Which of the following statements are correct?
A. The Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras recognised as many as twelve forms of marriages.
B. People were classified into gotras and each gotra was named after a Vedic seer.
C. Jatis, which shared a common occupation, were sometimes organised into shrenis or guilds.
D. Women were allowed to retain the gifts they received on their marriage as 'Stridhana' to be inherited by their children.
E. Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → B, C, D, E only
A. The Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras recognised as many as twelve forms of marriages. Incorrect. They recognised as many as eight forms of marriage, of which the first four were considered ‘good’.
B. People were classified into gotras and each gotra was named after a Vedic seer. Correct. From c. 1000 BCE onwards people, especially Brahmanas, were classified into gotras, and each gotra was named after a Vedic seer.
C. Jatis, which shared a common occupation, were sometimes organised into shrenis or guilds. Correct. Jatis which shared a common occupation or profession were sometimes organised into shrenis or guilds.
D. Women were allowed to retain the gifts they received on their marriage as 'Stridhana' to be inherited by their children. Correct. Women could retain the gifts received at marriage as stridhana (a woman’s wealth), which could be inherited by their children, without the husband having any claim on it.
E. Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother. Correct. Matriliny means tracing descent through the mother, as patriliny means tracing it from father to son.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 Rules of marriage … Besides, given the regional diversity within the subcontinent and the difficulties of communication, the influence of Brahmanas was by no means all-pervasive. What is interesting is that the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras recognised as many as eight forms of marriage. Of these, the first four were considered as ‘good’ while the remaining were condemned. It is possible that these were practised by those who did not accept Brahmanical norms.… 2.4 The gotra of women … One Brahmanical practice, evident from c. 1000 BCE onwards, was to classify people (especially Brahmanas) in terms of gotras. Each gotra was named after a Vedic seer, and all those who belonged to the same gotra were regarded as his descendants. Two rules about gotra were particularly important: women were expected to give up their father’s gotra and adopt that of their husband on marriage and members of the same gotra could not marry.… 3.3 Jatis and social mobility … In fact, whenever Brahmanical authorities encountered new groups – for instance, people living in forests such as the nishadas – or wanted to assign a name to occupational categories such as the goldsmith or suvarnakara, which did not easily fit into the fourfold varna system, they classified them as a jati. Jatis which shared a common occupation or profession were sometimes organised into shrenis or guilds.… 4.1 Gendered access to property … According to the Manusmriti, the paternal estate was to be divided equally amongst sons after the death of the parents, with a special share for the eldest. Women could not claim a share of these resources. However, women were allowed to retain the gifts they received on the occasion of their marriage as stridhana (literally, a woman’s wealth). This could be inherited by their children, without the husband having any claim on it.… Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson and so on. Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother.” |