Why do people in subcontinent marry cousins?

[jbond197]

I did.


you said "As far as I know, this practice is common among all north Indian Hindu Kshatriya, Vaisya and Brahmin communities."

That means you don't know enought.

i am punjabi brahmin from Punjab. And that is not common in their.

Paaji, poora paragragh pado jo Ruag bhai ne likha hai.. he said the same thing that you are saying..

 

[DesiGuy]

You got him wrong, Dude! he meant the same read his comments again..

OK, i may have taken it in wrong way. But his sentence is not clear.


he say, as far as i know, this....


Now the word "this" can have different meaning as well.



but i apologise, if i took it wrong way.

 

[yuba]

I did.


you said "As far as I know, this practice is common among all north Indian Hindu Kshatriya, Vaisya and Brahmin communities."

That means you don't know enought.

i am punjabi brahmin from Punjab. And that is not common in their.

mate you got him wrong he meant that the practise of not marrying your cousins is common all over north india

 

[EagleEyes]

 

[DesiGuy]

How would it effect the children (cousins) if they are from the female (sisters)?

Somebody enlighten me.. two females would carry 2 different sperms.

According to Wiki:


Inbreeding may result in a far higher phenotypic expression of deleterious recessive genes within a population than would normally be expected.[1] As a result, first-generation inbred individuals are more likely to show physical and health defects, including:

Reduced fertility both in litter size and sperm viability
Increased genetic disorders
Fluctuating facial asymmetry
Lower birth rate
Higher infant mortality
Slower growth rate
Smaller adult size
Loss of immune system function

 

[FreekiN]

So they basically inbreed if there are no other 'options'? More like a failsafe?

Yep, pretty much. Especially if time is running out.

 

[Choppers]

generally marrying cousins is a taboo in India except among some communities or clans

 

[T-Faz]

Koi aur nahi milte so they say jo hai us he ko pakro.

 

[Pakistani_Athiest]

Forget cousins. In my community, people are prohibited from marrying anyone from their own gotra (lineage or clan). This is so because we consider people from the same gotra to be siblings. As far as I know, this practice is common among all north Indian Hindu Kshatriya, Vaisya and Brahmin communities. Some might argue that this system is mostly patriarchal and that marriages between cousins from the mother's side is allowed. This might be true in southern India, but the system is far more regulated in north India at least.

Therefore, you should have been more specific while forming that question. Marrying your cousins is a huge taboo for a quite a few Hindus (especially in North India) and I (rightfully) take offense to your question.

Gotra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Interesting! But according to your talk and what wiki told me, you and your mom's brother will have different gotra right? So you can still marry your mom's brother's son/daughter?

I don't know of this North-South India Business though.

 

[Tiger Awan]

In my area people feel pride in marrying some one from their own tribe and their children are also proud of this. Because they only have Qualities of one tribe.

People do not generally pay respect to other tribes and their way of living and do not want their children to deviate from their living style.



But now this trend is decreasing.

 

[Pakistani_Athiest]

And by the way, you are wrong about north.


According to wiki:


"But in south India it is common for Hindu cross cousins to marry, with matrilateral cross-cousin (mother's brother's daughter) marriages being especially favored."

WOW! Favored?? Are you serious?

 

[sparklingway]

Not only people of the subcontinent. Its common among people of Central Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Middle East, and the royal family in UK especially in the old days.

Which proves that this is an ancient practice which has been proven to be a cause of genetic disorders if the pattern continues for a long period. The sense of "royalty" that had to be protected led the European Royals to continue this practice which led to some people suffering from diseases because of hereditary weakness and Charles II of Spain is a brilliant example of this.

I'm going to copy a para on him from wiki

Seventeenth-century European noble culture commonly matched cousin to first cousin and uncle to niece, to preserve a prosperous family's properties. Charles's own immediate pedigree was exceptionally populated with nieces giving birth to children of their uncles: Charles's mother was niece of Charles's father, being daughter of Maria Anna of Spain (1606–46) and Emperor Ferdinand III. Thus, Empress Maria Anna was simultaneously his aunt and grandmother.[1] This inbreeding had given many in the family hereditary weaknesses. That Habsburg generation was more prone to still-births than were peasants in Spanish villages.[2]

There was also insanity in Charles's family; his great-great-great(-great-great, depending along which lineage one counts) grandmother, Joanna of Castile ("Joanna the Mad"), mother of the Spanish King Charles I (who was also Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) became insane early in life. Joanna was two of Charles' 16 great-great-great-great-grandmothers, six of his 32 great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers, and six of his 64 great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers.

