadhocinam]."100 Seeing Laksmana wounded in the battle, Rama weeps for him, "Although you have many bandhujana, ever following me you have come to this sorry plight as a result of my reprehensible conduct." 101 Sita, deprived of her bandhujana, felt herself crushed under the weight of despair.102 In another instance it is said that Sita, deprived of all comfort and pleasure, far from her bandhujana, preserves her life in the hope of seeing Rama and being united with him. 103 Hanumana warns Angada not to think of rebelling against Sugriva. He reminds him that Laksmana will destroy him and allies. Hanumana further adds that Angada will be forsaken by his bandhus (who would normally look after his welfare) and when that happens Angada will be afraid even at the sight of quivering blades of grass.104 That the bandhus have an affection as well as an extra obligation toward their kin is seen through the following examples. Sugriva commands

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his monkey chiefs to go and search for Sita to the four corners of the world, and he tempts them with the promise of personal rewards. He says: "He [one who is able to find Sita] shall pass his days in happiness enjoying riches like mine.... He shall be dearer to me than life itself. Although he might commit innumerable wrongs, still should he become my bandhu,"105 Inhaling the delicious smell of cooking and fragrant wines coming from Ravana's palace Hanumana was thrilled. According to the text, he inhaled the fragrance as coming from a close and intimate bandhu.106 Supposedly, Hanumana could expect such a sumptuous meal at his near bandhus. In another instance Hanumana, on his way to Lanka, sprang into the air, and Sala and other trees uprooted by the force of his motion, followed in his wake "like bandhavas accompanying their bandhus setting out on a journey to a distant place". 107 Bharata asks Guha to ferry his army across to the other bank. Guha asks his jnatis (extended kin groups) to prepare 500 boats for this purpose. It is further stated in the text that while ferrying them across Nisada bandhus gave demonstrations of their skills at boat rowing. 108 Rama says of wounded Laksmana that, ever affectionate to his bandhujana, he was devoted to him. 109 Ravana fatally wounds Jatayu, the vulture king. Seeing Jatayu at the door of death, bathed in blood on the ground, Sita, exceedingly distressed, darted towards him, as to one of her own bandhus.110 However the sage Jabali cynically remarks, "Who is whose bandhul What is the use of having a relationship with one another? Where will this contact lead? A jantu [germ of life], coming into being, is then destroyed." 111 It is significant that the advice of the bandhus is eagerly sought for and their approval solicited. Tara tells Hanumana that she will not confer the rajya to her son Angada. In this respect, she says to Hanumana, "The father is the son's best bandhu, and not his mother." 112 Rama feels that he must abide by his father's dictum. He says to Bharata, "My father's mandate {sasana) is worthy of being honored by you, because he is our bandhu and our father." 1 1 3 Bharata asks his mother Kaikeyl to convey the news of his arrival to Rama without delay, "for Rama is his brother, father, and bandhu",114 Bibhisana advises Ravana that Sita should be given back to Rama and pleads with him to do so. 115 In the end he says, "I adjure you by the bandhutva [ties of bandhuhood] that unites us to follow my counsel which is good for you and which indeed is the real one. For if you do otherwise Lanka with all her rakasasas will perish. Be pacified and give back Sita to Rama so that we may continue to live with our sons, and bandhavas.''''116 On the other

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hand, seeing his brother Laksmana, Rama gives vent to his feelings: "Having gone with him to the forest, how can I return without him? Better were it to die than suffer the censure of my bandhus."U7 For better or worse the bandhus share the fate of their kin. Sugrlva sends a message to Ravana saying that he will kill him with his sons, his bandhus, his jiiatis, and the whole of Lanka. 118 Jatayu tells Ravana the perils of abducting Sita: "Like thirsty men drinking water, you are swallowing poison with your friends, bandhus, ministers, and army." 1 1 9

BANDHAVAS

The term bandhava, too, like the term bandhu is not defined in the text. We saw earlier that the bandhus in all probability refer to the agnates. We suggest that the bandhava group alludes to the kin from both the father's and the mother's side. Bandhavas, then, are cognates. The obligation to help each other seems to have been taken as a matter of right by the bandhavas. Thus Ravana urges Kumbhakarna to help him fight Rama and says to him, "You bandhavapriya [one who is devoted to your bandhavas], by your personal prowess scatter these hostile forces." 120 And when Kumbhakarna dies Ravana laments his death. "Where are you going deserting me", says Ravana, "without having extracted that thorn from side and from the side of my bandhavas?" 121 Rama angrily sends a message to Ravana, saying, "That force on which you did rely taking Sita away from me, employ freely with the aid of your army and bandhavas."122 Urpanakha challenges her brother Khara to avenge her disgrace at the hands of Rama and Laksmana, saying, "Do you leave Janasthana in all haste with your bandhavas? Do you return victor in the struggle?" 123 The unity of purpose which the bandhavas display is noteworthy. The bandhavas, in fact, have stakes in the fortunes and misfortunes of their kin. In the context of political activities to which most of the references to the bandhavas allude, they are a definite asset. Ravana, before his counsellors, defines three types of men in this world. The best type is the one who in his deliberations consults experienced counsellors, his friends with whom he shares common interests, his bandhavas, and his superiors. 124 Ravana in trying to seduce Sita with offers of wealth etc. says, "Exercise supreme authority over me, without the slightest qualm. When you shall live happy depending on my support, by my favor your bandhavas will share your good fortune." 1 2 5 In another instance, a

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similar statement is made by Ravana a little later in the text when he tempts Slta to enjoy herself and distribute immense wealth and also the whole world. "If you do this", Ravana says, "they, your bandhavas, too, will come to you and let them share in your good fortune." 1 2 6 The Ramayana ends with this message: "Reigning for ten thousand years, Rama undertook ten horse sacrifices signifying his regal might. Rama ruled the world in glory and performed many sacrifices with his sons, brothers, and bandhavas. " 1 2 7 While being honoured by Guha, his friend and a vassal king, Rama gracefully replies, "Indeed, it is good to see you in health with your bandhavas,"128 When Rama leaves Ayodhya at his father's behest, the people of the city say in anguish, "The entire earth is distressed on account of Rama's departure, like a tree full of flower and fruit cut down at the root. Accompanied by our wives and bandhavas we will follow Rama." 1 2 9 Rama fears that Slta might have been devoured by the raksasas in spite of her having many bandhavas,130 Seeing Rama in the forest and on his way back, paying respect to the sage Bharadvaja, Bharata returns to Ayodhya with his bandhavas and army. 131 Bharata admits his incapacity to rule Ayodhya and again persuades Rama to accept the rajya. He requests Rama to rule this "entire ancestral rajya according to svadharma [one's own code], along with the bandhavas."132 Laksmana in anger resolves to kill Kaikeyl along with her bandhavas,133 Slta, on the verge of being kidnapped by Ravana, utters, "The designs of Kaikeyl and her bandhavas are crowned with success, since I am separated from Rama." 1 3 4 The close tie of affection found among the bandhavas is clearly stated in the text. Bharata desperately requests Rama to return to Ayodhya and accept the throne of Ayodhya made vacant by Dasaratha's death, saying, "Rama, I beg of you saluting with my bent head, show your mercy to me and all our bandhavas,"135 When Rama encounters the people of Ayodhya who had come to see him in the forest, he meets them each one according to his status and regards each of the persons assembled there as his own intimate friend (suhrit) and bandhava.13* On seeing the smoke which indicated Rama's presence in the forest, Bharata becomes exceedingly happy, and also his bandhavas.131 Ansuya says to Kaikeyl that out of his mother's limbs a son is born. 138 He comes out, figuratively speaking, from her heart. A son is therefore far dearer to her than her bandhavas.139 Laksmana in a fit of anger disowns his father and asserts that Rama to him is like unto father, brother, bandhava, and supporter (bharta).li0 Vali, when fatally wounded by Rama, expresses on his death bed his love for his son and states, "I do not feel sorrow

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[about his death], I do not mourn for Tara [his wife] or his bandhavas. But I feel sad thinking about my eldest son." 1 4 1 Dasaratha in anger shuns his wife's company and says, "Do not touch my body nor do I wish to see you. You are no longer my wife nor even my bandhavi [female bandhava]."li2 We may note in the above instance that the bandhavas in terms of situations which needed proclamation of love and affection stand very close to the primary kin. A strong sense of solidarity is shown by the bandhavas in desperate situations which demanded drastic measures. This would extend to their help in battles of survival and death. Loss of the bandhavas is obviously lamented, and vengence sought. As stated earlier, there are political activities in the Ramayana which demand action of one kind or another. More importantly, the bandhavas are the ones to give help in such activities. Kumbhakarna reassures Ravana by saying, "Today all the raksasas of Lanka whose bandhavas have perished, will witness the death of Rama, by striking down the force in the battle, I shall dry the tears of those who are overcome with sorrow and have been rendered desolate by the loss of the bandhavas."143 Hanumana slays the Kinkaras sent by Ravana to defeat him. Ravana then sends seven of his ministers' sons to attack Hanumana. The sons' mothers, nevertheless, sensing the imminent death of their sons were overcome with anxiety as their bandhavas and suhridajana (circle of close friends). 144 Rama says to Khara that on the latter's death, the forest hermits will roam the forest without fear. "Today", boasts Rama, "the women of raksasas because of the death of their bandhavas weeping in great pain and terrified will leave the place." 145 At kumbhakarna's great destruction the bandhavas of Ravana who were in the battlefield with Kumbhakarna began to cry at the sight of Rama like elephants in the presence of a lion. 146 Marici warns Ravana not to enter into conflict with Rama and that if he should ignore his counsel, then Marici asserts, Ravana, together with his bandhavas and his army will descend to the region of Yama (god of death) under Rama's deadly shaft. 147 Marici repeats his warning that the abduction of Sita will cost Ravana his life as well as those of his bandhavas.148 Bibhisana urges Ravana to give Sita back to Rama 149 so that they (raksasas) may continue to exist with their sons and bandhavas.150 This threat he repeats elsewhere 151 as does Rama in his ultimatum to Ravana to return Sita. 152 That the bandhus are a group in the Ramayana subsumed under the bandhavas is clear from the following instances. In the first Hanumana on his way to Lanka sprang into the air, and Sala and other trees uprooted

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by the force of his motion followed in Hanumana's wake like bandhavas accompanying their bandhus setting out on a journey to a distant place.153 In another instance Kumbhakarna reassures Ravana: "Today all the rak$asas of Lanka whose bandhavas have died will see the death of Rama. By striking down the enemy in battle, I shall dry the tears of those who are overcome with sorrow and have been rendered desolate by the loss of their bandhus,"154 In the third instance, Marici, warning Ravana not to kidnap SIta, says that he gave his warning for the good of Ravana's bandhus and if Ravana were to disregard it then Ravana and his bandhavas will be killed by Rama. 155

INTERGROUP ORGANIZATION

We have shown how the term kula represents an extended family unit. It is most likely that we should expect kula to figure in the organization at the intergroup level (that is in social stratification). This is indicated in the following examples. SIta reprimands Ravana that his interest in her is futile, for "I am born in a noble kula and have been joined to a great pious kula."156 Moaning for SIta in captivity, Rama says, "Born of a noble and virtuous kula and married into a kula having a similar status, Slta's condition was like that of woman born into a low kula."151 Fearing Rama's death SIta accuses Kaikeyl, "Kaikeyl you cannot rest content. He who was the delight of the kula has been slain and the entire kula has ended." 158 Dasaratha laments, "For the sake of a woman I have sent away Rama. I think this calamity has fallen on me in order to destroy my kula."159 Mahodara says to his brother that he is born of a high kula, that he is courageous and yet has mediocre qualities in that, because of conceit, he is unable to anticipate the course of events.160 Ravana's wife Mandodari says that SIta is not equal to or more than her rank in terms of her kula, beauty, and habits. 161 In the above examples there is a preoccupation, at times overt, with status or prestige. We may also note in this connection that the kulas, not the individual, are thought of as units in these social interactions. We give a few more instances to clench the point. Angada would himself like to be able to rescue SIta to Lanka, but Jambavana restrains him from doing so, saying, "We have received a mandate from the king of the monkeys and Rama to explore the Southern region but we have not been commanded to bring back SIta, nor would it find favor with Rama if we

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did so, for he, proud of his kula has vowed before all the leading monkeys that he himself rescue Slta." 162 Rama is prepared to forgive Slta's admonishment that Rama should not trouble the raksasas of the forest uselessly, because she has exposed to him her proud kula by doing so. 163 Ironically, in the Yuddha kanda, Rama hesitates to take back Slta because of her prolonged stay in Ravana's household and he says, "You [Slta] have been taken into Ravana's lap and he has cast lustful glances on you; how can I reclaim you, I who boast of belonging to a proud kula."1M Hearing Rama's challenge Khara replies, "Those who are brave and valiant never boast of their prowess. Only the scum of Ksatriyas praise themselves as you have done. To what sort of kula does a warrior belong, who on the battlefield, his death approaching, would sing his own praise." 165 Hanumana says to Sugrlva, "Rama of the Raghus is very powerful. He is indeed your lasting bandhu and he is the one who would increase the prestige of your kula,"166 The most obvious system of stratification to be considered in the Ramayana is the one dividing the kula into high and low. Concomitant with this system is the fact that one needs to belong to a kula of high birth to acquire a high status in society. This is indicated in the following instances. Rama asks Bharata whether he has employed as his ministers persons of heroic nature, learned, self controlled, and coming from high kula (kulina).167 Vali says of Rama that people speak highly of Rama as coming from a good kula (kulina).168 Proudly, Rama says to Vali that he is a kulina and a ksatriya of a high kula,169 We may note that in the last reference the term kula is used in conjunction with the social group (class) of ksatriya. Rama enquires of Bharata, "Have you a general who is confident and intelligent belonging to a high kulaV170 Sarama, the raksasi, describes Rama to Slta as kulina and expert in nitisastra (science of governing the kingdom).171 Manthara praises Kaikeyl by saying, "Born in a royal kula, you are indeed the queen of this earth." 172 Slta says that she bears the marks of the lotus on her feet by which women of high kula receive the supreme consecration with their husbands at their coronation. 173 Slta is described in a passage as born of a high kula174 and addresses Rama as mahkulinasi (coming from a great kula),175 and kulapalini (protector of kula).176 Angada wants his monkeys to volunteer to cross the ocean and says to them, "All of you are strong and powerful, you have come from blameless kulas."111 On seeing Kumbhakarna breaking the rank of the monkeys, Angada reproaches the monkeys for fleeing from Kumbhakarna: "Why do you run filled with fear like com-

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mon monkeys (prakfta), you who are born in illustrious kulas."m Ravana, wanting to win Sugrlva over to his side, sends his skilled envoy Suka to him with these instructions: "Go and seek out Sugrlva and on my behalf say to that king, "Assuredly, you, Sugrlva, are born in the kula of a great raja."119 In the above instances we can see that the references to high status contain kula affiliations (for example kulina); reproachments and at times direct abuses also allude to such kula affiliations. The meaning of these contentions will be clear from the following instances. In the Ayodhya kanda, Kaikeylis described as the destroyer of the kula of the Raghavas.180 Dasaratha in an angry mood addresses Kaikeyl as the destroyer of the kula (kulasya vinasini).181 Bharata also abuses Kaikeyl for sending Rama into exile, saying, "Indeed, you are a raksasi born in her father's kula to destroy it." 182 Suspicious that Laksamana would hesitate to go to Rama's help,183 Slta chides Laksamana, "You anarya, you kulapamsana [the stigma of your kula], I shall cut off your head like the fruit of a palm tree." 184 Ravana, enraged at Bibhlsana's conciliatory speech, says, "If any other had addressed such a speech to me he would have ceased to breathe at that instant. As for you, a curse upon you, an obliquy of your kula (dhikkulapamsana)."185 Although in a primary sense the term kula indicates family, extended or otherwise, in some of the examples mentioned above it seems to connote a lineage group. In the Ramayana the main story is woven round the aristocratic families, irrespective of their human, monkey, or raksasa origin. It must be important for the aristocratic families to assert kula (lineage) affiliations, for so much seems to depend on this type of affiliation to sustain their status - political, social, and economic - in the society. In the Ramayana, one particular kula (lineage group), that of the Ikswakiis to which Rama belongs, occupies an inordinately important place. The reason is not difficult to trace. The Ramayana is after all what it literally means, an epic of Rama of the Ikswakiis. That a member of the Ikswakii group has to abide by the aristocratic code is clearly stated by Vasistha, Rama's royal chaplain. Having illustrated the complete geneolagy of Rama (which is patrilineally arranged), Vasistha states that in the kula of Ikswakiis the eldest son becomes a raja. He then informs Rama that when the eldest son is living, the younger one cannot be consecrated and that Rama should not discontinue this kula dharma (of Ikswakiis).186 To belong to the lineage of the Ikswakiis is a matter of prestige; even close association with it brings added prestige. Slta, praising Rama before

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N. K. WAGLE

Ravana, says, "Rama is born into the kula of Ikswakiis."187 When asked to identify himself by the raksasas Virdha, Rama states, "I belong to the proud Ikswaku kula, you would know us as ksatryas of stern character (yrtta sampanno)."1S8 Hanumana on being dispatched by Sugrlva to spy on Rama comes back and reports him. "This one is Rama", says Hanumana, "he is born in the kula of Ikswakiis."189 Elsewhere, Rama and his brother Laksmana are described as "incapable of being defeated in battle and born in the kula of Ikswakiis."190 That the Ikswaku kula is an "established line" is stressed in the text, so much so that it has been given a divine origin. The line must not cease to exist. According to the text, the god Maheswara says to Rama that among other deeds, he should perpetuate the vamsa (lineage) of the Ikswakii kula.191 Laksmana describes Rama as the heir of the Ikswakiis (Ikswaku dayado).192 Remembering Brahma's word Ravana says "I asked [a boon] from the god Brahma to be rendered invulnerable to devas... pannagas, but of man I made no mention. Aranya, born of the kula of Ikswakiis spoke to me in my vamsa (line) will be born a man who will slay you in battle." 193 The forest hermits praise Rama, "You are the chief among the Ikswakii kula. You are the Indra amidst the devas."194 Hanumana feels that if he does not find Slta he would be responsible for the destruction of the kula of Ikswakiis.195 Hanumana calls Slta as Ikswaku kula nandlni (one who is the delight of the Ikswaku kula).196 Rama asks Laksmana to fetch the weapons from their guru's house, the guru being described as the one belonging to the Ikswaku kula.191 This aristocratic kula of Ikswaku must inspire awe. The very name of the Ikswakiis must be feared, for the name stands for all that is considered ideal by the politically dominant aristocratic groups in the days of the Ramayana. The ocean, ever solicitous for the honor of the kula of Ikswakiis (Ikswakii kula manrtho) reflects, "If I do not lend assistance to this Hanumana, I shall be an object of humiliation to all creatures who can talk. Was I not reared by Sagara, the foremost of the Ikswakii kula. This monkey is the counsellor of the Ikswakiis, therefore, I must not let him perish in the waves." The ocean, reflecting thus, helps Hanumana. 198 Rama says to Vali that Vali's territory really belongs to the Ikswakiis, for, "Bharata governs this earth and we protect it on his behalf." 199 Ravana is told, "Neither the city of Lanka nor any of you, nor Ravana himself will survive, since they have incurred the wrath of that hero of the Ikswakiis."200 Ravana is described in one place in the text as the king of the raksasas and proud descendent of the Paulastya kula.201 Apparently, Ravana,

KINSHIP GROUPS IN THE RAMAYANA OF VALMIKI

35

too, must belong to an aristocratic lineage group. Rama's arch enemy cannot be of a low status.

JNATI

We suggest that jnati refers to the extended kin group, the group which is considered vital to one's survival and on which utmost reliance is placed. Also the affiliation to the jnati group is extremely significant to the wellbeing of its members. Kausalya, for instance, asserts that woman has three refuges: husband, son, and jnati-, there is no fourth refuge.202 Bibhlsana advises Rama that the best way to build a bridge to Lanka is that he approach the ocean which was once excavated by Sagara, Rama's ancestors. The ocean "will surely help one of his jnatis".202 The night before his intended coronation, Rama informs his mother Kausalya of this news. She is delighted and wishes that his enemies be destroyed. Immediately she adds, "Having got this good fortune make mine and Sumitra's jnati happy." 204 On the other hand Rama's enemy, Manthara, plotting against Rama, convinces Kaikeyl that if ever Bharata gets his father's kingdom, it would greatly benefit her jnati group. Manthara is incidentally described as jnati dasi (slave of the jnatis) of Kaikeyl. 205 Not finding Sita despite his sustained search for her, Rama is overwhelmed with despair and tells Laksmana that devoid of any jnati group (jnati varga), unable to see Sita, the nights will be longer as he will not be able to sleep.206 Hanumana agrees to fly over to Lanka and search for Sita. On knowing this, Jambavana who was responsible in the first place for encouraging Hanumana to undertake this arduous task, joyfully says to him: "Hanumana, you have removed a great sorrow which had fallen upon your jnati."207 The god Indra, well pleased with Rama, gives him a boon that he would give anything that Rama would wish for. Rama wishes to see the monkeys in all their former energy, freed from their sufferings and wounds. Indra grants the boon saying that 'let the monkeys be well and united' with their bandhavas, jnatis among others.208 The ties of solidarity which bind one member of the jnati to another are indicated in the following instances. Anasuya praises Sita for being a true follower of dharma, in that she has accompanied Rama in the forest. By so doing, Anasuya adds, Sita eschewed her pride and renounced her jnati group, presumably implying a great sacrifice on her part.209 Ravana having caught Hanumana in Lanka commands the raksasas to set his tail on fire, for he feels that the tail is the most cherished

36

N. K. WAGLE

embellishment of the monkey. Ravana, according to the text, wants Hanumana's friends, bandhavas, jnatis and suhrida janas (intimate friends) to see him degraded and mutilated. 210 In their respective warnings to Ravana, Hanumana and Sugrlva talk about destroying Ravana's jnatis, among other associates. Hanumana warns Ravana that if he did not let Sita go free he would see the city of Lanka with its palaces and highways consumed by fire. Therefore he should not let his friends, ministers, jnatis, brothers, sons, wealth, wives, and city to be driven to destruction. 211 Sugrlva's answer to Ravana's overture to win him over to his side is predictable. Sugrlva replies, " Y o u are not my friend nor are you worthy of pity. Y o u are neither my benefactor nor do you find favour with me. Y o u will perish with your accomplices.... I shall annihilate you, your sons, your bandhus, jnati group [jnati varga] as also the city of Lanka." 2 1 2 Rama, too, sends a message to Ravana in which he challenges him to come forth and enter into combat with him and show his valor. Rama warns him, " I shall destroy you and your ministers, sons, bandhavas and jnatis,"213 Jnati ties are, after all, not that permanent. According to Rama, no one can withstand the force of kala (time, here used in the sense of destiny). Kala has no friends, no jnati attachments, it is not even subject to itself. 214 Jabali observes that there is no one who can change this law of birth and death. A person having had an association with another in due course of time is separated from him. Similarly, wives, sons, and jnatis and wealth converging with each other invariably separate (v/yoga).215 The supreme importance of the jnati group in the political context is indicated in the following instances. In the first, Rama is on his way to the Dandaka forest, crosses the boundary of his kingdom, and approaches that of the king of the Nisadas, Guha, who is described as Rama's friend and vassal (Guha refers to Rama as his bharta or master). Hearing of Rama's arrival in his territory, he welcomes Rama and surrounds him with his aged ministers and jnatis.216 After enjoying the hospitality offered him by Guha, Rama crosses the river with the help of Guha's boatmen and at that juncture we are told that Guha disperses his jnatis who had obviously gathered there to give a send-off to Rama. Bharata's meeting with Guha, too, is significant as it throws further light on the role of the jnatis. Bharata comes looking for Rama and seeing his army, Guha becomes apprehensive of Bharata's motives, for he thinks that Bharata might attempt to kill Rama for political purposes. On seeing Bharata, Guha says to his jnatis who were clustering round him (jnatinam saparito)

KINSHIP GROUPS IN THE RAMAYANA OF VALMIKI

37

that he is not sure of Bharata's intentions. He asks his jnatis to prepare for war with Bharata. The charioteer of Bharata advises him that Guha, surrounded by thousands of his jnatis, is an old friend of Rama and that Bharata should seek for his friendship. Eventually, Bharata convinces Guha of his good intentions towards Rama, and consequently is well received by Guha. 217 Staying overnight, Bharata asks Guha to ferry him and his entourage across the river on the next morning. Hearing Bharata's orders, Guha returns to his nagara (city) and tells his jnati jana to draw their boats to ferry Bharata and his forces across the river. The jnatis obeying Guha's command, hurried with 500 boats. It is added in the narrative that, while going over to the other bank and landing people on the shore, the da$a bandhus displayed various skills. In the second instance concerning the role of the jnatis, we find Ravana accusing Bibhisana for having been in league with his enemy Rama. Before a large audience (sabha) he insults Bibhisana. He says: "The disposition [sila] of jnati is well-known throughout the worlds. The jnatis always rejoice in the misfortunes of their own. Jnatis constantly seek to bring down the one who is endowed with authority, energy, learning, and loyalty and should he be a real hero, he is more condemned by them. Incessantly finding delight in the discomfiture of one another, their bows ready to strike each other down, their hearts full of deceit, the jnatis are both formidable and dangerous." Ravana continues his diatribe: "Those verses formerly recited by the elephants in the lotus forest, on seeing men with snares in hand, are well-known. I will repeat them to you: Neither fire nor weapons nor traps strike terror into us, but those of our jnatis who are cruel and self interested, it is them we fear. They alone undoubtedly divulge the means of making us captive. Of all fears those that stem from relatives are the worst. This is known to us: From cows we get wealth, from jnatis fear, from women capriciousness, from brahmana asceticism." Ravana concluded by saying to Bibhisana, "That I am held in honor throughout the worlds, that on account of my high kula I am possessed of riches, that I have set 'foot on the head of my enemies', will certainly have not found favor with you." 218 We may add here that politically speaking Bibhisana ("the younger brother of Ravana) was potentially the most dangerous rival, which indeed he turned out to be, for he became the king of Lanka after Ravana's death. In the third instance, Bharata urges Rama in a number of ways to return to Ayodhya and accept the throne. He says, "Our jnatis, warriors, allies and inmates friends wait anticipating your return to Ayod-

38

N. K. WAGLE

hya." 2 1 9 In the fourth instance, Vasistha, the royal chaplain, also asks Rama to return and urges Rama by saying, "Those persons here in the assembly (par ifad), these jnatis and kings (nrpas), by protecting them by dharma you will not deviate from the path of the saints." 220 Despite these persuasions Rama refuses to budge from the vow given to his father that he would leave the kingdom of Ayodhya in exile.

