ENDOGAMY

Harshit Pithauria, Semester-2,

01620603820
Sociology Assignment
 Exogamy and endogamy
Exogamy and endogamy refer to marriage to someone from outside or inside one's immediate
social group respectively. The two words also refer to the biological phenomenon of
outbreeding or inbreeding.
Human societies throughout history have frequently enforced either exogamous or
endogamous rules concerning the selection of marriage partners. In the case of exogamy, even
the exact group into which a person must marry can be specified, such as in the case of the
Haida and Tlingit that are divided into two moieties and marriage to a member of the other
moiety was required. Endogamous societies may have equally strong prohibitions on marrying
outside one's own group. The royal and noble families of Europe became severely inbred,
although the original intention was intermarriage in order to strengthen political alliances with
the royal families of other nations.