are, indeed, four prescribed forms--all honourable, and various only in
detail. A fifth is, when the bridegroom, contrary to the sacred law,
traffics for a girl. Another is, when a captive, left helpless in a
man’s power, is forced to become the companion of his bed. And a last
is, when a girl is ravished, when surprised asleep, and taken off or
deluded to the house of a new master.
Marriage is viewed as a religious duty by the Hindus. A few are
exempted, under special circumstances, from the fulfilment of this
sacred obligation. The rules of law enacted with respect to it apply
chiefly to affairs of caste, with which we have here little to do. It
is forbidden to purchase a wife for money, except under particular
conditions; but the young girls have little share in their own destiny,
being usually betrothed while very young. The father has the disposal
of them until three years after the age of puberty, when it is reckoned
disgraceful for her to be single, and then she may choose a partner for
herself. Few, however, will marry a maiden so old. In Bahar the girl,
betrothed while an infant, is not permitted to enter her husband’s
house until mature, when she is conducted thither with as much ceremony
as the circumstances of the family will allow. In Bengal the couple are
pledged with many rites and a profusion of expense. The bride is taken
to her husband’s house, remains there a little while, and then goes
home for a short period, but the whole is consummated as soon after
ten years of age as practicable. The timid effeminate Bengalee appears
of a sensual character, and regards his wife as little more than the
instrument of his pleasure. A better state of things is now beginning
to prevail there, in consequence of the efforts made by the Company;
but under the old system, not one female in twenty thousand was allowed
to acquire the least particle of learning. The natives excuse or
justify this fact,--first, by the prohibition against educating girls
which are contained in their sacred books; and secondly, by declaring
that many women would, did they possess those means of intrigue, run
riot in profligacy and vice.
The birth of a daughter being throughout the East, and especially in
Bengal, regarded as less auspicious than that of a son, indicates a
low position of the sex. From that moment her parents are solicitous
to settle her, so that she is often in infancy pledged for life.
The character of the bridegroom is of little consequence. Matches,
consequently, often prove unhappy, especially where the jealousy or
despotism of the husband forces the woman to live in seclusion, and
mainly within the private recesses of the zenana. This, however, is
not the general custom, women being allowed to appear at festivals and
jubilees. Even the wives of respectable Hindus frequently quit the
interior apartments set aside for them, and go to bathe in the waters
of the Ganges or some other holy stream. The poorer, of course, who
assign a share of labour to their wives, cannot seclude them if they
would, for the expense of confinement is not inconsiderable.
The wife waits on her husband, and is treated with very partial
confidence. In the lower ranks she is employed to prepare cow-dung for
fuel, to fetch water, to make purchases in the markets, and perform
the drudgery of the house, though this is no more than is done by
the poorer classes in Europe. The rich woman adorns herself, curls
her hair, listens to the gossip of her slaves, and indulges in what
amusements may be within her reach. It may be imagined that the child
or wife, uneducated and without a gleam of light in her mind, amuses
herself by a thousand trivial devices. The home is thus not unhappy,
unless the husband be naturally harsh, or the house be ruled by a
tyrannical mother-in-law, which is often the case. Matches founded
upon a mutual attachment are very rare, but by no means unknown. The
romances of the Hindus are in many cases founded on them. The general
plan, however, is for the parties to be betrothed in childhood.
When they perform the ceremonies of marriage they are complete
strangers to each other; yet Hindu wives are, on the whole, faithful.
When the husband finds himself united to a woman who is hateful to him,
he neglects her altogether, and takes another or a concubine, though
this is against the ancient law. In many things, however, the practice
of this nation, especially among the ruder classes, is opposed to that
extraordinary sacred code. However, if he have no children, he adopts
this plan of ensuring them, and frequently conceals the facts for a
long time from his wife. Polygamy causes great troubles in the Bengalee
households. A man is not allowed by law to take a new partner after
fifty, but this regulation is observed by few. These customs, together
with the facility of divorce--a privilege from which the female sex is
excluded--contribute to the demoralization of society. A man calling
his wife _mother_, by that act renounces her, and is thenceforward free
from the tie. A barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year; she
whose children are all dead in the birth; she who bears only daughters,
in the eleventh; while she who is of an unkind disposition may be
divorced without delay. The whole code, composed by the priestly order,
is unjust to the sex.
