Hypergamy and Its Inherent Contradictions

Author(s): T. Mohanadoss
Source: Anthropos, Bd. 90, H. 4./6. (1995), pp. 558-563
Published by: Anthropos Institut
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 558 Berichte und
signifie à première lecture. Un événement malheu-
reux en songe annonce un événement heureux, la
pauvreté la richesse, l'échec la réussite, la mort
la vie. C'est ainsi qu'un rêve de cadavre, com-
me précédemment, est le meilleur que l'on puisse
recevoir: le défunt représente le sim que l'on va
"tuer"; l'envelopper d'un linceul, le porter en terre
et le mettre au tombeau, signifie déterrer, enve-
lopper de "soie de rocher" et ramener chez soi la
racine. Tuer quelqu'un avec un fusil signifie qu'on
va trouver le sim le jour même. Percer quelqu'un
avec un couteau et voir le sang couler signifie
déterrer le sim. Etc. On entend dire à la fois: "le
rêve est la réalité" (en ce sens qu'il annonce un
événement susceptible de se produire réellement),
et: "le rêve est le contraire de la réalité". La trans-
gression des interdits est ainsi permise dans la vie
onirique, ce qui a certainement un effet cathartique
et équilibrant pour des hommes à ce point entourés
de règles et de tabous.
Cet élément si important dans la vie et l'imagi-
naire des Coréens qu'est le ginseng sauvage révèle
des aspects centraux de leur psychologie. Derrière
les influences taoïstes, confucianistes, bouddhistes,
chrétiennes, etc., c'est bien le très ancien fond
chamanique et le culte des Esprits et des divinités
locales qui lui est lié que l'on touche du doigt
quand on étudie ainsi l'activité des chercheurs de
racines en cette nation au modernisme criant. Entre
vie nocturne et vie diurne il y a une étonnante
continuité. Le rêve offre au simmani l'occasion
de rendre visite au monde caché derrière la scène
visible du réel. L'univers onirique, avec son espace
et son temps spécifiques, apparaît ainsi comme une
zone unique où devient possible la communication
entre divinité et humanité.
Hypergamy and Its Inherent
Contradictions
T. Mohanadoss
A key factor in determining status position of a
group or an individual in any status system is
the recognition attained from others. One way of
gaining recognition in a stratified society like in
India is to enter into relationships with people of
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Kommentare
higher status. Marriage serves as an effective way
of raising one's status. Irawati Karve opines that
marriage plays a vital role in the mechanism of
rising higher in the caste and varna scale (1965: 8).
This is particularly true in north Indian kinship
organization within a hypergamous milieu.
The objective of this paper is to analyse the dif-
ferent dimensions of the principle and practice of
hypergamy to highlight the inherent contradictions
of hypergamous marriage pattern.
1. Meaning of Hypergamy
Van der Veen defines hypergamy, "as marrying
with someone of higher social status. Hence, iso-
gamy means to marry someone of equal status,
and hypogamy to marry someone of lower so-
cial status" (1972: 98). The term "hypergamy"
was first used in Ibbetson's "The Report on the
Census of the Punjab, 1881." The Report states,
"By hypergamy or the law of superior marriage I
mean the rule which compels a man to wed his
daughter with a member of a tribe . . . which shall
be actually superior in rank to his own" (Van der
Veen 1972: 98).
Louis Dumont makes the meaning of hyper-
gamy more precise with his following insights:
First, the principle of hypergamy is an interdiction
against a woman marrying "down" in a "hyper-
gamous milieu"(1970: 116-118). Second, a strong
preference for her marrying "up" in certain lev-
els of the groups supplements this interdiction
(1964: 88). Third, the term hypergamy does not
refer to all marriages in which a bride's status is
low. It is used to designate more precisely those al-
liances wherein such a difference is within certain
limits (1970: 159).
