Kin Names: Indicators of Social Networking among the Jats

Kin Names: Indicators of Social Networking among the Jats

Dr. S.S.Rana

Nomenclatures of kins prevalent among the Jats ( in the broader sense to include other similar castes) of North India for centuries demonstrate a distinctly marked Sanskritic connection and thereby their Vedic origins. The social organization reflected in the Vedic literature, especially the Rigveda speaking of the family, the clan (or the gotra) and the village can be observed intact in many of its features in the kin organization of the Jats.
Some scholars believe kinship to be the origin of the caste system among the Hindus in India. There are others who consider vocation or profession as the basis of caste distinctions without wholly denying the role of kinship for the development of caste.

For the present we may study the kin names and examine their degrees indicating an individual’s status in social hierarchy both in vertical and horizontal relationships.
Broadly speaking the kin terms can be placed in two categories-i) those used for blood relations and ii) those applied to affinal (through marriage) kins. Each of these categories has primary and derived as also composite kin terms.
The first category goes three generations upwards and three generations downwards of the generation divide in each of the male and female domains. Among the male progenitors from the father’s side we have- Pita/Bap//Babu (Pita), Dada (Pita-Pita), Pad-Dada (Pra-Pita-Pita). These have their respective feminine forms in Maa, Dadi and Pad-Dadi. The descendants in the chain include- Poot/ Beta (Putra/ Batuka or Vatsa), Pota (derived from Putra through Vriddhi)and Pad-Pota (PraPautra). The female versions (Beti/Dhih, Poti etc. have been derived by adding feminine suffixes except in the case of Mata/Maa which is a primary kin name for obvious reasons. It is interesting to note that though there is a fourth kin nomenclature on either end of the chain viz. Sad- Dada/Dadi and Sad-Pauta/ Pauti, such kins are hardly countenanced and in some quarters these kins are taken as unwelcome. The reason for such a belief could be the chances of such a patriarch rotting after certain age in most cases, our Vedic prayer of jivema Sharadah Shatam not withstanding.
Among the kin names of progenitors from Mother upwards are -Nana (Nanri-), Pad-Nana (Pra- Nanri) yielding the female versions Nani and Pad-Nani by adding feminine suffixes. Looked at from the upward scale the kin names do not go beyond one generation of Dauhata/ Dauhati (Dauhitra/Dauhitri) as hardly any interaction takes place between the succeeding kins. Here we may cite the riddle popular among rural folk viz. do ma- beti aur do ma-beti chali bagh mein jaan, teen nimboo tod ke saabat saabat khan, batao kaise? Evidently they are – the mother, her daughter and her daughter’s daughter, three in all.
Then there are horizontal blood kins both from the side of father and mother. Elder brother of father gets the term Tau (Pitrivya) and that younger to him is known as Kaka/ Chacha (Kanishthaka). Father’s sister is Bua/Phuphi (Pitri-svasri) Mother’s sister, elder or younger has the same term Mausi (Matrisvasri).Mama (Matula) is the nomenclature for Mother’s brother. Males born of the same parents are to each other Bhai (Bhratri).Bira(Vira) if male and Bahen/Jiji/Bebe (Bhagini) if female. Children born of a brother get the term Bhatija (Bhratrija) if male and Bhatiji (Bhratrija) if female. Sister’s husband is known by the term Behnoi/ Jija and her children get the nomenclature Bhanja (Bhaginija)/Bhanaji.
In the category of affinal kins we have relationships established through marriage. First we talk of kins through marriage of self. The first kin in this way is the spouse- Pati if male and Patni if female. There are several Desi versions of such terms e.g.Ghar ala/ wala, Khasam, Mard, Log/Vara if male and Ghar wali/ali, Zoru, Bir, Lugai, Bahu/Bahauria (Vadhu) if female. Husband’s father is Susra (Shvasura) and his mother is Sasu (Shvasru) and similar are the terms vice-versa. The parents of the spouses have their relationship to each other described by a common nomenclature of Samdhi (Sambandhi) if male or Samdhan (Sambandhini) if female. A son –in –law is Jamai (Jamatri) and a daughter-in-law is Bahu (Vadhu). Interestingly brother’s or sister’s mother-in–law is called Mausi (Matrisvasri) bringing her at par with one’s own mother and the masculine derivative Mausa is for his father-in-law. In reciprocity the son-in-law’s brother and sister are given the nomenclature Samdheta (Sambandhi-Batuka) and Samdheti to be known via their father rather than through their brother. Husband and wife moving further into each other’s family circle receive separate kin names in each relationship. Thus