1977 Corwin Caste Class and the Love Marriage Social Change in India

8/12/2019 1977 Corwin Caste Class and the Love Marriage Social Change in India

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Caste, Class and the Love-Marriage: Social Change in India

Author(s): Lauren A. CorwinSource: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Nov., 1977), pp. 823-831Published by: National Council on Family RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/350485.

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C a s t e , l a s s n d t h Love Marriage:S o c i a l h a n g e n I n d i a

LAUREN A. CORWIN**ClevelandState UniversityThe present study of a small town in rural WestBengal, India, reveals a number oflove-marriages nvolvingindividuals rom castes of distinctly different ranks in thelocal caste hierarchy. Despite the prevailing rule of caste endogamy, inter-castecouples appear toface little difficulty living in a very small town in which one-thirdof the households are of recent village origin. The data suggest that such inter-castemarriages are tolerated because they are not inconsistent with the system of socialranking operating in both the town and the surrounding rural microregion. Thissystem is class-like and an individual's social status in the social hierarchy is basedon the evaluation of multiple ranking-gradients, of which caste is one.

Recent discussions of the caste system inmodern India have stressed its flexibility inregard to occupation and social interaction,especially in the urban setting.' However,most observers agree that caste endogamy iscontinuing, and that the inter-caste mar-riageswhich occur usually involve individualsfrom closely-related subcastes (see Beteille,1966; Goode, 1963; Mandelbaum, 1970;Vatuk, 1972). A survey of households in asmall town in West Bengal has revealed anumber of marriages between individuals ofdistinctly different ranks in the local castehierarchy. The couples involved in suchirregular marriages face no special problemsliving in a small and isolated town where overa third of the households are of recent village

origin. The data suggest that inter-castemarriages are tolerated with little difficultybecause although they break traditional rulesrequiring caste endogamy, they do not comeinto direct conflict with other conceptsinvolving social stratification and familystructure which are characteristic of upper-and upper-middle-class Bengali society. Thispaper examines 16 such love-marriagesencountered in a survey of 500 townhouseholds.2The Setting

Mahishadal is an administrative centerlocated about 75 miles southwest of Calcutta.In 1970, its population was about 7,000.Although it was only officially designated asan urban center in 1961, Mahishadal hasbeen functioning as an urban center for overa century, as it served as headquarters for anexpanding Raj Estate. The Mahishadal Raj

'See Hardgrave, Jr. (1970) and Gould (1970). Of par-ticular interest are the discussions of Beteille (1967),Damle (1968), Marriott(1968a, 1968b)and Lynch (1968).Although their focus is on the functions of caste in a citysetting, similar flexibility was observed in the rural town(a minimal urban center) where fieldwork was con-ducted.

*Field research in India was carried out in 1968 and1969 and was supported by a Fulbright-Hays Grant. Apreliminary version of this paper was presented at theAnnual Meeting of the American Anthropological Asso-ciation in New Orleans in 1973.**Department of Anthropology, Cleveland State Uni-versity, Cleveland, Ohio 44115.

20Other recorded marriages that might be consideredinter-caste have not been included for analysis in thispaper. Excluded were marriagesbetween Mahishyas, thelocally-dominant cultivating caste, and Vaisnavas, whoappear in Mahishadal to comprise three distinct groups:(1) an endogamous caste associated with religious musicas a traditional occupation; (2) a quasi-caste recruitingmembership from former members of other castes,including offspring of illicit unions; and (3) a Vaisnavareligious sect within the Mahishya caste.November 1977 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 823


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TABLE 1. CASTE DISTRIBUTION OF 500 MAHISHADAL HOUSEHOLDSCaste Traditional Occupation Number of Households

