The Kinship Map of India, by Irawati Karve (in, Family and Marriage in India by Patricia Uberoi, Ed.)

Lecture and Explanation, Reading to be covered:

Karve, Trawati, 1953/ 19968, The Kinship Map of India, in, Patricia Uberoi (Ed.), 1993/ 2010, Family and Marriage in India, New Delhi: Oxford, Ch. 1.1, pp 50-73

Keywords: Family and Marriage, Marriage Pattern, Kinship Pattern, Family Pattern, Irawati Karve, Form of Marriage in India

 

The University of Delhi, Bachelor of Arts, Sociology of India

The Kinship Map of India, by Irawati Karve (1953 1968) Credit: pexels-aleksey-kuprikov-3493730

 

Man is a social animal. They cannot live alone. Therefore they have a relationship with other people. It organizes in the form of people, group, and family. This is known as kinship. Radcliffe Brown viewed kinship as a part of the social structure and gave importance to the study of the kinship system. Every kinship system is significantly a cultural system. It tends to vary from one culture to another culture. We have two basic types of kinship, blood relations, and marital relations. One exists within the family and another exists outside of the primary family, we also say it primary and secondary relations. In India, we have, gotra system which is similar to the clan system, and the caste system. In general kinship and kinship practice, we have clan/ gotra exogamy and caste endogamy. The kinship system and kinship as an organization is playing a vital role in society. It affects almost as aspects of social, political, economic, and cultural life.

Now we will see The Kinship Map of India, by Irawati Karve (1953/ 1968) in brief with the page number.
 
Pg. 50

Three things are absolutely necessary for the understanding of any cultural phenomenon in India. These are-
(1) Configuration of the linguistic regions,
(2) The institution of caste, and
(3) The family organisation.

The linguistic regions possess certain homogeneity of cultural traits and kinship organisation.

We can divide the linguistic area into three parts-

(1) Indo-European or Sanskritic,
(2) Dravidian, and
(3) Mundari organisation of Kinship
 India has a very close relationship between the linguistic region and the cultural and kinship patterns.

Pg. 51
The kinship organisation follow the linguistic pattern roughly but in some aspects language and kinship pattern do not go hand in hand. For example, the Maharashtra region belongs to the area of Sanskrit languages but its kinship organisation largely belongs to the Dravidian. Another example is Karnataka and Andhra whose literature is near to the Sanskrit, they also share the North India kinship patterns, but also have Oraons and Gonds kinship patterns.

As we have seen that there are a very clear relation between the linguistic region and cultural patterns, on this basis we can divide India into four kinship zones-
(1) The North Zone,
(2) The Central Zone,
(3) The Southern Zone, and
(4) The Eastern Zone.
 
THE NORTHERN ZONE

Here the language is largely derived from Sanskrit.
These areas are – Sindh, Punjab, Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, part of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Assam, and Nepal.

Languages of these areas are – Punjabi, Kashmiri, Hindi, Bihari, Bangali, Asssami, and Nepali

The kinship pattern and behaviour are changing slightly from region to region and within caste to caste.

Pg. 52
Copying from Brahmin

Iravati Karve is saying that other people are copying the prestige of certain people. Iravati Karve is also giving some example that was copied the Brahmin’s surname for prestige.

Sometimes people also using a neutral surname that does not denote the castes, like Kumar, Sharma, Singh etc.

Irawati Karve has also said that people were also copied the Gotra system of Brahmin which is similar to the clan system. This is not only copied by “other people” but also even by “primitive people”. By primitive people, he means Adivasi or the Scheduled Tribe.

You can relate this thought to the Sanskritisation of MN Srinivas.

What is Sanskritisation? FIND HERE https://ccsuniversity.ac.in/bridge-library/pdf/Sociology-Arvind-Sirohi-2305-Sanskritization.pdf

What is Gotra? FIND HERE https://www.britannica.com/topic/gotra

What is Clain? FIND HERE https://www.britannica.com/topic/gotra

Hyprgamy and Kulinism
Hypergamous stratification is found in certain caste, FOR EXAMPLE, the Brahmin.
In general, there two types of Brahmin that can be found, (1) those who do not have to earn their living by offering at domestic ritual, and (2) those who do it for a living.