Of the general character of the female sex in Hindustan very
exaggerated ideas commonly prevail. It is represented as corrupted
throughout by the obscenity and indecency of the public religion and
the institutions framed by priests. It is true the Hindu Pantheon is
a representation of the lowest vices, and that the manners of the
people are by no means delicate; yet the respectable class of women
appear chaste, orderly, modest, and decorous. The fair muscular race
of Afghanistan has indeed been depicted in favourable contrast to the
dark and slim race of Bengal, but this need suppose no characteristic
depravity in the latter, for the hardy mountaineers are celebrated
for their contempt of sensual pleasures. Other parts of India exhibit
their peculiar features. Among the rude Mughs of Arracan--a hunting
and fishing, as well as cultivating, and formerly a predatory
tribe--when a man wants money he pawns his wife for a certain sum, or
transfers her altogether. In the southern parts of the Peninsula and
the Mysore, manners are more licentious, and women are more debased.
There polygamy has always been practised by the powerful and wealthy
whose means enabled them to enjoy indulgences discouraged by the
precepts of the ancient law. Buchanan, travelling towards the close
of the eighteenth century, found about 80 concubines secluded in the
palace of Tippoo Sultan, at Seringapatam. These were attended by more
than 500 handmaids. The same traveller made a diligent inquiry into
the manners of the various communities he visited. Among the Teliga
Divangas, followers of Siva, a man was allowed to take many wives, but
not to hurt them, or divorce them, except for adultery. It was once
the practice for the widow to bury herself alive with the body of her
husband.
The Shaynagas of Canara were not allowed to take a second wife unless
the first had died, or had no children. The Corannas permitted
polygamy, and girls were purchased for money. Adultery was punished
by a beating or by a divorce, in which case the guilty wife might
marry whom she pleased. The Panchalaru had similar laws, and so indeed
had many other tribes. One of the most general rules was, that a
woman could not be divorced except for faithless conduct. Widows were
sometimes destroyed. Among the Bherid and many others, marriage was
contracted, under obligation, before the age of puberty. If a girl
remained single beyond that age, no credit was given to her virginity;
she was declared incapable of marriage, and usually took resource in
prostitution.
The severe laws against violating the law of chastity have not, in
India, been formed so much for the protection of morals, as for
preserving the boundaries of castes. Women are severely punished for
holding intercourse with a man of superior caste; that is, if the
intrigue be discovered, for there is no doubt that such intrigues
frequently occur.
Among the Woddas the laws of marriage were by no means so stringent
as among many other tribes visited by Buchanan. Women abounded. Every
man had as many wives as he pleased. They all laboured for him; and if
one was lazy she was divorced, though left free to marry again; she
also might leave him if hardly treated, but could not contract a new
engagement without his consent.
The Carruburru permitted adulteresses to live with any man who would
keep them, provided their husbands did not immediately desire revenge.
They were despised, but not altogether cast out from the communion
of social life. The children of concubines enjoyed equal rights with
those of real wives. That they were a gross people is proved by the
fact that adultery was sometimes winked at in an industrious woman, too
valuable as a servant to lose. The more refined idea, however, which
prevailed among them of not allowing a girl to marry until naturally
marriageable, was looked upon by members of the higher castes as a
beastly depravity.
Among the Rajpoots women are not degraded; they hold a higher position.
Ladies of rank are, indeed, secluded, but more from ideas of dignity
and etiquette than sentiments of jealousy or the habit of despotism.
There is an air of chivalry in some of their customs. A woman of high
station, threatened with danger, sometimes sent to any youth whom
she might admire the present of a bracelet. He was then called her
“bracelet-bound brother,” and was expected to defend her under all
circumstances, even at the hazard of his life.
