







































Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal 6(2): 253-260, July 2023 

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD  

Bringing and Being a ‘Kaim-bride’: A Note on 
Marriage and Migration in Assam Chars 

Sampurna Das* 

1. INTRODUCTION

“I wanted a bride from the kaim [inland area] and got one. There are benefits 
of  having a kaim-bride—unlike local women, they are healthy—not 
anaemic—and educated,” said Zahidul. Zahidul is the son of  the char 
headman (locally called matbor) and my host. Chars are low-lying river 
sandbars peculiar to the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin in eastern India 
(states of  Assam and West Bengal) and Bangladesh. They are formations 
made of  silt sediments, which accumulate and disintegrate every year, 
subjecting their inhabitants to a repetitious cycle of  losing and gaining land. 
In Assam, chars cover around 5% of  the total area of  the state, housing 10% 
of  the total population of  Assam, and are spread across 14 districts, 59 
development blocks, and 2,251 villages (GOA 2004). Assam chars are home 
to the Miya or the “Bengali Muslim”1 ethnic minority. Kaims are the inland 
areas that are away from the river. Kaim-brides, therefore, refer to women 
born and raised in the inland areas and married into chars. 

In the Osthir char (name changed on request of  my participants) of  western 
Assam’s Barpeta region—where I was based in 2019–2021 for 15 months 
during my doctoral fieldwork—one-fourth of  the women are kaim-brides 
originating from neighbouring rural areas. This note adds to the wider 
literature analysing the phenomenon of  cross-regional marriage migration in 

 
* PhD candidate. Department of  Sociology. Delhi School of  Economics, University of  Delhi. 

sampurnasoc@gmail.com  

Copyright © Das 2023. Released under Creative Commons Attribution © NonCommercial 
4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0) by the author.  

Published by Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE), c/o Institute of  Economic 
Growth, University Enclave, North Campus, Delhi 110007.  

ISSN: 2581–6152 (print); 2581–6101 (web).  

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v6i2.1035  
1 From here onwards, I shall refer to the community as Miya. While “Bengali Muslims” is the 
official nomenclature of  the community, it is critically received, as the nomenclature has 
colonial and racial roots. Moreover, this label flattens out the rich history of  the Miya 
community in Assam (Dutta, Azad, and Hussain 2021). 

 

mailto:sampurnasoc@gmail.com
https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v6i2.1035


 Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [254] 

 

India (Kaur 2004; Palriwala and Uberoi 2008; Blanchet, 2008; Mazumdar et 
al 2013; Ibrahim 2018) to highlight that kaim–char marriage is a unique cross-
regional marriage mediated by norms of  social status, conjugality, and gender 
relations in a uniquely uncertain riverine ecology. 

In this note, I will examine the structure and process of  kaim–char marriages: 
why do men bring brides from the kaim? Why does a kaim-bride migrate to 
the char? Is it only men of  particular class groups and economic status who 
partake in this practice? What kinds of  marriage payments and economy are 
associated with such marriages? How are migrant women received in char 
society and households? Given the ecological and cultural differences 
between the natal kaim and marital char home, what kinds of  negotiation and 
agency are shown by these women? To explore these concerns, I draw upon 
my interviews with the kaim-brides, the husbands and their families, the 
parents of  the kaim-brides, and local women, who I thought may be able to 
reflect on the kaim–char marriages in Osthir char. In the course of  my 
research, I also surveyed landed men to get an estimate of  the frequency of  
marrying kaim-brides.  

2. BRINGING A KAIM-BRIDE AS A SOCIAL STATUS 
ENHANCER 

The landed households in Osthir char, which account for less than 20% of  
the entire char population, can marry a kaim-bride. These households control 
around 70% of  the land in the char. The households of  the matbor and his 
kin are included. Although not every landed family has a kaim-bride, all aspire 
to this end.  