1. Mahishyaa Cultivator 1602. Muslim (Religious Group) 733. Kayastha Writer 274. Rarhi Sreni Brahman (Traditionally Priest and Religious Preceptor) 205. Baisnab (Vaisnava) Religious Sect recruited from other castes 206. Hari-Keora Scavenger 207. Teli Oilpresser 198. Utkal Brahman (Traditionally Priest) 189. Paschima Brahman (North Indian) 1810. Karmakar Blacksmith 1611. Malakar Garland-Maker 1512. Tantubai Weaver 1413. Madhya Sreni Brahman (Traditionally Priest and Religious Preceptor) 1114. Kumor Potter 1115. Muchi Leatherworker 916. Kshatriya-Brahman (North Indian - Cultivators) 617. Namasudra Cultivator 618. Dhopa Washerman 519. BarendraBrahman (Traditionally Priest and Religious Preceptor) 420. Karan Oriya Writer 321. Napit Barber 3

22. Chutahar Carpenter 323. Methor Scavenger 324. Baidya Doctor-Writer 325. Bagdi Field Laborer 226. Tili Oilpresser-Grocer 227. Bene and Swarnakar Goldsmith 228. Nepali (Ethnic Group) 229. Saha Distiller 230. Tambuli Trader 131. Jugi Weaver Brahman 132. Pandra-Kshatriya Basketmaker-Drummer 1aThe Mahishya cultivator caste is the dominant caste in Southeastern Midnapore and comprises the bulk of thevillage population (see Nicholas, 1968).

Estate was founded in the early 17th century,when a Pascima Brahman from North Indiawas given a small grant of land as a rewardfor loyal service in the Moghul army. Heestablished a successful market at a favorablelocation along the river, and was soon able toexpand his land holding when he replaced alocal zamindar who was unable to meet therevenue demands of the Moghuls. From thesmall initial grant in 1600, successive genera-tions of Rajas 3 were able to enlarge theestate to encompass almost 400 square milesat Zamindari Abolition some 350 years later.The Contemporary Town

The present population of the town reflectsits history as a Royal Center. Thirty-twocastes were encountered in the HouseholdSurvey, and representatives of over 40 casteswere included in various surveys of the town

bazaar. The population of the town contrastssharply with that of typical villages of thelocal region in both its extreme diversity ofcastes, and the distribution of population bycaste (see Table 1). The history ofMahishadal as a Royal center and the lack ofcaste stratification characteristic of the socialstructure of eastern Midnapore have bothcontributed to the evident general lack ofconcern with caste identity in daily town life(Nicholas, 1961, 1963, 1968). This lack ofconcern is reflected in the concensus castehierarchy drawn up by town informants.When 56 informants were asked to rank 36castes, there was no caste which all placed inan identical position in the hierarchy (seeTables 2 and 3).4Town residents tend to be involved inurban occupations. Household heads aremore likely to be government employees,professionals, businessmen or salaried em-ployees than they are to be cultivators or3Thetitle Raja was neverformallyrecognized by theBritish, who used the title HonoraryRaja in referenceto the Mahishadal Raj family. Local people refer to thehead of the Raj family as the Raja. 'The technique used to arrive at the local concensuscaste hierarchy is described in Marriott (1968).

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TABLE 2. THE SYSTEM OF CASTE STRATIFICA-TION IN MAHISHADAL TOWNGroup PercentCaste of Population

1. Rarhi Sreni Brahman2. Madhya Sreni Brahman A3. Paschima Brahman4. Utkal Brahman 14.25. BarendraBrahman1. Baisnab (Vaisvava)2. Kayastha B3. Baidya4. Kshatriya Brahman(Rajput?) 43.25. Mahishya1. Malakar2. Karmakar C3. Kumor4. Swarnakar 27.45. Karan6. Teli7. Tili8. Tambuli9. Napit10. Chutahar11. Tantubai12. Saha13. Jugi14. Dhopa15. Namasudra16. Bagdi17. Nepali18. Hari-Keora19. Muchi20. Pandra-Kshatriya (Dom)1. Methor D E1. Muslim 0 6 i 14.6

Note: The system of caste stratification characteristicof Mahishadal town bears a striking resemblance tothat characteristic of villages in the locality, whichtypically contain representatives of five or six castes,with the Mahishya cultivators forming up to 80 per-cent of the population (See Nicholas, 1968).