Men, it has been remarked, make the laws--women make the manners--of a
country. In Rajasthan, the few women reared exercised great influence
on the actions, habitudes, and tastes of the men. The Rajpoot consults
his wife on every important occasion; and, much as we are given to
lament the condition of these women, it is by no means so debased as
many writers would persuade us to imagine. Marriage contracts which
often, as among the Jews, took place at the well, where the young girls
assembled to draw water and converse, were, in frequent instances, the
commencement of a happy life. The precepts of Menu have been quoted
to show the contempt of the sex inculcated by the sacred books. His
censures on a class, however, have been taken as his description of
all womankind--but falsely; for the Rajpoot proverbs on this subject
are derived from those famous institutes. The mouth of a woman, we
find there, is constantly pure. Her name should be chosen graceful
and euphonous, resembling a word of benediction. When they are
honoured, the gods are pleased; when they are dishonoured, the gods are
offended. The language of another sage was full of rich, and, perhaps,
exaggerated sentiment. “Strike not, even with a blossom, a wife guilty
of a hundred faults.” The religious maxims laid down for married
couples is equally elevated. “Let mutual fidelity continue until
death.” Intermarriage is prohibited in the same clan, or even tribe,
though the patronymic may have been lost for centuries. Eight hundred
years had divided the two branches of one famous house, yet an alliance
between them was prohibited as incestuous.
Pregnant women and maidens are in Rajpootana treated with great
tenderness and respect. Many women in this country can read and write.
They cannot govern actually; but indirectly as regents, several of them
have equalled in vigour and tyranny any of the masculine tyrants for
which Asia is so celebrated. Polygamy has caused many troubles in the
country; and at a remote period in its history we discover an instance
of polyandrism.
One of the modified systems we have alluded to exists in Sindh and the
Indian provinces of Beluchistan. Little gifted by nature, the Beluchi
women are the servants of their husbands, and labour while their lords
are feasting or sleeping. Nevertheless, when, under the destructive
tyranny of the Amirs, a foray was about to be undertaken, or any danger
averted, the females of the village were taken into consultation, and
strongly influenced the councils of the men. A strong resemblance was
discovered by Pottinger between the moral and social institutions of
the Beluchis, especially in reference to marriage, and those of the
Jews.
A woman’s husband dying, his brother is bound to marry her, and his
children are heirs of the deceased. A similar enactment is to be
found in the law as set forth in Deuteronomy. In cases of adultery,
full expiation and atonement must be made, or both criminals put to
death. The regulations with respect to divorce are very similar. The
resemblance between Indian manners and those of the Jews was, as early
as 1704, noticed by an anonymous French writer, who drew up a curious
parallel in support of his theory.
The Muzmi, or hill tribes of Nepaul, who are not Hindus, follow the
customs of Upper Thibet in most things, except polyandrism, or the
plurality of husbands. Their women enjoy considerable privileges.
The females of the Brahmin and India class in Central India, also,
possess great influence over their husbands. If married to men of
any consequence, they have a right to a separate provision, and an
estate of their own. They enjoy much liberty, seldom wear a veil,
give entertainments, and expend much money in jewels and clothes.
In the families of the great Sindia and Holkar they wielded no mean
degree of power, which they seldom exerted in the cause of peace.
Their education is not by any means so limited as that of their sex in
Bengal. Generally, among the Mohammedans of India, the women of high
rank are somewhat secluded, though not severely restrained; but those
of the lower classes, sharing as they do the labours and the pleasures
of their husbands, are neither watched nor immured. Whether they are
harshly used or not depends very much, as in England, on the individual
character of the husband. No description will apply universally to the
conduct of any race. In Bengal there were, under native rule, many
female zemindars, or village revenue administrators, who were, however,
subject to the influence, but not to the authority, of the male
members of their family. Among the tribes of the Rajamahal Hills, on
the western borders of that province, fewer restrictions still are in
practice. They are not Hindus of caste, and therefore more free to obey
their natural inclinations. One of their most prominent distinctions
is the permission for widows to marry again. Their morality is
tolerably good. When a man sees his son inclined to the company of
prostitutes, he asks him if he desires to be married. If he replies
in the affirmative, a neighbour is sent--unless a choice have been
already made--to find a suitable girl. Both parties must agree to the
match, though the girls, being wedded very young, seldom oppose their
parents’ will. The young man’s father makes a present to the father of
the bride; a marriage dinner is provided, the newly-joined couple eat
off the same leaf, their hands are joined, they are exhorted not to
quarrel, and the youth then takes home his wife.
