DOWRY

the property that a wife or a wife's family give to her husband upon marriage. Dowries have a long history in Europe, India, Africa, and other parts of the world. One of the basic functions of a dowry has been to serve as a form of protection for the wife against ill treatment by her husband. A dowry used in this way was actually a conditional gift to the husband that had to be restored to the wife or her family if the husband divorced his wife or committed some grave offense against her. Such dowries were frequently land or some other form of real property and were made inalienable by the husband, though he might otherwise use and profit from them during marriage. A dowry can also serve to help a new husband discharge the responsibilities that go with marriage. This function assumed special importance in societies where marriages were regularly made between very young people; the dowry made it possible for the new husband to establish a household, which he otherwise would not have had the economic resources to do. Another function of a dowry in some societies has been to provide the wife with a means of support in case of her husband's death. In this latter case the dowry is a substitute for a compulsory share in the succession or the inheritance of the husband's landed property. In many premodern societies the dowry serves as a reciprocal gesture by the bride's family to the groom's kin for the expenses incurred by the latter in payment of the bride-price (see bridewealth). These exchanges are not purely economic; they serve to ratify the marriage and consolidate friendship between the two families. In Europe, the dowry has frequently served not only to enhance the desirability of a woman for marriage but also to build the power and wealth of great families and even to determine the frontiers and policies of states. The use of dowries has tended to disappear in industrial societies, however, as indeed it did in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.