Bartered Brides
Politics, Gender and Marriage in an Afghan Tribal Society

A detailed study of marriage among the Maduzai, a tribal society in Afghan Turkistan.

Nancy Tapper (Author)

9780521024679, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 March 2006

336 pages, 31 b/w illus. 3 maps 25 tables
22.8 x 15 x 2 cm, 0.519 kg

Bartered Brides is a detailed study of marriage among the Maduzai, a tribal society in Afghan Turkistan. It is the first study of the area which looks in depth at both the domestic aspects of marriage and its relation to the productive and reproductive activities of women, as well as marriage as a means of managing political and economic conflict and competition. The fieldwork was carried out in the early 1970s before the 1978 coup and Soviet invasion. In this respect the book offers a unique account of a world that has disappeared. Nancy Tapper presents both male and female perspectives, detailed case studies and historical and statistical material. As an ethnographic and historical record, Bartered Brides breaks new ground in the study of Islam, the Middle East and South-west Asia. As the most detailed and extensive discussion of a Middle Eastern marriage system to date, it contributes to wider anthropological studies of marriage, politics and gender.

Acknowledgements
Part I. Contexts: 1. Personal background
2. Comparative perspectives on marriage
3. Regional background - the Durrani of Saripul
Part II. Social Groups and Marriage: 4. Patriliny, gender and endogamy
5. The Maduzai subtribe
6. Household production and reproduction
Part III. Ideologies of equality and inequality: 7. Brideprice and direct exchange
8. Rituals of marriage
9. Marriage choice
Part IV. Case Studies and Structural Implications: 10. The power at home
11. The marriages of Hajji Adam's descendants
12. Durrani marriage - conclusions
Notes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]