The principle of hypergamy is in conformity
with a widespread Indian formula anuloma. It is
closely associated with the assumption that man
is superior to woman. Probably one finds the re-
ligious sanction for hypergamy in "The Laws of
Manu": "Let him who would raise his race from
connections ever with the most excellent men and
shun them that are low" (IV: 244).
2. Source of Hypergamy
Jonathan Parry is of the view that the origin of
hypergamy is to certain extent unanswerable. But
Bougie, Risley, and Rivers have attributed the
origin of this practice to "the deficit of Aryan
women with which the invading Aryan armies
Anthropos 90.1995
 Berichte und
had to contend, and in the fact they were in a
position to extract wives from the indigenous pop-
ulation without giving them daughters in return"
(1979: 198). A.M. Shah holds the view that hy-
pergamy emerged primarily from political power
(1982: 14 f.).
Dumont's two observations evidently deserve
a place of honour in our attempt to trace the
source of the principle of hypergamy. They are
the following: 1) In general, a woman is consid-
ered inferior to man and so this pattern is nothing
but natural in a hypergamous milieu. 2) The hy-
pergamous pattern harmonizes with the ideology
of dan, especially with the doctrine of kanyadan
(1970: 117).
Jonathan Parry argues convincingly against the
first observation of Dumont. First, he points out
that Dumont failed to note that a hypogamous
pattern can equally be natural for the very same
reason. His second observation emerges from his
knowledge of Kangra cultural milieu. Kangras
seem to believe in the gifting of a virgin that the
bride is the only true dan and they identify her
symbolically as an incarnated goddess. Therefore
he argues: "It is not her inferiority but rather her
quasi-divine status which makes her an appropriate
gift to a man of higher rank. This ties up with
Dumont's second and more insightful observation
that the hypergamous pattern harmonizes with the
ideology of dan. The virgin (kanya) is ... a mer-
itorious gift made to somebody of superior status"
(1979: 200).
The following factors add weight to the view
that the doctrine of kanyadan is the most obvious
source of hypergamy: 1) The unquestioned notion
that the wife-takers are superior to wife-givers in
a hypergamous milieu (Milner 1988: 145). It is
significant to quote Karve in this context: "The de-
gree of inferiority may be so great that sometimes
the groom does not go personally to the bride's
village for the marriage ceremony but sends his
sword to represent him" (1965: 170). 2) Hyper-
gamous milieu has a pronounced patrilineal line.
Consequently, the children inherit the status from
the father. 3) Unlike in the south, the image of
a bride that emerges from north Indian weddings,
according to Kolenda, is as a "tribute" (1984).
3. Logic of Hypergamy
The ideology of kanyadan makes the logic of
hypergamy explicit. The Brahmanic ideal forbids
a father to accept even the smallest gratuity for
his daughter. "A man (father) who through av-
Anthropos 90.1995
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Kommentare 559
arice takes a gratuity is a seller of offspring."1
The ideology of kanyadan demands that a virgin
is gifted to a man of superior status. It exhorts
the bride-givers to offer a substantial stridhan to
the bride-takers and forbids them to receive ei-
ther money or other women in return to their
gift of kanya. Here lies the crucial difference be-
tween hypergamy and isogamy of south Indian
pattern.
The spirit of hypergamy is noticeable in the
classical overtones of brother-sister relationship
in a hypergamous milieu. A brother should not
receive anything from his sister and he must al-
ways give to her (Pocock 1972: 97). It finds its
symbolic expression in the festivals of Bhaiji and
Rakshabandhan. The tying of rakshabandhan is a
double-layered ritual. It is a prayer for a brother
against physical and spiritual harm and an act
of trust that she continues to trust in his protec-
tion.
Murray Milner explains the logic of hypergamy
in the following manner that "economic resources
of the bride's lower status family are implicit-
ly exchanged for the increase in status that re-
sults from being on intimate terms with superiors"
(1988: 150).