artisans (see Table 4). A sizable proportion ofthe town's lower class is engaged in labor on adaily basis. Such labor is both urban andrural. In the former case, men seek work ascoolies, rickshaw-pullers or in construction.If rurally-oriented, they seek work as agri-cultural laborers. Agricultural employmenton a daily basis is usually available onlyduring the transplanting and harvestingseasons.Even though most town household headshave primary occupations which are notassociated with cultivation, agriculture con-tinues to be important in the town economy.Many new town households are subunits ofcoparcenary joint families based in nearbyvillages, and continue to own and manageagricultural land. Those high status towns-

TABLE 3. CASTE POPULATION OF MAHISHA-DAL ARRANGED ACCORDING TO TRADITIONALRANKING SYSTEMI. Brahmans

1. Barendra2. Rarhi Sreni3. Madhya Sreni4. Paschima5. Utkal Sreni

II. High Castes (Castes ranking aboveclean sudras)6. Baidya7. Kayastha8. Karan9. Kshatriya Brahman (Rajput?)

III. Clean Sudras10. Karmakar11. Kumor12. Malakar13. Napit14. Tantubai15. Teli16. Tili17. Tambuli

IV. Clean Sudras with Degraded Brahmans18. Mahishya

V. Unclean Sudras19. Jugi20. Saha V21. Swarnakar22. Chutahar

VI. Low Castes Abstaining from Beef,Pork,and Fowl23. Bagdi VI24. Dhopa25. Namasudra

VII. Low Castes-Unclean Feeders26. MuchiVI27. Pandrashatriya

VIII. Scavenger Castes28. Hari-Keora VIII29.Methor

IX. Non-Hindu30.MuslimX. Other

31. Vaisnava Religious Devotees32. Nepali

men who own no land tend to be from outsidethe local region, and are usually members ofthe Brahman, Baidya and Kayastha castes,the three highest-ranking castes in Bengal. Itis not just coincidence that most of the love-marriages occurring in Mahishadal involvemales from the outsider high castes whichdominate the upper class of the town.November 1977 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 825


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TABLE 4. PRIMARY OCCUPATIONS OF 500 MA-HISHADAL HOUSEHOLD HEADS ARRANGED AC-CORDING TO PRESTIGE IN THE TOWNNumber ofOccupation Households

Government Official 17Professional 60DoctorCollege ProfessorTeacherEngineeretc.White-Collar Salaried Employee 54Homeworkmanagement of property fromhome office 20

Businessman 49Other Salaried Employee 36Cultivation, Including Sharecropping 84Artisana 40Otherb 13Menial Salaried Employee 19Unskilled Labor 103Unemployed 5aAll arts and crafts including those associated with par-ticular castes.bA mixed category including: traditional occupations,such as priest; service occupations, such as barber andwasherman; and other occupations, such as musician,actor, and artist.

CASTE AND CLASS IN THE TOWNResidents of Mahishadal show littleconcern with caste in daily life. Fewtownsmen perform occupations that aretraditionally caste-associated, and althoughthere are some small all-Muslim enclaves,neighborhoods are not organized on a caste-basis.For the urban-oriented population (thetown population does include a number ofpeasant agriculturalists), broadly definedsocial classes provide the basic frame ofreference for behavior. Occupation, with itseducational requirements, is the maindeterminant of class status in the town.Friendships tend to develop between fellowemployees in offices and educational institu-tions and between businessmen who meetfrequentlyto discuss common interests. Closeties develop between families who areneighbors in the many small apartmentbuildings now being constructed in the town.Various social clubs exist to providestructured recreation, and all of these volun-tary organizations recruit members fromspecific classes in which occupation and

education are more important than caste.There is no organization in the town thatrecruits members solely on the basis of caste.CASTE AND MARRIAGE

