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Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:22:55Z

Timovinga: /* Hinduism */ Merge

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Vashisht |first=Dinker |date=20 July 2009 |title=Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |publisher=The Indian Express Limited}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[Cousin marriage#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayly |first=C. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ |title=Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770-1870 |date=1988-05-19 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-31054-3 |pages=49 |language=en}}</ref>

==== In scriptures ====
In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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* {{cite journal|last1=Shami|first1=S A|last2=Schmitt|first2=L H|last3=Bittles|first3=A H|year=1989|title=Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities|journal=Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=267–271|pmc=1017301|doi=10.1136/jmg.26.4.267|pmid=2716036}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society? |first1=Brent |last1=Shaw |first2=Richard |last2=Saller |journal = Man |series=New Series |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |date=September 1984 |pages = 432–444 |doi=10.2307/2802181 |ref=ShawSaller |jstor = 2802181}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Kinship, Cultural Preference and Immigration: Consanguineous Marriage among British Pakistanis |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–334 |first1 = Alison |last1 = Shaw |ref=Shaw |jstor = 2661225 |doi=10.1111/1467-9655.00065}}
* {{cite book| last = Westermarck| first = Edward| title = The History of Human Marriage| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=by9AAAAAYAAJ| year = 1922| publisher = Allerton Book Co| location = New York| ref = Westermarck}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0021853700021940 |last1=Crummey |first1=Donald |title=Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=207–220 |year=1983 |ref=Crummey |jstor=181641 |s2cid=162655681}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dawson |editor1-first=Miles Menander |title=The Ethics of Confucius |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/eoc/eoc09.htm |year=1915 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |chapter=The Family |ref=Dawson}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |ref=SaveTheChildren |title=Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia) |url=http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Save the Children USA |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113172055/http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |first=Brian |last=Schwimmer |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/igbo/igbo_marriage.html |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |date=September 2003 |work=Kinship and Social Organization |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=Schwimmer}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Scott-Emuakpori |first1=Ajovi B. |title=The Mutation Load in an African Population |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am J Hum Genet]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1974 |pages=674–682 |ref=Scott-Emuakpor}}
* {{cite book |title=Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC |year=2001 |publisher=Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |ref=Suberu |last1=Suberu |first1=Rotimi T.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |title=Hausa |last=Swanson |first=Eleanor C. |author2=Robert O. Lagace |work=Ethnographic Atlas |publisher=Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury |access-date=8 February 2010 |ref=Swanson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217193539/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:22:15Z

Timovinga: /* In scriptures */ It is reliable

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |title = Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |publisher = The Indian Express Limited |first = Dinker |last = Vashisht |date = 20 July 2009}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayly |first=C. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ |title=Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770-1870 |date=1988-05-19 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-31054-3 |pages=49 |language=en}}</ref>

==== In scriptures ====
In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
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* {{Cite journal |first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Consanguinity and Noble Marriages in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries |journal=Speculum |volume=56 |issue=2 |date=April 1981 |pages=268–287 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846935 |doi=10.2307/2846935 |jstor=2846935 |pmid=11610836 |s2cid=38717048 |ref=Bouchard 1981 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Darwin|first=George H|year=1875|title=Marriages between first cousins in England and their effects|journal=Journal of the Statistical Society|volume=XXXVIII Part II|issue=2|pages=153–184|doi=10.2307/2338660|jstor=2338660}}
* {{Cite book |title = The Economics of Consanguineous Marriages |first1 = Quý Toàn |last1 = Đõ |first2 = Sriya |last2 = Iyer |first3 = Shareen |last3 = Joshi |year = 2006 |publisher = World Bank, Development Research Group, Poverty Team |ref=Do}}
* {{cite web |first = John |last = Dougherty |title = Forbidden Fruit |url = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 |website = Phoenix New Times |date = 29 December 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = Dougherty |archive-date = 3 November 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |url-status = dead }}
* {{Cite journal | last = Freire-Maia | first = Newton | title = Inbreeding in Brazil | journal = [[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am. J. Hum. Genet.]] | volume = 9 | issue = 4 | pages = 284–298 | date = Dec 1957 | pmid = 13497997 | pmc = 1932014 |ref=Freire-Maia}}
* {{cite journal | first1 = Benjamin P. | last1 = Givens | first2 = Charles | last2 = Hirschman | title = Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran | journal = [[Journal of Marriage and Family]] | volume = 56 | issue = 4 | date = November 1994 | pages = 820–834 |ref=Givens | jstor = 353595 | doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite book |title = The development of the family and marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |year = 1983 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |ref=Goody}}
* {{cite book| last = Grubbs| first = Judith Evans| title = Women and the law in the Roman Empire| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7gJhP7fpbTcC| access-date = 13 February 2010| year = 2002| publisher = Routledge| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-415-15240-2| ref = Grubbs}}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1963.0071 | pmid = 14087988 | last1 = Hajnal | first1 = J. | last2 = Fraccaro | first2 = M. | last3 = Sutter | first3 = J. | last4 = Smith | first4 = C.A.B. | title = Concepts of Random Mating and the Frequency of Consanguineous Marriages | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 159 | issue = 974 | pages = 125–177 | date = 10 December 1963 | display-authors = 1 |ref=Hajnal| bibcode = 1963RSPSB.159..125H | s2cid = 45211684 }}
* {{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press ND| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| ref = Holy}}
* {{cite book| last = Hostetler| first = John Andrew| title = Amish Society| url = https://archive.org/details/amishsociety00host_0| url-access = registration| year = 1993| publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press| location = Baltimore| isbn = 978-0-8018-4442-3| ref = Hostetler}}
* {{Cite journal |title = The Structural Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 1/2 |issue = 6 |pages = 23–55 |first1 = Edmund |last1 = Leach |doi = 10.2307/2844015 |ref=Leach |jstor = 2844015|s2cid = 149509001 }}
* {{cite book| last = Meriwether| first = Margaret Lee| title = The Kin Who Count: Family and Society in Ottoman Aleppo, 1770-1840| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iFtq9TcWzjkC| year = 1999| publisher = University of Texas Press| isbn = 978-0-292-75224-5| ref = Meriwether}}
* {{cite news |title = Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard |first = Mary Jayne |last = McKay |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/08/60II/main700519.shtml |publisher = CBS |date = 8 June 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = McKay }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1959.61.1.02a00040 |last1 = Murphy |first1 = Robert F. |author-link1 = Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist) |last2 = Kasdan |first2 = Leonard |title = The Structure of Parallel Cousin Marriage |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 61 |issue = 1 |date = Feb 1959 |pages = 17–29 |ref=Murphy |jstor = 666210|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite book | title = Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage | first = Martin | last = Ottenheimer | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 1996 | location = Chicago |ref = TheEssentialOttenheimer}}
* {{cite book| last = Patterson| first = Cynthia B.| title = The Family in Greek History| year = 1998| publisher = Harvard University Press| location = Cambridge, MA| isbn = 978-0-674-29270-3| ref = Patterson| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/familyingreekhis0000patt}}
* {{Cite journal |last1 = Prem |first1 = Chowdhry |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume = 38 |issue = 1 |year = 2004 |pages = 55–84 |ref=Chowdhry}}
* {{cite news |title=Polygamist community faces genetic disorder |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |agency=Reuters |date=15 June 2007 |access-date=10 February 2010 |ref=Reuters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213032656/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |archive-date=13 December 2010 }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.2307/3773881 |last = Qin |first = Zhaoxiong |title = Rethinking Cousin Marriage in Rural China |journal = [[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]] |volume = 40 |issue = 4 |date = 22 September 2001 |pages = 347–360 |ref=Zhaoxiong |jstor = 3773881}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Shami|first1=S A|last2=Schmitt|first2=L H|last3=Bittles|first3=A H|year=1989|title=Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities|journal=Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=267–271|pmc=1017301|doi=10.1136/jmg.26.4.267|pmid=2716036}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society? |first1=Brent |last1=Shaw |first2=Richard |last2=Saller |journal = Man |series=New Series |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |date=September 1984 |pages = 432–444 |doi=10.2307/2802181 |ref=ShawSaller |jstor = 2802181}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Kinship, Cultural Preference and Immigration: Consanguineous Marriage among British Pakistanis |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–334 |first1 = Alison |last1 = Shaw |ref=Shaw |jstor = 2661225 |doi=10.1111/1467-9655.00065}}
* {{cite book| last = Westermarck| first = Edward| title = The History of Human Marriage| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=by9AAAAAYAAJ| year = 1922| publisher = Allerton Book Co| location = New York| ref = Westermarck}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0021853700021940 |last1=Crummey |first1=Donald |title=Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=207–220 |year=1983 |ref=Crummey |jstor=181641 |s2cid=162655681}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dawson |editor1-first=Miles Menander |title=The Ethics of Confucius |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/eoc/eoc09.htm |year=1915 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |chapter=The Family |ref=Dawson}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |ref=SaveTheChildren |title=Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia) |url=http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Save the Children USA |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113172055/http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |first=Brian |last=Schwimmer |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/igbo/igbo_marriage.html |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |date=September 2003 |work=Kinship and Social Organization |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=Schwimmer}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Scott-Emuakpori |first1=Ajovi B. |title=The Mutation Load in an African Population |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am J Hum Genet]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1974 |pages=674–682 |ref=Scott-Emuakpor}}
* {{cite book |title=Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC |year=2001 |publisher=Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |ref=Suberu |last1=Suberu |first1=Rotimi T.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |title=Hausa |last=Swanson |first=Eleanor C. |author2=Robert O. Lagace |work=Ethnographic Atlas |publisher=Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury |access-date=8 February 2010 |ref=Swanson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217193539/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:20:00Z

Timovinga: /* Hinduism */ link fix

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |title = Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |publisher = The Indian Express Limited |first = Dinker |last = Vashisht |date = 20 July 2009}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayly |first=C. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ |title=Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770-1870 |date=1988-05-19 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-31054-3 |pages=49 |language=en}}</ref>

==== In scriptures ====
In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2021}} Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-3016.2006.00750.x |last1 = Bener |first1 = Abdulbari |last2 = Hussain |first2 = Rafat |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology]] |volume = 20 |issue = 5 |year = 2006 |pages = 372–378 |pmid = 16911015 |ref=Bener}}
* {{cite journal | doi= 10.2307/2137601 | last1= Bittles | first1= Alan H. | date= September 1994 | title= The Role and Significance of Consanguinity as a Demographic Variable | journal = [[Population and Development Review]] | volume = 20 | issue= 3 | pages= 561–584 |ref=Role | jstor = 2137601}}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1080/030144600282271 |last1 = Bittles |first1 = Alan |last2 = Hussain |first2 = Rafat |title = An analysis of consanguineous marriage in the Muslim population of India at regional and state levels |journal = [[Annals of Human Biology]] |volume = 27 |issue = 2 |year = 2000 |pmid = 10768421 |pages = 163–171 |s2cid = 218987242 |ref=BittlesHussain}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Commentary: The background and outcomes of the first-cousin marriage controversy in Great Britain |journal = [[International Journal of Epidemiology]] |year = 2009 |volume = 38 |issue = 6 |pmid = 19926668 |pages = 1453–1458 |first1 = Alan |last1 = Bittles |doi = 10.1093/ije/dyp313 |ref=Background|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal |title = Consanguinity, human evolution, and complex diseases |first1 = Alan |last1 = Bittles |first2 = Michael |last2 = Black |journal = [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume = 107 |issue = suppl 1 |pages = 1779–1786 |doi = 10.1073/pnas.0906079106 |date=Sep 2009 |ref=Consanguinity |pmid=19805052 |pmc=2868287|doi-access = free }}
* {{cite web | url= http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables | title= Tables of the global prevalence of consanguinity | first= Alan | last= Bittles | year= 2009 | work= consang.net | access-date= 8 February 2010 | ref= TheIndispensableBittles | archive-date= 14 January 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables | url-status= dead }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1932.34.4.02a00080 |last1 = Chen |first1 = T. S. | last2 = Shryock | first2 = J. K. |title = Chinese Relationship Terms |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 34 |issue = 4 |pages = 623–669 |date = Oct–Dec 1932 |ref=Chen |jstor = 662675|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal |first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Consanguinity and Noble Marriages in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries |journal=Speculum |volume=56 |issue=2 |date=April 1981 |pages=268–287 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846935 |doi=10.2307/2846935 |jstor=2846935 |pmid=11610836 |s2cid=38717048 |ref=Bouchard 1981 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Darwin|first=George H|year=1875|title=Marriages between first cousins in England and their effects|journal=Journal of the Statistical Society|volume=XXXVIII Part II|issue=2|pages=153–184|doi=10.2307/2338660|jstor=2338660}}
* {{Cite book |title = The Economics of Consanguineous Marriages |first1 = Quý Toàn |last1 = Đõ |first2 = Sriya |last2 = Iyer |first3 = Shareen |last3 = Joshi |year = 2006 |publisher = World Bank, Development Research Group, Poverty Team |ref=Do}}
* {{cite web |first = John |last = Dougherty |title = Forbidden Fruit |url = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 |website = Phoenix New Times |date = 29 December 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = Dougherty |archive-date = 3 November 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |url-status = dead }}
* {{Cite journal | last = Freire-Maia | first = Newton | title = Inbreeding in Brazil | journal = [[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am. J. Hum. Genet.]] | volume = 9 | issue = 4 | pages = 284–298 | date = Dec 1957 | pmid = 13497997 | pmc = 1932014 |ref=Freire-Maia}}
* {{cite journal | first1 = Benjamin P. | last1 = Givens | first2 = Charles | last2 = Hirschman | title = Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran | journal = [[Journal of Marriage and Family]] | volume = 56 | issue = 4 | date = November 1994 | pages = 820–834 |ref=Givens | jstor = 353595 | doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite book |title = The development of the family and marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |year = 1983 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |ref=Goody}}
* {{cite book| last = Grubbs| first = Judith Evans| title = Women and the law in the Roman Empire| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7gJhP7fpbTcC| access-date = 13 February 2010| year = 2002| publisher = Routledge| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-415-15240-2| ref = Grubbs}}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1963.0071 | pmid = 14087988 | last1 = Hajnal | first1 = J. | last2 = Fraccaro | first2 = M. | last3 = Sutter | first3 = J. | last4 = Smith | first4 = C.A.B. | title = Concepts of Random Mating and the Frequency of Consanguineous Marriages | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 159 | issue = 974 | pages = 125–177 | date = 10 December 1963 | display-authors = 1 |ref=Hajnal| bibcode = 1963RSPSB.159..125H | s2cid = 45211684 }}
* {{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press ND| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| ref = Holy}}
* {{cite book| last = Hostetler| first = John Andrew| title = Amish Society| url = https://archive.org/details/amishsociety00host_0| url-access = registration| year = 1993| publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press| location = Baltimore| isbn = 978-0-8018-4442-3| ref = Hostetler}}
* {{Cite journal |title = The Structural Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 1/2 |issue = 6 |pages = 23–55 |first1 = Edmund |last1 = Leach |doi = 10.2307/2844015 |ref=Leach |jstor = 2844015|s2cid = 149509001 }}
* {{cite book| last = Meriwether| first = Margaret Lee| title = The Kin Who Count: Family and Society in Ottoman Aleppo, 1770-1840| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iFtq9TcWzjkC| year = 1999| publisher = University of Texas Press| isbn = 978-0-292-75224-5| ref = Meriwether}}
* {{cite news |title = Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard |first = Mary Jayne |last = McKay |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/08/60II/main700519.shtml |publisher = CBS |date = 8 June 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = McKay }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1959.61.1.02a00040 |last1 = Murphy |first1 = Robert F. |author-link1 = Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist) |last2 = Kasdan |first2 = Leonard |title = The Structure of Parallel Cousin Marriage |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 61 |issue = 1 |date = Feb 1959 |pages = 17–29 |ref=Murphy |jstor = 666210|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite book | title = Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage | first = Martin | last = Ottenheimer | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 1996 | location = Chicago |ref = TheEssentialOttenheimer}}
* {{cite book| last = Patterson| first = Cynthia B.| title = The Family in Greek History| year = 1998| publisher = Harvard University Press| location = Cambridge, MA| isbn = 978-0-674-29270-3| ref = Patterson| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/familyingreekhis0000patt}}
* {{Cite journal |last1 = Prem |first1 = Chowdhry |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume = 38 |issue = 1 |year = 2004 |pages = 55–84 |ref=Chowdhry}}
* {{cite news |title=Polygamist community faces genetic disorder |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |agency=Reuters |date=15 June 2007 |access-date=10 February 2010 |ref=Reuters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213032656/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |archive-date=13 December 2010 }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.2307/3773881 |last = Qin |first = Zhaoxiong |title = Rethinking Cousin Marriage in Rural China |journal = [[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]] |volume = 40 |issue = 4 |date = 22 September 2001 |pages = 347–360 |ref=Zhaoxiong |jstor = 3773881}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Shami|first1=S A|last2=Schmitt|first2=L H|last3=Bittles|first3=A H|year=1989|title=Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities|journal=Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=267–271|pmc=1017301|doi=10.1136/jmg.26.4.267|pmid=2716036}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society? |first1=Brent |last1=Shaw |first2=Richard |last2=Saller |journal = Man |series=New Series |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |date=September 1984 |pages = 432–444 |doi=10.2307/2802181 |ref=ShawSaller |jstor = 2802181}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Kinship, Cultural Preference and Immigration: Consanguineous Marriage among British Pakistanis |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–334 |first1 = Alison |last1 = Shaw |ref=Shaw |jstor = 2661225 |doi=10.1111/1467-9655.00065}}
* {{cite book| last = Westermarck| first = Edward| title = The History of Human Marriage| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=by9AAAAAYAAJ| year = 1922| publisher = Allerton Book Co| location = New York| ref = Westermarck}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0021853700021940 |last1=Crummey |first1=Donald |title=Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=207–220 |year=1983 |ref=Crummey |jstor=181641 |s2cid=162655681}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dawson |editor1-first=Miles Menander |title=The Ethics of Confucius |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/eoc/eoc09.htm |year=1915 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |chapter=The Family |ref=Dawson}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |ref=SaveTheChildren |title=Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia) |url=http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Save the Children USA |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113172055/http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |first=Brian |last=Schwimmer |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/igbo/igbo_marriage.html |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |date=September 2003 |work=Kinship and Social Organization |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=Schwimmer}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Scott-Emuakpori |first1=Ajovi B. |title=The Mutation Load in an African Population |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am J Hum Genet]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1974 |pages=674–682 |ref=Scott-Emuakpor}}
* {{cite book |title=Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC |year=2001 |publisher=Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |ref=Suberu |last1=Suberu |first1=Rotimi T.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |title=Hausa |last=Swanson |first=Eleanor C. |author2=Robert O. Lagace |work=Ethnographic Atlas |publisher=Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury |access-date=8 February 2010 |ref=Swanson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217193539/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:18:39Z

Timovinga: /* Other religions */ CN tag

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |title = Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |publisher = The Indian Express Limited |first = Dinker |last = Vashisht |date = 20 July 2009}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>Christopher Bayly, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, p. 49 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ]</ref>

==== In scriptures ====
In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2021}} Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
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* {{cite web |first = John |last = Dougherty |title = Forbidden Fruit |url = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 |website = Phoenix New Times |date = 29 December 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = Dougherty |archive-date = 3 November 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |url-status = dead }}
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* {{cite book| last = Meriwether| first = Margaret Lee| title = The Kin Who Count: Family and Society in Ottoman Aleppo, 1770-1840| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iFtq9TcWzjkC| year = 1999| publisher = University of Texas Press| isbn = 978-0-292-75224-5| ref = Meriwether}}
* {{cite news |title = Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard |first = Mary Jayne |last = McKay |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/08/60II/main700519.shtml |publisher = CBS |date = 8 June 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = McKay }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1959.61.1.02a00040 |last1 = Murphy |first1 = Robert F. |author-link1 = Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist) |last2 = Kasdan |first2 = Leonard |title = The Structure of Parallel Cousin Marriage |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 61 |issue = 1 |date = Feb 1959 |pages = 17–29 |ref=Murphy |jstor = 666210|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite book | title = Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage | first = Martin | last = Ottenheimer | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 1996 | location = Chicago |ref = TheEssentialOttenheimer}}
* {{cite book| last = Patterson| first = Cynthia B.| title = The Family in Greek History| year = 1998| publisher = Harvard University Press| location = Cambridge, MA| isbn = 978-0-674-29270-3| ref = Patterson| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/familyingreekhis0000patt}}
* {{Cite journal |last1 = Prem |first1 = Chowdhry |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume = 38 |issue = 1 |year = 2004 |pages = 55–84 |ref=Chowdhry}}
* {{cite news |title=Polygamist community faces genetic disorder |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |agency=Reuters |date=15 June 2007 |access-date=10 February 2010 |ref=Reuters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213032656/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |archive-date=13 December 2010 }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.2307/3773881 |last = Qin |first = Zhaoxiong |title = Rethinking Cousin Marriage in Rural China |journal = [[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]] |volume = 40 |issue = 4 |date = 22 September 2001 |pages = 347–360 |ref=Zhaoxiong |jstor = 3773881}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Shami|first1=S A|last2=Schmitt|first2=L H|last3=Bittles|first3=A H|year=1989|title=Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities|journal=Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=267–271|pmc=1017301|doi=10.1136/jmg.26.4.267|pmid=2716036}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society? |first1=Brent |last1=Shaw |first2=Richard |last2=Saller |journal = Man |series=New Series |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |date=September 1984 |pages = 432–444 |doi=10.2307/2802181 |ref=ShawSaller |jstor = 2802181}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Kinship, Cultural Preference and Immigration: Consanguineous Marriage among British Pakistanis |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–334 |first1 = Alison |last1 = Shaw |ref=Shaw |jstor = 2661225 |doi=10.1111/1467-9655.00065}}
* {{cite book| last = Westermarck| first = Edward| title = The History of Human Marriage| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=by9AAAAAYAAJ| year = 1922| publisher = Allerton Book Co| location = New York| ref = Westermarck}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0021853700021940 |last1=Crummey |first1=Donald |title=Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=207–220 |year=1983 |ref=Crummey |jstor=181641 |s2cid=162655681}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dawson |editor1-first=Miles Menander |title=The Ethics of Confucius |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/eoc/eoc09.htm |year=1915 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |chapter=The Family |ref=Dawson}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |ref=SaveTheChildren |title=Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia) |url=http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Save the Children USA |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113172055/http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |first=Brian |last=Schwimmer |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/igbo/igbo_marriage.html |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |date=September 2003 |work=Kinship and Social Organization |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=Schwimmer}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Scott-Emuakpori |first1=Ajovi B. |title=The Mutation Load in an African Population |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am J Hum Genet]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1974 |pages=674–682 |ref=Scott-Emuakpor}}
* {{cite book |title=Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC |year=2001 |publisher=Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |ref=Suberu |last1=Suberu |first1=Rotimi T.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |title=Hausa |last=Swanson |first=Eleanor C. |author2=Robert O. Lagace |work=Ethnographic Atlas |publisher=Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury |access-date=8 February 2010 |ref=Swanson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217193539/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:17:58Z

Timovinga: /* Other religions */ Not reliable

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |title = Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |publisher = The Indian Express Limited |first = Dinker |last = Vashisht |date = 20 July 2009}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>Christopher Bayly, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, p. 49 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ]</ref>

==== In scriptures ====
In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2021}} Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
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* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
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* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:13:49Z

Timovinga: /* Hinduism */ New sub section

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |title = Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |publisher = The Indian Express Limited |first = Dinker |last = Vashisht |date = 20 July 2009}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>Christopher Bayly, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, p. 49 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ]</ref>

==== In scriptures ====
In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2021}} Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].<ref>{{cite web | last =Higgins | first =W | title =Buddhist Sexual Ethics | publisher =BuddhaNet Magazine | url =http://www.buddhanet.net/winton_s.htm | access-date = 15 January 2007 }}</ref>

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.<ref name="everyculture">{{cite web|title=Zoroastrians - Marriage and Family|url=http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Zoroastrians-Marriage-and-Family.html|website=World Culture Encyclopedia}}</ref>

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
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* {{Cite journal |first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Consanguinity and Noble Marriages in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries |journal=Speculum |volume=56 |issue=2 |date=April 1981 |pages=268–287 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846935 |doi=10.2307/2846935 |jstor=2846935 |pmid=11610836 |s2cid=38717048 |ref=Bouchard 1981 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Darwin|first=George H|year=1875|title=Marriages between first cousins in England and their effects|journal=Journal of the Statistical Society|volume=XXXVIII Part II|issue=2|pages=153–184|doi=10.2307/2338660|jstor=2338660}}
* {{Cite book |title = The Economics of Consanguineous Marriages |first1 = Quý Toàn |last1 = Đõ |first2 = Sriya |last2 = Iyer |first3 = Shareen |last3 = Joshi |year = 2006 |publisher = World Bank, Development Research Group, Poverty Team |ref=Do}}
* {{cite web |first = John |last = Dougherty |title = Forbidden Fruit |url = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 |website = Phoenix New Times |date = 29 December 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = Dougherty |archive-date = 3 November 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |url-status = dead }}
* {{Cite journal | last = Freire-Maia | first = Newton | title = Inbreeding in Brazil | journal = [[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am. J. Hum. Genet.]] | volume = 9 | issue = 4 | pages = 284–298 | date = Dec 1957 | pmid = 13497997 | pmc = 1932014 |ref=Freire-Maia}}
* {{cite journal | first1 = Benjamin P. | last1 = Givens | first2 = Charles | last2 = Hirschman | title = Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran | journal = [[Journal of Marriage and Family]] | volume = 56 | issue = 4 | date = November 1994 | pages = 820–834 |ref=Givens | jstor = 353595 | doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite book |title = The development of the family and marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |year = 1983 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |ref=Goody}}
* {{cite book| last = Grubbs| first = Judith Evans| title = Women and the law in the Roman Empire| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7gJhP7fpbTcC| access-date = 13 February 2010| year = 2002| publisher = Routledge| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-415-15240-2| ref = Grubbs}}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1963.0071 | pmid = 14087988 | last1 = Hajnal | first1 = J. | last2 = Fraccaro | first2 = M. | last3 = Sutter | first3 = J. | last4 = Smith | first4 = C.A.B. | title = Concepts of Random Mating and the Frequency of Consanguineous Marriages | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 159 | issue = 974 | pages = 125–177 | date = 10 December 1963 | display-authors = 1 |ref=Hajnal| bibcode = 1963RSPSB.159..125H | s2cid = 45211684 }}
* {{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press ND| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| ref = Holy}}
* {{cite book| last = Hostetler| first = John Andrew| title = Amish Society| url = https://archive.org/details/amishsociety00host_0| url-access = registration| year = 1993| publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press| location = Baltimore| isbn = 978-0-8018-4442-3| ref = Hostetler}}
* {{Cite journal |title = The Structural Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 1/2 |issue = 6 |pages = 23–55 |first1 = Edmund |last1 = Leach |doi = 10.2307/2844015 |ref=Leach |jstor = 2844015|s2cid = 149509001 }}
* {{cite book| last = Meriwether| first = Margaret Lee| title = The Kin Who Count: Family and Society in Ottoman Aleppo, 1770-1840| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iFtq9TcWzjkC| year = 1999| publisher = University of Texas Press| isbn = 978-0-292-75224-5| ref = Meriwether}}
* {{cite news |title = Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard |first = Mary Jayne |last = McKay |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/08/60II/main700519.shtml |publisher = CBS |date = 8 June 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = McKay }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1959.61.1.02a00040 |last1 = Murphy |first1 = Robert F. |author-link1 = Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist) |last2 = Kasdan |first2 = Leonard |title = The Structure of Parallel Cousin Marriage |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 61 |issue = 1 |date = Feb 1959 |pages = 17–29 |ref=Murphy |jstor = 666210|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite book | title = Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage | first = Martin | last = Ottenheimer | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 1996 | location = Chicago |ref = TheEssentialOttenheimer}}
* {{cite book| last = Patterson| first = Cynthia B.| title = The Family in Greek History| year = 1998| publisher = Harvard University Press| location = Cambridge, MA| isbn = 978-0-674-29270-3| ref = Patterson| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/familyingreekhis0000patt}}
* {{Cite journal |last1 = Prem |first1 = Chowdhry |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume = 38 |issue = 1 |year = 2004 |pages = 55–84 |ref=Chowdhry}}
* {{cite news |title=Polygamist community faces genetic disorder |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |agency=Reuters |date=15 June 2007 |access-date=10 February 2010 |ref=Reuters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213032656/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |archive-date=13 December 2010 }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.2307/3773881 |last = Qin |first = Zhaoxiong |title = Rethinking Cousin Marriage in Rural China |journal = [[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]] |volume = 40 |issue = 4 |date = 22 September 2001 |pages = 347–360 |ref=Zhaoxiong |jstor = 3773881}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Shami|first1=S A|last2=Schmitt|first2=L H|last3=Bittles|first3=A H|year=1989|title=Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities|journal=Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=267–271|pmc=1017301|doi=10.1136/jmg.26.4.267|pmid=2716036}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society? |first1=Brent |last1=Shaw |first2=Richard |last2=Saller |journal = Man |series=New Series |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |date=September 1984 |pages = 432–444 |doi=10.2307/2802181 |ref=ShawSaller |jstor = 2802181}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Kinship, Cultural Preference and Immigration: Consanguineous Marriage among British Pakistanis |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–334 |first1 = Alison |last1 = Shaw |ref=Shaw |jstor = 2661225 |doi=10.1111/1467-9655.00065}}
* {{cite book| last = Westermarck| first = Edward| title = The History of Human Marriage| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=by9AAAAAYAAJ| year = 1922| publisher = Allerton Book Co| location = New York| ref = Westermarck}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0021853700021940 |last1=Crummey |first1=Donald |title=Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=207–220 |year=1983 |ref=Crummey |jstor=181641 |s2cid=162655681}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dawson |editor1-first=Miles Menander |title=The Ethics of Confucius |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/eoc/eoc09.htm |year=1915 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |chapter=The Family |ref=Dawson}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |ref=SaveTheChildren |title=Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia) |url=http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Save the Children USA |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113172055/http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |first=Brian |last=Schwimmer |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/igbo/igbo_marriage.html |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |date=September 2003 |work=Kinship and Social Organization |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=Schwimmer}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Scott-Emuakpori |first1=Ajovi B. |title=The Mutation Load in an African Population |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am J Hum Genet]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1974 |pages=674–682 |ref=Scott-Emuakpor}}
* {{cite book |title=Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC |year=2001 |publisher=Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |ref=Suberu |last1=Suberu |first1=Rotimi T.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |title=Hausa |last=Swanson |first=Eleanor C. |author2=Robert O. Lagace |work=Ethnographic Atlas |publisher=Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury |access-date=8 February 2010 |ref=Swanson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217193539/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Cousin marriage

2024-02-20T06:12:49Z

Timovinga: /* Other religions */ Unsourced claims

{{short description|Marriage between those with common grandparents or other recent ancestors}}
{{expert needed|Genealogy|talk=The chart is wrong|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Anthropology of kinship}}

A '''cousin marriage''' is a [[marriage]] where the spouses are [[cousin]]s (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/when-did-cousin-marriage-become-unacceptable.htm|title=When Did Cousin Marriage Become Unacceptable?|last=History|first=Mr|date=2017-01-24|website=HistoryNet|access-date=2019-08-10}}</ref> Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins.<ref name="kershaw" /> Cousin marriage is an important topic in [[anthropology]] and [[alliance theory]].<ref name="ottenheimer3" />

In some cultures and communities, cousin marriages are considered ideal and are actively encouraged and expected; in others, they are seen as [[incestuous]] and are subject to [[social stigma]] and [[taboo]]. Cousin marriage was historically practiced by [[indigenous cultures]] in [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|North America]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#South America|South America]], and [[Polynesians|Polynesia]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dousset|first=Laurent|title=Part three: Western Desert kinship ethnography|date=2018-05-17|url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/563|work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert|pages=75–94|series=Manuels du Credo|place=Marseille|publisher=pacific-credo Publications|isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0|access-date=2021-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Dousset |first=Laurent |title=Part two: Some basic concepts of kinship |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/562 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=45–74 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0 |access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Glossary |date=2018-05-17 |url=http://books.openedition.org/pacific/558 |work=Australian Aboriginal Kinship : An introductory handbook with particular emphasis on the Western Desert |pages=125–132 |access-date=2023-09-13 |series=Manuels du Credo |place=Marseille |publisher=pacific-credo Publications |language=en |isbn=978-2-9563981-1-0}}</ref>

In some jurisdictions, cousin marriage is [[Prohibited degree of kinship|legally prohibited]]: for example, in [[mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Cousin marriage law in the United States|24 of the 50 United States]].<ref name="truth">{{cite web |url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/people-stop-thinking-appropriate-cousins-marry/|title=The Surprising Truth About Cousins and Marriage|date=14 February 2014}}</ref><ref name="plos">{{cite journal|last1=Paul|first1=Diane B.|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G.|date=23 December 2008|title="It's Ok, We're Not Cousins by Blood": The Cousin Marriage Controversy in Historical Perspective|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=6|issue=12|pages=2627–30|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060320|pmid=19108607|pmc=2605922 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The laws of many jurisdictions set out the [[Degree of relationship|degree of consanguinity]] prohibited among sexual relations and marriage parties. Supporters of cousin marriage where it is banned may view the prohibition as [[discrimination]],<ref name="finalthoughts">{{cite web|title=Final Thoughts|url=https://www.cousincouples.com/?page=final|website=Cousin Couples|access-date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="okbyscience">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/cousinmarriage/|title=Cousin Marriage OK by Science|magazine=Wired|author=Brandon Keim|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> while opponents may appeal to [[Morality|moral]] or other arguments.<ref name="slate">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2064227/|title=The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Surname|first=William|last=Saletan|date=10 April 2002|journal=Slate}}</ref>

Opinions vary widely as to the merits of the practice. Children of [[#Biological aspects|first-cousin marriages]] have a 4-6% risk of [[autosomal recessive]] [[genetic disorder]]s compared to the 3% of the children of totally unrelated parents.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hamamy|first=Hanan|date=July 2012|title=Consanguineous marriages|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y|issn=1868-310X|pmc=3419292|pmid=22109912}}</ref> Children of more distantly related cousins have less risk of these disorders, though still higher than the average population.<ref name=":1" /> A study indicated that between 1800 and 1965 in [[Iceland]], more children and grandchildren were produced from marriages between third or fourth cousins (people with common great-great- or great-great-great-grandparents) than from other degrees of separation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/|title=When Incest Is Best: Kissing Cousins Have More Kin|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=8 February 2008}}</ref>

== History ==
The prevalence of first-cousin marriage in Western countries has declined since the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], pp. 58, 92</ref><ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]]</ref> In the Middle East and South Asia, cousin marriage is still strongly favored.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 563</ref><ref name="The National 2009">[[#Teebi|The National 2009]]</ref><ref name="Bittles 2000">[[#BittlesHussain|Bittles 2000]]</ref>

Cousin marriage has often been practiced to keep cultural values intact, preserve family wealth, maintain geographic proximity, keep tradition, strengthen family ties, and maintain family structure or a closer relationship between the wife and her in-laws. Many such marriages are [[arranged marriage|arranged]] (see also pages on [[arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent]], [[arranged marriages in Pakistan]], [[arranged marriages in Japan]], [[arranged marriages in Indonesia]].<ref name="kershaw" /><ref name="kissyourcousin">{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2003/aug/featkiss|title=Go Ahead, Kiss Your Cousin – DiscoverMagazine.com}}</ref><ref name="bittles1" /><ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567">[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 567</ref><ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 7</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cheema |first=Sukhbir |date=2020-06-25 |title=Indonesian man marries two women. Both are cousins. |url=https://sea.mashable.com/culture/11220/indonesian-man-marries-two-women-both-are-cousins |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Mashable SEA {{!}} Latest Entertainment & Trending |language=en-sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastanto |first=Ikhwan |date=2019-07-15 |title=In Indonesia, Google Searches About Marriages Between Cousins Spike During the Holidays |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3j55/indonesia-google-trends-cousin-marriages-ramadan |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Further|Chinese marriage}}
[[Confucius]] described marriage as "the union of two surnames".<ref>{{Lang|zh-Hant|《[[Book of Rites|禮記]]·昏義》：「昏禮者，將合二姓之好。」}}</ref><ref>[[#Dawson|Dawson 1915]], p. 143</ref> In ancient China some evidence indicates that in some cases two clans had a longstanding arrangement whereby they would marry only members of the other clan. Some men also practiced [[sororate marriage]], that is a marriage to a former wife's sister or a polygynous marriage to both sisters. This would have the effect of eliminating parallel-cousin marriage as an option because they would have the same surname but would leave cross-cousin marriage acceptable.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 628–629</ref> In the ancient system of the ''[[Erya]]'' dating from around the third century BC, the words for the two types of cross cousins were identical ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng''), with father's brother's children ({{Lang|zh|甥}} ''shēng'') and mother's sister's children ({{Lang|zh|從母晜弟}} ''cóngmǔ kūndì'' for boys and {{Lang|zh|從母姊妹}} ''cóngmǔ zǐmèi'' for girls) both being distinct.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 37</ref> However, whereas it may not have been permissible at that time, marriage with the mother's sister's children also became possible by the third century AD.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 44</ref> Eventually, the mother's sister's children and cross cousins shared one set of terms, with only the father's brother's children retaining a separate set.<ref>[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 38</ref> This usage remains today, with ''biǎo'' ({{Lang|zh|表}}) cousins considered "outside" and paternal ''táng'' ({{Lang|zh|堂}}) cousins being of the same house.<ref>[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], pp. 650–651</ref>

Anthropologist [[Francis L. K. Hsu]] described a mother's brother's daughter (MBD) as being the most preferred type of Chinese cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Hsu|Hsu 1945]], p. 91</ref> Another research describes marrying a mother's sister's daughter (MSD) as being tolerated, but a father's brother's daughter (FBD, or ''táng'' relatives in Chinese) is strongly disfavored.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 347–349</ref> The last form is seen as nearly incestuous and therefore prohibited, for the man and the woman in such marriage share the same surname, much resembling [[sibling marriage]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In Chinese culture, patrilineal ties are most important in determining the closeness of a relation.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 355</ref> In the case of the MSD marriage, no such ties exist, so consequently, this may not even be viewed as cousin marriage. Finally, one reason that MBD marriage is often most common may be the typically greater emotional warmth between a man and his mother's side of the family.<ref>[[#Zhaoxiong|Zhaoxiong 2001]], p. 356–357</ref> Later analyses have found regional variation in these patterns; in some rural areas where cousin marriage is still common, MBD is not preferred but merely acceptable, similar to MSD.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

The following is a Chinese poem by [[Bai Juyi]] (A.D. 772–846), in which he described an inbreeding village.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |author=白居易 |title=朱陳村 |wslanguage=zh}}</ref><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630">[[#Chen|Chen 1932]], p. 630</ref>

{{blockquote|
In Ku-feng hsien, in the district of Ch'u chou [Kiangsu]

Is a village called Chu Ch'en [the names of the two clans].

...

There are only two clans there

Which have intermarried for many generations.

...
}}

In some periods in Chinese history, all cousin marriage was legally prohibited, as law codes dating from the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) attest. However, enforcement proved difficult and by the subsequent [[Qing dynasty]], the former laws had been restored.<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43">[[#Feng|Feng 1967]], p. 43</ref> During the Qing dynasty era (1636–1912), first cousin marriage was common and prevailed after the era particularly in rural regions. By the early to mid-20th century, anthropologists described cross-cousin marriage in China as "still permissible ... but ... generally obsolete" or as "permitted but not encouraged".<ref name="Feng 1967, p. 43" /><ref name="Chen 1932, p. 630" /> Eventually, in 1981, a legal ban on first-cousin marriage was enacted by the government of the People's Republic of China due to potential health concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Engel|first=John W.|date=1984|title=Marriage in the People's Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/352547|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=46|issue=4|pages=955–961|doi=10.2307/352547|jstor=352547|issn=0022-2445}}</ref>

===Middle East===
{{Main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}

Cousin marriage has been allowed throughout the [[Middle East]] for all recorded history.<ref>Goody, Marriage and the Family in Europe</ref> Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system<ref name="Patai">Patai</ref> while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]]</ref> Very little numerical evidence exists of rates of cousin marriage in the past.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], also Patai, p. 140</ref>

[[Raphael Patai]] reports that in central Arabia, no relaxation of a man's right to the father's brother's daughter seems to have taken place in the past hundred years before his 1962 work. Here the girl is not forced to marry her male cousin, but she cannot marry another unless he gives consent.<ref>Patai, ''Golden River to Golden Road'', 145–153</ref> The force of the custom is seen in one case from [[Jordan]] when the father arranged for the marriage of his daughter to an outsider without obtaining the consent of her male cousin. When the marriage procession progressed with the bride toward the house of the bridegroom, the male cousin rushed forward, snatched away the girl, and forced her into his own house. This was regarded by all as a lawful marriage.<ref name="Patai 153–161">Patai 153–161</ref> In [[Iraq]], the right of the cousin also traditionally was followed <ref>Patai 166</ref> The Syrian city of [[Aleppo]] during the 19th century featured a rate of cousin marriage among the elite of 24% according to one estimate, a figure that masked widespread variation: some leading families had none or only one cousin marriage, while others had rates approaching 70%. Cousin marriage rates were highest among women,{{clarify|date=October 2011|see talk page, can this be explained by polygyny by men marrying two or more of their cousins?}} merchant families, and older well-established families.<ref>[[#Meriwether|Meriwether]] p. 135</ref>

In-marriage was more frequent in the late pre-Islamic [[Hijaz]] than in ancient Egypt. It existed in [[Medina]] during [[Muhammad]]'s time, but at less than today's rates.<ref>Patai 141</ref> In [[Egypt]], estimates from the late 19th and early 20th centuries state variously that either 80% of ''[[fellahin]]'' married first cousins or two-thirds married them if they existed. One source from the 1830s states that cousin marriage was less common in [[Cairo]] than in other areas. In traditional Syria-Palestina, if a girl had no paternal male cousin (father's brother's son) or he renounced his right to her, the next in line was traditionally the maternal male cousin (mother's brother's son) and then other relatives. Raphael Patai, however, reported that this custom loosened in the years preceding his 1947 study.<ref name="Patai 153–161" /> In ancient Persia, the [[Achaemenid]] kings habitually married their cousins and nieces,<ref>Women in Ancient Persia, 559–331 BC By Maria Brosius, p. 68</ref> while between the 1940s and 1970s, the percentage of Iranian cousin marriages increased from 34 to 44%.<ref>[[#Givens|Givens 1994]]</ref> Cousin marriage among native Middle Eastern Jews is generally far higher than among the European [[Ashkenazim]], who assimilated European marital practices after the [[diaspora]].<ref>Patai, ''The Myth of the Jewish Race'', "Cousin Marriage"</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Ladislav Holý]], cousin marriage is not an independent phenomenon, but rather one expression of a wider Middle Eastern preference for agnatic solidarity, or solidarity with one's father's lineage. According to Holý, the oft-quoted reason for cousin marriage of keeping property in the family is, in the Middle Eastern case, just one specific manifestation of keeping intact a family's whole "symbolic capital".<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 110–117</ref> Close agnatic marriage has also been seen as a result of the conceptualization of men as responsible for the control of the conduct of women.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 118–120</ref> [[Honor]] is another reason for cousin marriage: while the natal family may lose influence over the daughter through marriage to an outsider, marrying her in their kin group allows them to help prevent dishonorable outcomes such as attacks on her or her own unchaste behavior.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], 120–127</ref> Pragmatic reasons for the husband, such as warmer relations with his father-in-law, and those for parents of both spouses, like reduced bride price and access to the labor of the daughter's children, also contribute.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], Chapter 2</ref><ref>Patai 144–145</ref> Throughout Middle Eastern history, cousin marriage has been both praised and discouraged by various writers and authorities.<ref>Patai 173–175</ref>

A 2009 study found that many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and that first cousin marriages which may reach 25–30% of all marriages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tadmouri|2009}} ([http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/6/1/17/table/T1 Table 1]).</ref> In [[Qatar]], [[Yemen]], and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as [[Infant mortality|postnatal mortality]] and rates of congenital malformations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tadmouri|first=Ghazi O.|author2=Pratibha Nair1|author3=Tasneem Obeid1|author4=Mahmoud T Al Ali1|author5=Najib Al Khaja1|author6=Hanan A Hamamy|year=2009|title=Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal=Reproductive Health|volume=6|issue=17|pages=17|doi=10.1186/1742-4755-6-17|pmc=2765422|pmid=19811666|ref={{harvid|Tadmouri|2009}} |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== Middle Eastern parallel-cousin marriage ====
[[Andrey Korotayev]] claimed that Islamization was a strong and significant predictor of parallel cousin (father's brother's daughter – FBD) marriage, [[bint 'amm marriage]]. He has shown that while a clear functional connection exists between Islam and FBD marriage, the prescription to marry a FBD does not appear to be sufficient to persuade people to actually marry thus, even if the marriage brings with it economic advantages. According to Korotayev, a systematic acceptance of parallel-cousin marriage took place when Islamization occurred together with Arabization.<ref>[[Andrey Korotayev|Korotayev A. V.]] [https://www.academia.edu/1514527/Parallel_cousin_FBD_marriage_Islamization_and_Arabization Parallel Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization] // ''Ethnology'' 39/4 (2000): 395–407.

Islam forbids marrying one's nephew or niece, this can be found in the Quran 4:23 which states (translated from Arabic):

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful."
</ref>

=== Africa ===
Cousin marriage rates from most African nations outside the Middle East are unknown. An estimated 35–50% of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 565</ref> In [[Nigeria]], the most populous country of Africa, the three largest ethnic groups in order of size are the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], and [[Igbo people|Igbo]].<ref>[[#CIANigeria|CIA 2010]]</ref> The Hausa are overwhelmingly Muslim, though followers of traditional religions do exist. Muslim Hausas practice cousin marriage preferentially, and polygyny is allowed if the husband can support multiple wives.<ref>[[#Swanson|Swanson]]</ref> The book ''[[Baba of Karo]]'' presents one prominent portrayal of Hausa life: according to its English coauthor, it is unknown for Hausa women to be unmarried for any great length of time after around the age of 14.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 268</ref> [[Divorce]] can be accomplished easily by either the male or the female, but females must then remarry.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 9</ref> Even for a man, lacking a spouse is looked down upon.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], p. 264</ref> Baba of Karo's first of four marriages was to her second cousin. She recounts in the book that her good friend married the friend's first cross cousin.<ref>[[#Baba|Karo 1982]], pp. 102–103</ref>

50% of the Yoruba people are Muslim, 40% Christian and 10% adherent of their own indigenous religious traditions.<ref>[[#Suberu|Suberu 2001]], p. 3</ref> A 1974 study analyzed Yoruba marriages in the town Oka Akoko, finding that among a sample of highly polygynous marriages having an average of about three wives, 51% of all pairings were consanguineous. These included not only cousin marriages but also [[uncle-niece union]]s. Reportedly, it is a custom that in such marriages at least one spouse must be a relative, and generally such spouses were the preferred or favorite wives in the marriage and gave birth to more children. However this was not a general study of Yoruba, but only of highly polygynous Yoruba residing in Oka Akoko.<ref>[[#Scott-Emuakpor|Scott-Emuakpor 1974]]</ref>

The Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, who are predominantly Christian, strictly practice non-consanguineal marriages, where kinfolks and cousins are not allowed to marry or have intimacy. Consequently men and women are forbidden to marry within their recent patrilineage and matrilineage. Before the advent of Christianity through colonization, the Igbos had always frowned upon and specifically prohibited consanguineal marriages, both the parallel and cross-cousin types, which are considered incestuous and cursed. Arranged marriages, albeit in great decline, were also to consciously prevent accidental consanguineal and bad marriages, such that the impending in-laws were aware of each other's family histories. Currently, as in the old days, before courtship commences thorough enquiries are made by both families not only to ascertain character traits but to also ensure their children are not related by blood. Traditionally parents closely monitor those with whom their children are intimate to avoid them committing incest. It is customary for parents to bring their children up to know their immediate cousins and, when opportune, their distant cousins. They encourage their adult children to disclose their love interests for consanguineal screening.<ref>[[#Schwimmer|Schwimmer 2003]]</ref>

In [[Ethiopia]] most of the population was historically rigidly opposed to cousin marriage and could consider up to third cousins the equivalent of brother and sister, with marriage at least ostensibly prohibited out to sixth cousins.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 207</ref> They also took affinal prohibitions very seriously. The prospect of a man marrying a former wife's ‘sister’ was seen as incest, and conversely for a woman and her former husband's ‘brother’.<ref>[[#Crummey|Crummey 1983]], p. 213</ref> Though Muslims make up more than a third of the Ethiopian population and Islam has been present in the country since the time of Muhammad, cross-cousin marriage is very rare among most Ethiopian Muslims.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], p. 113</ref> In contrast to the Nigerian situation, in Ethiopia Islam cannot be identified with a particular ethnicity and is found across most of them, and conversions between religions are comparatively common.<ref>[[#Abbink|Abbink 1998]], pp. 112, 118</ref> The Afar practice a form of cousin marriage called ''absuma'', which is arranged at birth and can be forced.<ref>[[#SaveTheChildren|Save the Children USA 2007]], pp. 6–8</ref>

===Catholic Church and Europe===
[[File:Table of Consanguinity showing degrees of relationship.svg|upright=1.3|right|thumb|The number next to each box in the Table of Consanguinity indicates the degree of relationship relative to the given person according to [[Roman law]].]]

[[Roman law|Roman civil law]] prohibited marriages within four [[Laws regarding incest#Degrees of relationship|degrees of consanguinity]].<ref>de Colquhoun, Patrick MacChombaich, ''A summary of the Roman civil law'' (William Benning and Co., Cambridge, 1849), p. 513</ref> This was calculated by counting up from one prospective partner to the common ancestor, then down to the other prospective partner.<ref name="CNM269">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 269</ref> [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval]] Europe continued the late Roman ban on cousin marriage. Under the [[canon law (Catholic Church)|law of the Catholic Church]], couples were also forbidden to marry if they were within four degrees of consanguinity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2001 |page=40}}</ref> These laws would severely cripple the existing European kinship structures, replacing them with the smaller [[nuclear family]] units.<ref>{{cite web |last=Price |first=Michael |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans |title=How the early Christian church gave birth to today's WEIRD Europeans |date=7 November 2019 |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

In the 9th century, however, the church raised the number of prohibited degrees to seven and changed the method by which they were calculated. Instead of the former practice of counting up to the common ancestor and then down to the proposed spouse, the new law computed consanguinity by counting only back to the common ancestor.<ref name="CNM270">[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] p. 270</ref> In the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], unknowingly marrying a closely consanguineous blood relative was grounds for a [[declaration of nullity]]. But during the 11th and 12th centuries, dispensations were granted with increasing frequency due to the thousands of persons encompassed in the prohibition at seven degrees and the hardships this posed for finding potential spouses.<ref name="LSCS356">James A. Brundage, ''Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 356</ref> Eventually, the nobility became too interrelated to marry easily as the local pool of unrelated prospective spouses became smaller; increasingly, large payments to the church were required for exemptions ("[[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]]s"), or retrospective legitimizations of children.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 270, 271</ref>

In 1215, the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] reduced the number of prohibited degrees of consanguinity from seven back to four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM#50|title=Lateran 4 - 1215|website=www.ewtn.com}}</ref><ref>John W. Baldwin, ''The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 78</ref> After 1215, the general rule was that while fourth cousins could marry without dispensation, the need for dispensations was reduced.<ref name="LSCS356" />

For example, the marriage of [[Louis XIV of France]] and [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] was a first-cousin marriage on both sides.<ref>Other examples are: [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[Margaret Theresa of Spain|Margarita]], [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe I]] and [[Henrietta of England|Henrietta]], [[Frederick William I of Prussia]] and [[Sophia Dorothea of Hanover|Sophia Dorothea]], [[Christian VII of Denmark]] and [[Caroline Matilda of Great Britain|Caroline Matilda]], [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and [[Caroline of Brunswick|Caroline]], [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] and [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)|Prince Henry of Prussia]] and [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]], [[Olav V of Norway]] and [[Princess Märtha of Sweden|Princess Märtha]], [[Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse|Ernest Louis]] and [[Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], who also married [[Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia|Kirill Vladimirovich]], another first cousin.</ref> It began to fall out of favor in the 19th century as women became socially mobile. Only [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], and [[Spain]] banned cousin marriage throughout the 19th century, with dispensations being available from the government in the last two countries.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90.</ref> First-cousin marriage in [[England]] in 1875 was estimated by George Darwin to be 3.5% for the middle classes and 4.5% for the nobility, though this had declined to under 1% during the 20th century.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 81.</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] were a preeminent example.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html|title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=24 December 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Darwin|1875}}

The 19th-century academic debate on cousin marriage developed differently in Europe and America. The writings of Scottish deputy commissioner for lunacy [[Arthur Mitchell (physician)|Arthur Mitchell]] claiming that cousin marriage had injurious effects on offspring were largely contradicted by researchers such as Alan Huth and George Darwin.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 84</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/19/charles-darwin |title = We ought to be exterminated |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 19 January 2009 |first = Steve |last = Jones | location=London}}</ref> In fact, Mitchell's own data did not support his hypotheses and he later speculated that the dangers of consanguinity might be partly overcome by proper living. Later studies by George Darwin found results that resemble those estimated today. His father, Charles Darwin – who married his first cousin – had initially speculated that cousin marriage might pose serious risks, but perhaps in response to his son's work, these thoughts were omitted from a later version of the book they published. When a question about cousin marriage was eventually considered in 1871 for the census, according to George Darwin, it was rejected on the grounds that the idle curiosity of philosophers was not to be satisfied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> In Southern Italy, cousin marriage was a usual tradition in regions such as Calabria and Sicily, where first-cousin marriage in the 1900s was near to 50 percent of all marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-19 |title=First Cousin Marriages in Italy, by percentage (1930–1964) |url=https://vividmaps.com/first-cousin-marriages-in-italy/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Vivid Maps |language=en-US}}</ref> Cousin marriage to third cousins is allowed and considered favorably in [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R17R1G4pUlQC&q=third+cousin+marriage+among+greeks&pg=PA128|title=Meaning and Identity in a Greek Landscape: An Archaeological Ethnography|last=Forbes|first=Hamish|date= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521866996}}</ref>

====Ancient Europe====
Cousin marriage were legal in ancient Rome from the [[Second Punic War]] (218–201 BC), until it was banned by the Christian emperor [[Theodosius I]] in 381 in the West, and until after the death of [[Justinian I|Justinian]] (565) in the East,<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 63</ref><ref>[[#Grubbs|Grubbs 2002, p. 163]]</ref> but the proportion of such marriages is not clear. Anthropologist [[Jack Goody]] said that cousin marriage was a typical pattern in Rome, based on the marriage of four children of Emperor Constantine to their first cousins and on writings by [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]] indicating the proscription of cousin marriage in the early Republic.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], pp. 51–52</ref> Professors [[Brent Shaw]] and [[Richard Saller]], however, counter in their more comprehensive treatment that cousin marriages were never habitual or preferred in the western empire: for example, in one set of six stemmata (genealogies) of Roman aristocrats in the two centuries after [[Octavian]], out of 33 marriages, none was between first or second cousins. Such marriages carried no social stigma in the late Republic and early Empire. They cite the example of [[Cicero]] attacking [[Mark Antony]] not on the grounds of cousin marriage, but instead on grounds of Antony's divorce.

Shaw and Saller propose in their thesis of low cousin marriage rates that as families from different regions were incorporated into the imperial Roman nobility, [[exogamy]] was necessary to accommodate them and to avoid destabilizing the Roman social structure. Their data from tombstones further indicate that in most of the western empire, parallel-cousin marriages were not widely practiced among commoners, either. [[Hispania|Spain]] and [[Noricum]] were exceptions to this rule, but even there, the rates did not rise above 10%.<ref name="Shaw 1984">[[#ShawSaller|Shaw 1984]]</ref> They further point out that since property belonging to the nobility was typically fragmented,{{clarify|date=November 2012}} keeping current assets in the family offered no advantage, compared with acquiring it by intermarriage. Jack Goody claimed that early Christian marriage rules forced a marked change from earlier norms to deny heirs to the wealthy and thus to increase the chance that those with wealth would will their property to the Church. Shaw and Saller, however, believe that the estates of aristocrats without heirs had previously been claimed by the emperor, and that the Church merely replaced the emperor. Their view is that the Christian injunctions against cousin marriage were due more to ideology than to any conscious desire to acquire wealth.<ref name="Shaw 1984" />

For some prominent examples of cousin marriages in ancient Rome, such as the marriage of [[Julia the Elder|Augustus' daughter]] to his [[Marcellus (nephew of Augustus)|sister's son]], see the [[Julio-Claudian family tree]]. [[Marcus Aurelius]] also married his maternal first cousin [[Faustina the Younger]], and they had 13 children. Cousin marriage was more frequent in [[ancient Greece]], and marriages between uncle and niece were also permitted there.<ref name="ottenheimer3" /> One example is King [[Leonidas I]] of Sparta, who married his half-niece [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta|Gorgo]]. A Greek woman who became ''[[epikleros]]'', or heiress with no brothers, was obliged to marry her father's nearest male kin if she had not yet married and given birth to a male heir. First in line would be either her father's brothers or their sons, followed by her father's sisters' sons.<ref>[[#Patterson|Patterson 1998]], p. 98</ref>

====Early medieval====
According to Goody, cousin marriage was allowed in the newly Christian and presumably also pre-Christian Ireland, where an heiress was also obligated to marry a paternal cousin. From the seventh century, the Irish Church only recognized four [[Prohibited degree of kinship|degrees of prohibited kinship]], and civil law fewer. This persisted until after the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman conquests]] in the 11th century and the [[synod]] at [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]] in 1101.<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 45</ref> In contrast, contemporary English law was based on official Catholic policy, and Anglo-Norman clergy often became disgusted with the Irish "law of fornication".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 44</ref> Ironically, within less than a hundred years of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland the Catholic Church reformed Canon Law on cousin marriage at the Fourth Lateran Council, with the effect bringing the Catholic Church's teaching back into alignment with the Irish Church and the original Christian Church's teachings. The Catholic Churches' teachings had proved unworkable in practice as they required people to know, and not marry, all relations back as far as their common Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents (i.e. as far as their sixth cousins) or else purchase a dispensation from the church.<ref>[[#Bouchard 1981|Bouchard 1981]] pp. 269-270</ref> Finally, [[Edward Westermarck]] states that marriage among the ancient [[Teutons]] was apparently prohibited only in the ascending and descending lines and among siblings.<ref>[[#Westermarck|Westermarck 1921]], Vol. 2, p. 101</ref>

===United States===
Anthropologist Martin Ottenheimer argues that marriage prohibitions were introduced to maintain the social order, uphold religious morality, and safeguard the creation of fit offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|title=Index of /~omar|website=www-personal.ksu.edu|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223085419/http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~omar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers such as [[Noah Webster]] (1758–1843) and ministers such as [[Philip Milledoler]] (1775–1852) and Joshua McIlvaine helped lay the groundwork for such viewpoints well before 1860. This led to a gradual shift in concern from affinal unions, such as those between a man and his deceased wife's sister, to consanguineous unions. By the 1870s [[Lewis H. Morgan|Lewis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) was writing about "the advantages of marriages between unrelated persons" and the necessity of avoiding "the evils of consanguine marriage", avoidance of which would "increase the vigor of the stock". To many (Morgan included), cousin marriage, and more specifically [[parallel and cross cousins|parallel-cousin]] marriage, was a remnant of a more primitive stage of human social organization.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 111.</ref> Morgan himself had married his cousin in 1853.<ref name="ottenheimer"/>

In 1846 [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[George N. Briggs]] appointed a commission to study mentally disabled people (termed ‘[[idiot]]s’) in the state. This study implicated cousin marriage as responsible for idiocy. Within the next two decades, numerous reports (e.g. one from the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum) appeared with similar conclusions: that cousin marriage sometimes resulted in [[deafness]], [[blindness]] and idiocy. Perhaps most important was the report of physician Samuel Merrifield Bemiss for the [[American Medical Association]], which concluded cousin inbreeding does lead to the "physical and mental deprivation of the offspring". Despite being contradicted by other studies such as those of [[George Darwin]] and Alan Huth in England and Robert Newman in New York, the report's conclusions were widely accepted.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

These developments led to 13 states and territories passing cousin marriage prohibitions by the 1880s. Though contemporaneous, the [[eugenics]] movement did not play much of a direct role in the bans. George Louis Arner in 1908 considered the ban a clumsy and ineffective method of eugenics, which he thought would eventually be replaced by more refined techniques. By the 1920s the number of bans had doubled.<ref name="okbyscience" /> Since that time Kentucky (1943) and Texas have banned first-cousin marriage, and since 1985 Maine has mandated genetic counseling for marrying cousins to minimize the risk of any serious health defects for their children. The [[National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws]] unanimously recommended in 1970 that all such laws should be repealed, but no state has dropped its prohibition.<ref name="plos" /><ref name=kissyourcousin /><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black 2009]], Section 2</ref>

==Legal status==
[[File:CousinMarriageWorld.svg|thumb|upright=2|Laws regarding first-cousin marriage around the world.
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with restrictions}}
{{legend|#ec8028|Legality dependent on religion or culture2}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage, but not crime}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense}}
{{legend|#b9b9b9|No available data}}
1For information on US states see the map below. 
2See sections on [[#India|India]] and [[#Hinduism|Hinduism]].]]

===East Asia===
In the Far East, [[South Korea]] is especially restrictive with bans on marriage out to third cousins, with all couples having the same surname and region of origin having been prohibited from marrying until 1997.<ref>See [[Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code]] and {{Cite web
|url=http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|title=THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE KOREAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
|publisher=Constitutional Court of Korea
|page=242 (p.256 of the PDF)
|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219184747/http://www.ccourt.go.kr/home/english/download/decision_10years.pdf
|archive-date=19 February 2012
}}.</ref>

[[Taiwan]] and [[North Korea]] also prohibit first-cousin marriage.<ref name=plos/><ref>[http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htm Family Code of the Philippines]. Article 38.</ref>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981.<ref name="auto">Marriage Law of 1981</ref> Currently, according to the [[Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China]], Article 7, "No marriage may be contracted under any of the following circumstances: (1) if the man and the woman are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship."<ref name="Marriage">{{cite web
| title = Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China
| publisher = Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York
| date = 14 November 2003
| url = http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| access-date = 1 July 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm
| archive-date = 11 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> This was then encompassed in the [[Civil Code of the People's Republic of China|Civil Code]], which takes effect in 2021, as its Article 1048.

Unlike China mainland, the two [[special administrative regions of China]], [[Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap181!zh-Hant-HK?xpid=ID_1438402808605_001 |title=Cap. 181 Marriage Ordinance: Schedule 5 Kindred and Affinity |website=Hong Kong e-Legislation}}</ref> and [[Macau]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/99/31/codcivcn/codciv0001.asp |title=《民法典》第四卷親屬法第二編結婚第二章締結婚姻之要件第一節結婚障礙第一千四百八十條（相對禁止性障礙） |website=澳門特別行政區政府印務局 (Government Printing Bureau) |language=zh-mo |quote=直系血親關係及二親等內之旁系血親關係亦為禁止性障礙，存有該等關係之人彼此不能結婚。}}</ref> place no restrictions on marriage between cousins.

===Southeast Asia===
In [[Vietnam]], Clause 3, Article 10 of the 2000 Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family forbids marriages of people related by blood up to the third degree of kinship.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Marriage and Family Law|publisher=Ministry of Justice (Vietnam)|access-date=28 June 2013|url=http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/en/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=373}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Francis I.|title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China|author2=K. Hsu|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=47J|issue=1|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050|pages=83–103}}</ref> Cousin marriage is also prohibited in the [[Philippines]].

===United States===
[[File:Cousin marriage map1.svg|thumb|
'''Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States'''
{{legend|#000099|First-cousin marriage is legal}}
{{legend|#0066ff|Allowed with requirements}}
{{legend|#ff7777|Banned with exceptions1}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Statute bans marriage1}}
{{legend|#990000|Criminal offense1}}
----
1Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married.{{sup|[[WP:Please clarify|clarification needed]]}}]]
{{Further|Cousin marriage law in the United States}}

Several [[states of the United States]] have bans on cousin marriage.<ref>[[#TheEssentialOttenheimer|Ottenheimer 1996]], p. 90</ref><ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts "Facts About Cousin Marriage."] Cousin Couples.</ref> {{As of|2014|2}}, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins.<ref name="truth"/> Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.<ref name="slate"/> Some states prohibiting cousin marriage recognize cousin marriages performed in other states, but this does not hold true in general despite occasional claims to the contrary.<ref>{{cite book| last = Wolfson| first = Evan| title = Why marriage matters: America, equality, and gay people's right to marry| year = 2004| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7432-6458-7| page = [https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256 256]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/whymarriagematte00wolf/page/256}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Prevalence ==
World map showing [[prevalence]] of marriage between [[cousins]], up to and including [[second-degree relative|second cousins]], according to data published in 2012 by the United States [[National Center for Biotechnology Information]].<ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal|title=Consanguineous marriages Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal=Journal of Community Genetics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=185–192|pmc=3419292|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|date=July 2012|last1=Hamamy|first1=H.|pmid=22109912|doi=10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref>

[[File:Global prevalence of consanguinity.svg|thumb|upright=2|Cousin marriages (second-degree cousins or closer) in the world, in percentage (%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables – ConsangWiki – Consang.net|website=www.consang.net|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hammami|first1=Abdelmajid|last2=Elgazzeh|first2=Mohamed|last3=Chalbi|first3=Noureddine|last4=Mansour|first4=Ben Abdallah|date=1 January 2005|title=[Endogamy and consanguinity in Mauritania]|journal=La Tunisie Médicale|volume=83|issue=1|pages=38–42|issn=0041-4131|pmid=15881720}}</ref>
{{legend|#ECE7F2|<1}}
{{legend|#D0D1E6|1–4}}
{{legend|#A6BDDB|5–9}}
{{legend|#74A9CF|10–19}}
{{legend|#3690C0|20–29}}
{{legend|#0570B0|30–39}}
{{legend|#045A8D|40–49}}
{{legend|#023858|50+}}
Slightly over 10% of all marriages worldwide are estimated to be between second cousins or closer.<ref name="kershaw"/><ref name=bittles1/> The overall rate appears to be declining.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]

===Brazil===
Recent 2001 data for [[Brazil]] indicate a rate of cousin marriage of 1.1%, down from 4.8% in 1957.<ref name="Bittles" /> The geographic distribution is heterogeneous: in certain regions, the rate is at typical European levels, but in other areas is much higher. {{ill|Newton Freire-Maia|pt}} found paternal parallel cousin marriage to be the most common type.<ref>[[#Hajnal|Hajnal 1963]], p. 135</ref> In his 1957 study, the rate varied from 1.8% in the south to 8.4% in the northeast, where it increased moving inward from the coast,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 286</ref> and was higher in rural regions than in urban. Consanguinity has decreased over time and particularly since the 19th century. For example, in [[São Paulo]] in the mid-19th century, the rate of cousin marriage apparently was 16%,<ref>[[#Freire-Maia|Freire-Maia 1957]], p. 292</ref> but a century later, it was merely 1.9%.<ref name="Bittles" />

===East Asia===
First-cousin marriage is allowed in [[Japan]], though the incidence has declined in recent years.<ref name=bittles1/>

China has prohibited first-cousin marriage since 1981,<ref name="auto"/> although cross-cousin marriage was commonly practiced in China in the past in rural areas.<ref name="bittles1">{{cite tech report
| first=Alan H.
| last=Bittles
| title=A Background Summary of Consanguineous Marriage
| institution=Edith Cowan University
| date=May 2001
| url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf
}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 780</ref> An article in ''[[China Daily]]'' from the 1990s reported on the ban's implementation in the northeastern province of [[Liaoning]], along with a ban on marriage of people who were physically and mentally disabled, all justified on "[[Eugenics|eugenic]]" grounds.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Limited existing data indicate some remaining cousin marriage of types besides father's brother's daughter in many villages, with percentages usually in the lower single digits.<ref name="Bittles">[[#TheIndispensableBittles|Bittles 2009]]</ref> A 2002 ''Time'' article claims that an increasing imbalance in the number of males and females is causing more cousin marriages, as "desperate" males struggle to find brides.<ref>Hannah Beech Nanliang. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080531165818/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,250060,00.html In Rural China, It's a Family Affair]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 27 May 2002.</ref>

=== Europe ===

==== Germany ====
Cousin marriages remain legal in Germany. In 2007, between a fifth and a quarter of marriages among [[Turks in Germany]] were between relatives.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|title=Inzest: Wenn der Cousin mit der Cousine schläft|last=Wöhrle|first=Christoph|date=2007-02-25|work=die Welt|quote= Oft werden diese Verbindungen von der Familie arrangiert – laut einer Befragung des Essener Zentrums für Türkeistudien (ZfT) machen sie ein Viertel der Heiraten von Türkischstämmigen in Deutschland aus.'|access-date=2018-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328001406/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article732888/Wenn-der-Cousin-mit-der-Cousine-schlaeft.html|archive-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> There has been discussion of whether laws prohibiting cousin marriage should be enacted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Alison |last2=Raz |first2=Aviad E. |title=Cousin Marriages: Between Tradition, Genetic Risk and Cultural Change |date= 2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-493-9 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiUfAwAAQBAJ |access-date=17 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Families may encourage cousin marriage as way of assisting relatives wishing to immigrate to Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmidt |first=Garbi |date=2011-10-01 |title=Migration and Marriage: Examples of border artistry and cultures of migration? |journal=Nordic Journal of Migration Research |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=55 |doi=10.2478/v10202-011-0007-z |s2cid=62830452 |issn=1799-649X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==== The Netherlands ====
The [[Netherlands]] has also had a recent debate that has reached the level of the [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] proposing a cousin marriage ban. The proposed policy is explicitly aimed at preventing ‘import marriages’ from certain nations such as [[Morocco]] with a high rate of cousin marriage. Critics argue that such a ban would contradict Section 8 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], is not based on science and would affect more than immigrants. While some proponents argue such marriages were banned until 1970, according to Frans van Poppel of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, they are confusing cousin marriage with [[uncle-niece marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article794315.ece|title=Can cousin marriages be banned?|date=2009-09-23}}</ref>

==== Sweden ====
Marriage between first cousins has been legal in Sweden since at least 1686 though first cousins needed a Royal consent in order to marry until 1844, when this consent was removed and marriage between first cousins was fully legal without Royal consent. In September 2023 the [[Government of Sweden]] initiated a government inquiry into banning marriage between first cousins. The inquiry is to propose a law prohibiting this kind of marriages by 1 October 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Förbud mot kusinäktenskap utreds | publisher=Regeringen och Regeringskansliet | date=2023-09-11 | url=https://www.regeringen.se/pressmeddelanden/2023/09/forbud-mot-kusinaktenskap-utreds/ | language=sv | access-date=2023-10-28}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In the English upper and upper-middle classes, the prevalence of first-cousin marriage remained steady at between 4% and 5% for much of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Nancy Fix|date=1986-09-01|title=Cousin Marriage in Victorian England|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/036319908601100305|journal=Journal of Family History|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=285–301|doi=10.1177/036319908601100305|s2cid=144899019|issn=0363-1990}}</ref> However, after the [[First World War]] there was a sudden change, and cousin marriage became very unusual. By the 1930s, only one marriage in 6,000 was between first cousins. A study of a middle-class London population conducted in the 1960s found that further reduced to just one marriage in 25,000<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2133/kissing-cousins |title=Kissing cousins |publisher=New Humanist |date=9 Sep 2009}}</ref>

There has been a great deal of debate in the United Kingdom about whether to discourage cousin marriages through government public relations campaigns or ban them entirely.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 1980s researchers found that children of closely related Pakistani parents had an [[Autosomal Recessive|autosomal recessive]] condition rate of 4% compared with 0.1% for the European group.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> For example, Environment Minister (later Immigration Minister) [[Phil Woolas]] said in 2008, "If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there'll be a genetic problem" and that such marriages were the "[[elephant in the room]]".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7238356.stm "No 10 steps back from cousins row."] BBC News. 11 February 2008.</ref> Physician Mohammad Walji has spoken out against the practice, saying that it is a "very significant" cause of infant death, and his practice has produced leaflets warning against it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |title=War in medical community over cousin marriage |date=30 May 2008 |website=inthenews.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330010036/http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/music/science/war-in-medical-community-over-cousin-marriage-$1225128.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> However Alan Bittles of the Centre for Comparative Genomics in Australia states that the risk of birth defects rises from roughly 2% in the general population to 4% for first cousins and therefore that "It would be a mistake to ban it".<ref>Emma Wilkinson. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404730.stm "Cousin marriage: Is it a health risk?"] BBC News. 16 May 2008.</ref> Aamra Darr of the [[University of Leeds]] has also criticized what she called an "alarmist presentation of data" that exaggerates the risk.<ref>Aamra Darr. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/02/mainsection.leadersandreply2 "Cousin marriage is a social choice: it needn't be a problem."] The Guardian. 2 December 2005.</ref>

A 2008 analysis of infant mortality in Birmingham showed that South Asian infants had twice the normal infant mortality rate and three times the usual rate of infant mortality due to congenital anomalies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Bittles 2000" />

===Middle East===
{{main|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The Middle East has uniquely high rates of cousin marriage among the world's regions. Iraq was estimated in one study to have a rate of 33% for cousins marrying.

All [[Arab world|Arab countries]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] currently require advance genetic screening for prospective married couples. [[Qatar]] was the last Persian Gulf nation to institute mandatory screening in 2009, mainly to warn related couples who are planning marriage about any genetic risks they may face. The current rate of cousin marriage there is 54%, an increase of 12–18% over the previous generation.<ref>[[#Bener|Bener and Hussain 2006]], p. 377</ref> A report by the Dubai-based Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) in September 2009 found that Arabs have one of the world's highest rates of genetic disorders, nearly two-thirds of which are linked to consanguinity. Research from Ahmad Teebi suggests consanguinity is declining in [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Morocco]], and among [[Palestinians]], but is increasing in the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref name="teebi">{{cite web |url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |title = Marriages among cousins increasing in UAE |author = Dr. Ahmad Teebi |publisher = Khaleejtimes |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 24 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Ahmad Teebi links the increase in cousin marriage in Qatar and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to tribal tradition and the region's expanding economies. "Rich families tend to marry rich families, and from their own – and the rich like to protect their wealth," he said. "So it's partly economic, and it's also partly cultural." In regard to the higher rates of genetic disease in these societies, he says: "It's certainly a problem," but also that "The issue here is not the cousin marriage, the issue here is to avoid the disease."<ref name="The National 2009"/>

In many Middle Eastern nations, a marriage to the father's brother's daughter (FBD) is considered ideal, though this type may not always actually outnumber other types.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]] p. 6</ref> One anthropologist, [[Ladislav Holý]], argued that it is important to distinguish between the ideal of FBD marriage and marriage as it is actually practiced, which always also includes other types of cousins and unrelated spouses. Holý cited the [[Berta people]] of Sudan, who consider the FBD to be the closest kinswoman to a man outside of the prohibited range. If more than one relationship exists between spouses, as often results from successive generations of cousin marriage, only the patrilineal one is counted. Marriage within the lineage is preferred to marriage outside the lineage even when no exact [[Genealogy|genealogical]] relationship is known. Of 277 first marriages, only 84 were between couples unable to trace any genealogical relationship between them. Of those, in 64, the spouses were of the same lineage. However, of 85 marriages to a second or third wife, in 60, the spouses were of different lineages.<ref>[[#Holy|Holy]], p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| page = 22 }}</ref> The [[Marri (tribe)|Marri]] have a very limited set of incest prohibitions that includes only lineal relatives, the sister, and aunts except the mother's brother's wife. Female members of the mother's lineage are seen as only loosely related. Finally, the [[Baggara]] Arabs favor MBD marriage first, followed by cross-cousin marriage if the cross cousin is a member of the same ''surra'', a group of agnates of five or six generations depth. Next is marriage within the ''surra''. No preference is shown for marriages between matrilateral parallel cousins.

=== South Asia ===

====Afghanistan====
Consanguineous marriages are legal and relatively common in [[Afghanistan]]. The proportion of consanguineous marriages in the country stands at 46.2%, with significant regional variations ranging from 38.2% in Kabul province to 51.2% in Bamyan province.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729362/|pmid = 21729362|year = 2012|last1 = Saify|first1 = K.|last2 = Saadat|first2 = M.|title = Consanguineous marriages in Afghanistan|journal = Journal of Biosocial Science|volume = 44|issue = 1|pages = 73–81|doi = 10.1017/S0021932011000253|s2cid = 206228103}}</ref>

==== India ====
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right"
|+Rate of cousin marriage in various regions of India, 2015-16 (%)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Santosh Kumar|last2=Kalam|first2=Mir Azad|last3=Ghosh|first3=Saswata|last4=Roy|first4=Subho|date=2020-07-09|title=Prevalence and determinants of consanguineous marriage and its types in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2015–2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932020000383|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=53|issue=4|pages=566–576|doi=10.1017/s0021932020000383|pmid=32641190|s2cid=220438849|issn=0021-9320}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |State
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northern India'''
|-
|[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] (incl. [[Ladakh]])
|16.0
|-
|[[Uttar Pradesh]]
|7.7
|-
|[[Delhi]]
|5.1
|-
|[[Uttarakhand]]
|4.3
|-
|[[Haryana]]
|3.6
|-
|[[Rajasthan]]
|2.8
|-
|[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
|1.7
|-
|[[Himachal Pradesh]]
|0.5
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Western India'''
|-
|[[Maharashtra]]
|12.1
|-
|[[Goa]]
|6.9
|-
|[[Gujarat]]
|6.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Central India'''
|-
|[[Madhya Pradesh]]
|6.2
|-
|[[Chhattisgarh]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Eastern India'''
|-
|[[Odisha]]
|4.8
|-
|[[Bihar]]
|3.6
|-
|[[West Bengal]]
|3.1
|-
|[[Jharkhand]]
|2.3
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''Northeast India'''
|-
|[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Mizoram]]
|2.1
|-
|[[Nagaland]]
|2.0
|-
|[[Meghalaya]]
|1.6
|-
|[[Manipur]]
|1.5
|-
|[[Assam]]
|0.9
|-
|[[Sikkim]]
|0.6
|-
|[[Tripura]]
|0.2
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" |'''South India'''
|-
|[[Tamil Nadu]]
|29.5
|-
|[[Andhra Pradesh]]
|25.9
|-
|[[Karnataka]]
|23.8
|-
|[[Telangana]]
|22.0
|-
|[[Kerala]]
|3.6
|-
! colspan="2" |Religion
|-
|[[Hindus|Hindu]]
|9.19
|-
|[[Islam in India|Muslim]]
|14.62
|-
|Other
|8.47
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste
|-
|Scheduled Caste (SC)
|10.0
|-
|Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|8.4
|-
|Other Backward Class (OBC)
|11.1
|-
|Other
|8.0
|-
! colspan="2" |Educational attainment
|-
|No education
|9.2
|-
|Primary
|10.1
|-
|Secondary
|10.7
|-
|Higher
|8.0
|-
!All-India
!9.9
|}
In India, cousin marriage prevalence is 9.87%.<ref name=":2" /> Attitudes in India on cousin marriage vary sharply by [[Regions of India|region]] and [[Culture of India|culture]]. The family law in India takes into account the religious and cultural practices and they are all equally recognized. For [[Islam in India|Muslims]], governed by uncodified personal law, it is acceptable and legal to marry a first cousin, but for [[Hinduism in India|Hindus]], it may be illegal under the 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]], though the specific situation is more complex. The Hindu Marriage Act makes cousin marriage illegal for Hindus with the exception of marriages permitted by regional custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure" /> Practices of the small [[Christianity in India|Christian]] minority are also location-dependent: their cousin marriage rates are higher in southern states with high overall rates.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1991]], p. 791</ref> Apart from the religion-based personal laws governing marriages, the civil marriage law named [[Special Marriage Act, 1954]] governs. Those who do not wish to marry based on the personal laws governed by religious and cultural practices may opt for marriage under this law. It defines the first-cousin relationship, both [[Parallel and cross cousins|parallel and cross]], as prohibited. Conflict may arise between the prohibited degrees based on this law and personal law, but in absence of any other laws, it is still unresolved.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report212.pdf |title=Laws of Civil Marriages in India – A Proposal to Resolve Certain Conflicts |date=Oct 2008 |publisher=Government of India}}</ref>

Cousin marriage is proscribed and seen as incest for Hindus in [[North India]]. In fact, it may even be unacceptable to marry within one's village or for two siblings to marry partners from the same village.<ref>Dhavendra Kumar. ''Genetic Disorders of the Indian Subcontinent''. Kluwer Academic Publishers: AA Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2000. 127.</ref> The northern kinship model prevails in the states of [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Haryana]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Odisha]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Tripura]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], and [[West Bengal]].<ref>Arthur P. Wolf, ''Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century'', [[Stanford University Press]] (2005), p. 46</ref>

Cross-cousin and [[Avunculate marriage|uncle-niece]] unions are preferential in [[South India]], jointly accounting for some 30% of marriages in Andhra Pradesh in 1967, declining to 26% by 2015–16.<ref name=":2" /> These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the [[Reddy]]s or [[Vellalar]]s, who wish to keep wealth within the family. This practice is also common among [[Brahmin]]s in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subrahmanyam|first=Y. Subhashini|date=1967-01-01|title=A Note on Cross-Cousin Marriage among Andhra Brahmins|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jaas/2/3-4/article-p266_9.xml|journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies|language=en|volume=2|issue=3–4|pages=266–272|doi=10.1163/156852167X00289|s2cid=247505089|issn=1568-5217}}</ref> According to the [[National Family Health Survey]] of 2019–2021, the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in India are found in the southern states of [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Karnataka]], at 28% and 27% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Athavale |first=Sanika |date=14 May 2022 |title=Karnataka second in marriages among blood relatives, Tamil Nadu first: National family Healthy Survey |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/nfhs-ktaka-2nd-in-marriages-among-blood-relatives-tn-first/articleshow/91527513.cms |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

Practices in [[West India]] overall are closer to the northern than the southern,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm|title=India – Marriage|website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> but differences exist here again. For instance, in [[Mumbai]], studies done in 1956 showed 7.7% of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer. By contrast, in the northern city of [[New Delhi]], only 0.1% of Hindus were married to a first cousin during the 1980s. At the other extreme, studies done in the South Indian state of Karnataka during that period show one-third of Hindus married to a second cousin or closer.<ref name="tables" /> Pre-2000 Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh has now split, and [[Maharashtra]], which contains Mumbai, are states that are intermediate in their kinship practices.

India's Muslim minority represents about 14% of its population and has an overall cousin marriage rate of 22% according to a 2000 report. This may be a legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, when substantial Muslim migration to [[Pakistan]] occurred from the eastern parts of the former unified state of Punjab. In south India, by contrast, the rates are fairly constant, except for the South Indian [[Malabar region|Malabar]] Muslims of Kerala (9%) who claim descent from Arab traders who settled permanently in India in the eighth century. Most Indian Muslims, by contrast, are the result of Hindus' [[Religious conversion|conversions]] to Islam in the 16th century or later. The lowest rate for a whole Indian region was in East India (15%). Consanguinity rates were generally stable across the four decades for which data exist, though second-cousin marriage appears to have been decreasing in favor of first-cousin marriage.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], cousin marriage is legal and common. Reasons for consanguinity are economic, religious and cultural.<ref>[[#Shaw|Shaw 2001]], p. 322</ref> Data collected in 2014 from the Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan showed that around 66.4% of marriages among rural couples were to a first or second cousin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zahid|first1=Muhammad|last2=Bittles|first2=Alan H.|last3=Sthanadar|first3=Aftab Alam|date=September 2014|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=46|issue=5|pages=698–701|doi=10.1017/S0021932013000552|issn=1469-7599|title=Civil Unrest and the Current Profile of Consanguineous Marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan|s2cid=72915638|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/23289/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hakim|first=A.|date=1994|title=Comments on "Consanguineous Marriages in Pakistan"|journal=Pakistan Development Review|volume=33|issue=4 Pt 2|pages=675–676|issn=0030-9729|pmid=12346200}}</ref>{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}} In some areas, higher proportion of first-cousin marriages in Pakistan has been noted to be the cause of an increased rate of blood disorders in the population.{{sfn|Shami|Schmitt|Bittles|1989}}

===United States===
Data on cousin marriage in the United States is sparse. It was estimated in 1960 that 0.2% of all marriages between [[Roman Catholics in the United States|Roman Catholics]] were between first or second cousins, but no more recent nationwide studies have been performed.<ref name="tables">{{cite web|url=http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|title=Global prevalence tables|website=www.consang.net|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is unknown what proportion of that number were first cousins, which is the group facing marriage bans. To contextualize the group's size, the total proportion of interracial marriages in 1960, the last census year before the end of anti-miscegenation statutes, was 0.4%, and the proportion of black-white marriages was 0.13%.<ref>U.S. Census. [https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt "Race of Wife by Race of Husband: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 1992."] 5 July 1994.</ref> While recent studies have cast serious doubt on whether cousin marriage is as dangerous as is popularly assumed, professors [[Diane B. Paul]] and Hamish G. Spencer speculate that legal bans persist in part due to "the ease with which a handful of highly motivated activists—or even one individual—can be effective in the decentralized American system, especially when feelings do not run high on the other side of an issue."<ref>Paul and Spencer.</ref>

A bill to repeal the ban on first-cousin marriage in [[Minnesota]] was introduced by [[Phyllis Kahn]] in 2003, but it died in committee. Republican Minority Leader [[Marty Seifert]] criticized the bill in response, saying it would "turn us into a cold Arkansas".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906043319/http://www.tpt.org/aatc/2009/06/25/quotes_for_inspiration|url-status=dead|title=TPT St. Paul. "Quotes for Inspiration." June 25, 2009.|archive-date=6 September 2009}}</ref> According to the [[University of Minnesota]]'s ''The Wake'', Kahn was aware the bill had little chance of passing, but introduced it anyway to draw attention to the issue. She reportedly got the idea after learning that cousin marriage is an acceptable form of marriage among some cultural groups that have a strong presence in Minnesota, namely the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] and [[Somali people|Somali]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|title=''The Wake''. Vol. 3, Issue 8|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717015436/http://www.wakemag.org/archive/20050125.pdf|archive-date=17 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Maryland]] delegates [[Henry B. Heller]] and [[Kumar P. Barve]] sponsored a bill to ban first-cousin marriages in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlis.state.md.us/2000rs/billfile/hb0459.htm|title=BILL INFO-2000 Regular Session-HB 459|website=mlis.state.md.us}}</ref> It got further than Kahn's bill, passing the House of Delegates by 82 to 46 despite most Republicans voting no, but finally died in the state senate. In response to the 2005 marriage of Pennsylvanian first cousins Eleanor Amrhein and Donald W. Andrews Sr. in Maryland, Heller said that he might resurrect the bill because such marriages are "like playing genetic roulette".<ref name="infamily">{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-5_12_05_SC.html|title=Steve Chapman. "Keeping Marriage in the Family."}}</ref>

Texas passed a ban on first-cousin marriage the same year as Amrhein and Andrews married, evidently in reaction to the presence of the polygamous [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS). Texas Representative [[Harvey Hilderbran]], whose district includes the main FLDS compound, authored an amendment<ref>C.S.H.B. 3006. Texas Legislature 79(R).</ref> to a child protection statute to both discourage the FLDS from settling in Texas and to "prevent Texas from succumbing to the practices of taking child brides, incest, welfare abuse and domestic violence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-27/news/big-love-texas-style/3|title=Big Love, Texas-Style|first=Keith|last=Plocek|date=27 April 2006}}</ref> While Hilderbran stated that he would not have authored a bill solely to ban first-cousin marriage, he also said in an interview, "Cousins don't get married just like siblings don't get married. And when it happens you have a bad result. It's just not the accepted normal thing."<ref name="kershaw"/> Some news sources then only mentioned the polygamy and child abuse provisions and ignored the cousin marriage portion of the bill, as did some more recent sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/legislature/stories/031905dntexpoly.6c7a9.html|title=Bill takes aim at polygamists|website=www.dentonrc.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6040bdca-3b34-575f-ad3a-04043c269295.html|title=Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent|first=Natalie|last=Gott|date=14 April 2005 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|title=Trish Choate. "FLDS TRIAL: All eyes still on Jessop, for now|work=St. Angelo Standard-Times|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185929/http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/nov/07/all-eyes-still-on-jessop-for-now/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|title=85th Texas Legislature: News, issues, commentary & more|access-date=30 November 2009|archive-date=23 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123015524/http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/13/0413eldorado.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The new statute made sex with an adult first cousin a more serious felony than with adult members of one's immediate family. However, this statute was amended in 2009; while sex with close adult family members (including first cousins) remains a felony, the more serious penalty now attaches to sex with an individual's direct ancestor or descendant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.25.htm#25.02|title=PENAL CODE CHAPTER 25. OFFENSES AGAINST THE FAMILY|website=www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us}}</ref>

The U.S. state of [[Maine]] allows first-cousin marriage if the couple agrees to have [[genetic counseling]], while [[North Carolina]] allows it so long as the applicants for marriage are not rare [[double first cousin]]s, meaning cousins through both parental lines.<ref>N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51–3 (West 2009).</ref> In the other 25 states permitting at least some first-cousin marriage, double cousins are not distinguished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |title=State Laws Regarding Marriages Between First Cousins |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827144610/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

States have various laws regarding marriage between cousins and other close relatives,<ref>[http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=states US State Laws], [http://www.cousincouples.com cousincouples.com].</ref> which involve factors including whether or not the parties to the marriage are half-cousins, double cousins, infertile, over 65, or whether it is a tradition prevalent in a native or ancestry culture, adoption status, in-law, whether or not genetic counseling is required, and whether it is permitted to marry a first cousin once removed.

=== Russia ===
{{See also|Prohibited degree of kinship#Russia}}

==Social aspects==
Robin Bennett, a [[University of Washington]] researcher,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsgc.org/|title=National Society of Genetic Counselors : NSGC Home Page|website=www.nsgc.org}}</ref> has said that much hostility towards married cousins constitutes [[discrimination]].
{{Blockquote| It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance—but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination."<ref name=okbyscience/>}}
In a different view, [[William Saletan]] of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine accuses the authors of this study of suffering from the "congenital liberal conceit that science solves all moral questions". While readily conceding that banning cousin marriage cannot be justified on genetic grounds, Saletan asks rhetorically whether it would be acceptable to legalize uncle-niece marriage or "hard-core incest" between siblings and then let genetic screening take care of the resulting problems.<ref name="slate" />
An article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by Sarah Kershaw documents fear by many married cousins of being treated with derision and contempt. "While many people have a story about a secret cousin crush or kiss, most Americans find the idea of cousins marrying and having children disturbing or even repulsive," notes the article. It gives the example of one mother whose daughter married her cousin. She stated that when she has told people about her daughter's marriage, they have been shocked and that consequently she is afraid to mention it. They live in a small Pennsylvania town and she worries that her grandchildren will be treated as outcasts and ridiculed due to their parental status. Another cousin couple stated that their children's maternal grandparents have never met their two grandchildren because the grandparents severed contact out of disapproval for the couple's marriage.<ref name="kershaw">{{cite news |first = Sarah |last = Kershaw |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html |title = Shaking Off the Shame |date = 26 November 2009 | work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In most societies, cousin marriage apparently is more common among those of low socio-economic status, among the illiterate and uneducated, and in rural areas.<ref name=bittles1/> This may be due in part to the token or significantly reduced dowries and bridewealths that exist in such marriages and also the much smaller pool of viable marriage candidates in rural areas. Some societies also report a high prevalence among land-owning families and the ruling elite: here the relevant consideration is thought to be keeping the family estate intact over generations.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> The average age at marriage is lower for cousin marriages, the difference in one Pakistani study being 1.10 and 0.84 years for first and second cousins, respectively. In Pakistan, the ages of the spouses were also closer together, the age difference declining from 6.5 years for unrelated couples to 4.5 years for first cousins. A marginal increase in time to first birth, from 1.6 years generally to 1.9 years in first cousins, may occur due to the younger age at marriage of consanguineous mothers and resultant adolescent subfertility or delayed consummation.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 570</ref>

Predictions that cousin marriage would decline during the late 20th century in areas where it is preferential appear to have been largely incorrect. One reason for this is that in many regions, cousin marriage is not merely a cultural tradition, but is also judged to offer significant social and economic benefits. In South Asia, rising demands for [[dowry]] payments have caused dire economic hardship and have been linked to "dowry deaths" in a number of North Indian states. Where permissible, marriage to a close relative is hence regarded as a more economically feasible choice. Second, improvements in public health have led to decreased death rates and increased family sizes, making it easier to find a relative to marry if that is the preferred choice. Increases in cousin marriage in the West may also occur as a result of immigration from Asia and Africa. In the short term, some observers have concluded that the only new forces that could discourage such unions are government bans like the one China enacted in 1981. In the longer term, rates may decline due to decreased family sizes, making it more difficult to find cousins to marry.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 577</ref>

Cousin marriage is important in several anthropological theories by prominent authors such as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], [[Sir Edward Tylor]], and [[Lewis Henry Morgan]]. Lévi-Strauss viewed cross-cousin marriage as a form of exogamy in the context of a unilineal descent group, meaning either [[matrilineal]] or [[patrilineal]] descent. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage in societies with matrilineal descent meant that a male married into the family his mother's brother, building an [[alliance theory|alliance]] between the two families. However, marriage to a mother's sister daughter (a parallel cousin) would be [[endogamous]], here meaning inside the same descent group, and would therefore fail to build alliances between different groups. Correspondingly, in societies like China with patrilineal descent, marriage to a father's brother's daughter would fail at alliance building. And in societies with both types of descent, where a person belongs to the group of his mother's mother and father's father but not mother's father or father's mother, only cross-cousin marriages would successfully build alliances.<ref>Ottenheimer. p. 139.</ref>

Lévi-Strauss postulated that cross-cousin marriage had the two consequences of setting up classes which automatically delimit the group of possible spouses and of determining a relationship that can decide whether a prospective spouse is to be desired or excluded. Whereas in other kinship systems one or another of these aspects dominates, in cross-cousin marriage they overlap and cumulate their effects. It differs from incest prohibitions in that the latter employs a series of negative relationships, saying whom one cannot marry, while cross-cousin marriage employs positive relationships, saying whom should marry. Most crucially, cross-cousin marriage is the only type of preferential union that can function normally and exclusively and still give every man and woman the chance to marry a cross-cousin. Unlike other systems such as the levirate, the sororate, or uncle-niece marriage, cross-cousin marriage is preferential because for obvious reasons these others cannot constitute the exclusive or even preponderant rule of marriage in any group. Cross-cousin marriage divides members of the same generation into two approximately equal groups, those of cross-cousins and "siblings" that include real siblings and parallel cousins. Consequently, cross-cousin marriage can be a normal form of marriage in a society, but the other systems above can only be privileged forms. This makes cross-cousin marriage exceptionally important.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, pp. 119–20</ref>

Cross-cousin marriage also establishes a division between prescribed and prohibited relatives who, from the viewpoint of biological proximity, are strictly interchangeable. Lévi-Strauss thought that this proved that the origin of the incest prohibition is purely social and not biological. Cross-cousin marriage in effect allowed the anthropologist to control for biological degree by studying a situation where the degree of prohibited and prescribed spouses were equal. In understanding why two relatives of the same biological degree would be treated so differently, Lévi-Strauss wrote, it would be possible to understand not only the principle of cross-cousin marriage but of the incest prohibition itself. For Lévi-Strauss cross-cousin marriage was not either socially arbitrary or a secondary consequence of other institutions like dual organization or the practice of exogamy. Instead, the ''raison d'etre'' of cross-cousin marriage could be found within the institution itself. Of the three types of institution of exogamy rules, dual organization, and cross-cousin marriage, the last was most significant, making the analysis of this form of marriage the crucial test for any theory of marriage prohibitions.<ref>Elementary Structures of Kinship, Chapter 9, p. 122</ref>

Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage has been found by some anthropological researchers to be correlated with patripotestal jural authority, meaning rights or obligations of the father. According to some theories, in these kinship systems a man marries his matrilateral cross-cousin due to associating her with his nurturant mother. Due to this association, possibly reinforced by personal interaction with a specific cousin, he may become "fond" of her, rendering the relationship "sentimentally appropriate".<ref>{{cite book| title = Theory in anthropology: a source-book| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q589AAAAIAAJ| year = 1968| publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Books| isbn = 978-0-7100-6172-0| pages = 105, 107| chapter = 10| editor1-last = Manners| first1 = Melford E| editor2-last = Kaplan| editor2-first = David| editor1-first = Robert Alan| last1 = Spiro }}</ref> ''Patrilateral'' cross-cousin marriage is the rarest of all types of cousin marriage, and there is some question as to whether it even exists.<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss]], ''Les structures élémentaires de la parenté'', Paris, Mouton, 1967, 2ème édition.</ref>

In contrast to Lévi-Strauss who viewed the exchange of women under matrilateral cross-cousin marriage as fundamentally egalitarian, anthropologist [[Edmund Leach]] held that such systems by nature created groups of junior and senior status and were part of the political structure of society. Under Leach's model, in systems where this form of marriage segregates descent groups into wife-givers and wife-takers, the social status of the two categories also cannot be determined by ''a priori'' arguments. Groups like the [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] exhibiting matrilateral cross-cousin marriage do not exchange women in circular structures; where such structures do exist they are unstable. Moreover, the exchanging groups are not major segments of the society, but rather local descent groups from the same or closely neighboring communities. Lévi-Strauss held that women were always exchanged for some "prestation" which could either be other women or labor and material goods. Leach agreed but added that prestations could also take the form of intangible assets like "prestige" or "status" that might belong to either wife-givers or wife-takers.<ref>[[#Leach|Leach 1951]], pp. 51–53</ref>

Anthropologists [[Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist)|Robert Murphy]] and [[Leonard Kasdan]] describe preferential parallel cousin marriage as leading to social fission, in the sense that "feud and fission are not at all dysfunctional factors but are necessary to the persistence and viability of Bedouin society". Their thesis is the converse of [[Fredrik Barth]]'s, who describes the fission as leading to the cousin marriage.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 17–18</ref> Per Murphy and Kasdan, the Arab system of parallel cousin marriage works against the creation of homogenous "bounded" and "corporate" kin groups and instead creates arrangements where every person is related by blood to a wide variety of people, with the degree of relationship falling off gradually as opposed to suddenly. Instead of corporate units, [[Arab]] society is described as having "agnatic sections", a kind of repeating fractal structure in which authority is normally weak at all levels but capable of being activated at the required level in times of war. They relate this to an old Arab proverb: "Myself against my brother; my brother and I against my cousin; my cousin, my brother and I against the outsider."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 19–20</ref> "In such a society even the presence of a limited amount of cross-cousin marriage will not break the isolation of the kin group, for first cross cousins often end up being second parallel cousins."<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], p. 22</ref> Instead of organizing horizontally through affinal ties, when large scale organization is necessary it is accomplished vertically, by reckoning distance from shared ancestors. This practice is said to possess advantages such as resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.<ref>[[#Murphy|Murphy and Kasdan]], pp. 27–28</ref>

A recent research study of 70 nations has found a statistically significant negative correlation between consanguineous kinship networks and [[democracy]]. The authors note that other factors, such as restricted genetic conditions, may also explain this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodley|first=Michael A.|author2=Edward Bell|title=Consanguinity as a Major Predictor of Levels of Democracy: A Study of 70 Nations|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2013|volume=44|issue=2|pages=263–280|doi=10.1177/0022022112443855|s2cid=145714074}}</ref>
This follows a 2003 [[Steve Sailer]] essay published for ''The American Conservative'', where he claimed that high rates of cousin marriage play an important role in discouraging political [[democracy]]. Sailer believes that because families practicing cousin marriage are more related to one another than otherwise, their feelings of family loyalty tend to be unusually intense, fostering [[nepotism]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| editor-last = McConnell
| editor-first= Scott
|date=Jan 2003
| title = Cousin Marriage Conundrum
| journal = The American Conservative
| pages = 20–22
| last = Sailer
| first = Steve
}}</ref>

==Religious views==

===Hebrew Bible===
[[File:JvFuhrichJosephRachel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Jacob]] encountering [[Rachel]] with her father's herds]]
{{main|Incest in the Bible}}
Cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the [[Hebrew Bible]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Leviticus|18:8-18|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|20:11-21|HE}} and in [[Deuteronomy]].<ref name=ottenheimer3/>

There are several examples in the Bible of cousins marrying. [[Isaac]] married [[Rebekah]], his first cousin once removed ({{bibleverse||Genesis|24:12–15|HE}}). Also, Isaac's son [[Jacob]] married [[Leah]] and [[Rachel]], both his first cousins ({{bibleverse||Genesis|28–29|HE}}). Jacob's brother [[Esau]] also married his first half-cousin [[Mahalath]], daughter of [[Ishmael]], Isaac's half-brother. According to many English Bible translations, the five [[daughters of Zelophehad]] married the "sons of their father's brothers" in the later period of [[Moses]]; although other translations merely say "relatives". (For example, the Catholic [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition|RSV-CE]] and [[New American Bible|NAB]] differ in {{bibleverse||Numbers|36:10–12|NAB}}.) The Hebrew Bible states: בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֑ד לִבְנֵ֥י דֹֽדֵיהֶ֖ן which translates literally as "the daughters of Zelophehad to their cousins/to their uncles' sons".<ref>https://mechon-mamre.org/c/ct/c0436.htm|{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Numbers 36:11 במדבר ל"ו י"א in Hebrew</ref>
During the apportionment of Israel following the journey out of Egypt, [[Caleb]] gives his daughter [[Achsah]] to his brother's son [[Othniel Ben Kenaz|Othniel]] according to the NAB ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:17|NAB}}), though the Jewish [[Talmud]] says Othniel was simply Caleb's brother (Sotah 11b). The daughters of Eleazer also married the sons of Eleazer's brother Kish in the still later time of David ({{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|23:22|HE}}). [[King Rehoboam]] and his wives [[Maacah]] and [[Mahalath (wife of Rehoboam)|Mahalath]] were grandchildren of David ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|11:20|HE}}). Finally, according to the book of [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], Tobias had a right to marry Sarah because he was her nearest kinsman (Tobit 7:10), though the exact degree of their cousinship is not clear.