Dating to approximately the year 1550, outbreeding in Charles II's lineage had ceased. From then on, all his ancestors were in one way or another descendants of Joanna the Mad and Philip I of Castile, and among these just the royal houses of Spain, Austria, and Bavaria. Charles II's genome was more homozygous than in an average brother-sister offspring.[2] He was born physically and mentally disabled, and disfigured. Possibly through affliction with mandibular prognathism, he was unable to chew. His tongue was so large that his speech could barely be understood, and he frequently drooled. It has been suggested that he suffered from the endocrine disease acromegaly,[3] or his inbred lineage may have led to a combination of rare genetic disorders such as combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis.[2]

Consequently, Charles II is known in Spanish history as El Hechizado ("The Hexed") from the popular belief – to which Charles himself subscribed – that his physical and mental disabilities were caused by "sorcery." The king went so far as to be exorcised.

The practice of looking for acceptable spouses for a child has led to this high number of inter marriages. In our culture, it is now looked down as bad to be seeking or even recommending a "possible" life partner. This has little do with the perceived "Islamic" culture as the Prophet himself got proposed by his first wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. This culture of marriage arranging aunties that our society has developed does little good, rather it creates couples that do not have any mental correlation and leave an abysmal life with each other.

Don't interpret as if I'm proposing a culture of promiscuity where young people are out on dates, I'm saying that it should not be considered "bad" to propose/recommend/consider a bride/groom yourself.

 

[Wounded Healer]

How would it effect the children (cousins) if they are from the female (sisters)?

Somebody enlighten me.. two females would carry 2 different sperms.

Depends on whether the males are from the same family or not. If they are not, then the chances of any congenital abnormality is very limited, but if even the males are from the same family, then the chances are very much higher.

If a family keeps on marrying within the family, then the same genes are circulating within the blood and the chances for a recessive type of gene to become dominant are very much high. Usually, when these recessive genes become dominant, they give rise to various genetic abnormalities.

As for why we keep marrying our cousins, well the main reason is that most of the people want to keep the wealth within the family, and also some think that their own clan/tribe is better then the others and hence, more marriages take place within the family.

Another reason is that Islam allows it, but to understand that we need to understand the environment of Arabia at that time. Muslims were very few in number, and many died due to wars and whatnot. Marriage was purposely encouraged and was allowed to take place with someone within the family, so that the number of muslims could grow. Its not an obligation, but its allowed.

regards,

 

[amoverlord]

yes,it does happen in my region in muslim families..........i have some questions about it,can i pm somebody with knowledge on the particular matter??

 

[Pakistani_Athiest]

Which proves that this is an ancient practice which has been proven to be a cause of genetic disorders if the pattern continues for a long period. The sense of "royalty" that had to be protected led the European Royals to continue this practice which led to some people suffering from diseases because of hereditary weakness and Charles II of Spain is a brilliant example of this.

I'm going to copy a para on him from wiki


The practice of looking for acceptable spouses for a child has led to this high number of inter marriages. In our culture, it is now looked down as bad to be seeking or even recommending a "possible" life partner. This has little do with the perceived "Islamic" culture as the Prophet himself got proposed by his first wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. This culture of marriage arranging aunties that our society has developed does little good, rather it creates couples that do not have any mental correlation and leave an abysmal life with each other.

Don't interpret as if I'm proposing a culture of promiscuity where young people are out on dates, I'm saying that it should not be considered "bad" to propose/recommend/consider a bride/groom yourself.

Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] worked for Khadijah right? And later they got married.

Why is it wrong to 'date' then? What's wrong if you like a co-worker/friend? Or if you date [Date is nothing but eating out or socializing together] them? I can understand if you are against Pre-marital sex, but what's with clubbing dating and promiscuity.