-Ramphal Kataria
From Herds to Honor Killings: How Gotra and Caste Still Rule Northern India
Outwardly, northern India looks modern. Cities gleam, economies boom, women work alongside men, and social media buzzes with talk of equality. Look closer, though, and you see a society shackled by ancient codes—caste, gotra, and village-level hierarchies dictate who you can marry, whom you can love, and sometimes, how you live or die.
From ‘Jan’ to Gotra: A Tool for Survival
Historian Rahul Sankrityayan’s Manav Samaj reminds us that Indian society didn’t start with rigid caste lines. Early humans lived in kinship-based clans called ‘Jan.’ Survival depended on cooperation; economic cohesion was everything.
Gotra, originally a lineage identifier, ensured exogamy—marrying outside one’s clan to prevent genetic defects. It was rational, scientific, and essential for the community’s survival. A tool of social cohesion, not oppression.
When Survival Became Strata: Gotra Hardens into Caste
Agriculture changed everything. Land and surplus created hierarchy. Occupational divisions became hereditary. Gotra, once a simple social device, became embedded in the rigid caste system:
Caste Endogamy: Marry within your caste.
Gotra Exogamy: Marry outside your gotra.
Thousands of tiny social compartments emerged, locking people into identities they did not choose. Mobility shrank, opportunity narrowed, love became regulated.
Invaders, Mughals, and the British: Cementing Rigidity
Aryans, Greeks, Mughals, and the British all left their mark. Mughals centralized administration; British censuses and laws froze identities. Instead of evolving fluidly, caste hardened. Each invader, knowingly or not, left society more introverted, hierarchical, and fragile.
Haryana: Where Modernity Collides with Tradition
Haryana is the perfect case study. The Green Revolution brought prosperity. Urbanization and education bring exposure. Yet, caste often trumps religion, and village-level bhaichara extends incest taboos across entire villages.
Young men and women fall in love across castes—or even within the same gotra—and the reaction is brutal. Khap Panchayats enforce these “honor codes,” sometimes with murder. The tools of kinship have become weapons of control.
Why Change Is Inevitable—and Necessary
The original purpose of Gotra—to prevent inbreeding in small clans—is irrelevant today. Young people are working, studying, and socializing in diverse spaces. Technology, media, and economic independence are forcing new bonds across caste lines.
Society must respond:
Enforce laws protecting individual choice.
Educate communities on the scientific and social irrelevance of rigid Gotra taboos.
Promote inter-caste interactions and economic equality.
The New Social Order Is Coming
Denial only delays the inevitable. The young are forming relationships based on love, compatibility, and shared values, not outdated caste hierarchies. Tradition will clash with modernity, and some will resist violently—but history favors evolution.
Haryana—and northern India at large—stands at a crossroads. The old codes of honor and gotra cannot govern 1.4 billion people anymore. Society will adapt, and the new, humane, inclusive social order is already struggling to be born.
References
1. Dube, S. C. (1990). Indian Society. New Delhi: National Book Trust.
2. Gupta, A. (2020). Caste and cross-region marriages in Haryana: Experience of Dalit cross-region brides in Jat households. Modern Asian Studies. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X200000X
3. Sahapedia. (2024). Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan: The atheist monk. https://www.sahapedia.org/mahapandit-rahul-sankrityayan-atheist-monk
4. Sankrityayan, R. (1948). Manav Samaj [Human Society]. Varanasi: Bihar Hindi Granth Academy.
5. Singh, Y. (1973). Modernization of Indian Tradition. New Delhi: Thomson Press.
6. Times of India. (2023, March 15). Understanding gotras: The ancient lineage system in Hindu culture. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/astrology/others/understanding-gotras-the-ancient-lineage-system-in-hindu-culture/articleshow/110557098.cms
7. Times of India. (2025, June 22). Amend Hindu Marriage Act to curb live-in ties, same-gotra marriages: Haryana sarpanches. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/amend-hindu-marriage-act-to-curb-live-in-ties-same-gotra-marriages-haryana-sarpanches-mahapanchayat-on-june-22/articleshow/121323794.cms
8. AbhyasOnline.in. (n.d.). Caste system in Haryana [Infographic]. https://abhyasonline.in/contents/Haryana%20GK/Haryana%20GK/People%20Of%20Haryana/Caste%20System%20In%20Haryana/