===Christianity===
====Roman Catholicism====

In [[Roman Catholicism]], all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3X.HTM|title=Code of Canon Law - IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and first-cousin marriages can be contracted with a [[Dispensation (canon law)|dispensation]].<ref name="beal">John P. Beal, James A. Coriden and Thomas J. Green. ''New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law''. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000. 1293.</ref> This was not always the case, however: the Catholic Church has gone through several phases in kinship prohibitions. At the dawn of Christianity in Roman times, marriages between first cousins were allowed. For example, [[Emperor Constantine]], the first Christian Roman Emperor, married his children to the children of his half-brother. First and second cousin marriages were then banned at the [[Council of Agde]] in AD 506, though dispensations sometimes continued to be granted. By the 11th century, with the adoption of the so-called [[Canon law|canon-law]] method of computing consanguinity, these proscriptions had been extended even to ''sixth'' cousins, including by marriage. But due to the many resulting difficulties in reckoning who was related to whom, they were relaxed back to third cousins at the [[Fourth Council of the Lateran|Fourth Lateran Council]] in AD 1215. [[Pope Benedict XV]] reduced this to second cousins in 1917,<ref name="ottenheimer2">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref> and finally, the current law was enacted in 1983.<ref name=beal/> In Catholicism, close relatives who have married unwittingly without a dispensation can receive an [[annulment]].

There are several explanations for the rise of Catholic cousin marriage prohibitions after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of Rome]]. One explanation is increasing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] influence on church policy. G.E. Howard states, "During the period preceding the [[Teutons|Teutonic]] invasion, speaking broadly, the church adhered to Roman law and custom; thereafter those of the Germans ... were accepted."<ref>{{cite book |title = A History of Matrimonial Institutions |last = Howard |first = G.E. |year = 1904 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |page = 291 |volume = 1 |location = Chicago}}</ref> On the other hand, it has also been argued that the bans were a reaction ''against'' local Germanic customs of kindred marriage.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |year = 1983 |page = 59}}</ref> At least one [[Franks|Frankish]] King, [[Pepin the Short]], apparently viewed close kin marriages among nobles as a threat to his power.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Joseph |last1 = Gies |first2 = Frances |last2 = Gies |year = 1983 |title = Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages |publisher = Harper and Row |location = New York}}</ref> Whatever the reasons, written justifications for such bans had been advanced by [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] by the fifth century. "It is very reasonable and just", he wrote, "that one man should not himself sustain many relationships, but that various relationships should be distributed among several, and thus serve to bind together the greatest number in the same social interests".<ref name=ottenheimer3/> Taking a contrary view, [[Protestantism|Protestants]] writing after the [[Reformation]] tended to see the prohibitions and the dispensations needed to circumvent them as part of an undesirable church scheme to accrue wealth, or "lucre".<ref name="ottenheimer3">{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

Since the 13th century, the Catholic Church has measured consanguinity according to what is called the civil-law method. Under this method, the degree of relationship between lineal relatives (i.e., a man and his grandfather) is simply equal to the number of generations between them. However, the degree of relationship between collateral (non-lineal) relatives equals the number of links in the family tree from one person, up to the common ancestor, and then back to the other person. Thus brothers are related in the second degree, and first cousins in the fourth degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |title=Can. 108 |publisher=The Holy See |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115203405/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PC.HTM |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}</ref>

The 1913 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' refers to a theory by the [[Anglican]] [[bishop of Bath and Wells]] speculating that [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], the mother of [[Jesus]] and her husband, were first cousins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07204b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Heli (Eli) |access-date=6 June 2007}}</ref> [[Jack Goody]] describes this theory as a "legend".<ref>[[#Goody|Goody 1983]], p. 53</ref>

====Protestant====

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches generally allow cousin marriage,<ref>Amy Strickland. [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=amy "An Afternoon With Amy Strickland, JCL."] Cousin Couples. 4 February 2001. Accessed December 2009.</ref> in keeping with criticism of the Catholic system of dispensations by [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] during the Reformation.<ref name="ottenheimer">
{{cite book |title=Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/forbiddenrelativ00otte |chapter-url-access=registration |last=Ottenheimer |first=Martin |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> This includes most of the major US denominations, such as [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]], [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]], and [[Methodism|Methodist]]. The [[Anglican Communion]] has also allowed cousin marriage since its inception during the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. According to Luther and Calvin, the Catholic bans on cousin marriage were an expression of Church rather than divine law and needed to be abolished.<ref name=ottenheimer3/> John Calvin thought of the Biblical list only as illustrative and that any relationship of the same or smaller degree as any listed, namely the third degree by the civil-law method, should therefore be prohibited. The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] reached the same conclusion soon after.<ref name=ottenheimer2/>

====Eastern Orthodox====
In contrast to both Protestantism and Catholicism, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] prohibits up to second cousins from marrying.<ref name=bittles1/> But, according to the latest constitution (of 2010) of The Orthodox Church of Cyprus, second cousins may marry as the restriction is placed up to relatives of the 5th degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=33438_KATASTATIKO |url=https://churchofcyprus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KATASTATIKO_DIMOTIKI.pdf |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=churchofcyprus.eu}}</ref> The reasoning is that marriage between close relatives can lead to intrafamily strife.

===Islam===
{{see also|Cousin marriage in the Middle East}}
The [[Qur'an]] does not state that marriages between first cousins are forbidden. In [[An-Nisa|Sura An-Nisa]] (4:22–24), Allah mentioned the women who are forbidden for marriage: to quote the Qur'an, "... Lawful to you are all beyond those mentioned, so that you may seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock…" In [[Al-Ahzab|Sura Al-Ahzab]] (33:50),
{{blockquote|O Prophet, indeed We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due compensation and those your right hand possesses from what Allah has returned to you [of captives] and the daughters of your paternal uncles and the daughters of your paternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal uncles and the daughters of your maternal aunts who emigrated with you and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet [and] if the Prophet wishes to marry her, [this is] only for you, excluding the [other] believers. We certainly know what We have made obligatory upon them concerning their wives and those their right hands possess, [but this is for you] in order that there will be upon you no discomfort. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.<ref name="ethnology39-4">[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774053 "Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 395–407.]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=33&verse=50|title=Chapter (33) sūrat l-aḥzāb (The Combined Forces)|publisher=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>}}

[[Muslims]] have practiced marriages between first cousins in non-prohibited countries since the time of Muhammad. In a few countries the most common type is between paternal cousins.<ref name="ethnology39-4" /> [[Muhammad]] actually did marry two relatives.<ref name="Bittles 1994, p. 567"/> One was a first cousin, [[Zaynab bint Jahsh]], who was not only the daughter of one of his father's sisters but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, [[Zayd ibn Haritha]]. It was the issue of adoption and not cousinship that caused controversy due to the opposition of pre-Islamic Arab norms.<ref name="Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330">Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 330</ref>

Many of the immediate successors of Muhammad also took a cousin as one of their wives. [[Umar]] married his cousin Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nifayl,<ref name="hpk4199">''History of the Prophets and Kings'' 4/ 199 by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari</ref><ref>''al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah'' 6/352 by ibn Kathir</ref> while [[Ali]] married [[Fatimah]],<ref name="EOIUSC">See:
*[http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html Fatimah bint Muhammad] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090528032523/http://www.msawest.com/islam/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.FATIMAH_BINT_MUHAMMAD.html |date=28 May 2009 }}. MSA West Compendium of Muslim Texts.
*"Fatimah", Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online.</ref> the daughter of his paternal first cousin Muhammad and hence his first cousin once removed.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | author-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Ali | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=12 October 2007 |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005712/Ali}}</ref>

Although marrying his cousin himself, Umar, the second Caliph, discouraged marrying within one's bloodline or close cousins recurringly over generations and advised those who had done so to marry people unrelated to them, by telling a household that did so, "You have become frail, so marry intelligent people unrelated to you."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline>{{citation|last=Elias|first=Abu Amina|title=Umar on Inbreeding: Do not to marry within bloodlines, close cousins|website=Daily Hadith Online|date=24 March 2022|url=https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2019/08/10/umar-inbreeding-marriage-cousins/|access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref>

Though many Muslims marry their cousins now, two of the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] [[madhhabs]] (schools, four in total) like [[Shafi'i]] (about 33.33% of Sunni Muslims, or 29% of all Muslims) and [[Hanbali]] consider it as [[Makruh]] (disliked).<ref>{{citation|title=الفتوى|website=Islam Web|url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa//fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&lang=A&Id=8019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed.|date=March 2022}} Imam Shafi'i, the founder of the Shafi'i madhab, went further in his condemnation of persistent generational bloodline marriages and said, "Whenever the people of a household do not allow their women to marry men outside of their line, there will be fools among their children."<ref name=DailyHadithOnline />

===Hinduism===
The [[Hindu Marriage Act]] prohibits marriage for five generations on the father's side and three on the mother's side, but allows [[cross-cousin]] marriage where it is permitted by custom.<ref name="indiasocialstructure">{{cite book |title = India: Social Structure |page = 55 |first = Mysore Narasimhachar |last = Srinivas |year = 1980 |publisher = Hindustan Publishing Corporation |location = Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact%281%29.htm#conditionsformarriage |title=Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |publisher=Government of Punjab: Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407042532/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/hmrgact(1).htm#conditionsformarriage |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hindu rules of [[exogamy]] are often taken extremely seriously, and local village councils in India administer laws against in-gotra endogamy.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haryana-panchayat-takes-on-govt-over-samegotra-marriage/491548/1 |title = Haryana panchayat takes on govt over same-gotra marriage |publisher = The Indian Express Limited |first = Dinker |last = Vashisht |date = 20 July 2009}}</ref> Social norms against such practices are quite strong as well.<ref>[[#Chowdhry|Chowdhry 2004]]</ref>

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, [[Hindu]] [[Kurmi]]s of [[Chunar]] and [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] are known to have been influenced by their Muslim neighbors and taken up extensively the custom of cousin marriage.<ref>Christopher Bayly, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, p. 49 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ]</ref>

In the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two great [[Hindu Epics]], [[Arjuna]] took as his fourth wife his cross-cousin [[Subhadra]]. Arjuna had gone into exile alone after having disturbed [[Yudhishthira]] and [[Draupadi]] in their private quarters. It was during the last part of his exile, while staying at the Dvaraka residence of his cousins, that he fell in love with Subhadra. While eating at the home of [[Balarama]], Arjuna was struck with Subhadra's beauty and decided he would obtain her as his wife. Subhadra and Arjuna's son was the tragic hero [[Abhimanyu]]. According to Andhra Pradesh oral tradition, Abhimanyu himself married his cross-cousin Shashirekha, the daughter of Subhadra's brother Balarama.<ref>[[#Do|Do 2006]], p. 5</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | author=Indrajit Bandyopadhyay | title=A Study In Folk "Mahabharata": How Balarama Became Abhimanyu's Father-in-law | date=29 October 2008 | periodical=Epic India: A New Arts & Culture Magazine | access-date=4 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527132337/http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/a-study-in-folk-mahabharata-how-balarama-became-abhimanyus-father-in-law | archive-date=27 May 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2021}} Cross cousin marriage is also evident from [[Pradyumna]]'s (Eldest son of Krishna) marriage to Rukmi's (Brother of [[Rukmini]]) daughter. Also Krishna married his cross cousin [[Mitravinda]] (daughter of [[Vasudeva]]'s sister Rajadhi who was Queen of Avanti) and Bhadra (Daughter of Vasudeva's sister Shrutakirti who was the Queen of Kekaya Kingdom.){{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

===Other religions===
[[Buddhism]] does not proscribe any specific sexual practices, only ruling out "sexual misconduct" in the [[Five Precepts]].<ref>{{cite web | last =Higgins | first =W | title =Buddhist Sexual Ethics | publisher =BuddhaNet Magazine | url =http://www.buddhanet.net/winton_s.htm | access-date = 15 January 2007 }}</ref>

[[Zoroastrianism]] allows cousin marriages.<ref name="everyculture">{{cite web|title=Zoroastrians - Marriage and Family|url=http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Zoroastrians-Marriage-and-Family.html|website=World Culture Encyclopedia}}</ref>

==Biological aspects==

===Genetics===

Cousin marriages have genetic aspects that increase the chance of sharing [[gene]]s for recessive traits. The percentage of consanguinity between any two individuals decreases fourfold as the [[most recent common ancestor]] recedes one generation. First cousins have four times the consanguinity of second cousins, while first cousins once removed have half that of first cousins. Double first cousins have twice that of first cousins and are as related as half-siblings.

In April 2002, the ''Journal of Genetic Counseling'' released a report which estimated the average risk of [[Congenital|birth defects]] in a child born of first cousins at 1.1–2.0 [[percentage points]] above the average base risk for non-cousin couples of 3%, or about the same as that of any woman over age 40.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=There's nothing wrong with cousins getting married, scientists say | first=Steve | last=Connor | date=24 December 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> In terms of mortality, a 1994 study found a mean excess pre-reproductive mortality rate of 4.4%,<ref>{{cite web |title=A Background Background Summary of Consaguineous marriage |author=Bittles, A.H. |url=http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |publisher=consang.net consang.net |date=May 2001 |access-date=19 January 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927023329/http://www.consang.net/images/d/dd/01AHBWeb3.pdf |url-status=dead }}, citing {{Cite journal |author1=Bittles, A.H. |author2=Neel, J.V. |year=1994 |title=The costs of human inbreeding and their implications for variation at the DNA level |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=8 |pages=117–121|pmid=7842008 |doi = 10.1038/ng1094-117 |issue=2|title-link=inbreeding |s2cid=36077657 }}</ref> while another study published in 2009 suggests the rate may be closer to 3.5%.<ref name=kershaw/> Put differently, a single first-cousin marriage entails a similar increased risk of birth defects and mortality as a woman faces when she gives birth at age 41 rather than at 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/theres-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html |title = There's nothing with cousins getting married, scientists say |newspaper = The Independent |first = Steve |last = Connor |date = 24 December 2008 | location=London}}</ref>

Repeated consanguineous marriages within a group are more problematic. After repeated generations of cousin marriage the actual genetic relationship between two people is closer than the most immediate relationship would suggest. In Pakistan, where there has been cousin marriage for generations and the current rate may exceed 50%, one study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among nonconsanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of prereproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572, 574</ref>

Even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles that are rare in large populations can randomly increase to high frequency in small groups within a few generations due to the [[founder effect]] and accelerated [[genetic drift]] in a breeding pool of restricted size.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 572</ref> For example, because the entire [[Amish]] population is descended from only a few hundred 18th-century [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-Swiss]] settlers, the average coefficient of inbreeding between two random Amish is higher than between two non-Amish second cousins.<ref>[[#Hostetler|Hostetler 1963]], p. 330</ref> First-cousin marriage is taboo among Amish, but they still have several rare genetic disorders. In [[Ohio]]'s [[Geauga County]], Amish make up only about 10 percent of the population but represent half the special needs cases. In the case of one debilitating seizure disorder, the worldwide total of 12 cases exclusively involves the Amish.<ref>[[#McKay|McKay 2005]]</ref> Similar disorders have been found in the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], who do allow first-cousin marriage and of whom 75 to 80 percent are related to two 1830s founders.<ref>[[#Dougherty|Dougherty 2005]]</ref><ref>[[#Reuters|Reuters 2007]]</ref>

Studies into the effect of cousin marriage on [[polygenic traits]] and complex diseases of adulthood have often yielded contradictory results due to the rudimentary sampling strategies used. Both positive and negative associations have been reported for breast cancer and heart disease. Consanguinity seems to affect many polygenic traits such as height, body mass index, [[intelligence quotient|intelligence]] and cardiovascular profile.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Evidence of inbreeding depression on height, weight, and body mass index: a population-based child cohort|journal= American Journal of Human Biology|year=2014| volume=26|issue=6|pages=784–795|doi=10.1002/ajhb.22599|pmid=25130378|s2cid=6086127}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title= Estimating the inbreeding depression on cognitive behavior: a population based study of child cohort|journal=PLOS ONE|year=2014| volume=9|issue=10|pages=e109585|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109585|pmid=25313490|pmc=4196914|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9585F|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fareed|first=M|author2=Afzal M|title=Increased cardiovascular risks associated with familial inbreeding: a population-based study of adolescent cohort|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|year=2016|volume=26|issue=4|pages=283–292|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.001|pmid=27084548}}</ref> Long-term studies conducted on the Dalmatian islands in the Adriatic Sea have indicated a positive association between inbreeding and a very wide range of common adulthood disorders, including [[hypertension]], [[Coronary artery disease|coronary heart disease]], [[stroke]], [[cancer]], [[Unipolar depression|uni]]/[[bipolar depression]], [[asthma]], [[gout]], [[Peptic ulcer disease|peptic ulcer]], and [[osteoporosis]]. However, these results may principally reflect village [[endogamy]] rather than consanguinity per se. Endogamy is marrying within a group and in this case the group was a village. The marital patterns of the Amish are also an example of endogamy.<ref name="BittlesBlack">[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 6</ref>

The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation found an association between consanguinity and hydrocephalus, postaxial polydactyly, and bilateral oral and facial clefts. Another picture emerges from the large literature on congenital heart defects, which are conservatively estimated to have an incidence of 50/1,000 live births. A consistent positive association between consanguinity and disorders such as ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect has been demonstrated, but both positive and negative associations with patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect, pulmonary atresia, and [[Tetralogy of Fallot]] have been reported in different populations. Associations between consanguinity and Alzheimer's disease have been found in certain populations.<ref name="BittlesBlack" /> Studies into the influence of inbreeding on anthropometric measurements at birth and in childhood have failed to reveal any major and consistent pattern, and only marginal declines were shown in the mean scores attained by consanguineous progeny in tests of intellectual capacity. In the latter case, it would appear that inbreeding mainly leads to greater variance in IQ levels, due in part to the expression of detrimental recessive genes in a small proportion of those tested.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 575</ref>

A [[BBC]] report discussed [[British Pakistanis|Pakistanis in Britain]], 55% of whom marry a first cousin.<ref>Rowlatt, J, (2005) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm "The risks of cousin marriage"], BBC Newsnight. Accessed 28 January 2007</ref> Given the high rate of such marriages, many children come from repeat generations of first-cousin marriages. The report states that these children are 13 times more likely than the general population to produce children with [[genetic disorder]]s, and one in ten children of first-cousin marriages in [[Birmingham]] either dies in infancy or develops a serious disability. The BBC also states that Pakistani-Britons, who account for some 3% of all births in the UK, produce "just under a third" of all British children with genetic illnesses. Published studies show that mean [[perinatal mortality]] in the Pakistani community of 15.7 per thousand significantly exceeds that in the indigenous population and all other ethnic groups in Britain. Congenital anomalies account for 41 percent of all British Pakistani infant deaths.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 576</ref> Finally, in 2010 the ''Telegraph'' reported that cousin marriage among the British Pakistani community resulted in 700 children being born every year with genetic disabilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233433/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7957808/700-children-born-with-genetic-disabilities-due-to-cousin-marriages-every-year.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|title=700 children born with genetic disabilities due to cousin marriages every year|first=Rebecca|last=Lefort|date=22 August 2010|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

The increased mortality and birth defects observed among British Pakistanis may, however, have another source besides current consanguinity. This is [[Wahlund effect|population subdivision]] among different Pakistani groups. Population subdivision results from decreased gene flow among different groups in a population. Because members of Pakistani [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]] have married only inside these groups for generations, offspring have higher average [[homozygosity]] even for couples with no known genetic relationship.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 5</ref> According to a statement by the UK's [[Human Genetics Commission]] on cousin marriages, the BBC also "fails to clarify" that children born to these marriages were not found to be 13 times more likely to develop genetic disorders. Instead they are 13 times more likely to develop ''recessive'' genetic disorders. The HGC states, "Other types of genetic conditions, including chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked conditions and autosomal dominant conditions are not influenced by cousin marriage." The HGC goes on to compare the biological risk between cousin marriage and increased maternal age, arguing that "Both represent complex cultural trends. Both however, also carry a biological risk. The key difference, GIG argue, is that cousin marriage is more common amongst a British minority population."<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081023095407/http://www.hgc.gov.uk/Client/Content.asp?ContentId=741 "Statement on cousins who marry"], Human Genetics Commission. Accessed 1 November 2009</ref> Genetic effects from cousin marriage in Britain are more obvious than in a developing country like Pakistan because the number of confounding environmental diseases is lower. Increased focus on genetic disease in developing countries may eventually result from progress in eliminating environmental diseases there as well.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 579</ref>

Comprehensive genetic education and premarital genetic counseling programs can help to lessen the burden of genetic diseases in endogamous communities. Genetic education programs directed at high-school students have been successful in Middle Eastern countries such as [[Bahrain]]. Genetic counseling in developing countries has been hampered, however, by lack of trained staff, and couples may refuse prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion despite the endorsement of religious authorities.<ref>[[#Consanguinity|Bittles and Black, 2009]], Section 4</ref> In Britain, the Human Genetics Commission recommends a strategy comparable with previous strategies in dealing with increased maternal age, notably as this age relates to an increased risk of [[Down syndrome]]. All pregnant women in Britain are offered a screening test from the government-run national health service to identify those at an increased risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. The HGC states that similarly, it is appropriate to offer genetic counseling to consanguineous couples, preferably before they conceive, in order to establish the precise risk of a genetic abnormality in offspring. Under this system the offering of genetic counseling can be refused, unlike, for example, in the US state of Maine where genetic counseling is mandatory to obtain a marriage license for first cousins. Leading researcher Alan Bittles also concluded that though consanguinity clearly has a significant effect on childhood mortality and genetic disease in areas where it is common, it is "essential that the levels of expressed genetic defect be kept in perspective, and to realize that the outcome of consanguineous marriages is not subject to assessment solely in terms of comparative medical audit".<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 578</ref> He states that the social, cultural, and economic benefits of cousin marriage also need to be fully considered.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 793</ref>

In [[Nepal]], consanguineous marriage emerged as a leading cause of [[eye cancer]] in newborn children in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sureis |date=2017-10-05 |title=Tots born out of consanguineous marriage at risk of eye cancer |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/tots-born-consanguineous-marriage-risk-eye-cancer |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en}}</ref>

===Fertility===

Higher total fertility rates are reported for cousin marriages than average, a phenomenon noted as far back as [[George Darwin]] during the late 19th century. There is no significant difference in the number of surviving children in first-cousin marriages because this compensates for the observed increase in child mortality.<ref>[[#Reproductive|Bittles 1994]], p. 790</ref> However, there is a large increase in fertility for third and fourth cousin marriages, whose children exhibit more fitness than both unrelated individuals or second cousins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Helgason |first1=Agnar |last2=Pálsson |first2=Snæbjörn |last3=Guðbjartsson |first3=Daníel F. |last4=Kristjánsson |first4=þórður |last5=Stefánsson |first5=Kári |date=2008-02-08 |title=An Association Between the Kinship and Fertility of Human Couples |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1150232 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=319 |issue=5864 |pages=813–816 |doi=10.1126/science.1150232 |pmid=18258915 |bibcode=2008Sci...319..813H |s2cid=17831162 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> The total fertility increase may be partly explained by the lower average parental age at marriage or the age at first birth, observed in consanguineous marriages. Other factors include shorter birth intervals and a lower likelihood of [[outbreeding depression]] or using reliable [[contraception]].<ref name=bittles1/> There is also the possibility of more births as a compensation for increased child mortality, either via a conscious decision by parents to achieve a set family size or the cessation of [[lactational amenorrhea]] following the death of an infant.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], p. 571</ref> According to a recent paper the fertility difference is probably not due to any underlying biological effect.<ref>{{citation |title = Consanguineous marriage and differentials in age at marriage, contraceptive use and fertility in Pakistan |first1 = R. |first2 = A.H. |last1 = Hussein |last2 = Bittles |year = 1999 |publisher = Journal of Biosocial Science |pages = 121–138 |url = http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=hbspapers}}</ref> In Iceland, where marriages between second and third cousins were common, in part due to limited selection, studies show higher fertility rates.<ref>[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207140855.htm Third Cousins Have Greatest Number Of Offspring, Data From Iceland Shows], Science Daily, 7 February 2008</ref> Earlier papers claimed that increased sharing of [[human leukocyte antigen]]s, as well as of deleterious recessive genes expressed during pregnancy, may lead to lower rates of conception and higher rates of miscarriage in consanguineous couples. Others now believe there is scant evidence for this unless the genes are operating very early in the pregnancy. Studies consistently show a lower rate of [[primary infertility]] in cousin marriages, usually interpreted as being due to greater immunological compatibility between spouses.<ref>[[#Role|Bittles 1994]], pp. 568–569</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Affinity (Catholic canon law)]]
* [[Assortative mating]]
* [[Avunculate marriage]]
* [[Coefficient of relationship]]
* [[Consanguine marriage]]
* [[Cousin marriage in the Middle East]]
* [[Cousin marriage law in the United States]]
* [[Endogamy]]
* [[Genetic distance]]
* [[Genetic diversity]]
* [[Genetic sexual attraction]]
* [[Inbreeding]]
* [[Inbreeding avoidance]]
* [[Inbreeding depression]]
* [[Incest taboo]]
* [[Jetyata]]
* [[Jewish views on incest]]
* [[Legality of incest]]
* [[List of coupled cousins]]
* [[Mahram]]
* [[Pedigree collapse]]
* [[Proximity of blood]]
* [[Sibling marriage]]
* [[Watta satta]]
* [[Westermarck effect]]
* [[Prohibited degree of kinship]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1111/j.1365-3016.2006.00750.x |last1 = Bener |first1 = Abdulbari |last2 = Hussain |first2 = Rafat |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology]] |volume = 20 |issue = 5 |year = 2006 |pages = 372–378 |pmid = 16911015 |ref=Bener}}
* {{cite journal | doi= 10.2307/2137601 | last1= Bittles | first1= Alan H. | date= September 1994 | title= The Role and Significance of Consanguinity as a Demographic Variable | journal = [[Population and Development Review]] | volume = 20 | issue= 3 | pages= 561–584 |ref=Role | jstor = 2137601}}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1080/030144600282271 |last1 = Bittles |first1 = Alan |last2 = Hussain |first2 = Rafat |title = An analysis of consanguineous marriage in the Muslim population of India at regional and state levels |journal = [[Annals of Human Biology]] |volume = 27 |issue = 2 |year = 2000 |pmid = 10768421 |pages = 163–171 |s2cid = 218987242 |ref=BittlesHussain}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Commentary: The background and outcomes of the first-cousin marriage controversy in Great Britain |journal = [[International Journal of Epidemiology]] |year = 2009 |volume = 38 |issue = 6 |pmid = 19926668 |pages = 1453–1458 |first1 = Alan |last1 = Bittles |doi = 10.1093/ije/dyp313 |ref=Background|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal |title = Consanguinity, human evolution, and complex diseases |first1 = Alan |last1 = Bittles |first2 = Michael |last2 = Black |journal = [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume = 107 |issue = suppl 1 |pages = 1779–1786 |doi = 10.1073/pnas.0906079106 |date=Sep 2009 |ref=Consanguinity |pmid=19805052 |pmc=2868287|doi-access = free }}
* {{cite web | url= http://www.consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables | title= Tables of the global prevalence of consanguinity | first= Alan | last= Bittles | year= 2009 | work= consang.net | access-date= 8 February 2010 | ref= TheIndispensableBittles | archive-date= 14 January 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170114032757/http://consang.net/index.php/Global_prevalence_tables | url-status= dead }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1932.34.4.02a00080 |last1 = Chen |first1 = T. S. | last2 = Shryock | first2 = J. K. |title = Chinese Relationship Terms |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 34 |issue = 4 |pages = 623–669 |date = Oct–Dec 1932 |ref=Chen |jstor = 662675|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal |first=Constance B. |last=Bouchard |title=Consanguinity and Noble Marriages in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries |journal=Speculum |volume=56 |issue=2 |date=April 1981 |pages=268–287 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846935 |doi=10.2307/2846935 |jstor=2846935 |pmid=11610836 |s2cid=38717048 |ref=Bouchard 1981 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Darwin|first=George H|year=1875|title=Marriages between first cousins in England and their effects|journal=Journal of the Statistical Society|volume=XXXVIII Part II|issue=2|pages=153–184|doi=10.2307/2338660|jstor=2338660}}
* {{Cite book |title = The Economics of Consanguineous Marriages |first1 = Quý Toàn |last1 = Đõ |first2 = Sriya |last2 = Iyer |first3 = Shareen |last3 = Joshi |year = 2006 |publisher = World Bank, Development Research Group, Poverty Team |ref=Do}}
* {{cite web |first = John |last = Dougherty |title = Forbidden Fruit |url = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 |website = Phoenix New Times |date = 29 December 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = Dougherty |archive-date = 3 November 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |url-status = dead }}
* {{Cite journal | last = Freire-Maia | first = Newton | title = Inbreeding in Brazil | journal = [[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am. J. Hum. Genet.]] | volume = 9 | issue = 4 | pages = 284–298 | date = Dec 1957 | pmid = 13497997 | pmc = 1932014 |ref=Freire-Maia}}
* {{cite journal | first1 = Benjamin P. | last1 = Givens | first2 = Charles | last2 = Hirschman | title = Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran | journal = [[Journal of Marriage and Family]] | volume = 56 | issue = 4 | date = November 1994 | pages = 820–834 |ref=Givens | jstor = 353595 | doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite book |title = The development of the family and marriage in Europe |last = Goody |first = Jack |year = 1983 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location = Cambridge |ref=Goody}}
* {{cite book| last = Grubbs| first = Judith Evans| title = Women and the law in the Roman Empire| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7gJhP7fpbTcC| access-date = 13 February 2010| year = 2002| publisher = Routledge| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-415-15240-2| ref = Grubbs}}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1963.0071 | pmid = 14087988 | last1 = Hajnal | first1 = J. | last2 = Fraccaro | first2 = M. | last3 = Sutter | first3 = J. | last4 = Smith | first4 = C.A.B. | title = Concepts of Random Mating and the Frequency of Consanguineous Marriages | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 159 | issue = 974 | pages = 125–177 | date = 10 December 1963 | display-authors = 1 |ref=Hajnal| bibcode = 1963RSPSB.159..125H | s2cid = 45211684 }}
* {{cite book| last = Holý| first = Ladislav| title = Kinship, honour, and solidarity: cousin marriage in the Middle East| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=99vBAAAAIAAJ| year = 1989| publisher = Manchester University Press ND| isbn = 978-0-7190-2890-8| ref = Holy}}
* {{cite book| last = Hostetler| first = John Andrew| title = Amish Society| url = https://archive.org/details/amishsociety00host_0| url-access = registration| year = 1993| publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press| location = Baltimore| isbn = 978-0-8018-4442-3| ref = Hostetler}}
* {{Cite journal |title = The Structural Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 1/2 |issue = 6 |pages = 23–55 |first1 = Edmund |last1 = Leach |doi = 10.2307/2844015 |ref=Leach |jstor = 2844015|s2cid = 149509001 }}
* {{cite book| last = Meriwether| first = Margaret Lee| title = The Kin Who Count: Family and Society in Ottoman Aleppo, 1770-1840| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iFtq9TcWzjkC| year = 1999| publisher = University of Texas Press| isbn = 978-0-292-75224-5| ref = Meriwether}}
* {{cite news |title = Genetic Disorders Hit Amish Hard |first = Mary Jayne |last = McKay |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/08/60II/main700519.shtml |publisher = CBS |date = 8 June 2005 |access-date = 10 February 2010 |ref = McKay }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1525/aa.1959.61.1.02a00040 |last1 = Murphy |first1 = Robert F. |author-link1 = Robert F. Murphy (anthropologist) |last2 = Kasdan |first2 = Leonard |title = The Structure of Parallel Cousin Marriage |journal = [[American Anthropologist]] |volume = 61 |issue = 1 |date = Feb 1959 |pages = 17–29 |ref=Murphy |jstor = 666210|doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite book | title = Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage | first = Martin | last = Ottenheimer | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 1996 | location = Chicago |ref = TheEssentialOttenheimer}}
* {{cite book| last = Patterson| first = Cynthia B.| title = The Family in Greek History| year = 1998| publisher = Harvard University Press| location = Cambridge, MA| isbn = 978-0-674-29270-3| ref = Patterson| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/familyingreekhis0000patt}}
* {{Cite journal |last1 = Prem |first1 = Chowdhry |title = Consanguineous Unions and Child Health in the State of Qatar |journal = [[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume = 38 |issue = 1 |year = 2004 |pages = 55–84 |ref=Chowdhry}}
* {{cite news |title=Polygamist community faces genetic disorder |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |agency=Reuters |date=15 June 2007 |access-date=10 February 2010 |ref=Reuters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213032656/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-06/15/content_895516.htm |archive-date=13 December 2010 }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.2307/3773881 |last = Qin |first = Zhaoxiong |title = Rethinking Cousin Marriage in Rural China |journal = [[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]] |volume = 40 |issue = 4 |date = 22 September 2001 |pages = 347–360 |ref=Zhaoxiong |jstor = 3773881}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Shami|first1=S A|last2=Schmitt|first2=L H|last3=Bittles|first3=A H|year=1989|title=Consanguinity related prenatal and postnatal mortality of the populations of seven Pakistani Punjab cities|journal=Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=267–271|pmc=1017301|doi=10.1136/jmg.26.4.267|pmid=2716036}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Close-Kin Marriage in Roman Society? |first1=Brent |last1=Shaw |first2=Richard |last2=Saller |journal = Man |series=New Series |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |date=September 1984 |pages = 432–444 |doi=10.2307/2802181 |ref=ShawSaller |jstor = 2802181}}
* {{Cite journal |title = Kinship, Cultural Preference and Immigration: Consanguineous Marriage among British Pakistanis |journal = [[The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |year = 2009 |volume = 7 |issue = 2 |pages = 315–334 |first1 = Alison |last1 = Shaw |ref=Shaw |jstor = 2661225 |doi=10.1111/1467-9655.00065}}
* {{cite book| last = Westermarck| first = Edward| title = The History of Human Marriage| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=by9AAAAAYAAJ| year = 1922| publisher = Allerton Book Co| location = New York| ref = Westermarck}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/13696819808717830 |last=Abbink |first=Jon |title=An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics |journal=[[Journal of African Cultural Studies]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=109–124 |date=Dec 1998 |ref=Abbink |jstor=1771876 |hdl=1887/9486 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite book |title=Baba of Karo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk3KadLaRssC |year=1981 |publisher=Yale University |isbn=978-0-300-02741-9 |ref=Baba |last1=Baba of Karo |last2=Smith |first2=Mary Felice}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bittles |first1=Alan H. |last2=Willaim M. |first2=Mason |last3=Greene |first3=Jennifer |last4=Rao |first4=N. Arpaji |date=10 May 1991 |title=Reproductive Behavior and Health in Consanguineous Marriages |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=252 |pmid=2028254 |issue=5007 |pages=789–794 |doi=10.1126/science.2028254 |display-authors=1 |ref=Reproductive |bibcode=1991Sci...252..789B |s2cid=1352617}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |year=2001 |work=Census of India |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CensusOfIndia}}
* {{cite web |title=Nigeria |work=The CIA World Factbook |publisher=US Central Intelligence Agency |date=15 January 2010 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=CIANigeria}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1017/S0021853700021940 |last1=Crummey |first1=Donald |title=Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=207–220 |year=1983 |ref=Crummey |jstor=181641 |s2cid=162655681}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dawson |editor1-first=Miles Menander |title=The Ethics of Confucius |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/eoc/eoc09.htm |year=1915 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |chapter=The Family |ref=Dawson}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/1972894 |last1=Dyson |first1=Tim |last2=Moore |first2=Mick |title=On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=Mar 1983 |pages=35–60 |ref=Dyson |jstor=1972894|s2cid=96442923 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |title=2007 Census |publisher=Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia |ref=EthiopiaCensus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214221803/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feng |first=Han-yi |title=The Chinese Kinship System |publisher=Harvard |year=1967 |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Chinese_Kinship_System_/IA_The_Chinese_Kinship_System__djvu.txt |ref=Feng}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Benjamin P. |last1=Givens |first2=Charles |last2=Hirschman |title=Modernization and Consanguineous Marriage in Iran |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |date=November 1994 |pages=820–834 |ref=Givens |jstor=353595 |doi=10.2307/353595}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1945.47.1.02a00050 |last=Hsu |first=Francis L. K. |title=Observations on Cross-Cousin Marriage in China |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=83–103 |date=Jan–Mar 1945 |ref=Hsu |jstor=663208}}
* {{cite web |title=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |publisher=Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York |date=14 November 2003 |url=http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |access-date=21 June 2010 |ref=Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211135551/http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/laws/t42222.htm |archive-date=11 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |ref=SaveTheChildren |title=Learning from Children, Families, and Communities to Increase Girls' Participation in Primary School (Ethiopia) |url=http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |date=31 July 2007 |publisher=Save the Children USA |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113172055/http://www.positivedeviance.org/pdf/ETHIOPIA%20-GIRL%27S%20EDUCATION.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |first=Brian |last=Schwimmer |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/igbo/igbo_marriage.html |title=Census of India, Population by Religious Communities |date=September 2003 |work=Kinship and Social Organization |publisher=Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India |access-date=7 February 2010 |ref=Schwimmer}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Scott-Emuakpori |first1=Ajovi B. |title=The Mutation Load in an African Population |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics|Am J Hum Genet]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |year=1974 |pages=674–682 |ref=Scott-Emuakpor}}
* {{cite book |title=Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC |year=2001 |publisher=Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |ref=Suberu |last1=Suberu |first1=Rotimi T.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |title=Hausa |last=Swanson |first=Eleanor C. |author2=Robert O. Lagace |work=Ethnographic Atlas |publisher=Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing, University of Kent at Canterbury |access-date=8 February 2010 |ref=Swanson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217193539/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7844 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |title=Marriages between cousins has become more common in the UAE |publisher=khaleejtimes |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |access-date=11 June 2017 |ref=Teebi |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224163347/https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20091120/ARTICLE/311209934/1002 |url-status=dead}}
{{colend}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|cousincest}}
* [http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page Consanguinity/Endogamy Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102013842/http://www.consang.net/index.php/Main_Page |date=2 November 2020 }} by Dr. Alan Bittles and Dr. Michael Black
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html Shaking Off the Shame] by Sarah Kershaw for ''The New York Times''
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1 Forbidden Fruit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222643/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/1/ |date=3 November 2012 }} by John Dougherty

{{Incest}}
{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin Marriage}}
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Cousin marriage| ]]

Hinduism and LGBTQ topics

2024-02-20T06:08:18Z

Timovinga: /* Hindu texts */ Unsourced

{{Short description|Hindu views on LGBT issues}}

'''Hindu views of homosexuality''' and [[LGBT]] (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) issues more generally are diverse, and different [[Hinduism|Hindu]] groups have distinct views.

India under Hinduism did not have legal or moral restrictions on homosexuality or transsexuality for the general population prior to early modern period (Islam) and colonialism (Christianity), however certain dharmic moral codes forbade sexual misconduct (of both heterosexual and homosexual nature) among the upper class of persists and monks, and religious codes of foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam imposed homophobic rules on their populations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-04 |title=LGBT rights were accepted in ancient India, Sec 377 must be repealed: Amish Tripathi |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/lgbt-rights-were-accepted-in-ancient-india-sec-377-must-be-repealed-amish-tripathi/story-NFOnXL3rGVXECqTdg9SuXL.html |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref name="hrc.org">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> Hinduism also describes a [[third gender]] that is equal to other genders and documentation of the third gender are found in ancient Hindu and Buddhist medical texts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Shiva Prakash |last2=Chandrasekaran |first2=Sruti |date=2020 |title=Transsexualism in Hindu Mythology |journal=Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=235–236 |doi=10.4103/ijem.IJEM_152_20 |issn=2230-8210 |pmc=7539026 |pmid=33083261 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Numerous Hindu texts have portrayed [[homosexual]] experience as natural and joyful,<ref>{{Cite book | last = Bonvillain| first = Nancy| author-link = Nancy Bonvillain| title = Women and men: cultural constructs of gender| publisher = [[Prentice Hall]]| year = 2001| page = 281| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xiG1AAAAIAAJ&q=hinduism+homosexuality+expressions+of+human+desire|isbn=978-0-13-025973-8}}</ref> the [[Kama Sutra|Kamasutra]] affirms and recognises same-sex relations,<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cush|first1=Denise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3N4mGlbutbgC|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last2=Robinson|first2=Catherine|last3=York|first3=Michael|date=2012-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-18978-5|pages=354|language=en}}</ref> and there are several Hindu temples which have carvings that depict both men and women engaging in homosexual acts.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Keene| first = Manu |title = Religion in Life and Society| publisher = Folens Limited| year = 2002| page = 58| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I4AVbUIIygQC&pg=PA58|isbn=978-1-84303-295-3}}</ref>

There are numerous Hindu deities that are shown to be [[Non-binary gender|gender-fluid]] and falling into the LGBT spectrum.<ref name="Cousins 2014 p. 1158">{{cite book | last=Cousins | first=L.H. | title=Encyclopedia of Human Services and Diversity | publisher=SAGE Publications | year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4833-4665-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Spd0BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1158 | access-date=2023-04-04 | page=1158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Devor|first1=Aaron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3mFDwAAQBAJ&q=hindu+deities+gender+fluid&pg=PA16|title=Transgender: A Reference Handbook|last2=Haefele-Thomas|first2=Ardel|date=2019-02-15|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-5691-4|pages=16|language=en}}</ref> Same-sex relations and [[gender variance]] have been represented within Hinduism from ancient times through to the present day, in rituals, law books, religious or narrative mythologies, commentaries, paintings, and even sculptures. There are certain characters in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' who, according to some versions of the epic, change genders, such as [[Shikhandi]], who is sometimes said to be born as a female but identifies as male and eventually marries a woman. [[Bahuchara Mata]] is the goddess of fertility, worshipped by ''hijras'' as their patroness.

The [[Arthashastra]] argues that some homosexual intercourse is an offence, and encourages chastity (however, this also applies to heterosexual intercourse). The [[Dharmaśāstra|Dharmashastra]] recognises the existence of [[homosexuality]], without openly condemning it in religious or moral terms. The [[Manusmriti]] regards homosexual (as well as heterosexual) acts in an ox cart as a source of ritual pollution, something to be expiated by Brahmin males through ritual immersion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Jyoti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXmAAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmruti+homosexuality&pg=PA180 |title=Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96266-1 |pages=180 |language=en}}</ref> These commentaries were written as guides for sexual misconduct (heterosexual and homosexual) among the upper class of persists and monks.<ref name="hrc.org"/> In Maniusmirti and the Arthashastra of Kautilya homosexual contacts are compared to having sex with menstruating woman which is sinful and demand doing purification ritual. The Dharmashastras perceives advantage of conceiving sons by heterosexual marriage, acknowleding other types of relationship grudgingly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Qrius |date=2023-07-19 |title=What do Manusmriti and Dharmashastra have to say about homosexuality? |url=https://qrius.com/what-do-manusmriti-and-dharmashastra-have-to-say-about-homosexuality/ |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Qrius}}</ref>

Academic works have citied cases of Hindu priests performing same sex marriages in temples in numerous cases since independence from colonialism.<ref name="Endsjø 2012 p. 164">{{cite book |last=Endsjø |first=D.Ø. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YyWP_ZAJuQC&pg=PA164 |title=Sex and Religion: Teachings and Taboos in the History of World Faiths |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-86189-988-0 |series=Espiritualidad y religión |page=164 |access-date=2023-04-05}}</ref> Hindu bodies in several countries have also voiced support to campaigns backing same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Same-sex marriage: Australia's Hindu clergy group offers support to "Yes" campaign |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/malayalam/en/article/same-sex-marriage-australias-hindu-clergy-group-offers-support-to-yes-campaign/fc86zz1wi |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}</ref>

In 2009, the [[Delhi High Court]] legalised [[homosexuality in India]], but the [[Supreme Court of India]] subsequently overturned the high court's decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/FHDQ9yB2jRJMsOlNCQrkgL/Supreme-Court-to-rule-on-legality-of-gay-sex-today.html|title=Supreme Court upholds Section 377 criminalizing homosexual sex|last=Monalisa|date=11 December 2013|website=[[Livemint]]}}</ref> The Supreme Court of India, [[Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India|in a later ruling in 2018]], reversed its previous verdict and decriminalised homosexual intercourse and relationships.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 September 2018|title=India court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-45429664|access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref>

==Contemporary Hindu society==
{{quote box|width=35em|align=right|quote="Hindu society had a clear cut idea of all these people in the past. Now that we have put them under one label ‘LGBT’, there is lot more confusion and other identities have got hidden."<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/no-more-under-siege/article5247859.ece | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu | first=A. | last=Shrikumar | title=No more under siege | date=October 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glreview.org/article/the-many-genders-of-old-india/|title=The Many Genders of Old India|website=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=2 March 2015 }}</ref> |source=— [[Gopi Shankar Madurai]] in National Queer Conference 2013}}

Sexuality is rarely discussed openly in contemporary Hindu society, especially in modern [[India]] where homosexuality was illegal until a brief period beginning in 1860, due to colonial [[British India|British laws]].<ref>From section 377 of the [[Indian Penal Code]]: ''Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.''</ref> In 2009, The [[Delhi]] High Court in a historic judgement decriminalised homosexuality in [[India]]; where the court noted that the existing laws violated fundamental rights to personal liberty (Article 21 of the [[Indian Constitution]]) and equality (Article 14) and prohibition of discrimination (Article 15).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://qz.com/india/1379620/section-377-a-timeline-of-indias-battle-for-gay-rights/ |title=Timeline: The Struggle Against Section 377 Began Over Two Decades Ago |last=Thomas |first=Maria |date=September 6, 2018 |website=Quartz India |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5388231/india-decriminalizes-homosexuality-section-377/ |title=India's Supreme Court Decriminalizes Homosexuality in a Historic Ruling for the LGBT Community |last=Kidangoor |first=Abhishyant |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906091358/https://time.com/5388231/india-decriminalizes-homosexuality-section-377/ |archive-date=September 6, 2018 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> However, the Supreme Court of India re-affirmed the penal code provision and overturned the Delhi High Court decision, effectively re-instating the legal ban on homosexuality in which penalties included life imprisonment<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-12/india/45120907_1_delhi-hc-section-377-ipc-supreme-court | work=The Times Of India | title=Supreme Court makes homosexuality a crime again - The Times of India | date=12 December 2013 | access-date=2017-11-13 | archive-date=2013-12-14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214062847/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-12/india/45120907_1_delhi-hc-section-377-ipc-supreme-court | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/no-separate-proposal-to-repeal-or-amend-section-377-govt/ | work=The Hindustan Times | title=No separate proposal to repeal or amend section 377 : govt}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/no-separate-proposal-to-repeal-or-amend-section-377-government/articleshow/45618509.cms | work=Economic Times | title=No separate proposal to repeal or amend section 377 : govt | date=23 December 2014}}</ref> until September 6, 2018, when Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality. Furthermore, LGBT people are often subjected to torture, executions and fines by non-government affiliated vigilante groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/07/18/india-prosecute-rampant-honor-killings|title=India: Prosecute Rampant 'Honor' Killings|date=18 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/sAYrieZdZKEybKzhP8FDbP/Being-LGBT-in-India-Some-home-truths.html|title=Being LGBT in India: Some home truths|first=Rashmi|last=Patel|date=27 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/07/29/lesbian-newlyweds-flee-honor-killing-threats-in-india/|title=Lesbian newlyweds flee honor killing threats in India}}</ref>

[[Hinduism]] is not known to ban homosexuality. [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] factions have a varied opinion on the legalisation of [[homosexuality]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lgbtq-community-part-of-society-mohan-bhagwat-keeps-up-with-times-1919153 |title="LGBTQ community Part of Society": Mohan Bhagwat Keeps Up With Times |last=Sethi |first=Nidhi |date=September 20, 2018 |website=NDTV |access-date=July 10, 2021}}</ref> In the last thirty years, homosexuality has become increasingly visible in the print and audio-visual media, with many out LGBT people, an active LGBT movement, and a large Indian LGBT presence on the Internet. From the 1990s onward, modern gay and lesbian Hindu organizations have surfaced in India's major cities and in 2004, plausible calls were made for the first time to repeal India's laws against homosexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/world/asia/19iht-letter.html |title=Attitudes, and the law, keep India's gays quiet |last=Gentleman |first=Amelia |website=New York Times |date=January 19, 2006 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108175707/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/world/asia/19iht-letter.html |archive-date=January 8, 2016}}</ref>

[[Deepa Mehta]]'s 1996 film ''[[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]]'', which depicts a romantic relationship between two Hindu women, was informally banned for "religious insensitivity"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116308/trivia |title=Fire Trivia |website=IMDB |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> after the screening of the movie was disrupted on the grounds that it denigrated Indian culture, not on the grounds of homophobia per se, a position shared and confirmed by feminist Madhu Kishwar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_es/s_es_kishw_naive_frameset.htm|title=Naive Outpourings|website=www.infinityfoundation.com|quote=A small handful of Shiv Sainiks in Bombay and an even smaller number in Delhi disrupted the screening of the film at a couple of theatres.}}</ref> In addition, [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] who were in power in India at the time, refused to ban it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1526/15260430.htm|title=Furore over a film |first=Praveen |last=Swami |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Similar protests occurred in 2004 against the lesbian-themed film ''Girlfriend'' — even though the portrayal of lesbianism was this time distinctly unsympathetic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3805905.stm |title='Girlfriend' causes India storm |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |website=[[BBC News]] |date=June 14, 2002 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/62004/bollywood.html|title=Lesbian-Themed Bollywood Films Provoke Violence, Dialogue |first=Sarah |last=Warn |date=June 2004 |publisher=AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com}}</ref> Several [[human-rights]] groups such as the [[People's Union for Civil Liberties]] have asserted that sexual minorities in India face severe discrimination and violence, especially those from rural and lower-caste backgrounds.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=People's Union of Civil Liberties |url=http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2003/sexual-minorities.htm |title=Human Rights Violations Against Sexuality Minorities in India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030308105733/http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2003/sexual-minorities.htm |archive-date=March 8, 2003 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

In her book, ''[[Love's Rite]]'',<ref>{{cite book|title=Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=2005|author=Ruth Vanita}}</ref> Ruth Vanita examines the phenomenon of same-sex weddings, many by Hindu rites, which have been reported by the Indian press over the last thirty years and with increasing frequency. In the same period, same-sex joint suicides have also been reported. Most of these marriages and suicides are by lower-middle-class female couples from small towns and rural areas across the country; these women have no contact with any LGBT movements. Both cross-sex and same-sex couples, when faced with family opposition, tend to resort to either elopement and marriage or to joint suicide in the hope of reunion in the next life. Vanita examines how Hindu doctrines such as rebirth and the genderlessness of the soul are often interpreted to legitimize socially disapproved relationships, including same-sex ones. In a 2004 survey, most — though not all — [[swami]]s said they opposed the concept of a Hindu-sanctified gay marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |title=Discussions on Dharma |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726045115/http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |website=Hinduism Today |date=December 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> But several Hindu priests have performed same-sex marriages, arguing that love is the result of attachments from previous births and that marriage, as a union of spirit, is transcendental to gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1357249.stm |title=Gay couple hold Hindu wedding |last=Singh |first=Jyotsna |date=29 May 2001 |website=BBC News |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc24b62d8bece96593d6041cc48a3f54 |title=As Tide Turns on Same-Sex Marriage, Churches Lag Behind |date=March 24, 2006 |website=New America Media |last=Roy |first=Sandip |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306041528/http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc24b62d8bece96593d6041cc48a3f54 |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

Later, Vanita condenses the ideas in her book into an article, "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions and Modern India".<ref>Vanita, Ruth. "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 47-60. jstor.org (accessed February 9, 2014).</ref> Here, she summarizes specific cases in which women specifically committed joint-suicides, were married and separated, or successfully married. She points out three different "forces that have helped female couples".<ref>Vanita, Ruth. "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 53. jstor.org (accessed February 9, 2014).</ref> These are: the law courts, the media, and some Hindu authorities (such as the swamis mentioned earlier in this article) from her book. When female couples can stay together under the social pressures and get to the courts, the courts generally hold up their decisions, holding to the fact that the women are consenting adults. While this does not necessarily stop the harassment, it does lend the couple further legitimacy under the laws. In addition, the more successful same-sex marriages of women are those in which the women are financially independent. If they have social support from their families and community—for the most part—then they may be able to live in peace together. The media may also play an important role in same-sex marriages. In drawing attention to their marriages, women who do not necessarily know about LGBT rights groups may be contacted and supported by those groups after media attention. However, the flip side of this is that the anti-LGBT groups also may reach out against their marriage.

Psychoanalyst [[Sudhir Kakar]] writes that Hindus are more accepting of "deviance or eccentricity" that are adherents of Western religions, who typically treat sexual variance as "anti-social or psychopathological, requiring 'correction' or 'cure'".<ref>Kakar, Sundir (1981). ''The Inner World: A Psycho-analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India.'' Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 39</ref> Hindus, he argues, believe instead that each individual must fulfill their personal destiny (''svadharma'') as they travel the path towards [[moksha]] (transcendence).

Commenting on the legalisation of homosexuality in India; Anil Bhanot, general secretary of The [[United Kingdom]] Hindu Council said: "The point here is that the homosexual nature is part of the natural law of God; it should be accepted for what it is, no more and no less. Hindus are generally conservative but it seems to me that in ancient India, they even celebrated sex as an enjoyable part of procreation, where priests were invited for ceremonies in their home to mark the beginning of the process."<ref name="news.rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm|title='Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality' - Rediff.com India News|website=news.rediff.com}}</ref>

A high-ranking member of the influential right-wing Hindu group [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) has publicly stated that he does not believe homosexuality should be illegal, and that the RSS had no official stance on this issue since it was a matter of personal preference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rss-gay-sex-homosexuality-article-377/|title=Homosexuality not a crime: RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale|date=18 March 2016}}</ref> After the Supreme Court of India [[Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India|struck down]] parts of [[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code]], the RSS stated that while relationships between people of the same gender are unnatural, it is not a criminal act.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/homosexuality-not-a-crime-but-unnatural-rss/articleshow/65703402.cms|title=Homosexuality not a crime, but unnatural: RSS - Times of India ►|website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> In its latest position, the RSS has accepted that people from the LGBT community are an integral part of the Indian society.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/gays-transgenders-integral-to-society-says-mohan-bhagwat/articleshow/71402631.cms?from=mdr |title=Gays, Transgenders Integral to Society, says Mohan Bhagwat |date=October 2, 2019 |website=The Economic Times |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

==The third gender==
Hindu philosophy has the concept of a third sex or [[Third gender#Indic culture|third gender]] (Sanskrit: तृतीय प्रकृति, ''tŕtīya-prakŕti'' – literally, "third nature"). This category includes a wide range of people with mixed male and female natures such as effeminate males, masculine females, transgender people, transsexual people, intersex people, androgynes, and so on. Many MTF third-genders are not attracted only or at all to men, but are attracted either exclusively to women or are bisexual. Many FTM transgender people are attracted to men.<ref>Pattanaik, Devdutt. ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'' (p. 10). Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2002.</ref> Such persons are not considered fully male or female in traditional Hinduism, being a combination of both. They are mentioned as third sex by nature (birth)<ref>Buhler, G., trans. ''The Laws of Manu'' (3.49). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2001.</ref> and are not expected to behave like cisgender men and women. They often keep their own societies or town quarters, perform specific occupations (such as masseurs, hairdressers, flower-sellers, domestic servants, etc.) and are generally attributed a semi-divine status. Their participation in religious ceremonies, especially as cross-dressing dancers and devotees of certain temple gods/goddesses, is considered auspicious in traditional Hinduism. Some Hindus believe that third-sex people have special powers allowing them to bless or curse others. 

In 2008, the state of [[Tamil Nadu]] recognised the [[LGBT rights in Tamil Nadu|"Third Gender"]]; with its civil supplies department giving in the ration card a provision for a new sex column as 'T', distinct from the usual 'M' and 'F' for males and females respectively. This was the first time that authorities anywhere in India have officially recognised the third gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-16/india/27778521_1_ration-cards-third-gender-tamil-nadu |title=Third sex gets official status in Tamil Nadu |first=Pushpa |last=Narayan |website=Times of India |date=March 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811062938/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-16/india/27778521_1_ration-cards-third-gender-tamil-nadu |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

==Hindu religious narratives==
{{Main|LGBT themes in Hindu mythology}}
[[Image:Ardhanari.jpg|right|180px|thumb|The Hindu god [[Shiva]] is often represented as [[Ardhanarisvara]], a unified entity of him with his consort [[Parvati]]. This sculpture is from the [[Elephanta Caves]] near [[Mumbai]].]]
In the Hindu narrative tradition, stories of gods and mortals changing gender occur.<ref>[Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, Same-Sex Love in India, 2000, the first section, sections 1 and 2, "Ancient Indian Materials" and "Medieval Materials in the Sanskritic Tradition" ; [[Wendy Doniger|O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger]] (1980). ''Women, Androgynes, and Other Mystical Beasts.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 302–4 Thadani, Giti (1996). ''Sakhiyani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India.'' London: Cassell. p. 65 Pattanaik, Devdutt (2002). ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'', Haworth Press, {{ISBN|1-56023-181-5}}</ref> Sometimes they also engage in heterosexual activities as different reincarnated genders. Homosexual and transgender Hindus commonly identify with and worship the various Hindu deities connected with gender diversity such as [[Ardhanarisvara]] (the androgynous form of [[Shiva]] and his consort [[Parvati]]), [[Iravan|Aravan]] (a hero whom the god [[Krishna]] married after becoming a woman), [[Harihara]] (an incarnation of Shiva and Vishnu combined), [[Bahuchara Mata]] (a goddess connected with transsexuality and eunuchism), [[Gadadhara]] (an incarnation of Radha in male form), [[Chandi]]-[[Chamunda]] (twin warrior goddesses), [[Bhagavati]]-devi (a Hindu goddess associated with cross-dressing), Gangamma (a goddess connected with cross-dressing and disguises) and the goddess [[Yellamma]].<ref name="Galva3rdsexdieties1">{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (1)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-1/cu6k/A138A622-C40E-424E-BE21-884ECB1E3E2A|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Galva3rdsexdieties2">{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (2)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> There are also specific festivals connected to the worship of these deities, some of which are famous in India for their cross-dressing devotees. These festivals include the Aravan Festival of [[Koovagam]], the Bahuchara Mata Festivals of [[Gujarat]] and the Yellamma Festivals of [[Karnataka]], among others.<ref>For a complete description of twenty-nine of the most gender-variant Hindu deities, see Part One, Chapter Three of Wilhelm's ''Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex''.</ref> Deities displaying gender variance include [[Mohini]], the female [[avatar]] of the god Vishnu and [[Vaikuntha Kamalaja]], the androgynous form of Vishnu and his consort [[Lakshmi]].

LGBT interpretations are also drawn in the legends of birth of the deities [[Ayyappa]] (a god born from the union of Shiva and Mohini), [[Bhagiratha]] (an Indian king born of two female parents) and [[Kartikeya]] (where the fire-god [[Agni]] "swallows" the semen of Shiva after disturbing his coitus with his consort Parvati). Some homosexual Hindus also worship the gods [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]] and [[Varuna]], who are associated with two lunar phases and same-sex relations in ancient [[Brahmana]] texts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (2)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016|quote=In Vedic literature, Sri Mitra-Varuna are portrayed as icons of brotherly affection and intimate friendship between males (the Sanskrit word Mitra means “friend” or “companion”). For this reason, they are worshiped by men of the third sex, albeit not as commonly as other Hindu deities. They are depicted riding a shark or crocodile together while bearing tridents, ropes, conch shells and water pots. Sometimes they are portrayed seated side-by-side on a golden chariot drawn by seven swans. Ancient Brahmana texts furthermore associate Sri Mitra-Varuna with the two lunar phases and same-sex relations: “Mitra and Varuna, on the other hand, are the two half-moons: the waxing one is Varuna and the waning one is Mitra. During the new-moon night, these two meet and when they are thus together they are pleased with a cake offering. Verily, all are pleased and all is obtained by any person knowing this. On that same night, Mitra implants his seed in Varuna and when the moon later wanes, that waning is produced from his seed.” ([[Shatapatha Brahmana]] 2.4.4.19) Varuna is similarly said to implant his seed in Mitra on the full-moon night for the purpose of securing its future waxing. In Hinduism, the new- and full-moon nights are discouraged times for procreation and consequently often associated with citrarata or unusual types of intercourse.}}</ref>

Gender variance is also observed in heroes in Hindu scriptures. The [[Hindu epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'' narrates that the hero [[Arjuna]] takes a vow to live as a member of the third sex for a year as the result of a curse he is compelled to honor. He thus transforms into [[Brihannala]], a member of the third gender, for a year and becomes a dance teacher to a princess. Another important character, [[Shikhandi]], is born female, but raised as a man and even married to a woman. She becomes male due to the grace of a [[Yaksha]]. Shikhandi eventually becomes the reason for the death of the warrior [[Bhishma]], who refuses to fight a "woman." Another character, [[Bhishma]] appeases [[Yudhishtira]]'s curiosity about relative enjoyment of partners during sex by relating the story of King Bhangasvana, who has had a hundred sons is turned into a woman while on a hunt. She returns to her kingdom, relates the story, turns the kingdom over to her children and retires to the forest to be the spouse of a hermit, by whom she has a hundred more sons.<ref>[[Mahabharata]] Anushaasan Parva: Daandharma Parva, Chapter 12, shloka-1</ref> [[Ila (Hinduism)|Ila]], a king from Hindu narratives, is also known for their gender changes.

Some versions of the ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan|Krittivasa Ramayana]]'', the most popular Bengali text on the pastimes of [[Ramachandra]] (an incarnation of [[Vishnu]]), relate a story of two queens who conceived a child together. When the king of the Sun Dynasty, Maharaja Dilipa, died, the demigods become concerned that he did not have a son to continue his line. Shiva, therefore, appeared before the king's two widowed queens and commanded them, "You two make love together and by my blessings, you will bear a beautiful son." The two wives, with great affection for each other, executed Shiva's order until one of them conceived a child. The sage Astavakra accordingly named the child "[[Bhagiratha]]" – he who was born from two vulvas. Bhagiratha later became a king and is credited with bringing the river [[Ganges]] down to earth through his austerities.<ref>Vanita, Ruth and Saleem Kidwai. ''Same-Sex Love in India: Reading From Literature and History'', pp. 100–102. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. For more details on other versions of this story, see Chapter Six of ''Love's Rite'', by the same author.</ref>

==Hindu texts==

People of a [[third gender]] (''tritiya-prakriti''), not fully men nor women, are mentioned here and there throughout Hindu texts such as the [[Puranas]] but are not specifically defined. In general, they are portrayed as effeminate men, often cowardly, and with no desire for women. Modern readers often draw parallels between these and modern stereotypes of [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexual]] and [[transgender]] people. However, Hindu texts (Mostly Dharmasastras) such as the [[Manusmriti]], Vide Atri Smřti, Vide Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra, and the Vide Apastambha Dharmasūtra do treat homosexuality as a sin, in some cases legally punishable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |title=Homosexuality in Ancient India: 10 Instances |date=July 10, 2018 |website=India Today |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

Historians Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, in their book ''Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History'', compiled extracts from Indian texts, from ancient to modern times, including many Hindu texts, translated from 15 Indian languages. In their accompanying analytical essays, they also wrote that Hindu texts have discussed and debated same-sex desire from the earliest times, in tones ranging from critical to non-judgmental to playful and celebratory.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2000 |editor-last=Vanita |editor-first=Ruth |editor2-last=Kidwai |editor2-first=Saleem |title=Same-Sex Love in India |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-349-62183-5 |journal=SpringerLink |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-62183-5}}</ref>

===Kama Sutra===
[[File:At the Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.jpg|thumb|At the [[Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho|Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho]] (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.]]{{Main|Kama Sutra}}
The '''Kama Sutra''' is an ancient text dealing with ''kama'' or desire (of all kinds), which in Hindu thought is one of the four normative and spiritual [[Puruṣārtha|goals of life]]. The [[Kama Sutra]] is the earliest extant and most important work in the [[Kama Shastra]] tradition of [[Sanskrit literature]]. It was compiled by the philosopher [[Vatsyayana]] around the 4th century, from earlier texts, and describes homosexual practices in several places, as well as a range of sex/gender 'types'. The author acknowledges that these relations also involve love and a bond of trust.

The author describes techniques by which masculine and feminine types of the third sex (''tritiya-prakriti''), as well as women, perform [[fellatio]].<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra'', Part Two, Chapter Nine, entitled "Superior Coition or Fellation [''Auparishtaka'']. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref> The Second Part, Ninth Chapter of Kama Sutra specifically describes two kinds of men that we would recognize today as masculine- and feminine-type homosexuals but which are mentioned in older, Victorian British translations as simply "eunuchs."<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 9, "Of the Auparishtaka or Mouth Congress" |url=http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313043325/http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-date=March 13, 2010}}</ref> The chapter describes their appearances – feminine types dressed up as women whereas masculine types maintained muscular physiques and grew small beards, mustaches, etc. – and their various professions as masseurs, barbers and prostitutes are all described. Such homosexual men were also known to marry, according to the Kama Sutra: "There are also third-sex citizens, sometimes greatly attached to one another and with complete faith in one another, who get married together." (KS 2.9.36). In the "Jayamangala" of Yashodhara, an important twelfth-century commentary on the Kama Sutra, it is also stated: "Citizens with this kind of homosexual inclination, who renounce women and can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship."<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra''. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref>

===Dharmsastras===

Hindu gurus in Ancient India often offered commentary on how society should be run, but these commentaries were often not implemented in a moral or legal sense, and often referred to moral conduct for the upper class of monks and priests who were expected to refrain from sex rather than the lay people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Jyoti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXmAAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmruti+homosexuality&pg=PA180 |title=Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96266-1 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Manusmriti ====
In the ''[[Manusmriti]]'', there are proposals for various punishments for homosexual sex in certain cases (along with heterosexual sex too).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=July 10, 2018 |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2021-05-16 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref> A mature woman having sex with a maiden girl was punished by having her head shaved or two of her fingers cut off, and she was also made to ride on a donkey. In the case of [[Gay men|homosexual male sex]], the Manusmriti dictated that sexual union between two people (both homosexual and heterosexual) in a bullock cart as a source of ritual pollution.<ref name=":033">{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{Cite web |last=Jayaram |first=V |date=2000 |title=Hinduism and Adultery |url=https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_extramarital.asp}}</ref> Verses 8.369-370 of Manusmriti which prescribe punishment for a female having intercourse with a maiden are wrongly thought to be against same-sex activity between females by some modern authors like [[Wendy Doniger]]. However, verse 8.367 contains a similar punishment for all those who do it regardless of gender. The emphasis Vanita states here is on a maiden's sexual purity.<ref name="VanitaLGBT">{{cite book |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofDIAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmriti+wendy+anti-lesbian&pg=PA32 |title=Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West |date=October 20, 2005 |isbn=978-1-4039-8160-8 |page=32 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The [[Manusmriti]] is less judgmental about LGBT relationships. XI. 174 prescribes eating the five products of the cow or [[Panchagavya]] and foregoing food for a night for several sexual acts committed by a man including those with other men. XI. 175 states that those men who engage in intercourse with a man should take a bath while being clothed. According to XI.68, a man who engages in such acts is traditionally considered to lose his caste, though [[Ruth Vanita]] suggests the prescriptions by Manusmriti act as a substitute.<ref name="Vanita" />

Scholars doubt that the Manusmitri was implemented prior to colonialism, after which it became the basis of British colonial law for Hindus (in opposition to the Sharia Law for Muslims).<ref>David Buxbaum (1998), ''Family Law and Customary Law in Asia: A Contemporary Legal Perspective'', Springer Academic, {{ISBN|978-94-017-5794-2}}, p. 204</ref>

==== Others ====
The Dharmsastras especially later ones prescribed against non-vaginal sex like the [[Vashistha Dharmasutra]]. The [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]] prescribes fines for such acts including those with other men.<ref name="DharmaLGBT">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uP57zh13BqQC&dq=dharmasastra+ayoni&pg=PA50 |title=Sexual Diversity in Asia, c. 600 - 1950 |date=July 26, 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-29721-2 |editor-last1=Reyes |editor-first1=Raquel A.G. |pages=50–51 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |editor-last2=Clarence-Smith |editor-first2=William Gervase}}</ref>

===Other scriptures===
The Sushruta Samhita also mentions the possibility of two women uniting and becoming pregnant as a result of the mingling of their sexual fluids. It states that the child born of such a union will be "boneless." Such a birth is indeed described in the [[Krittivasi Ramayan|Krittivasa Ramayana]] of Bengal (see below).<ref name=Vanita/>

Other texts list the various types of men who are impotent with women (known in Sanskrit as ''sandha'', ''kliba'', ''napumsaka'', and ''panda''). The ''Sabda-kalpa-druma'' Sanskrit-Sanskrit dictionary, for instance, lists twenty types, as does the ''Kamatantra'' and ''Smriti-Ratnavali'' of Vacaspati (14th century). The Narada Smriti similarly lists fourteen different types. Included among the lists are transgender people (''sandha''), intersex people (''nisarga''), and three different types of homosexual men (''mukhebhaga'', ''kumbhika'' and ''asekya''). Such texts demonstrate that third-sex terms like ''sandha'' and ''napumsaka'' actually refer to many different types of "men who are impotent with women," and that simplistic definition such as "eunuch" or "neuter" may not always be accurate and in some cases totally incorrect. In his article ''Homosexuality and Hinduism'', [[Arvind Sharma]] expresses his doubt over the common English translation of words like ''kliba'' into "eunuch" as follows: "The limited practice of castration in India raises another point significant for the rest of the discussion, namely, whether rendering a word such as "kliba" as "eunuch" regularly is correct..."<ref>[[Sharma, Arvind]]. ''Homosexuality and Hinduism'' (as part of ''Homosexuality and World Religions''). Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.</ref>

The [[Arthashastra]] of [[Kautilya]] represents the principle text of secular law and illustrates the attitude of the judiciary towards sexual matters. Heterosexual vaginal sex is proposed as the norm by this text and legal issues arising from deviation therefrom are punishable by fines and in extreme cases by capital punishment. Homosexual acts are cited as a small offence punishable by a fine. It punishes non-vaginal sex with a small fine (4; 23; 326); however, women are fined less than men.<ref name=Vanita>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2nprDLPRLwC&dq=ayoni&pg=PT55 |title=Same-Sex Love in India |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |date=October 20, 2008 |isbn=978-81-8475-969-3 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

The digest or ''dharmanibandha'' work "Dandaviveka'" written by Vardhamana Upadhyaya in 15th century in [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] pronounced that semen shouldn't ejaculate outside the vagina. ''[[Ayoni]]'' sex here is divided into two categories, one which includes intercourse with humans of both genders.<ref name="DharmaLGBT"/>

The [[Narada Purana]] in 1.15.936 states that those who have non-vaginal intercourse will go to Retobhojana where they have to live on semen. [[Ruth Vanita]] states that the punishment in the afterlife suggested by it is comical and befitting the act. The [[Skanda Purana]] states that those who indulge in such acts will acquire impotency.<ref name=Vanita/>

==Third-gender Hindu sects==
Below are listed some of the most common third-gender sects found in Hinduism. There are an estimated half million crossdressing "eunuchs" in modern-day India, associated with various sects, temples and Hindu deities.<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das. ''Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex'', p. 346. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation, 2003</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}} Despite being called "eunuchs", the majority of these persons (91%) do not practice castration but are more accurately associated with transgender.

===The Hijra===
{{Main|Hijra (Indian subcontinent)}}
[[File:Hijra.jpg|thumb|200px|A Hijra]]
The ''Hijras'' are a third-gender group in the Indian subcontinent. Some of them undergo castration, which is connected to [[Bahuchara Mata]] who is identified with the [[Prithvi|earth goddess]]. According to legends, she cut off her breasts in order to avoid rape by a group of bandits.<ref>{{cite book |first=Elizabeth |last=Abbott |page=329 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whs0eudAfJIC&dq=hijra+mata+mutilation&pg=PA329 |title=A History of Celibacy |publisher=Lutterworth Press |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-7188-3006-9 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Money |page=89 |url=https://archive.org/details/gaystraightinbet0000mone/page/89 |title=Gay, Straight, and In-Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation |date=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Rights |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The operation is termed by them ''nirvan''. They compare it with ''[[Tapas (Indian religions)|tapas]]'' which consists of avoiding sex. Also used to justify emasculation is a creation myth of [[Shiva]] who emasculated himself.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Stephen |editor-last1=Ellingson |editor-first2=M. Christian |editor-last2=Green |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxUiAwAAQBAJ&dq=hijra+shiva+castration&pg=PT101 |title=Religion and Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective |date=March 18, 2014 |isbn=978-1-135-37595-9 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The aravanis also undergo castration.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Arvind |editor-last1=Narrain |editor-first2=Vinay |editor-last2=Chandran |page=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2MlDAAAQBAJ&dq=aravanis+emasculated&pg=PT128 |title=Nothing to Fix: Medicalisation of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity |publisher=SAG Publications |date=November 15, 2015 |isbn=978-93-5150-916-5 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> Hijras also use [[Arjuna]] becoming a eunuch during exile as a result of a curse as a justification for castration. Despite this, all the seven major hijra clans are claimed to have been established by Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Wayne R. |editor-last1=Dynes |editor-first2=Stephen |editor-last2=Donaldson |page=148 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=1992 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgKQ4KNDjsgC&dq=hijras+seven+houses+muslim&pg=PA148 |title=Asian Homosexuality|isbn=978-0-8153-0548-4 }}</ref>

There are an estimated 50,000 ''hijra'' in northern India. After interviewing and studying the ''hijra'' for many years, [[Serena Nanda]] writes in her book, ''Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India'', as follows: "There is a widespread belief in India that ''hijras'' are born intersex and are taken away by the ''hijra'' community at birth or in childhood, but I found no evidence to support this belief among the ''hijras'' I met, all of whom joined the community voluntarily, often in their teens."<ref>Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India, p. xx. Canada: Wadworth Publishing Company, 1999</ref> Nanda also states: "There is absolutely no question that at least some ''hijras'' – perhaps even the majority – are homosexual prostitutes. Sinha's (1967) study of ''hijras'' in Lucknow, in North India, acknowledges the ''hijra'' role as performers, but views the major motivation for recruitment to the ''hijra'' community as the satisfaction of the individual's homosexual urges..."<ref>Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India, p. 10. Canada: Wadworth Publishing Company, 1999</ref> The ''hijras'' especially worship [[Bahuchara Mata|Bahuchara]], the Hindu goddess presiding over transsexuality.

===The Aravani or Ali===
[[File:Kuvagam hijras.jpg|thumb|Aravanis – the "brides" of [[Iravan|Aravan]], mourn his death]]
The most numerous third-gender sect (estimated at 150,000) is the ''aravani'' or ''ali'' of [[Tamil Nadu]] in [[southern India]]. The ''aravanis'' are typically transgender and their main festival, the popular [[Koovagam]] or Aravan Festival celebrated in late April/early May, is attended by thousands, including many transgender people and homosexuals. The ''aravani'' worship the Hindu god, [[Iravan|Aravan]], and do not practice any system of castration.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnFYAAAAYAAJ |title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Lgbt Issues Worldwide |first=Chuck |last=Stewart |page=315 |publisher=Greenwood Press |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-313-34235-6 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

===The Jogappa===
A lesser-known third-gender sect in India is the ''jogappa'' of South India (Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), a group similarly associated with prostitution. The ''jogappa'' are connected with the goddess [[Yellamma]] (Renuka), and include both transgender people and homosexuals. Both serve as dancers and prostitutes, and they are usually in charge of the temple ''[[devadasi]]s'' (maidservants of the goddess who similarly serve as dancers and female courtesans). Large festivals are celebrated at these temples wherein hundreds of scantily-clad ''devadasis'' and ''jogappas'' parade through the streets. The ''jogappa'' do not practice castration.<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das. Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex, pp. 77–78. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation, 2003.</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}



==Religious art==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
Homosexuality in Khajuraho sculpture.jpg|Khajoraho scene where one man reaches out to another's erect penis
1 Erotic Kama statues of Khajuraho Hindu Temple Kandariya Mahadeva Khajurâho India 2013.jpg|Khajoraho scene of three women and one man.
</gallery>
Medieval [[Hindu temple]]s such as those at [[Khajuraho]] depict sexual acts in sculptures on the external walls. Some of these scenes involve same-sex sexuality:
* A sculpture at the Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho portrays a man reaching out to another's erect penis.
* An orgiastic group of three women and one man, on the southern wall of the Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho. One of the women is caressing another.
* At the Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.
* At the [[Rajarani Temple]] in [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Odisha]], dating from the 10th or 11th century, a sculpture depicts two women engaged in oral sex.
* A 12th-century Shiva temple in Bagali, [[Karnataka]] depicts a scene of apparent oral sex between two males on a sculpture below the [[shikhara]].
* At Padhavli near [[Gwalior]], a ruined temple from the 10th century shows a man within an orgiastic group receiving fellatio from another male.
* An 11th-century lifesize sandstone sculpture from [[Odisha]], now in the Seattle Art Museum, shows Kama, the god of love, shooting a flower tipped arrow at two women who are embracing one another.

== Same-sex marriage ==
A Gandharava marriage was the most common form of marriage for lay people described in classical Indian literature and was heavily associated with village life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Johann Jakob |title=Sexual life in ancient India: a study in the comparative history of Indian culture |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ |isbn=978-81-208-0638-2 |edition=1. Indian ed., reprinted |location=Delhi}}</ref> A Gandharava was a low ranking male deity who had a symbolic association with fine and creative arts, specifically music, with strong connections to sexuality and procreation, and the term is etymologically linked to "fragrance", and these males are commonly pared with females called "[[Apsara]]s" who are associated with the arts, dancing and literature.<ref>{{Citation |last=Dwivedi |first=Amitabh Vikram |title=Gāndharva |date=2022 |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_626 |work=Hinduism and Tribal Religions |pages=503–504 |editor-last=Long |editor-first=Jeffery D. |access-date=2023-12-22 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_626 |isbn=978-94-024-1187-4 |editor2-last=Sherma |editor2-first=Rita D. |editor3-last=Jain |editor3-first=Pankaj |editor4-last=Khanna |editor4-first=Madhu}}</ref>

There are punishments for homosexual sex listed in numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism, though these punishments should be taken into context with the likewise numerous punishments listed for heterosexual sex also listed within numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism.<ref name=":033"/> These punishments regardless of whether they are aimed are heterosexuality or homosexuality are not aimed at the lay people.<ref name=":522">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> There have been reports of Hindu gurus performing same-sex marriages in India since at least the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homoeroticism in Hinduism |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0223.xml |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=obo |language=en}}</ref>

Hinduism is mostly devoid of the 'perfect law' that can be found in Abrahamic religions (such as the ten commandments) and traditionally Hindus would expect to "rely on reason to decide what is dharma and what is not" 'dharma'. Combined with the lack of centralization and authority, there is great diversity among Hindus as to how homosexual relationships should be institutionalized in Hindu society.<ref name=":10">{{cite web |author=Pandit Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari |title=Gay Marriage & Hinduism |url=http://www.australiancouncilofhinduclergy.com/uploads/5/5/4/9/5549439/gay_marriage.pdf |access-date=June 4, 2021}}</ref>

; Non-binary marriage

A long-running tradition concerning non-binary marriage exists in Hindu society for third genders, which may also add another perspective as to how homosexual relationships should be viewed in the modern age.

The case for the institutionalization of non-binary marriage is strong in Hindu society due to the strong prevalence of evidence dictating how third gendered marriages were conducted since ancient times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dipayan |first1=Chowdhury |last2=Atmaja |first2=Tripathy |date=2016-11-30 |title=Recognizing the Right of the Third Gender to Marriage and Inheritance Under Hindu Personal Law in India |url=http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=212089113126091127028119099002024076042017086048025010071118030087127098117114113102037061118123008002109091078123127026105080044069041033085108076120071123069085065030092067102002102008069127111110075011031095026065026004115084103072011072022080081002&EXT=pdf |language=en}}</ref>

; Institutionalization of unique blessings and rites

"Marriage" comes in several incarnations in Hinduism and several Hindu organizations reject the idea of performing the same ceremonies for both heterosexual and homosexual (and third gendered) couples.

The Australian Council of Hindu Clergy, whose membership includes a significant portion of the Sri Lankan Tamil clergy, lists several types of marriage including those aimed at heterosexual couples and those that are not. It comes to the conclusion that homosexual couples should be provided with their own rites and blessings that are not the same as the rites provided to heterosexual marriage.<ref name=":10" />

; Live-in couples (cohabitation)

A large movement exists concerning the provision of live-in rights to partners who have not married. This would provide a centralized instrument to protect partners while allowing Hindu society to decentralize and provide ceremonies and/or blessings according to what each community thinks is right.

The rights currently provided to live-in couples mostly match that of married couples through criminal law, however, there are limitations on adoption, and wording used implies a heterosexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-03-03 |title=Want to Get Into a Live-In Relationship? Here Are the Rights You Need to Know |language=en-US |work=The Better India |url=http://www.thebetterindia.com/132607/want-to-get-into-a-live-in-relationship-here-are-the-rights-you-need-to-know/ |access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Hinduism|LGBT}}
* [[Homosexuality in India]]
* [[Kama]]
* [[LGBT rights in India|LGBT Rights in India]]
* [[LGBT rights in Sri Lanka|LGBT Rights in Sri Lanka]]
* [[LGBT topics and the Hare Krishna movement]]
* [[Non-westernized concepts of male sexuality]]
* [[Buddhism and sexual orientation]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Further reading==
* ''Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture'' by [[Ruth Vanita]]. Yoda Press, 2005.
* ''Homosexuality and World Religions'' by [[Arlene Swidler]]. Trinity Press International.
* [[Love's Rite|''Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West'']] by [[Ruth Vanita]]. Penguin Books India, 2005.
* ''Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India'' by [[Serena Nanda]]. Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1999.
* ''Same-Sex Love In India: Readings from Literature and History'' by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai. Palgrave, 2001.
* ''The Complete Kama Sutra'' by [[Alain Danielou]]. Park Street Press, 1994.
* ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'' by [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]. Harrington Park Press, 2002.
* ''Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History'' by [[Gilbert Herdt]]. Zone Books, 1993.

==External links==
{{Commons category|LGBT and Hinduism}}
* [http://www.galva108.org The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association] – Information and support for GLBTI Vaishnavas and Hindus.
* [http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm 'Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality']
* [http://pink-pages.co.in/features/religion/men-of-faith/ Pink Pages, India's National Gay and Lesbian Magazine] - Interview of Amara Das Wilhelm, founder of GALVA.

{{Religion and LGBT people}}
{{LGBT in India}}
{{Hinduism footer small}}

[[Category:LGBT in India]]
[[Category:LGBT and Hinduism| ]]

Maratha invasions of Bengal

2024-02-20T06:05:32Z

Timovinga: Date corrected

{{Short description|Military operations, 1741–1751}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| image =
| caption =
| conflict = Maratha Invasions of Bengal
| partof = [[Battles involving the Maratha Empire]]
| date = August 1742 – March 1751
| place = [[Bengal Subah]] ([[Bengal]], [[Bihar]], parts of modern [[Odisha|Orissa]])
| result = * Signing of a peace treaty (1751)<ref name="Sengupta">{{cite book | last=Sengupta | first=N. | title=Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib | publisher=Penguin Books Limited | year=2011 | isbn=978-81-8475-530-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TI8GQioaoL4C&pg=PT156 | page=156 | access-date=18 March 2022 | archive-date=18 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318115455/https://books.google.com/books?id=TI8GQioaoL4C&pg=PT156 | url-status=live }}</ref>
:* Maratha Army agreed to never cross the [[Subarnarekha River]]<ref name="Sen2011">{{Cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&dq=marathas+in+bengal+chauth+mir+habib&pg=PA162| title = Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib| author1 = Nitish K. Sengupta| isbn = 9780143416784| year = 2011| pages = 158–163| publisher = Penguin Books India| quote = Alivardi showed exemplary courage and military skill in every frontal battle that took place between his forces and the Marathas, in each of which, almost without exception, he had the upper hand.| access-date = 15 September 2020| archive-date = 27 February 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220227193242/https://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&dq=marathas+in+bengal+chauth+mir+habib#q=marathas%20in%20bengal%20chauth%20mir%20habib| url-status = live}}</ref>
:* ''De facto'' Maratha control over [[Odisha|Orissa]] by 1751, but ''de jure'' remained a part of [[Bengal Subah]] till 1752.<ref name="Sengupta"/>
:* After the assassination of Mir Habib, the governor of [[Odisha|Orissa]] in 1752, Marathas formally incorporated Orissa in their dominion.<ref name="বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস"/>
:* [[Nawab of Bengal]] agreed to pay Rs. 1.2 million of tribute annually as the ''[[chauth]]'' of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade [[Bengal]] again.
:* The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of ''chauth'' for the preceding years.<ref name="Mehta2005" />
| territory = Incorporation of [[Odisha|Orissa]] into the [[Nagpur State]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Sen|first=Sailendra Nath|title=An Advanced History of Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=PA15-IA82|year=2010|page=15|quote="In 1751,...promising cession of the province of Orissa...Orissa came under the Bhonsle's control."|publisher=Macmillan India|isbn=978-0-230-32885-3|access-date=10 June 2021|archive-date=27 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227193705/https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=PA15-IA82|url-status=live}}</ref>
| combatant1 = [[File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg|25px]] [[Maratha Confederacy]]
*[[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] [[Kingdom of Nagpur|Nagpur]]
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} [[Nawab of Bengal]]
| commander1 = [[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] '''[[Raghoji I Bhonsle|Raghoji I]]''' [[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] [[Bhaskar Ram Kolhatkar|Bhaskar Pandit]]{{KIA}} [[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] [[Janoji Bhonsle]] [[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] Sabaji Bhonsle
| commander2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} '''[[Alivardi Khan]]''' {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} [[Gopal Singha Dev]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} [[Mir Jafar]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Chitrasen Rai <ref>{{cite book |last=McLane |first=John R. |year=1993 |title=Land and local kinship in eighteenth-century Bengal |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=155–156 |isbn=0521410746}}</ref> {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Rai Durlabh {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Ghulam Mustafa Khan {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Ataullah Khan {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} [[Zain ud-Din Ahmed Khan|Zainuddin Ahmed]] {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Abdus Salam {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Sheikh Masum {{KIA}} {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Syed Ahmed Khan
| strength1 = [[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] 40,000 (in 1742) 12,000 (in 1748)
| strength2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} 15,000 Cavalry and 8,000 Musketeers (in 1748)
| casualties1 = [[File:Nagpur State flag.png|20px]] Unknown
| casualties2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg}} Unknown
}}

The '''Maratha invasions of Bengal''' (1742–1751), also known as the '''Maratha expeditions in Bengal''', were the frequent invasions by the [[Maratha Army|Maratha forces]] in the [[Bengal Subah]] ([[Bengal]], [[Bihar]], parts of modern [[Odisha|Orissa]]), after their successful campaign in the [[Carnatic region]] at the [[Siege of Trichinopoly (1741)|Battle of Trichinopoly]]. The leader of the expeditions was [[Raghoji Bhonsle]] of [[Nagpur kingdom|Nagpur]].<ref name="Maharashtra1974">{{cite book |last=Government of Maharashtra |year=1974 |title=Maharashtra State Gazetteers: Wardha District |edition=2nd |location=Bombay |publisher=Director of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State |page=63 |oclc=77864804}}</ref> The Marathas invaded Bengal five times from August 1742 to March 1751,<ref name="Mehta2005" /> which caused widespread economic losses in the Bengal Subah.

== Invasions of Bengal ==

=== First invasion (1742) ===
In 1742, Bengal experienced its initial encounter with the Maratha invasion. However, [[Alivardi Khan|Nawab Alivardi Khan]] successfully repelled the invasion, although not without the unfortunate consequence of [[Murshidabad]] and [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]] suffering from plundering.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gupta |first=Brijen Kishore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o-MUAAAAIAAJ&newbks=0&hl=en |title=Sirajuddaullah and the East India Company, 1756-1757: Background to the Foundation of British Power in India |date=1966 |publisher=Brill Archive |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Marshall72">{{cite book|title=Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828|author=P. J. Marshall|author-link=P. J. Marshall|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2006|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIZrfokYSY8C&pg=PA72|isbn=9780521028226}}</ref>

===Later conflicts===

There were a total of five invasions between 1742 and 1751.<ref name="Davies">{{cite book |author=C. C. Davies |year=1957 |chapter=Chapter XXIII: Rivalries in India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ejh1RnNDt4C&pg=PG555 |editor=J. O. Lindsay |editor-link=J. O. Lindsay |title=The New Cambridge Modern History |title-link=The New Cambridge Modern History |volume=VII: The Old Regime 1713–63 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=555 |isbn=978-0-521-04545-2 |access-date=10 February 2019 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423154207/https://books.google.com/books?id=7ejh1RnNDt4C&pg=PG555 |url-status=live }}</ref> The continuous conflict took a heavy toll on the population of Bengal.<ref name="Marshall73">{{cite book |author=P. J. Marshall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIZrfokYSY8C&pg=PA73 |title=Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=9780521028226 |page=73 |author-link=P. J. Marshall}}</ref> During that period of invasion by the Marathas, warriors called as "[[Bargi]]s", perpetrated atrocities against the local population of [[Bengalis]] and [[Biharis]]. As reported in [[Bardhaman Raj|Burdwan Kingdom's]] and European sources, the Bargis are said to have plundered villages.<ref name="Davies"/> Jan Kersseboom, chief of the [[Dutch East India Company]] factory in Bengal, estimated that perhaps 400,000 civilians in [[Western Bengal]] and Bihar died in the overall conflict.<ref name="Chaudhuri253"/><ref name="Marshall73"/> Contemporary accounts of the invasions report mass [[gang rape]] against women,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNAUAAAAIAAJ&dq=rape&pg=PA23|title=Sirajuddaullah and the East India Company, 1756-1757: Background to the Foundation of British Power in India|last=Gupta|first=Brijen Kishore|date=1962|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=|location=|pages=23|language=en|quote=horrors perpetrated by the Marathas on women and children which included gang rape.|access-date=18 November 2021|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226234608/https://books.google.com/books?id=fNAUAAAAIAAJ&dq=rape&pg=PA23|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_M9AAAAMAAJ&q=maratha+invasion+bengal+rape|title=The Rape of India: A Biography of Robert Clive and a Sexual History of the Conquest of Hindustan|last=Edwardes|first=Allen|date=1966|publisher=Julian Press|isbn=|location=|pages=131|language=en|quote="'Tis reported that no fewer than 10 or a Dozen of 'em will rape a beautiful Woman, that they cut off the Cullions [testicles] of Men & embugger Children of both sexes thereafter selling them into slavery"|access-date=25 April 2021|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226234605/https://books.google.com/books?id=j_M9AAAAMAAJ&q=maratha+invasion+bengal+rape|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynpDAAAAYAAJ&q=maratha+invasion+bengal+gang+rape|title=Seminar|last=|first=|date=1989|publisher=R. Thapar|isbn=|location=|pages=|language=en|quote=Repeated Maratha invasion of Bengal from the 1740s causing mass migration of people, ... in the beginning the Marathas raped and violated women, but later, the villagers took to guerrilla tactics to resist them|access-date=25 April 2021|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226234605/https://books.google.com/books?id=ynpDAAAAYAAJ&q=maratha+invasion+bengal+gang+rape|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BY9AAAAIAAJ&dq=gang+rape&pg=PA555|title=The New Cambridge Modern History|last=|first=|date=1970|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=|location=|pages=555|language=en|quote="they indulged in the unspeakable practice of gang-rape"|access-date=18 November 2021|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226234603/https://books.google.com/books?id=1BY9AAAAIAAJ&dq=gang+rape&pg=PA555|url-status=live}}</ref> and mutilation of victims by the Marathas which included cutting off their hands and noses.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PrChFaXgf0C&dq=rape&pg=PA21|title=Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal|last=McDermott|first=Rachel Fell|date=2001-06-28|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803071-3|location=|pages=|language=en|quote=The Marathas plundered, stole, set fire to villages and crops, tortured the inhabitants, cutting off their victim's hands and noses, raping them, and drowning them.|access-date=18 November 2021|archive-date=26 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226234602/https://books.google.com/books?id=2PrChFaXgf0C&dq=rape&pg=PA21|url-status=live}}</ref> Many of the Bengalis in western Bengal also fled to take shelter in [[East Bengal]], fearing for their lives in the wake of the Maratha attacks.<ref name="hussain">{{cite book|title=History of Bangladesh, 1704-1971|volume=2|author=Aklam Hussain|publisher=[[University of Michigan]], [[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]|year=1997|page=80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53ZuAAAAMAAJ|isbn=9789845123372|access-date=15 September 2020|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423154136/https://books.google.com/books?id=53ZuAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Zamindar]]s outside the affected districts and also from the districts that involved this conflict were affected by the Maratha raids.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLane |first1=John R. |title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal |date=25 July 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52654-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH6ijJnUPmcC |language=en |pages=166–167}}</ref>

{{blockquote|They shouted over and over again, 'Give us money', and when they got no money they filled peoples' nostrils with water, and some they seized and drowned in tanks, and many died of suffocation. In this way they did all manner of foul and evil deeds. When they demanded money and it was not given to them, they would put the man to death. Those who had money gave it, those who had none were killed.}}

The Bargi atrocities were corroborated by contemporary Dutch and British accounts.<ref name="Marshall">{{cite book|title=Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828|author=P. J. Marshall|author-link=P. J. Marshall|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2006|pages=72–73|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIZrfokYSY8C&pg=PA72|isbn=9780521028226}}</ref><ref name="Chaudhuri253">{{cite book|author=Kirti N. Chaudhuri|author-link=Kirti N. Chaudhuri|title=The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company: 1660-1760|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2006|page=253|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xt7Fgzq9e8C&pg=PA253|isbn=9780521031592}}</ref> The atrocities devastated Bengal's economy, as many of the people killed in the Bargi raids included merchants, [[textile]] weavers,<ref name="Chaudhuri253"/> [[silk]] winders, and [[mulberry]] cultivators.<ref name="Marshall73"/> The [[Cossimbazar]] factory reported in 1742, for example, that the Bargis burnt down many of the houses where silk piece goods were made, along with weavers' [[loom]]s.<ref name="Chaudhuri253"/> In 1743 two [[Maratha Army|Maratha Armies]] invaded - one belonged to Raghuji Bhosle, the other to [[Balaji Baji Rao|Balaji Rao]] again. Alivardi Khan was obliged to pay a subsidy and promise to pay him ''chauth'' (tax) in the future.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=P. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIZrfokYSY8C&pg=PA73 |title=Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-521-02822-6 |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=II.2 |page=70 |language=en |author-link=P. J. Marshall}}</ref>

Baneswar Vidyalankar's text ''Chitrachampu'' attributed the victories of the Marathas to "the wonderfully fast horses they ride." Bharatchandra's ''Annadamangal'' attributed the attacks to a particular communal factor which was the destruction of temples at [[Bhubaneswar]] by Alivardi's soldiers.{{sfn|McLane|2002|pp=166–167}}

The further attacks took place in 1748 in Bihar, on Murshidabad in 1750, and in 1751 in Western Bengal.<ref name="Habib">{{cite book | last=Habib | first=I. | last2=Panikkar | first2=K.N. | last3=Byres | first3=T.J. | last4=Patnaik | first4=U. | title=The Making of History: Essays Presented to Irfan Habib | publisher=Anthem Press | series=Anthem South Asian studies | year=2002 | isbn=978-1-84331-038-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejrBraqBaLQC&pg=PA233 | page=233 | access-date=18 March 2022 | archive-date=18 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318115455/https://books.google.com/books?id=ejrBraqBaLQC&pg=PA233 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The internal fights within the Alivardi Khan's military also contributed to their losses. For example, in 1748 [[Pathan]] soldiers rebelled and seized [[Patna]] which they controlled for some time. Another example is the ''[[faujdar]]'' of [[Purnia|Purnea]] who departed from Alivardi and created a small autonomous state.<ref>{{cite book | last=Markovits | first=C. | title=A History of Modern India, 1480-1950 | publisher=Anthem Press | series=Anthem South Asian Studies | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-84331-152-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2OKvG5wbaAC&pg=PA194 | access-date=2022-03-18 | page=194 | archive-date=18 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318115453/https://books.google.com/books?id=r2OKvG5wbaAC&pg=PA194 | url-status=live }}</ref> Apart from territorial losses, the Nawab of Bengal also suffered severe economic losses. Industries such as agriculture and trade were dislocated and a large number of people migrated from Western Bengal to the Northern and Eastern districts.<ref name="Mahajan">{{cite book | last=Mahajan | first=VD | title=Modern Indian History | publisher=S. Chand Limited | year=2020 | isbn=978-93-5283-619-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDscEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 | quote=However, the Marathas were the greatest menace to Ali Vardi Khan. There were as many as five Maratha invasions in 1742, 1743, 1744, 1745 and 1748. | page=42 | access-date=18 March 2022 | archive-date=18 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318120553/https://books.google.com/books?id=vDscEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 | url-status=live }}</ref>

== End of hostilities ==

In 1751, the Marathas signed a peace treaty with the [[Nawab of Bengal]]. The territories beyond the [[Subarnarekha River]] were now ceded to the Marathas, according to which, Mir Habib (a former courtier of Alivardi Khan, who had defected to the Marathas) was made provincial governor of [[Odisha|Orissa]] under nominal control of the Nawab of Bengal.<ref name="Sengupta" /><ref name="বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস">ড. মুহম্মদ আব্দুর রহিম. "মারাঠা আক্রমণ". বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস. ২৯৩–২৯৯.</ref> He agreed to pay Rs. 1.2 million annually as the ''[[chauth]]'' of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade [[Bengal]] again.<ref name="Maharashtra1974" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Gouripada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23aE18nmt-0C&newbks=0&hl=en |title=History of Bagree-Rajya (Garhbeta): With Special Reference to Its Anti-British Role, from Late 18th Century Till the Present Times |date=1987 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-014-7 |language=en}}</ref> The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of ''chauth'' for the preceding years.<ref name="Mehta2005">{{Cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&dq=marathas+in+bengal+chauth+mir+habib&pg=PA201| title = Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813| author1 = Jaswant Lal Mehta| isbn = 9781932705546| year = 2005| publisher = Sterling Publishers Pvt.| access-date = 15 September 2020| archive-date = 23 April 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230423154208/https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=marathas+in+bengal+chauth+mir+habib#q=marathas%20in%20bengal%20chauth%20mir%20habib| url-status = live}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Cite book |last=Ivermee |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eMJEAAAQBAJ |title=Hooghly: The Global History of a River |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1-78738-325-8 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Haque |first=Mohammed Anwarul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co8eAAAAMAAJ |title=Muslim Administration in Orissa, 1568-1751 A.D. |date=1980 |publisher=Punthi Pustak |language=en}}

{{MarathaEmpire|state=expanded}}

[[Category:Battles involving the Maratha Empire]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Bengal Subah]]

Hinduism and Jainism

2024-02-20T06:04:53Z

Timovinga: /* Relations */ Someone deleted this info, don't know why, restored.

