The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s3.53

c7.s3.53

It may be, however, pointed out that the extreme views above referred to, did not become popular for a long time. We learn from Alberuni that during the 11th century A. D. the normal age of a Brahmana bride was 12 (II, p. 131). Parents in the lower sections of society, where the pernicious custom of the brideprice prevailed to a great extent, were the first to take advantage of the permission to marry girls at the age of 5 or 6 for their own selfish ends. Their example was later on followed by other classes, and the custom of very young marriages thus began to be more and more common. The ramification of the caste system into hundreds of sub-castes and the prohibition of inter-marriages among them from about the 8th or the 9th century A. D. further accentuated the evil of child marriages. The selection of a suitable bridegroom was becoming progressively more difficult, as the field of choice was being further and further narrowed down by the rise of new water-tight sub-castes. Parents did not like to take the risk of losing a good bridegroom at hand by postponing the marriage to a later date. Paradoxical though it may appear, it seems that the Satī custom, which became fairly popular at this time, helped the cause of early marriages to some extent. If the father died and the mother followed him on his funeral pyre, there would be a father-in-law at least to look after the young orphans, if they were already married. So why not provide them with an additional guardian of natural affection by marrying them at an early age? This reason for the child marriages prevailing in Bengal was given to Merchant Fitch by the Bengalis with whom he discussed the problem in the 16th century.¹ The joint family system prevailing in society was also favourable for early marriages. Marriages could be performed long before the husband became an earning member, because his parents, uncles or elder brothers used to take care of his wife and children till the time he began to earn. The economic condition of the country was fairly satisfactory and it did not therefore necessitate the postponement of marriage to the time the husband became an earning member. Naturally therefore society became more and more conscious of the advantages of early marriages and oblivious to their drawbacks. It further found that child marriages gave a good opportunity to the bride to know gradually the natures and idiosyncrasies of the different members of the joint family of her husband, to note almost imperceptibly his likes and dislikes , and to entertain an affection for him before the sex instinct had been aroused. There was further no chance of any scandals arising as was admittedly the case in the earlier era of post-puberty marriages. Nor need the parents entertain any apprehensions of a daugter slipping into a nunnery against their wishes. Of course society knew that under the system of child marriage there was the danger of widowhood overcoming a bride before she came of age. But such a calamity was believed to be a decree of fate, which could not be set at nought by any human efforts.