Punjab States Gazetteers Vol.12-a Mandi State

· 1908 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1'23

2Mandi State.] Ifeseriptive. [PabT'A.

3parties have attamed the age of puberty. In tiie higher hills, it is 'CHA?. I; C.

4customary to marry young women, generally between 11 and 15

5years of age.

6Widow re-marriage is strictly prohibited among the higher maYntge.

7classes of Brahmans, Rajputs, Khatris and Bohras, but it is common

8among the Kanets and the lower classes of Hindus. There is a

9proverb in the higher hills that a woman is never a widow, for

10women being of great assistance in agriculture a land-holder on

11becoming a widower has every inducement to re-marry as he

12needs a wife to till his land. A Kanet woman or widow of lower

13caste inheriting her late husband’s land is not dispossessed of it even

14if she takes a consort to live with her, so long as she does not leave

15her deceased husband’s house. In such a case the man is called

16linda or konsal, and his son gablrni or AondhaS^^ If a widow has

17land she can easily find a home with a protector because of her

18use as a worker in the fields.

19The different tribes marry as a rale among themselves but

20cannot marry persons of the same clan or al. With reference to the

21got there- seems less strictness, though among aU the lower classes it

22is strictly forbidden to intermai ry with members of the same got.

23There are four kinds of betrothal among the lower classes : — Co»tiact« of

24^ iDAiriage.

25(1) Exchange (batta aatta), in which the bride’s father

26receives no money for his daughter, but in exchange

27gets a wife from the relatives of the bridegroom for

28some one nearly connected with him. Such marriages

29always result in quarrels and disputes, because the wife

30thus married will not remain in her husband’s family

31unless the wife promised in exchange has been supphed.

32(2) Labour {ghari jovdtri), in which the bridegroom is

33bound to work in the bride’s family for a time

34mutually agreed upon, sometimes for nine or ten years.

35This custom is a very old one but is now decaying.

36(3) Money, in which the bride’s father receives a certain

37sum of money from the bridegroom for the hand of his

38daughter. The poorer agriculturists often have to

39borrow to satisfy the wife’s father, and sometunes get

40so deeply into debt that it takes years to pay it off, and

41many poor peasants remain unmarried.

42(4) Bliarm or pun, where nothing is received in cash or

43exchange for the girl by her relatives. This sort of

44marri^'ge is very rare among the lower classes.

45Weddings are celebrated in three different ways ; — Foi-m* of

46® lift marriage.

47(1) Bvihor, or marriage according to the laws of the Shas-

48tras. The bridegroom wears a crown when he goes to his

49bride’s house and the- procession is accomjxinied by music.

50O) i^ondhii m-iaas son of a * andJ'XCncia vfhoil]^ no home.