{{short description|Ancient Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Jainism}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Jainism''' and '''Hinduism''' are two ancient Indian religions. There are some similarities and differences between the two religions.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=135-136}} Temples, gods, rituals, fasts and other religious components of Jainism are different from those of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=138}}

"Jain" is derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions (like anger, attachment, greed and pride) and possesses [[Kevala Jnana|kevala jnana]] (pure infinite knowledge). Followers of the path shown by the Jinas are called Jains.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=15}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=164}} Followers of [[Hinduism]] are called Hindus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=6 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Philosophical similarities and differences ==
Jainism and Hinduism have many similar characteristic features, including the concepts of ''[[samsara]]'', ''[[karma]]'' and ''[[moksha]]''. However, they differ over the precise nature and meaning of these concepts. The doctrine Nyaya-Vaisheshika and samkhya school had minor similarities with Jain philosophy. The Jain doctrine teaches atomism which is also adopted in the Vaisheshika system and atheism which is found in Samkhya.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} Within the doctrine of Jainism, there exist many metaphysical concepts which are not known in Hinduism, some of which are ''dharma'' and Adharma tattva (which are seen as substances within the Jain metaphysical system), [[Gunasthana]]s and [[Lesya]]s.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} The epistemological concepts of [[Anekantavada]] and Syadvada are not found in the Hindu system. There were, in the past, probable attempts made to merge the concepts of Hindu gods and the Tirthankara of Jainism. The cosmography of Hindus resembles that of the Jains and there are similar names of heavenly gods within these systems.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

In the [[Upanishads]], there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jainist teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=15}}

===Moksha (liberation) ===
In Hinduism, [[moksha]] means merging of soul with universal soul or eternal being and escaping the cycle of births and deaths; in Jainism, it is blissful existence with infinite knowledge. In Vedic philosophy, salvation is giving up the sense of being a doer and realizing Self to be the same as Universe and God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yaOxgEACAAJ&q=moksha|title=Moksha: Self-Liberation Through Self-Knowledge|last=Kajaria|first=Vish|date=2019-02-13|publisher=Independently Published|isbn=978-1-09-791542-2|language=en}}</ref> In Jainism, salvation can be achieved only through self-effort and is considered to be the right of human beings.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}

In Jainism, one definite path to attain liberation ([[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]) is prescribed. The prescribed threefold path consists of the [[Ratnatraya|three jewels of Jainism]] (Right perception, Right knowledge, Right conduct). In Hinduism, one definite path to salvation is not known.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p = 137}}

=== Universe ===
{{Further|Jainism and non-creationism}}
According to [[Jain cosmology]], the primary structure of the universe is eternal: it is neither created nor can it be destroyed, but undergoes continuous natural transformations within. In Hinduism, [[Brahman]] is the unchanging ultimate reality and the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.

=== Karma ===
{{further|Karma in Jainism|Karma in Hinduism}}
Karma is an invisible force in Hinduism, whereas in Jainism it is a form of particulate matter which can adhere to the soul.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}} As per [[Jainism]], the consequence of karma occurs by natural ''nirjara'' of karma particles from the soul. Hindus rejected this concept and believe that the God or the creator of this universe is ''karmaphaldata'', and rewards the fruits of past actions to each individual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JIRAQAAIAAJ&q=karma+nirjara|title=The Concept of Divinity in Jainism|last1=Kothari|first1=Pukhraj Ajay|year=2000}}</ref>

=== Worship ===
In Hinduism, Gods are worshiped in several ways and for several reasons such as knowledge, peace, wisdom, health, and it also believed to be one's duty to pray god as God is considered as our maker (as we originated from them and we are staying in them and at last will merge with them), for moksha, and are also offered food as a respect, etc.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=181}} In Jainism, enlightened human perfect masters or [[Siddha#Jainism|siddhas]] represent the true goal of all human beings,{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=182}} and their qualities are worshiped by the Jains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aVRLGhf-8C|title=Faith & Philosophy of Jainism|isbn=9788178357232|last1=Jain|first1=Arun Kumar|year=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }}</ref>

=== Self-defence and soldiering ===
Jains and Hindus have opinion that violence in self-defence can be justified,<ref>''Nisithabhasya'' (in ''Nisithasutra'') 289; Jinadatta Suri: ''Upadesharasayana'' 26; Dundas pp. 162–163; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty.<ref>Jindal pp. 89–90; Laidlaw pp. 154–155; Jaini, Padmanabh S.: ''Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism'', in: ''Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism'', ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi 2004, p. 52–60; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers.<ref>Harisena, ''Brhatkathakosa'' 124 (10th century); Jindal pp. 90–91; Sangave p. 259.</ref>

== Women ==
The religion of Jains included women in their fourfold ''sangha''; the religious order of Jain laymen, laywomen, monks and nuns.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} There was a disagreement between early Hinduism, and ascetic movements such as Jainism with the scriptural access to women.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} However, the early svetambara scriptures prevented pregnant women, young women or those who have a small child, to enter the ranks of nun.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Regardless, the number of nuns given in those texts were always double the number of monks. [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], the two historical tirthankaras, had large numbers of female devotees and ascetics.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Mahavira and other Jain monks are credited with raising the [[status of women]].{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=147-148}}

== Religious texts ==
Hindus do not accept any Jain text and Jains do not recognize any Hindu scripture.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=136}}

=== The Vedas ===
The scriptures known as [[Vedas]] are regarded by Hindus as one of the foundations of [[Hinduism]]. According to [[Manusmriti]] those who rejected the Vedas as the prime source of religious knowledge were labeled "[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]".{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} As a consequence, Jainism and Buddhism were categorized as ''nāstika [[darśana]]''.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, such as [[Vedanta]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Samkhya]], claim the [[Sruti]] do not have any author and hence are supreme to other religious scriptures. This position was countered by Jains who said that saying Vedas are authorless was equivalent to saying that anonymous poems are written by nobody. [[Jain scriptures]], on the contrary, were believed by them to be of human origin, brought through omniscient teachers, and hence claimed greater worth.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}} According to Jains, the origin of Vedas lies with [[Marichi]], the son of [[Bharata Chakravarti]], who was the son of the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Jains maintain that these scriptures were later modified.{{sfn|Feynes|1998|p=xxiv}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} Jains pointed that Hindus do not know their own scriptures since they were unaware of the names of tirthankaras present in Vedas.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

Jains had a long-standing debate with [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism. [[Kumarila Bhatta]], a proponent of Mimamsa school, argued that the Vedas are the source of all knowledge and it is through them that humans can differentiate between right and wrong. Jain monks, such as [[Haribhadra]], held that humans are already in possession of all the knowledge, which only needs to be illuminated or uncovered in order to gain the status of omniscience.{{sfn|Qvarnström|2006|p=91}}

==== Vedic sacrifices ====
The practice of Vedic animal sacrifices was opposed by Jains.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemchandra]], a Jain monk, cites passages from [[Manusmriti]], one of the law book of Hindus, to demonstrate how, in light of false scriptures, Hindus have resorted to violence. [[Akalanka]], another Jain monk, sarcastically said that if killing can result in enlightenment, one should become a hunter or fisherman.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

===Hindu epics and Jain epics===
The rejection of Jain epics and scriptures were dominant in Hinduism since very early times.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} On the other hand, central Hindu scriptures and epics like Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana are categorized as unreliable scriptures in Nandi-sutra,{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=237}}{{Verify source|date=December 2013}}{{sfn|Iyengar|2005|p=62}} one of the svetambara's canonical literature. Later, Jains adapted various Hindu epics in accordance with their own system.{{sfn|Schubring|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} There were disputes between Jains and Hindus in form of these epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=jains+on+mahabharata&pg=PA359|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Jain deities and Hindu texts ==
{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Rishabha (Hinduism)}}
Within the doctrine of Jainism, the ''tirthankara'' holds the highest status. Hemachandra Acharya says that a ''Jindeva'' is the one who has conquered his internal desires and passions. This requirement, according to him, was fulfilled only by the tirthankara. Hence their path for spiritual upliftment and salvation is rejected by the [[Jains]].

Some personages mentioned in the Vedas and Jain scriptures are identified to be the same. There is mention of [[Rishabha (Hinduism)|Rishabha]], identified with the first tirthankara, [[Rishabhanatha]], in the [[Rig Veda|Rigveda]] and the [[Vishnu Purana]]. The Rigveda, X. 12. 166 states:{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=74}} {{cquote|0 Rudra-like Divinity ! do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a Great God, like Rishabha Deva, by becoming Arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher; let Him become the destroyer of the enemies !}}

The Vishnu Purana also names Rishabha:
:ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
:भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
:Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabha,
:Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata.
::—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)

In the [[Skanda Purana]] (chapter 37) it is stated that "Rishabha was the son of [[Nabhiraja]], and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=106}}

In the Brahmottara-candam section of the ''[[Brahma Purana]]'', the narrator Suta describes many matters relating to Shaivism and in the 16th portion, there is a story about Bhadrabahu receiving instructions in a mantra from a [[Yogi|''yogi'']] named Rishabha.<ref>P. 88, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', Volume 11 By Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society</ref>

The ''[[Linga Purana]]'' states that in every [[Kali Yuga]], [[Shiva]] incarnates on earth, and that in one Kali Yuga he was a [[Yogeshvara]] (one of his 28 incarnations) named Rishabha.<ref>P. 16 ''Linga Purana'' By Vinay. The list is in order is: Shweta, Sutara, Madana, Suhotra, Kanchana, Lokakshee, Jagishavya, Dadhivahana, Rishabha, Muni, Ugra, Atri, Vali, Gautama, Vedashrira, Gokarna, Guhavasi, Shikhandabhriti, Jatamali, Attahasa, Daruka, Langali, Mahakaya, Shuli, Mundishvara, Sahishnu, Somasharma, and Jagadguru.</ref>

In the ''[[Shiva Purana]]'', in order to assist the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]] against the tyranny of the [[Tripurasura]] brothers, [[Vishnu]] sought to convert the [[Asura|asuras]] from their devotion to [[Shiva]] and Vedic practices to beliefs that are implied to be Jainism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krishna |first=Nanditha |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=VwhtAwAAQBAJ&dq=tripurantaka+Taraka&pg=PT152&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=tripurantaka%20Taraka&f=false |title=The Book of Demons |date=2007-10-16 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-93-5118-144-6 |pages=152 |language=en}}</ref> He created a man called [[Arihant (Jainism)|Arihat]], instructing him to use his ''[[Maya (religion)|maya]]'' (illusory power) to create a deceptive sacred scripture that opposes the ''[[Śruti|shruti]]'' and ''[[smriti]]'' texts, as well as the [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] and the [[Āśrama (stage)|ashrama]] systems. The man and his followers initiated the Tripurasura brothers into their religion, abandoning the worship of the Hindu gods and traditional rites. This offers Shiva the pretext of destroying the [[Tripura (mythology)|three cities]] of the asuras, who had previously worshipped him, and restore order.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shastri |first=J. L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkfmDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA820&dq&hl=en |title=The Siva Purana Part 2: Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 2 |date=2000-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-3869-7 |pages=820–830 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
Jainism is considered to be distinct and separate from Vedic religion and originated from' 'Sramana'' or ''Arahata'' tradition.{{sfn|George|2008|p=317-318}}

===Ancient===
Jains and Hindus have coexisted in [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] since at least the second century BCE.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=187}}

===Medieval===
Competition between Jains and Vedic [[Brahman]]s, between Jains and Hindu [[Shaiva]]s, is a frequent motif of all medieval western Indian narratives, but the two communities for the most part coexisted and coprospered.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}} Shaiva kings patronised Jain mendicants, and Jain officials patronised Brahmana poets.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}}

===Decline of Jainism===
Around the 8th century CE, Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Ādi Śaṅkarācārya]] tried to restore the Vedic religion. Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This was particularly in the southern Indian states.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=70}}

According to a Saivite legend, the Pandya king [[Koon Pandiyan]] ordered a massacre of 8,000 Jain monks. This event is depicted graphically in walls of Tivatur in [[North Arcot]].{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|pp=70–71}} However, this legend is not found in any Jain text, and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Saivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | chapter-url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | accessdate=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter = 9. History of the Digambaras}}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 | isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}</ref>

==Jains and the Hindu society==
{{POV section|date=September 2015}}

Jain scholars and some monks in general allowed a sort of cautious integration with the Hindu society.{{CN|date=June 2023}} In today's date, there are a lot of common aspects in social and cultural life of Hindus and Jains. It is quite difficult to differentiate a lay Jain from a lay Hindu.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=493}} The Jain code of conduct is quite similar to that which is found in Hindu Dharmasashtra, Manusmriti and other Law books of Brahmans.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} {{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}}{{sfn|Babb|1996|pp=3-4}} The difference in the rituals of practitioners of the two religions would be that the Jains do not give any importance to bathing in holy water.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} According to religious scholar M. Whitney Kelting, some of the "names and narratives" in the Hindu's list of satis are also found in the Jain tradition.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} In the Hindu context, a sati is a virtuous wife who protects her husband and his family and has the "intention to die before, or with," her husband.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Kelting notes that those satis who die on the funeral pyre of their husband, or who "intended to die" but were prevented from death, may attain a status called satimata.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}}{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=22}} Kelting says that the Jain tradition, due to principle of non-violence and equanimity, doesn't allow self-immolation.{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} They, instead, see renunciation rather than self-sacrifice as the highest ideal for a Jain sati.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Hindus think Jainism is simply another branch of Hinduism.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} Jain historians like [[Champat Rai Jain]], held that Hindus are Jaina [[allegorists]] who have allegorised the Jain teachings.{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=154}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

===Hindu revivalism and Indian identities===
With the onset of British colonialism, select groups of Indians developed responses to the British dominance and the British critique of Hinduism.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} In this context, various responses toward Jainism developed.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Michael S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoTDAgAAQBAJ&q=Jainism+colonial+india&pg=PT157|title=Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia|last2=Hatcher|first2=Brian A.|date=2013-02-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48445-2|language=en}}</ref>

====Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj====
The Arya Samaj was founded by [[Dayanand Saraswati]] (1824-1883), who "was the solitary champion of Vedic authority and infallibility".{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} Swami Dayanand Saraswati authored Satyarth Prakash,{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38}} a book containing the basic teachings of Saraswati and the Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38-39}} It contains "Dayananda's bitter criticisms of the major ''non-Vedic'' religions of Indian origins."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}} In the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'', he writes that he regarded Jainism as "the most dreadful religion",{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}} and that Jains are "possessed of defective and childish understanding."{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|Daniels cites Dayanand in his investigation of the claim that "Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions and Hindu tolerance is the best answer in fostering peace and harmony in a multi-religious society",<ref name="EBC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |title=Eastern Book Company, ''About the Book:, Hindu Response to Religious Pluralism'' (P.S. Daniels (2000)) |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207064923/http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda and Mahatama Gandhi as cases.<ref name="EBC" /> He asks the question "Why was Dayananda so aggressive and negative in his response to other religions?".<ref name="EBC" /> Panicker also mentions that Dayanand's views are "strongly condemnatory, predominantly negative and positively intolerant and aggressive."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}}}}

==Relations==

Under the rule of [[Subhatavarman|Subhatvarman]] (1194-1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=REDDY |first=Prof Dr PEDARAPU CHENNA |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=kfNgEAAAQBAJ&dq=Subhatavarman+jain+temple&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s |title=Nagabharana: Recent Trends in Jainism Studies |date=2022-02-24 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |isbn=978-93-5611-446-3 |pages=36 |language=en}}</ref> Subhatavarman attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Vinay Chandra |last2=Singh |first2=Parmanand |year=1991 |title=Ram Janmabhoomi, Babri Masjid: Historical Documents, Legal Opinions, and Judgements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwaAAAAIAAJ&q=Subhatavarman+jain+temples}}</ref> Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. Throughout the centuries, there were periods of hostility in the South as well, affecting both Buddhism and Jainism.<ref name=":0" /> Inscriptions from the Srisailam area of Andhra Pradesh record the pride taken by Veerashaiva chiefs in beheading of shwetambar Jains.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mlluAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:9780195633641&q=isbn:9780195633641&hl=en |title=Cultural Transaction and Early India: Tradition and Patronage |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-563364-1 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Legal status of Jainism as a distinct religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[History of Jainism]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Elst|first1=Koenraad|title=Who is a Hindu?: Hindu Revivalist Views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Other Offshoots of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Voice of India |isbn=9788185990743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGPXAAAAMAAJ }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230904/http://bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm Ch. 7])

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
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{{refend}}

{{Jainism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Jainism and other religions|Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hinduism and other religions]]

Hinduism and Jainism

2024-02-20T06:03:14Z

Timovinga: /* Relations */ Unsourced claims

{{short description|Ancient Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Jainism}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Jainism''' and '''Hinduism''' are two ancient Indian religions. There are some similarities and differences between the two religions.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=135-136}} Temples, gods, rituals, fasts and other religious components of Jainism are different from those of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=138}}

"Jain" is derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions (like anger, attachment, greed and pride) and possesses [[Kevala Jnana|kevala jnana]] (pure infinite knowledge). Followers of the path shown by the Jinas are called Jains.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=15}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=164}} Followers of [[Hinduism]] are called Hindus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=6 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Philosophical similarities and differences ==
Jainism and Hinduism have many similar characteristic features, including the concepts of ''[[samsara]]'', ''[[karma]]'' and ''[[moksha]]''. However, they differ over the precise nature and meaning of these concepts. The doctrine Nyaya-Vaisheshika and samkhya school had minor similarities with Jain philosophy. The Jain doctrine teaches atomism which is also adopted in the Vaisheshika system and atheism which is found in Samkhya.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} Within the doctrine of Jainism, there exist many metaphysical concepts which are not known in Hinduism, some of which are ''dharma'' and Adharma tattva (which are seen as substances within the Jain metaphysical system), [[Gunasthana]]s and [[Lesya]]s.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} The epistemological concepts of [[Anekantavada]] and Syadvada are not found in the Hindu system. There were, in the past, probable attempts made to merge the concepts of Hindu gods and the Tirthankara of Jainism. The cosmography of Hindus resembles that of the Jains and there are similar names of heavenly gods within these systems.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

In the [[Upanishads]], there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jainist teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=15}}

===Moksha (liberation) ===
In Hinduism, [[moksha]] means merging of soul with universal soul or eternal being and escaping the cycle of births and deaths; in Jainism, it is blissful existence with infinite knowledge. In Vedic philosophy, salvation is giving up the sense of being a doer and realizing Self to be the same as Universe and God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yaOxgEACAAJ&q=moksha|title=Moksha: Self-Liberation Through Self-Knowledge|last=Kajaria|first=Vish|date=2019-02-13|publisher=Independently Published|isbn=978-1-09-791542-2|language=en}}</ref> In Jainism, salvation can be achieved only through self-effort and is considered to be the right of human beings.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}

In Jainism, one definite path to attain liberation ([[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]) is prescribed. The prescribed threefold path consists of the [[Ratnatraya|three jewels of Jainism]] (Right perception, Right knowledge, Right conduct). In Hinduism, one definite path to salvation is not known.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p = 137}}

=== Universe ===
{{Further|Jainism and non-creationism}}
According to [[Jain cosmology]], the primary structure of the universe is eternal: it is neither created nor can it be destroyed, but undergoes continuous natural transformations within. In Hinduism, [[Brahman]] is the unchanging ultimate reality and the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.

=== Karma ===
{{further|Karma in Jainism|Karma in Hinduism}}
Karma is an invisible force in Hinduism, whereas in Jainism it is a form of particulate matter which can adhere to the soul.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}} As per [[Jainism]], the consequence of karma occurs by natural ''nirjara'' of karma particles from the soul. Hindus rejected this concept and believe that the God or the creator of this universe is ''karmaphaldata'', and rewards the fruits of past actions to each individual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JIRAQAAIAAJ&q=karma+nirjara|title=The Concept of Divinity in Jainism|last1=Kothari|first1=Pukhraj Ajay|year=2000}}</ref>

=== Worship ===
In Hinduism, Gods are worshiped in several ways and for several reasons such as knowledge, peace, wisdom, health, and it also believed to be one's duty to pray god as God is considered as our maker (as we originated from them and we are staying in them and at last will merge with them), for moksha, and are also offered food as a respect, etc.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=181}} In Jainism, enlightened human perfect masters or [[Siddha#Jainism|siddhas]] represent the true goal of all human beings,{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=182}} and their qualities are worshiped by the Jains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aVRLGhf-8C|title=Faith & Philosophy of Jainism|isbn=9788178357232|last1=Jain|first1=Arun Kumar|year=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }}</ref>

=== Self-defence and soldiering ===
Jains and Hindus have opinion that violence in self-defence can be justified,<ref>''Nisithabhasya'' (in ''Nisithasutra'') 289; Jinadatta Suri: ''Upadesharasayana'' 26; Dundas pp. 162–163; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty.<ref>Jindal pp. 89–90; Laidlaw pp. 154–155; Jaini, Padmanabh S.: ''Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism'', in: ''Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism'', ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi 2004, p. 52–60; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers.<ref>Harisena, ''Brhatkathakosa'' 124 (10th century); Jindal pp. 90–91; Sangave p. 259.</ref>

== Women ==
The religion of Jains included women in their fourfold ''sangha''; the religious order of Jain laymen, laywomen, monks and nuns.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} There was a disagreement between early Hinduism, and ascetic movements such as Jainism with the scriptural access to women.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} However, the early svetambara scriptures prevented pregnant women, young women or those who have a small child, to enter the ranks of nun.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Regardless, the number of nuns given in those texts were always double the number of monks. [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], the two historical tirthankaras, had large numbers of female devotees and ascetics.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Mahavira and other Jain monks are credited with raising the [[status of women]].{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=147-148}}

== Religious texts ==
Hindus do not accept any Jain text and Jains do not recognize any Hindu scripture.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=136}}

=== The Vedas ===
The scriptures known as [[Vedas]] are regarded by Hindus as one of the foundations of [[Hinduism]]. According to [[Manusmriti]] those who rejected the Vedas as the prime source of religious knowledge were labeled "[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]".{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} As a consequence, Jainism and Buddhism were categorized as ''nāstika [[darśana]]''.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, such as [[Vedanta]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Samkhya]], claim the [[Sruti]] do not have any author and hence are supreme to other religious scriptures. This position was countered by Jains who said that saying Vedas are authorless was equivalent to saying that anonymous poems are written by nobody. [[Jain scriptures]], on the contrary, were believed by them to be of human origin, brought through omniscient teachers, and hence claimed greater worth.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}} According to Jains, the origin of Vedas lies with [[Marichi]], the son of [[Bharata Chakravarti]], who was the son of the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Jains maintain that these scriptures were later modified.{{sfn|Feynes|1998|p=xxiv}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} Jains pointed that Hindus do not know their own scriptures since they were unaware of the names of tirthankaras present in Vedas.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

Jains had a long-standing debate with [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism. [[Kumarila Bhatta]], a proponent of Mimamsa school, argued that the Vedas are the source of all knowledge and it is through them that humans can differentiate between right and wrong. Jain monks, such as [[Haribhadra]], held that humans are already in possession of all the knowledge, which only needs to be illuminated or uncovered in order to gain the status of omniscience.{{sfn|Qvarnström|2006|p=91}}

==== Vedic sacrifices ====
The practice of Vedic animal sacrifices was opposed by Jains.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemchandra]], a Jain monk, cites passages from [[Manusmriti]], one of the law book of Hindus, to demonstrate how, in light of false scriptures, Hindus have resorted to violence. [[Akalanka]], another Jain monk, sarcastically said that if killing can result in enlightenment, one should become a hunter or fisherman.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

===Hindu epics and Jain epics===
The rejection of Jain epics and scriptures were dominant in Hinduism since very early times.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} On the other hand, central Hindu scriptures and epics like Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana are categorized as unreliable scriptures in Nandi-sutra,{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=237}}{{Verify source|date=December 2013}}{{sfn|Iyengar|2005|p=62}} one of the svetambara's canonical literature. Later, Jains adapted various Hindu epics in accordance with their own system.{{sfn|Schubring|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} There were disputes between Jains and Hindus in form of these epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=jains+on+mahabharata&pg=PA359|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Jain deities and Hindu texts ==
{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Rishabha (Hinduism)}}
Within the doctrine of Jainism, the ''tirthankara'' holds the highest status. Hemachandra Acharya says that a ''Jindeva'' is the one who has conquered his internal desires and passions. This requirement, according to him, was fulfilled only by the tirthankara. Hence their path for spiritual upliftment and salvation is rejected by the [[Jains]].

Some personages mentioned in the Vedas and Jain scriptures are identified to be the same. There is mention of [[Rishabha (Hinduism)|Rishabha]], identified with the first tirthankara, [[Rishabhanatha]], in the [[Rig Veda|Rigveda]] and the [[Vishnu Purana]]. The Rigveda, X. 12. 166 states:{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=74}} {{cquote|0 Rudra-like Divinity ! do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a Great God, like Rishabha Deva, by becoming Arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher; let Him become the destroyer of the enemies !}}

The Vishnu Purana also names Rishabha:
:ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
:भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
:Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabha,
:Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata.
::—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)

In the [[Skanda Purana]] (chapter 37) it is stated that "Rishabha was the son of [[Nabhiraja]], and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=106}}

In the Brahmottara-candam section of the ''[[Brahma Purana]]'', the narrator Suta describes many matters relating to Shaivism and in the 16th portion, there is a story about Bhadrabahu receiving instructions in a mantra from a [[Yogi|''yogi'']] named Rishabha.<ref>P. 88, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', Volume 11 By Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society</ref>

The ''[[Linga Purana]]'' states that in every [[Kali Yuga]], [[Shiva]] incarnates on earth, and that in one Kali Yuga he was a [[Yogeshvara]] (one of his 28 incarnations) named Rishabha.<ref>P. 16 ''Linga Purana'' By Vinay. The list is in order is: Shweta, Sutara, Madana, Suhotra, Kanchana, Lokakshee, Jagishavya, Dadhivahana, Rishabha, Muni, Ugra, Atri, Vali, Gautama, Vedashrira, Gokarna, Guhavasi, Shikhandabhriti, Jatamali, Attahasa, Daruka, Langali, Mahakaya, Shuli, Mundishvara, Sahishnu, Somasharma, and Jagadguru.</ref>

In the ''[[Shiva Purana]]'', in order to assist the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]] against the tyranny of the [[Tripurasura]] brothers, [[Vishnu]] sought to convert the [[Asura|asuras]] from their devotion to [[Shiva]] and Vedic practices to beliefs that are implied to be Jainism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krishna |first=Nanditha |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=VwhtAwAAQBAJ&dq=tripurantaka+Taraka&pg=PT152&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=tripurantaka%20Taraka&f=false |title=The Book of Demons |date=2007-10-16 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-93-5118-144-6 |pages=152 |language=en}}</ref> He created a man called [[Arihant (Jainism)|Arihat]], instructing him to use his ''[[Maya (religion)|maya]]'' (illusory power) to create a deceptive sacred scripture that opposes the ''[[Śruti|shruti]]'' and ''[[smriti]]'' texts, as well as the [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] and the [[Āśrama (stage)|ashrama]] systems. The man and his followers initiated the Tripurasura brothers into their religion, abandoning the worship of the Hindu gods and traditional rites. This offers Shiva the pretext of destroying the [[Tripura (mythology)|three cities]] of the asuras, who had previously worshipped him, and restore order.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shastri |first=J. L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkfmDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA820&dq&hl=en |title=The Siva Purana Part 2: Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 2 |date=2000-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-3869-7 |pages=820–830 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
Jainism is considered to be distinct and separate from Vedic religion and originated from' 'Sramana'' or ''Arahata'' tradition.{{sfn|George|2008|p=317-318}}

===Ancient===
Jains and Hindus have coexisted in [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] since at least the second century BCE.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=187}}

===Medieval===
Competition between Jains and Vedic [[Brahman]]s, between Jains and Hindu [[Shaiva]]s, is a frequent motif of all medieval western Indian narratives, but the two communities for the most part coexisted and coprospered.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}} Shaiva kings patronised Jain mendicants, and Jain officials patronised Brahmana poets.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}}

===Decline of Jainism===
Around the 8th century CE, Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Ādi Śaṅkarācārya]] tried to restore the Vedic religion. Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This was particularly in the southern Indian states.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=70}}

According to a Saivite legend, the Pandya king [[Koon Pandiyan]] ordered a massacre of 8,000 Jain monks. This event is depicted graphically in walls of Tivatur in [[North Arcot]].{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|pp=70–71}} However, this legend is not found in any Jain text, and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Saivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | chapter-url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | accessdate=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter = 9. History of the Digambaras}}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 | isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}</ref>

==Jains and the Hindu society==
{{POV section|date=September 2015}}

Jain scholars and some monks in general allowed a sort of cautious integration with the Hindu society.{{CN|date=June 2023}} In today's date, there are a lot of common aspects in social and cultural life of Hindus and Jains. It is quite difficult to differentiate a lay Jain from a lay Hindu.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=493}} The Jain code of conduct is quite similar to that which is found in Hindu Dharmasashtra, Manusmriti and other Law books of Brahmans.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} {{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}}{{sfn|Babb|1996|pp=3-4}} The difference in the rituals of practitioners of the two religions would be that the Jains do not give any importance to bathing in holy water.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} According to religious scholar M. Whitney Kelting, some of the "names and narratives" in the Hindu's list of satis are also found in the Jain tradition.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} In the Hindu context, a sati is a virtuous wife who protects her husband and his family and has the "intention to die before, or with," her husband.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Kelting notes that those satis who die on the funeral pyre of their husband, or who "intended to die" but were prevented from death, may attain a status called satimata.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}}{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=22}} Kelting says that the Jain tradition, due to principle of non-violence and equanimity, doesn't allow self-immolation.{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} They, instead, see renunciation rather than self-sacrifice as the highest ideal for a Jain sati.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Hindus think Jainism is simply another branch of Hinduism.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} Jain historians like [[Champat Rai Jain]], held that Hindus are Jaina [[allegorists]] who have allegorised the Jain teachings.{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=154}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

===Hindu revivalism and Indian identities===
With the onset of British colonialism, select groups of Indians developed responses to the British dominance and the British critique of Hinduism.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} In this context, various responses toward Jainism developed.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Michael S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoTDAgAAQBAJ&q=Jainism+colonial+india&pg=PT157|title=Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia|last2=Hatcher|first2=Brian A.|date=2013-02-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48445-2|language=en}}</ref>

====Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj====
The Arya Samaj was founded by [[Dayanand Saraswati]] (1824-1883), who "was the solitary champion of Vedic authority and infallibility".{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} Swami Dayanand Saraswati authored Satyarth Prakash,{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38}} a book containing the basic teachings of Saraswati and the Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38-39}} It contains "Dayananda's bitter criticisms of the major ''non-Vedic'' religions of Indian origins."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}} In the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'', he writes that he regarded Jainism as "the most dreadful religion",{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}} and that Jains are "possessed of defective and childish understanding."{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|Daniels cites Dayanand in his investigation of the claim that "Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions and Hindu tolerance is the best answer in fostering peace and harmony in a multi-religious society",<ref name="EBC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |title=Eastern Book Company, ''About the Book:, Hindu Response to Religious Pluralism'' (P.S. Daniels (2000)) |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207064923/http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda and Mahatama Gandhi as cases.<ref name="EBC" /> He asks the question "Why was Dayananda so aggressive and negative in his response to other religions?".<ref name="EBC" /> Panicker also mentions that Dayanand's views are "strongly condemnatory, predominantly negative and positively intolerant and aggressive."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}}}}

==Relations==

Under the rule of [[Subhatavarman|Subhatvarman]] (1194-1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=REDDY |first=Prof Dr PEDARAPU CHENNA |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=kfNgEAAAQBAJ&dq=Subhatavarman+jain+temple&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s |title=Nagabharana: Recent Trends in Jainism Studies |date=2022-02-24 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |isbn=978-93-5611-446-3 |pages=36 |language=en}}</ref> Subhatavarman attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Vinay Chandra |last2=Singh |first2=Parmanand |year=1991 |title=Ram Janmabhoomi, Babri Masjid: Historical Documents, Legal Opinions, and Judgements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwaAAAAIAAJ&q=Subhatavarman+jain+temples}}</ref> Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. Throughout the centuries, there were periods of hostility in the South as well, affecting both Buddhism and Jainism.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[Legal status of Jainism as a distinct religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[History of Jainism]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Elst|first1=Koenraad|title=Who is a Hindu?: Hindu Revivalist Views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Other Offshoots of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Voice of India |isbn=9788185990743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGPXAAAAMAAJ }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230904/http://bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm Ch. 7])

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

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* {{Citation | last =Embree | first =Ainslie T. | author-link = Ainslie Embree | year =1988 | title =Sources of Indian Tradition. Second Edition. volume One. From the beginning to 1800 | publisher =Columbia University Press}}
*{{citation|last1=Zimmer|first1=Heinrich|title=Philosophies Of India|year=1953|editor=Joseph Campbell|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/Philosophy.of.India.by.Heinrich.Zimmer|isbn=978-8120807396|author-link=Heinrich Zimmer}}
*{{citation|title=Risabha Deva - The Founder of Jainism|first=Champat Rai|last=Jain|publisher=The Indian Press Limited|location=[[Allahabad]]|date=1929|url=https://archive.org/details/RisabhaDeva-TheFounderOfJainism|quote=Not in Copyright|author-link=Champat Rai Jain}}
{{refend}}

{{Jainism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Jainism and other religions|Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hinduism and other religions]]

Kayastha

2024-02-20T05:55:11Z

Timovinga: /* From classical to early-medieval India */ Unsourced claims

{{short description|Community of India}}
{{Redirect|Darad|decarad|darad (angular unit)}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox caste
|caste_name=Kayastha
|subdivisions={{ubl|[[Bengali Kayastha]], [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]], [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]] and [[Karan Kayastha]]
|populated_states=[[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Assam]], [[Delhi]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]], [[Orissa]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Maharashtra]]
|religions= Majority: [[Hinduism]] Minority: [[Islam]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jahanara |title=Muslim kayasthas of India |date=2005 |publisher=K.K. Publications |location=Allahabad, India |oclc=255708448 |language=English |id=Monographic study of an anthropological investigation of the Muslim Kayasthas with special reference to Uttar Pradesh}}</ref>}}|image=Calcuttakayasth.jpg|caption="Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by [[Frans Balthazar Solvyns]]|image_size=160px}}

'''Kayastha''' or '''Kayasth''' denotes a cluster of disparate [[South Asian ethnic groups|Indian]] communities broadly categorised by the regions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] in which they were traditionally located{{mdash}}the [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]]s of [[North India]], the [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s of [[Maharashtra]], the [[Bengali Kayastha]]s of [[Bengal]] and [[Karan (caste)|Karanas]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Biswarup |date=1980 |title=KAYASTHAS AND KARANAS IN ORISSA—A STUDY ON INSCRIPTIONS— |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141924 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=41 |pages=940–944 |jstor=44141924 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raut |first=L.N. |title=Jati Formation in Early Medieval Orissa: Reflection on Karana (Kayastha Caste) |date=2004 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144743 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=65 |pages=304–308 |jstor=44144743 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> of [[Odisha]]. All of them were traditionally considered "writing [[caste]]s", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Imam|first=Faitma|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/755414244|title=India today : An encyclopedia of life in the republic. Vol. 1, A–K|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|others=Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long|isbn=978-0-313-37463-0|location=Santa Barbara|pages=403–405|oclc=755414244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Leonard|first=Karen|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60856154|title=Encyclopedia of India|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2006|isbn=0-684-31349-9|editor-last=Wolpert|editor-first=Stanley|location=Detroit|pages=22|oclc=60856154|quote=All three were "writing castes", traditionally serving the ruling powers as administrators and record keepers.}}</ref>

The earliest known reference to the term ''Kayastha'' dates back to the [[Kushan Empire]],<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> when it evolved into a common name for a writer or [[scribe]].<ref name=":162">{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Chitrarekha|date=1983|title=The writers' class of ancient India—a case study in social mobility|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001946468302000203|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20|issue=2|pages=194|doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |quote=The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one ... the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history}}</ref> In the [[Sanskrit]] literature and [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]], it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|pages=18–19|language=en|quote=Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions—i.e., as a term for the various state officials ... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units and that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.}}</ref> In this context, the term possibly derived from {{lang|und|kaya-}} ('principal, capital, treasury') and -{{lang|und|stha}} ('to stay') and perhaps originally stood for an officer of the royal treasury, or revenue department.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=20|language=en|quote=In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from ... ''kaya'' (principal, capital, treasury) and ''stha'', to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.}}</ref><ref name="Visvanat 2014"/>

Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around [[Scribe|scribal]] services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term "secretary". They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfill responsibilities in all these venues.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davidson|first=Ronald M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/808346313|title=Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-231-50889-6|location=New York|pages=179|oclc=808346313}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Carroll|first=Lucy|date=February 1978|title=Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=37|issue=2|pages=233–250|doi=10.2307/2054164|jstor=2054164|s2cid=146635639 }}</ref> Kayasthas, along with [[Brahmin]]s, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-medieval India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191849214|title=History of medieval India : 800–1700|publisher=Orient Longman|year=2007|isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|location=Hyderabad, India|pages=50|oclc=191849214|quote=There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas ... The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.}}</ref>

Modern scholars list them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside [[Khatri|Punjabi Khatris]], [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s, [[Parsis]], [[Nagar Brahmin]]s of Gujarat, [[Bhadralok|Bengali Bhadraloks]], [[Chitpawan]]s and [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKPs) of Maharashtra, South-Indian Brahmins including [[Deshastha Brahmin]]s from Southern parts of India and upper echelons of the [[Muslim]] as well as [[Christian]] communities that made up the [[middle class]] at the time of [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Indian independence]] in 1947.<ref name=":13">{{cite book|author=Pavan K. Varma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|title=The Great Indian Middle class|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2007|isbn=9780143103257|page=28|quote=its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc] ... The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan-Indian elite ... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite book|author1=Paul Wallace|title=Region and nation in India|author2=Richard Leonard Park|publisher=Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.|year=1985|quote=During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=D. L. Sheth|url=https://www.csds.in/d_l_sheth}}</ref>

==Origins==
=== Etymology ===
According to [[Merriam-Webster]], the word ''Kāyastha'' is probably formed from the [[Sanskrit]] ''kāya'' (body), and the suffix ''-stha'' (standing, being in).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kayasth|title=Kayastha|website=Merriam-Webster.com|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref>

=== As a class of administrators ===
As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged as a 'class of administrators' between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of Indian history. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the "rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation".<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Vanina|first=Eugenia|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794922930|title=Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man|date=2012|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-19-1|location=New Delhi|pages=178|oclc=794922930|quote=This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like community...}}</ref><ref name="Visvanat 2014">{{Cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Meera|title=From the 'lekhaka' to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)|date=2014 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158358 |volume=75|pages=34–40|jstor=44158358|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The term also finds mention in an inscription of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] emperor [[Kumaragupta I]], dated to 442 CE, in which ''prathama-kāyastha'' ({{translation|'chief officer'}}) is used as an administrative designation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|page=858|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]], also from the Gupta era, and the [[Vishnu Smriti]] describe ''kayasthas'' as record-keepers and accountants, but not as {{lang|sa|[[jāti]]}} ([[caste]] or clan).<ref name="bellenoit">{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEMlDgAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134494361|pages=69–70}}</ref> Similarly, the term ''Kayastha'' is used in the works of [[Kshemendra]], [[Kalhana]] and [[Bilhana]] to refer to members of [[bureaucracy]] varying from {{lang|und|Gṛhakṛtyamahattama}} ({{translation|'the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs'}}) to the {{lang|und|Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha}} ({{translation|'officer in charge of the fodder for horses'}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A Note on the Kāyasthas of Early-Mediaeval Kāśmīra |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref>

According to [[Romila Thapar]], the offices that demanded formal education including that of a ''kayastha'' were generally occupied by the "''[[Brahmin]]s'', revenue collectors, [[treasurer]]s and those concerned with legal matters".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=191–204 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=According to Romila Thapar, the offices which required formal education were usually occupied by the Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters belonged to this category. She says that the same was probably true of the important but less exalted rank of scribes, recorders and accountants.}}</ref>

=== In Buddhist association ===
According to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that [[Buddhist]]s, in their effort to create an educated non-[[Brahmin]] class, strove to popularize the utility of education and fostered those vocations that required a knowledge of writing. This is corroborated in [[Udāna]], where the ''lekha-sippa'' ('craft of writing'), was regarded as the highest of all the crafts. It is also backed by the fact that the earliest epigraphical records mentioning ''lekhaka'' ('writer') or ''kayastha'' have been made in association with [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=193–194 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |via=SAGE}}</ref>

=== As an independent guild of professionals ===
It is possible that ''kayasthas'' may have started out as a separate profession, similar to [[bank]]ers, [[merchant]]s, and [[artisan]]s. As suggested in certain epigraphs, they had a representative in the district-level administration, along with those of bankers and merchants. This is also implied in {{lang|sa|[[Mudrarakshasa]]}}, where a ''kayastha'' would work for any man who paid his wages on time. Possibly secular knowledge, like writing, administration, and jurisprudence, was monopolised by a non-Brahmin professional elite that later came be referred as ''kayasthas''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001946468302000203?journalCode=iera |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=195 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=They seem to have had guilds of their own and the head of the guild, the prathama-kayastha, represented his class in the administration of the city. The profession of the kàyasthas, like those of the bankers, merchants and the artisans, was an independent one and was not necessarily associated with the king and his court....Thus it may be assumed that while the Brahmanas were engaged in studying religious literature, secular knowledge of document writing, etc., was the monopoly of a professional group, who came to be called Kayasthas.}}</ref>

==History==
=== From classical to early-medieval India ===
The Kayasthas, at least as an office, played an important role in administering the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Northern India]] from the Gupta period.<ref>{{Citation |last=Sahu |first=Bhairabi Prasad |title=Commerce and the Agrarian Empires: Northern India |date=2021 |url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-596 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.596 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 |quote=The Gupta period witnessed the rise of the writers’ class (Kayastha/Karana) with other symmetrical developments such as the spread of local state formation. Besides maintaining records, they also helped the administration of justice and commercial activities.}}</ref> The earliest evidence comes from a [[Mathura]] inscription of [[Vasudeva I]], composed by a Kayastha [[Śramaṇa]].<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> From this point we find, the term ''kayastha'' occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor [[Kumaragupta I]] as ''prathama-kāyastha,<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal |last=Shah |first=K. K. |year=1993 |title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=54 |page=858 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44143088}}</ref>'' as ''karaṇa-kāyastha'' in [[Vainyagupta|Vainayagupta]]’s inscription,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. (Ramesh Chandra), 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=395 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> and as ''gauḍa-kāyastha'' in an Apshadha inscription dated 672 CE.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960">{{Cite book |last=Mazumdar |first=Bhakat Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFJKAAAAMAAJ |title=Socio-economic history of northern India (1030-1194 A.D.)|date=1960 |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |pages=99, 104|oclc=614029099 |language=en |quote=As we have got reference to the Gauda Kayasthas in the Apshad inscription, dated 672 AD...}}</ref>{{rp|104}} The occasional references to individuals of the ''Karaṇa'' caste occupying high government offices are made in inscriptions and literary works too.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Ramesh Chandra, 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The history and culture of the Indian people |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=374 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> Razia Banu has suggested that Brahmin and Kayastha migrants were brought to [[Bengal]] during the reign of the [[Gupta Empire]] to help manage the state affairs.<ref name="Banu 1992">{{cite book |last=Banu |first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC |title=Islam in Bangladesh |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09497-0}}</ref>{{rp|5–6}} According to a legend, a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] King named ''Adisur'' had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from [[Kannauj]] who became an elite sub-group described as [[Kulin Kayastha|Kulin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Luca |first1=Pagani |last2=Bose |first2=Sarmila |last3=Ayub |first3=Qasim |date=2017 |title=Kayasthas of Bengal |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2017/47/special-articles/kayasthas-bengal.html |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language=en |volume=52 |issue=47 |pages=44 |quote=...which claimed that the Bengali King Adisur had invited five Brahmins from Kannauj, an ancient city in the northern Gangetic plains located in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to migrate to Bengal, in eastern India. According to legend, these five Brahmins from Kannauj were accompanied by five Kayasthas, who became an "elite" subgroup described as "kulin" among the Kayasthas of Bengal...}}</ref> However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960"/>{{rp|99}}

From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas had started to consolidate into a distinct caste.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R.C. |url=http://archive.org/details/struggleforempir05bhar |title=History and Culture of the Indian People |date=2001 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |others=Public Resource |editor-last=Ramakrishnan |editor-first=S. |volume=5 |pages=477 |quote=We have seen that the Kayasthas as a caste (as distinguished from the profession called by that name) can be traced back with the help of literary and epigraphic records to the latter half of the ninth century.}}</ref> The ''Kayastha'' appears as a figure in Act IX of the {{lang|sa|[[Mṛcchakatika]]}}, ''a kāyastha'' is shown accompanying a judge (''adhikaraṇika'') and assisting him. In Act V there is mention that:<ref name="Visvanat 2014" />{{Cquote
| quote = Moreover, O friend, a courtesan, an elephant, a Kayastha, a mendicant, a spy and a donkey—where these dwell, there not even villains can flourish.
}}

In {{lang|sa|[[Mudrarakshasa]]}}, a Kayastha named ''Śakaṭadāsa'' is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the [[Nanda Empire|Nanda]] King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title ''Ārya'' added to the name of ''Śakaṭadāsa'' implies that he was a member of the nobility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=196 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |issn=0019-4646 |s2cid=144941948}}</ref> Another Kayastha called ''Acala'' is the scribe of [[Chanakya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deshpande |first=R. R. |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.csl.8864 |title=Visakhadattaʼs Mudraraksasa |date=1948 |publisher=Popular book Store, Surat |pages=ii}}</ref>

In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term ''kayastha'' denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. [[Kshemendra|Kshemendra’s]] ''Narmamālā'' composed during the reign of [[Ananta (king)|Ananta]] (1028-1063 CE) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included ''Gṛhakṛtyadhipati,'' ''Paripālaka'', ''Mārgapati'', ''Gañja-divira'', ''Āsthāna-divira'', ''Nagara-divira'', ''Lekhakopādhya'' and {{Lang|sa|Niyogi}}. Kalhana’s [[Rajatarangini|Rājataraṃgiṇī]] ('The River of Kings') and [[Bilhana]]'s ''Vikramāṅkadevacarita'' ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A NOTE ON THE KĀYASTHAS OF EARLY-MEDIAEVAL KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140901 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kalhana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzxTkI9iAxkC |title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-20-80370-1 |editor-last=Stein |editor-first=Sir Marc Aurel |pages=8, 39, 45}}</ref> It is also mentioned that father of [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] of the [[Karkota dynasty|Karkota Dynasty]], Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of ''Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1957 |title=ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN EARLY KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44082819 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=38 |issue=3/4 |pages=176 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=44082819 |quote=He also mentions the names of a few of the minor offices which had come into existence in the meantime. One of these was the office of the avaghasa-kayąstha, (fodderer for the horses) a position held for sometime by Durlabhavardhana.}}</ref>

Kayasthas have been authors of several [[Sanskrit]] texts too.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 1. Some important Sanskrit works authored by the ''Kayasthas''
!Work(s)
!Genre(s)
!Author
!Author's lineage
!Date
|-
|[[Ramacharitam|''Rāmacarita'']]
|Biography
|Sandhyākaranandin
|[[Karan Kayastha|Karana]]<ref name=":21">{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536567 |title=The past before us : historical traditions of early north India |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=498 |oclc=859536567 |quote=He states that he comes from a family of scribes, his caste being karana (kāyastha).}}</ref>
|12th c.
|-
|''Udayasundarī Kathā''
|''[[Champu]]''
|Soḍḍhala
|Vālabhya<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last1=Ghosh |first1=Jogendra Chandra |last2=Ghosh |first2=Jogesh Chandra |date=1931 |title=GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41688244 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=197–205 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=41688244}}</ref>
|11th c.
|-
|''Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu''
|Medicine, ''[[Tantra]]''
|Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa
|[[Nigam|Naigama]]<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last=O’Hanlon |first=Rosalind |date=2010 |title=The social worth of scribes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946461004700406 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=583 |doi=10.1177/001946461004700406 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=..Kayastha Camunda, a kayastha of the Naigama community, son of Kumbha and protégé of king Rajamalla of Mewad.. |s2cid=145071541}}</ref>
|15th c.
|-
|''Kṛtyakalpataru''
|Administration
|Lakṣmīdhara
|[[Srivastava|Vāstavya]]<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=H T Colebrooke |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142316 |title=A Digest Of Hindu Law On Contracts And Successions Vol-I |date=1898 |pages=xvii |quote=Lachmidhara composed a treatise on administrative justice by command of Govindachandra a king of Casi, sprung from the Vastava race of Cayasthas...}}</ref>
|12th c.
|}

==== In Brahmanical literature ====
Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in [[Brahmin|Brahmanical]] religious writings dating back to the seventh-century.<ref name="IT20112">{{cite book |last=Imam |first=Fatima A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405 |title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=9780313374623 |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor1-first=Arnold P. |pages=404–405 |editor2-last=Long |editor2-first=Roger D.}}</ref> In these texts, some described Kayasthas as [[Kshatriya]]s, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with [[Brahmin]] and [[Shudra]] components. This was probably an attempt by the Brahmins to rationalize their rank in the traditional caste hierarchy and perhaps a later invention rather than a historical fact.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=India - The Rajputs |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |quote=A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas...According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/753563817 |title=A History of India |date=1998 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-194976-5 |volume=1 |location=New Delhi |pages=99 |oclc=753563817 |quote=Some described them as kshatriyas , others ascribed their origin to a brahman-shudra combination. The mixed-caste origin ascribed to them may well have been a later invention of those who had to fit them into a caste hierarchy.}}</ref>

=== Late medieval India ===

After the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquest of India]], they mastered [[Persian language|Persian]], which became the official language of the Mughal courts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballbanlilar |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC&pg=PA59 |title=Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia |publisher=I.B. Taurus & Co., Ltd. |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84885-726-1 |page=59}}</ref> Some converted to [[Islam]] and formed the [[Muslim Kayasths|Muslim Kayasth]] community in [[North India|northern India]].

Bengali Kayasthas had been the dominant landholding caste prior to the Muslim conquest, and continued this role under Muslim rule. Indeed, Muslim rulers had from a very early time confirmed the Kayasthas in their ancient role as landholders and political intermediaries.<ref name="RiseofIslam" />

Bengali Kayasthas served as treasury officials and ''[[Vizier|wazirs]]'' (government ministers) under Mughal rule. Political scientist U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu writes that, partly because of [[List of rulers of Bengal#Muslim rule|Muslim sultans]]' satisfaction with them as technocrats, many Bengali Kayasthas in the administration became ''[[zamindar]]s'' and ''[[jagirdar]]s''. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu ''zamindars'' in Bengal were Kayasthas.<ref name="Banu 1992"/>{{rp|24–25}}

[[Pratapaditya|Maharaja Pratapaditya]], the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Dipesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMEECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |title=The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-226-10045-6 |page=139}}</ref>

===British India===
[[File:Ramanand_Kayastha_in_1901_at_Govindgarh,_Rewa.jpg|thumb|276x276px|A Kayastha employee of the political agent of the [[Bagelkhand Agency]] 1901. ]]
During the British Raj, Kayasthas continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial offices open to Indians.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEQwAQAAIAAJ&q=kayastha+under+british+raj|title=Origin and development of class and caste in India|last=Srivastava |first=Kamal Shankar |year=1998}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}

Bengali Kayasthas took on the role occupied by merchant castes in other parts of India and profited from business contacts with the British. In 1911, for example, Bengali Kayasthas and Bengali Brahmins owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Raymond Lee |last1=Owens |first2=Ashis |last2=Nandy|title=The New Vaisyas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqUcAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Carolina Academic Press|isbn=978-0-89089-057-8|page=81}}</ref>

===Modern India===
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas, Bengali Kayasthas and CKPs were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of [[Independence of India|Indian independence]], that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Indian Middle class|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|first=Pavan K. |last=Varma|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780143103257|year=2007}}</ref>

The Kayasthas today mostly inhabit central, eastern, northern India, and particularly Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first=Surinder Mohan |last=Bhardwaj|title=Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&pg=PA231|year=1983|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04951-2|page=231}}</ref> They are considered a [[Forward Caste]], as they do not qualify for any of the [[Reservation in India|reservation benefits]] allotted to [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]] and [[Other Backward Class]]es that are administered by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=K.|last1=Srinivasan|first2=Sanjay|last2=Kumar|title=Economic and Caste Criteria in Definition of Backwardness|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=34|issue=42/43|jstor=4408536|date=16–23 October 1999|page=3052}}</ref> This classification has increasingly led to feelings of unease and resentment among the Kayasthas, who believe that the communities that benefit from reservation are gaining political power and employment opportunities at their expense. Thus, particularly since the 1990 report of the [[Mandal Commission]] on reservation, Kayastha organisations have been active in areas such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Orissa. These groups are aligning themselves with various political parties to gain political and economic advantages; by 2009 they were demanding 33 percent reservation in government jobs.<ref name="IT2011">{{cite book|editor1-first=Arnold P. |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor2-first=Roger D. |editor2-last=Long|first=Fatima A. |last=Imam|title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313374623|pages=404–405|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405}}</ref>

==Sub-groups==
===Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas===
{{Main|Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha}}

The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a [[myth of origin]] that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god [[Chitragupta]], the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.<ref name="bellenoit"/> The suffix ''-vanshi'' is [[Sanskrit]] and translates as ''belonging to a particular family dynasty''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=vaMza|url=http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?tran_input=vaMza&direct=se&script=hk&link=yes&mode=3|website=Spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref>

At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th century, evidenced by various names being used to describe them in inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|pages=859|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Although at that time, prior to the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent]], they were generally outnumbered by [[Brahmin]]s in the Hindu royal courts of northern India, some among these Kayasthas wrote eulogies for the kings. Of the various regional Kayastha communities it was those of north India who remained most aligned to their role of scribes, whereas in other areas there became more emphasis on commerce.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kumar|first=Saurabh|year=2015|title=Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas|journal=Social Scientist|volume=43|issue=5/6|pages=29–45|jstor=24642345|issn=0970-0293|quote=One thing is clear that by this time, Kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of Kayastha officials.}}</ref>

The group of [[Bhatnagar]], [[Srivastava]], [[Ambashtha]] and [[Saxena]] of [[Doab]] were classified by various [[Indian people|Indian]], [[British Raj|British]] and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/973222959|title=The formation of the colonial state in India: Scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860|year=2017|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|location=Milton Park, Abingdon, UK |page=155 |chapter=Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c. 1860–1900 |oclc=973222959|quote=And while these Bhatnagar, Ambastha, Srivastava and Saxena families were important for the colonial state by the 1860s, they were also beneficiaries of British success and power in India. They shaped the materiality of administration and populated the ranks of the Raj's intermediary enforcement.....by 1900 they were broadly considered by various Indian , British and missionary observers to the most educated and influential of the service castes.}}</ref>

=== Bengali Kayasthas ===
{{Main|Bengali Kayastha}}

In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th-6th centuries and 11th-12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins. They most likely gained the characteristics of a caste under the [[Sena dynasty]].<ref name="AlHind">{{cite book|author=Andre Wink|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC|access-date=3 September 2011|year=1991|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|page=269}}</ref> According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary ''[[Smriti]]s''. Sharma further states:{{blockquote|Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal. Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharma|first=Tej Ram|title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire|year=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=New Delhi |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcnnB-Lx2MAC}}</ref>}}

=== Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas ===
{{Main|Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu}}

In Maharashtra, [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen.<ref name="Hebalkar2001">{{cite book|author=Sharad Hebalkar|title=Ancient Indian Ports: With Special Reference to Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ontAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=978-81-215-0858-2}}</ref> Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as [[Deshpande]]s and [[Gadkari]]s (fort holder, an office similar to that of a [[castellan]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857|page=121|first = B. R. |last=Sunthankar |year= 1988|quote=The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history}}</ref> The CKPs have the [[upanayana]] (thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the [[vedas]] and perform [[vedic]] rituals along with the Brahmins.<ref name="MiltonWagle">{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor=Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|pages=147–170}}</ref>

=== Karanas ===
{{Main|Karan (caste)}}

Karana is a caste found predominantly in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. They are a regional subcaste of Kayastha and traditionally they were the official record-keepers in the royal courts during Medieval times. They represent around 5% of Odia people. The Karanas are a forward caste of Odisha.<ref name="MatthiesNärhi2016">{{cite book|author1=Aila-Leena Matthies|author2=Kati Närhi|title=The Ecosocial Transition of Societies: The contribution of social work and social policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=4 October 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-03460-5|pages=110–}}</ref>

==Varna status==
As the Kayasthas are a non-cohesive group with regional differences rather than a single caste, their position in the Hindu varna system of ritual classification has not been uniform.

This was reflected in Raj era court rulings. Hayden Bellenoit gives details of various Raj era law cases and concludes the varna Kayastha was resolved in those cases by taking into account regional differences and customs followed by the specific community under consideration. Bellenoit disagrees with Rowe, showing that Risley's theories were in fact used ultimately to classify them as Kshatriyas by the British courts. The first case began in 1860 in [[Jaunpur district|Jaunpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] with a property dispute where the [[plaintiff]] was considered an "illegitimate child" by the defendants, a north-Indian Kayastha family. The British court denied inheritance to the child, citing that Kayasthas are Dvija, "twice-born" or "upper-caste" and that the illegitimate children of Dwijas have no rights to inheritance. In the next case in 1875 in the [[Allahabad High Court]], a north Indian Kayastha widow was denied adoption rights as she was an upper-caste i.e. Dwija woman. However, the aforementioned 1884 adoption case and the 1916 property dispute saw the [[Calcutta High Court]] rule that the Bengali Kayasthas were shudras. The Allahabad High Court ruled in 1890 that Kayasthas were Kshatriyas.<ref name="bellenoit174"/><ref name="ashwani">{{cite book |first=Ashwani |last=Kumar |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2008 |page=195}}</ref> Hayden Bellenoit concludes from an analysis of those that {{blockquote|in the suits originating in the Bihari and Doabi heartlands rulings that Kayasthas were of [[twice-born]] status were more likely. Closer to Bengal country, though, the legal rulings tended to assign a [[shudra]] status.}} Even where the shudra designation was adjudged, the Raj courts appear to have sometimes recognised that the Bengali Kayasthas were degraded from an earlier [[kshatriya]] status due to intermarrying with both shudras and slaves ('dasa') which resulted in the common Bengali Kayastha surname of 'Das'.<ref name="bellenoit174">{{cite book|first=Hayden J. |last=Bellenoit|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|pages= 173–176}}</ref> The last completed [[census of India prior to independence|census of the British Raj]] (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. [[Dwija]],<ref name="ashwani"/> and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.<ref name="bellenoit174" />

Other than literature by Europeans such as [[Max Müller]] and others, several Hindu religious scriptures and Hindu scholars' opinions were also used by the courts to decide the varna as well as make decisions in the specific cases. The Hindu texts referenced were ''[[Mitākṣarā]]'', the [[Padma Purana|''Padmapurāṇa'']], “original ''Vyavashta'' of the Pundits of Kashmir”, [[Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik]]'s books, (8th to 5th century BC authored) ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'', ''[[Vīramitrodaya]]'' (17th century), [[Bhavishya Purana|''Bhaviṣyapurāṇa'']], [[Skanda Purana|Skandapurāṇa]], ''Vivādacintāmaṇi'' of [[Vāchaspati Misra]], Sanskrit Professor Sarvadhikari's literature, ''Dattakamīmāṃsā'', Shyamcharan Sarkar’s ''Vyavasthādarpaṇa'', etc. Some contemporary Hindu scholars referenced (as witnesses in person or indirectly by their writings) were two Benaras Pandits(Nityananda and Bast Ram Dube), Raja Ram Shastra( a Benares Sanskrit College professor, well versed in Hindu [[Dharmaśāstras]]) and [[Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik]].<ref name="bellenoit2023">{{cite journal|title=Legal Limbo and Caste Consternation: Determining Kayasthas' Varna Rank in Indian Law Courts, 1860–1930|author=Bellenoit H.|date= March 9, 2023|journal=Law and History Review|volume=41 |pages=43–63|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0738248023000056 |s2cid=257448600 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–1812, botanist and zoologist [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Francis Buchanan]] had recorded the Kayastha of that region as "pure shudra" and accordingly kept them at the par with other producer caste groups like goldsmiths, [[Ahir]]s, [[Kurmi]]s and the [[Koeri]]s. William Pinch, in his study of [[Ramanandi Sampradaya]] in the north describes the emergence of the concept of "pure Shudra" in growing need of physical contact with some of the low caste groups who were producer and seller of essential commodities or were the provider of services without which the self sufficiency of rural society couldn't persist. However, many of these adopted Vaishnavism in the aim to become Kshatriya. In 1901 Bihar census, Kayasthas of the area were classified along with Brahmins and Rajputs in Bihar as "other castes of twice-born rank"<ref name="William Pinch ">{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7cwDwAAQBAJ&q=pesant+and+monk|pages=73–75, 82–83|quote=(index)108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; (pg)Bhagvan Prasad's ministrations reflected his own personal interpretation of the social mandate implicit in the religious message of Ramanand. However, Ramanandi ambivalence toward caste emerged in discussions about the prescribed stages of a sadhu's entry into the sampraday. In his biography of Bhagvan Prasad, Sahay expressed the view that originally anyone (including untouchables) could have become Ramanandi sadhus, but that by his time (the early 1900s), "Ramanandis bring disciples from only those jatis from whom water can be taken.”[107] For those designated shudra by the elite, this phrase, “from whom water can be taken," was a common enough euphemism for a person of "pure shudra" status, with whom restricted physical contact could be made. From the elite perspective, such physical contact would have occurred in the course of consuming goods and services common in everyday life; the designation "pure shudra" implied a substantial body of "impure"—hence untouchable—people with whom physical contact was both unnecessary and improper. Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweet vendors), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel leaves), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parchers), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds). As a result of their very public campaign for kshatriya status in the last quarter of the century, not to mention their substantial economic and political clout, Kayasths were classified along with "Babhans" and Rajputs as "other castes of twice-born rank" in the 1901 census hierarchy for Bihar.}}</ref> According to Arun Sinha, there was a strong current since the end of the 19th century among [[Shudra]]s of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s of having "dvija" status. The education and economic advancement made by some of the former Shudra castes enabled them to seek the higher prestige and ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]'' status. Sinha further mentions that the Kayasthas of Bihar along with the [[Bhumihar]]s were first among the shudras to attain the recognition as "upper caste" leaving the other aspirational castes to aspire for the same.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=93 |publisher=Viking | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA93 | access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>

The Raj era rulings were based largely upon the theories of [[Herbert Hope Risley]], who had conducted extensive studies on castes and tribes of the [[Bengal Presidency]]. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]] and the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] repeatedly challenged this classification by producing a flood of books, pamphlets, family histories and journals to pressurise the government to recognise them as kshatriya and to reform the caste practices in the directions of [[sanskritisation]] and [[westernisation]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Structure and Change in India Society |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2007 |orig-year=1968 |chapter=Mobility in the Nineteenth-century Caste System |first=William L. |last=Rowe |editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Singer |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-last=Cohn |isbn=978-0-202-36138-3 |page=202 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&pg=PA202}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=I find it hard to believe they pressurised the govt to reform their caste practises - surely the caste do that, not the govt|date=April 2020}}
Rowe's opinion has been challenged, with arguments that it is based on "factual and interpretative errors", and criticised for making "unquestioned assumptions" about the Kayastha Sanskritisation and westernisation movement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=Caste conflict and elite formation: The rise of a Karāva elite in Sri Lanka, 1500-1931 |date=1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521052856 |pages=187 |chapter=Casteism in South Asian politics during British times: Emergent cultural typifications or elite fictions?|quote=Lucy Carroll has revealed how one cannot identify a temporal evolution from Sanskritist sacred goals to Westernised secular aims because the strategies of caste associations were mixed [...] She indicates that several of the apparently Sanskritist ascetic reforms advocated by caste associations derived from the influence of Victorian puritanism and other Western values [...] In three articles: 1975, 1977 and 1978. In these essays she also pinpoints factual and interpretative errors in William L. Rowe's presentation of the Kayastha movement. |id=[Chapter 7: pp. 180-224]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title =The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|first = Lucy Carol |last=Stout|publisher = University of California, Berkeley|year=1976}}</ref>

In post-Raj assessments, the Bengali Kayasthas, alongside [[Bengali Brahmins]], have been described as the "highest Hindu castes".<ref>{{cite book|first=Ronald B. |last=Inden|author-link=Ronald Inden|title=Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC&pg=PA1|year=1976|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02569-1|page=1}}</ref> After the Muslim conquest of India, they absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynasties{{mdash}}including the [[Sena dynasty|Sena]], [[Pala Empire|Pala]], [[Candra|Chandra]], and [[Varman dynasty|Varman]]{{mdash}}and, in this way, became the region's surrogate kshatriya or "warrior" class. During British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, the Bengali Brahmins and the [[Baidya]]s considered themselves to be ''Bhadralok'', a term coined in Bengal for the [[gentry]] or respectable people. This was based on their perceived refined culture, prestige and education.<ref name="RiseofIslam">{{cite book|first=Richard Maxwell |last=Eaton|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC|year=1996|publisher=University of California Press|pages=102–103|isbn=978-0-52020-507-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Tamil Brahmans: The making of a middle caste|page=212|first1=C. J. |last1=Fuller |first2=Haripriya|last2=Narasimhan|publisher =University of Chicago Press|year=2014|isbn=9780226152882|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=r7KjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|quote=In Bengal, the new middle class emergent under the British rule styled itself 'bhadralok', the gentry or "respectable people", and its principal constituents were the three Bengali high castes, Brahmans, Baidyas, and Kayasthas. Moreover, for the Bhadralok, a prestigious, refined culture based on education literacy and artistic skills, and the mastery of the Bengali language, counted for more than caste status itself for their social dominance in Bengal.}}</ref>

Modern scholars like [[John Henry Hutton]] and [[Ronald Inden]]{{efn|According to [[Lloyd Rudolph]] and [[Susanne Rudolph]]}} consider the present varna status of Bengali Kayasthas as 'twice-born',<ref name="RudolphRudolph1984">{{cite book|author1=Lloyd I. Rudolph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7guY1ut-0lwC&pg=PA124|title=The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India|author2=Susanne Hoeber Rudolph|date=15 July 1984|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73137-7|pages=124–|quote=And Ronald Inden confirms, after spending 1964 and part of 1965 in Bengal preparing a dissertation on Kayasthas, that intermarriage is becoming increasingly frequent among the urban sections of the Kayasthas, Brahmans, and Vaidyas, that is, among those Westernized and educated twice-born castes dominating the modern, better-paying, and more prestigious occupations of metropolitan Calcutta and constituting perhaps half of the city's population}}</ref><ref name="Hutton1961">{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=John Henry| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuHUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22twice%2Bborn%22|title=Caste in India: Its Nature, Function, and Origins|publisher=Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|year=1961|page=65}}</ref> while [[Julius J. Lipner]] considers their varna as disputed.<ref name="Lipner2009">{{cite book|last=Lipner|first=Julius J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-Y6QkumxEgC&pg=PA172|title=Debi Chaudhurani, or The Wife Who Came Home|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-973824-3|page=172}}</ref>

According to Christian Novetzke, in medieval India, Kayastha in certain parts were considered either as Brahmins or equal to Brahmins.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christian Lee|last= Novetzke |title=The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India|year=2016|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=159|isbn=9780231175807}}</ref> Several religious councils and institutions have subsequently stated the varna status of CKPs as Kshatriya.<ref name="chib161">{{cite book | title = The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India | author = K. P. Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib | page= 161| publisher=ESS Publications|year=1981| quote= The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus ... They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana ... The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Houghton Mifflin| editor= Harry M. Lindquist|author= Harold Robert Isaacs| title = Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission| year = 1970| page = 88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective|author= André Béteille|year= 1992|isbn=0195630661|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=48}}</ref>

==Socio-economic condition==
In 2023, [[Government of Bihar]] published the data of [[2022 Bihar caste-based survey]]. It showed that amongst the [[Forward caste|Forward castes]] of [[Bihar]], Kayastha was the most prosperous one with lowest poverty. Out of total families of Kayasthas residing in the state, only 13.38% were poor. The community totally numbered 1,70,985 families, out of which 23,639 families were poor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhelari |first=Amit |date=2023-11-07 |title=Bihar caste-based survey report {{!}} Poverty highest among Scheduled Castes, lowest among Kayasths |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihars-caste-based-survey-report-shows-yadavs-hold-most-govt-jobs-among-obcs/article67509087.ece |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Kayasthas in Nepal==
The [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Nepal)|Central Bureau of Statistics]] of Nepal classifies the Kayastha as a subgroup within the broader social group of [[Madheshi people|Madheshi]] Brahmin/Chhetri (together with Terai [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s).<ref>[https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II]</ref> At the time of the [[2011 Nepal census]], 44,304 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Kayastha. The frequency of Kayasthas by province was as follows:
* [[Madhesh Province]] (0.5%)
* [[Lumbini Province]] (0.2%)
* [[Bagmati Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Koshi Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Gandaki Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Karnali Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Sudurpashchim Province]] (0.0%)

The frequency of Kayasthas was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:<ref>[https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf 2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report]</ref>
* [[Parsa District|Parsa]] (1.0%)
* [[Dhanusha District|Dhanusha]] (0.8%)
* [[Banke District|Banke]] (0.6%)
* [[Mahottari District|Mahottari]] (0.4%)
* [[Morang District|Morang]] (0.4%)
* [[Rautahat District|Rautahat]] (0.4%)
* [[Sarlahi District|Sarlahi]] (0.4%)
* [[Kapilvastu District|Kapilvastu]] (0.3%)
* [[Saptari District|Saptari]] (0.3%)
* [[Siraha District|Siraha]] (0.3%)

==Notable people==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2021}}
This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas.




=== [[List of presidents of India|President of India]] ===
*[[Rajendra Prasad]]

=== [[List of prime ministers of India|Prime Minister of India]] ===
*[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]

=== [[List of current Indian chief ministers|Chief Ministers]] ===
* [[Krishna Ballabh Sahay]]
* [[Mahamaya Prasad Sinha]]
* [[Uddhav Thackeray]]
* [[Shiv Charan Mathur]]
* [[Nabakrushna Choudhuri]]
* [[Biju Patnaik]]
* [[Biren Mitra]]
* [[Janaki Ballabh Patnaik]]
* [[Naveen Patnaik]]
* [[Sampurnanand]]
* [[Jyoti Basu]]



=== Others ===
* [[Sri Aurobindo]], Indian philosopher, yogi and nationalist<ref>{{cite conference|last=Aall|first=Ingrid|year=1971|editor2=Mary Jane Beech|location=East Lansing|publisher=Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University|page=32|oclc=258335|quote=Aurobindo's father, Dr Krishnadhan Ghose, came from a Kayastha family associated with the village of Konnagar in Hooghly District near Calcutta, Dr. Ghose had his medical training in Edinburgh...|editor1=Robert Paul Beech|book-title=Bengal: change and continuity, Issues 16–20}}</ref>
* [[Nagendranath Basu]], historian and editor<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chakravarty|first=Ishita|date=2019-10-01|title=Owners, creditors and traders: Women in late colonial Calcutta|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=56|issue=4|pages=427–456|doi=10.1177/0019464619873800|s2cid=210540783|issn=0019-4646}}</ref>
*[[Shankar Abaji Bhise]] (1867–1935), scientist and inventor with 200 inventions and 40 patents. The American scientific community referred to him as the "Indian Edison".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=45 |issue=42 |date=16 October 2010 |pages=67–74 |jstor=20787477 |last=Dhimatkar |first=Abhidha |title=The Indian Edison}}</ref>
* [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]], Indian scientist<ref>{{cite book | title = Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore | year = 2007 | author=Gosling}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2020}}
*Satyendra Nath Bose<ref>{{cite book|title=Satyendra Nath Bose|page=12
|author1 = Santimay Chatterjee|author2=Enakshi Chatterjee|year=1976|publisher=National Book Trust, India| quote=Satyendra Nath was born in Calcutta on the first of January, 1894, in a high caste Kayastha family with two generations of English education behind him.}}</ref> Known for his work on [[quantum mechanics]], for developing the foundation of [[Bose–Einstein statistics|Bose statistics]] and the theory of the [[Bose–Einstein condensate|Bose condensate]]. The class of particles that obey Bose statistics, [[boson]]s, was named after Bose by [[Paul Dirac]].<ref>{{Citation | title = Notes on Dirac's lecture ''Developments in Atomic Theory'' at Le Palais de la Découverte, 6 December 1945 | series = UKNATARCHI Dirac Papers | id = BW83/2/257889 | at = p. 331, note 64 | contribution = The Strangest Man | first = Graham | last = Farmelo}}.</ref><ref name="Sean2013">{{cite book | author=Miller, Sean | title=Strung Together: The Cultural Currency of String Theory as a Scientific Imaginary | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXTcSoXEZNUC&pg=PA63 | date=18 March 2013 | publisher=University of Michigan Press | isbn=978-0-472-11866-3 | page=63 }}</ref>
* [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]<ref>{{cite book|first1=A. |last1=Pelinka |first2=R. |last2=Schell|title=Democracy Indian Style: Subhas Chandra Bose and the Creation of India's Political Culture|publisher=Transaction Publishers| year=2003| page=32 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6gLpMf5-jwC&pg=PA32|isbn=978-07-6580-186-9}}</ref>
*[[Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal]] (1857–1933), Indian origin British era Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Member of Executive Council of Governor of Bombay in 1912 and Member of Royal Commission on Public Services in India.<ref>{{cite book | title = Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri: Being the Third Part of the Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant and the Third Part of a Voyage Round the World by Dr. John Francis Gemelli Careri|first=Surendra Nath |last=Sen| year =1949|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1gluAAAAMAAJ&q=mahadev%20chaubal}}</ref>
* [[Har Dayal]], Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the [[Ghadar party]] in the USA<ref>{{cite book|last=Sareen|first=Tilakraj|title=Select Documents on the Ghadr Party |year=1994|publisher=Mounto Publishing House|page=20}}</ref>
*[[C. D. Deshmukh]] (1896–1982), first recipient of the [[Jagannath Sankarseth|Jagannath Shankarseth Sanskrit Scholarship]], topper of [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|ICS Examination]], first Indian Governor of [[Reserve Bank of India|RBI]], first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the [[University of Delhi]]<ref>{{cite book |title=South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia |first=Yogendra K. |last=Malik |page=63 |publisher=Heritage |year=1981}}</ref>
*[[Baji Prabhu Deshpande]] (1615–1660), commander of [[Shivaji Maharaj]]'s forces who along with his brother died defending [[Vishalgad]] in 1660<ref name="kantak">{{cite journal |last=Kantak |first=M. R.|title=The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji Maharaj's Swarajya |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1978 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=40–56|jstor=42931051}}</ref>
*[[Murarbaji|Murarbaji Deshpande]] (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of [[Purandar fort|Purandar]] against the Mughals in 1665<ref name="kantak" />
*[[Jayaprakash Narayan]] (1902 -1979) - freedom fighter, social reformer and anti-corruption campaigner<ref name="Das2005">{{cite book|first=Sandip |last=Das|title=Jayaprakash Narayan: A Centenary Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9U0LiT3dtMC&pg=PA109|year=2005|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-001-7|page=109}}</ref>
*[[Bipin Chandra Pal]], Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of [[Lal Bal Pal]] triumvirate<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian War of Independence (1857–1947)|quote=Bipin Chandra Pal (1858–1932) a patriot, nationalist politician, renowned orator, journalist, and writer. Bipin Chandra Pal was born on 7 November 1858 in Sylhet in a wealthy Hindu Kayastha family|first=M. K. |last=Singh|year=2009|page=130|publisher= Anmol Publications}}</ref>
*[[Aba Parasnis|Vithal Sakharam Parasnis]] (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian [[James Grant Duff]]; author of the Sanskrit "karma kalpadrum"(manual for Hindu rituals); first head of the school opened by Pratapsimha to teach Sanskrit to the boys of the Maratha caste<ref>{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Israel |editor2-first=N. K. |editor2-last=Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|page=166}}</ref>
* [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Devdutt Pattanaik: Descendants of Chitragupta |url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/devdutt-pattanaik-descendants-of-chitragupta/19083152 |access-date=17 March 2020 |work=mid-day |date=18 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Premchand]] (1880–1936) – author in Hindi language<ref>{{cite book|last = Gupta|first = Prakash Chandra|title=Makers of Indian Literature: Prem Chand|year = 1998|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0428-7|page=7}}</ref>
*[[Sachchidananda Sinha]], lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of [[Bihar]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Ashwani |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |date=2008 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-709-8 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA33}}</ref>
*[[Mahadevi Varma]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Schomer |first=Karine |year=1998 |title=Mahadevi Varma and the Chhayavad Age of Modern Hindi Poetry |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-564450-6}}</ref>
*[[Bhagwati Charan Verma]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0140276637|title=In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography|last=Bachchan|first=Harivansh Rai|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1998|isbn=9780670881581|location=India}}</ref>
*[[Swami Vivekananda]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Banhatti|first=G. S.|title=Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors| year=1995| page=1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jK5862eV7_EC|isbn=978-81-7156-291-6}}</ref>
* [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], author of ''Autobiography of a Yogi''<ref>Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3</ref>


==See also==
*[[Karan (caste)|Karana]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|first=Asok |last=Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations)|title=The tribes and castes of West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bTUAAAAMAAJ|year=1953|publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Print. West Bengal Govt. Press}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32aMey7k-IYC|title=Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad|last=Leonard|first=Karen Isaksen|year=1994|publisher=Orient BlackSwan|isbn=978-81-250-0032-7}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Bengali Hindu people}}
{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}
{{Ethnic groups and Communities of Odisha}}

[[Category:Kayastha| ]]
[[Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]]
[[Category:Social groups of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jharkhand]]
[[Category:Social groups of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindu castes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Social groups of Odisha]]

Kayastha

2024-02-20T05:53:46Z

Timovinga: /* In Soḍḍhala’s account */ Unsourced information, I added CN tag previously but no editor provided any citation for that.

{{short description|Community of India}}
{{Redirect|Darad|decarad|darad (angular unit)}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox caste
|caste_name=Kayastha
|subdivisions={{ubl|[[Bengali Kayastha]], [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]], [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]] and [[Karan Kayastha]]
|populated_states=[[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Assam]], [[Delhi]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]], [[Orissa]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Maharashtra]]
|religions= Majority: [[Hinduism]] Minority: [[Islam]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jahanara |title=Muslim kayasthas of India |date=2005 |publisher=K.K. Publications |location=Allahabad, India |oclc=255708448 |language=English |id=Monographic study of an anthropological investigation of the Muslim Kayasthas with special reference to Uttar Pradesh}}</ref>}}|image=Calcuttakayasth.jpg|caption="Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by [[Frans Balthazar Solvyns]]|image_size=160px}}

'''Kayastha''' or '''Kayasth''' denotes a cluster of disparate [[South Asian ethnic groups|Indian]] communities broadly categorised by the regions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] in which they were traditionally located{{mdash}}the [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]]s of [[North India]], the [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s of [[Maharashtra]], the [[Bengali Kayastha]]s of [[Bengal]] and [[Karan (caste)|Karanas]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Biswarup |date=1980 |title=KAYASTHAS AND KARANAS IN ORISSA—A STUDY ON INSCRIPTIONS— |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141924 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=41 |pages=940–944 |jstor=44141924 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raut |first=L.N. |title=Jati Formation in Early Medieval Orissa: Reflection on Karana (Kayastha Caste) |date=2004 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144743 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=65 |pages=304–308 |jstor=44144743 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> of [[Odisha]]. All of them were traditionally considered "writing [[caste]]s", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Imam|first=Faitma|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/755414244|title=India today : An encyclopedia of life in the republic. Vol. 1, A–K|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|others=Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long|isbn=978-0-313-37463-0|location=Santa Barbara|pages=403–405|oclc=755414244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Leonard|first=Karen|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60856154|title=Encyclopedia of India|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2006|isbn=0-684-31349-9|editor-last=Wolpert|editor-first=Stanley|location=Detroit|pages=22|oclc=60856154|quote=All three were "writing castes", traditionally serving the ruling powers as administrators and record keepers.}}</ref>

The earliest known reference to the term ''Kayastha'' dates back to the [[Kushan Empire]],<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> when it evolved into a common name for a writer or [[scribe]].<ref name=":162">{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Chitrarekha|date=1983|title=The writers' class of ancient India—a case study in social mobility|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001946468302000203|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20|issue=2|pages=194|doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |quote=The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one ... the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history}}</ref> In the [[Sanskrit]] literature and [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]], it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|pages=18–19|language=en|quote=Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions—i.e., as a term for the various state officials ... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units and that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.}}</ref> In this context, the term possibly derived from {{lang|und|kaya-}} ('principal, capital, treasury') and -{{lang|und|stha}} ('to stay') and perhaps originally stood for an officer of the royal treasury, or revenue department.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=20|language=en|quote=In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from ... ''kaya'' (principal, capital, treasury) and ''stha'', to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.}}</ref><ref name="Visvanat 2014"/>

Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around [[Scribe|scribal]] services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term "secretary". They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfill responsibilities in all these venues.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davidson|first=Ronald M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/808346313|title=Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-231-50889-6|location=New York|pages=179|oclc=808346313}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Carroll|first=Lucy|date=February 1978|title=Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=37|issue=2|pages=233–250|doi=10.2307/2054164|jstor=2054164|s2cid=146635639 }}</ref> Kayasthas, along with [[Brahmin]]s, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-medieval India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191849214|title=History of medieval India : 800–1700|publisher=Orient Longman|year=2007|isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|location=Hyderabad, India|pages=50|oclc=191849214|quote=There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas ... The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.}}</ref>

Modern scholars list them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside [[Khatri|Punjabi Khatris]], [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s, [[Parsis]], [[Nagar Brahmin]]s of Gujarat, [[Bhadralok|Bengali Bhadraloks]], [[Chitpawan]]s and [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKPs) of Maharashtra, South-Indian Brahmins including [[Deshastha Brahmin]]s from Southern parts of India and upper echelons of the [[Muslim]] as well as [[Christian]] communities that made up the [[middle class]] at the time of [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Indian independence]] in 1947.<ref name=":13">{{cite book|author=Pavan K. Varma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|title=The Great Indian Middle class|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2007|isbn=9780143103257|page=28|quote=its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc] ... The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan-Indian elite ... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite book|author1=Paul Wallace|title=Region and nation in India|author2=Richard Leonard Park|publisher=Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.|year=1985|quote=During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=D. L. Sheth|url=https://www.csds.in/d_l_sheth}}</ref>

==Origins==
=== Etymology ===
According to [[Merriam-Webster]], the word ''Kāyastha'' is probably formed from the [[Sanskrit]] ''kāya'' (body), and the suffix ''-stha'' (standing, being in).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kayasth|title=Kayastha|website=Merriam-Webster.com|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref>

=== As a class of administrators ===
As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged as a 'class of administrators' between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of Indian history. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the "rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation".<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Vanina|first=Eugenia|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794922930|title=Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man|date=2012|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-19-1|location=New Delhi|pages=178|oclc=794922930|quote=This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like community...}}</ref><ref name="Visvanat 2014">{{Cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Meera|title=From the 'lekhaka' to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)|date=2014 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158358 |volume=75|pages=34–40|jstor=44158358|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The term also finds mention in an inscription of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] emperor [[Kumaragupta I]], dated to 442 CE, in which ''prathama-kāyastha'' ({{translation|'chief officer'}}) is used as an administrative designation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|page=858|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]], also from the Gupta era, and the [[Vishnu Smriti]] describe ''kayasthas'' as record-keepers and accountants, but not as {{lang|sa|[[jāti]]}} ([[caste]] or clan).<ref name="bellenoit">{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEMlDgAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134494361|pages=69–70}}</ref> Similarly, the term ''Kayastha'' is used in the works of [[Kshemendra]], [[Kalhana]] and [[Bilhana]] to refer to members of [[bureaucracy]] varying from {{lang|und|Gṛhakṛtyamahattama}} ({{translation|'the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs'}}) to the {{lang|und|Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha}} ({{translation|'officer in charge of the fodder for horses'}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A Note on the Kāyasthas of Early-Mediaeval Kāśmīra |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref>

According to [[Romila Thapar]], the offices that demanded formal education including that of a ''kayastha'' were generally occupied by the "''[[Brahmin]]s'', revenue collectors, [[treasurer]]s and those concerned with legal matters".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=191–204 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=According to Romila Thapar, the offices which required formal education were usually occupied by the Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters belonged to this category. She says that the same was probably true of the important but less exalted rank of scribes, recorders and accountants.}}</ref>

=== In Buddhist association ===
According to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that [[Buddhist]]s, in their effort to create an educated non-[[Brahmin]] class, strove to popularize the utility of education and fostered those vocations that required a knowledge of writing. This is corroborated in [[Udāna]], where the ''lekha-sippa'' ('craft of writing'), was regarded as the highest of all the crafts. It is also backed by the fact that the earliest epigraphical records mentioning ''lekhaka'' ('writer') or ''kayastha'' have been made in association with [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=193–194 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |via=SAGE}}</ref>

=== As an independent guild of professionals ===
It is possible that ''kayasthas'' may have started out as a separate profession, similar to [[bank]]ers, [[merchant]]s, and [[artisan]]s. As suggested in certain epigraphs, they had a representative in the district-level administration, along with those of bankers and merchants. This is also implied in {{lang|sa|[[Mudrarakshasa]]}}, where a ''kayastha'' would work for any man who paid his wages on time. Possibly secular knowledge, like writing, administration, and jurisprudence, was monopolised by a non-Brahmin professional elite that later came be referred as ''kayasthas''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001946468302000203?journalCode=iera |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=195 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=They seem to have had guilds of their own and the head of the guild, the prathama-kayastha, represented his class in the administration of the city. The profession of the kàyasthas, like those of the bankers, merchants and the artisans, was an independent one and was not necessarily associated with the king and his court....Thus it may be assumed that while the Brahmanas were engaged in studying religious literature, secular knowledge of document writing, etc., was the monopoly of a professional group, who came to be called Kayasthas.}}</ref>

==History==
=== From classical to early-medieval India ===
The Kayasthas, at least as an office, played an important role in administering the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Northern India]] from the Gupta period.<ref>{{Citation |last=Sahu |first=Bhairabi Prasad |title=Commerce and the Agrarian Empires: Northern India |date=2021 |url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-596 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.596 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 |quote=The Gupta period witnessed the rise of the writers’ class (Kayastha/Karana) with other symmetrical developments such as the spread of local state formation. Besides maintaining records, they also helped the administration of justice and commercial activities.}}</ref> The earliest evidence comes from a [[Mathura]] inscription of [[Vasudeva I]], composed by a Kayastha [[Śramaṇa]].<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> From this point we find, the term ''kayastha'' occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor [[Kumaragupta I]] as ''prathama-kāyastha,<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal |last=Shah |first=K. K. |year=1993 |title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=54 |page=858 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44143088}}</ref>'' as ''karaṇa-kāyastha'' in [[Vainyagupta|Vainayagupta]]’s inscription,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. (Ramesh Chandra), 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=395 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> and as ''gauḍa-kāyastha'' in an Apshadha inscription dated 672 CE.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960">{{Cite book |last=Mazumdar |first=Bhakat Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFJKAAAAMAAJ |title=Socio-economic history of northern India (1030-1194 A.D.)|date=1960 |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |pages=99, 104|oclc=614029099 |language=en |quote=As we have got reference to the Gauda Kayasthas in the Apshad inscription, dated 672 AD...}}</ref>{{rp|104}} The occasional references to individuals of the ''Karaṇa'' caste occupying high government offices are made in inscriptions and literary works too.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Ramesh Chandra, 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The history and culture of the Indian people |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=374 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> Razia Banu has suggested that Brahmin and Kayastha migrants were brought to [[Bengal]] during the reign of the [[Gupta Empire]] to help manage the state affairs.<ref name="Banu 1992">{{cite book |last=Banu |first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC |title=Islam in Bangladesh |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09497-0}}</ref>{{rp|5–6}} According to a legend, a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] King named ''Adisur'' had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from [[Kannauj]] who became an elite sub-group described as [[Kulin Kayastha|Kulin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Luca |first1=Pagani |last2=Bose |first2=Sarmila |last3=Ayub |first3=Qasim |date=2017 |title=Kayasthas of Bengal |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2017/47/special-articles/kayasthas-bengal.html |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language=en |volume=52 |issue=47 |pages=44 |quote=...which claimed that the Bengali King Adisur had invited five Brahmins from Kannauj, an ancient city in the northern Gangetic plains located in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to migrate to Bengal, in eastern India. According to legend, these five Brahmins from Kannauj were accompanied by five Kayasthas, who became an "elite" subgroup described as "kulin" among the Kayasthas of Bengal...}}</ref> However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960"/>{{rp|99}}

From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas had started to consolidate into a distinct caste.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R.C. |url=http://archive.org/details/struggleforempir05bhar |title=History and Culture of the Indian People |date=2001 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |others=Public Resource |editor-last=Ramakrishnan |editor-first=S. |volume=5 |pages=477 |quote=We have seen that the Kayasthas as a caste (as distinguished from the profession called by that name) can be traced back with the help of literary and epigraphic records to the latter half of the ninth century.}}</ref> This is evident from a epigraphic record dated 871 CE of the King [[Amoghavarsha]] that mentions a branch of Kayasthas referred to as ''vālabhya-kāyastha''. The author of the [[Sanskrit]] work ''Udayasundarī-kathā'' also referred to himself as ''vālabhya-kayāstha'' and characterized Kayasthas as 'ornaments of the [[Kshatriya|Kṣatriyas]]'.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The ''Kayastha'' appears as a figure in Act IX of the {{lang|sa|[[Mṛcchakatika]]}}, ''a kāyastha'' is shown accompanying a judge (''adhikaraṇika'') and assisting him. In Act V there is mention that:<ref name="Visvanat 2014" />

{{Cquote
| quote = Moreover, O friend, a courtesan, an elephant, a Kayastha, a mendicant, a spy and a donkey—where these dwell, there not even villains can flourish.
}}

In {{lang|sa|[[Mudrarakshasa]]}}, a Kayastha named ''Śakaṭadāsa'' is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the [[Nanda Empire|Nanda]] King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title ''Ārya'' added to the name of ''Śakaṭadāsa'' implies that he was a member of the nobility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=196 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |issn=0019-4646 |s2cid=144941948}}</ref> Another Kayastha called ''Acala'' is the scribe of [[Chanakya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deshpande |first=R. R. |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.csl.8864 |title=Visakhadattaʼs Mudraraksasa |date=1948 |publisher=Popular book Store, Surat |pages=ii}}</ref>

In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term ''kayastha'' denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. [[Kshemendra|Kshemendra’s]] ''Narmamālā'' composed during the reign of [[Ananta (king)|Ananta]] (1028-1063 CE) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included ''Gṛhakṛtyadhipati,'' ''Paripālaka'', ''Mārgapati'', ''Gañja-divira'', ''Āsthāna-divira'', ''Nagara-divira'', ''Lekhakopādhya'' and {{Lang|sa|Niyogi}}. Kalhana’s [[Rajatarangini|Rājataraṃgiṇī]] ('The River of Kings') and [[Bilhana]]'s ''Vikramāṅkadevacarita'' ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A NOTE ON THE KĀYASTHAS OF EARLY-MEDIAEVAL KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140901 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kalhana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzxTkI9iAxkC |title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-20-80370-1 |editor-last=Stein |editor-first=Sir Marc Aurel |pages=8, 39, 45}}</ref> It is also mentioned that father of [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] of the [[Karkota dynasty|Karkota Dynasty]], Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of ''Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1957 |title=ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN EARLY KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44082819 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=38 |issue=3/4 |pages=176 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=44082819 |quote=He also mentions the names of a few of the minor offices which had come into existence in the meantime. One of these was the office of the avaghasa-kayąstha, (fodderer for the horses) a position held for sometime by Durlabhavardhana.}}</ref>

Kayasthas have been authors of several [[Sanskrit]] texts too.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 1. Some important Sanskrit works authored by the ''Kayasthas''
!Work(s)
!Genre(s)
!Author
!Author's lineage
!Date
|-
|[[Ramacharitam|''Rāmacarita'']]
|Biography
|Sandhyākaranandin
|[[Karan Kayastha|Karana]]<ref name=":21">{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536567 |title=The past before us : historical traditions of early north India |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=498 |oclc=859536567 |quote=He states that he comes from a family of scribes, his caste being karana (kāyastha).}}</ref>
|12th c.
|-
|''Udayasundarī Kathā''
|''[[Champu]]''
|Soḍḍhala
|Vālabhya<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last1=Ghosh |first1=Jogendra Chandra |last2=Ghosh |first2=Jogesh Chandra |date=1931 |title=GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41688244 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=197–205 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=41688244}}</ref>
|11th c.
|-
|''Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu''
|Medicine, ''[[Tantra]]''
|Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa
|[[Nigam|Naigama]]<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last=O’Hanlon |first=Rosalind |date=2010 |title=The social worth of scribes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946461004700406 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=583 |doi=10.1177/001946461004700406 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=..Kayastha Camunda, a kayastha of the Naigama community, son of Kumbha and protégé of king Rajamalla of Mewad.. |s2cid=145071541}}</ref>
|15th c.
|-
|''Kṛtyakalpataru''
|Administration
|Lakṣmīdhara
|[[Srivastava|Vāstavya]]<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=H T Colebrooke |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142316 |title=A Digest Of Hindu Law On Contracts And Successions Vol-I |date=1898 |pages=xvii |quote=Lachmidhara composed a treatise on administrative justice by command of Govindachandra a king of Casi, sprung from the Vastava race of Cayasthas...}}</ref>
|12th c.
|}

==== In Brahmanical literature ====
Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in [[Brahmin|Brahmanical]] religious writings dating back to the seventh-century.<ref name="IT20112">{{cite book |last=Imam |first=Fatima A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405 |title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=9780313374623 |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor1-first=Arnold P. |pages=404–405 |editor2-last=Long |editor2-first=Roger D.}}</ref> In these texts, some described Kayasthas as [[Kshatriya]]s, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with [[Brahmin]] and [[Shudra]] components. This was probably an attempt by the Brahmins to rationalize their rank in the traditional caste hierarchy and perhaps a later invention rather than a historical fact.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=India - The Rajputs |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |quote=A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas...According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/753563817 |title=A History of India |date=1998 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-194976-5 |volume=1 |location=New Delhi |pages=99 |oclc=753563817 |quote=Some described them as kshatriyas , others ascribed their origin to a brahman-shudra combination. The mixed-caste origin ascribed to them may well have been a later invention of those who had to fit them into a caste hierarchy.}}</ref>

=== Late medieval India ===

After the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquest of India]], they mastered [[Persian language|Persian]], which became the official language of the Mughal courts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballbanlilar |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC&pg=PA59 |title=Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia |publisher=I.B. Taurus & Co., Ltd. |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84885-726-1 |page=59}}</ref> Some converted to [[Islam]] and formed the [[Muslim Kayasths|Muslim Kayasth]] community in [[North India|northern India]].