My genealogical analysis suggests that the generational frequency of  kaim-
brides is on the rise. Interviews with the husbands of  kaim-brides revealed 
that their preference for kaim-brides is linked to the growing awareness and 
adoption of  family planning measures, following the launch of  the ASHA 
(or accredited social health activist) programme in the char in 2010. Initiated 
by the National Rural Health Mission, the ASHA programme brought a new 
idea of  prosperity to the chars—of  having fewer children, since the dense 
population of  the chars is widely stigmatised.  Thus, for the landed men, 
having fewer children became a sign of  higher social status. This became 
what distinguished them from non-landed poorer families in the chars, who 
need more children as extra hands to cope with cyclical erosion and accretion.  

As per local beliefs, the way to have lesser children is to have a kaim-bride. 
Zahidul reasoned that the local women are anaemic and bear weak children. 
As a result, more children are needed as replacements for children who are 
sick or may die. On the contrary, kaim-brides are known to be healthier, beget 
healthier offspring with higher survival chances, and, consequently, need to 



[255] Das 

 

have fewer children. The “child survival hypothesis” makes kaim-brides 
preferable. Secondly, it is easier for educated women to adopt family planning 
practices, hence increasing the demand for kaim-brides, who also tend to be 
educated. I was told by Zahidul that community workers talk to the women 
about various contraceptive measures, but because most char women are 
illiterate, they are not able to understand and subsequently practise family 
planning measures. Thus, for family planning, an educated wife is required, 
which is more likely if  they belong to the kaim. In this manner, the burden 
of  family planning is conveniently placed on women. Zahidul further 
explained that local women remain uneducated as because of  the flood and 
erosion,  

the only primary school in the char remains closed for months during and after 
floods…this disrupts the education of  children in the char, especially girls 
because the boys may be sent to the kaim for education, which is unheard of  
for girls, and thereby most local women in chars remain illiterate. 

3. BEING A KAIM-BRIDE AND THE MARRIAGE ECONOMY 

I was informed by Akila, Zahidul’s wife, that poverty and bride-price are the 
primary reasons kaim-brides marry into the char. Kaim-brides belong to 
poorer Miya families from the inland and only agree to marry into chars for 
better economic prospects. More often than not, kaim-brides are unable to 
compete in the local marriage market due to their economic status and are 
forced to look towards the char. Their natal families make sure that an alliance 
is fixed with landed families, as life in a char is physically laborious and 
characterized by the constant shifting of  homesteads driven by erosion and 
accretion—they do not want their daughters to perform hard labour without 
any economic benefits. The practical hardships of  living in an uncertain char 
ecology underline that only men who have an established economic base in 
the region can take a kaim-bride.  

The element of  bride-price (locally known as mahr) further characterizes the 
economics behind the kaim–char marriage. Bride-price refers to the payment 
made by the groom’s family to the bride’s family in the form of  money, 
livestock, or other valuables. As opposed to the system of  dowry—a 
common form of  marriage payment in Assam, and India at large—the Miya 
community of  Assam practices bride-price. Miller (1981) and Agrawal (2014) 
emphasize that bride-price is prevalent only among marginalized 
communities, particularly low-ranking castes and tribal groups in India.  

Over the years, the bride-price for kaim-brides has risen. Akila said that 
Zahidul had to pay a hefty sum to fix their alliance. Zahidul confirmed “the 
expensiveness” of  his wife by narrating that the bride-price of  1,00,000 



 Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [256] 

 

rupees was double what he had estimated. Akila further explained the 
lucrativeness of  a char alliance by enumerating the cost of  a local wedding: 

If  my father were to fix an alliance for me within the kaim, it would have 
resulted in a significant loss of  the family’s resources, as the alliance would 
have been from a poorer family like us, and we would not get a high bride-
price.  

The kaim-char alliance is an optimum situation for poor kaim families like 
Akila’s. Juxtaposing her marriage to her sisters, who were married in kaim, 
Akila highlighted that while her sisters constantly need economic support 
from the natal family, she does not. Furthermore, since Akila has been 
married into a prosperous household, she is expected to support her natal 
house, into the future, be it in the form of  money, food, or other valuable 
commodities.  

