A dowry – the money or property a bride brings to her husband at marriage – was common throughout much of the ancient world, and flourished in medieval Europe.
In many places around the world, weddings were formal occasions, accompanied by gift giving and rituals. The practice of dowries apparently originated when a bride’s parents gave her presents. As time went on, the dowry developed various functions. A dowry of household goods often helped the newly-weds set up their own home. A dowry of property or jewellery would help the wife support herself if her husband died. Generally, the husband returned the dowry to his in-laws if he and his wife divorced or if his wife died childless.
Sometimes the groom’s family pays for the bride, often to compensate her family for the money spent raising her. If the bride had been a valuable worker, her family was sometimes compensated for the loss of her economic support.
Today, traditional wedding observances are losing ground all over the world. However, some traditional cultures, including Gypsies, many Hindus, and certain African societies, continue to see dowries as a usual part of marriage.
In the African nation of Sudan, traditionally, the family of the groom has offered cattle, often as many as 100 animals, to the family of the bride. A groom of the Roma people, or gypsies, pays the bride’s family for the loss of their daughter. The bride price also ensures that the bride will be well-treated by her new family. Negotiations between the families of the bride and groom can become quite extensive, with the bride’s father calculating how much his daughter has cost him since her birth, and how much she could be expected to earn during her lifetime.