JATI AND VARNA

It is noteworthy that the terms jati and varna are rarely mentioned in the texts as compared to other terms such as jnati, bandhava, and kula. The term jati ascribes status by birth. In the context of Ramayana, the term refers to both the animal and human species. In the first instance, Kumbhakarna contemptuously referring to the monkeys, says to the raksasas, "Today the foremost of the monkey division (of the army) will be consumed by me in my anger. Yet these inhabitants of the wood have never given offense, and their jati adorns the garden of our cities." 221 In the second instance, Slta is upset that Rama is not prepared to accept her back as his wife. She says, "Having observed the nature of commonplace woman that you doubt their entire jati,"222 In the last instance, Indrajita accuses Bibhisana of deserting his jati (raksasa birth) and that he lacked the love for his jati.223 The term varria is used to indicate the fourfold division of the society. Rama is described as the protector of four varrias in the worlds. 224 In yet another instance, it is said of Rama that with due consideration for age and status, he showed compassion to the fourfold varria. They in turn did what he desired.225

SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING NOTES

As indicated in my introduction, the purpose of this paper was not to examine a system of kinship in the Ramayana, but to give a descriptive account of the kinship groups found in that text. The household group is indicated by the terms such as grha and kula. The household group comprises primary kins: father, mother, sons, daughters, son's wives, and other inmates such as slaves and and servants. The term kula denotes the extended patrilineal family. The patrilineal nature of the family is further supported by the evidence of a system of belief in patrilin-

KINSHIP GROUPS IN THE RAMAYANA OF VALMIKI

39

eal ancestor worship (pitr). Descent is patrilineal, so also inheritance. The code of the kula must be honored and the solidarity of the kula is clearly stressed. The aristocratic kula of the Ikswakus (a descent group?) is given a special prominence, for Rama belonged to that kula. The other kinship groups which can be derived from the text are the bandhus and bandhavas. Nowhere in the text is the meaning of the two terms precisely defined. However, in several instances the term bandhu appears in connection with male primary kin such as father, brother, and sons. In all probability bandhus in the Ramayana refer to an agnatic group. The help of the bandhus is much sought for. The loss of the bandhus is a dreaded calamity and one strives for a place of honor among the bandhus. As the hero Rama emotionally puts it, "It is better to die than suffer the censure of my bandhus." The importance of the bandhus can perhaps be adequately understood by referring to the contemporanious Indian legal text Visnu Dharma Sutra (cir. 300 B.C. - 100 A.D). The Sutra states that the estate of the deceased shall belong to the bandhus in the absence of sons, wives, daughters, father, mother, brother, brother's sons, mentioned in that order of priority. 226 The bandhava relationship is analogous to that of the bandhus. However, the bandhava group appears to be a larger one, and one which subsumes the bandhus, and may perhaps refer to the cognates. But we do not have any direct evidence to support our contention. From the evidence of our text we cannot go beyond suggesting that the term jnati refers to the extended kin group. There is, however, no doubt about its importance to an individual in a society which so heavily relied on kinship ties. Jnati is the ultimate refuge for a woman. Manthara wants Kaikeyl to obtain the kingdom for her son Bharata because by doing so it will benefit Kaikeyl's jnati group. On hearing of Rama's intended coronation, Kausalya wants Rama to make her and Sumitra's jnatis happy after his accession to the throne of Ayodhya. Hanumana, by helping to find Slta makes his jnatis proud and happy. Ravana bemoans the fact that he was betrayed by one of his jnatis. Guha is always surrounded by his jnatis. That the jnati group is fairly large can be attested by the fact that the jnatis could have their own assembly; we do not find assemblies of the bandhus or bandhavas. We do not want to enter into a lengthy discussion of the term jnati found in the various contemporary legal texts such as Manu, Yajnavalkya where jnati is distinguished from the term bandhavas and bandhus?21 However, we may note the remarks of a late 8th century commentator of Panlni, Kasika, who defines jnati as comprising "All relations on the mother's and father's side." 228

40

N. K. WAGLE

One interesting point which emerges from our study is that in the political and social arena of the Ramayana bandhus, bandhavas, and jnatis functioned as actual effective kinship groups. The varna and jati were concepts - hardly ever referred to in the text - playing minimal and rather insignificant roles. It is generally assumed by many scholars that the Ramayana deals with "three major groups of people - the Aryans (humans), the Vanaras (monkeys), and Raksasas (demons)".229 However, it seems reasonable to state from our study that the organization of the kinship groups attributed to these three groups appear to be derived from one single model. Evidently, Valmiki the author of the Ramayana was projecting to his readers the kinship groups of "humans" he knew best. University of Toronto

NOTES Abbreviations:

2= 3= 4= 5= 6=

Ayodhaya Kanda (Baroda Ed.) Aranaya Kanda (Baroda Ed.) Kishkindha Kanda (Baroda Ed.) Sunder Kanda (Bombay Ed.) Yuddha Kanda (Bombay Ed.)

For Ayodhaya, Aranaya and Kishkindha Kandas, the references are from the critical edition of the Ramayana published by the Oriental Institute Baroda (not yet completed). Since Baroda editions of Sunder and Yuddha Kandas were not available for consultation when this paper was written, I have used the Ramayana edition published by the Nirnaya Sagara Press, Bombay. 1 See S . N . Vyas, India in the Ramayana Age (Delhi, 1967), pp. 73-120; Ananda Guruge, The Society of the Ramayana (Mahragame, Ceylon, 1961), pp. 124-142, 184-216; P. C. Dharma, "Women during the Ramayana", Journal of Indian History XVII, pp. 1-28; Nihareyasanande Swami, "The Culture of the Ramayaria", The Cultural Heritage of India 1, pp. 77-99. 2 For a good summary of arguments concerning the dating of the Ramayana of Valmiki, see Ananda Guruge, The Society of the Ramayana, pp. 35-41; also see Camill Bulke, Rama Katha (Hindi) (Prayaga University, Prayaga, 1962), pp. 32-34. 3 13 Ananda Guruge, ibid., pp. 31-35. 4.63.13-23. 4 14 2.2.25-27. 2.69.24-26. 5 15 2.69.23. 2.103.14. 6 3.97.25-27. "> 2.69.26. 7 17 6.57.12-17. 2.58.34ff. 8 « 4.58.8ff. 6.17.16. 9 19 5.51.36-37. 3.40.5. 10 20 4.52.18-19. 2.100.1-7. 11 21 5.13.33. 2.23.22-24. 12 22 4.53.8ff. 2.55.18-20.

KINSHIP GROUPS IN THE RAMAYANA OF VALMIKI 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 39 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75

2.24.2-4. 2.2.25-27. 2.69.23. 2.97.25-27. 2.69.14ff. 2.8.7. 2.21.3. 2.28.18-20ff. 2.18.18-29. 2.26.6-9. 2.24.17-18. 2.1.lñ. 2.69.23. 2.42.22ff. 2.40.22ff. 2.30.13-21. 6.115.16. 4.52.18,19ff. 4.54.9ff. 2.3.31-32. 2.10.21-25. 6.94.23. 6.95.1-2. 2.13.23-26. 2.5.14-20. 2.46.36. 2.16.36,39. 2.108.24. 3.38.31. 6.15.2-3. 5.26.9-10. 6.38.4-5. 3.47.24. 3.47.31. 6.18.10. 6.18.11. 2.23.22-23. 2.84.6-7. 5.28.18. 2.58.42. 2.104.10-12. 2.102.5ff. 2.73.7. 2.68.4,9. 3.29.17-20. 4.54.3-7. 4.28.3-5. 6.3.23-27. 2.94.28. 2.108.20-21. 2.18.18-29. 2.103.1. 2.18.27-32.

76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128

2.16.14-15. 2.16.48,53. 6.79.10,11. 6.80.17. 2.101.18. 2.101.26. 2.69.26. 5.15.6. 2.95.6-7. 6.111.103,113. 3.50.20. 4.9.1-3. 2.97.28-29. 5.62.28ff. 2.97.28-29. 4.18.39. 3.30.25. 6.63.27. 6.63.30-32. 4.10.15. 2.69.13. 5.51.4. 4.7.16-17. 6.57.59. 6.63.36-37. 6.49.18. 3.52.44. 5.16.24. 4.53.8ff. 4.40.45-46. 5.9.20. 5.1.45. 2.83.Iff. 6.101.11-13. 3.61.31. 2.100.70-77. 4.21.11-15. 2.97.38-39. 2.66.26-27. 6.9.20-22. 4.8.4. 6.101.11-20. 6.20.24-27. 3.51.14-16. 6.62.24. 6.68.11. 6.25.23. 3.21.17-18. 6.6.6ff. 5.20.24. 5.20.35. 6.128.95ff. 2.44.18-19.

42 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 ISO 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180

N. K. WAGLE

2.30.13ff. 3.61.34. 2.105.20. 2.97.61-62. 2.90.20ff. 3.44.29. 2.98.67. 2.95.46-47. 2.92.14. 2.101.21-22. 2.68.13-14. 2.52.19-22. 4.18.46-47. 2.37.6-9. 6.63.36-37. 5.45.5. 3.30.8-10. 6.67.177. 3.39.25. 3.41.17-20. 6.9.20.22. 5.35.47. 5.56.18-20. 6.41.80. 5.1.45. 6.63 36-37. 3.39.25. 5.21.4-5. 5.19.9-10. 6.32-1-5. 2.53.17. 6.64.2. 6.111.28. 5.60.14-18. 3.9.2. 6.115.20-21. 3.29.17-20. 4.28.16. 2.94.9-13. 4.17.17. 4.18.21. 2.94.24. 6.33.11. in ns. 6.48.6. 2.23.19. 2.15.2. 3.64.17. 4.63.13-23. 6.66.21. 6.20.7-14. 2.60.6.

181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227

228 229

2.10.33. 2.68.4,9. 3.45.21-22. 3.29.13-14. 6.16.16. 2.102.28-30. 3.56.4. 3.3.1. 4.5.2. 4.15.17. 6.119.3-6. 3.71.13-14. 6.60.8-9. 3.5.1. 5.13.34. 5.13.55. 2.18.12-25. 5.1.85-87. 4.18.6-9. 5.43.20-25. 3.30,21. 2.55.18-20 6.19.28-32. 2.4.39. 2.8.19-24. 3.65.11-24. 4.66.27. 6.120.1-15. 2.109.21-22. 5.53.2-4. 5.51.36-37. 6.20.24-27. 6.41.79-80. 4.24.2-11. 2.100.70-77. 2.44.9-11. 2.78.1ff. 6.16.1ff. 2.104.10-12. 2.103.1-4. 6.65.43-44. 6.116.1ff. 6.78.10-12. 5.35.10-11. 2.15.11. Vishnu Dharma Sutra, 17.4.16. See Manu III.264; IV. 179; Yajna. 11.149. Kasika on Panini, Sutra VI.2.133. See Ananda Guruge, The Society of the Ramayaria, pp. 80-89; 327.

FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE HINDU SOCIETY OF RURAL INDIA

JOGINDER KUMAR

I. INTRODUCTION

The joint family is generally regarded as an essential feature of Hindu society. It is not, of course, an exclusively Indian or Hindu institution; most agrarian societies are characterized by family structures which join two or more nuclear families, related by blood or kinship, in some sort of common household arrangement. The big households and clans among the Muslim, Chinese, and traditional Japanese societies provide examples of non-Hindu joint family institutions. What are the special features of the joint family in the Hindu society? F.H. Das gives a general description: In the joint family, father, brother, their sons and all male descendants remain under the same roof. Girls taken in marriage are added to this group from the outside, while sisters and daughters of the family in their turn leave it to be absorbed as wives into other families. All property except a bride's "six-fold property" (mostly wedding gifts and ornaments) is jointly property held under the unrestricted control and at the absolute disposition of the oldest male member of the family. 1

The first important feature of the Hindu joint family, as given by the above description, is the patrilocal residence system. Based on male descent (patrilineal), the traditional joint family embraces both extended and collateral types of families. We see also from this description that joint property and household proximity may be a more important criterion than common household functions. 2 No other force is as strong as large joint property which operates to keep the large family group intact. The joint family is an institution which has great advantages for its 1

Das, F. H., Purdah: the Status of Indian Women (London, 1932), p. 99. In very big households it is often found convenient to have more than one kitchen, and in collateral families there may be two separate drawing rooms for two subunits of the family. 2

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JOGINDER KUMAR

members when they share a common occupation and a large joint household. Large property coupled with large family size make it a very influential group in the village. The family structure of Indian society is by no means static or uniform. There are two dimensions of variations which we must examine. First, individual families change. As new members are added to the family, as old members die, and as the social and economic position of the family in the village society changes, the family itself changes. During these transitions, a joint family may split into two or more units. Thus an individual may pass through different types of families, e.g. nuclear and joint, in his life cycle. A second dimension of Hindu family structure is the distribution of families within the society. As the total population grows and the economic or social situation improves or deteriorates, the percentage ofjoint or nuclear families may also change. These two dimensions are clearly related. It is possible, however, that a big change among individual families may not result in a different overall distribution of families. We shall first examine the forces which operate to keep the joint family together and the complementary forces which operate to separate it. Joint family maintenance is a function of family's size and of the social and economic environment within and outside the family. The joint family will exist as long as all adult (especially earning) members find this structure more advantageous than other family forms. As soon as one or more members find alternative forms more advantageous, there will be forces operating to dissolve the family. The family will be broken up when these forces are stronger than the family unity. Breaking up the joint family traditionally occurs at the time of death of the oldest member, usually the father. Such family dissolution has been institutionalized by religious prescription: After the death of the father and of the mother, the brothers, having assembled, may divide among themselves in equal shares, the estate, for they have no power (over it) while the parents live. 3

However, division of family property at the father's death was optional; the sons could continue to maintain the property together. The present trend is that property could also be divided before the father's death or after the establishment of collateral joint family, through either mutual agreement or behest of one or more sons. 3

Kapadia, K. M., Marriage and Family in India (Oxford University Press, 1966-third edition), p. 220.

FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE HINDU SOCIETY OF RURAL INDIA

45

The most important inherent factor leading to the breakup of a joint family is its growth and size. As the family size increases, the chance of strong personality clashes increases. Moreover, the growth of family size in and of itself leads to a per capita deterioration of the family's economic condition and may make it necessary for some members to seek work outside the family occupation. This leads to occupational and income differentials between earning members and creates tension. The other important influence is the social and economic environment within which the family lives. If employment opportunities are plentiful outside the family, there will be a greater tendency for the family to fall apart. Fathers are more likely to partition their property during their lifetime if such actions are accepted and practiced by the community.

II. TYPES OF FAMILIES IN THE H I N D U SOCIETY

We shall enumerate four types of families in Hindu society. (1) Traditional Joint Family: consists of both extended or collateral types of families. For example, ego's extended family and ego's married brothers and their extended families. (2) Patriarchal or Patrilocal Extended Family:4 embraces ego, his wife or wives, his unmarried children, his married sons, and the wives and children of the latter. (3) Intermediate Joint Family: consists of ego, his wife, unmarried children, and one of his married sons' nuclear family. (4) Nuclear Family: ego, his wife, and unmarried children. Historically, the first family type was prominent in middle and upper class Hindu society. The joint family's traditional function was appropriate to the then existing demographic (e.g. high mortality), social, and economic conditions. With the passage of time many new forces have arisen to force a revision of the traditional concept of its functions. The population has been growing at a rapid rate (about 2 percent per year), the decline in the mortality level being the important contributing factor. The growing population and, of course, family size inevitably lead to pressure on a family's resources (e.g. agricultural land) and create clashes of interest and temperament. Thus, the forces of dissolution 4

Kapadia, K. M., "Rural Family Patterns: A Study in Urban-Rural Relations", Sociological Bulletin 5 (Sept., 1956), p. 121.

46

JOGINDER KUMAR

operated on the joint family and led to the formation of smaller family types as enumerated above. The more concentration there is in the first category, the stronger are the forces operating to keep the joint family intact. The higher the concentration in the last category, the greater will be the movement to break up the joint family. It should be emphasized that all of these family forms have existed throughout the history of Hindu society; it is only the relative distribution which has changed over time. However, there is no statistical evidence to document the historical structure of Hindu families. Distribution of family types also differs according to the geographical area with the variations of social and economic conditions. There are clearly two methods of formation of nuclear families in India. First, the breakage of existing joint families and secondly, marriage. Any given distribution of families would thus involve both kinds of nuclear families. There is no definite statistical evidence demonstrating the two respective origins of nuclear families. We shall investigate these two patterns by indirect means through the analysis of family data.

III. PURPOSE OF THE S T U D Y

Our first goal is to present the current distribution of different family structures in the rural Hindu society. Since India has a huge population and area, we expect regional variations in family structure distributions, i.e. the proportion of nuclear families may be higher in one region than in another. The second goal is to explore the reasons behind such regional variations. The basic issues to be discussed in achieving these are: which forces are destructive to the joint family system, and the respective advantages for an individual living in a joint family and in a nuclear family.

IV. SOME DIVERSITIES OF INDIA

The existence of a particular family structure is an essential component of a society's culture. It would therefore be appropriate to discuss some of the main differences between different cultures in India - such as those of the Northern and Southern parts of India. It is often said that India's unity lies in her diversity. Strong attachments among family members, different languages, low education level, predominance of agricultural occupation etc. have tended (both historically and at present) to keep

FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE HINDU SOCIETY OF RURAL INDIA

47

internal migration at a very low level. People living in different regions have diverse social patterns. It is difficult to narrate characteristics which are truly 'Indian' or generally applicable to people throughout the country. Historically, the northern part of India was influenced by the Aryan culture while the Dravidian culture dominated the southern part. Later on, the Muslim culture had a pronounced effect on the Hindu culture of the northern areas while the southern part remained relatively free from Muslim influence. Under British rule, people in the southern province (in Bengal and in Bombay provinces) were quick to learn English and to adopt Western-style education. Because of this, the literacy level in the North remained at a lower level than in other parts of India. As a result of these historical factors different languages, food habits, dress, customs, festivals, etc. are prevalent in different regions of India. In rural sectors, varying procedures (though theoretically the same) are practiced for mate selection in the northern and southern parts. In a northern village5 marriage is forbidden with the following gotras6 or clans in all castes: (a) (b) (c) (d)

Gotra Gotra Gotra Gotra

of the father of the father's mother of the mother of the mother's mother

Such gotra restrictions are common in the North. Though similar restrictions exist in southern rural areas, marriages are preferable and common 7 with (1) father's sister's daughter, (2) mother's brother's daughter's daughter, and (3) sister's daughter. In contrast, such cross-cousin marriages and marriage with the sister's daughter are not very common in the northern areas of India. This has a sociological significance, for in case of a cross-cousin marriage, the bride would not feel uneasy and a stranger in her in-laws' home. In the southern villages, pre-puberty marriages are not commonly practiced, whereas these marriages do occur quite frequently in the 5

Census of India, 1961, Village Monographs, Village Dikhatpura, No. 4, Part VI, Vol. Ill, Mndhya Pradesh, p. 39. Hereafter, the Village Survey Monographs (V.S.M.) of 1961 census of India will be briefly quoted as follows: V.S.M., name of village, serial number of village, name of the state. 8 The gotra of a family is said to be named after the Rishi-ancestor who founded the family in the immemorial past. Now, for practical purposes it is reflected by the surname of its members. 7 V.S.M., Kunnalur 11 (Madras), p. 14.

48

JOGINDER KUMAR

northern rural areas. The too typical marital distributions of rural areas of the southern and northern parts shown in Table 1 clearly illustrate the difference. The average marriage age in the northern villages is around 14 years and 18 years for females and males respectively, while corresponding in the South are about 20-22 years and 25-27 years for females and males respectively. In general, no male marries before the age of 20 years and no girl marries before 15 years in the southern villages, while the minimum ages are much lower in the North. There is a custom which reflects the status accorded to girls in the southern villages. In rural areas of the South, the attainment of menarche is celebrated with great enthusiasm. (The) first menstrual function of a girl is celebrated very widely in the South. She is kept secluded for the entire pollution period of nine days. After that, the girl is given a ceremonial bath with water blessed by the Brahim priest. The girl is presented with new clothes by her maternal uncle. Occasion also involves a feast for the close relatives who make small presentations to the girl.8

In northern India, a girl observes her first menstruation in a quiet corner. Such examples can easily be multiplied to show the cultural and social differences between North and South India. What are the common traits among Hindus in India? The caste system and the joint family system have deep roots everywhere. Above all, of course, the religion and its teachings are the same. The basic philosophy of life and the outlook toward problems of life are more or less the same. In general, Hindu society practices the patrilocal residence system. Finally, as David Mandelbaum has pointed out: India is so vast and her people seem so variegated that any generalized statement of the family in India must be subject to numerous exceptions in detail and amendments in local particulars. Nevertheless, it is possible to depict Indian family organization in general terms that will have some applicability to a very large proportion of the Indian population. 9

The applicability of the views expressed in this paper should be taken with these reservations. V. GENERAL THEORY OF DISINTEGRATION VS. STABILITY OF JOINT FAMILY

It has already been discussed in the introduction that economic gains and 8

V.S.M., Todagan 9 (Madras), p. 14. Quoted by Ross, A.D., The Hindu Family in Its Urban Setting (University of Toronto Press, 1961), p. 6. 9

FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE HINDU SOCIETY OF RURAL INDIA

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v » 402 11 j* 370 13 »» 15 163 »» 332 17 229 19 »» Mysore 359 1 Punjab 1 18 36 150 42 22 »» 1 141 Rajasthan 65 4 yy 126 5 yy 6 61 »» 161 Rajasthan-Part B 2 83 4 Uttar Pradesh 2 107 158 3 yy 130 4 »»

„ „

49 67 15 23 36 36 44 29 39 32 33 35 29 27 31 47 73 57 55 35 32 31 34 29 33 27 53 50

72

JOGINDER KUMAR

Type of Family S- No.

Simple

Int£r_ mediate

Joint

°thers

7.5 15.3 13.3 11.4 20.8 12.9 9.5 17.9 21.7 23.4 15.3 5.4

17.5 23.5 17.9 26.3 28.3 45.2 65.3 35.2 36.7 24.7 33.3 27.1

44.2 24.7 15.2 21.9 22.6 13.9 1.0 13.8 6.7 12.3 2.7 24.3

30.8 36.5 23.6 40.4 28.3 28.0 24.2 33.1 35.0 39.6 48.7 43.2

29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Uni- Nuclear member 2.8 54.9 2.0 44.3 3.0 43.9 4.2 60.8 7.1 58.8 1.1 56.5 2.5 58.8 5.1 57.8 3.8 70.9

41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49.

Total Total

Source

Number of Families

yilla_

State

p

geNo-No

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

120 85 165 114 53 93 95 145 60 154 150 37

Uttar Pradesh

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

144 147 98 143 85 92 80 97 182

Delhi

»»

>> J> >> >> >>

it

West Bengal >>

Jammu and Kashmir

5 6 7 8 16 19 21 25 26 1 2 20

_

53 26 48 33 27 39 40 31 27 18 21 80

Joint 42.3 53.7 53.1 35.0 34.1 42.4 38.7 37.1 25.3

1 80 2 86 3 70 4 41 5 65 6 48 7 70 8 55 9 133

>> >> >>

»» »» jj

APPENDIX B Percent Distribution

of Families by Size of the Family

% Distribution of Families by Size S. No. !

2-3

4-6

7-9

1. 2. 3.

4.6 10.8

13.9 16.0 8.2

33.3 45.7 48.6

30.6 29.1 18.9

22.2 100.0 4.6 100.0 13.5 100.0

36 175 37

246 956 228

6.8 5.5 6.2

4.

3.4

28.8

55.9

8.5

3.4 100.0

59

268

4.5

5. 6. 7.

8.3 8.4 5.7

13.3 34.9 26.2

51.7 41.2 42.3

15.0 13.4 21.1

11.7 100.0 2.1 100.0 4.7 100.0

60 335 298

330 1437 1486

5.5 4.3 5.0

—

Source

3 I Total M e a " No. of „ size of Total 2 Pop- J. 10+

illT ^

T

Vil- _ ^

^

Gujpat >»

Jammu and Kashmir Madhya Pradesh *>

Madras »j

^ 1 4 2 49 20 80 1 44 3 100 1 16 3 24

FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE HINDU SOCIETY OF RURAL INDIA % Distribution of c u cFamilies by Size

_ . Total ~ , , Mean .Total , Total ^ Pop- s i z e o f

1

2-3

4-6

7-9

10+

11.3 3.0 5.2 10.1

29.1 26.9 27.4 30.9 21.4 30.4 38.3 21.3 24.6 26.2 32.5 28.9 14.8 22.3 15.2 19.4 21.6

10.7 17.5 16.3 12.2 23.9 13.2 13.4 19.0 20.5 14.0 10.4 16.0 34.9 21.4 31.3 23.1 16.2 27.8 32.7 18.5 22.2 19.7 24.2

3.2 2.6 2.5 3.5 12.0 2.9 2.3 2.0 2.2 4.3 3.1 2.7 6.7 5.3 11.6 10.3

4.7 18.5 6.3 3.3 1.2

15.3 21.5 19.0 16.4 19.9

45.7 50.0 48.6 43.3 42.7 50.2 42.5 53.2 45.9 49.5 47.9 45.5 43.2 45.5 35.7 41.9 56.8 16.7 32.7 35.4 45.2 54.1 41.7

31. 32. 33.

9.1 7.2 9.7

14.3 31.3 6.4

45.5 47.0 32.3

34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53.

6.5 8.9 5.9 11.7 7.1 10.3 5.3 5.7 6.4 1.1 6.9

21.5 27.8 19.1 20.8 41.2 20.0 13.2 18.9 17.2 23.2 18.6 15.0 21.3 28.7 15.6 16.8 24.7 12.5 18.6 22.5

43.0 39.2 47.8 45.8 37.6 41.2 50.0 39.6 45.2 30.5 5.1 45.0 41.3 42.0 38.1 44.1 29.4 37.5 43.3 46.7

—

3.3 3.5 4.5 6.8 6.0 6.1 6.9 0.4 2.5 6.2 5.3 5.4 —

—

6.7 7.3 2.7 4.2 7.0 2.5 5.2 3.8

—

Source

VT

S. No.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

73

T

55.5 14.6 6.1 7.1 6.5 13.0

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

512 234 325 573 117 303 402 357 370 649 163 332 229 359 112 320 37 18 150 65 126 61 161

20.8 13.3 9.7

10.4 1.2 41.9

100.0 100.0 100.0

77 83 31

20.6 13.3 20.6 18.3 11.8 24.2 27.2 20.7 21.5 30.5 17.9 26.7 17.3 15.3 22.4 24.5 27.1 28.8 19.6 20.9

8.4 10.8 6.6 3.4 2.3 4.3 4.3 15.1 9.7 14.7 5.5 13.3 13.4 6.7 21.2 10.4 11.8 18.7 13.3 6.1

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

107 158 136 120 85 165 114 53 93 95 145 60 150 150 147 143 85 80 97 182

—

Vil^ ^

^

NT

4.3 4 36 5 30 4.8 t> 6 37 4.7 7 44 4.3 6.0 8 27 4.6 9 39 »» 11 32 4.4 »» 4.8 12 41 »» 13 34 4.3 »» 14 46 4.8 15 28 4.4 17 28 4.6 19 30 6.1 5.4 Mysore 1 35 6.0 2 33 11 3 44 5.8 tt 1 11 4.5 Orissa 9.8 Punjab 1 61 5.8 36 106 Tt 4.6 Rajasthan 4 33 5 10 5.6 6 34 5.6 »» 6.2 Rajasthan 2 11 Part B 3 16 419 5.4 355 4.3 4 12 Uttar 1 57 337 10.9 Pradesh 2 29 578 5.4 11 3 42 801 5.1 4 8 795 5.8 5 53 552 4.0 6 26 357 4.2 11 7 48 822 5.0 yy 5.5 8 33 626 16 27 314 5.9 11 19 38 538 5.8 11 621 6.5 21 39 11 742 5.1 25 31 j, 366 5.6 26 27 j, 884 5.9 2 23 11 3 22 727 4.8 Delhi 2 88 1044 7.1 840 5.9 4 68 11 478 5.6 5 66 !> 536 6.7 7 98 8 56 598 6.2 9 134 935 5.1 11 2184 1127 1537 2479 703 1404 1749 1721 1769 3091 717 1530 1404 1921 669 1355 165 176 870 298 708 341 1005

„

74

JOGINDER KUMAR APPENDIX C Percent

of Population

% Distribution of Population by Size ot r a m i l y

S. N o .

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46.