What is Hypergamy or Kulinism? FIND HERE https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kulinism

Pg. 53
The author gives an example from Gaya, Nashik, Rameshwaram, West Bengal and all over India that they have two different kinds of Brahmin, and they have hierarchical relations. Those Brahmin who belongs to the first class is never marrying another class Brahmin. For Irawati Karve this is called Kulinism in West Bengal.

Pg. 54
Rules of Marriage
All over north Indian, they have the same marriage pattern, that a person (1) must not marry in his party-family which can be called the party-clan in some case and (2) must also avoid marriage (a) with the children of his mother’s siblings and cousin and (b) with the children of his father’s sister and the children’s of father’s female cousins. In some caste, marriage in matri-clan is also prohibited.

Pg. 55
In north India especially Jat are practising the four-gotra exogamy. Exogamy means marriage outside of the reference group, it may be gotra, caste, religion, region, etc.
Four-Gotra Exogamy Rule

According to the four-gotra exogamy rule, a man must not marry into –
(1) his father’s i.e. his own gotra,
(2) his mother’s gotra
(3) his Dadi, that is his father’s mother’s gotra
(4) his Nani, that is his mother’s mother’s gotra

In north Gotra Exogamy vary from individual caste-to-caste that –
Some caste follows one-gotra-exogamy,
Some caste follows two-gotra-exogamy,
Some caste follows three-gotra-exogamy, and
Some caste follows four-gotra-exogamy.
 
Spatial and Geographical Limit of Endogamy and Exogamy
If a daughter is given into a certain family of a certain village, a second daughter is generally not given into the same family or village in that generation and, owing to the taboo mentioned above, not in the next generations at least. Also, there is prejudice against exchanging daughters.

Pg. 56
‘Daughters’ versus ‘Bride’
Earlier marriages happened at the age of the child. Therefore the bride is not finally sent to the groom’s house until she reaches puberty. Till that time she goes to her parents-in-law’s house for a few days as a guest.

Pg. 57
After attaining puberty the groom is called to take away the bride in an auspicious day, and this ceremony is called gauna. The word gauna can vary from region to region and caste to caste.

in north India, this is common that people are making the distinction between ‘daughter of the village’ and ‘bride of the village’ or in Hindi ‘Gaon ki Beti’ and ‘Gaon ki Bahu’ and sometimes also making difference between ‘Ghar ki Beti’ and ‘Ghar ki Bahu’.

Pg. 58
After marriage in general we can find the rivalry between Sas and Bahu this is the rivalry between to generation. #READ-MORE-ABOUT-GENERATIONGAP HERE https://www.britannica.com/topic/gender-gap

Just after marriage all the girls of the husband’s village watch over the ‘bride’ and report their smallest gesture to their mothers, who of course the mother-in-law of the young brides.

Marriage and Heaven
If a girl dies a spinster (unmarried) then the marriage ceremony is performed before cremation and so with honour because now she is married. Only married people can go to heaven.

If a man dies without marriage then he will suppose to become a ghost. And if a man dies without children then he will miss heaven. Here by the child, it means boys, because he will go to heaven only if mukhagni is given by the son.

The Complete Women
It is believed that only when a girl becomes the mother of a boy does she feel completely at the home in her husband’s home.

Food Behaviour of Father of Married Daughter
In north India, the father of a married daughter does not take food at his daughter’s husband’s house when he goes on the visit. The relationship is that of givers and receivers. One who gives the daughter should not receive anything.

Pg. 59
A father rarely visits a married daughter. He may go only on extremely formal occasion but the brother may go often. Therefore girls call his brother a bir and sing a song for him.

Levirate, Polygyny, and Remarriage
Levirate Marriage: In this custom, a widow has to marriage with the husband’s brother. In the absence of a sibling brother, she may marry the cousin brother. This is found among most of the caste. (OPPOSITE OF THIS IS ALSO EXISTING that marriage with wife’s sister after the death of the wife.) According to the present-day Brahmanic religion, this (marriage with wife’s sister) is not permitted. Rather to preface adopt a son (preferably not daughter).

You may here the related article from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sororate_marriage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deceased_Wife%27s_Sister%27s_Marriage_Act_1907

Polygyny Marriage:
According to Irawati Karve, the most powerful motive for polygyny beside the display of social status and wealth is the desire for male progeny. Irawati Karve has said that the multiple marriages gave prestige to a man, but lowered the social status of the family which gave its daughter to a man whose first wife was alive.
(PLEASE NOTE: marriage with more than one man by women also exists, this called Polyandry, this is opposite to Polygyny, together they called Polygamy, which is opposite to Monogamy.)

