298 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [Sept., 1914. 



Kshatriyas, the same customs are in force, and kinship is 

 reckoned through the female line. " The womb dies the child." 



Marriage is endogamous among the low caste Sudras ; it is 

 strictly prohibited even in the case of two persons belonging to 

 the same family or whose relationship cannot be traced to its 

 origin, but it is only traditional. A man cannot marry the 

 sister of his deceased wife, nor from the family of his deceased 

 wife. These customs are slowly changing. 



The marriage custom above referred to is applicable to 

 the Izhuvans also. The best form of marriage among them as 

 among the Nayars is, where a man marries the daughter of his 

 maternal uncle over whom he has preferential claim. Mar- 

 riage of cousins which alludes to a matrimonial custom prevail- 

 ing among the Dravidians of Southern India, is more wide- 

 spread, and on the whole more deleterious than the custom of 

 premature marriage. This is the Dravidian custom by which 

 a man marries his mother's brother's daughter, his sister's 

 daughter, or father's sister's daughter. The custom is not 

 confined to any particular caste, and is creeping into Brahman- 

 ism. 1 Speaking broadly, marriage among the fishing castes 

 (Valan, Arayan, Mukkuvan and Marakkan), the Kammalans 

 (Asari— carpenter, Musari— bell-metal worker, Kollan — black- 

 smith, Tatt an— goldsmith, and Thol-kollan -leather-worker), 

 Panan, Velan, and Kaniy an— astrologer — is exogamous as 

 regards illam or kiriyam (house) which corresponds to gotram. 

 In certain parts of the State, the Pulluvans marry in the same 

 family, and this custom is also dying out. 



The agrestic serfs follow the customs of their landlords , 

 those serving the Nayars and Izhuvans observe the marriage 

 prohibitions of the Nayars, while those under the Brahmans 

 observe the exogamic rule of illam and kiriyam already re 

 f erred to. Among the jungle folk , the Kadars donot marry a girl 

 related to him on the male side. As a rule marriage between 

 persons descended in a direct line from the same parents is 

 forbidden if the relationship can be traced to any extent. The 

 same custom prevails also among the Konga Malayans. 



Among the Jews and Jonakan Mapillas, cousins of all degrees 

 intermarry. 



Prohibitions of intermarriage between kindred are based 

 on the fear of complicate relationship, concentration of affec- 

 tion within too narrow a circle, inducement to keep the pro- 

 perty within the family, violation of God's law as they outrage 

 natural modesty, incest and the injurious results to the off- 

 spring.* In this connection it is interesting to note that the 

 result of many frequent consanguineous marriages of the Jews 

 of Europe and elsewhere has been an exceedingly large num- 



J Census of India, 1911, vol. xii, part 1, page 107 

 * Cochin Tribes and Castes, vol. ii, page 407, 