Distribution

1

2-3

4-6

7-9

_

4.5 7.0 3.5 5.4 21.8 13.3 17.1 14.1 15.2 17.6 9.5 16.7 22.5 11.5 13.5 14.0 18.4 16.3 6.3 10.7 6.9 8.3 12.1

24.4 41.9 41.2 47.3 46.9 41.4 52.5 51.9 50.9 49.0 37.1 54.1 48.1 53.9 47.4 51.0 54.1 47.8 36.6 45.0 29.4 37.5 60.6 9.6 24.6 15.1 38.6 37.7 41.9 48.7 44.2 40.3 45.2 33.8 37.5 24.8 48.5 35.5 34.6 42.6 27.4 37.7 27.6 26.6 38.0 44.4

34.5 40.6 25.1 20.6 23.9 32.6 19.2 27.7 27.0 21.8 30.3 21.3 23.1 29.6 33.0 22.7 18.0 26.7 44.7 31.3 41.0 30.4 26.1 23.2 37.9 6.8 29.9 20.3 36.7 30.8 21.6 38.1 37.9 27.1 29.2 36.0 26.7 34.4 22.3 24.4 24.3 32.9 38 1 33.7 24.9 30.6

0.8 1.7 1.5 1.9 1.2 2.7 0.6 1.1 2.3 —

0.7 0.8 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.5 0.1 0.5 1.0 0.9 1.2 —

0.7 0.8 1.2 1.7 1.0 2.5 1.7 2.1 1.0 0.9 1.1 0.2 1.3 —

1.1 1.5 0.4 0.7 1.2 0.4 0.8 0.7

—

5.5 1.2 10.0 13.2 8.6 10.5 25.8 10.3 6.2 8.3 8.0 9.5 9.3 5.5 9.6 14.3 5.3 7.4 11.1 5.2 7.7 10.8

Total Total

10 + 36.6 9.7 28.5 25.2 5.5 11.5 8.5 5.7 5.8 9.3 23.0 7.2 5.5 4.1 4.7 11.0 8.1 7.7 12.3 12.5 21.7 22.9 —

67.2 31.3 76.1 30.3 27.1 11.8 7.5 6.7 9.2 9.7 29.9 24.2 29.5 14.2 24.6 32.4 17.2 42.6 21.3 22.0 34.1 28.6 13.5

by Size of

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Population

Family Source

State

V

"lage No.

246 Gujrat 956 » 228 330 M a d h y a P r a d . 1437 Madras 1486 n 2184 >> 1127 if 1537 2479 »> 703 1404 » 1749 1721 1769 >> 3091 717 >> 1530 1404 1921 Mysore 669 >> 1857 165 Orissa 177 Punjab 1027 337 Uttar Pradesh 578 801 795 552 357 822 »» 626 314 >> 538 621 742 j» 366 »» 884 West Bengal 727 Delhi 1044 844 >> 478 537 >> 598 935

„

1 2 20 3 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 17 19 1 2 3 1 1 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 16 19 21 25 26 2 3 2 4 5 7 8 9

Page N 4 49 80 100 16 24 36 30 37 44 28 39 32 41 34 46 28 28 30 35 33 44 11 61 106 57 29 42 8 53 26 48 33 27 38 39 31 27 23 22 88 68 66 98 56 134

THE STRUCTURAL FEATURES O F THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

BH ABAN A N D A MUKHERJEE

INTRODUCTION

In order to understand the structure and function of family organization in a society, an acquaintance with that society's social structure is sine qua non. Family is a fundamental unit of the total social structure and maintains a sustained relationship with other internal and external systems. There are about 314 individual Scheduled Tribes in India with a total population of 29,883,470 (Census 1961). These tribals may be classified in terms of larger descent group units into three primary groups: Patrilineal, Matrilineal, and Bilineal. The patrilineal group pervades all over the sub-continent, the matrilineal group has two niches in Assam and Kerala States, and the bilineal group known so far consists of a single tribe and is localized in the United Mikir and North Cachar Hills, Assam. A rough estimate of these three groups in a sample of 61 tribes is as follows: 86 percent Patrilineal 13 percent Matrilineal 1 percent Bilineal The patrilineal group follows patrilineal residence rule but the tribes belonging to the matrilineal group differ in this regard. Some of these tribes follow patrilocal rule, some matrilocal, and one only duolocal. Thus in this group we find some evolutionary changes within the historic time. There is no doubt that all of them except the duolocal group once practiced matrilocal residence. The bilineal group follows largely patrilocal residence rule. The infra-structure of the tribal microcosm in India, contains the following constituent structural units. 1.

Phratry

76 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

B. MUKHERJEE

Marriage class Moiety Linked clan Clan Lineage Family

A very small percentage of the tribal societies has complex structure composed of phratry, class, and moiety organization. The majority of the societies have a structural base of clan organization. The clan unit is however different among the latter group. It is largely exogamous but is endogamous among a few, namely, Lushai (Assam), Hill Miri (NEFA), and Kol (Madhya Pradesh). Contrary to these two norms, clan unit is agamous among a few, namely, Chero (Bihar), Riang (Tripura) etc. Besides, a few tribes, the Andamanese of Andaman Island, the Kadar and theMalapandaramofTravancore (Kerala), the Saora of Orissa, and the Maler of Bihar do not have clan unit at all in the composition of their societal structure. Lineage organization is an ubiquitous phenomenon in the structured society of the tribes. Clan regulates marriage among the tribes having exogamous or endogamous clan organization and kinship and lineage regulate marriage among the tribes having agamous clan organization and no clan. Lineage is an important unit among a few tribes of North-East Frontier region, namely, Lushai, Sema Naga, Rengma Naga, Ao Naga and Thado Kuki who conform to the Omaha type of kinship organization and among the Santal of Bihar (Orans 1965: 11, 13).

FAMILY ORGANIZATION:

The organization of family is a universal feature of the tribal social structure. However, its core structure differs primarily not because of the form of its super social structure, but due to the prescribed rules of descent, inheritance, and residence, and forms of marriage. The ideal types that emerge among the Indian tribes on the basis of the prescribed rules of descent, inheritance, and residence are fivefold. 1. Patrilineal structure with patrilineal rules of descent and inheritance and patrilocal residence. The constituent kin included in this structure are: Grandparents, parents and father's brothers and their wives, sons and their wives and unmarried

THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

77

children. Married daughters move out of the family of orientation. Eighty-six percent of the tribal families conform to this type. Example: Naga, Santal, Oraon, Ho, Baiga etc. 2.

Matrilineal structure with matrilineal rule of descent and inheritance and matrilocal residence. The constituent kin encysted in this structure are: Parents, their heiress (youngest daughter among the Khasi and any daughter among the Garo) and her husband, and their unmarried children. Married sons and other married daughters move out of the family of orientation. Three percent of the tribal families conforms to this type. Example: Khasi and Garo of Assam. This type functions around the heiress, and the articulation of familial kin to this structure is achieved through her. 3.

Matrilineal structure with matrilineal rule of descent and avanculocal and/or patrilineal rule of inheritance and patrilocal residence. The consituent kin encysted in this structure are the same as those of patrilineal structure. Nine percent of the tribal families conforms to this type. Example: Kanikkar, Urali, Malapandaram, and Muthuvan of Travancore (Kerala). 4.

Patri-Matrilineal structure with bilineal rule of descent and patrilocal rule of inheritance and residence. The constituent kin encysted in this structure are: Parents and their unmarried children. One percent of the tribal families conforms to this type. Example: Dimasa Kachari of Assam. 5.

Matrilineal structure with matrilineal rule of descent and inheritance and duolocal residence. The rules of descent and inheritance recall those of the matrilineal tribes (Khasi and Garo of Assam) observing matrilocal residence but the rule of residence of the tribe belonging to this type is duolocal instead. The husband on the one hand and his wife and children on the other reside in the respective family of orientation. The husband, instead of living with his wife and children, visits her at night. His matri family consists of his mother and sister (heiress) and her unmarried children and married sons. Similarly, his wife's matri family consists of her mother, herself, her children, and her married and unmarried brothers. The constituent kin encysted in the matri family of a man and of his wife are: Mother, her married and unmarried sons, and one daughter who is the heiress of the house and her children.

78

B. MUKHERJEE

This family unit excludes all affinal kin, and remains a pure consanguineal group simply based on the rule of residence. One percent of the tribal families conforms to this type. Example: Pnar Khasi of the Jaintia Hill, Assam. In the broad typological classification of family, the rule of inheritance is a stout prop for many tribes. The rule of residence generally follows the rule of inheritance but among the Pnar Khasi and the War Khasi, there is a departure. The Pnar Khasi are matrilineal in descent and inheritance but duolocal instead of matrilocal in residence; and the War Khasi are matrilineal in descent and matrilocal in residence but matri-patrilineal instead of matrilineal in inheritance. (Das Gupta 1966:167).

Typological classification of families on the basis of the principal marriage form is another approach. In the context of the culture of the Indian tribes, three types based on marriage forms emerge: 1. Monogamous, 2. Polygynous, and 3. Polyandrous. In a sample of 55 tribal societies for which information in this regard is available, it is observed that 7 (13 percent) tribes are monogamous, 45 (82 percent) are polygynous and 3 (5 percent) are polyandrous. The strictly monogamous tribes who abhor plural unions are the Sherdukpen of NEFA, the Khasi, and the Dimasa Kachari of Assam, the Riang of Tripura, and Asur of Bihar, the Malapandaram of Travancore (Kerala), and the Andamanese of Andaman Islands. The polygynous tribes mean the tribes having a preference for plural unions for many economic and social reasons. Among them monogamous unions far exceed polygynous unions in frequency. Only the Urali of Travancore once used to take a number of wives on account of the custom of exchanging sisters for wives. A man having many sisters could have plural wives, and those who had none remained bachelors (Mukherjee 1952:42). Even among them the incidence of polygynous union is 11.7 percent. In this connection Murdock (1949:27) writes, "A numerical criterion for polygyny is unsatisfactory, since monogamous unions nearly always outnumber polygynous ones at any given period of observation, even in societies where the preference for plural wives is extreme. This is assured by the natural sex ratio.... The percentage of Indian tribes involved in polygynous unions is about 82 percent, which stands in sharp contrast to 27.6 percent (53 polygamous out of 192 societies) of Murdock (1949:2). The number of polyandrous tribal societies is however insignificant (5 percent). The pastoral Toda of Nilgiri Hills, Madras, practice both fraternal and non-fraternal polyandry. Fraternal polyandry establishes

THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

79

joint family organization and non-fraternal polyandry constitutes a household consisting of a wife and her children; the husbands visit her like the husbands in the society of the Pnar Khasi (Banerjee 1964) of Assam. Consistent fraternal polyandry was being practiced by the Jaunsari 1 of the sub-Himalayan Uttar Pradesh with relevant joint family household. But the incidence of polyandry has in the recent time dwindled to 43.65 percent consequently giving way to bi-polyandry (plural wives) and monogamy, the latter being 35 percent (Makherjee 1960:65). The Gallong tribe of NEFA (Srivastava 1962) has the polyandrous joint family unit. Two or more brothers bring one wife each, if possible, but all the brothers have sexual right over all the wives. The Gallong case is little different from that of the Toda and the Jaunsari, as the basic family among them is monogamous. From the viewpoint of cyclic dynamism, the processes of fission and fusion are the natural culminations in the organic and viable social organization. The tribal society at large is no exception, barring a few tribes which are nuclear over time and space. Admitting the changes in the traditional Hindu joint family system, Mandelbaum (1949:108) writes that this does not mean the complete abandonment of the joint family system, for each of the sons starts a new joint family, in which they bring their wives. "The large joint family of TABLE 1 Family Type

No.

Tribes

Nuclear

13 (27.6%)

Apa Tani, Sema Naga, Rengma Naga, Angami Naga, Ao Naga, Dimasa Kachari, Kamar, Hill Reddi, Yanadi, Malapandaram, Andamanese, Onge, Toto.

Lineally Joint'

22 (46.8%)

Sherdukpen, Tangsas, Aka, Gallong, Adi, Purum, Khasi, Garó, Mikir, Thanu, Bhil, Maria Gond, Gond and Bhumia, Kol, Kora, Santal, Birhor, Saora, Dhurwa, Chenchu, Urali, Grasia.

Laterally Joint"

4 (8.5 %)

Idu Mishmi, Dafla, Maler, Asur.

Lineally and Laterally Joint

8 (17.0%)

Mech, Riang, Lodha, Kharia, Bhumij, Chero, Ho, Mahadevakoli.

1 A structured caste group labelled as Scheduled tribe. • Joining the nuclear family of a married adult (son/daughter) to that of his/her parents. Also see "Extended Family" (Murdock 1949:2). b Joining the nuclear families of male siblings.

80

B. MUKHERJEE

former times has been generally replaced by small joint families of fewer members and shorter duration" (O'Malley 1934:126, quoted). A similar process operates among the tribes shown in the table as joint, either lineal or lateral or both. From the viewpoints of demography and residence rule, four distinct types of family organization, namely, nuclear, lineally joint, laterally joint, and both lineally and laterally joint emerge. Details of these four types are given in Table 1. Information for analysis of the tribal families into types was available for only 47 tribes. It is a commonplace that the tribal youths after their marriage live with their parents till a child or two are born. In some cases the youngest son daughter continues to live permanently with the parents. But the tribes or shown in the above table against the nuclear type of family do not at all prolong their stay after their marriage in their families of orientation but soon start families of procreation. These tribes normally have nuclear families with no experience of joint living. One nuclear family is the radiating center of all nuclear families with the innate centrifugal force. Some examples are cited below in support of the radiating creativity of the nuclear families. Among the Dimasa Kachari (Ghosh 1965:189), a family is composed of parents and unmarried children alone. It can never be extended either lineally or laterally as the sons separate from parents immediately after marriage. Two women belonging to two different clans are not allowed to stay in the same house. Haimendorf (1962:92) writes that for the Apatani of NEFA, a nuclear family consisting of a couple and their unmarried children is the basic economic and social unit. Most of the Naga tribes uphold only nuclear family organization. The Onge of little Andaman Island and the Toto of North Bengal may also belong to this group. However, lineally joint family organization is predominant, occurring at the rate of 46.8 percent, and laterally joint family is at a low ebb occurring at the rate of 8.5 percent. In the former the process of filiation holds two or three generations together over time, and in the latter the diminution of sibling bond separates male siblings from one another. To keep cyclic harmony, independent nuclear families eventually develop from these two kinds of joint families which constitute the gamate, the protoplasm body. The fourth type of family organization is an amalgam of lineally and laterally joint family organization held together for a short time for final break.

81

THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

Murdock's (1949:2) findings of 24 percent normally nuclear families (47 out of 192 societies) and 27 percent for Indian tribes probably suggest the normal incidence of nuclear families in human society being around 24-27 percent.

SIZE OF FAMILY (HOUSEHOLD) The average family unit size depends upon the form or types of family organization a society develops, but both demographic and cultural factors determine it. A comparative picture is presented in Table 2. TABLE 2 Tribe Dhurwa Naika Kuvikandha Didayi Munda Ho Onge (Nomad) Grasia Kota Jaunsari (Polyandrous) Toda (Polyandrous) Toto(Inbred group) Garo Khasi War Khasi Pnar Khasi Mala Pandaram (Nomad) Kanikkar Urali Dimasa Kachari

Source

Descent group

Residence

Average family size

Thusu 1965:76 Shah 1959:38 Banerjee 1968: 14, 33 Unpublished report: Guha, Siddiqui & Mathur. Unpublished report: Choudhury Unpublished report: Das Gupta Nigam 1962: 90 Dave 1960: 49

Patrilineal -do-do-do-

Patrilocal -do-do-do-

5.30 5.6 4.4 5.07

-do-

-do-

5.9

-do-

-do-

4.9

-do-do-

-do-do-

Unpublished report: Verghese Mukherjee 1960: 64

-do-

-do-

3.06 4.8 (approx.) 4.2

-do-

-do-

8.7

Rivers 1906: 474

-do-

-do-

3 (approx.) 5.6 4.5 5.1 4.00 4.9 (christian) 4.4 (Tribal) 2.8

Gates 1963: 9 Mukherjee 1958: 25 Nag 1965: 5 DasGupta 1966:167 Nag 1965: 5

-do-doMatrilineal Matrilocal -do-do-do-doDuolocal -do-

Mukherjee 1954: 24

-do-

Nag 1954: 105 Mukherjee 1955: 100 Ghosh 1965:18

-do-doBilineal

Patrilocal -do-do-do-

4.25 5.05 3.9

82

B. MUKHERJEE

The family size of the Toda was roughly 3 in 1902. Rivers (1906:474) gives the family sizes of the Toda belonging to two social groups and to different age groups, A, B, C, and D. Tartharol

A. B. C. D.

3.0 4.1 3.3 2.5

Tievalial

4.5 3.8 3.8 2.3

He has also shown (1906:477) that the family sizes of Toda belonging to different clan groups decreased according to the intensity of external influence. Average family size 1. Uninfluenced group 2. Partly influenced group 3. Much influenced group -

3.59 3.04 2.60

The Toda practiced both fraternal and non-fraternal polyandry, but incidence of non-fraternal polyandry is much less. In 1902 the Toda population was declining, the total being 736. The Jaunsari on the other hand are fraternal and their average size family is 8.7. If an individual caste group of the Jaunsari is taken, the family size is 12 for Brahman and Baddi caste, 9.4 for Rajput, and 8.8. for Bajki, Deor, and Nai castes. The Kota, whose family size is 4.2, were once a polyandrous group (Mandelbaum 1941) like the Toda in the same region, the Nilgiri Hills of Madras. The smallest family size is 2.8 among the nomadic Malapandaram (Mukherjee 1954). The same for the Negrito Onge of Little Andaman Island and the bilineal Dimasa Kachari is 3.06 and 3.9 respectively. Among the Grasis the family size is 4.8 in monogamous families. The family size of the Ho living in the vicinity of a cement factory in Singhbhum, Bihar, is 4.9. No family size for the rural tribal is available for comparison. However Das (1927:48) writes "The family generally consists of the parents, the unmarried daughters, the sons and their wives and children." It may be said by perforce inference from the above that the family size among the Ho is diminishing due to the breakdown of joint families into nuclear ones. Among the Khasi group, the family size of the War Khasi is 4, whereas it is 5 among the Khasi (Nag 1965). The ideal Pnar Khasi family, being consanguineal and marked by the absence of father/husband and the

THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

83

presence of all the mother's brothers and their youngest sister (who is heiress) and her children, should be a bigger household unit similar to a fraternal polyandrous family unit of the Jaunsari. But the family size is 4.9 and 4.4 respectively among the two groups (Nag 1965) of Pnar Khasi. This indicates that all of the mother's brothers do not stay there and consequently the duolocal residence rule among the Pnar Khasi is undergoing change.

FAMILY EXOGAMY AND ENDOGAMY

Exogamy is the characteristic feature of the unilinear consanguineal kin group among the majority of tribes. Particularly in the smaller kin groups such as the family, the tendency towards exogamy is the strongest; according to the available information, the only exception is the Riang of Tripura in North East India. They had endogamous clan and joint family organization. Out of 235 marriages, 36.59 percent occurred within same clans (Mukherjee 1960:735). The occurrence of marriage with FaBrDa (11.5 percent) and MoSiDa (2.5 percent) indicates family endogamy. But this has undergone change; exogamy and cross-cousin marriage (7.9 percent) are being followed. The Riang clan and family are now agamous. Therefore in Riang family, apart from consanguineal kin, the affinal kin are the parallel and cross-cousins who are spouses. The place of cross-cousins as spouses in the residential family unit is very much marked. 59 percent of the Indian tribes practice cross-cousin marriage which thus brings in cousins as affinals who are the constituent members of the family unit. But in the rest of the tribes, spouses are non-kin. Thus from the viewpoint of marriage, some tribal families parallel well with the Hindu family organization of the Northern India admitting no marriage with cousins, and some tribal families parallel with the Hindu family organization of the Southern India admitting marriage with cousins. A clearcut distinction between the family of birth (family of orientation) and the family of marriage (family of procreation) is maintained by some tribals like the Hindu family organization of the Northern India. Karve has delved into this situation. She writes (1965:243), "In the southern family there is no clear-cut distinction between the family of birth and the family of marriage, which is the salient feature of the terminology of the northern zone.... In the southern zone, however, because of the custom, according to which a man can marry his elder

84

B. MUKHERJEE

sister's daughter, the elder sister who is a member of his family of birth also becomes a member of his family of marriage (i.e. mother-in-law)." But marriage with the elder sister's daughter is absent among most of the tribes in India.2

FAMILY RELATIONSHIP A N D ITS UNIVERSALITY

Murdock (1949:93) writes, "Within the nuclear family are found eight characteristic relationships. Though functionally differentiated, all tend to be characterized, as compared with extra-family relationships, by a high degree of reciprocal cooperation, loyalty, solidarity, and affection. Despite cultural differences, each of the eight primary relationships reveals a markedly similar fundamental character in all societies, in consequence of the universality of the family's basic functions." It is true that a nuclear family in all societies performs the four functions, namely, sexual, economic, reproductive, and educational. In the matrilocal nuclear family, the husband of the heiress (the youngest daughter among the Khasi and any daughter among the Garo) lives in the house of his wife's matri lineage. He has neither defacto nor dejure right over any property either in his own matri family or in his wife's matri family. The eight characteristic relationships are observable in the matrilocal nuclear family where the husband also has economic role. The four basic functions of nuclear family are also performed there. The situation is slightly different among the Pnar Khasi of Assam. The husband/father lives in his matri family and works in the family land; he visits his wife at night and leaves the family in the morning. The absence of the husband/father during daytime is conspicuous, but father and children relationship is not fully absent, rather it is attenuated. On the contrary, a dominant relationship between mother's brother and sister's unmarried and married male children prevails. Absence of husband and father in the Nayar family of South India has been a cogent argument to cancel out the proposition of the universality of nuclear family. Linton (1936:154) mentions the Mayar of India as a society which excludes the husband and father from the family. The Pnar Khasi family besets the same problem. Therefore, the functions of Pnar family and roles of husband (father) and mother's brother need 2

Absence of cross-cousin marriage among the tribes of South India is a rare phenomenon. Cross-cousin marriage is a universal phenomenon in the South India whereas it is forbidden in the North India.

THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

85

to be discussed. Before doing so, an analogy between Nayar family and Pnar family may be useful. Nakane (1963:17) defines Nayar family: A traditional Nayar tarwad was a property group consisting of matrilineal lineage exclusively, headed and represented by the senior male member, called Karanavan. Normally the members of a tarwad formed a distinguishable domestic unit. Spouses of the members of a tarwad resided in the tarwad where they were born, and a husband visited his wife at her tarwad at night and returned early morning.

A Nayar tarwad is a large unit, a property owning group, a coparcenary whereas a Pnar family is not a coparcenary. The youngest daughter is the heiress of the family. The position of mother's brother is not the same; in a tarwad he is a coparcenar and has an economic right whereas a mother's brother in Pnar family has no economic right. On the question of nuclear family among the Nayar, Gough (1960:87) affirms that it exists and is significant. She writes: Although the elementary family of one father, one mother and their children was not institutionalized as a legal, residential or economic unit, and although individual men had no significant rights in their particular wives and children, the Nayars did institutionalize the concepts of marriage and paternity and give ritual and legal recognition to both.

The case of the Pnar family is not a bit different in this regard. Both the sexual and reproductive roles are performed in the Pnar elementary family. So far as economic and educative roles are concerned, the father has no role of worth in wife's matri family. The guardianship, care, and discipline of the children are the concern of the mother's brother. The father is a mother's brother in his own matri family and therefore performs the economic and the educative roles in his matri family. In no matri family of the Pnar are these two roles ignored. In the traditional Pnar society as well as in the Khasi and Garo society, a man's economic right is very limited. He shares the responsibility of feeding family members along with the heiress, who holds absolute economic right. But a man has the economic role and no economic power. As he supervises the activities of the family, his authority in the matri family is by and large social and ritual. Considering the performance of basic functions and the institutionalization of the concepts of marriage and paternity, the nuclear family exists among the Pnar.

86

B. MUKHERJEE

CHANGES IN TRIBAL FAMILIES

Systematic diachronic studies of the tribal institutions and social groups of the tribes of India are few and far between. However, data on the study of cultural changes caused by Hinduization, conversion to Christianity, socioeconomic changes, urbanization and industrialization are abundant. Hinduization of the tribal population in India is an unabated continuing process. The changes brought about by this process in the family institutions of matrilineal but patrilocal Kanikkar and Urali of Travancore are more vital. Among them, the Marumakkathayam system envisaging succession and inheritance by the sister's son has completely been replaced by Makkathayam system envisaging succession and inheritance by sons (Mukherjee 1955:104). But this kind of vital systemic change has not taken place among the Khasi despite the impact of powerful extraneous social forces such as Christianity, literacy, and urbanization which should have liquidated the inheritance system of the Khasi. Among present-day Khasis 47.4 percent are Christian. Nag (1965:16-17) writes: ... even today there are only very few cases of non-conformity to the main feature of the traditional rules of inheritance among both the Christian and nonChristian sections of the Khasi. The corresponding percentages of nonconforming cases are only 11.7 percent and 6.3 percent. The proportion of non-conforming cases among the Christians is higher in Shillong town than in rural areas mainly because of the fact that an increasing number of educated and self-earning Khasi males at Shillong are reluctant to live in their wive's ancestral home and depend on their wive's property for their living.

