Paper No. : 02 Social-Cultural Module : 18 Kinship Studies in

Development Team

Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Principal Investigator Department of Anthropology, University of , Delhi

Prof. Sabita Acharya Paper Coordinator Department of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar

Content Writer Dr. Jaspreet Kaur Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Prof. A.K.Sinha Content Reviewer Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

Description of Module

Subject Name Anthropology

Paper Name 02 Social-Cultural Anthropology

Module Name/Title Kinship Studies in India

Module Id 18

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

Contents of this unit (I) Introduction

(II) Kinship usage (In general)

(III) Definition by different Anthropologists

(IV) Degree of Kinship

(V) System of Kinship in India

(VI) Kinship terminology

(VII) Kinship in India

• Kinship Organization in India by Irawati Karve

(VIII) Importance and changes of Kinship in India

(VIII) Conclusion

Objectives

(I) To study the concept of Kinship.

(II) To determine the kin terms, kin terminologies and kinship system.

(III) To study the Kinship System and Organization in India.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

Introduction

v Kinship is a cultural by universal. It is the fundamental relationship between human beings. Kinship relationships arise out of two different kinds of bonds that cement people together. They are; A. Consanguineal kinship (it forms the family of orientation). B. Affinal kinship (it forms the family of procreation). v Relationships based on the consanguineal bond of birth are called descent and relationships based on the affinal bond of sex and marriage is called alliance. The mutually conditioned interplay between the two constitutes kinship. v A kinship system is the structured system of different relationships where individuals are bound together by complex interlocking and ramifying ties. v Study of kinship is very useful to understand the elements of social organization. According to Radcliffe Brown, W.H.R. Rivers, Kroeber; they mentioned that there is a high correlation between social organization and kin terminology. Also, according to Raymond Firth, Kinship is the road on which one learns throughout the life. v Significance of Kinship in pre-industrial is more pervasive and systematic than in modern industrial society. Kinsmen play important roles in social, economic and political spheres.

Kinship Usage (in General)

The study of kinship is not only based on description of relation between kins or on the basis of their classification or general forms of Kinship Behavior. There is certain special kinship usage, which holds special significance in respect to the non-literate .

1. Avunculate: It resembles the relation between the mother’s brothers and his sister’s children. In many societies, like in matrilineal societies; maternal uncle fulfill the duties of a father as a matter of convention. Her children become the property holding members of his uncle’s property. EXAMPLE: Trobriand Islanders of Malenesia, African tribes and Nayars of South India.

2. Amitate: This type of relation is found among Patrilineal societies, more or less similar to Avunculate and in this case, father’s sister gets great importance and respect. She’s more than a mother to her nephew and has the authority on him. This is due to the prevention of neglectance of father’s sister in a social mechanism, especially when she’s driven off from her in-laws house.

EXAMPLE: Polynesian Tonga, Todas of South India.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

3. Couvade: This shows the relationship between the wife and his husband. Whenever his wife gets pregnant, he has to undergo an austere life and also maintaining a proper diet and number of . According to Anthropologists; this resembles a symbolic representation of establishing paternity on a child. EXAMPLE: Toda and Khasi community of India.

4. Avoidance: In most of the societies, the usage of avoidance acts as an incest . For instance: relation between mother-in-law and son-in-law. This is actually a protective measure to avoid those relations who remain face-to-face in everyday life.

5. Joking Relationship: This relationship can be put in contrast to avoidance. This is specially aprivileged relationship where kins indulge in teasing each other by different kinds of jokes including vulgar sexual jokes. This can be seen between a man and his wife’s younger sisters or between a woman and her husband’s younger brother.

Anthropologists show the importance of Kin terms as it helps to distinguish the relatives as well as also indicate the form of families, rules of residence, rules of descent, etc.

Different Definitions of Kinship by Different Anthropologists

1. W.H.R. Rivers (1924) defines Kinship as the “social recognition of biological ties”. 2. Radcliffe Brown (1950) defines Kinship as “a social relationship based on descent”. 3. According to Evans-Pritchard, Meyer Fortes, Lucy Mair and several anthropologists Kinship is defined as a relationship based on culturally defined principle of consanguinity. 4. Claude Levi Strauss as well as defines Kinship as a totality of relationship governed by the rules of consanguinity and affinity. 5. According to Miller, Kinship refers solely on the relationships based on descent and marriage. 6. Howard says that Kinship means “social relation based on cultural recognition by descent and marriage. 7. Rlys Williams defines Kinship as “socially defined and affined relationships that link individual in order to provide continent between and within generations which also serve in important ways to regulate and maintain social order”.

