Walwar - Bride Price

[marwati]

Re: Walwar - Bride Price

@muqawwee123

Walwar is the sum of money paid by the groom or his family to the head of the bride’s household. Out of this sum, the bride’s family may provide the couple with a dowry (or jahez), which usually consists of furniture and jewellery/clothes. Walwar is basically a payment to the bride’s family in consideration of the girl who is given away in marriage, and is not specifically directed to be spent on the provision of a dowry.

Qissa Khwani: Walwar (Bride Price) And Marriage Among Pashtuns

How do you see this tradition of paying / getting price for a human being?

Have you seen this in other communities as well? Though the tradition is not a must in Sindhi society, but I did observed this in Sindh as well and the bride subsequently treated like Zar-khareed ghulam and if not treated badly someone may remind her that you were bought for money.

@muqawwee123 this is one of the many instances in which pre-Islamic Pashto and Islam is run parallel, side by side, by Pashtuns. It is basically Pashtun equalant of of Haq-e-mahar and it is paid in addition to haq-e-mahar. The criticism on walwar is because of its price tag notion but same can be said about haq-e-mahar

While amount of haq-e-mahar is determined by bride, in walwar girl has no say in it and is determined by the two families. A misconception exists that walwar means selling of girl i.e father keeps the cash, thats not true. The big chunk of walwar is paid in zar or gold jewelery by family of bridegroom, which the father of bride will give to his daughter at the occasion of wedding and reukhsati. Rest is paid in cash which the bride’s father will consume on expenditures of marraige and will buy presents for her daughter which you can call dowery. That is burden is entirely on bridegroom in pashtun society. This is oppoiste to Hindi societies in which a very big burden is placed on bride’s family through jahaiz and sharing marriage expenditures.

haq-e-mahar is also paid , but is small in amount. In the presence of already existing haq-e-mahar of Islam, walwar is very inappropriate. Syed Ahmad Bareilwi declared it a bid’aa and tried to discourage it but met the resistance from Pashtuns of Peshawar valley.