Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

Solution

Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson and so on. Here the male sex becomes very important. And tracing such descendancy may have been particularly important among elite families because:

1. Under this rule son could claim the inheritance of father. And if there were many then the eldest son would, thus it eliminates other contending factors.

2. Secondly, daughter is looked as something to be given. After marriage she becomes property of her husband and whatever she has becomes property of her husband. Hence patriliny consist of an idea of keeping the wealth of the house within that house.

Thus by above reasons we can see why it would be important among the elite families, because they are the one with higher social as well as economic status.

Some More Questions From Kinship, Caste And Class Chapter

Discuss how access to property sharpened social differences between men and women in ancient times.

What, according to the Dharmashastras, were the ideal occupations for the four varnas? Give one way in which the Brahmanas tried to enforce these norms.

“Brahmanical norms regarding marriage and occupations were not always followed in ancient times.” Give arguments in support of this statement.

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha Sukta?

The following is an excerpt from the Mahabharata in which Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, speaks to Sanjaya, a messenger:

Sanjaya, convey my respectful greetings to all the Brahmanas and the chief priest of the house of Dhritarashtra. I bow respectfully to teacher Drona .... I hold the feet of our preceptor Kripa .... (and) the chief of the Kurus, the great Bhishma. I bow respectfully to the old king (Dhritarashtra). I greet and ask after the health of his son Dpryodhana and his younger brother ......Also greet all the young Kuru warriors who are our brothers, sons and grandsons......Greet above all him, who is to us like father and mother, the wise Vidura (born of a slave woman)......I bow to the elderly ladies who are known as our mothers. To those who are our wives you say this, 'I hope they are well-protected.'...... Our daughters-in-law born of good families and mothers of children greet on my behalf. Embrace for me those who are our daughters..... The beautiful, fragrant, well-dressed courtesans of ours, you should also greet. Greet the slave women and their children, greet the aged, the maimed (and) the helpless.

Try and identify the criteria use to make this list in terms of age, gender, kinship ties. Are there any other criteria? For each category, explain why they are placed in a particular position in the list.

This is what a famous historian of Indian literature Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature.... and contains so much and so many kinds of things....(it) give (s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.' Discuss.

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Kinship, Caste And Class

Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

Some More Questions From Kinship, Caste And Class Chapter

Discuss how access to property sharpened social differences between men and women in ancient times.

What, according to the Dharmashastras, were the ideal occupations for the four varnas? Give one way in which the Brahmanas tried to enforce these norms.

“Brahmanical norms regarding marriage and occupations were not always followed in ancient times.” Give arguments in support of this statement.

Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha Sukta?

Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.

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