Marriages between first cousins

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Marriages between first cousins

In Kerala Hindu traditions particularly with Nair communities, it was a time when a boy normally marries his uncle (Mama's) daughter, younger to him. It was done so, so that family's traditional wealth will never go to another family. Now also, it's possible for a marriage between first or second cousins if they are Mama/Mami's kids. But a relationship is not at all possible between the kids of Chacha/thauji.....as they are regarded as brother and sister. But in the case of Christian communities of middle Kerala, all cousins are regarded as true siblings, whether it's Chacha/Chachi or Mama/Mami's kids.

I would like to know customs prevailing in other parts of India.

Sandhya Rani

Category: Family & Relationships 11 years ago

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Taniya Choudhury · Answer 1 · 2014-10-04 15:19:31

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I don't think so. In Bengali culture lot of people getting married have same surnames. Mukherjee..s are marrying mukherjees and so on.

Answered 10 years ago

	@We follow this trend..not marrying people having the same surname..but now the recent trend says..people having same surname are getting married but they should have different gotra. @Taniya: Are these mukherjees of the same gotra, if yes, this is a revelation for me too. - Mousumi Ghosh - 10 years ago
	yes mostly in arranged marriages different gotras are followed - Taniya Choudhury - 10 years ago
	if so, what happens to love marriages? Are people not marrying with same sur name? Do people fall in love after knowing sur name? In Kerala, also Tamil Nadu (I don't know about other south indian states) there is no usage of Surnames...... In Kerala, people add Menon, Nair, Iyyer etc to specify caste, not family name....There is a practice among Kerala ladies to add father's name or husband's name to theirs. Boys also add their father's name to theirs......But not surnames or family names... Another interesting fact.....We belong to Trivandrum, My daughter's full name is Nikhita. S. S --- S and S refers to her parents' first letter...like S for Sandhya.... In Mid Kerala....if a person has two initials, one refers to his family name while the second letter his parents' name. In Nair communities, it is women dominated society. So mother's name and family name passed to next generations, while in other sectors, father's name plus father's family name. We south keralities don't have that procedures.... - Sandhya Rani - 10 years ago

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Taniya Choudhury

Kalyani Nandurkar · Answer 2 · 2014-02-24 07:02:48

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In Maharashtra traditionally marriage only with Mama's daughter is allowed and all other relationships are considered as proper brother-sister relationships. I am sure this is tradition even in other states and it does seem to have evolved with respect to keeping family estate within the family!

Answered 11 years ago

	So many contradictory opinions. I think, except Maharashtra, in North and Middle India, marriage between Mama's children is not permissible. Now waiting for Bengali views...... In Kerala, it was a time when uncle (mama)'s daughter means future wife. Now now families are not encouraging as such marriages may invite genetic disorders to pass to next generation. - Sandhya Rani - 11 years ago
	Marrying Mama's daughter does not invite genetic disorders because the mother of the girl is married to a different person thus diluting her daughter's gene pool. Our ancestors were very wise because they found this out and at the same time they ensured safety of their property at the same time. This also is exactly the concept of gotra, which basically means belonging to the same lineage. The Mama's daughter and her cousin that she marries both belong to different gotras. So I don't understand what contradiction you are finding here??? Marriage with Mama's daughter is very common in most states of India. Marrying maternal or paternal cousins will mean passing off of genetic disorders, not by marrying mama's daughter, because she is marrying her father's sister's son who is the offspring of someone from outside the family! - Kalyani Nandurkar - 11 years ago
	i have noticed your answer now only. but Kalyani, 'marrying her father's sister's son ' means father and aunt are siblings..... So, there are chances of passing genetic disorders to next generation. Am I right? - Sandhya Rani - 11 years ago
	It is true that marrying Mama's daughter may cause genetic disorders in the offspring, but since the husband in this case is son of a person who does not belong to the family, the gene pool becomes much wider and the scope for such disorder lessens to a larger extent. Danger is presented more when uncle-niece marriages take place, a custom I have seen taking place a lot in Tamil and Telugu communities, giving birth to children with a mind-boggling variety of genetical abnormalities, I have seen many cases in IAF families posted in Pune solely to be able to seek treatment at the Command Hospital in Pune. Not even a single couple among all those people I knew had mamas daughter as the wife! - Kalyani Nandurkar - 11 years ago

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Kalyani Nandurkar

AKP · Answer 3 · 2014-02-24 07:12:36

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Hmm.. I thought it is allowed in Muslim community.. That's what I heard, not sure though. Here at our place marriage between cousin is not allowed (not even with mama's kids)..

Answered 11 years ago

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AKP

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani · Answer 4 · 2014-02-24 10:51:06

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The more orthodox will not go for marriage between cousins. But now such marriages are taking place. Marriage between paternal cousins (chachera or tau's) is not accepted but marriage between maternal cousins( mamera, phuphera) is accepted by many. The Muslims accept marriage even between step children not of the same mother.

Answered 11 years ago

It's really surprising that Muslims accept marriage even between step children not of the same mother. Is this practice followed in all parts of the country? - Sandhya Rani - 11 years ago

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Gulshan Kumar Ajmani

rambabu · Answer 5 · 2014-02-25 07:11:44

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Marrying Mama's daughter is very much prevalent in AP also.With the time it's gradually disappearing as it has been proved medically that such alliances will lead to physically or mentally handicapped children born to the couple

Answered 11 years ago

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rambabu

suni51 · Answer 6 · 2014-02-25 07:59:21

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In North Indian Hindus all cousins are forbidden even the same villages are forbidden in certain areas. We have Gotra system, marriage in same Gotra is forbidden as they are considered blood relations but as you said Mama is always a different gotra but even then it is not possible in our areas.

Answered 11 years ago

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suni51

Mousumi Ghosh · Answer 7 · 2014-09-17 07:18:49

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We in Bengali culture do not follow this tradition of getting married with mama or mama's daughter/son. A siblings's offspring are considered as first cousins - brother and sister and marriage is next to impossible. Marriage is based usually on gotra system...same surname is also not allowed in Bengalis.

Answered 10 years ago

So marriages between Mukherjis, Banarjis and even ghosh, not allowed in Bengali culture? Really surprising and shocking!!! - Sandhya Rani - 10 years ago

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Mousumi Ghosh

score 1 · Answer 8 · 2015-07-02 04:04:44

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In Ap marrying with same surname is yet happened anywhere well marrying mama's daughter is going but not compulsory.

Answered 9 years ago

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Sheetal Kumar N · Answer 9 · 2018-10-09 20:42:06

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Biologically it is best if marriages are arranged between people who are not related. However, it is common to see that Mama and Niece marriages are prevalent.

Answered 6 years ago

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Sheetal Kumar N

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Marriages between first cousins

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