Townsmen of all ages frequently voice neg-ative opinions about the caste system ingeneral. Although most informants concedethat castes exist, they also insist that castedoesn't count. Young and educatedinformants often claim that caste is dyingout, and say that if they fell in love with agirl of a different caste, they would marryhereven if their parents disapproved.It appears that statements against caste aremade most frequently by those youths whowish to publicize their radical viewsconcerning the traditional social order, andthe need for social and political change. How-ever, previous research has shown Bengalis tobe particularly progressive with regard toconcern with the traditional rules of caste.5 Ingeneral, young educated urbanites haveappeared to be most open to the idea oflove-marriages, but few have translatedtheir ideals into action. Besides facing theunited opposition of family, caste group, andneighbors, even among progressive and edu-cated city families, young people rarely havethe opportunity to meet possible marriagepartners on their own (Vatuk, 1972:88).In the tiny town of Mahishadal, there aremany ways for young people to meet possiblemarriage partners. Boys and girls attendseparate high schools, but until 1969 only onecollege existed in the town. Most femalestudents lived with relatives residing in thetown, but there was considerable opportunityfor boys and girls to meet between classes orin college-sponsored activities. In 1969, aseparate Girls' College was opened on theother side of the town. The new college has apredominantly female faculty and offerscourses in the humanities and social sciences.

SEarlier surveys by the Indian Institute of PublicOpinion showed that 56 percent of the West Bengalivillagers and 66 percent of the Calcuttans interviewedwould take food from a person of lowercaste, and that 28percent of the villagers and 38 percent of the Calcuttanswould approveof a marriage between a near relative anda person of lower caste. In a survey asking aboutpersonalchoice in marriage arrangements, 29 percent ofthe rural sample and 38 percent of the Calcuttansendorsed the principle of freedom of choice, while only12 percent of a Delhi sample did so.826 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY November 1977


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TABLE 5. LOVE-MARRIAGES IN MAHISHADALMarriageNumber Caste of Male Caste of Female

Pascima Brahman* Rarhi Brahman2.** Pascima Brahman* Barendra Brahman3.** Mahishya* Kayastha4.*** Namasudra* Rarhi Brahman*5. Kayastha* Rarhi Brahman6.** Rarhi Brahman Mahishya7.** Rarhi Brahman Mahishya*8.*** Rarhi Brahman* Swarnakar9.** Pascima Brahman* Rarhi Brahman10.*** Utkal Brahman* Mahishya*11. Rarhi Brahman Karmakar*12.** BarendraBrahman Rarhi Brahman13.** Rarhi Brahman Kayastha14.** Rarhi Brahman Madhya-Sreni Brahman15.** Rarhi Brahman Rarhi Brahman16.** Rarhi Brahman Rarhi Brahman*Born or raised in Mahishadal.**Couple residing in Mahishadal.***Consider town regularresidence.Female science majors must continue toattend the old Raj College.Despite the opening of the Girls' College,young people of both sexes continue to meetwith relative ease as members of groups thatare socially approved in middle-class Bengalisociety--political, religious, social welfare,and cultural associations. Female participa-tion in such organizations is increasing (theirbrothers are also members) and it isbecoming increasingly easy for young peopleto meet freely.

SIXTEEN LOVE-MARRIAGESThe 16 marriages examined here include14 inter-caste marriages and two that arecaste endogamous, but were based onpersonal choice (see Table 5). In Mahishadal,all of these marriages are referred to by theterm love-marriage in English.6The 16 love-marriages include eightinvolvingtown males and four involving townfemales. In two cases both parties were from

the town. All of the males involved in love-

marriages were engaged in prestigious occu-pations in Mahishadal town or outside, andthey married girls from families of similarstatus. Most of the females involved in love-marriages had finished high school, andhalf were attending college when theymarried. Several had finished college andwere currently employed as school teachers.A striking characteristic of the couplesinvolved in love-marriages is their youth.Most of the couples have no children and onlyone couple has children of highschool age.The relative youth of the couples involved inlove-marriages indicates that the wide-spread idea that the number of inter-castemarriages is increasing has some basis inreality. This appears to be due in part to thelegalization of a secular registered marriagewhich does not requirethat the parties identifythemselves by caste and which does not re-quire parental consent. (This was part of theHindu Marriage Act of 1955.) The possibilityof a Registered Marriage has given Mahisha-dal youth the power to translate their statedideals about freedom of choice into reality.At the same time, increasing frustrationaboutsocial and economic conditions has led manymiddle-class youths to take a radical approachto the traditional value system. As overtmembership in a radical leftist political groupis an explicit statement of dissatisfaction withthe political establishment, forming a lovemarriage can be seen as an explicit state-ment of dissatisfaction with the traditionalway of life. A youth who chooses to under-take a love-marriage generally has openand complete support from his friends.