Bengali Kayasthas had been the dominant landholding caste prior to the Muslim conquest, and continued this role under Muslim rule. Indeed, Muslim rulers had from a very early time confirmed the Kayasthas in their ancient role as landholders and political intermediaries.<ref name="RiseofIslam" />

Bengali Kayasthas served as treasury officials and ''[[Vizier|wazirs]]'' (government ministers) under Mughal rule. Political scientist U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu writes that, partly because of [[List of rulers of Bengal#Muslim rule|Muslim sultans]]' satisfaction with them as technocrats, many Bengali Kayasthas in the administration became ''[[zamindar]]s'' and ''[[jagirdar]]s''. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu ''zamindars'' in Bengal were Kayasthas.<ref name="Banu 1992"/>{{rp|24–25}}

[[Pratapaditya|Maharaja Pratapaditya]], the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Dipesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMEECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |title=The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-226-10045-6 |page=139}}</ref>

===British India===
[[File:Ramanand_Kayastha_in_1901_at_Govindgarh,_Rewa.jpg|thumb|276x276px|A Kayastha employee of the political agent of the [[Bagelkhand Agency]] 1901. ]]
During the British Raj, Kayasthas continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial offices open to Indians.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEQwAQAAIAAJ&q=kayastha+under+british+raj|title=Origin and development of class and caste in India|last=Srivastava |first=Kamal Shankar |year=1998}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}

Bengali Kayasthas took on the role occupied by merchant castes in other parts of India and profited from business contacts with the British. In 1911, for example, Bengali Kayasthas and Bengali Brahmins owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Raymond Lee |last1=Owens |first2=Ashis |last2=Nandy|title=The New Vaisyas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqUcAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Carolina Academic Press|isbn=978-0-89089-057-8|page=81}}</ref>

===Modern India===
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas, Bengali Kayasthas and CKPs were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of [[Independence of India|Indian independence]], that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Indian Middle class|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|first=Pavan K. |last=Varma|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780143103257|year=2007}}</ref>

The Kayasthas today mostly inhabit central, eastern, northern India, and particularly Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first=Surinder Mohan |last=Bhardwaj|title=Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&pg=PA231|year=1983|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04951-2|page=231}}</ref> They are considered a [[Forward Caste]], as they do not qualify for any of the [[Reservation in India|reservation benefits]] allotted to [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]] and [[Other Backward Class]]es that are administered by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=K.|last1=Srinivasan|first2=Sanjay|last2=Kumar|title=Economic and Caste Criteria in Definition of Backwardness|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=34|issue=42/43|jstor=4408536|date=16–23 October 1999|page=3052}}</ref> This classification has increasingly led to feelings of unease and resentment among the Kayasthas, who believe that the communities that benefit from reservation are gaining political power and employment opportunities at their expense. Thus, particularly since the 1990 report of the [[Mandal Commission]] on reservation, Kayastha organisations have been active in areas such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Orissa. These groups are aligning themselves with various political parties to gain political and economic advantages; by 2009 they were demanding 33 percent reservation in government jobs.<ref name="IT2011">{{cite book|editor1-first=Arnold P. |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor2-first=Roger D. |editor2-last=Long|first=Fatima A. |last=Imam|title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313374623|pages=404–405|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405}}</ref>

==Sub-groups==
===Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas===
{{Main|Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha}}

The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a [[myth of origin]] that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god [[Chitragupta]], the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.<ref name="bellenoit"/> The suffix ''-vanshi'' is [[Sanskrit]] and translates as ''belonging to a particular family dynasty''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=vaMza|url=http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?tran_input=vaMza&direct=se&script=hk&link=yes&mode=3|website=Spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref>

At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th century, evidenced by various names being used to describe them in inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|pages=859|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Although at that time, prior to the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent]], they were generally outnumbered by [[Brahmin]]s in the Hindu royal courts of northern India, some among these Kayasthas wrote eulogies for the kings. Of the various regional Kayastha communities it was those of north India who remained most aligned to their role of scribes, whereas in other areas there became more emphasis on commerce.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kumar|first=Saurabh|year=2015|title=Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas|journal=Social Scientist|volume=43|issue=5/6|pages=29–45|jstor=24642345|issn=0970-0293|quote=One thing is clear that by this time, Kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of Kayastha officials.}}</ref>

The group of [[Bhatnagar]], [[Srivastava]], [[Ambashtha]] and [[Saxena]] of [[Doab]] were classified by various [[Indian people|Indian]], [[British Raj|British]] and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/973222959|title=The formation of the colonial state in India: Scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860|year=2017|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|location=Milton Park, Abingdon, UK |page=155 |chapter=Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c. 1860–1900 |oclc=973222959|quote=And while these Bhatnagar, Ambastha, Srivastava and Saxena families were important for the colonial state by the 1860s, they were also beneficiaries of British success and power in India. They shaped the materiality of administration and populated the ranks of the Raj's intermediary enforcement.....by 1900 they were broadly considered by various Indian , British and missionary observers to the most educated and influential of the service castes.}}</ref>

=== Bengali Kayasthas ===
{{Main|Bengali Kayastha}}

In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th-6th centuries and 11th-12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins. They most likely gained the characteristics of a caste under the [[Sena dynasty]].<ref name="AlHind">{{cite book|author=Andre Wink|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC|access-date=3 September 2011|year=1991|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|page=269}}</ref> According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary ''[[Smriti]]s''. Sharma further states:{{blockquote|Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal. Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharma|first=Tej Ram|title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire|year=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=New Delhi |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcnnB-Lx2MAC}}</ref>}}

=== Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas ===
{{Main|Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu}}

In Maharashtra, [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen.<ref name="Hebalkar2001">{{cite book|author=Sharad Hebalkar|title=Ancient Indian Ports: With Special Reference to Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ontAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=978-81-215-0858-2}}</ref> Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as [[Deshpande]]s and [[Gadkari]]s (fort holder, an office similar to that of a [[castellan]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857|page=121|first = B. R. |last=Sunthankar |year= 1988|quote=The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history}}</ref> The CKPs have the [[upanayana]] (thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the [[vedas]] and perform [[vedic]] rituals along with the Brahmins.<ref name="MiltonWagle">{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor=Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|pages=147–170}}</ref>

=== Karanas ===
{{Main|Karan (caste)}}

Karana is a caste found predominantly in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. They are a regional subcaste of Kayastha and traditionally they were the official record-keepers in the royal courts during Medieval times. They represent around 5% of Odia people. The Karanas are a forward caste of Odisha.<ref name="MatthiesNärhi2016">{{cite book|author1=Aila-Leena Matthies|author2=Kati Närhi|title=The Ecosocial Transition of Societies: The contribution of social work and social policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=4 October 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-03460-5|pages=110–}}</ref>

==Varna status==
As the Kayasthas are a non-cohesive group with regional differences rather than a single caste, their position in the Hindu varna system of ritual classification has not been uniform.

This was reflected in Raj era court rulings. Hayden Bellenoit gives details of various Raj era law cases and concludes the varna Kayastha was resolved in those cases by taking into account regional differences and customs followed by the specific community under consideration. Bellenoit disagrees with Rowe, showing that Risley's theories were in fact used ultimately to classify them as Kshatriyas by the British courts. The first case began in 1860 in [[Jaunpur district|Jaunpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] with a property dispute where the [[plaintiff]] was considered an "illegitimate child" by the defendants, a north-Indian Kayastha family. The British court denied inheritance to the child, citing that Kayasthas are Dvija, "twice-born" or "upper-caste" and that the illegitimate children of Dwijas have no rights to inheritance. In the next case in 1875 in the [[Allahabad High Court]], a north Indian Kayastha widow was denied adoption rights as she was an upper-caste i.e. Dwija woman. However, the aforementioned 1884 adoption case and the 1916 property dispute saw the [[Calcutta High Court]] rule that the Bengali Kayasthas were shudras. The Allahabad High Court ruled in 1890 that Kayasthas were Kshatriyas.<ref name="bellenoit174"/><ref name="ashwani">{{cite book |first=Ashwani |last=Kumar |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2008 |page=195}}</ref> Hayden Bellenoit concludes from an analysis of those that {{blockquote|in the suits originating in the Bihari and Doabi heartlands rulings that Kayasthas were of [[twice-born]] status were more likely. Closer to Bengal country, though, the legal rulings tended to assign a [[shudra]] status.}} Even where the shudra designation was adjudged, the Raj courts appear to have sometimes recognised that the Bengali Kayasthas were degraded from an earlier [[kshatriya]] status due to intermarrying with both shudras and slaves ('dasa') which resulted in the common Bengali Kayastha surname of 'Das'.<ref name="bellenoit174">{{cite book|first=Hayden J. |last=Bellenoit|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|pages= 173–176}}</ref> The last completed [[census of India prior to independence|census of the British Raj]] (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. [[Dwija]],<ref name="ashwani"/> and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.<ref name="bellenoit174" />

Other than literature by Europeans such as [[Max Müller]] and others, several Hindu religious scriptures and Hindu scholars' opinions were also used by the courts to decide the varna as well as make decisions in the specific cases. The Hindu texts referenced were ''[[Mitākṣarā]]'', the [[Padma Purana|''Padmapurāṇa'']], “original ''Vyavashta'' of the Pundits of Kashmir”, [[Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik]]'s books, (8th to 5th century BC authored) ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'', ''[[Vīramitrodaya]]'' (17th century), [[Bhavishya Purana|''Bhaviṣyapurāṇa'']], [[Skanda Purana|Skandapurāṇa]], ''Vivādacintāmaṇi'' of [[Vāchaspati Misra]], Sanskrit Professor Sarvadhikari's literature, ''Dattakamīmāṃsā'', Shyamcharan Sarkar’s ''Vyavasthādarpaṇa'', etc. Some contemporary Hindu scholars referenced (as witnesses in person or indirectly by their writings) were two Benaras Pandits(Nityananda and Bast Ram Dube), Raja Ram Shastra( a Benares Sanskrit College professor, well versed in Hindu [[Dharmaśāstras]]) and [[Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik]].<ref name="bellenoit2023">{{cite journal|title=Legal Limbo and Caste Consternation: Determining Kayasthas' Varna Rank in Indian Law Courts, 1860–1930|author=Bellenoit H.|date= March 9, 2023|journal=Law and History Review|volume=41 |pages=43–63|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0738248023000056 |s2cid=257448600 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–1812, botanist and zoologist [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Francis Buchanan]] had recorded the Kayastha of that region as "pure shudra" and accordingly kept them at the par with other producer caste groups like goldsmiths, [[Ahir]]s, [[Kurmi]]s and the [[Koeri]]s. William Pinch, in his study of [[Ramanandi Sampradaya]] in the north describes the emergence of the concept of "pure Shudra" in growing need of physical contact with some of the low caste groups who were producer and seller of essential commodities or were the provider of services without which the self sufficiency of rural society couldn't persist. However, many of these adopted Vaishnavism in the aim to become Kshatriya. In 1901 Bihar census, Kayasthas of the area were classified along with Brahmins and Rajputs in Bihar as "other castes of twice-born rank"<ref name="William Pinch ">{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7cwDwAAQBAJ&q=pesant+and+monk|pages=73–75, 82–83|quote=(index)108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; (pg)Bhagvan Prasad's ministrations reflected his own personal interpretation of the social mandate implicit in the religious message of Ramanand. However, Ramanandi ambivalence toward caste emerged in discussions about the prescribed stages of a sadhu's entry into the sampraday. In his biography of Bhagvan Prasad, Sahay expressed the view that originally anyone (including untouchables) could have become Ramanandi sadhus, but that by his time (the early 1900s), "Ramanandis bring disciples from only those jatis from whom water can be taken.”[107] For those designated shudra by the elite, this phrase, “from whom water can be taken," was a common enough euphemism for a person of "pure shudra" status, with whom restricted physical contact could be made. From the elite perspective, such physical contact would have occurred in the course of consuming goods and services common in everyday life; the designation "pure shudra" implied a substantial body of "impure"—hence untouchable—people with whom physical contact was both unnecessary and improper. Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweet vendors), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel leaves), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parchers), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds). As a result of their very public campaign for kshatriya status in the last quarter of the century, not to mention their substantial economic and political clout, Kayasths were classified along with "Babhans" and Rajputs as "other castes of twice-born rank" in the 1901 census hierarchy for Bihar.}}</ref> According to Arun Sinha, there was a strong current since the end of the 19th century among [[Shudra]]s of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s of having "dvija" status. The education and economic advancement made by some of the former Shudra castes enabled them to seek the higher prestige and ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]'' status. Sinha further mentions that the Kayasthas of Bihar along with the [[Bhumihar]]s were first among the shudras to attain the recognition as "upper caste" leaving the other aspirational castes to aspire for the same.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=93 |publisher=Viking | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA93 | access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>

The Raj era rulings were based largely upon the theories of [[Herbert Hope Risley]], who had conducted extensive studies on castes and tribes of the [[Bengal Presidency]]. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]] and the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] repeatedly challenged this classification by producing a flood of books, pamphlets, family histories and journals to pressurise the government to recognise them as kshatriya and to reform the caste practices in the directions of [[sanskritisation]] and [[westernisation]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Structure and Change in India Society |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2007 |orig-year=1968 |chapter=Mobility in the Nineteenth-century Caste System |first=William L. |last=Rowe |editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Singer |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-last=Cohn |isbn=978-0-202-36138-3 |page=202 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&pg=PA202}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=I find it hard to believe they pressurised the govt to reform their caste practises - surely the caste do that, not the govt|date=April 2020}}
Rowe's opinion has been challenged, with arguments that it is based on "factual and interpretative errors", and criticised for making "unquestioned assumptions" about the Kayastha Sanskritisation and westernisation movement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=Caste conflict and elite formation: The rise of a Karāva elite in Sri Lanka, 1500-1931 |date=1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521052856 |pages=187 |chapter=Casteism in South Asian politics during British times: Emergent cultural typifications or elite fictions?|quote=Lucy Carroll has revealed how one cannot identify a temporal evolution from Sanskritist sacred goals to Westernised secular aims because the strategies of caste associations were mixed [...] She indicates that several of the apparently Sanskritist ascetic reforms advocated by caste associations derived from the influence of Victorian puritanism and other Western values [...] In three articles: 1975, 1977 and 1978. In these essays she also pinpoints factual and interpretative errors in William L. Rowe's presentation of the Kayastha movement. |id=[Chapter 7: pp. 180-224]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title =The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|first = Lucy Carol |last=Stout|publisher = University of California, Berkeley|year=1976}}</ref>

In post-Raj assessments, the Bengali Kayasthas, alongside [[Bengali Brahmins]], have been described as the "highest Hindu castes".<ref>{{cite book|first=Ronald B. |last=Inden|author-link=Ronald Inden|title=Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC&pg=PA1|year=1976|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02569-1|page=1}}</ref> After the Muslim conquest of India, they absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynasties{{mdash}}including the [[Sena dynasty|Sena]], [[Pala Empire|Pala]], [[Candra|Chandra]], and [[Varman dynasty|Varman]]{{mdash}}and, in this way, became the region's surrogate kshatriya or "warrior" class. During British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, the Bengali Brahmins and the [[Baidya]]s considered themselves to be ''Bhadralok'', a term coined in Bengal for the [[gentry]] or respectable people. This was based on their perceived refined culture, prestige and education.<ref name="RiseofIslam">{{cite book|first=Richard Maxwell |last=Eaton|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC|year=1996|publisher=University of California Press|pages=102–103|isbn=978-0-52020-507-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Tamil Brahmans: The making of a middle caste|page=212|first1=C. J. |last1=Fuller |first2=Haripriya|last2=Narasimhan|publisher =University of Chicago Press|year=2014|isbn=9780226152882|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=r7KjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|quote=In Bengal, the new middle class emergent under the British rule styled itself 'bhadralok', the gentry or "respectable people", and its principal constituents were the three Bengali high castes, Brahmans, Baidyas, and Kayasthas. Moreover, for the Bhadralok, a prestigious, refined culture based on education literacy and artistic skills, and the mastery of the Bengali language, counted for more than caste status itself for their social dominance in Bengal.}}</ref>

Modern scholars like [[John Henry Hutton]] and [[Ronald Inden]]{{efn|According to [[Lloyd Rudolph]] and [[Susanne Rudolph]]}} consider the present varna status of Bengali Kayasthas as 'twice-born',<ref name="RudolphRudolph1984">{{cite book|author1=Lloyd I. Rudolph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7guY1ut-0lwC&pg=PA124|title=The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India|author2=Susanne Hoeber Rudolph|date=15 July 1984|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73137-7|pages=124–|quote=And Ronald Inden confirms, after spending 1964 and part of 1965 in Bengal preparing a dissertation on Kayasthas, that intermarriage is becoming increasingly frequent among the urban sections of the Kayasthas, Brahmans, and Vaidyas, that is, among those Westernized and educated twice-born castes dominating the modern, better-paying, and more prestigious occupations of metropolitan Calcutta and constituting perhaps half of the city's population}}</ref><ref name="Hutton1961">{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=John Henry| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuHUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22twice%2Bborn%22|title=Caste in India: Its Nature, Function, and Origins|publisher=Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|year=1961|page=65}}</ref> while [[Julius J. Lipner]] considers their varna as disputed.<ref name="Lipner2009">{{cite book|last=Lipner|first=Julius J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-Y6QkumxEgC&pg=PA172|title=Debi Chaudhurani, or The Wife Who Came Home|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-973824-3|page=172}}</ref>

According to Christian Novetzke, in medieval India, Kayastha in certain parts were considered either as Brahmins or equal to Brahmins.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christian Lee|last= Novetzke |title=The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India|year=2016|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=159|isbn=9780231175807}}</ref> Several religious councils and institutions have subsequently stated the varna status of CKPs as Kshatriya.<ref name="chib161">{{cite book | title = The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India | author = K. P. Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib | page= 161| publisher=ESS Publications|year=1981| quote= The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus ... They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana ... The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Houghton Mifflin| editor= Harry M. Lindquist|author= Harold Robert Isaacs| title = Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission| year = 1970| page = 88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective|author= André Béteille|year= 1992|isbn=0195630661|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=48}}</ref>

==Socio-economic condition==
In 2023, [[Government of Bihar]] published the data of [[2022 Bihar caste-based survey]]. It showed that amongst the [[Forward caste|Forward castes]] of [[Bihar]], Kayastha was the most prosperous one with lowest poverty. Out of total families of Kayasthas residing in the state, only 13.38% were poor. The community totally numbered 1,70,985 families, out of which 23,639 families were poor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhelari |first=Amit |date=2023-11-07 |title=Bihar caste-based survey report {{!}} Poverty highest among Scheduled Castes, lowest among Kayasths |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihars-caste-based-survey-report-shows-yadavs-hold-most-govt-jobs-among-obcs/article67509087.ece |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Kayasthas in Nepal==
The [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Nepal)|Central Bureau of Statistics]] of Nepal classifies the Kayastha as a subgroup within the broader social group of [[Madheshi people|Madheshi]] Brahmin/Chhetri (together with Terai [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s).<ref>[https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II]</ref> At the time of the [[2011 Nepal census]], 44,304 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Kayastha. The frequency of Kayasthas by province was as follows:
* [[Madhesh Province]] (0.5%)
* [[Lumbini Province]] (0.2%)
* [[Bagmati Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Koshi Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Gandaki Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Karnali Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Sudurpashchim Province]] (0.0%)

The frequency of Kayasthas was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:<ref>[https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf 2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report]</ref>
* [[Parsa District|Parsa]] (1.0%)
* [[Dhanusha District|Dhanusha]] (0.8%)
* [[Banke District|Banke]] (0.6%)
* [[Mahottari District|Mahottari]] (0.4%)
* [[Morang District|Morang]] (0.4%)
* [[Rautahat District|Rautahat]] (0.4%)
* [[Sarlahi District|Sarlahi]] (0.4%)
* [[Kapilvastu District|Kapilvastu]] (0.3%)
* [[Saptari District|Saptari]] (0.3%)
* [[Siraha District|Siraha]] (0.3%)

==Notable people==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2021}}
This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas.




=== [[List of presidents of India|President of India]] ===
*[[Rajendra Prasad]]

=== [[List of prime ministers of India|Prime Minister of India]] ===
*[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]

=== [[List of current Indian chief ministers|Chief Ministers]] ===
* [[Krishna Ballabh Sahay]]
* [[Mahamaya Prasad Sinha]]
* [[Uddhav Thackeray]]
* [[Shiv Charan Mathur]]
* [[Nabakrushna Choudhuri]]
* [[Biju Patnaik]]
* [[Biren Mitra]]
* [[Janaki Ballabh Patnaik]]
* [[Naveen Patnaik]]
* [[Sampurnanand]]
* [[Jyoti Basu]]



=== Others ===
* [[Sri Aurobindo]], Indian philosopher, yogi and nationalist<ref>{{cite conference|last=Aall|first=Ingrid|year=1971|editor2=Mary Jane Beech|location=East Lansing|publisher=Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University|page=32|oclc=258335|quote=Aurobindo's father, Dr Krishnadhan Ghose, came from a Kayastha family associated with the village of Konnagar in Hooghly District near Calcutta, Dr. Ghose had his medical training in Edinburgh...|editor1=Robert Paul Beech|book-title=Bengal: change and continuity, Issues 16–20}}</ref>
* [[Nagendranath Basu]], historian and editor<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chakravarty|first=Ishita|date=2019-10-01|title=Owners, creditors and traders: Women in late colonial Calcutta|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=56|issue=4|pages=427–456|doi=10.1177/0019464619873800|s2cid=210540783|issn=0019-4646}}</ref>
*[[Shankar Abaji Bhise]] (1867–1935), scientist and inventor with 200 inventions and 40 patents. The American scientific community referred to him as the "Indian Edison".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=45 |issue=42 |date=16 October 2010 |pages=67–74 |jstor=20787477 |last=Dhimatkar |first=Abhidha |title=The Indian Edison}}</ref>
* [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]], Indian scientist<ref>{{cite book | title = Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore | year = 2007 | author=Gosling}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2020}}
*Satyendra Nath Bose<ref>{{cite book|title=Satyendra Nath Bose|page=12
|author1 = Santimay Chatterjee|author2=Enakshi Chatterjee|year=1976|publisher=National Book Trust, India| quote=Satyendra Nath was born in Calcutta on the first of January, 1894, in a high caste Kayastha family with two generations of English education behind him.}}</ref> Known for his work on [[quantum mechanics]], for developing the foundation of [[Bose–Einstein statistics|Bose statistics]] and the theory of the [[Bose–Einstein condensate|Bose condensate]]. The class of particles that obey Bose statistics, [[boson]]s, was named after Bose by [[Paul Dirac]].<ref>{{Citation | title = Notes on Dirac's lecture ''Developments in Atomic Theory'' at Le Palais de la Découverte, 6 December 1945 | series = UKNATARCHI Dirac Papers | id = BW83/2/257889 | at = p. 331, note 64 | contribution = The Strangest Man | first = Graham | last = Farmelo}}.</ref><ref name="Sean2013">{{cite book | author=Miller, Sean | title=Strung Together: The Cultural Currency of String Theory as a Scientific Imaginary | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXTcSoXEZNUC&pg=PA63 | date=18 March 2013 | publisher=University of Michigan Press | isbn=978-0-472-11866-3 | page=63 }}</ref>
* [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]<ref>{{cite book|first1=A. |last1=Pelinka |first2=R. |last2=Schell|title=Democracy Indian Style: Subhas Chandra Bose and the Creation of India's Political Culture|publisher=Transaction Publishers| year=2003| page=32 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6gLpMf5-jwC&pg=PA32|isbn=978-07-6580-186-9}}</ref>
*[[Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal]] (1857–1933), Indian origin British era Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Member of Executive Council of Governor of Bombay in 1912 and Member of Royal Commission on Public Services in India.<ref>{{cite book | title = Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri: Being the Third Part of the Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant and the Third Part of a Voyage Round the World by Dr. John Francis Gemelli Careri|first=Surendra Nath |last=Sen| year =1949|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1gluAAAAMAAJ&q=mahadev%20chaubal}}</ref>
* [[Har Dayal]], Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the [[Ghadar party]] in the USA<ref>{{cite book|last=Sareen|first=Tilakraj|title=Select Documents on the Ghadr Party |year=1994|publisher=Mounto Publishing House|page=20}}</ref>
*[[C. D. Deshmukh]] (1896–1982), first recipient of the [[Jagannath Sankarseth|Jagannath Shankarseth Sanskrit Scholarship]], topper of [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|ICS Examination]], first Indian Governor of [[Reserve Bank of India|RBI]], first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the [[University of Delhi]]<ref>{{cite book |title=South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia |first=Yogendra K. |last=Malik |page=63 |publisher=Heritage |year=1981}}</ref>
*[[Baji Prabhu Deshpande]] (1615–1660), commander of [[Shivaji Maharaj]]'s forces who along with his brother died defending [[Vishalgad]] in 1660<ref name="kantak">{{cite journal |last=Kantak |first=M. R.|title=The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji Maharaj's Swarajya |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1978 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=40–56|jstor=42931051}}</ref>
*[[Murarbaji|Murarbaji Deshpande]] (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of [[Purandar fort|Purandar]] against the Mughals in 1665<ref name="kantak" />
*[[Jayaprakash Narayan]] (1902 -1979) - freedom fighter, social reformer and anti-corruption campaigner<ref name="Das2005">{{cite book|first=Sandip |last=Das|title=Jayaprakash Narayan: A Centenary Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9U0LiT3dtMC&pg=PA109|year=2005|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-001-7|page=109}}</ref>
*[[Bipin Chandra Pal]], Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of [[Lal Bal Pal]] triumvirate<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian War of Independence (1857–1947)|quote=Bipin Chandra Pal (1858–1932) a patriot, nationalist politician, renowned orator, journalist, and writer. Bipin Chandra Pal was born on 7 November 1858 in Sylhet in a wealthy Hindu Kayastha family|first=M. K. |last=Singh|year=2009|page=130|publisher= Anmol Publications}}</ref>
*[[Aba Parasnis|Vithal Sakharam Parasnis]] (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian [[James Grant Duff]]; author of the Sanskrit "karma kalpadrum"(manual for Hindu rituals); first head of the school opened by Pratapsimha to teach Sanskrit to the boys of the Maratha caste<ref>{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Israel |editor2-first=N. K. |editor2-last=Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|page=166}}</ref>
* [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Devdutt Pattanaik: Descendants of Chitragupta |url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/devdutt-pattanaik-descendants-of-chitragupta/19083152 |access-date=17 March 2020 |work=mid-day |date=18 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Premchand]] (1880–1936) – author in Hindi language<ref>{{cite book|last = Gupta|first = Prakash Chandra|title=Makers of Indian Literature: Prem Chand|year = 1998|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0428-7|page=7}}</ref>
*[[Sachchidananda Sinha]], lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of [[Bihar]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Ashwani |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |date=2008 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-709-8 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA33}}</ref>
*[[Mahadevi Varma]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Schomer |first=Karine |year=1998 |title=Mahadevi Varma and the Chhayavad Age of Modern Hindi Poetry |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-564450-6}}</ref>
*[[Bhagwati Charan Verma]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0140276637|title=In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography|last=Bachchan|first=Harivansh Rai|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1998|isbn=9780670881581|location=India}}</ref>
*[[Swami Vivekananda]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Banhatti|first=G. S.|title=Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors| year=1995| page=1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jK5862eV7_EC|isbn=978-81-7156-291-6}}</ref>
* [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], author of ''Autobiography of a Yogi''<ref>Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3</ref>


==See also==
*[[Karan (caste)|Karana]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|first=Asok |last=Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations)|title=The tribes and castes of West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bTUAAAAMAAJ|year=1953|publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Print. West Bengal Govt. Press}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32aMey7k-IYC|title=Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad|last=Leonard|first=Karen Isaksen|year=1994|publisher=Orient BlackSwan|isbn=978-81-250-0032-7}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Bengali Hindu people}}
{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}
{{Ethnic groups and Communities of Odisha}}

[[Category:Kayastha| ]]
[[Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]]
[[Category:Social groups of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jharkhand]]
[[Category:Social groups of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindu castes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Social groups of Odisha]]

Hinduism and Jainism

2024-02-06T13:21:19Z

Timovinga: /* The Vedas */ expanding

{{short description|Ancient Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Jainism}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Jainism''' and '''Hinduism''' are two ancient Indian religions. There are some similarities and differences between the two religions.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=135-136}} Temples, gods, rituals, fasts and other religious components of Jainism are different from those of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=138}}

"Jain" is derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions (like anger, attachment, greed and pride) and possesses [[Kevala Jnana|kevala jnana]] (pure infinite knowledge). Followers of the path shown by the Jinas are called Jains.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=15}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=164}} Followers of [[Hinduism]] are called Hindus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=6 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Philosophical similarities and differences ==
Jainism and Hinduism have many similar characteristic features, including the concepts of ''[[samsara]]'', ''[[karma]]'' and ''[[moksha]]''. However, they differ over the precise nature and meaning of these concepts. The doctrine Nyaya-Vaisheshika and samkhya school had minor similarities with Jain philosophy. The Jain doctrine teaches atomism which is also adopted in the Vaisheshika system and atheism which is found in Samkhya.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} Within the doctrine of Jainism, there exist many metaphysical concepts which are not known in Hinduism, some of which are ''dharma'' and Adharma tattva (which are seen as substances within the Jain metaphysical system), [[Gunasthana]]s and [[Lesya]]s.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} The epistemological concepts of [[Anekantavada]] and Syadvada are not found in the Hindu system. There were, in the past, probable attempts made to merge the concepts of Hindu gods and the Tirthankara of Jainism. The cosmography of Hindus resembles that of the Jains and there are similar names of heavenly gods within these systems.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

In the [[Upanishads]], there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jainist teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=15}}

===Moksha (liberation) ===
In Hinduism, [[moksha]] means merging of soul with universal soul or eternal being and escaping the cycle of births and deaths; in Jainism, it is blissful existence with infinite knowledge. In Vedic philosophy, salvation is giving up the sense of being a doer and realizing Self to be the same as Universe and God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yaOxgEACAAJ&q=moksha|title=Moksha: Self-Liberation Through Self-Knowledge|last=Kajaria|first=Vish|date=2019-02-13|publisher=Independently Published|isbn=978-1-09-791542-2|language=en}}</ref> In Jainism, salvation can be achieved only through self-effort and is considered to be the right of human beings.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}

In Jainism, one definite path to attain liberation ([[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]) is prescribed. The prescribed threefold path consists of the [[Ratnatraya|three jewels of Jainism]] (Right perception, Right knowledge, Right conduct). In Hinduism, one definite path to salvation is not known.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p = 137}}

=== Universe ===
{{Further|Jainism and non-creationism}}
According to [[Jain cosmology]], the primary structure of the universe is eternal: it is neither created nor can it be destroyed, but undergoes continuous natural transformations within. In Hinduism, [[Brahman]] is the unchanging ultimate reality and the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.

=== Karma ===
{{further|Karma in Jainism|Karma in Hinduism}}
Karma is an invisible force in Hinduism, whereas in Jainism it is a form of particulate matter which can adhere to the soul.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}} As per [[Jainism]], the consequence of karma occurs by natural ''nirjara'' of karma particles from the soul. Hindus rejected this concept and believe that the God or the creator of this universe is ''karmaphaldata'', and rewards the fruits of past actions to each individual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JIRAQAAIAAJ&q=karma+nirjara|title=The Concept of Divinity in Jainism|last1=Kothari|first1=Pukhraj Ajay|year=2000}}</ref>

=== Worship ===
In Hinduism, Gods are worshiped in several ways and for several reasons such as knowledge, peace, wisdom, health, and it also believed to be one's duty to pray god as God is considered as our maker (as we originated from them and we are staying in them and at last will merge with them), for moksha, and are also offered food as a respect, etc.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=181}} In Jainism, enlightened human perfect masters or [[Siddha#Jainism|siddhas]] represent the true goal of all human beings,{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=182}} and their qualities are worshiped by the Jains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aVRLGhf-8C|title=Faith & Philosophy of Jainism|isbn=9788178357232|last1=Jain|first1=Arun Kumar|year=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }}</ref>

=== Self-defence and soldiering ===
Jains and Hindus have opinion that violence in self-defence can be justified,<ref>''Nisithabhasya'' (in ''Nisithasutra'') 289; Jinadatta Suri: ''Upadesharasayana'' 26; Dundas pp. 162–163; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty.<ref>Jindal pp. 89–90; Laidlaw pp. 154–155; Jaini, Padmanabh S.: ''Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism'', in: ''Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism'', ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi 2004, p. 52–60; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers.<ref>Harisena, ''Brhatkathakosa'' 124 (10th century); Jindal pp. 90–91; Sangave p. 259.</ref>

== Women ==
The religion of Jains included women in their fourfold ''sangha''; the religious order of Jain laymen, laywomen, monks and nuns.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} There was a disagreement between early Hinduism, and ascetic movements such as Jainism with the scriptural access to women.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} However, the early svetambara scriptures prevented pregnant women, young women or those who have a small child, to enter the ranks of nun.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Regardless, the number of nuns given in those texts were always double the number of monks. [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], the two historical Tirthankars, had large numbers of female devotees and ascetics.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Tirthankara Mahavira and Jain monks are credited with raising the [[status of women]].{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=147-148}}

== Religious texts ==
Hindus do not accept any Jain text and Jains do not recognize any Hindu scripture.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=136}}

=== The Vedas ===
The scriptures known as [[Vedas]] are regarded by Hindus as one of the foundations of [[Hinduism]]. According to [[Manusmriti]] those who rejected the Vedas as the prime source of religious knowledge were labeled "[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]".{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} As a consequence, Jainism and Buddhism were categorized as ''nāstika [[darśana]]''.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, such as [[Vedanta]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Samkhya]], claim the [[Sruti]] do not have any author and hence are supreme to other religious scriptures. This position was countered by Jains who said that saying Vedas are authorless was equivalent to saying that anonymous poems are written by nobody. [[Jain scriptures]], on the contrary, were believed by them to be of human origin, brought through omniscient teachers, and hence claimed greater worth.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}} According to Jains, the origin of Vedas lies with [[Marichi]], the son of [[Bharata Chakravarti]], who was the son of the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Jains maintain that these scriptures were later modified.{{sfn|Feynes|1998|p=xxiv}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} Jains pointed that Hindus do not know their own scriptures since they were unaware of the names of tirthankaras present in Vedas.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

Jains had a long-standing debate with [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism. [[Kumarila Bhatta]], a proponent of Mimamsa school, argued that the Vedas are the source of all knowledge and it is through them that humans can differentiate between right and wrong. Jain monks, such as [[Haribhadra]], held that humans are already in possession of all the knowledge, which only needs to be illuminated or uncovered in order to gain the status of omniscience.{{sfn|Qvarnström|2006|p=91}}

==== Vedic sacrifices ====
The practice of Vedic animal sacrifices was opposed by Jains.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemchandra]], a Jain monk, cites passages from [[Manusmriti]], one of the law book of Hindus, to demonstrate how, in light of false scriptures, Hindus have resorted to violence. [[Akalanka]], another Jain monk, sarcastically said that if killing can result in enlightenment, one should become a hunter or fisherman.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

===Hindu epics and Jain epics===
The rejection of Jain epics and scriptures were dominant in Hinduism since very early times.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} On the other hand, central Hindu scriptures and epics like Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana are categorized as unreliable scriptures in Nandi-sutra,{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=237}}{{Verify source|date=December 2013}}{{sfn|Iyengar|2005|p=62}} one of the svetambara's canonical literature. Later, Jains adapted various Hindu epics in accordance with their own system.{{sfn|Schubring|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} There were disputes between Jains and Hindus in form of these epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=jains+on+mahabharata&pg=PA359|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Jain deities and Hindu texts ==
{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Rishabha (Hinduism)}}
Within the doctrine of Jainism, the ''tirthankara'' holds the highest status. Hemachandra Acharya says that a ''Jindeva'' is the one who has conquered his internal desires and passions. This requirement, according to him, was fulfilled only by the tirthankara. Hence their path for spiritual upliftment and salvation is rejected by the [[Jains]].

Some personage mentioned in the Vedas and Jain scriptures are same. There is mention of the first tirthankara, [[Rishabhanatha]] in [[Rig Veda]] and Vishnu Purana. Rig Veda, X. 12. 166 states{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=74}}- {{cquote|0 Rudra-like Divinity ! do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a Great God, like Rishabha Deva, by becoming Arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher; let Him become the destroyer of the enemies !}}

Vishnu Purāna mentions:
:ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
:भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
:Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabh,
:Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata.
::—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)

In the [[Skanda Purana]] (chapter 37) it is stated that "Rishabha was the son of [[Nabhiraja]], and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=106}}

In the "Brahmottara-candam" section of the ''[[Brahma Purana]]'', the narrator Suta describes many matters relating to Shaivism and in the 16th portion, there is a story about Bhadrabahu receiving instructions in a mantra from Rishabha yogi.<ref>P. 88, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', Volume 11 By Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society</ref>

The ''Linga Purana'' mentions that in every kali yuga, Lord Shiva has incarnated, and that in one kali yuga he was a Yogeshwara (one of His 28 incarnations) named Rishabha.<ref>P. 16 ''Linga Purana'' By Vinay. The list is in order is: Shweta, Sutara, Madana, Suhotra, Kanchana, Lokakshee, Jagishavya, Dadhivahana, Rishabha, Muni, Ugra, Atri, Vali, Gautama, Vedashrira, Gokarna, Guhavasi, Shikhandabhriti, Jatamali, Attahasa, Daruka, Langali, Mahakaya, Shuli, Mundishvara, Sahishnu, Somasharma, and Jagadguru.</ref>

==History==
Jainism is considered to be distinct and separate from Vedic religion and originated from' 'Sramana'' or ''Arahata'' tradition.{{sfn|George|2008|p=317-318}}

===Ancient===
Jains and Hindus have coexisted in [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] since at least the second century BCE.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=187}}

===Medieval===
Competition between Jains and Vedic [[Brahman]]s, between Jains and Hindu [[Shaiva]]s, is a frequent motif of all medieval western Indian narratives, but the two communities for the most part coexisted and coprospered.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}} Shaiva kings patronised Jain mendicants, and Jain officials patronised Brahmana poets.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}}

===Decline of Jainism===
Around the 8th century CE, Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Ādi Śaṅkarācārya]] tried to restore the Vedic religion. Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This was particularly in the southern Indian states.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=70}}

According to a Saivite legend, the Pandya king [[Koon Pandiyan]] ordered a massacre of 8,000 Jain monks. This event is depicted graphically in walls of Tivatur in [[North Arcot]].{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|pp=70–71}} However, this legend is not found in any Jain text, and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Saivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | chapter-url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | accessdate=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter = 9. History of the Digambaras}}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 | isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}</ref>

==Jains and the Hindu society==
{{POV section|date=September 2015}}

Jain scholars and some monks in general allowed a sort of cautious integration with the Hindu society.{{CN|date=June 2023}} In today's date, there are a lot of common aspects in social and cultural life of Hindus and Jains. It is quite difficult to differentiate a lay Jain from a lay Hindu.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=493}} The Jain code of conduct is quite similar to that which is found in Hindu Dharmasashtra, Manusmriti and other Law books of Brahmans.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} {{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}}{{sfn|Babb|1996|pp=3-4}} The difference in the rituals of practitioners of the two religions would be that the Jains do not give any importance to bathing in holy water.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} According to religious scholar M. Whitney Kelting, some of the "names and narratives" in the Hindu's list of satis are also found in the Jain tradition.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} In the Hindu context, a sati is a virtuous wife who protects her husband and his family and has the "intention to die before, or with," her husband.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Kelting notes that those satis who die on the funeral pyre of their husband, or who "intended to die" but were prevented from death, may attain a status called satimata.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}}{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=22}} Kelting says that the Jain tradition, due to principle of non-violence and equanimity, doesn't allow self-immolation.{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} They, instead, see renunciation rather than self-sacrifice as the highest ideal for a Jain sati.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Hindus think Jainism is simply another branch of Hinduism.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} Jain historians like [[Champat Rai Jain]], held that Hindus are Jaina [[allegorists]] who have allegorised the Jain teachings.{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=154}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

===Hindu revivalism and Indian identities===
With the onset of British colonialism, select groups of Indians developed responses to the British dominance and the British critique of Hinduism.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} In this context, various responses toward Jainism developed.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Michael S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoTDAgAAQBAJ&q=Jainism+colonial+india&pg=PT157|title=Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia|last2=Hatcher|first2=Brian A.|date=2013-02-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48445-2|language=en}}</ref>

====Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj====
The Arya Samaj was founded by [[Dayanand Saraswati]] (1824-1883), who "was the solitary champion of Vedic authority and infallibility".{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} Swami Dayanand Saraswati authored Satyarth Prakash,{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38}} a book containing the basic teachings of Saraswati and the Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38-39}} It contains "Dayananda's bitter criticisms of the major ''non-Vedic'' religions of Indian origins."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}} In the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'', he writes that he regarded Jainism as "the most dreadful religion",{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}} and that Jains are "possessed of defective and childish understanding."{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|Daniels cites Dayanand in his investigation of the claim that "Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions and Hindu tolerance is the best answer in fostering peace and harmony in a multi-religious society",<ref name="EBC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |title=Eastern Book Company, ''About the Book:, Hindu Response to Religious Pluralism'' (P.S. Daniels (2000)) |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207064923/http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda and Mahatama Gandhi as cases.<ref name="EBC" /> He asks the question "Why was Dayananda so aggressive and negative in his response to other religions?".<ref name="EBC" /> Panicker also mentions that Dayanand's views are "strongly condemnatory, predominantly negative and positively intolerant and aggressive."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}}}}

==Relations==

Under the rule of [[Subhatavarman|Subhatvarman]] (1194-1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=REDDY |first=Prof Dr PEDARAPU CHENNA |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=kfNgEAAAQBAJ&dq=Subhatavarman+jain+temple&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s |title=Nagabharana: Recent Trends in Jainism Studies |date=2022-02-24 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |isbn=978-93-5611-446-3 |pages=36 |language=en}}</ref> Subhatavarman attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Vinay Chandra |last2=Singh |first2=Parmanand |year=1991 |title=Ram Janmabhoomi, Babri Masjid: Historical Documents, Legal Opinions, and Judgements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwaAAAAIAAJ&q=Subhatavarman+jain+temples}}</ref> Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. Throughout the centuries, there were periods of hostility in the South as well, affecting both Buddhism and Jainism.<ref name=":0" />

[[Veerashaivas]] and [[Lingayats]], the two offshoots of shaivite Hinduism showed hostility towards Jains.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Dharmasthala Temple shows the communal harmony between Jains and Hindus, as the priests of the temple are Shivalli Brahmins, who are Vaishnava, and the administration is run by a [[Jain Bunt]] family.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Legal status of Jainism as a distinct religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[History of Jainism]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Elst|first1=Koenraad|title=Who is a Hindu?: Hindu Revivalist Views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Other Offshoots of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Voice of India |isbn=9788185990743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGPXAAAAMAAJ }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230904/http://bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm Ch. 7])

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
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{{refend}}

{{Jainism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Jainism and other religions|Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hinduism and other religions]]

Hinduism and Jainism

2024-02-06T13:03:50Z

Timovinga: /* Relations */ SRC

{{short description|Ancient Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Jainism}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Jainism''' and '''Hinduism''' are two ancient Indian religions. There are some similarities and differences between the two religions.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=135-136}} Temples, gods, rituals, fasts and other religious components of Jainism are different from those of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=138}}

"Jain" is derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions (like anger, attachment, greed and pride) and possesses [[Kevala Jnana|kevala jnana]] (pure infinite knowledge). Followers of the path shown by the Jinas are called Jains.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=15}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=164}} Followers of [[Hinduism]] are called Hindus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=6 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Philosophical similarities and differences ==
Jainism and Hinduism have many similar characteristic features, including the concepts of ''[[samsara]]'', ''[[karma]]'' and ''[[moksha]]''. However, they differ over the precise nature and meaning of these concepts. The doctrine Nyaya-Vaisheshika and samkhya school had minor similarities with Jain philosophy. The Jain doctrine teaches atomism which is also adopted in the Vaisheshika system and atheism which is found in Samkhya.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} Within the doctrine of Jainism, there exist many metaphysical concepts which are not known in Hinduism, some of which are ''dharma'' and Adharma tattva (which are seen as substances within the Jain metaphysical system), [[Gunasthana]]s and [[Lesya]]s.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} The epistemological concepts of [[Anekantavada]] and Syadvada are not found in the Hindu system. There were, in the past, probable attempts made to merge the concepts of Hindu gods and the Tirthankara of Jainism. The cosmography of Hindus resembles that of the Jains and there are similar names of heavenly gods within these systems.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

In the [[Upanishads]], there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jainist teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=15}}

===Moksha (liberation) ===
In Hinduism, [[moksha]] means merging of soul with universal soul or eternal being and escaping the cycle of births and deaths; in Jainism, it is blissful existence with infinite knowledge. In Vedic philosophy, salvation is giving up the sense of being a doer and realizing Self to be the same as Universe and God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yaOxgEACAAJ&q=moksha|title=Moksha: Self-Liberation Through Self-Knowledge|last=Kajaria|first=Vish|date=2019-02-13|publisher=Independently Published|isbn=978-1-09-791542-2|language=en}}</ref> In Jainism, salvation can be achieved only through self-effort and is considered to be the right of human beings.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}

In Jainism, one definite path to attain liberation ([[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]) is prescribed. The prescribed threefold path consists of the [[Ratnatraya|three jewels of Jainism]] (Right perception, Right knowledge, Right conduct). In Hinduism, one definite path to salvation is not known.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p = 137}}

=== Universe ===
{{Further|Jainism and non-creationism}}
According to [[Jain cosmology]], the primary structure of the universe is eternal: it is neither created nor can it be destroyed, but undergoes continuous natural transformations within. In Hinduism, [[Brahman]] is the unchanging ultimate reality and the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.

=== Karma ===
{{further|Karma in Jainism|Karma in Hinduism}}
Karma is an invisible force in Hinduism, whereas in Jainism it is a form of particulate matter which can adhere to the soul.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}} As per [[Jainism]], the consequence of karma occurs by natural ''nirjara'' of karma particles from the soul. Hindus rejected this concept and believe that the God or the creator of this universe is ''karmaphaldata'', and rewards the fruits of past actions to each individual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JIRAQAAIAAJ&q=karma+nirjara|title=The Concept of Divinity in Jainism|last1=Kothari|first1=Pukhraj Ajay|year=2000}}</ref>

=== Worship ===
In Hinduism, Gods are worshiped in several ways and for several reasons such as knowledge, peace, wisdom, health, and it also believed to be one's duty to pray god as God is considered as our maker (as we originated from them and we are staying in them and at last will merge with them), for moksha, and are also offered food as a respect, etc.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=181}} In Jainism, enlightened human perfect masters or [[Siddha#Jainism|siddhas]] represent the true goal of all human beings,{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=182}} and their qualities are worshiped by the Jains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aVRLGhf-8C|title=Faith & Philosophy of Jainism|isbn=9788178357232|last1=Jain|first1=Arun Kumar|year=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }}</ref>

=== Self-defence and soldiering ===
Jains and Hindus have opinion that violence in self-defence can be justified,<ref>''Nisithabhasya'' (in ''Nisithasutra'') 289; Jinadatta Suri: ''Upadesharasayana'' 26; Dundas pp. 162–163; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty.<ref>Jindal pp. 89–90; Laidlaw pp. 154–155; Jaini, Padmanabh S.: ''Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism'', in: ''Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism'', ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi 2004, p. 52–60; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers.<ref>Harisena, ''Brhatkathakosa'' 124 (10th century); Jindal pp. 90–91; Sangave p. 259.</ref>

== Women ==
The religion of Jains included women in their fourfold ''sangha''; the religious order of Jain laymen, laywomen, monks and nuns.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} There was a disagreement between early Hinduism, and ascetic movements such as Jainism with the scriptural access to women.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} However, the early svetambara scriptures prevented pregnant women, young women or those who have a small child, to enter the ranks of nun.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Regardless, the number of nuns given in those texts were always double the number of monks. [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], the two historical Tirthankars, had large numbers of female devotees and ascetics.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Tirthankara Mahavira and Jain monks are credited with raising the [[status of women]].{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=147-148}}

== Religious texts ==
Hindus do not accept any Jain text and Jains do not recognize any Hindu scripture.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=136}}

=== The Vedas ===
The scriptures known as [[Vedas]] are regarded by Hindus as one of the foundations of [[Hinduism]]. Those who rejected the Vedas as the prime source of religious knowledge were labeled "[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]".{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} As a consequence, Jainism and Buddhism were categorized as ''nāstika [[darśana]]''.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, such as [[Vedanta]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Samkhya]], claim the [[Sruti]] do not have any author and hence are supreme to other religious scriptures. This position was countered by Jains who said that saying Vedas are authorless was equivalent to saying that anonymous poems are written by nobody. [[Jain scriptures]], on the contrary, were believed by them to be of human origin, brought through omniscient teachers, and hence claimed greater worth.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}} According to Jains, the origin of Vedas lies with [[Marichi]], the son of [[Bharata Chakravarti]], who was the son of the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Jains maintain that these scriptures were later modified.{{sfn|Feynes|1998|p=xxiv}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} Jains pointed that Hindus do not know their own scriptures since they were unaware of the names of tirthankaras present in Vedas.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

Jains had a long-standing debate with [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism. [[Kumarila Bhatta]], a proponent of Mimamsa school, argued that the Vedas are the source of all knowledge and it is through them that humans can differentiate between right and wrong. Jain monks, such as [[Haribhadra]], held that humans are already in possession of all the knowledge, which only needs to be illuminated or uncovered in order to gain the status of omniscience.{{sfn|Qvarnström|2006|p=91}}

==== Vedic sacrifices ====
The practice of Vedic animal sacrifices was opposed by Jains.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemchandra]], a Jain monk, cites passages from [[Manusmriti]], one of the law book of Hindus, to demonstrate how, in light of false scriptures, Hindus have resorted to violence. [[Akalanka]], another Jain monk, sarcastically said that if killing can result in enlightenment, one should become a hunter or fisherman.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

===Hindu epics and Jain epics===
The rejection of Jain epics and scriptures were dominant in Hinduism since very early times.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} On the other hand, central Hindu scriptures and epics like Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana are categorized as unreliable scriptures in Nandi-sutra,{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=237}}{{Verify source|date=December 2013}}{{sfn|Iyengar|2005|p=62}} one of the svetambara's canonical literature. Later, Jains adapted various Hindu epics in accordance with their own system.{{sfn|Schubring|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} There were disputes between Jains and Hindus in form of these epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=jains+on+mahabharata&pg=PA359|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Jain deities and Hindu texts ==
{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Rishabha (Hinduism)}}
Within the doctrine of Jainism, the ''tirthankara'' holds the highest status. Hemachandra Acharya says that a ''Jindeva'' is the one who has conquered his internal desires and passions. This requirement, according to him, was fulfilled only by the tirthankara. Hence their path for spiritual upliftment and salvation is rejected by the [[Jains]].

Some personage mentioned in the Vedas and Jain scriptures are same. There is mention of the first tirthankara, [[Rishabhanatha]] in [[Rig Veda]] and Vishnu Purana. Rig Veda, X. 12. 166 states{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=74}}- {{cquote|0 Rudra-like Divinity ! do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a Great God, like Rishabha Deva, by becoming Arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher; let Him become the destroyer of the enemies !}}

Vishnu Purāna mentions:
:ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
:भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
:Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabh,
:Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata.
::—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)

In the [[Skanda Purana]] (chapter 37) it is stated that "Rishabha was the son of [[Nabhiraja]], and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=106}}

In the "Brahmottara-candam" section of the ''[[Brahma Purana]]'', the narrator Suta describes many matters relating to Shaivism and in the 16th portion, there is a story about Bhadrabahu receiving instructions in a mantra from Rishabha yogi.<ref>P. 88, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', Volume 11 By Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society</ref>

The ''Linga Purana'' mentions that in every kali yuga, Lord Shiva has incarnated, and that in one kali yuga he was a Yogeshwara (one of His 28 incarnations) named Rishabha.<ref>P. 16 ''Linga Purana'' By Vinay. The list is in order is: Shweta, Sutara, Madana, Suhotra, Kanchana, Lokakshee, Jagishavya, Dadhivahana, Rishabha, Muni, Ugra, Atri, Vali, Gautama, Vedashrira, Gokarna, Guhavasi, Shikhandabhriti, Jatamali, Attahasa, Daruka, Langali, Mahakaya, Shuli, Mundishvara, Sahishnu, Somasharma, and Jagadguru.</ref>

==History==
Jainism is considered to be distinct and separate from Vedic religion and originated from' 'Sramana'' or ''Arahata'' tradition.{{sfn|George|2008|p=317-318}}

===Ancient===
Jains and Hindus have coexisted in [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] since at least the second century BCE.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=187}}

===Medieval===
Competition between Jains and Vedic [[Brahman]]s, between Jains and Hindu [[Shaiva]]s, is a frequent motif of all medieval western Indian narratives, but the two communities for the most part coexisted and coprospered.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}} Shaiva kings patronised Jain mendicants, and Jain officials patronised Brahmana poets.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}}

===Decline of Jainism===
Around the 8th century CE, Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Ādi Śaṅkarācārya]] tried to restore the Vedic religion. Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This was particularly in the southern Indian states.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=70}}

According to a Saivite legend, the Pandya king [[Koon Pandiyan]] ordered a massacre of 8,000 Jain monks. This event is depicted graphically in walls of Tivatur in [[North Arcot]].{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|pp=70–71}} However, this legend is not found in any Jain text, and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Saivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | chapter-url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | accessdate=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter = 9. History of the Digambaras}}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 | isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}</ref>

==Jains and the Hindu society==
{{POV section|date=September 2015}}

Jain scholars and some monks in general allowed a sort of cautious integration with the Hindu society.{{CN|date=June 2023}} In today's date, there are a lot of common aspects in social and cultural life of Hindus and Jains. It is quite difficult to differentiate a lay Jain from a lay Hindu.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=493}} The Jain code of conduct is quite similar to that which is found in Hindu Dharmasashtra, Manusmriti and other Law books of Brahmans.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} {{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}}{{sfn|Babb|1996|pp=3-4}} The difference in the rituals of practitioners of the two religions would be that the Jains do not give any importance to bathing in holy water.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} According to religious scholar M. Whitney Kelting, some of the "names and narratives" in the Hindu's list of satis are also found in the Jain tradition.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} In the Hindu context, a sati is a virtuous wife who protects her husband and his family and has the "intention to die before, or with," her husband.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Kelting notes that those satis who die on the funeral pyre of their husband, or who "intended to die" but were prevented from death, may attain a status called satimata.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}}{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=22}} Kelting says that the Jain tradition, due to principle of non-violence and equanimity, doesn't allow self-immolation.{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} They, instead, see renunciation rather than self-sacrifice as the highest ideal for a Jain sati.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Hindus think Jainism is simply another branch of Hinduism.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} Jain historians like [[Champat Rai Jain]], held that Hindus are Jaina [[allegorists]] who have allegorised the Jain teachings.{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=154}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

===Hindu revivalism and Indian identities===
With the onset of British colonialism, select groups of Indians developed responses to the British dominance and the British critique of Hinduism.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} In this context, various responses toward Jainism developed.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Michael S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoTDAgAAQBAJ&q=Jainism+colonial+india&pg=PT157|title=Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia|last2=Hatcher|first2=Brian A.|date=2013-02-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48445-2|language=en}}</ref>

====Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj====
The Arya Samaj was founded by [[Dayanand Saraswati]] (1824-1883), who "was the solitary champion of Vedic authority and infallibility".{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} Swami Dayanand Saraswati authored Satyarth Prakash,{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38}} a book containing the basic teachings of Saraswati and the Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38-39}} It contains "Dayananda's bitter criticisms of the major ''non-Vedic'' religions of Indian origins."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}} In the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'', he writes that he regarded Jainism as "the most dreadful religion",{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}} and that Jains are "possessed of defective and childish understanding."{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|Daniels cites Dayanand in his investigation of the claim that "Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions and Hindu tolerance is the best answer in fostering peace and harmony in a multi-religious society",<ref name="EBC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |title=Eastern Book Company, ''About the Book:, Hindu Response to Religious Pluralism'' (P.S. Daniels (2000)) |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207064923/http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda and Mahatama Gandhi as cases.<ref name="EBC" /> He asks the question "Why was Dayananda so aggressive and negative in his response to other religions?".<ref name="EBC" /> Panicker also mentions that Dayanand's views are "strongly condemnatory, predominantly negative and positively intolerant and aggressive."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}}}}

==Relations==

Under the rule of [[Subhatavarman|Subhatvarman]] (1194-1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=REDDY |first=Prof Dr PEDARAPU CHENNA |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=kfNgEAAAQBAJ&dq=Subhatavarman+jain+temple&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s |title=Nagabharana: Recent Trends in Jainism Studies |date=2022-02-24 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |isbn=978-93-5611-446-3 |pages=36 |language=en}}</ref> Subhatavarman attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Vinay Chandra |last2=Singh |first2=Parmanand |year=1991 |title=Ram Janmabhoomi, Babri Masjid: Historical Documents, Legal Opinions, and Judgements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwaAAAAIAAJ&q=Subhatavarman+jain+temples}}</ref> Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. Throughout the centuries, there were periods of hostility in the South as well, affecting both Buddhism and Jainism.<ref name=":0" />

[[Veerashaivas]] and [[Lingayats]], the two offshoots of shaivite Hinduism showed hostility towards Jains.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Dharmasthala Temple shows the communal harmony between Jains and Hindus, as the priests of the temple are Shivalli Brahmins, who are Vaishnava, and the administration is run by a [[Jain Bunt]] family.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Legal status of Jainism as a distinct religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[History of Jainism]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Elst|first1=Koenraad|title=Who is a Hindu?: Hindu Revivalist Views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Other Offshoots of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Voice of India |isbn=9788185990743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGPXAAAAMAAJ }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230904/http://bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm Ch. 7])

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

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{{refend}}

{{Jainism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Jainism and other religions|Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hinduism and other religions]]

Hinduism and Jainism

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Timovinga: /* Relations */ Source

{{short description|Ancient Indian religions}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Jainism}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Jainism''' and '''Hinduism''' are two ancient Indian religions. There are some similarities and differences between the two religions.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=135-136}} Temples, gods, rituals, fasts and other religious components of Jainism are different from those of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=138}}

"Jain" is derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions (like anger, attachment, greed and pride) and possesses [[Kevala Jnana|kevala jnana]] (pure infinite knowledge). Followers of the path shown by the Jinas are called Jains.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=15}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=164}} Followers of [[Hinduism]] are called Hindus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=6 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Philosophical similarities and differences ==
Jainism and Hinduism have many similar characteristic features, including the concepts of ''[[samsara]]'', ''[[karma]]'' and ''[[moksha]]''. However, they differ over the precise nature and meaning of these concepts. The doctrine Nyaya-Vaisheshika and samkhya school had minor similarities with Jain philosophy. The Jain doctrine teaches atomism which is also adopted in the Vaisheshika system and atheism which is found in Samkhya.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} Within the doctrine of Jainism, there exist many metaphysical concepts which are not known in Hinduism, some of which are ''dharma'' and Adharma tattva (which are seen as substances within the Jain metaphysical system), [[Gunasthana]]s and [[Lesya]]s.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} The epistemological concepts of [[Anekantavada]] and Syadvada are not found in the Hindu system. There were, in the past, probable attempts made to merge the concepts of Hindu gods and the Tirthankara of Jainism. The cosmography of Hindus resembles that of the Jains and there are similar names of heavenly gods within these systems.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

In the [[Upanishads]], there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jainist teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=15}}

===Moksha (liberation) ===
In Hinduism, [[moksha]] means merging of soul with universal soul or eternal being and escaping the cycle of births and deaths; in Jainism, it is blissful existence with infinite knowledge. In Vedic philosophy, salvation is giving up the sense of being a doer and realizing Self to be the same as Universe and God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yaOxgEACAAJ&q=moksha|title=Moksha: Self-Liberation Through Self-Knowledge|last=Kajaria|first=Vish|date=2019-02-13|publisher=Independently Published|isbn=978-1-09-791542-2|language=en}}</ref> In Jainism, salvation can be achieved only through self-effort and is considered to be the right of human beings.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}

In Jainism, one definite path to attain liberation ([[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]) is prescribed. The prescribed threefold path consists of the [[Ratnatraya|three jewels of Jainism]] (Right perception, Right knowledge, Right conduct). In Hinduism, one definite path to salvation is not known.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p = 137}}

=== Universe ===
{{Further|Jainism and non-creationism}}
According to [[Jain cosmology]], the primary structure of the universe is eternal: it is neither created nor can it be destroyed, but undergoes continuous natural transformations within. In Hinduism, [[Brahman]] is the unchanging ultimate reality and the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.

=== Karma ===
{{further|Karma in Jainism|Karma in Hinduism}}
Karma is an invisible force in Hinduism, whereas in Jainism it is a form of particulate matter which can adhere to the soul.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}} As per [[Jainism]], the consequence of karma occurs by natural ''nirjara'' of karma particles from the soul. Hindus rejected this concept and believe that the God or the creator of this universe is ''karmaphaldata'', and rewards the fruits of past actions to each individual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JIRAQAAIAAJ&q=karma+nirjara|title=The Concept of Divinity in Jainism|last1=Kothari|first1=Pukhraj Ajay|year=2000}}</ref>

=== Worship ===
In Hinduism, Gods are worshiped in several ways and for several reasons such as knowledge, peace, wisdom, health, and it also believed to be one's duty to pray god as God is considered as our maker (as we originated from them and we are staying in them and at last will merge with them), for moksha, and are also offered food as a respect, etc.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=181}} In Jainism, enlightened human perfect masters or [[Siddha#Jainism|siddhas]] represent the true goal of all human beings,{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=182}} and their qualities are worshiped by the Jains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aVRLGhf-8C|title=Faith & Philosophy of Jainism|isbn=9788178357232|last1=Jain|first1=Arun Kumar|year=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }}</ref>

=== Self-defence and soldiering ===
Jains and Hindus have opinion that violence in self-defence can be justified,<ref>''Nisithabhasya'' (in ''Nisithasutra'') 289; Jinadatta Suri: ''Upadesharasayana'' 26; Dundas pp. 162–163; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty.<ref>Jindal pp. 89–90; Laidlaw pp. 154–155; Jaini, Padmanabh S.: ''Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism'', in: ''Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism'', ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi 2004, p. 52–60; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers.<ref>Harisena, ''Brhatkathakosa'' 124 (10th century); Jindal pp. 90–91; Sangave p. 259.</ref>

== Women ==
The religion of Jains included women in their fourfold ''sangha''; the religious order of Jain laymen, laywomen, monks and nuns.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} There was a disagreement between early Hinduism, and ascetic movements such as Jainism with the scriptural access to women.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} However, the early svetambara scriptures prevented pregnant women, young women or those who have a small child, to enter the ranks of nun.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Regardless, the number of nuns given in those texts were always double the number of monks. [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], the two historical Tirthankars, had large numbers of female devotees and ascetics.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Tirthankara Mahavira and Jain monks are credited with raising the [[status of women]].{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=147-148}}

== Religious texts ==
Hindus do not accept any Jain text and Jains do not recognize any Hindu scripture.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=136}}

=== The Vedas ===
The scriptures known as [[Vedas]] are regarded by Hindus as one of the foundations of [[Hinduism]]. Those who rejected the Vedas as the prime source of religious knowledge were labeled "[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]".{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} As a consequence, Jainism and Buddhism were categorized as ''nāstika [[darśana]]''.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, such as [[Vedanta]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Samkhya]], claim the [[Sruti]] do not have any author and hence are supreme to other religious scriptures. This position was countered by Jains who said that saying Vedas are authorless was equivalent to saying that anonymous poems are written by nobody. [[Jain scriptures]], on the contrary, were believed by them to be of human origin, brought through omniscient teachers, and hence claimed greater worth.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}} According to Jains, the origin of Vedas lies with [[Marichi]], the son of [[Bharata Chakravarti]], who was the son of the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Jains maintain that these scriptures were later modified.{{sfn|Feynes|1998|p=xxiv}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} Jains pointed that Hindus do not know their own scriptures since they were unaware of the names of tirthankaras present in Vedas.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

Jains had a long-standing debate with [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism. [[Kumarila Bhatta]], a proponent of Mimamsa school, argued that the Vedas are the source of all knowledge and it is through them that humans can differentiate between right and wrong. Jain monks, such as [[Haribhadra]], held that humans are already in possession of all the knowledge, which only needs to be illuminated or uncovered in order to gain the status of omniscience.{{sfn|Qvarnström|2006|p=91}}

==== Vedic sacrifices ====
The practice of Vedic animal sacrifices was opposed by Jains.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemchandra]], a Jain monk, cites passages from [[Manusmriti]], one of the law book of Hindus, to demonstrate how, in light of false scriptures, Hindus have resorted to violence. [[Akalanka]], another Jain monk, sarcastically said that if killing can result in enlightenment, one should become a hunter or fisherman.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

===Hindu epics and Jain epics===
The rejection of Jain epics and scriptures were dominant in Hinduism since very early times.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} On the other hand, central Hindu scriptures and epics like Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana are categorized as unreliable scriptures in Nandi-sutra,{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=237}}{{Verify source|date=December 2013}}{{sfn|Iyengar|2005|p=62}} one of the svetambara's canonical literature. Later, Jains adapted various Hindu epics in accordance with their own system.{{sfn|Schubring|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} There were disputes between Jains and Hindus in form of these epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=jains+on+mahabharata&pg=PA359|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Jain deities and Hindu texts ==
{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Rishabha (Hinduism)}}
Within the doctrine of Jainism, the ''tirthankara'' holds the highest status. Hemachandra Acharya says that a ''Jindeva'' is the one who has conquered his internal desires and passions. This requirement, according to him, was fulfilled only by the tirthankara. Hence their path for spiritual upliftment and salvation is rejected by the [[Jains]].

Some personage mentioned in the Vedas and Jain scriptures are same. There is mention of the first tirthankara, [[Rishabhanatha]] in [[Rig Veda]] and Vishnu Purana. Rig Veda, X. 12. 166 states{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=74}}- {{cquote|0 Rudra-like Divinity ! do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a Great God, like Rishabha Deva, by becoming Arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher; let Him become the destroyer of the enemies !}}

Vishnu Purāna mentions:
:ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
:भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
:Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabh,
:Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata.
::—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)

In the [[Skanda Purana]] (chapter 37) it is stated that "Rishabha was the son of [[Nabhiraja]], and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=106}}

In the "Brahmottara-candam" section of the ''[[Brahma Purana]]'', the narrator Suta describes many matters relating to Shaivism and in the 16th portion, there is a story about Bhadrabahu receiving instructions in a mantra from Rishabha yogi.<ref>P. 88, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', Volume 11 By Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society</ref>

The ''Linga Purana'' mentions that in every kali yuga, Lord Shiva has incarnated, and that in one kali yuga he was a Yogeshwara (one of His 28 incarnations) named Rishabha.<ref>P. 16 ''Linga Purana'' By Vinay. The list is in order is: Shweta, Sutara, Madana, Suhotra, Kanchana, Lokakshee, Jagishavya, Dadhivahana, Rishabha, Muni, Ugra, Atri, Vali, Gautama, Vedashrira, Gokarna, Guhavasi, Shikhandabhriti, Jatamali, Attahasa, Daruka, Langali, Mahakaya, Shuli, Mundishvara, Sahishnu, Somasharma, and Jagadguru.</ref>

==History==
Jainism is considered to be distinct and separate from Vedic religion and originated from' 'Sramana'' or ''Arahata'' tradition.{{sfn|George|2008|p=317-318}}

===Ancient===
Jains and Hindus have coexisted in [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] since at least the second century BCE.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=187}}

===Medieval===
Competition between Jains and Vedic [[Brahman]]s, between Jains and Hindu [[Shaiva]]s, is a frequent motif of all medieval western Indian narratives, but the two communities for the most part coexisted and coprospered.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}} Shaiva kings patronised Jain mendicants, and Jain officials patronised Brahmana poets.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}}

===Decline of Jainism===
Around the 8th century CE, Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Ādi Śaṅkarācārya]] tried to restore the Vedic religion. Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This was particularly in the southern Indian states.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=70}}

According to a Saivite legend, the Pandya king [[Koon Pandiyan]] ordered a massacre of 8,000 Jain monks. This event is depicted graphically in walls of Tivatur in [[North Arcot]].{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|pp=70–71}} However, this legend is not found in any Jain text, and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Saivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | chapter-url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | accessdate=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter = 9. History of the Digambaras}}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 | isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}</ref>

==Jains and the Hindu society==
{{POV section|date=September 2015}}

Jain scholars and some monks in general allowed a sort of cautious integration with the Hindu society.{{CN|date=June 2023}} In today's date, there are a lot of common aspects in social and cultural life of Hindus and Jains. It is quite difficult to differentiate a lay Jain from a lay Hindu.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=493}} The Jain code of conduct is quite similar to that which is found in Hindu Dharmasashtra, Manusmriti and other Law books of Brahmans.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} {{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}}{{sfn|Babb|1996|pp=3-4}} The difference in the rituals of practitioners of the two religions would be that the Jains do not give any importance to bathing in holy water.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} According to religious scholar M. Whitney Kelting, some of the "names and narratives" in the Hindu's list of satis are also found in the Jain tradition.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} In the Hindu context, a sati is a virtuous wife who protects her husband and his family and has the "intention to die before, or with," her husband.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Kelting notes that those satis who die on the funeral pyre of their husband, or who "intended to die" but were prevented from death, may attain a status called satimata.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}}{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=22}} Kelting says that the Jain tradition, due to principle of non-violence and equanimity, doesn't allow self-immolation.{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} They, instead, see renunciation rather than self-sacrifice as the highest ideal for a Jain sati.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Hindus think Jainism is simply another branch of Hinduism.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} Jain historians like [[Champat Rai Jain]], held that Hindus are Jaina [[allegorists]] who have allegorised the Jain teachings.{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=154}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

===Hindu revivalism and Indian identities===
With the onset of British colonialism, select groups of Indians developed responses to the British dominance and the British critique of Hinduism.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} In this context, various responses toward Jainism developed.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Michael S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoTDAgAAQBAJ&q=Jainism+colonial+india&pg=PT157|title=Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia|last2=Hatcher|first2=Brian A.|date=2013-02-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48445-2|language=en}}</ref>

====Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj====
The Arya Samaj was founded by [[Dayanand Saraswati]] (1824-1883), who "was the solitary champion of Vedic authority and infallibility".{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} Swami Dayanand Saraswati authored Satyarth Prakash,{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38}} a book containing the basic teachings of Saraswati and the Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38-39}} It contains "Dayananda's bitter criticisms of the major ''non-Vedic'' religions of Indian origins."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}} In the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'', he writes that he regarded Jainism as "the most dreadful religion",{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}} and that Jains are "possessed of defective and childish understanding."{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|Daniels cites Dayanand in his investigation of the claim that "Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions and Hindu tolerance is the best answer in fostering peace and harmony in a multi-religious society",<ref name="EBC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |title=Eastern Book Company, ''About the Book:, Hindu Response to Religious Pluralism'' (P.S. Daniels (2000)) |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207064923/http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda and Mahatama Gandhi as cases.<ref name="EBC" /> He asks the question "Why was Dayananda so aggressive and negative in his response to other religions?".<ref name="EBC" /> Panicker also mentions that Dayanand's views are "strongly condemnatory, predominantly negative and positively intolerant and aggressive."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}}}}

==Relations==

Under the rule of [[Subhatavarman|Subhatvarman]] (1194-1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=REDDY |first=Prof Dr PEDARAPU CHENNA |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=kfNgEAAAQBAJ&dq=Subhatavarman+jain+temple&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s |title=Nagabharana: Recent Trends in Jainism Studies |date=2022-02-24 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |isbn=978-93-5611-446-3 |pages=36 |language=en}}</ref> Subhatavarman attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Vinay Chandra |last2=Singh |first2=Parmanand |year=1991 |title=Ram Janmabhoomi, Babri Masjid: Historical Documents, Legal Opinions, and Judgements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwaAAAAIAAJ&q=Subhatavarman+jain+temples}}</ref> Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. Throughout the centuries, there were periods of hostility in the South as well, affecting both Buddhism and Jainism.

[[Veerashaivas]] and [[Lingayats]], the two offshoots of shaivite Hinduism showed hostility towards Jains.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Dharmasthala Temple shows the communal harmony between Jains and Hindus, as the priests of the temple are Shivalli Brahmins, who are Vaishnava, and the administration is run by a [[Jain Bunt]] family.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Legal status of Jainism as a distinct religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[History of Jainism]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Elst|first1=Koenraad|title=Who is a Hindu?: Hindu Revivalist Views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Other Offshoots of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Voice of India |isbn=9788185990743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGPXAAAAMAAJ }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230904/http://bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm Ch. 7])

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
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==Sources==
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*{{citation|last=Jaini|first=Padmanabh S.|title=The Jaina Path of Purification|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wE6v6ahxHi8C|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1578-0}}
* {{citation |editor=John E. Cort |editor-link=John E. Cort |title=Open Boundaries: Jain Communities and Cultures in Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yoHfm7BgqTgC |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-7914-3785-8 }}
*{{cite book|last=Babb|first=Lawrence A.|title=Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/absentlordasceti0000babb|url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-91708-8}}
* {{Citation | last =Rambachan | first =Anatanand | year =1994 | title =The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas | publisher =University of Hawaii Press}}
* {{citation|first=Nalini|last=Balbir|chapter=Women in Jainism|editor-last1=Sharma|editor-first1=Arvind|title=Religion and Women|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPmlL55RNAQC&pg=PA121|year=1994|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1690-7|page=121}}
* {{citation |last=Dundas |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Dundas |title=The Jains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8iAAgAAQBAJ |edition=Second |date=2002 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-26605-5 }}
*{{citation|last=Ramanujan|first=A.K.|editor=Paula Richman|title=Many Rāmāyaṇas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkifYfljHP4C|year=1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-07589-4|chapter=Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation}}
* {{Citation | last =Zimmer | first =Heinrich | year =1989 | title =Philosophies of India | publisher =Princeton University Press}}
* {{Citation | last =Embree | first =Ainslie T. | author-link = Ainslie Embree | year =1988 | title =Sources of Indian Tradition. Second Edition. volume One. From the beginning to 1800 | publisher =Columbia University Press}}
*{{citation|last1=Zimmer|first1=Heinrich|title=Philosophies Of India|year=1953|editor=Joseph Campbell|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/Philosophy.of.India.by.Heinrich.Zimmer|isbn=978-8120807396|author-link=Heinrich Zimmer}}
*{{citation|title=Risabha Deva - The Founder of Jainism|first=Champat Rai|last=Jain|publisher=The Indian Press Limited|location=[[Allahabad]]|date=1929|url=https://archive.org/details/RisabhaDeva-TheFounderOfJainism|quote=Not in Copyright|author-link=Champat Rai Jain}}
{{refend}}

{{Jainism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Jainism and other religions|Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hinduism and other religions]]

Hinduism and Jainism

2024-02-06T13:01:09Z

Timovinga: /* Relations */ expanding

{{short description|Ancient Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Jainism}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Jainism''' and '''Hinduism''' are two ancient Indian religions. There are some similarities and differences between the two religions.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=135-136}} Temples, gods, rituals, fasts and other religious components of Jainism are different from those of Hinduism.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=138}}

"Jain" is derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions (like anger, attachment, greed and pride) and possesses [[Kevala Jnana|kevala jnana]] (pure infinite knowledge). Followers of the path shown by the Jinas are called Jains.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=15}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=164}} Followers of [[Hinduism]] are called Hindus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism|title=Hinduism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=6 August 2023 }}</ref>

== Philosophical similarities and differences ==
Jainism and Hinduism have many similar characteristic features, including the concepts of ''[[samsara]]'', ''[[karma]]'' and ''[[moksha]]''. However, they differ over the precise nature and meaning of these concepts. The doctrine Nyaya-Vaisheshika and samkhya school had minor similarities with Jain philosophy. The Jain doctrine teaches atomism which is also adopted in the Vaisheshika system and atheism which is found in Samkhya.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} Within the doctrine of Jainism, there exist many metaphysical concepts which are not known in Hinduism, some of which are ''dharma'' and Adharma tattva (which are seen as substances within the Jain metaphysical system), [[Gunasthana]]s and [[Lesya]]s.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=496}} The epistemological concepts of [[Anekantavada]] and Syadvada are not found in the Hindu system. There were, in the past, probable attempts made to merge the concepts of Hindu gods and the Tirthankara of Jainism. The cosmography of Hindus resembles that of the Jains and there are similar names of heavenly gods within these systems.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

In the [[Upanishads]], there also occur the first statements of the view, dominant in Jainist teachings and elsewhere, that rebirth is undesirable and that it is possible by controlling or stopping one's actions to put an end to it and attain a state of deliverance (moksha) which lies beyond action.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=15}}

===Moksha (liberation) ===
In Hinduism, [[moksha]] means merging of soul with universal soul or eternal being and escaping the cycle of births and deaths; in Jainism, it is blissful existence with infinite knowledge. In Vedic philosophy, salvation is giving up the sense of being a doer and realizing Self to be the same as Universe and God.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yaOxgEACAAJ&q=moksha|title=Moksha: Self-Liberation Through Self-Knowledge|last=Kajaria|first=Vish|date=2019-02-13|publisher=Independently Published|isbn=978-1-09-791542-2|language=en}}</ref> In Jainism, salvation can be achieved only through self-effort and is considered to be the right of human beings.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}

In Jainism, one definite path to attain liberation ([[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]) is prescribed. The prescribed threefold path consists of the [[Ratnatraya|three jewels of Jainism]] (Right perception, Right knowledge, Right conduct). In Hinduism, one definite path to salvation is not known.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p = 137}}

=== Universe ===
{{Further|Jainism and non-creationism}}
According to [[Jain cosmology]], the primary structure of the universe is eternal: it is neither created nor can it be destroyed, but undergoes continuous natural transformations within. In Hinduism, [[Brahman]] is the unchanging ultimate reality and the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe.

=== Karma ===
{{further|Karma in Jainism|Karma in Hinduism}}
Karma is an invisible force in Hinduism, whereas in Jainism it is a form of particulate matter which can adhere to the soul.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}} As per [[Jainism]], the consequence of karma occurs by natural ''nirjara'' of karma particles from the soul. Hindus rejected this concept and believe that the God or the creator of this universe is ''karmaphaldata'', and rewards the fruits of past actions to each individual.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JIRAQAAIAAJ&q=karma+nirjara|title=The Concept of Divinity in Jainism|last1=Kothari|first1=Pukhraj Ajay|year=2000}}</ref>

=== Worship ===
In Hinduism, Gods are worshiped in several ways and for several reasons such as knowledge, peace, wisdom, health, and it also believed to be one's duty to pray god as God is considered as our maker (as we originated from them and we are staying in them and at last will merge with them), for moksha, and are also offered food as a respect, etc.{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=137}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=181}} In Jainism, enlightened human perfect masters or [[Siddha#Jainism|siddhas]] represent the true goal of all human beings,{{sfn|Zimmer|1953|p=182}} and their qualities are worshiped by the Jains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aVRLGhf-8C|title=Faith & Philosophy of Jainism|isbn=9788178357232|last1=Jain|first1=Arun Kumar|year=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House }}</ref>

=== Self-defence and soldiering ===
Jains and Hindus have opinion that violence in self-defence can be justified,<ref>''Nisithabhasya'' (in ''Nisithasutra'') 289; Jinadatta Suri: ''Upadesharasayana'' 26; Dundas pp. 162–163; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> and they agree that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty.<ref>Jindal pp. 89–90; Laidlaw pp. 154–155; Jaini, Padmanabh S.: ''Ahimsa and "Just War" in Jainism'', in: ''Ahimsa, Anekanta and Jainism'', ed. Tara Sethia, New Delhi 2004, p. 52–60; Tähtinen p. 31.</ref> Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence, there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers.<ref>Harisena, ''Brhatkathakosa'' 124 (10th century); Jindal pp. 90–91; Sangave p. 259.</ref>

== Women ==
The religion of Jains included women in their fourfold ''sangha''; the religious order of Jain laymen, laywomen, monks and nuns.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} There was a disagreement between early Hinduism, and ascetic movements such as Jainism with the scriptural access to women.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=121}} However, the early svetambara scriptures prevented pregnant women, young women or those who have a small child, to enter the ranks of nun.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Regardless, the number of nuns given in those texts were always double the number of monks. [[Parshvanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], the two historical Tirthankars, had large numbers of female devotees and ascetics.{{sfn|Balbir|1994|p=122}} Tirthankara Mahavira and Jain monks are credited with raising the [[status of women]].{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=147-148}}

== Religious texts ==
Hindus do not accept any Jain text and Jains do not recognize any Hindu scripture.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}}{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=136}}

=== The Vedas ===
The scriptures known as [[Vedas]] are regarded by Hindus as one of the foundations of [[Hinduism]]. Those who rejected the Vedas as the prime source of religious knowledge were labeled "[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]".{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}} As a consequence, Jainism and Buddhism were categorized as ''nāstika [[darśana]]''.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010}}

The orthodox schools of Hinduism, such as [[Vedanta]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Samkhya]], claim the [[Sruti]] do not have any author and hence are supreme to other religious scriptures. This position was countered by Jains who said that saying Vedas are authorless was equivalent to saying that anonymous poems are written by nobody. [[Jain scriptures]], on the contrary, were believed by them to be of human origin, brought through omniscient teachers, and hence claimed greater worth.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}} According to Jains, the origin of Vedas lies with [[Marichi]], the son of [[Bharata Chakravarti]], who was the son of the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Jains maintain that these scriptures were later modified.{{sfn|Feynes|1998|p=xxiv}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} Jains pointed that Hindus do not know their own scriptures since they were unaware of the names of tirthankaras present in Vedas.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

Jains had a long-standing debate with [[Mimamsa]] school of Hinduism. [[Kumarila Bhatta]], a proponent of Mimamsa school, argued that the Vedas are the source of all knowledge and it is through them that humans can differentiate between right and wrong. Jain monks, such as [[Haribhadra]], held that humans are already in possession of all the knowledge, which only needs to be illuminated or uncovered in order to gain the status of omniscience.{{sfn|Qvarnström|2006|p=91}}

==== Vedic sacrifices ====
The practice of Vedic animal sacrifices was opposed by Jains.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} [[Hemachandra|Acharya Hemchandra]], a Jain monk, cites passages from [[Manusmriti]], one of the law book of Hindus, to demonstrate how, in light of false scriptures, Hindus have resorted to violence. [[Akalanka]], another Jain monk, sarcastically said that if killing can result in enlightenment, one should become a hunter or fisherman.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=234}}

===Hindu epics and Jain epics===
The rejection of Jain epics and scriptures were dominant in Hinduism since very early times.{{sfn|George|2008|p=318}} On the other hand, central Hindu scriptures and epics like Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana are categorized as unreliable scriptures in Nandi-sutra,{{sfn|Dundas|2002|p=237}}{{Verify source|date=December 2013}}{{sfn|Iyengar|2005|p=62}} one of the svetambara's canonical literature. Later, Jains adapted various Hindu epics in accordance with their own system.{{sfn|Schubring|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}} There were disputes between Jains and Hindus in form of these epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=jains+on+mahabharata&pg=PA359|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Jain deities and Hindu texts ==
{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Rishabha (Hinduism)}}
Within the doctrine of Jainism, the ''tirthankara'' holds the highest status. Hemachandra Acharya says that a ''Jindeva'' is the one who has conquered his internal desires and passions. This requirement, according to him, was fulfilled only by the tirthankara. Hence their path for spiritual upliftment and salvation is rejected by the [[Jains]].

Some personage mentioned in the Vedas and Jain scriptures are same. There is mention of the first tirthankara, [[Rishabhanatha]] in [[Rig Veda]] and Vishnu Purana. Rig Veda, X. 12. 166 states{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=74}}- {{cquote|0 Rudra-like Divinity ! do thou produce amongst us, of high descent, a Great God, like Rishabha Deva, by becoming Arhan, which is the epithet of the first World Teacher; let Him become the destroyer of the enemies !}}

Vishnu Purāna mentions:
:ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्
:भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
:Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabh,
:Bharatavarsha (India) arose from Bharata, and Sumati arose from Bharata.
::—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)

In the [[Skanda Purana]] (chapter 37) it is stated that "Rishabha was the son of [[Nabhiraja]], and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."{{sfn|Sangave|2001|p=106}}

In the "Brahmottara-candam" section of the ''[[Brahma Purana]]'', the narrator Suta describes many matters relating to Shaivism and in the 16th portion, there is a story about Bhadrabahu receiving instructions in a mantra from Rishabha yogi.<ref>P. 88, ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', Volume 11 By Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society</ref>

The ''Linga Purana'' mentions that in every kali yuga, Lord Shiva has incarnated, and that in one kali yuga he was a Yogeshwara (one of His 28 incarnations) named Rishabha.<ref>P. 16 ''Linga Purana'' By Vinay. The list is in order is: Shweta, Sutara, Madana, Suhotra, Kanchana, Lokakshee, Jagishavya, Dadhivahana, Rishabha, Muni, Ugra, Atri, Vali, Gautama, Vedashrira, Gokarna, Guhavasi, Shikhandabhriti, Jatamali, Attahasa, Daruka, Langali, Mahakaya, Shuli, Mundishvara, Sahishnu, Somasharma, and Jagadguru.</ref>

==History==
Jainism is considered to be distinct and separate from Vedic religion and originated from' 'Sramana'' or ''Arahata'' tradition.{{sfn|George|2008|p=317-318}}

===Ancient===
Jains and Hindus have coexisted in [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] since at least the second century BCE.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=187}}

===Medieval===
Competition between Jains and Vedic [[Brahman]]s, between Jains and Hindu [[Shaiva]]s, is a frequent motif of all medieval western Indian narratives, but the two communities for the most part coexisted and coprospered.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}} Shaiva kings patronised Jain mendicants, and Jain officials patronised Brahmana poets.{{sfn|John E. Cort|1998|p=87}}

===Decline of Jainism===
Around the 8th century CE, Hindu philosopher [[Adi Shankara|Ādi Śaṅkarācārya]] tried to restore the Vedic religion. Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This was particularly in the southern Indian states.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=70}}

According to a Saivite legend, the Pandya king [[Koon Pandiyan]] ordered a massacre of 8,000 Jain monks. This event is depicted graphically in walls of Tivatur in [[North Arcot]].{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|pp=70–71}} However, this legend is not found in any Jain text, and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Saivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | chapter-url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | accessdate=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter = 9. History of the Digambaras}}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]] | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 | isbn=978-0-19-560686-7 }}</ref>

==Jains and the Hindu society==
{{POV section|date=September 2015}}

Jain scholars and some monks in general allowed a sort of cautious integration with the Hindu society.{{CN|date=June 2023}} In today's date, there are a lot of common aspects in social and cultural life of Hindus and Jains. It is quite difficult to differentiate a lay Jain from a lay Hindu.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=493}} The Jain code of conduct is quite similar to that which is found in Hindu Dharmasashtra, Manusmriti and other Law books of Brahmans.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} {{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}}{{sfn|Babb|1996|pp=3-4}} The difference in the rituals of practitioners of the two religions would be that the Jains do not give any importance to bathing in holy water.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} According to religious scholar M. Whitney Kelting, some of the "names and narratives" in the Hindu's list of satis are also found in the Jain tradition.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} In the Hindu context, a sati is a virtuous wife who protects her husband and his family and has the "intention to die before, or with," her husband.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Kelting notes that those satis who die on the funeral pyre of their husband, or who "intended to die" but were prevented from death, may attain a status called satimata.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}}{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=22}} Kelting says that the Jain tradition, due to principle of non-violence and equanimity, doesn't allow self-immolation.{{sfn|Kelting|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} They, instead, see renunciation rather than self-sacrifice as the highest ideal for a Jain sati.{{sfn|Kelting|2006|p=183}} Hindus think Jainism is simply another branch of Hinduism.{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=494}} Jain historians like [[Champat Rai Jain]], held that Hindus are Jaina [[allegorists]] who have allegorised the Jain teachings.{{sfn|Jain|1929|p=154}}{{sfn|Glasenapp|1999|p=497}}

===Hindu revivalism and Indian identities===
With the onset of British colonialism, select groups of Indians developed responses to the British dominance and the British critique of Hinduism.{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} In this context, various responses toward Jainism developed.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dodson|first1=Michael S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoTDAgAAQBAJ&q=Jainism+colonial+india&pg=PT157|title=Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia|last2=Hatcher|first2=Brian A.|date=2013-02-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-48445-2|language=en}}</ref>

====Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj====
The Arya Samaj was founded by [[Dayanand Saraswati]] (1824-1883), who "was the solitary champion of Vedic authority and infallibility".{{sfn|Rambachan|1994|p=38}} Swami Dayanand Saraswati authored Satyarth Prakash,{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38}} a book containing the basic teachings of Saraswati and the Arya Samaj.{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=38-39}} It contains "Dayananda's bitter criticisms of the major ''non-Vedic'' religions of Indian origins."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}} In the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'', he writes that he regarded Jainism as "the most dreadful religion",{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}} and that Jains are "possessed of defective and childish understanding."{{sfn|Daniel|2000|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|Daniels cites Dayanand in his investigation of the claim that "Hinduism is the most tolerant of all religions and Hindu tolerance is the best answer in fostering peace and harmony in a multi-religious society",<ref name="EBC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |title=Eastern Book Company, ''About the Book:, Hindu Response to Religious Pluralism'' (P.S. Daniels (2000)) |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207064923/http://www.easternbookcorporation.com/moreinfo.php?txt_searchstring=3165 |url-status=dead }}</ref> taking Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda and Mahatama Gandhi as cases.<ref name="EBC" /> He asks the question "Why was Dayananda so aggressive and negative in his response to other religions?".<ref name="EBC" /> Panicker also mentions that Dayanand's views are "strongly condemnatory, predominantly negative and positively intolerant and aggressive."{{sfn|Panicker|2006|p=39}}}}

==Relations==

Under the rule of Subhatvarman (1194-1209 CE), a Parmara ruler in central India, Jainism faced hardships as a result of the ruler's animosity towards the religion. [[Subhatavarman]] attacked Gujarat and plundered large number of Jain temples in Dabhoi and Cambay in 11th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mishra |first1=Vinay Chandra |last2=Singh |first2=Parmanand |year=1991 |title=Ram Janmabhoomi, Babri Masjid: Historical Documents, Legal Opinions, and Judgements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjwaAAAAIAAJ&q=Subhatavarman+jain+temples}}</ref> Subhatavarman, during his campaigns in Lata, destroyed numerous Jain temples. Throughout the centuries, there were periods of hostility in the South as well, affecting both Buddhism and Jainism.

[[Veerashaivas]] and [[Lingayats]], the two offshoots of shaivite Hinduism showed hostility towards Jains.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Dharmasthala Temple shows the communal harmony between Jains and Hindus, as the priests of the temple are Shivalli Brahmins, who are Vaishnava, and the administration is run by a [[Jain Bunt]] family.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Legal status of Jainism as a distinct religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[History of Jainism]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Elst|first1=Koenraad|title=Who is a Hindu?: Hindu Revivalist Views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Other Offshoots of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=Voice of India |isbn=9788185990743 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGPXAAAAMAAJ }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230904/http://bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm Ch. 7])

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{citation |last=George |first=Vensus A. |author-link=Vensus A. George |title=Paths to the Divine: Ancient and Indian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYaRePV92YwC |publisher=[[The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy]] |date=2008 |volume=XII |isbn=978-1-56518-248-6 }}
* {{Citation | last =Springer | year =2012 | title =International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3, December 2012 | url =https://link.springer.com/journal/11407/16/3/page/1 }}
* {{Citation | last =Nicholson | first =Andrew J. | year =2010 | title =Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History | publisher =Columbia University Press}}
* {{citation|last=Kelting|first=M. Whitney|author-link=Mary Whitney Kelting|title=Heroic Wives Rituals, Stories and the Virtues of Jain Wifehood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-txAd-dK0tEC|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973679-9}}
* {{Citation | last =Lockard | first =Craig A. | year =2007 | title =Societies, Networks, and Transitions. Volume I: to 1500 | publisher =Cengage Learning | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC&pg=PA50 | isbn =978-0618386123 }}
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{{refend}}

{{Jainism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Jainism and other religions|Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hinduism and other religions]]

Kayastha

2024-02-06T12:38:02Z

Timovinga: /* From classical to early-medieval India */ Removed raj era sources replaced with citation needed tag.