Pointing out the popular notion among Patidars
that a "good marriage is formally hypergamous,"
Pocock affirms that a hypergamous marriage may
raise the status of a bride-giver in a village but it
is also simultaneously an admission of inferiority
(1972: 2-4). According to Dumont a hypergamous
marriage contributes "indirectly to the status of a
group perpetuating itself through males" and adds
that the "wealth . . . given away with the girl in
a hypergamous milieu, [is] a clear case of 'gift'
in the habitual sense of exchange of material for
non-material goods" (1964: 89).
4. Mechanism of Hypergamy
One can find a vivid illustration of the mechanism
of hypergamy among the Rajput clans. There are
three main lines and one subsidiary line among the
Rajput clans. The three main lines are Suryaban-
sa, Chandrabansa, and Agnibansa. The subsidiary
one is Nagabansa. Each line consists of numerous
clans and subclans. Karve mentions the popular
theory according to which, "the Suryabansa gave
its daughters to Suryabansa Rajputs only while it
received daughters from other lines. The Chand-
1 The Laws of Manu III: 51; cf. van der Veen 1973: 43-45.
 560 Berichte
rabansa gave its daughters to Suryabansa and re-
ceived from Agnibansa and Nagabansa, while Ag-
nibansa could give its daughters to others but could
receive from none" (1968: 167).
5. Forms of Hypergamy
Some of the scholars who have studied the hy-
pergamous marriage pattern mention the different
forms of hypergamy.
5.1 Intra- and Intercaste Hypergamy
Viswanath refers to two kinds of hypergamy: In-
tra- and intercaste hypergamy (1973: 394). The
former is the spirit of hypergamy and the latter
is the consequence of hypergamy. Hypergamy ad-
vocates the former and swallows the latter with
a pinch of salt. For instance, the Kangra wife-
takers are not "indifferent to the precise ranking
of those who give them brides" (Parry 1979: 197).
A.M. Shah and LP. Desai agree that hypergamy
integrates various layers within a caste or two
castes and name it as "the associative function of
hypergamy" (1988: 102 f.).
5.2 Obligatory and Voluntary
Dumont classifies hypergamy into obligatory and
voluntary. He includes the Rajputs who live in
exogamous clans in the former category. Van der
Veen and others consider this obligatory form du-
bious. Van der Veen opines that hypergamy can
never be obligatory for all members of a caste.
In his words, "when it is a question of intracaste
hypergamy, the top group cannot possibly marry
members of a higher social status group. My ma-
terial shows that for the lower social groups in a
caste as well, hypergamy is never an obligation"
(1972: 100).
5.3 Directional Hypergamy
Some scholars refer the hypergamy of Rajputs as
"directional hypergamy." Karve states that Rajputs
of Bihar are lower in status than those of eastern
Uttar Pradesh and Rajputs of eastern Uttar Pradesh
are lower than those of western Uttar Pradesh.
Hence, she says that the rough rule for marriage
is given in the popular saying, "the girl from the
East, the boy from the West" (1965: 169). It must,
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und Kommentare
however, be admitted that the flow of brides occurs
in other directions also (Shah and Desai 1988:101).
The practice of hypergamy demarcates some
villages as being better than others or some fami-
lies of a particular area as being eminently more
desirable. All the same, other groups must accept
the desire of a particular group to include it with
higher status groups. Consequently, the refusal to
intermarry is a refusal of recognition. On this dra-
matic nature of hypergamy, Pocock writes, "the
more dramatic the hypergamy the less likely is it
that the alliance will be extended to the next and
subsequent generations. . . Less dramatic instances
of hypergamy frequently occur when a man gives
his daughter only a little above the social level in
which his kinsmen are married" (1972: 106).
5.4 Free Hypergamy
Pocock refers to the hypergamy of Patidars as free
hypergamy of the "kulin" variety. The hypergamy
of Patidar is not subject to the regulations like
that of Bengal or Malabar. Therefore he calls the
Patidars' marriage pattern as "free hypergamy"
(1955: 196).
