07-05-2008, 07:32 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Husky+Jun 30 2008, 07:22 PM-->QUOTE(Husky @ Jun 30 2008, 07:22 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->It is this one: http://koenraadelst.voi.org/articles/dutch/sati.htm
my search on English words failed because it is in Dutch.
I will try to translate the paras on dowry when I get the time.
[right][snapback]83581[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Here - note my insert is in purple:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Dowry murders</b>
At this point, let us make a clear distinction between the self-immolations of widows and the kitchen fires that are often orchestrated (thousands a year, in India as well as in Pakistan) to murder the bride if the dowry (<i>dahej</i>) they bring along is less than expected. Traditionally, a dowry was a gift of personal items, especially jewels, given to the bride: while her brothers remained in the parental home and took over the family business or family lands, the bride got to take her share in the inheritance with her in the form of shiny movable goods. In any case, it was not a gift of the bride's family to the bridegroom and his family, whereas such is indeed the case in less traditional households/environments today.
This practise only originated in the 13th century, and then only among the martial Rajput-caste (coincidentally the same where since ages prior to it, sati also occurs the most). Among the other castes it involved no more than a nominal gift, and it is only in the 19th century that the <i>dahej</i> has taken on scandalous proportions and has become a real social problem, starting with the most anglicised households/environments, such as the Parsees and the Sindhi Banias (traders). The first dowry-victims that made it into the newspapers were young girls who committed suicide to spare their father for the looming dowry-induced bankruptcy.
These days, the giving of enormous presents to the groom's family is a rather general practise that finds entry even among the lowest classes and that drives families with many daughters to beggary. Particularly in modern households/environments, a marriage to a young man is the golden occasion to reel in all kinds of luxurious goods. It is therefore also there (in such households) that the dowry had started forming a reason for bride-murder. To assume that bride-murder is an evil of the traditional society that "still continues" to occur often, is completely wrong. On the contrary, it's a typical example of how an innocent practise of the native people has become a poison through contact with our culture of consumption.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
my search on English words failed because it is in Dutch.
I will try to translate the paras on dowry when I get the time.
[right][snapback]83581[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Here - note my insert is in purple:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Dowry murders</b>
At this point, let us make a clear distinction between the self-immolations of widows and the kitchen fires that are often orchestrated (thousands a year, in India as well as in Pakistan) to murder the bride if the dowry (<i>dahej</i>) they bring along is less than expected. Traditionally, a dowry was a gift of personal items, especially jewels, given to the bride: while her brothers remained in the parental home and took over the family business or family lands, the bride got to take her share in the inheritance with her in the form of shiny movable goods. In any case, it was not a gift of the bride's family to the bridegroom and his family, whereas such is indeed the case in less traditional households/environments today.
This practise only originated in the 13th century, and then only among the martial Rajput-caste (coincidentally the same where since ages prior to it, sati also occurs the most). Among the other castes it involved no more than a nominal gift, and it is only in the 19th century that the <i>dahej</i> has taken on scandalous proportions and has become a real social problem, starting with the most anglicised households/environments, such as the Parsees and the Sindhi Banias (traders). The first dowry-victims that made it into the newspapers were young girls who committed suicide to spare their father for the looming dowry-induced bankruptcy.
These days, the giving of enormous presents to the groom's family is a rather general practise that finds entry even among the lowest classes and that drives families with many daughters to beggary. Particularly in modern households/environments, a marriage to a young man is the golden occasion to reel in all kinds of luxurious goods. It is therefore also there (in such households) that the dowry had started forming a reason for bride-murder. To assume that bride-murder is an evil of the traditional society that "still continues" to occur often, is completely wrong. On the contrary, it's a typical example of how an innocent practise of the native people has become a poison through contact with our culture of consumption.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->