Indian Kinship Systems

BOOK REVIEWS Indian Kinship Systems Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf Kinship Organisation in India by Irawati Karve, Second revised edition; Asia Publishing House, 1965; pp 389 Rs 30. WHEN in 1953 the first edition of continuity of Indian family organiza clusters. Irawati Karve's book on Indian tion and kinship behaviour through kinship systems was published as a out the subcontinent's long and va The effects of the attempts of volume of the Bulletin of the Deccan ried history. Situations now depicted present Indian legislatures to impose College Postgraduate and Research Ins in popular literature and even the from above a uniformity which con titute it did not arouse as much interest plots of cine-films have close parallels flicts with the diversity of traditional as it deserved. Anthropologists and in stories and legends of the Vedic regional patterns can be judged only sociologists certainly realized its im age. Attitudes then formed persist by those who have a full appreciation portance as the first systematic com even nowadays in the villages of of the many-sided implications of parative study of the numerous aspects Northern India, and our understand old established local usages. A scho of kinship behaviour India, but the ing of contemporary conditions can larly and detached book such as the very fact that it appeared in a small be greatly deepened by reference to work by Karve should therefore be edition as one of a series of learned the early Sanskrit literature. Yet, of the greatest interest and value Lo monographs limited its impact on Karve is not content with emphasiz all those concerned with the imple intellectual circles inside and outside ing the remarkable continuity of the mentation of acts likely to revolution India. Since then Karve has address Indian social tradition, but she ize the structure of the Indian family. ed herself through various channels traces above all the changes in kin It should also counteract the all too to a growing public interested in the ship terms and explains how they common assumption that certain functioning and recent development of reflect changes in practices and finally forms of family organization are in Indian society, and there can be even ideals. trinsically better and more "progres no doubt that the new revised and sive" than others. At present patri enlarged edition will meet with a very lineal succession and inheritance are different and far more lively response. Similarities and Contrasts being more favoured than the matrili Some parts of the book have been neal system of such regions as rewritten, many have been improved Starting with the kinship organiza Kerala, but value judgements of this by minor corrections and an entire tion of the Northern zone, which re type arc usually based on considera chapter on Ownership of Property, sembles closely the pattern known tions other than an objective analysis Succession and Inheritance has been from the classical Sanskrit literature, of the positive and negative attribu added. the author investigates the kinship tes of the two conflicting systems. systems of all the main cultural and linguistic zones of India. Besides some similarities she finds contrasts Illuminating Hypothesis Command of Sanskrit Sources in fundamental attitudes as well as Karve's book is so rich in factual in Karve began her analysis of Indian a blending and dovetailing of the formation as well as intuitive insight kinship systems as early as 1938, individual systems. The continuity of that a review cannot do more Than when she investigated the kinship or Indian traditions is probably unique, outline the main trend of her argu ganization of the various castes of and there is no other part of the ments. Interspersed with the detail the Marathi-speaking culture-zone. world where ideals and attitudes ed description and interpretation of She then discovered a discrepancy be evolved as much as three millenia kinship usages are illuminating, even tween the kinship terminology which, ago have determined social behaviour though partly rather tentative, hypo like that of Northern India, is of so powerfully and lastingly. On the theses regarding problems of Indian purely Sanskritic origin, and the other hand, there are greater and far prehistory. Thus Karve believes that marriage—and kinship—rules which more basic regional differences in kin the speakers of Munda languages re link the people of Maharashtra with ship systems than there are in other present the oldest still traceable the Dravidian populations of Southern subcontinents dominated by a single ethnic group, and tends to support India. Over the years the author ex leading civilization. Whereas in Euro the theory of an expansion of Dravi tended her study of kinship terms as pean countries the family and mar dian languages from a centre in South well as of the conduct between kins riage system rooted in