Degree of Kinship

Any relationship between two individuals is based on the degree of closeness or distance of that relationship. This can be seen as in the form of degree of kinship, which demonstrated in tabular form:

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

DEGREE OF KINSHIP

PRIMARY KINSHIP SECONDARY KINSHIP TERTIARY KINSHIP

P. Affinal S. Affinal T. Affinal

P. Consanguineal S. Consanguineal T. Consanguineal

S.no. Degree of Features of degree of Sub-Types Kinship kinship Consanguineal Affinal

1. Primary Those who are directly Directly related to each Directly related to each Kinship related to each other are other by birth. other marriage. known as primary kin. RELATIONS: parents and RELATION: husband RELATIONS: wife father children and between and wife. son, father daughter mother siblings form primary son, wife; father son, father kinship. daughter, mother son, mother daughter; brother sister; and younger brother/sister older brother/sister.

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2. Secondary The primary kin’s of The primary con- One’s primary affinal Kinship primary kin. In other sanguineal kin’s primary kins primary kin. words, those who are consanguineal kins. RELATIONS: an directly related to primary RELATIONS: individual and all his/her kin become one’s grandparents and sisters-in-law, brothers- secondary kin. There are grandchildren. There is a in-law, and parents-in- 33 secondary kins. direct consanguineal law. For an individual, relationship between Ego his/her spouse is his/her and his/her parents. For primary affinal kin, and Ego, his/her parents are for the spouse, his/her his/her primary parents and siblings are consanguineal kin. his/her primary kin. However, for Ego’s par- Therefore, for the ents, their parents are their individual, the parents of primary consanguineal brother/sister-in-law will kin. Therefore, for Ego, become his/her his/her grandparents are secondary affinal kin. his/her primary consanguineal kin’s (his/her parents) primary kin. For him, they become secondary consanguineal kins.

3. Tertiary The primary kin of primary An individual’s primary The primary affinal kin’s Kinship kin’s primary kin or consanguineal kin primary kin’s primary secondary kin of primary (parents), their primary kin, or secondary affinal kin primary kin of kin (parents’ parents), and kin’s primary kin, or secondary kin. Roughly their primary kin (parent’s primary affinal kin’s 151 tertiary kins have been parent’s parents). secondary kin. identified. Consequently the RELATION: Spouse’s relationship between great grandparents, or grand

grand uncles and aunts uncles and aunts, or they and great grand nieces and can be brother or sister- nephews. in-law’s spouses or their children.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

System of Kinship in India

• The system of kinship plays a central role in all human societies. • Radcliffe-Brown (1964) designated the study of kinship system as a field of rights and obligations and viewed it as a part of the . • Evans-Pritchard’s study of the Nuer of the southern Sudan (1951) focused on kinship groups, based on male descent groups from common ancestor; recognized recruitment, perpetuation and functioning of such groups. • Morgan called them gens (clans). However, Morgan’s view along with that of McLennan and Sir Henry Maine, about the Kinship system should be equated with evolutionary law is not in favour with contemporary anthropologists. • Different Anthropologists emphasized on Kinship system in their own way. Like Meyer Fortes, he mainly emphasized on the interpersonal relations between individuals and groups in the kinship system. • This, ultimately suggests that we should look at society as a whole which helps in finding how it works. • According to Levi-Strauss (1969), members are recruited to kinship groups in kinship system through marriage, such as Female can be seen as a wife, daughter-in-law and Male can be seen as a husband, son-in-law of his wife’s parents. • Robin Fox (1967) writes: “The study of kinship is the study of what he (man) does and why he does it and the consequences of the adoption of one alternative rather than another”. Fox further says: “The study of kinship is the study of what man does with these basic facts of life such as mating, gestation, parenthood, , siblingship, etc.” • The four basic principles outlined by Fox regarding kinship are as follows:

1. The women have children.

2. The men impregnate the women.

3. The men usually exercise control.

4. Primary kins do not mate with each other i.e. Incest taboo.

• According to Fox, kinship can be defined as the relation between ‘kins’, i.e., persons related by real, putative or fictive consanguinity. Difficulty arises to define the real consanguinity. It can be defined according to the society as an individual related by real or supposed blood ties. But, genetically, it doesn’t seem like this.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

