Rules of Endogamy and Exogamy

Every society places some limits on who can marry whom, but societies differ in how explicit and how strict those limits are. In some societies, the restrictions on eligible partners are fairly subtle -- implied by custom and social expectation rather than spelled out as formal rules. In others, the boundaries of who may or may not be married to whom are stated far more explicitly and specifically, sometimes even codified in religious or customary law.

Sociology classifies these eligibility rules under two broad headings: endogamy and exogamy. Endogamy requires marriage within a specified group -- most commonly, in the Indian context, within one's own caste. Exogamy requires marriage outside a specified group -- for instance, outside one's own clan, gotra or, in some regions, one's own village. The two rules are not mutually exclusive within a single society; a person may simultaneously be required to marry endogamously with respect to caste (marrying only within their caste) and exogamously with respect to clan or village (marrying outside their own clan or village). …