Christian ideals India discounting the hypothesis of men to many parts of India, travel evinces certainly some considerable the gradual displacement of Dravidians ling widely in her search for data, local differences, there are within the from Northern India and their slow and while doing so comparing the European culture sphere no such retreat to the southern part of the usages of each area with those of drastic and fundamental contrasts as peninsula. many other regions. Her compari that between the patrilineal family of sons, however, were not limited to a Northern India based in its structure synchronic plane. An excellent com and ramifications on strictly enforced The many additions to this work mand of Sanskrit sources enabled her local exogamy and, on the other hand, which has already become a classic of to extend her investigations diachro- the matrilineal family pattern of Indian anthropological literature nically to the earliest periods of some South Indian societies, where show that Karve continues to be ac recorded Indian history. In this way cross-cousin marriage favours the tive in research. Her's is not a tem she demonstrated the extraordinary concentration of kinship ties in small perament to be easily satisfied with an 1473 September 25, 1965 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY achievement, and there is little doubt discoveries and interpretations drawn Another episode described in some that when a third edition of this book from her comprehensive and deep detail is the series of events leading is due, she will again add some new knowledge of Indian social systems. to the resignation of Kidwai and the author from the Congress in 1951. Kidwai had long been associated with A Congress Stalwart the left of the Congress and with S Joseph socialist groups outside consisting mainly of defected Congressmen. His Rafi Ahmad Kidwai: A Memoir of His Life and Times by Ajit Prasad Jain; aim we are told, was to persuade Asia Publishing House, 1965; pp X + 130, Rs 14. Nehru to leave Congress and become the leader of a new Socialist Party. THlS is a short memoir of Rail Moulvis and Ulemas who dominated Ahmed Kidwai written by a fri It is fascinating to speculate what the Khilafat movement, not the middle might have occurred if he had suc end, colleague and admirer. In this class Muslims who eventually came to book Ajit Prasad Jain has chosen the ceeded. But without Nehru, Kidwai power in the Muslim League. At any was unwilling to leave Congress; happy technique of presenting a num rate this Hindu-Muslim Unity lasted ber of anecdotes and incidents from whether this was due to his emotions only until the Khilafat was dissolved which would not let him leave an old Kidwai's life and letting the events, by the new Turkish government. on the whole, speak for themselves. friend as Jain says, or due to his rea For instance the chapter called 'Some In another chapter Jain defends the son which must have told him that Rafian Episodes' consists of the juxta Congress decision to refuse to accept he could never succeed without Nehru position, without much explanatory the Muslim League as sole representa is not clear. comment, of a number of terse anec tive of Indian Muslims for the purpose of division of seats in the U P cabinet A quaint touch is added to the book dotes which show up different and by Jain's choice of verse for his chap- sometimes startling aspects of his cha of 1937. Maulana Azad has pointed to the decision as being largely respon ter headings. The split between Mus racter. It appears from these that Kid lim League and Congress is headed by wai had a taste for fast driving, was sible for the demand for a separate extremely gregarious, outspoken some Muslim State. Jain says that the for "Two lovely berries moulded on one times to the point of rudeness, Dpen- mation of Pakistan could only have stem, handed in his generosity and a lover been the result of certain deep-seated So with two serving bodies but one of practical jokes. In addition to that and long-term causes; it could not be heart" he did not hesitate to use his office to due to one isolated incident. But even and the U P Agrarian Reform struggle help those who appealed to him and long-term causes can be intensified and with publicly announced (as a joke) short latent fears brought to the surface by more immediate events and unfortu "Ring in the nobler modes of life. ly before his death that he could, if With sweeter manners, purer life". necessary, successfully replace Nehru nately the UP incident seems to have as Prime Minister. Fortunately no at given Muslim League leaders the op- Only the chapter entitled 'Father of tempt is made to trim Kidwai down porlunity to demonstrate to their fol Civil Aviation' is left verseless; per into consistency by omission or expla lowers the potential dangers of Con haps even the Oxford Book of Quota nation.

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