The phenomenon of family structure mutation is also observable among some tribes. The polyandrous Kota are now dominantly monogamous. Polyandry among the Jaunsari is only 43.65 percent. The joint family structure of the Riang of Tripura has given way to nuclear family which scores 62.87 percent. The average family size between rural and urban Christian Khasi does not differ much, but it is 4.4 among the rural nonChristian and 5.5 among the urban non-Christian (Nag 1965:5). Das Gupta (1964:97), while delineating the changes on the family life of the Santal working in Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in West Bengal, writes, "The one apparent modification due to industrialization is the consistent trend toward the shortening of patrilocal residence," in the parents' household after marriage and formation of nuclear families and neolocal residence. Orans studied the same Santal employed by TISCO (Tata Iron and

87

THE TRIBAL FAMILIES IN INDIA

Steel Company), the oldest and largest modern iron and steel company in India. Santal industrial workers live both outside and within Jamshedpur. He also studied the Santal in a rural village, Fanderkuta, which is about fifty miles from Jamshedpur. In the same village he observed less than 15 percent extended families and preponderance of nuclear family among the rural Santal. The causes, he attributes, are the relatively short span of life among the Santal and the fracture of extended families soon after the father's death (Orans 1965:24). Das Gupta's above contention needs validation, though; it points out that the employment opportunity and the subsequent economic independence splits the nuclear families articulated to a core joint family. Anthropological

Survey

of India,

Calcutta

BIBLIOGRAPHY Banerjee, Sukumar 1964 "Residence Pattern Among the Pnar", Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of Indiali: 1-2. 1968 Ethnographic Study of the Kuvi Kandha. Memoir. No. 24. Anthropological Survey of India. Baruah, Tapan Kumar 1960 The Idu Mishmis (Shillong). Bhowmik, P. K. 1963 TheLodhas of West Bengal (Calcutta). Biswas, P. C. 1956 Santals of Santal Parganas (Delhi). Bose, J. K. 1937 "Marriage Classes Among the Chirus of Assam", Man 37. Bose, Nirmal Kumar 1928 "Marriage and Kinship Among the Juangs", Man In India 8:4. Das, Amal Kumar 1964 The Koras and Some Little Known Communities of West Bengal (Calcutta). Das, A. K. and M. K. Raha 1967 The Rabhas of West Bengal (Caclutta). Das, T. C. 1927 The Hos of Seraikella. Part I (Calcutta). 1931 The Bhumiyas of Seraikella (Anthropological papers. University of Calcutta. New Series, no.2). 1945 The Purums (Calcutta). Das Gupta, P. K. 1964 "Impact of Industrialization on Tribal Life", Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India 13:1-2. 1966 "Family Among the War Khasi", Journal of Indian Anthropological Society I. Dave, P. C. 1960 The Grasias (Delhi).

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Dube, S. C. 1951 The Kamar (Lucknow). Dutta, Parul 1959 The Tangsas of the Namchik and Tirap Valleys (Shillong). Ehrenfels, U. R. 1952 Kadar of Cochin (Madras). Elwin, Verrier 1939 The Baiga (London). 1950 Bondo High Lander (Bombay). 1955 The Religion of an Indian Tribe (Bombay). Fuchs, Stephen 1960 The Gond and Bhumia of Eastern Mandla (Bombay). Gates, Ruggles 1963 The Totos ( = Mankind Monographs, 5) (Edinburgh). Ghosh, Dipali 1965a Notes on the Family Among the Dimasa Kachari", Man In India 45:1. 1965b "Descent and Clan Among the Dimasa", Man 45: 3. Ghurey, G. S. 1957 The Mahadev Kolis (Bombay). Goswami, B. B. 1960 "Kinship System of the Lushai", Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India 9 :2. Gough, Katheleen E. 1960 "Is the Family Universal? The Nayar Case", A Modern Introduction to the Family. Edited by Norman W. Bell and Ezra F. Vogel (London). Griffiths, Walter G. 1946 The Kol Tribe of Central India (Calcutta). Grigson, Wilfrid 1938 The Maria Gonds of Baster (London). Gurdon, P. R. T. 1914 The Khasis (London). Haimendorf, Von Furer 1943 The Chenchus (London). 1945 The Reddis of Bison Hills (London). 1962 The Apa Tanis and Their Neighbours (London). 1921 a The Angami Nagas (London). 1921b The Sema Nagas (London). 1922 "Thado Kuki Terms of Relationship", Man In India 2:1-2. Iyer, L. A. Krishna 1939 Muthuvan. The Travancore Tribes and Castes. Vol. 2 (Trivandrum). Karve, Irawati 1965 Kinship Organization In India (Bombay). Leuva, K. K. 1963 The Asur (New Delhi). Linton, R. 1936 The Study of Man (New York). Majumdar, D. N. 1950 The Affairs of a Tribe (Lucknow). Mandelbaum, David G. 1941 "Cultural Change Among the Nilgiri Tribes", American Anthropologist 43: 1. 1949 The Family In India. The Family: Its Function And Destiny. Vol. 5. Edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen.

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Mill, J. P. 1926 The Ao Nagas (London). 1937 The Rengma Nagas (London). Mukherjee, Bhabananda 1952 "Marriage Customs and Kinship Organization of the Urali of Travancore", Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology 1: 2. 1953 "Socio-Economic Organization of the Kanikkar of Travancore", Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology 2: 2. 1954 "The Mala Pandaram of Travancore: Their Socio-Economic Life", Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology 3:1. 1955a "Family Structure and Law of Residence etc. Among the Urali of Travancore", Vanyajati 3: 3. 1955b "Acculturation Among the Kanikkars of Travancore", Geographical Review of India. 17: 1. 1958 "Garo-Family", The Eastern Anthropologist II: 1. 1960a "Marriage Among The Jaunsaries", Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India 9 : 2 . 1960b "Cousin Marriage Among the Riang", Anthropos 55. Mukherjee, B., B. C. Roychoudhury, and D . Ghosh n.d. The Chero of Palamau, Bihar" (unpublished). Murdock, G. P. 1949 Social Structure (New York). Nag, M. K . 1954 " A Demographic Study of the Kanikkar of Travancore", Bulletin of the Department of Anthropology 3:2. 1965 "Effect of Christianity on a Few Aspects of Khasi Culture", Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India 14:1-2. Naik, T. B. 1956 The Bhils (Delhi) Nakane, Chie 1963 "The Nayar Family in a Disintegrating Matrilineal System", Family and Marriage. Edited by John Mogey (The Hague). Nigam, R . C. 1962 "The Onge of Little Andaman - Their Settlements and Populations", Vanyajati 10:1. Orans, Martin 1965 The Santal (Detroit). Parry, N . E. 1932 The Lakhers (London). Pegu, N o m a l C. 1956 The Miris (Gauhati). Playfair, A. 1909 The Garos (London). Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1948 The Andaman Islanders (Illinois). Raghaviah, V. 1962 Yanadis (New Delhi). Rivers, W. H. R . 1906 The Todas (London). Roy, S. C. 1912 The Mundas and Their Country (Calcutta). 1915 The Oraons of Chotonagpur (Ranchi). 1925 The Birhors (Ranchi).

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1935 The HillBhuiyas ofOrissa (Ranchi). 1937 The Kharias (Ranchi). Roy, Sochin 1960 Aspects of Padam Minyong Culture (Shillong). Sanyal, Charu Chandra 1955 "The Totos", Journal of the Asiatic Society. Science 21:2. Sarkar, S. S. 1938 The Malers of the Raj Mahal Hills (Calcutta). Shah, P. G. 1958 The Dublas of Gujarat (New Delhi). 1959 Naikas - Naikdas (Bombay). Shakespear, J. 1912 The Lushei Kuki Clans (London). Sharma, R. R. P. 1961 The Sherdukpens (Shillong). Shukla, B. K. 1959 The Daflas of Subansiri Region (Shillong). Sinha, Raghuvir 1962 The Akas (Shillong). Smith, W. C. 1925 The Ao Naga Tribe of Assam (London). Srivastava, L. R. N. 1962 The Gallongs (Shillong). Srivastava, S. K. 1958 The Tharus (Agra). Stack, Edward and Charles Lyall 1908 The Mikirs (London). Thusu, K. N. 1965 The Dhurwa of Bastar (Calcutta). Vidyarthi, L. P. 1963 The Maler (Calcutta).

MATRILINEAL JOINT FAMILY PATTERNS IN INDIA

U. R. VON EHRENFELS

1. THE ECLIPSE OF THE JOINT FAMILY

The shrinking of the joint family system in India is frequently attributed to trends of mechanization, industrialization, urbanization, increased mobility, and Westernization. This holds good for both patrilineal and matrilineal varieties of extended families. However, doubts concerning the validity of such an interpretation are suggested by internal evidence, as well as by a comparison with developments in the field of caste in modern social development, or what one might term caste and politics. Let us first consider possible causal links between "modernism" and the shrinkage of the joint family one by one. (a) Mechanization: The introduction of larger-scale machinery, especially the internal combustion engine has affected Indian economic and social developments mainly in two fields, agriculture and transport. The latter will also be discussed under the heading of mobility, but agriculture is of first concern to our problem. The introduction of tractor, combine, and the electric pump necessitate co-operative farming, rather than the division of joint landholdings to permit individual small-scale farming. (Darling 1930:17, 328; Ehrenfels 1962: 123-46; Gadgil 1965; Goyal 1966; Laxminarayana and Kanungo 1967; Schiller, 1967). The seemingly contradictory (though not necessarily mutually exclusive) trends towards division of joint family holdings and co-operative farming on non-traditional lines hence appears to be caused not so much by internal technoeconomic, as by external social ideology. The motivating forces underlying the latter factor will be considered under Westernization (d). (b) Industrialization: Urbanization plays an increasingly important role in India: especially during the last 3 Five-Year Plans (Dr. Zakir Hussain, 1968). The impact of this development on the vast majority of the counPrinted with permission from the Information Dept., Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. New Delhi, India.

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try's agricultural population, however, is coupled with an acute scarcity of land, caused by the explosive population increase and the resultant need to seek non-agricultural employment, mostly in industrial urban centers. Hence the rapid urbanization of to-day. However, fully urbanized nuclear families tend to reintegrate into larger kinship units in often common residential areas (Kapadia, 1966:285, 301, etc.; Bose, 1967) and urbanized individuals often keep alive socioeconomic ties with rural joint families (Patel, 1963:25,108;Kropp, 1968). This trend towards reintegration is not without parallels in other fields. Celibacy in the monastic life of Theravada Buddhism, for example, had at first disrupted the traditional linkage of kinship and property rights in Ceylon, but this reasserted itself in the shape of the "rule of pupillary succession" (sisyanu sisya paramparava), according to which "a deceased chief monk of a temple is succeeded by his senior pupil..." who is in significantly frequent cases a kinship relative (Evers 1967: 705). Or, to mention another example, traditional caste restrictions have loosened their hold on Hindu India under various circumstances during the past one and a half centuries - especially in the fields of occupation, commensality and untouchability. Caste has even been legally abolished, as an acknowledged and sanctionable social institution, in independent India. Yet, All-Indian caste coherence has had a come-back in political and even general-cultural fields (Srinivas 1956, 1966: 11, seq.). The re-appearance, in changed form, of joint family ties among urbanized groups (cf. Tamilians in Bombay and Delhi, Sikhs in Calcutta, Assam and elsewhere, Sindhis everywhere, etc.); especially with regard to economic co-operation and even residential patterns, should be borne in mind for further studies of the Indian family. (c) Mobility has been high in India, due especially to the traditionally established form of corporate caste-mobilty, which made possible such movements as, for instance, the settlement of U.P. Kshatriyas in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam, or of Mahrattas, Banjaras, Punjabis and Sindhis in Tamilnad or that of Urdu-speaking Muslims in Bengal and South India. The Pax Britannica, its railway system and economic development, have added further impulses to this kind of group-mobility and resulted, for instance, in the mass migration of Chotha Nagpur and Santal communities to Assamese tea plantations, of Tamilian labor to Ceylon and Malaya, etc. This kind of group-mobility over large distances, however, had (and has) little influence on the family structure, which tends to continue in new geographical surroundings. Short-distance

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mobility, contrariwise, inaugurated by the mass introduction of cheap motor-bus lines (Ehrenfels 1963 II: 127 f., 225), offers employment opportunities to single individuals or nuclear families at places, too near to suggest group-emigration, yet too far from the joint family residence, to permit its unlimited continuation. Hence, technical changes, rather than changes in attitudes have been affecting family - and behavioral patterns. (d) Westernization. Material changes have not greatly affected the need for corporate life, as such, as we have indicated in Mechanization (a) and - to a lesser degree - in above: Industrialization-Urbanization. It was rather a different attitude to the traditional joint family pattern which seems to have affected it consistently. This changed attitude generally goes under the name of Westernization in India, even if it emanates in some cases from Russia, or in fact from the East, i.e. China. Its ideology opposes the traditional form of the joint family on various grounds. Traditional religion and its equalizing influence on individual behavior patterns are considered retrograde and hence discouraged. Individualism and the independence of the young are hailed as progressive, although in a very important field, the choice of one's mate, individual decision ("Love-marriage") is - even today - practiced by quite an insignificant minority of "modernists" only. However, a significant trend towards ideological changes merely for the sake of change as such, can be observed here. The generally progressive westernization trend all over India favors traditionally prohibited inter-caste, in some cases even inter-religious marriages, such as e.g. Brahmin non-Brahmin marriages. Nambuderi Brahmins, however, the one community which traditionally permitted extra caste marriages to brides from the Nayar, Menon and Pillai jaties, now favor endogamous in-group caste marriages and discourage the extra-caste alliance, which in their single case had been traditionally sanctioned. Here, a significantly irrational element appears in the allegedly "rationalistic" arrangements of westernized modernism.

2. PATRIARCHAL A N D MATRILINEAL JOINT FAMILIES

Some of the major forces which are leading to an inroad in, if not an eclipse of the joint family system in India (and elsewhere), as outlined above, would appear to work on patrilineal and matrilineal family structures alike. Yet, responses to these (and other) disintegrative forces appear to be markedly different in patrilineal and matrilineal societies. This is true not only with regard to patrilineal and matrilineal family systems,

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but even among different family types within both major divisions. The Parsee joint family, for example, gave way to Westernization earlier and more completely than that of many Hindu or Muslim patrilineal communities. However, our present comparison will be confined to matrilineal patterns of the joint family in India. It existed, or exists, apart from Kerala, also in Assam, among two non-Hindu groups of Highlanders, the Khasi and Garo. In Kerala, the leading section of the Hindu non-Brahmin and significant groups of the Muslim landholding societies in the plains as well as some groups of Highlanders in the Western Ghats were traditionally organized in matrilineal joint families. The emphasis on the matrifocal character of the Nayar and kindred non-Brahmin feudal jaties in particular was so strong that early ethnologists of the colonial period differentiated between the "Nayar type" of "polyandry" or "matriarchy", as mother-right was then misleadingly called, and that of other groups, like the Khasi in Assam, or Himalayan communities, practicing "fraternal polyandry". More recent studies of kinship-systems and behavioral patterns in this group of matrilineal middle classes in Kerala have shown that the stress on the joint family is strong (Gough 1952). Not only the Nayar, Menon, and Pillai jaties, but also Poduvals, Nambiars, Ambalavasis, Nambisans and Samathams are included here on one side of the socioeconomic scale, but also North Malabar Tiyyas (Izhavas) on the other. Modern disapproval and actual disintegration of this marumakkattayam joint family (Nakane 1958) is both intense and generally accepted. An outstanding feature of the modernist attitude is its being linked with the fairly general social revolt against the matrilineal mode of inheritance - in fact against any matrifocal or mother-right features of traditional social organization. The main argument of this opposition contends that because the joint family is outmoded, incompatible with modernism and intimately linked with marumakkattayam - both must go. Significantly a complementary argument against both, i.e. the joint family and the patriarchal social system, is not being proposed by patrilineal modernists. They may be denouncing the joint family on various grounds, but the generally accepted tradition of patriliny is not questioned thereby. We shall have to return to this attitudinal difference between patrilineal and matrilineal modernists later on. But first we shall analyse the arguments habitually advanced against the matrilineal joint family in Kerala only. One of the foremost complaints against marumakkattayam is the auto-

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cratic behavior of the karanavan, the mother's (elder) brother, who acts as manager and virtual head of the taravad (lineage) property. In addition to his authoritarianism, the karanavan is, or was, not unfrequently accused of being disloyal to his sister(s) and their children, whose common property he has, or had, traditionally managed. At the same time he was suspected of favoring his wife and her children by him, who belong to a taravad and economic unit, different from his own. This second part of the habitual criticism, properly understood, is directed not so much against the joint family, or the matrilineal system of inheritance as such but against the neglect of the system by a disloyal family member. This is important to note. The complaint about authoritarianism on the part of the family's managing head should rather have been expected to figure prominently in patrilineal joint families, headed by one supreme old patriarch, whose position, by definition, is monolithic and unquestionably autocratic. The karanavan in the matrilineal joint family, on the other hand is only one of three authority-bearers, namely: (1) the mother, as the center of the family (2) he himself, the mother's brother, as legal adviser and representative towards outsiders, and (3) the father - a person of paramount psychological importance who, however, legally holds the position of an honored guest, or a welcome outsider only. The basic structure of this matrilineal family pattern is that of plural authority, in contrast to the monolithic concentration of paramount power in the patriarchal pater familias (Ehrenfels 1953: 356, seq. 1964: 109). We may remember that the pater familias in ancient Rome - a paradigmatic figure of patriarchal social structure - wielded unlimited power over the life and death of his familia, including slaves and even his wife and children! The Kerala karanavan is hence being accused of precisely that overbearing authoritarianism which the very structure of the matrilineal joint family is trying to avoid by introducing three foci of authority instead of only one, as in the case of the patrilineal patriarch. 3. TWO TYPES OF MATRILINEAL JOINT FAMILIES

This somewhat paradoxical and seemingly self-contradictory situation can only be understood in the light of the historical background picture of matriliny in Kerala. Both the traditional integration of mythology, religion, ritual, as well

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as the social organization of matriliny (mother-right) in Kerala, its similarities with matrilineal features all over Dravidian-speaking South India, including the northern part of Ceylon, and historical indications suggest a comparatively early origin for matriliny in the Nayar group of the Kerala feudal land-holding jaties (Ehrenfels 1963 I: 156 seq.). The marital, economic, religious, and ritualistic positions (talikettu kalayanam) and the general acculturation-situation of this Nayar group vis a vis the Nambuderis, the paramount group of Kerala Brahmins, though probably between two and three millennia old, must have begun to exert their influence at a time when the matrilineal family system had already been well established and structurally integrated into Kerala social life. The hypothesis that matriliny was imposed on the Nayar jaties by Nambuderi Brahmins, to suit the convenience of their second and younger sons, can be dismissed (Iyer 1961; Pillai 1961; Ehrenfels 1965: 14, seq.). This being so, we see that the frequently criticized overbearing attitude of autocratic kdranavans in Kerala is not an inherent feature of marumakkattayam, the matrilineal system there, but rather its very contradiction, brought about by close ideological and marital associations with the characteristically patriarchal Nambuderi Brahmins. Nambuderi second and younger sons were debarred from marrying caste mates and from inheriting paternal landholdings. They generally married girls from the matrilineal Nayar-group jaties by their traditional sambandham rite of marriage. Sociopersonal relations with their Nayar children were generally close, though the latter belonged to the mother's taravad and jati, in accordance with the matrilineal order of succession and inheritance. However, younger sons of wealthy and influential Nambuderi families could, and frequently did, enhance the prestige and financial position of their Nayar wives and imbued their day-to-day life, ritual and attitudes with Brahmin concepts and, in the course of generations, assimilated the average Nayargroup population, even biologically, to such an extent that early Western travellers mistook "The Nayars" for a kind of "unorthodox Brahmins". It fits into this sociobiological picture that the second major complaint against the karanavan was his alleged disloyalty to the matrilineal system, by favoring his wife's own biological children to the disadvantage of his nieces and nephews, i.e. his matrilineal nearest of kin. Ironically enough this oft substantiated accusation has been used as one of the main arguments for the legal abolition of marumakkattayam - the very matrilineal system which the karanavan neglected or ignored. Significant differences to this situation can be observed in Assam, notably among the Khasi.

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The Khasi joint family, Kur, or its smaller lineage iing (Gurdon 1907, Cantlie 1934, Nakane, 1968) like that of Kerala, rests on the three basic foci of authority: mother (or grandmother: Ka Jawbei) maternal uncle ([U Kni) and father. The central position of the mother, however, was generally more pronounced there than in Kerala. The U Kni, the mother's brother, on the other hand, was rarely accused of overbearing authoritarianism, though he was occasionally charged with preferring his children and wife to the disadvantage of his sister(s) and their children - his matrilineal nearest of kin (as in the Kerala situation, above). He was not habitually emulating, - as his Kerala counterpart - consciously or subconsciously did, an outside, i.e. Brahmin, and purely patriarchal socioreligious prestige image. Women of the Nayar-group jaties used to (and still do) eat separately from, and after, their menfolk, to stand up when talking with a karanavan or other elderly man, etc., while Khasi men habitually get up first in the morning, to warm the breakfast, before going to work along with their women-folk. The Ka Jawmei, maternal grandmother, is shown as much respect as the U Kni, her brother. This different socioreligious ideology behind the Khasi matrilineal joint family also found adequate expression in acculturation trends during the colonial period and after independence. Khasi converts to Christianity have not, generally, abandoned matrilineal succession and inheritance, and sometimes have even retained the matrilineal joint family (Ehrenfels 1955: 314) though they are numerous and hold economicosocially influential positions, as Government officials, lawyers, physicians, nurses, clerks and merchants of both sexes. Kerala marumakkattayi converts to Christianity, on the other hand, have invariably abandoned matriliny and adopted patrilineal succession and inheritance along with the Christian religion. This may, in part, be due to different policies followed by converting Christian missionaries and to different social environments. In Kerala, the powerful example of the patriarchally organized Syrian Christian Community, over a thousand years old, encouraged assimilation of new converts to the Syrian Christian, if not European way of life. The prestige of the even more extremely patriarchal Nambuderi Brahmin community lent further weight to this line of thought among both converting missionaries and converted marumakkattayis. In the Khasi and Jaintia Hill District of Assam, no such contacts with indigenous patriarchal prestige groups existed - with the sole exception of the Jaintia Rajah, who, though a matrilineal Highlander himself, did have a winter residence at Durgapur in the plains (now of East Pakistan), where he and his people maintained socioreligious - but not marital

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relations - with patriarchal Hindu (Bengali Brahmins). Still a permeation of Khasi, War, Lynghgam (Ehrenfels 1955: 316) or even Jaintia every-day attitudes by patriarchal Hindu-Brahmin ideologies never took place. The Khasi and Jaintia Hills were never conquered by Hindu Rajahs, Muslim Nawabs, or even by the Ahom and Burmese. It was only in the 19th century that the British occupied the Khasi and Garo Hills. After the establishment of the Pax Britannica there, most of the Christian missionaries seem to have visualized a culturally semi-autonomous Christian Khasiland which was to live in closer contact with the British rulers, at Shillong, rather than with their Hindu neighbours in the plains. This, and certain sympathies of some pro-feminist circles in England at the turn of the 20th century, may even have suggested a toleration of "heathen customs", which matrilineal succession and inheritance were considered to be, though the non-religious sport of bow-and-arrow competitions had been rigorously prohibited as "pagan" by Christian missionaries. However, even apart from different attitudes among Christian missionaries and representatives of the colonial administration in Kerala, as contrasted to those among Khasis, the latter's judgment of, and attitudes to, the matrilineal system were (and still are) palpably different from those of the former, i.e. the marumakkattayis in Kerala. The joint family is also criticized, among some younger Khasi, as unwieldy and incompatible with "modernism" (whatever that may mean), but this criticism is not generally associated with that of the matrilineal system. The latter is, not quite correctly, often seen as a national feature of Khasidom and upheld as such, like the ritualistic, mythological affection for the cock or for megalithic stone monuments. If matriliny was criticized, or its legal abolition (as in Kerala) suggested, this was more because the modern Khasi did not want to be different from "all other peoples" (as most Khasi are ignorant of matriliny outside Assam). Khasi males, especially those who served in the plains, are of course also affected by the general attitude of men in patriarchal societies, looking down on the "matriarchate" as a primitive, if not dishonorable feature of gynecocracy, which deprives them, the males, of the right to rule wife and children unconditionally and instead, burdens them with legal obligations towards their sisters and sisters' children. In Garo society (Playfair 1909) the situation is again different. The family was no doubt based on matrilineal succession and inheritance even matrilocal residence, but the development of joint families was traditionally restricted. A trend towards the establishment of exclusive rule by the husband, otherwise not characteristic in matrilineal societies, can

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be seen in some Garo institutions. The husband, though living in his mother-in-law's, or wife's house, by working their clan-lands still assumed traditionally the position of an almost absolute family-head and owner without sharing much responsibility with his wife's brother. Contrariwise, his sister's son, or another clan-mate as nokrom, played a legally important part in his affairs. (Playfair 1909:72). This complex and traditionally circumscribed role has been interpreted as that of a traditional quasi-lawyer for a man actually living in his wife's clan and family not in his mother's or sister's. The development of a true matrilineal joint family appears further endangered by the Garo traditional permission even obligation - for a young man to marry his mother-in-law after his father-in-law's death, or the right of a husband to send away an unfaithful wife and demand a substitute from her clan. Male youth organizations, Bachelor Hall, and male corporate life played important roles in traditional Garo life. Also clan-sisters seem to have been socially very close. Related co-wives used to live together in the house of the first married among them, while Khasi marriage was traditionally monogamous and Kerala plural wives all had their own houses, or lived in their respective mother's houses. If a Garo wife died, her machong (clan) had the obligation of providing the widower with a new wife, who then lived in her deceased clan-sister's former house. So the widowed husband and virtual "owner" of the house could continue his socioeconomic activities with his new wife in the old surroundings. All these, and some other, historical-religious and also linguistic features among the Garo seem to fit well into their traditional mythology, according to which Megam Airipia, (Playfair 1909:107 and Ehrenfels 1955:318), the first man who died, and consequently entered the realm of the hereafter, was a Lyngngam Khasi, the eastern neighbors of the Garo. Also, according to Garo tradition, the matrilineal social system was adopted by them from their eastern neighbors, the Khasi. The Garo speak a Tibeto-Burmese language, closely related to Cachari, - not Austro-Asiatic, like the Khasi. Their religion is centered around predominantly male deities like Tatara Rabuga and others (Playfair 1909:80-82) - not around a double-sex God like the U Blei - Ka Blei of the Khasi (Ehrenfels 1950:27-31, 38 seq.), and they display animal skulls and hornbill ornamental feathers around the villages. All this suggests close historical relationship ties with the bulk of patrilineal Assamese Highlanders, rather than with their culturally more advanced matrilineal Khasi and Jaintia neighbors in the East. The hypothesis of a comparatively recent adaptation of the matrilineal

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social system, a few generations before the beginning of the colonial period in the 19th century, would also fit in with the lack of vitality evidenced by the matrilineal system in the face of the acculturation onslaught brought about by Christian missionaries and administrators, merchants or other immigrants into the Garo Hills, from the plains, or from overseas.

