Caste and Kinship

Abstract This essay explores the way caste and kinship are mutually constituted by focusing on three critical themes. The first section looks at both kinship among castes through theories of origin, and at kin-like relationships across castes. The second section looks at hypergamy and endogamy as central to the reproduction of caste and outlines changes in these through a discussion of changing rural and urban landscapes and aspirations. The third and last section looks at contentious marriages / relationships and stresses that the very idea of what is ‘contentious’ shifts over time. This essay then highlights the importance of looking at temporal shifts in understanding the entangled nature of kinship and caste.