Arranged Marriage in India

Definition

Arranged marriages developed from early marital practices in India and since then have become a central practice of Indian culture. These marriages are planned and agreed upon by the families of a bride and groom (Arranged Marriage n.d.). Historically, the bride and groom have little or no say in the marriage itself. It's common for the bride and groom to not even have met until the wedding (Ghimire et al. 2006: 1184). However, it is important to note that there is a difference between an "arranged marriage" and a "forced marriage." In an arranged marriage, both participants give their consent to get married to a person of their families' choosing, even if they don't know who that person is. In a forced marriage, one or both the participants refuse to or are unable to give consent yet the marriage happens regardless.

This practice has become essential in reinforcing the social, economic, geographic, and the historic significance of India. It serves to help maintain the social satisfaction system in Indian society. Originally used by the higher caste systems, it was a manner of maintaining status and wealth, allowing for the consolidation and extension of family property. Ancestral lineages get preserved and continued more successfully when using arranged marriages between families. The practice eventually spread to the lower caste system as well, uniting families and keeping them a part of the lower caste. This provides an opportunity to strengthen the kinship of whole communities. Using the principle of endogamy when making an arrangement, there is little overlap between the different caste systems. These marriages also enforce parental control over family members. Parents are choosing and determining the future and livelihood of their children in the making of these matches, while also preventing the mixing of ethnic groups and caste systems (Flanigan 2000).

History

India has been home to a wide variety of marital traditions. Marriage practices were often closely tied to religion. Early Vedic religion gave birth to a system known as swayamvara, in which parents would broadcast their daughter's intent to marry and invite potential suitors. The daughter would then have some general information of the men and, whilst gathered in a hall, pick which suitor she would like to marry, usually by bestowing a flower garland around his neck (Know All About Arranged Marriage in India! n.d.).

Vedic eventually morphed into orthodox Hinduism. While early Hindu scriptures mentioned eight modes of acquiring a wife,

Brahma - according to religion, gift exchange but no dowry, typically arranged
Daiva - according to religion, gift exchange but no dowry, typically arranged
Arsha - according to religion, gift exchange but no dowry, typically arranged
Prajapatya - according to religion, gift exchange but no dowry
Asura - payment of the bride price
Gandharva - by mutual choice
Rakshasa - abduction and seduction while the girl is unconscious
Paisacha - abduction and seduction while the girl is unconscious

Map of India from the Library of Congress

Later ideas began attacking some of these modes. As ideas advanced, these previous ideas that had more female rights and involvement were stripped and replaced with male custodianship: "first of their fathers in childhood, then of their husbands through married life, and finally of their sons in old age" (Gupta 1976: 76). The first four pertain to arranged marriages in which parents ritually give away their daughter to a suitable spouse. This ideal is still heavily practiced in Hindu society. The other four are more heavily opposed, three of them being viewed as illegal.

In the Hindu faith, marriage is a sacramental union. The belief that a person who is unmarried is incomplete is one of the reasons marriage preparation begins far before the date of marriage. In Muslim faith, however, it is viewed that the parent's duties are not completed until their daughter is happily married. The daughter is viewed as par gaheri, a person made for someone else’s house. It is almost reverse the Vedic tradition, as the groom is the one marketed to suitable females (Flanigan 2000).

Process

When parents decide their child is ready and of age for marriage, the first step usually involves the help of a matchmaker. A traditional arranged matchmaker is called a nayan and serves as a neutral go-between for families looking for matches. They have to take into consideration a family's "family background, economic position, general character, family reputation, the value of the dowry, the effect of alliance on the property, and other family matters" (Flanigan 2000). The criteria the family provides to the matchmaker for a suitable match usually include religion, caste, horoscope, profession, and occasionally physical appearance (Know All About Arranged Marriage In India! n.d.). The matchmaker is the source of communication between families until an agreement is reached. Some matchmakers even help in the wedding arrangements, though these services are usually unpaid but met with gifts. Some marriages today have replaced the traditional matchmaker with newspaper ads and the Internet (Flanigan 2000).

Decline of Arranged Marriages in India

With industrialization and the impact of Western colonization, India has experienced a decline in arranged marriages. Now, scholars notice an increase in families that align with the nuclear family model after countries who have went through the process of refurbishment through technological growth and labor changes (Allendorf 2016:435). As family and labor dynamics shift, people have more flexibility the circumstances of marriage and people can then choose to marry for love rather than for necessity. The amount of non-arranged marriages in India have more than doubled since the 1970s (443). The amount of self choice marriages have declined equally in both rural and populated areas. Self-choice marriages are more likely to have diverse couples. No matter the region of the country, self-choice marriages are often mixed between social stratification levels. Depending on a religious or social group, the amount of self choice marriages vary (455).

Learn More

https://www.scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2018/05/09/62930/a-suitable-girl-examines-arranged-marriage-in-indi/

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/d7aq9k/the-evolution-of-indian-arranged-marriages

https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2008.00528.x

Works Cited

Allendorf, K. 2016. The Decline of Arranged Marriage? Marital Change and Continuity in India. Population and Development Review, 42(3), 435–464. Retrieved December 5, 2021 from JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/stable/44015659.

Arranged Marriage. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arranged marriage.

Flanigan, Santana (2000) Arranged Marriages, Matchmakers, and Dowries in India, Scholarblogs. Retrieved from https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/20/arranged-marriages-matchmakers-and-dowries-in-india/

Ghimire, D., Axinn, W., Yabiku, S., & Thornton, A. (2006) Social Change, Premarital Nonfamily Experience, and Spouse Choice in an Arranged Marriage Society. American Journal of Sociology, 111(4), 1181-1218. doi:10.1086/498468

Gupta, G. (1976) Love, Arranged Marriage, and the Indian Social Structure. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 7(1), 75-85. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41600938

Know All About Arranged Marriage In India! (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.culturalindia.net/weddings/arranged-marriage.html.

United States Central Intelligence Agency. 2001. India. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved December 3rd, 2021, from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002623106/.

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