Abstract
Writings in social history, especially those pertaining to social structures, marriage institutions, sexuality and morality often showcase the traditional descriptions’ divisions and outcomes. The Politics of Marriage in Mediaeval India: Gender and Alliance in Rajasthan by Sabita Singh transgresses the traditional methods of writing social history and its repetitive interpretations. The author has presented an intersectional study of the position of women. The principle of intersectionality has been described by Kimberle Crenshew, an American Lawyer. She furthers the understanding that individuals and their experiences are not homogenous; violence and discrimination against women occur in different contexts. Therefore, it must be noted that oppression in all circumstances must be understood.
The book examines how social and cultural history plays the role of a master link between the various elements in what is now a diverse discipline. It is an interdisciplinary study traversing into an area hitherto considered to be a field of sociology. The author has also established the importance of regional studies and use of facts. She writes that we need to look at the significance of constructing a history based on actual folk reality and actual documents revealing the ongoing process of different social groups of intra and interrelation levels. She has also searched for transition in socio-economic spheres as transitions often carry over features from one society to another. A generalisation about the nature of society in any given area is a very complex matter; hence, one should refrain from generalisation. Regional studies as well as studies covering variations within the regions are important. We need to focus on the regional construction as distinct but as a part of wider holistic constructs (from regional to national) of Indian society. The author has very categorically analysed the position of women on the basis of the status of their natal clan, matrimonial alliances, capacity of reproduction (male child), concubinage, widowhood and norms for sexual morality. The author has also critically analysed these constructs, ideas and theories. The book is divided into five chapters with each chapter titled very aptly to mark the spirit of the theme. The author has delved deeply into the structural formation of the institutions of marriage and politics and its interrelationships and has clearly marked the changes in social rituals and norms as the changing times required. The institution of marriage and position and status of women in medieval Rajasthan were intertwined with the process of state formation and political equations. In the first chapter ‘Political and Social Structure of Medieval Rajasthan’, the author has not only examined the process of state formation, the Brahma–Kshatra nexus but also explained how emergence of early Rajput clans led to redefining and reorganisation of political structures. Being an ongoing process, state formation developed through distinct stages, and these developments affected the social substructures of the regions. Study of these developments helps us to understand the marriage network among the clans. It was the clan structure that was more significant and this governed the marriage rules.
In the chapter titled ‘Socio-Political and Economic Aspects of Marriage’, the motive behind the marriage alliances has been investigated. In the elite class, the motive was largely political, which was generally associated with enlargement of one’s territory, ending enmity or increase in power and status throughout the period of state formation. How the women reacted to such politically guided alliances, to what extent familial relations were subordinated to political considerations and how much consideration led to the institutionalisation of the practice of polygamy have been examined in this chapter.
Marriage was also an instrument of subjugation. For the subordinate power, the alliance was also a means of buying protection. Although it is evident that women belonging to the ruling families functioned as pawns in military and political strategies, they were also not always silent spectators in these transactions. They were pawns as well as agents, thus occupying a complex location in the battle for material games for their family.
Here, patriarchy operates through far more complicated trajectories, with power lines being dependent on several factors within the caste and class privileges. There is no absolute power or powerlessness. Even within the female world, sharply delineated internal power lines run that shift course according to domestic status, changes in life cycle and marital circumstances. Thus, women can go through extreme helplessness and authority. How circumstances were responsible for change in social rituals is also explained.
‘Interpretation of Marriage Rituals in Medieval Rajasthan’: in this chapter, the author has tried to examine how the ceremonies and rituals of marriage helped in maintaining the caste identity of the families and how the authority and superiority of a particular segment could be demonstrated through ceremonies and rituals on such social occasions. Did the amount of dowry affect the status of women in their family? What happened in cases of inability to pay dowry? Why did dowry keep gaining popularity? The tensions and conflicts the payments of dowry generated in the family of bride have also been studied.
Practices of hypergamy, polygamy and concubine age and implications of such practices have been dealt with in this chapter. In writing of any social history, the study and analysis of rituals become essential to understanding, as rituals arise out of societies’ collective history and culture. How to understand gender inequality and differentiation through rituals has been the focal point of examination by the author. Marriage is envisaged as the centre point of a person’s social existence, a point in and around which are woven concerns of power status and well-being. How rituals helped in legitimising one’s position has also been critically examined.
Marriage rituals were not only indicators of social hierarchy, but they also pointed to the layers of hierarchy within the same caste, based on factors like social and economic status. The writer says that stridhan (women’s property) is an area which still needs to be investigated properly. She has also examined the position of women from peasant class. She writes that as far as the peasants are concerned, there is no conclusive evidence of prevalence of dowry among them. In fact, whatever examples we have of peasants complaining about not being able to get their daughters married was not because of their inability to pay dowry but because of the excessive cess levied by the Bhomias.
In the chapter Sati, Widowhood and Remarriage, an attempt has been made to understand phenomena like sati and Johar in their historical context, as well as the much talked about taboo on widow remarriage, as these are seen as institutional forms of women’s oppression. Today, sati arouses negative feelings, given humanistic values and movements to redress the status of women. However, when the task is understood, the full phenomenon must be allowed to come into view, even though the custom in the final analysis should continue to be subject to a radical critique from modern perspective and kept safely relegated to the past.
The Charans and Bhaats (court Bards) valorised sati in such glorifying terms that self-immolation was transformed into a heroic sacrifice and effectively linked it to the honour and prestige of the women’s natal and conjugal clans. It is also known that the bards taunted the women who chose not to commit sati. In medieval Rajasthan, we find that sati seems to have been institutionalised mainly among the Rajputs. The communities that were closely connected to the Rajput courts had a tendency to adopt the same lifestyle as their rulers; hence, sati was also an institution adopted by castes and communities close to them. Although we do find examples of sati being committed by women of other castes in their case, it was not institutionalised. Most works have assumed that a third option, that of widow remarriage, was not open, especially to the women of upper caste. Our archival sources, however, indicate that widow remarriage was a well-established practice in our region for the middle and lower caste, although not on a large scale. In fact, remarriage was such a well-established norm that the state derived an income by these marriages. The ‘Adsattas’ are full of references to Hasil Gharecha tax on remarriage from various Parganas. In chapter 5, the author has critically examined marital and sexual morality in medieval Rajasthan. She writes that sexuality was defined by society and culture. There is no one standard by which sexual and marital morality can be judged. Evidence suggests that there is a great degree of pluralism in the perception of morality. On examining the question of fidelity apropos the elite Rajputs, we can see how the institution of polygamy and differences in age were responsible for cases of infidelity within and outside the family, as indicated in Nainsi ri Khyat.
Rajput aristocratic households were vast, and the possibility of illicit sexual encounters was always present. It was because of Mughal influence that female chastity became an obsession. Despite a certain amount of arbitrariness, the state did not try to soft pedal the issue in general. We also find that state did not display any communal bias in meeting out the punishment for such cases. The author has quoted several sources pertaining to infidelity and chamchori (adultry) in our sources. It is interesting to note that the social issue rested not in the hands of the priestly or Brahmin class, but the state played a significant role in upholding the social and marital morality. Therefore, the author states that besides highlighting the multicultural ethos of India, the study of marital morality of Rajasthan also reveals variations within a region. It raises question on the application of norms of Dharmashastras in a pan India sense. Whatever textual injunctions were there related to women of upper sections, we can see the reality being different from norms that were laid down. We come across several examples of upper caste women not adhering to the norms.
The author has made wide use of primary sources and has presented a rich bibliography. The language of presentation is lucid and interpretative.