FEMALE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND DOWRY: A STUDY OF KASHMIR
Keywords:
Inheritance rights, dowry, marriage, marriage paymentsAbstract
Marriage payments form an important part of every society. They do not exist in vacuum. They are related to other institutions. According to the functionalist perspective, no practice can survive in society if it does not fulfill the needs of the society. Therefore, it is important to know about the institutional linkages or social anatomy of marriage payments and the kind of functions and dysfunctions they perform. There are various explanations that dowry is given to daughters in lieu of parental property as they are denied of it according to mitakshara law in Hinduism but the case of Muslims is different i.e. they are entitled for parental property rights as per Islamic law. William J. Goody holds the belief that dowry is a sort of pre-mortem inheritance i.e. the female rights in parental property, which is given in the form of dowry on marriages. There are various other explanations to support that dowry is given to daughters in lieu of inheritance rights. The case of Kashmir is different. Females are given rights to the property as per the Islamic rule. It shows no connection with the dowry payments as both dowry and parental property is given to girls. What then makes dowry practice precarious among Shias. The study therefore endeavors to look for other factors responsible for dowry practice other than inheritance rights.
Downloads
References
Carroll, Lucy. 1991. “Daughter’s Right of Inheritance in India: A Perspective as the Problem of Dowry”, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp.791-809.
Chetty, Raj.2006. “On the evolution of dowry in India”, http://www.achi.org/ achi/FANS articles evolution.html.
Comaroff, John (ed.).1980. The Meaning of Marriage Payments, London: Academic Press.
Goody, W.J. 1973. “Bride Wealth and Dowry in Africa and Eurasia”, in W.J. Goody and S.J. Tambiah (ed.). Bride wealth and Dowry, London: Cambridge University.
Klaas, Vander. Veen.1972. I give Thee my Daughter: a Study of Marriage and Hierarchy among the Anavil Brahmins of South Gujarat, Assen: Royal Van Goreum.
Madan, T.N. 1975. “Structural Implications of Marriage in North India: Wife givers and wife takers among the Pandits of Kashmiri”, Contributions to Indian Sociology (New Series), Vol. 27, No.1, pp.217-243.
Srinivas, M.N. 1983. Some Reflections on Dowry, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Tambiah, Stanley.J.1973. “Dowry and Bride Wealth and the Property rights of women in South Asia”, in W.J, Goody and Stanley, J. Tambiah (ed.). Bride Wealth and Dowry, London: Cambridge University Press.
Upadhya, Carol. B.1990. “Dowry and Women’s Property in Coastal Andhra Pradesh”, Contributions to Indian Sociology (New Series), Vol. 24, No.1, pp.29-59.
Banerjee, Kakoli.1999. “Gender Stratification and the contemporary marriage market in India”, Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp.648-675.