4. MATRILINY, JOINT FAMILY, DEMOCRACY

A characteristic feature of the matrilineal family is the existence of plural foci of authority, contrasting with the monolithic single patriarch in the patrilineal family. We have already hinted at this structural difference in connection with the position of the karanavan, the managing mother's brother in a marumakkattayam taravad of Kerala. However, a basic pattern of the three authorities - the mother, her brother and her husband - reappears in a more or less constant form among most matrilineal family patterns, with only minor differences due to mutual adjustment. It is essential to realize at this point that here no mirror image of the patrilineal family can be seen in its matrilineal opposite number. This assymetry has not been recognized by earlier ethnographers, ethnologists and sociologists, which is why they have used the term matriarchy assuming, as they did, that the roles of father and mother were simply exchanged in the two systems. The assymetry to which we refer here is not only of theoretical or systematic, but also of functional-practical importance. We have seen that the managing mother's brother (karanavan in Kerala, U Kni in Khasiland) is open to criticism on the ground of partiality towards his wife and her children, to the disadvantage of his sister(s), nieces and nephews. A corresponding conflict, centered perhaps around the father's sister (or brother), in patrilineal and/or patriarchal families, is not common. It is no doubt necessary for a normal man in a matrilineal society who has a wife and children, as well as sister(s) with children, to be loyal to both these different groups of relatives and to avoid partiality and negligence towards either of the two. This situation demands self-restraint and a goodly portion of selflessness as well. Generally, the duties of a man in his capacity as mother's brother towards his nieces and nephews, and as brother towards his sister(s) are more formal, legal and economic, while those towards his wife and children tend to be rather informal, personal-voluntary and psychologically determined.

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Again, this division of functions and duties demands not only a high sense of duty, which the patriarchal head of a patrilineal joint family also has to exercise in order to meet traditional demands, - but also a high degree of discernment, a sense of justice and mental balance in situations of multiple and sometimes conflicting loyalties. These are qualities which are perhaps not easily developed in every man who has both sister(s) and wife (wives). This explains the greater vulnerability of matrilineal, as compared to patriarchal family systems. There are, however, also certain positive elements in this system which may counterbalance its fragility. Properly understood, divided loyalties, on the part of the male members, correspond to a plurality of authority-bearers for the children. For them it is not the monolithic father - as the incorporation of authority - and the mother, frequently in a kind of tacit alliance against the father figure, as in the patriarchal family pattern. Contrariwise, the typical matrilineal family structure corresponds to a democratic, even parliamentary type of Government. Children learn early that they have got to deal with multiple points, or foci, of authority; that these are frequently different, one from the other, and that they have to be dealt with accordingly. The matrilineal family pattern can hence be seen as a kind of "pre-university instruction", whereby practical life, in the political framework of parliamentary democracy, should be understood as "university education". It has been suggested that the politically conspicuous influence and success, of traditionally matrilineal communities in modern independent democracies, former colonial units, is based on this circumstance. The Menon, Pillai and Nayar groups of castes from Kerala and their roles in the Central Government at New Delhi, as well as the Minangkabau from Sumatra and their role within the Indonesian Government at Djakarta, may be considered as cases in the point. On the psychological level, higher demands are made on the sense of balance and character strength in men, who cannot take their authority for granted, but have to achieve it through tact and application to duty. Women are legally better placed than they are generally in patriarchal social systems. Yet, they too cannot take their hold on the husband for granted, for he has no legal, but only psychologically based, emotional obligations towards his wife and children. Another important fact is that girls and women are not educated as a sort of second-class members in the family - as they are in many respects, such as name inequality, lesser pay for equal work, dowry system, etc. under the patrilineal order. These

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differences make for better relations between husband and wife. The average woman lives in patrilineal societies under the burden of an inferiority complex. The more unconscious it is, the harsher its manifestations will be. Constant nagging at husbands, or unceasing demands on their financial resources, discontent with everything they may do or fail to do often in the best of individual good will - can only be understood as a subconscious revenge taken on the one individual representative of the male sex, by which the average woman feels herself oppressed in patriarchy. In the light of these facts, it is perhaps less surprising that, especially in India, women from Kerala and Central Assam - the matrilineal areas in the country - are popularly known for their good temper, joie de vivre, erotic attractiveness and pleasing attitude towards their menfolk. Contrary to popular opinion in the West, the typical woman in a matrilineal family is neither a colorless "blue-stocking", nor an autocratically dominating "matriarch", but an affectionate mother and joyful partner as wife, as well as a loyal and steadfast sister or niece. These interlocking relations find particular expression in the female minorate of the Ka Khun Khadu, the youngest daughter of the Khasi joint family. She is not only "heir apparent", as it were, but also a kind of institutionalized family priest. She has the duty of performing religious and semi-religious rites, ornamenting the family house with leaves of the sacred Khasi oak, carrying what remains of the bones of deceased family members from the cremation ground to the stone receptacles of the family, and so on.

5. WESTERNIZATION OR AUTOGENOUS DEVELOPMENT?

It certainly cannot be considered within the scope of this brief review to present a prognosis of two possible future modes of development, i.e. further westernization and autochthonous development - or both in various degrees of admixture. Yet, some of the implications which our observations so far have suggested may be summarized and linked with thoughts about future possibilities. The decline of the joint family (patriarchal, as well as matrilineal) is general in India, and elsewhere. The reasons for this development do not appear to be solely economic, or caused by technical advances only, but are largely of a psychological nature. World-wide trends of juvenile unrest, student revolutions and 19th century anarchist revivalism illustrate these trends in industrial societies as well as in the so-called under-

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developed countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They have a psychological rather than an economic-mechanical physiognomy. Hand in hand with these trends goes that of women's emancipation and an ever increasing demand for the actual implementation of the principle "equal pay for equal work", which, although internationally acknowledged, is practiced scarcely anywhere. In view of these world trends in feminism, it is possible that the same acculturation which rang the death-knell for matriliny in India may work for its revival in a changed garb: westernization and imitation of foreign social patterns. If this development is considered as a possibility, the peculiar trend towards recurrent evolution in Western feminism has to be taken into account. Feminism in Europe, including, of course, Russia, as well, as in America, has been following a trend towards liberalization, while politically reactionary movements in the West tend to be also anti-feminist. The appearance of Fascism and kindred political ideologies were anti-feminist without exception. Similarly Stalinism has done away with many innovations of the 1917 Revolution which had improved the lot of the Russian woman, as compared to that under the Czars. The participation of women in public life was again reduced, family-planning again restricted, the power position of the family father re-inforced by drastic taboos on divorce and by enforced monogamy, as well as officially boosted male hero-worship. At the height of Stalinism the average American woman no doubt enjoyed a better social position than her Soviet sister. Characteristically neocolonialism, warfare in Vietnam and other developments after the assassination of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King coincided in the USA with a widespread trend to abandon women's hardearned privileges, to give up higher education, career or social work and to return to the notorious "Three K ' s " of the Kaiser: Kuche, Kinder und Kirche (kitchen, children, and church). Public opinion began to discourage women and women responded meekly or obligingly (Friedan 1963). The ups and downs in western women's position, frequently coincide with those in political developments. The 19th century brought three emancipations: those of (1) disqualified citizens (Negro slaves, Jews), (2) the proletariat and (3) women. The reactions to all three emancipation trends were typical in context, though different in intensity. In spite of all this, a certain trend towards late 20th century women's emancipation seems apparent, for instance in Scandinavia (women as priests), even Switzerland (where women got the voting rights in a plebiscite in February 1971), the new African states, India, Indonesia and,

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to a certain extent, also in Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan. Women are demanding more and more incessantly, the actual application in practice of the theoretically acknowledged principle of equal pay for equal work and are beginning to realize the inequality of a woman's losing her name identity at marriage (Abeille 1969: 249, seq., Ehrenfels 1960: 1, seq.). In the USSR, the CSSR and some other East Block countries, women have the right to keep their family name after marriage, to transmit it to their children, if the bridegroom agrees at marriage to take his bride's name, etc. Nor are signs of a stirring in this respect lacking elsewhere: Austrian professional women have got the right to their family name after marriage, an Indian citizen of Bombay demanded that his mother's, instead of his father's, name should be entered in his passport, just as it had been entered in his voting papers. The Supreme Court decided against him, but the moral demand remains. At the International Workers Union Congress at Düsseldorf, West Germany, in September 1968, a German member narrated the story of Albanian Women Union-workers who displayed the photos of their husbands on bulletin boards in communal dwellings, when the latter helped their working wives by taking on occasional household chores or baby-sitting. Incidents such as these should not be dismissed as mere "superficialities"; they may well be taken as indicative of a more general trend. Even at Afghan University student demonstrations girls participated (Mehnert 1970:4). If this is so, it may not be impossible that a certain revival of matrifocal trends in the Indian family under changed forms, could also make its appearance in South Asia, where the response to general world trends is still strong. University

of

Heidelberg

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abeille, Mireille 1969 "Das Gewicht Des Namens", Praktische Psychologie 10 (Lütchensee). Bose, Atinandranäth 1961 Social and Rural Economy of Northern India, 2nd ed. (Dakapadayaya, Calcutta). Cantlie, Sir Keith 1934 Notes on Khasi Law (Munro, Aberdeen). Darling, Sir Malcolm L. 1930 Rusticus Loquitur, or The Old Light and the New in the Punjab Village (Oxford University Press, London).

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Ehrenfels, U. R. 1950 "The Double Sex Character of the Khasi Great Deity", Jl. of the Madras UniversityXX.il: 1 (Madras). 1953 "The Matrilineal Family Background in South India", Jl. of Educational Sociology 26 (New York). 1955 "Three Matrilineal Groups of Assam: A Study in Similarities and Differences", American Anthropologist 5 7 : 2 (Chicago). 1960 N a m e Equality, National Herald, 19.6, Lucknow, pp. 1, seq. 1962 Im Lichten Kontinent (Progress Verlag, Darmstadt). 1963/1 "Towards Understanding of South Indian Social Structure", Anthropology on the March (Social Science Association, Madras). 1963/11 "Prestigesymbole und Prestige in den Wandlungen der neuen indischen Elite", Zft.für Ethnologie 87: 2 (Braunschweig). 1964 " C o m m o n Elements in the Philosophy of Matrilineal Societies in India", Cross-Cultural Understanding: Epistemology in Anthropology (Harper & Row, New York). 1965 "Social Structure in Kerala", Illustrated Weekly of India (19, September, Bombay). Evers, H. D. 1969 "Kinship and Property rights in a Buddhist Monastery in Central Ceylon", American Anthropologist 69: 6 (Chicago). Friedan, Betty 1963 The Feminine Mystique (Dell Publishing Co., Inc., New York). Gadgil, D . R. (Ed.) 1965 Report of the Committee on Direction on Cooperative Farming (Ministry of Community Development and Cooperation, Government of India, New Delhi). Gough, Kathleen 1952 Changing Kinship Usages in the Setting of Political and Economic Changes among the Nayars of Malabar", Jl. of the Royal Anthropolog. Institute LXXXII, Part I (London). Goyal, S. K. 1966 Some Aspects of Cooperative Farming in India (Asia Publishing House, London). Gurdon, Major P. R . T. 1907 The Khasis (David Nut, London). Iyer, K . V. Krishna 1961 Personal communication. Kapadia, K. M. 1966 Marriage and Family in India (Oxford University Press, London). Kropp, E. 1968 " Z u r Mobilisierung ländlicher Arbeitskräfte im anfänglichen Industrialisierungsprozess", Dissertationsreihe des Süd Asien Institut, Heidelberg (in print). Laxminarayanan, H. and K. Kanungo 1967 Glimpses of Cooperative Farming in India (Asia Publishing House, London). Mehnert, Klaus. 1970 "Unruhige Jugend", Indo-Asia 4 (October, Stuttgart). Nakane, Chiè 1958 Disintegration of the Nayar Tarawad, or Matrilineal Joint Family (Töyö Bunka Kenkyü-sho Kiyó) 14,1-132., Tokio. 1968 A Comparative Study in Matrilineal Systems (= Cahiers de VHomme No. 5) (Mouton, The Hague").

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Patel, K u n j 1963 Rural Labour in Industrial Bombay (Popular Prakasham), Bombay. Pillai, Elamkulam P. N . Kunjan 1961 Personal Communication. Playfair, Major A. 1909 The Garos (David Nutt, London). Schiller, Otto 1967 "Traditionelle Formen der Kooperation ohne genossenschaftlichen Status", Handbuch der Landwirtschaft und Ernährung in den Entwicklungsländern (Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart). Srinivas, M. N. 1956 On Sanscritization, Society in India: Collected Essays (Social Science Association, Madras). 1966 Social Change in Modern India (University of California, Berkeley). Zakir Hussain, Dr., The President of India 1968 President's Independence Day Message: 15. August 1968 (Indian Embassy, Bonn).

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY IN THE POLYANDROUS KHASA TRIBE OF JAUNSAR-BAWAR

R. N. SAKSENA

THE KHASAS

The Khasas are Rajputs. Their physical features - fair complexion, tall stature, aquiline nose and well defined features of the face - easily distinguish them from their neighbors, the Garhwalis. The Khasas have always been referred to as a powerful race who came at an early period from Central Asia and who were supposed to have left their name in Kashgar, Kashkara, the Hindu-Kush, Kashmir, and in the colonies bearing similar root names in the hill area extending from Kashmir to Nepal. There is a theory that after an early swarm of Indo-Aryans had occupied the mountainous region of the south of Hindu-Kush, a later swarm of Aryan-speaking people, impelled by some ethnic upheaval or driven forward by the change of climate in Central Asia, made their way into India through Gilgit and Chitral and established themselves in the Indo-Gangetic plain, which came to be known as Madhyadesh of the post-Vedic tradition. Here their contact with the Dravidians was established, here the Vedas were composed, and here was the whole structure of orthodox ritual and usages built up. While the historical events mentioned above are more or less established, the effects of the earlier wave or waves of immigration have to be inferred from certain traits and vestiges, chiefly social, cultural, and linguistic. We will have occasion to refer to this earlier wave of Aryan settlers to explain the widespread prevalence of polyandry among the Khasas of Jaunsar-Bawar. The ancient Sanskrit literature is full of references to the Khasas from which we can infer that in the Northern Himalayas were found the Daradas, Kashmiras, Kambojas, Gandharas, Chinas, Sakas, Yavanas, Hunas, Nagas, Khasas, and Kiratas. There is also reason to suppose that the Nagas, Kiratas, and Khasas entered India by the same route as the Aryans, and that the Kiratas were the first to arrive, then the Nagas

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followed by the Khasas. Frequent mention has been made of a tribe whose name is usually spelt Khas with variants such as Khasa, Khasha, and Khasira. The earlier we try to trace them the further North-West do we find them. There are many legends connecting the name Khasa with cannibalism said to have been practiced in the mountains in the extreme North-West of India. We may recall a legend regarding a woman named Khasa of which the most popular version may be found in the Vishnu-Purana. Kashyapa, to whom is also attributed the origin of the country of Kashmir, had numerous wives. Of these Krodhavasa became the mother of the cannibal Pisacha and Khasa of the Yakshas and Rakshasa. These Yakshas are also mentioned in Bhagwat Puran. To this we may add Pliny's remarks: 2 "next to the Attacori [Uttarakuru] are the nations of the Thuni and the Forcari; then come the Casiri [Khasiras], and Indian people who look towards the Scythians and feed on human flesh". Thus the Khasas have not been free from the imputation of cannibalism. And they have always been regarded with suspicion by the Vedic Aryans as outside their fold though contact has been maintained with them. The Mahabharat, the Harivamsa and the Puranas all mention the Khasas as a tribe inhabiting the north-West Himalayas with whom contact was maintained but not in very friendly terms. Manu mentions the Khasas as the offspring of outcast Kshatriyas. He also says that Kambojas, Sakas, Parodas, Phalvas, Chinas, Kiratas, Dardas and Khasas are those who became outcast through having neglected their religious duties. 3 Kalhana's Chronicle of Kashmir, the Rajtarangini, is full of references to the Khasas, who were always a continuous source of trouble to the Kashmir rulers. In this connection it may be mentioned that while the name Kashmira (Kashmir) is by popular tradition associated with the famous legendary saint Kasyapa it is possible that Khasa and Khasira are more probable etymologies. We may, therefore, agree with the conclusions arrived at by Grierson: . . . i n the extreme northwest of India, on the Hindu-Kush and the mountainous tracts to the south, and in the Western Punjab there was a group of tribes, one of which was called Khasa, which were looked upon as Khastriyas of Aryan origin. These spoke a language closely allied to Sanskrit, but with a vocabulary partly agreeing with that of the Eranian Avesta. They were considered to have lost their claim to consideration as Aryans, and to have become Mlechchhas, or 1 2 3

Gazetteer of the Himalayan Districts of the North- Western Provinces, Part II, p. 363. McCrindle, Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature, p. 113. Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India IX, Part IV, p. 5.

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barbarians, owing to their non-observance of the rules for eating and drinking observed by the Sanskritic peoples of India. These Khasas were warlike tribe, and were well-known to classical writers, who noted, as their special home, the Indian Caucasus of Pliny. 4

They apparently penetrated along the southern slopes of the Himalayas as far east as Nepal. Thus the Khakhas of the Jhelam Valley are Khasas; and so are Kanets of the hill-country between Kangra and Garhwal and Khosa of Jaunsar-Bawar. Further to the East, in Garhwal and Kumaon, the bulk of the population is called Khasia. In this way we can find a group of people of the Aryan-speaking population in the lower Himalways from Kashmir to Nepal whose ancestry can be traced to the ancient Khasas of the Mahabharat. Thus, the whole region also constitutes Atkinson's "Khasiya tract". According to Atkinson, JaunsarBawar is a representative Khasiya tract, and "forms a very important link between the almost Hinduized Khasiyas of Kumaon and their brethren converts to Islam on the ethnical frontier in the mountains of the Hindu-Kush, and apparently gives customs and practices of the Khasiya race in full force at the present day which distinguished them a thousand years ago". 5 The language spoken in Jaunsar-Bawar is of an Aryan group, termed as Western Pahari by Grierson. This language is spoken by the people inhabiting the mountainous region, which consists of Jaunsar-Bawar, most of the Simla Hill States with a small portion of the adjoining district of Ambala, Kulu, the states of Sukket, Mandi and Chamba, and the Eastern end of Kashmir, and consists of a number of dialects, which may be grouped as following: Jaunsari Sirmauri Baghati Kiuthali Satlaj group

Kului Mandeali Chameali Bhadrawah group

Grierson in his comprehensive Linguistic Survey of India has traced the origin of Western Pahari and arrived at the definite conclusion that the earliest Aryan-speaking inhabitants of this language and of whom we have any record were the Khasas. It is therefore evident that the Jaunsaris, especially the Rajputs and Brahmans, are of Aryan origin. It is possible that there were many waves 4 5

Ibid., p. 17. Gazetteer of the Himalayan

Districts of the North- Western Provinces XII, p. 353.

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of Aryan settlers preceding the Vedic Aryans and one of them, a warrior group, settled in the mountainous tracts adjoining Hindu-Kush and later on moved along the southern slopes of the Himalayas, but did not fully adopt the Vedic cult. However their close contact with the Aryan Kshatriyas was never lost. And it is this close affiliation with the the Rajputs that provided the latter an asylum during the dark Middle Period of Indian History when they had to suffer great privations and persecution at the hands of Muslim rulers. Throughout these hills, the ruling classes claim to be Rajputs. Among the Simla Hill States the earliest Raja of Sirmaur, who had the common ethnic and geographical frontier with Jaunsar-Bawar for a considerable period, was a suryavansi Rajput who lived in the latter part of the 11th century, and was succeeded by Subhanes Prakash of Jaiselmer in 1095 A.D. The Ranas of Jubbal, Balsan and the Thakur of Tharoch belong to the same family. Similarly the families of the rulers of Baghal and Bija come from Ujjain, of Darkoti from Marwar, of Baghat from the Deccan, and of Bashahr from Banaras. The ruling families of Mandi and Suket as well as that of Keonthal are Chandravanshi Rajputs who came from Sengal in the 13th century. These Rajput leaders were accompanied by a band of followers. Their number increased considerably in later centuries by others fleeing from the plains before Mughul oppression. These intermarried with their Khasa kin, and gradually their own language became mixed with that of the Khasas. This explains the close affinity of the Western Pahari with Rajasthani and differentiates it from the language spoken in the immediate neighborhood, that is, the Panjab. In Jaunsar-Bawar this absorption of the Rajputs among the Khasas, who were their nearest cousin, went even a step further. The Rajput leaders were not only accompanied by a band of Rajput followers but also by a priestly class, as has always been the case in Indian history. The geographical isolation of the region and their racial affinity forced them to close in their rank and take to intermarriage for self-preservation. The practice of anulom has always permitted a girl of lower caste being married in higher caste. Thus a Rajput girl could always be married in a Brahman family. But for reasons already mentioned above, the rule of anulom was forgotten and the Rajputs and Brahmans, in course of time, formed an endogamous group, though even now a tendency to stick to their own caste in the choice of a mate may be observed.

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ORIGIN OF P O L Y A N D R Y

Mention has been already made that the Jaunsaris, particularly the Rajputs and Brahmans, are of Indo-Aryan origins. Though the popular belief is that polyandry has never prevailed among the so-called Aryans, yet a polyandrous belt can be traced extending from Jaunsar-Bawar through Kangra Valley to Hindu-Kush and even beyond. This led Briffault to remark, "The practice of polyandrous marriage is among the Indo-Aryans of the Panjab associated with other survivals of a more archaic and tribal order of society, which are culturally identical with usages of the polyandrous people of Hindu-Kush, whence the invaders came to India." 6 It has been suggested by Mayne that the Indo-Aryans adopted their polyandrous customs from the aboriginees or from neighboring polyandrous people.7 If this latter contention were accepted, we get a ready explanantion for the prevalence of polyandry on the basis of another hypothesis - that the contact of the Rajputs and Brahmans with Doms, who may be regarded as aboriginees of this region and were polyandrous, was responsible for their adoption of polyandry. And this process was greatly helped by the force of circumstances, such as geographical isolation and economic hardships of the region. Dr. Mazumdar, also, appears to subscribe to the view: "The culture of the Khasas of JaunsarBawar has been deeply impressed by their contacts with the Doms or the aboriginal element in the population. The Doms belong mostly to an early racial strain, and their cultural life greatly resembles that of various types of pre-Dravidian or early Mediterranean origin." 8 But when a superior culture imposes itself over an inferior culture, it is the latter which is affected more. Nor does this conjecture find support in facts. The polyandrous practice among the Indo-Aryans of the Western Himalayan tract, as there is ample evidence to show, is closely associated with other survivals of a more archaic and tribal order of society. As Tod declares, polyandry is a part and parcel of the social organization, which is common to the Rajputs and to the peoples of Hindu-Kush and Chitral.9 Similarly, polyandry is described in Chinese accounts as having been not only customary, but obligatory, among people of Turkistan,

6 7 8 9

Briffault, The Mothers, Volume I, p. 691. Mayne, A Treatise of Hindu Law and Usages, p. 79. Mazumbar, Fortunes of Primitive Tribes, p. 149 J. Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 23.

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that is, the ancient Baktria and Sogdiana, the main habitat of the IndoAryans.10 Yet working on this "Aryan" hypothesis, we should not confuse it with the concept of Aryan race of the German scholars and regard it as a racial trait; for, as Max Muller remarks, "There is no Aryan race. Aryan is in scientific language utterly inapplicable to race. It means a language and nothing but a language." 11 So it is never intended to suggest that polyandry in Jaunsar-Bawar could be regarded as a racial trait of the Aryans. Setting aside the speculative conjectures concerning a hypothetical "Aryan" race and confining ourselves to the data of historical documents, we find that the earliest known people, who are referred to as Aryans, are the Medes, the aborignal inhabitants of Persia and the Central Asiatic off-shoots of the same race, to which early or "Vedic" invaders of India belonged. Those historical Aryans were polyandrous. Polyandry is expressly stated to have been a social institution among the Medes. Strabo, describing their customs, mentions, "The women, on the other hand, reckon it an honour to have many husbands, and to have less than five is accounted a misfortune." 12 As has been already mentioned an early swarm of Aryans settled in the mountainous region of Western Himalayas, who are referred to as Melekshas by the Vedic Aryans, followed by another wave of Aryanspeaking people who made their way into India through Gilgit and Chitral and established themselves in the Indo-Gangetic plain. Thus a considerable amount of similarity in customs and usages prevailed among the former and the inhabitants of adjoining areas. Biddulph is of the opinion that polyandry was once widely prevalent in Hindu-Kush and Chitral and extended as far as the western shores of the Caspian.13 He also found support in the testimony of the Arab traveller, AI-Biruni.14 It was not unknown to the early Aryan settlers in the Western Himalayas, from where it gradually spread to Jaunsar-Bawar through the Kangra Valley as these people expanded southwards, it is even now the accepted form of marriage among the Rajputs and Brahmans of Jaunsar-Bawar. To quote Briffault again: "The highland regions of the Himalayas are but a residual cultural island which preserves social customs that once had a far more extensive distribution. The institutions which are found 10 11 12 13 14

Quoted: Briffault, The Mothers, Volume I, p. 680. Max Muller, Biographies of Words and the Home of the Aryans, pp. 89-90. Quoted: Briffault, The Mothers, Volume I, p. 602. J. Biddulph, Tribes of the Hindu-Kush, p. 82. Quoted: Briffault, The Mothers, Volume I, p. 671.

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there were once common throughout the greater part of Central Asia." 1 5 POLYANDRY A N D ECONOMIC FACTORS

The wide prevalence of polyandry among the Jaunsaris also found support from the peculiarly hard economic circumstances in which the people found themselves in this extremely inhospitable region, involving a tense struggle for existence which every individual had to put up. In order to make life successful a system in keeping with the demand for joint labor within a village had to be evolved. The wide practice of polyandry seems to be the outcome of this demand. In regions where nature is extremely hard to exploit, it is not possible for a single man to earn subsistence for a family, and the woman is also anxious to have a large number of supporters. A Jaunsari woman can thus be conveniently looked after by a group of brothers who own her as their common wife. The obligations of a polyandrous life have placed a serious check upon emigration. While it is common practice among the men of an adjoining territory, Garhwal, to leave their home and go to distant towns in the plains for earning their livelihood, it is indeed very rare among the Jaunsaris to cross the river Yamuna in search for a job or some other occupation. Fraternal polyandry also leads to the setting up of an intense form of joint family. Due to the absence of "male jealousy" and the high status given to the eldest brother, all other possible causes of dispute among the brothers that may split the family are eliminated. MARRIAGE

A girl is usually married at the age of eight or nine to a boy three or four years her senior. Betrothal often takes place at a very tender age even when the child is hardly one year old, by mutual arrangements between the parents. The boy's father accompanied by one or two relatives goes to the bride's house to meet her father. If both parties agree, the boy's father gives a bandho, that is, earnest money, of one Rupee to the girl's father. This is also called jeodhan. The betrothal is thus simply completed. After this the local Brahmin finds out some auspicious day for marriage. One or two days before the fixed date, the bride-groom's father along with a batch of relatives goes to the bride's house. The bride's people show him their herd of goats out of which he selects a few and 15

Ibid.