• There are many cases where this definition can be denied. For instance, in case of adoption, a child can be treated as consanguine. A female becomes a consanguine after her marriage as soon as she bears a child. Consanguinity is thus a socially defined relations. • John Beattie (1974): According to him; identifying and ordering of social relation are the basis of kinship system, and also provides distinction between the people. • Thus, Kinship categories are more social than jural or economic. Social ordering takes place in many different ways. It can be enacted in favour of social relationships i.e. their social behavior and particular patterns of expectations, beliefs and values. • Also, it can be expressed on the basis of authority and sub-ordination, of economic exchange, of domestic cooperation or of ritual or economic nature. • Kinship in Indian villages resembles the term ‘factions’ in correspondence to caste, sub-castes, clan and even lineages. It shows the phenomenon of succession, inheritance of property, bifurcation; irrespective of the levels of their technological and industrial advancements. • Therefore, to understand the kinship system of any society; we should know the language, behavior and values of people. • Malinowski (1954): According to him, kinship system can be referred as a complex and elaborate one; and he referred it as ‘KINSHIP ALGEBRA’.

Kinship Terminology

I. Murdock (1949), while analyzing the interrelation between Kinship terminology and kinship behavior; provides two categories

TERMS OF ADDRESS TERM OF REFERENCE (An integral part of culturally patterned (Linguistic systems denoting relationship between kinsmen) one of the two statuses involved)

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

• There’s a gap between the two because of the usage of single classificatory terms to distinct relatives. For instance, ‘mother’ to all the wives of father in some society. Also, ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’ doesn’t provide us the proper relation. II. lucy mair’s terminologies (1984)

KINDRED: genea-logically linked to the ego having common obligations.

COGNATES: People related to an individual by blood.

AFFINES: Person related to an individual via marriage.

CORPORATE GROUPS: Continuing property holding groups recruited

Patrilinealy or matrilinealy.

LINEAGE: corporate group recruited by descent.

LATERAL: It shows the ‘side’ of kinship group.

LINEAL: It shows the ‘line’ of kinship

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

Kinship in India

In India, kinship can be studied within family and beyond family separately and analyzed the relation between them.

It can be divided into two categories

PRIMARY RELATIVES SECONDARY RELATIVES TERTIARY (Also referred to as FAMILY RELATIVES OF PROCREATION) (Also include distant Relatives).

• Kinship within family indicate primary They both comprises the relation beyond family relatives with intra-family relationships. • It persists the relation of same nuclear family. • It includes father, mother, son, daughter, husband and wife.

Ø Kinship in India follows the principle of ‘clan exogamy and caste endogamy’. Ø It can be understand on the basis of clan and lineages. Generally; a caste has several clans and clans have several lineages. Ø There’s a distinction between common ancestor of lineage members and common ancestor of clan. In lineage; it is an actual, remembered person but in clan, it is typically a legendary, supernatural entity. Ø In conclusion, it can be observed that kinship plays the role of maintaining social organization; i.e. it shows the division in regard to succession and inheritance of property. But, it is also the basis of conflicts and rivalry between siblings.

Kinship organization in India by Iravati Karve

• Iravati Karve (1953) provides us the comparative analysis of four cultural zones in India i.e. Northern zone, Southern zone, Eastern zone and Central zone, keeping in view the linguistic, caste and family organization. • Karve studied the process of acculturation and accommodation in context of kinship.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

• Karve’s comparative study takes the following points into consideration i.e list of kinship terms in Indian languages, mainly focused on the difference between Sanskritic North and Dravidian South. • In spite of these factors, she also analyzed the caste endogamy and incest taboo.

KINSHIP ORGANIZATION IN INDIA (ZONAL WISE)

Northern zone Southern zone Central zone Eastern zone

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE NORTHERN ZONE OF INDIA

(I) NORTHERN ZONE • It lies between the Himalayas to the North and the Vindhya ranges to the South. • Indo- European or Sanskritic speakers can be found in Northern region. • The Northern region persists some of the systems which can be explained as follows; (a) Gotra and Clan system Gotra(: “cattle shed”), lineage segment within an Indian caste that prohibits intermarriage by virtue of the members’ descent from a common mythical ancestor, an important factor in determining possible Hindu marriage alliances. Gotra is originally referred to the seven lineage segments of the Brahmans (priests), who trace their derivation from seven ancient seers: Atri, Bharadvaja, Bhrigu, Gotama, Kashyapa, Vasishtha, and Vishvamitra.

