Widow marriage in India

[Guest guest]

In India, widow marriage is known to have been common among several OBC

communities, Jats for example.

 

In the so-called " upper-caste " communities, widow marriage was

generally not " permitted " . However often they were allowed in an

indirect way.

 

A marriage was effectively recognized the jnati (the endogamous group),

and not the state. A marriage not recognized by the jnati, was

effectively improper. Generally people in India were not governed by

the texts, rather by the prevailing customs in the jnati.

 

A large number of " upper-caste " communities in India are divided into

two or more hierarchical sections. A common explanation for the lower

sections is that they

 

- are descendants of widow-marriages

- descendants of marriages outside of the endogamous group

- are descendants of those who chose to intermarry with the lower group.

 

I know a number of jnatis where the " lower " group formed a fraction of

the overall community, sometimes the majority, suggesting that the

unrecognized widow-marriages were a lot more common than is generally

thought. In the past one or two centuries, the hierarchical groups in

several of the communites have coalesed.

 

The Chandella Rajputs are sometimes thought to be descendants of a

Brahmin widow. The mother of Vastupal and Tejpal, who built several

temples, including one at Mt Abu, was a widow who had remarried.

 

Are there any detailed studies on this aspect of the Indian society?

 

Yashwant