HISTOEICAL EACES 253 



is a source of social obloquy to her family and of damnation to her 

 ancestors. Among the Mohammedans, who are not handicapped 

 by such penalties, the marriage state is equally common, partly 

 owing to Hindoo example, and partly to the general conditions of 

 life in primitive society where a wife is almost a necessity both as 

 a domestic drudge and as a helpmate in field work.' ^ 



Early marriage is considered to be a duty for all. Westermarck 

 quotes Mohammed as saying : ' whenever a servant of God 

 marries verily he perfects half his religion '.^ According to the 

 Laws of Manu it is a religious duty incumbent upon all.^ In the 

 Vedic Age marriage was much encouraged and offspring greatly 

 desired.* Confucianism and Zoroastrianism similarly encouraged 

 marriage. ' A youth ', says Dubois, speaking of India, ' who was 

 not married before he was eighteen was considered by them to be 

 sinning against the command of the Creator, which says " Increase 

 and Multiply ".' ^ ' Almost all Chinese,' says Gray, ' robust or 

 infirm, well formed or deformed, are called upon by their parents 

 to marry so soon as they have attained the age of puberty.' ^ 

 ' Marriage and the upbringing of offspring became a duty incum- 

 bent upon every Chinese who is normally fit for marriage ',' say 

 two modern Chinese authors. Similar statements are to be found 

 regarding Burma,^ Upper Siam,^ Persia,^" the Mongols,ii and the 

 Kalmucks. 1'^ 



6. Marriage before the age of puberty is not uncommon and is 

 very prevalent in India. It is doubtful how far intercourse takes 

 place before maturity. In the North-West Provinces of India it 

 is stated that in most cases there is no cohabitation before puberty.^^ 

 This statement is confirmed by Eisley ; he further states that in 

 Bengal cohabitation begins at once." In India in 1901, 243,500 

 girls were married under the age of five, 2,030,000 between the 

 ages of five and ten, and 6,585,000 between the ages of ten and 

 fifteen.i^ Eram, speaking generally of the East, states that pre- 

 puberty marriages are not rare.^^ We hear that 10 per cent, of 



1 Wattal, loc. cit., p. 3. ^ Westermarck, Moral Ideals, vol. ii, p. 400. 



3 Ibid., p. 400. ^ Monier-Williams, 5w<WAmft, pp. 363, 364. 5 Dubois, 



Hindu Manners, p. 214. « Gray, China, vol. i, p. 186. See also Douglas, 



China, p. 85, and Giles, China, p. 189. ' Leong and Tao, Life in China, p. 10. 



« Crawford, Journal, vol. ii, p. 240. » Bock, Temples- and Elephants, p. 186. 



»» Polak, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 201. " Hue, Souvenirs, vol. i, p. 297. " Pallas, 



loc. cit., vol. i, p. 305. " Crooke, North-Western Provinces,]). 228. " Risley, 



People of India, p. 185. '" Leopold and Weise, Sexual-Ordnuvg, p. 347. In 



the Vedic Age, however, child marriages were apparently unknown (see Bennet, 

 Antiquities of India, p. 114). >« Eram, Accoucliements en Orient, p. 69. 