(b) Hypergamy and Kulinism • Hypergamous stratification can be found in India and also found among all caste clusters. • Hypergamy can be seen in India in many castes which claim to be either Kshatriyas or Vaishyas. • They are generally Endogamous.

Kulinism The Custom in which a man marries a girl of slightly lower status referred to a phenomenon called Kulinism.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

In this, Kulin groom can demand a very high price from the Kulin bride’s family, it shows the elevation in of that individual in his society and a man can marry more than one woman to further elevate his social status.

Brief description of Kinship organization of India Zonal Wise, in a Tabular Form, is given below:

S. ZONES OF INDIA DESCRIPTION No.

1. NORTHERN • In north zone, there are four basic features of Kinship; ZONE (1) Territoriality, (2) Genealogy, (3) Incest taboos, and (4) Local exogamy. • There are terms for consanguineal relations and terms for affinal relations. There are primary terms for three generations of immediate relations and the terms for one generation are not exchangeable for those of another generation. All the other terms are derived from the primary terms. • RULES OF MARRIAGE: The Rule of sasan is the main feature to all marriage alliances, i.e., a person must not marry in his patri- family and must avoid marriage with sapinda kin. Four-gotra (sasan) rule, that is, avoidance of the gotras of father, mother, grandmother and maternal grandmother is generally practised among Brahmanas and other upper castes in north India. However, some intermediate and most of the lower castes avoid two gotras, namely, that of father and mother. • DISTRIBUTION: Areas of the Sindhi, Punjabi, (and Pahari), Bihari, Bengali, Assamese and Nepali speaking groups. 2. SOUTHERN ZONE • In the southern zone, Caste endogamy and Clan exogamy is followed, similar to the northern system. (Comprises Five • It is called as ‘Bedagu’ or ‘Bedaga’ or ‘Bali’ in Karnataka. The regions i.e. Kotas of Nilgiris call it ‘Keri’, the Kottai Vellals call it ‘Kilai’, the Karnataka, Andhra Koyas name it ‘Gotta’ and the Kurubas call it ‘Gunpu’. Some Pradesh, Tamil Telugu people call it ‘Inti-peru’, and the Malayalis mention it Nadu, Kerala and ‘Illom’. In Travancore, it is referred to as ‘Veli’. The word ‘Gotra’ is also widely used. The main symbols used for clans are of silver, the regions of mixed gold, axe, elephant, snake, jasmine, stone, etc. languages and • The southern zone possesses both types of features i.e. Patrilocal people). and Patrilineal systems (mainly found in Karnataka, Tamil nadu and Andhra Pradesh), also Matrilineal and Matrilocal systems.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

• RULES OF MARRIAGE: Age, and not generation, is the main consideration in the southern kinship system. Marriage is outside the exogamous kin group called Bali or Begadu or Kilai. The rules of marriage are: one must marry a member of one’s own clan, and a girl must marry a person who belongs to the group older than self, and also to the younger than the parents. • DISTRIBUTION: The Nayars, the Tiyans, some Moplas in Malabar region and the Bants in Kanara district have matrihneal and matrilocal family, and it is called tharawad. It consists of a woman, her brothers and sisters, her own and her sister’s sons and daughters. No affinal relation lives in the tharawad. Same consanguines are excluded (children of the males). There is no husband-wife, father-children relationship in a tharawad. • TABOOS: However, there are taboos on marrying of younger sister’s daughter, levirate, and mother’s sister’s daughter. Maternal uncle and niece marriages and cross-cousin marriages result in double relationships. A cousin is also a wife, and after marriage a cousin is more of a wife than a cousin

