dowry

Japanese: dowry

...It was considered a disgrace to the family if a woman did not marry, and there was a strong belief that she should be married by the time of her first period. This low status of women led to many tragedies, such as the practice of 'sati', where a wife is cremated alive along with her husband's body, the huge dowry paid by the bride's family to the groom's family at the time of marriage, and the life of a virgin widow whose husband died at a young age. After the 19th century, a movement to reform these abuses arose, and laws were enacted, such as the prohibition of 'sati' (1829), the recognition of widow remarriage (1856), and the prohibition of child marriage (1929). ...

From [Dowry]

… [Kuji Kushida]
【India】
In ancient times, Hindus had a dowry called śulka, which was recognized as the wife's personal property. A major social problem was the practice of the bride's family paying cash or other items to the groom's family just before the wedding. This was called dowry in English and was widely practiced among the upper and middle classes. The amount was huge compared to the family's income, and together with the wedding expenses, it caused large debts, which led to tragedies such as the suicide of daughters worried about their dowries and the abuse of wives who had little dowry.

*Some of the terminology that mentions "dowry" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…女性が結婚しないのは家の恥とされ，初潮のときまでに結婚させるという考えが強かったためである。このように女性の地位が低かったため，〈サティー〉とよばれる夫の遺体といっしょに妻が生きながら火葬される殉死，婚姻にあたって花嫁の家から花婿の家に支払われる多額な持参金(ダウリdowry)や，幼時に夫が死亡して処女のまま寡婦として一生過ごす生活など多くの悲劇を生んだ。19世紀以後，これらの悪弊を改革する運動がおこり，〈サティー〉の禁止(1829)，寡婦再婚の認容(1856)，幼児婚の禁止(1929)といった法律が制定された。…

【持参金】より

…【串田久治】
【インド】
　ヒンドゥー教徒には，古来シュルカśulkaと呼ばれた持参金があり，妻の特有財産として認められていた。大きな社会問題となったのは，婚礼の直前に花嫁の家から花婿の家に現金などを支払う慣習で，英語ではダウリdowryと呼ばれ，上層と中層の人々の間で広く行われた。その額は家族の収入に比べて莫大であって，婚礼費用とともに，多額の債務をつくる原因となり，このため，ダウリを心配した娘の自殺やダウリの少ない妻への虐待などの悲劇が生まれた。…

※「dowry」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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