Changing Aspects of Kinship among Jaunsari: A Case Study of Thana Village in Dehradun District

Abstract

The study of social structure and organisation of simpler societies entails the understanding of their system of kinship and marriage. The Jaunsari tribe lives primarily in the Uttarakhand and contains some of closely related groups. Being one of the fraternal polyandrous tribe in cis-himalaya they have nurtured their old age cultural beliefs and practices of polyandrous marriage, i.e. culture of sharing wives and kinship. Among the tribals the comprehensive obligation of kinship directs or governs all individual activities and social relations. Kinship among Jaunsaries is seen not only as a nodal point but also a principle of social organisation that with other related institution such as polyandrous marriage help them to sustain and maintain the structure of their society. The paper based on an ethnographic study among Jaunsari population residing in Chakarata block of Dehradun district offers the scope to study the structure and dynamics of Jaunsari kinship and links of it with other related institution such as marriage. The paper also gives insight into the realm of change related to their marriage system with regard to the infusion of other culture from outside.