4. LOCAL BRIDES, KAIM-BRIDES, AND THE INSIDER–
OUTSIDER CONUNDRUM 

The local brides—those born and brought up in the chars—regard kaim-
brides as frail outsider women. The ones I talked to told me that the kaim-
brides are weak and unable to swiftly pack and unpack household items 
during floods and erosion and prefer to “run away” to their natal kaim family 
in these situations. It is important to note how the idea of  health emerges 
across this region—local men see kaim-brides as healthy, while the local 
women see them as frail. Health is a subjective experience, as Castro (1995) 
points out, based on specific patterns of  interaction between individuals. My 
conversations with local brides further revealed that the kaim-brides were not 
inclined to learn the culture and history of  the Osthir char and did not try to 
understand the shifting nature—rhythms of  erosion and accretion—of  the 
char landscape. For them, like the “outsider” people of  the kaim, the kaim-
brides see the char as a dangerous and uninhabitable place and wish to leave 
as soon as there is flood or erosion.  

However, the kaim-brides do not remain outsiders. There is a steady change 
in social status, which is brought about by pregnancy and motherhood, 
particularly if  a kaim-bride bears a son. Motherhood transforms a kaim-bride 
from an outsider to a relative insider. Childbirth and motherhood are seen as 
rites of  passage for the kaim-bride. This is true for most cultures, especially 
in South Asia, where motherhood is highly idealized and gives women 
identifiable social status (Lewis 1958; Mandelbaum 1970; Kakar 1981; Dube 
1997).  

In January 2021, Akila was in the second trimester of  her pregnancy. I 
observed how her neighbours, who were local brides, had become solicitous 



[257] Das 

 

of  her welfare, introducing her to midwives and soothsayers. Gestures of  
acceptance and affection towards Akila suddenly increased markedly. The 
growing feeling of  acceptance was also reinforced by social customs. As a 
pregnant kaim-bride, Akila was to continue staying in her in-law’s home 
unlike local brides, who may go to their natal home. This is believed to help 
the kaim-bride strengthen her and her child’s relationship with the char—a 
prerequisite for Akila to be considered a relative insider.  

The roots of  this relative insider status bestowed on the pregnant kaim-bride 
lie in a social and cultural belief  that equates “woman” with “mother” and 
suggests that by giving birth to a child of  the local man, “the kaim-ness in 
the kaim-bride dissolves” (“kaim bepar gulo ghula jai”). For the kaim-bride, 
motherhood is an event through which the char culture confirms her status 
as a renewer of  the family line and grants her respect and consideration, 
which were not given to her as a mere wife. Nonetheless, the improvement 
in social status is only partial. The kaim-bride is often reminded of  her 
outsider position from time to time. In Akila’s case, her request to see a 
gynaecologist during an episode of  abdomen pain was not considered 
favourably. The local midwife, who was handling the situation, disappointedly 
remarked that such requests are never made by local women and are one of  
the reasons why kaim-brides can never fully become char women.  

5. NEGOTIATION AND AGENCY WITHIN THE KAIM–CHAR 
MARRIAGE 

Another consequence of  pregnancy is a change in the kaim-bride’s agency. I 
observed that kaim-brides who were mothers exerted power, which was not 
an option available to them before childbirth.  

Using their newfound acceptance, these mother kaim-brides often rise to 
leadership positions in women’s cooperative societies. In all the 12 state-run 
women’s cooperative societies in Osthir char, the secretaries and cashiers 
were kaim-brides. Akila, a secretary herself, explained that as someone who 
was raised in the kaim and had attained secondary education, she was far 
more capable of  undertaking organizational and planning tasks for official 
institutions such as the cooperative society than a char woman. Akila 
underlined how, as a leader of  a women’s cooperative, she plans the process 
of  resurrecting homesteads affected by erosion. The kaim-brides re-signify 
these position with characteristics that can only be fulfilled by someone from 
a kaim.  