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slaughters them with his own hands. The boy's father also gives one or two ornaments to the bride and after enjoying a feast his party comes back. A day later the bride ('iajolty) is brought to the bride-groom's house with her dowry (painta) and accompanied by her relations and other members of her party. The size of her party (Jajoria) depends upon the type of the marriage to be celebrated. There are three categories of marriages, but the difference among them is only of degree: (1)

Bewa. Bride's party consists of 5-10 persons and there is a little or no dowry. It is the simplest form of marriage. (2) Boee Daudee. The party consists of 20-30 persons or even more and the dowry is carried by 8-10 persons (paintrus). (3) Bajdya. This marriage is celebrated among the rich Zamindars and sayanas. The invitation is extended to the whole Khut. The bride's party may consist of 500-2000 persons, or even more. More than 50 goats are slaughtered on such occasions and ghee, rich superior wine (phool) are freely served. The dowry is carried by thirty to forty men. In this connection it is interesting to note that it is the bride's party that goes to the bridegroom's village and all the ceremonies are gone through under the roof of the bridegroom's home. It is also significant to mention that while the bride is known as jojolty there is no equivalent term for the bridegroom. It may be due to the fact that since there is not one bridegroom but all the brothers who ipso facto become her husbands, no word for bridegroom exists in their terminology. If the distance is long, the bride is sent beforehand under the escort of one or two persons so that she reaches her destination before the auspicious hour, while the other members of her party take their own time. After reaching the bridegroom's village, the members of the bride's party are requested to sit in front of the house of the bridegroom, and women of the household or other persons on their behalf wash the guests' feet with warm water, which is great gesture of welcome on their part. Then double the number of goats that were slaughtered by the boy's father at her home are killed. The marriage ceremony is quite a simple affair. It consists of a vermilion mark (tilak) being applied to the bride and the bridegroom by the Brahmin and then the mother-in-law applies a tilak to the forehead of the bride. Some hymns in the local dialect are also cited by the priest (purot). A tilak is also applied to the head of a he-goat which is then sacrificed and thus the marriage is announced. But now more elaborate Vedic rites are gradually being observed. Not only

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are the services of a Brahman priest being availed of, but also seven rounds of the sacred fire (phiara) are performed, as in the case of orthodox Hindu marriages, and the same Sanskrit mantras are recited. The bride's party usually arrives in the evening and the whole marriage ceremony is finished in a very short time, not more than half an hour. The guests are then entertained at a big feast and served with the best wine {sur). The guests spend the whole night singing and dancing. This type of dance is known as Bhiarashaka Nach, that is, indoor dance. It consists of each person dancing to the tune of some local music turn by turn in a crowded room. Early next morning at about 9 a.m. they are served with tea and meal. Then they start another type of outdoor folk dances, putting on a special dress (iuda) which closely resembles the medieval Rajput dress, with swords in their hands. The most usual dances are Jaintha, Rasho, Jangbaji Patebaji, Saranwin, Ghee, Tanda Ghee, and Thoro. All the dances involve moving about in a circle, with variations in their movements of hands for wielding swords and footsteps, except Patebaji in which it is a movement of two persons depicting swordfight between them. After this performance, the whole party leaves for their village blowing their trumpets and beating their drums but leaving the bride behind whom they had brought to the village in a similar manner. Polyandry is the common form of marriage in Jaunsar-Bawar where all the brothers are the common husbands of a wife or wives and the family resulting therefrom is patrilocal and patriarchal. It is the eldest brother who marries and all others ipso facto become her husbands. But so long as he is in the house they cannot have sex relations with her under the same roof. The usual practice among other brothers is to follow her in the field, or else, to wait for the eldest brother to be absent from home for some work; since all the management of the household is in his hands, he is usually away. To a married woman all the brothers with whom she has to live are known by a single term khwand, meaning husband. There is no word in Jaunsari terminology to differentiate her relationship with her husband's brothers. Similarly all the brothers are called Bawa or father by the children born out of this polyandrous union. The only distinction that may be drawn between one brother and another by the children is according to the function they perform. The brother who looks after the goats is called Bakrawa-Bawa, one who tends sheep as BhedavaBawa, and the third who looks after the cows as Ghair-Bawa. If there is a brother who looks after the buffaloes, he is known as Mohishava-Bawa, and so on.

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It is obvious that the husbands of the same woman are always brothers with the same set of fathers, although if their fathers had shared more than one wife among them, all the brothers need not be the sons of the same mother. These brothers may have one wife among them, or they may have two or three wives, or even more, in common. Thus, we may come across a peculiar combination of polyandry and polygymy. But nowhere has polyandry been given up, even with the plurality of wives. All the wives have to share bed with the eldest brother turn by turn, and so it goes on in the strict order of precedence among all other brothers. (An interesting case was brought to my notice in which a family consisted of seven brothers, four being the sons of one mother and three of another. All the seven brothers first shared two wives, but subsequently one of them took another wife. Finally, the four brothers from one mother took to the first two wives and the other three from another mother shared the new wife. Thus, a distinction between foster brothers was established.) Again, a second wife may be taken in if there is great disparity in age between that of the first wife and any other brother. In such cases, either the eldest brother marries again according to custom, more for the sake of younger brothers, or the younger brother himself takes a new bride. But that does not mean that polyandrous relationship ceases. In the former case the eldest brother may have access to the new bride and in the latter case the younger brother may retain his sex relationship with the older wife. A second wife may also be introduced in the family, if the first wife does not give birth to a child within a reasonable limit of time. In this connection it may be mentioned that a barren woman enjoys a low social status. She may even be supposed to be possessed of a witch and incurs a great social wrath which may end in her being turned out of her husband's family. The additional wife is generally a sister of the first one, but sometimes she comes from a different family. In order to avoid quarrel between co-wives a certain ceremony is observed when the newly wedded wife comes into the house. The new wife is made to sit in a corner of the room and the old one sits opposite her. Two elderly women stand by each of them holding a lighted stick in their hands. The light is held in such a manner that the shadow of one wife does not fall on the other. A third woman joins their hands and each gives the other a silver coin. If there be more than one wife in the house, this ceremony is repeated with each one of them.

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CONCLUSION

Life in mountainous regions is hard. Every moment of life is a constant struggle with elements. Yet the tremendous difficulties of the environment have not been able to suppress the initiative and adventurous spirit of man. On the other hand they have evoked a high degree of adaptive skill and uncommon vigor, which is responsible for the selfsufficient agricultural economy of the region. The picturesque terrace fields on the slopes bear testimony to extraordinary degree of strenuous toil and resourcefulness. But the rigors of such a life have been greatly mitigated by the development of a community life of mutual aid and labor, of which the village is a unit and the hub of all their activities. Cooperation in economic undertakings and periodic communal engagements of feasts and festivities form even today the salient features of the daily life of the Jaunsaris. This cooperation is a form of voluntary association for the sake of better realization of economic possibilities, while, at the same time, reducing the monotony and tedium of daily routine. The economic limitations imposed by the meagre supply of land available for cultivation and the inhospitable soil requiring large number of helping hands have brought forth a deep sense of cohesion and mutual obligation among all members of the community, while among the members of a family the same feeling is largely responsible for the complete absence of male jealousy noticed in the practice of fraternal polyandry. The same attitude of fellow-feeling and common interest is displayed by the people when men, women and children of all ranks and social strata sing, dance, eat and drink together on the occasion of their fairs and festivals. Similarly the hardships of economic life have completely influenced the social life and customs of the people, who have been forced to adopt a system of family life in keeping with the demand for joint labour within a village. The practice of polyandry is the outcome of this demand. In a region where nature is extremely hard to exploit, it is difficult for an individual to maintain his independent family in the modern sense of the word. A Jaunsari woman can thus be conveniently looked after by a group of brothers who own her as their common wife. The obligations of a polyandrous life have also placed a serious check upon emigration. It is very rare among the Jaunsaris to cross the river Yamuna and go to the plains for service or any other occupations. Aligarh

University

HIMALAYAN ECOLOGY A N D FAMILY RELIGIOUS VARIATION

J O H N T. HITCHCOCK

INTRODUCTION

It is true that because of the Indian origins of Buddhism, Tibet sometimes is regarded as a northern outlyer of Indian civilization. Yet if Indian religion is limited to Hindu practice and the latter is defined as the practice of elite Brahman families of recent times, the fringe of Indian civilization moves southward into Nepal. And in a sector of West Central Nepal, as elsewhere in the Himalayas, the line of demarcation between religious forms that have originated in Buddhist India and come to Nepal via Tibet, and those that have originated in Hindu India and come to Nepal from the Himalayas to the west or from the Gangetic Plain to the south, can be quite sharply drawn. 1 Here the line is clearly seen in a stretch of alpine meadows and rocky barrens forming the western shoulder of Dhaulagiri, one of Nepal's highest peaks. The first villages to the north of this region, which it takes two days to traverse on foot, are on each side of the Bheri river; they are Buddhist, with lamas for priests and monasteries as places of worship. Although Hinduism as a social form is found, since the Nepali service castes of blacksmith and tailor are present and are treated as Untouchables, no Brahmans live in these villages, and none are found further north along the Bheri and its upper tributaries. To find Brahmans and in particular the elites who are wellversed in Hindu religious practice, one either must go down the Bheri Data for this essay was obtained in 1960-62 with support from the National Science Foundation. The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research provided help during the period of write-up. 1 Kawakita, J., "Ethno-Geographical Observations in Nepal Himalaya"; in Kihara, H. (ed.), Peoples of the Nepal Himalaya (=Fauna and Flora Research Society, 3) (Kyoto, Japan: Kyoto University, 1957), 4-227. In this essay Kawakita is concerned with "the apparent relationship between altitude above sea level and the distribution pattern of religions" (226), especially with the boundary between Hinduism and Lamaism.

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or must come back across the shoulder of Dhaulagiri and continue south for three days into either the lower Nishi or the lower Bhuji river valleys. These two valleys are on the northern edge of the Middle Himalaya, a mountainous region that lies between the highest Himalayan peaks and the low lying Nepali Terai. In the Middle Himalaya of West Central Nepal, Hindu influence generally is stronger in the south than in the north. This essay will illustrate what this means. It will use Hindu practice as an index of differing strength, and by Hindu practice will mean the religious customs of an elite Nepali priestly group, the Upadhyaya Brahmans. To draw the contrast between the acceptance of these customs, north and south, data on two sets of non-Brahman families will be used, one set found on the northern edge of the Middle Himalaya, and the other on the southern edge. The families to be used belong to the Magar group. Magars, who are Mongoloid in physical type, were trans-Himalayan in provenance, filtering into Nepal probably during the early centuries of the present era. Since the Magars of the Middle Himalaya came to Nepal apparently uninfluenced by Tibetan Buddhism - probably they came south across the mountains before Buddhism reached Tibet - and also were untouched by Hinduism, they provide a kind of tabula rasa on which to read the varying intensity of subsequent Hindu influence. When we say that Hindu influence decreases as one moves from south to north in the Middle Himalaya, it would seem that we are faced with a classic diffusionist model, in which the complex densities of a hearth area (in this case, the fully developed Hinduism of the Gangetic Plain, especially as found around Banaras) move outward in ever widening circles, thinning and diminishing as they go. Though this model does have some explanatory power, our purpose is to show that attention to ecological variables, and to associated variables involving Brahman-Magar distribution and social interaction are much more illuminating. We will argue that Hindu practice is mediated to Magars and spread among them mainly through an elite Brahman population, and that both the presence and density of this population depends on the area of land available for growing irrigated rice. Our procedure will be to show that in an ecological zone characteristic of the northern edge of the Middle Himalaya little or no land can be used for irrigated rice, whereas in a zone characteristic of the southern edge much land is suitable for this crop. We suggest that the amount of "pressure" for adoption of Hindu practices exerted by Brahmans is related to the ecology of the two zones, and will develop measures for comparing the extent to which these pressures have

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been culturally efficacious - that is, the extent to which Hindu practice has penetrated the religious life of the two sets of Magar families. In short, we wish both to define an aspect of Magar domestic culture in the Middle Himalaya of West Central Nepal and to explain, with reference to ecology, demographic distribution and social interaction, its variation.

ECOLOGICAL ZONES A N D THE TWO SETS OF M A G A R FAMILIES

An ecological zone can be defined in many ways and the features selected will depend on one's purpose. Climatically, for example, the Middle Himalayas can be divided into eight zones. 2 For our purposes it is enough to make a two-fold ecological division: between well-watered regions (1) that are above 6,200 feet, and thus too high for paddy rice, and (2) that are below this altitude, and thus suitable for the crop. And within the rice-growing zone it is useful to make a distinction between regions where the river valleys are broad and the hill slopes comparatively gentle, and regions where valleys are narrower and slopes more precipitous. In general the latter situation is found in the more northerly section of the rice-growing zone, making it less attractive for rice-growers, and the former in the more southerly section, making it more attractive. In the non-rice-growing zone the set of Magar families to be used for comparison is found in the hamlet of Monal. This hamlet is located on the upper Bhuji river and is semi-transhumant. Counting summer pasturage and tillage, the altitude of this village's agriculture ranges from about 6,200 feet to over 14,000 feet. The set of families in the rice-growing zone come from Banyan Hill, whose cropland and pasturage lie between about 1,600 feet and 4,000 feet. Taking the Bhuji river valley as a whole, one finds 14 hamlets and 739 households. Estimating five persons per household the population of the valley is 3,695. Of the 13 caste groups metalworkers, with about 40 percent of the population, are most numerous, and Magars, with about 31 percent, are next. The lower end of this valley falls at the very northernmost edge of the rice-growing zone. And here, about a half day's walk from Monal, are seven houses of the elite Upadhyaya Brahmans. Monal itself has ten houses, all of them Magar, with a total population of 59. Banyan Hill, in the rice-growing zone, is one of 17 hamlets in an old 2

Kihara, H. (ed.), Land and Crops of the Nepal Himalaya (= Research Society, 2) (Kyoto, Japan: Kyoto University, 1956), 60.

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administrative division called a Thum. In all the Thum contains about 600 households, giving an estimated population of 3,000. Of the ten caste groups represented, Brahmans are the most numerous, with about 40 percent of the population, and Magars are next with about 32 percent. All but 11 of the 243 Brahman households are Upadhyaya. Banyan Hill consists of 24 Magar households.

I R R I G A T E D RICE A N D B R A H M A N PROXIMITY A N D N U M B E R S

Since we assume that the difference in proximity and numbers of Upadhyaya Brahmans, and their interaction with Magars, affects the degree of Hindu practice in the Magar families of Monal and Banyan Hill, we must ask not only what attracts Brahmans to rice-growing regions - so that they are much more numerous around Banyan Hill than they are around Monal - but also what enables them to obtain the rice-growing land. Although it is certain that Upadhyaya Brahmans would desire rice-growing land simply because of its high value as a food, the desire no doubt is strengthened because of the central role played by rice in Brahman ritual. As one of the most auspicious of substances, rice not only figures prominently in most rituals where Brahmans officiate, but it also is the focal offering in one of the most important of all Brahmanic rites (sraddha), the offering of riceballs (pinda) to the dead. A second reason why rice growing areas are more attractive to Brahmans stems from the rule that if they are to retain high ritual standing they must not drive a plow. 3 This forces them to hire plowmen, which in turn means that they must have farms that are productive enough to provide wages, or provide a good supply of an attractive crop like rice, so that plowmen will want to work on shares. Moreover, their farms must be located in places where tillage of any kind is in short supply, or at least where highly desirable land is in short supply. Otherwise the necessary labor would not be available. On both counts, for the Brahman in need of labor, rice-growing areas are attractive. The population density is higher, creating a shortage of any kind of tillage. And even families with ample dryland holdings will want some rice, with the result that those who have paddy land usually have little difficulty in attracting wage-earners or sharecroppers. 3

The custom of abstention from plowing may be more strictly adhered to by the Upadhyayas of west Central Nepal than by those elsewhere in the country, particularly to the east of Kathmandu.

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The ability of Upadhyaya Brahmans to obtain paddy land, which is the choicest land in the Middle Himalaya, is a reflection of their elite status. Since they are taught at home if schools are not available, most Upadhyayas are literate. Both because of their literacy and their high ritual standing, they have been given political preferment, whether in the earlier Nepali chiefdoms or in the later Gorhaa regime. And over time these differential advantages have enabled Upadhyayas, especially when in competition with lower status and largely illiterate castes, to obtain the better farms. Thus almost everywhere in West Central Nepal where rice can be grown Upadhyaya Brahmans also are found. We may raise a question at this point about the diffusion model mentioned earlier. Why cannot it be held with as good reason that this pattern of distribution is a function of proximity to India? Might it not be that these Brahmans, pressing slowly into the higher hills, have not yet settled close to Monal because it is far from their presumed point of origin? It would make little sense to deny that proximity to India has had some influence, but the pattern of distribution in both the Bhuji and the Nishi valleys suggests that proximity is not the factor of prime importance. In both of these valleys Upadhyaya Brahmans have penetrated as far upward as rice can be grown but not beyond, a fact lending support to the view that generally in West Central Nepal, it is the ecological zone and not the distance from India that weighs most heavily. Possibly Upadhyaya concentrations would be somewhat denser in the lower Bhuji and Nishi valleys had both valleys been some days' walk closer to Nepal's southern border. But it seems unlikely, ceteris paribus, that any Upadhyayas would have been living closer to Monal than they now are.

IDENTITY OF RELIGIOUS

INFLUENCE

We assume that Upadhyayas around Banyan Hill and around Monal both exert the same type (though not the same degree) of religious influence. It is certain that minute differences in custom or belief could be found; but since we are concerned with major outlines only, the Upadhyaya religious culture in the two regions will be regarded as identical. In both places the Upadhyaya as a group are literate and most of them know some Sanskrit, an important factor in sustaining cultural homogeneity within the group. Those who conduct the more lengthy ceremonies often have gone -outside their communities to live for a time with a teacher, and the teachers in the northern region often have learned from

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persons living in the same important local religious centers as have the teachers in the southern region. Moreover, during the course of their ministries, the highly trained priests from each group travel over wide areas in which there is some overlap.

INTENSITY OF B R A H M A N INFLUENCE

Assuming an identical type of religious influence, we proceed now to evidence for difference in degree of religious influence. We assume that this will vary both with differences in Brahmans' proximity and numbers in relation to Magars and with their secular power and religious prestige. Given social interaction in religious contexts, Magar families who live closer to a larger number of Upadhyaya Brahmans will be more apt to adopt Hindu practice in religious matters, and the tendency will be still further encouraged if a Upadhyaya group includes members with high secular standing and those whose religious training and competence gives them especially high prestige. In what follows we will show how the two groups of Brahmans, the northern and the southern, differ from one another in the way they are related spatially to their Magar neighbours in each of the two hamlets and how they differ from one another and these Magars with respect to secular power and religious prestige. We will discuss social interaction in religious contexts between Brahmans and Magars. Finally, we will present what we regard as the cultural effects of all these contrasts on the two sets of Magar families.

B A N Y A N HILL

Considering the Brahman community around Banyan Hill and its relation to Magar families, we note first that Upadhyayas are living in the immediate neighborhood. Although the houses and farms of the Thum tend to cluster according to caste group affiliation, none of the clusters are very far from each other and many Magar homesteads are adjacent or very close to those of Brahmans. Second, as an elite group with secular power the Brahmans of the Thum until very recently were without serious competition. Just prior to the overthrow of the Rana regime in 1951 there were five persons from the Thum who held government office at a level so high that they lived and worked outside it. All five of these office holders were Brahmans. Such

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officeholding was an almost institutionalized source of income in the form of "squeeze" and gratuities and all of these officeholders were wellto-do and locally influential. The two who held the highest posts were the wealthiest men in the Thum. At the local level both men who hold office as collectors of taxes on irrigated land are Brahmans and are closely related to the Brahmans who held office outside the Thum. Only at the level of headman (collector of taxes on dry land) is the Brahman monopoly on important officeholding in the Thum broken. Of the eight headmen, three are Brahman and five Magar. It is indicative of Brahman wealth that of all the Brahman households none are without at least some irrigated fields, and in the wider area surrounding the Thum only a single Brahman household has no paddy land. A further indication is the fact that as a group Brahmans are the major source of credit. With respect of course to religious prestige, Brahmans are elite by definition, regardless of whether they are powerful, wealthy, or learned. All adult Upadhyaya males by virtue of caste status may be treated with the kind of respect shown for example when a Banyan Hill Magar stops to talk and as a form of deferential greeting inclines his head to touch the Brahman's upraised foot. But much additional prestige is acquired when a Brahman, as a prerequisite of his caste status, learns to carry out important Sanskrit rituals, such as those used in marriages and funerals. Brahmans who can conduct ceremonies that last for a number of days, and who are so well-versed in Sanskrit that they can amplify and explain readings by making reference to other Sanskrit texts, are called thulo [great] pandits. People regularly placed three Thum Brahmans in this category, and of the three, one combines high religious attainment with secular office, since he is a rice field tax collector. A few other Brahmans are less learned but still competent to carry out the long ceremonies. They are spoken of simply as pandits. Many Brahmans in the Thum have sufficient training to carry out ritual associated with the naming of a child, marriage and death, and to conduct a comparatively simple puja, such as Satya Nanayan. They are called purohit. At least seven Thum Brahmans have had formal training in Sanskrit, either in India or Kathmandu, and one of them holds a high degree (acarya). Many Brahmans who are purohit learned Sanskrit and ritual procedures from their fathers or in the home of some other local Brahman, but since 1945 the Thum has had a government-supported school for teaching Sanskrit (pathasala). Although open to all but Untouchables, it is attended mainly by Brahmans and adds support to the group's elite position. We see then that Brahmans not only are close enough neighbors so

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that most Magars can frequently observe aspects of their way of life, but also are persons of high standing in both secular religious spheres. While disapproving adamantly of some forms of emulation, the Upadhyayas approve of and even encourage other forms. The encouragement is given during ordinary day to day association but especially in more formal ritual contexts where the Brahman priest not only exhibits and teaches procedures proper to that specific occasion, but also in the role of religious mentor, a role now buttressed by his activities as priestly officiant, gives information about the good life as it ought to be lived by Magars. Although some teachings may mention appropriate Magar rules of intercaste behavior, many of which serve to keep the Brahman and Magar ways of life separate, they also include pieties the Magars can practice that are the same as those followed by their Brahman neighbors. We have no enumerative data on the frequency of daily contact between Magars and Brahmans. Suffice it to say that as children the two groups play together and later as young people do fieldwork together in labor exchange groups. Moreover, fields of the two groups are often interspersed and informal contact among adults for other economic reasons, as well as for local political reasons, is frequent. We do have data on the number and kind of ritual occasions throughout a single year when Brahmans came to Magar homes in their capacity of priest. Omitting the Banyan Hill headman, who was served daily by a Brahman, we find that during the course of a year one or more Brahman priests came to Magar homes in Banyan Hill as indicated in Table 1. TABLE 1

Occasion and Frequency of Upadhyaya Brahman Visits to Banyan Hill Magar Homes during One Year, 1961-1962. Occasion Thread Full Moon Dasain (Worship of Durga) Snake Fifth Sraddha (3 times a year) Satya Narayan (Worship of Vishnu) Naming ceremony Marriage ceremony Jaupatti (puja to improve effect of relevant heavenly bodies) Lunar eclipse Every new moon Every full moon Every first day of month Every second day of the two halves of the month

Number of Homes Visited 21 20 11 4 4 2 2

2 2

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The table does not indicate any funeral visits, but this is only because there were no deaths during the period of observation. Brahmans always are asked to perform rituals and receive gifts whenever an adult dies, and they always are asked to come and name a child and remove ritual pollution on the eleventh day following its birth. The data in the table, plus our observations about routine daily contact, therefore show that Magars and Brahmans do have frequent interaction both in ritual and nonritual contexts.

