DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0079
CAsTEj StJBCASTE, AND MaRRIAGE
levir need not marry the widow unless he wants to do
so : the widow can marry somebody else, or nobody;
though, in a number of castes, such as the Ahir, Bahe-
liya, Bansphor, Chamar, Dharkar, Korwa, and Mallah,
she must, failing the levir, marry only a widower. The
present position seems to be, therefore, that of all men
available to the widow as a second husband, the levir is
merely ftrimus inter ftares. The levirate and widow mar-
riage tend to disappear together as a caste rises in the
social scale : this has happened in both the Kurmi and
Bari castes, which possessed these customs in Mr.
Crooke’s time, but do so no longer.
Usually, in India as in other parts of the world, a
widow can only marry her late husband’s
6. Restrictions on younger brother (dewar), not his elder
the levirate brother (jeth). This is a well establish-
ed rule in Australia, Indonesia, and
India ;l there appear to be only two exceptions in
southern India and one in Indonesia. In Africa it
is much more common to fmd the jeth marrying
the younger brother’s wife (deorani). At the 1911 census,
however, information was received which seems to show
that the prohibition against the jeth is less widespread
than was formerly supposed. Most of the castes which
possess this abnormal custom are themselves ab-
normal. They are the Kanmail, Manihar, Tawaif,
Turk, Mula, Ghogar, Bari, with the Bishnoi and
Bhangi (some subcastes only), the Mirasi, with
whom the levirate in either form is legal but
unusual, and the Kanjar, who allows the jeth to marry
his deorani but regards the union as incorrect. Of these
castes seven are Muhammadan, namely the first six and
the Mirasi. The Tawaif are dancing girls, the Mirasi
provide the dancing girls’ music, the Kanmail, Bhangi,
and Kanjar are very low castes and the Bishnoi is an
extraordinary sectarian caste. Abnormalities in castes so
abnormal cannot be regarded as very important.
1 Frazer, Totemisni and Exogamy (1910)—references under ‘Levirate’
in Vols. I and II up to p. 354.
65
5
levir need not marry the widow unless he wants to do
so : the widow can marry somebody else, or nobody;
though, in a number of castes, such as the Ahir, Bahe-
liya, Bansphor, Chamar, Dharkar, Korwa, and Mallah,
she must, failing the levir, marry only a widower. The
present position seems to be, therefore, that of all men
available to the widow as a second husband, the levir is
merely ftrimus inter ftares. The levirate and widow mar-
riage tend to disappear together as a caste rises in the
social scale : this has happened in both the Kurmi and
Bari castes, which possessed these customs in Mr.
Crooke’s time, but do so no longer.
Usually, in India as in other parts of the world, a
widow can only marry her late husband’s
6. Restrictions on younger brother (dewar), not his elder
the levirate brother (jeth). This is a well establish-
ed rule in Australia, Indonesia, and
India ;l there appear to be only two exceptions in
southern India and one in Indonesia. In Africa it
is much more common to fmd the jeth marrying
the younger brother’s wife (deorani). At the 1911 census,
however, information was received which seems to show
that the prohibition against the jeth is less widespread
than was formerly supposed. Most of the castes which
possess this abnormal custom are themselves ab-
normal. They are the Kanmail, Manihar, Tawaif,
Turk, Mula, Ghogar, Bari, with the Bishnoi and
Bhangi (some subcastes only), the Mirasi, with
whom the levirate in either form is legal but
unusual, and the Kanjar, who allows the jeth to marry
his deorani but regards the union as incorrect. Of these
castes seven are Muhammadan, namely the first six and
the Mirasi. The Tawaif are dancing girls, the Mirasi
provide the dancing girls’ music, the Kanmail, Bhangi,
and Kanjar are very low castes and the Bishnoi is an
extraordinary sectarian caste. Abnormalities in castes so
abnormal cannot be regarded as very important.
1 Frazer, Totemisni and Exogamy (1910)—references under ‘Levirate’
in Vols. I and II up to p. 354.
65
5