Further, by agreeing to stay back in the kaim during pregnancy, the kaim-
brides engage in personal discussions with their husband. Although a char-
based pregnancy is meant to teach them the ways of  char life, kaim-brides 
use it to spend more time with their husbands, conversing with them and 



 Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [258] 

 

conveying their wants and needs to them. For instance, Akila was able to talk 
to Zahidul about seeing doctors rather than a midwife and saving money for 
their child’s higher education in the kaim. In a way, the kaim-brides, envision 
and negotiate an autonomous present and future for themselves in the char. 
The kaim-brides thus engage in non-ideal gender behaviours—they take 
charge of  work, that too outside the domestic domain, and lay the 
groundwork to voice their concerns to their husbands, which proves 
invaluable in making a living in the char.  

Further, Akila emphasized that their agency is framed by the networks they 
forge using mothering roles, with help from senior kaim-bride mothers who 
pioneered this route. Anchored in these networks, kaim-brides had social 
capital to imagine alternatives beyond surrendering to the ideals of  a docile 
char woman. Akila narrated how husbands are the main support system for 
the kaim-brides, as they “allow” them to invest time in organizing the 
cooperative society and “help” in childcare when they are visiting the kaim 
for the district-level meetings of  women’s cooperatives. The kaim-brides’ 
commitment to asserting leadership illustrates that reasoning is a 
fundamental component of  their personhood, embodied in the articulation 
of  their distinctive “social capital” (Bourdieu 1986). In doing so, the kaim-
brides enhance the social capital of  the husbands and their families, making 
them desirable to other local men. 

6. CONCLUSION 

This note examines the social situation of  the brides who have migrated to 
the char from the rural inland areas of  Assam. It concludes that the reasons 
driving kaim–char marriages circle around poverty, lucrative marriage 
payments, and a quest for social status.  

The health and education status of  the kaim-brides makes them objects of  
social capital, which can be accessed through the payment of  a bride-price. 
The landed men have economic capital via land control, but they feel that 
they lack social capital. There is a contradiction between economic wealth 
and social status in the chars, and access to kaim-brides is an indicator of  
social status. By marrying kaim-brides, these men transform their economic 
capital into social capital and strengthen their social status. As for the kaim-
brides, they agree to marry into a char only when the alliance is with a landed 
family which thereby ensures a strong economic status. A kaim-bride never 
agrees to take a peasant man from the char, who has little or no land control. 
This also signals the concerns of  the natal families of  the kaim-brides 
regarding conditions of  ecological vulnerability and the possibility of  the 
woman experiencing a suffering peculiar to the char landscape, which 



[259] Das 

 

threatens reproduction and livelihoods on the char. In other words, kaim–
char marriages signify an exchange of  economic capital for social capital. 

Further, despite facing difficulties in adjusting to floods, erosion, and 
conjugal and gendered norms, the kaim-brides are gradually incorporated 
into the marital household and char when they become mothers. The kaim-
brides reconstruct their gendered selves by articulating their kaim 
subjectivities, improving communication with their husbands and building 
fruitful marriages, as well as building networks with other kaim-brides and 
developing strategies for living in the char. We also see that being a kaim-
bride complicates the construction and practise of  marital, conjugal, and 
gender relations in the char.  

As shown in the note, much of  the explanation of  the structure and 
processes behind kaim–char marriages lies in understanding the complex 
social relations organising the life of  the people in the char and their relation 
to the ever-shifting char ecology.  

Ethics Statement: I hereby confirm that this study complies with 
requirements of  ethical approvals from the institutional ethics committee for 
the conduct of  this research.  

Data Availability statement: The data used to support this research is 
available in a repository and the hyperlinks and persistent identifiers (e.g. 
DOI or accession number) are stated in the paper. 

Conflict of  Interest Statement: No potential conflict of  interest was 
reported by the author. 

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