{{short description|Community of India}}
{{Redirect|Darad|decarad|darad (angular unit)}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox caste
|caste_name=Kayastha
|subdivisions={{ubl|[[Bengali Kayastha]], [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]], [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]] and [[Karan Kayastha]]
|populated_states=[[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Assam]], [[Delhi]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[West Bengal]], [[Orissa]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Maharashtra]]
|religions= Majority: [[Hinduism]] Minority: [[Islam]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jahanara |title=Muslim kayasthas of India |date=2005 |publisher=K.K. Publications |location=Allahabad, India |oclc=255708448 |language=English |id=Monographic study of an anthropological investigation of the Muslim Kayasthas with special reference to Uttar Pradesh}}</ref>}}|image=Calcuttakayasth.jpg|caption="Calcutta Kayastha", a late 18th-century depiction by [[Frans Balthazar Solvyns]]|image_size=160px}}

'''Kayastha''' or '''Kayasth''' denotes a cluster of disparate [[South Asian ethnic groups|Indian]] communities broadly categorised by the regions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] in which they were traditionally located{{mdash}}the [[Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha]]s of [[North India]], the [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s of [[Maharashtra]], the [[Bengali Kayastha]]s of [[Bengal]] and [[Karan (caste)|Karanas]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Biswarup |date=1980 |title=KAYASTHAS AND KARANAS IN ORISSA—A STUDY ON INSCRIPTIONS— |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141924 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=41 |pages=940–944 |jstor=44141924 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raut |first=L.N. |title=Jati Formation in Early Medieval Orissa: Reflection on Karana (Kayastha Caste) |date=2004 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144743 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=65 |pages=304–308 |jstor=44144743 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> of [[Odisha]]. All of them were traditionally considered "writing [[caste]]s", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Imam|first=Faitma|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/755414244|title=India today : An encyclopedia of life in the republic. Vol. 1, A–K|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|others=Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long|isbn=978-0-313-37463-0|location=Santa Barbara|pages=403–405|oclc=755414244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Leonard|first=Karen|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60856154|title=Encyclopedia of India|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2006|isbn=0-684-31349-9|editor-last=Wolpert|editor-first=Stanley|location=Detroit|pages=22|oclc=60856154|quote=All three were "writing castes", traditionally serving the ruling powers as administrators and record keepers.}}</ref>

The earliest known reference to the term ''Kayastha'' dates back to the [[Kushan Empire]],<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> when it evolved into a common name for a writer or [[scribe]].<ref name=":162">{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Chitrarekha|date=1983|title=The writers' class of ancient India—a case study in social mobility|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001946468302000203|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20|issue=2|pages=194|doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |quote=The short inscriptions mentioned earlier indicate that from about the first century B.C. the scribes or writers played an important role in society and their profession was regarded as a respectable one ... the first mention of the term Kayastha, which later became the generic name of the writers, was during this phase of Indian history}}</ref> In the [[Sanskrit]] literature and [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]], it was used to denote the holders of a particular category of offices in the government service.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|pages=18–19|language=en|quote=Such an argument is supported by the manner in which the term "Kayastha" is used in Sanskrit literature and inscriptions—i.e., as a term for the various state officials ... It seems appropriate to suppose that they were originally from one or more than one existing endogamous units and that the term "Kayastha" originally meant an office or the holder of a particular office in the state service.}}</ref> In this context, the term possibly derived from {{lang|und|kaya-}} ('principal, capital, treasury') and -{{lang|und|stha}} ('to stay') and perhaps originally stood for an officer of the royal treasury, or revenue department.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stout|first=Lucy Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K15KAQAAMAAJ|title=The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|date=1976|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=20|language=en|quote=In this context, a possible derivation o the word "Kayastha" is "from ... ''kaya'' (principal, capital, treasury) and ''stha'', to stay" and perhaps originally stood for an officer of royal treasury, or the revenue department.}}</ref><ref name="Visvanat 2014"/>

Over the centuries, the occupational histories of Kayastha communities largely revolved around [[Scribe|scribal]] services. However, these scribes did not simply take dictation but acted in the range of capacities better indicated by the term "secretary". They used their training in law, literature, court language, accounting, litigation and many other areas to fulfill responsibilities in all these venues.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davidson|first=Ronald M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/808346313|title=Tibetan renaissance : Tantric Buddhism in the rebirth of Tibetan culture|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-231-50889-6|location=New York|pages=179|oclc=808346313}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Carroll|first=Lucy|date=February 1978|title=Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=37|issue=2|pages=233–250|doi=10.2307/2054164|jstor=2054164|s2cid=146635639 }}</ref> Kayasthas, along with [[Brahmin]]s, had access to formal education as well as their own system of teaching administration, including accountancy, in the early-medieval India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191849214|title=History of medieval India : 800–1700|publisher=Orient Longman|year=2007|isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|location=Hyderabad, India|pages=50|oclc=191849214|quote=There was no idea of mass education at that time. People learnt what they felt was needed for their livelihood. Reading and writing was confined to a small section, mostly Brahmans and some sections of the upper classes, especially Kayasthas ... The Kayasthas had their own system of teaching the system of administration, including accountancy.}}</ref>

Modern scholars list them among Indian communities that were traditionally described as "urban-oriented", "upper caste" and part of the "well-educated" pan-Indian elite, alongside [[Khatri|Punjabi Khatris]], [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s, [[Parsis]], [[Nagar Brahmin]]s of Gujarat, [[Bhadralok|Bengali Bhadraloks]], [[Chitpawan]]s and [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKPs) of Maharashtra, South-Indian Brahmins including [[Deshastha Brahmin]]s from Southern parts of India and upper echelons of the [[Muslim]] as well as [[Christian]] communities that made up the [[middle class]] at the time of [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Indian independence]] in 1947.<ref name=":13">{{cite book|author=Pavan K. Varma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|title=The Great Indian Middle class|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2007|isbn=9780143103257|page=28|quote=its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists [etc] ... The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together this pan-Indian elite ... But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{cite book|author1=Paul Wallace|title=Region and nation in India|author2=Richard Leonard Park|publisher=Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.|year=1985|quote=During much of the 19th century, Maratha Brahman Desasthas had held a position of such strength throughout South India that their position can only be compared with that of the Kayasthas and Khatris of North India.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=D. L. Sheth|url=https://www.csds.in/d_l_sheth}}</ref>

==Origins==
=== Etymology ===
According to [[Merriam-Webster]], the word ''Kāyastha'' is probably formed from the [[Sanskrit]] ''kāya'' (body), and the suffix ''-stha'' (standing, being in).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kayasth|title=Kayastha|website=Merriam-Webster.com|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref>

=== As a class of administrators ===
As evidenced by literary and epigraphical texts, Kayasthas had emerged as a 'class of administrators' between late-ancient and early-mediaeval period of Indian history. Their emergence is explained by modern scholars as a result of growth of state machinery, complication of taxation system and the "rapid expansion of land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation".<ref name=":42">{{Cite book|last=Vanina|first=Eugenia|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794922930|title=Medieval Indian mindscapes : space, time, society, man|date=2012|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-19-1|location=New Delhi|pages=178|oclc=794922930|quote=This group as demonstrated by epigraphical and literary texts, emerged in the period between the late ancient and early medieval times. Modern scholars explained this by the growth of state-machinery, complication of taxation system and fast spreading land-grant practice that required professional documenting fixation...Initially, these term referred only to the appointment of men from various castes, mainly Brahmans, into the Kayastha post. Gradually, the Kayasthas emerged as a caste-like community...}}</ref><ref name="Visvanat 2014">{{Cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Meera|title=From the 'lekhaka' to the Kāyastha: Scribes in Early Historic Court and Society (200 BCE–200 CE)|date=2014 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158358 |volume=75|pages=34–40|jstor=44158358|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The term also finds mention in an inscription of the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] emperor [[Kumaragupta I]], dated to 442 CE, in which ''prathama-kāyastha'' ({{translation|'chief officer'}}) is used as an administrative designation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|page=858|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]], also from the Gupta era, and the [[Vishnu Smriti]] describe ''kayasthas'' as record-keepers and accountants, but not as {{lang|sa|[[jāti]]}} ([[caste]] or clan).<ref name="bellenoit">{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEMlDgAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134494361|pages=69–70}}</ref> Similarly, the term ''Kayastha'' is used in the works of [[Kshemendra]], [[Kalhana]] and [[Bilhana]] to refer to members of [[bureaucracy]] varying from {{lang|und|Gṛhakṛtyamahattama}} ({{translation|'the chief secretary in the charge of home affairs'}}) to the {{lang|und|Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha}} ({{translation|'officer in charge of the fodder for horses'}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A Note on the Kāyasthas of Early-Mediaeval Kāśmīra |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref>

According to [[Romila Thapar]], the offices that demanded formal education including that of a ''kayastha'' were generally occupied by the "''[[Brahmin]]s'', revenue collectors, [[treasurer]]s and those concerned with legal matters".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=191–204 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=According to Romila Thapar, the offices which required formal education were usually occupied by the Brahmins, revenue collectors, treasurers and those concerned with legal matters belonged to this category. She says that the same was probably true of the important but less exalted rank of scribes, recorders and accountants.}}</ref>

=== In Buddhist association ===
According to Chitrarekha Gupta, it is possible that [[Buddhist]]s, in their effort to create an educated non-[[Brahmin]] class, strove to popularize the utility of education and fostered those vocations that required a knowledge of writing. This is corroborated in [[Udāna]], where the ''lekha-sippa'' ('craft of writing'), was regarded as the highest of all the crafts. It is also backed by the fact that the earliest epigraphical records mentioning ''lekhaka'' ('writer') or ''kayastha'' have been made in association with [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=193–194 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |via=SAGE}}</ref>

=== As an independent guild of professionals ===
It is possible that ''kayasthas'' may have started out as a separate profession, similar to [[bank]]ers, [[merchant]]s, and [[artisan]]s. As suggested in certain epigraphs, they had a representative in the district-level administration, along with those of bankers and merchants. This is also implied in {{lang|sa|[[Mudrarakshasa]]}}, where a ''kayastha'' would work for any man who paid his wages on time. Possibly secular knowledge, like writing, administration, and jurisprudence, was monopolised by a non-Brahmin professional elite that later came be referred as ''kayasthas''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001946468302000203?journalCode=iera |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=195 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |s2cid=144941948 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=They seem to have had guilds of their own and the head of the guild, the prathama-kayastha, represented his class in the administration of the city. The profession of the kàyasthas, like those of the bankers, merchants and the artisans, was an independent one and was not necessarily associated with the king and his court....Thus it may be assumed that while the Brahmanas were engaged in studying religious literature, secular knowledge of document writing, etc., was the monopoly of a professional group, who came to be called Kayasthas.}}</ref>

==History==
=== From classical to early-medieval India ===
The Kayasthas, at least as an office, played an important role in administering the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Northern India]] from the Gupta period.<ref>{{Citation |last=Sahu |first=Bhairabi Prasad |title=Commerce and the Agrarian Empires: Northern India |date=2021 |url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-596 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.596 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 |quote=The Gupta period witnessed the rise of the writers’ class (Kayastha/Karana) with other symmetrical developments such as the spread of local state formation. Besides maintaining records, they also helped the administration of justice and commercial activities.}}</ref> The earliest evidence comes from a [[Mathura]] inscription of [[Vasudeva I]], composed by a Kayastha [[Śramaṇa]].<ref name="Visvanat 2014"/> From this point we find, the term ''kayastha'' occurring in the inscription of the Gupta Emperor [[Kumaragupta I]] as ''prathama-kāyastha,<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal |last=Shah |first=K. K. |year=1993 |title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=54 |page=858 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44143088}}</ref>'' as ''karaṇa-kāyastha'' in [[Vainyagupta|Vainayagupta]]’s inscription,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. (Ramesh Chandra), 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=395 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> and as ''gauḍa-kāyastha'' in an Apshadha inscription dated 672 CE.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960">{{Cite book |last=Mazumdar |first=Bhakat Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFJKAAAAMAAJ |title=Socio-economic history of northern India (1030-1194 A.D.)|date=1960 |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |pages=99, 104|oclc=614029099 |language=en |quote=As we have got reference to the Gauda Kayasthas in the Apshad inscription, dated 672 AD...}}</ref>{{rp|104}} The occasional references to individuals of the ''Karaṇa'' caste occupying high government offices are made in inscriptions and literary works too.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Ramesh Chandra, 1888-1980. Pusalker, A. D. Majumdar, A. K. Munshi, Kanaiyalal Maneklal |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/643663693 |title=The history and culture of the Indian people |date=1990 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |volume=4 |pages=374 |oclc=643663693}}</ref> Razia Banu has suggested that Brahmin and Kayastha migrants were brought to [[Bengal]] during the reign of the [[Gupta Empire]] to help manage the state affairs.<ref name="Banu 1992">{{cite book |last=Banu |first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC |title=Islam in Bangladesh |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=1992 |isbn=978-90-04-09497-0}}</ref>{{rp|5–6}} According to a legend, a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] King named ''Adisur'' had invited Brahmins accompanied by Kayasthas from [[Kannauj]] who became an elite sub-group described as [[Kulin Kayastha|Kulin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Luca |first1=Pagani |last2=Bose |first2=Sarmila |last3=Ayub |first3=Qasim |date=2017 |title=Kayasthas of Bengal |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2017/47/special-articles/kayasthas-bengal.html |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |language=en |volume=52 |issue=47 |pages=44 |quote=...which claimed that the Bengali King Adisur had invited five Brahmins from Kannauj, an ancient city in the northern Gangetic plains located in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to migrate to Bengal, in eastern India. According to legend, these five Brahmins from Kannauj were accompanied by five Kayasthas, who became an "elite" subgroup described as "kulin" among the Kayasthas of Bengal...}}</ref> However, such claims are disputable and even rejected by some scholars.<ref name="Mazumdar 1960"/>{{rp|99}}

From the ninth-century and perhaps even earlier, Kayasthas had started to consolidate into a distinct caste.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R.C. |url=http://archive.org/details/struggleforempir05bhar |title=History and Culture of the Indian People |date=2001 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |others=Public Resource |editor-last=Ramakrishnan |editor-first=S. |volume=5 |pages=477 |quote=We have seen that the Kayasthas as a caste (as distinguished from the profession called by that name) can be traced back with the help of literary and epigraphic records to the latter half of the ninth century.}}</ref> This is evident from a epigraphic record dated 871 CE of the King [[Amoghavarsha]] that mentions a branch of Kayasthas referred to as ''vālabhya-kāyastha''. The author of the [[Sanskrit]] work ''Udayasundarī-kathā'' also referred to himself as ''vālabhya-kayāstha'' and characterized Kayasthas as 'ornaments of the [[Kshatriya|Kṣatriyas]]'.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==== In Soḍḍhala’s account ====
According to Soḍḍhala'','' who claimed to be a Kayastha himself, Kayasthas traced their descent to a younger brother of the [[Maitraka dynasty|Maitrika]] king, identified as ''Śilāditya VI or VII'', referred to as ''Kalāditya''. He narrates that ''Kalāditya'' had besieged [[Dharmapala (emperor)|Dharmapala]] of the [[Pala Empire|Pala Dynasty]] that led to the victory of his elder brother. Subsequently, he was entrusted by Śilāditya to administer his kingdom at the advice of the Goddess ''Rāja Lakśmī.'' Kalāditya has been further described as an incarnation of a ''gaṇa'' ({{translation|'attendant'}}) of [[Shiva]] called ''Kayastha''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

==== In Sanskrit literature ====
The [[Mitākṣarā]] refers to Kayasthas as accountants and scribes, they are described as favorites of the king and cunning.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The ''Kayastha'' appears as a figure in Act IX of the {{lang|sa|[[Mṛcchakatika]]}}, ''a kāyastha'' is shown accompanying a judge (''adhikaraṇika'') and assisting him. In Act V there is mention that:<ref name="Visvanat 2014" />

{{Cquote
| quote = Moreover, O friend, a courtesan, an elephant, a Kayastha, a mendicant, a spy and a donkey—where these dwell, there not even villains can flourish.
}}

In {{lang|sa|[[Mudrarakshasa]]}}, a Kayastha named ''Śakaṭadāsa'' is a crucial character and one of the trusted men of the Prime Minister of the [[Nanda Empire|Nanda]] King. According to Chitrarekha Gupta, the title ''Ārya'' added to the name of ''Śakaṭadāsa'' implies that he was a member of the nobility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Chitrarekha |date=1983 |title=The writers' class of ancient India— a case study in social mobility |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946468302000203 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=196 |doi=10.1177/001946468302000203 |issn=0019-4646 |s2cid=144941948}}</ref> Another Kayastha called ''Acala'' is the scribe of [[Chanakya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deshpande |first=R. R. |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.csl.8864 |title=Visakhadattaʼs Mudraraksasa |date=1948 |publisher=Popular book Store, Surat |pages=ii}}</ref>

In early-mediaeval Kashmir too, the term ''kayastha'' denoted an occupational class whose principal duty, besides carrying on the general administration of the state, consisted in the collection of revenue and taxes. [[Kshemendra|Kshemendra’s]] ''Narmamālā'' composed during the reign of [[Ananta (king)|Ananta]] (1028-1063 CE) gives a list of contemporary Kayastha officers that included ''Gṛhakṛtyadhipati,'' ''Paripālaka'', ''Mārgapati'', ''Gañja-divira'', ''Āsthāna-divira'', ''Nagara-divira'', ''Lekhakopādhya'' and {{Lang|sa|Niyogi}}. Kalhana’s [[Rajatarangini|Rājataraṃgiṇī]] ('The River of Kings') and [[Bilhana]]'s ''Vikramāṅkadevacarita'' ('Life of King Vikramaditya') also mention Kayasthas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1950 |title=A NOTE ON THE KĀYASTHAS OF EARLY-MEDIAEVAL KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44140901 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=13 |pages=124–126 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140901}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kalhana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzxTkI9iAxkC |title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-20-80370-1 |editor-last=Stein |editor-first=Sir Marc Aurel |pages=8, 39, 45}}</ref> It is also mentioned that father of [[Lalitaditya Muktapida]] of the [[Karkota dynasty|Karkota Dynasty]], Durlabhavardhan, had held the post of ''Aśvaghāsa-kāyastha.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=Sunil Chandra |date=1957 |title=ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM IN EARLY KĀŚMĪRA |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44082819 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=38 |issue=3/4 |pages=176 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=44082819 |quote=He also mentions the names of a few of the minor offices which had come into existence in the meantime. One of these was the office of the avaghasa-kayąstha, (fodderer for the horses) a position held for sometime by Durlabhavardhana.}}</ref>

Kayasthas have been authors of several [[Sanskrit]] texts too.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 1. Some important Sanskrit works authored by the ''Kayasthas''
!Work(s)
!Genre(s)
!Author
!Author's lineage
!Date
|-
|[[Ramacharitam|''Rāmacarita'']]
|Biography
|Sandhyākaranandin
|[[Karan Kayastha|Karana]]<ref name=":21">{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536567 |title=The past before us : historical traditions of early north India |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=498 |oclc=859536567 |quote=He states that he comes from a family of scribes, his caste being karana (kāyastha).}}</ref>
|12th c.
|-
|''Udayasundarī Kathā''
|''[[Champu]]''
|Soḍḍhala
|Vālabhya<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last1=Ghosh |first1=Jogendra Chandra |last2=Ghosh |first2=Jogesh Chandra |date=1931 |title=GLEANINGS FROM THE UDAYASUNDARĪ-KATHĀ |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41688244 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=197–205 |issn=0378-1143 |jstor=41688244}}</ref>
|11th c.
|-
|''Rasa Saṅketa Kalikā, Varṇanighaṇṭu''
|Medicine, ''[[Tantra]]''
|Kāyastha Cāmuṇḍa
|[[Nigam|Naigama]]<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last=O’Hanlon |first=Rosalind |date=2010 |title=The social worth of scribes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001946461004700406 |journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=583 |doi=10.1177/001946461004700406 |issn=0019-4646 |quote=..Kayastha Camunda, a kayastha of the Naigama community, son of Kumbha and protégé of king Rajamalla of Mewad.. |s2cid=145071541}}</ref>
|15th c.
|-
|''Kṛtyakalpataru''
|Administration
|Lakṣmīdhara
|[[Srivastava|Vāstavya]]<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=H T Colebrooke |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142316 |title=A Digest Of Hindu Law On Contracts And Successions Vol-I |date=1898 |pages=xvii |quote=Lachmidhara composed a treatise on administrative justice by command of Govindachandra a king of Casi, sprung from the Vastava race of Cayasthas...}}</ref>
|12th c.
|}

==== In Brahmanical literature ====
Kayasthas have been recorded as a separate caste responsible for writing secular documents and maintaining records in [[Brahmin|Brahmanical]] religious writings dating back to the seventh-century.<ref name="IT20112">{{cite book |last=Imam |first=Fatima A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405 |title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=9780313374623 |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor1-first=Arnold P. |pages=404–405 |editor2-last=Long |editor2-first=Roger D.}}</ref> In these texts, some described Kayasthas as [[Kshatriya]]s, while others often described them as a 'mixed-origin' caste with [[Brahmin]] and [[Shudra]] components. This was probably an attempt by the Brahmins to rationalize their rank in the traditional caste hierarchy and perhaps a later invention rather than a historical fact.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=India - The Rajputs |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |quote=A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas...According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/753563817 |title=A History of India |date=1998 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-194976-5 |volume=1 |location=New Delhi |pages=99 |oclc=753563817 |quote=Some described them as kshatriyas , others ascribed their origin to a brahman-shudra combination. The mixed-caste origin ascribed to them may well have been a later invention of those who had to fit them into a caste hierarchy.}}</ref>

=== Late medieval India ===

After the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquest of India]], they mastered [[Persian language|Persian]], which became the official language of the Mughal courts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ballbanlilar |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC&pg=PA59 |title=Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia |publisher=I.B. Taurus & Co., Ltd. |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84885-726-1 |page=59}}</ref> Some converted to [[Islam]] and formed the [[Muslim Kayasths|Muslim Kayasth]] community in [[North India|northern India]].

Bengali Kayasthas had been the dominant landholding caste prior to the Muslim conquest, and continued this role under Muslim rule. Indeed, Muslim rulers had from a very early time confirmed the Kayasthas in their ancient role as landholders and political intermediaries.<ref name="RiseofIslam" />

Bengali Kayasthas served as treasury officials and ''[[Vizier|wazirs]]'' (government ministers) under Mughal rule. Political scientist U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu writes that, partly because of [[List of rulers of Bengal#Muslim rule|Muslim sultans]]' satisfaction with them as technocrats, many Bengali Kayasthas in the administration became ''[[zamindar]]s'' and ''[[jagirdar]]s''. According to Abu al-Fazl, most of the Hindu ''zamindars'' in Bengal were Kayasthas.<ref name="Banu 1992"/>{{rp|24–25}}

[[Pratapaditya|Maharaja Pratapaditya]], the king of Jessore who declared independence from Mughal rule in the early 17th century, was a Bengali Kayastha.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Dipesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMEECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |title=The Calling of History: Sir Jadunath Sarkar and His Empire of Truth |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-226-10045-6 |page=139}}</ref>

===British India===
[[File:Ramanand_Kayastha_in_1901_at_Govindgarh,_Rewa.jpg|thumb|276x276px|A Kayastha employee of the political agent of the [[Bagelkhand Agency]] 1901. ]]
During the British Raj, Kayasthas continued to proliferate in public administration, qualifying for the highest executive and judicial offices open to Indians.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEQwAQAAIAAJ&q=kayastha+under+british+raj|title=Origin and development of class and caste in India|last=Srivastava |first=Kamal Shankar |year=1998}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}

Bengali Kayasthas took on the role occupied by merchant castes in other parts of India and profited from business contacts with the British. In 1911, for example, Bengali Kayasthas and Bengali Brahmins owned 40% of all the Indian-owned mills, mines and factories in Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Raymond Lee |last1=Owens |first2=Ashis |last2=Nandy|title=The New Vaisyas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqUcAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Carolina Academic Press|isbn=978-0-89089-057-8|page=81}}</ref>

===Modern India===
The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas, Bengali Kayasthas and CKPs were among the Indian communities in 1947, at the time of [[Independence of India|Indian independence]], that constituted the middle class and were traditionally "urban and professional" (following professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.) According to P. K. Varma, "education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Indian Middle class|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|first=Pavan K. |last=Varma|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9780143103257|year=2007}}</ref>

The Kayasthas today mostly inhabit central, eastern, northern India, and particularly Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|first=Surinder Mohan |last=Bhardwaj|title=Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&pg=PA231|year=1983|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04951-2|page=231}}</ref> They are considered a [[Forward Caste]], as they do not qualify for any of the [[Reservation in India|reservation benefits]] allotted to [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]] and [[Other Backward Class]]es that are administered by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=K.|last1=Srinivasan|first2=Sanjay|last2=Kumar|title=Economic and Caste Criteria in Definition of Backwardness|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=34|issue=42/43|jstor=4408536|date=16–23 October 1999|page=3052}}</ref> This classification has increasingly led to feelings of unease and resentment among the Kayasthas, who believe that the communities that benefit from reservation are gaining political power and employment opportunities at their expense. Thus, particularly since the 1990 report of the [[Mandal Commission]] on reservation, Kayastha organisations have been active in areas such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Orissa. These groups are aligning themselves with various political parties to gain political and economic advantages; by 2009 they were demanding 33 percent reservation in government jobs.<ref name="IT2011">{{cite book|editor1-first=Arnold P. |editor1-last=Kaminsky |editor2-first=Roger D. |editor2-last=Long|first=Fatima A. |last=Imam|title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic : L-Z, Volume 2|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313374623|pages=404–405|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWDnTWrz4O8C&pg=PA405}}</ref>

==Sub-groups==
===Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas===
{{Main|Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha}}

The Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of Northern India are named thus because they have a [[myth of origin]] that says they descend from the 12 sons of the Hindu god [[Chitragupta]], the product of his marriages to Devi Shobhavati and Devi Nandini.<ref name="bellenoit"/> The suffix ''-vanshi'' is [[Sanskrit]] and translates as ''belonging to a particular family dynasty''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=vaMza|url=http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?tran_input=vaMza&direct=se&script=hk&link=yes&mode=3|website=Spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref>

At least some Chitraguptavanshi subcastes seem to have formed by the 11th or 12th century, evidenced by various names being used to describe them in inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=K. K.|year=1993|title=Self Legitimation and Social Primacy: A Case Study of Some Kayastha Inscriptions From Central India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=54|pages=859|jstor=44143088|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Although at that time, prior to the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent]], they were generally outnumbered by [[Brahmin]]s in the Hindu royal courts of northern India, some among these Kayasthas wrote eulogies for the kings. Of the various regional Kayastha communities it was those of north India who remained most aligned to their role of scribes, whereas in other areas there became more emphasis on commerce.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kumar|first=Saurabh|year=2015|title=Rural Society and Rural Economy in the Ganga Valley during the Gahadavalas|journal=Social Scientist|volume=43|issue=5/6|pages=29–45|jstor=24642345|issn=0970-0293|quote=One thing is clear that by this time, Kayasthas had come to acquire prominent places in the court and officialdom and some were financially well-off to commission the construction of temples, while others were well-versed in the requisite fields of Vedic lore to earn the title of pandita for themselves. In our study, the epigraphic sources do not indicate the oppressive nature of Kayastha officials.}}</ref>

The group of [[Bhatnagar]], [[Srivastava]], [[Ambashtha]] and [[Saxena]] of [[Doab]] were classified by various [[Indian people|Indian]], [[British Raj|British]] and missionary observers to be the most learned and dominant of the "service castes".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bellenoit|first=Hayden J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/973222959|title=The formation of the colonial state in India: Scribes, paper and taxes, 1760–1860|year=2017|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|location=Milton Park, Abingdon, UK |page=155 |chapter=Kayasthas, 'caste' and administration under the Raj, c. 1860–1900 |oclc=973222959|quote=And while these Bhatnagar, Ambastha, Srivastava and Saxena families were important for the colonial state by the 1860s, they were also beneficiaries of British success and power in India. They shaped the materiality of administration and populated the ranks of the Raj's intermediary enforcement.....by 1900 they were broadly considered by various Indian , British and missionary observers to the most educated and influential of the service castes.}}</ref>

=== Bengali Kayasthas ===
{{Main|Bengali Kayastha}}

In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th-6th centuries and 11th-12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins. They most likely gained the characteristics of a caste under the [[Sena dynasty]].<ref name="AlHind">{{cite book|author=Andre Wink|title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC|access-date=3 September 2011|year=1991|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|page=269}}</ref> According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary ''[[Smriti]]s''. Sharma further states:{{blockquote|Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal. Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharma|first=Tej Ram|title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Empire|year=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=New Delhi |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcnnB-Lx2MAC}}</ref>}}

=== Chandraseniya Prabhu Kayasthas ===
{{Main|Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu}}

In Maharashtra, [[Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu]]s (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen.<ref name="Hebalkar2001">{{cite book|author=Sharad Hebalkar|title=Ancient Indian Ports: With Special Reference to Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ontAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=978-81-215-0858-2}}</ref> Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as [[Deshpande]]s and [[Gadkari]]s (fort holder, an office similar to that of a [[castellan]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818–1857|page=121|first = B. R. |last=Sunthankar |year= 1988|quote=The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus, though small in number, were another caste of importance in Maharashtra. They formed one of the elite castes of Maharashtra. They also held the position of Deshpandes and Gadkaris and produced some of the best warriors in the Maratha history}}</ref> The CKPs have the [[upanayana]] (thread ceremony) and have been granted the rights to study the [[vedas]] and perform [[vedic]] rituals along with the Brahmins.<ref name="MiltonWagle">{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor=Milton Israel and N. K. Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|pages=147–170}}</ref>

=== Karanas ===
{{Main|Karan (caste)}}

Karana is a caste found predominantly in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. They are a regional subcaste of Kayastha and traditionally they were the official record-keepers in the royal courts during Medieval times. They represent around 5% of Odia people. The Karanas are a forward caste of Odisha.<ref name="MatthiesNärhi2016">{{cite book|author1=Aila-Leena Matthies|author2=Kati Närhi|title=The Ecosocial Transition of Societies: The contribution of social work and social policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=4 October 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-03460-5|pages=110–}}</ref>

==Varna status==
As the Kayasthas are a non-cohesive group with regional differences rather than a single caste, their position in the Hindu varna system of ritual classification has not been uniform.

This was reflected in Raj era court rulings. Hayden Bellenoit gives details of various Raj era law cases and concludes the varna Kayastha was resolved in those cases by taking into account regional differences and customs followed by the specific community under consideration. Bellenoit disagrees with Rowe, showing that Risley's theories were in fact used ultimately to classify them as Kshatriyas by the British courts. The first case began in 1860 in [[Jaunpur district|Jaunpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] with a property dispute where the [[plaintiff]] was considered an "illegitimate child" by the defendants, a north-Indian Kayastha family. The British court denied inheritance to the child, citing that Kayasthas are Dvija, "twice-born" or "upper-caste" and that the illegitimate children of Dwijas have no rights to inheritance. In the next case in 1875 in the [[Allahabad High Court]], a north Indian Kayastha widow was denied adoption rights as she was an upper-caste i.e. Dwija woman. However, the aforementioned 1884 adoption case and the 1916 property dispute saw the [[Calcutta High Court]] rule that the Bengali Kayasthas were shudras. The Allahabad High Court ruled in 1890 that Kayasthas were Kshatriyas.<ref name="bellenoit174"/><ref name="ashwani">{{cite book |first=Ashwani |last=Kumar |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2008 |page=195}}</ref> Hayden Bellenoit concludes from an analysis of those that {{blockquote|in the suits originating in the Bihari and Doabi heartlands rulings that Kayasthas were of [[twice-born]] status were more likely. Closer to Bengal country, though, the legal rulings tended to assign a [[shudra]] status.}} Even where the shudra designation was adjudged, the Raj courts appear to have sometimes recognised that the Bengali Kayasthas were degraded from an earlier [[kshatriya]] status due to intermarrying with both shudras and slaves ('dasa') which resulted in the common Bengali Kayastha surname of 'Das'.<ref name="bellenoit174">{{cite book|first=Hayden J. |last=Bellenoit|title=The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TElDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-49429-3|pages= 173–176}}</ref> The last completed [[census of India prior to independence|census of the British Raj]] (1931) classified them as an "upper caste", i.e. [[Dwija]],<ref name="ashwani"/> and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 determined them to be Kshatriya.<ref name="bellenoit174" />

Other than literature by Europeans such as [[Max Müller]] and others, several Hindu religious scriptures and Hindu scholars' opinions were also used by the courts to decide the varna as well as make decisions in the specific cases. The Hindu texts referenced were ''[[Mitākṣarā]]'', the [[Padma Purana|''Padmapurāṇa'']], “original ''Vyavashta'' of the Pundits of Kashmir”, [[Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik]]'s books, (8th to 5th century BC authored) ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'', ''[[Vīramitrodaya]]'' (17th century), [[Bhavishya Purana|''Bhaviṣyapurāṇa'']], [[Skanda Purana|Skandapurāṇa]], ''Vivādacintāmaṇi'' of [[Vāchaspati Misra]], Sanskrit Professor Sarvadhikari's literature, ''Dattakamīmāṃsā'', Shyamcharan Sarkar’s ''Vyavasthādarpaṇa'', etc. Some contemporary Hindu scholars referenced (as witnesses in person or indirectly by their writings) were two Benaras Pandits(Nityananda and Bast Ram Dube), Raja Ram Shastra( a Benares Sanskrit College professor, well versed in Hindu [[Dharmaśāstras]]) and [[Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik]].<ref name="bellenoit2023">{{cite journal|title=Legal Limbo and Caste Consternation: Determining Kayasthas' Varna Rank in Indian Law Courts, 1860–1930|author=Bellenoit H.|date= March 9, 2023|journal=Law and History Review|volume=41 |pages=43–63|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0738248023000056 |s2cid=257448600 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Earlier, in Bihar, in 1811–1812, botanist and zoologist [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Francis Buchanan]] had recorded the Kayastha of that region as "pure shudra" and accordingly kept them at the par with other producer caste groups like goldsmiths, [[Ahir]]s, [[Kurmi]]s and the [[Koeri]]s. William Pinch, in his study of [[Ramanandi Sampradaya]] in the north describes the emergence of the concept of "pure Shudra" in growing need of physical contact with some of the low caste groups who were producer and seller of essential commodities or were the provider of services without which the self sufficiency of rural society couldn't persist. However, many of these adopted Vaishnavism in the aim to become Kshatriya. In 1901 Bihar census, Kayasthas of the area were classified along with Brahmins and Rajputs in Bihar as "other castes of twice-born rank"<ref name="William Pinch ">{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7cwDwAAQBAJ&q=pesant+and+monk|pages=73–75, 82–83|quote=(index)108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; (pg)Bhagvan Prasad's ministrations reflected his own personal interpretation of the social mandate implicit in the religious message of Ramanand. However, Ramanandi ambivalence toward caste emerged in discussions about the prescribed stages of a sadhu's entry into the sampraday. In his biography of Bhagvan Prasad, Sahay expressed the view that originally anyone (including untouchables) could have become Ramanandi sadhus, but that by his time (the early 1900s), "Ramanandis bring disciples from only those jatis from whom water can be taken.”[107] For those designated shudra by the elite, this phrase, “from whom water can be taken," was a common enough euphemism for a person of "pure shudra" status, with whom restricted physical contact could be made. From the elite perspective, such physical contact would have occurred in the course of consuming goods and services common in everyday life; the designation "pure shudra" implied a substantial body of "impure"—hence untouchable—people with whom physical contact was both unnecessary and improper. Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweet vendors), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel leaves), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parchers), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds). As a result of their very public campaign for kshatriya status in the last quarter of the century, not to mention their substantial economic and political clout, Kayasths were classified along with "Babhans" and Rajputs as "other castes of twice-born rank" in the 1901 census hierarchy for Bihar.}}</ref> According to Arun Sinha, there was a strong current since the end of the 19th century among [[Shudra]]s of Bihar to change their status in caste hierarchy and break the monopoly of bipolar elite of [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s of having "dvija" status. The education and economic advancement made by some of the former Shudra castes enabled them to seek the higher prestige and ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]'' status. Sinha further mentions that the Kayasthas of Bihar along with the [[Bhumihar]]s were first among the shudras to attain the recognition as "upper caste" leaving the other aspirational castes to aspire for the same.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=93 |publisher=Viking | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA93 | access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>

The Raj era rulings were based largely upon the theories of [[Herbert Hope Risley]], who had conducted extensive studies on castes and tribes of the [[Bengal Presidency]]. According to William Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]] and the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] repeatedly challenged this classification by producing a flood of books, pamphlets, family histories and journals to pressurise the government to recognise them as kshatriya and to reform the caste practices in the directions of [[sanskritisation]] and [[westernisation]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Structure and Change in India Society |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2007 |orig-year=1968 |chapter=Mobility in the Nineteenth-century Caste System |first=William L. |last=Rowe |editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Singer |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-last=Cohn |isbn=978-0-202-36138-3 |page=202 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&pg=PA202}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=I find it hard to believe they pressurised the govt to reform their caste practises - surely the caste do that, not the govt|date=April 2020}}
Rowe's opinion has been challenged, with arguments that it is based on "factual and interpretative errors", and criticised for making "unquestioned assumptions" about the Kayastha Sanskritisation and westernisation movement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=Caste conflict and elite formation: The rise of a Karāva elite in Sri Lanka, 1500-1931 |date=1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521052856 |pages=187 |chapter=Casteism in South Asian politics during British times: Emergent cultural typifications or elite fictions?|quote=Lucy Carroll has revealed how one cannot identify a temporal evolution from Sanskritist sacred goals to Westernised secular aims because the strategies of caste associations were mixed [...] She indicates that several of the apparently Sanskritist ascetic reforms advocated by caste associations derived from the influence of Victorian puritanism and other Western values [...] In three articles: 1975, 1977 and 1978. In these essays she also pinpoints factual and interpretative errors in William L. Rowe's presentation of the Kayastha movement. |id=[Chapter 7: pp. 180-224]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title =The Hindustani Kayasthas: The Kayastha Pathshala, and the Kayastha Conference, 1873–1914|first = Lucy Carol |last=Stout|publisher = University of California, Berkeley|year=1976}}</ref>

In post-Raj assessments, the Bengali Kayasthas, alongside [[Bengali Brahmins]], have been described as the "highest Hindu castes".<ref>{{cite book|first=Ronald B. |last=Inden|author-link=Ronald Inden|title=Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle Period Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8b9A7J_v-UC&pg=PA1|year=1976|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02569-1|page=1}}</ref> After the Muslim conquest of India, they absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynasties{{mdash}}including the [[Sena dynasty|Sena]], [[Pala Empire|Pala]], [[Candra|Chandra]], and [[Varman dynasty|Varman]]{{mdash}}and, in this way, became the region's surrogate kshatriya or "warrior" class. During British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, the Bengali Brahmins and the [[Baidya]]s considered themselves to be ''Bhadralok'', a term coined in Bengal for the [[gentry]] or respectable people. This was based on their perceived refined culture, prestige and education.<ref name="RiseofIslam">{{cite book|first=Richard Maxwell |last=Eaton|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC|year=1996|publisher=University of California Press|pages=102–103|isbn=978-0-52020-507-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Tamil Brahmans: The making of a middle caste|page=212|first1=C. J. |last1=Fuller |first2=Haripriya|last2=Narasimhan|publisher =University of Chicago Press|year=2014|isbn=9780226152882|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=r7KjBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|quote=In Bengal, the new middle class emergent under the British rule styled itself 'bhadralok', the gentry or "respectable people", and its principal constituents were the three Bengali high castes, Brahmans, Baidyas, and Kayasthas. Moreover, for the Bhadralok, a prestigious, refined culture based on education literacy and artistic skills, and the mastery of the Bengali language, counted for more than caste status itself for their social dominance in Bengal.}}</ref>

Modern scholars like [[John Henry Hutton]] and [[Ronald Inden]]{{efn|According to [[Lloyd Rudolph]] and [[Susanne Rudolph]]}} consider the present varna status of Bengali Kayasthas as 'twice-born',<ref name="RudolphRudolph1984">{{cite book|author1=Lloyd I. Rudolph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7guY1ut-0lwC&pg=PA124|title=The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India|author2=Susanne Hoeber Rudolph|date=15 July 1984|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73137-7|pages=124–|quote=And Ronald Inden confirms, after spending 1964 and part of 1965 in Bengal preparing a dissertation on Kayasthas, that intermarriage is becoming increasingly frequent among the urban sections of the Kayasthas, Brahmans, and Vaidyas, that is, among those Westernized and educated twice-born castes dominating the modern, better-paying, and more prestigious occupations of metropolitan Calcutta and constituting perhaps half of the city's population}}</ref><ref name="Hutton1961">{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=John Henry| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuHUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22twice%2Bborn%22|title=Caste in India: Its Nature, Function, and Origins|publisher=Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|year=1961|page=65}}</ref> while [[Julius J. Lipner]] considers their varna as disputed.<ref name="Lipner2009">{{cite book|last=Lipner|first=Julius J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-Y6QkumxEgC&pg=PA172|title=Debi Chaudhurani, or The Wife Who Came Home|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-973824-3|page=172}}</ref>

According to Christian Novetzke, in medieval India, Kayastha in certain parts were considered either as Brahmins or equal to Brahmins.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christian Lee|last= Novetzke |title=The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India|year=2016|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=159|isbn=9780231175807}}</ref> Several religious councils and institutions have subsequently stated the varna status of CKPs as Kshatriya.<ref name="chib161">{{cite book | title = The Castes, Tribes and Culture of India | author = K. P. Bahadur, Sukhdev Singh Chib | page= 161| publisher=ESS Publications|year=1981| quote= The [Chandraseniya] Kayastha Prabhus ... They performed three of the vedic duties or karmas, studying the Vedas adhyayan, sacrificing yajna and giving alms or dana ... The creed mostly accepted by them is that of the advaita school of Shankaracharya, though they also worship Vishnu, Ganapati and other gods.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|publisher=Houghton Mifflin| editor= Harry M. Lindquist|author= Harold Robert Isaacs| title = Education: readings in the processes of cultural transmission| year = 1970| page = 88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective|author= André Béteille|year= 1992|isbn=0195630661|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=48}}</ref>

==Socio-economic condition==
In 2023, [[Government of Bihar]] published the data of [[2022 Bihar caste-based survey]]. It showed that amongst the [[Forward caste|Forward castes]] of [[Bihar]], Kayastha was the most prosperous one with lowest poverty. Out of total families of Kayasthas residing in the state, only 13.38% were poor. The community totally numbered 1,70,985 families, out of which 23,639 families were poor.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhelari |first=Amit |date=2023-11-07 |title=Bihar caste-based survey report {{!}} Poverty highest among Scheduled Castes, lowest among Kayasths |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihars-caste-based-survey-report-shows-yadavs-hold-most-govt-jobs-among-obcs/article67509087.ece |access-date=2023-12-04 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Kayasthas in Nepal==
The [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Nepal)|Central Bureau of Statistics]] of Nepal classifies the Kayastha as a subgroup within the broader social group of [[Madheshi people|Madheshi]] Brahmin/Chhetri (together with Terai [[Brahmin]]s and [[Rajput]]s).<ref>[https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II]</ref> At the time of the [[2011 Nepal census]], 44,304 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Kayastha. The frequency of Kayasthas by province was as follows:
* [[Madhesh Province]] (0.5%)
* [[Lumbini Province]] (0.2%)
* [[Bagmati Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Koshi Province]] (0.1%)
* [[Gandaki Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Karnali Province]] (0.0%)
* [[Sudurpashchim Province]] (0.0%)

The frequency of Kayasthas was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:<ref>[https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf 2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report]</ref>
* [[Parsa District|Parsa]] (1.0%)
* [[Dhanusha District|Dhanusha]] (0.8%)
* [[Banke District|Banke]] (0.6%)
* [[Mahottari District|Mahottari]] (0.4%)
* [[Morang District|Morang]] (0.4%)
* [[Rautahat District|Rautahat]] (0.4%)
* [[Sarlahi District|Sarlahi]] (0.4%)
* [[Kapilvastu District|Kapilvastu]] (0.3%)
* [[Saptari District|Saptari]] (0.3%)
* [[Siraha District|Siraha]] (0.3%)

==Notable people==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2021}}
This is a list of notable people from all the subgroups of Kayasthas.




=== [[List of presidents of India|President of India]] ===
*[[Rajendra Prasad]]

=== [[List of prime ministers of India|Prime Minister of India]] ===
*[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]]

=== [[List of current Indian chief ministers|Chief Ministers]] ===
* [[Krishna Ballabh Sahay]]
* [[Mahamaya Prasad Sinha]]
* [[Uddhav Thackeray]]
* [[Shiv Charan Mathur]]
* [[Nabakrushna Choudhuri]]
* [[Biju Patnaik]]
* [[Biren Mitra]]
* [[Janaki Ballabh Patnaik]]
* [[Naveen Patnaik]]
* [[Sampurnanand]]
* [[Jyoti Basu]]



=== Others ===
* [[Sri Aurobindo]], Indian philosopher, yogi and nationalist<ref>{{cite conference|last=Aall|first=Ingrid|year=1971|editor2=Mary Jane Beech|location=East Lansing|publisher=Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University|page=32|oclc=258335|quote=Aurobindo's father, Dr Krishnadhan Ghose, came from a Kayastha family associated with the village of Konnagar in Hooghly District near Calcutta, Dr. Ghose had his medical training in Edinburgh...|editor1=Robert Paul Beech|book-title=Bengal: change and continuity, Issues 16–20}}</ref>
* [[Nagendranath Basu]], historian and editor<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chakravarty|first=Ishita|date=2019-10-01|title=Owners, creditors and traders: Women in late colonial Calcutta|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=56|issue=4|pages=427–456|doi=10.1177/0019464619873800|s2cid=210540783|issn=0019-4646}}</ref>
*[[Shankar Abaji Bhise]] (1867–1935), scientist and inventor with 200 inventions and 40 patents. The American scientific community referred to him as the "Indian Edison".<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=45 |issue=42 |date=16 October 2010 |pages=67–74 |jstor=20787477 |last=Dhimatkar |first=Abhidha |title=The Indian Edison}}</ref>
* [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]], Indian scientist<ref>{{cite book | title = Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore | year = 2007 | author=Gosling}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2020}}
*Satyendra Nath Bose<ref>{{cite book|title=Satyendra Nath Bose|page=12
|author1 = Santimay Chatterjee|author2=Enakshi Chatterjee|year=1976|publisher=National Book Trust, India| quote=Satyendra Nath was born in Calcutta on the first of January, 1894, in a high caste Kayastha family with two generations of English education behind him.}}</ref> Known for his work on [[quantum mechanics]], for developing the foundation of [[Bose–Einstein statistics|Bose statistics]] and the theory of the [[Bose–Einstein condensate|Bose condensate]]. The class of particles that obey Bose statistics, [[boson]]s, was named after Bose by [[Paul Dirac]].<ref>{{Citation | title = Notes on Dirac's lecture ''Developments in Atomic Theory'' at Le Palais de la Découverte, 6 December 1945 | series = UKNATARCHI Dirac Papers | id = BW83/2/257889 | at = p. 331, note 64 | contribution = The Strangest Man | first = Graham | last = Farmelo}}.</ref><ref name="Sean2013">{{cite book | author=Miller, Sean | title=Strung Together: The Cultural Currency of String Theory as a Scientific Imaginary | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXTcSoXEZNUC&pg=PA63 | date=18 March 2013 | publisher=University of Michigan Press | isbn=978-0-472-11866-3 | page=63 }}</ref>
* [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]<ref>{{cite book|first1=A. |last1=Pelinka |first2=R. |last2=Schell|title=Democracy Indian Style: Subhas Chandra Bose and the Creation of India's Political Culture|publisher=Transaction Publishers| year=2003| page=32 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6gLpMf5-jwC&pg=PA32|isbn=978-07-6580-186-9}}</ref>
*[[Mahadev Bhaskar Chaubal]] (1857–1933), Indian origin British era Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Member of Executive Council of Governor of Bombay in 1912 and Member of Royal Commission on Public Services in India.<ref>{{cite book | title = Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri: Being the Third Part of the Travels of M. de Thevenot into the Levant and the Third Part of a Voyage Round the World by Dr. John Francis Gemelli Careri|first=Surendra Nath |last=Sen| year =1949|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1gluAAAAMAAJ&q=mahadev%20chaubal}}</ref>
* [[Har Dayal]], Indian revolutionary and intellectual of the [[Ghadar party]] in the USA<ref>{{cite book|last=Sareen|first=Tilakraj|title=Select Documents on the Ghadr Party |year=1994|publisher=Mounto Publishing House|page=20}}</ref>
*[[C. D. Deshmukh]] (1896–1982), first recipient of the [[Jagannath Sankarseth|Jagannath Shankarseth Sanskrit Scholarship]], topper of [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|ICS Examination]], first Indian Governor of [[Reserve Bank of India|RBI]], first finance Minister of independent India and tenth vice chancellor of the [[University of Delhi]]<ref>{{cite book |title=South Asian intellectuals and social change: a study of the role of vernacular-speaking intelligentsia |first=Yogendra K. |last=Malik |page=63 |publisher=Heritage |year=1981}}</ref>
*[[Baji Prabhu Deshpande]] (1615–1660), commander of [[Shivaji Maharaj]]'s forces who along with his brother died defending [[Vishalgad]] in 1660<ref name="kantak">{{cite journal |last=Kantak |first=M. R.|title=The Political Role of Different Hindu Castes and Communities in Maharashtra in the Foundation of the Shivaji Maharaj's Swarajya |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1978 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=40–56|jstor=42931051}}</ref>
*[[Murarbaji|Murarbaji Deshpande]] (?–1665), commander of Shivaji Maharaj's forces who died defending the fort of [[Purandar fort|Purandar]] against the Mughals in 1665<ref name="kantak" />
*[[Jayaprakash Narayan]] (1902 -1979) - freedom fighter, social reformer and anti-corruption campaigner<ref name="Das2005">{{cite book|first=Sandip |last=Das|title=Jayaprakash Narayan: A Centenary Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9U0LiT3dtMC&pg=PA109|year=2005|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-001-7|page=109}}</ref>
*[[Bipin Chandra Pal]], Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement activist of [[Lal Bal Pal]] triumvirate<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian War of Independence (1857–1947)|quote=Bipin Chandra Pal (1858–1932) a patriot, nationalist politician, renowned orator, journalist, and writer. Bipin Chandra Pal was born on 7 November 1858 in Sylhet in a wealthy Hindu Kayastha family|first=M. K. |last=Singh|year=2009|page=130|publisher= Anmol Publications}}</ref>
*[[Aba Parasnis|Vithal Sakharam Parasnis]] (17xx-18xx)- Sanskrit, Vedic and Persian scholar; consultant to British Historian [[James Grant Duff]]; author of the Sanskrit "karma kalpadrum"(manual for Hindu rituals); first head of the school opened by Pratapsimha to teach Sanskrit to the boys of the Maratha caste<ref>{{cite book|title=Religion and Society in Maharashtra|editor1-first=Milton |editor1-last=Israel |editor2-first=N. K. |editor2-last=Wagle|publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada|year= 1987|page=166}}</ref>
* [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Devdutt Pattanaik: Descendants of Chitragupta |url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/devdutt-pattanaik-descendants-of-chitragupta/19083152 |access-date=17 March 2020 |work=mid-day |date=18 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Premchand]] (1880–1936) – author in Hindi language<ref>{{cite book|last = Gupta|first = Prakash Chandra|title=Makers of Indian Literature: Prem Chand|year = 1998|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0428-7|page=7}}</ref>
*[[Sachchidananda Sinha]], lawyer prominent in the movement for establishing the state of [[Bihar]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Ashwani |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |date=2008 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-709-8 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA33}}</ref>
*[[Mahadevi Varma]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Schomer |first=Karine |year=1998 |title=Mahadevi Varma and the Chhayavad Age of Modern Hindi Poetry |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-564450-6}}</ref>
*[[Bhagwati Charan Verma]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0140276637|title=In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography|last=Bachchan|first=Harivansh Rai|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1998|isbn=9780670881581|location=India}}</ref>
*[[Swami Vivekananda]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Banhatti|first=G. S.|title=Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors| year=1995| page=1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jK5862eV7_EC|isbn=978-81-7156-291-6}}</ref>
* [[Paramahansa Yogananda]], author of ''Autobiography of a Yogi''<ref>Sananda Lal Ghosh,(1980), Mejda, Self-Realization Fellowship, p. 3</ref>


==See also==
*[[Karan (caste)|Karana]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|first=Asok |last=Mitra (Indian Civil Service, Superintendent of Census Operations)|title=The tribes and castes of West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bTUAAAAMAAJ|year=1953|publisher=Superintendent, Govt. Print. West Bengal Govt. Press}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32aMey7k-IYC|title=Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad|last=Leonard|first=Karen Isaksen|year=1994|publisher=Orient BlackSwan|isbn=978-81-250-0032-7}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Bengali Hindu people}}
{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}
{{Ethnic groups and Communities of Odisha}}

[[Category:Kayastha| ]]
[[Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]]
[[Category:Social groups of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jharkhand]]
[[Category:Social groups of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindu castes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Social groups of Odisha]]

Marriage in Hinduism

2024-02-06T12:29:40Z

Timovinga: /* Same-sex marriage */ Removed unsourced information.

{{Short description|Concept of marriage in Hindu tradition}}
{{Other uses|Hindu wedding}}
[[File:Bengali Hindu wedding DSCN1106 14.jpg|thumb|A [[Bengalis|Bengali]] Hindu couple during their wedding ceremony]]
[[File:Ring ceremony, Indian Hindu wedding.jpg|thumb|A North Indian couple wearing traditional attire during a ring ceremony]]
[[File:Hindu marriage ceremony offering.jpg|thumb|A [[Rajput]] Hindu couple making an offering during their wedding ceremony]]
[[File:Wedding-Moment-Tamil-culture-TamilNadu-India.jpg|thumb|A [[Tamils|Tamil]] Hindu couple during their wedding ceremony]]
The '''Hindu marriage''' ({{Lang-sa|विवाह|lit=Marriage|translit=Vivāha}}) is the most important of all the [[Samskara (rite of passage)|samskaras]], the rites of passage described in the [[Dharmaśāstra|Dharmashastra]] texts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2014-08-03 |title=Vivaha, Vivāha: 32 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vivaha |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

Variously defined, it is generally described to be a social institution for the establishment and regulation of a proper relationship between the sexes, as stated by [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]]. Marriage is regarded to be a sacrament by [[Hindus]], rather than a form of social contract, since they believe that all men and women are created to be parents, and practise [[dharma]] together, as ordained by the [[Vedas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=CN Shankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjscEAAAQBAJ&dq=vivaha+man+woman&pg=PA103 |title=Sociology of Indian Society |date=September 2004 |publisher=S. Chand Publishing |isbn=978-81-219-2403-0 |pages=102–103 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Brahmana]]s state that a man is only said to be "complete" after marrying a woman, and acquiring progeny.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-07-12 |title=Definition and Types of Marriage [Part 2.1-2] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/malatimadhava-study/d/doc628924.html#note-e-173557 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

== Aspects ==

=== Conception ===
The ideal conception of marriage that was laid down by the ancient Indians is one in which it is a ceremonial gift of a bride (Vadhū) by her father, or another appropriate family member, to a bride-groom (Vara), so that they may fulfil the purposes of human existence together. In such a conception, ''vivaha'', which originally meant the wedding ceremony, but has to acquire the definition of marriage as a whole, is meant for procreation, and the establishment of a family (''kutumba''). After one's wedding, one is believed to have entered the second stage of life, the [[Gṛhastha|grihastha ashrama]], performing the duties of a householder.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ratra |first=Amiteshwar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV5iBV_pYm0C&dq=dharma+artha+kama+moksha+marriage&pg=PA6 |title=Marriage and Family: In Diverse and Changing Scenario |date=2006 |publisher=Deep & Deep Publications |isbn=978-81-7629-758-5 |pages=6 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Goals ===
In [[Hinduism]], the four goals of life ([[Puruṣārtha|Purusarthas]]) are regarded to be righteousness ([[dharma]]), wealth ([[artha]]), pleasure ([[kama]]), and liberation ([[moksha]]). Marriage is considered to be necessary to fulfil these goals. The three goals of marriage include allowing a husband and a wife to fulfil their dharma, bearing progeny (praja), and experiencing pleasure (rati). Sexual intercourse between a husband and wife is regarded to be important in order to produce children, but is the least desirable purpose of marriage in traditional Hindu schools of thought.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ratra |first=Amiteshwar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV5iBV_pYm0C&dq=dharma+artha+kama+moksha+marriage&pg=PA6 |title=Marriage and Family: In Diverse and Changing Scenario |date=2006 |publisher=Deep & Deep Publications |isbn=978-81-7629-758-5 |pages=6 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Age ===
The [[Manusmriti]] states that following [[menarche]], a maiden may wait for three years, after which she may marry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-12-18 |title=Manusmriti Verse 9.90 |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/manusmriti-with-the-commentary-of-medhatithi/d/doc201455.html |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> Girls are usually considered to have achieved puberty when they are 12 years old, and are allowed to choose their own husbands if a suitable groom is not procured for them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-12-18 |title=Manusmriti Verse 9.91 |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/manusmriti-with-the-commentary-of-medhatithi/d/doc201456.html |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Gotra ===
While Hindu texts prescribe marrying within one's own community, they prohibit individuals from marrying those who belong to their own [[gotra]], or lineage from the same Vedic sage:<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-11-14 |title=Rules of Marriage (vivāha) [Chapter 154] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-agni-purana/d/doc1083384.html |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=One should not choose (the bride) from the same gotra or born in the line of same sage. (One may choose) from (descendants of) more than seven (generations) on the paternal side and more than five (generations) on the maternal side.|title=[[Agni Purana]]|source=Chapter 154}}

=== Horoscope ===
{{See also|Hindu astrology}}
The use of ''jatakam'' or ''[[natal chart|janmakundali]]'' (natal and astrological chart at the time of birth) of one's son or daughter to arrange a marriage with the help of a priest is common, but not universal. Parents also take advice from [[Brahmin]] astrologers called 'Jothidar' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], 'Panthulu or Siddanthi' in [[Telugu language|Telugu]], and Kundali Milan in [[Hindi]], who holds astrological data of those individuals looking to get married. Some communities, like the Brahmins in Mithila, use genealogical records ("Panjikas") maintained by the specialists.

A ''jatakam'' or ''kundali'' chart is drawn based on the placement of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth. Those individuals who subscribe to [[Hindu astrology]] believe that the position of these celestial objects at the time of their birth, and their benefic or malefic influence, influence the auspicious compatibility between a bride and groom. For instance, the planet [[Shukra|Venus]] is believed to be a benefic planet, and influential in terms of marriage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Behari |first=Bepin |url=http://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofve0000beha |title=Fundamentals of Vedic astrology |date=2003 |publisher=Twin Lakes, Wis. : Lotus Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-940985-52-0 |pages=96}}</ref> The maximum points for any match can be 36, and the minimum points for matching is 18.<ref name="Kundali Matching">{{cite web |last1=Kapoor |first1=Abhinav |title=36 points need to be acquired for an auspicious Gunn Milan method and happy marriage |url=https://trustedteller.com/kundali-matching |website=TrustedTeller |access-date=5 May 2017 |ref=Hindu Marriage}}</ref> Any match with points under 18 is not considered as an auspicious match for a harmonious relationship, but they may still marry if they so choose. If the astrological chart of the two individuals (male and female) achieve the required threshold in points, then further talks are considered for a prospective marriage. The man and woman are given a chance to talk, and understand each other. If both parties consent, an auspicious time is chosen for the wedding to take place.

==Types of marriages==
Hindu texts such as the ''[[Atharvaveda]]''<ref name="rjb1969">Pandey, R. (1969). ''Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments'', see Chapter VIII, pp. 153–233. {{ISBN|978-8120803961}}.</ref> and the ''[[Manusmriti]]'' III.20-34,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bühler |first=George |title=The Perspective of Manu |year=1886 |series=Sacred Books of the East |volume=25 |chapter=Chapter III |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu03.htm}}</ref> identify eight forms of marriage. They are traditionally presented, as here, in order of their religious appropriateness (''prashasta''). They also differ very widely in social acceptability.<ref name="jgl20012">Lochtefeld, J.G. (2001). ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A–M'', p. 427. {{ISBN|978-0823931798}}.</ref><ref name="tribune2011">staff article. (September 2011). Eight forms of Hindu Marriage and its custom. ''India Tribune''.</ref>

While all of these marriages are recognised, not all have religious sanction; four of them are declared to be righteous, and the other four are stated to be non-righteous.<ref>{{cite book|title=Manusmriti 3.24 & 26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Sushma Gupta |date=6 October 2010 |title=Vivaah (Marriage) |url=http://sushmajee.com/v-raamaayan/notes/notes-general/33-vivaah.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716165525/http://sushmajee.com/v-raamaayan/notes/notes-general/33-vivaah.htm |archive-date=16 July 2011 |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Marriages in Ancient India |url=https://vivaaha.org/newpage2.htm |website=vivaaha.org}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Vedic Hindu Vivaah |url=http://www.godmandir.com/vih.htm |website=www.godmandir.com}}</ref>

=== Brahma marriage ===
The [[Brahma marriage|Brahmavivaha]] is a righteous form of marriage. It refers to the marriage of one's daughter to a man of good conduct, learned in the Vedas, and invited by oneself. Originally intended only for the [[Brahmin]]s, a Brahma marriage is where a boy is able to get married once he has completed his education in the first stage of life, the [[Brahmacharya]]. Brahma marriage holds the supreme position of the eight types of Hindu matrimony. When the parents of a boy seek a suitable bride, they consider her family background, and the girl's father would ensure that his daughter's prospective groom is a scholar, one who is well-versed in the Vedas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-07-12 |title=Definition and Types of Marriage [Part 2.1-2] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/malatimadhava-study/d/doc628924.html#note-e-173557 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Daiva marriage ===
The [[Daiva marriage|Daivavivaha]] is a righteous form of marriage. It is a form of marriage unique to the ancient Brahmins, where a man gifts his richly bedecked daughter's hand in marriage to a priest who officiates at the former's sacrifice ceremony, in lieu of paying the latter a nominal sacrificial fee. This form of a marriage, ranked as the second most meritorious, is regarded to redeem the sins of seven ascendants and descendants. It is called such because it is believed to be worthy of the devas themselves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Sir Gooroodass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0gOAAAAQAAJ&dq=daiva+marriage&pg=PA81 |title=The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan |date=1879 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |pages=81–82 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Arsha marriage ===
The Arshavivaha is a righteous form of marriage. It is a form of marriage where a man gifts his daughter as a bride, after receiving one pair of cattle, a cow and a bull, or two pairs from a groom, the exchange being perceived as a matter of the law, rather than the sale of the former's daughter. The sage [[Yajnavalkya]] prescribes offering one's maiden daughter as a bride in exchange for a pair of cows.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-07-12 |title=Definition and Types of Marriage [Part 2.1-2] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/malatimadhava-study/d/doc628924.html#note-e-173557 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Prajapatya marriage ===
[[File:M.V. Dhurandhar’s Scene Of Hindu Marriage Ceremony.jpg|thumb|M.V. Dhurandhar’s depiction of a Hindu wedding ceremony|280x280px]]The Prajapatyavivaha is a righteous form of marriage. It is a form of marriage where a girl's father gives her hand in marriage to a bridegroom, treating him with respect, and addressing them with the following words: 'May both of you perform together your religious duties' ([[Sanskrit]]: ''Hyā kanyēśīṃ dharmācēṃ ācaraṇa kara,'' or ''Prajōtpādanārtha kanyārpaṇa)''. In a Prajapatya marriage, the bride's father goes in search of a groom, rather than the other way around, which makes it inferior to a Brahma marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-09-03 |title=Prajapatyavivaha, Prājāpatyavivāha, Prajapatya-vivaha: 2 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/prajapatyavivaha |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Hindu Symbolic Marriage.jpg|thumb|An eloping couple exchange garlands under a tree. Illustration from Sougandhika Parinaya]]

=== Gandharva marriage ===
The [[Gandharva marriage|Gandharvavivaha]] is a non-righteous form of marriage. It is a form of [[love marriage]] that arises out of the mutual love shared between a youth and a maiden, where the primary purpose is sexual intercourse. It is not approved because no consultation of one's family members or the performance of ritual ceremonies take place. It is considered to be permissible to the members of the [[Kshatriya]] [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]], and only the [[Vaishya]] and the [[Shudra]] varnas according to [[Smriti]] texts,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Gokulesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pBljxRUligC&dq=gandharva+marriage+base+forms&pg=PA165 |title=Ancient Judicial System of India |date=2008 |publisher=Deep & Deep |isbn=978-81-8450-049-3 |pages=165 |language=en}}</ref> though it has grown increasingly common in the present-day due to the practice of dating among the newer generations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-09-03 |title=Gandharvavivaha, Gāndharvavivāha, Gandharva-vivaha, Gandharvavivāha, Gamdharvavivaha: 7 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/gandharvavivaha |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Sir Gooroodass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0gOAAAAQAAJ&dq=daiva+marriage&pg=PA81 |title=The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan |date=1879 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |pages=86 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Asura marriage ===
The [[Asura marriage|Asuravivaha]] is a non-righteous form of marriage. It is a form of marriage where a bridegroom receives a maiden, after having given of his own free will as much wealth as he can afford, to the bride, and her kinsmen. As a form of marriage performed by paying a [[bride price]], it is generally stated to be forbidden, though it is sometimes cited to be allowed for members of the [[Vaishya]] and [[Shudra]] varnas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-09-03 |title=Asuravivaha, Āsuravivāha, Asura-vivaha: 2 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/asuravivaha |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Sir Gooroodass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0gOAAAAQAAJ&dq=daiva+marriage&pg=PA81 |title=The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan |date=1879 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |pages=83–84 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Rakshasa marriage ===
The Rakshasavivaha is a non-righteous form of marriage. It is the marriage performed after a non-consenting maiden is seized by force or abducted by a man. When such a maiden is abducted, she is described to weep as her relatives are assaulted and slain, and their house is wrecked. The marriage is then celebrated in the absence of the father of the bride by the family of her abductor. It is a reprehensible form of a marriage that is condemned by the Manusmriti, and is punished by law in society in the present-day.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Sir Gooroodass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0gOAAAAQAAJ&dq=daiva+marriage&pg=PA81 |title=The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan |date=1879 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |pages=86–87 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-07-12 |title=Definition and Types of Marriage [Part 2.1-2] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/malatimadhava-study/d/doc628924.html#note-e-173557 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Indian (Kangra or Mandi) - Krishna Abducting Rukmini from the Temple - 2009.481 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|thumb|280x280px|In Hindu mythology, Krishna elopes with Rukmini and weds her, making her his first and chief wife.]]
This form of a marriage is different from answering the marriage proposal of a bride, and eloping with her during her [[svayamvara]], the ancient Indian ceremony where a bride chooses her groom from an approved assembly of suitors. For instance, in [[Hindu mythology]], when the deity [[Krishna]] elopes with the princess [[Rukmini]] during her svayamvara, it is not a form of Rakshasa marriage; while he does take her away in his chariot and fights her attacking family members, she had sought to marry him, and hence consent was present.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2022-06-28 |title=Forms of Marriage |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/markandeya-purana-study/d/doc1121456.html |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Paishacha marriage ===
The [[Paishacha marriage|Paishachavivaha]] is a non-righteous form of marriage. When a man stealthily rapes a woman who is asleep, intoxicated, or mentally challenged, it is regarded to be a marriage, though only to preserve the honour of the woman. This is condemned in the [[Manusmriti]] as a sinful act. In modern times, this is classified as a form of [[date rape]], and is a crime in most countries.<ref>{{cite book|title=Manusmriti 3.27-34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Sir Gooroodass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0gOAAAAQAAJ&dq=daiva+marriage&pg=PA81 |title=The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan |date=1879 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |pages=87 |language=en}}</ref>

James Lochtefeld comments that these last two forms were forbidden, but the marriages themselves were still recognised in ancient Hindu societies, not to allow these acts, but rather to provide the woman and any resulting children with legal protection in the society.<ref name="jgl20012"/>

== Conjugal forms ==
While most Hindus of the Indian subcontinent predominantly practise monogamy today, polygamous marriages have also characterised Hindu society for millennia.

=== Polygyny ===
[[Polygyny in Hinduism|Polygyny]] refers to a form of marriage where a man is married to more than one woman during the same period of time. While polygyny was never the norm of mainstream Hindu society, having more than one wife was a social custom that was believed to increase the prestige of a man. Members of royalty and aristocracy were often polygynous, and they were among the few who could afford to support more than one wife in their households. Polygyny was sanctioned by the Manusmriti among members of the [[dvija]] (twice-born) varnas: Brahmins were allowed to have up to four wives,<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-01-28 |title=Story of Brāhmaṇa |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/compilation/puranic-encyclopaedia/d/doc241484.html |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> Kshatriyas could have three wives, and the Vaishyas could have two wives; the Shudras, however, were permitted to have only one wife.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2016-10-28 |title=Manusmriti Verse 3.12 |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/manusmriti-with-the-commentary-of-medhatithi/d/doc199784.html#comparative-notes |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> The [[Apastamba Dharmasutra]] allows a man to take a new wife after ten years if his present wife was judged to be barren, and could marry after thirteen or fourteen years if his wife only produced daughters, and he desired a son. Until the passage of the [[Hindu Marriage Act, 1955|Hindu Marriage Act of 1955]], every Hindu in India was theoretically allowed to have multiple wives.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=CN Shankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjscEAAAQBAJ&dq=vivaha+man+woman&pg=PA103 |title=Sociology of Indian Society |date=September 2004 |publisher=S. Chand Publishing |isbn=978-81-219-2403-0 |pages=106 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Polyandry ===
[[Polyandry in India|Polyandry]] refers to a marriage where a woman is married to more than one man during the same period of time. This form of marriage was exceedingly rare among Hindu society in Indian history, and the [[Mahabharata|Mahabharata's]] polyandrous marriage of [[Draupadi]] to the five [[Pandava]] brothers is the most cited example of this custom. The Mahabharata, however, does state that it is a great [[adharma]] for a woman to have multiple husbands. The [[Aitareya Brahmana]] prohibits a woman from having two husbands. The practice of polyandry has historically existed among the [[Nair]] community of [[Kerala]], called [[Sambandam]], though its practice is very rare in the modern period. The [[Toda people|Todas]] of the [[Nilgiri Mountains|Nilgiris]], the [[Khas people|Khasa]] of [[Dehradun]], and a few communities of northern India are also cited to have been polyandrous.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=CN Shankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjscEAAAQBAJ&dq=vivaha+man+woman&pg=PA103 |title=Sociology of Indian Society |date=September 2004 |publisher=S. Chand Publishing |isbn=978-81-219-2403-0 |pages=107 |language=en}}</ref> Polyandry is viewed with contempt in India today, a practice little removed from promiscuity on the part of a woman.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Sir Gooroodass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0gOAAAAQAAJ&dq=daiva+marriage&pg=PA81 |title=The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhan |date=1879 |publisher=Thacker, Spink |pages=26 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Monogamy ===
[[Monogamy]] refers to a marriage where a man is married to only one woman during a given period of time. Ever since the [[Vedic period]], monogamy has been the dominant form of conjugal relationship and form of marriage in India. Monogamy is counselled to men by [[Vātsyāyana|Vatsyayana]], a philosopher and an authority of the [[Kama Sutra]], with the belief that a man is only capable of physically, psychologically, and spiritually pleasing one woman at a time. Hindu texts that permit [[bigamy]] and polygyny recommend the monogamous marriage as the most appropriate form of the concept.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=CN Shankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjscEAAAQBAJ&dq=vivaha+man+woman&pg=PA103 |title=Sociology of Indian Society |date=September 2004 |publisher=S. Chand Publishing |isbn=978-81-219-2403-0 |pages=103 |language=en}}</ref> It is exemplified in Hindu texts such as [[Ramayana]], where [[Rama]] is believed to have taken the ''ekapatnivrata'', literally meaning the, 'vow of one wife', the act of fidelity to one wife, [[Sita]], and forbidding himself from engaging in sexual relations with other women.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2021-09-19 |title=Ekapatnivrata, Ēkapatnīvrata: 1 definition |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/ekapatnivrata |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vilas |first=Shubha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USdNDwAAQBAJ&dq=eka+patni+vrata+rama&pg=PT157 |title=Ramayana Pack (4 Volumes) |date=2018-02-21 |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |isbn=978-93-86867-65-0 |pages=157 |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
For most of Indian history, women were seen as subservient to the will of her father, and it was thought that unmarried women could not be kept at home – this belief is still held by some. It was – and in some places, still is – thought that one's daughter is only temporary, and that she is meant to be her husband's. The main duty of a girl's parents was, and is, regarded to arrange her marriage. After marriage, a woman is seen as a guest when visiting her natal home, and no longer a member of that family. In Hinduism, the main duty of a woman is serving her husband and family, and several Hindu festivals reflect this, by reinforcing the tradition of a woman fasting, or performing other rituals, to pray for her husband's long life. Dowry, the practice of the bride's family gifting property or money to her husband, is still prevalent despite the enactment of the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961. Historically, if the amount of dowry was seen as insufficient, the groom's family would take it as an insult, and harass the new bride to ask her family for more dowry.<ref name=":1">Sharma, Indira et al. “Hinduism, marriage and mental illness.” ''Indian Journal of Psychiatry'', vol. 55, Suppl 2 (2013): S243-9. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.105544.</ref>

==Contemporary period==
Many people believe that arranged marriage is the traditional form of marriage in India; however, the concept of [[love marriage]] has gained popularity as well, especially in urban areas. Love marriage differs from arranged marriage in that the couple, rather than the parents, choose their own partner, and that the consent of their parents is not asked for before marrying. The concept of a love marriage is not a novelty in India, as it is regarded to be the equivalent of the gandharva marriage, which is still perceived as not righteous today. Hindu literature does indicate that love marriages were recognised and accepted in ancient times, for example, the legend of [[Dushyanta]] and [[Shakuntala]] in the [[Mahabharata]]. Somewhere in the course of time, arranged marriages became predominant, and love marriages became unacceptable or at least frowned upon.

Despite the rise in the count of Hindus marrying for love, arranged marriages still remain the norm: In a 2012 survey conducted by [[Ipsos]] for the TV channel [[NDTV]], 74% of the respondents said that they preferred an arranged marriage.<ref>{{cite news |title=NDTV mid-term poll: Does India still want arranged marriages? |url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ndtv-mid-term-poll-does-india-still-want-arranged-marriages-498043 |access-date=14 February 2015 |work=[[NDTV]] |date=5 September 2012}} {{verify source |date=September 2023 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/1118884916 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/1091748988 cite #6 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> While the vast majority of Hindus continue to have arranged marriages, the prospective spouses usually have more agency in the match today than they did historically.

In a 2014 survey conducted by the [[United Nations Population Fund]] and International Center for Research on Women, 11.7% of men and 8.5% of women in India surveyed claimed that they chose their partners, and married with, or without, the consent of their families.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.icrw.org/publications/masculinity-intimate-partner-violence-and-son-preference-india|title = Masculinity, Intimate Partner Violence and Son Preference in India|publisher = International Center for Research on Women}} {{verify source |date=September 2023 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/1118884916 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/1091748988 cite #8 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> The boundaries between the two types of marriage are believed to have started to blur.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mr Henrike Donner|title=Domestic Goddesses: Maternity, Globalization and Middle-class Identity in Contemporary India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysehAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|access-date=31 January 2015|date=28 December 2012|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-9145-3|pages=80, 86}} {{verify source |date=September 2023 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/1118884916 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/1091748988 cite #1 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> The term ''love-arranged marriage'' is used to describe a new emerging form of marriage, which contains elements of both an [[arranged marriage]] and a love marriage.<ref>{{cite book|author=Katherine Twamley|title=Love, Marriage and Intimacy Among Gujarati Indians: A Suitable Match|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haUAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68|access-date=31 January 2015|date=12 February 2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-29430-2|page=68}} {{verify source |date=September 2023 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/1118884916 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/1091748988 cite #9 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref> Love marriages are sometimes seen as imposition of the younger generation's will over the older generation's wishes.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mr Henrike Donner|title=Domestic Goddesses: Maternity, Globalization and Middle-class Identity in Contemporary India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysehAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|access-date=31 January 2015|date=28 December 2012|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-9145-3|pages=80, 86}} {{verify source |date=September 2023 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/1118884916 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/1091748988 cite #1 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bansal |first=Pallavi |date=2015-09-22 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/Arranged-marriages-losing-respect-in-India/articleshow/49058130.cms |access-date=2022-06-06 |title=Arranged marriages losing respect in India? |newspaper=[[Times of India]]}} {{verify source |date=September 2023 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/1118884916 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/1091748988 cite #10 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref>

=== Shuddhikaran ===
{{anchor|Conversion of non-Hindu before Hindu marriage}}
In India, when a Hindu and a non-Hindu marry under the [[Hindu Marriage Act, 1955|Hindu Marriage Act]] and for the Hindu marriage to be valid, both partners must be Hindu amongst other conditions that also need to be fulfilled, and the non-Hindu partner must convert to Hinduism. A specific kind of ancient ritual is performed before the Hindu marriage called [[Shuddhikaran]] which is also practised by members of the [[Arya Samaj]] community who started the socio-political Shuddhi Movement that was derived from this ancient rite.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Shuddhi Movement, involving the conversion of non-Hindus to Hinduism, was started by - Solution(By Examveda Team)|url= https://www.examveda.com/the-shuddhi-movement-involving-the-conversion-of-nonhindus-to-hinduism-was-started-by-80006/|website=Examveda |language=en-IN}}</ref> The non-Hindu partner is converted to Hinduism through this purification rite before marrying, or else the marriage is regarded to be void, or not legally binding.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 October 2018 |title=Legal Precautions to take before marrying in a temple - Legal Requirements under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 |url=https://blog.ipleaders.in/temple-marriage/?amp=1 |website=iPleaders |language=en-IN}}</ref> The Hindu wedding ceremony that follows includes the vows and the [[saptapadi]], the ritual of circling the sacred fire seven times; the completion of the seventh round binds the marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hindu Marriage Law FAQ - What is a proper or valid Hindu marriage? - Should marriages be registered? How is it done? - If a Hindu wishes to marry a person who is not a Hindu, under what law can they do so? |url=https://www.latestlaws.com/legal-faqs/hindu-marriage-laws-faqs |website=Latest Laws |language=en-IN}}</ref> This is accepted as a complete, valid marriage in all states of India, and needs no registration with the exception of Goa, that is governed by a single code called [[Goa civil code]], where the registration of marriage is made compulsory as it is accepted as the only proof of marriage.

== Same-sex marriage ==
[[File:016 Celestial Musician (9213070982).jpg|thumb|Gandharva in Thailand]]There have been reports of Hindu gurus performing same-sex marriages in India since at least the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homoeroticism in Hinduism |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0223.xml |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=obo |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Hindu wedding]]
*[[Pativrata]]
*[[Buddhist view of marriage]]
*[[Weddings in India]]
*[[Shuddhikaran]]
*[[Shuddhi (Hinduism)]]
*[[Interfaith marriage]]
*[[Jewish views on marriage]]
*[[Christian views on marriage]]
*[[Marriage in Islam]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Hindu weddings}}{{Marriage in Hinduism}}{{Indian wedding}}
{{Social issues in India}}

[[Category:Marriage in Hinduism| ]]
[[Category:Family]]
[[Category:Vedic customs]]

LGBTQ history in India

2024-02-06T12:27:27Z

Timovinga: /* Ancient period */ How this is related to this topic, UNDUE

{{Short description|Aspect of history}}
{{Prose|date=January 2024}}
LGBTQ people have a long recorded and documented history since Ancient India.<ref name="Vātsyāyana. (1929). The Kamasutra. Benares :Jai Krishna-das-Haridas Gupta,">{{cite book |last1=Vātsyāyana |title=KāmaSutrā |date=1929 |publisher=Jai Krishna-das-Haridas Gupta |location=Benaras |isbn=0192802704 |page=Verse 2.9.36 |url=http://www.virtualvinodh.com/writings/assorted/homosexuality-kamasutra |ref=Vātsyāyana. (1929). The Kamasutra. Benares :Jai Krishna-das-Haridas Gupta}}</ref> Hinduism and the various religions derived from it were not homophobic and evidence suggests that homosexuality thrived in ancient India until the medieval period.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in India |url=https://www.labrys.net.br/labrys6/lesb/vanitas6.htm |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=www.labrys.net.br}}</ref>

LGBTQ people in the Islamic communities were persecuted more severely especially under the Islamic rule of the Mughal Empire, which ruled over large parts of India and much of Central Asia (and ultimately derives from the Mongol Empire), though Mughal leaders largely tolerated the cultures of the various non-Muslim communities of India.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |publisher=Rupa Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

From the early modern period, colonialism from Europe also brought with it more centralized legal codes that imposed Christian-European morals that were homophobic in nature, including criminalizing sex between two people of the same gender, and criminalizing transsexuality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Christensen |first=Kelly |date=December 2022 |title=A Legacy of Homophobia: Effects of British Colonization on Queer Rights in India and Uganda |url=https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2450 |journal=Global Studies 445: Capstone Seminar |via=Capstone Projects}}</ref>{{Dead link|date=December 2023}}

In the 21st century following independence, there has been a significant amount of progress made on liberalizing LGBTQ laws and reversing the homophobia and transphobia of the previous colonial era. [[File:Homosexuality in Khajuraho sculpture.jpg|thumb|Erotic sculptures of two men (center) at the [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho temples]]]]

==Ancient period==
Hinduism provides a wide breadth of literary and artistic sources showing LGBTQ life in Ancient India. Hinduism does not have explicit morals condemning homosexuality nor transsexuality, and has taken various positions on the topic, ranging from containing positive descriptions of homosexual characters, acts and themes in its texts to being neutral or antagonistic towards it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhanot |first=Anil |date=2009-07-02 |title=Hinduism does not condemn gay people |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/jul/02/gay-rights-india |access-date=2023-03-01 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=HAF Policy Brief: Hindu Teachings Inclusive of LGBT People |url=https://www.hinduamerican.org/press/haf-policy-brief-hindu-teachings-inclusive-lgbt-people/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Hindu American Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-03 |title=Hinduism does not condemn gay people: UK Hindu Council |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/print/hinduism-does-not-condemn-gay-people-uk-hindu-council/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> The concept of sexual minorities was widely known in the prevailing Hindu culture by the time [[Gautama Buddha]] founded his philosophies, and homosexuality was also thought to be viewed positively in Buddhism<ref>{{Cite web |title=theravada |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/41884/1/theravada.html |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Origins of Buddhism |url=https://asiasociety.org/education/origins-buddhism |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Asia Society |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Danielou" /> [[File:At_the_Lakshmana_temple_in_Khajuraho_(954_CE),_a_man_receives_fellatio_from_a_seated_male_as_part_of_an_orgiastic_scene.jpg|thumb|At the [[Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho|Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho]] (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.]]

The [[Kama Sutra]] is an ancient text dealing with ''kama'' or desire (of all kinds), which in Hindu thought is one of the four normative and spiritual goals of life. The [[Kama Sutra]] is the earliest extant and most important work in the [[Kama Shastra]] tradition of [[Sanskrit literature]]. It was compiled by the philosopher [[Vatsyayana]] around the 4th century, from earlier texts, and describes homosexual practices in several places, as well as a range of sex/gender 'types'. The author writes that these relations also involve love and a bond of trust.

The author describes techniques by which masculine and feminine types of the third sex (''tritiya-prakriti''), as well as women, perform [[fellatio]].<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra'', Part Two, Chapter Nine, entitled "Superior Coition or Fellation [''Auparishtaka'']. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref> The Second Part, Ninth Chapter of Kama Sutra specifically describes two kinds of men that we would recognize today as masculine- and feminine-type homosexuals but which are mentioned in older, Victorian British translations as simply "eunuchs."<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 9, "Of the Auparishtaka or Mouth Congress" |url=http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313043325/http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-date=March 13, 2010}}</ref> The chapter describes their appearances – feminine types dressed up as women whereas masculine types maintained muscular physiques and grew small beards, mustaches, etc. – and their various professions as masseurs, barbers and prostitutes are all described. Such homosexual men were also known to marry, according to the Kama Sutra: "There are also third-sex citizens, sometimes greatly attached to one another and with complete faith in one another, who get married together." (KS 2.9.36). In the "Jayamangala" of Yashodhara, an important twelfth-century commentary on the Kama Sutra, it is also stated: "Citizens with this kind of homosexual inclination, who renounce women and can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship."<ref name="Danielou">Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra''. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref>

The ''[[Arthashastra]]'', a 2nd century BCE Indian treatise on statecraft, mentions a wide variety of sexual practices which, whether performed with a man or a woman, were sought to be punished with the lowest grade of fine. While homosexual intercourse was not sanctioned, it was treated as a very minor offence, and several kinds of heterosexual intercourse were punished more severely.<ref name="History1">{{harvnb|Vanita|Kidwai|2001|p=25}}</ref>

Sex between non-virgin women incurred a small fine, while homosexual intercourse between men could be made up for merely with a bath with one's clothes on, and a penance of "eating the five products of the cow and keeping a one-night fast" – the penance being a replacement of the traditional concept of homosexual intercourse resulting in a loss of caste. These are punishments listed for the use of the priestly class of people (traditionally monks) for both heterosexual and homosexual sexual misconduct, where the punishments for heterosexual misconduct were often more severe than homosexual misconduct.<ref name="History1"/>

==Medieval period==
A large number of erotic artwork dipicting homosexuality can be found on numerous temples throughout India, including Khajuraho temple sculptures built in the 700s, and the Sun temple in Konark built in 1200s.<ref name="www.lawctopus.com-2021" />

== Early modern period ==
Early moghul emperors were often tolerant of the Hindu society and allowed them to live as they wanted to.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Penrose |first=Walter |title=Colliding Cultures: Masculinity and Homoeroticism in Mughal and Early Colonial South Asia |date=2006 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524156_9 |work=Queer Masculinities, 1550–1800: Siting Same-Sex Desire in the Early Modern World |pages=144–165 |editor-last=O’Donnell |editor-first=Katherine |access-date=2023-10-24 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230524156_9 |isbn=978-0-230-52415-6 |editor2-last=O’Rourke |editor2-first=Michael}}</ref> The [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |publisher=Rupa Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

Various Muslim LGBTQ activists have attempted to find references to homoerotism within Indian Islamic culture. Mughal artwork and poetry may have contained examples of celebrations of male [[homoeroticism]].<ref name=":0" /> The first [[Mughal emperors|Mughal Emperor]] [[Babur]] wrote about his passion and desire for a male "lover" called [[Baburi Andijani|Baburi]] (who was already an adult when the Emperor ascended the throne) in his autobiography ''[[Baburnama]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daniyal |first=Shoaib |date=2016-06-18 |title=It's different now, but Muslims have a long history of accepting homosexuality |url=http://scroll.in/article/810093/orlando-shooting-its-different-now-but-muslims-have-a-long-history-of-accepting-homosexuality |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref> He wrote :{{Blockquote|"Occasionally Baburi came to me, but I was so bashful that I could not look him in the face, much less converse freely with him. In my excitement and agitation I could not thank him for coming, much less complain of his leaving. Who could bear to demand the ceremonies of fealty?"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Babur |first1=Emperor of Hindustan |last2=Beveridge |first2=Annette Susannah |title=The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur) |date=1922 |publisher=London, Luzac |page=120 |url=https://archive.org/details/baburnamainengli01babuuoft/page/120/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor |publisher=Modern Library |isbn=0-375-76137-3 |year=2002 |author=Babur, Emperor of Hindustan |others=translated, edited and annotated by W. M. Thackston |url=https://archive.org/details/babarinizam00babu |page=89}}</ref>}}

=== 1500s ===
* 1528 - J.M. John Marshal, doctoral research scholar based in the Department of History, Goa University, Taleigao, records in his book Homosexuality in Early Modern Goa the judiciary of Goa punished a muslim man for [[sodomy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=3810402|title=Sentença que pela justiça de Goa se proferiu contra um mouro condenando-o a morte natural e queimado, feito em pó, seus bens confiscados para a coroa do Reino e seus filhos havidos por infâmes por ter... – Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo – DigitArq|website=digitarq.arquivos.pt}}</ref>
* 1560 - Homosexuality was prohibited for much of the existence of the [[Portuguese Empire]]. The Portuguese introduced [[Goa Inquisition]] to deal with problems of sodomy and prosecuted homosexuals or people engaged in same sexual activity.<ref name= Marshal>{{Cite journal |last=Marshal |first=J.M.J |date=Oct 2022 |title=Homosexuality in the Early Modern Goa |url=https://outreach.faith/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NCCI-October-2022.pdf |journal=National Council of Churches of India |volume=CXLII |issue=9 |pages=39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pride & Prejudice: Forgotten LGBT people of early modern Goa |url=https://www.thegoan.net/%20sunday-mag/pride-prejudice-forgotten-lgbt-people-of-early-modern-%20goa/73670.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=The Goan EveryDay |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1600s ===
* 1607 - Marshal in his research noted the case of Alberto Homemo, a German soldier in the Portuguese army, who was executed without trial. "The inquisition record states that Alberto, induced by devil, committed the ‘horrible and abominable vice of sodomy’ since he was 16 years old, habitually with many men, also while he was serving in the North (Portuguese Bombay) as well as many cities where he lived and when he was sent in the army of Malacca too. The inquisition declared him being infamous(notoriously evil), confiscated his goods and ‘relaxed’ him to secular justice to be burnt alive. The sentence was written by the Inquisitor Jorge Ferreira, dated 09-12-1607."<ref name= Marshal/>
* 1667 or 1675 - The [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How did the Mughals view homosexuality? |url=https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/42157/how-did-the-mughals-view-homosexuality |website=History Stack Exchange}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sarmad Kashani Tomb in Jami Masjid, New Delhi, India - Archive - Diarna.org |url=http://archive.diarna.org/site/detail/public/1931/ |website=archive.diarna.org}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |publisher=Rupa Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref name="kugle">{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> While [[pederasty]] was often considered as "pure love" and prevalent among those from [[Central Asia]], in India, however, this was generally unheard of. For example, the governor of [[Burhanpur]] was murdered by a boy servant with whom he tried to be intimate.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76daSuNVMTcC&pg=PT146|title=The Mughal World|first=Abraham|last=Eraly|date=Jul 17, 2007|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|access-date=Aug 15, 2019|via=Google Books|isbn=9788184753158|page=146}}</ref> Muslim Urdu poetry of the era sometimes expressed homoerotic viewpoints reminiscent of bromances, but these were not explicitly homosexual in nature.<ref name="www.lawctopus.com-2021">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-29 |title=The Pre-Colonial History of Homosexuality in India: Why Love Is Not Western – Academike |url=https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/history-of-homosexuality-in-india/ |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=www.lawctopus.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== 1700s ===
* 1723 - The scholarly research of Mir Taqi Mir's poems and ghazals shows allusions and references to beloved male lovers. Ruth Vanita, Saleem Kidwai, p 119, ''Same-sex love in India: readings from literature and history'' also asserts that Mir's poetry "represents homoeroticism" and that he, along with others, "developed a discourse of erotic commentary on young males."<ref>{{cite web |title=Convention in the Classical Urdu Ghazal: The Case of Mir |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/published/txt_convention.html |website=Columbia University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Homosexual (Pederastic) Love in Pre-Modern Urdu Poetry |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/texts/txt_naim_homosexual_pederastic_2004.pdf |website=Columbia University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Beyond borders |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090517/spectrum/book1.htm |website=The Tribune India}}</ref>
* 1791 - Homosexuality was decriminalised in the French Indian territories of Pondicherry.<ref name="wei">{{cite web |last1=Wei |first1=Serena|last2=Johnson |first2=Lijuan |title=ISodomy Laws in France: How The 1791 French Penal Code Decriminalized Sodomy Without The Will of The People | url= https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323145113.pdf |website=Young Historians Conference |date=2020-04-27 |access-date=2023-04-20}}</ref><ref name="sen">{{Cite web |last=Sen |first=Rudra |date=2021-10-26 |title=The Criminalisation of Homosexuality: A Colonial Legacy? |url=https://www.standrewslawreview.com/post/the-criminalisation-of-homosexuality-a-colonial-legacy |access-date=2023-02-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207074524/https://www.standrewslawreview.com/post/the-criminalisation-of-homosexuality-a-colonial-legacy|archive-date=2023-02-07 |website=StAndrews Law Review |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1800s ===
[[File:Hijra and companions in Eastern Bengal.jpg|thumb|centre|Hijra and companions in Eastern Bengal in 1860]]
*1861 - The [[British Raj]], in directly governed British territories,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extent and Operation of the Indian Penal Code |url=https://www.legalpedia.co.in/articlecontent/extent-and-operation-of-the-indian-penal-code.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=www.legalpedia.co.in}}</ref> replaced the criminal offences and punishments set out in the Mughal Fatawa 'Alamgiri, with those of the 1862 [[Indian Penal Code]], section [[Section 377]] covering homosexuality.<ref name="Srivastava-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Srivastava |first=Ankit |date=1 March 2019 |title=SECTION 377 AND LGBT ACTIVISM IN INDIA |url=http://ijrar.com/upload_issue/ijrar_issue_20543460.pdf |journal=International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews |volume=6 |issue=2}}</ref> The law stated: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in the section."<ref>{{Cite web |title=India Code: Section Details |url=https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_5_23_00037_186045_1523266765688&orderno=434 |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=www.indiacode.nic.in}}</ref> The law was drafted by Thomas Babington Macaulay, who based it on anti-sodomy laws that already existed in Britain."<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The term "order of the nature" was never defined, hence considering its vagueness, the law could apply to virtually any sexual act considered against this order by the British Judiciary, which included all penetrative sexual acts, except for vaginal penetration by a man.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> There are not many cases that were tried under this law, though, as there were only exist 5 recorded cases that were tried under Section 377 India till 1920.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Ruhnke |first=Lauren |date=2018-05-01 |title=Constructing Native Homosexuality in British India |url=https://tuljournals.temple.edu/index.php/maneto/article/view/80 |journal=Maneto Undergraduate Research Journal |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.15367/m:turj.v1i1.80 |issn=2639-7617|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.12613/474 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The law had a larger impact on social values than legal ones.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018"/> The anti-sodomy law in Britain and, in turn, India, was inspired by the 'purity campaign', an ideology that aimed at repressing sexual conduct in British society. This campaign also changed the perception and beliefs about sexualities in the European society.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018" />
* 1871 - The hijra were labelled a "criminal tribe" in the [[Criminal Tribes Act]] (1871). Eventually, they were subjected to compulsory registration, unlawful monitoring, and stigmatization. British Lieutenant-Governor [[Edmund Drummond]] (1814–1895) framed the anti-hijra campaign as a necessary project of "extinguishment" and "extinction." The surveillance methods were enacted over communities with hopes to eradicate hijras permanently.
* 1884  – The sodomy-related case to be prosecuted under British rule in India was the case of Khairati vs Queen Empress.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018"/> Khairati was first called on by the police when he was seen dressed as a woman and singing with a group of women in Moradabad.<ref name="Solution-2019">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-31 |title=Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 |url=https://indianlegalsolution.com/transgender-persons-protection-of-rights-bill-2019/ |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=Indian Legal Solution |language=en-US}}</ref> The case was brought to the Allahabad high court, where Khairati was forced to undergo a medical examination and it was found that he had an 'extended anal [[Anal orifice|orifice]]' which was the sign of a 'habitual [[catamite]]'.<ref name="Solution-2019" /> Cross-dressing was, again, used as evidence to support this argument. Cross-dressing was normal in indigenous culture in India, but since this did not fit the moral standards of sexuality of Britishers and the ambiguity of Section 377, Khairati was arrested and prosecuted in court.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018" /> Khairati was later acquitted on appeal in the Allahabad high court.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018" />

== 20th Century ==
{{See also|Hijra (South Asia)|Kothi (gender)}}

[[File:Two women embracing and using carrots as dildoes. Gouache Wellcome L0033073.jpg|thumb| centre|Two women using carrots as dildos, 20th century [[gouache]] painting. ]]

=== 1920s ===
* 31 May 1924 - Matvala, a Calcutta biweekly, published a story titled "Chocolate" by Pandey Bechan Sharma "Ugra". {{Blockquote| In the opening passages, a lovesick Dinkar Prasad is likened to Majnun by the narrator as he flops into a chair reciting a sher to articulate, yet encode, his grief. Manohar Chandra, another friend, attempts decoding with chher chhaar, teasing him in Banarasi Hindi. When Dinkar commends his verse, Manohar exclaims: "Has your fine lady, Urdu, been defeated[…]?" Later, an adolescent boy, Ramesh, appears at the door, and Dinkar darts off. Manohar duly informs the narrator that Ramesh is Dinkar’s chocolate – the object of his romantic-erotic affections – before launching on a tirade to deride his same-sex desire: "He’ll sift through history, finish off the Puranas, and prove to you that love of boys is not unnatural but natural." In this brief overture, Ugra condensed competing linguistic, ethnic, and cultural assessors of homosexuality.<ref name= Ugra>{{cite web |title=The story of 'Chocolate', the Hindi story published in 1924 that created a furore over homosexuality |url=https://scroll.in/article/917491/the-story-of-chocolate-the-hindi-story-published-in-1924-that-created-a-furore-over-homosexuality |website=Scroll.in|date=23 March 2019 }}</ref>}}
* December 1924 - After the publication of Chocolate Charcha in December 1924, Ugra was charged with sedition for editing the victory issue of Swadesh and sentenced to nine months in prison under section 124A of the IPC.<ref name= Ugra/>
* 1927 - Ugra wrote ''Hey Sukumar (O Beautiful Young Man!)'', ''Vyabhichari Pyar (Dissolute Love)'', and ''Jail Mein (In Prison)'' and published them in the short fiction ''Chocolate: And Other Writings On Male Homoeroticism'' in Calcutta.<ref name= Ugra/><ref>{{cite web |title=A love without a name: Identifying homosexuality in Indian language and literature |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-love-without-a-name-identifying-homosexuality-in-indian-language-and-literature/story-sfkFcIFoa8eENsQx5u1NQJ.html |website=Hindustan Times|date=8 September 2018 }}</ref>

=== 1930s ===
* 1936 - Raghupati Sahay also known by his pen name [[Firaq Gorakhpuri]], a professor of English at Allahabad University, published an article ''in defence of homosexual love''. Talking about Ghazals he describes the depiction of homosexuality in poetry across time and cultures in the works of Sappho and Socrates, Saadi and Hafiz, Shakespeare and Whitman.

