The Political Economy of Dowry- A Review

The Political Economy of Dowry: Institutionalization and Expansion in North India by Ranjana Sheel

(New Delhi: Manohar, 1999)

Sati, infanticide and widow-remarriage etc. had been the core issues for legislations and reform in colonial India. These legislations were also important agenda of socio-religious reformers. But the question of dowry, somehow, lacked serious thought and attention. The reformer and the colonial government were choosy enough to select customs in need of reform. Though efforts were made to limit marriage expenditure in north India, dowry was not an agenda for social reform. The implications are clearly visible today. Dowry has grown into monstrous proportions and despite strict legislations in the post-colonial India, it does not seems to die down. Colonial efforts, for instance in the case of female infanticide, sought to be worked out by making minor changes through assertion of punitive power of the state; thereby asserting supposedly superior British morality, without disturbing the social order. (Malhotra, 2002, p.61)

The book under review grapples with the problem of dowry, which has slowly been infecting the entire Indian population, its various castes and classes, especially in the northern plains. The modern phenomenon of dowry reflects a change in the customary system whereby the presentation of gifts has no longer remained voluntary. It needs a serious debate because of mounting gender bias created by this custom. Bearing daughters is viewed as a socio-economic curse, and for girls themselves, it means a subordinate position in the family and society.

The work aims to seek the historical roots of dowry as an institutionalized custom connected with marriage and its present peculiarities and characteristics. It traces the shift in social set-up marked by a gradual move from a relatively egalitarian to patriarchal structure and from a communal to private property. The author looks into the problem of political economy of dowry through five approaches. Firstly she narrates the ancient practice of kanyadana and tries to trace its evolution. Secondly she looks through historical context, the changing meaning of stridhana. Thirdly the institutionalization and expansion of dowry and restructuring of socio-economic order during the colonial period is eulogised. Fourthly the dowry and women’s movement response and fifthly the proactive initiatives of the state are analysed.

The author traces the historical background of the evolution of dowry whereby she reflects the changes which Indian society experienced through changeover from pastoral/tribal society to agricultural dependency. By the middle of the first millennium, tribal egalitarianism had surrendered to the evolution of a system of government. This brought about the development of caste structures out of a variety of inter-relationships. Interestingly, eight types of marriages existed in ancient India. Brahma, Daiva, Arsha and Prajapatya were called dharmya and Asura, Gandhara, Rakshasa and Pisachas were called adharmya forms of marriages. The Brahma form was regarded as the highest and the most ideal form of marriage, though other forms existed simultaneously.

With the emergence of dana as a more accessible form of religious non-reciprocal gift-giving, the hold of elaborate vedic sacrifices started loosing their significance. The importance of gift-giving was exemplified and eulogised in the ancient scriptures. This, perhaps, led to the emergence of kanyadana ideal, as opposed to the gift-receiving as in the case of bride-price of the Asura form of marriage. This also led to the growth of a patriarchal set up. Hence, marriages as a sacrifice of great religious an spiritual merit came to be historically binding on all castes and classes. The marriage rituals defied gift of the bride and gift giving. Sheel highlights attempts to elaborate and standardize the forms of marriage in the ancient texts. The genesis of dowry and its institutionalized setup can thus be traced in the evolution of kanyadana.

The debate on dowry is closely associated with the concept of stridhana. Stridhana was the earliest form of women’s property. Earlier, according to Katyayana, stridhana included all property (whether moveable or immoveable) obtained by a women either as a maiden or at marriage, or after marriage from her parents or from husband and his family (except immoveable property given by husband). From tenth century onwards, although Mitakshara School included any property, Dayabhaga School started excluding immoveable property. However, Sheel remarks here that stridhana cannot be equated with dowry.

In the subsequent years, Brahmanical control and hegemony over social practices increased. With this the caste restrictions grew and formalised customs and codes became inseparable part of brahmanic social order. This further led to preservation of purity whereby virginity and monogamy was emphasised. The birth of a son came to be considered as an expensive luxury. Caste endogamy and class exogamy came to be observed strictly. Thus by the medieval period one starts getting references of dowry as part of the marriage rituals and ceremonies and with kanyadana it began to expand.