EFFECTS OF B R A H M A N INFLUENCE

As initial measures of the cultural content of Brahman influence in Banyan Hill and of its varying intensity and distribution, we will use a set of indices drawn from a survey of 17 houses. An attempt was made to cover the whole community, but lack of time made this impossible. However, the sample includes four of the very rich families and five of the very poor, and the remaining eight houses are distributed quite well across the intervening portion of the economic spectrum. The survey showed that 13 families had called a Brahman to do the Satya Narayan puja for the worship of Vishnu at least once following the establishment of the family under the person who is now its head. Some families had had many more than one Satya Narayan. A member of all but one of the families had gone to at least one of the long ceremonies such as the Saptaha (a week's ceremony for the worship of Vishnu) and had remained for at least a day and had heard the teachings of the Brahman officiant. At least once every year on one or more of the religiously important days in the Hindu calendar, members of 11 families regularly go to bathe at river holy spots where there are temples with Brahmans in attendance. Four families have been once at least to holy places in India where there are Brahman centers for teaching and for carrying out Brahman-mediated ritual observances. These include many of the best known north Indian religious centers, such as Banaras, Puri, Gaya, Mathura, Hardwar, Rishikesh, and Kedarnath. Eight families have visited similar holy places within Nepal, all of which are at least a day's walk from Banyan Hill, and include Mukhtinath near the Tibetan border and Pasupatinath near Kathmandu. All the above indices involve mediation of Brahmans and contact with them in their mediating roles. With reference to the same 17 families, we will point now to a number of additional indices of Brahman influence,

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but in situations where Brahmans are not necessary as mediators and very often are not present. Three families that do not go regularly to more distant places to bathe on one or more appropriate days in the Hindu calendar, do go to one of the local springs, where they perform rituals such as lifting water as an offering to the sun and putting on clean clothing, just as they would at riverside bathing places. There are 10 families with one or more members who fast at least once during the year on a day in the Hindu calendar when Brahmans do. At least one member of 11 families performs some form of ritual in the morning, using elements from the ritual Brahmans use. The rituals vary in complexity. At one extreme there are three persons who only bathe their faces and say a prayer mentioning the name of various gods in the Hindu pantheon, or various places that are especially sacred to Hindus. At the other extreme is the Vaishnavite headman and his younger brother. The latter, in the less complicated of the rituals observed, repeats the Gayatri mantra on arising, using beads to keep track of the number of times, goes to the spring to bathe, puts on clean clothing, again says his beads, comes home and does a puja, reads from the Bhagavad Gita, and using sandalwood paste paints his body with signs of the Vishnuworshipper. The ritual falling between these two and followed by the most people involves only bathing one's face in the courtyard, saying a prayer invoking a name of god, such as Rama, Hari, or Narayan, pouring a libation toward the rising sun, and bowing to the deity with folded hands. Leaving the sample of 17 families and data from the questionnaire about their religious activities, we will turn now to a consideration of selected instances of Brahman influence on families in Banyan Hill. The focus for such influences is the headman's family. In the early morning and in the evening the blasts from his conch shell, with their unvarying pattern, are a reminder that he is conducting an elaborate puja with the assistance of a Brahman in the private temple near his house. If one comes closer at the end of the puja, one can hear him and the Brahman singing hymns of praise, accompanied by cymbals. And often following the puja, one can hear his wife, the younger brother and his family, plus one or two pious woman from the Magar community, as they circumambulate the temple singing. Daily pujas can be of varying length and complexity. The shorter of his two pujas, the one in the evening, usually lasts over half an hour, while the one in the morning lasts over an hour. Each utilizes a long list of elements. An example of the kind of elaboration one finds is the use of incense. A puja can be conducted using

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only one kind, but the headman uses eight. As followers of Vishnu, the headman and his wife do not eat meat, and contrary to the custom of other non-Vaishnavite Magars in the community, do not keep either pigs or chickens. Like Brahmans generally, they do not smoke or drink, and they prepare their daily meals Brahman-fashion on a cooking place made of earth, rather than Magar-fashion on a tripod made of iron. The cooking place was consecrated by a Brahman, after the headman and his wife fasted for a day and a night. During the course of the year various kinds of ceremonials involving Brahmans are carried out in the headman's courtyard. During the period of research, for example, a Brahman was retained daily for a week to read and comment upon stories from the life of Krishna. Much emphasis was placed upon the virtue of abstention from wine, tobacco, and meat. One Brahman who visited him found his way of life so exemplary that he composed a lengthy panegyric, detailing his many virtuous acts. Another evidence of the strength of Brahman influence in Banyan Hill is the number of women who devote much of their time to religion. Besides the wives of the headman and his youngest brothers, the group includes three widows and a married neighbor of one of the widows. One of these widows, the eldest sister of the headman, left Banyan Hill and went to live permanently at a temple complex on the Kali Gandaki. One of the other widows and her neighbor regularly come to the headman's pujas, circumambulate the temple, and receive consecrated food, drink, and flowers. The third widow is not a Vaishnavite and does not come to the headman's house. She does do a daily puja, however, and had begun going to stay at the riverside temple complex. The closest bathing place comparable to the Kali Gandaki complex in popularity in Banyan Hill is at a small bazaar about half a day's walk east of the Thum on the Seti river. It does not have an ashram, and although a Magar ex-soldier who had become an ascetic and a Vaishnavite had come to live there in 1961, his influence had not yet been felt, and one could not single out as clearly the religious influences that emanated from this complex as one could in the case of the one on the Kali Gankaki. The same is true of Tribeni, also on the Kali Ganadaki, the largest and best-known riverside holy spot in the region, a place to which a number of Banyan Hill Magars usually went during the course of a year. When we obtain a list of Brahman-mediated pujas and services that have been performed within the last decade by any family in Banyan Hill, the list is expanded to include a number of pujas and services that have not yet been mentioned because none of them involved families

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in our sample of 17. The list was obtained from the pandit who had performed most of the pujas and services for Banyan Hill families. In a high proportion of cases the person who had requested them had been the headman or one of his brothers. The pujas and services performed, some of them more than once, were the following: In Bhado (AugustSeptember) a Brahman worshipped Krishna on the god's birthday (janmasthami) late in the evening in a Magar client's home (Krishna was born at midnight). Kus is a kind of grass used in pujas and said to represent the hair of Rama's consort, Shiva. On the New Moon day of Bhado (Kusi Aunsi) a Brahman brought some of this grass to those of his clients who were regularly doing pujas. On the eleventh day following Krishna's birthday, on Tij (the third day of Bhado's bright fortnight and the day on which Parvati won Shiva's love) a Brahman came to perform a puja. This is a day on which women fast to assure their husband's longevity. In Asoj (September-October) during Dasain a Brahman came to his client's house on a number of evenings, the number liable to variation from year to year, to do puja to each of nine manifestations of the goddess Durga. The puja is called the Nau [nine] Durga puja. Later in the month, during a festival period called Tivahar, a Brahman came to do a puja to the goddess Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu. In the evening the goddess herself is worshipped, and the next morning a cow, the animal with which Lakshmi is associated. Other occasions on which a Brahman was called to do puja by one or more Banyan Hill families were the day of Vishnu's awakening (Hari Bodhani Ekadasi in October-November) after his long sleep on the World Snake; the day of the beginning of Vishnu's five month yearly sleep (Hari Sayini Ekadasi in June-July); and the day in April-May {Aksaya Tritiya) when a puja is done in honor of the birthday of Rama-with-the-axe (Parashurama), the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. A number of taboos followed by Brahmans have been adopted by Banyan Hill Magar families. They never eat beef or buffalo, nor drink cow's milk as part of the regular diet. Although some families are less strict than others and there is some confusion in beliefs, most in Banyan Hill believe that black pulse and millet flour porridge should be eaten only when a number of taboos have been observed during their preparation. The strictest families do not take these foods unless they have been prepared by a woman whose present marriage is her first marriage, and who has prepared for cooking by taking a ritual bath and by putting on clean clothing. During the cooking, which is done at a ritually purified separate fireplace, she should not leave the fire, nor should she leave

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while the food is being eaten. They also believe that those who eat these foods should have bathed and put on clean clothing. Magars recognize that many of these ritual procedures are ones Upadhyaya Brahmans regularly follow when cooking and eating any foods, and insofar as Magars observe any taboos at all in connection with these foods, they are a replica or sometimes a somewhat mitigated copy of the regular Brahman pattern. An example of a mitigated copy is the rule some Magar families follow requiring that the cook only wash her hands and feet before putting on clean clothing. This limited bath would not be adequate preparation for a Brahman, but seems to allude to the more complete Brahman practice. The adult Magars of Banyan Hill for the most part are strict about avoiding bodily contact with Untouchables. There are occasions when they are lax. Younger adults in singing groups permit contact, and when there is drinking and gambling during the fall Dasain festival even some Brahmans are careless. However, steps always are taken following contact, even in the two contexts just mentioned, to remove the ritual pollution by having some member of a "clean" caste sprinkle a little water over one's person. The family kitchen fire is treated as sacred and the abode of a god. Small food offerings are made to it before eating and kitchen refuse is not burned in it. Seven literate heads of families from time to time purchase astrological tables in the bazaar and use them to determine dates that are also of religious significance to their Brahman neighbors.

INTENSITY OF BRAHMAN INFLUENCE IN MONAL

The reader will recall that throughout the length of the Bhuji valley there are only seven Upadhyaya Brahman houses (about one percent of the total number of houses), and that all these Upadhyaya houses are located at the lower end of the valley, some hours' walk from Monal. There is no question that there are fewer priestly Brahmans around Monal than around Banyan Hill, nor that those few are living too far away to be considered neighbors. There are groups having higher ritual status than the Magars, and some of them live closer than the Upadhyaya Brahmans. About half an hour's walk from Monal to the south there is a village of Nauthar, with 56 houses or eight percent of the total valley population. Claiming originally to have been Chetri (an order of Nepali Kshatriya), they now eat chicken and drink beer like their Magar neighbors and have lost the

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right to wear the sacred thread. In the religious sphere, therefore, they do not approach the same high standing as the Upadhyaya Brahmans. The same may be said of the Bhuji valley's lower ranking (Jaisi), who have 83 houses, with 7 at the north end of the valley about an hour's walk from Monal, and 21 about an hour's walk to the south. While it cannot be doubted that both the Nauthars and the Jaisi Brahmans are to some extent more susceptible to priestly Brahman influences than Magars and by their presence in the valley increase somewhat the potentiality that Magars also will feel and respond to these influences, the situation still is far from being as favorable in this regard as it is in Banyan Hill, where the Magars' closest and most numerous neighbors are members of the highest ritual order, and where many not only have priestly qualifications but are active ritual officiants. Although the few Upadhyaya Brahmans living in the Bhuji valley are without competition in the sphere of religion, they are relatively unimportant in secular matters. There are no government officials of importance from the Bhuji valley whose work takes them outside of the region. The person in the valley who has the closest connection with the national government at the district level is a Magar, whose family was long ago the sole important local government representative (Umrao). Although he now is only one among a number of headmen, district officials forward messages to other headmen through him and something of the aura of the family's former position still clings to his house. Moreover, he is well-to-do and his son is one of three local persons who had formal schooling outside the valley. The valley's other most weighty political figure is another Magar who, together with his lineage, controls the most land in the upper Bhuji and in the high pastures to the north. As secular elites, both this man and the formerly important government official, who live fairly near one another about an hour's walk south of Monal, eclipse any Brahman, none of whom hold government office or are particularly well-to-do. In the Upadhyaya group are three brothers, each the head of a household, who act as priests. Since there is no Sanskrit school in the locality, they had to acquire their training in Sanskrit by other means. The eldest brother learned the language from his father; the second studied with a Brahman in a religious center four days' walk to the south; the youngest, who also studied privately, went to a village two days' walk to the east. All the brothers have also learned some of the longer ceremonies, such as Rudri, which is a way of worshipping Shiva; they can do Saty Narayan and can conduct a marriage or funeral according to Yedic rites. But

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for a ceremony like Shiva Purana, an eleven-day ceremony for the worship of Shiva, or for Saptaha, they have to call upon more learned Brahmans from south of the Bhuji area. Since all the Upadhyaya houses are so far away, there is not much day-to-day contact between them and Magars in the upper Bhuji valley during the winter months. However, there are situations during the summer when Monal Magars do have fairly extended and close contacts with Upadhyaya Brahmans, though not always with those from their own valley and not always with those trained as priests. One kind of contact arises because some Brahmans are pasture-renters. There are four Upadhyaya Brahman houses from the lower end of the Bhuji valley that pay rent to a Magar lineage in Monal. A number of Brahman renters also come from the Nishi valley and from further south along the Bari Gad below the Bhuji valley. Since these Brahmans share the pastureland of Monal Magars, some members of each group often make contact during the summer. Three of the Monal family heads have a relationship of shared ritual hospitality with a single Upadhyaya Brahman, and a single Monal family also has such a relationship with another Upadhyaya Brahman. Thus it is clear that none of the Monal families are as isolated from secular contacts with Upadhyaya Brahmans as their residential separation in the Bhuji valley would suggest. Yet despite the existence of the relationship of shared ritual hospitality which some families have, and the sharing of summer pasturage, the frequency of secular interaction all in all is less than it is in Banyan Hill, and in the ritual sphere it surely is less. In Monal, if a male over 20 years old dies, it is almost certain that a Brahman will be called and be present for at least a day to conduct funeral rites. It is less certain that he will be called for a younger man or for a woman, unless she is old and has living male descendants. Otherwise a Brahman is called by a family only to conduct a Satya Narayan puja, and so far as anyone could remember there never had been a Satya Narayan done in Monal prior to 1959. Subsequently only two others had been given, one in the fall of 1961, and the other in the winter of 1962. The first two had been undertaken at the conclusion of a husband's and wife's fasting in hopes of having a son. The other had been done, also in connection with fasting, to assure an absent soldier son's welfare. There is only one occasion when Upadhyaya Brahmans come regularly and voluntarily to Monal, and then only to one house. On Thread Full Moon two of the Brahmans from the southern part of the Bhuji valley stop by at one of the two headmen's houses on their way back from a

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religious mela in the high pastures. They tie thread wristlets for the headman's wife and for any other family members who are at home. We conclude, then, that there is less possibility for the spread of Brahman influence in Monal than there is in Banyan Hill. Brahmans in the vicinity are less numerous; they are not close neighbors; they do not combine religious with high secular prestige. Though some families have fairly frequent contacts with Upadhyaya Brahmans in secular contexts, there are some that have only a little, and none that have the frequent childhood contacts that occur in Banyan Hill. In religious contexts the interaction between Brahmans and all Monal families is very slight.

EFFECTS OF BRAHMAN INFLUENCE

Let us look now at indices for measuring the strength of whatever influence there is. We have already noted that Monal families use Brahmans very seldom in the capacity of priest. With regard to other measures of the kind used in Banyan Hill, we find that only one family head (one of the two headmen) and one woman (his wife) ever had been present during one of the long Brahman-mediated ceremonies. Both had heard a portion of a Satya Narayan given at the home of a Brahman. There is an occasion during the year when many Monal people go to a river to bathe where there are Brahmans in attendance at a temple. This is the midsummer Thread Full Moon mela in the high pastures. It cannot even be said that at least one person from each house goes regularly, because there are years when no one in a family goes. But there are no adults in Monal who have not been a number of times. The temple is the closest place of the kind in the vicinity. The next closest comparable holy spot, by a river and suitable for pilgrimage, is a number of days' walk to the south, on the Kali Gandaki. No one in Monal ever has gone for religious purposes to any of the holy places in India nor (except for the temple) to any of the even fairly well known places in Nepal. Let us now consider situations where Brahmans are not present as mediators, but where it seems certain that families are following patterns of behavior derived from the pious Brahman way of life. We will continue to use indices used in Banyan Hill: bathing on festival days that are important to the local Brahmans, fasting on similar days, and the performance of religious rituals at the beginning of each day. At least one person from every family in Monal goes either to the spring or the nearby river to bathe on the first day of the month of Magh.

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People bring clean clothes which they don afterwards. The person from Monal who bathes most frequently goes to the local spring on the first days of Magh (January-February) and Srawan (July-August) and on the "little" Dasain (March-April), and on the two major festivals in the fall Dasain and Tivahar. Most who bathed went only on the first days of Magh and Srawan, and on Dasain. A number of persons said that bathing on any of these occasions, including the first day of Magh, was less common some years previously, and they attributed the change to more recent contact with Brahmans. On two occasions in every month, the full moon day and new moon day, the eldest male in most families is apt to take a bath, usually at the local spring. On these holy days, following what is said to be ancient custom, it is appropriate to make an offering of incense to the ancestors, and the bathing is in preparation for this ritual - a ritual that takes place in the house. Despite the ritual bath, one is in doubt whether or not to regard this as an instance of Brahman-influenced behavior. The manner of offering to the ancestors is not the same as the one Brahmans use. Possibly the bathing, which is such a common aspect of Brahman ritual, may have been appended to this manner of worship. One does not know and must allow bathing on these occasions to remain in an ambiguous status. As for ritual bathing on other occasions one can say that although the families of Monal do not go as far to bathe, nor to places that attract large crowds - most of them being content to use the local spring or the nearby river - they have definitely adopted Brahman bathing patterns, and to about the same extent as the people of Banyan Hill. Regular fasting is uncommon in Monal. There is only one family in which one member, a woman, fasts regularly, and this on only one day during the year - the first day of Magh. Both the husband and wife in four other families have fasted, but in each case this was to obtain a specific boon. For these families, who either wished to have a son or wished to assure their living son's safety, the period of fasting was terminated by calling Brahmans to perform a Satya Narayan ceremony. One man mentions a Hindu name of God when he rises in the morning. Otherwise no one in Monal regards the morning ablutions, which usually consist of washing the face and rinsing the mouth, as part of a religious ritual. Both in this regard and in regard to fasting, there is considerable difference between the two sets of families. Moreover, it is my strong impression that my data, if anything, errs in the direction of showing more Brahman influence in Monal, as measured by the indices so far used, than actually exists. When asked, people said they bathed on

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particular festival occasions but a number added: "If I know what day it is" or "If I remember." Regarding the customs of bathing and fasting there is much less sense of compulsion than is found in Banyan Hill. When other instances of Brahman influence in Banyan Hill are used for making comparisons with Monal, further examples of the relative weakness of Brahman influence in the latter community become apparent. In Banyan Hill the headman's adoption of the Brahman way of life has been carried about as far as a non-Brahman of his caste can carry it and still maintain his secular role of father, household head, and village leader. One of the two Monal headmen has Brahman friends and stands out from others in the village because he is sought after by them on Thread Full Moon, and unlike others in the village, he and his wife have heard portions of a Saptaha ceremony. But obviously he is far from being the focus for Brahman influence that the Banyan Hill headman is. In Monal there are no women whose interest in the Hindu religion compares with that of the very interested women in Banyan Hill. The most interested married woman is the wife of one of the headmen, whose fasting once a year we have mentioned. The one widow in Monal is definitely not interested. She performs no daily ritual and does not even bathe on the first day of Magh. The prime religious center for Monal is the temple in the high pastures. Because of cold and snow it is abandoned during the winter months, and even during the summer Brahmans are in attendance only once. In the lower Bhuji valley there is a mountaintop temple, but people do not go there to worship with the assistance of Brahmans. Only young people go from Monal, making the trip once a year on the festival of Tij, and their time is occupied by dancing, singing, and drinking. As already mentioned, aside from funerals the only Brahman-mediated ceremonies in Monal during the past decade have been three Satya Narayan ceremonies. Magars in Banyan Hill are horrified at the idea of eating beef. Although they do not kill cows, Monal families gladly eat the meat of cows that have died a natural death. Since they cannot eat a whole adult animal, whenever one dies most of the meat is cut up and sold. There is no want of buyers. In Banyan Hill cow's milk is saved for calves or for use in religious ceremonial. There is no compunction about drinking it in Monal. Monal families also eat buffaloes, whereas those in Banyan Hill do not, though they offer them as sacrifices to the goddess Durga during Dasain. Banyan Hill families observe many taboos while cooking and eating black pulse and millet porridge. These things are seldom eaten in Monal because they must be imported. When they are, no taboos are observed.

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In the area of intercaste relations, the Monal people, contrary to what one finds in Banyan Hill, are very lax about bodily contact between themselves and metalworker and tailor Untouchables. When bodily contact does occur, no steps are taken to restore ritual purity. In areas other than touch, taboos are observed. No Untouchable is allowed inside the house, though they may come inside the cattleshed so long as they do not approach the cooking place. Any cooking utensil can be polluted even if brushed by the clothing of an Untouchable, and the touch of the tailor is especially polluting. No boiled food or drinking water may be taken from an Untouchable. Thus, it is only in regard to contact in contexts other than home and kitchen that Monal is more lax than Banyan Hill. In Monal as in Banyan Hill, a small food-offering generally is made to the kitchen fire before eating, and there is the same concern about polluting this fire by throwing kitchen refuse into it. One man in Monal purchases and can read astrological tables. With a local metalworker shaman, he is the major local source of information about dates of significance in the Brahmanic calendar.

CONCLUSION

The degree of Brahman influence is a significant distinction between the Magar families of Banyan Hill and Monal. We have suggested that because of its location in a rice-growing eco-zone that attracts a more numerous and close Brahman occupation, Banyan Hill is more exposed to Brahman influence than Monal; and we have seen that the intensity of this influence is increased far beyond what is found in Monal by the higher secular and religious prestige of Banyan Hill Upadhyayas, and by more frequent contact with them as mediators and mentors in religious contacts. Cultural effects were seen in many indices, but perhaps the most telling is this hamlet's much more frequent use of Brahmans for its domestic rituals, especially in the case of the thoroughly Brahmanized headman. What is most surprising perhaps is that the beef-eating families of Monal, living along the northernmost edge of the Middle Himalaya and on the fringes of Hindu practice as mediated by Brahman elites, nevertheless have been touched in as many ways as they have. This is especially surprising when one considers an aspect of the situation implied but for reasons of space not dealt with in any detail. I speak of the relative poverty of all Monal families as compared with many Banyan

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Hill families, and in particular the Banyan Hill headman's. We have stressed Brahman "pressure", as exerted through numbers, status, proximity, and ritual interaction in contexts where Brahmans are priests. Looking at it from the Magar side and asking what factors operate, we are led - though I would insist this is not the sole explanation - to the same ecological variables. The use of Brahman mediators is costly, and the families best able to afford them are the wealthier families of Banyan Hill. As a general rule in the Nepali Middle Himalaya, rice-growing areas are more prosperous than areas where the crop cannot be grown. More specifically, measured by income available to spend for Hindu practices, a higher proportion of Banyan Hill Magar families have means than do the families in Monal, and their ownership of riceland is a major factor. (The Banyan Hill headman owns many times as much as any other family in the hamlet.) Thus in this section of Nepal whether one begins with Brahmans as givers or Magars as receivers, the prevalence and intensity of Hindu domestic ritual can be seen to a large extent to be tied to riceland. And in these terms what one implies by speaking of Monal as a fringe area of Hindu practice is its being near rice but unable to grow it. University of Wisconsin

KINSHIP IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE

SAVITRI SHAHANI

The data presented in this paper are taken from genealogical information collected in a Maharashtrian village in western India during the summer of 1967. They pertain mainly to two castes, both of which stand at the center of the village economy since they hold between them nearly three-fourths of all the village arable land. They also stand at its political center since the hereditary offices of mulki patil and polis patil are held by them. Both castes are known as Marathas, but at least one of them was known earlier as Kunbi, and has given up this appellation in favor of Maratha. It is proposed in this paper to compare certain aspects of kinship in these two castes, and to relate them to the respective positions of each in the village community and in the region. The features of kinship discussed here are the affinal network, crosscousin marriage and its relation to the affinal network, family structure, and marriage payments.

THE VILLAGE

The village, Lonikand, is situated twelve miles to the northeast of Poona. It has a total population of 1708 persons, divided up among 16 Hindu castes and 2 non-Hindu groups. Of these, only 39 are temporary residents, in the sense that they are here as teachers or as employees of the government or of a private individual. The village is situated on a highway linking Poona to Ahmednagar, but its population consists mainly of residents of long standing. Of the four most numerous castes, the Maratha peasants are the original founders of the village; the Maratha sirdars or chieftains have been here at least since the time of the early Peshwas, in the early eighteenth century; the Mali horticulturists claim to have been brought here from the hilly areas further south by the The fieldwork on which this paper is based was carried out during my tenure as a Senior Research Fellow of the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, in association with Pauline Kolenda of the University of Houston who was in India at the time as a Faculty Research Fellow of the American Institute of Indian Studies, Poona.

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Peshwas; and the Mahar untouchables, with their hereditary inams (tax-free land grants), have probably been here as long as the original settlers. N o date is given for the founding of the village, but this is mentioned locally as a historical fact. The permanent residents, consisting of 1669 persons, are divided up among the different castes as given in Table 1. TABLE 1 Caste

Size of Population

Maratha peasants Maratha sirdars Mali horticulturists Brahmin Goldsmith Carpenter Blacksmith Ramoshi watchmen Shepherd Foreigner (north Indian) Barber Leatherworker Mahar village servants Matang ropemakers Garudi "criminal" caste

949 126 342 8 3 18 10 8 10 5 22 37 74 18 39

Untouchables

1669

While the Maratha peasants and sirdars make up nearly two-thirds of the population, they own, between them, nearly three-fourths of the arable land (see Table 2). TABLE 2 Caste

Maratha peasant Maratha sirdar Mali Barber Leatherworker Mahar Garudi

Number of landowners"

Size of average holding

132 21 55 3 7 24 3

10-1/2 acres 22-1/2 acres 9 acres 1-1/2 acres 11-1/4 acres 3-1/2 acres 1¡2 acre

Percentage of total arable land 55.63 ] 73.98 18.35 ] 19.43 0.19 3.04 3.28 0.08

" F r o m record of land ownership maintained by the talati (revenue Official) at Lonikand.

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The only caste that can in any way compete with the two Maratha groups are the Malis. They are, however, regarded as relatively recent immigrants. Their house sites are on the southern boundary of the village site, mostly outside of the old village fortification. They hold no hereditary titles in the village. They are said to be numerous in the Saswad area of Poona district, in the hills to the south, and are not considered to be very important in the riverine plains east of Poona. Within Lonikand, they exclude themselves from the village community by maintaining a separate Mali temple, by organizing this under a trust named after a well-known Mali reformer, and thus identifying themselves horizontally with other Malis rather than vertically with other castes in the village where they reside. In this sense, they are a far less traditional caste than the others. The focus here will be on the two Maratha castes which are themselves the focus of the hierarchically structured village community.

THE MARATHA PEASANTS

There are 132 families in this group, of which number 77 bear the surname of Kand. They are called a bhauband, or brotherhood, and anyone with the same surname would be regarded as a member of the bhauband. This brotherhood is always exogamous. It consists of several ritual pollution groups, or sutaks, which observe pollution at the death of a member. A sutak consists of people who can usually still trace genealogical relationships with each other. The Kands say they now have two sutaks in the village. The brotherhood has grown in numbers, and one group whose members had land on the western boundary of the village and many of whom had moved out to live close to their lands, has separated to form a second sutak of Kands. Its members, consisting of 32 agnatically related families, can all be placed on one genealogical chart going back seven generations. The original sutak includes all the other Kands, not all of whom are so related to each other. No specific claims to common descent from a real or mythical ancestor are made, but agnatic kinship is assumed to exist. All Kands can be grouped together on one or other of 12 genealogical charts, the generation depth of each varying from two to seven. Informants could not go further back to show connections that would link these charts together. From the data collected on the surnames and villages of origin of spouses of Kand men and women, it appears that there are concentrations

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of surnames, that is, of brotherhoods, in each village, e.g. Avhales of Avhalvadi, Hargudes of Kesnand, Tapkirs of Charholi, Mores of Dehu, Balvadkars of Balavdi. Besides the dominant brotherhood of Kands in the village, there are 55 Maratha families with other surnames. Only 6 of these have no kinship or affinal ties with Kands, and all of these 6 have surnames normally regarded as belonging to sirdars, known also as "the Ninety-Six Families". The 49 non-Kand Maratha peasants have come in mostly during the last century. The brotherhood in a village probably had a military function under the local chieftains, especially of a defensive kind.1 The loss of this military function in British times would make it less important for men to reside in villages where their agnatic kin dominate. The large proportion of non-Kands is probably a consequence of the establishment of British rule, though it is unlikely that resident affines in a village were unknown before this. A daughter could inherit when there were no male heirs, so that there must always have been a certain number of affines residing in the village. It is interesting to note that whereas each Kand family owns some quantity of land (in only two cases the younger brothers have established separate households but do not appear on the talati's land records, as the older brother still officially holds the undivided family property), as many as 9 of the non-Kands have no property. Of these, 8 are sons-inlaw, brothers-in-law, widowed sisters or sister's sons of living Maratha peasants (including non-Kands) residing in the village. Affines do not always come in to inherit land. Thus one Kand, wealthy by local standards, who had neither real brothers nor any close agnatic kin, and who himself had only one son, actively encouraged some of his affines to settle down in the village. Since power in the village is tied up with the size of a man's following, drawn mainly from his kinsman rather than from dependants who, whether tenants or service castes, are too few to be significant in factional politics, he offsets the demographic weakness of having a sparse genealogy for two or three generations by bringing in affines who could be supported from the unfragmented resources of the family. This is a recent case. If the style of factional politics in the village is not a recent phenomenon, but is a necessary correlate of small-scale caste

1 Historical evidence for the relation of land tenure and military tenure is very weak. See Rushton Coulborn, "Feudalism, Brahminism and the Intrusion of Islam upon Indian History", in Comparative Studies in Society and History X: 3 (1968), p. 365, for some discussion of this point.