=== 1970s ===
* 1971 - [[Badnam Basti]] India's first gay-themed film depicting the story of two men and women in a love triangle hit the theatre. It is adapted from an eponymous novel by Hindi novelist [[Kamleshwar (writer)]]. The film was thought to have been [[Lost film|lost]] for 40 years, but a print was found in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kahlon|first1=Sukhpreet|date=28 July 2020|title=Finding Badnaam Basti (1972): Accidental discovery that restored a piece of Indian cinematic history|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2020/jul/28/26558|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901125824/https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2020/jul/28/26558|archive-date=1 September 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=Cinestaan}}</ref>
* 1977 - [[Shakuntala Devi]] published the first<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Globalizing queer? AIDS, homophobia and the politics of sexual identity in India | author=Subir K Kole | journal=Globalization and Health | doi=10.1186/1744-8603-3-8 | date=2007-07-11 | pmid=17623106 | volume=3 | pages=8 | pmc=2018684 | doi-access=free }}: "The first academic book on Indian homosexuals appeared in 1977 (The World of Homosexuals) written by Shakuntala Devi, the mathematics wizkid who was internationally known as the human computer. This book treated homosexuality in a positive light and reviewed the socio-cultural and legal situation of homosexuality in India and contrasted that with the then gay liberation movement in USA."</ref> study of homosexuality in India. She wrote, "rather than pretending that homosexuals don’t exist" it was time "we face the facts squarely in the eye and find room for [homosexual people]."<ref name="worldoh">{{Cite book | title=The World of Homosexuals | first=Shakuntala | last=Devi | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | year=1977 | isbn=9780706904789 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBwbAAAAYAAJ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | title=Homosexuality and Religion | first=Jeffrey S. | last=Siker | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | year=2006 | isbn=9780313330889 | page=127 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUqn33H-uDYC&q=%22The+World+of+Homosexuals%22&pg=PA127 }}: "In her 1977 book, mathematician Shakuntala Devi interviewed..."</ref>
* 1979 - Hijras met in Ahemdabad for 50th Annivarsary of Hijra named ''Dada Guru'' Shankar.<ref name= Queerly/>

=== 1980s ===
* 1980 - Two lesbian women Mallika and Lalidambika died by suicide in Kerala.<ref>{{cite web |title=Table Of Lesbian Suicide. |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/lib-docs/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session1/IN/PLD_IND_UPR_S1_2008anx_LesbianSuicides.pdf}}</ref>
* 1981 - Indian Playwright [[Vijay Tendulkar]] wrote Marathi play [[Mitrachi Goshta]], a three-act play with a theme of same-sex attraction.
* 1981 - All-India Hijra Conference brought together 50,000 Hijras who travelled to Agra.<ref name="Queerly">{{cite book |title=Queerly Phrased Language, Gender, and Sexuality. |date=7 October 1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195355772 |pages=460 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1G_dVlJ2KhcC}}</ref>
* 1981 - [[Bhupen Khakhar]] experienced the gay-rights movement in 1979 when he visited England and it was then he felt acceptance and comfort with his own sexuality. In 1981 he painted ‘You Can’t Please All’ which is widely regarded as a symbol of his coming out.<ref name= Bhupen>{{cite web |title=A Look At The Life Of Bhupen Khakhar: India's Ingenious Openly Gay Contemporary Artist |date=8 June 2021 |url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/a-look-at-the-life-of-bhupen-khakhar-indias-ingenious-openly-gay-contemporary-artist}}</ref>
* 1982 - [[Bhupen Khakhar]] Two Men In Benaras (1982), an oil on canvas painting, depicts an intimate scene of love situated in the pilgrimage capital of India. The shades near the soles and toes are smudged with moon-like dust and depict the desire and lust the two subjects have for each other.<ref name= Bhupen/>
* 1986 - Journalist [[Ashok Row Kavi]] penned an article about himself for Savvy Magazine, which became the first ‘coming out’ story from India.
* 1987 - Khakra painting Yayati (1987) explores and creates a dialogue between intimacy, religion, and mythology. ‘Yayati’ was the first king of Pauravas.
* 1987 - [[Rohit Khosla]] co-founded Ensemble, India's popular designer label store in New Delhi, with Tarun and Sal Tahiliani.
* 1987 - Two policewomen from Madhya Pradesh married each other. Eventually, on 24 February 1988, pictures from their marriage made front page news under the headline "Lesbian Cops". Leela and Urmila were chastised by the police force, discharged of their duties for ''inappropriate behaviour'', and inundated with media attention.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who were the first lesbians to get married in India? |url=https://fiftytwo.in/blog/who-were-the-first-lesbians-to-get-married-in-india/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Marriage equality is a constitutional right, do not deny it to same-sex couples |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/marriage-rights-india-same-sex-couples-6929246/ |website=Indian Express|date=4 November 2020 }}</ref>
* 1989 - [[Dominic D'Souza]] was forcibly quarantined and isolated in a tuberculosis ward for 64 days because of stigma and hatred towards people with HIV.
* 1987–1989 - Lesbians from Delhi Group met for informal gatherings, or "Single women's nights," in members' homes to discuss compulsive heterosexuality and to bond over their identifications as "Women who love women."<ref>{{cite web |title=Queer History: How Did Queer Women Network Before The Age Of Internet? |date=28 June 2018 |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2018/06/29/queer-history-queer-women-india/}}</ref>

=== 1990s ===
* 1990 - [[Naz Foundation International]] started in London to spread awareness regarding AIDs/HIV epidemic.
* 1990 - [[Ashok Row Kavi]], a few short years after coming out, founded India’s first magazine for queer men, [[Bombay Dost]].
* 1991 - 7 members of ABVA published ''"Less Than Gay: A Citizens' Report on the Status of Homosexuality in India",'' which was the first report to publicly recognize the status of queer people in India and addressed the discrimination they faced.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The report demanded the rights of the queer community in India, as it imposed a need to repeal Section 377 and the Army, Navy, and Air Force Act of 1950.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> This report was followed by a public protest, organized by the ABVA in New Delhi, which is recognized as the first public demonstration against anti-sodomy laws in India.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> This demonstration protested Section 377 and its use by the police to harass the gay community.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The protest was particularly sparked by an act of police brutality in Connaught Place, where 18 people were arrested on the charges that they were allegedly going to engage in homosexual acts. This protest was joined by over 500 people, which included multiple democratic and civil rights groups.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" />
* 1992 - The AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA), or the AIDS Anti-discrimination movement, organized the first public protest against anti-sodomy laws in India in August 1992.<ref name="Srivastava-2019"/> The ABVA was an activist group, with its original intent being spreading awareness regarding AIDS in India, as they opposed the intolerant practices and discrimination of the Indian government against HIV positive patients.<ref name="Tan-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Tan |first=Nicholas |date=2019-03-01 |title=Was 1992 a Turning Point for Homosexuals in Contemporary India? |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9548-9 |journal=Sexuality & Culture |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=142–153 |doi=10.1007/s12119-018-9548-9 |s2cid=149527487 |issn=1936-4822}}</ref> They protested against the government policy that required the doctors to disclose the names of HIV-positive patients, who were then put in isolation.<ref name="Tan-2019" /> The group organized multiple protests demanding rights for HIV-affected people and sex workers.<ref name="Tan-2019" />
* 1994 - ABVA filled the first Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging Section 377 and its validity. This PIL was filed in response to the denial by authorities to a request by ABVA demanding the distribution of condoms in Tihar Jail.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The reason for this as stated by Kiran Bedi, the then Inspector General of Prisons in India, was the fact that the distribution of condoms would acknowledge and accept the existence of homosexual practices in the jail. The petition was dismissed in 2001 in the Delhi High Court.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" />
* 10 November 1994 - Vimala Farooqui, had appealed to the Prime Minister to cancel permission for an international conference of Gay Men to be held in Bombay.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vimala Farooqui |url=http://feministlawarchives.pldindia.org/wp-content/uploads/JAGORI.pdf?}}</ref>
* 1996 - [[Riyad Vinci Wadia]] produced an Independent short film, [[Bomgay]]. Riyad was then in the process of generating funds for his supposed first full-length movie, ''Naked Rain''(Unfinished), based on R. Raj Rao's novel, Boyfriend. "He made a very important contribution to the gay cause and was one of the central figures to begin the broad-basing of the gay movement in India," said gay activist Ashok Row Kavi.
* 1997 - Lawyer and activist Arvind Narrain student at the National Law School of Banglore, headed a seminar on LGBTQ rights discussing queerness in new and public settings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dignity restored |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/social-issues/article30184975.ece |website=Frontline The Hindu|date=30 July 2009 }}</ref>
* 1998 - [[Deepa Mehta]] lesbian theme movie [[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]] was released on 5 November 1998 in India. The film is loosely based on [[Ismat Chughtai]]'s 1942 story, "[[Lihaaf]]" ("The Quilt"). The members of right-wing groups like the Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal attacked cinema halls across the country.
* 1999 - [[Sonali Gulati]] made a short film titled "Sum Total", a lesbian matrimonial that addresses issues of identity, self-representation, and hetronormativity
* 1999 - The [[Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk|Friendship Walk]] is the first and oldest pride march in India and South Asia.<ref name="Srivastava-2019"/> This was first organized on 2 July 1999 in the city of Kolkata.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010">{{Cite web |last=Gaylaxy |date=2010-07-14 |title=A Walk to Remember |url=https://www.gaylaxymag.com/exclusive/a-walk-to-remember/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Gaylaxy Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> During this time period, gay rights activists in India had started demanding that political leaders include gay rights as a part of their election campaigns, but these demands were ignored.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> So, in order to make a political statement, Owais Khan first proposed the idea of the friendship walk.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> This idea was circulated among the public and received mixed reactions until the walk was finally organized.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> The pride march was joined by 15 people from all across the country, who wore custom-designed, bright yellow T-shirts with a graphic of footsteps and a motto that read 'Walk on the rainbow'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sthira |date=2013-06-26 |title=Who said it was Simple? |url=http://kindlemag.in/who-said-it-was-simple/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Kindle Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The participants of the march further divided themselves into two groups, one of which continued the walk towards North Kolkata and the other one towards South Kolkata.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> They proceeded to meet multiple Human rights organizations, NGOs, and AIDS prevention groups to voice their agenda and spread their message.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> The walk ended with both groups meeting at the George Bhavan where all the participants were interviewed by the media, as they shared their views on the issue of rejection of Homosexuality and sexual/gender non-conformity in India.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> The news spread across South Asia and the pride march was met with strong support not only in India but from people in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> This walk became the inspiration for various pride marches that were organized all across the country in the subsequent years and influenced the sociopolitical scenario in many countries across South Asia.
* 1999 - CALERI (Campaign for Lesbian Rights) came out with a manifesto titled "Lesbian Emergence".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=N. DAVE |first1=NAISARGI |title=Indian and lesbian and what came next: Affect, commensuration, and queer emergences |journal=American Ethnologist |date=November 2011 |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=650–665 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2011.01328.x |jstor=41410424 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41410424}}</ref>
* 1999 - Soul Kitchen disco in Delhi hosted the first "gay night."

== 21st Century ==
[[File:Anjali gopalan.jpg|thumb|285x285px|Asia's first [[Genderqueer]] Pride Parade at [[Madurai]] with [[Anjali Gopalan]] (July 2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/edex/One-Who-Fights-For-an-Other/2015/04/13/article2756559.ece|title=One Who Fights For an Other|work=The New Indian Express}}</ref>]]

=== 2000s ===
* 2001 - [[Naz Foundation (India) Trust]], a non-governmental organization, filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court in 2001, seeking the legalisation of homosexual intercourse between consenting adults.
* 2002 - Naz Foundation filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to challenge IPC Section 377 in the Delhi High Court.
* 2003 - Delhi High Court refused to consider a petition regarding the legality of the law and said the petitioners had no [[locus standi]] in the matter.
* 2003 - [[R. Raj Rao]]'s first novel [[The Boyfriend (novel)]] was published highlighting the gay subculture of 1992–93 after the Bombay riots.
* 2004 - [[The Journey (2004 film)]] Malayalam language feature film written, directed and produced by Ligy J. Pullappally was released. It is said to be inspired by her short film Uli and the true story of two lesbian lovers in the South Indian state of Kerala.
* 11 June 2004 - [[Girlfriend (2004 film)]] depicted Tanya's (Isha Koppikar) obsessive relationship with Sapna (Amrita Arora). The relationship dilemma sparked after Sapna starts dating Rahul (Aashish Chaudhary).
* 2005 - The film [[My Brother…Nikhil]] directed by [[Onir]] portrays the life of the protagonist, Nikhil, from 1987 to 1994, when AIDS awareness in India was considerably low.
* 2005 - Prince [[Manvendra Singh Gohil]], publicly came out as gay. He was disinherited as an immediate reaction by the royal family and was a question of stigma throughout the nation.
* January 2006 - [[Human Rights Watch]] published a report that article 377 was used to harass [[AIDS|HIV/AIDS]] prevention activists, as well as [[sex worker]]s, [[men who have sex with men]], and other LGBT groups.<ref>{{cite web |title=India: Repeal Colonial-Era Sodomy Law |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/11/india12398.htm |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |access-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413042710/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/11/india12398.htm |archive-date=April 13, 2008 |date=January 11, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2006 - A 24-year-old gay man Hiren Makwana, a community organiser in an NGO, Counterpart International India (CII), at Bodakdev, was murdered over intimate relationships and financial disputes. The police found the homicide videotaped on the Handycam.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gay murder shot on handycam |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gay-murder-shot-on-handycam/articleshow/1405654.cms |website=Times Of India|date=8 February 2006 }}</ref>
* May 2006 - Mohammed Wasim, reportedly killed his two partners Akhtar Afindi (52) and Jamshed Alam (32) for money.<ref>{{cite news |title=Double murder cracked, gay friend killed them |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/double-murder-cracked-gay-friend-killed-them/articleshow/1528037.cms |website=Times Of India|date=13 May 2006 }}</ref>
* September 2006 - [[Amartya Sen]], acclaimed writer [[Vikram Seth]] and other prominent Indians publicly demanded the repeal of section 377 of the IPC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/india/story/0,,1874833,00.html|title='India's Literary Elite Call for Anti-Gay Law to be Scrapped' | newspaper= [[The Guardian]]|location=London | first=Randeep | last=Ramesh | date=18 September 2006 | access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref> In the open letter they demanded that "In the name of humanity and of our Constitution, this cruel and discriminatory law should be struck down."
* 2007 - Prince [[Manvendra Singh Gohil]] appeared on the American talk show ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'' on 24 October 2007,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/26look1.htm|title=India's gay prince appears on Oprah show|newspaper=[[Rediff]]|date=27 October 2007|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and on [[BBC Three]]'s ''[[Undercover Princes]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gtkyq | title=Undercover Princes|date=27 April 2011|access-date=4 April 2014|publisher=[[BBC Three]]}}</ref>
* 2007 - Rao founded the Queer Studies Circle at Pune University.<ref>''Times of India'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20120606143825/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-07-27/pune/27290282_1_aids-workers-aids-prevention-joanne-csete "Gay rights groups hail bid to amend law," July 27, 2002], accessed 15 May 2011</ref> Rao was one of the first to offer a course on [[LGBT]] literature at the university level in [[India]] in 2007, after years of resistance on the part of his academic superiors.<ref>''The Punekar'': [http://thepunekar.com/2010/10/15/marathi-teacher-takes-charge-of-english-department-at-pune-university/ "Marathi teacher takes charge of English department at Pune University," October 15, 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831002122/http://thepunekar.com/2010/10/15/marathi-teacher-takes-charge-of-english-department-at-pune-university/ |date=31 August 2011 }}, accessed 15 May 2011</ref> He said: "It's strange how the academic fraternity that has always been quick to accept all kinds of literature — Marxist, feminist, Dalit — had a huge reservation when it came to queer literature. For years, the Board of Studies refused to let us start the course saying that 'Indian students do not need it'. Finally, we clubbed it with Dalit literature and started it under the genre of Alternative Literature."<ref>''The Punekar'': [http://thepunekar.com/2009/07/16/gay-lesbian-course-at-uop-sets-an-example-for-other-universities/ "Gay-lesbian course at UoP sets an example for other universities," July 16, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404014028/http://www.thepunekar.com/2009/07/16/gay-lesbian-course-at-uop-sets-an-example-for-other-universities/ |date=4 April 2012 }}, accessed 15 May 2011</ref>
* 2008 - The five Indian cities Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore and Pondicherry celebrated gay pride parades with 2000 people from nationwide.
* 2008 - Zoltan Parag, a competitor at the Mr. Gay International contest, said that he was apprehensive about returning to India stating "Indian media has exposed me so much that now when I call my friends back home, their parents do not let them talk to me". Zoltan did not return to India and reportedly sought asylum in the United States.
* 2009 - Delhi High Court decision ''[[Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi]]'', found Section 377 and other legal prohibitions against same-sex conduct to be in direct violation of fundamental rights provided by the Indian Constitution. The decisions of a High Court on the constitutionality of law (i.e. judicial review) apply throughout India, and not just to the territory of the state over which the High Court in question has jurisdiction.<ref name="Kusum Ingots v 2004">''Kusum Ingots v. Union of India'', (2004) 6 SCC 254: "An order passed on a writ petition questioning the constitutionality of a Parliamentary Act, whether interim or final, keeping in view the provisions contained in Clause (2) of Article 226 of the Constitution of India, will have effect throughout the territory of India subject of course to the applicability of the Act."</ref> However, even after the pronouncement of the verdict, there have been (rare) incidents of harassment of homosexual groups.<ref>{{cite news|author=Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-28/india/28251262_1_saharanpur-management-student-gay-party |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106033901/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-28/india/28251262_1_saharanpur-management-student-gay-party |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 November 2012 |title=Crackdown on gay party in Saharanpur, 13 held |date=28 December 2010 |work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref>
* 2009 - [[Pink Pages]] the first online magazine to publish an article after the historic judgement of decriminalising of homosexuality.
* 2009 - [[Celina Jaitley]] re-launched the ''Bombay Dost'', the gay magazine, in Mumbai.
* 2009 - [[R. Raj Rao]]'s published ''Whistling in the Dark: Twenty-One Queer Interviews'', co-editor with Dibyajyoti Sarma.

=== 2010s ===
* 2010 - Rao published his gay-themed novel Hostel Room 131 (2010).
* February 2010 - Professor [[Ramchandra Siras]] was outed and suspended from his job at AMU for "immoral sexual activity". Even though homosexuality was legalised in 2010 two men forced their way into Siras' house and videotape him having consensual sex with another man.
* April 2010 - Siras died in his apartment in Aligarh. The preliminary results from the autopsy showed traces of poison in his body.
* April 2010 - [[Onir]] film [[I Am (2010 Indian film)]] exploring issues on themes such as single motherhood, displacement, child abuse and same-sex relationships won a national film award.
* March 2011 - Pulitzer Prize-winning author [[Joseph Lelyveld]] published [[Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India]] citing Mahatma Gandhi exchanged an intimate letter with a German Jewish architect Hermann Kallenbach. The book received favourable criticism and was banned in India. However, Tushar Gandhi, Gandhi’s great-grandson, has defended the book.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Slow Evolution of Gay Culture in India. |url=https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-slow-evolution-of-gay-culture-in-india/ |website=The Mit Press Reader|date=2 June 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How Gandhi Became Gandhi. |work=The New York Times |date=25 March 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/books/review/book-review-great-soul-mahatma-gandhi-and-his-struggle-with-india-by-joseph-lelyveld.html |last1=Ward |first1=Geoffrey C. }}</ref>
* 2011 - The Delhi high court on Monday upheld the life sentence of the two men for murdering United Nations Development Programme employee Pushkin Chandra and his gay partner Kuldeep in south Delhi seven years ago. "It is evident from the record that Pushkin Chandra used to indulge in unnatural sexual activities," the trial court judge had said in his judgment on March 3, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gay murder: HC upholds life term of 2 in Pushkin case |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/gay-murder-hc-upholds-life-term-of-2-in-pushkin-case/story-4pg4WUDrErPAdPAveywYOP.html |website=Hindustan Times|date=31 October 2011 }}</ref>
* 2011 - A 24-year-old Mahesh Soni, had appeared on a reality show on television and admitted that he was homosexual and liked to wear a saree committed suicide hanging from the ceiling fan at his Malwani residence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gay man slashes partner, commits suicide. |url=https://www.ndtv.com/mumbai-news/gay-man-slashes-partner-commits-suicide-569633 |website=NDTV}}</ref>
* 16 February 2012 - The [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]], during a hearing of a bunch of appeals filed against decriminalisation of gay sex, observed that homosexuality should be seen in the context of changing society as many things which were earlier unacceptable have become acceptable with the passage of time. The two-judge bench, composed of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, opined that homosexuality should be seen in the light of changing times where phenomena of live-in relationships, single parents and artificial fertilisation have become normal. They also pointed out that many things, which were considered immoral 20 years ago, have become acceptable to society now. The bench said that homosexual sex was not an offence prior to 1860 and referred to [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|paintings and sculptures of Khajuraho]]. Senior Advocate Amrendra Sharan, who opposed the Delhi High Court order of decriminalising gay sex on behalf of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, had then submitted that social issues cannot be decided on the basis of sculptures. The apex court bench, however, observed that it is a reflection of the society of that time and that homosexuality should not be seen only in terms of sexual intercourse. Earlier, the Supreme Court bench had asked the anti-gay rights groups, challenging the legalisation of homosexual sex to explain how such acts are against the order of nature as submitted by them. The apex court heard petitions filed by anti-gay rights activists and also by political, social and religious organisations which have opposed the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising homosexual behaviour.
* 23 February 2012 - the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Union Home Ministry]] of the [[United Progressive Alliance|UPA government]] replying to a Supreme Court observation, told the Supreme Court that it was opposed to the decriminalisation of gay sex. "This is highly immoral and against the social order," the Home Ministry told the apex court. It said that India's moral and social values were different from other countries, and therefore, the nation should not be guided by them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2012022320120223141327934d025428/Homosexuality-Govt-opposes-HC-verdict-in-apex-court.html |title=Homosexuality: Govt opposes HC verdict in the apex court, News – Nation – Mumbai Mirror |website=www.mumbaimirror.com |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908234817/http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2012022320120223141327934d025428/Homosexuality-Govt-opposes-HC-verdict-in-apex-court.html |archive-date=8 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Central Government reversed its stance on 28 February 2012, asserting that there was no error in decriminalising gay sex. This resulted in the SC pulling up the Centre for frequently changing its stance on the issue. "''Don't make a mockery of the system and don't waste the court's time",'' an apex court judge told the government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/supreme-court-pulls-up-centre-for-flipflop-on-homosexuality/917743/?google_editors_picks=true|title=Supreme Court pulls up Centre for flip-flop on homosexuality – Indian Express|website=archive.indianexpress.com|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref>
* March 2012 - "The population of Men who have Sex with Men was estimated to be 25 lahks in India," the government said in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, citing figures of the National Aids Control Programme.<ref>{{cite news |title=Govt. submits data on gay population |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-submits-data-on-gay-population/article2991667.ece |website=The Hindu |date=13 March 2012 |access-date=November 17, 2021}}</ref>
* June 2012 - A guide titled 'Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBT Employees in India' was developed by IBM, Goldman Sachs, and Google together with Community Business, a non-profit organization.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-09/india/34342194_1_lgbt-employees-lgbt-community-lgbt-issues | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605121337/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-09/india/34342194_1_lgbt-employees-lgbt-community-lgbt-issues | url-status=dead | archive-date=2013-06-05 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender resource guide for employers}}</ref>
*July 2012 -2 July has been celebrated as the first [[Indian Coming Out Day]] to mark the 2009 ''[[Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi]]'' judgement that decriminalisaed homosexual sexual activity. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Chennai's LGBTQIA+ community is coming out in order to take down Section 377 |url=https://www.edexlive.com/news/2018/jul/04/chennais-lgbtqia-community-is-coming-out-in-order-to-take-down-section-377-3341.html |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Edex Live |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Coming Out Day |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/sexuality/column-indian-coming-out-day-2490270 |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-06-12 |title=First LGBTQIA cultural festival in Ahmedabad on July 2 |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/first-lgbtqia-cultural-festival-in-abad-on-july-2/articleshow/92155324.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2023-07-03 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
* 2013 - Nolan Lewis, a model, participated at the [[Mr Gay World]] [[Mr Gay World 2013|2013 contest]] after trouble finding sponsors.
* December 2013 - India's top court upheld the law that criminalises gay sex, in a ruling that reverses a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which had decriminalised homosexual acts. The court said it was up to Parliament to legislate on the issue. Indians have traditionally interpreted Section 377, a 153-year-old colonial-era law, as condemning a same-sex relationship as an "unnatural offence", and also considering it punishable by a 10-year jail term. Political, social and religious groups petitioned the Supreme Court to have the law reinstated in the wake of the 2009 court ruling.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25329065 | work=BBC News | title=India top court reinstates gay sex ban | date=11 December 2013}}</ref><ref>The text of the law actually reads, "Unnatural offences.--Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 1*[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.-Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section." See {{cite web |url=http://districtcourtallahabad.up.nic.in/articles/IPC.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-12-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211040454/http://districtcourtallahabad.up.nic.in/articles/IPC.pdf |archive-date=2014-02-11 }}.</ref>
* December 2013 - Indian novelist [[Vikram Seth]] appeared on the Indiatodayofficial cover picture protesting recriminalisation of section 377:
::{{Blockquote|You shall not love or make love with the person you love, not because of excessive youth or because of unwillingness, but because he or she comes from a different religion, a different caste, the same village, the same gender. You may say you love each other, that you are happy with each other, that you give each other solace and courage and delight, but your love disgusts me. It runs counter to custom, it is an offence in law, it is against the order of nature, it brings dishonour to our family, it will dilute our blood, it will bring about kali-yuga, it will corrupt everyone around you, it is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. It must be forbidden. You may say you love each other, but I do not care. No, I cannot turn away and simply let you live your life in peace and happiness. I must do something about it. I will indeed do something about it. No, you have not harmed me, but I will harm you. I will disown you, I will treat you with contempt, I will make you an outcaste or a criminal, I will lock you up. I will break your legs, I will fling acid in your face, I will hang you from a crane, I will stone you to death. If the mob helps me, so much the better. If the law helps me, so much the better. If I can wrap myself in a flag, so much the better. If I can drape religion around myself, so much the better. But by one means or another, I will tear the two of you apart. It is fit and proper that I should do this. I will do this because my Clan tells me to, my Panchayat tells me to, this Book tells me to, this Section of this Act tells me to, Civilisation itself tells me to, God himself tells me to. No appeal to reason will touch me. No appeal to humanity will touch me. No appeal to Indian history or modern science will touch me. My brain is a science-free zone. My brain is a history-free zone. My brain is a fact-free zone. This, at its core, is a simple matter. My love is right. Your love is wrong.<ref name= "Vikram">{{cite web |title=Vikram Seth on Section 377 and gay rights in India |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20131230-vikram-seth-on-gay-rights-homosexuality-769369-2013-12-19 |website=India Today}}</ref>}}
* April 2014 - The month of the upcoming [[2014 Indian general election|election]], at least three major political parties – the [[Aam Aadmi Party]], the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] and the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] – had included support for decriminalization of homosexual relations in their election manifestos,.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/manifestos-bring-hope-to-lesbians-gays-et-al-election-special-114032800670_1.html|title=Manifestos bring hope to lesbians, gays et al (Election Special)|newspaper=Business Standard India |date=Mar 28, 2014|access-date=Aug 15, 2019|via=Business Standard}}</ref>
* July 2014 - The first book on [[Genderqueer]] in Tamil and first Tamil book on LGBTQIA was from Srishti Madurai was released by BJP's state general secretary, Vanathi Srinivasan, at the 6th Hindu spiritual service foundation's sixth service fair, Chennai.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Its-a-great-honour-to-be-awarded-for-book-on-gender-variants-Gopi-Shankar/articleshow/38769130.cms|title=It's a great honour to be awarded for book on gender variants: Gopi Shankar | Madurai News |website=The Times of India|date=21 July 2014 |access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-supports-tn-leader-book-lgbt-157<nowiki/> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808041550/http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-supports-tn-leader-book-lgbt-157 |date=2014-08-08 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/BJP-leader-launches-LGBT-rights-book-in-TN/articleshow/38157614.cms|title=BJP leader launches LGBT rights book in TN|website=Mumbai Mirror|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref>
* July 2014 - [[Kochi]] hosted the 5th All-Kerala Queer Pride Parade was held.<ref name=QueerPride>{{cite news|title=Queer Pride march in Kochi|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/queer-pride-march-in-kochi/article6253916.ece|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=27 July 2014}}</ref> It was organised by Queerala (a support group for the LGBT community) and Sahayathrika (a rights organisation for lesbian and bisexual women in Kerala).<ref name=KeralaPrideParade>{{cite news|title=Fifth Kerala LGBT parade pride held|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-fifth-kerala-lgbt-parade-pride-held-2005667|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[DNA India]]|date=27 July 2014}}</ref>
* September 2014 - [[Sushant Divgikar]], the winner of [[Mr Gay India]] 2014, participated in the ''[[Bigg Boss]]'' reality show. About his participation, Divgikar stated, "I think I can sensitise the people about my community by being the face of the LGBT community in Bigg Boss."<ref>{{cite news|title=Bigg Boss contestant Sushant Divgikar hopes to sensitise TV viewers to LGBT cause|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Bigg-Boss-contestant-Sushant-Divgikar-hopes-to-sensitise-TV-viewers-to-LGBT-cause/articleshow/43251775.cms|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=23 September 2014}}</ref>
* November 2015 - Indian Author Siddharth Dube published his memoir ''No One Else: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex'' sharing his time as a childhood as gay and effeminate in 1970s Calcutta and coming out to his father in 1984.<ref>{{cite book |title=No One Else: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex |date=3 December 2015 |publisher=Harpercollins India |isbn=9789350297148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnBLDQAAQBAJ}}</ref> {{Blockquote| It was in this warped atmosphere of endless hierarchies and domination that I first became the target of male desire manifested as sexual abuse. In my second year at Doon School, a huge prefect called Nutty began tormenting me. Nutty was notoriously crazy, hence his nickname. Though I did my utmost to avoid Nutty, there was no escaping him in the second half of the day, after classes ended and we returned to our common residential house. Unfailingly, several nights a week, instead of studying after dinner like my other classmates, I would do an unending series of somersaults on Nutty’s orders. "Oaay, do you know what a pansy is?" Nutty once asked in his rough voice. I kept my eyes down. "Yes." "Are you a pansy?" Everyone laughed. I said softly but defiantly, "No, I’m not a pansy." "You’re a pansy, you madarchod (motherfuc*er), and you want me to chodo (fuc*) you," Nutty yelled. "You want to give me a blowjob, you pansy! Here, come here, suck it!" This time there were guffaws from his admiring audience. I felt utter hatred for him. I wanted to kill him.}}
* June 2016 - A dating platform called [[Amour Queer Dating]] was launched in India, for LGBTIQ people seeking long-term companions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amourqueerdating.blogspot.in/|title=Amour – A dating platform for Queer|website=amourqueerdating.blogspot.in|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scl.io/|title=GetSocial|website=scl.io|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref>
* April 2017 - A ten-episode series titled [[Romil & Jugal]] paradoy of [[Romeo and Juliet]] features two men Jugal and Romil in love fighting for family acceptance and life.
* May 2017 - The first [[Bhopal Pride March]] was conducted, gathering the participation of around 200 members.
* July 2018 - Swati Bidhan Baruah became Assam 1st transgender Judge.<ref>{{cite news |title=Assam to get its first transgender judge |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/assam-to-get-its-first-transgender-judge/articleshow/64980891.cms |website=Times Of India|date=13 July 2018 }}</ref>
* 6 September 2018 - The Supreme Court of India invalidated part of [[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code|Section 377]] of the Indian Penal Code making homosexuality legal in India.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sc-delivers-historic-verdict-section-377-gone-being-gay-no-more-a-crime-in-india/articleshow/65696771.cms?from=mdr|title=Section 377: SC rewrites history, homosexual behaviour no longer a crime|last=Rautray|first=Samanwaya|date=6 September 2018|work=The Economic Times|access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref> In striking down the colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, one judge said the landmark decision would "pave the way for a better future."<ref>{{cite web|title=India's Supreme Court strikes down law that punished gay sex|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indias-top-court-decriminalizes-homosexual-acts-57639411|website=ABC News|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906232222/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indias-top-court-decriminalizes-homosexual-acts-57639411|archive-date=6 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* July 9, 2019 - A 19-year-old boy Avinshu Patel committed suicide in Chennai after he was ridiculed for being homosexual. "Everyone knows I am a boy. But the way I walk, think and talk is like a girl. People in India do not like that," Avinshu posted on Facebook before killing himself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Not my fault I was born gay: 19-year-old commits suicide over homophobia. |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gay-man-suicide-homophobia-lgbt-helplines-1565041-2019-07-09 |website=India Today}}</ref>

=== 2020s ===
* Feb 2020 - Praful Pawar killed his 56-year-old gay partner Umesh Patil. The statement recorded:{{Blockquote| Pawar and Patil met each other on a local train six months ago and became friends; soon Patil, who was unmarried, started visiting Pawar at the latter's house in Dombivali and they had a homosexual relationship. When Pawar got married, he started avoiding Patil, he said, leading to the souring of their relations. On February 4, Patil visited Pawar when his wife was not at home, and they had a quarrel. Pawar allegedly strangulated Patil and stuffed his body in a bag and dumped it in the bushes by the side of the railway tracks, the police officer said.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thane: Man arrested for killing 56-year-old gay partner |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/crime/story/thane-man-arrested-for-killing-gay-partner-1644087-2020-02-07 |website=India Today |access-date=Feb 7, 2020}}</ref>}}
* Feb 2020 - A 22-year-old salesman was killed by a married textile businessman. "A strained homosexual relationship led to the murder. The deceased was extorting with the threat of making their video go viral. We solved the case within two days," said DCP said DCP (Southwest) Gaurav Sharma.<ref>{{cite news |title=Three, including textile businessman from south Delhi, held. |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-businessman-among-3-held-for-killing-gay-salesman/articleshow/89287874.cms |website=Times Of India|date=2 February 2022 }}</ref>
* March 2020 - TV9 Marathi telecasted a show called Arogyam Dhanasampada – Sexual Problems and Solutions with guest speaker, Sanjay Shetye, a clinical psychologist. Despite, The [[Indian Psychiatric Society]] and the [[World Health Organization]] repeated clarification that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore there is no cure, Sanjay Shetey claimed homosexuality is indeed a disease and there has been an increase in the number of ‘homosexual people.’ In response, a complaint was filed against the channel for promoting homophobia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Plea Against Alleged 'Homophobic' Show Broadcasted By TV9 Marathi Channel |url=https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/delhi-high-court-issues-notice-on-plea-against-alleged-homophobic-show-broadcasted-by-tv9-marathi-channel-171828 |website=Live Law|date=27 March 2021 }}</ref>
* 2020 - Shyam Konnur, Mr Gay India 2020, speaks about how LGBTQIA+ members have been in a permanent lockdown.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pride Month 2020: Shyam Konnur, Mr Gay India 2020, speaks about how the LGBTQIA+ members have been in a permanent lockdown |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/lifestyle/spotlight/pride-month-2020-shyam-konnur-mr-gay-india-2020-speaks-about-how-the-lgbtqia-members-have-been-in-a-permanent-lockdown/videoshow/76513606.cms?from=mdr |website=Times Of India}}</ref>
* June 2020 - Gay couple Nikesh PP and Sonu MS filed a marriage equality case in the Kerala High Court. "The Supreme Court had only decriminalised same-sex relationships but nothing outside of this. But while living in the real world, there are many problems as our relationship is not considered valid," Nikesh told ThePrint over the phone. "We cannot open a joint bank account or sign documents of consent during medical emergencies and now we have to even tick the single box and not the married one on any forms," he said.<ref>{{cite web |title=At the root of SC case on gay marriage rights, the Kerala same-sex couple who started it all. |url=https://theprint.in/features/at-the-root-of-sc-case-on-gay-marriage-rights-the-kerala-same-sex-couple-who-started-it-all/1330216/ |website=The Print|date=23 January 2023 }}</ref>
* 3 July 2020 - Major J Suresh published a Blog titled, ''Out !! Proud !! Liberated !!,'' he says,{{Blockquote|One of the first things most people ask when someone comes out to them is "When did you first know?" Through my teenage years in high school, I just knew I was a little different. When I was about 15, I was drawn to this rather cute-looking boy in class. He probably noticed me looking at him and decided to 'teach me a lesson' in the only manner young boys know. He surrounded me with some of his close friends and pushed me to the ground, holding me by the neck, while uttering some expletives and probably, that was the end of it. The physical violence was not brutal - far from it - but it most likely drove home a message - a wrong message - but one that gay kids the world over learn from such incidents of bullying: that what I was feeling was 'wrong', 'bad' or 'sick', and if I continued to heed those feelings, it could provoke much worse violence - and so it was best to 'conform'. That is probably why I went through my late teens and early 20s without feeling anything close to what can be called romantic attraction or love during my years at the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA). By my mid-20s, when those feelings started slowly resurfacing, I started understanding that I was gay. I struggled really badly to accept myself - and the hyper-straight world of the army only made it that much more difficult for me. However, by my late 20s, after months of drinking and wondering and questioning why I was different and crying myself to sleep over it, I finally came to terms with myself and accepted myself for who I was.<ref>{{cite web |title=Personal Blog of an Out & Proud Indian Major. |url=https://out-and-proud-indian-major.com/out-proud-liberated/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=I Was An Officer In The Indian Army, I'm Gay And Very Proud. |url=https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/i-was-an-officer-in-the-indian-army-im-gay-and-very-proud-2255980 |website=NDTV}}</ref>}}
* September 2020 - A 25-year-old, Sunny Dayal, who worked with Volvo buses as pantry staff, was killed by two strangers he met on dating apps.<ref>{{cite web |title=Delhi: 2 kill man they met on dating app, arrested |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/two-held-for-killing-man-they-met-on-gay-dating-app-6585750/ |website=The Indian Express|date=6 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gay man was having the time of his life in the forest with his dating app Romeo. Minutes later, he was murdered |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/09/09/gay-man-murder-new-dehli-india-dating-app-glued-sunny-dayal-sumit-karthik/ |website=Pink News|date=9 September 2020 }}</ref>
* 2020  - Sundeep Dosanjh and Sharath Puttichanda got married in the USA. 'Medikeri Kodava Samaja' ordered U.S. based Kodava Community to ostracise Sharath. U.S. based Kodava organisation published a statement that marriage is a personal choice. {{Blockquote|Dosanjh told HT that he and Puttichanda bonded over their Indian culture, shared values, and how both overcame day-to-day challenges. They even helped each other through some intensely emotional days along the way. It also provided them with a fresh perspective on their relationship, which made them realise that they’re meant to be. So, finally, they made the promise to be with each other forever and tied the knot in two types of traditional Indian ceremonies on September 25–26, 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title='He slid into the DMs, I slipped a ring on it': Love story of this same-sex couple in time of Covid is winning people over |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/it-s-viral/he-slid-into-the-dms-i-slipped-a-ring-on-it-love-story-of-this-same-sex-couple-in-time-of-covid-is-winning-people-over/story-myPOQvDF9gd3gxQrCf9RDI.html |website=Hindustan Times|date=10 October 2020 }}</ref>}}
* 2021 - Mohammed Siddique confessed to murdering hotelier Mohammed Afroz. "Afroz used to call Siddique repeatedly and demand that they meet," a police officer told the newspaper. "Afroz abused Siddique’s girlfriend over the phone to eliminate him."<ref>{{cite web |title=Man murdered his gay lover and dumped him on railway tracks for harassing his new girlfriend |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/01/15/india-gay-murder-railway-tracks-mohammed-afroz/ |website=Pink News|date=15 January 2021 }}</ref>
* June 2022 - Award winning filmmaker [[Onir]] published his memoir ''I Am Onir and I Am Gay''.<ref>{{cite web |title=I Am Onir and I Am Gay |url=https://penguin.co.in/book/i-am-onir-and-i-am-gay/ |website=Penguin Random House India}}</ref>
* 2022 - A 22-year-old LLB student, Yash Rastogi, of Jagriti Vihar in Meerut, went missing after he left to meet the main accused, Shavez, at his workshop in Fatehullapur area on the evening of 26 June. A missing complaint was lodged by Yash’s family on the morning of 27 June. Yash’s body was recovered from the drain late Saturday night after police detained and questioned Shavez.<ref>{{cite web |title=Law student killed by gay partner in Meerut, accused claims deceased was blackmailing him |url=https://theprint.in/india/law-student-killed-by-gay-partner-in-meerut-accused-claims-deceased-was-blackmailing-him/1023287/ |website=The Print|date=3 July 2022 }}</ref>
* 2023 - Supreme Court Of India begins hearing plea on acceptance of same-sex marriage in India demanding equal protection, identity and law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court: Historic India same sex marriage hearing enters day two |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65061266 |website=BBC|date=17 April 2023 }}</ref>

== Stigma, Phobia, and Violence ==
The prevalent stigma around LGBT people often promotes Rape culture or non-consensual sexual violence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gang Rape, Extortion: The Dark Side of Dating Apps for Gay Men |url=https://www.thequint.com/videos/dating-apps-for-gay-men-in-india-extortion-harassment-gang-rape |website=The Quint|date=26 July 2019 }}</ref> The LGBT people who have been abused as a child and adult years restain to report complaint in the police station because of phobia and lack of proper law facility.<ref>{{cite web |title="My Partner Was Gang-Raped, We Couldn't Tell The Cops": A Gay Man's Story |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/section-377-verdict-what-dad-told-me-on-phone-after-377-verdict-a-gay-mans-story-1912955 |website=NDTV}}</ref> The rape culture also leads confusion regarding ones sexual orientation in their teenage and adult years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why they didn't report sexual assault |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/why-they-didnt-report-sexual-assault/articleshow/66009845.cms |website=Times Of India|date=30 September 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The mindset is that boys are not raped': India ends silence on male sex abuse |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/23/indian-study-male-sexual-abuse-film-maker-insia-dariwala#:~:text=People%20live%20in%20denial.,%25)%20and%20guilt%20(28.7%25). |website=The Guardian| date=23 May 2018 | last1=Chatterjee | first1=Rituparna }}</ref> For, example male child raped by male, female child rape by female, or vice-versa, may suffer from the prejudice of thinking they are gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. Some may be homosexual but choose heterosexual life, some may be bisexual but choose gay life, or some may be heterosexual but choose homosexual life. Hence, they end up in a life-long cycle of stress, trauma, hatred, and vengeance. Even though, [[Indian Psychiatric Society]] and [[World Health Organization]] have repeatedly warned that sexual orientations are natural and normal, corrective rape culture is promoted in India.<ref>{{cite news |title=Parents use 'corrective rape' to 'straight'en gays |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/parenting/parents-use-corrective-rape-to-straighten-gays/articleshow/47489949.cms |website=Times Of India|date=June 2015 }}</ref>

=== Aniket Patil ===
A 25-year-old MBA graduate from Jalgaon killed himself by suicide. According to Times of India report, he joined the multinational company after completing his studies. According, to his suicide note, he said he was bullied and harassed over his sexuality at the Workplace.<ref>{{cite web |title=25-year-old MBA graduate ends life over 'gay' jibes. |url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/man-commits-suicide-over-gay-jibes/articleshow/70355044.cms |website=Times of India |access-date=Jul 24, 2019}}</ref> Activist [[Ashok Row Kavi]] said, {{Quote|This could have been simply avoided if he was counselled. The need of the hour is to have workshops regarding this important issue. In the realm of sexuality and gender, education is key, dialogue about gender and sexuality is essential. Insensitivity can lead to bullying, apart from coming in the way of learning.<ref>{{cite web |title=Counselling could've saved Aniket: Ashok Row Kavi |url=https://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/260719/counselling-couldve-saved-aniket-ashok-row-kavi.html |website=Asian Age|date=26 July 2019 }}</ref>}}

=== Anjana Hareesh ===
A 21-year-old bisexual student from Kerala Anjana Hareesh decided to end her life on May 12, 2020, in Goa. She stated in a Facebook video posted in March that her parents forced her into physical abuse, medication, and 'Conversion therapy'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kerala student dies in Goa, death puts focus on inhuman 'conversion therapy' on queer people |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-student-dies-goa-death-puts-focus-inhuman-conversion-therapy-queer-people-124683 |website=The News Minute|date=16 May 2020 }}</ref> Equal Rights activist Harish Iyer, calls the death of Anjana is a "nasty reminder" of the phobias that exist in society. Speaking to The Quint, Iyer calls Anjana a "victim of bi-phobia." {{Blockquote|Sexuality is just a variation and is not an aberration. So what are you trying to convert? It is important that you convert yourself – which being unknowledgeable about sexuality to come to a path of knowledge and wisdom where you understand that two people who love differently are not people who are variants or deviants or anything of that sort. They just love differently.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anjana Hareesh's Death A Nasty Reminder Of Bi-Phobia: Harish Iyer |url=https://www.thequint.com/gender/harish-iyer-on-anjana-hareesh-lgbtqi-death-conversion-therapy#read-more |website=The Quint|date=20 May 2020 }}</ref>}}

=== Suicide of Arvey Malhotra ===
A sixteen-year-old teenager Arvey Malhotra from Delhi Public School, Greater Faridabad jumped off the fifteenth-floor building on February 24, 2022, leaving a suicide note, "This school has killed me. Specially higher authorities... tell ninna and bade papa about my sexuality and whatever happened with me. And please try to handle them… You are wonderful, strong, beautiful and amazing."<ref>{{cite news |title=The school has killed me": Arvey Malhotra's mother recalls his suicide note and elaborates on the bullying that led to her son's death; awaits justice even after 4 months |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/parenting/moments/the-school-has-killed-me-arvey-malhotras-mother-recalls-his-suicide-note-and-elaborates-on-the-bullying-that-led-to-her-sons-death-awaits-justice-even-after-4-months/articleshow/92721354.cms |website=Times Of India|date=7 July 2022 }}</ref> Arvey mother Aarti Malhotra said, "By 9th grade, things worsened. He came home panicking & breathing heavilyhe’d read a chapter about bullying which triggered him. He confessed, ‘The boys in my class blindfolded me and made me strip. I can’t take it anymore’; I was shocked; my son’s bullies became sexual assaulters. The school refused to take action; they failed us. It broke my heart. We visited multiple therapists. He was diagnosed with depression & lost his interest in art. In 10th grade, he got diagnosed with dyslexia, studying got difficult for him; his boards were round the corner."<ref>{{cite web |title=Faridabad woman says her son died by suicide after getting bullied, sexually assaulted at school. Heartbreaking story |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/faridabad-woman-says-her-son-died-by-suicide-after-getting-bullied-sexually-assaulted-at-school-heartbreaking-story-1973239-2022-07-08 |website=India Today}}</ref>
On July 6, 2022, Aarti Malhotra shared a post on Instagram quote, "I lost my son, I need justice I really need your help to spread the word, there are no sensitisation training in schools for gender expressions, I lost my son to bullying. I need justice for Arvey."<ref>{{cite web |title=Aarti Malhotra On Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cfqwlfaq8ll/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d2ca12c6-bf95-414d-a8d2-8456c7ed2d73 |website=Instagram}}</ref> The post crossed 1 million likes and people offered support to her from everywhere.

=== Pilot Adam Harry ===
Adam Harry became India's first trans man trainee pilot assisted by the Kerala government was forced to deliver orders for Zamato citing hormonal therapy and gender dysphoria makes Adam "Unfit" to fly. Adam who wanted to pursue a career in aviation enrolled himself in the Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg and secured a private pilot license. Later, in 2020, the Kerala Government sanctioned an amount of 23.34 lakhs to Adam to support his dream of flying by getting him enrolled in the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. Adam filed a petition to which the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment calls to the DGCA that its decision to deny a transgender person a commercial pilot licence was discriminatory. Further, the Ministry concludes that it is violative of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Transgender trainee-pilot Adam Harry told to reapply for medical test |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/temporary-win-for-transgender-trainee-pilot-adam-harry/article65635637.ece |website=The Hindu |date=13 July 2022 |access-date=July 14, 2022 |last1=Chandra |first1=Jagriti }}</ref>

== LGBT People ==
* Note: This List include LGBT people who are (acronym) L(Lesbian),G(Gay),B(Bisexual), and T(Transgender). Sexual Orientitation '''LGB''' shoudn't be confused with ones gender(T).
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Name
! lifetime
! Notable as
! Notes
|-
|[[Arti Agrawal]]
|b.?
|Indian Scientist and Engineer
|L
|-
|[[Agha Shahid Ali]]
|1949-2001
|Indian Poet
|G
|-
|[[Abhina Aher]]
|b.1977
|Transgender Activist
|T
|-
|[[Manish Arora]]
|b. 1973
|Fashion Designer
|G
|-
|[[Vardaan Arora]]
|b. 1992
|Recording Artist and Singer
|G
|-
|Anjali Ajmeer
|b. 1995
|Actress
|T
|-
|[[Apurva Asrani]]
|b. 1978
|Filmmaker and Screenplay writer
|G
|-
|[[Pulapre Balakrishnan]]
|b. 1955
|Economist
|G
|-
|[[Gautam Bhan]]
|b. ?
|Writer, Researcher, and Queer Rights Activist
|G<ref>{{cite news |title=For all that we may become: on the Section 377 verdict |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/for-all-that-we-may-become/article24885398.ece |website=The Hindu |date=6 September 2018 |access-date=12 May 2023 |last1=Bhan |first1=Gautam }}</ref>
|-
|[[Deepak Bhargava]]
|b. 1968
|Advocate
|G
|-
|[[Dinesh Bhugra]]
|b. 1952
|Psychiatrist
|G
|-
|[[Shonali Bose]]
|b. 1965
|Indian Film Director
|B
|-
|[[Dutee Chand]]
|b. 1996
| Indian Athlete
|L
|-
|[[Benjamin Daimary]]
|b. 2000
|Indian Actor
|G
|-
|[[Bobby Darling]]
|b. 1974
|Actress and Television Personality
|T
|-
|Dr Prasad Raj Dandekar
|b.?
|Radio Oncologist
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Mumbai doctor turns life coach for struggling LGBTQI members |url=https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/mumbai-doctor-turns-life-coach-for-struggling-lgbtqi-members-23176978 |website=mid-day |date=7 June 2021 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Tista Das]]
|b. 1978
|Actress and Trans Rights Activist
|T
|-
|[[Gazal Dhaliwal]]
|b. 1982
|Screenwriter
|T
|-
|Pawan Dhall
|b. ?
|Queer activist, archivist, researcher and writer
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Pawan Dhall |url=https://vartagensex.org/author/pawan/ |website=Vertagensex}}</ref>
|-
|Sidharth Dube
|b. 1961
|Memorist
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Sidharth Dube |url=https://www.siddharthdube.com/about.html |website=sidharthdube.com}}</ref>
|-
|[[Pablo Ganguli]]
|b. 1983
|Director
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=The talented Mr Ganguli, one of London's best connected people |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/the-talented-mr-ganguli-one-of-london-s-best-connected-people-6721716.html |website=Evening Standard |date=10 April 2012 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|Siddhartha Gautam
|1964-1992
|lawyer, AIDs Activist
|G
|-
|Sonal Giani
|b. 1987
|Movie Actress and Senior Technical Advisor Diversity & Inclusion at IPPF South Asia Region
|B
|-
|[[Amrita Sher-Gil]]
|1913-1941
|Painter
|B
|-
|[[Menaka Guruswamy]]
|b. 1974
|Senior Advocate
|L
|-
|[[Manvendra Singh Gohil]]
|b. 1965
|LGBT and AIDS Activist
|G
|-
|[[Abhik Ghosh]]
|b. 1964
|Chemist
|G
|-
|[[Harish Iyer]]
|b. 1979
|Columnist,activist,blogger
|G
|-
|[[Navtej Johar]]
|b. 1959
|an Indian Sangeet Natak Akademi award-winning Bharatnatyam exponent and choreographer.
|G
|-
|[[Arundhati Katju]]
|b. 1982
|Lawyer
|L
|-
|Anurag Kalia
|b. ?
|IIT Graduate and Software Engineer
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=How I Realized I Was Gay And Why I'm Fighting 377 - By An IIT Grad |url=https://www.ndtv.com/blog/blog-by-an-iit-grad-on-being-gay-and-fighting-section-377-1856223 |website=NDTV}}</ref>
|-
|[[Firdaus Kanga]]
|b. 1960
|Indian Writer
|G
|-
|[[Ashok Row Kavi]]
|b. 1947
|Indian journalist and LGBT rights activist
|G
|-
|[[Bhupen Khakhar]]
|1934-2003
|Indian Painter
|G
|-
|[[Saleem Kidwai]]
|1951-2021
|Medieval historian, Professor
|G
|-
|[[Bindumadhav Khire]]
|b. ?
|Social Worker, Short Fiction Writer
|G
|-
|[[Shobhna S. Kumar]]
|b. ?
|Publisher Queer Ink.com, the first online bookstore
|L
|-
|[[Agniva Lahiri]]
|1979-2016
|Indian LGBT social activist
|
|-
|[[Gopi Shankar Madurai]]
|b. 1991
|Indian equal rights and Indigenous rights activis
|I
|-
|[[Leena Manimekalai]]
|b. 1980
|Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor.
|B
|-
|[[Saikat Majumdar]]
|b.?
|Novelist
|
|-
|[[Shabnam Mausi]]
|b. 1955
|Member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
|Born (I), T
|-
|[[Hoshang Merchant]]
|b. 1947
|Indian Poet
|G
|-
|[[Joyita Mondal]]
|b. ?
|Member of a judicial panel of a civil court and a social worker
|T
|-
|[[Onir]]
|b. 1969
|Indian film and TV director, editor, screenwriter and producer
|G
|-
|[[Akkai Padmashali]]
|b. ?
|Transgender Activist and motivational speaker.
|T
|-
|[[Devdutt Pattanaik]]
|b. 1970
|Mythologist, Historian
|G
|-
|[[Radhika Piramal]]
|b. 1994
|Executive vice chairperson, VIP Industries
|L
|-
|[[Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan]]
|b. 1983
|Civil Servant
|T
|-
|[[Padmini Prakash]]
|b.?
|News Anchor
|T
|-
|[[Vasu Primlani]]
|b.?
|Comic Artist
|L
|-
|[[R. Raj Rao]]
|b. 1955
|Novelist
|G
|-
|[[Sridhar Rangayan]]
|b. 1962
|Gay rights Activist and Filmmaker
|G
|-
|[[Sharif D Rangnekar]]
|b. ?
|Author, Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI).
|G
|-
|[[Apsara Reddy]]
|b. ?
|Indian Politician
|T
|-
|[[A. Revathi]]
|b. ?
|Author
|T
|-
|[[Wendell Rodricks]]
|1960-2020
|Fashion Designer and Author
|G
|-
|[[Anwesh Sahoo]]
|b. 1995
|Indian artist, blogger, writer, model, actor and a TEDx speaker. He won Mr Gay World 2016.
|G
|-
|[[Gauri Sawant]]
|b.?
|Social Worker
|T
|-
|[[Nibedita Sen]]
|b. ?
|Author and nominee of Hugo Award
|Q
|-
|[[Vikram Seth]]
|b. 1952
|Novelist
|B
|-
|[[Chayanika Shah]]
|b. 1970
|Educator
|L
|-
|Parmesh Shahani
|b. ?
|Head, Godrej India Culture Lab
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Parmesh Shahani: 'We are still not equal today' |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/interview-parmesh-shahani-we-are-still-not-equal-today/article65560213.ece |website=The Hindu |date=26 June 2022 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Parvez Sharma]]
|b. 1976
|Filmmaker
|G
|-
|[[Aneesh Sheth]]
|b. 1982
| Actress
|T
|-
|[[Pragati Singh]]
|b. ?
|Doctor
|A
|-
|[[Kalki Subramaniam]]
|b. ?
|Activist
|T
|-
|Keshav Suri
|b. 1985
|Executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, Businessman
|G<ref>{{cite news |title=Hotelier Keshav Suri on the 4th anniversary of SC decision to strike down Section 377: The closet, where many would want us to make a permanent home in, was my residence too. And then, came this remarkable judgement, upholding our dignity |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spotlight/hotelier-keshav-suri-on-the-4th-anniversary-of-sc-decision-to-strike-down-section-377-the-closet-where-many-would-want-us-to-make-a-permanent-home-in-was-my-residence-too-and-then-came-this-remarkable-judgement-upholding-our-dignity/articleshow/94004048.cms |website=Times Of India |date=6 September 2022 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Manil Suri]]
|b. 1959
|Author
|G
|-
|[[Ruth Vanita]]
|b. 1955
|Historian
|L
|-
|[[Rose Venkatesan]]
|b. 1980
|Talk Show Host
|T
|-
|[[Living Smile Vidya]]
|b. ?
|Actor and Director
|T
|-
|[[Riyad Vinci Wadia]]
|1967-2003
|Filmmaker known for short film BOMgAY
|G
|-
|[[Gautam Yadav]]
|b.?
|Queer Activist
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Gautam Yadav |url=https://www.globalfundadvocatesnetwork.org/2021-2022-speakers-bureau/gautam-yadav/}}</ref>
|}

== Timeline ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|'''Date'''
|'''Event'''
|'''Reference'''
|-
|1200 BC - 600 BC
|The Hindu medical journal Sushruta Samhita documents homosexuality and attempts to explain the cause of homosexuality in a neutral/scientific manner. Though there were many "Sushruta"s who were involved in writing the journal, Sushruta Samhita lived in Varanasi during his life.
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pattanaik |first=Devdutt |title=Would ancient India have supported Section 377? |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/special/would-ancient-india-have-supported-section-377/20180717.htm |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Rediff |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raveenthiran |first=Venkatachalam |date=November 2011 |title=Knowledge of ancient Hindu surgeons on Hirschsprung disease: evidence from Sushruta Samhita of circa 1200-600 bc |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2011.07.007 |journal=Journal of Pediatric Surgery |volume=46 |issue=11 |pages=2204–2208 |doi=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2011.07.007 |pmid=22075360 |issn=0022-3468}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Know all about Sushruta, the first ever plastic surgeon who was Indian |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/sushruta-works-indian-physician-medicine-plastic-surgery-rhinoplasty-nose-job-1559599-2019-07-01 |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|900 BC to 700 BC
|The Brahmana describes an instance of same-sex relations among Hindu deities: On the nights of the new moon, Mitra injects his semen into Varuna to start the moon cycle, with the favour returned upon the full moon.
|<ref name="MitraVaruna">[http://www.galva108.org/deities.html#Mitra_Varuna Mitra Varuna] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827022633/http://galva108.org/deities.html|date=2013-08-27}}, The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association</ref>
|-
|500 BC
|The Hindu epic of [[Ramayana]] describes Hanuman witnessing two homosexuals engaged in intimacy on the island of Lanka.
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/live-blog-supreme-court-rules-gay-sex-illegal-1386740434 |title=Live Blog: Supreme Court Rules Gay Sex Illegal |date=December 11, 2013 |website=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=April 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Ramayana Of Valmiki Vol. 2|author= Shastri, Hari Prasad, Tr.|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39881/page/n375/mode/2up|access-date=April 19, 2023 |publisher= Digital Library of India Item 2015.39881}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/history-of-homosexuality-in-india/ |title=History of Homosexuality in India |last=Jhamb |first=Prateeksha |date=October 22, 2017 |website=Lawctopus |access-date=April 19, 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[600 BC to] 100 BC
|The Pali canon is written, inscribing the words of Gautama Buddha stating that sexual relations, whether of homosexual or of heterosexual nature, is forbidden in the monastic code, and states that any acts of soft homosexual sex (such as masturbation and interfumeral sex) does not entail a punishment but must be confessed to the monastery. These codes apply to monks only and not to the general population. The Pali Canon was largely written in Sri Lanka but based on the words of Buddha in India.
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=BuddhaNet Magazine Article: Homosexuality and Theravada Buddhism |url=https://www.buddhanet.net/homosexu.htm |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=www.buddhanet.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pali canon {{!}} Definition, Contents, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tipitaka |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|200 BC
|The ''[[Nāradasmṛti]]'' is written in South India and declares homosexuality to be unchangeable and forbid homosexuals from marrying a partner of the opposite sex. The Nāradasmṛti lists fourteen types of ''panda'' (men who are impotent with women); among these are the ''mukhebhaga'' (men who have oral sex with other men), the ''sevyaka'' (men who are sexually enjoyed by other men) and the ''irshyaka'' (the voyeur who watches other men engaging in sex).
|
|-
|200s
|The Kama Sutra is written describing various homosexual acts positively.
|<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-06-27 |title=Ancient India didn't think homosexuality was against nature |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ancient-india-didnt-think-homosexuality-was-against-nature/articleshow/4708206.cms |access-date=2023-02-06 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
|-
|300s
|[[Sangam literature|Tamil Sangam literature]] refers to relationships between two men and explores the lives of [[trans women]] in the [[Aravani|Aravan]] cult in [[Koovagam]] village in [[Tamil Nadu]].
|<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news |last=Shrikumar |first=A. |date=2013-10-18 |title=No more under siege |work=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/no-more-under-siege/article5247859.ece}}</ref>
|-
|885
|Khajuraho temples are built depicting numerous statues engaging homosexual sex on the walls of its temples
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Celebrating love, lust and Homosexuality at Khajuraho |url=https://www.thisday.app/story/celebrating-love-lust-and-homosexuality-at-khajuraho-17356 |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=www.thisday.app |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|1500s
|During the [[Mughal Empire]], a number of the pre-existing [[Delhi Sultanate]] laws were combined into the [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]], mandating several types of punishments for homosexuality, up to stoning to death for a Muslim.
|<ref name="kugle"/>
|-
|1500s
|The Goa Inquisition by the Portuguese criminalizes male homosexual sex throughout Portuguese India.
|<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last1=Sathyanarayana Rao |first1=T. S. |last2=Jacob |first2=K S |date=2014 |title=The reversal on Gay Rights in India |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.124706 |issn=0019-5545 |pmc=3927237 |pmid=24574551 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
|1791
|Homosexuality was decriminalised in the French Indian territories of Pondicherry
|<ref name="wei"/><ref name="sen" />
|-
|1861
|The colonial government of British India impose Section 377 criminalizing all homosexual sex throughout British India.
|<ref name="auto1"/>
|-
|1871
|The British labeled the ''hijra'' population as a "criminal tribe"
|<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha |date=2016 |title=Disgust or Equality? Sexual Orientation and Indian Law |url=http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/7A93092D-3017-413A-AB4E-4D7A1752A854.%20Nussbaum.pdf |journal=Journal of Indian Law and Society}}</ref>
|-
|09/2018
|The Supreme Court of India repeals colonial-era law criminalizing homosexual sex
|<ref name="toi-judgement2018">{{cite news |last1=Mahapatra |first1=Dhananjay |last2=Choudhary |first2=Amit Anand |date=7 September 2018 |title=SC decriminalises Section 377, calls 2013 ruling 'arbitrary and retrograde' |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-decriminalises-section-377-calls-2013-ruling-arbitrary-and-retrograde/articleshow/65712063.cms}}</ref>
|-
|08/2022
|The Supreme Court of India provides LGBTQ with family rights and live-in couple rights equal to that of married couples
|<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Schmall |first1=Emily |last2=Kumar |first2=Hari |date=2022-08-30 |title=India's Supreme Court Widens Definition of 'Family' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/world/asia/india-supreme-court-same-sex.html |access-date=2022-11-28 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
|-
|01/2023
|The leader of the far-right Hindu Nationalist RSS advocates in favor of LGBTQ rights
|<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jain |first1=Rupam |last2=Chaturvedi |first2=Arpan |date=2023-01-11 |title=Leader of influential Hindu group backs LGBT rights in India |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/leader-influential-hindu-group-backs-lgbt-rights-india-2023-01-11/ |access-date=2023-01-28}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
* [[Timeline of South Asian and diasporic LGBT and queer history]]
* [[Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk]]
* [[Recognition of same-sex unions in India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Vanita |first1=Ruth |author-link1=Ruth Vanita |last2=Kidwai|first2=Saleem|author-link2=Saleem Kidwai|title=Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History |year=2001|edition=1st |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-29324-6}}

{{Refend}}

{{LGBT in India}}

{{Asia topic|LGBT history in}}

[[Category:LGBT history in India| ]]

LGBTQ history in India

2024-02-06T12:26:08Z

Timovinga: /* Ancient period */ So many PRIMARY SOURCES are present in this article. A large amount of fact-checking is needed. Removed this information because it was backed by some PRIMARY SOURCES

{{Short description|Aspect of history}}
{{Prose|date=January 2024}}
LGBTQ people have a long recorded and documented history since Ancient India.<ref name="Vātsyāyana. (1929). The Kamasutra. Benares :Jai Krishna-das-Haridas Gupta,">{{cite book |last1=Vātsyāyana |title=KāmaSutrā |date=1929 |publisher=Jai Krishna-das-Haridas Gupta |location=Benaras |isbn=0192802704 |page=Verse 2.9.36 |url=http://www.virtualvinodh.com/writings/assorted/homosexuality-kamasutra |ref=Vātsyāyana. (1929). The Kamasutra. Benares :Jai Krishna-das-Haridas Gupta}}</ref> Hinduism and the various religions derived from it were not homophobic and evidence suggests that homosexuality thrived in ancient India until the medieval period.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in India |url=https://www.labrys.net.br/labrys6/lesb/vanitas6.htm |access-date=2023-12-23 |website=www.labrys.net.br}}</ref>

LGBTQ people in the Islamic communities were persecuted more severely especially under the Islamic rule of the Mughal Empire, which ruled over large parts of India and much of Central Asia (and ultimately derives from the Mongol Empire), though Mughal leaders largely tolerated the cultures of the various non-Muslim communities of India.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |publisher=Rupa Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

From the early modern period, colonialism from Europe also brought with it more centralized legal codes that imposed Christian-European morals that were homophobic in nature, including criminalizing sex between two people of the same gender, and criminalizing transsexuality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Christensen |first=Kelly |date=December 2022 |title=A Legacy of Homophobia: Effects of British Colonization on Queer Rights in India and Uganda |url=https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2450 |journal=Global Studies 445: Capstone Seminar |via=Capstone Projects}}</ref>{{Dead link|date=December 2023}}

In the 21st century following independence, there has been a significant amount of progress made on liberalizing LGBTQ laws and reversing the homophobia and transphobia of the previous colonial era. [[File:Homosexuality in Khajuraho sculpture.jpg|thumb|Erotic sculptures of two men (center) at the [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho temples]]]]

==Ancient period==
Hinduism provides a wide breadth of literary and artistic sources showing LGBTQ life in Ancient India. Hinduism does not have explicit morals condemning homosexuality nor transsexuality, and has taken various positions on the topic, ranging from containing positive descriptions of homosexual characters, acts and themes in its texts to being neutral or antagonistic towards it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhanot |first=Anil |date=2009-07-02 |title=Hinduism does not condemn gay people |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/jul/02/gay-rights-india |access-date=2023-03-01 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=HAF Policy Brief: Hindu Teachings Inclusive of LGBT People |url=https://www.hinduamerican.org/press/haf-policy-brief-hindu-teachings-inclusive-lgbt-people/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Hindu American Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-03 |title=Hinduism does not condemn gay people: UK Hindu Council |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/print/hinduism-does-not-condemn-gay-people-uk-hindu-council/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> The concept of sexual minorities was widely known in the prevailing Hindu culture by the time [[Gautama Buddha]] founded his philosophies, and homosexuality was also thought to be viewed positively in Buddhism<ref>{{Cite web |title=theravada |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/41884/1/theravada.html |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Origins of Buddhism |url=https://asiasociety.org/education/origins-buddhism |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Asia Society |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Danielou" /> [[File:At_the_Lakshmana_temple_in_Khajuraho_(954_CE),_a_man_receives_fellatio_from_a_seated_male_as_part_of_an_orgiastic_scene.jpg|thumb|At the [[Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho|Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho]] (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.]]

[[Rigveda]], one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism says ''Vikriti Evam Prakriti'' (meaning what seems unnatural is also natural),<ref name="HuntYip2012">{{cite book|author1=Stephen Hunt|author2=Andrew K. T. Yip|title=The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfvkSlLF1Q0C&pg=PT368|accessdate=4 January 2014|date=1 December 2012|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-7225-4|page=368}}</ref>

The [[Kama Sutra]] is an ancient text dealing with ''kama'' or desire (of all kinds), which in Hindu thought is one of the four normative and spiritual goals of life. The [[Kama Sutra]] is the earliest extant and most important work in the [[Kama Shastra]] tradition of [[Sanskrit literature]]. It was compiled by the philosopher [[Vatsyayana]] around the 4th century, from earlier texts, and describes homosexual practices in several places, as well as a range of sex/gender 'types'. The author writes that these relations also involve love and a bond of trust.

The author describes techniques by which masculine and feminine types of the third sex (''tritiya-prakriti''), as well as women, perform [[fellatio]].<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra'', Part Two, Chapter Nine, entitled "Superior Coition or Fellation [''Auparishtaka'']. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref> The Second Part, Ninth Chapter of Kama Sutra specifically describes two kinds of men that we would recognize today as masculine- and feminine-type homosexuals but which are mentioned in older, Victorian British translations as simply "eunuchs."<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 9, "Of the Auparishtaka or Mouth Congress" |url=http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313043325/http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-date=March 13, 2010}}</ref> The chapter describes their appearances – feminine types dressed up as women whereas masculine types maintained muscular physiques and grew small beards, mustaches, etc. – and their various professions as masseurs, barbers and prostitutes are all described. Such homosexual men were also known to marry, according to the Kama Sutra: "There are also third-sex citizens, sometimes greatly attached to one another and with complete faith in one another, who get married together." (KS 2.9.36). In the "Jayamangala" of Yashodhara, an important twelfth-century commentary on the Kama Sutra, it is also stated: "Citizens with this kind of homosexual inclination, who renounce women and can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship."<ref name="Danielou">Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra''. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref>

The ''[[Arthashastra]]'', a 2nd century BCE Indian treatise on statecraft, mentions a wide variety of sexual practices which, whether performed with a man or a woman, were sought to be punished with the lowest grade of fine. While homosexual intercourse was not sanctioned, it was treated as a very minor offence, and several kinds of heterosexual intercourse were punished more severely.<ref name="History1">{{harvnb|Vanita|Kidwai|2001|p=25}}</ref>

Sex between non-virgin women incurred a small fine, while homosexual intercourse between men could be made up for merely with a bath with one's clothes on, and a penance of "eating the five products of the cow and keeping a one-night fast" – the penance being a replacement of the traditional concept of homosexual intercourse resulting in a loss of caste. These are punishments listed for the use of the priestly class of people (traditionally monks) for both heterosexual and homosexual sexual misconduct, where the punishments for heterosexual misconduct were often more severe than homosexual misconduct.<ref name="History1"/>

==Medieval period==
A large number of erotic artwork dipicting homosexuality can be found on numerous temples throughout India, including Khajuraho temple sculptures built in the 700s, and the Sun temple in Konark built in 1200s.<ref name="www.lawctopus.com-2021" />

== Early modern period ==
Early moghul emperors were often tolerant of the Hindu society and allowed them to live as they wanted to.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Penrose |first=Walter |title=Colliding Cultures: Masculinity and Homoeroticism in Mughal and Early Colonial South Asia |date=2006 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524156_9 |work=Queer Masculinities, 1550–1800: Siting Same-Sex Desire in the Early Modern World |pages=144–165 |editor-last=O’Donnell |editor-first=Katherine |access-date=2023-10-24 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230524156_9 |isbn=978-0-230-52415-6 |editor2-last=O’Rourke |editor2-first=Michael}}</ref> The [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |publisher=Rupa Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

Various Muslim LGBTQ activists have attempted to find references to homoerotism within Indian Islamic culture. Mughal artwork and poetry may have contained examples of celebrations of male [[homoeroticism]].<ref name=":0" /> The first [[Mughal emperors|Mughal Emperor]] [[Babur]] wrote about his passion and desire for a male "lover" called [[Baburi Andijani|Baburi]] (who was already an adult when the Emperor ascended the throne) in his autobiography ''[[Baburnama]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daniyal |first=Shoaib |date=2016-06-18 |title=It's different now, but Muslims have a long history of accepting homosexuality |url=http://scroll.in/article/810093/orlando-shooting-its-different-now-but-muslims-have-a-long-history-of-accepting-homosexuality |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref> He wrote :{{Blockquote|"Occasionally Baburi came to me, but I was so bashful that I could not look him in the face, much less converse freely with him. In my excitement and agitation I could not thank him for coming, much less complain of his leaving. Who could bear to demand the ceremonies of fealty?"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Babur |first1=Emperor of Hindustan |last2=Beveridge |first2=Annette Susannah |title=The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur) |date=1922 |publisher=London, Luzac |page=120 |url=https://archive.org/details/baburnamainengli01babuuoft/page/120/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor |publisher=Modern Library |isbn=0-375-76137-3 |year=2002 |author=Babur, Emperor of Hindustan |others=translated, edited and annotated by W. M. Thackston |url=https://archive.org/details/babarinizam00babu |page=89}}</ref>}}

=== 1500s ===
* 1528 - J.M. John Marshal, doctoral research scholar based in the Department of History, Goa University, Taleigao, records in his book Homosexuality in Early Modern Goa the judiciary of Goa punished a muslim man for [[sodomy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=3810402|title=Sentença que pela justiça de Goa se proferiu contra um mouro condenando-o a morte natural e queimado, feito em pó, seus bens confiscados para a coroa do Reino e seus filhos havidos por infâmes por ter... – Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo – DigitArq|website=digitarq.arquivos.pt}}</ref>
* 1560 - Homosexuality was prohibited for much of the existence of the [[Portuguese Empire]]. The Portuguese introduced [[Goa Inquisition]] to deal with problems of sodomy and prosecuted homosexuals or people engaged in same sexual activity.<ref name= Marshal>{{Cite journal |last=Marshal |first=J.M.J |date=Oct 2022 |title=Homosexuality in the Early Modern Goa |url=https://outreach.faith/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NCCI-October-2022.pdf |journal=National Council of Churches of India |volume=CXLII |issue=9 |pages=39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pride & Prejudice: Forgotten LGBT people of early modern Goa |url=https://www.thegoan.net/%20sunday-mag/pride-prejudice-forgotten-lgbt-people-of-early-modern-%20goa/73670.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=The Goan EveryDay |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1600s ===
* 1607 - Marshal in his research noted the case of Alberto Homemo, a German soldier in the Portuguese army, who was executed without trial. "The inquisition record states that Alberto, induced by devil, committed the ‘horrible and abominable vice of sodomy’ since he was 16 years old, habitually with many men, also while he was serving in the North (Portuguese Bombay) as well as many cities where he lived and when he was sent in the army of Malacca too. The inquisition declared him being infamous(notoriously evil), confiscated his goods and ‘relaxed’ him to secular justice to be burnt alive. The sentence was written by the Inquisitor Jorge Ferreira, dated 09-12-1607."<ref name= Marshal/>
* 1667 or 1675 - The [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How did the Mughals view homosexuality? |url=https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/42157/how-did-the-mughals-view-homosexuality |website=History Stack Exchange}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sarmad Kashani Tomb in Jami Masjid, New Delhi, India - Archive - Diarna.org |url=http://archive.diarna.org/site/detail/public/1931/ |website=archive.diarna.org}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |publisher=Rupa Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref name="kugle">{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref> While [[pederasty]] was often considered as "pure love" and prevalent among those from [[Central Asia]], in India, however, this was generally unheard of. For example, the governor of [[Burhanpur]] was murdered by a boy servant with whom he tried to be intimate.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76daSuNVMTcC&pg=PT146|title=The Mughal World|first=Abraham|last=Eraly|date=Jul 17, 2007|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|access-date=Aug 15, 2019|via=Google Books|isbn=9788184753158|page=146}}</ref> Muslim Urdu poetry of the era sometimes expressed homoerotic viewpoints reminiscent of bromances, but these were not explicitly homosexual in nature.<ref name="www.lawctopus.com-2021">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-29 |title=The Pre-Colonial History of Homosexuality in India: Why Love Is Not Western – Academike |url=https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/history-of-homosexuality-in-india/ |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=www.lawctopus.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== 1700s ===
* 1723 - The scholarly research of Mir Taqi Mir's poems and ghazals shows allusions and references to beloved male lovers. Ruth Vanita, Saleem Kidwai, p 119, ''Same-sex love in India: readings from literature and history'' also asserts that Mir's poetry "represents homoeroticism" and that he, along with others, "developed a discourse of erotic commentary on young males."<ref>{{cite web |title=Convention in the Classical Urdu Ghazal: The Case of Mir |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/published/txt_convention.html |website=Columbia University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Homosexual (Pederastic) Love in Pre-Modern Urdu Poetry |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/texts/txt_naim_homosexual_pederastic_2004.pdf |website=Columbia University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Beyond borders |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090517/spectrum/book1.htm |website=The Tribune India}}</ref>
* 1791 - Homosexuality was decriminalised in the French Indian territories of Pondicherry.<ref name="wei">{{cite web |last1=Wei |first1=Serena|last2=Johnson |first2=Lijuan |title=ISodomy Laws in France: How The 1791 French Penal Code Decriminalized Sodomy Without The Will of The People | url= https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323145113.pdf |website=Young Historians Conference |date=2020-04-27 |access-date=2023-04-20}}</ref><ref name="sen">{{Cite web |last=Sen |first=Rudra |date=2021-10-26 |title=The Criminalisation of Homosexuality: A Colonial Legacy? |url=https://www.standrewslawreview.com/post/the-criminalisation-of-homosexuality-a-colonial-legacy |access-date=2023-02-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207074524/https://www.standrewslawreview.com/post/the-criminalisation-of-homosexuality-a-colonial-legacy|archive-date=2023-02-07 |website=StAndrews Law Review |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1800s ===
[[File:Hijra and companions in Eastern Bengal.jpg|thumb|centre|Hijra and companions in Eastern Bengal in 1860]]
*1861 - The [[British Raj]], in directly governed British territories,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extent and Operation of the Indian Penal Code |url=https://www.legalpedia.co.in/articlecontent/extent-and-operation-of-the-indian-penal-code.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=www.legalpedia.co.in}}</ref> replaced the criminal offences and punishments set out in the Mughal Fatawa 'Alamgiri, with those of the 1862 [[Indian Penal Code]], section [[Section 377]] covering homosexuality.<ref name="Srivastava-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Srivastava |first=Ankit |date=1 March 2019 |title=SECTION 377 AND LGBT ACTIVISM IN INDIA |url=http://ijrar.com/upload_issue/ijrar_issue_20543460.pdf |journal=International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews |volume=6 |issue=2}}</ref> The law stated: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in the section."<ref>{{Cite web |title=India Code: Section Details |url=https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_5_23_00037_186045_1523266765688&orderno=434 |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=www.indiacode.nic.in}}</ref> The law was drafted by Thomas Babington Macaulay, who based it on anti-sodomy laws that already existed in Britain."<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The term "order of the nature" was never defined, hence considering its vagueness, the law could apply to virtually any sexual act considered against this order by the British Judiciary, which included all penetrative sexual acts, except for vaginal penetration by a man.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> There are not many cases that were tried under this law, though, as there were only exist 5 recorded cases that were tried under Section 377 India till 1920.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Ruhnke |first=Lauren |date=2018-05-01 |title=Constructing Native Homosexuality in British India |url=https://tuljournals.temple.edu/index.php/maneto/article/view/80 |journal=Maneto Undergraduate Research Journal |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.15367/m:turj.v1i1.80 |issn=2639-7617|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.12613/474 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The law had a larger impact on social values than legal ones.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018"/> The anti-sodomy law in Britain and, in turn, India, was inspired by the 'purity campaign', an ideology that aimed at repressing sexual conduct in British society. This campaign also changed the perception and beliefs about sexualities in the European society.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018" />
* 1871 - The hijra were labelled a "criminal tribe" in the [[Criminal Tribes Act]] (1871). Eventually, they were subjected to compulsory registration, unlawful monitoring, and stigmatization. British Lieutenant-Governor [[Edmund Drummond]] (1814–1895) framed the anti-hijra campaign as a necessary project of "extinguishment" and "extinction." The surveillance methods were enacted over communities with hopes to eradicate hijras permanently.
* 1884  – The sodomy-related case to be prosecuted under British rule in India was the case of Khairati vs Queen Empress.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018"/> Khairati was first called on by the police when he was seen dressed as a woman and singing with a group of women in Moradabad.<ref name="Solution-2019">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-31 |title=Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 |url=https://indianlegalsolution.com/transgender-persons-protection-of-rights-bill-2019/ |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=Indian Legal Solution |language=en-US}}</ref> The case was brought to the Allahabad high court, where Khairati was forced to undergo a medical examination and it was found that he had an 'extended anal [[Anal orifice|orifice]]' which was the sign of a 'habitual [[catamite]]'.<ref name="Solution-2019" /> Cross-dressing was, again, used as evidence to support this argument. Cross-dressing was normal in indigenous culture in India, but since this did not fit the moral standards of sexuality of Britishers and the ambiguity of Section 377, Khairati was arrested and prosecuted in court.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018" /> Khairati was later acquitted on appeal in the Allahabad high court.<ref name="Ruhnke-2018" />

== 20th Century ==
{{See also|Hijra (South Asia)|Kothi (gender)}}

[[File:Two women embracing and using carrots as dildoes. Gouache Wellcome L0033073.jpg|thumb| centre|Two women using carrots as dildos, 20th century [[gouache]] painting. ]]

=== 1920s ===
* 31 May 1924 - Matvala, a Calcutta biweekly, published a story titled "Chocolate" by Pandey Bechan Sharma "Ugra". {{Blockquote| In the opening passages, a lovesick Dinkar Prasad is likened to Majnun by the narrator as he flops into a chair reciting a sher to articulate, yet encode, his grief. Manohar Chandra, another friend, attempts decoding with chher chhaar, teasing him in Banarasi Hindi. When Dinkar commends his verse, Manohar exclaims: "Has your fine lady, Urdu, been defeated[…]?" Later, an adolescent boy, Ramesh, appears at the door, and Dinkar darts off. Manohar duly informs the narrator that Ramesh is Dinkar’s chocolate – the object of his romantic-erotic affections – before launching on a tirade to deride his same-sex desire: "He’ll sift through history, finish off the Puranas, and prove to you that love of boys is not unnatural but natural." In this brief overture, Ugra condensed competing linguistic, ethnic, and cultural assessors of homosexuality.<ref name= Ugra>{{cite web |title=The story of 'Chocolate', the Hindi story published in 1924 that created a furore over homosexuality |url=https://scroll.in/article/917491/the-story-of-chocolate-the-hindi-story-published-in-1924-that-created-a-furore-over-homosexuality |website=Scroll.in|date=23 March 2019 }}</ref>}}
* December 1924 - After the publication of Chocolate Charcha in December 1924, Ugra was charged with sedition for editing the victory issue of Swadesh and sentenced to nine months in prison under section 124A of the IPC.<ref name= Ugra/>
* 1927 - Ugra wrote ''Hey Sukumar (O Beautiful Young Man!)'', ''Vyabhichari Pyar (Dissolute Love)'', and ''Jail Mein (In Prison)'' and published them in the short fiction ''Chocolate: And Other Writings On Male Homoeroticism'' in Calcutta.<ref name= Ugra/><ref>{{cite web |title=A love without a name: Identifying homosexuality in Indian language and literature |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-love-without-a-name-identifying-homosexuality-in-indian-language-and-literature/story-sfkFcIFoa8eENsQx5u1NQJ.html |website=Hindustan Times|date=8 September 2018 }}</ref>

=== 1930s ===
* 1936 - Raghupati Sahay also known by his pen name [[Firaq Gorakhpuri]], a professor of English at Allahabad University, published an article ''in defence of homosexual love''. Talking about Ghazals he describes the depiction of homosexuality in poetry across time and cultures in the works of Sappho and Socrates, Saadi and Hafiz, Shakespeare and Whitman.

=== 1970s ===
* 1971 - [[Badnam Basti]] India's first gay-themed film depicting the story of two men and women in a love triangle hit the theatre. It is adapted from an eponymous novel by Hindi novelist [[Kamleshwar (writer)]]. The film was thought to have been [[Lost film|lost]] for 40 years, but a print was found in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kahlon|first1=Sukhpreet|date=28 July 2020|title=Finding Badnaam Basti (1972): Accidental discovery that restored a piece of Indian cinematic history|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2020/jul/28/26558|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901125824/https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2020/jul/28/26558|archive-date=1 September 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=Cinestaan}}</ref>
* 1977 - [[Shakuntala Devi]] published the first<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Globalizing queer? AIDS, homophobia and the politics of sexual identity in India | author=Subir K Kole | journal=Globalization and Health | doi=10.1186/1744-8603-3-8 | date=2007-07-11 | pmid=17623106 | volume=3 | pages=8 | pmc=2018684 | doi-access=free }}: "The first academic book on Indian homosexuals appeared in 1977 (The World of Homosexuals) written by Shakuntala Devi, the mathematics wizkid who was internationally known as the human computer. This book treated homosexuality in a positive light and reviewed the socio-cultural and legal situation of homosexuality in India and contrasted that with the then gay liberation movement in USA."</ref> study of homosexuality in India. She wrote, "rather than pretending that homosexuals don’t exist" it was time "we face the facts squarely in the eye and find room for [homosexual people]."<ref name="worldoh">{{Cite book | title=The World of Homosexuals | first=Shakuntala | last=Devi | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | year=1977 | isbn=9780706904789 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBwbAAAAYAAJ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | title=Homosexuality and Religion | first=Jeffrey S. | last=Siker | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | year=2006 | isbn=9780313330889 | page=127 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUqn33H-uDYC&q=%22The+World+of+Homosexuals%22&pg=PA127 }}: "In her 1977 book, mathematician Shakuntala Devi interviewed..."</ref>
* 1979 - Hijras met in Ahemdabad for 50th Annivarsary of Hijra named ''Dada Guru'' Shankar.<ref name= Queerly/>

=== 1980s ===
* 1980 - Two lesbian women Mallika and Lalidambika died by suicide in Kerala.<ref>{{cite web |title=Table Of Lesbian Suicide. |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/lib-docs/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session1/IN/PLD_IND_UPR_S1_2008anx_LesbianSuicides.pdf}}</ref>
* 1981 - Indian Playwright [[Vijay Tendulkar]] wrote Marathi play [[Mitrachi Goshta]], a three-act play with a theme of same-sex attraction.
* 1981 - All-India Hijra Conference brought together 50,000 Hijras who travelled to Agra.<ref name="Queerly">{{cite book |title=Queerly Phrased Language, Gender, and Sexuality. |date=7 October 1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195355772 |pages=460 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1G_dVlJ2KhcC}}</ref>
* 1981 - [[Bhupen Khakhar]] experienced the gay-rights movement in 1979 when he visited England and it was then he felt acceptance and comfort with his own sexuality. In 1981 he painted ‘You Can’t Please All’ which is widely regarded as a symbol of his coming out.<ref name= Bhupen>{{cite web |title=A Look At The Life Of Bhupen Khakhar: India's Ingenious Openly Gay Contemporary Artist |date=8 June 2021 |url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/a-look-at-the-life-of-bhupen-khakhar-indias-ingenious-openly-gay-contemporary-artist}}</ref>
* 1982 - [[Bhupen Khakhar]] Two Men In Benaras (1982), an oil on canvas painting, depicts an intimate scene of love situated in the pilgrimage capital of India. The shades near the soles and toes are smudged with moon-like dust and depict the desire and lust the two subjects have for each other.<ref name= Bhupen/>
* 1986 - Journalist [[Ashok Row Kavi]] penned an article about himself for Savvy Magazine, which became the first ‘coming out’ story from India.
* 1987 - Khakra painting Yayati (1987) explores and creates a dialogue between intimacy, religion, and mythology. ‘Yayati’ was the first king of Pauravas.
* 1987 - [[Rohit Khosla]] co-founded Ensemble, India's popular designer label store in New Delhi, with Tarun and Sal Tahiliani.
* 1987 - Two policewomen from Madhya Pradesh married each other. Eventually, on 24 February 1988, pictures from their marriage made front page news under the headline "Lesbian Cops". Leela and Urmila were chastised by the police force, discharged of their duties for ''inappropriate behaviour'', and inundated with media attention.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who were the first lesbians to get married in India? |url=https://fiftytwo.in/blog/who-were-the-first-lesbians-to-get-married-in-india/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Marriage equality is a constitutional right, do not deny it to same-sex couples |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/marriage-rights-india-same-sex-couples-6929246/ |website=Indian Express|date=4 November 2020 }}</ref>
* 1989 - [[Dominic D'Souza]] was forcibly quarantined and isolated in a tuberculosis ward for 64 days because of stigma and hatred towards people with HIV.
* 1987–1989 - Lesbians from Delhi Group met for informal gatherings, or "Single women's nights," in members' homes to discuss compulsive heterosexuality and to bond over their identifications as "Women who love women."<ref>{{cite web |title=Queer History: How Did Queer Women Network Before The Age Of Internet? |date=28 June 2018 |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2018/06/29/queer-history-queer-women-india/}}</ref>

=== 1990s ===
* 1990 - [[Naz Foundation International]] started in London to spread awareness regarding AIDs/HIV epidemic.
* 1990 - [[Ashok Row Kavi]], a few short years after coming out, founded India’s first magazine for queer men, [[Bombay Dost]].
* 1991 - 7 members of ABVA published ''"Less Than Gay: A Citizens' Report on the Status of Homosexuality in India",'' which was the first report to publicly recognize the status of queer people in India and addressed the discrimination they faced.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The report demanded the rights of the queer community in India, as it imposed a need to repeal Section 377 and the Army, Navy, and Air Force Act of 1950.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> This report was followed by a public protest, organized by the ABVA in New Delhi, which is recognized as the first public demonstration against anti-sodomy laws in India.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> This demonstration protested Section 377 and its use by the police to harass the gay community.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The protest was particularly sparked by an act of police brutality in Connaught Place, where 18 people were arrested on the charges that they were allegedly going to engage in homosexual acts. This protest was joined by over 500 people, which included multiple democratic and civil rights groups.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" />
* 1992 - The AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA), or the AIDS Anti-discrimination movement, organized the first public protest against anti-sodomy laws in India in August 1992.<ref name="Srivastava-2019"/> The ABVA was an activist group, with its original intent being spreading awareness regarding AIDS in India, as they opposed the intolerant practices and discrimination of the Indian government against HIV positive patients.<ref name="Tan-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Tan |first=Nicholas |date=2019-03-01 |title=Was 1992 a Turning Point for Homosexuals in Contemporary India? |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9548-9 |journal=Sexuality & Culture |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=142–153 |doi=10.1007/s12119-018-9548-9 |s2cid=149527487 |issn=1936-4822}}</ref> They protested against the government policy that required the doctors to disclose the names of HIV-positive patients, who were then put in isolation.<ref name="Tan-2019" /> The group organized multiple protests demanding rights for HIV-affected people and sex workers.<ref name="Tan-2019" />
* 1994 - ABVA filled the first Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging Section 377 and its validity. This PIL was filed in response to the denial by authorities to a request by ABVA demanding the distribution of condoms in Tihar Jail.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" /> The reason for this as stated by Kiran Bedi, the then Inspector General of Prisons in India, was the fact that the distribution of condoms would acknowledge and accept the existence of homosexual practices in the jail. The petition was dismissed in 2001 in the Delhi High Court.<ref name="Srivastava-2019" />
* 10 November 1994 - Vimala Farooqui, had appealed to the Prime Minister to cancel permission for an international conference of Gay Men to be held in Bombay.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vimala Farooqui |url=http://feministlawarchives.pldindia.org/wp-content/uploads/JAGORI.pdf?}}</ref>
* 1996 - [[Riyad Vinci Wadia]] produced an Independent short film, [[Bomgay]]. Riyad was then in the process of generating funds for his supposed first full-length movie, ''Naked Rain''(Unfinished), based on R. Raj Rao's novel, Boyfriend. "He made a very important contribution to the gay cause and was one of the central figures to begin the broad-basing of the gay movement in India," said gay activist Ashok Row Kavi.
* 1997 - Lawyer and activist Arvind Narrain student at the National Law School of Banglore, headed a seminar on LGBTQ rights discussing queerness in new and public settings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dignity restored |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/social-issues/article30184975.ece |website=Frontline The Hindu|date=30 July 2009 }}</ref>
* 1998 - [[Deepa Mehta]] lesbian theme movie [[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]] was released on 5 November 1998 in India. The film is loosely based on [[Ismat Chughtai]]'s 1942 story, "[[Lihaaf]]" ("The Quilt"). The members of right-wing groups like the Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal attacked cinema halls across the country.
* 1999 - [[Sonali Gulati]] made a short film titled "Sum Total", a lesbian matrimonial that addresses issues of identity, self-representation, and hetronormativity
* 1999 - The [[Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk|Friendship Walk]] is the first and oldest pride march in India and South Asia.<ref name="Srivastava-2019"/> This was first organized on 2 July 1999 in the city of Kolkata.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010">{{Cite web |last=Gaylaxy |date=2010-07-14 |title=A Walk to Remember |url=https://www.gaylaxymag.com/exclusive/a-walk-to-remember/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Gaylaxy Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> During this time period, gay rights activists in India had started demanding that political leaders include gay rights as a part of their election campaigns, but these demands were ignored.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> So, in order to make a political statement, Owais Khan first proposed the idea of the friendship walk.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> This idea was circulated among the public and received mixed reactions until the walk was finally organized.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> The pride march was joined by 15 people from all across the country, who wore custom-designed, bright yellow T-shirts with a graphic of footsteps and a motto that read 'Walk on the rainbow'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sthira |date=2013-06-26 |title=Who said it was Simple? |url=http://kindlemag.in/who-said-it-was-simple/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Kindle Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The participants of the march further divided themselves into two groups, one of which continued the walk towards North Kolkata and the other one towards South Kolkata.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> They proceeded to meet multiple Human rights organizations, NGOs, and AIDS prevention groups to voice their agenda and spread their message.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> The walk ended with both groups meeting at the George Bhavan where all the participants were interviewed by the media, as they shared their views on the issue of rejection of Homosexuality and sexual/gender non-conformity in India.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> The news spread across South Asia and the pride march was met with strong support not only in India but from people in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well.<ref name="Gaylaxy-2010" /> This walk became the inspiration for various pride marches that were organized all across the country in the subsequent years and influenced the sociopolitical scenario in many countries across South Asia.
* 1999 - CALERI (Campaign for Lesbian Rights) came out with a manifesto titled "Lesbian Emergence".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=N. DAVE |first1=NAISARGI |title=Indian and lesbian and what came next: Affect, commensuration, and queer emergences |journal=American Ethnologist |date=November 2011 |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=650–665 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2011.01328.x |jstor=41410424 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41410424}}</ref>
* 1999 - Soul Kitchen disco in Delhi hosted the first "gay night."

== 21st Century ==
[[File:Anjali gopalan.jpg|thumb|285x285px|Asia's first [[Genderqueer]] Pride Parade at [[Madurai]] with [[Anjali Gopalan]] (July 2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/edex/One-Who-Fights-For-an-Other/2015/04/13/article2756559.ece|title=One Who Fights For an Other|work=The New Indian Express}}</ref>]]

=== 2000s ===
* 2001 - [[Naz Foundation (India) Trust]], a non-governmental organization, filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court in 2001, seeking the legalisation of homosexual intercourse between consenting adults.
* 2002 - Naz Foundation filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to challenge IPC Section 377 in the Delhi High Court.
* 2003 - Delhi High Court refused to consider a petition regarding the legality of the law and said the petitioners had no [[locus standi]] in the matter.
* 2003 - [[R. Raj Rao]]'s first novel [[The Boyfriend (novel)]] was published highlighting the gay subculture of 1992–93 after the Bombay riots.
* 2004 - [[The Journey (2004 film)]] Malayalam language feature film written, directed and produced by Ligy J. Pullappally was released. It is said to be inspired by her short film Uli and the true story of two lesbian lovers in the South Indian state of Kerala.
* 11 June 2004 - [[Girlfriend (2004 film)]] depicted Tanya's (Isha Koppikar) obsessive relationship with Sapna (Amrita Arora). The relationship dilemma sparked after Sapna starts dating Rahul (Aashish Chaudhary).
* 2005 - The film [[My Brother…Nikhil]] directed by [[Onir]] portrays the life of the protagonist, Nikhil, from 1987 to 1994, when AIDS awareness in India was considerably low.
* 2005 - Prince [[Manvendra Singh Gohil]], publicly came out as gay. He was disinherited as an immediate reaction by the royal family and was a question of stigma throughout the nation.
* January 2006 - [[Human Rights Watch]] published a report that article 377 was used to harass [[AIDS|HIV/AIDS]] prevention activists, as well as [[sex worker]]s, [[men who have sex with men]], and other LGBT groups.<ref>{{cite web |title=India: Repeal Colonial-Era Sodomy Law |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/11/india12398.htm |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |access-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413042710/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/11/india12398.htm |archive-date=April 13, 2008 |date=January 11, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2006 - A 24-year-old gay man Hiren Makwana, a community organiser in an NGO, Counterpart International India (CII), at Bodakdev, was murdered over intimate relationships and financial disputes. The police found the homicide videotaped on the Handycam.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gay murder shot on handycam |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gay-murder-shot-on-handycam/articleshow/1405654.cms |website=Times Of India|date=8 February 2006 }}</ref>
* May 2006 - Mohammed Wasim, reportedly killed his two partners Akhtar Afindi (52) and Jamshed Alam (32) for money.<ref>{{cite news |title=Double murder cracked, gay friend killed them |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/double-murder-cracked-gay-friend-killed-them/articleshow/1528037.cms |website=Times Of India|date=13 May 2006 }}</ref>
* September 2006 - [[Amartya Sen]], acclaimed writer [[Vikram Seth]] and other prominent Indians publicly demanded the repeal of section 377 of the IPC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/india/story/0,,1874833,00.html|title='India's Literary Elite Call for Anti-Gay Law to be Scrapped' | newspaper= [[The Guardian]]|location=London | first=Randeep | last=Ramesh | date=18 September 2006 | access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref> In the open letter they demanded that "In the name of humanity and of our Constitution, this cruel and discriminatory law should be struck down."
* 2007 - Prince [[Manvendra Singh Gohil]] appeared on the American talk show ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'' on 24 October 2007,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/26look1.htm|title=India's gay prince appears on Oprah show|newspaper=[[Rediff]]|date=27 October 2007|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and on [[BBC Three]]'s ''[[Undercover Princes]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gtkyq | title=Undercover Princes|date=27 April 2011|access-date=4 April 2014|publisher=[[BBC Three]]}}</ref>
* 2007 - Rao founded the Queer Studies Circle at Pune University.<ref>''Times of India'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20120606143825/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-07-27/pune/27290282_1_aids-workers-aids-prevention-joanne-csete "Gay rights groups hail bid to amend law," July 27, 2002], accessed 15 May 2011</ref> Rao was one of the first to offer a course on [[LGBT]] literature at the university level in [[India]] in 2007, after years of resistance on the part of his academic superiors.<ref>''The Punekar'': [http://thepunekar.com/2010/10/15/marathi-teacher-takes-charge-of-english-department-at-pune-university/ "Marathi teacher takes charge of English department at Pune University," October 15, 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831002122/http://thepunekar.com/2010/10/15/marathi-teacher-takes-charge-of-english-department-at-pune-university/ |date=31 August 2011 }}, accessed 15 May 2011</ref> He said: "It's strange how the academic fraternity that has always been quick to accept all kinds of literature — Marxist, feminist, Dalit — had a huge reservation when it came to queer literature. For years, the Board of Studies refused to let us start the course saying that 'Indian students do not need it'. Finally, we clubbed it with Dalit literature and started it under the genre of Alternative Literature."<ref>''The Punekar'': [http://thepunekar.com/2009/07/16/gay-lesbian-course-at-uop-sets-an-example-for-other-universities/ "Gay-lesbian course at UoP sets an example for other universities," July 16, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404014028/http://www.thepunekar.com/2009/07/16/gay-lesbian-course-at-uop-sets-an-example-for-other-universities/ |date=4 April 2012 }}, accessed 15 May 2011</ref>
* 2008 - The five Indian cities Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore and Pondicherry celebrated gay pride parades with 2000 people from nationwide.
* 2008 - Zoltan Parag, a competitor at the Mr. Gay International contest, said that he was apprehensive about returning to India stating "Indian media has exposed me so much that now when I call my friends back home, their parents do not let them talk to me". Zoltan did not return to India and reportedly sought asylum in the United States.
* 2009 - Delhi High Court decision ''[[Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi]]'', found Section 377 and other legal prohibitions against same-sex conduct to be in direct violation of fundamental rights provided by the Indian Constitution. The decisions of a High Court on the constitutionality of law (i.e. judicial review) apply throughout India, and not just to the territory of the state over which the High Court in question has jurisdiction.<ref name="Kusum Ingots v 2004">''Kusum Ingots v. Union of India'', (2004) 6 SCC 254: "An order passed on a writ petition questioning the constitutionality of a Parliamentary Act, whether interim or final, keeping in view the provisions contained in Clause (2) of Article 226 of the Constitution of India, will have effect throughout the territory of India subject of course to the applicability of the Act."</ref> However, even after the pronouncement of the verdict, there have been (rare) incidents of harassment of homosexual groups.<ref>{{cite news|author=Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-28/india/28251262_1_saharanpur-management-student-gay-party |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106033901/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-28/india/28251262_1_saharanpur-management-student-gay-party |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 November 2012 |title=Crackdown on gay party in Saharanpur, 13 held |date=28 December 2010 |work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref>
* 2009 - [[Pink Pages]] the first online magazine to publish an article after the historic judgement of decriminalising of homosexuality.
* 2009 - [[Celina Jaitley]] re-launched the ''Bombay Dost'', the gay magazine, in Mumbai.
* 2009 - [[R. Raj Rao]]'s published ''Whistling in the Dark: Twenty-One Queer Interviews'', co-editor with Dibyajyoti Sarma.

