Marriage is a social union or legal contract between the people that creates kinship and its definition varies according to different cultures. The present paper has attempted to study and understand the Kinship and Marriage structure among the Hindu community in the Kishtwar district. Kinship and institution of marriage are about the basic facts of life. In the commonest definition, ‘kinship is simply the relations between ‘kin’, i.e. persons related by putative or fictive consanguinity. Marriage is a social union or legal contract between the people that creates kinship and its definition varies according to different cultures. The study has specifically looked into the practice of cross-cousin marriages among the community and has tried to explore the various kinship ties prevalent among them. Further attempts have been made to explore the continuity and the changes in the practice of cross-cousin marriages in the Kishtwar district. The study was undertaken with the objectives to look into the kinship and marriage structure among the Hindu community in general as well as in Kishtwar. The study also attempts to explore the various forms of cross-cousin marriages among the Hindu community in Kishtwar district and to understand the changes occurring among Hindu community in terms of cross-cousin marriages in Kishtwar.

KEY WORDS: Marriage, Kinship, Affinity, Consanguinity, Cross-Cousin Marriage