6Some love-marriages are referred to as semi-arranged (in English). These are love-marriages inwhich parental approval was obtained prior to thewedding. The families involved then made a pretense offollowing proper form, including betrothal, dowry, areligious wedding ceremony and a public feast. Usuallyonly very close relatives knew that the match itself wasbased on personal choice. Such marriages usuallyinvolved people of the same caste or of closely-relatedsubcastes (i.e., other kinds of Brahmans), although inCalcutta semi-arranged marriages sometimes involvepeople from distinctly different caste ranks.

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THREE LOVE-MARRIAGESThe young people of Mahishadal are awarethat there has been change in the general atti-tude toward nontraditional marriages. Theparents of the present college students were

all married in arranged marriages followingtraditional custom, and probably gave littleserious thought to alternative forms of mar-riage. College students discuss love,dating and love-marriages openly,although little of their talk is translated intoaction. Few college students or recent gradu-ates feel that marriage for love is basicallywrong. Their parents disagree: they state thatlove alone is not enough to ensure that acouple is well-matched, and that arrangedmarriages lead to a happier married life. Butfew parents state categorically that theywould refuse to recognize a love-marriagemade by a son or daughter, even if it were aninter-castemarriage. They state their feelingsin terms of preference -they would pre-fer that their children have arranged (andcaste-endogamous) marriages. They admitthat they would be displeased with a love-marriage, but are unwilling to committhemselves to a course of action should such amarriage take place.In fact, the reaction of parents to love-marriages is changing. A generation ago, alove-marriage might have meant perma-nent estrangement from both sets of parents.The chances of a love-marriage beingsocially accepted were minimal.One instance of an unsuccessful love-marriage occurred 15 to 18 years earlier,before secular Registered Marriages werepossible. The incident involved two studentsat the newly-founded Raj College. The girlwas from a wealthy village family ofMahishya caste, and lived with her uncle'sfamily in town while attending college. Theboy, also Mahishya, was from a village familyof moderate means. He lived in one of thecollege dorms. The couple met in classes andfell in love. They expressed their feelings in along series of love letters. Because of theprominence of the girl's relatives in the town,they carefully avoided any compromisingsituations. They met only in the presence ofother people-sympathetic friends-and saweach other only on the college grounds, neverin the town. When after several months theydecided to marry, the boy confided in his

mother's sister, who lived in a nearby village,and she arranged for a Hindu wedding cere-mony to take place secretly at her home. Thewedding was planned to coincide with a puja,when the college would be closed for vaca-tion. When the boy left the dorm he was notmissed. The girl went to see the puja sightswith college girl friends who knew of herplans. The girls became separated in acrowded bazaar. Eventually, the would-bebride reached the village where her groomwas waiting and the couple was married by aBrahman priest.The uncle notified the police of his niece'sdisappearance. The next morning some peas-ants coming to market informed him of herwhereabouts and of her marriage. The policewere sent to arrest the couple. The groom wasjailed and the bride was released in thecustody of her uncle. A physician certifiedthat she was no longer a virgin. The girl'sfamily filed suit against the boy, claimingthat the girl had been abducted, raped, andforced to marry against her own wishes. Itwas claimed that the boy was of a poor familyand had little to offer the girl, and that hisactions had ruined her chances of making aproper match. However, when the letters ofthe couple were produced as evidence, thejudge decided that the girl had gone with theboy willingly. It was recommended that thelove-marriage be recognized, and that thecouple set up a proper household.The groom then refused to accept the girlas his wife. He claimed that the actions of herfamily had caused him public humiliationand had effectively ruined his chances for asuccessful career. The marriage was an-nulled. Some versions of this story say thatthe girl was found to be pregnant and anabortion was arranged for. A few monthsafter the love-marriage was annulled, amarriage was arranged for the girl in a verydistant village. At this point all contact withher Mahishadal friends ended.

