Blood Vengeance and the Kohistani

The term mar dushmani means "death enmity" and identifies the Kohistani dedication to the idea of blood vengeance. This death enmity feature of this society means that men should retaliate whenever they are wronged by another, "though the act of revenge itself should not exceed the original wrong" (Keiser 20). This is highly reminiscent of the biblical "eye for an eye" and even the idea of the Golden Rule, ideas also developed originally in a tribal society. In some cases in Kohistani society, the wronged person can avoid violent revenge and can instead seek "to settle the case peacefully by accepting compensation" (Keiser 20). This is also seen in early Israelite tribal society, as well as in other tribal societies. Keiser notes a number of the characteristics of the people of Thull, such as the fact that they think of social relations in terms of contrasting concepts (Keiser 18). Keiser finds that some societies in the Hindu-Kush area are marked by intercommunity violence, while others are obsessed with communal harmony. He cites an analyst who finds that any explanation for the development of either attitude has to be seen in terms of historical events.

Keiser says that dushmani has to be seen as a procedure existing in time, with "its contemporary structure seen as resulting from a long history of sociocultural transformations" (Keiser 45). Village peace was an important force in many pagan societies of the region. Keiser finds that the values and ideas rela

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substructure. Kinship groups are natural in that membership is conferred by birth, while political membership is not conferred by birth and offers more choice than would a kinship group. It is necessary to understand the nature of tribal society and the role of kinship groups in such a society to see how external forces might bring about change leading to the sort of situation seen in Kohistani society once Islam had been imposed. Death enmity is affected by economic, kinship, and political organization and then in turn affects each of these by becoming a focal point for ideology and political and economic action in the community and for the protection of the community. 2) Delayed transfer marriage and marriage resistance ar linked in the book Daughters of the Canton Delta by Stockard, citing Marjorie Topley to the effect that "the distinctive marriage practices of the Canton Delta constituted a form of 'marriage resistance'" (Stockard 3). Topley identified a marrying and a nonmarrying form of marriage resistance. The first was pu lo-chia, or wives who refused to cohabit with their husbands. The second was the tzu-shu nu, or women who refused to marry and instead took vows of spinsterhood. She attributed both these pr

Category: Philosophy - B