Remarriage:
There was no problem for the male to remarriage but the women had the problem in some section of the societies. However, now at these days, one can find widow remarriage in every society, the ratio may be very.

Pg. 60
Role of Joint Family
This is the normal family structure in North India. The joint family patri-family or you can patri-local family.

Pg. 61
Norms, Customs, Values, Rituals, and Rules of the Joint Family
Cover-up head in front of elder family member
Marriage women should not live in the same room with the father-in-law, except for the ceremony

Mukh-Dikhai

Joking Relations

According to Irawati Karve, only after women becomes a mother can she be a little freer, but only when the mother-in-law is old or dead does a woman have freedom of speech and behaviour.

After the death of the husband, the widows are branded as inauspicious.

Pg. 62
In north India, the groom’s family is always supposed to be ‘higher’ in status than the bride’s family.

Status of Women in Nuclear Family
After the establishment of the British Government and All India Services, Industrialisation and Migration for Industrial Work, the Nuclear Family structure has risen. In such families, the wife has a position of responsibility and respect but in a majority of cases, it is not a true single-family because it has economic and ritual ties with a larger parti-family whose member the husband is.

Pg. 63

THE CENTRAL ZONE

The central zone comprises the following linguistic regions: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Maharashtra, and Orissa/ Odisha, and Language of Rajasthani, Hindi, Gujrati, Kathiawadi, Marathi, Uriya/ Oriya

Here a large number of the people are speaking the language of the Dravidian Family and in some areas, they also speaking the Austro-Asiatic language family
Every region contains a primitive tribe. And according to Irawati Karve, some Adivasi/ Tribal groups are still living in the primitive stage, like Korkus in north-central Maharastra.

Pg. 64
Kinship Organisation in the Central Zone

These regions have new and different types of the kinship system. The three different kinds of kinship features can be found in this region. They are –
(1) Cross Cousin Marriage is allowed, that is marriage with the mother’s brother’s daughter and father’s sister’s son
(2) Exogamous Marriage, which means marriage outside the clan or gotra
(3) Hypergamous Hierarchy Marriage: Some castes have exogamous clan marriage but in the hypergamous hierarchy, it means a girl in a lower clam can marry a man of a higher clan but a girl in a higher clan may not marry a man in a lower clan.

Pg. 65
In these regions, we can find many kinship terminologies which are not found in any other region.

Irawati Karve, again and again, is addressing this region as Sanskrit Speaking Region which I do not think is correct. Nowhere in India are people speaking Sanskrit at all. Moreover, many studies have proved that Sanskrit is not the oldest language of India. – Anil Kumar Explained

Important marriage and kinship features of the Central Zone are as follow –
(1) Rajasthan: Practicing cross-cousin-marriage, and Hypergamy
(2) Maharashtra: Most of the people are speaking the Language of Dravidian Family, Practicing cross-cousin-marriage, and Hypergamy
(3) Orissa: Here all ethnic groups are affected by one another and copy each other’s practices. The Uriya-speaking groups generally show a northern pattern, though many agriculturists allow cross-cousin marriage of one type only.

Pg. 66
THE SOUTHERN ZONE

Linguistic Regions
The southern zone is here intended to cover those areas of southern and central India where the language of the Dravidian family are spoken. These linguistic and cultural zones are –
(1) Karnatak – Kanarese or Kanasa Language
(2) Andhra Pradesh or (and) Telangana – Andhra and Telugu Language
(3) Tamilnad/ Tamilnadu – Tamil Language
(4) Kerala or Malabar – Malayalam Language
(5) Extended region of Andhra Pradesh lower reaches of the Godavari river through Bastar and Western Orissa into southern Bihar (Now known as Jharkhand) – this is the region of mix language and people. The major languages are Kui, Kolami, Kurukh, Mundari, Ho, Santhali, Khariya.

Dravidian-speaking people of this region reveal differing degrees of control and assimilation with neighbouring elements.

#FIND-MEANING OF ASSIMILATION HERE https://www.britannica.com/topic/assimilation-society

The southern zone presents a very complicated pattern of kinship systems and family organisation.