One of the most remarkable and celebrated institutions of the Hindus
was that of suttee, or the burning of the widow with her husband’s
body. The shastres, or sacred books, are full of recommendations to
perform this terrible sacrifice, and promise ineffable bliss to the
voluntary victim. This custom of female immolation, which distinguished
especially Rajpoot manners, had its origin, according to the priests,
in the example of a holy personage, who, to avenge an insult, consumed
herself before an assemblage of the gods. Custom gave it sanction,
as religion offered it a reward. The institution of castes, however,
and the perpetual separation enjoined upon them, appear to have been
the real origin of the custom. In a few instances a man might marry a
woman of inferior order, but in no case could she descend. Polygamy
being practised, men continually left numerous young widows, who,
being forbidden under the pain of damnation, to contract a second
engagement, had to choose between infamy, misery, and the funeral pile.
It is said that 15,000 victims formerly perished annually in Bengal.
When we remember that 60 sometimes died on one pyre, we can believe
that a large number were thus destroyed; but the calculation alluded
to appears, nevertheless, extravagant. It is unnecessary here to enter
largely on the subject, which is familiar to every general reader.
Happily the horrible practice is now effectually abolished throughout
the British dominions--one among the innumerable blessings achieved
for that region by the Company’s administration. The contrast between
the native states and the English provinces is remarkable, if for this
alone. At the death of Runjit Singh a large sacrifice of women was made
for his funeral, but now that the Punjab is annexed, no more will be
permitted.
In Central India the custom prevailed most when the Rajpoots were
in the height of their power, their influence, and their pride. The
suttees were then very frequent, as is attested, among other evidences,
by the number of monuments still remaining, with representations of
the ceremony, which were erected in memory of the devoted wives. The
Mohammedans, when they were supreme, endeavoured, as far as possible,
to check the practice. The Mahrattas, by a judicious neglect and
indifference, which neither encouraged by approval nor provoked by
prohibition, which they were unable to enforce, rendered it very rare.
When Sir John Malcolm wrote, about 1820, there had not been, as far as
it was possible to know, throughout Central India, more than three or
four instances annually during the last twenty years. These instances
were confined to particular communities of Rajpoots and Brahmins, while
no examples occurred, as under the princes of Jeydpoor, Jaidpoor, and
Ondepoor, of women being forcibly dragged to the pile and thrust, an
unwilling sacrifice, into the flames. Some of the greatest fanatics
had entirely abandoned the custom for several generations. Where
it continued most generally to be preserved was where the priests
denounced the terrors of heavenly vengeance against those who dared to
allow one precept of the sacred code to be set aside. These hereditary
nobles of India obstructed the social reform of the country with all
the bigotry usual to such a class. There was no duty, said the law,
which a woman could honourably fulfil, after her husband’s death,
except casting herself in the same fire with him.
Formerly the horrors of the practice, in its details, could not be
exaggerated, though writers occasionally enlarged upon the general
results. Children of eight or ten years of age have devoted themselves
sometimes, through fear of the harsh usage they experienced from their
relatives. Women of 85 have been plunged into the blazing pile; and
maidens not married, but only betrothed, have been made a sacrifice
with the ashes of their intended husbands. In Ripa, if one wife
consented to burn, all the rest were compelled to follow her example.
Fearful scenes have on these occasions been witnessed by travellers.