=== 2010s ===
* 2010 - Rao published his gay-themed novel Hostel Room 131 (2010).
* February 2010 - Professor [[Ramchandra Siras]] was outed and suspended from his job at AMU for "immoral sexual activity". Even though homosexuality was legalised in 2010 two men forced their way into Siras' house and videotape him having consensual sex with another man.
* April 2010 - Siras died in his apartment in Aligarh. The preliminary results from the autopsy showed traces of poison in his body.
* April 2010 - [[Onir]] film [[I Am (2010 Indian film)]] exploring issues on themes such as single motherhood, displacement, child abuse and same-sex relationships won a national film award.
* March 2011 - Pulitzer Prize-winning author [[Joseph Lelyveld]] published [[Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India]] citing Mahatma Gandhi exchanged an intimate letter with a German Jewish architect Hermann Kallenbach. The book received favourable criticism and was banned in India. However, Tushar Gandhi, Gandhi’s great-grandson, has defended the book.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Slow Evolution of Gay Culture in India. |url=https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-slow-evolution-of-gay-culture-in-india/ |website=The Mit Press Reader|date=2 June 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How Gandhi Became Gandhi. |work=The New York Times |date=25 March 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/books/review/book-review-great-soul-mahatma-gandhi-and-his-struggle-with-india-by-joseph-lelyveld.html |last1=Ward |first1=Geoffrey C. }}</ref>
* 2011 - The Delhi high court on Monday upheld the life sentence of the two men for murdering United Nations Development Programme employee Pushkin Chandra and his gay partner Kuldeep in south Delhi seven years ago. "It is evident from the record that Pushkin Chandra used to indulge in unnatural sexual activities," the trial court judge had said in his judgment on March 3, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gay murder: HC upholds life term of 2 in Pushkin case |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/gay-murder-hc-upholds-life-term-of-2-in-pushkin-case/story-4pg4WUDrErPAdPAveywYOP.html |website=Hindustan Times|date=31 October 2011 }}</ref>
* 2011 - A 24-year-old Mahesh Soni, had appeared on a reality show on television and admitted that he was homosexual and liked to wear a saree committed suicide hanging from the ceiling fan at his Malwani residence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gay man slashes partner, commits suicide. |url=https://www.ndtv.com/mumbai-news/gay-man-slashes-partner-commits-suicide-569633 |website=NDTV}}</ref>
* 16 February 2012 - The [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]], during a hearing of a bunch of appeals filed against decriminalisation of gay sex, observed that homosexuality should be seen in the context of changing society as many things which were earlier unacceptable have become acceptable with the passage of time. The two-judge bench, composed of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, opined that homosexuality should be seen in the light of changing times where phenomena of live-in relationships, single parents and artificial fertilisation have become normal. They also pointed out that many things, which were considered immoral 20 years ago, have become acceptable to society now. The bench said that homosexual sex was not an offence prior to 1860 and referred to [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|paintings and sculptures of Khajuraho]]. Senior Advocate Amrendra Sharan, who opposed the Delhi High Court order of decriminalising gay sex on behalf of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, had then submitted that social issues cannot be decided on the basis of sculptures. The apex court bench, however, observed that it is a reflection of the society of that time and that homosexuality should not be seen only in terms of sexual intercourse. Earlier, the Supreme Court bench had asked the anti-gay rights groups, challenging the legalisation of homosexual sex to explain how such acts are against the order of nature as submitted by them. The apex court heard petitions filed by anti-gay rights activists and also by political, social and religious organisations which have opposed the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising homosexual behaviour.
* 23 February 2012 - the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Union Home Ministry]] of the [[United Progressive Alliance|UPA government]] replying to a Supreme Court observation, told the Supreme Court that it was opposed to the decriminalisation of gay sex. "This is highly immoral and against the social order," the Home Ministry told the apex court. It said that India's moral and social values were different from other countries, and therefore, the nation should not be guided by them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2012022320120223141327934d025428/Homosexuality-Govt-opposes-HC-verdict-in-apex-court.html |title=Homosexuality: Govt opposes HC verdict in the apex court, News – Nation – Mumbai Mirror |website=www.mumbaimirror.com |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908234817/http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2012022320120223141327934d025428/Homosexuality-Govt-opposes-HC-verdict-in-apex-court.html |archive-date=8 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Central Government reversed its stance on 28 February 2012, asserting that there was no error in decriminalising gay sex. This resulted in the SC pulling up the Centre for frequently changing its stance on the issue. "''Don't make a mockery of the system and don't waste the court's time",'' an apex court judge told the government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/supreme-court-pulls-up-centre-for-flipflop-on-homosexuality/917743/?google_editors_picks=true|title=Supreme Court pulls up Centre for flip-flop on homosexuality – Indian Express|website=archive.indianexpress.com|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref>
* March 2012 - "The population of Men who have Sex with Men was estimated to be 25 lahks in India," the government said in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, citing figures of the National Aids Control Programme.<ref>{{cite news |title=Govt. submits data on gay population |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-submits-data-on-gay-population/article2991667.ece |website=The Hindu |date=13 March 2012 |access-date=November 17, 2021}}</ref>
* June 2012 - A guide titled 'Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBT Employees in India' was developed by IBM, Goldman Sachs, and Google together with Community Business, a non-profit organization.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-09/india/34342194_1_lgbt-employees-lgbt-community-lgbt-issues | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605121337/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-09/india/34342194_1_lgbt-employees-lgbt-community-lgbt-issues | url-status=dead | archive-date=2013-06-05 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender resource guide for employers}}</ref>
*July 2012 -2 July has been celebrated as the first [[Indian Coming Out Day]] to mark the 2009 ''[[Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi]]'' judgement that decriminalisaed homosexual sexual activity. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Chennai's LGBTQIA+ community is coming out in order to take down Section 377 |url=https://www.edexlive.com/news/2018/jul/04/chennais-lgbtqia-community-is-coming-out-in-order-to-take-down-section-377-3341.html |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Edex Live |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Coming Out Day |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/sexuality/column-indian-coming-out-day-2490270 |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-06-12 |title=First LGBTQIA cultural festival in Ahmedabad on July 2 |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/first-lgbtqia-cultural-festival-in-abad-on-july-2/articleshow/92155324.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2023-07-03 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
* 2013 - Nolan Lewis, a model, participated at the [[Mr Gay World]] [[Mr Gay World 2013|2013 contest]] after trouble finding sponsors.
* December 2013 - India's top court upheld the law that criminalises gay sex, in a ruling that reverses a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which had decriminalised homosexual acts. The court said it was up to Parliament to legislate on the issue. Indians have traditionally interpreted Section 377, a 153-year-old colonial-era law, as condemning a same-sex relationship as an "unnatural offence", and also considering it punishable by a 10-year jail term. Political, social and religious groups petitioned the Supreme Court to have the law reinstated in the wake of the 2009 court ruling.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25329065 | work=BBC News | title=India top court reinstates gay sex ban | date=11 December 2013}}</ref><ref>The text of the law actually reads, "Unnatural offences.--Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 1*[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.-Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section." See {{cite web |url=http://districtcourtallahabad.up.nic.in/articles/IPC.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-12-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211040454/http://districtcourtallahabad.up.nic.in/articles/IPC.pdf |archive-date=2014-02-11 }}.</ref>
* December 2013 - Indian novelist [[Vikram Seth]] appeared on the Indiatodayofficial cover picture protesting recriminalisation of section 377:
::{{Blockquote|You shall not love or make love with the person you love, not because of excessive youth or because of unwillingness, but because he or she comes from a different religion, a different caste, the same village, the same gender. You may say you love each other, that you are happy with each other, that you give each other solace and courage and delight, but your love disgusts me. It runs counter to custom, it is an offence in law, it is against the order of nature, it brings dishonour to our family, it will dilute our blood, it will bring about kali-yuga, it will corrupt everyone around you, it is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. It must be forbidden. You may say you love each other, but I do not care. No, I cannot turn away and simply let you live your life in peace and happiness. I must do something about it. I will indeed do something about it. No, you have not harmed me, but I will harm you. I will disown you, I will treat you with contempt, I will make you an outcaste or a criminal, I will lock you up. I will break your legs, I will fling acid in your face, I will hang you from a crane, I will stone you to death. If the mob helps me, so much the better. If the law helps me, so much the better. If I can wrap myself in a flag, so much the better. If I can drape religion around myself, so much the better. But by one means or another, I will tear the two of you apart. It is fit and proper that I should do this. I will do this because my Clan tells me to, my Panchayat tells me to, this Book tells me to, this Section of this Act tells me to, Civilisation itself tells me to, God himself tells me to. No appeal to reason will touch me. No appeal to humanity will touch me. No appeal to Indian history or modern science will touch me. My brain is a science-free zone. My brain is a history-free zone. My brain is a fact-free zone. This, at its core, is a simple matter. My love is right. Your love is wrong.<ref name= "Vikram">{{cite web |title=Vikram Seth on Section 377 and gay rights in India |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20131230-vikram-seth-on-gay-rights-homosexuality-769369-2013-12-19 |website=India Today}}</ref>}}
* April 2014 - The month of the upcoming [[2014 Indian general election|election]], at least three major political parties – the [[Aam Aadmi Party]], the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] and the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] – had included support for decriminalization of homosexual relations in their election manifestos,.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/manifestos-bring-hope-to-lesbians-gays-et-al-election-special-114032800670_1.html|title=Manifestos bring hope to lesbians, gays et al (Election Special)|newspaper=Business Standard India |date=Mar 28, 2014|access-date=Aug 15, 2019|via=Business Standard}}</ref>
* July 2014 - The first book on [[Genderqueer]] in Tamil and first Tamil book on LGBTQIA was from Srishti Madurai was released by BJP's state general secretary, Vanathi Srinivasan, at the 6th Hindu spiritual service foundation's sixth service fair, Chennai.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Its-a-great-honour-to-be-awarded-for-book-on-gender-variants-Gopi-Shankar/articleshow/38769130.cms|title=It's a great honour to be awarded for book on gender variants: Gopi Shankar | Madurai News |website=The Times of India|date=21 July 2014 |access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-supports-tn-leader-book-lgbt-157<nowiki/> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808041550/http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-supports-tn-leader-book-lgbt-157 |date=2014-08-08 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/BJP-leader-launches-LGBT-rights-book-in-TN/articleshow/38157614.cms|title=BJP leader launches LGBT rights book in TN|website=Mumbai Mirror|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref>
* July 2014 - [[Kochi]] hosted the 5th All-Kerala Queer Pride Parade was held.<ref name=QueerPride>{{cite news|title=Queer Pride march in Kochi|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/queer-pride-march-in-kochi/article6253916.ece|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=27 July 2014}}</ref> It was organised by Queerala (a support group for the LGBT community) and Sahayathrika (a rights organisation for lesbian and bisexual women in Kerala).<ref name=KeralaPrideParade>{{cite news|title=Fifth Kerala LGBT parade pride held|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-fifth-kerala-lgbt-parade-pride-held-2005667|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[DNA India]]|date=27 July 2014}}</ref>
* September 2014 - [[Sushant Divgikar]], the winner of [[Mr Gay India]] 2014, participated in the ''[[Bigg Boss]]'' reality show. About his participation, Divgikar stated, "I think I can sensitise the people about my community by being the face of the LGBT community in Bigg Boss."<ref>{{cite news|title=Bigg Boss contestant Sushant Divgikar hopes to sensitise TV viewers to LGBT cause|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Bigg-Boss-contestant-Sushant-Divgikar-hopes-to-sensitise-TV-viewers-to-LGBT-cause/articleshow/43251775.cms|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=23 September 2014}}</ref>
* November 2015 - Indian Author Siddharth Dube published his memoir ''No One Else: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex'' sharing his time as a childhood as gay and effeminate in 1970s Calcutta and coming out to his father in 1984.<ref>{{cite book |title=No One Else: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex |date=3 December 2015 |publisher=Harpercollins India |isbn=9789350297148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnBLDQAAQBAJ}}</ref> {{Blockquote| It was in this warped atmosphere of endless hierarchies and domination that I first became the target of male desire manifested as sexual abuse. In my second year at Doon School, a huge prefect called Nutty began tormenting me. Nutty was notoriously crazy, hence his nickname. Though I did my utmost to avoid Nutty, there was no escaping him in the second half of the day, after classes ended and we returned to our common residential house. Unfailingly, several nights a week, instead of studying after dinner like my other classmates, I would do an unending series of somersaults on Nutty’s orders. "Oaay, do you know what a pansy is?" Nutty once asked in his rough voice. I kept my eyes down. "Yes." "Are you a pansy?" Everyone laughed. I said softly but defiantly, "No, I’m not a pansy." "You’re a pansy, you madarchod (motherfuc*er), and you want me to chodo (fuc*) you," Nutty yelled. "You want to give me a blowjob, you pansy! Here, come here, suck it!" This time there were guffaws from his admiring audience. I felt utter hatred for him. I wanted to kill him.}}
* June 2016 - A dating platform called [[Amour Queer Dating]] was launched in India, for LGBTIQ people seeking long-term companions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amourqueerdating.blogspot.in/|title=Amour – A dating platform for Queer|website=amourqueerdating.blogspot.in|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scl.io/|title=GetSocial|website=scl.io|access-date=Aug 15, 2019}}</ref>
* April 2017 - A ten-episode series titled [[Romil & Jugal]] paradoy of [[Romeo and Juliet]] features two men Jugal and Romil in love fighting for family acceptance and life.
* May 2017 - The first [[Bhopal Pride March]] was conducted, gathering the participation of around 200 members.
* July 2018 - Swati Bidhan Baruah became Assam 1st transgender Judge.<ref>{{cite news |title=Assam to get its first transgender judge |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/assam-to-get-its-first-transgender-judge/articleshow/64980891.cms |website=Times Of India|date=13 July 2018 }}</ref>
* 6 September 2018 - The Supreme Court of India invalidated part of [[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code|Section 377]] of the Indian Penal Code making homosexuality legal in India.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sc-delivers-historic-verdict-section-377-gone-being-gay-no-more-a-crime-in-india/articleshow/65696771.cms?from=mdr|title=Section 377: SC rewrites history, homosexual behaviour no longer a crime|last=Rautray|first=Samanwaya|date=6 September 2018|work=The Economic Times|access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref> In striking down the colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, one judge said the landmark decision would "pave the way for a better future."<ref>{{cite web|title=India's Supreme Court strikes down law that punished gay sex|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indias-top-court-decriminalizes-homosexual-acts-57639411|website=ABC News|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906232222/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indias-top-court-decriminalizes-homosexual-acts-57639411|archive-date=6 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* July 9, 2019 - A 19-year-old boy Avinshu Patel committed suicide in Chennai after he was ridiculed for being homosexual. "Everyone knows I am a boy. But the way I walk, think and talk is like a girl. People in India do not like that," Avinshu posted on Facebook before killing himself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Not my fault I was born gay: 19-year-old commits suicide over homophobia. |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gay-man-suicide-homophobia-lgbt-helplines-1565041-2019-07-09 |website=India Today}}</ref>

=== 2020s ===
* Feb 2020 - Praful Pawar killed his 56-year-old gay partner Umesh Patil. The statement recorded:{{Blockquote| Pawar and Patil met each other on a local train six months ago and became friends; soon Patil, who was unmarried, started visiting Pawar at the latter's house in Dombivali and they had a homosexual relationship. When Pawar got married, he started avoiding Patil, he said, leading to the souring of their relations. On February 4, Patil visited Pawar when his wife was not at home, and they had a quarrel. Pawar allegedly strangulated Patil and stuffed his body in a bag and dumped it in the bushes by the side of the railway tracks, the police officer said.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thane: Man arrested for killing 56-year-old gay partner |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/crime/story/thane-man-arrested-for-killing-gay-partner-1644087-2020-02-07 |website=India Today |access-date=Feb 7, 2020}}</ref>}}
* Feb 2020 - A 22-year-old salesman was killed by a married textile businessman. "A strained homosexual relationship led to the murder. The deceased was extorting with the threat of making their video go viral. We solved the case within two days," said DCP said DCP (Southwest) Gaurav Sharma.<ref>{{cite news |title=Three, including textile businessman from south Delhi, held. |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-businessman-among-3-held-for-killing-gay-salesman/articleshow/89287874.cms |website=Times Of India|date=2 February 2022 }}</ref>
* March 2020 - TV9 Marathi telecasted a show called Arogyam Dhanasampada – Sexual Problems and Solutions with guest speaker, Sanjay Shetye, a clinical psychologist. Despite, The [[Indian Psychiatric Society]] and the [[World Health Organization]] repeated clarification that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore there is no cure, Sanjay Shetey claimed homosexuality is indeed a disease and there has been an increase in the number of ‘homosexual people.’ In response, a complaint was filed against the channel for promoting homophobia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Plea Against Alleged 'Homophobic' Show Broadcasted By TV9 Marathi Channel |url=https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/delhi-high-court-issues-notice-on-plea-against-alleged-homophobic-show-broadcasted-by-tv9-marathi-channel-171828 |website=Live Law|date=27 March 2021 }}</ref>
* 2020 - Shyam Konnur, Mr Gay India 2020, speaks about how LGBTQIA+ members have been in a permanent lockdown.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pride Month 2020: Shyam Konnur, Mr Gay India 2020, speaks about how the LGBTQIA+ members have been in a permanent lockdown |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/lifestyle/spotlight/pride-month-2020-shyam-konnur-mr-gay-india-2020-speaks-about-how-the-lgbtqia-members-have-been-in-a-permanent-lockdown/videoshow/76513606.cms?from=mdr |website=Times Of India}}</ref>
* June 2020 - Gay couple Nikesh PP and Sonu MS filed a marriage equality case in the Kerala High Court. "The Supreme Court had only decriminalised same-sex relationships but nothing outside of this. But while living in the real world, there are many problems as our relationship is not considered valid," Nikesh told ThePrint over the phone. "We cannot open a joint bank account or sign documents of consent during medical emergencies and now we have to even tick the single box and not the married one on any forms," he said.<ref>{{cite web |title=At the root of SC case on gay marriage rights, the Kerala same-sex couple who started it all. |url=https://theprint.in/features/at-the-root-of-sc-case-on-gay-marriage-rights-the-kerala-same-sex-couple-who-started-it-all/1330216/ |website=The Print|date=23 January 2023 }}</ref>
* 3 July 2020 - Major J Suresh published a Blog titled, ''Out !! Proud !! Liberated !!,'' he says,{{Blockquote|One of the first things most people ask when someone comes out to them is "When did you first know?" Through my teenage years in high school, I just knew I was a little different. When I was about 15, I was drawn to this rather cute-looking boy in class. He probably noticed me looking at him and decided to 'teach me a lesson' in the only manner young boys know. He surrounded me with some of his close friends and pushed me to the ground, holding me by the neck, while uttering some expletives and probably, that was the end of it. The physical violence was not brutal - far from it - but it most likely drove home a message - a wrong message - but one that gay kids the world over learn from such incidents of bullying: that what I was feeling was 'wrong', 'bad' or 'sick', and if I continued to heed those feelings, it could provoke much worse violence - and so it was best to 'conform'. That is probably why I went through my late teens and early 20s without feeling anything close to what can be called romantic attraction or love during my years at the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA). By my mid-20s, when those feelings started slowly resurfacing, I started understanding that I was gay. I struggled really badly to accept myself - and the hyper-straight world of the army only made it that much more difficult for me. However, by my late 20s, after months of drinking and wondering and questioning why I was different and crying myself to sleep over it, I finally came to terms with myself and accepted myself for who I was.<ref>{{cite web |title=Personal Blog of an Out & Proud Indian Major. |url=https://out-and-proud-indian-major.com/out-proud-liberated/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=I Was An Officer In The Indian Army, I'm Gay And Very Proud. |url=https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/i-was-an-officer-in-the-indian-army-im-gay-and-very-proud-2255980 |website=NDTV}}</ref>}}
* September 2020 - A 25-year-old, Sunny Dayal, who worked with Volvo buses as pantry staff, was killed by two strangers he met on dating apps.<ref>{{cite web |title=Delhi: 2 kill man they met on dating app, arrested |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/two-held-for-killing-man-they-met-on-gay-dating-app-6585750/ |website=The Indian Express|date=6 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gay man was having the time of his life in the forest with his dating app Romeo. Minutes later, he was murdered |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/09/09/gay-man-murder-new-dehli-india-dating-app-glued-sunny-dayal-sumit-karthik/ |website=Pink News|date=9 September 2020 }}</ref>
* 2020  - Sundeep Dosanjh and Sharath Puttichanda got married in the USA. 'Medikeri Kodava Samaja' ordered U.S. based Kodava Community to ostracise Sharath. U.S. based Kodava organisation published a statement that marriage is a personal choice. {{Blockquote|Dosanjh told HT that he and Puttichanda bonded over their Indian culture, shared values, and how both overcame day-to-day challenges. They even helped each other through some intensely emotional days along the way. It also provided them with a fresh perspective on their relationship, which made them realise that they’re meant to be. So, finally, they made the promise to be with each other forever and tied the knot in two types of traditional Indian ceremonies on September 25–26, 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title='He slid into the DMs, I slipped a ring on it': Love story of this same-sex couple in time of Covid is winning people over |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/it-s-viral/he-slid-into-the-dms-i-slipped-a-ring-on-it-love-story-of-this-same-sex-couple-in-time-of-covid-is-winning-people-over/story-myPOQvDF9gd3gxQrCf9RDI.html |website=Hindustan Times|date=10 October 2020 }}</ref>}}
* 2021 - Mohammed Siddique confessed to murdering hotelier Mohammed Afroz. "Afroz used to call Siddique repeatedly and demand that they meet," a police officer told the newspaper. "Afroz abused Siddique’s girlfriend over the phone to eliminate him."<ref>{{cite web |title=Man murdered his gay lover and dumped him on railway tracks for harassing his new girlfriend |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/01/15/india-gay-murder-railway-tracks-mohammed-afroz/ |website=Pink News|date=15 January 2021 }}</ref>
* June 2022 - Award winning filmmaker [[Onir]] published his memoir ''I Am Onir and I Am Gay''.<ref>{{cite web |title=I Am Onir and I Am Gay |url=https://penguin.co.in/book/i-am-onir-and-i-am-gay/ |website=Penguin Random House India}}</ref>
* 2022 - A 22-year-old LLB student, Yash Rastogi, of Jagriti Vihar in Meerut, went missing after he left to meet the main accused, Shavez, at his workshop in Fatehullapur area on the evening of 26 June. A missing complaint was lodged by Yash’s family on the morning of 27 June. Yash’s body was recovered from the drain late Saturday night after police detained and questioned Shavez.<ref>{{cite web |title=Law student killed by gay partner in Meerut, accused claims deceased was blackmailing him |url=https://theprint.in/india/law-student-killed-by-gay-partner-in-meerut-accused-claims-deceased-was-blackmailing-him/1023287/ |website=The Print|date=3 July 2022 }}</ref>
* 2023 - Supreme Court Of India begins hearing plea on acceptance of same-sex marriage in India demanding equal protection, identity and law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court: Historic India same sex marriage hearing enters day two |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65061266 |website=BBC|date=17 April 2023 }}</ref>

== Stigma, Phobia, and Violence ==
The prevalent stigma around LGBT people often promotes Rape culture or non-consensual sexual violence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gang Rape, Extortion: The Dark Side of Dating Apps for Gay Men |url=https://www.thequint.com/videos/dating-apps-for-gay-men-in-india-extortion-harassment-gang-rape |website=The Quint|date=26 July 2019 }}</ref> The LGBT people who have been abused as a child and adult years restain to report complaint in the police station because of phobia and lack of proper law facility.<ref>{{cite web |title="My Partner Was Gang-Raped, We Couldn't Tell The Cops": A Gay Man's Story |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/section-377-verdict-what-dad-told-me-on-phone-after-377-verdict-a-gay-mans-story-1912955 |website=NDTV}}</ref> The rape culture also leads confusion regarding ones sexual orientation in their teenage and adult years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why they didn't report sexual assault |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/why-they-didnt-report-sexual-assault/articleshow/66009845.cms |website=Times Of India|date=30 September 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The mindset is that boys are not raped': India ends silence on male sex abuse |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/23/indian-study-male-sexual-abuse-film-maker-insia-dariwala#:~:text=People%20live%20in%20denial.,%25)%20and%20guilt%20(28.7%25). |website=The Guardian| date=23 May 2018 | last1=Chatterjee | first1=Rituparna }}</ref> For, example male child raped by male, female child rape by female, or vice-versa, may suffer from the prejudice of thinking they are gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. Some may be homosexual but choose heterosexual life, some may be bisexual but choose gay life, or some may be heterosexual but choose homosexual life. Hence, they end up in a life-long cycle of stress, trauma, hatred, and vengeance. Even though, [[Indian Psychiatric Society]] and [[World Health Organization]] have repeatedly warned that sexual orientations are natural and normal, corrective rape culture is promoted in India.<ref>{{cite news |title=Parents use 'corrective rape' to 'straight'en gays |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/parenting/parents-use-corrective-rape-to-straighten-gays/articleshow/47489949.cms |website=Times Of India|date=June 2015 }}</ref>

=== Aniket Patil ===
A 25-year-old MBA graduate from Jalgaon killed himself by suicide. According to Times of India report, he joined the multinational company after completing his studies. According, to his suicide note, he said he was bullied and harassed over his sexuality at the Workplace.<ref>{{cite web |title=25-year-old MBA graduate ends life over 'gay' jibes. |url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/man-commits-suicide-over-gay-jibes/articleshow/70355044.cms |website=Times of India |access-date=Jul 24, 2019}}</ref> Activist [[Ashok Row Kavi]] said, {{Quote|This could have been simply avoided if he was counselled. The need of the hour is to have workshops regarding this important issue. In the realm of sexuality and gender, education is key, dialogue about gender and sexuality is essential. Insensitivity can lead to bullying, apart from coming in the way of learning.<ref>{{cite web |title=Counselling could've saved Aniket: Ashok Row Kavi |url=https://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/260719/counselling-couldve-saved-aniket-ashok-row-kavi.html |website=Asian Age|date=26 July 2019 }}</ref>}}

=== Anjana Hareesh ===
A 21-year-old bisexual student from Kerala Anjana Hareesh decided to end her life on May 12, 2020, in Goa. She stated in a Facebook video posted in March that her parents forced her into physical abuse, medication, and 'Conversion therapy'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kerala student dies in Goa, death puts focus on inhuman 'conversion therapy' on queer people |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-student-dies-goa-death-puts-focus-inhuman-conversion-therapy-queer-people-124683 |website=The News Minute|date=16 May 2020 }}</ref> Equal Rights activist Harish Iyer, calls the death of Anjana is a "nasty reminder" of the phobias that exist in society. Speaking to The Quint, Iyer calls Anjana a "victim of bi-phobia." {{Blockquote|Sexuality is just a variation and is not an aberration. So what are you trying to convert? It is important that you convert yourself – which being unknowledgeable about sexuality to come to a path of knowledge and wisdom where you understand that two people who love differently are not people who are variants or deviants or anything of that sort. They just love differently.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anjana Hareesh's Death A Nasty Reminder Of Bi-Phobia: Harish Iyer |url=https://www.thequint.com/gender/harish-iyer-on-anjana-hareesh-lgbtqi-death-conversion-therapy#read-more |website=The Quint|date=20 May 2020 }}</ref>}}

=== Suicide of Arvey Malhotra ===
A sixteen-year-old teenager Arvey Malhotra from Delhi Public School, Greater Faridabad jumped off the fifteenth-floor building on February 24, 2022, leaving a suicide note, "This school has killed me. Specially higher authorities... tell ninna and bade papa about my sexuality and whatever happened with me. And please try to handle them… You are wonderful, strong, beautiful and amazing."<ref>{{cite news |title=The school has killed me": Arvey Malhotra's mother recalls his suicide note and elaborates on the bullying that led to her son's death; awaits justice even after 4 months |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/parenting/moments/the-school-has-killed-me-arvey-malhotras-mother-recalls-his-suicide-note-and-elaborates-on-the-bullying-that-led-to-her-sons-death-awaits-justice-even-after-4-months/articleshow/92721354.cms |website=Times Of India|date=7 July 2022 }}</ref> Arvey mother Aarti Malhotra said, "By 9th grade, things worsened. He came home panicking & breathing heavilyhe’d read a chapter about bullying which triggered him. He confessed, ‘The boys in my class blindfolded me and made me strip. I can’t take it anymore’; I was shocked; my son’s bullies became sexual assaulters. The school refused to take action; they failed us. It broke my heart. We visited multiple therapists. He was diagnosed with depression & lost his interest in art. In 10th grade, he got diagnosed with dyslexia, studying got difficult for him; his boards were round the corner."<ref>{{cite web |title=Faridabad woman says her son died by suicide after getting bullied, sexually assaulted at school. Heartbreaking story |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/faridabad-woman-says-her-son-died-by-suicide-after-getting-bullied-sexually-assaulted-at-school-heartbreaking-story-1973239-2022-07-08 |website=India Today}}</ref>
On July 6, 2022, Aarti Malhotra shared a post on Instagram quote, "I lost my son, I need justice I really need your help to spread the word, there are no sensitisation training in schools for gender expressions, I lost my son to bullying. I need justice for Arvey."<ref>{{cite web |title=Aarti Malhotra On Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cfqwlfaq8ll/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d2ca12c6-bf95-414d-a8d2-8456c7ed2d73 |website=Instagram}}</ref> The post crossed 1 million likes and people offered support to her from everywhere.

=== Pilot Adam Harry ===
Adam Harry became India's first trans man trainee pilot assisted by the Kerala government was forced to deliver orders for Zamato citing hormonal therapy and gender dysphoria makes Adam "Unfit" to fly. Adam who wanted to pursue a career in aviation enrolled himself in the Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg and secured a private pilot license. Later, in 2020, the Kerala Government sanctioned an amount of 23.34 lakhs to Adam to support his dream of flying by getting him enrolled in the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. Adam filed a petition to which the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment calls to the DGCA that its decision to deny a transgender person a commercial pilot licence was discriminatory. Further, the Ministry concludes that it is violative of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Transgender trainee-pilot Adam Harry told to reapply for medical test |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/temporary-win-for-transgender-trainee-pilot-adam-harry/article65635637.ece |website=The Hindu |date=13 July 2022 |access-date=July 14, 2022 |last1=Chandra |first1=Jagriti }}</ref>

== LGBT People ==
* Note: This List include LGBT people who are (acronym) L(Lesbian),G(Gay),B(Bisexual), and T(Transgender). Sexual Orientitation '''LGB''' shoudn't be confused with ones gender(T).
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Name
! lifetime
! Notable as
! Notes
|-
|[[Arti Agrawal]]
|b.?
|Indian Scientist and Engineer
|L
|-
|[[Agha Shahid Ali]]
|1949-2001
|Indian Poet
|G
|-
|[[Abhina Aher]]
|b.1977
|Transgender Activist
|T
|-
|[[Manish Arora]]
|b. 1973
|Fashion Designer
|G
|-
|[[Vardaan Arora]]
|b. 1992
|Recording Artist and Singer
|G
|-
|Anjali Ajmeer
|b. 1995
|Actress
|T
|-
|[[Apurva Asrani]]
|b. 1978
|Filmmaker and Screenplay writer
|G
|-
|[[Pulapre Balakrishnan]]
|b. 1955
|Economist
|G
|-
|[[Gautam Bhan]]
|b. ?
|Writer, Researcher, and Queer Rights Activist
|G<ref>{{cite news |title=For all that we may become: on the Section 377 verdict |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/for-all-that-we-may-become/article24885398.ece |website=The Hindu |date=6 September 2018 |access-date=12 May 2023 |last1=Bhan |first1=Gautam }}</ref>
|-
|[[Deepak Bhargava]]
|b. 1968
|Advocate
|G
|-
|[[Dinesh Bhugra]]
|b. 1952
|Psychiatrist
|G
|-
|[[Shonali Bose]]
|b. 1965
|Indian Film Director
|B
|-
|[[Dutee Chand]]
|b. 1996
| Indian Athlete
|L
|-
|[[Benjamin Daimary]]
|b. 2000
|Indian Actor
|G
|-
|[[Bobby Darling]]
|b. 1974
|Actress and Television Personality
|T
|-
|Dr Prasad Raj Dandekar
|b.?
|Radio Oncologist
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Mumbai doctor turns life coach for struggling LGBTQI members |url=https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/mumbai-doctor-turns-life-coach-for-struggling-lgbtqi-members-23176978 |website=mid-day |date=7 June 2021 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Tista Das]]
|b. 1978
|Actress and Trans Rights Activist
|T
|-
|[[Gazal Dhaliwal]]
|b. 1982
|Screenwriter
|T
|-
|Pawan Dhall
|b. ?
|Queer activist, archivist, researcher and writer
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Pawan Dhall |url=https://vartagensex.org/author/pawan/ |website=Vertagensex}}</ref>
|-
|Sidharth Dube
|b. 1961
|Memorist
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Sidharth Dube |url=https://www.siddharthdube.com/about.html |website=sidharthdube.com}}</ref>
|-
|[[Pablo Ganguli]]
|b. 1983
|Director
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=The talented Mr Ganguli, one of London's best connected people |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/the-talented-mr-ganguli-one-of-london-s-best-connected-people-6721716.html |website=Evening Standard |date=10 April 2012 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|Siddhartha Gautam
|1964-1992
|lawyer, AIDs Activist
|G
|-
|Sonal Giani
|b. 1987
|Movie Actress and Senior Technical Advisor Diversity & Inclusion at IPPF South Asia Region
|B
|-
|[[Amrita Sher-Gil]]
|1913-1941
|Painter
|B
|-
|[[Menaka Guruswamy]]
|b. 1974
|Senior Advocate
|L
|-
|[[Manvendra Singh Gohil]]
|b. 1965
|LGBT and AIDS Activist
|G
|-
|[[Abhik Ghosh]]
|b. 1964
|Chemist
|G
|-
|[[Harish Iyer]]
|b. 1979
|Columnist,activist,blogger
|G
|-
|[[Navtej Johar]]
|b. 1959
|an Indian Sangeet Natak Akademi award-winning Bharatnatyam exponent and choreographer.
|G
|-
|[[Arundhati Katju]]
|b. 1982
|Lawyer
|L
|-
|Anurag Kalia
|b. ?
|IIT Graduate and Software Engineer
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=How I Realized I Was Gay And Why I'm Fighting 377 - By An IIT Grad |url=https://www.ndtv.com/blog/blog-by-an-iit-grad-on-being-gay-and-fighting-section-377-1856223 |website=NDTV}}</ref>
|-
|[[Firdaus Kanga]]
|b. 1960
|Indian Writer
|G
|-
|[[Ashok Row Kavi]]
|b. 1947
|Indian journalist and LGBT rights activist
|G
|-
|[[Bhupen Khakhar]]
|1934-2003
|Indian Painter
|G
|-
|[[Saleem Kidwai]]
|1951-2021
|Medieval historian, Professor
|G
|-
|[[Bindumadhav Khire]]
|b. ?
|Social Worker, Short Fiction Writer
|G
|-
|[[Shobhna S. Kumar]]
|b. ?
|Publisher Queer Ink.com, the first online bookstore
|L
|-
|[[Agniva Lahiri]]
|1979-2016
|Indian LGBT social activist
|
|-
|[[Gopi Shankar Madurai]]
|b. 1991
|Indian equal rights and Indigenous rights activis
|I
|-
|[[Leena Manimekalai]]
|b. 1980
|Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor.
|B
|-
|[[Saikat Majumdar]]
|b.?
|Novelist
|
|-
|[[Shabnam Mausi]]
|b. 1955
|Member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
|Born (I), T
|-
|[[Hoshang Merchant]]
|b. 1947
|Indian Poet
|G
|-
|[[Joyita Mondal]]
|b. ?
|Member of a judicial panel of a civil court and a social worker
|T
|-
|[[Onir]]
|b. 1969
|Indian film and TV director, editor, screenwriter and producer
|G
|-
|[[Akkai Padmashali]]
|b. ?
|Transgender Activist and motivational speaker.
|T
|-
|[[Devdutt Pattanaik]]
|b. 1970
|Mythologist, Historian
|G
|-
|[[Radhika Piramal]]
|b. 1994
|Executive vice chairperson, VIP Industries
|L
|-
|[[Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan]]
|b. 1983
|Civil Servant
|T
|-
|[[Padmini Prakash]]
|b.?
|News Anchor
|T
|-
|[[Vasu Primlani]]
|b.?
|Comic Artist
|L
|-
|[[R. Raj Rao]]
|b. 1955
|Novelist
|G
|-
|[[Sridhar Rangayan]]
|b. 1962
|Gay rights Activist and Filmmaker
|G
|-
|[[Sharif D Rangnekar]]
|b. ?
|Author, Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI).
|G
|-
|[[Apsara Reddy]]
|b. ?
|Indian Politician
|T
|-
|[[A. Revathi]]
|b. ?
|Author
|T
|-
|[[Wendell Rodricks]]
|1960-2020
|Fashion Designer and Author
|G
|-
|[[Anwesh Sahoo]]
|b. 1995
|Indian artist, blogger, writer, model, actor and a TEDx speaker. He won Mr Gay World 2016.
|G
|-
|[[Gauri Sawant]]
|b.?
|Social Worker
|T
|-
|[[Nibedita Sen]]
|b. ?
|Author and nominee of Hugo Award
|Q
|-
|[[Vikram Seth]]
|b. 1952
|Novelist
|B
|-
|[[Chayanika Shah]]
|b. 1970
|Educator
|L
|-
|Parmesh Shahani
|b. ?
|Head, Godrej India Culture Lab
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Parmesh Shahani: 'We are still not equal today' |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/interview-parmesh-shahani-we-are-still-not-equal-today/article65560213.ece |website=The Hindu |date=26 June 2022 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Parvez Sharma]]
|b. 1976
|Filmmaker
|G
|-
|[[Aneesh Sheth]]
|b. 1982
| Actress
|T
|-
|[[Pragati Singh]]
|b. ?
|Doctor
|A
|-
|[[Kalki Subramaniam]]
|b. ?
|Activist
|T
|-
|Keshav Suri
|b. 1985
|Executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, Businessman
|G<ref>{{cite news |title=Hotelier Keshav Suri on the 4th anniversary of SC decision to strike down Section 377: The closet, where many would want us to make a permanent home in, was my residence too. And then, came this remarkable judgement, upholding our dignity |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spotlight/hotelier-keshav-suri-on-the-4th-anniversary-of-sc-decision-to-strike-down-section-377-the-closet-where-many-would-want-us-to-make-a-permanent-home-in-was-my-residence-too-and-then-came-this-remarkable-judgement-upholding-our-dignity/articleshow/94004048.cms |website=Times Of India |date=6 September 2022 |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[Manil Suri]]
|b. 1959
|Author
|G
|-
|[[Ruth Vanita]]
|b. 1955
|Historian
|L
|-
|[[Rose Venkatesan]]
|b. 1980
|Talk Show Host
|T
|-
|[[Living Smile Vidya]]
|b. ?
|Actor and Director
|T
|-
|[[Riyad Vinci Wadia]]
|1967-2003
|Filmmaker known for short film BOMgAY
|G
|-
|[[Gautam Yadav]]
|b.?
|Queer Activist
|G<ref>{{cite web |title=Gautam Yadav |url=https://www.globalfundadvocatesnetwork.org/2021-2022-speakers-bureau/gautam-yadav/}}</ref>
|}

== Timeline ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|'''Date'''
|'''Event'''
|'''Reference'''
|-
|1200 BC - 600 BC
|The Hindu medical journal Sushruta Samhita documents homosexuality and attempts to explain the cause of homosexuality in a neutral/scientific manner. Though there were many "Sushruta"s who were involved in writing the journal, Sushruta Samhita lived in Varanasi during his life.
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pattanaik |first=Devdutt |title=Would ancient India have supported Section 377? |url=https://www.rediff.com/news/special/would-ancient-india-have-supported-section-377/20180717.htm |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Rediff |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raveenthiran |first=Venkatachalam |date=November 2011 |title=Knowledge of ancient Hindu surgeons on Hirschsprung disease: evidence from Sushruta Samhita of circa 1200-600 bc |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2011.07.007 |journal=Journal of Pediatric Surgery |volume=46 |issue=11 |pages=2204–2208 |doi=10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2011.07.007 |pmid=22075360 |issn=0022-3468}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Know all about Sushruta, the first ever plastic surgeon who was Indian |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/sushruta-works-indian-physician-medicine-plastic-surgery-rhinoplasty-nose-job-1559599-2019-07-01 |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|900 BC to 700 BC
|The Brahmana describes an instance of same-sex relations among Hindu deities: On the nights of the new moon, Mitra injects his semen into Varuna to start the moon cycle, with the favour returned upon the full moon.
|<ref name="MitraVaruna">[http://www.galva108.org/deities.html#Mitra_Varuna Mitra Varuna] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827022633/http://galva108.org/deities.html|date=2013-08-27}}, The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association</ref>
|-
|500 BC
|The Hindu epic of [[Ramayana]] describes Hanuman witnessing two homosexuals engaged in intimacy on the island of Lanka.
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/live-blog-supreme-court-rules-gay-sex-illegal-1386740434 |title=Live Blog: Supreme Court Rules Gay Sex Illegal |date=December 11, 2013 |website=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=April 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Ramayana Of Valmiki Vol. 2|author= Shastri, Hari Prasad, Tr.|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39881/page/n375/mode/2up|access-date=April 19, 2023 |publisher= Digital Library of India Item 2015.39881}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/history-of-homosexuality-in-india/ |title=History of Homosexuality in India |last=Jhamb |first=Prateeksha |date=October 22, 2017 |website=Lawctopus |access-date=April 19, 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[600 BC to] 100 BC
|The Pali canon is written, inscribing the words of Gautama Buddha stating that sexual relations, whether of homosexual or of heterosexual nature, is forbidden in the monastic code, and states that any acts of soft homosexual sex (such as masturbation and interfumeral sex) does not entail a punishment but must be confessed to the monastery. These codes apply to monks only and not to the general population. The Pali Canon was largely written in Sri Lanka but based on the words of Buddha in India.
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=BuddhaNet Magazine Article: Homosexuality and Theravada Buddhism |url=https://www.buddhanet.net/homosexu.htm |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=www.buddhanet.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pali canon {{!}} Definition, Contents, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tipitaka |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|200 BC
|The ''[[Nāradasmṛti]]'' is written in South India and declares homosexuality to be unchangeable and forbid homosexuals from marrying a partner of the opposite sex. The Nāradasmṛti lists fourteen types of ''panda'' (men who are impotent with women); among these are the ''mukhebhaga'' (men who have oral sex with other men), the ''sevyaka'' (men who are sexually enjoyed by other men) and the ''irshyaka'' (the voyeur who watches other men engaging in sex).
|
|-
|200s
|The Kama Sutra is written describing various homosexual acts positively.
|<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-06-27 |title=Ancient India didn't think homosexuality was against nature |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ancient-india-didnt-think-homosexuality-was-against-nature/articleshow/4708206.cms |access-date=2023-02-06 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>
|-
|300s
|[[Sangam literature|Tamil Sangam literature]] refers to relationships between two men and explores the lives of [[trans women]] in the [[Aravani|Aravan]] cult in [[Koovagam]] village in [[Tamil Nadu]].
|<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news |last=Shrikumar |first=A. |date=2013-10-18 |title=No more under siege |work=The Hindu |location=Chennai, India |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/no-more-under-siege/article5247859.ece}}</ref>
|-
|885
|Khajuraho temples are built depicting numerous statues engaging homosexual sex on the walls of its temples
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Celebrating love, lust and Homosexuality at Khajuraho |url=https://www.thisday.app/story/celebrating-love-lust-and-homosexuality-at-khajuraho-17356 |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=www.thisday.app |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|1500s
|During the [[Mughal Empire]], a number of the pre-existing [[Delhi Sultanate]] laws were combined into the [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]], mandating several types of punishments for homosexuality, up to stoning to death for a Muslim.
|<ref name="kugle"/>
|-
|1500s
|The Goa Inquisition by the Portuguese criminalizes male homosexual sex throughout Portuguese India.
|<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last1=Sathyanarayana Rao |first1=T. S. |last2=Jacob |first2=K S |date=2014 |title=The reversal on Gay Rights in India |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.124706 |issn=0019-5545 |pmc=3927237 |pmid=24574551 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
|1791
|Homosexuality was decriminalised in the French Indian territories of Pondicherry
|<ref name="wei"/><ref name="sen" />
|-
|1861
|The colonial government of British India impose Section 377 criminalizing all homosexual sex throughout British India.
|<ref name="auto1"/>
|-
|1871
|The British labeled the ''hijra'' population as a "criminal tribe"
|<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha |date=2016 |title=Disgust or Equality? Sexual Orientation and Indian Law |url=http://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/7A93092D-3017-413A-AB4E-4D7A1752A854.%20Nussbaum.pdf |journal=Journal of Indian Law and Society}}</ref>
|-
|09/2018
|The Supreme Court of India repeals colonial-era law criminalizing homosexual sex
|<ref name="toi-judgement2018">{{cite news |last1=Mahapatra |first1=Dhananjay |last2=Choudhary |first2=Amit Anand |date=7 September 2018 |title=SC decriminalises Section 377, calls 2013 ruling 'arbitrary and retrograde' |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-decriminalises-section-377-calls-2013-ruling-arbitrary-and-retrograde/articleshow/65712063.cms}}</ref>
|-
|08/2022
|The Supreme Court of India provides LGBTQ with family rights and live-in couple rights equal to that of married couples
|<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Schmall |first1=Emily |last2=Kumar |first2=Hari |date=2022-08-30 |title=India's Supreme Court Widens Definition of 'Family' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/world/asia/india-supreme-court-same-sex.html |access-date=2022-11-28 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
|-
|01/2023
|The leader of the far-right Hindu Nationalist RSS advocates in favor of LGBTQ rights
|<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jain |first1=Rupam |last2=Chaturvedi |first2=Arpan |date=2023-01-11 |title=Leader of influential Hindu group backs LGBT rights in India |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/leader-influential-hindu-group-backs-lgbt-rights-india-2023-01-11/ |access-date=2023-01-28}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
* [[Timeline of South Asian and diasporic LGBT and queer history]]
* [[Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk]]
* [[Recognition of same-sex unions in India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Vanita |first1=Ruth |author-link1=Ruth Vanita |last2=Kidwai|first2=Saleem|author-link2=Saleem Kidwai|title=Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History |year=2001|edition=1st |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-29324-6}}

{{Refend}}

{{LGBT in India}}

{{Asia topic|LGBT history in}}

[[Category:LGBT history in India| ]]

Hinduism and LGBTQ topics

2024-02-06T12:25:07Z

Timovinga: /* Kama Sutra */ So many PRIMARY SOURCES are present in this article. A large amount of fact-checking is needed. Removed this information because it was backed by some PRIMARY SOURCES

{{Short description|Hindu views on LGBT issues}}

'''Hindu views of homosexuality''' and [[LGBT]] (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) issues more generally are diverse, and different [[Hinduism|Hindu]] groups have distinct views.

India under Hinduism did not have legal or moral restrictions on homosexuality or transsexuality for the general population prior to early modern period (Islam) and colonialism (Christianity), however certain dharmic moral codes forbade sexual misconduct (of both heterosexual and homosexual nature) among the upper class of persists and monks, and religious codes of foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam imposed homophobic rules on their populations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-04 |title=LGBT rights were accepted in ancient India, Sec 377 must be repealed: Amish Tripathi |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/lgbt-rights-were-accepted-in-ancient-india-sec-377-must-be-repealed-amish-tripathi/story-NFOnXL3rGVXECqTdg9SuXL.html |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref name="hrc.org">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> Hinduism also describes a [[third gender]] that is equal to other genders and documentation of the third gender are found in ancient Hindu and Buddhist medical texts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Shiva Prakash |last2=Chandrasekaran |first2=Sruti |date=2020 |title=Transsexualism in Hindu Mythology |journal=Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=235–236 |doi=10.4103/ijem.IJEM_152_20 |issn=2230-8210 |pmc=7539026 |pmid=33083261 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Numerous Hindu texts have portrayed [[homosexual]] experience as natural and joyful,<ref>{{Cite book | last = Bonvillain| first = Nancy| author-link = Nancy Bonvillain| title = Women and men: cultural constructs of gender| publisher = [[Prentice Hall]]| year = 2001| page = 281| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xiG1AAAAIAAJ&q=hinduism+homosexuality+expressions+of+human+desire| isbn = 978-0-13-025973-8}}</ref> the [[Kama Sutra|Kamasutra]] affirms and recognises same-sex relations,<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cush|first1=Denise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3N4mGlbutbgC|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last2=Robinson|first2=Catherine|last3=York|first3=Michael|date=2012-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-18978-5|pages=354|language=en}}</ref> and there are several Hindu temples which have carvings that depict both men and women engaging in homosexual acts.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Keene| first = Manu |title = Religion in Life and Society| publisher = Folens Limited| year = 2002| page = 58| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I4AVbUIIygQC&pg=PA58| isbn = 978-1-84303-295-3}}</ref>

There are numerous Hindu deities that are shown to be [[Non-binary gender|gender-fluid]] and falling into the LGBT spectrum.<ref name="Cousins 2014 p. 1158">{{cite book | last=Cousins | first=L.H. | title=Encyclopedia of Human Services and Diversity | publisher=SAGE Publications | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4833-4665-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Spd0BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1158 | access-date=2023-04-04 | page=1158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Devor|first1=Aaron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3mFDwAAQBAJ&q=hindu+deities+gender+fluid&pg=PA16|title=Transgender: A Reference Handbook|last2=Haefele-Thomas|first2=Ardel|date=2019-02-15|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-5691-4|pages=16|language=en}}</ref> Same-sex relations and [[gender variance]] have been represented within Hinduism from ancient times through to the present day, in rituals, law books, religious or narrative mythologies, commentaries, paintings, and even sculptures. There are certain characters in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' who, according to some versions of the epic, change genders, such as [[Shikhandi]], who is sometimes said to be born as a female but identifies as male and eventually marries a woman. [[Bahuchara Mata]] is the goddess of fertility, worshipped by ''hijras'' as their patroness.

The [[Arthashastra]] argues that some homosexual intercourse is an offence, and encourages chastity (however, this also applies to heterosexual intercourse). The [[Dharmaśāstra|Dharmashastra]] recognises the existence of [[homosexuality]], without openly condemning it in religious or moral terms. The [[Manusmriti]] regards homosexual (as well as heterosexual) acts in an ox cart as a source of ritual pollution, something to be expiated by Brahmin males through ritual immersion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Jyoti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXmAAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmruti+homosexuality&pg=PA180 |title=Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96266-1 |pages=180 |language=en}}</ref> These commentaries were written as guides for sexual misconduct (heterosexual and homosexual) among the upper class of persists and monks.<ref name="hrc.org"/> In Maniusmirti and the Arthashastra of Kautilya homosexual contacts are compared to having sex with menstruating woman which is sinful and demand doing purification ritual. The Dharmashastras perceives advantage of conceiving sons by heterosexual marriage, acknowleding other types of relationship grudgingly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Qrius |date=2023-07-19 |title=What do Manusmriti and Dharmashastra have to say about homosexuality? |url=https://qrius.com/what-do-manusmriti-and-dharmashastra-have-to-say-about-homosexuality/ |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Qrius}}</ref>

Academic works have citied cases of Hindu priests performing same sex marriages in temples in numerous cases since independence from colonialism.<ref name="Endsjø 2012 p. 164">{{cite book |last=Endsjø |first=D.Ø. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YyWP_ZAJuQC&pg=PA164 |title=Sex and Religion: Teachings and Taboos in the History of World Faiths |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-86189-988-0 |series=Espiritualidad y religión |page=164 |access-date=2023-04-05}}</ref> Hindu bodies in several countries have also voiced support to campaigns backing same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Same-sex marriage: Australia's Hindu clergy group offers support to "Yes" campaign |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/malayalam/en/article/same-sex-marriage-australias-hindu-clergy-group-offers-support-to-yes-campaign/fc86zz1wi |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}</ref>

In 2009, the [[Delhi High Court]] legalised [[homosexuality in India]], but the [[Supreme Court of India]] subsequently overturned the high court's decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/FHDQ9yB2jRJMsOlNCQrkgL/Supreme-Court-to-rule-on-legality-of-gay-sex-today.html|title=Supreme Court upholds Section 377 criminalizing homosexual sex|last=Monalisa|date=11 December 2013|website=[[Livemint]]}}</ref> The Supreme Court of India, [[Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India|in a later ruling in 2018]], reversed its previous verdict and decriminalised homosexual intercourse and relationships.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 September 2018|title=India court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-45429664|access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref>

==Contemporary Hindu society==
{{quote box|width=35em|align=right|quote="Hindu society had a clear cut idea of all these people in the past. Now that we have put them under one label ‘LGBT’, there is lot more confusion and other identities have got hidden."<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/no-more-under-siege/article5247859.ece | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu | first=A. | last=Shrikumar | title=No more under siege | date=October 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glreview.org/article/the-many-genders-of-old-india/|title=The Many Genders of Old India|website=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=2 March 2015 }}</ref> |source=— [[Gopi Shankar Madurai]] in National Queer Conference 2013}}

Sexuality is rarely discussed openly in contemporary Hindu society, especially in modern [[India]] where homosexuality was illegal until a brief period beginning in 1860, due to colonial [[British India|British laws]].<ref>From section 377 of the [[Indian Penal Code]]: ''Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.''</ref> In 2009, The [[Delhi]] High Court in a historic judgement decriminalised homosexuality in [[India]]; where the court noted that the existing laws violated fundamental rights to personal liberty (Article 21 of the [[Indian Constitution]]) and equality (Article 14) and prohibition of discrimination (Article 15).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://qz.com/india/1379620/section-377-a-timeline-of-indias-battle-for-gay-rights/ |title=Timeline: The Struggle Against Section 377 Began Over Two Decades Ago |last=Thomas |first=Maria |date=September 6, 2018 |website=Quartz India |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5388231/india-decriminalizes-homosexuality-section-377/ |title=India's Supreme Court Decriminalizes Homosexuality in a Historic Ruling for the LGBT Community |last=Kidangoor |first=Abhishyant |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906091358/https://time.com/5388231/india-decriminalizes-homosexuality-section-377/ |archive-date=September 6, 2018 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> However, the Supreme Court of India re-affirmed the penal code provision and overturned the Delhi High Court decision, effectively re-instating the legal ban on homosexuality in which penalties included life imprisonment<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-12/india/45120907_1_delhi-hc-section-377-ipc-supreme-court | work=The Times Of India | title=Supreme Court makes homosexuality a crime again - The Times of India | date=12 December 2013 | access-date=2017-11-13 | archive-date=2013-12-14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214062847/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-12/india/45120907_1_delhi-hc-section-377-ipc-supreme-court | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/no-separate-proposal-to-repeal-or-amend-section-377-govt/ | work=The Hindustan Times | title=No separate proposal to repeal or amend section 377 : govt}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/no-separate-proposal-to-repeal-or-amend-section-377-government/articleshow/45618509.cms | work=Economic Times | title=No separate proposal to repeal or amend section 377 : govt | date=23 December 2014}}</ref> until September 6, 2018, when Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality. Furthermore, LGBT people are often subjected to torture, executions and fines by non-government affiliated vigilante groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/07/18/india-prosecute-rampant-honor-killings|title=India: Prosecute Rampant 'Honor' Killings|date=18 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/sAYrieZdZKEybKzhP8FDbP/Being-LGBT-in-India-Some-home-truths.html|title=Being LGBT in India: Some home truths|first=Rashmi|last=Patel|date=27 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/07/29/lesbian-newlyweds-flee-honor-killing-threats-in-india/|title=Lesbian newlyweds flee honor killing threats in India}}</ref>

[[Hinduism]] is not known to ban homosexuality. [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] factions have a varied opinion on the legalisation of [[homosexuality]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lgbtq-community-part-of-society-mohan-bhagwat-keeps-up-with-times-1919153 |title="LGBTQ community Part of Society": Mohan Bhagwat Keeps Up With Times |last=Sethi |first=Nidhi |date=September 20, 2018 |website=NDTV |access-date=July 10, 2021}}</ref> In the last thirty years, homosexuality has become increasingly visible in the print and audio-visual media, with many out LGBT people, an active LGBT movement, and a large Indian LGBT presence on the Internet. From the 1990s onward, modern gay and lesbian Hindu organizations have surfaced in India's major cities and in 2004, plausible calls were made for the first time to repeal India's laws against homosexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/world/asia/19iht-letter.html |title=Attitudes, and the law, keep India's gays quiet |last=Gentleman |first=Amelia |website=New York Times |date=January 19, 2006 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108175707/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/world/asia/19iht-letter.html |archive-date=January 8, 2016}}</ref>

[[Deepa Mehta]]'s 1996 film ''[[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]]'', which depicts a romantic relationship between two Hindu women, was informally banned for "religious insensitivity"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116308/trivia |title=Fire Trivia |website=IMDB |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> after the screening of the movie was disrupted on the grounds that it denigrated Indian culture, not on the grounds of homophobia per se, a position shared and confirmed by feminist Madhu Kishwar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_es/s_es_kishw_naive_frameset.htm|title=Naive Outpourings|website=www.infinityfoundation.com|quote=A small handful of Shiv Sainiks in Bombay and an even smaller number in Delhi disrupted the screening of the film at a couple of theatres.}}</ref> In addition, [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] who were in power in India at the time, refused to ban it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1526/15260430.htm|title=Furore over a film |first=Praveen |last=Swami |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Similar protests occurred in 2004 against the lesbian-themed film ''Girlfriend'' — even though the portrayal of lesbianism was this time distinctly unsympathetic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3805905.stm |title='Girlfriend' causes India storm |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |website=[[BBC News]] |date=June 14, 2002 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/62004/bollywood.html|title=Lesbian-Themed Bollywood Films Provoke Violence, Dialogue |first=Sarah |last=Warn |date=June 2004 |publisher=AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com}}</ref> Several [[human-rights]] groups such as the [[People's Union for Civil Liberties]] have asserted that sexual minorities in India face severe discrimination and violence, especially those from rural and lower-caste backgrounds.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=People's Union of Civil Liberties |url=http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2003/sexual-minorities.htm |title=Human Rights Violations Against Sexuality Minorities in India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030308105733/http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2003/sexual-minorities.htm |archive-date=March 8, 2003 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

In her book, ''[[Love's Rite]]'',<ref>{{cite book|title=Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=2005|author=Ruth Vanita}}</ref> Ruth Vanita examines the phenomenon of same-sex weddings, many by Hindu rites, which have been reported by the Indian press over the last thirty years and with increasing frequency. In the same period, same-sex joint suicides have also been reported. Most of these marriages and suicides are by lower-middle-class female couples from small towns and rural areas across the country; these women have no contact with any LGBT movements. Both cross-sex and same-sex couples, when faced with family opposition, tend to resort to either elopement and marriage or to joint suicide in the hope of reunion in the next life. Vanita examines how Hindu doctrines such as rebirth and the genderlessness of the soul are often interpreted to legitimize socially disapproved relationships, including same-sex ones. In a 2004 survey, most — though not all — [[swami]]s said they opposed the concept of a Hindu-sanctified gay marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |title=Discussions on Dharma |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726045115/http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |website=Hinduism Today |date=December 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> But several Hindu priests have performed same-sex marriages, arguing that love is the result of attachments from previous births and that marriage, as a union of spirit, is transcendental to gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1357249.stm |title=Gay couple hold Hindu wedding |last=Singh |first=Jyotsna |date=29 May 2001 |website=BBC News |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc24b62d8bece96593d6041cc48a3f54 |title=As Tide Turns on Same-Sex Marriage, Churches Lag Behind |date=March 24, 2006 |website=New America Media |last=Roy |first=Sandip |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306041528/http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc24b62d8bece96593d6041cc48a3f54 |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

Later, Vanita condenses the ideas in her book into an article, "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions and Modern India".<ref>Vanita, Ruth. "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 47-60. jstor.org (accessed February 9, 2014).</ref> Here, she summarizes specific cases in which women specifically committed joint-suicides, were married and separated, or successfully married. She points out three different "forces that have helped female couples".<ref>Vanita, Ruth. "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 53. jstor.org (accessed February 9, 2014).</ref> These are: the law courts, the media, and some Hindu authorities (such as the swamis mentioned earlier in this article) from her book. When female couples can stay together under the social pressures and get to the courts, the courts generally hold up their decisions, holding to the fact that the women are consenting adults. While this does not necessarily stop the harassment, it does lend the couple further legitimacy under the laws. In addition, the more successful same-sex marriages of women are those in which the women are financially independent. If they have social support from their families and community—for the most part—then they may be able to live in peace together. The media may also play an important role in same-sex marriages. In drawing attention to their marriages, women who do not necessarily know about LGBT rights groups may be contacted and supported by those groups after media attention. However, the flip side of this is that the anti-LGBT groups also may reach out against their marriage.

Psychoanalyst [[Sudhir Kakar]] writes that Hindus are more accepting of "deviance or eccentricity" that are adherents of Western religions, who typically treat sexual variance as "anti-social or psychopathological, requiring 'correction' or 'cure'".<ref>Kakar, Sundir (1981). ''The Inner World: A Psycho-analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India.'' Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 39</ref> Hindus, he argues, believe instead that each individual must fulfill their personal destiny (''svadharma'') as they travel the path towards [[moksha]] (transcendence).

Commenting on the legalisation of homosexuality in India; Anil Bhanot, general secretary of The [[United Kingdom]] Hindu Council said: "The point here is that the homosexual nature is part of the natural law of God; it should be accepted for what it is, no more and no less. Hindus are generally conservative but it seems to me that in ancient India, they even celebrated sex as an enjoyable part of procreation, where priests were invited for ceremonies in their home to mark the beginning of the process."<ref name="news.rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm|title='Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality' - Rediff.com India News|website=news.rediff.com}}</ref>

A high-ranking member of the influential right-wing Hindu group [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) has publicly stated that he does not believe homosexuality should be illegal, and that the RSS had no official stance on this issue since it was a matter of personal preference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rss-gay-sex-homosexuality-article-377/|title=Homosexuality not a crime: RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale|date=18 March 2016}}</ref> After the Supreme Court of India [[Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India|struck down]] parts of [[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code]], the RSS stated that while relationships between people of the same gender are unnatural, it is not a criminal act.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/homosexuality-not-a-crime-but-unnatural-rss/articleshow/65703402.cms|title=Homosexuality not a crime, but unnatural: RSS - Times of India ►|website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> In its latest position, the RSS has accepted that people from the LGBT community are an integral part of the Indian society.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/gays-transgenders-integral-to-society-says-mohan-bhagwat/articleshow/71402631.cms?from=mdr |title=Gays, Transgenders Integral to Society, says Mohan Bhagwat |date=October 2, 2019 |website=The Economic Times |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

==The third gender==
Hindu philosophy has the concept of a third sex or [[Third gender#Indic culture|third gender]] (Sanskrit: तृतीय प्रकृति, ''tŕtīya-prakŕti'' – literally, "third nature"). This category includes a wide range of people with mixed male and female natures such as effeminate males, masculine females, transgender people, transsexual people, intersex people, androgynes, and so on. Many MTF third-genders are not attracted only or at all to men, but are attracted either exclusively to women or are bisexual. Many FTM transgender people are attracted to men.<ref>Pattanaik, Devdutt. ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'' (p. 10). Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2002.</ref> Such persons are not considered fully male or female in traditional Hinduism, being a combination of both. They are mentioned as third sex by nature (birth)<ref>Buhler, G., trans. ''The Laws of Manu'' (3.49). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2001.</ref> and are not expected to behave like cisgender men and women. They often keep their own societies or town quarters, perform specific occupations (such as masseurs, hairdressers, flower-sellers, domestic servants, etc.) and are generally attributed a semi-divine status. Their participation in religious ceremonies, especially as cross-dressing dancers and devotees of certain temple gods/goddesses, is considered auspicious in traditional Hinduism. Some Hindus believe that third-sex people have special powers allowing them to bless or curse others. 

In 2008, the state of [[Tamil Nadu]] recognised the [[LGBT rights in Tamil Nadu|"Third Gender"]]; with its civil supplies department giving in the ration card a provision for a new sex column as 'T', distinct from the usual 'M' and 'F' for males and females respectively. This was the first time that authorities anywhere in India have officially recognised the third gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-16/india/27778521_1_ration-cards-third-gender-tamil-nadu |title=Third sex gets official status in Tamil Nadu |first=Pushpa |last=Narayan |website=Times of India |date=March 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811062938/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-16/india/27778521_1_ration-cards-third-gender-tamil-nadu |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

==Hindu religious narratives==
{{Main|LGBT themes in Hindu mythology}}
[[Image:Ardhanari.jpg|right|180px|thumb|The Hindu god [[Shiva]] is often represented as [[Ardhanarisvara]], a unified entity of him with his consort [[Parvati]]. This sculpture is from the [[Elephanta Caves]] near [[Mumbai]].]]
In the Hindu narrative tradition, stories of gods and mortals changing gender occur.<ref>[Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, Same-Sex Love in India, 2000, the first section, sections 1 and 2, "Ancient Indian Materials" and "Medieval Materials in the Sanskritic Tradition" ; [[Wendy Doniger|O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger]] (1980). ''Women, Androgynes, and Other Mystical Beasts.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 302–4 Thadani, Giti (1996). ''Sakhiyani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India.'' London: Cassell. p. 65 Pattanaik, Devdutt (2002). ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'', Haworth Press, {{ISBN|1-56023-181-5}}</ref> Sometimes they also engage in heterosexual activities as different reincarnated genders. Homosexual and transgender Hindus commonly identify with and worship the various Hindu deities connected with gender diversity such as [[Ardhanarisvara]] (the androgynous form of [[Shiva]] and his consort [[Parvati]]), [[Iravan|Aravan]] (a hero whom the god [[Krishna]] married after becoming a woman), [[Harihara]] (an incarnation of Shiva and Vishnu combined), [[Bahuchara Mata]] (a goddess connected with transsexuality and eunuchism), [[Gadadhara]] (an incarnation of Radha in male form), [[Chandi]]-[[Chamunda]] (twin warrior goddesses), [[Bhagavati]]-devi (a Hindu goddess associated with cross-dressing), Gangamma (a goddess connected with cross-dressing and disguises) and the goddess [[Yellamma]].<ref name="Galva3rdsexdieties1">{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (1)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-1/cu6k/A138A622-C40E-424E-BE21-884ECB1E3E2A|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Galva3rdsexdieties2">{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (2)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> There are also specific festivals connected to the worship of these deities, some of which are famous in India for their cross-dressing devotees. These festivals include the Aravan Festival of [[Koovagam]], the Bahuchara Mata Festivals of [[Gujarat]] and the Yellamma Festivals of [[Karnataka]], among others.<ref>For a complete description of twenty-nine of the most gender-variant Hindu deities, see Part One, Chapter Three of Wilhelm's ''Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex''.</ref> Deities displaying gender variance include [[Mohini]], the female [[avatar]] of the god Vishnu and [[Vaikuntha Kamalaja]], the androgynous form of Vishnu and his consort [[Lakshmi]].

LGBT interpretations are also drawn in the legends of birth of the deities [[Ayyappa]] (a god born from the union of Shiva and Mohini), [[Bhagiratha]] (an Indian king born of two female parents) and [[Kartikeya]] (where the fire-god [[Agni]] "swallows" the semen of Shiva after disturbing his coitus with his consort Parvati). Some homosexual Hindus also worship the gods [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]] and [[Varuna]], who are associated with two lunar phases and same-sex relations in ancient [[Brahmana]] texts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (2)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6NborWhzt7kJ:www.galva108.org/%23!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk|archive-date=28 Feb 2016|quote=In Vedic literature, Sri Mitra-Varuna are portrayed as icons of brotherly affection and intimate friendship between males (the Sanskrit word Mitra means “friend” or “companion”). For this reason, they are worshiped by men of the third sex, albeit not as commonly as other Hindu deities. They are depicted riding a shark or crocodile together while bearing tridents, ropes, conch shells and water pots. Sometimes they are portrayed seated side-by-side on a golden chariot drawn by seven swans. Ancient Brahmana texts furthermore associate Sri Mitra-Varuna with the two lunar phases and same-sex relations: “Mitra and Varuna, on the other hand, are the two half-moons: the waxing one is Varuna and the waning one is Mitra. During the new-moon night, these two meet and when they are thus together they are pleased with a cake offering. Verily, all are pleased and all is obtained by any person knowing this. On that same night, Mitra implants his seed in Varuna and when the moon later wanes, that waning is produced from his seed.” ([[Shatapatha Brahmana]] 2.4.4.19) Varuna is similarly said to implant his seed in Mitra on the full-moon night for the purpose of securing its future waxing. In Hinduism, the new- and full-moon nights are discouraged times for procreation and consequently often associated with citrarata or unusual types of intercourse.}}</ref>

Gender variance is also observed in heroes in Hindu scriptures. The [[Hindu epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'' narrates that the hero [[Arjuna]] takes a vow to live as a member of the third sex for a year as the result of a curse he is compelled to honor. He thus transforms into [[Brihannala]], a member of the third gender, for a year and becomes a dance teacher to a princess. Another important character, [[Shikhandi]], is born female, but raised as a man and even married to a woman. She becomes male due to the grace of a [[Yaksha]]. Shikhandi eventually becomes the reason for the death of the warrior [[Bhishma]], who refuses to fight a "woman." Another character, [[Bhishma]] appeases [[Yudhishtira]]'s curiosity about relative enjoyment of partners during sex by relating the story of King Bhangasvana, who has had a hundred sons is turned into a woman while on a hunt. She returns to her kingdom, relates the story, turns the kingdom over to her children and retires to the forest to be the spouse of a hermit, by whom she has a hundred more sons.<ref>[[Mahabharata]] Anushaasan Parva: Daandharma Parva, Chapter 12, shloka-1</ref> [[Ila (Hinduism)|Ila]], a king from Hindu narratives, is also known for their gender changes.

Some versions of the ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan|Krittivasa Ramayana]]'', the most popular Bengali text on the pastimes of [[Ramachandra]] (an incarnation of [[Vishnu]]), relate a story of two queens who conceived a child together. When the king of the Sun Dynasty, Maharaja Dilipa, died, the demigods become concerned that he did not have a son to continue his line. Shiva, therefore, appeared before the king's two widowed queens and commanded them, "You two make love together and by my blessings, you will bear a beautiful son." The two wives, with great affection for each other, executed Shiva's order until one of them conceived a child. The sage Astavakra accordingly named the child "[[Bhagiratha]]" – he who was born from two vulvas. Bhagiratha later became a king and is credited with bringing the river [[Ganges]] down to earth through his austerities.<ref>Vanita, Ruth and Saleem Kidwai. ''Same-Sex Love in India: Reading From Literature and History'', pp. 100–102. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. For more details on other versions of this story, see Chapter Six of ''Love's Rite'', by the same author.</ref>

==Hindu texts==

People of a [[third gender]] (''tritiya-prakriti''), not fully men nor women, are mentioned here and there throughout Hindu texts such as the [[Puranas]] but are not specifically defined. In general, they are portrayed as effeminate men, often cowardly, and with no desire for women. Modern readers often draw parallels between these and modern stereotypes of [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexual]] and [[transgender]] people. However, Hindu texts (Mostly Dharmasastras) such as the [[Manusmriti]], Vide Atri Smřti, Vide Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra, and the Vide Apastambha Dharmasūtra do treat homosexuality as a sin, in some cases legally punishable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |title=Homosexuality in Ancient India: 10 Instances |date=July 10, 2018 |website=India Today |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

Historians Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, in their book ''Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History'', compiled extracts from Indian texts, from ancient to modern times, including many Hindu texts, translated from 15 Indian languages. In their accompanying analytical essays, they also wrote that Hindu texts have discussed and debated same-sex desire from the earliest times, in tones ranging from critical to non-judgmental to playful and celebratory.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2000 |editor-last=Vanita |editor-first=Ruth |editor2-last=Kidwai |editor2-first=Saleem |title=Same-Sex Love in India |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-349-62183-5 |journal=SpringerLink |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-62183-5}}</ref>

Other Indologists assert that homosexuality was not approved for [[Brahmin|brahmanas]] or the [[Dwija|twice-born]] but accepted among other castes.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Kama Sutra===
[[File:At the Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.jpg|thumb|At the [[Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho|Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho]] (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.]]{{Main|Kama Sutra}}
The '''Kama Sutra''' is an ancient text dealing with ''kama'' or desire (of all kinds), which in Hindu thought is one of the four normative and spiritual [[Puruṣārtha|goals of life]]. The [[Kama Sutra]] is the earliest extant and most important work in the [[Kama Shastra]] tradition of [[Sanskrit literature]]. It was compiled by the philosopher [[Vatsyayana]] around the 4th century, from earlier texts, and describes homosexual practices in several places, as well as a range of sex/gender 'types'. The author acknowledges that these relations also involve love and a bond of trust.

The author describes techniques by which masculine and feminine types of the third sex (''tritiya-prakriti''), as well as women, perform [[fellatio]].<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra'', Part Two, Chapter Nine, entitled "Superior Coition or Fellation [''Auparishtaka'']. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref> The Second Part, Ninth Chapter of Kama Sutra specifically describes two kinds of men that we would recognize today as masculine- and feminine-type homosexuals but which are mentioned in older, Victorian British translations as simply "eunuchs."<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 9, "Of the Auparishtaka or Mouth Congress" |url=http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313043325/http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-date=March 13, 2010}}</ref> The chapter describes their appearances – feminine types dressed up as women whereas masculine types maintained muscular physiques and grew small beards, mustaches, etc. – and their various professions as masseurs, barbers and prostitutes are all described. Such homosexual men were also known to marry, according to the Kama Sutra: "There are also third-sex citizens, sometimes greatly attached to one another and with complete faith in one another, who get married together." (KS 2.9.36). In the "Jayamangala" of Yashodhara, an important twelfth-century commentary on the Kama Sutra, it is also stated: "Citizens with this kind of homosexual inclination, who renounce women and can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship."<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra''. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref>

===Dharmsastras===

Hindu gurus in Ancient India often offered commentary on how society should be run, but these commentaries were often not implemented in a moral or legal sense, and often referred to moral conduct for the upper class of monks and priests who were expected to refrain from sex rather than the lay people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Jyoti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXmAAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmruti+homosexuality&pg=PA180 |title=Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96266-1 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Manusmriti ====
In the ''[[Manusmriti]]'', there are proposals for various punishments for homosexual sex in certain cases (along with heterosexual sex too).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=July 10, 2018 |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2021-05-16 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref> A mature woman having sex with a maiden girl was punished by having her head shaved or two of her fingers cut off, and she was also made to ride on a donkey. In the case of [[Gay men|homosexual male sex]], the Manusmriti dictated that sexual union between two people (both homosexual and heterosexual) in a bullock cart as a source of ritual pollution.<ref name=":033">{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{Cite web |last=Jayaram |first=V |date=2000 |title=Hinduism and Adultery |url=https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_extramarital.asp}}</ref> Verses 8.369-370 of Manusmriti which prescribe punishment for a female having intercourse with a maiden are wrongly thought to be against same-sex activity between females by some modern authors like [[Wendy Doniger]]. However, verse 8.367 contains a similar punishment for all those who do it regardless of gender. The emphasis Vanita states here is on a maiden's sexual purity.<ref name="VanitaLGBT">{{cite book |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofDIAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmriti+wendy+anti-lesbian&pg=PA32 |title=Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West |date=October 20, 2005 |isbn=9781403981608 |page=32 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The [[Manusmriti]] is less judgmental about LGBT relationships. XI. 174 prescribes eating the five products of the cow or [[Panchagavya]] and foregoing food for a night for several sexual acts committed by a man including those with other men. XI. 175 states that those men who engage in intercourse with a man should take a bath while being clothed. According to XI.68, a man who engages in such acts is traditionally considered to lose his caste, though [[Ruth Vanita]] suggests the prescriptions by Manusmriti act as a substitute.<ref name="Vanita" />

Scholars doubt that the Manusmitri was implemented prior to colonialism, after which it became the basis of British colonial law for Hindus (in opposition to the Sharia Law for Muslims).<ref>David Buxbaum (1998), ''Family Law and Customary Law in Asia: A Contemporary Legal Perspective'', Springer Academic, [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-9401757942|978-9401757942]], p. 204</ref>

==== Others ====
The Dharmsastras especially later ones prescribed against non-vaginal sex like the [[Vashistha Dharmasutra]]. The [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]] prescribes fines for such acts including those with other men.<ref name="DharmaLGBT">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uP57zh13BqQC&dq=dharmasastra+ayoni&pg=PA50 |title=Sexual Diversity in Asia, c. 600 - 1950 |date=July 26, 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136297212 |editor-last1=Reyes |editor-first1=Raquel A.G. |pages=50–51 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |editor-last2=Clarence-Smith |editor-first2=William Gervase}}</ref>

===Other scriptures===
The Sushruta Samhita also mentions the possibility of two women uniting and becoming pregnant as a result of the mingling of their sexual fluids. It states that the child born of such a union will be "boneless." Such a birth is indeed described in the [[Krittivasi Ramayan|Krittivasa Ramayana]] of Bengal (see below).<ref name=Vanita/>

Other texts list the various types of men who are impotent with women (known in Sanskrit as ''sandha'', ''kliba'', ''napumsaka'', and ''panda''). The ''Sabda-kalpa-druma'' Sanskrit-Sanskrit dictionary, for instance, lists twenty types, as does the ''Kamatantra'' and ''Smriti-Ratnavali'' of Vacaspati (14th century). The Narada Smriti similarly lists fourteen different types. Included among the lists are transgender people (''sandha''), intersex people (''nisarga''), and three different types of homosexual men (''mukhebhaga'', ''kumbhika'' and ''asekya''). Such texts demonstrate that third-sex terms like ''sandha'' and ''napumsaka'' actually refer to many different types of "men who are impotent with women," and that simplistic definition such as "eunuch" or "neuter" may not always be accurate and in some cases totally incorrect. In his article ''Homosexuality and Hinduism'', [[Arvind Sharma]] expresses his doubt over the common English translation of words like ''kliba'' into "eunuch" as follows: "The limited practice of castration in India raises another point significant for the rest of the discussion, namely, whether rendering a word such as "kliba" as "eunuch" regularly is correct..."<ref>[[Sharma, Arvind]]. ''Homosexuality and Hinduism'' (as part of ''Homosexuality and World Religions''). Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.</ref>

The [[Arthashastra]] of [[Kautilya]] represents the principle text of secular law and illustrates the attitude of the judiciary towards sexual matters. Heterosexual vaginal sex is proposed as the norm by this text and legal issues arising from deviation therefrom are punishable by fines and in extreme cases by capital punishment. Homosexual acts are cited as a small offence punishable by a fine. It punishes non-vaginal sex with a small fine (4; 23; 326); however, women are fined less than men.<ref name=Vanita>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2nprDLPRLwC&dq=ayoni&pg=PT55 |title=Same-Sex Love in India |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |date=October 20, 2008 |isbn=9788184759693 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

The digest or ''dharmanibandha'' work "Dandaviveka'" written by Vardhamana Upadhyaya in 15th century in [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] pronounced that semen shouldn't ejaculate outside the vagina. ''[[Ayoni]]'' sex here is divided into two categories, one which includes intercourse with humans of both genders.<ref name="DharmaLGBT"/>

The [[Narada Purana]] in 1.15.936 states that those who have non-vaginal intercourse will go to Retobhojana where they have to live on semen. [[Ruth Vanita]] states that the punishment in the afterlife suggested by it is comical and befitting the act. The [[Skanda Purana]] states that those who indulge in such acts will acquire impotency.<ref name=Vanita/>

==Third-gender Hindu sects==
Below are listed some of the most common third-gender sects found in Hinduism. There are an estimated half million crossdressing "eunuchs" in modern-day India, associated with various sects, temples and Hindu deities.<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das. ''Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex'', p. 346. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation, 2003</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}} Despite being called "eunuchs", the majority of these persons (91%) do not practice castration but are more accurately associated with transgender.

===The Hijra===
{{Main|Hijra (Indian subcontinent)}}
[[File:Hijra.jpg|thumb|200px|A Hijra]]
The ''Hijras'' are a third-gender group in the Indian subcontinent. Some of them undergo castration, which is connected to [[Bahuchara Mata]] who is identified with the [[Prithvi|earth goddess]]. According to legends, she cut off her breasts in order to avoid rape by a group of bandits.<ref>{{cite book |first=Elizabeth |last=Abbott |page=329 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whs0eudAfJIC&dq=hijra+mata+mutilation&pg=PA329 |title=A History of Celibacy |publisher=Lutterworth Press |date=2001 |isbn=9780718830069 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Money |page=89 |url=https://archive.org/details/gaystraightinbet0000mone/page/89 |title=Gay, Straight, and In-Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation |date=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Rights |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The operation is termed by them ''nirvan''. They compare it with ''[[Tapas (Indian religions)|tapas]]'' which consists of avoiding sex. Also used to justify emasculation is a creation myth of [[Shiva]] who emasculated himself.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Stephen |editor-last1=Ellingson |editor-first2=M. Christian |editor-last2=Green |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxUiAwAAQBAJ&dq=hijra+shiva+castration&pg=PT101 |title=Religion and Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective |date=March 18, 2014 |isbn=9781135375959 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The aravanis also undergo castration.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Arvind |editor-last1=Narrain |editor-first2=Vinay |editor-last2=Chandran |page=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2MlDAAAQBAJ&dq=aravanis+emasculated&pg=PT128 |title=Nothing to Fix: Medicalisation of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity |publisher=SAG Publications |date=November 15, 2015 |isbn=9789351509165 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> Hijras also use [[Arjuna]] becoming a eunuch during exile as a result of a curse as a justification for castration. Despite this, all the seven major hijra clans are claimed to have been established by Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Wayne R. |editor-last1=Dynes |editor-first2=Stephen |editor-last2=Donaldson |page=148 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=1992 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgKQ4KNDjsgC&dq=hijras+seven+houses+muslim&pg=PA148 |title=Asian Homosexuality|isbn=9780815305484 }}</ref>

There are an estimated 50,000 ''hijra'' in northern India. After interviewing and studying the ''hijra'' for many years, [[Serena Nanda]] writes in her book, ''Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India'', as follows: "There is a widespread belief in India that ''hijras'' are born intersex and are taken away by the ''hijra'' community at birth or in childhood, but I found no evidence to support this belief among the ''hijras'' I met, all of whom joined the community voluntarily, often in their teens."<ref>Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India, p. xx. Canada: Wadworth Publishing Company, 1999</ref> Nanda also states: "There is absolutely no question that at least some ''hijras'' – perhaps even the majority – are homosexual prostitutes. Sinha's (1967) study of ''hijras'' in Lucknow, in North India, acknowledges the ''hijra'' role as performers, but views the major motivation for recruitment to the ''hijra'' community as the satisfaction of the individual's homosexual urges..."<ref>Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India, p. 10. Canada: Wadworth Publishing Company, 1999</ref> The ''hijras'' especially worship [[Bahuchara Mata|Bahuchara]], the Hindu goddess presiding over transsexuality.

===The Aravani or Ali===
[[File:Kuvagam hijras.jpg|thumb|Aravanis – the "brides" of [[Iravan|Aravan]], mourn his death]]
The most numerous third-gender sect (estimated at 150,000) is the ''aravani'' or ''ali'' of [[Tamil Nadu]] in [[southern India]]. The ''aravanis'' are typically transgender and their main festival, the popular [[Koovagam]] or Aravan Festival celebrated in late April/early May, is attended by thousands, including many transgender people and homosexuals. The ''aravani'' worship the Hindu god, [[Iravan|Aravan]], and do not practice any system of castration.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnFYAAAAYAAJ |title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Lgbt Issues Worldwide |first=Chuck |last=Stewart |page=315 |publisher=Greenwood Press |date=2010 |isbn=9780313342356 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

===The Jogappa===
A lesser-known third-gender sect in India is the ''jogappa'' of South India (Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), a group similarly associated with prostitution. The ''jogappa'' are connected with the goddess [[Yellamma]] (Renuka), and include both transgender people and homosexuals. Both serve as dancers and prostitutes, and they are usually in charge of the temple ''[[devadasi]]s'' (maidservants of the goddess who similarly serve as dancers and female courtesans). Large festivals are celebrated at these temples wherein hundreds of scantily-clad ''devadasis'' and ''jogappas'' parade through the streets. The ''jogappa'' do not practice castration.<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das. Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex, pp. 77–78. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation, 2003.</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}



==Religious art==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
Homosexuality in Khajuraho sculpture.jpg|Khajoraho scene where one man reaches out to another's erect penis
1 Erotic Kama statues of Khajuraho Hindu Temple Kandariya Mahadeva Khajurâho India 2013.jpg|Khajoraho scene of three women and one man.
</gallery>
Medieval [[Hindu temple]]s such as those at [[Khajuraho]] depict sexual acts in sculptures on the external walls. Some of these scenes involve same-sex sexuality:
* A sculpture at the Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho portrays a man reaching out to another's erect penis.
* An orgiastic group of three women and one man, on the southern wall of the Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho. One of the women is caressing another.
* At the Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.
* At the [[Rajarani Temple]] in [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Odisha]], dating from the 10th or 11th century, a sculpture depicts two women engaged in oral sex.
* A 12th-century Shiva temple in Bagali, [[Karnataka]] depicts a scene of apparent oral sex between two males on a sculpture below the [[shikhara]].
* At Padhavli near [[Gwalior]], a ruined temple from the 10th century shows a man within an orgiastic group receiving fellatio from another male.
* An 11th-century lifesize sandstone sculpture from [[Odisha]], now in the Seattle Art Museum, shows Kama, the god of love, shooting a flower tipped arrow at two women who are embracing one another.

== Same-sex marriage ==
A Gandharava marriage was the most common form of marriage for lay people described in classical Indian literature and was heavily associated with village life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Johann Jakob |title=Sexual life in ancient India: a study in the comparative history of Indian culture |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ |isbn=978-81-208-0638-2 |edition=1. Indian ed., reprinted |location=Delhi}}</ref> A Gandharava was a low ranking male deity who had a symbolic association with fine and creative arts, specifically music, with strong connections to sexuality and procreation, and the term is etymologically linked to "fragrance", and these males are commonly pared with females called "[[Apsara]]s" who are associated with the arts, dancing and literature.<ref>{{Citation |last=Dwivedi |first=Amitabh Vikram |title=Gāndharva |date=2022 |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_626 |work=Hinduism and Tribal Religions |pages=503–504 |editor-last=Long |editor-first=Jeffery D. |access-date=2023-12-22 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_626 |isbn=978-94-024-1187-4 |editor2-last=Sherma |editor2-first=Rita D. |editor3-last=Jain |editor3-first=Pankaj |editor4-last=Khanna |editor4-first=Madhu}}</ref>

There are punishments for homosexual sex listed in numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism, though these punishments should be taken into context with the likewise numerous punishments listed for heterosexual sex also listed within numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism.<ref name=":033"/> These punishments regardless of whether they are aimed are heterosexuality or homosexuality are not aimed at the lay people.<ref name=":522">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> There have been reports of Hindu gurus performing same-sex marriages in India since at least the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homoeroticism in Hinduism |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0223.xml |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=obo |language=en}}</ref>

Hinduism is mostly devoid of the 'perfect law' that can be found in Abrahamic religions (such as the ten commandments) and traditionally Hindus would expect to "rely on reason to decide what is dharma and what is not" 'dharma'. Combined with the lack of centralization and authority, there is great diversity among Hindus as to how homosexual relationships should be institutionalized in Hindu society.<ref name=":10">{{cite web |author=Pandit Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari |title=Gay Marriage & Hinduism |url=http://www.australiancouncilofhinduclergy.com/uploads/5/5/4/9/5549439/gay_marriage.pdf |access-date=June 4, 2021}}</ref>

; Non-binary marriage

A long-running tradition concerning non-binary marriage exists in Hindu society for third genders, which may also add another perspective as to how homosexual relationships should be viewed in the modern age.

The case for the institutionalization of non-binary marriage is strong in Hindu society due to the strong prevalence of evidence dictating how third gendered marriages were conducted since ancient times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dipayan |first1=Chowdhury |last2=Atmaja |first2=Tripathy |date=2016-11-30 |title=Recognizing the Right of the Third Gender to Marriage and Inheritance Under Hindu Personal Law in India |url=http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=212089113126091127028119099002024076042017086048025010071118030087127098117114113102037061118123008002109091078123127026105080044069041033085108076120071123069085065030092067102002102008069127111110075011031095026065026004115084103072011072022080081002&EXT=pdf |language=en}}</ref>

; Institutionalization of unique blessings and rites

"Marriage" comes in several incarnations in Hinduism and several Hindu organizations reject the idea of performing the same ceremonies for both heterosexual and homosexual (and third gendered) couples.

The Australian Council of Hindu Clergy, whose membership includes a significant portion of the Sri Lankan Tamil clergy, lists several types of marriage including those aimed at heterosexual couples and those that are not. It comes to the conclusion that homosexual couples should be provided with their own rites and blessings that are not the same as the rites provided to heterosexual marriage.<ref name=":10" />

; Live-in couples (cohabitation)

A large movement exists concerning the provision of live-in rights to partners who have not married. This would provide a centralized instrument to protect partners while allowing Hindu society to decentralize and provide ceremonies and/or blessings according to what each community thinks is right.

The rights currently provided to live-in couples mostly match that of married couples through criminal law, however, there are limitations on adoption, and wording used implies a heterosexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-03-03 |title=Want to Get Into a Live-In Relationship? Here Are the Rights You Need to Know |language=en-US |work=The Better India |url=http://www.thebetterindia.com/132607/want-to-get-into-a-live-in-relationship-here-are-the-rights-you-need-to-know/ |access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Hinduism|LGBT}}
* [[Homosexuality in India]]
* [[Kama]]
* [[LGBT rights in India|LGBT Rights in India]]
* [[LGBT rights in Sri Lanka|LGBT Rights in Sri Lanka]]
* [[LGBT topics and the Hare Krishna movement]]
* [[Non-westernized concepts of male sexuality]]
* [[Buddhism and sexual orientation]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Further reading==
*''Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture'' by [[Ruth Vanita]]. Yoda Press, 2005.
*''Homosexuality and World Religions'' by [[Arlene Swidler]]. Trinity Press International.
*[[Love's Rite|''Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West'']] by [[Ruth Vanita]]. Penguin Books India, 2005.
*''Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India'' by [[Serena Nanda]]. Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1999.
*''Same-Sex Love In India: Readings from Literature and History'' by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai. Palgrave, 2001.
*''The Complete Kama Sutra'' by [[Alain Danielou]]. Park Street Press, 1994.
*''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'' by [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]. Harrington Park Press, 2002.
*''Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History'' by [[Gilbert Herdt]]. Zone Books, 1993.

==External links==
{{Commons category|LGBT and Hinduism}}
*[http://www.galva108.org The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association] – Information and support for GLBTI Vaishnavas and Hindus.
*[http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm 'Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality']
*[http://pink-pages.co.in/features/religion/men-of-faith/ Pink Pages, India's National Gay and Lesbian Magazine] - Interview of Amara Das Wilhelm, founder of GALVA.

{{Religion and LGBT people}}
{{LGBT in India}}
{{Hinduism footer small}}

[[Category:LGBT in India]]
[[Category:LGBT and Hinduism| ]]

Homosexuality in India

2024-02-06T12:21:28Z

Timovinga: /* History */ WP:PRIMARY, WP:HISTRS, WP:OR

{{Short description|none}}
{{See also|LGBT rights in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{LGBT rights}}

'''Homosexuality in India''' has been documented and discussed in various artworks and literary works since ancient times and continues to be a major discussion point as LGBTQ rights are advanced in modern politics.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Jayaram |first=V |date=2000 |title=Hinduism and Adultery |url=https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_extramarital.asp}}</ref><ref name=":53">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> Homosexuality is legally permitted in India, though same-sex unions only have limited recognition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How does India perceive homosexuality? – DW – 04/18/2023 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-india-perceive-homosexuality/a-65345146 |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref>

Estimates on the LGBTQ population vary, with the Government of India submitting a figure of "at least 2.5 million" in 2012 based of self-declaration, and with activists estimating a figure of around 125 million people.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-17 |title=India's Supreme Court refuses to legalize same-sex marriage, saying it's up to Parliament |url=https://apnews.com/article/india-lgbtq-marriage-discrimination-f8be8a20f5d895ffadd6eb98960677cb |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite news |date=14 March 2012 |title=India has 2.5m gays, government tells supreme court |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-17363200 |access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref> [[Ipsos]] released a survey conducted between 23 April and 7 May 2022 which showed that just under 30% identified with the LBGTQ community.<ref name=":8">{{Cite report |url=https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2021-06/LGBT%20Pride%202021%20Global%20Survey%20Report_3.pdf |title=LGBT+ Pride 2021Global Survey |date=June 9, 2021 |publisher=Ipsos |access-date=June 12, 2021}}</ref>

On 7 September 2018, a 5-judge constitutional bench of [[Supreme Court of India]] invalidated part of [[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code]], hence making homosexuality legal in India.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sc-delivers-historic-verdict-section-377-gone-being-gay-no-more-a-crime-in-india/articleshow/65696771.cms?from=mdr|title=Section 377: SC rewrites history, homosexual behaviour no longer a crime|last=Rautray|first=Samanwaya|date=6 September 2018|work=The Economic Times|access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref> In striking down the colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, one judge said the landmark decision would "pave the way for a better future".<ref name="abcnews.go.com">{{cite web|title=India's Supreme Court strikes down law that punished gay sex|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indias-top-court-decriminalizes-homosexual-acts-57639411|website=ABC News|access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref>

However other parts of Section 377 were not struck down, and were the only parts of the penal code that could be used to prosecute homosexual rape of adults. With the replacement of the [[Indian Penal Code]] by the [[Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita]] in December 2023, there is no longer any language equivalent to Section 377, and as a result homosexual rape ceased to be illegal throughout India.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-bharatiya-nyaya-sanhita-2023 |title=The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/revised-criminal-law-bills-the-key-changes-explained/article67637348.ece |title=Revised criminal law bills: Key changes explained |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>

[[Homophobia]] is prevalent in India.<ref name=homophobia_1>{{cite news|title=Homophobia persists in India despite court reforms|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8618084/Homophobia-persists-in-India-despite-court-reforms.html|access-date=3 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (UK)]]|date=5 July 2011|location=London|first=Rahul|last=Bedi}}</ref><ref name="fear_BBC">{{cite news|title=Fear and loathing in gay India|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4304081.stm|access-date=3 April 2014|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=17 May 2005}}</ref> Public discussion of homosexuality in India has been inhibited by the fact that sexuality in any form is rarely discussed openly. In recent years, however, attitudes towards homosexuality have shifted slightly. In particular, there have been more depictions and discussions of homosexuality in the Indian media<ref name="fear_BBC"/><ref name=why_crime>{{cite news|title=Why should homosexuality be a crime?|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi-times/Why-should-homosexuality-be-a-crime/articleshow/187403.cms?|access-date=3 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=18 April 2003}}</ref> and cinema.<ref name=queer_bollywood>{{cite journal|last=Gopinath|first=Gayatri|title=Queering Bollywood: Alternative sexualities in popular Indian cinema|journal=Journal of Homosexuality|date=2000|volume=39|issue=3–4|pages=283–297|pmid=11133137|doi=10.1300/J082v39n03_13|s2cid=24260497}}</ref> Before striking down the colonial-era law several organisations have expressed support for decriminalising [[homosexuality]] in India, and pushed for tolerance and social equality for [[lesbian]], gay, [[bisexuality|bisexual]], [[transgender]], [[queer]] people, and others with [[Hijra (South Asia)|marginalised identities traditional to India]]. India is among countries with a social element of a [[third gender]]. Mental, physical, emotional and [[economic violence]] against the LGBT community in India continues to be a problem.<ref name=violence_DNA>{{cite news|title=Violence against LGBT groups still prevails in India|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-violence-against-lgbt-groups-still-prevails-in-india-1924112|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[DNA India]]|date=24 November 2013}}</ref> Lacking support from family, society or police, many gay rape victims do not report the crimes.<ref name=male_rape>{{cite news|title=Lacking support, male rape victims stay silent|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Lacking-support-male-rape-victims-stay-silent/articleshow/18524668.cms|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=16 February 2013|author=Priya M Menon|quote=I did not know how the police would treat a gay man.}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
Estimates on the LGBTQ population vary, with the Government of India submitting a figure of "at least 2.5 million" in 2012 based of self-declaration, and with activists estimating a figure of around 125 million people.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />

[[Multinational corporation|Multinational]] research firm [[Ipsos]] released report on LGBT+ Pride 2021 Global Survey conducted between 23 April and 7 May 2022. The survey was conducted as a 620 market survey conducted by Ipsos on its global advisor platform through interview on a sample of almost 50000 individuals in India. The report shows that 17% of the Indian population identify as [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] (Including [[Gay men|gay]] and [[lesbian]]), 9% identify as [[Bisexuality|bisexual]], 1% identify as [[Pansexuality|pansexual]], and 2% identify as [[Asexuality|asexual]]. 69% identified as [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]] (excluding 'do not know', and 'prefer not to answer').<ref name=":8" />

==History==
{{main|LGBT history in India}}
{{Main|Hinduism and LGBT topics|Kama|LGBT themes in Hindu mythology}}There were no legal restrictions on homosexuality or transsexuality for the general population of India prior to early modern period and colonialism, however certain dharmic moral codes forbade sexual misconduct (of both heterosexual and homosexual nature) among the upper class of persists and monks, and religious codes of foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam imposed homophobic rules on their populations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-04 |title=LGBT rights were accepted in ancient India, Sec 377 must be repealed: Amish Tripathi |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/lgbt-rights-were-accepted-in-ancient-india-sec-377-must-be-repealed-amish-tripathi/story-NFOnXL3rGVXECqTdg9SuXL.html |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref>

Many philosophical works by Hindu scholars listed homosexual acts among equivalent heterosexual acts as sexual misconduct, though punishments for the homosexual acts were often less severe than those for the heterosexual acts. These works were not aimed at the lay people but rather for the class of monks and priests who were often expected to abstain from sexual activity.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":12"/><ref name=":53"/>

Any homosexuals in the Islamic communities were persecuted more severely especially under the Islamic rule of the Mughal Empire, though Mughal leaders largely tolerated the cultures of the various Non-Muslim communities of India.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baillier |first=Neil B. E. |date=1875 |title=A digest of the Moohummudan law |url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up |access-date=May 10, 2021 |pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Khalid |first=Haroon |date=17 June 2016 |title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry |url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry |access-date=7 September 2018 |work=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=V. N. Datta |title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman |date=2012-11-27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |isbn=9788129126627 |quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=Of Genizahs, Sufi Jewish Saints, and Forgotten Corners of History – UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/global-judaism/sarmad-kashani-sufi-jewish/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kugle |first1=Scott A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309 |title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam |date=1 Sep 2011 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

From the early modern period, colonialism from Europe also brought with it more centralized legal codes that imposed Christian-European morals that were homophobic in nature, including criminalizing sex between two people of the same gender, and criminalizing transsexuality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Christensen |first=Kelly |date=December 2022 |title=A Legacy of Homophobia: Effects of British Colonization on Queer Rights in India and Uganda |url=https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2450 |journal=Global Studies 445: Capstone Seminar |via=Capstone Projects}}</ref>

In the 21st century following independence, there has been a significant amount of progress made on liberalizing LGBTQ laws and reversing the homophobia and transphobia of the previous colonial era.