They found PATRILINEAL, PATRILOCAL, MATRILINEAL, and MATRILOCAL types of family structure, in which patrilineal and patrilocal is dominating.

#FIND-MEANING of these terminologies in Oxford Dictionary of Sociology or Penguin Dictionary of Sociology BUY-THIS-BOOK-FROM-HERE https://amzn.to/3dTJ5gf & https://amzn.to/3kEnv0v THIS IS #MUST-HAVE-BOOK TO EVERY STUDENT

Pg. 67
Here they are practising both polyndary and polygyny.
The certain institution which is found in the Southern zone is not found in other zones.

Marriage Preference in the Southern Zone
(1) In a large number of castes the first preference is given by a man choosing his elder sister’s daughter as a bride. There is taboo among non-Brahmin castes (Hindu as well as Lingayat) against a man’s marriage with his younger sister’s daughter. The marriage of a woman to her maternal uncle, i.e. of man to his sister’s daughter is taboo among all matrilineal communities of the south.

Pg. 68
(2) Man’s marriage with his father’s sister’s daughter (i.e., a woman marrying her mother’s brother’s son) is also common among most of the caste.
(3) The third type of preferential mating is that of a man with his maternal uncle’s (mother’s brother’s) daughter.

It means that cross-cousin marriage is prevailing in the south zone regions.  
However, there are also quite a number of marriage outside the close kin is happening, especially in the absence of such a marriageable pair. Advantageous marriage outside the kin-group is also happening.

Pg. 69
Cross-cousin marriage and especially the uncle-niece marriage is beginning to be considered as outmoded a thing to be ashamed of among those groups which have come in contact with the northern Indians and the English-specking people.

Marriage Taboos in the Southern Zone

#WHAT-IS TABOO? #KNOW-HERE https://www.britannica.com/topic/taboo-sociology

The Southern Zone has these marriage taboos –
(1) A man can marry his elder sister’s daughter but is not allowed (except among Brahmins) to marry his younger sister’s daughter.
(2) Widow-remarriage is practised among almost all castes, except Brahmin. But women are not allowed to marry with either older or younger brother of her husband. But after contact with north India, the widow is allowed to marry the younger brother of the husband.
(3) This is the general taboo against the marriage of a man with his mother’s sister’s daughter even if she belongs to a clan different from his own.
(4) The marriage of a woman to her maternal uncle, i.e. of man to his sister’s daughter is taboo among all matrilineal communities of the south. However, Brahman male can marry their elder sister’s daughter.
(4) The complicated kinship [relations] arising in a family owing to maternal uncle-niece marriage and cross-cousin marriage, sometimes result in two people being related to each other in more ways than one. Thus there may be marriage permissible from one angle but forbidden from another angle. But Irawati Karve has said that he didn’t encounter such a case.

Pg. 70
Summary Characteristics of Dravidian Kinship Organisation
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Pg. 71
THE EASTERN ZONE

This zone includes some people of the North East and the east who speak Mundari and Monkhmer language.

The northern, central, and southern zones are compact and geographically contiguous. The eastern zone shows neither of these characteristics.
The Mundari and Monkhmer speaking groups, thought spread over a very wide area, represent today linguistic island separated from each other by regions where other languages are spoken.

Pg. 72
The Mundari and Monkhmer languages belong to a language family called the Austro-Asiatic family of languages.

Languages of this family are spoken by many people of south-east Asia. They are scattered living among those who are speaking Tibetan-Burmese, Chinese, Aryan and Dravidian.

Major social groups that speak this family language are Korku (central India), Khasi (Assam),

Astro-Asiatic languages are divided into two great groups of languages – (1) The Monkhmer, and (2) The Mundari

Social Structure of Austro-Asiatic Language Family of India

They are living under the clan system >.>
Author Irawati Karve had admitted that except Bondo community the marriage custom and family organisation are unknown to the author, which means the detailed account was not available to the author, possibly because the author does not know these languages.

Author Irawati Karve has also said they have no writing to give a definite clue to their laws and traditions.

Pg. 73
Author Irawati Karve has emphasised to explore these unexplored regions from various social-structural perspectives.

Image Credit: Photo by Aleksey Kuprikov from Pexels

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