Question

What is dowry?
Who created this dowry system?
Why only the bride should give dowry? Why not the bride groom?

Answer 1

1. The word ‘dowry’ means the property and money that a bride brings to her husband’s house at the time of her marriage. 

2. dowry system was started by the old people in the late centuries.

3. brides give dowry because they are going to spend their further life at a different place. bride grooms generally don't give dowry but the time is changing.

Answer 2

Heya...!
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Dowry is an amount of property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage....!
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When and how did the dowry system start in India?

The Dowry existed in India even before the British Rule. However it was nothing like today. In the pre-Colonial period, dowry was an institution managed by women, for women, to enable them to establish their status, maintain their independence and have recourse in an emergency. 

In this ancient system of dowry, the parents/ relatives of the bride gave wealth to her in the form of valuable gifts, land, etc. These valuables or the wealth was given to the bride, and NOT to the groom or his family. In other words, the dowry wealth continued to be owned by the wife and not by the husband or his family. This gave the required financial independence to women who would even manage the income from their agricultural land, etc. So in the original system of dowry prevalent in India, women were gifted wealth from their parents during marriage and this served as a tool of financial independence for the bride even after marriage.

So when did the wrong turn take place?

It all started with a British rule which prohibited the women from owning any property at all! Once the British prohibited women from having any property rights, it meant that all the wealth that a woman got from her parents would be owned by her husband instead. And the moment, this system of husband owning the wealth of his wife was created, the traditional dowry system got converted into a menace creating an institution of greed that oppressed, victimized and suppressed women. Families started looking at the incoming bride as a source of wealth. Marriages stated becoming more of a business deal, where making wealth was easier. Male child became an additional source of income, and female child became a financial burden on the family. 
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Hope it helps...!!