Malabar Marriage Act, 1896

2021-05-08T09:56:26Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
In 1896, the government of [[Madras Presidency|Madras]] passed the '''Malabar Marriage Act''' in response to the recommendations of the [[Malabar Marriage Commission, 1891|Malabar Marriage Commission]] of 1891. This allowed members of any caste practising ''[[marumakkatayam]]'' ([[matriliny]]) in [[Malabar District|Malabar]] to register a ''[[sambandham]]'' as a [[marriage]].<ref name="Panikkar1918p271">{{cite journal | title=Some Aspects of Nayar Life| first=K. M. |last=Panikkar |authorlink=Kavalam Madhava Panikkar| journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute| date=July–December 1918| volume=48| page=271| url=https://archive.org/stream/SomeAspectsOfNayarLife/SomeAspectsOfNayarLifeCopy#page/n0/mode/2up |accessdate=2011-06-24}}</ref> It was permissive rather than restrictive law: whether or not a relationship was registered was entirely the decision of the people involved in that relationship.<ref name="Kodoth2001p350">{{cite journal |title=Courting Legitimacy or Delegitimizing Custom? Sexuality, Sambandham and Marriage Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Malabar |first=Praveena |last=Kodoth |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=2 |date=May 2001 |page=350 |doi=10.1017/s0026749x01002037 |jstor=313121}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

Initiated by the work of [[C. Sankaran Nair|Sir C. Sankaran Nair]], the measure was largely a failure, with Panikkar noting that in the 20 years following introduction of the Act only six such relationships were registered and that all of those involved family members of Nair himself.<ref name="Panikkar1918p271"/>

==''Sambandham'' and ''marumakkatayam''==
{{Main|Sambandham|Marumakkatayam}}
''Sambandham'' was a form of relationship practiced by the [[Nair]] caste. Anthropologist [[Chris Fuller (academic)|Christopher Fuller]] has said that, "The Nayars' marriage system has made them one of the most famous of all communities in anthropological circles".<ref name="Fuller1975p283">{{cite journal |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |first=C. J. |last=Fuller |authorlink=Chris Fuller (academic)|journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |date=Winter 1975 |page=283 |jstor=3629883}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Thomas Nossiter has commented that their system, which included the pre-pubertal ''[[Kettu Kalyanam|thalikettu kalyanam]]'' rite and permitted both [[hypergamy]] and a form of [[polyandry]], "was so loosely arranged as to raise doubts as to whether 'marriage' existed at all."<ref name="Nossiter1982p27">{{cite book |title=Communism in Kerala: a study in political adaptation |first=Thomas Johnson |last=Nossiter |publisher=University of California Press |year=1982 |page=27 |chapter=Kerala's identity: unity and diversity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CSQUxVjjWQC |isbn=978-0-520-04667-2 |authorlink=Thomas Nossiter |accessdate=2011-06-24}}</ref> Men and women could both have several partners, and they could both break away from those partners and take other partners with a minimum of effort.<ref name="Fuller1975p296">{{cite journal |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |first=C. J. |last=Fuller |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |date=Winter 1975 |page=296 |jstor=3629883}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

The ''sambandham'' relationship was not recognised by the British colonial government, who saw it as akin to [[concubinage]]. The civil courts refused jurisdiction, principally because the relationship could so easily be dissolved by either party to it and because there were no rights of property connected to it.<ref name="Kodoth2001p350"/>

''Marumakkatayam'' was also a source of angst among the colonial administrators.

==Movement for change==
Expressions of dissatisfaction with ''marumakkatayam'' became prominent in newspapers of the 1870s and 1880s, and were also voiced by the colonial administrator [[William Logan (Malabar Manual)|William Logan]] in an official report of that period. Matters came to a head in 1890 when Nair introduced a bill seeking legitimisation of the customs in the Madras Legislative Council, causing the administration to establish the Malabar Marriage Commission in 1891. This was to investigate matrilineal customs and was also charged with recommending whether or not legal measures should be used to effect changes to the traditional practices for marriage, family organisation and inheritance.<ref name="Kodoth2001p351">{{cite journal |title=Courting Legitimacy or Delegitimizing Custom? Sexuality, Sambandham and Marriage Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Malabar |first=Praveena |last=Kodoth |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=2 |date=May 2001 |page=351 |doi=10.1017/s0026749x01002037 |jstor=313121}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1896 in India]]
[[Category:Kerala state legislation]]
[[Category:Indian family law]]
[[Category:Social history of India]]
[[Category:Marriage law in India]]

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Malabar Marriage Act, 1896