5.5 Hypergamy with Reservation:
Nayar Marriage
Some consider the case of primary I tali marriage of
Nayar women with Nambudiris as an illustration
of hypergamous marriage pattern in south India.
Dumont opines that Nayar marriage can be consid-
ered as hypergamy with reservation (1983: 121).
However an analysis of these two patterns helps
one to conclude rightly that hypergamy is more
inapplicable to Nayar marriage. The following rea-
sons weigh in our favour:
1) Dumont's weighty observation on the primary
marriage of Nayars, namely that the "substance
is absent, but the principle is safe" highlights the
contrasts between the two patterns of our concern
here (1964: 86).
2) The children inherit the status of the father in
hypergamous marriages whereas in Nayar pattern
the children inherit the status from the mother.
3) The inferiority of wife-givers and kanyadan
ideology are not the primary dynamic in Nayar
pattern. A different set of exogenous variables
account for Nayar pattern. Milner explains, "(i)
the desire of upwardly mobile households to up-
grade the status of those who provided them ritual
services, and (ii) the exchange of status for sexual
Anthropos 90.1995
 Berichte und
services - made possible by the unusual marriage
and household arrangements which have made the
Nayars famous" (1988: 165).
4) Nayars' marriage pattern has a fixed pattern.
The movement of brides is from Nayar families
to Nambudiri families. Hypergamy operates more
often in a horizontal dimension (Shah and Desai
1988: 102 f.).
6. Corollary Process of Hypergamy
According to Milner the following three corollary
processes tend to follow when hypergamy emerges
as a dominant pattern:
1) The number and geographical distribution of
exogamous relationships, i.e., that within one's jati
who are not eligible as marriage partner, tends
to be large concerning nonhypergamous regions.
Perhaps one of the motivations is to reduce the
possibility of exchange marriages and repeated al-
liances.
2) An increase in the size of the endogamous
group.
3) An added importance is given to the normal-
ization of rankings within the endogamous groups.
The more intense the competition for grooms the
more important the small differences will be, and
hence it is more likely they are to be labelled
(Milner 1988: 150 f.).
The Biradaris of the Rajputs, the Kulas of
high caste medieval Bengalis and the Anks of
the Kanya-Kubja Brahmans serve as examples for
the development of explicit subcategories (Milner
1988: 151). While hypergamy allows the differ-
entiation of groups on the basis of ritual practice,
power, and rank, it maintains a certain unity among
these groups which are hypergamously differenti-
ated. On the increase in the size of the endogamous
group, Parry notes that the continuous infiltration
at the lower strata promotes the expansion of endo-
gamous group. In his words: "... a thoroughgoing
regime of hypergamy tends to spread its tentacles
ever more widely, for the shortages of women it
creates at the bottom of the ladder make the lower
fringes of the caste subject to continuous infiltra-
tion, and thus promotes a surreptitious but inces-
sant expansion of the endogamous unit" (Parry
1979: 231).
A brief note on the increased size of Rajputs'
endogamous groups is worth a place. Rajputs, ac-
cording to Shah and Desai, have a highly differ-
entiated internal hierarchy and a weak endogamy.
They practice hypergamy as an accepted norm
(1988: 58). Rajputs had hypergamous relations
Anthropos 90.1995
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Kommentare 561
with Kolis and several other castes and tribes in
mainland Gujarat as well as with Kolis, Kathi,
Mer, and Ahir in Saurashtra. The continuity in
the hypergamy of a Rajput-centered complex is so
penetrating that it blurred any boundary between
the Rajputs and their hypergamous-related castes
or tribes. This inevitably makes the definition of
"Rajput" problematic. The Rajput-centered com-
plex was flexible regarding endogamy and purity-
pollution principle. All the same, Rajput-complex
did not involve a general and a whole sale violation
of caste endogamy. Shah and Desai christened
this process - that has been going on for many
centuries throughout north India - of inducting
and integrating many spread out peasant castes
and tribes into Rajput fold through the instrument
of hypergamy as "the process of Rajputisation"
(1988: 32, 101-103).