Interpretations of this story vary accordingto the generation of the informants. Parentstend to support the action of the girl's familyin attempting to provide a secure future forher. Their college-age offspring tend tosympathize with the couple, and feel that theaction of the boy in refusing to accept the girlas his wife was justified by the humiliation towhich he had been subjected. Both genera-tions agree that a love-marriage would not828 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY November 1977


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create such complications today.In 1968, a Brahman friend who ran a suc-cessful town business confided that he wasplanning to marry a girl he had met in thetown, a Mahishya student at the college. Hesaid that they were in love and that she wouldmake a good wife for him. They planned to goto Calcutta for a Registered Marriage.Several friends, sworn to secrecy, wouldaccompany them to act as witnesses.Several weeks later the couple was marriedin Calcutta. On their way home, the groomwent to inform his parents of the marriageand the bride went to tell hers. Each took afriend along for moral support. Both sets ofparents reacted with anger, denouncing thecouple, each blaming the other's child. Thecouple quietly returned to Mahishadal,

disowned by their parents, but the groompredicted reconciliation. The couple set uphousekeeping and resumed a normal sched-ule. Within a few months both sets of parentshad accepted the marriage, which after allwas a fait accompli and perfectly legal. Thegroom continued as a business partner of hisfather and met with him frequently. Hisfamily came to like the bride, despite herlower-caste status. The bride's parents alsoaccepted the marriage. A few months afterthe marriage, the bride's younger sistersspent a weekend visiting the couple inMahishadal.In 1969, a local teacher permitted hisdaughter to marrythe boy she loved, a collegestudent who lived in a nearby hostel. Thewedding consisted of a quiet Hindu ceremonyand was conducted in the girl's home. Thebride went to live with her husband's familyin a nearbyvillage, and he returned to classesand continued to live in a hostel. The teacherlater admitted to having mixed feelings aboutthe marriage. He had permitted it because hewas afraid that if he did not give his consent,his daughter might have gone to Calcutta fora Registered Marriage. Also, although he wasquite certain that no improprieties hadoccurred, the couple was beginning to attractattention. He had also approved of the matchbecause the boy was of a Brahman caste. Heconcluded that, all factors considered, themarriage had not been a bad match. Thecouple was in love, they were well suited toeach other, they were both Brahmans(although technically of different castes), andbecause it was a love-marriage, his

daughter had been given only a token dowry.Since he had several other daughters to bemarried, the economic benefits to be derivedfrom approving of the match were consider-able.LOVE-MARRIAGES INMAHISHADAL TOWN

These three cases illustrate some of thebasic principles that explain both the increas-ing number of love-marriages occurring inthe town, and the increasing ease with whichsuch marriages are accepted.1. The legalization of secular RegisteredMarriage which does not require parentalconsent has provided a psychological weaponwith which to counter parental opposition.2. The effectiveness of unified public dis-approval as a negative sanction is decreasingas educated youth become more residentiallymobile in response to the demands of employ-ment. It is not unlikely that an inter-castecouple will reside in a separate householdsimply because the male's occupationrequires permanent residence far from hisfamily home. The chances that an educatedcouple will reside separately is increasing dueto the increasing competition for jobsconsidered suitable for college graduates.3. Inter-caste couples tend to be fromeducated upper-middle class families, andmost frequently reside in urban centersbecause of employment. In Mahishadal, atown which constitutes what must be con-sidered as a minimal urban center, there is ageneral lack of concern about caste identity indaily life. Inter-caste couples face littledifficulty in leading a normal social life in thissmall town, and probably would face lessdifficulty in larger towns and cities.4. Most of the females involved in

love-marriages, inter-caste or otherwise,have had a fair amount of education.Families that send their daughters to collegetend to be: progressive in outlook; leastlikely to attempt drastic measures to preventa love-marriage from taking place; andmost likely to accept such a marriage as afaitaccompli.5. The males involved in love-marriagesare generally employed or in the final stagesof a college education. They usually have thepractical means to set up a separate house-hold if their parents should refuse to accept alove-marriage. This potential financialNovember 1977 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 829


