Paper-3, Module- 6
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PAPER-3, MODULE- 6 1 I. (A) Personal Details Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Prof.SumitaParmar Allahabad University, Allahabad Paper Coordinator Prof. Rekha Pande University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad Content Writer/Author Dr. Rekha Pande University of Hyderabad, (CW) Hyderabad. Content Reviewer (CR) Language Editor (LE) (B) Description of Module Items Description of Module Subject Name Women’s Studies Paper Name Women and History Module Name/ Title, Early age marriages in India: a historical description perspective To examine the early age marriages in India historically from Ancient India, to Medieval India, Colonial period and modern period. Module ID Paper-4, 3 Unit-1, Module-6 Pre-requisites To know the dynamics of marriage in India and how it was important for society Objectives To understand why were there early marriages in India How was this justified What was the discussion on the age of marriage. The laws passed with regards to early marriage Impact of early marriages in a society Keywords Marriage, swayamvar, household, restoration of conjugal rights, nuptiality pattern, Singulate mean age at marriage (SMAM) 2 Early age marriages in India- A historical perspective Introduction: While the feminist literature recognizes marriage as a key institutional site for the production and reproduction of gender hierarchies, little is known about the processes through which this relationship operates. In societies where individuals are closely linked to extended families, marriage decisions also retain the imprimatur of the family. Extended family residence and joint property-holding often keep the economic fortunes of individuals tied to their families. However, purse strings are not the only ties that bind; individuals’ social nexus are often determined by the ties of kinship, caste, and clan, whose social status is enhanced or diminished by the selection of a marriage partner, age at marriage, and the manner in which marriage takes place. In India nearly fifty percent of the girls are married before attaining the legal age of eighteen years. In a United Nation’s list India stands fourth in this regards with a tie up with Bangladesh. It is Niger which heads this list with seventy six percent of the marriages taking place before girls attain the age of eighteen. Unfortunately this has not attracted enough attention of policy makers and this becomes a big impediment in the creation of a gender just society where women are empowered. There is a close relation between early age at marriage and the socio- economic variables-religion, caste, consanguinity, marital distance, spousal age difference, education and occupation of both bride and bridegroom and the socio- economic status of the family. In fact this coupled with child marriages has almost become a custom and many people in different states follow this. All efforts to curb this evil through legislation has failed and marriage continues to be regarded as a private affair depending on the decision of the family. According to the 2001 census there are 1.5 million girls, in India, under the age of 15 already married. Of these, 20% or approximately 300,000 are mothers to at least one child. The 2001 census also estimated the average age of marriage has risen to 18.3 for females. The male average is 22.6 years. But child marriage is still widespread across the nation. States like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh still have average age of marriage below the legal age of 3 eighteen for females. The problem of child marriage in India remains rooted in a complex matrix of religious traditions, social practices, economic factors and deeply rooted prejudices. Regardless of its roots, child marriage constitutes a gross violation of human rights, leaving physical, psychological and emotional scars for life. Sexual activity starts soon after marriage, and pregnancy and childbirth at an early age can lead to maternal as well as infant mortality. Moreover, women who marry younger are more likely to experience domestic violence within the home. According to a major recent survey by the Ministry of Health, which covered 700,000 households between 2007 and 2008, 43% of the married women in the age group of 20-24 had been child brides. (http://www.rchiips.org/pdf/rch3/state/India.pdf ). The legal age for a girl to marry in India is 18 – marriages below that age are considered child marriage. Early Marriages in Ancient India: Early marriage was very common for women both in ancient and medieval period. However the Vedic mantras in the Rig-Veda mention that a girl could be married only when she is fully developed both physically and mentally. In the Asuras marriage in place of the dowry, there was a token bride price of a cow and a bull given. One of the hymns mentions that a girl has to be married when she is not a child. Altekar also argues that girls were married at a fairly advanced age in the Vedic period. The term for marriage, udvaha, carrying away of the bride presupposes a post puberty marriage, for it shows immediately after her marriage the bride went to live in her husbands house. A marriage hymn shows that the bride was fully matured and quite grown up at the time of the marriage, she is expressly described as blooming with youth and pinning for her husband. A hope is expressed that the bride would forthwith take over the reigns of the household from her parents in law ( Altekar, 1959, reprint, 1983, 49). We come across Svayamvars in the epics, when the bridegrooms collected at the house of the bride and she chose one whom she like. The texts of the ancient period also mention Gandharva Vivah ie. love marriage, Asur Vivah ie. marriage by abuduction but Bal Vivah or child marriage is conspicuous by its absence. 4 It is from 4th century B.C. that early marriages for the girls began to be advocated. The rise of Buddhism and Jainism brought in an increase in urbanization and there was a breakdown of the Vedic Tribal society and large scale stratification was taking place. The writes of Dharmasutras, who flourished from 400 B.C to 100 A.D began to advise that the marriage of the girls should not be delayed after puberty. Two of the writers Vasistha and Budhayana are prepared to recommend that the girls must not be kept unmarried for a period of three years after puberty and Manu and Kautilya concur with them ( Altekar, 1983, 53-54). It is probably from 200 A.D. that pre puberty marriages became the order of the day and many treatises advocated this. This was a period of wars by the Indo Greeks, Parthinian and this brought in a lot of dislocation in society. Spread of agriculture only meant that women were becoming like commodities and were treated like property. It is said in the Vaikhanasasutra that a Brahmin should marry a girl who is nanganika or gauri. A nanganika is one who is over eight years but below twelve and Gauri as one who is between ten and twelve and has not had her menstruation period. Yajnavalkya insisted that a girl should be married before the age of puberty otherwise every month their guardian will be guilty of the destruction of the embryo ( Altekar, 1983, 56). However it must be remembered that these texts were only normative and their advice does not seem to have followed strictly because it is said that a maiden may rather stay in her fathers house even till she attains puberty but the father should never give her to one who is devoid of good qualities ( Mahabharata, Kapadia, 1966, 139). The Smriti writes of the period 500- 1000 A.D. began to encourage marriage much before puberty and it was generally regarded that a girl attained puberty around ten years of age and hence a girl had to be married before she attains ten years in age. Hence when the muslim rulers came into India early marriages was a well established norm. Early Marriages in Medieval India: However, from Middle Age, as states and government developed, the political system elaborated and modified the Indian society gradually. It transformed the lifestyle and 5 opinion of its people from a simple to more complex form, restricting significantly the notion of liberty. Women lost their rights and had to obey rules and respect the code be behaviour. They were now subject to family discipline and the honour of their clan. Since young women were considered irresponsible and irrational in love, parents married them early thinking this to be the safest option available to them. Though the age at which the girl was to be married differed and it was rare for girls younger than 12 to be married prior to this period. Nevertheless, girl brides became younger towards the medieval period, and it became increasingly common for girls as young as 6 or 8 to be married as Indian society. The prime concern of negotiating the marriage was to find out the compatibility between the two families. It was believed during those times that if two persons know each other right from childhood it enhanced understanding and affection. Hence parents decided on the marriages of their children at a very early age although the daughter stayed with her parents until she attained the age of puberty ( Pande, Rekha, 2013, 21) Tavernier says that the Hindus marry their daughters very early and make them cohabit much sooner. In many places they celebrate marriage at the age of four, five, six years when the husband is ten years old and the wife eight ( Tavernier, 1949, 323).