7. Aftermath of Hypergamy
The consequences of hypergamy can be catego-
rized into three kinds.
1) Some scholars like Pocock opine that the ideol-
ogy of kanyadan is the most obvious cause for the
emergence of dowry. A daughter is given as a dan
to a man of higher status and not as a property
of exchange or charity. Hence the acceptance of
bride-price becomes a most ignominious act and
the corollary of this is the giving of dowry. The
principle which guides the race for son-in-laws
from families of higher status runs as: The higher
the status of a son-in-law, the more must be paid
(1955: 199). On the issue of dowry, Karve gives
the following geographical account: "All over In-
dia there is the custom of giving bride-price among
the poorer castes and of receiving dowry among
the higher castes. Mention was made of hyperga-
mous marriages in U.P.and kulïnism in Bengal. In
Sind the dowry used to be so heavy that many girls
remained unmarried. The Amils of Sind are per-
haps the only major community which has many
spinsters" (1965: 132).
2) The consequence of hypergamy is that girls
move upwards on the social ladder. Naturally, the
top group may acquire a surplus of marriageable
girls. Parry points out, that "any clan which claims
absolute preeminence in the hierarchy has, by def-
inition, nobody to whom it can give its daughters
in marriage" (1979: 213).
3) The situation is the opposite for the group at
the lowest rung of the social ladder in a hyper-
gamous milieu. There will be shortage of women
in the lowest group as the girls from this group
 562 Berichte und
marry into groups of higher social status. Van der
Veen states that the shortage of women among
the Bhathela is due to the practice of hypergamy
(1973: 44).
8. Handling the Consequences of Hypergamy
Different practices seem to be operative to over-
come the consequences of hypergamy. Parry
(1979: 213 f.) lists the following possible solu-
tions:
a. At the upper level of hypergamous hierarchi-
cal groups:
1) The groups at the top of the hierarchy call a
truce in their struggle for precedence and to agree
to exchange women on reciprocal basis.
2) The daughters of the most superior class remain
unmarried or they are sent to a nunnery.
3) They resort to female infanticide.
4) They tend to practise polygyny. Kulin Brah-
mins of Bengal and Katoch subclans of Palampur
had recourse to polygyny (221).
The Khedawal Brahmans of Gujarat, Kanbi
castes, and Rajputs of higher status resorted to
female infanticide (Shah and Desai 1988: 17).
Bina Agarwal mentions in her study that female
infanticide was practised widely among the upper
castes of Rajasthan, Punjab, Harayana, and Gu-
jarat. She attributes it to factors like hypergamy
(1988: 91).Viswanath writes in one of his articles
that female infanticide was present at the higher as
well as at the lower levels of hypergamous hierar-
chy. In his words: "The motive now alleged to be
existent among the Kanbi castes to female infanti-
cide is the exorbitant expense attached to marrying
their girls; this arose from a rule of honour which
obliged a father if he had a daughter to seek her
a position in a family more honourable than his
own; for this favour a large sum was extracted.
This custom is shown to lead to infanticide in two
ways: (i) to Plebeian families girls were a great
expense and therefore their birth was regarded as
a misfortune, (ii) to aristocratic families girls were
no less a misfortune for there was no one to marry
and an unmarried girl of the age of puberty is a
disgrace to her family" (1973: 394).
b. At the lowest level of hypergamous hierar-
chical groups:
The shortage of women at the lowest level of
hypergamous hierarchical groups leads to the fol-
lowing practices:
1) Many men of the lowest group remain unmar-
ried. Scholars like Bhai Mul Raj, H.A. Rose, L.
Middleton, and others mention there was a very
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Kommentare
high proportion of bachelors among the Rathis (cf.
Parry 1979: 227 f.).
2) Men resort to sibling exchange marriage and
late marriage.
3) The shortage of women gives rise to inflation-
ary bride-price payments.