we have husband’s Dada/dadi called as Dadasara/Dadas,Nana/ Nani as Nanasra/ Nanas, Mama/Mami as Mamasra or Molasra/ Mamas or Molas, Tau/Tai as Tayasara/Tayas and Kaka/Kaki as Pitasara (Pitrivyashvasura)/ /Pitas. Husband’s father’s sister is known as Phuphas and her husband gets its masculine form, Phuphasra. Husband’s elder brother is Jeth (Jyeshtha) and the latter’s wife is Jethani. Similarly husband’s younger brother and his wife are Devara and Devarani respectively. Father’s sister’s(Bua’s) husband gets the term Phupha as a masculine form of Phuphi. Sister’s husband is Jija. Interestingly no kin name appears to have been given to the sister’s husband’s sister. Perhaps the reason lies in the remoteness of the connection. Husband’s sister and her husband are called Nanand Nanandri) and Nandoyya respectively. Wife’s brother is Sala (Shyalaka) and his wife is Slahaja (Shyalakajaya). Wife’s sister is Sali (Shyalika) and her husband is given the appropriate term Saddhu (Saha-Wodha) or Humjulpha in some circles. In olden times this kin was taken to be as good as non-kin and there was no independent interaction between the two except at family functions like marriage at their common in-laws’ place only. In modern times this affinal connection is quite a hit. This is happening with the appropriation of due personal status to women, accelerated by the emergence of the micro family and the impact of urban social norms on rural life and ways. Cousins and cross cousins are mutually addressed and treated as brother (Bhai) or sister (Bahen) as the case may be. But for specific identification by strangers and third parties all relevant kin terms are employed in a compo sit form e.g, Tau ka Beta, Bua ka Beta, Mama ki Beti etc.
Some kin terms have come to be used as pairs to denote closeness and mutual affection e.g. Chacha-Bhatija, Bua-Bhatija, Mama-Bhanaja, Babu-Beta, Ma-Beti, Devar-Bhabhi etc. Unfortunately Sasu-Bhahu, Nanand-Bhavaj, Devarani –Jethani, Log-Lugai are paired in not so flattering terms as can be gleaned from many a folk songs. But the hapless Sasu, mellowed enough through age and experience gets all the brick bats for the legendary atrocities committed on her daughter-in-law of which she herself had been a perceived victim when young. The system of cross cousin marriages in some communities, where a mother- in- law happens to be either father’s sister or mother’s brother’s wife, has perhaps behind it the factors of safety and security of the bride in this world of uncertainties. However, the Jats have ventured to marry away their daughters to far off places (a la ‘Duhita dure hita’), confident of the system of kinship that they have evolved by strict application of the norms of gotra-exogamy and caste-endogamy.
The above mentioned kin names, though primarily evolved for specifically identifying a kin through relationship of blood or through connubial connection, are extended to a wider group of a village as a whole irrespective of caste and status. However, in case of reciprocity from the members of the Brahmin community there are certain exceptions. The norm is also in place in interaction with all known persons irrespective of the place they come from and irrespective of the kin connections. In the latter case kin takes the form of geographic connection leading to social integration for civic life. This feature speaks volumes of the level of equity observed by the Jats. Kinship system combined with the gotra system can be seen coming into full play at the Vida ceremony in marriages when kins are sought to be identified present on the opposite side for the purpose of being honoured by each side respectively.
Respective kin names of seniors are normally prefixed to names of persons addressed from a distance and invariably used for addressing a person face to face- single or in company. Between cousins the term for addressing is brother (Bhai) or Sister (bahen /Bebe) as the case may be but the compound kin terms like Tau ka Beta/Beti , Bua ka Beta/Beti, Mama ka Beta/ Beti etc. are employed to identify the precise relationship to third party.
Strangers also get addressed with select approximate kin names determined broadly through analogy of age and appearance. Some of these are- Dada/Dadi , Tau/Tai, Bhai, Beta/Beti. It is to be noted that in this category we do not have Bhabi and Bhan/Bahen/Bebe as both these kin names are to be determined in relation to Gotra, which can be ascertained if we come to know a person closely. However, a kin name based on blood relation (or even gotra connection) can not be superseded by a kin name determined through connubial connection. For example, mother’s brother’s daughter married to a person equal to a brother in kin hierarchy shall continue be known and addressed by the original kin name (Bahen), the new kin connection (leading to the term Bhabi) not withstanding.
