Endogamy

{{Short description|Marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2023}} {{Anthropology of kinship |concepts}}

'''Endogamy''' is the cultural practice of only marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Its opposite, exogamy, describes the social norm of marriage outside of the group.

Endogamy is common in many cultures and ethnic groups. Several religious and ethnic religious groups are traditionally more endogamous, although sometimes mating outside of the group occurs with the added dimension of requiring marital religious conversion. This permits an exogamous marriage, as the convert, by accepting the partner's religion, becomes accepted within the endogamous group. Endogamy may result in a higher rate of recessive gene–linked genetic disorders.

==Adherence== {{Further|Population genetics|inbreeding}} Endogamy can encourage sectarianism and serves as a form of self-segregation. For instance, a community resists integration or completely merging with the surrounding population. Minorities can use it to stay ethnically homogeneous over a long time as distinct communities within societies that have other practices and beliefs.

The isolationist practices of endogamy may lead to a group's extinction, as genetic diseases may develop that can affect an increasing percentage of the population. However, this disease effect would tend to be small unless there is a high degree of close inbreeding, or if the endogamous population becomes very small in size.

==Social dynamics== The Urapmin, a small tribe in Papua New Guinea, practice strict endogamy. The Urapmin also have a system of kinship classes known as ''tanum miit''. Since the classes are inherited cognatically, most Urapmin belong to all of the major classes, creating great fluidity and doing little to differentiate individuals.<ref>{{cite book | last = Robbins | first = Joel | title = Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society | publisher = University of California Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-520-23800-1 |pages=191–192}}</ref>

The small community on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha are, because of their geographical isolation, an almost endogamic society. There are instances of health problems attributed to endogamy on the island, including glaucoma and asthma as research by the University of Toronto has demonstrated.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7766656.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Worldwide search for asthma clue |date=9 December 2008 |access-date=15 March 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123092415/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7766656.stm |archive-date=23 November 2011 }}</ref>

==Genealogy== Endogamic marriage patterns may increase the frequency of various levels of cousin marriage in a population, and may cause high probability of children of first, second, third cousins, etcetera.

If a cousin marriage has accrued in a known ancestral tree of a person, in historical time, it is referred to as pedigree collapse. This may cause relations along multiple paths between a person's autosomal-DNA matches. It creates stronger DNA matches between the DNA matches than expected from the nearest path.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.legacytree.com/blog/dealing-endogamy-part-exploring-amounts-shared-dna | title=Endogamy Part 1: Exploring Shared DNA | Legacy Tree Genealogists | date=13 October 2016 }}</ref>

Cousin marriage should not be confused with double cousins, which do not cause a pedigree collapse. Certain levels of sibling marriage and cousin marriage is prevented by law in some countries, and referred to as consanguinity.

A long term pattern of endogamy in a region may increase the risk of repeated cousin marriage during a long period of time, referred to as inbreeding. It may cause additional noise in the DNA autosomal data, giving the impressions that DNA matches with roots in that region are more closely related than they are.

