Point out the differences between Endogamy and Exogamy from the below-given options.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Endogamy is marriage within a unit and Exogamy is marriage outside the unit.
Option (1) Endogamy is the practice of a man having several wives and Exogamy is the practice of a woman having several husbands. — Incorrect. These are the meanings of polygyny and polyandry, not of endogamy and exogamy.
Option (2) Endogamy is the practice of a woman having several husbands and Exogamy is the practice of a man having several wives. — Incorrect. These are the meanings of polyandry and polygyny; endogamy and exogamy are about whom one marries, not how many.
Option (3) Endogamy is marriage within a unit and Exogamy is marriage outside the unit. — Correct. Endogamy is marriage within a unit – a kin group, caste or a group living in the same locality – and exogamy is marriage outside the unit.
Option (4) Endogamy is marriage outside the unit and Exogamy is marriage within a unit. — Incorrect. It reverses the two terms: marriage within the unit is endogamy and marriage outside it is exogamy.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 Rules of marriage … While sons were important for the continuity of the patrilineage, daughters were viewed rather differently within this framework. They had no claims to the resources of the household. At the same time, marrying them into families outside the kin was considered desirable. This system, called exogamy (literally, marrying outside), meant that the lives of young girls and women belonging to families that claimed high status were often carefully regulated to ensure that they were married at the ‘right’ time and to the ‘right’ person.… …Endogamy refers to marriage within a unit – this could be a kin group, caste, or a group living in the same locality. Exogamy refers to marriage outside the unit. Polygyny is the practice of a man having several wives. Polyandry is the practice of a woman having several husbands.” |