Then we have several situations coming before us in life when kin names are used not for indicating kinship but to connote different meaning. These can be listed below:
i) For adding emphasis in assertions or refusals-‘This time I wont leave this fellow (Sala)
unpunished’; ‘I shall give nothing to this fellow (Sala).’ ‘The fellow (Susra) is good for
nothing.’ ‘Why should I go to meet that fellow (Susra)?’
ii) For extending grudging admiration- ‘The fellow (Susra or Sala) is indeed honest;’
iii) For hurling abuses several kin names are freely used. Mother (Maa), Sister (Bahen), wife’s brother (Sala), Daughter(Beti/ Chhori suffer the worst when these terms get used in incestuous terms, especially at the hands of males. Among women Bhabi is a favourite term of abuse when used for a quarreling adversary. One is left wondering what two women in quarrel mean when they call each other ‘Sasu ghodaan ki’(Mother-in-law of horses implying thereby the ‘mare-hood’ of her daughters). Cursing in the name of kins is a common feature but ‘Bhai Roi’ and ‘Napooti’( sonless) are the most hurting as they target the closest kins, a brother and a son.
iv)For adding emotions in folk songs of women sung on occasions of marriage and festivals like Teej and Raksha Bandhan (Salonon). When, a bride embarks on taking the rounds of the sacred fire along with the bride groom the women folk present at the marriage ceremony synchronise singing the conventional song reminding her in each round of her kin connections (Dada ki Poti, Babu ki Beti etc.), thereby assuring her of their support at the most critical juncture of her life. The terms Babu and Ma have a nostalgic touch when rendered as Babul and Mayad respectively by a daughter living in a far off place.
v) For entreatingly persuading some one who is not a kin, to do a favour – ‘Tau aage ne ho le’; O ‘Phupha maan jaa’. Such usages are taken sportingly by all concerned with a touch of amusement. Kin names are uttered even to adamant domestic animals to relent to do certain commands when patient cajoling fails to deliver. Bhenoi and Bhenoyen (not Behan!) are commonly used in such situations.
vi)Though basically appropriately used for a step-mother the term Mausi has borne stigma in
the context of supposed ill treatment meted out by her to her stepson/daughter. Thus we have the phrase ‘Sapon ki Mausi’.
The order of precedence among kins is determined on the basis of relative position on the hierarchical ladder. In case of a tie the one through blood connection takes precedence over the one through connubial connection. Parameters of precedence include- right of passage, order of greeting, position of seat on head-side(Sirahana) or foot-side (Paitana) of a bed, obligation to hold a hukkah at the calf region (gatta pakadna) and offering it to others present, right to draw the inaugural pull at the same, representing the family/clan at Panchayat etc.
A closer look at the kin names would show the following as the primary or basic terms:
Among the terms for blood relations there are four: (i) Pita/Bap/Babu (ii) Mata/Ma/Maan(iii) Poot/Beta (iv) Beti/ Dhih. All other kin terms either upward in the scale or downwards both on the father’s side and the mother’s side are derived from these four. However, one has to stretch one’s imagination in deriving Nana from Matri-Pita. On the face it appears to be a vestige of the original Sanskrit term Nanaanri, gone obsolete with the passage of time.
In the same way we have the following basic terms among affinal kins: (i) Pati/ Vara/ Log/ Khasam (ii) Patni/Bahu/Lugai/Zoru (iii) Susra (iv) Sasu (v) Samdhi (vi) Samdhan. Considering (iv) and (vi) as the feminine forms of (iii) and (v) the basic number comes to four. As in the case of blood relations the terms for other affinal relations are derived from these four.
Needless to say that the above system of kin nomenclatures has stood the test of time in keeping our social organization not only intact but also integrated, serving as a renewal system in the manner of rolling the past and unfolding the future for millenniums. With the growing urbanization and changing life patterns the system is already under strains. Our younger generations given to cosmopolitan ways can hardly help being part of the anonymous system of individualism where distances are getting reduced with the introduction of faster means of transportation but kins are getting more distant. We have very little time these days to refer back to the extended family and the entailing network of kins. But no one would deny admitting experiencing deepest joy on discovering and meeting a relation of several generations distant.


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