3. CENTRAL ZONE • The central zone shows the influence of Northern zone and also Eastern zone. (comprises the • The central zone follows these rules: linguistic regions of 1. Cross-cousin marriages are common which are not witnessed in Rajasthan, Madhya the north zone. Pradesh (now 2. Many castes are divided into exogamous clans like the north zone. Chhattisgarh also), 3. In some castes, exogamous clans are arranged in a hypergamous hierarchy. Gujarat and • But it is not guaranteed that these features can be found in all over Kathiawad, the regions. For instance, In Rajasthan, Jats follow two-gotra and exogamy along with village exogamy; Banias practise four-gotra Odhisha with their rule; and Rajputs have hypergamous clans, and feudal status is an respective important consideration in marriage alliances. languages, namely, • EXAMPLE OF RAJPUTS: Rajputs put a lot of emphasis on Rajasthani, Hindi, purity and nobility of descent. Status of mother on either side is Gujarati and also a factor in marriage alliances. Also, mythological origin comparable with Rajputs is also claimed Kathiawadi, Marathi by the Marathas. Their names are also similar to that of Rajputs. and Oriya.).These The rule of exogamy is, however, not dependent on the clan name languages persists but on the symbol connected with the clan. The symbol is called the Sanskritic devaka. No two people having the same devaka can marry. The clans and the devaka both play a significant role in marriage.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India

origin. • EXAMPLE OF GUJARAT AND KATHIAWAD: In Kathiawad and Gujarat, northern practices can be found. Some castes allow cross-cousin marriages, others allowed marriages once a year, and some others permitted once every four, five, nine or twelve years. When the marriage year arrives, it is announced from village to village and there is a rush to perform marriages. The practice of ‘Nantra’ (levirate) exists even today. • EXAMPLE OF TRIBES: Cross-cousin marriage among the Kathi, Ahir, Ghadava Charan and Garasia castes is quite common. Kolis and Bhils, allow cross-cousin marriages. • According to Irawati Karve, Maharashtra is an area where Sanskritic northern traits (languages spoken are Gujarati, Rajasthani, Himachali and Hindi) and the Dravidian southern traits (mix of Sanskritic languages) can be seen showing the dominance of the former. Therefore, Maharashtra kinship structure is a little different from both southern and northern zones. • EXAMPLE OF MARATHAS in comparison to : The Marathas and Kunbis together form about 40 per cent of the population. They call themselves Kshatriyas. - complex has been a ruling clan. Even today headman or patil is a Maratha in a village. • Kunbis are divided into exogamous clans. Some practise levirate; other consider cross-cousin marriages as a taboo; but some others do not prohibit such marriages. • Marathas have as many as 96 clans. Among these, there are concentric circles of mobility and status. Ethnically, there is no homogeneity. There are panchkula, a cluster of five clans, then there are ‘seven clans’, and all are hypergamous divisions. No taboo is attached to bilateral kinship like north zone. • TABOOS OF MARATHAS: No parallel-cousin marriages are allowed. There is also taboo on paternal-cousin marriages. Generally, preference for a man’s marriage is with his maternal cross-cousin. Sisters can and do marry the same man. Brothers generally avoid marrying two sisters. • EXAMPLE OF BRAHMANS IN ODHISHA: Aranyaka Brahmanas and Karans (Kayasthas) do not allow cross-cousin marriages. Some agricultural castes allow cousin-marriages, but others prohibit. Junior levirate is found among the poorer classes. 4. EASTERN ZONE • In eastern zone, Mundari and Monkhmer languages are spoken and also northern languages also exist.

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• The main communities are Korku, Assamese, Saka, Semang and Khasi. • People speaking Mundari languages have Patrilineal and Patrilocal families. Mundari people are different from the rest of the India by not having the feature of Joint Family. • HO AND SANTHAL: Cross-cousin marriage is practiced. But till the father’s sister or the mother’s brother is alive, they cannot marry their daughters. This condition makes cross-cousin marriage a rare phenomenon. • HO AND MUNDA: They have separate dormitories for bachelors and maidens and they indulge in pre-marital sexual relationships. Sometimes these relationships result into marriages but quite often the marriage mate is different from the mate of the dormitory days. All these people are divided into exogamous totemistic clans. • Clan exogamy is followed. • BRIDE PRICE: Money is given for procuring a bride. Service by the would-be-husband in girl’s father’s house is also considered as bride price. After marriage one establishes his separate household, but may keep his younger brother and widowed mother, etc., along with him in his newly established house. • KHASIS OF MEGHALAYA (Matrilineal society): Speaks Mon khmer language. The Khasis have joint family with common worship and common graveyard, but the husband and wife live together in a small house of their own. After death the property goes to mother or youngest daughter. • A woman enjoys a great amount of freedom. If there are no female relatives, widow gets half of the property if she opts not to remarry. A Khasi husband is incorporated into his bride’s home as a stranger. • The Khasis have clan exogamy. Marriages of parallel cousins are not allowed. Cross-cousin marriage is also quite rare.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN NORTHERN ZONE AND SOUTHERN ZONE

