Dowry

A dowry (also known as trousseau or tocher) is the money, goods, or estate that is given to a woman at the time of her marriage. A dowry creates a fund for her support in case her husband dies. The dowry eventually goes to her sons and daughters of this marriage. At different times in history, a dowry was needed to prove that the marriage was real. Sometimes the woman controlled her dowry throughout her life. Other times, her husband took control of the dowry.

Dowry started as gifts that were handed out to the bride at the time of marriage to make her stay at in-laws place more comfortable. It has hence taken an ugly turn, many parts of India still have a high incidence of dowry demands. Dowries have been illegal in India since 1961, but 90% of Indian marriages still have them. Many people still continue dowry system for their own uses . Some states with a very poor reputation with regards to dowry are - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu. This is a sad reality in Indian marriages and has gone unchecked. 35,493 brides were killed in India between 2017 and 2022 for bringing in insufficient dowry.

Dowry Media

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  Aussteuerschrank – a dowry cabinet, currently in a German museum in Hauenstein.

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  The Babylonian Marriage Market by Edwin Long, 1875.

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  Jadeite Cabbage – Jin received it as part of her dowry for her wedding to Guangxu, in 1889; originally displayed in Forbidden City (Beijing), it is now in National Palace Museum (Taipei City).

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  The dowry for the three virgins (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome), part of the Saint Nicholas legend.

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  In an 1828 "Wife Wanted" advertisement in Cornwall, a man claiming a "great taste for building" pledges to apply a prospective wife's dowry-like £1000+ to build property that will be "settled on her for life".

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  The Dowry by 19th-century Russian painter, Vasili Pukirev. Dowry was a common practice in Russia through the 19th century.

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  Fra Angelico's painting: The Story of St Nicholas Giving Dowry to Three Poor Girls. The 15th-century painting relates to the story of a poor man with three daughters.

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  Muslim Ouled Nail girls waiting in the streets of an Algerian village to earn dowry as dancers. Algerian patrons invited them at cafés and festivals or to shrines of Muslim awliya.