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2

stratification, then the bringing in by Kands of affinal kin to bolster intravillage position is probably not a novel phenomenon. The brotherhood-village, which seems to be typical of the area east of Poona, is linked through affinal ties to a large number of other similar villages, most of them (85 percent) lying within a radius of 15 miles. Only 7 percent are beyond 15 miles but within 30 miles, while 1 percent are beyond 30 miles. (7 percent could not be identified with certainty - some of these villages are offshoots of bigger ones, therefore unmapped, or there are two or more with the same name.) There is a definite bias towards giving and taking girls from villages that are in the immediate vicinity within 5 miles of Lonikand, and from among non-Kand families in the village itself. This is in contrast to the north Indian village where both village and lineage - often co-terminous - are exogamous, and in addition, villagers prefer to transact marriages at longer rather than shorter distances. Lineage exogamy is required in both areas. The extensive affinal range of the northern village and the intensive, more localized affinal range of villages in this part of Maharashtra may derive from differing political functions performed by these in the past, and possibly also in the present, but there is little evidence available in the literature as to what precisely these functions may be. It is significant to note that the sirdars in Lonikand, who are hereditary chieftains belonging to the upper Marathas, or "Ninety-Six Families", are much less localized in affinal range. Only 32 percent give and take girls within 15 miles, 44.5 percent go further up to 30 miles, 11 percent extend yet further to 50 miles, and as many as 12.5 percent go beyond 50 miles. This group, the ruling caste of the Maratha-speaking region, whose arena of political competition was that whole region at the least,3 maintained its regional spread at least partly through an extended affinal range. The Maratha peasants, the peasant-militia of pre-British times, organizing into bands under one or other sirdar, probably acting as a defensive unit, would be more localized. The north Indian case could be fruitfully compared in this respect with the Maharashtrian, to see how marriage was related to political organization. The high degree of localization of the affinal network of the Maratha peasants in Lonikand cannot be explained as a concomitant of cross2 Savitri Shahani: "The Traditional Political Organization of Kerala and Punjab", unpublished Ph. D. thesis, University of London, 1965. 3 In the 18th century, some of these chiefs spilled over into regions further north, establishing "colonial" chiefdoms. One dynasty established itself in Tanjore in the far South.

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cousin marriage. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage is an accepted and acceptable form of marriage, the patrilateral 4 variety being extremely rare. But in terms of actual incidence, in Lonikand, out of the 558 Maratha peasant marriages figuring in the genealogies, only 58 are crosscousin marriages, 5 all of them matrilateral. This is only 8.5 percent of all marriages. Of marriages for all castes in the genealogies, only 10 percent are crosscousin marriages, including the remoter cross-cousin relationship noted above for the Maratha peasants. The high figure of 46 percent of marriages among Kands being contracted within a range of 5 miles cannot therefore be explained by the incidence of cross-cousin marriage. This is further supported by the fact that the sirdars who marry extensively rather than intensively have a similar proportion of cross-cousin marriages - 12 percent of all sirdar marriages.

THE M A R A T H A S I R D A R S

The Maratha sirdars are a much smaller group. They number only 14 families, 12 of which claim descent from a common ancestor, Tukojirao Shinde Ravirao, who served Emperor Aurangzeb. 6 The other 2 families are affines of the Shindes. The sirdars are comparatively better off than the Maratha peasants. Their landholdings are, on the average, twice as large as those of peasants. They claim to have only commensal, no affinal relations with the latter group; both have the same caste name. Roti vyavahar ahe, beti vyavahar nahi? Their genealogies show some women with typically peasant surnames, as, Lokhande of Madkal village - very commonly encountered in the peasant genealogies. But mostly, these genealogies are littered with such aristocratic surnames as Shitole Deshmukh, K a d a m Bande of Alkute, Bhosle, Nimbalkar. These are all 4

Only 3 cases of patrilateral cross-cousin marriage occur: 2 among the Malis; 1 among the Garudis. 5 These include 30 first cousins; 7 cousins once removed, i.e. one parent each are cousins, parallel or cross; 2 cousins twice removed; in 4 cases the father's brother's wife is equated to mother, with marriage to her brother's daughter; in 3 cases the wife of a more distant agnate is equated to mother, with marriage to her brother's or her cousins's daughter or granddaughter; 2 marriages of uneven generation, to son or daughter of a cross-cousin, matrilateral for the boy. 6 G. S. Sardesai, editor: "Selections from Peshwa Daftar", vol. 44, letter No. 30, Government Central Press, Bombay, 1934 7 We give and take food, we do not give and take daughters.

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recognized as being among the "Ninety-Six Families", and are well known in Maratha history as local chieftains. As stated above, their kinship network differs markedly from that of the Maratha peasants. They arrange marriages at far greater distances, with nearly 13 percent of these taking place beyond a radius of 50 miles. Only 6 percent of marriages are contracted within 5 miles. The affinal network of the sirdars shows no particular concentration. Rather, it is cast wide, with no particular emphasis on distance or nearness. A possible demographic explanation of this difference between sirdars and peasants is that because of their smaller numbers, the sirdars have to go further to contract suitable marriages. The peasants, because of their large numbers, do not need to go so far. Another explanation, noted above, is that this is the traditional range for sirdars, dating from the times when they ruled as semi-independent chiefs, and entered into strategic alliances, including marriage, with other chieftains not necessarily residing at close distances. Extensive alliance, like extensive communication, brings definite material advantages and both are correlated with high status in the caste system. 8 The sirdars, like ruling castes in other regions of India, 9 maintained their power vis-à-vis other lower and more localized castes at least partly by their political and social interaction in a wider arena, though such interaction was generally possible only where localized castes under a chieftain did not present an immediate threat to his position in the chiefdom. In Maharashtra, chieftains could, and did, maintain their position vis-à-vis localized caste groups by relying for support, in addition to their connections with other sirdars, on an outside power - one or other of the Muslim kingdoms in the Deccan, the Maratha rulers of the Bhosle "dynasty" with its attempts at centralization, or, later, the Peshwas. The sirdars continue to marry at long distances. The caste maintains its distinctness from the peasants - who form hypergamous partners 10 - in this way. Whether as warring chieftains in earlier times they tended to hypergamous unions within their own territories, as happened in pre-18th century Kerala, is not known, as women are rarely mentioned in their historical genealogies. 11 At the present time, hypergamy with peasants is rare. 8

E. Miller : "Caste and Territory in Malabar", American Anthropologist 56: 3, 1954. Shahani, op. cit. 10 In the same way, in Kerala, Malayala Kshatriya chiefs took Nayar wives, hypergamy linking the ruling family to the warrior caste in its own chiefdom. 11 Sardesai : "Historical Genealogies" (Govt. Central Press, Bombay, 1957). 9

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Given the importance of horizontal solidarity to a caste in increasing its effectiveness in a democratic system, either to keep out other castes, or, if it is a dispossessed group, to enter the political arena, the extensive affinal network of the sirdars is a useful mechanism for maintaining their regional identity and effectiveness vis-à-vis other lower but non-competitive castes. By marrying only with other sirdars, they preserve their status especially in relation to the Maratha peasants, and this matches their participation in a regional system where they can manipulate power at the state level rather than at the level of the village or of thejilha (district). The family structure of Maratha peasants also differs from that of the sirdars. Only 40 percent of the peasant families are joint, in the sense that there are married male agnates, either brothers or father and sons(s), living together. As many as 57 percent of the sirdar families are joint in this sense. Whether this is related to the larger landholdings of the sirdars, to their more markedly patrilineal organization,12 to the ban on remarriage of widows and separated women,13 or to their greater effort to preserve the high status generally accorded to them, 14 it is difficult to say. Privacy of the household and its affairs is valued by sirdars, and is ensured by the seclusion of their women, by separation of residence, most of their houses being confined to the northwestern part of the village, by a general reserve in their relations with other villagers. The difference between sirdars and peasants is most clearly marked in the practice of dowry by the one and brideprice by the other. The sirdars customarily give dowry {hunda) to the bridegroom's family. Among the peasants, the boy's family gives a small sum of money (dyaj) to the girl's family. Marriage expenses are almost equal on both sides, with the boy's family providing four reasonably expensive saris for the girl, together with some jewelry, including the marriage necklace. This is in addition to the brideprice. The girl's family has to provide some gifts of clothing and metal utensils to bridegroom's kin, they feed the bridegroom's party while it stays in the girl's village for the wedding, and they buy the nosering for the bride. No prestations follow after the girl leaves for her husband's home. Later, on visits to her natal home at annual ritual ceremonies, and on the birth of her first child, her family makes small gifts of 12

They have very few affines living in Lonikand, as compared to the peasants. See Pauline Kolenda, "Regional Differences in Indian Family Structure", in Regions and Regionalism in South Asian Studies: An Exploratory Study, by Robert I. Crane (—Duke University Monograph Number Five) (1967). 14 Sirdar informants were generally unwilling to talk about family ruptures or scandals concerning their women. 13

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food and clothing. However, they incur no major expenses on her account after she is married, either in the form of prescribed gifts or in the form of assistance to overcome financial difficulties. If the girl's parents are poor, they may agree to give her to a boy whose family cannot pay a brideprice but who agree to pay all the marriage expenses. She is then "carried off" (uchloon nehli) by the boy's family. If her parents are rich, they may agree to finance the whole marriage (karoon dili), though they would not normally pay any dowry to the boy's family. Changes are taking place in this area. Dowry, which is the mode among sirdars, is not a peasant custom, as the peasants in Lonikand agree. One man pointed out, however, that people are now giving dowries because they are trying to imitate the Ravirao Shindes. On the whole, Maratha peasants even now do not give dowries. It is the educated boy who is not a farmer but has a white-collar job who can expect to get a gold ring and/ or a watch from the girl's family. The introduction of this incipient dowry indicates status differentiation within the peasant caste, and the recognition of hypergamous elements in marriage. The "genetic" irrelevance in a caste system of status deriving from education makes it unlikely that the peasant caste will develop an organized hypergamy, like, for example, the series of hypergamic circles with an established dowry system prevalent among the Patidars of Gujarat. But the modification of brideprice in the direction of a dowry-type gift indicates a development of status heterogeneity in a caste whose members have heretofore shared a broadly similar economic postion, occupation, and related style of life. The Ravirao Shindes have always been dowry givers and receivers. The dowry may be waived if the girl is an heiress, or if the man is marrying a second time. In some cases, the girl's family pays for the marriage expenses rather than give a dowry. Whether this is related to the low "market value" of the particular boy, or whether the girl's family is poor and negotiate for such an arrangement is not clear. One more aspect of marriage in which peasants and sirdars differ is the incidence of broken marriages and the remarriage of women. They also differ in their attitude to the question of remarriage. Nearly 6 percent of marriages among the Kands were broken marriages. One-fourth of these were followed by a remarriage for the woman. Only 3 percent of the sirdar marriages show a break, and in no case was the woman remarried. At least some of the women who were separated from their husbands among the Kands had had sons. This was not the

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case among the sirdars. Marriage is more stable among the sirdars, from the evidence, than it is among the peasants. 15 Sirdar informants categorically stated that none of their women ever remarry, though at least one sirdar elder said that some girls do "hold hands and run away". The information given by the sirdars may be incomplete in this respect, but our peasant informant was not able to give us definite statements, as distinct from suspicions, regarding the remarriage of sirdar women. A Maratha peasant woman is not strictly forbidden to remarry, but peasants do not overtly approve such marriages. A man who remarries can have a regular marriage ceremony, as long as it is a first marriage for the bride. If it is a remarriage for a woman, the marriage involves very little ritual (mohtar) or no ritual (gandharva). Most unwanted wives return to their kinfolk, usually a father or brother. Remarriage for a woman indicates that she has no family to turn to, and might be excused on these grounds. But it is never approved. As regards divorce (sod chitthi), peasants in Lonikand say that in earlier times if a woman did not have sons, or husband and wife did not get along with each other, the man brought home another wife. The first wife could choose to stay or return to her kin. Since the enactment of recent legislation 16 men are chary about remarriage without divorce. If the woman's kin are unlikely to support her either through extreme poverty or some other reason, the man may remarry without a divorce. In one such case, there had been a marital complication in the wife's natal family. The husband therefore felt certain that there would be no reprisals if he took a second wife. The first wife had borne him a son, had not misbehaved, and could have made substantial legal claims to maintenance, the custody of the child, or, later on, inheritance. In another case, the wife had borne a son, but because of her misbehavior the husband's family was able quite easily to get a divorce, and to retain full custody of the child. To formalize a divorce, the elders of the families concerned and a few respected elders from the village - usually of the same caste, though a sirdar may be asked to act as a mediator - meet. If it is agreed that the marriage be dissolved, a formal declaration of this is made in writing on an official stamped paper bought at the courts in Poona. This assembly of elders is not an officially constituted court. It does not represent the village. No instance was cited of such an assembly disagreeing on the 15

The Malis, not considered in this paper, show a break-up rate of 10 %. Figures for untouchable castes other than the Leatherworker are also high. 16 The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, makes bigamy a punishable offence.

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impending divorce. Its function would appear to be that of giving public recognition to the fait accompli of a broken marriage rather than that of dispensing justice in a marital dispute. The need to use a stamped paper in divorce proceedings is an indication of the intrusion of the formal bureaucratic governmental system into the village. The evidence for divorce must be effective in that system. The few cases that found their way to the courts at Poona were an attempt to exploit some of the novel "benefits" of the new legislation, particularly provisions for alimony, 17 or maintenance (potgi). No case was cited in Lonikand where a woman or her family had succeeded in winning this claim through the courts. The enactment of legislation does not directly affect marriage and divorce in the village. Marriages break most often for the traditional reason - by not having a son, a woman has not fulfilled her obligation to the husband's family. A woman does not take the initiative in divorce proceedings. Having been discarded by the husband, she cannot claim financial support from him. She is returned to her kin. But insofar as one or other party in a marital dispute can, in these days, have recourse to the law, due care is taken to go through enough of the legal procedure to prevent future complications. A comparison of kinship among Maratha peasants and Maratha sirdars leads to the following conclusions: (a) In both castes, the families residing in a particular village are close and distant agnates. The peasants, in addition, include a number of affines though these are always distinguished from the local agnatic brotherhood. (b) The affinal network of the peasants is highly localized, while that of the sirdars is extensive, the difference in range being a reflection of the very different political arena in which each has operated both in historical times and in the modern system. The sirdars, historically speaking a ruling caste, operate at a regional level. Peasants, historically a warrior caste, are locally dominant groups, politically most active at the village or, at most, district level. Affinal range is linked to political range. (c) Both castes show a high incidence of joint family, with sirdars showing more joint families than the peasants. (d) The sirdars exchange dowries at marriages, while peasants exchange 17 Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. V. P. Deolalikar, The Hindu Marriage Act (Allahabad, 1964), p. 160.

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brideprice. Dowries reflect status heterogeneity through hypergamy; brideprice is linked to status homogeneity. Peasants show a slight shift away from brideprice towards dowry, and this may be understood partly as a cultural borrowing from a group of higher status and partly as a function of the appearance among peasants of status heterogeneity, mainly through education and urban employment. (e) There is a difference both in the prevalence of, and the attitude to, remarriage of women in the two castes. Sirdars show fewer cases, only 3 percent, of marriages breaking up, compared to 6 percent for the peasants. They show not a single case of remarriage of a woman. Their attitude to the question of remarriage is a rigid one, close to the Brahminical one, insisting that under no circumstances would they allow a woman, widowed or separated, to remarry. Peasants further removed from the Brahmin in the caste hierarchy do permit remarriages, but play them down especially when communicating with persons whom they identify with Brahmins. University of Guelph

FAMILY TYPES AND INDUSTRIALIZATION IN INDIA

VICTOR S. D'SOUZA

THE PROBLEM

Most studies on changes in the modern family in India are based on the assumption that these changes are brought about primarily by industrialization. Thus industrialization is taken to be the independent variable and family change a dependent one. It is taken for granted that the country is undergoing a rapid change in its economic structure, and that as a consequence of this the family structure is also changing. The normative family structure in India in the past was that of the oint family. In the general opinion of social scientists, the joint family, the caste system, and the village community have been the basic features of the Indian social structure. In the social change taking place at present joint families are disintegrating, giving rise to the conjugal or nuclear type of families. Thus the family structure in India is approximating the family structure of the more industrialized western countries where the nuclear family has been the normative type of family for a long time. Therefore it is readily inferred that the change in the family structure in India is being brought about by industrialization. It may, however, be pointed out that not all studies on family in India indicate a change from the joint family type to the nuclear. I.P. Desai and Ramkrishna Mukherjee are among those who are of the view that the joint family in India is as important today as ever.1 Faced with the conflicting views about the direction or degree of changes in the family in India, Nimkoff has remarked that "should it be shown that the incidence of the joint family is not greatly changing, the explanation may 1 I.P. Desai, "Symposium on Caste and Joint Family: An Analysis", in Sociological Bulletin IV: 2 (September 1955), pp. 97-117; Ramkrishna Mukherjee, "Indian Tradition and Social Change", in T. K. N. Unnithan, et al., eds., Towards a Sociology of Culture in India (New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India (Private) Ltd., 1965), p. 200.

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largely lie in the fact that the rate of industrialization is quite low". 2 These remarks, however, would seem to contradict the views expressed in another of his later articles, in which he tried to argue that the joint family need not be an obstacle to industrialization. 3 All the same, the various studies on the changing family in India have barely looked at the relationship between family types and industrialization from any other angle except under the assumption that industrialization is an independent variable and the variable of family types is a dependent one. The possibility that under certain conditions family type may be the independent variable and industrialization a dependent one has yet to be explored. As pointed out by Goode, this state of affairs is generally true of studies on family change all over the world. 4 He has therefore advanced the idea (although without corroboration) that the conjugal or nuclear family system, rather than being a consequence of industrialization in the West, may have been an instrumental factor in industrialization. He is also of the view that progress toward a conjugal system may facilitate industrialization in non-Western countries. 5 Goode's view is founded on two major hypothesized or observed phenomena. One of these is the supposition (as implied in the writings of such eminent social scientists as Max Weber, Ferdinand Tonnies, and Talcott Parsons) that the isolated nuclear family is the most functional type for modern industrial society. 6 In the modern industrial system the individual's position is determined by achievement oriented, universalistic, and functionally specific criteria. As result, the industrial system requires both geographical and social mobility. The nuclear family with its emphasis on neolocality, limited kin network, individual ownership 2 M. F. Nimkoff, "Some Problems Concerning Research on the Changing Family in India", in Sociological Bulletin VIII: 2 (September 1959), p. 37. 3 M. F. N i m k o f f , "Is the Joint Family an Obstacle to Industrialization?" in International Journal of Comparative Sociology I: 1 (March 1960) pp. 109-118. 4 William J. G o o d e , The Family (Foundations of Modern Sociology Series) (Englew o o d Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964), p. 114. 5 William J. Goode, "Industrialization and Family Change", in B. F. Hoselitz and W. E. Moore (eds.), Industrialization and Society ( U N E S C O - M o u t o n , 1963), p. 247. 6 This hypothesized functional relationship between the isolated nuclear family, however, has been questioned of late by American social scientists. For instance, Litwak has tried to show that rather than the isolated nuclear family, the family type which he has designated as the modified extended family might be the most eifective in the maintenance of democratic industrial society (Eugene Litwak, "Extended Kin Relations in an Industrial Democratic Society", in Ethel Shanas and Gordon F. Streib, editors, Social Structure and the Family [Englewood Cliffs, N . J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965], pp. 290-323). All the same, it is generally agreed that there is a definite relationship between a particular type of family and industrialization.

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of property and so on, facilitates mobility of the individual required by the industrial system.7 The second is the empirical observation that the nuclear family type is not restricted merely to the modern industrial society, but in a larger or smaller degree has been found in different types of societies. For example, as Goode noted the Eskimo type of kinship is close to that of the United States, 8 although the two societies are poles apart with regard to industrialization. Nor is there any invariant relationship between industrialization and family types. While the nuclear family is ideally suited to industrialization in some societies, the extended or joint family can successfully cope with industrialization in others, as in the case of Japan. 9 However, the view that in a given society there is a "fit" between industrialization and a particular family type seems to be incontrovertible at the present state of our knowledge. Two broad hypotheses can be derived from these observations. (1) Since the variables of family types and industrialization are interactive, industrialization would tend to change the family structure to a particular type more suited to its functioning in a given society. (2) In an industrializing society where there are different family types, certain types of family would facilitate industrialization more than certain others. While the first hypothesis would emphasize the economic determinant of social change, the second would focus attention upon the social psychological determinants. Just as there are protagonists of economic determinism á la Marx, there are also protagonists of social psychological determinism. For instance, McClelland is of the view that historical events such as the rise and fall of civilizations can be explained better with reference to the motives and values of man rather than in terms of external factors. 10 Nevertheless, assuming that there are no invariant causal explanations and that several factors are involved in the causal nexus, we may subscribe to the validity of both the hypotheses. However, since the first hypothesis has been extensively utilized in studies, we propose to examine the second one. EMPIRICAL ILLUSTRATION

The Indian society provides an ideal setting for testing hypotheses about 7

William J. Goode (1963), op. cit., pp. 239-243. Ibid., p. 238. 9 M. F. Nimkoff (1960), op. cit., p. 117. 10 David C. McClelland, "The Achievement Motive in Economic Growth", in B. F. Hoselitz and W. E. More, editors (1963), op. cit., p. 95. 8

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the relationship between industrialization and family types. Not only is it undergoing an increasing degree of industrialization, but it also includes different types of families in significant numbers. A number of studies have already been conducted on the underlying assumption that industrialization is contributing towards the break up of joint families and leading to the formation of nuclear family types. If their results are inconclusive, the main reason may be the inadequacy of their design. All the same the indications are that urbanization and industrialization are leading to the break up of joint families. For instance, in a sample survey conducted in Nagpur district, Driver found that in cities as compared to towns and in towns as compared to villages the joint families were prevalent in a lesser degree. Since industrialization and urbanization are generally correlated it may be presumed that with a higher degree of industrialization the incidence of the joint family diminishes. 11 While more rigorous studies are needed to test adequately the hypothesis that industrialization is an independent variable and family type a dependent one, several studies enable us to draw such an inference. But there do not appear to be any studies from which we can draw even an inference about the reverse kind of causal relationship between the two variables. While the present paper is a modest effort to make a beginning in this direction it is not based on any special investigation conducted for the purpose. Therefore it has not been possible to adduce any conclusive evidence systematically collected to test the hypothesis. All the same, some relevant data available at the Department of Sociology, Panjab University (Chandigarh) will throw some light on the hypothesis. In testing the facilitating role of family types in industrialization it is proposed to focus attention upon the social psychological dimension of family types. By providing the peculiar interactional setting, each family type fosters in its members its own intrinsic attitudes and values. For instance, it is hypothesized that the nuclear family tends to develop independent personality types with a high sense of personal responsibility, whereas the extended family fosters personality traits of dependency and lack of initiative. The personality traits developed in the nuclear family are regarded as being instrumental in the rise of industrial urban life in certain societies as in the West. 12 We may, however, consider the relationship between family types and 11 Edwin D. Driver, "Family Structure and Socio-Economic Status in Central India", in Sociological Bulletin XI: 1 & 2 (March and September 1962), pp. 112-120. 12 Nathan Keyfitz, "The Impact of Technological Change on Demographic Patterns", in B. F. Hoselitz and W. E. Moore, eds. (1963), op. cit., p. 225.

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certain attitudes which are hypothetically correlated with industrialization. If industrialization is regarded as an aspect of modernization, it is clear that the modern oriented person would be able to adjust himself better in industrial society than the traditional minded person. The attitudes considered have therefore been measured along the traditionalismmodernity continuum. After the classification of Morrison, 13 family types have been divided into three major categories: the nuclear, the quasi-joint, and the joint, taking the conjugal pair as the basic unit. Accordingly, the nuclear family consists of one conjugal pair with or without other relatives and the joint family of two or more conjugal pairs with or without other relatives. If the joint family comprises only two conjugal pairs with or without other relatives and further, if the husbands in the two pairs are related as father and son, it is termed quasi-joint. It is assumed that the interaction pattern in the quasi-joint family is significantly different from that in the joint family. In all these family types co-residence and commensality of the members are assumed. Families without a conjugal pair have been shown separately. Having defined the two major variables, it may be hypothesized that the attitudes of members in the different family types in the traditionalism modernity dimension would be different, and that the family types which foster more modern attitudes in their members play an instrumental role in industrialization. In one of the studies14 the sample consisted of 65 persons systematically selected from among the 390 workers in a factory in Nabha, Patiala District (Punjab State). The factory referred to is the only large industrial unit in predominantly rural area. Nabha itself, was a non-industrial town until the inception of the factory. The workers are drawn mainly from Nabha and the surrounding villages. Some of the villagers have settled down in Nabha and may be termed immigrants, as distinguished from the original inhabitants. Others commute to work daily from the villages and are termed commuters. The distribution of workers according to these residential categories is shown in Table I. It may be observed that the migrants have relatively the largest number of nuclear families and the smallest number of joint families. The commuters' condition in this respect is exactly the reverse. 13 William A. Morrison, "Family Types in Badlapur: An Analysis of a Changing Institution in Maharashtrian Village", in Sociological Bulletin VIII: 2 (September 1959), pp. 45-67. 14 The data were collected by Manjit Bagga in 1966.

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VICTOR s . D'SOUZA TABLE I

Workers by residential categories and family types. Family types

Nuclear

Quasijoint

Joint

Without conjugal unit

Total

6 9 2

2 5 6

12 4 15

1 3 -

21 21 23

17

13

31

4

65

Residential categories Original inhabitants Migrants Commuters Total

Positive and negative responses to six opinion statements designed to measure the traditionalism-modernity dimension of attitude formed a Guttman scale with more than 90 percent reproducibility and with scale scores ranging from 0 to 6, representing the traditional-modernity dimension in that order. Assuming that the attitude scores are dependent upon the family types, we may next examine the association between the two variables. The distribution of the sample according to family types and attitude scores is shown in Table II. T A B L E II

Workers by family types and attitude scores. Attitude Scores 1-3

4

5

6

Total

_ 2 6

3 1 8

5 7 10

9 3 7

17 13 31

3

1

-

-

11

13

Family types Nuclear Quasi-joint Joint Without conjugal unit Total

22

19

4 65

It is clear that among the three major types of families containing conjugal pairs, members in nuclear families are relatively the most modern oriented and those in joint families the least. There are four workers living in households with relatives but without conjugal pairs; their attitude is relatively the most traditional. The association between the variables of

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family types and attitude scores is very significant (x =18.21; df= 9; p < .05) and is in accordance with our hypothesis. The traditionalism-modernity dimension of attitude would depend upon other variables also and it would be useful to consider their importance vis-à-vis the variable of family types. Industrialization, residential category, and education may be regarded as important among the other independent variables. Of these, industrialization may be assumed to be constant since the persons in the sample were workers from the same factory and since the factory was of relatively recent origin the difference in length of service was not very material. The association between the residential categories and attitude scores is not at all significant (x 2 =3.77; df= 6; p