Irawati karve provides us the well explained differences between the kinship organization of both the Northern zone and southern zone which can be understand in tabular form;

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NORTHERN ZONE SOUTHERN ZONE

• Village exogamy is a widely accepted. • There are inter-marrying clans in the same • Gonds do not observe village exogamy. The village. only principle is that of exogamy or illom or • Preferential marriages with elder sister’s veli daughter, father’s sister’s daughter, and with mother’s brother’s daughter are particularly prevalent in maintaining unity and solidarity of • There is a distinction between the Family of the ‘clan’ and upholding of the principle of return Birth and Family of marriage. (exchange) of daughters in the same generation. • In the north, terms for blood relatives and • There is no distinction between the family of affinal ones are clear. birth and the family of marriage. • Phupha-Phuphi for father’s sister’s husband and • In the South many terms do not indicate this father’s sister and Mama-Mami for mother’s distinction clearly. brother and his wife are used in the North • In the South Attai is used for both Phuphi and • There are the ‘extended family of birth’ and the Mami. Mama is used for both Phupha and Mama. ‘extended family of marriage’ • There is no such distinction in the South. • Special terms for affinal relatives are used in the • No special terms are used for affinal relatives in North. the South. Same relatives appear in two successive generations in the South. • There are words for ‘younger’ and ‘older’ brothers and sisters. A number of terms are used in common for (1) Father and elder brother (Anna, Ayya), (2) Mother and elder sister, (3) Younger brother and son (Pirkal), and (4) Younger sister and daughter (Pinnawal). • These terms denote respect to the elders and not to the actual blood relationships. The point of reference is the ego.

Thus, Kinship is a complex phenomenon, and its role is important even in modern organizations. Migration, mobility and education have weakened the kinship systems and rules of clan organization because people are now shifting from joint family to Nuclear family.

Importance and changes of kinship in rural societies

The importance of kinship in tribal/rural societies can be understood from the following discussion

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A. Kinship and its Relation to Rural Family, Property and Land • The prime property of any rural family is land. So, land is related to all the kin members of the family. The sons, grandsons and other kins, which are related by blood and marriage, have their economic interests in the land. • Now-a-days, women are becoming aware that they are also entitled to get an equal share from the ancestral property. • The family members also gain political status by the ownership of land.

B. Kinship and Marriage:

• Exogamy is commonly followed in most of the villages of India. The members of the villages do not prefer to marry within their own village. • This rule varies on the basis of the severity of rules of marriage.

C. Kinship and Ritual:

• The role and importance of the kin members lies in the degree of close relationships among them. Their importance can be observed during the occasions, such as cradle ceremony, marriage and death. • During a naming ceremony, it is the father’s sister, who has to give a name to the newborn. There are certain rituals, which have to be performed by mother’s brother during the marriages of daughters. • BRIDE PRICE: The daughter’s parents make the payment in cash or kind to the son-in-law’s sister, who occupies an important place during a Hindu wedding. • EXCHANGE OF GIFTS: It is obligatory on part of the close kin relatives to offer gifts to the newly wed couples and in the same manner; these close relatives are equally rewarded from both sides (parents of the couple). • OCCASION OF DEATH: During the occasions of death, it is obligatory for the kinsmen to observe mourning for about 11 to 14 days (this period varies from region to region).

Changes in the Kinship Relations in Rural Society

• Many changes are taking place in all the of the rural society, including kinship relations. Changes can be seen as demand for ownership titles by women. • Rules of marriage are being challenged and the traditional rules regarding divorce are also getting weakened.

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• Though some of the aspects of kinship are losing their importance, few others are gaining prominence. Kinship is playing an important role in the field of politics, especially in rural elections like Panchayati Raj. • Favouritisms, in jobs, are being observed among the kinsmen. Due to the emergence of such new forces, kinship may acquire new structure and form.

Summary

Morgan and other early anthropologists tried to explain the distribution of kinship types, correlating with the economic, political and cultural stages in a progressive series.

v There is wide range of difference between the Sanskritic North and Dravidian South, extent by Indian Anthropologists. v This provides us the knowledge of heterogeneity of language families making up a unitary civilization of India. v Kinship systems are rather like natural languages which acts as platforms on which many and perhaps all different kinds of economic, political and cultural organization may be built.

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Social-Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Kinship Studies in India