Question

How did marriage originate as a social institution?

Answer 1

Marriage originated as a social institution to fulfil essential biological, emotional, and social needs of human beings. In early societies, sexual relations were unregulated and often promiscuous. Over time, to ensure stability, reproduction, inheritance, and social order, marriage evolved as a recognised union between individuals or groups. Anthropologists proposed that marriage developed gradually from group marriage to polygamy and then to monogamy, although this unilinear theory is debated. Scholars like D.N. Majumder and T.N. Madan explain that marriage provides biological satisfaction, psychological support, and cultural survival. It became a universal institution, sanctified by customs, laws, and religion, ensuring the continuity of society through regulated family life.