History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s4.12

v3.c41.s4.12

Marriage outside and below the caste was, as said above, prohibited. But even in the same caste different sections arose based on purity of blood and Āchāra or religious conduct and this led during this sub-period to the rise of that strange usage called Kulinism in Bengal. The five Brahmin and the five Kāyastha families which were imported by Ballālasena who was himself a learned man in the Hindu Dharma Śāstra were directed by him not to mix their blood with the local castes believed to be inferior in purity of blood and Āchāra. By degrees, however, the inferior families were allowed to give their daughters to higher family men and these Kulinas married many wives for the sake of the dowry they brought. This was allowed in the days of Lakshmaṇasena according to a writer in J. B. XXXIV. It is believed by him that 28 generations have passed since these families were brought.