There are punishments for homosexual sex listed in numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism, though these punishments should be taken into context with the likewise numerous punishments listed for heterosexual sex also listed within numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism.<ref name=":03"/> These punishments regardless of whether they are aimed are heterosexuality or homosexuality are not aimed at the lay people.<ref name=":53"/>

The [[Arthashastra]], an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, mentions a wide variety of sexual practices which, whether performed with a man or a woman, were sought to be punished with the lowest grade of fine. While homosexual intercourse was not permitted (along with heterosexual intercourse), it was treated as a very minor offence, and several kinds of [[heterosexual intercourse]] were punished more severely.<ref name="History1">{{harvnb|Vanita|Kidwai|2001|p=25}}</ref> Sex between non-virgin women incurred a small fine, while homosexual intercourse between men could be made up for merely with a bath with one's clothes on, and a penance of "eating the five products of the cow and keeping a one-night fast".<ref name="History1" />

The [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] mandated a common set of punishments for homosexuality, which could include 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, or death by stoning for a Muslim.<ref>{{cite web|last=Baillier|first=Neil B. E.|date=1875|title=A digest of the Moohummudan law|url=https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up|access-date=May 10, 2021|pages=1–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Khalid|first=Haroon|date=17 June 2016|title=From Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain to Amir Khusro, same-sex references abound in Islamic poetry|url=https://scroll.in/article/810007/from-bulleh-shah-and-shah-hussain-to-amir-khusro-same-sex-references-abound-in-islamic-sufi-poetry|access-date=7 September 2018|work=Scroll.in|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation|author=V. N. Datta|title=Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Sarman|date=2012-11-27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-bAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32|isbn=9788129126627|quote=Walderman Hansen doubts whether sensual passions played any part in their love [sic]; puri doubts about their homosexual relationship}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kugle|first1=Scott A|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&pg=PA309|title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam|date=1 Sep 2011|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=9780807872772 |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Homosexuality in Khajuraho sculpture.jpg
| caption1 = Erotic sculptures of two men (centre) at the Khajuraho temples
| image2 = Two women embracing and using carrots as dildoes. Gouache Wellcome L0033073.jpg
| caption2 = Two women using carrots as dildos, 20th century [[gouache]] painting
}}

==Legal status==
{{See also|LGBT rights in India}}
On 24 August 2017, India's [[Supreme court|Supreme Court]] gave the country's [[LGBT community]] the freedom to safely express their sexual orientation. Therefore, an individual's sexual orientation is protected under the country's Right to Privacy law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-verdict-says-sexual-orientation-part-of-privacy-lgbt-community-celebrates/story-wk3PFmNK0G2tCpBK4GyjZK.html |title=SC verdict says sexual orientation part of privacy, LGBT community celebrates |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |author=Dhrubo Jyoti |date=24 August 2017}}</ref> However, the Supreme Court did not directly overturn any laws criminalising same-sex relationships.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/india-declares-freedom-of-sexual-orientation-a-fundamental-right_us_599f574ee4b05710aa5b4194 |title=India Declares Freedom of Sexual Orientation A Fundamental Right |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |author=Doha Madani |date=24 August 2017}}</ref>

On 6 September 2018, consensual gay sex was legalised by India's Supreme Court.<ref name="sc_decriminalise">{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-de-criminalises-homosexuality-says-history-owes-lgbtq-community-an-apology/article24881549.ece?homepage=true|title=SC decriminalises homosexuality, says history owes LGBTQ community an apology|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=6 September 2018 |last1=Rajagopal |first1=Krishnadas }}</ref>

[[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code]] (IPC), dating back to 1861, makes sexual activities "against the order of nature" punishable by law and carries a life sentence.<ref name=1861_law>{{cite news|title=India's Supreme Court Restores an 1861 Law Banning Gay Sex|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/world/asia/court-restores-indias-ban-on-gay-sex.html|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=11 December 2013|first=Gardiner|last=Harris}}</ref> The law replaced the variety of punishments for [[Zina]] (unlawful intercourse<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kugle|first1=Scott A|title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam|date=1 September 2011|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |at=p. 309 Note 62-63 |isbn=9780807872772 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&q=Fatawa+Alamgiri+zina&pg=PA309|access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>) mandated in the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal empire]]'s [[Fatawa-e-Alamgiri]], these ranged from 50 lashes for a slave, 100 for a free infidel, to death by stoning for a Muslim.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/digestmoohummud00bailgoog#page/n57/mode/2up A digest of the Moohummudan law] pp. 1–3 with footnotes, Neil Baillie, Smith Elder, London</ref> Similarly the [[Goa Inquisition]] once prosecuted the capital crime of [[sodomy]] in [[Portuguese India]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Xavier was aware of the brutality of the Inquisition|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/66330/xavier-aware-brutality-inquisition.html|access-date=18 September 2017|work=Deccan Herald|date=27 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Sharma|first1=Jai|title=The Portuguese Inquisition in Goa: A brief history|url=http://indiafacts.org/the-portuguese-inquisition-in-goa-a-brief-history/|website=Indiafacts.org|access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref> but not [[lesbian]] acts.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Soyer|first1=Francois|title=Ambiguous Gender in Early Modern Spain and Portugal: Inquisitors, Doctors and the Transgression of Gender Norms|date=2012|isbn=9789004225299|page=45|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxqzbYdSeuYC&q=portuguese+inquisition+sodomy+goa&pg=PA45|access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref>

===Support for decriminalisation===
One leader, [[Akkai Padmashali]], was influential in the protests and demonstrations that eventually led to the repeal of [[Section 377]] of Indian Penal Code. She started the organisation "Ondede" in 2014, which envisioned a society that is non-discriminatory and gender-just. Ondede, meaning "convergence" in [[Kannada]], indicates Padmashali's vision for the society of India as a whole with a mission "To create a space for dialogue, support and strengthen action to visibilize issues of Dignity-Voice- Sexuality in relation to children, women ,and sexual minorities". The organization develops partnerships with community groups through social movements and engagement with the state and conduct research.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Several organisations, including the [[Naz Foundation (India) Trust]],<ref name="Anachronistic_law" /> the [[National AIDS Control Organisation]],<ref name="Anachronistic_law">{{cite news|title=Anachronistic law|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/anachronistic-law/article1348979.ece|access-date=3 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=1 October 2008|location=Chennai, India}}</ref> [[Law Commission of India]],<ref name="NGO_2004">{{cite web|title=UN 2004 – NGO statement: LGBT rights in India|url=http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/64|publisher=[[International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association]]|access-date=3 April 2014|location=[[Geneva]]|date=27 April 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407073329/http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/64|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> [[Ministry of Health and Family Welfare|Union Health Ministry]],<ref name="ramdoss_gay_rights">{{cite news|author=Kounteya Sinha |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-10-01/india/27901688_1_unaids-msms-ramadoss|archive-date=9 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009042809/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gay_rights_should_be_respected_prostitution_legalised_NHRC_chief/articleshow/3565933.cms |title=Ramadoss to take up gay rights issue with PM |newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=1 October 2008 |access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref> [[National Human Rights Commission of India]]<ref name="NHRC">{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gay_rights_should_be_respected_prostitution_legalised_NHRC_chief/articleshow/3565933.cms |title=Gay rights should be respected, prostitution legalised: NHRC chief |date=6 October 2008 |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=12 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009042809/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gay_rights_should_be_respected_prostitution_legalised_NHRC_chief/articleshow/3565933.cms |archive-date=9 October 2008 }}</ref> and the [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission]] of India<ref name="sex_work">{{cite news|url=http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/dec/hlt-legalise.htm|title=The silence around sex work|newspaper=India Together|access-date=3 April 2014|date=13 December 2005|author=Syeda Hameed|author-link=Syeda Saiyidain Hameed}}</ref> have expressed support for decriminalizing [[homosexuality]] in India.

In September 2006, [[Nobel Laureate]] [[Amartya Sen]], acclaimed writer [[Vikram Seth]] and other prominent Indians publicly demanded the repeal of section 377 of the IPC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/india/story/0,,1874833,00.html|title='India's Literary Elite Call for Anti-Gay Law to be Scrapped' | newspaper= [[The Guardian]]|location=London | first=Randeep | last=Ramesh | date=18 September 2006 | access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref> The open letter demanded that "In the name of humanity and of our Constitution, this cruel and discriminatory law should be struck down." On 30 June 2008, Indian [[Minister of Labour and Employment (India)|Labour Minister]] [[Oscar Fernandes]] backed calls for decriminalisation of consensual gay sex, and [[Prime Minister]] [[Manmohan Singh]] called for greater tolerance towards homosexuals.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Reverse_swing_It_may_be_an_open_affair_for_gays_lesbians/articleshow/3186187.cms | newspaper=[[The Economic Times]] | title=Reverse swing: It may be an open affair for gays, lesbians | date=2 July 2008|access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> On 23 July 2008, [[Bombay High Court]] Judge [[Justice Bilal Nazki|Bilal Nazki]] said that India's unnatural sex law should be reviewed.<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Unnatural-sex_law_needs_relook_Mumbai_HC/rssarticleshow/3276516.cms | title=Unnatural-sex law needs relook: Bombay HC| access-date=12 February 2009 | date=25 July 2008 | newspaper=[[The Times of India]] | author=Shibu Thomas}}</ref> The [[Law Commission of India]] had historically favoured the retention of this section in its 42nd and 156th report, but in its 172nd report, delivered in 2000, it recommended its repeal.<ref name="NGO_2004" /><ref name="rape_laws">{{cite web|title=Review of Rape Laws|url=http://www.lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/rapelaws.htm|publisher=[[Law Commission of India]]|access-date=4 April 2014|date=March 2000}}</ref>

On 9 August 2008, then [[Ministry of Health and Family Welfare|health minister]], [[Anbumani Ramadoss]] began his campaign for changing Section 377 of the [[Indian penal code]], which defines homosexuality as an unnatural act and thus illegal. At the [[International AIDS Conference]] in [[Mexico City]], he said, "Section 377 of IPC, which criminalises men who have sex with men, must go."<ref name="Mexico AIDS conference">{{cite news|author=Kounteya Sinha |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-08-09/india/27931000_1_hiv-epidemic-national-aids-control-organization-msms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025201512/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-08-09/india/27931000_1_hiv-epidemic-national-aids-control-organization-msms |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 October 2012 |title=Legalise homosexuality: Ramadoss |newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=9 August 2008 |access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref> His ministerial portfolio had put him at odds with the [[Minister of Home Affairs (India)|Indian Home Minister]] [[Shivraj Patil]] and several other ministers in seeking to scrap Section 377.<ref name="Ramdoss_PM">{{cite news|author=Kounteya Sinha |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-10-01/india/27901688_1_unaids-msms-ramadoss |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024230337/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-10-01/india/27901688_1_unaids-msms-ramadoss |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 October 2012 |title=Ramadoss to take up gay rights issue with PM |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |date=1 October 2008 |access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="patil_gay_laws">{{cite news|title=Gay laws: Patil's stand finds support in Cabinet|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/gay-laws-patil-s-stand-finds-support-in-cabinet/374459/|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=17 April 2008}}</ref> In late 2008, he changed his argument saying he does not want the scrapping of Section 377 but a mere modification of the law treating homosexuality as a criminal offence punishable up to [[life imprisonment]]. He said he wants Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]] to resolve the matter, while he wanted to avoid discord with the home ministry, who said the altered law would then result in an increase in criminal incidences of sodomy or offences involving sexual abuse of children, particularly boys. In doing so he alleged that the law even penalises health workers who treat homosexuals, while making this a cognisable and non-bailable offence.<ref name="Ramdoss_PM" />

Various Hindu organisations, based in India and abroad have supported decriminalisation of homosexual behaviours. In 2009, the [[Hindu Council UK]] became one of the first major religious organisations to support LGBT rights when they issued a statement "Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality".<ref name="news.rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm|title=Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality|date=3 July 2009|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref> [[Ravi Shankar (spiritual leader)|Ravi Shankar]], a prominent Hindu spiritual leader, has condemned sec 377 in a series of tweets, maintaining that "Hinduism has never considered homosexuality a crime" and "to brand a person a criminal based on sexual preference would be absurd".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.firstpost.com/india/homosexuality-not-a-crime-in-hinduism-says-sri-sri-ravi-shankar-1283843.html|title=Homosexuality not a crime in Hinduism, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar|work=Firstpost|date=12 December 2013 |access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

The [[United Nations]] has urged India to decriminalise homosexuality by saying it would help the fight against [[HIV]]/[[AIDS]] by allowing intervention programmes, much like the successful ones in [[China]] and [[Brazil]]. Jeffrey O'Malley, director of the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP) on HIV/AIDS, has stated countries which protect men who have sex with men ([[Men who have sex with men|MSM]]) have double the rate of coverage of HIV prevention services as much as 60%.<ref name="LGBT_Africans">{{cite news|title=LGBT Africans demand action on AIDS pandemic ahead of international conference|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2008/12/05/lgbt-africans-demand-action-on-aids-pandemic-ahead-of-international-conference/|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[Pink News]]|date=5 December 2008}}</ref> According to him, inappropriate criminalisation hinders universal access to essential HIV, health and social services.<ref name="UN_aids">{{cite web|title=Landmark Delhi High Court decision recognises inappropriate criminalisation as a barrier to health, human rights and dignity|url=http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2009/july/20090707msmlaw/|access-date=4 April 2014|date=7 July 2009|publisher=[[UNAIDS]]}}</ref> Later talking to ''[[The Hindu]]'' in November 2008, he added concerns that the then in power [[United Progressive Alliance]] government was in a difficult position in regards to amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code because of the then upcoming elections, as such changes could be misrepresented. He further emphasised the need to change the laws, sensitise the police and judiciary. According to him, after removal of discriminatory laws, marginalised groups would have better access to treatment and prevention facilities like condoms. He warned of the urgency and stated that India had succeeded in checking the spread of [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] through commercial sex workers but transmission through gay sex, and injectable-drug users was still an area of concern in the country.<ref name="un_official">{{Cite news| url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/09/stories/2008110952530900.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211235040/http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/09/stories/2008110952530900.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 December 2008 | location=Chennai, India | work=[[The Hindu]] | title=India going through social change: UN official | date=9 November 2008}}</ref>

In December 2013, The [[Samajwadi Party]] said that "Homosexuality is unethical and immoral" in response to a court decision upholding the constitutional validity of Criminalizing Homosexuality.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.news18.com/videos/politics/samajwadi-party-on-section-377-655768.html | title=Homosexuality is unethical and immoral: Samajwadi Party }}</ref>

In July 2014, a book on LGBTQIA and [[genderqueer]] rights published by Srishti Madurai was released by Vanathi Srinivasan, the general secretary of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. The move has been considered encouraging by members of the LGBTQIA community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/news/india/BJP-leader-launches-LGBT-rights-book-in-TN/articleshow/38157614.cms|title=BJP leader launches LGBT rights book in TN|work=Mumbai Mirror|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Its-a-great-honour-to-be-awarded-for-book-on-gender-variants-Gopi-Shankar/articleshow/38769130.cms|title=It's a great honour to be awarded for book on gender variants: Gopi Shankar|work=The Times of India|date=21 July 2014 |access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsminute.com/news_sections/646|title=Meet the BJP leader who released a book on LGBT rights|work=The News Minute|date=25 February 2015 |access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

[[Bharatiya Janata Party]] senior leader [[Arun Jaitley]] stated in February 2014 that he supported decriminalisation of homosexuality. On 13 January 2015, BJP spokesperson [[Shaina NC]], appearing on ''[[NDTV]]'', stated, "We [[BJP]] are for decriminalising homosexuality. That is the progressive way forward."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/XCOl7cJw5t3DgnQZsFYIFO/BJP-supports-decriminalization-of-homosexuality-Shaina-NC.html|title=BJP supports decriminalization of homosexuality: Shaina NC|author=Dhamini Ratnam|work=Livemint|date=14 January 2015 |access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

[[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] spokesperson [[Ram Madhav]] in an interview with national daily Business Standard said in May 2014: "But I can say this – that while glorification of certain forms of social behaviour is not something we endorse, the penalising and criminalisation aspects need to be looked into. Whether to call homosexuality a crime and treat it as one in this day and age is questionable."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rss-eases-stance-on-decriminalisation-of-gay-sex/article1-1223632.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529064621/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rss-eases-stance-on-decriminalisation-of-gay-sex/article1-1223632.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 May 2014|title=RSS eases stance on decriminalisation of gay sex|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref> This is interpreted as Sangh's support to decriminalisation of homosexuality.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In December 2015, Socialist [[Samajwadi Party]] Minister [[Azam Khan (politician)|Azam Khan]] who was the then Uttar Pradesh Minister for Urban Development labelled RSS members as "homosexuals" claiming that it was the reason for their supposed state of unmarriage. He made these derogatory remarks after learning of the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's and the BJP's support for decriminalisation of homosexuality. His local media in-charge Fasahat Ali Khan Shannu claimed that "the remarks of the minister are unnecessarily blown out of proportion, By referring to RSS, he meant to say that they are the ones reportedly behind the move to decriminalize Gay Sex in India. There is absolutely no place for such things in our Indian Culture. This is what the minister is trying to reinforce" and that "If they are supporting such a move to legalize gay sex then it is quite natural that they endorse the practice, which is perhaps the reason they don't marry.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/rss-volunteers-are-homosexuals-says-azam-khan/articleshow/50002003.cms | title=RSS volunteers are 'homosexuals', says Azam Khan | newspaper=The Times of India | date=December 2015 }}</ref>

On 6 March 2016, [[Srishti Madurai]]'s new website was launched by Dalit activist and Ambedkarite Ma.Venkatesan from BJP in the presence of Central Minister [[Pon Radhakrishnan]], Vanathi Srinivasan, [[Aravindan Neelakandan]], [[Joe D'Cruz]] and scores of [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] volunteers at Chennai.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/living/rss-flip-flop-on-homosexuality-indicates-gay-men-in-india-remain-in-exile-writes-ashok-row-kavi-2685296.html|title=RSS flip-flop on homosexuality indicates gay men in India remain in exile, writes Ashok Row Kavi|author=Firstpost|date=19 March 2016|work=Firstpost|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

In March 2018, [[Partha Chatterjee (politician)|Partha Chatterjee]], the then Education Minister of West Bengal from the [[Trinamool Congress]] said that "Lesbianism is against Bengali Culture" <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/west-bengal-education-minister-claims-he-has-never-heard-of-lesbians-in-the-state-says-its-against-bengals-ethos-4391245.html | title=West Bengal education minister claims he has 'never' heard of lesbians in the state, says it's against Bengal's 'ethos' | date=15 March 2018 }}</ref>

In September 2018, Dravidianist [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|DMK]] Treasurer Duraimurugan labelled gay marriages as most barbaric.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dtnext.in/tamilnadu/2018/09/13/gay-marriages-are-barbaric-says-duraimurugan | title=Gay marriages are barbaric, says Duraimurugan }}</ref>

In September 2018, Islamist [[AIMIM]] Head and MP [[Asaduddin Owaisi]] demanded the Government to overturn Criminalisation of Triple Talaq after India's Supreme Court decriminalized Homosexuality.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/triple-talaq-bill-asaduddin-owaisi-1573483-2019-07-25 | title=You are penalising women: Owaisi on triple talaq bill }}</ref>

In September 2022, Former Journalist and [[Trinamool Congress]] MP Kunal Ghosh equated homosexuality to perversion to derogatorily describe the death of Opposition Leader Suvendhu Adhikari's Bodyguard. He said "Adhikari tried to approach one of his bodyguards with his perverse sexual advances and later that bodyguard was found dead under mysterious circumstances". This was met with a protest by Queer Rights Activists.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/in-focus/queer-activists-hit-the-streets-protesting-kunal-ghoshs-homosexual-jibe-article-94254845 | title=Queer activists hit the streets protesting Kunal Ghosh's 'homosexual' jibe | date=16 September 2022 }}</ref>

In December 2022, Abdurahiman Randathani, a former legislator from [[Indian Union Muslim League]] claimed that "in the name of sexual education, the government was encouraging homosexuality and pervert acts like masturbation.”
<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/govt-encouraging-homosexuality-iuml-leader-on-new-school-curriculum-101670944328865.html | title='Govt encouraging homosexuality': IUML leader on new school curriculum | date=13 December 2022 }}</ref>

===Court proceedings and recent political legislation===
In December 2002, [[Naz Foundation (India) Trust|Naz Foundation]] filed a [[Public Interest Litigation]] (PIL) to challenge IPC Section 377 in the [[Delhi High Court]].<ref name="naz pil">{{cite web|url=http://www.nazindia.org/advocacy.htm|publisher=[[Naz Foundation (India) Trust]]|title=Advocacy: Section 377|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630065247/http://www.nazindia.org/advocacy.htm|archive-date=30 June 2012}}</ref> On 4 July 2008, the Delhi High Court noted that there was "nothing unusual" in holding a gay rally, something which is common outside India.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/high-court-dismisses-case-against-gay-rally/story-6WsvCLawczqNuQFLUse4EL.html|title=High Court dismisses case against gay rally|date=4 July 2008|work=hindustantimes.com/|access-date=11 May 2018|language=en}}</ref>

On 2 July 2009, in the case of ''[[Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi|Naz Foundation v National Capital Territory of Delhi]]'', the High Court of Delhi struck down much of S. 377 of the IPC as being unconstitutional. The Court held that to the extent S. 377 criminalised consensual non-vaginal sexual acts between adults, it violated an individual's fundamental rights to equality before the law, freedom from discrimination and to life and personal liberty under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the [[Constitution of India]]. The High Court did not strike down Section 377 completely. It held the section to be valid in case of non-consensual non-vaginal intercourse or to intercourse with minors, and it expressed the hope that Parliament would legislatively address the issue.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/21/india-gay-rights-law|title=A New Law for India's Sexual Minorities|newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location= London|date=21 July 2009|author=Yuvraj Joshi|access-date=12 December 2010}}</ref>

On 11 December 2013, on responding an appeal filed by an [[astrologer]] Suresh Kumar Koushal and others,<ref name="earth motion">{{cite news|title=It is like reversing the motion of the earth|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/it-is-like-reversing-the-motion-of-the-earth/article5483306.ece|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=21 December 2013|location=Chennai, India}}</ref> the [[Supreme Court of India]] upheld the constitutionality of Section 377 of the IPC, and stated that the Court was instead deferring to Indian legislators to provide the sought-after clarity.<ref name="SHYAMANTHA">{{cite news|last=Shyamantha|first=Asokan|title=India's Supreme Court turns the clock back with gay sex ban|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-india-rights-gay-idUSBRE9BA05620131211|access-date=11 December 2013|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|date=11 December 2013|archive-date=16 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216040454/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-india-rights-gay-idUSBRE9BA05620131211|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 28 January 2014, [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] dismissed the review petition filed by [[Central government of India|Central Government]], [[Naz Foundation (India) Trust|Naz Foundation]] and several others, against its 11 December verdict on Section 377 of IPC.<ref name="SC review">{{cite news|title=SC Dismisses Homosexuality Review Plea|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/SC-Dismisses-Homosexuality-Review-Plea/2014/01/28/article2024501.ece|access-date=4 April 2014|newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]]|date=28 January 2014}}</ref>

In January 2015, [[National Crime Records Bureau]] (NCRB) said that according to data collected, 778 cases were filed under Section 377 of IPC and 587 arrests were made in 2014 until October after the Supreme Court verdict. Some states are yet to submit their full data.<ref name="600Homosexuals">{{cite news|title=600 homosexuals arrested in 2014|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/451095/600-homosexuals-arrested-2014.html|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[Deccan Herald]]|date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

On 18 December 2015 [[Shashi Tharoor]], a member of the [[Indian National Congress]], introduced a [[Private Members Bill]] for the decriminalisation of [[Section 377]] of the Indian Penal Code in the [[Lok Sabha]], but the motion was rejected by house by a vote of 71–24 with one abstention.<ref>{{cite news|title=Shashi Tharoor's bill to decriminalise homosexuality defeated in Lok Sabha|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/shashi-tharoors-bill-to-decriminalise-homosexuality-defeated-in-ls/|access-date=26 August 2016|work=[[The Indian Express]]|date=18 December 2015}}</ref>

On 12 March 2016, Tharoor once again introduced a Private Members Bill for the decriminilsation of Section 377. However, the motion for introduction was yet again defeated by a division of 58–14 with one abstention.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lok Sabha votes against Shashi Tharoor's bill to decriminalise homosexuality. Again.|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/decriminalising-homosexuality-lok-sabha-votes-against-shashi-tharoors-bill-again/|access-date=26 August 2016|work=[[The Indian Express]]|date=12 March 2016}}</ref>

On 2 February 2016, the Supreme Court agreed to reconsider its 2013 judgment; it said it would refer petitions to abolish Section 377 to a five-member constitutional bench, which would conduct a comprehensive hearing of the issue.<ref name="refers">{{cite news|last=Rajagopal|first=Krishnadas|title=Supreme Court refers plea against Section 377 to five-judge Bench |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-refers-plea-against-section-377-to-5judge-bench/article8183860.ece?homepage=true|access-date=2 January 2016|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=2 January 2016}}</ref>

On 24 August 2016 a draft law for the ban of commercial surrogacy was cleared by the Union Cabinet and announced by [[Sushma Swaraj]], the [[Minister of External Affairs|Minister of External Affairs (India)]]. The draft bill denied homosexuals the right to have surrogate children, with Swaraj stating "We do not recognise live-in and homosexual relationships ... this is against our ethos".<ref>{{cite news|title=India proposes commercial surrogacy ban; live-ins, homosexuals worst hit|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-proposes-ban-on-commercial-surrogacy-homosexuals-live-ins-worst-hit/story-Vb1fKz0XSJPdCT7GbympkO.html|access-date=26 August 2016|work=[[hindustantimes]]|date=24 August 2016}}</ref>

On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court upheld that the right to individual privacy is an "intrinsic" and fundamental right under the constitution.<ref>{{cite web|title=India's Supreme Court Upholds Right to Privacy|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/24/indias-supreme-court-upholds-right-privacy|website=Human Rights Watch|access-date=19 November 2017|language=en|date=24 August 2017}}</ref> In its 547-page decision on privacy rights, the nine-judge bench also held that "sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy". The judgement noted, "Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual. Equality demands that the sexual orientation of each individual in society must be protected on an even platform. The right to privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution."<ref>{{cite web|title=India's Supreme Court Has Ruled That Sexual Orientation Is A Fundamental Privacy Right|url=https://www.themarysue.com/india-supreme-court-lgbt-privacy/|website=themarysue.com|date=27 August 2017 |access-date=19 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>

On 10 July 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the importance of the rights of the LGBT community. Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, in the proceedings of the court, held that choosing a partner was every person's fundamental right.<ref>{{cite news|title='Choosing a partner is a person's fundamental right'|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/state-parents-cant-influence-an-adults-choice-of-partner/article24384163.ece|website=The Hindu|date=10 July 2018 |access-date=12 July 2018|language=en|last1=Rajagopal |first1=Krishnadas }}</ref>

On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the part of section 377, a British-era provision, criminalising consensual homosexual activities. The court upheld that other aspects of section 377 criminalising unnatural sex with minors and animals will remain in force.<ref name="auto" />

==Recognition of same-sex couples==
{{See also|Recognition of same-sex unions in India|Supriyo v. Union of India|label 2=Same-sex Marriage Case}}
In February 2017, the [[Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]] unveiled resource material relating to health issues to be used as a part of a nationwide adolescent peer-education plan called ''Saathiya''. Among other subjects, the material discusses homosexuality. The material states, "Yes, adolescents frequently fall in love. They can feel attraction for a friend or any individual of the same or opposite sex. It is normal to have special feelings for someone. It is important for adolescents to understand that such relationships are based on mutual consent, trust, transparency, and respect. It is alright to talk about such feelings to the person for whom you have them but always in a respectful manner."<ref>{{cite web|date=21 February 2017|title=Same-sex attraction is OK, boys can cry, girl's no means no|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/same-sex-attraction-is-ok-boys-can-cry-girls-no-means-no-health-ministry-sex-education-4535410/|access-date=21 February 2017|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=21 February 2017|title=Homosexual attraction is OK; 'NO' means no: Health Ministry rises above Indian stereotypes|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/jobs/homosexual-attraction-is-ok-no-means-no-health-ministry-rises-above-indian-stereotypes/560227/|access-date=21 February 2017|website=The Financial Express}}</ref>

== Culture ==
{{See also|LGBT culture in India}}

=== Pride parades ===
[[File:Bangalore Gay Pride Parade (15).jpg|right|thumb|Gay Pride March in Bangalore (2013)]]
In 2005, Prince [[Manvendra Singh Gohil]], publicly came out as gay. He was disinherited as an immediate reaction by the royal family, though they eventually reconciled. He appeared on the American talk show ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'' on 24 October 2007,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/26look1.htm|title=India's gay prince appears on Oprah show|newspaper=[[Rediff]]|date=27 October 2007|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and on [[BBC Three]]'s ''[[Undercover Princes]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gtkyq | title=Undercover Princes|date=27 April 2011|access-date=4 April 2014|publisher=[[BBC Three]]}}</ref> In 2008, Zoltan Parag, a competitor at the Mr. Gay International contest, said that he was apprehensive about returning to India. He said, "Indian media has exposed me so much that now when I call my friends back home, their parents do not let them talk to me".<ref name=scared>{{cite news|title=I'm scared to return to India|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/fashion/i-m-scared-to-return-to-india/article1-273159.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407100617/http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/fashion/i-m-scared-to-return-to-india/article1-273159.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 April 2014|access-date=5 April 2014|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=1 February 2008}}</ref>

On 29 June 2008, five Indian cities ([[Delhi]], [[Bangalore]], [[Kolkata]], [[Indore]] and [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]]) celebrated gay pride parades. About 2,000 people turned out in these nationwide parades. Mumbai held its pride march on 16 August 2008, with [[Bollywood]] actress [[Celina Jaitley]] flagged off the festivities.<ref name="Mumbai's gay pride comes to fore">{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1183870|title=Mumbai's gay pride comes to fore|newspaper=[[DNA India]]|date=17 August 2008|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref> On 4 July 2008, the Delhi High Court, while hearing the case to decriminalise homosexuality, opined that there was nothing unusual in holding a gay rally, something which is common outside India.<ref name="HC gay rally">{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/redir.aspx?ID=219b4cdd-e168-4e97-8bf0-4707d19d5129 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20081211083105/http://www.hindustantimes.com/redir.aspx?ID=219b4cdd-e168-4e97-8bf0-4707d19d5129 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 December 2008 |title=High Court dismisses case against gay rally |newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=4 July 2008 |access-date=20 January 2011 }}</ref>

Days after the 2 July 2009 Delhi High Court verdict legalising homosexuality, ''[[Pink Pages]]'', India's first online LGBT magazine was released.<ref name=rainbow>{{cite news|title=Rainbow Chronicles|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/rainbow-chronicles/509187/0|access-date=5 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=31 August 2009}}</ref> On 16 April 2009, India's first gay magazine ''Bombay Dost'' originally launched in 1990,<ref name=rainbow /> was re-launched by [[Celina Jaitley]] in Mumbai.<ref name="bombay dost">{{cite news |url=http://www.bollywoodreloaded.com/632/celina-jaitley-at-re-launch-of-pro-gay-mag-bombay-dost.php |title=Celina Jaitley at re-launch of pro-gay mag Bombay Dost |newspaper=Bollywood Reloaded |date=19 April 2009 |access-date=20 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708082034/http://www.bollywoodreloaded.com/632/celina-jaitley-at-re-launch-of-pro-gay-mag-bombay-dost.php |archive-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 27 June 2009, [[Bhubaneswar]], the capital city of [[Odisha]], saw its first gay pride parade.<ref name="bbsr pride">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090628/jsp/nation/story_11167322.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090701044816/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090628/jsp/nation/story_11167322.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 July 2009 |title=Maiden rainbow pride walk |newspaper=[[The Telegraph (India)]] |location=[[Bhubaneswar]] |date=28 June 2009 |access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref> A day later, Union Law Minister [[Veerappa Moily]] announced that the Union Home Minister has convened a meeting with the Union Law Ministers, Union Health Ministers and Home Ministers of all states to evolve a consensus on decriminalising homosexuality in India.<ref name="rush 377">{{cite news|title=Centre won't rush Sec 377 repeal, says Moily|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/not-rushing-gay-law-repeal-moily/20090628.htm|access-date=5 April 2014|newspaper=[[Rediff]]|date=28 June 2009}}</ref> On 28 June 2009, Delhi and Bangalore held their second gay pride parades, and Chennai, generally considered to be a very conservative city, held its first.<ref name="city prep pride">{{cite news|title=City prepares for gay pride march|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-prepares-for-gay-pride-march/articleshow/4642420.cms|access-date=5 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=11 June 2009}}</ref><ref name="rejoice">{{cite news |title= Gay activists rejoice over Centre's plan, hold parades |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gay-activists-rejoice-over-Centres-plan-hold-parades/articleshow/4713107.cms |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |date= 29 June 2009 |access-date= 27 October 2016 }}</ref>

Mumbai has one of its own pride events, like [[Kashish Mumbai Queer Film Festival]] which was first held in 2010 from 22 to 25 April<ref name="queer film fest">{{cite news|title=Queer celebration at film festival in Mumbai|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-queer-celebration-at-film-festival-in-mumbai-1374110|access-date=6 April 2014|newspaper=[[DNA India]]|date=22 April 2010}}</ref> and in the next year 2011 from 25 to 29 May.<ref name="2nd edition">{{cite news|title=LGBT film festival kick starts second edition in Mumbai|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-lgbt-film-festival-kick-starts-second-edition-in-mumbai-1547650|access-date=6 April 2014|newspaper=[[DNA India]]|date=26 May 2011}}</ref> It was the first queer film festival in India and is held in a mainstream multiplex theater which screens LGBT films from all over the world.<ref name="2nd edition"/><ref name="pak iran kashish">{{cite news|title=Queer films from Pakistan, Iran head for Kashish|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-queer-films-from-pakistan-iran-head-for-kashish-1834780|access-date=6 April 2014|newspaper=[[DNA India]]|date=15 May 2013}}</ref> It has been recognised by [[Interpride]] as a pride event in India.<ref name=interpride>{{cite web|title=InterPride 2013 Annual Report|url=http://legacy.interpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IP_2013-Annual-Report1.pdf|publisher=[[InterPride]]|access-date=6 April 2014|archive-date=7 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085244/http://legacy.interpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IP_2013-Annual-Report1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Anjali gopalan.jpg|thumb|Asia's first [[Genderqueer]] Pride Parade at [[Madurai]] with [[Anjali Gopalan]] and [[Gopi Shankar Madurai]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/edex/One-Who-Fights-For-an-Other/2015/04/13/article2756559.ece|title=One Who Fights For an Other|work=The New Indian Express}}</ref>|left]]

[[Madurai]] celebrated city's first LGBTQ Rainbow festival on 29 July 2012, [[Anjali Gopalan]] inaugurated [[Alan Turing]] Rainbow festival and flagged off the Asia's first [[Gender queer]] pride parade as a part of Turing Rainbow festival organised by Srishti Madurai, a literary and resource circle for alternative gender and sexualities. It was established by Gopi Shankar a student of [[The American College in Madurai]] to eradicate social discrimination faced by the LGBT and [[Genderqueer]] community. The objective of the organisation in to highlight 20 different types of Genders.<ref name=madurai>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article3702689.ece|location=[[Madurai]] |title=Madurai comes out of the closet |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=30 July 2012 |access-date=6 April 2014 |first=D. |last=Karthikeyan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merinews.com/article/worldwide-gay-rights-as-a-social-movement-picks-up/15914647.shtml|title=Worldwide gay rights as a social movement picks up|access-date=15 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802091818/http://www.merinews.com/article/worldwide-gay-rights-as-a-social-movement-picks-up/15914647.shtml|archive-date=2 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 1 May 2011, [[Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival]] (KRPF) was formed to take the initiative of organising Pride Walk in Kolkata. Since then the initiative of Queer Pride Parade in Kolkata is being taken by KRPF. The 11th [[Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk]], held on 15 July 2012, was attended by more than 1500 people.<ref name="breaks record">{{cite news|title=Pride parade breaks record|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120716/jsp/calcutta/story_15733112.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407073347/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120716/jsp/calcutta/story_15733112.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 April 2014|access-date=6 April 2014|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (India)]]|date=16 July 2012|author=Mohua Das|location=[[Kolkata]]}}</ref> Kolkata hosted South Asia's first pride walk in 1999.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

[[Chandigarh]] held its first LGBT pride parade on 15 March 2013 and it has been held annually ever since.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/lgbts-come-out-of-closet-to-march-for-pride-identity-tomorrow/1087819/|title=LGBTs come out of closet, to march for pride, identity tomorrow|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

The first LGBT pride parade in [[Gujarat]] state was held at [[Surat]] on 6 October 2013.<ref name="gay gujarat">{{cite news|title=First gay parade held in India's Gujarat state|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10360598/First-gay-parade-held-in-Indias-Gujarat-state.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007132430/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10360598/First-gay-parade-held-in-Indias-Gujarat-state.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 October 2013|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (UK)]]|date=7 October 2013|access-date=5 April 2014|location=London}}</ref>

[[Rajasthan]] witnessed its first pride event on 1 March 2015, when a pride walk was held in [[Jaipur]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.hindustantimes.com/jaipur/pride-walk-lgbt-group-demands-social-economic-rights/article1-1322605.aspx|title=Pride walk: LGBT group demands social, economic rights|work=[[hindustantimes]]|date=15 May 2016}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

[[Awadh]] witnessed the first [[Awadh queer pride|Awadh Pride parade]] in 2017.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In 2013, India was represented by Nolan Lewis, a model, at the [[Mr Gay World]] [[Mr Gay World 2013|2013 contest]]. He had trouble finding sponsors. Previously, India had been represented at the [[Mr Gay World]] by Zoltan Parag Bhaindarkar in the 2008. He did not return to India and reportedly sought asylum in the United States.<ref name=mygayindia>{{cite news|title=Proud to be Out|url=http://www.tehelka.com/proud-to-be-out/|access-date=29 September 2014|work=[[Tehelka]]|date=17 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526134133/http://www.tehelka.com/proud-to-be-out/|archive-date=26 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Sushant Divgikar]], the winner of [[Mr Gay India]] 2014, was a contestant on the ''[[Bigg Boss]]'' reality show.<ref name=BigBoss>{{cite news|title=Bigg Boss contestant Sushant Divgikar hopes to sensitise TV viewers to LGBT cause|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Bigg-Boss-contestant-Sushant-Divgikar-hopes-to-sensitise-TV-viewers-to-LGBT-cause/articleshow/43251775.cms|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=23 September 2014}}</ref> On 26 July 2014, at [[Kochi]] the 5th All-Kerala Queer Pride Parade was held.<ref name=QueerPride>{{cite news|title=Queer Pride march in Kochi|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/queer-pride-march-in-kochi/article6253916.ece|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=27 July 2014}}</ref> It was organised by Queerala (a support group for the LGBT community) and Sahayathrika (a rights organisation for lesbian and bisexual women in Kerala).<ref name=KeralaPrideParade>{{cite news|title=Fifth Kerala LGBT parade pride held|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-fifth-kerala-lgbt-parade-pride-held-2005667|access-date=8 January 2015|work=[[DNA India]]|date=27 July 2014}}</ref>

== Social issues ==
{{Expand section|Numerous social issues can be discussed here|date=January 2024}}

=== Religious opposition ===
The 11 December 2013 judgment of the Supreme Court, upholding Section 377, was met with support from religious leaders.<ref name="dna rare unity">{{cite news |date=12 December 2013 |title=Rare unity: Religious leaders come out in support of Section 377 |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-rare-unity-religious-leaders-come-out-in-support-of-section-377-1933612 |access-date=4 April 2014 |newspaper=[[DNA India]]}}</ref> The main petitioner in the plea was an astrologer, Suresh Kumar Koushal, and other petitioners were religious organisations like [[All India Muslim Personal Law Board]], Trust God Missionaries, [[Krantikari Manuwadi Morcha]], Apostolic Churches Alliance, and Utkal Christian Council.<ref name="earth motion" /><ref name="livemint upholds">{{cite news |date=11 December 2013 |title=Supreme Court upholds Section 377 criminalising homosexual sex |url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/FHDQ9yB2jRJMsOlNCQrkgL/Supreme-Court-to-rule-on-legality-of-gay-sex-today.html |access-date=5 April 2014 |newspaper=[[Live Mint]]}}</ref> The ''[[Daily News and Analysis]]'' called it "the univocal unity of religious leaders in expressing their homophobic attitude. Usually divisive and almost always seen tearing down each other's religious beliefs, leaders across sections came forward in decrying homosexuality and expressing their solidarity with the judgment." The article added that Baba [[Ramdev]] India's well-known yoga guru, after advising that journalists interviewing him not to turn homosexual, stated he could cure homosexuality through yoga and called it a bad addiction.<ref name="dna rare unity" />

The [[Vishwa Hindu Parishad]]'s vice-president Om Prakash Singhal said, "This is a right decision, we welcome it. Homosexuality is against Indian culture, against nature, and against science. We are regressing, going back to when we were almost like animals. The SC had protected our culture." Singhal further dismissed HIV/AIDS concerns within the LGBT community saying, "It is understood that when you try to suppress one anomaly, there will be a break-out of a few more."<ref name="dna rare unity" />

[[Maulana]] Madni, of an Islamic organisation, [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind]], has echoed similar sentiments by stating that "[[LGBT in Islam|Homosexuality is a crime according to scriptures]] and is unnatural. People cannot consider themselves to be exclusive of a society... In a society, a family is made up of a man and a woman, not a woman and a woman, or a man and a man. If these same-sex couples adopt children, the child will grow up with a skewed version of a family. Society will disintegrate. If we are to look at countries in the West who have allowed same-sex marriages, you will find the mental tensions they suffer from."<ref>{{cite web |date=April 2023 |title="Marriage of Opposite Sexes Central to Indian Legal Regime": Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Opposes Pleas in SC Seeking Recognition for Same-Sex Marriages |url=https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-jamiat-ulama-i-hind-marriage-of-opposite-sexes-225337}}</ref>

Rabbi [[Ezekiel Isaac Malekar]], honorary secretary of the Judah Hyam Synagogue, in upholding the judgement, was also quoted as saying "In [[Judaism]], our [[Homosexuality in the Bible|scriptures]] do not permit homosexuality." Reverend Paul Swarup of the [[Cathedral Church of the Redemption]] in Delhi in stating his views on what he believes to be the unnaturalness of homosexuality, stated "Spiritually, human sexual relations are identified as those shared by a man and a woman. The Supreme Court's view is an endorsement of our scriptures.

=== Conversion therapy ===
In February 2014, the [[Indian Psychiatric Society]] (IPS) issued a statement in which it stated that there is no evidence to prove that homosexuality is unnatural: "Based on existing scientific evidence and good practice guidelines from the field of psychiatry, the Indian Psychiatric Society would like to state that there is no evidence to substantiate the belief that homosexuality is a mental illness or a disease."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Iyer |first1=Malathy |date=7 February 2014 |title=Homosexuality is not a disease, psychiatrists say |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Homosexuality-is-not-a-disease-psychiatrists-say/articleshow/29965430.cms |work=The Times of India}}</ref> In June 2018, IPS reiterated its stance on homosexuality saying: "Certain people are not cut out to be heterosexual and we don't need to castigate them, we don't need to punish them, to ostracize them".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Power |first1=Shannon |date=8 June 2018 |title=India's biggest psychiatric body declares homosexuality is not an illness |url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/indias-biggest-psychiatric-body-declares-homosexuality-is-not-an-illness/ |website=Gay Star News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pratap |first=Aayushi |date=6 June 2018 |title=Stop treating homosexuality as an illness, says Indian Psychiatric Society |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/stop-treating-homosexuality-as-an-illness-says-indian-psychiatric-society/story-EqoFV1KjFE0mxAxOimX8oN.html |access-date=2 September 2019 |work=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref>

Despite this statement from the IPS, conversion therapies are still performed in India. These practices usually involve [[electroconvulsive therapy]] (which may lead to memory loss), hypnosis, the administration of nausea-inducing drugs, or more commonly talk therapy where the individual is told that homosexuality is caused by "insufficient male affirmation in childhood" or "an uncaring father and an overbearing mother". Conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, seizures, drug use and suicidal tendencies for the individuals involved.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Amrita |date=1 June 2016 |title=From Shock Treatment To Yoga, Conversion Therapy Is A Disturbing Reality Around The World |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.in/youth-ki-awaaz-/how-therapy-to-convert-qu_b_10201948.html |work=HuffPost India |language=en-IN}}</ref>

=== ''S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police'' ===
{{Main|S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police}}

On 28 April 2021 [[Madras High Court]] Justice [[N Anand Venkatesh]] passed an interim orders in response to a petition filed by two young women with same sex orientation. According to the order, in an unprecedented move, he decided to undergo psycho-education before penning a judgment on same sex relationships.<ref name=":0">{{Cite court|litigants=S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police|pinpoint=W.P.No. 7284 of 2021|court=[[Madras High Court]]|url=https://images.assettype.com/barandbench/2021-06/cbae3182-93ff-4d60-a3d9-83dbfa849cf9/S_Sushma_v_Commissioner_of_Police.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=S |first=Mohamed Imranullah |date=2021-04-29 |title=Judge wants to learn about same sex relationships before penning judgment |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/judge-wants-to-learn-about-same-sex-relationships-before-penning-judgment/article34434837.ece |access-date=2021-06-08 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref name="abcnews.go.com" />

Justice [[N Anand Venkatesh]] said that psyhco-educative counseling on queer issues helped him shed his personal ignorance and prejudices. He clearly stated in the judgment that the responsibility to change, the burden of unlearning stigma, and learning about the lived experience of the queer community lies on the society and not the queer individuals.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Tripathi |first=Karan |date=2021-06-07 |title=Society Needs to Change, Not the LGBTQIA+ Couples: Madras HC |url=https://www.thequint.com/news/law/society-needs-to-change-not-the-lgbtqia-couples-madras-hc |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=TheQuint |language=en}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=It was I (us), who has to set off on a journey of understanding them and accepting them and shed our notions, and not they who have to turn themselves inside out to suit our notions of social morality and tradition|author=Justice [[N Anand Venkatesh]]|source=Page number 50 out of 104}}

The court recognized that there's an absence of a specific law to protect the interests of queer people and acknowledged it is the responsibility of the constitutional courts to fill this vacuum with necessary directions to ensure the protection of such couples from harassment sourced from stigma and prejudices.<ref name=":4" />

{{Blockquote|text=Till the legislature comes up with an enactment, the LGBTQIA+ community cannot be left in a vulnerable atmosphere where there is no guarantee for their protection and safety.|author=Justice [[N Anand Venkatesh]]|source=Page number 55 out of 104}}

On 7 June 2021, in delivering the verdict on this case, Justice [[N Anand Venkatesh]] prohibited [[Conversion therapy|Conversion Therapy]] in [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]. He suggested comprehensive measures to sensitise the society and various branches of the State including the Police and judiciary to remove prejudices against the LGBTQIA+ community. He suggested that changes be made to the curricula of schools and universities to educate students on understanding the LGBTQIA+ community.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Krishnan |first=Murali |title=[BREAKING] Madras High Court bans medical attempts to cure sexual orientation; suggests changes to school curricula to educate students on LGBTQ |url=https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/madras-high-court-bans-medical-attempts-cure-sexual-orientation-changes-school-curricula-lgbtq |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=Bar and Bench – Indian Legal news |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-07 |title=Madras High Court bans medical attempts to "cure" sexual orientation, issues guidelines for LGBTQIA+ community safety |url=https://www.indialegallive.com/constitutional-law-news/courts-news/madras-high-court-bans-medical-attempts-to-cure-sexual-orientation-issues-guidelines-for-lgbtqia-community-safety/ |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=India Legal |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[LGBT culture in India]]
* [[:Category:Indian LGBT people]]
* [[Hijra (South Asia)]]
* [[Kothi (gender)]]
{{div col end}}

===Organisations===
* [[Trikone]]

===Religious views===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[LGBT topics and Hinduism]]
* [[LGBT themes in Hindu mythology]]
* [[Buddhism and sexual orientation]]
* [[Sikhism and sexual orientation]]
* [[Zoroastrianism and sexual orientation]]
* [[LGBT in Islam]]
* [[Christianity and homosexuality]]
* [[Homosexuality and the Bahá'í Faith]]
{{div col end}}

===Media===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''The World of Homosexuals'' by [[Shakuntala Devi#Book on homosexuality|Shakuntala Devi]] the "Human Computer", 1977
* [[Pink Pages]], India's National LGBT magazine
* ''[[Gaylaxy]]''
* [[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]]
{{div col end}}

===Related===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Catamite]]
* [[Greek love]]
* [[History of erotic depictions]]
* [[History of human sexuality]]
* [[History of homosexuality]]
* [[Homosexuality in ancient Greece]]
* [[Homosexuality in ancient Rome]]
* [[Homosexuality in China]]
* [[Homosexuality in Japan]]
* [[Human rights in India]]
* [[Kagema]]
* [[Male sexuality]]
* [[Pederasty in ancient Greece]]
* [[Sexuality in India]]
* [[Wakashū]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Vanita |first1=Ruth |author-link1=Ruth Vanita |last2=Kidwai|first2=Saleem|author-link2=Saleem Kidwai|title=Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History |year=2001|edition=1st |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-29324-6}}
*{{Cite book|last=Daniélou |first=Alain |author-link=Alain Daniélou |title=The Complete Kama Sutra |url=http://planetreports.blogspot.in/2013/07/kamasutra-book-pdf.html |year=1994 |publisher=Park Street Press |isbn=978-0-89281-492-3 }}
*{{Cite book|last=Narrain |first=Arvind |author2=Gautam Bhan |title=Because I Have a Voice: Queer Politics in India |year=2006 |publisher=Yoda Press |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-902272-2-3 }}
*Paola Bacchetta. "Queer Formations in (Hindu) Nationalism." In Sexuality Studies, edited by Sanjay Srivasta, 121–140. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2013.
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==

===Books===
*{{Cite book|last=Merchant |first=Hoshang |author-link=Hoshang Merchant |title=Yaraana: Gay Writing from India |year=1999 |publisher=Penguin |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-0-14-027839-2 }} (1st ed.)
*{{Cite book|last=Thadani |first=Giti |title=Sakhiyani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India |year=1996 |publisher=Cassell |location=London |isbn=978-0-304-33451-3 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |author-link=Ruth Vanita |title=[[Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West]] |year=2005 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4039-7038-1}}
*{{Cite book|last=Joseph |first=Sherry |title=Social Work Practice and Men Who Have Sex With Men |year=2005 |publisher=Sage Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, CA|isbn=978-0-7619-3352-6 }}
*{{Cite book|last=Nanda |first=Serena|author-link=Serena Nanda |title=Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India |year=1998 |publisher=Wadsworth Publishing |location=US |isbn=978-0-534-50903-3 }} (2nd ed.)
*{{Cite book|last=Shahani |first=Parmesh|title=GayBombay: Globalization Love and Belonging in Contemporary India |year=2008 |publisher=Sage |location=US; India}}

===Articles===
* {{cite web|author1=Soumya Sankar Bose|author-link=Soumya Sankar Bose|title=Full Moon in a Dark night: 'Fundamental Human Rights'|url=http://soumyasankarbose.in/full-moon-in-a-dark-night/|access-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210124228/http://soumyasankarbose.in/full-moon-in-a-dark-night/|archive-date=10 December 2017|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|author1=Udayan|title=Men of Faith ISKCON's openly Gay Vaishnavas...and how they are changing one of the world's largest Hindu spiritual orders.|url=http://pink-pages.co.in/features/religion/men-of-faith/|publisher=Pink Pages|date=2010}}
* {{cite web|author1=Vikram Seth|author-link=Vikram Seth|title=Open Letter: 'Section 377 Violates Fundamental Human Rights'|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Section-377-Violates-Fundamental-Human-Rights/232514|publisher=[[Outlook India]]|date=16 September 2006}}

=== Judgements ===

* {{Cite court|litigants=S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police|court=[[Madras High Court]]|pinpoint=W.P.No. 7284 of 2021|url=https://images.assettype.com/barandbench/2021-06/cbae3182-93ff-4d60-a3d9-83dbfa849cf9/S_Sushma_v_Commissioner_of_Police.pdf}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Navboxes|list=
{{LGBT in India}}
{{Social issues in India}}
{{Asia in topic|Homosexuality in}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Homosexuality in India}}
[[Category:Sex laws in India]]
[[Category:LGBT in India]]
[[Category:Sexuality in India]]
[[Category:Social issues in India]]

Hinduism and LGBTQ topics

2024-02-06T12:18:30Z

Timovinga: /* Hindu texts */ SYN

{{Short description|Hindu views on LGBT issues}}

'''Hindu views of homosexuality''' and [[LGBT]] (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) issues more generally are diverse, and different [[Hinduism|Hindu]] groups have distinct views.

India under Hinduism did not have legal or moral restrictions on homosexuality or transsexuality for the general population prior to early modern period (Islam) and colonialism (Christianity), however certain dharmic moral codes forbade sexual misconduct (of both heterosexual and homosexual nature) among the upper class of persists and monks, and religious codes of foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam imposed homophobic rules on their populations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-04 |title=LGBT rights were accepted in ancient India, Sec 377 must be repealed: Amish Tripathi |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/lgbt-rights-were-accepted-in-ancient-india-sec-377-must-be-repealed-amish-tripathi/story-NFOnXL3rGVXECqTdg9SuXL.html |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref name="hrc.org">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> Hinduism also describes a [[third gender]] that is equal to other genders and documentation of the third gender are found in ancient Hindu and Buddhist medical texts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=Shiva Prakash |last2=Chandrasekaran |first2=Sruti |date=2020 |title=Transsexualism in Hindu Mythology |journal=Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=235–236 |doi=10.4103/ijem.IJEM_152_20 |issn=2230-8210 |pmc=7539026 |pmid=33083261 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Numerous Hindu texts have portrayed [[homosexual]] experience as natural and joyful,<ref>{{Cite book | last = Bonvillain| first = Nancy| author-link = Nancy Bonvillain| title = Women and men: cultural constructs of gender| publisher = [[Prentice Hall]]| year = 2001| page = 281| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xiG1AAAAIAAJ&q=hinduism+homosexuality+expressions+of+human+desire| isbn = 978-0-13-025973-8}}</ref> the [[Kama Sutra|Kamasutra]] affirms and recognises same-sex relations,<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cush|first1=Denise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3N4mGlbutbgC|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last2=Robinson|first2=Catherine|last3=York|first3=Michael|date=2012-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-18978-5|pages=354|language=en}}</ref> and there are several Hindu temples which have carvings that depict both men and women engaging in homosexual acts.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Keene| first = Manu |title = Religion in Life and Society| publisher = Folens Limited| year = 2002| page = 58| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I4AVbUIIygQC&pg=PA58| isbn = 978-1-84303-295-3}}</ref>

There are numerous Hindu deities that are shown to be [[Non-binary gender|gender-fluid]] and falling into the LGBT spectrum.<ref name="Cousins 2014 p. 1158">{{cite book | last=Cousins | first=L.H. | title=Encyclopedia of Human Services and Diversity | publisher=SAGE Publications | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4833-4665-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Spd0BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1158 | access-date=2023-04-04 | page=1158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Devor|first1=Aaron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3mFDwAAQBAJ&q=hindu+deities+gender+fluid&pg=PA16|title=Transgender: A Reference Handbook|last2=Haefele-Thomas|first2=Ardel|date=2019-02-15|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-5691-4|pages=16|language=en}}</ref> Same-sex relations and [[gender variance]] have been represented within Hinduism from ancient times through to the present day, in rituals, law books, religious or narrative mythologies, commentaries, paintings, and even sculptures. There are certain characters in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' who, according to some versions of the epic, change genders, such as [[Shikhandi]], who is sometimes said to be born as a female but identifies as male and eventually marries a woman. [[Bahuchara Mata]] is the goddess of fertility, worshipped by ''hijras'' as their patroness.

The [[Arthashastra]] argues that some homosexual intercourse is an offence, and encourages chastity (however, this also applies to heterosexual intercourse). The [[Dharmaśāstra|Dharmashastra]] recognises the existence of [[homosexuality]], without openly condemning it in religious or moral terms. The [[Manusmriti]] regards homosexual (as well as heterosexual) acts in an ox cart as a source of ritual pollution, something to be expiated by Brahmin males through ritual immersion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Jyoti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXmAAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmruti+homosexuality&pg=PA180 |title=Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96266-1 |pages=180 |language=en}}</ref> These commentaries were written as guides for sexual misconduct (heterosexual and homosexual) among the upper class of persists and monks.<ref name="hrc.org"/> In Maniusmirti and the Arthashastra of Kautilya homosexual contacts are compared to having sex with menstruating woman which is sinful and demand doing purification ritual. The Dharmashastras perceives advantage of conceiving sons by heterosexual marriage, acknowleding other types of relationship grudgingly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Qrius |date=2023-07-19 |title=What do Manusmriti and Dharmashastra have to say about homosexuality? |url=https://qrius.com/what-do-manusmriti-and-dharmashastra-have-to-say-about-homosexuality/ |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Qrius}}</ref>

Academic works have citied cases of Hindu priests performing same sex marriages in temples in numerous cases since independence from colonialism.<ref name="Endsjø 2012 p. 164">{{cite book |last=Endsjø |first=D.Ø. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YyWP_ZAJuQC&pg=PA164 |title=Sex and Religion: Teachings and Taboos in the History of World Faiths |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-86189-988-0 |series=Espiritualidad y religión |page=164 |access-date=2023-04-05}}</ref> Hindu bodies in several countries have also voiced support to campaigns backing same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Same-sex marriage: Australia's Hindu clergy group offers support to "Yes" campaign |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/malayalam/en/article/same-sex-marriage-australias-hindu-clergy-group-offers-support-to-yes-campaign/fc86zz1wi |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=SBS Language |language=en}}</ref>

In 2009, the [[Delhi High Court]] legalised [[homosexuality in India]], but the [[Supreme Court of India]] subsequently overturned the high court's decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/FHDQ9yB2jRJMsOlNCQrkgL/Supreme-Court-to-rule-on-legality-of-gay-sex-today.html|title=Supreme Court upholds Section 377 criminalizing homosexual sex|last=Monalisa|date=11 December 2013|website=[[Livemint]]}}</ref> The Supreme Court of India, [[Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India|in a later ruling in 2018]], reversed its previous verdict and decriminalised homosexual intercourse and relationships.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 September 2018|title=India court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-45429664|access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref>

==Contemporary Hindu society==
{{quote box|width=35em|align=right|quote="Hindu society had a clear cut idea of all these people in the past. Now that we have put them under one label ‘LGBT’, there is lot more confusion and other identities have got hidden."<ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/no-more-under-siege/article5247859.ece | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu | first=A. | last=Shrikumar | title=No more under siege | date=October 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glreview.org/article/the-many-genders-of-old-india/|title=The Many Genders of Old India|website=The Gay & Lesbian Review|date=2 March 2015 }}</ref> |source=— [[Gopi Shankar Madurai]] in National Queer Conference 2013}}

Sexuality is rarely discussed openly in contemporary Hindu society, especially in modern [[India]] where homosexuality was illegal until a brief period beginning in 1860, due to colonial [[British India|British laws]].<ref>From section 377 of the [[Indian Penal Code]]: ''Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.''</ref> In 2009, The [[Delhi]] High Court in a historic judgement decriminalised homosexuality in [[India]]; where the court noted that the existing laws violated fundamental rights to personal liberty (Article 21 of the [[Indian Constitution]]) and equality (Article 14) and prohibition of discrimination (Article 15).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://qz.com/india/1379620/section-377-a-timeline-of-indias-battle-for-gay-rights/ |title=Timeline: The Struggle Against Section 377 Began Over Two Decades Ago |last=Thomas |first=Maria |date=September 6, 2018 |website=Quartz India |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5388231/india-decriminalizes-homosexuality-section-377/ |title=India's Supreme Court Decriminalizes Homosexuality in a Historic Ruling for the LGBT Community |last=Kidangoor |first=Abhishyant |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906091358/https://time.com/5388231/india-decriminalizes-homosexuality-section-377/ |archive-date=September 6, 2018 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> However, the Supreme Court of India re-affirmed the penal code provision and overturned the Delhi High Court decision, effectively re-instating the legal ban on homosexuality in which penalties included life imprisonment<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-12/india/45120907_1_delhi-hc-section-377-ipc-supreme-court | work=The Times Of India | title=Supreme Court makes homosexuality a crime again - The Times of India | date=12 December 2013 | access-date=2017-11-13 | archive-date=2013-12-14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214062847/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-12/india/45120907_1_delhi-hc-section-377-ipc-supreme-court | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/no-separate-proposal-to-repeal-or-amend-section-377-govt/ | work=The Hindustan Times | title=No separate proposal to repeal or amend section 377 : govt}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/no-separate-proposal-to-repeal-or-amend-section-377-government/articleshow/45618509.cms | work=Economic Times | title=No separate proposal to repeal or amend section 377 : govt | date=23 December 2014}}</ref> until September 6, 2018, when Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality. Furthermore, LGBT people are often subjected to torture, executions and fines by non-government affiliated vigilante groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/07/18/india-prosecute-rampant-honor-killings|title=India: Prosecute Rampant 'Honor' Killings|date=18 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/sAYrieZdZKEybKzhP8FDbP/Being-LGBT-in-India-Some-home-truths.html|title=Being LGBT in India: Some home truths|first=Rashmi|last=Patel|date=27 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/07/29/lesbian-newlyweds-flee-honor-killing-threats-in-india/|title=Lesbian newlyweds flee honor killing threats in India}}</ref>

[[Hinduism]] is not known to ban homosexuality. [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] factions have a varied opinion on the legalisation of [[homosexuality]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lgbtq-community-part-of-society-mohan-bhagwat-keeps-up-with-times-1919153 |title="LGBTQ community Part of Society": Mohan Bhagwat Keeps Up With Times |last=Sethi |first=Nidhi |date=September 20, 2018 |website=NDTV |access-date=July 10, 2021}}</ref> In the last thirty years, homosexuality has become increasingly visible in the print and audio-visual media, with many out LGBT people, an active LGBT movement, and a large Indian LGBT presence on the Internet. From the 1990s onward, modern gay and lesbian Hindu organizations have surfaced in India's major cities and in 2004, plausible calls were made for the first time to repeal India's laws against homosexuality.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/world/asia/19iht-letter.html |title=Attitudes, and the law, keep India's gays quiet |last=Gentleman |first=Amelia |website=New York Times |date=January 19, 2006 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108175707/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/world/asia/19iht-letter.html |archive-date=January 8, 2016}}</ref>

[[Deepa Mehta]]'s 1996 film ''[[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]]'', which depicts a romantic relationship between two Hindu women, was informally banned for "religious insensitivity"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116308/trivia |title=Fire Trivia |website=IMDB |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> after the screening of the movie was disrupted on the grounds that it denigrated Indian culture, not on the grounds of homophobia per se, a position shared and confirmed by feminist Madhu Kishwar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_es/s_es_kishw_naive_frameset.htm|title=Naive Outpourings|website=www.infinityfoundation.com|quote=A small handful of Shiv Sainiks in Bombay and an even smaller number in Delhi disrupted the screening of the film at a couple of theatres.}}</ref> In addition, [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] who were in power in India at the time, refused to ban it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1526/15260430.htm|title=Furore over a film |first=Praveen |last=Swami |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Similar protests occurred in 2004 against the lesbian-themed film ''Girlfriend'' — even though the portrayal of lesbianism was this time distinctly unsympathetic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3805905.stm |title='Girlfriend' causes India storm |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |website=[[BBC News]] |date=June 14, 2002 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/62004/bollywood.html|title=Lesbian-Themed Bollywood Films Provoke Violence, Dialogue |first=Sarah |last=Warn |date=June 2004 |publisher=AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com}}</ref> Several [[human-rights]] groups such as the [[People's Union for Civil Liberties]] have asserted that sexual minorities in India face severe discrimination and violence, especially those from rural and lower-caste backgrounds.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=People's Union of Civil Liberties |url=http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2003/sexual-minorities.htm |title=Human Rights Violations Against Sexuality Minorities in India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030308105733/http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2003/sexual-minorities.htm |archive-date=March 8, 2003 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

In her book, ''[[Love's Rite]]'',<ref>{{cite book|title=Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=2005|author=Ruth Vanita}}</ref> Ruth Vanita examines the phenomenon of same-sex weddings, many by Hindu rites, which have been reported by the Indian press over the last thirty years and with increasing frequency. In the same period, same-sex joint suicides have also been reported. Most of these marriages and suicides are by lower-middle-class female couples from small towns and rural areas across the country; these women have no contact with any LGBT movements. Both cross-sex and same-sex couples, when faced with family opposition, tend to resort to either elopement and marriage or to joint suicide in the hope of reunion in the next life. Vanita examines how Hindu doctrines such as rebirth and the genderlessness of the soul are often interpreted to legitimize socially disapproved relationships, including same-sex ones. In a 2004 survey, most — though not all — [[swami]]s said they opposed the concept of a Hindu-sanctified gay marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |title=Discussions on Dharma |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726045115/http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |website=Hinduism Today |date=December 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> But several Hindu priests have performed same-sex marriages, arguing that love is the result of attachments from previous births and that marriage, as a union of spirit, is transcendental to gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1357249.stm |title=Gay couple hold Hindu wedding |last=Singh |first=Jyotsna |date=29 May 2001 |website=BBC News |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc24b62d8bece96593d6041cc48a3f54 |title=As Tide Turns on Same-Sex Marriage, Churches Lag Behind |date=March 24, 2006 |website=New America Media |last=Roy |first=Sandip |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306041528/http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc24b62d8bece96593d6041cc48a3f54 |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

Later, Vanita condenses the ideas in her book into an article, "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions and Modern India".<ref>Vanita, Ruth. "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 47-60. jstor.org (accessed February 9, 2014).</ref> Here, she summarizes specific cases in which women specifically committed joint-suicides, were married and separated, or successfully married. She points out three different "forces that have helped female couples".<ref>Vanita, Ruth. "Same-sex Weddings, Hindu Traditions, and Modern India." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 53. jstor.org (accessed February 9, 2014).</ref> These are: the law courts, the media, and some Hindu authorities (such as the swamis mentioned earlier in this article) from her book. When female couples can stay together under the social pressures and get to the courts, the courts generally hold up their decisions, holding to the fact that the women are consenting adults. While this does not necessarily stop the harassment, it does lend the couple further legitimacy under the laws. In addition, the more successful same-sex marriages of women are those in which the women are financially independent. If they have social support from their families and community—for the most part—then they may be able to live in peace together. The media may also play an important role in same-sex marriages. In drawing attention to their marriages, women who do not necessarily know about LGBT rights groups may be contacted and supported by those groups after media attention. However, the flip side of this is that the anti-LGBT groups also may reach out against their marriage.

Psychoanalyst [[Sudhir Kakar]] writes that Hindus are more accepting of "deviance or eccentricity" that are adherents of Western religions, who typically treat sexual variance as "anti-social or psychopathological, requiring 'correction' or 'cure'".<ref>Kakar, Sundir (1981). ''The Inner World: A Psycho-analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India.'' Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 39</ref> Hindus, he argues, believe instead that each individual must fulfill their personal destiny (''svadharma'') as they travel the path towards [[moksha]] (transcendence).

Commenting on the legalisation of homosexuality in India; Anil Bhanot, general secretary of The [[United Kingdom]] Hindu Council said: "The point here is that the homosexual nature is part of the natural law of God; it should be accepted for what it is, no more and no less. Hindus are generally conservative but it seems to me that in ancient India, they even celebrated sex as an enjoyable part of procreation, where priests were invited for ceremonies in their home to mark the beginning of the process."<ref name="news.rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm|title='Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality' - Rediff.com India News|website=news.rediff.com}}</ref>

A high-ranking member of the influential right-wing Hindu group [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) has publicly stated that he does not believe homosexuality should be illegal, and that the RSS had no official stance on this issue since it was a matter of personal preference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rss-gay-sex-homosexuality-article-377/|title=Homosexuality not a crime: RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale|date=18 March 2016}}</ref> After the Supreme Court of India [[Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India|struck down]] parts of [[Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code]], the RSS stated that while relationships between people of the same gender are unnatural, it is not a criminal act.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/homosexuality-not-a-crime-but-unnatural-rss/articleshow/65703402.cms|title=Homosexuality not a crime, but unnatural: RSS - Times of India ►|website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> In its latest position, the RSS has accepted that people from the LGBT community are an integral part of the Indian society.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/gays-transgenders-integral-to-society-says-mohan-bhagwat/articleshow/71402631.cms?from=mdr |title=Gays, Transgenders Integral to Society, says Mohan Bhagwat |date=October 2, 2019 |website=The Economic Times |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

==The third gender==
Hindu philosophy has the concept of a third sex or [[Third gender#Indic culture|third gender]] (Sanskrit: तृतीय प्रकृति, ''tŕtīya-prakŕti'' – literally, "third nature"). This category includes a wide range of people with mixed male and female natures such as effeminate males, masculine females, transgender people, transsexual people, intersex people, androgynes, and so on. Many MTF third-genders are not attracted only or at all to men, but are attracted either exclusively to women or are bisexual. Many FTM transgender people are attracted to men.<ref>Pattanaik, Devdutt. ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'' (p. 10). Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2002.</ref> Such persons are not considered fully male or female in traditional Hinduism, being a combination of both. They are mentioned as third sex by nature (birth)<ref>Buhler, G., trans. ''The Laws of Manu'' (3.49). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2001.</ref> and are not expected to behave like cisgender men and women. They often keep their own societies or town quarters, perform specific occupations (such as masseurs, hairdressers, flower-sellers, domestic servants, etc.) and are generally attributed a semi-divine status. Their participation in religious ceremonies, especially as cross-dressing dancers and devotees of certain temple gods/goddesses, is considered auspicious in traditional Hinduism. Some Hindus believe that third-sex people have special powers allowing them to bless or curse others. 

In 2008, the state of [[Tamil Nadu]] recognised the [[LGBT rights in Tamil Nadu|"Third Gender"]]; with its civil supplies department giving in the ration card a provision for a new sex column as 'T', distinct from the usual 'M' and 'F' for males and females respectively. This was the first time that authorities anywhere in India have officially recognised the third gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-16/india/27778521_1_ration-cards-third-gender-tamil-nadu |title=Third sex gets official status in Tamil Nadu |first=Pushpa |last=Narayan |website=Times of India |date=March 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811062938/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-16/india/27778521_1_ration-cards-third-gender-tamil-nadu |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

==Hindu religious narratives==
{{Main|LGBT themes in Hindu mythology}}
[[Image:Ardhanari.jpg|right|180px|thumb|The Hindu god [[Shiva]] is often represented as [[Ardhanarisvara]], a unified entity of him with his consort [[Parvati]]. This sculpture is from the [[Elephanta Caves]] near [[Mumbai]].]]
In the Hindu narrative tradition, stories of gods and mortals changing gender occur.<ref>[Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, Same-Sex Love in India, 2000, the first section, sections 1 and 2, "Ancient Indian Materials" and "Medieval Materials in the Sanskritic Tradition" ; [[Wendy Doniger|O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger]] (1980). ''Women, Androgynes, and Other Mystical Beasts.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 302–4 Thadani, Giti (1996). ''Sakhiyani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India.'' London: Cassell. p. 65 Pattanaik, Devdutt (2002). ''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'', Haworth Press, {{ISBN|1-56023-181-5}}</ref> Sometimes they also engage in heterosexual activities as different reincarnated genders. Homosexual and transgender Hindus commonly identify with and worship the various Hindu deities connected with gender diversity such as [[Ardhanarisvara]] (the androgynous form of [[Shiva]] and his consort [[Parvati]]), [[Iravan|Aravan]] (a hero whom the god [[Krishna]] married after becoming a woman), [[Harihara]] (an incarnation of Shiva and Vishnu combined), [[Bahuchara Mata]] (a goddess connected with transsexuality and eunuchism), [[Gadadhara]] (an incarnation of Radha in male form), [[Chandi]]-[[Chamunda]] (twin warrior goddesses), [[Bhagavati]]-devi (a Hindu goddess associated with cross-dressing), Gangamma (a goddess connected with cross-dressing and disguises) and the goddess [[Yellamma]].<ref name="Galva3rdsexdieties1">{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (1)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-1/cu6k/A138A622-C40E-424E-BE21-884ECB1E3E2A|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Galva3rdsexdieties2">{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (2)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> There are also specific festivals connected to the worship of these deities, some of which are famous in India for their cross-dressing devotees. These festivals include the Aravan Festival of [[Koovagam]], the Bahuchara Mata Festivals of [[Gujarat]] and the Yellamma Festivals of [[Karnataka]], among others.<ref>For a complete description of twenty-nine of the most gender-variant Hindu deities, see Part One, Chapter Three of Wilhelm's ''Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex''.</ref> Deities displaying gender variance include [[Mohini]], the female [[avatar]] of the god Vishnu and [[Vaikuntha Kamalaja]], the androgynous form of Vishnu and his consort [[Lakshmi]].

LGBT interpretations are also drawn in the legends of birth of the deities [[Ayyappa]] (a god born from the union of Shiva and Mohini), [[Bhagiratha]] (an Indian king born of two female parents) and [[Kartikeya]] (where the fire-god [[Agni]] "swallows" the semen of Shiva after disturbing his coitus with his consort Parvati). Some homosexual Hindus also worship the gods [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]] and [[Varuna]], who are associated with two lunar phases and same-sex relations in ancient [[Brahmana]] texts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hindu Deities and the Third Sex (2)|url=http://www.galva108.org/#!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Vaishnava Association|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6NborWhzt7kJ:www.galva108.org/%23!Hindu-Deities-and-the-Third-Sex-2/cu6k/1+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk|archive-date=28 Feb 2016|quote=In Vedic literature, Sri Mitra-Varuna are portrayed as icons of brotherly affection and intimate friendship between males (the Sanskrit word Mitra means “friend” or “companion”). For this reason, they are worshiped by men of the third sex, albeit not as commonly as other Hindu deities. They are depicted riding a shark or crocodile together while bearing tridents, ropes, conch shells and water pots. Sometimes they are portrayed seated side-by-side on a golden chariot drawn by seven swans. Ancient Brahmana texts furthermore associate Sri Mitra-Varuna with the two lunar phases and same-sex relations: “Mitra and Varuna, on the other hand, are the two half-moons: the waxing one is Varuna and the waning one is Mitra. During the new-moon night, these two meet and when they are thus together they are pleased with a cake offering. Verily, all are pleased and all is obtained by any person knowing this. On that same night, Mitra implants his seed in Varuna and when the moon later wanes, that waning is produced from his seed.” ([[Shatapatha Brahmana]] 2.4.4.19) Varuna is similarly said to implant his seed in Mitra on the full-moon night for the purpose of securing its future waxing. In Hinduism, the new- and full-moon nights are discouraged times for procreation and consequently often associated with citrarata or unusual types of intercourse.}}</ref>

Gender variance is also observed in heroes in Hindu scriptures. The [[Hindu epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'' narrates that the hero [[Arjuna]] takes a vow to live as a member of the third sex for a year as the result of a curse he is compelled to honor. He thus transforms into [[Brihannala]], a member of the third gender, for a year and becomes a dance teacher to a princess. Another important character, [[Shikhandi]], is born female, but raised as a man and even married to a woman. She becomes male due to the grace of a [[Yaksha]]. Shikhandi eventually becomes the reason for the death of the warrior [[Bhishma]], who refuses to fight a "woman." Another character, [[Bhishma]] appeases [[Yudhishtira]]'s curiosity about relative enjoyment of partners during sex by relating the story of King Bhangasvana, who has had a hundred sons is turned into a woman while on a hunt. She returns to her kingdom, relates the story, turns the kingdom over to her children and retires to the forest to be the spouse of a hermit, by whom she has a hundred more sons.<ref>[[Mahabharata]] Anushaasan Parva: Daandharma Parva, Chapter 12, shloka-1</ref> [[Ila (Hinduism)|Ila]], a king from Hindu narratives, is also known for their gender changes.

Some versions of the ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan|Krittivasa Ramayana]]'', the most popular Bengali text on the pastimes of [[Ramachandra]] (an incarnation of [[Vishnu]]), relate a story of two queens who conceived a child together. When the king of the Sun Dynasty, Maharaja Dilipa, died, the demigods become concerned that he did not have a son to continue his line. Shiva, therefore, appeared before the king's two widowed queens and commanded them, "You two make love together and by my blessings, you will bear a beautiful son." The two wives, with great affection for each other, executed Shiva's order until one of them conceived a child. The sage Astavakra accordingly named the child "[[Bhagiratha]]" – he who was born from two vulvas. Bhagiratha later became a king and is credited with bringing the river [[Ganges]] down to earth through his austerities.<ref>Vanita, Ruth and Saleem Kidwai. ''Same-Sex Love in India: Reading From Literature and History'', pp. 100–102. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. For more details on other versions of this story, see Chapter Six of ''Love's Rite'', by the same author.</ref>

==Hindu texts==

People of a [[third gender]] (''tritiya-prakriti''), not fully men nor women, are mentioned here and there throughout Hindu texts such as the [[Puranas]] but are not specifically defined. In general, they are portrayed as effeminate men, often cowardly, and with no desire for women. Modern readers often draw parallels between these and modern stereotypes of [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexual]] and [[transgender]] people. However, Hindu texts (Mostly Dharmasastras) such as the [[Manusmriti]], Vide Atri Smřti, Vide Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra, and the Vide Apastambha Dharmasūtra do treat homosexuality as a sin, in some cases legally punishable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |title=Homosexuality in Ancient India: 10 Instances |date=July 10, 2018 |website=India Today |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

Historians Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, in their book ''Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History'', compiled extracts from Indian texts, from ancient to modern times, including many Hindu texts, translated from 15 Indian languages. In their accompanying analytical essays, they also wrote that Hindu texts have discussed and debated same-sex desire from the earliest times, in tones ranging from critical to non-judgmental to playful and celebratory.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2000 |editor-last=Vanita |editor-first=Ruth |editor2-last=Kidwai |editor2-first=Saleem |title=Same-Sex Love in India |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-349-62183-5 |journal=SpringerLink |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-62183-5}}</ref>

Other Indologists assert that homosexuality was not approved for [[Brahmin|brahmanas]] or the [[Dwija|twice-born]] but accepted among other castes.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Kama Sutra===
[[File:At the Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.jpg|thumb|At the [[Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho|Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho]] (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.]]{{Main|Kama Sutra}}
The '''Kama Sutra''' is an ancient text dealing with ''kama'' or desire (of all kinds), which in Hindu thought is one of the four normative and spiritual [[Puruṣārtha|goals of life]]. The [[Kama Sutra]] is the earliest extant and most important work in the [[Kama Shastra]] tradition of [[Sanskrit literature]]. It was compiled by the philosopher [[Vatsyayana]] around the 4th century, from earlier texts, and describes homosexual practices in several places, as well as a range of sex/gender 'types'. The author acknowledges that these relations also involve love and a bond of trust.

The author describes techniques by which masculine and feminine types of the third sex (''tritiya-prakriti''), as well as women, perform [[fellatio]].<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra'', Part Two, Chapter Nine, entitled "Superior Coition or Fellation [''Auparishtaka'']. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref> The Second Part, Ninth Chapter of Kama Sutra specifically describes two kinds of men that we would recognize today as masculine- and feminine-type homosexuals but which are mentioned in older, Victorian British translations as simply "eunuchs."<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 9, "Of the Auparishtaka or Mouth Congress" |url=http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313043325/http://www.kamashastra.com/kama209.htm |archive-date=March 13, 2010}}</ref> The chapter describes their appearances – feminine types dressed up as women whereas masculine types maintained muscular physiques and grew small beards, mustaches, etc. – and their various professions as masseurs, barbers and prostitutes are all described. Such homosexual men were also known to marry, according to the Kama Sutra: "There are also third-sex citizens, sometimes greatly attached to one another and with complete faith in one another, who get married together." (KS 2.9.36). In the "Jayamangala" of Yashodhara, an important twelfth-century commentary on the Kama Sutra, it is also stated: "Citizens with this kind of homosexual inclination, who renounce women and can do without them willingly because they love one another, get married together, bound by a deep and trusting friendship."<ref>Danielou, Alain. ''The Complete Kama Sutra''. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1994.</ref>

After describing fellatio as performed between men of the third sex, the Sutra then mentions the practice as an act between men and women, wherein the homosexuals' acts are scorned, especially for Brahmanas. (KS 2.9.37)

The Kama Sutra also refers to ''svairini'', who are "independent women who frequent their own kind or others" (2.8.26) — or, in another passage: "the liberated woman, or ''svairini'', is one who refuses a husband and has relations in her own home or in other houses" (6.6.50). In a famous commentary on the Kama Sutra from the 12th century, Jayamangala, explains: "A woman known for her independence, with no sexual bars, and acting as she wishes, is called ''svairini''. She makes love with her own kind. She strokes her partner at the point of union, which she kisses." (''Jayamangala'' on Kama Sutra 2.8.13). The various practices of lesbians are described in detail within the Second Part, Eighth Chapter of the Kama Sutra.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kamasutra.telugu.ws/VatsyayanaKamaSutra_P2C8.html |title=ABOUT WOMEN ACTING THE PART OF A MAN; AND OF THE WORK OF A MAN |website=The Kama Sutra Of Vatsayana |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115074235/http://kamasutra.telugu.ws/VatsyayanaKamaSutra_P2C8.html |archive-date=January 15, 2010 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

===Dharmsastras===

Hindu gurus in Ancient India often offered commentary on how society should be run, but these commentaries were often not implemented in a moral or legal sense, and often referred to moral conduct for the upper class of monks and priests who were expected to refrain from sex rather than the lay people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Jyoti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EXmAAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmruti+homosexuality&pg=PA180 |title=Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality |date=2002-09-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96266-1 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Manusmriti ====
In the ''[[Manusmriti]]'', there are proposals for various punishments for homosexual sex in certain cases (along with heterosexual sex too).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=July 10, 2018 |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2021-05-16 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref> A mature woman having sex with a maiden girl was punished by having her head shaved or two of her fingers cut off, and she was also made to ride on a donkey. In the case of [[Gay men|homosexual male sex]], the Manusmriti dictated that sexual union between two people (both homosexual and heterosexual) in a bullock cart as a source of ritual pollution.<ref name=":033">{{Cite web |title=Homosexuality in ancient India: 10 instances |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/10-instances-of-homosexuality-among-lgbts-in-ancient-india-1281446-2018-07-10 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{Cite web |last=Jayaram |first=V |date=2000 |title=Hinduism and Adultery |url=https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_extramarital.asp}}</ref> Verses 8.369-370 of Manusmriti which prescribe punishment for a female having intercourse with a maiden are wrongly thought to be against same-sex activity between females by some modern authors like [[Wendy Doniger]]. However, verse 8.367 contains a similar punishment for all those who do it regardless of gender. The emphasis Vanita states here is on a maiden's sexual purity.<ref name="VanitaLGBT">{{cite book |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofDIAAAAQBAJ&dq=manusmriti+wendy+anti-lesbian&pg=PA32 |title=Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West |date=October 20, 2005 |isbn=9781403981608 |page=32 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The [[Manusmriti]] is less judgmental about LGBT relationships. XI. 174 prescribes eating the five products of the cow or [[Panchagavya]] and foregoing food for a night for several sexual acts committed by a man including those with other men. XI. 175 states that those men who engage in intercourse with a man should take a bath while being clothed. According to XI.68, a man who engages in such acts is traditionally considered to lose his caste, though [[Ruth Vanita]] suggests the prescriptions by Manusmriti act as a substitute.<ref name="Vanita" />

Scholars doubt that the Manusmitri was implemented prior to colonialism, after which it became the basis of British colonial law for Hindus (in opposition to the Sharia Law for Muslims).<ref>David Buxbaum (1998), ''Family Law and Customary Law in Asia: A Contemporary Legal Perspective'', Springer Academic, [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-9401757942|978-9401757942]], p. 204</ref>

==== Others ====
The Dharmsastras especially later ones prescribed against non-vaginal sex like the [[Vashistha Dharmasutra]]. The [[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]] prescribes fines for such acts including those with other men.<ref name="DharmaLGBT">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uP57zh13BqQC&dq=dharmasastra+ayoni&pg=PA50 |title=Sexual Diversity in Asia, c. 600 - 1950 |date=July 26, 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136297212 |editor-last1=Reyes |editor-first1=Raquel A.G. |pages=50–51 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |editor-last2=Clarence-Smith |editor-first2=William Gervase}}</ref>

===Other scriptures===
The Sushruta Samhita also mentions the possibility of two women uniting and becoming pregnant as a result of the mingling of their sexual fluids. It states that the child born of such a union will be "boneless." Such a birth is indeed described in the [[Krittivasi Ramayan|Krittivasa Ramayana]] of Bengal (see below).<ref name=Vanita/>

Other texts list the various types of men who are impotent with women (known in Sanskrit as ''sandha'', ''kliba'', ''napumsaka'', and ''panda''). The ''Sabda-kalpa-druma'' Sanskrit-Sanskrit dictionary, for instance, lists twenty types, as does the ''Kamatantra'' and ''Smriti-Ratnavali'' of Vacaspati (14th century). The Narada Smriti similarly lists fourteen different types. Included among the lists are transgender people (''sandha''), intersex people (''nisarga''), and three different types of homosexual men (''mukhebhaga'', ''kumbhika'' and ''asekya''). Such texts demonstrate that third-sex terms like ''sandha'' and ''napumsaka'' actually refer to many different types of "men who are impotent with women," and that simplistic definition such as "eunuch" or "neuter" may not always be accurate and in some cases totally incorrect. In his article ''Homosexuality and Hinduism'', [[Arvind Sharma]] expresses his doubt over the common English translation of words like ''kliba'' into "eunuch" as follows: "The limited practice of castration in India raises another point significant for the rest of the discussion, namely, whether rendering a word such as "kliba" as "eunuch" regularly is correct..."<ref>[[Sharma, Arvind]]. ''Homosexuality and Hinduism'' (as part of ''Homosexuality and World Religions''). Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.</ref>

The [[Arthashastra]] of [[Kautilya]] represents the principle text of secular law and illustrates the attitude of the judiciary towards sexual matters. Heterosexual vaginal sex is proposed as the norm by this text and legal issues arising from deviation therefrom are punishable by fines and in extreme cases by capital punishment. Homosexual acts are cited as a small offence punishable by a fine. It punishes non-vaginal sex with a small fine (4; 23; 326); however, women are fined less than men.<ref name=Vanita>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2nprDLPRLwC&dq=ayoni&pg=PT55 |title=Same-Sex Love in India |last=Vanita |first=Ruth |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |date=October 20, 2008 |isbn=9788184759693 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

The digest or ''dharmanibandha'' work "Dandaviveka'" written by Vardhamana Upadhyaya in 15th century in [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] pronounced that semen shouldn't ejaculate outside the vagina. ''[[Ayoni]]'' sex here is divided into two categories, one which includes intercourse with humans of both genders.<ref name="DharmaLGBT"/>

The [[Narada Purana]] in 1.15.936 states that those who have non-vaginal intercourse will go to Retobhojana where they have to live on semen. [[Ruth Vanita]] states that the punishment in the afterlife suggested by it is comical and befitting the act. The [[Skanda Purana]] states that those who indulge in such acts will acquire impotency.<ref name=Vanita/>

==Third-gender Hindu sects==
Below are listed some of the most common third-gender sects found in Hinduism. There are an estimated half million crossdressing "eunuchs" in modern-day India, associated with various sects, temples and Hindu deities.<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das. ''Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex'', p. 346. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation, 2003</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}} Despite being called "eunuchs", the majority of these persons (91%) do not practice castration but are more accurately associated with transgender.

===The Hijra===
{{Main|Hijra (Indian subcontinent)}}
[[File:Hijra.jpg|thumb|200px|A Hijra]]
The ''Hijras'' are a third-gender group in the Indian subcontinent. Some of them undergo castration, which is connected to [[Bahuchara Mata]] who is identified with the [[Prithvi|earth goddess]]. According to legends, she cut off her breasts in order to avoid rape by a group of bandits.<ref>{{cite book |first=Elizabeth |last=Abbott |page=329 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whs0eudAfJIC&dq=hijra+mata+mutilation&pg=PA329 |title=A History of Celibacy |publisher=Lutterworth Press |date=2001 |isbn=9780718830069 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Money |page=89 |url=https://archive.org/details/gaystraightinbet0000mone/page/89 |title=Gay, Straight, and In-Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation |date=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Rights |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The operation is termed by them ''nirvan''. They compare it with ''[[Tapas (Indian religions)|tapas]]'' which consists of avoiding sex. Also used to justify emasculation is a creation myth of [[Shiva]] who emasculated himself.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Stephen |editor-last1=Ellingson |editor-first2=M. Christian |editor-last2=Green |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxUiAwAAQBAJ&dq=hijra+shiva+castration&pg=PT101 |title=Religion and Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective |date=March 18, 2014 |isbn=9781135375959 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> The aravanis also undergo castration.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Arvind |editor-last1=Narrain |editor-first2=Vinay |editor-last2=Chandran |page=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2MlDAAAQBAJ&dq=aravanis+emasculated&pg=PT128 |title=Nothing to Fix: Medicalisation of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity |publisher=SAG Publications |date=November 15, 2015 |isbn=9789351509165 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> Hijras also use [[Arjuna]] becoming a eunuch during exile as a result of a curse as a justification for castration. Despite this, all the seven major hijra clans are claimed to have been established by Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=Wayne R. |editor-last1=Dynes |editor-first2=Stephen |editor-last2=Donaldson |page=148 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=1992 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgKQ4KNDjsgC&dq=hijras+seven+houses+muslim&pg=PA148 |title=Asian Homosexuality|isbn=9780815305484 }}</ref>

There are an estimated 50,000 ''hijra'' in northern India. After interviewing and studying the ''hijra'' for many years, [[Serena Nanda]] writes in her book, ''Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India'', as follows: "There is a widespread belief in India that ''hijras'' are born intersex and are taken away by the ''hijra'' community at birth or in childhood, but I found no evidence to support this belief among the ''hijras'' I met, all of whom joined the community voluntarily, often in their teens."<ref>Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India, p. xx. Canada: Wadworth Publishing Company, 1999</ref> Nanda also states: "There is absolutely no question that at least some ''hijras'' – perhaps even the majority – are homosexual prostitutes. Sinha's (1967) study of ''hijras'' in Lucknow, in North India, acknowledges the ''hijra'' role as performers, but views the major motivation for recruitment to the ''hijra'' community as the satisfaction of the individual's homosexual urges..."<ref>Nanda, Serena. Neither Man Nor Woman: The hijras of India, p. 10. Canada: Wadworth Publishing Company, 1999</ref> The ''hijras'' especially worship [[Bahuchara Mata|Bahuchara]], the Hindu goddess presiding over transsexuality.

===The Aravani or Ali===
[[File:Kuvagam hijras.jpg|thumb|Aravanis – the "brides" of [[Iravan|Aravan]], mourn his death]]
The most numerous third-gender sect (estimated at 150,000) is the ''aravani'' or ''ali'' of [[Tamil Nadu]] in [[southern India]]. The ''aravanis'' are typically transgender and their main festival, the popular [[Koovagam]] or Aravan Festival celebrated in late April/early May, is attended by thousands, including many transgender people and homosexuals. The ''aravani'' worship the Hindu god, [[Iravan|Aravan]], and do not practice any system of castration.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnFYAAAAYAAJ |title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Lgbt Issues Worldwide |first=Chuck |last=Stewart |page=315 |publisher=Greenwood Press |date=2010 |isbn=9780313342356 |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref>

===The Jogappa===
A lesser-known third-gender sect in India is the ''jogappa'' of South India (Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh), a group similarly associated with prostitution. The ''jogappa'' are connected with the goddess [[Yellamma]] (Renuka), and include both transgender people and homosexuals. Both serve as dancers and prostitutes, and they are usually in charge of the temple ''[[devadasi]]s'' (maidservants of the goddess who similarly serve as dancers and female courtesans). Large festivals are celebrated at these temples wherein hundreds of scantily-clad ''devadasis'' and ''jogappas'' parade through the streets. The ''jogappa'' do not practice castration.<ref>Wilhelm, Amara Das. Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex, pp. 77–78. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Corporation, 2003.</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}



==Religious art==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
Homosexuality in Khajuraho sculpture.jpg|Khajoraho scene where one man reaches out to another's erect penis
1 Erotic Kama statues of Khajuraho Hindu Temple Kandariya Mahadeva Khajurâho India 2013.jpg|Khajoraho scene of three women and one man.
</gallery>
Medieval [[Hindu temple]]s such as those at [[Khajuraho]] depict sexual acts in sculptures on the external walls. Some of these scenes involve same-sex sexuality:
* A sculpture at the Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho portrays a man reaching out to another's erect penis.
* An orgiastic group of three women and one man, on the southern wall of the Kandariya Mahadeva temple in Khajuraho. One of the women is caressing another.
* At the Lakshmana temple in Khajuraho (954 CE), a man receives fellatio from a seated male as part of an orgiastic scene.
* At the [[Rajarani Temple]] in [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Odisha]], dating from the 10th or 11th century, a sculpture depicts two women engaged in oral sex.
* A 12th-century Shiva temple in Bagali, [[Karnataka]] depicts a scene of apparent oral sex between two males on a sculpture below the [[shikhara]].
* At Padhavli near [[Gwalior]], a ruined temple from the 10th century shows a man within an orgiastic group receiving fellatio from another male.
* An 11th-century lifesize sandstone sculpture from [[Odisha]], now in the Seattle Art Museum, shows Kama, the god of love, shooting a flower tipped arrow at two women who are embracing one another.

== Same-sex marriage ==
A Gandharava marriage was the most common form of marriage for lay people described in classical Indian literature and was heavily associated with village life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Johann Jakob |title=Sexual life in ancient India: a study in the comparative history of Indian culture |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ |isbn=978-81-208-0638-2 |edition=1. Indian ed., reprinted |location=Delhi}}</ref> A Gandharava was a low ranking male deity who had a symbolic association with fine and creative arts, specifically music, with strong connections to sexuality and procreation, and the term is etymologically linked to "fragrance", and these males are commonly pared with females called "[[Apsara]]s" who are associated with the arts, dancing and literature.<ref>{{Citation |last=Dwivedi |first=Amitabh Vikram |title=Gāndharva |date=2022 |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_626 |work=Hinduism and Tribal Religions |pages=503–504 |editor-last=Long |editor-first=Jeffery D. |access-date=2023-12-22 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1_626 |isbn=978-94-024-1187-4 |editor2-last=Sherma |editor2-first=Rita D. |editor3-last=Jain |editor3-first=Pankaj |editor4-last=Khanna |editor4-first=Madhu}}</ref>

There are punishments for homosexual sex listed in numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism, though these punishments should be taken into context with the likewise numerous punishments listed for heterosexual sex also listed within numerous texts used within contemporary Hinduism.<ref name=":033"/> These punishments regardless of whether they are aimed are heterosexuality or homosexuality are not aimed at the lay people.<ref name=":522">{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Hinduism |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-hinduism |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref> There have been reports of Hindu gurus performing same-sex marriages in India since at least the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Homoeroticism in Hinduism |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0223.xml |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=obo |language=en}}</ref>

Hinduism is mostly devoid of the 'perfect law' that can be found in Abrahamic religions (such as the ten commandments) and traditionally Hindus would expect to "rely on reason to decide what is dharma and what is not" 'dharma'. Combined with the lack of centralization and authority, there is great diversity among Hindus as to how homosexual relationships should be institutionalized in Hindu society.<ref name=":10">{{cite web |author=Pandit Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari |title=Gay Marriage & Hinduism |url=http://www.australiancouncilofhinduclergy.com/uploads/5/5/4/9/5549439/gay_marriage.pdf |access-date=June 4, 2021}}</ref>

; Non-binary marriage

A long-running tradition concerning non-binary marriage exists in Hindu society for third genders, which may also add another perspective as to how homosexual relationships should be viewed in the modern age.

The case for the institutionalization of non-binary marriage is strong in Hindu society due to the strong prevalence of evidence dictating how third gendered marriages were conducted since ancient times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dipayan |first1=Chowdhury |last2=Atmaja |first2=Tripathy |date=2016-11-30 |title=Recognizing the Right of the Third Gender to Marriage and Inheritance Under Hindu Personal Law in India |url=http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=212089113126091127028119099002024076042017086048025010071118030087127098117114113102037061118123008002109091078123127026105080044069041033085108076120071123069085065030092067102002102008069127111110075011031095026065026004115084103072011072022080081002&EXT=pdf |language=en}}</ref>

; Institutionalization of unique blessings and rites

"Marriage" comes in several incarnations in Hinduism and several Hindu organizations reject the idea of performing the same ceremonies for both heterosexual and homosexual (and third gendered) couples.

The Australian Council of Hindu Clergy, whose membership includes a significant portion of the Sri Lankan Tamil clergy, lists several types of marriage including those aimed at heterosexual couples and those that are not. It comes to the conclusion that homosexual couples should be provided with their own rites and blessings that are not the same as the rites provided to heterosexual marriage.<ref name=":10" />

; Live-in couples (cohabitation)

A large movement exists concerning the provision of live-in rights to partners who have not married. This would provide a centralized instrument to protect partners while allowing Hindu society to decentralize and provide ceremonies and/or blessings according to what each community thinks is right.

The rights currently provided to live-in couples mostly match that of married couples through criminal law, however, there are limitations on adoption, and wording used implies a heterosexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-03-03 |title=Want to Get Into a Live-In Relationship? Here Are the Rights You Need to Know |language=en-US |work=The Better India |url=http://www.thebetterindia.com/132607/want-to-get-into-a-live-in-relationship-here-are-the-rights-you-need-to-know/ |access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Hinduism|LGBT}}
* [[Homosexuality in India]]
* [[Kama]]
* [[LGBT rights in India|LGBT Rights in India]]
* [[LGBT rights in Sri Lanka|LGBT Rights in Sri Lanka]]
* [[LGBT topics and the Hare Krishna movement]]
* [[Non-westernized concepts of male sexuality]]
* [[Buddhism and sexual orientation]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Further reading==
*''Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture'' by [[Ruth Vanita]]. Yoda Press, 2005.
*''Homosexuality and World Religions'' by [[Arlene Swidler]]. Trinity Press International.
*[[Love's Rite|''Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West'']] by [[Ruth Vanita]]. Penguin Books India, 2005.
*''Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India'' by [[Serena Nanda]]. Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1999.
*''Same-Sex Love In India: Readings from Literature and History'' by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai. Palgrave, 2001.
*''The Complete Kama Sutra'' by [[Alain Danielou]]. Park Street Press, 1994.
*''The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore'' by [[Devdutt Pattanaik]]. Harrington Park Press, 2002.
*''Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History'' by [[Gilbert Herdt]]. Zone Books, 1993.

==External links==
{{Commons category|LGBT and Hinduism}}
*[http://www.galva108.org The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association] – Information and support for GLBTI Vaishnavas and Hindus.
*[http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/03/hinduism-does-not-condemn-homosexuality.htm 'Hinduism does not condemn homosexuality']
*[http://pink-pages.co.in/features/religion/men-of-faith/ Pink Pages, India's National Gay and Lesbian Magazine] - Interview of Amara Das Wilhelm, founder of GALVA.

{{Religion and LGBT people}}
{{LGBT in India}}
{{Hinduism footer small}}

[[Category:LGBT in India]]
[[Category:LGBT and Hinduism| ]]