Records of a peasant community show many families struggling to find brides, and customs differing from those of the elite. Which cause best explains the shortage of wives?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → High death rates among women from malnutrition, pregnancies and childbirth
Option (1) Women often left the village to work in employers' houses and markets — Incorrect. Peasant and artisan women did go to employers' houses and to markets when needed. They still lived in the village and married there, so this did not cause a shortage of wives.
Option (2) High death rates among women from malnutrition, pregnancies and childbirth — Correct. Many women died young from malnutrition, frequent pregnancies and death in childbirth. Fewer women survived to marry, so peasant families faced a shortage of wives.
Option (3) Payment of bride-price, which made marriage costly for poor peasant families — Incorrect. Bride-price came after the shortage. Because wives were scarce, the groom's family paid the bride's family, one of the customs that set peasants apart from the elite.
Option (4) Rising demand for women's labour in commercialised crafts and fields — Incorrect. The more commercialised a product, the more it depended on women's work. This made women valued workers, but it did not reduce the number of women who could marry.
NCERT (2026-27): “3. Women in Agrarian Society … “those prevalent among elite groups. Marriages in many rural communities required the payment of bride-price rather than dowry to the bride’s family. Remarriage was considered legitimate both among divorced and widowed women.” |