Village and Family Life in India

World Cultures Period 3: Mrs. Zaber

Village Life

The basic unit of society A headman governed the villages The variety of castes completed the jobs Self-sufficient People from different villages met and

mingled Landlords held most of the power What caste includes landlords?

Villages

Village Crops

North: wheat and barley Plains: rice Ghee: oil from cow’s

milk

Family Life

Joint Family: Extended Family Patriarchal: Oldest male in charge Arranged marriages

Traditional Indian View

“Father is heaven, father is religion, the gods are pleased by pleasing father.”

Marriage

Often arranged when children were young

Bride’s family paid for wedding

Usually a young bride and an older groom

“One fine day in November of 1910, I was preparing for my annual school examination when I was told that I would not have to go to school anymore for my marriage had been arranged.” Shuda Ghose: 11 years old

Shuda Ghose

She was eleven and her new husband was twice her age

“I only wanted to go to school, but my opinion did not count.”

The bride and groom met for the first time at their wedding.

The festivities lasted for several days.

Indian Brides and Grooms

Marriage verse

“In all that I dedicate myself, offer thou thy heart. May thy mind in all consciousness follow mine. May thy speech be ever one with mine. May the Lord of Creation keep thee ever dedicated to me.”

“I shall try my utmost.’

Women’s Lives

Women had few rights Only women have shakti or creative energy Men lacked this and were incomplete until

they were married Women were seen as dangerous unless ruled

by a man.

Hindu law code

“A woman should do nothing independently even in her own house. In childhood subject to her father, in youth to her husband, and when her husband is dead to her sons, she should never enjoy independence.”

Purdah

Higher caste women had to live in complete seclusion

They were kept separate from all men except for their husbands and close relatives.

Widows

Forbidden to remarry Had to live a life of hardship to erase the sins of her

husband: sati Some widows threw themselves onto their husband’s

funeral fires rather than endure a hard life.