Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 3.djvu/246

Rh many other cases, fashion and custom are as powerful with Indian women of all classes, as with ourselves.

It is rare, perhaps, among well-to-do people, to find a girl so old as the person represented in the photograph, who is not married. One thing is certain —she must still have been under twelve years old; for after that, unless her age were concealed, she could not be married except with difficulty, and under a fine from the caste. Male Brahmins can be married at any age, but they are forbidden to many within six degrees of relationship. Females are generally disposed of between the ages of six and twelve, or even earlier. No courtship, so to speak, can therefore take place, and marriages are arranged between parents of both parties, or by professional mediums who are employed. It is perhaps difficult to estimate the degree of happiness which follow such unions; but it is no exaggeration to state, that as much mutual affection subsists, on an average, among Brahmins and Hindoos in general, as among any classes in the world. Virtuous wives are loved and respected, and are recognized as the heads of their families: children are brought up in the veneration of their parents: and it is comparatively rare to see neglect or disobedience either of father or mother. When a girl is married, she is taught to look up to, and even reverence, her husband, whom, if a Brahmin, she worships on stated occasions. In all domestic matters she holds a high place, and the care of the house is the wife's peculiar province. It is true she does not eat with her husband, but that being the universal custom, does not militate against mutual happiness. In some instances girls are educated to a certain extent; but for the most part education is rarer among northern Brahmins, than among those of the west and south. Efforts are, however, being made by Government, and by private individuals, to institute a system of female education among all classes, and to some extent gratifying progress has been made; but it must necessarily be a work of time to succeed in a point which has been so long neglected. It is probable that in respect of education, the northern Hindoos have followed Mahomedan customs, and left their females in ignorance; for it is evident, from the ancient literature of India, in poems, dramas, and the like, that women formerly were hardly inferior to men in their attainments. Marriage is a sacrament among Brahmins; and by them, and all of the better classes of Hindoos, is held to be indissoluble by any legal process. Every one, male or female, must be married; no Hindoo father can evade the responsibility and obligation of marrying his children, most especially the females. Hence it follows that no unmarried females —old maids, so to speak—can possibly exist in India. The condition of females in India, however, is so full of interest, that it will be resumed from time to time, as opportunity offers.