4) High bride-price in turn encouraged widow
remarriage, ideally with the deceased husband's
younger brother because such marriages financial-
ly costed less (Pocock 1972: 65).
5) Deviation from Jati endogamy was not excep-
tional. "The spirit of hypergamy was such that a
situation was created whereby Levakanbis were
forced to break the rule of caste endogamy and
marry women from other castes such as Kolis"
(Viswanath 1973: 395). Rathis of the Dhar region
who married women of the cultivating and artisan
castes below them are another example here (Parry
1979: 229).
Shah writes that the scarcity among the lowest
stratum of Kanbis of Gujarat led to the practice
of marriage of widows and divorced women. It
created also a tendency among their bachelors of
past marriageable age to violate the rule of en-
dogamy. Exchange marriages were very common
among the lowest stratum of Khedawala and Ana-
vils. Shah adds further that "the Rajputs, Leva Pa-
tidars, Anavils, and Khedwals have been notorious
for high dowries, and the Kolis have been looked
down upon for their practice of bride-price and
the Vanias have been paying neither" (Shah and
Desai 1988: 18, 28). However, Parry rightly states
that hypergamy alone need not necessarily be the
cause of such practices as these were common to
isogamous marriages as well (1979: 228).
9. Contradictions of Hypergamy
The inherent contradictions of hypergamy can be
classified - for clarity's sake - as follows:
9.1 Structural Contradictions
Violation of the Rule of Endogamy
The shortage of girls at the lower rung of the
hypergamous milieu is overcome by taking wives
from the caste below. This causes the caste bound-
ary at the lower level very fluid and violates the
principle of purity-pollution.
Bride-price - An Offshoot of Hypergamy
One of the benefits of shortage of women among
Anthropos 90.1995
 Berichte und
the lower strata is that they can charge bride-price
for their daughters. Though the practice of hyper-
gamy sprang from the ideology of kanyadan, its
inevitable offshoot was the emergence of bride-
price. The emergence of bride-price at the lower
rung obviously created in the strata immediately
above it a great economic strain. On the one hand
these groups have to give more dowry to get higher
groups accept their daughters as wives and on the
other, they have to pay also high bride-price to
secure brides for their sons (Milner 1988: 152).
9.2 Ideological Contradictions
Kanyadan to Silent Holocaust
The most obvious source of hypergamy is the ide-
ology of kanyadan which relies on the notion that
virgin is the most meritorious gift. The practice of
hypergamy has contributed to female infanticide
or at least to the neglect of female infants among
several Kshatriya castes (van der Veen 1972: 102).
The acknowledged "meritorious gift" has ultimate-
ly turned out to be an unwanted burden.
Domination of the Letter of the Principle of Hy-
pergamy
The spirit of hypergamy proclaims in unequivocal
terms that the bride is the only true dan and that
her quasi-divine status makes her an appropriate
gift to a man of higher status. But the long-term
dynamics of the principle ride over the spirit of
it. The kanya is no more a meritorious gift and
on the contrary her merit squarely depends on the
accompanying category of dan. The stridhan that
originally demonstrated the bride as the true dan
has become in course of time the crucial determi-
nant of the merit of kanya.
10. Concluding Remarks
The principle of hypergamy is in tune with the
hierarchical spirit which is ubiquitous in Indian
Society (Parry 1979: 198).
1) The interpenetrating of caste and kinship in a
hypergamous milieu affirms the close nexus be-
tween caste and kinship and that caste and kinship
can not remain as two absolutely watertight com-
partments (Dumont 1970: 167).
2) Money is reciprocated for status and that there
is a clear link between hypergamy and hierarchy
on wealth and power (Shah and Desai 1988: 103).
3) The principle of hypergamy tempers the endog-
Anthropos 90.1995
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Kommentare 563
amy of the caste segments. It transfers strict en-
dogamy to the higher segments of high castes and
causes a break down of endogamy among certain
groups like the Rajputs (Dumont 1970: 167).
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