==Examples== {{expand section|endogamy characteristic in Japan|date=April 2023}} Examples of ethnic and religious groups that have typically practiced endogamy include: *Aari - An Ethiopian highland group with three castes who at 4500 years show the longest known continuous practice of endogamy<ref>{{cite book|author-link=David Reich (geneticist)|first=David |last=Reich|year=2018|title=Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past|isbn=978-019-882-1250|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLNSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|page=220|chapter=9. Rejoining Africa to the Human Story|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> *Alawites<ref>{{cite web | url=https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/syrias-ruling-alawite-sect/ | title=Syria's Ruling Alawite Sect | date=14 June 2011 }}</ref> * Albanians * The Amish of North America<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/2004/07/23/sids.php |title=Genomics in Amish Country |last=Ruder |first=Katherine 'Kate' |date=23 July 2004 |publisher=Genome News Network}}</ref> * Various Arab tribes<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=3629435 | title=The Structure of Endogamous Unilineal Descent Groups | last1=Patai | first1=Raphael | journal=Southwestern Journal of Anthropology | year=1965 | volume=21 | issue=4 | pages=325–350 | doi=10.1086/soutjanth.21.4.3629435 | s2cid=147674220 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Al-Kharusi |first=Khalsa |last2=Van Wyk |first2=Chantel |last3=Al Hinai |first3=Mariya |last4=Al-Fori |first4=Amel |last5=Bruwer |first5=Zandre |date=2024-01-01 |title=Genetic counseling development and milestone in Oman |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949774424010434 |journal=Genetics in Medicine Open |series=Special Issue: Genetic counseling around the globe |volume=2 |article-number=101897 |doi=10.1016/j.gimo.2024.101897 |issn=2949-7744|doi-access=free }}</ref> * Assyrians, indigenous Christian people of upper Mesopotamia<ref name="Awoyemi2014">{{cite book|author=Dr. Joseph Adebayo Awoyemi|title=Pre-marital Counselling In a Multicultural Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nm1LCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT75|date=14 September 2014|isbn=978-1-291-83577-9|pages=75–|publisher=Lulu.com }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> * Armenians have a history of endogamy due to being almost entirely surrounded by Islamic neighbours while being a strongly Christian nation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Armenia in Pictures|last=Waters|first=Bella|publisher=Learner Publishing Group|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8225-8576-3|location=Minneapolis, MN|page=25}}</ref> * Badakhsháni/Pamiri people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamiris in Tajikistan. Prefer endogamy due to being a Badakhshani-speaking (Pamiri languages considered to be endangered) and Ismaili Muslim minority surrounded by Sunni Tajik/Dari speaking majority, as well as by Kyrgyz and Chinese. * Békés * Ceylon Moors up to the British era. *Coptic Christians<ref>{{cite journal|author=Patrick Alexander Younan |title=The Coptic Christians of Egypt: Dhimmitude and Discrimination |journal=Law School Student Scholarship |date=2014 |url=https://scholarship.shu.edu/student_scholarship/608}}</ref> * Daylamites, an ethnic group living south of the Caspian Sea in ancient and medieval Persia * Druze<ref name=dawn>{{cite book|title=Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East|last= Chatty|first= Dawn |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81792-9|date= 15 March 2010}}</ref> * European royalty of Spain <small>(namely Habsburgs and Borbón)</small> * Fulani<ref>{{Cite web |title=CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FULANI |url=https://www.gamji.com/fulani3.htm |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=www.gamji.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hampshire |first=Kate |date=September 2001 |title=Consanguineous Marriage among the Fulani |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11832150 |website=Researchgate}}</ref> * Galinoporni, a village in Northern Cyprus, where it is said that everybody is related * Gitanos typically practice endogamy within their ''raza'', or patrigroup.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gay y Blasco |first1=Paloma |title=Gitano Evangelism: the Emergence of a Politico-Religious Diaspora |url=http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/working%20papers/WPTC-01-04%20Gayyblasco.pdf |website=Index of working papers |access-date=3 February 2020 |ref=www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/working papers/WPTC-01-04 Gayyblasco.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925054608/http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/working%20papers/WPTC-01-04%20Gayyblasco.pdf }}</ref> * Greek Cypriots usually practice endogamy in order to maintain their status as the majority ethnic group on the island of Cyprus. * Irish Travellers * Judaism traditionally mandates religious endogamy, requiring that both marriage partners be Jewish, while allowing for marriage to converts. Orthodox Judaism maintains the traditional requirement for endogamy in Judaism as a binding,<ref name="Kid68b">''Kiddushin'' 68b</ref> inherent part of Judaism's religious beliefs and traditions.