Marriage in Tribal India: –
Marriage in tribal India takes on several forms. The first step that one takes in getting married is to acquire a socially approved mate. Based on their investigations in tribal India, Madan and Majumdar list the following ways of acquiring mates that are commonly found in Indian tribes. They are as follows.
1) Probationary Marriage
In this case, a young man is permitted to live with the girl of his choice in her house for weeks together, after which, if they so desire, they marry. If the couple do not find each other suitable and compatible during the probationary period, they decide to pay cash compensation to the girl’s parents.
Example: Kuki tribe.
2) Marriage by capture
In this case, a young man captures the girls of his choice, runs and marries her with or without her wish. Later, public approval is accorded to such a marriage.
Examples: Ho, Gond, Kharia, Birhor, Nagas.
- Among the Ho, it is the exorbitant rate of bride price that is the cause of a marriages by capture. It is even said that such marriage may be pre-planned.
- Among the Gond, such marriages are pre-planned and carried out at the request of the bride’s parents. Although, now this practise has gone out of vogue, during even and arranged marriage, the bridge’s party make a pretence of resistance and the groom carries her away after a nock fight while the bride is excepted to resist and weep.
- Among the Kharia and the Birhor, ceremonial capture takes place. Here, a young man may lie in wait for the girl of his choice in a public place like a fair, surprise her by springing on her suddenly and apply vermilion mixed with oil on her.
- Among the Nagas, physical capture takes place during raids by one village on another.
3) Marriage by Trial
This type of marriage is the recognition of personal courage and bravery and highly desirable traits in a young man. Hence, a young man is required to prove his prowess before he can claim the hand of any girl in marriage. Example: Bhil, Among the Bhil, marriage by tribal takes on a ceremonial form.
During the Holi festival, young men and women dance around a place or a tree to the top of which a coconut and ‘gud’ (brown coloured local sugar) are tied. While the young women make an inner ring of dancers around this pole, the men make an outer ring. The trial of strength begins when a young man attempts to break through the inner ring to reach and climb the tree to eat the ‘gud’ and break open the coconut. They young women dancers resist his attempt by attacking him and so on, but all this is taken in the right spirit and sportingly. If, in spite of all these obstacles, a daring man succeeds in reaching the top of the tree, he has the right to choose any of the surrounding girls as his wife.
4) Marriage by Purchase
This form of marriage is very common among Indian tribes. The groom is expected to pay a bride-price to the bride’s family and then acquire her as his spouse. This custom may be considered as being symbolic of the utility of a women, and by way of a compensation to her parent’s family. Examples: Ho, Rengma Naga.
5) Marriage by Service
This type of marriage seems to take place where a young man is not in a position to pay bride-price. Instead, he renders his service by toiling in this would-be father-in-law’s land until such time when the Would-be father-in-law is satisfied that his labour is equivalent to a sufficient bride-price, after which the marriage takes place. Examples: Gond, Baiga.
6) Marriage by Consent and Elopement
In this type of marriage, a young man and woman who are in love run way or elope by mutual consent and marry. The couple return back to their village only after their respective parents and families have cooled down and accepted the marital union. Such marriages take place when there is parental opposition or when the groom is unable to pay a high bride-price. Examples: Ho, Kadar, Mannar,
7) Marriage by Intrusion
This form of marriage is in direct contract to ‘marriage by capture’. Here, a girl desirous of marrying an unwilling man thrusts herself obstinately into his household. Although in the beginning she may be treated badly, in sue course she gets accepted and a formal wedding ceremony is performed. Example: Ho, Oraon, Chenchu.
8) Preferential marriage
A preferential marriage occurs when the society specifically suggests and directs an individual to marry another individual. The most elementary form of preferential marriage is “Sister Exchange’, following by ‘Crosscousin Marriages’ and “Uncle-Niece Marriages’.
(a) Sister Exchange : Two men exchange their sisters to one another in marriage. This was perhaps the most archaic form of marriage. Several Indian Tribes such as Uralis and Mala Pandarams practice “Sister Exchange’.
(b) Patrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage or Father’s Sister’s Daughter Marriage: In this type of marriage, a man marries his father’s sister’s daughter. This is seen as a form of indirect and delayed exchange by anthropologists. Several Indian tribes such as Munda and Kadar prefer patrilateral crosscousin.
(c) Matrilateral Cross-cousin Marriage or Mother’s Brother’s Daughter Marriage In this type of marriage, a man marries his mothers brother daughter. This is again an indirect and a very delayed form of exchange. But this is the one that is most common among those societies that have preferential marriages. Several Indian tribes such as the Kharia and the Oraon prefer matrilateral cross-cousin marriages.
(d) Uncle-Niece Marriage
In this type of preferential marriage, a man marries his sister’s daughter. Although, in contrast to the above two forms of preferential marriages that occur between persons belonging to the same generation, this form of marriage takes place between persons of two following generations in a cross-generational union. Several South Indian Tribes practise Uncle Niece marriages.
Secondary marriages
9 ) Levirate, which involves a situation where a man marries his brother’s widow, as among the Toda.
10) Sororate, which involves, a situation where a woman marries her deceased sister’s husband, as among the Kanikkar.
10 ) Marriage by Inheritance : Among Nagas all the widows of father are to be married by elder son except his own biological mother. In this society Naga chief allowed to practice polygyny. to prevent fragmentation of property , son marries widows of his father.
Marriages may be broadly of two types: Monogamous or Polygamous.
- In Monogamy, a single man marries one woman at a time. This is quite common among Indian tribes.
- Polygamy is of two types: Polygyny in which a single man marries more the one woman at a time (Examples: Gond, Naga), and Polyandry in which a single woman marries more than one man at a time.
- In Polyandry, when a woman marries a man and his brothers, it is called Fraternal Polyandry as practised among the Khasas tribe, and when a woman
- marries a few unrelated men, it is called Non-Fraternal Polyandry. The Toda tribe practise both fraternal and non-fraternal polyandry. Further, they even sometimes combine it with polygyny resulting in Group Marriage.
- Besides the first contracted primary marriages, certain societies have socially sanctioned preferences for secondary marriages which occur after the termination of the former. Two types of secondary marriages occur.
Thus, we see that the Indian tribes exhibit a great range of variety in its marriage practises.