a) T.N. Madan
T.N. Madan is a prominent Indian anthropologist and sociologist whose work has significantly shaped the understanding of family, religion, and kinship in South Asia. One of his well-known ethnographic studies is on the Kashmiri Pandits, a Hindu Brahmin community in the Kashmir Valley. His work, titled “Family and Kinship: A Study of the Pandits of Rural Kashmir”, is a classic in Indian anthropology.
Key Contributions:
- Focus on Joint Family: Madan analyzed the structure and functions of the Hindu joint family system in Kashmir.
- Kinship and Religion: He showed how kinship and religious practices are deeply intertwined in daily life.
- Methodology: His use of participant observation, interviews, and genealogical methods was exemplary in Indian ethnographic studies.
- Broader Impact: His work contributed to the comparative study of kinship across India and highlighted the diversity of social institutions even within the same religion.
T.N. Madan’s ethnography is valued for its depth, clarity, and balanced representation of the community, making it an important part of Indian anthropological literature.
b) Himalayan Polyandry
“Himalayan Polyandry: Structure, Function and Change” is an ethnographic study conducted by Majumdar and later refined by several scholars. It examines the practice of polyandry — where one woman marries multiple men, usually brothers — among the Jonsar-Bawar and Toda communities in the Himalayan region, particularly in parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Key Insights:
- Economic Reasons: Polyandry helps prevent the division of ancestral land among brothers, maintaining economic stability in mountain communities.
- Fraternal Polyandry: Most cases involved brothers sharing a single wife, which ensured collective household management.
- Social Organization: The system supports cooperative labor, joint inheritance, and strong family bonds.
- Decline and Change: With modernization, education, and state laws on marriage and inheritance, the practice of polyandry has been declining.
This ethnography offers a powerful example of how marriage systems are adapted to ecological and economic conditions, and how these systems evolve over time. It also illustrates the anthropological principle that no one model of family or marriage is universal.