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Jerome M. |last=Epstein |date=29 October 2020 |title=Endogamy is a mitzvah |url=https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/endogamy-is-a-mitzvah-2/ |work=Jewish Standard}}</ref> * Kalash<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Kalash in perspective |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/the-kalash-in-perspective |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Discover Magazine }}</ref> * Lepcha, an ethnic group in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-15 |title=Lepchas {{!}} Indigenous People of the Himalayas, Culture & History |url=https://radianttreks.com/travel-guide/lepchas/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Radiant Treks |language=en-US}}</ref> * Mandaeans<ref>{{Citation |last1=Lupieri |first1=Edmondo F. |title=MANDAEANS |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica Online |url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIRO/COM-392.xml?language=en |access-date=2025-05-08 |publisher=Brill |language=en |last2=Rudolph |first2=Kurt |last3=Buckley |first3=Jorunn Jacobsen |last4=Müller-Kessler |first4=Christa |last5=Häberl |first5=Charles G.}}</ref> * Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or other religious and/or cultural groups relating to Mormonism * Parsis<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qamar |first1=Raheel |last2=Ayub |first2=Qasim |last3=Mohyuddin |first3=Aisha |last4=Helgason |first4=Agnar |last5=Mazhar |first5=Kehkashan |last6=Mansoor |first6=Atika |last7=Zerjal |first7=Tatiana |last8=Tyler-Smith |first8=Chris |last9=Mehdi |first9=S. Qasim |date=May 2002 |title=Y-chromosomal DNA variation in Pakistan |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=1107–1124 |doi=10.1086/339929 |issn=0002-9297 |pmc=447589 |pmid=11898125}}</ref> * Jats<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Khanna |first=Sunil K. |date=2001 |title=Shahri Jat and Pahari Jatni: Gendered Ethnicity in an Urbanizing Jat Village in North India |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09720073.2001.11890680 |journal=The Anthropologist |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=11–19 |doi=10.1080/09720073.2001.11890680 |issn=0972-0073|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gall |first1=Timothy L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbhZAAAAYAAJ |title=Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life |last2=Hobby |first2=Jeneen |date=2009 |publisher=Gale |isbn=978-1-4144-4891-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tiemann |first=Günter |date=1970 |title=The Four-got-Rule among the Jat of Haryana in Northern India |journal=Anthropos |volume=65 |issue=1/2 |pages=166–177 |jstor=40457619 |issn=0257-9774}}</ref> * Rajputs<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=R. J. |year=1997 |chapter=Castes and Caste Relationships |title=If Rain Doesn't Come |url=https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/SSSC/article/download/8057/8181 |publisher=Manohar Publishers and Distributors |pages=53''ff''|isbn= 978-81-7304-184-6}}</ref> * Samaritans<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bonné-Tamir |first1=B. |last2=Korostishevsky |first2=M. |last3=Redd |first3=A. J. |last4=Pel-Or |first4=Y. |last5=Kaplan |first5=M. E. |last6=Hammer |first6=M. F. |date=March 2003 |title=Maternal and paternal lineages of the Samaritan isolate: mutation rates and time to most recent common male ancestor |journal=Annals of Human Genetics |volume=67 |issue=Pt 2 |pages=153–164 |doi=10.1046/j.1469-1809.2003.00024.x |issn=0003-4800 |pmid=12675690}}</ref> * Sayyids * Sentinelese, an uncontacted indigenous tribe inhabiting North Sentinel Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ghai |first=Rajat |date=2018-11-23 |title=Do we need to 'save' the Sentinelese? |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/environment/do-we-need-to-save-the-sentinelese--62244 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Down To Earth |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Aggarwal |first=Mayank |date=2018-11-30 |title=Sentinelese in shadows: A lesson in letting live |url=https://india.mongabay.com/2018/11/sentinelese-in-shadows-a-lesson-in-letting-live/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Mongabay-India |language=en-US}}</ref> * Syrian Christians of Kerala, India – but marital conversion is allowed. * The Vaqueiros de alzada of Spain<ref>García Martínez, Adolfo (2009) [1988]. Los vaqueiros de alzada de Asturias: un estudio histórico-antropológico (Second edition)[in Spanish]. Oviedo: KRK Ediciones. p.746-748. {{ISBN|978-8-483-67229-7}}.</ref> * Yazidis<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ql4BAwAAQBAJ|publisher = I.B.Tauris|date = 23 December 2014|isbn = 978-0-85772-061-0|first = Birgül|last = Açikyildiz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title = Everything You Need to Know About the Yazidis|url = https://time.com/3091932/yazidi-iraq-isis-obama/|magazine = Time|access-date = 7 February 2016|first = Mirren|last = Gidda|archive-date = 11 November 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231111044334/https://time.com/3091932/yazidi-iraq-isis-obama/}}</ref>

'''Cousin marriage:''' * Cousin marriage * Marriages and gotras * List of coupled cousins

'''Marriage systems:''' * Exogamy * Homogamy * Hypergamy

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Endogamy |volume=9 |short=x}} * {{cite journal |url=http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/6/1453.full|doi=10.1093/ije/dyp313|title=Commentary: The background and outcomes of the first-cousin marriage controversy in Great Britain|year=2009|last1=Bittles|first1=A. H.|journal=International Journal of Epidemiology|volume=38|issue=6|pages=1453–1458|pmid=19926668|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}

Category:Endogamy Category:Caste Category:Incest