Post-colonial scholars have recently come up with research which dwells into the colonial origins dowry. Oldenburg in her recent book ‘Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime’ looks into colonial policies which masculinized the society, thereby giving birth to ‘modern dowry’. Sheel believes that the customary fluidity and diversity in the institution of marriage of the ancient and medieval Indian society was most affected by socio-political and economic changes which accompanied the establishment of the British rule in India.

British embarked on a project of codification and unification of the traditional law into a Hindu Family Law, which was sought to be exercised through Anglo-Indian courts. Sanskrit pundits were attached to the courts and they often magnified the authority of their own texts. According to Sheel, it had serious impact on the institution of marriage and dowry. Brahma form of marriage was institutionalised and led to displacement of several other customary forms of marriages, especially Asura, whereby bride-price was gradually replaced by dowry.

Further, the restructuring of economic order in the British India unleashed newer social forces and speeded up cultural reinforcements. The commercialisation of agriculture, emergence of new market centres along newly introduced railway routes, creation of a service sector for colonial administration, displacement of rural indigenous handicraft industries by urban industries and incorporation of regional economies into a single unified economy linked with the capitalist economy of the world led to the displacement of plural cultural traditions. Introduction of factory system displaced women workers of the household industry and debasement of her worth. The newly emerged rich classes, for instance, now demanded ten times more dowry than they did before because even in respectable families, women lost their traditional occupations.

Sheel says that during the freedom struggle the socio-religious reformers’ agenda lacked the historical understanding of women’s question and hence became synonymous with ‘scriptural interpretations’. They were guided by a limited perception for change and did not challenge the patriarchal structures. The problem of dowry was seldom raised in the national agenda of reform. In the twentieth century, this led to a bitter attack on social reformers and epitomised the anger and helplessness at the inadequate attention paid to the real issues concerning women. The movement, however, slackened and this persuaded women’s groups to undertake studies for comparison and analysis of dowry in India. This led to the expansion of the movement’s focus from women’s actual inheritance rights and access to family resources, attitudinal changes through education, consciousness raising, etc. to immediate measures such as legal, administrative and social aid.

In the final analysis Sheel focuses on the nature of anti-dowry legislation. The Hindu Code Bill, which was introduced for discussion between 1930’s and 1940’s, was the first major attempt to reform and codify Hindu Personal Law. Sheel says that its two major features had crucial bearing in the problem of dowry. These dealt with intestate succession and marriage and sought to provide equal right of property to women. Unfortunately property for women was linked to her marriage. In the decade following independence, the issue of equal inheritance and marriage laws took centre-stage. Finally in 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act was passed. The Act promulgated dowry as a major social evil and attempted to deal with the problem separately from other issues pertaining to women.

The failure of the Act of 1961 emerged out of the approach it envisaged fro itself. The government initiated nothing more that ‘an anti dowry legislation’. The Act assumes that a woman loses the membership of her paternal family after marriage. It reiterated the traditional links between property, patriliny and marriage. According to Sheel, the continued recognition of stridhana as an essential part of marriage and a woman’s well-being and support only perpetuates the patriarchal ideology. She relates the patriarchal state’s miscomprehension of the roots of dowry and its present manifestations for the failure to curb this evil practice.

This book gives a unique historical account of the origins and evolution of dowry and apathy of state initiatives to deal with this menace. It can serve as an excellent source book for researchers who are interested in understanding the political economy of dowry. The present situation necessitates a re-look into these issues and studies the context of its linkages with stridhana, kanyadana, and the political economy of the capitalist economy.

June 2003

References

Malhotra, Anshu. 2002. Gender, Caste, and Religious Identities: Restructuring Class in Colonial Punjab, New Delhi: OUP.

Oldenburg, Veena Talwar. 2003. Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime, New Delhi: OUP.

Sheel, Ranjana. 1999. The Political Economy of Dowry: Institutionalization and Expansion in North India, New Delhi: Manohar.