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TABLE 6. CASTE RANK IN MAHISHADAL LOVE-MARRIAGESMarriage Rank in Local Caste Hierarchy Rank in Traditional Caste HierarchyNumber Male Female Male Female Form of Marriage1. A A I I Isogamy2. A A I I Isogamy3. B B IV II Hypogamy4. C A VI I Hypogamy5. B A II I Hypogamy6. A B I IV Hypergamy7. A B I IV Hypergamy8. A C I V Hypergamy9. A A I I Isogamy10. A B I IV Hypergamy1I. A C I III Hypergamy12. A A I I Isogamy13. A B I II Hypergamy14. A A I I Isogamy15. A A I I Isogamy16. A A I I Isogamy

independence may be viewed as anotherpsychological weapon with which to induceparental consent.

INTER-CASTE COUPLES ANDTHEIR PARENTSThe five principles already listed serve inpart to explain why love-marriages areincreasing in frequency and why they areaccepted more readily by society in general.7In fact, most inter-caste marriages do notlead to estrangement from parents. In onlyone of the 16 marriages studied did a familyrefuse to accept a love-marriage. In thiscase, in which a Kayastha boy had married aBrahman girl, the boy's father declared himdead and broke off all communication withhis son. (Even in this case the break was notcomplete, for the boy's mother and sistermanaged to keep in touch with the couplesecretly.)After making a love-marriage, mostcouples continue to maintain a normalrelationship with their families with regard toproperty-holding and inheritance, and somecouples (even inter-caste couples) reside injoint households. The fact that most couplesreside separately reflects the residentialmobility demanded by employment, rather

than estrangement from family. Fifteen of the16 couples studied resumed regular contactwith at least the male's family, visitingparents for important festivals and familycelebrations. Most love-marriages areeventually accepted and life goes on fairlynormally. The data suggest that it is the resi-dential flexibility of the urban elite, who aremost frequently involved in love-marriages,that allows the acceptance of irregularmarriages with a minimum of friction.In addition to the five principles discussedabove, another factor is involved in contrib-uting to the probability that parents willeventually accept a love-marriage, evenwhen it is inter-caste.6. Most inter-caste marriages do notinvolve any drastic deviation from theexpected status relationship between bride'sand groom's families. The two families areideally of equal social status viewed in termsof social class, and if there is anydifference instatus, the groom's family should be of slight-ly higher status than the bride's. Thelove-marriages studied in Mahishadal areconsistent with the preferred pattern of classisogamy, and only three cases of caste hypo-gamy were encountered (see Table 6). Onecase involveda boy who was declared dead byhis father. The second involved a low castemale who was married to a Brahman girl.The couple lived where the husband wasemployed, but were part of an economically-joint family based in Mahishadal. In the thirdcase, a high-caste bride was living with herlower-caste in-laws in Mahishadal andworking as a school teacher, while herhusband was employed outside of the locality.

7A recent paper indicates that the increase ininter-caste marriages observed in Mahishadal reflects ageneral trend in West Bengal. In 1955, 700 inter-castemarriages wererecorded in urban West Bengal. In 1969,the number was 5800 (Sarkar, 1972). The Hindu Mar-riage Act of 1955 made secular Registered Marriageslegal.830 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY November 1977


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CONCLUSIONOne of the basic rules governing marriageamong Bengali Hindus is caste endogamy.Arranged marriages are considered to beproper and to provide a more solid basis for

marital happiness than love alone. Most mar-riages in the small town of Mahishadal pro-ceed according to these rules, but exceptionsdo occur. Most love-marriages involvebreaking the traditional rules of casteendogamy, but in Mahishadal they do notappear to cause serious disruption of familyties. The possibility of a Registered Marriagewithout parental consent has given youngpeople a legal weapon to use against parentswho oppose their wishes. At the same time,increasing mobility in the course of employ-ment, and the residential dispersal of familymembers that this is causing, has reduced theeffectiveness of united public opposition tothe match as an effective negative sanction.Although most marriagescontinue to be botharranged and caste-endogamous, few mem-bers of the urban elite now view inter-castemarriage as an impossibility.

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1977 Corwin Caste Class and the Love Marriage Social Change in India

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