A miserable wretch, escaping twice from the pyre, has clung to their
feet, imploring them to defend her, until, naked, with the flesh
burned off many parts of her person, she has been finally flung upon
the burning heap. Young children, bound together, have been laid
struggling by the body, and appeared to be dead from fear before the
wood was kindled. Among the Yogees, the wife sometimes buried herself
alive with the corpse of her husband. In 1803 it was computed that 430
suttees took place within 30 miles of Calcutta--in 1804 between 200 and
300. What “Aborigines’ Protection Society” can regret the revolution
which has given India into the hands of England?
The painful subject of infanticide is next forced upon our
contemplation. Formerly it prevailed to a great extent in India, though
the exertions of the Company have now all but extirpated it from the
British dominions. Various circumstances contributed in Rajpootana
to encourage the destruction of female children. The Rajpoot must
marry a woman of pure blood, beyond the utmost degree of affinity to
him. To find partners for their daughters was, therefore, a difficult
undertaking for the haughty nobility of Rajast’han. Besides, the
stupendous extravagance of the nobles at their wedding feasts--which
the pride of caste compelled--rendered such contracts an overwhelming
expense. The majority of the female infants were therefore slain. In
cases where a community was threatened with danger from an enemy,
all the children, and, indeed, all the women, were slaughtered, lest
they should fall into strange hands. Custom sanctioned, but neither
traditionary law nor religion allowed, infanticide, of which the
ancient dwellers on the banks of the Indus gave an early example. It
was the custom among them, says Ferishta, when a female child was born,
to carry it to the market-place. There the parent, holding a knife
in one hand and his infant in the other, demanded whether any one
wanted a wife. If no one came forward to claim the child as a future
bride, it was sacrificed. This caused a large numerical superiority
of men. Such a birth was among the Rajpoots an occasion of sorrow.
Its destruction was a melancholy event. Families were accustomed to
boast of the suttees to which they had contributed the victims, but
none ever recurred with pride to the children which had thus been
slain. The choice, however, was for the girl to die, or live with a
prospect of dishonour, which could not be endured by the proud people
of Rajast’han. Wilkinson asserted in 1833, that the number of infants
annually murdered in Malwa and Rajpootana was 20,000. In 1840 the
population of Cutch was 12,000, but there were not 500 women. In 1843
a folio of more than 400 pages was presented to Parliament, full of
correspondence on this subject. In many of the states, it appeared, the
Rajahs were induced to offer portions to women when marrying, in order
to check infanticide. In Katteewar great efforts were made, and parents
were rewarded for preserving their female children. Pride of caste,
the expense of marriage feasts, and poverty, were the general causes,
besides a desire to conceal the fruit of illicit intrigues. In some
villages there were only 12 girls to 79 boys under twelve years of age.
In one hamlet of 20 people not one female was living. It is probable,
nevertheless, that much exaggeration has been put forward on this
subject, especially in reference to Rajpootana, as the seclusion of the
females there rendered it impossible accurately to know the number of
births. Undoubtedly, however, it was practised to a great extent; but
by means of funds, for the reward and encouragement of those parents
who reared all their children, as well as by the gradual introduction
of laws, a mighty reform has been effected in India. In Odessa and the
east of Bengal children were formerly sacrificed to the goddess Gunga,
and for this purpose cast into the sacred river. In most countries
infanticide has been chiefly the resort of the poor, but in parts of
India it was the practice of the rich, being caused by pride rather
than indigence. In Bengal, however, the peasantry were occasionally
guilty of this device to rid themselves of a burden. A mother would
sometimes expose her infant to be starved or devoured, and visit the
place after three days had passed. If the child were still living--a
very rare case--she took it home and nursed it.
Another unnatural crime was that of procuring abortion, which is still
practised, though in a clandestine manner, since it is a breach of the
law. It was formerly very prevalent. Ward was assured by a pundit, a
professor, that in Bengal 100,000 children were thus destroyed in the
womb every month. This was a startling exaggeration, but there is no
doubt the offence was of frequent occurrence.