Iravati Karve says that:

• Linguistic regions,
• Institution of caste, and
• Family organisation

are the most vital basis for understanding of the patterns of kinship in India.

She divides the whole country into:

• northern,
• central,
• southern and
• eastern zones

Keeping in view the linguistic, caste, and family organisation. Kinship organisation generally follows the linguistic pattern but doesn''t always go hand in hand. Ex. MH has Dravidian impact, and the impact of northern neighbours speaking Sanskritic languages could be seen on the Dravidian kinship system.

Despite variations based on these factors, there are two common points:

• Marriage is always within a caste or tribe, and
• Marriage between parents and children and between siblings is forbidden.

Kinship in North India

In north India, there are:

• terms for blood relations, and
• terms for affinal relations.There are primary terms for three generations of immediate relations and these terms are not exchangeable between generation. All other terms are derived from the primary terms.

The northern zone consists the areas of the Sindhi, Punjabi, Hindi (Pahari), Bihari, Bengali, Assamese and Nepali languages. Kinship in these areas is characterised by:

• caste endogamy and clan exogamy, (gotra/pinda)
• incest taboos,
• local/village exogamy.

Taboos regarding sexual relations between primary kins are strictly observed.

The rule of sasan is key to all marriage alliances, that is, a person must not marry in his patri-family and must avoid marriage with sapinda kin. Sometimes a caste is also divided into endogamous gotras or exogamous gotras as also gotras which do not seem to have any function in marriage regulations.

Considerations of caste status tend to restrict the area of endogamy. Marriage prohibitions tend to bar marriage over a wide area in terms of kinship as well as space. Cognatic prohibitions and local exogamy are strictly adhered to in marriage alliances.

Four-gotra (sasan) rule, that is, avoidance of the gotras of father, mother, grandmother and maternal grandmother is generally practised among Brahmins and other upper castes in north India. However, some intermediate and most of the lower castes avoid two gotras, namely, that of father and mother.

Kinship in South India

The Nayars, tiyans, some Moplas in Malabar region and the Bants in Kanara district have matrilineal and matrilocal kinship systems, and it is called tharawad. It consists of a woman, her brothers and sisters, her own and her sister’s sons and daughters. No affinal relation lives in the tharawad. Some consanguines are excluded (children of the males). There are no husband-wife, father-children relations in a tharawad.

In the southern zone there is the system of:

• Caste endogamy and clan exogamy.
• There are inter-marrying clans in the same village.
• Castes are divided exogamous clans. Inter-clan marriages do not cover all clans.
• Within an endogamous caste, there are smaller circles of endogamous units made up of a few families giving and receiving daughters in marriage.
• Preferential marriages with cross cousins.

The southern zone has its peculiar features which are quite different from that of the northern part of India. Preferential marriages with cross cousins are particularly prevalent in the southern zone. The main thrust of such a system of preferential marriages lies in maintaining unity and solidarity of the clan and upholding of the principle of exchange of daughters in the same generation. (Levi-Strauss'' idea)

However, there are taboos on marrying of younger sister’s daughter, levirate, and mother’s sister’s daughter. Maternal uncle and niece marriages and cross-cousin marriages result in double relationships. A cousin is also a wife, and after marriage a cousin is more of a wife than a cousin.
Comparison

1. In a southern family, there is no clear-cut distinction between the family of birth, that is, family of orientation and family of marriage, that is, family of procreation as found in the northern family. In the north, no member from Ego’s family of orientation can become a member of his family of marriage; but this is possible in the south.
2. In the north, an Ego (person under reference/study) has some kin who are his blood relatives only and others who are his affinal. In the south blood relatives are affinal kin at the same time.
3. In the south, organization of kin is arranged according to age categories in the two groups, that is, older than Ego (tam-mun) and younger than Ego (lam-pin) (tain is ‘self’, mun is ‘before’ and pin is ‘after’).
4. In the south, kinship organization is dependent on the chronological age differences while in the north, it is dependent on the principle of generational divisions.
5. No special norms of behaviour are evolved for married girls in the south whereas in the north, many restrictions are imposed on them.
6. Marriage does not symbolize woman’s separation from her father’s house in the south but in the north, a woman becomes a casual visitor to her parent’s family.
7. In the north, marriage is to widen the kinship group while in the south it is to strengthen already existing bonds.

At the end, it can be concluded that both rigidity and flexibility exist side by side in regard to values and norms related to kinship systems. These are reflected in regard to divorce, widow remarriage, incest taboos, caste endogamy, rule of avoidance, family structure, systems of lineage and residence, authority system, succession and inheritance of property etc. The kinship organization in India is influenced by caste and language. In this age of sharp competition for status and livelihood a man and his family must have kin as allies.

Caste and linguistic groups may help an individual from time to time but his most staunch, trustworthy and loyal supporters could only be his nearest kin. It is, therefore, necessary that a person must not only strengthen his bonds with kin but should also try to enlarge his circle of kin. Cousin marriages, preferential mating, exchange rules and the marriage norms which circumvent the field of mate selection are now so changing that kinship relations through marriage are being extended and a person is able to get their help in seeking power and the status lift that power can bring. Kinship continues to be a basic principle of social organization and mobilization on the one hand and division and dissension on the other. It is a complex phenomenon, and its role can be sensed even in modern society.